Chapter Text
The match between Inazuma Japan and Resistance Japan just ended with a score of 1-3, a difference not too high for the ability imbalance of both teams on the field. Which is why Kirino, who was watching the game along with the rest of Raimon Team and some other friends from the grandstands, believed that despite how bully the Resistance Japan boys acted, they really took pity on the Japanese national team and tried not to humiliate them in the final result.
He sighed heavily, seeing how the players were in the middle of the field talking. His eyes were dull and his eyebrows were slightly twitching, he still couldn't understand why these people were chosen to represent the country in a football tournament when they didn't even know how to play football when they were selected.
They were told that there was a reason why Kuroiwa, Inazuma Japan's coach, made such a strange selection; but that reason remained unknown.
He wrinkled his nose and leaned on the palm of his hand, he had a very bad feeling for a long time; but no one at Raimon wanted to listen to him and when he tried to talk to Shindou about it, he thought that he was simply jealous of not having made the team.
Well, that was not entirely a lie, when he heard who the team would be, he felt completely frustrated. But he was not the only one.
Furthermore, he knew that there was something off when none of the players they knew and had a high level were selected. According to him, Resistance Japan had much more potential as a Japanese national team than the other, and surely their captain, who was the best striker in the country, should have been chosen. The fact that he wasn’t puzzled him and made him uneasy. He pursed his lips with his light blue eyes fixed on Shindou who was talking with Kishibe and Kita at that moment.
Another aspect of that team that intrigued him and made him feel that there was a catch in all this was the lack of reserves.
The only one he was able to talk about his suspicions and concerns with without the conversation ending up trying to discredit him as envious was Amemiya who seemed to take the formation of Inazuma Japan as a personal insult. At those moments he looked seriously at the players, his face shadowed. It was a sight that pained him to have to watch, though a part of him gloated over the loss of the national team in an even darker wish that they would hopefully change the team to what it should have been from the start.
It was fair to say that Ichino and Aoyama were so offended by what happened that they absolutely refused to talk about anything related to Inazuma Japan and therefore he couldn’t speak to either of them. From what Kirino knew, this was the only match they had ever attended, and from the wicked look and smug gleam in their eyes, he was convinced that they only went because they expected to see the team led by Matsukaze lose and greatly enjoyed that match.
Well, he could perfectly understand them somehow. Like the rest of the players sitting through the grandstands and who murmured between annoying and happy. He did not know what special reason there was behind that decision; but if Resistance Japan was able to defeat them, didn't that mean that said team could face any other challenge much better?
He stretched with a suppressed yawn and caught a glimpse of Kariya slipping silently toward the stairs from the corner of his eye. He turned with a frown and a bad feeling, of course he was going to have a bad feeling, it was about Kariya Masaki after all. He got up and went after him, no one paid attention to them and on the way he heard several rather cruel and rude comments towards the national team. He couldn't say he didn't agree.
The teenager followed his friend through several corridors of the stadium that were absolutely prohibited as spectators, in the end he caught him right in front of the locker room.
Kariya, who didn’t realize was being chased, jumped as a hand closed around his wrist, but when his orange eyes met Kirino's his alarmed expression changed to his usual ass face.
"Ah, it's you, Kirino."
"What are you up to?"
"Me? Nothing."
The boy feigned innocence but the other glared at him, before being able to speak again they heard two voices and got scared.
"I tell you, I saw someone."
"I hope it’s not some crazy fan again, we had enough with Kurosaki Makoto’s incident."
The hearts of the two teenagers jumped and before realizing what they were doing, they took refuge inside the locker room that was closest to them and which turned out to be of the Inazuma Japan team, which, incidentally, was Kariya's final destination.
Kirino didn't like Kariya's mischievous expression at all, and he also didn't like that he suddenly took out a bag of live crickets from his pocket.
“You!”
"Me?"
"You said you weren't up to anything!"
“Come on, come on, Kirino. Can a few little bugs be considered up to something?”
Kariya went to the lockers and put the open bag randomly in one of them, covering it with the clothes of the player who had kept his belongings.
"You're a…!"
"I think I heard something coming from the locker room."
Kirino and Kariya shuddered again, the pinkhead grabbed the other one again who let out an exclamation of annoyance and pushed him into one of the cubicles for the toilets closing just in time, Kirino covered Kariya's mouth who began to struggle because it was preventing him from breathing.
They heard the locker room door opening and could almost feel the gaze of the guards coming through the walls and revealing them. Kirino's heart was pounding, scared as he was that they would be found and sanctioned without allowing them to attend an Inazuma Japan football match again. Such was his panic that he did not think that by being friends with the players they could have special treatment without punishment.
He couldn't afford to be banned from going to the matches in person, he promised Shindou that he would be by his side in each one of them, cheering from the grandstands and ready to celebrate each of their victories until they won the trophy in the end. He wasn't going to let anything spoil that resolution, least of all a joke from Kariya.
“There's nobody here,” the guard said, closing the locker room door and allowing the two boys to finally get air. Kirino breathed with the peace of being spared from being caught doing something illegal and Kariya because his friend finally let go of his face and he regained his color after turning almost blue.
The space in the compartment was very small for two people and that bothered Kariya.
“Honestly, I would have preferred to be with Hikaru like this,” he muttered, furrowing an eyebrow and noticing Kirino's entire body who glared at him.
"Shut up."
"Surely you would prefer to be with Shindou."
"I told you to shut your mouth!"
"Yes Yes…"
“Because of you we almost got caught, and all because of a prank! You weren't up to anything? Bullshit! I don't know how I believed you, you are a horrible liar!”
"And yet you believed me when I told you I was a SEED."
At that sharp comment from the turquoise-haired teenager, the other clenched his fists in annoyance, taking a deep breath to confront him.
"That's because your personality is just as bad as theirs."
Kariya blinked slowly in surprise, then laughed.
"It hurts to hear that after all we've shared together."
The pinkhead clicked his tongue in annoyance and the other made his mischievous smile even more.
They got ready to leave when they heard the locker room door open again that time giving way to a lot of different voices and they stood rigid in the stall, Kirino pushed Kariya again and with a dull groan he fell on his ass on the toilet.
They distinguished Matsukaze who was encouraging the rest of his team who responded cordially. In spite of everything, a bitter background note could be noticed in all of them except their captain.
The pinkhead remained attentive, trying to hear Shindou's voice, not knowing if his silence was because he wasn't with everyone else or because he was so depressed that he didn't even want to speak. He bit his lower lip sadly, ever since everything with the national team began, Shindou had been behaving in a very strange way and nothing like him, the boy who always was kind and a bit of a crybaby had turned sour and responded in a sharp and hard way, which showed to what extent having to deal with a team of rookies and the lack of his friends was affecting him, especially Kirino who until then always was by his side, supporting him and calming him down.
"But the captain is right, we didn’t do so badly, do you think?" Minaho said positively at the time. “Considering that we played against some of the best players in the country, if not the best, we put up a good fight and even managed to score a goal.”
“Right,” Manabe agreed. “They are elite players.”
“Elite players who, due to the dementia of the old man we have as a coach, were not selected in favor of a team that had never touched a football ball. If you want us to win the World Cup, you still have a lot to improve on.”
Kirino and Kariya raised their eyebrows from their hiding place upon hearing Shindou's bitter and resentful voice. They had to cover their mouths to keep from laughing at how funny it sounded in that inelegant way.
"Whoah, come on Shindou, don't be like that, we haven't done that bad," the team's goalkeeper laughed, throwing his arms around his shoulders. He closed his eyes in great annoyance and gritted his teeth, pulling Ibuki’s heavy arm off.
“It has been a lame, pitiful show,” Tsurugi put in soberly, folding his arms. "I don't even know how I'm going to be able to look them in the eye again, especially Hakuryuu."
Some of the players looked down sadly, Matsukaze seeing them like this wanted to cheer them up.
“You are being very harsh. I think they did very well and that football is happy with them."
"And I think..."
What Shindou thought or did not think was left to the imagination of each one of them, except for Kirino who knew exactly what his dear friend was going to say, because the locker room door opened again and with it there was even more noise of voices and steps.
Everyone was shocked to see Resistance Japan players sneaking into the locker room with their sports bags slung over their shoulders. In the toilet, the two Raimon players looked at each other confused, what were they doing there? Did all the boys share a dressing room?
"What do you think you're doing coming into our locker room?" Kusaka asked aggressively, taking a step forward with frizzy hair.
“Sorry for the intrusion,” Hakuryuu replied politely, entering last.
"Get out of here right now and go back to your own locker room!" the huge midfielder yelled again.
“We can't do such a thing, the organizers asked us to give up ours to the two girls on your team,” the captain replied calmly.
“Say more like they forced us,” Namikawa snarled, his brown eyes glaring at the opposing team's player.
“Coach Fudou told us to vindicate our position as the winning team by entering your locker room,” Yukimura added, crossing his arms.
“He also told us not to get too excited looking at the bodies of losers,” added Senguuji, that team's goalkeeper, with a hearty laugh.
In Inazuma Japan everyone blushed but Resistance Japan sighed heavily and as one man they said,
"Typical Coach Fudou."
Kirino from the toilet also felt his cheeks flush, but he could understand why the adult would say something like that. If he were out there watching Shindou changing clothes... Because maybe since he could remember he would have seen his friend naked, and when they were younger they even bathed together; but that was before he realized something that made him unable to look again at that innocent and vulnerable body displayed before him without feeling guilty for hiding that ulterior motive for doing so.
"In any case, as if I could be interested in beings as ugly as slugs when I have my goddess who is the most beautiful and lovely creature in the entire Universe," Namikawa exclaimed enthusiastically, Kurosaki from behind mocking him and all his other companions looked at him in exasperation. "Where is she by the way? Where is my beautiful muse?”
"Who?" Tsurugi asked with a voice rasping in bewilderment and an eyebrow raised suspiciously.
“Namikawa is speaking of Seto Midori,” Hakuryuu clarified with a heavy sigh of resignation.
"Exact! Perfection in human form, the mermaid of my pirate, the wind of my sails, the water of my ocean…”
Shindou cocked his head watching the boy with the long brown hair tied up in a ponytail continue to tease the other from behind, he felt his reddish gaze blur as he thought he hoped he could finish soon and run away from there.
“Midori isn’t a manager this time,” Matsukaze explained with a bright smile, but Namikawa turned to him with the same face Squidward would make when watching SpongeBob having fun. The teenager was uncomfortable with that and his smile faltered on his face.
“Our only managers are Sorano and Mizukawa,” Manabe said in the same voice as if she were filing taxes.
Behind the Inazuma Japan team, Tetsukado took off his clothes to go into the shower without bothering to listen too much to the others.
"What a disgrace, I was looking forward to this meeting so that I could glimpse once more the beauty of my precious princess that shines brighter than the pole star!"
“I didn't know Midori was so popular,” Matsukaze commented again with a nervous laugh.
“Are you kidding me?” Kita laughed then as he carefully arranged his hair. “The three managers of Raimon, Seto Midori, Yamana Akane, and Sorano Aoi are super famous among the football players in Middle School.”
"Hey," Ibuki stepped forward and grabbed his shoulder. "I've been thinking about it for a while, why are you here?"
Everyone remained silent looking at the two players, the orange-haired boy's expression grew annoyed.
"What are you insinuating?" he asked with an angry voice and a vein throbbing on his forehead as he realized what the goalkeeper was thinking because it wasn't the first time something like this happened to him.
"Shouldn't you be with the girls?"
“Oh no,” gasped Resistance Japan.
"Why's that?" Kita's vein thickened dangerously and he ground his white teeth together.
"Because the girls are changing clothes in the other locker room, you shouldn't be here even if you're from Resistance Japan, we're all guys here and it's not appropriate."
In Resistance Japan, everyone except Hakuryuu who frowned, put their hands to their mouths to avoid laughing.
Inside the toilet stall Kirino had to do the same.
“Oh my god, Ibuki is an idiot,” Kariya laughed, sitting on the toilet and kicking the air.
Despite the difference in height with Kita, the white-haired boy felt a shudder just before Kita kicked him quickly, knocking him to the ground and sitting onto his knees, aggressively grabbing him by the neck of his shirt and glaring at him, his face too near.
"I'm a boy, idiot!"
The goalkeeper almost completely closed his eyes and felt a spittle from the other boy who was screaming furiously hit him on the cheek.
"Do you have a fucking problem? Do you want me to show you my d…?”
One of the team's defenders, Gomaki, intervened at that moment covering Kita's mouth and grabbing him under the armpits, separating him with the help of Mahoro from the other boy above, who was left blushing.
“Kita, we know that being short you concentrate your anger more quickly; but it is not a reason to show your dick to people.”
The orange-haired boy stood up, puffed out his cheeks, and added in a cruel tone.
"It's true, he doesn't even deserve that I have that detail with him."
“Uh…yeah, sure,” Makari snorted heavily from beside him, his gaze doubtful.
"So… why are Midori, Akane, and Aoi famous?" Matsukaze tried to change the topic of conversation to avoid tension between the two teams.
“Because they are pretty,” Minamisawa replied, crossing his arms and making several of the players jump. "Or at least that's what the idiots with the brains of an ape who seem to have never seen a girl in their life say, the truth is that they are very normal."
"What are you saying!?" Namikawa roared immediately, clenching his fists. “My precious Seto is the most beautiful of women! How can you tell that she has a normal face when it's sculpted by the very angels of heaven!?”
“Idiots as he referred to,” Minamisawa huffed, watching through droopy eyelids as Kishibe and Yukimura held Namikawa from jumping to hit his teammate while insulting him for having bad taste.
Shindou stared at them in silence without even suspecting that two of his friends were laughing heartily inside a bathroom cubicle. What did having a beautiful face mean in the end? If he thought of a person whom he considered beautiful, then without a doubt that person was Kirino. His friend had beautiful features, a beautifully symmetrical and harmonious face. Since he was little, he attracted the attention of people who liked the boy's charm.
"Do you like Midori, Namikawa?" Matsukaze asked again, almost everyone looked at him incredulously, Tsurugi even opened his mouth at how stupid that question was after the teenager's speech.
"Of course I like her! She is my guiding star on a dark night at sea!"
"Didn't you try to throw a bucket of water over her after our game at the Holy Road?" the captain asked again in surprise.
“Oh…hmm, yes,” he admitted, flushing at the memory.
“Why would you do something like that to the person you like?” Minaho was surprised intervening in that conversation.
The gray-blue haired boy bit his lips, wrinkling his face as if he had sucked on a lemon before answering.
"Because I thought she was a mermaid and she would transform with water!"
Tetsukado was taking a shower at that moment without paying attention to the noise.
After a few seconds of silence due to the surprise of that answer, all the members of Inazuma Japan, except the boxer who was taking a shower, Tsurugi who was speechless again and Shindou who was too perplexed by that idea, burst out laughing.
Kariya couldn't take it anymore and laughed at the top of his lungs while the pinkhead dealt with him trying to shut him up while trying to stifle his own laughter.
"They're going to hear us, idiot, shut up for once."
“You shouldn't laugh at our teammate,” Yukimura muttered darkly, narrowing his eyes in annoyance, an especially cold glare directed at Matsukaze because of past matters between them.
Behind him the others nodded, and even Senguuji and Gomaki, who were the two tallest in Resistance Japan, cracked their knuckles threateningly, something that seemed to taunt Kusaka and Ibuki, who in turn were the tallest in Inazuma Japan.
“True, you shouldn't laugh at Namikawa for believing in mermaids,” Tsurugi defended, grabbing his teammates and pulling them back.
“Mermaids don't exist,” Minaho said quickly.
“How do you know, do you have proof?” The striker looked at him hard.
"There's no need! Believing in mermaids is childish and…”
"In our trips with Raimon we saw creatures that we also thought did not exist such as dragons or cardboard robots, so for that same reason mermaids may exist, just because we have not seen them does not mean that they do not exist."
Hakuryuu nodded to those words.
“Tsurugi, comrade… and to think that I didn't like you before,” the boy the others made fun of thanked.
“Namikawa, did you also think that Kirino was a mermaid? You once poured water on him too, you made him so angry that he ran after you to hit you.” Shindou chuckled at the memory though his eyes inevitably turned much softer.
"And what if it was so?" he pouted.
"No, nothing. I can understand you thinking so."
"Yeah?" The teenager's brown eyes lit up and Shindou thought he made a mistake, but luckily or not, he was interrupted by Mahoro.
"I'm also surprised that Yamana didn't become manager of Inazuma Japan, that girl was always following you around taking photos of you on the sly, Shindou."
The boy tensed at that comment, and stiffened even more when Ibuki grabbed his shoulders with a mocking smile.
"Oh? Do you have a fan and you haven't told us?"
“More than a fan I'd say a stalker,” Minamisawa chimed in, wrinkling his nose and tossing his hair.
"Don't say that about Akane!" Matsukaze protested. “She's a great girl and she takes some beautiful photos!”
"Yes, like the ones she did of Shindou under the hot springs of God Eden," Tsurugi and Hakuryuu recalled with a shudder.
"Excuse me?" Shindou suddenly blushed because he didn't know about that.
Senguuji let out a laugh.
"Did she take a picture of your little bird, Shindou?"
The boy looked at him pale and the goalkeeper laughed even more.
“What a manager,” Kishibe snorted, shaking his head. Even he who liked to have photos taken thought that was excessive.
“Not all girls can be as dignified and wonderful as my princess…what am I saying!? None of them can even come close to her.”
"Rensuke, man, relax," the boy who had just spoken asked, embarrassed.
"Did you like having a girl after you all the time, Shindou?" asked the white-haired goalkeeper, shaking him in his arms.
"No, it was very uncomfortable," he answered, trying to free himself from his grasp to no avail. "Let me go now, Ibuki."
“Yamana still has very pretty white skin,” Kurosaki commented, causing several boys to narrow their eyes at him.
“You have a bloody problem with that skin fetish of yours,” Namikawa snarled at him.
"The madman who fantasizes about pirate romances spoke."
"You fucki…!"
“Hey, don't argue,” Mahoro stepped between the two of them with a snort.
“Yamana is a very pretty girl even though Minamisawa doesn't think it. Don't you think Shindou?"
“No?”
The wavy-haired strategist stared at Kurosaki confused, why would he find Yamana and her white skin pretty? Especially when he always had Kirino by his side with his beautiful, velvety, warm skin that made him feel endless butterflies in his stomach every time he caressed him.
"Don't you like white skins, Shindou?" Manabe asked, adjusting his glasses.
“Skin as white as porcelain,” Kurosaki added with an amused glint in his eye, everyone who knew Shindou from Raimon days knew the truth.
“I don’t care at all, Manabe,” Shindou snarled. “Besides, porcelain is cold and distant. Warm and soft skin is better, white or not.”
"Do you have someone in mind?" Kishibe smiled mischievously and equally amused at where that conversation was going.
The boy looked at him seriously but didn't answer but pursed his lips and turned his head rudely, unable to help but think of his friend again. He wished he was waiting for him at the exit so they could go somewhere together and relax after all that frustrating madness.
“I don't like porcelain, it reminds me of some dolls my grandmother has. As a kid I always thought they were watching me,” Makari muttered, adjusting his scarf with a shiver running down his spine, his teammates turned in surprise at that comment and made sneering faces.
“Porcelain dolls are really scary,” agreed Mahoro who didn't like them at all, Minamisawa looked to the side thinking that in this case they were the same as Yamana. "My friend's grandfather has a store of... hm... curious stuff, there's one with golden ringlets and a pink dress on top of a shelf, I swear I've seen her shake her head sometimes."
Makari looked at Mahoro with unfocused eyes and frowned, his stomach knotting.
"Thank you, I won't be able to go back to my grandmother's house anymore."
"You are cowards, who would be afraid of a doll?" Matatagi scoffed arrogantly.
“Anyone with common sense,” replied Manabe who also had a terrifying experience with one as a child and was breaking out in hives ever since. In fact, at that moment he was scratching his arm desperately.
“They're dolls, they can't hurt you,” Minaho huffed, rubbing his temples.
“Tell that to Chucky the devil doll,” Mahoro spoke again.
"It is a movie!" The detective's son seemed strangely offended at the very idea that something paranormal could exist.
"Many of those movies are based on real possessed dolls, and it's not to be taken as a joke..." The pointy-eared redhead judged Minaho harshly and his closed mind, of course being a lover of everything paranormal, that attitude bothered him a lot.
Minamisawa bit his lip, on the one hand he agreed with Minaho; but on the other hand, he would rather listen to Namikawa talk about his crush on Seto for a whole week than say that aloud.
There was an awkward silence in the locker room while MInaho and Mahoro looked at each other without giving in, to get out of it and divert attention from them Inazuma Japan decided to mess with Shindou again, it was not at all because they were taking advantage of that occasion presented by Resistance Japan to make fun of Shindou and take revenge for the unsympathetic behavior he had with them from the beginning.
"Then what kind of girl do you like, Shindou?" Manabe asked curiously, the appellate protested but Ibuki shook him again insistently.
"You always have an ass face but surely there is a girl that you think is pretty, right?" Matatagi smiled at the boy who pursed his lips in annoyance.
“Tell us that, we will keep your secret. Do you like that fan of yours who likes to take pictures of your private parts?”
Inside the bathroom Kirino suddenly stiffened and put his ear to the closed door as if it would allow him to hear better, he had an expression of anticipated revulsion. Kariya looked at him seriously and snorted.
“I don't like Akane and let me go, Ibuki. You haven't showered yet and you stink. For the little that you move during the games you sweat like a pig.”
Kita laughed at that and they saw that Ibuki with the face suddenly red with embarrassment pouted and released his teammate with whom he was trying to have a friendship.
“You lack exercise, huh? Do you need help training? I'm willing to beat you up whenever you want."
Ibuki looked at Kita, who had just spoken, and was silent, turning his head away with red ears. The other boy raised his eyebrows on his face with a small mouth in an unimpressed expression, if it was fake or not only he knew .
"Do you prefer a girl like Seto?" Gomaki asked, holding back a laugh and nudged Senguuji, nodding at Namikawa who then spasmed and glared at Shindou.
"No, no," Shindou raised his hands in peace with a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. "I don't like Midori."
“That girl has beautiful hair color,” Makari observed, Namikawa turning on him so quickly that he almost broke his neck, seeing his glare he hastened to add. "Her hair reminds me of a flower."
The blue-gray haired boy's contorted face relaxed, replaced by a rapt expression that made Minamisawa roll his eyes and fake gag. Yukimura gasped and lowered his eyelids in exasperation.
“She is so beautiful. Her hair is painted as if it were a true work of art, not even the Mona Lisa is up to it. She should be in a museum! Oh, her hair, it has such a vibrant color, so exotic… Oh my mermaid, as resplendent as the waters under the midday sun, as hot as the sun that makes plants grow on a desert island…”
"I think there's something else growing too," Kurosaki teased wickedly in a whisper to Kishibe who stifled a laugh.
“If we're talking about pretty hair colors, Yamato has it too,” Gomaki smiled, interrupting the boy's speech, looking at his friend who raised his eyebrows in surprise and noticed his cheeks flush slightly. Perhaps embarrassed by the comment or by the way the other looked at him as if he wanted to eat him.
"Pink hair is definitely pretty, yes." Shindou put his fingers to his chin, his index finger brushing his bottom lip.
He was thoughtful for a few moments, really that hair color was really beautiful. Although of all the shades of pink he ever saw his favorite was Kirino's. Who, moreover, had silky soft hair, smooth and shiny as if they were strands of a precious gem. He really liked feeling it under his fingers and even on his lips, as pleasant as the best quality silk. He remembered the first time he took a lock of Kirino's hair and brought it to his lips, Kirino was paralyzed with a red face and stammering; He smiled tenderly at the memory. They were ten years old then and Shindou didn't do it again out of shame, not while Kirino was awake at least, when they slept together he always took the opportunity to kiss his hair, he couldn't help it, it was too nice.
Tsurugi and Hakuryuu raised an eyebrow in astonishment at the enamored face of the once Raimon captain, they exchanged glances with each other and shrugged, Kishibe, Kita and Kurosaki instead found that very amusing.
“Your hair color is pretty too,” Ibuki murmured with a low, deep growl looking at Kita who widened his eyes in shock at that comment, then returned to his usual expression and smiled sardonically.
"Are you trying to make up for calling me a girl earlier?"
The goalkeeper pursed his lips and looked away, face red, those who saw him laughed, which brought Shindou back to reality and he blushed violently when he saw that Kishibe and Kurosaki were looking at him and muttering.
“Do you know what I like most about a person? What do I think makes them really attractive?” Kishibe said with a big smile foreshadowing that trouble was coming.
"No, we don't even care," Yukimura growled heavily, the boy gave him a slightly offended look but continued.
"The eyes. Beautiful blue eyes are without a doubt the prettiest feature someone can have.”
They all stared at him, with furrowed eyebrows and bewilderment to a greater or lesser degree.
“You have blue eyes,” Minaho observed suspiciously.
"I know! I'm so handsome, am I not?" Kishibe winked at him and stuck out his tongue playfully, Manabe wrinkled his nose uncomfortably at that, but the blonde stared at him in silence, not knowing how to react to such an unexpected reaction.
"Aoi has very pretty blue eyes!" Matsukaze exclaimed at that moment with a big smile.
“My princess does have such breath-taking eyes,” Namikawa spoke again, his friends sighing with exhaustion. “Even if not blue they are two precious stones that shine of life and give me strength to continue sailing towards the horizon…”
They let Namikawa continue talking and barely paid attention to him. Hakuryuu then turned to Tsurugi.
"I like your eyes better than blue ones."
Two pink spots appeared on Tsurugi's pale cheeks, Ibuki pounced on him with a smile, so fast that he looked like a predator ready to pounce on his next prey. Unfortunately Tsurugi realized that Shindou wasn’t just mean earlier and wrinkled his nose.
"It seems you have a suitor, Tsurugi."
The blue-haired looked at him reluctantly.
"So we must think that when you told Kita that you like his hair it is because you were trying to flirt with him?"
“No!”
Minamisawa twisted a smile and grabbed Kita's shoulders who felt a sudden urge to break the fingers of his hand; but before he could do so he found himself in front of the tall goalkeeper and his eyes widened in confusion.
"Hey, but don't you think our Kita really has beautiful eyes too?"
"What are you up to, idiot?" the redhead growled at him trying to break out of his grasp.
Ibuki stood looking at Kita and his face became more and more grim, as if he were contemplating a mathematical problem that he didn't know how to answer. So suddenly that it scared everyone, he flushed and cleared his throat, turning his head and covering his face.
"They are not ugly."
Tsurugi smiled vengefully crossing his arms, internally glad that it bounced off the goalkeeper, he looked at Hakuryuu curious as to how he would react; but he kept looking at him, leaned close to his ear and whispered.
“I still think yours are prettier.”
"Hm...thank you."
Shindou was lost in thought again, blue eyes, pretty eyes. The eyes that made him feel as if his legs were made of jelly were definitely Kirino's, yes. Celestial, as beautiful as the sky itself, bright as the stars, compassionate and generous, always attentive to him, to his needs... His eyes were so disappointed when his name was not mentioned in the selection of the Japanese team... And he still had the shame to tell his friend that his suspicions towards the team and his coach were due to his jealousy. Oh, such wounded eyes. And even so, he smiled, promising that he would be by his side, that he would accompany him in each of the matches. How badly he had behaved towards that person he loved so much.
Everyone saw the depressive aura surrounding the teenager and even Kusaka poked him with a finger without him reacting.
“Nozaki would have two of those traits, right? She has pink hair and blue eyes,” Matatagi, who didn't care for his depressive companion, muttered, narrowing his eyes.
"Oh, I'd say even all three," Kurasaki chuckled, looking away from Shindou. “She also has very pretty white skin.”
Senguuji and Gomaki looked at him for a moment.
“I guess I'm missing the white skin part,” Senguuji chuckled heartily.
"Nonsense, your skin is much prettier than any of those Nosferatu relatives," Gomaki hastened to reply, grabbing his hands impetuously. "You're the best!"
"All of you are only talking about superficial things!" Hakuryuu exclaimed in annoyance. “About skin, about hair, about eyes… What does it matter how a person is physically? The important thing is here!” The Resistance Japan captain smacked his chest hard, and everyone gaped in astonishment, as if they were struck by divine illumination.
Namikawa stared at him with frowned brows and cocked his head.
"Boobs?" he asked with confusion.
At that comment Hakuryuu blushed and closed his eyes, clenching his jaw and one of his fists resisting the urge to hit his friend.
“I mean the heart and hard work.”
Kurosaki slapped Namikawa behind the head.
"You're a herring-brain brute."
"That makes more sense, I guess," Ibuki scratched his cheek and looked at Tsurugi, "Because you don't have much boobs for your boyfriend to like."
Tsurugi blushed violently at that comment and clicked his tongue very annoyed, kicking the goalkeeper in the calves who lost his balance backwards.
Hakuryuu at first stood still as if he was struck by lightning, his gaze lost on Ibuki and his face burning. Then he recovered and as the goalie was getting up off the floor he kicked his ass causing him to stumble and fall at Kita's feet who made a negative noise with his tongue and slowly shook his head from side to side.
Inside the toilet stall Kariya was laughing so hard that Kirino was completely overwhelmed, he tried to cover his mouth; but it was impossible, the boy's laughter could not stop at that point.
Tetsukado, who was coming out of the showers at that moment with a towel around his waist, heard the noise inside and frowned.
"You only say that because you are handsome, Hakuryuu," Kurosaki smiled. "Think how hard that must be for someone like Namikawa."
"Hey!"
"I don't think I'm especially handsome," the captain frowned in confusion, he had never stopped to think about something like this because his priorities were different. Tsurugi instead looked at him, gently narrowing his eyes and pursed his lips, his cheeks rosy again.
"Well, Amagi told me that the Raimon managers do consider you attractive..."
Mahoro was interrupted by Namikawa who jumped up and approached his captain clenching his fists, but was intercepted by Gomaki who grabbed the boy by the back of the collar of his clothing and pushed him back to make him fall back.
"...until they talked to you."
“I don't care, I'm not interested in other people liking me…” Hakuryuu growled.
“It's a shame, I also think you're very attractive, even more after continually talking to you,” Tsurugi murmured. Suddenly he froze and covered his mouth as he realized that he said that out loud, he raised his eyes to meet those of his friend who had a red face and one eyebrow and lower lip trembling.
“I think if it's you, the captain does care that others like him,” Kishibe laughed, bending over with laughter.
Matsukaze looked at Tsurugi in puzzlement, then at Hakuryuu, then back at Tsurugi. Both teens were speechless and fidgeting uncomfortably.
“Actually, I agree with the white-haired boy that the important thing is a person's heart,” Kusaka commented, much more calmly than usual.
“Appearance may be the first thing we see of a person; but in the end it's the personality that makes you fall in love, right?,” Minaho said as if he were an expert on the subject instead of a nerdy teenager with no experience. Manabe nodded from his side.
“It is important to get along and be able to talk with that person you love without there being awkward silences.”
"You speak from experience, four eyes?" Ibuki asked, ruffling the protesting boy's hair and slapping him. “What does conversation matter when you like someone? Isn't it better to use the time for other things like kissing or something like that?"
“Just because you have a mosquito brain and aren't able to have a proper conversation with a developed person doesn't mean that communication isn't necessary for others,” Kita said relentlessly, raising a cynical eyebrow at Ibuki astonished.
"Hey, no matter if you beat us, you don't have the right to talk to me like that!"
"Oh, I bet he does," Shindou grumbled, crossing his arms. "The day you can live up to him, then you complain."
“Tsk, up where? He is a chihuahua!”
"Excuse me!?"
“I have a reputation behind my name, I've only lost because we're playing a sport I've never played before! Oh, how wonderful it must be to believe that you are the best and give yourself so many airs of greatness to beat a person who has only been playing for a few days. You must be very proud! If we were playing my sport, basketball, one on one I bet you wouldn't have a thing to do."
"Challenge accepted," Kita agreed, looking at him smugly. Behind him Yukimura and Mahoro looked at them like the Awkward Puppet Monkey and Minamisawa grinned, that was going to be fun. "What do you want to bet?"
Tetsukado approached the toilet door from which those laughter came and pushed it suspiciously, then he saw the two Raimon players fighting among themselves, as Kirino was still trying to control Kariya and he was resisting and squirming while continuing to laugh. Seeing the door open and the other boy on the other side, they went blank and silent. There was an awkward moment between the three of them; Kirino hastened to put his index finger to his lips in a silent plea for him not to say anything and the boxer, after furrowing his eyebrows even more, nodded, as he recognized them as Matsukaze, Tsurugi and Shindou's friends.
"Perfect. And if I win, you'll kneel on the ground, kiss my slippers, and apologize for thinking you are so great when you're just a slug with pretty eyes,” Kita smiled wickedly, crossing his arms and lifting his chin smugly.
"Should we tell him that he just admitted that Ibuki has pretty eyes?" Makari whispered to Yukimura.
"Nah, you better stay out of his business, I think Kita is really amused by that clown."
“To think that all of this has come from talking about Raimon managers,” Minamisawa huffed as if dismayed by the chaos when in truth he wished to see the white-haired goalkeeper, or any of them, further humiliated.
“Bah, none of those girls are nothing compared to Morimura,” Kusaka stated firmly.
“My prin…!” Kishibe covered Namikawa's mouth with the vein on his temple beginning to swell and looked at Kusaka curiously about that interesting information.
"Morimura?" Makari cocked his head. “The girl on your team who looks like a bush?”
"How dare you say something like that to her?" roared the giant, suddenly angry.
Gomaki chuckled.
“What are you even mad about, big guy? Her name literally means bush.”
“Besides, Makari isn't saying it meanly,” Yukimura defended darkly. “He really likes plants.”
“Flowers above all,” Makari corrected calmly, unaffected by the huge player as he knew he could easily be pushed back in any case, confident in his defense.
But when the player heard them, he calmed down again and smiled broadly, apparently satisfied with the answer.
“So you like that girl? It seems that what they say about big guys having a weakness for small and cute things is true,” Senguuji commented, rubbing his chin and then looking at Ibuki and Kita in amusement.
“Not that you're exactly small either,” Manabe commented observantly.
The goalkeeper laughed at such a comment, he was the tallest in his team, even taller than his coach, but in Resistance Japan almost everyone was quite tall.
“Yes, but I prefer the big things,” the pink-haired goalie replied, leaning on Gomaki casually with a flirtatious look in his light blue eyes and running his fingers into the defender's white braid, playing with it in amusement.
"Not only do I like Morimura because she's small and adorable, she's also a very good defender."
Gomaki, Mahoro, and Makari raised an eyebrow doubtfully and were about to defend their positions on the field when Shindou spoke.
"Kirino sure is an exceptional defender."
Next to Shindou there was silence, and even in the stall Kirino suddenly blushed. Tetsukado sighed patiently.
“If my goddess played soccer…!”
"But Seto doesn't play soccer, so please shut the fuck up you jerk!" Minamisawa yelled, losing his composure, when he realized he cleared his throat and raised his hand to his bangs, raising it in a gallant gesture while everyone pressed their lips together to keep from laughing. He continued speaking as if he hadn't had a fit of anger. “It really was a surprise that two girls were selected for the Japanese national team when until now the male and female teams were separated into different leagues.”
“The real surprise was that they chose players who don't know how to play football,” Namikawa growled in a hostile way that made the others uneasy at the change in character. Shindou and Tsurugi instead subconsciously nodded.
“Hm, yes, it's actually more strange than the girls thing that they decided to choose a bunch of newbies, it's actually worrisome,” Gomaki admitted, rubbing his neck.
“I wonder what that Kuroiwa is really up to,” Senguuji murmured slowly.
"You speak from experience?" Kurosaki chimed in resentfully.
Senguuji, despite everything, did not take it badly but nodded.
“Yes, Tetsurou and I, like everyone in Dragonlink, have already experienced what it is like to be completely manipulated inadvertently to fulfill the twisted plans of a group of adults who have absolutely no concern for us, our well-being or our love of football. Apart from my personal frustration at not being in the team when I am the best goalkeeper in the country, I am concerned that they decided to select a person who had never played before. As much as Ibuki or any of them can improve, you couldn't know their potential beforehand, so... why?"
“There's a catch behind the selection,” Mahoro murmured suspiciously. "Our coach thinks so too, I overheard him arguing with someone about it on the phone and he seemed very angry."
"That is not true!" Matsukaze exclaimed. “For sure there is a reason our coach chose the team he chose, we just have to trust him and trust football.”
“Boy, football can't protect you if it's really all part of an evil plot,” Mahoro chided, concerned about the attitude of the other team's captain.
“We are the ones who have to protect football no matter what! If we believe in football everything will be fine!”
"What?" In Resistance Japan everyone stared at him in disbelief.
"Are you dumb, kid?" said Senguuji, getting angry all of a sudden, the pupils of his eyes became so small that they almost disappeared; Gomaki and Makari held onto his shoulders just in case. “Are you telling me that you care more about a sport than what might happen to you or your teammates!? When everyone insults us for putting our goal of being the best players ahead despite what we had to sacrifice when we were part of the Fifth Sector and you are flattered because you supposedly brought back the real football!?”
“Except Coach Fudou,” Yukimura observed.
“Right, he says Matsukaze hit his head as a kid and had his brain replaced with a ball and he can't think of anything else and therefore can't be trusted,” Minamisawa smiled, pleased that his coach shared his point of view, one of the reasons why he decided to join the team, besides being able to get revenge on Matsukaze.
“That is because you do not take into account football’s feeling!”
“Football’s feelings!? Are you mocking me, asshole!?” Senguuji roared with increasing fury.
“The proof is that so far we have won all our matches! You guys weren't even selected! We are the true chosen ones by football!”
There was a general gasp followed by a tense silence as everyone in Resistance Japan glared at Matsukaze, who didn't shrink as he firmly believed he had the absolute truth about football. If they didn't start hitting him, it was because they didn't want to get their coach in trouble, the only one to lend a truly friendly hand to many of them after being disowned by a country they considered hypocritical.
In the toilet both Kirino and Kariya turned white and began to tremble with anger, the boxer looked at them sympathetically, if that comment was directed at him he wouldn't hesitate to punch and break his jaw.
Everyone in Fudou's team seemed to be doing their best to control the anger and frustration that was rising up inside them like a volcanic eruption; Hakuryuu, the calmest of all of them or at least in appearance, intervened. As he spoke his voice was suffused with cold anger. The others remained silent and rigid, even Ibuki and Kusaka understood that their captain had said too much.
“Matsukaze, when your knees and hands bleed, you are full of scars and injuries, you feel like your whole body is about to break down but you force yourself to continue and pass out from exhaustion due to the harshness of training, then you speak to us from the football’s feelings, until that day, please refrain from it.”
"But…!"
"Shut up for once, Tenma!" Tsurugi glared at him, clenched fists.
"Wh…?"
“Tenma, I'm not saying it's bad that you're so innocent; but you must admit that this is all strange,” Shindou said rudely. “Look, I understand, I also responded inappropriately to Kirino when he tried to warn me because I didn't know how to handle the situation myself. All of them are just worried about us because they've already experienced the dark side of football that they don't want us to, you get that right? If so, you should apologize."
Matsukaze nodded slowly with brows twitching sadly, leaning forward quickly.
“I am very sorry for what I have said, I know that in truth all of you love football too.”
Resistance Japan remained silent for a few seconds, none of them came to believe that that apology was from the heart, much less considered that the important thing was whether they loved or not football; but they decided to ignore what happened for the good of all, especially to avoid complications for the adult responsible for them.
“Okay, we accept your apologies,” Hakuryuu nodded and looked at his teammates who, although glaring, nodded as well. "Tsurugi, be careful and don't do anything strange."
“Calm down, I know how to take care of myself. Also, didn't you say that you would be watching every match from the grandstands supporting me?”
"Of course, Amemiya, Kirino and I decided to go together to watch all your matches to support Matzukaze, Shindou and you and be there in case you need us."
"Oh?" Minamisawa suddenly smirked. "When the ring?"
Yukimura spasmed and gave Minamisawa a nasty look, Makari pinched the burgundy-haired boy who protested without knowing the reason for that attack.
“I'll go too,” the blue-haired boy said determinedly. "I want to be there to look down on you when you're defeated."
In Resistance Japan everyone except Hakuryuu and Mahoro laughed, thus relieving the tension of what happened with Matsukaze, Inazuma Eleven pursed their lips in annoyance.
“But it really doesn't sound bad, maybe we should ask Coach Fudou to take us to the matches since his boyfriend is quite involved with Inazuma Japan and has money,” Kishibe commented cheerfully.
The players on the other team were silent for a moment.
"What boyfriend?" Matsukaze asked out of inertia.
"Your coach at Raimon, didn't you know that?" Senguuji raised an eyebrow.
“Coach Endou!? But he is married!”
"What? No, Kidou.” Kurosaki said.
The five Raimon players let out a shocked cry.
“Kidou and Fudou are a couple? But they are two men!”
"My, Matsukaze..." Minamisawa gave him a long look. "You were born yesterday, what's the problem with that?"
The aura surrounding Resistance Japan darkened again, and the Inazuma Japan captain took a step back in fright. This time he did recognize the danger.
"None, none."
"Though it would only be natural for everyone on this planet to fall in love with my beautiful goddess Seto, when the tide of love pushes the ship of your heart out onto the sea of happiness there is nothing you can do."
"But does that girl even know you exist?" Matatagi asked with boredom at how irritating the striker was.
Namikawa started and clenched his fists, frowning.
"Of course she knows I exist!"
“Unfortunately,” Shindou replied, rubbing his face. "Namikawa created a very strong impact on Midori when he poured the water on her, then she beat him up."
"Did you get hit by a woman?" Ibuki scoffed.
“My beautiful mermaid didn't hit me, she just caressed my face hard. Ah… if only I could feel her soft hands on my body once more…”
“Shut up, Namikawa,” Kita snapped. “We don't want to know what kind of filthy fantasies you have about Seto. And you wussies, if any of you have a problem with our coach then you will have a problem with all of us.”
“Calm down, Kita, I think they were just surprised. In the end you can't choose who you fall in love with, right?" Hakuryuu calmed down.
"That's true," Shindou agreed with a suddenly soft and rapt expression.
"Wow, and that face, Shindou?" Kishibe laughed. “Does the great pianist have someone he loves?”
"No!"
“That face is not that of someone who is not in love,” Kita laughed again, both MInamisawa, Kishibe and him, and several others by now, knew who the boy liked.
Kirino stiffened again, and even Kariya pursed his lips curiously at that moment, not because he didn't know the answer but interested in whether he would say it publicly or not.
"Come on, tell us who you like, Shindou," Matatagi laughed. Although he wasn't interested, he actually believed that this information could be of use to him.
"Mind your business."
"So you do like someone!" Minaho and Manabe exclaimed happily.
"Leave me alone!"
"I hope it's not my mermaid or you'll have to fight a life and death duel with me."
"I don't like Midori at all!"
"Hey, you don't have to reject my muse so curtly, you could at least pretend to like her a bit."
“I don't like Midori at all! At all!"
Namikawa gasped in shock and was going to charge again when he saw Kurosaki gesturing behind him as if he were a gasping fish and got annoyed with him, shifting his focus to Kurosaki to grab him by the neck and being stopped by Gomaki again who pinched the bridge of his nose slowly, searching within him for all the patience he could.
“Is she your stalker? Or maybe that blue-eyed girl?” Ibuki laughed with delight at being able to take revenge on Shindou in that way that seemed to stress him out so much.
“No!”
"One of those two girls from Inazuma Japan?" asked Minamisawa, who had known the truth for years since he was Shindou's teammate in Raimon.
“Or maybe that mysterious new manager?” smiled Mahoro, who also knew from a deduction he made after talking to Amagi when the match between the two teams ended and they were able to regain their friendship.
“More than mysterious I would say cold,” Manabe murmured.
"Okay, Shindou, tell us, which girl do you like?" Ibuki smiled, poking his elbow into his arm.
"I don't like a girl!"
Everyone fell silent, some surprised and others holding back their laughter.
In the toilet Kariya had to hold Kirino who was trembling, although he wasn't sure if it was because of the nerves of who the person he loved might like or if it was because he wanted to skin all that group that seemed to be bothering Shindou to the point that he looked like he was about to collapse from overwhelm.
Kusaka approached Tetsukado who had been in front of the bathroom for too long.
"What are you doing here, man?"
He then saw the other two and opened his mouth, but Kariya quickly told him to keep quiet and he complied as well.
“Oh…” Ibuki muttered with an imbecile face.
"Don't say oh to me, stupid!" Shindou yelled in embarrassment covering his face with his hands.
"My, Shindou, it really affects you not having Kirino by your side to calm you down, huh?" Matsukaze commented innocently earning an irritated look from the teen.
Resistance Japan chuckled at that precious comment.
“Come on, Shindou, you can tell us, we're not going to laugh,” Minamisawa assured; but then added "Well, maybe we'll laugh a little."
“I definitely want to laugh,” Kishibe smiled. "Although in truth I already know who you like, Shindou."
"Excuse me?"
“Me too, both things, to laugh and to know it. You're not obvious or anything,” Kita snorted, throwing up his hands and shrugging.
“Well we are all obvious next to the person we like, right? For example, Yukimura is very obvious when he is with Amemiya."
Yukimura widened his eyes in fright, his face red, and he looked angrily at Namikawa who was pushed by Makari at that moment.
"Hey! Don't go around ruining other people's secrets like that, idiot!"
“What secrets!? Only cowards keep secrets! There's nothing wrong with our friend liking that boy with the weird hair! He should feel lucky that someone as amazing as Yukimura has a crush on him!”
"Taiyou doesn't have weird hair!" Yukimura exclaimed in defense of his friend's hairstyle.
"You don't have enough balls to confess even if you are one of the best strikers in Japan!" Namikawa yelled again.
"You say that but you haven't really said anything to Seto either, have you?" Kurosaki snapped at him in exasperation, the boy seemed suddenly depressed.
"That's because I've never been able to talk to her, but I'd like to tell her how much I love her, ah… my beautiful…"
Kurosaki suffered a tic in his eyebrow and covered his mouth, something he immediately regretted because the other began to drool to get free.
“It's not that I don't want to tell Taiyou,” Yukimura muttered then. "But I've never been in a relationship and I don't know how to do it, plus we don't even live in the same city."
“Long distance relationships are tough, huh?” Gomaki snorted, slapping him on the back.
"You should still told him, don't you think?" Makari encouraged with a soft look. "The most beautiful flowers appear in the most adverse circumstances."
Resistance Japan nodded in unison at those words.
"Yes," Yukimura's eyes flashed with resolution at the support of all his friends. "Yes, I will tell him."
"That's our comrade!" Namikawa gave him a hug, grabbing him by the waist and lifting him into the air, something that made him protest.
"You see, Yukimura does have balls, do you Shindou?" Kurosaki asked with an amused glint in his eyes.
"You really like gossip, huh?" Minamisawa laughed.
“Don't compare me to you, please,” he replied.
Shindou bit his lower lip and looked up with frowned brows.
"The person I like is someone very special." Kirino in the bathroom opened his mouth and Kariya patted him on the head because in any case he knew that that special person was that same boy who was hiding with him. "He's an admirable and wonderful boy, the best person there is," Shindou's red eyes let out a flash of tenderness and his teammates looked at him with a shudder at that difference in behavior towards them. “He has fair and smooth skin, silky pink hair that always smells clean, light blue eyes that reflect the kindness of his heart…”
Tetsukado, Kusaka, and Kariya watched as Kirino suddenly turned pale in the arms of his friend who was holding him. The pinkhead put his hand to his forehead, damn. Was he going to lose to such a person? He was going to die of embarrassment, maybe then on his grave they would put "For not having fair enough skin, pink enough hair and blue enough eyes." Seeing that reaction, Kariya rolled his eyes, it was clear that he still didn't realize who Shindou was referring to.
"Someone who, despite the many times I've been mean to him, saying that he didn't have enough level to play football with me or even to get into the national team, has incredible ability... I just vented my frustration because the only thing that I believed I could be better than he was in football, when it's not even true, his ability as a defender is one of the best in the country, it's incredible, it's impressive, it's..."
Kirino raised his head, suddenly frowning. Wait... Kariya snorted and the other two looked at each other in silence with resignation. Kirino seemed at that moment the meme of the woman doing math calculations in her head.
“He has always been by my side supporting me when I have needed it, no matter how badly I have treated him or how mean I have been with him, he has always been there with a kind word and a generous gesture. Even now after all this disappointment from the Japanese national team…” All the newcomers to their team protested at that. “...is holding my back. I know that if we manage to win it will be thanks to him and all our friends who are supporting us despite everything, just like you Resistance Japan.”
"How stupid if you win it will be because of your own, friendship does not win matches."
Matsukaze opened his mouth, probably to oppose Hakuryuu's words but Minamisawa covered it because he was fed up with their talks about football, their feelings and friendship.
"A wonderful person, huh?" Senguuji smiled nudged Gomaki who nodded.
"Yes, although I understand Shindou, pink hair is pretty," the braided boy moved his hand to catch a lock of Senguuju who became agitated and stared with red ears.
“I get it too, good defenders certainly leave a strong impression.”
Makari looked at them in exasperation for a moment and shook his head.
"From everything you say sounds like you're talking about Kirino," Matsukaze laughed with a face that was saying that it was impossible and making everyone, including his teammates, stare at the boy as if he were stupid. Which he indeed seemed to be.
Inside the stall, Kirino's heart was racing so fast that it seemed like it was going to burst.
Shindou glared at his teammate and with a voice that carried much more resentment than he planned to show, he said.
“He is Kirino, Tenma.”
The boy opened his mouth without making a sound, his cheeks red.
And inside the hideout of the two Raimon players, the pinkhead was also unable to say anything, his face red hot and his heart beating even faster. His eyes sparkled and he smiled as if he reached Nirvana.
Kariya looked at him mischievously and then, with a quick movement, pushed him out of the stall, causing him to fall to the floor in front of Tetsukado and Kusaka.
"Damn asshole! What are you…!? Oh…”
The locker room fell into a heavy silence full of interest, Kirino's unexpected appearance caught each and every one of them by surprise who had not heard, for some reason that seemed almost scripted convenience, the two boys laughing inside the toilet. The members of Resistance Japan, and also Tsurugi, found this extraordinarily funny and smiled curiously as to what would happen next.
“This is so embarrassing,” Minaho whispered in Manabe's ear, who nodded fervently without taking his eyes off them.
Shindou looked terrified at Kirino who seemed frozen to the floor, looking back at his friend with a red face. The wavy-haired teen's face went from red to white to blue to red again. His warm eyes filled with tears, after letting out an undignified scream for a musician, he ran out of the dressing room at such speed that by the time they could notice, all they heard was the door slamming shut.
Kirino gasped at that reaction, jumped up and went after his friend.
When the door closed again, Kishibe reached over and took his towel out of his gym bag, beginning to undress to head to the showers.
"Do you want us all to have dinner together after watching Kita kick Ibuki's ass in basketball?"
Kirino caught Shindou at the entrance to the other locker room and grabbed his wrist just barely, pulling him to stop him and shoving him against the wall roughly, more from the inertia of the movement than for any other reason. He put his open hands with a blow on both sides of his friend's head, achieving a perfect wall slam.
Shindou looked at him with a trembling lower lip and tears in his eyes. He looked stiff and more embarrassed than the time he peed in front of his classmates in kindergarten.
"Shindou..."
"Listen... Kirino, what you heard in there, can you forget it?" The boy trembled on the verge of breaking, he withdrew his gaze in fear. “I understand that you may find it unpleasant but… but I don't want to lose your friendship. So please forget it, okay? I… I will do my best to…”
"I don't want to!" Shindou widened his eyes and then narrowed his eyebrows sadly, but Kirino grabbed his chin and turned his face to him. "Damn, why would I want to forget something like that after waiting for it for so long?"
The dark-haired teenager's mouth parted in surprise at that, he pursed his lips again and lowered his gaze, but Kirino forced him to look into his eyes.
"…"
"Fuck, my heart is going so fast I think I'm going to pass out from the excitement," Kirino complained with a hoarse groan, resting his forehead on his neck and taking a deep breath, Shindou blushed even more when he felt his hand being caught and his friend held it to his chest so that he could feel how his heart was actually beating as if he had a machine music discotheque inside his ribs.
"Is it true? Is it true that you like me, Shindou? Can I really get my hopes up?”
After a few seconds of silence, agonizing silence for the pinkhead, he finally responded by softening his gaze and caressing his pink hair tenderly.
“Yeah, I don't know what you heard…”
“All.”
"...but I love you. I'm sorry…I'm sorry I was so mean to you about football this past year, Kirino.” His red eyes watered again. "I was afraid that you would take away the only thing in which I can show you off... Since I have nothing other than football... But I was very mean, I went too far and I know that I hurt your feelings, I do not deserve your forgiveness or your friendship, much less that you reciprocate me.”
"Don't be silly, Shindou. I know that you are very stressed by everything that has happened since we started second year and I do not hold a grudge against you at all for anything so far, you have always been my treasure, that person whom I want to protect no matter what and my sorrow is not being able to do it from the same team; but it doesn't matter, because I will follow you wherever you go and I will protect you from the spectator grandstands, I will jump on the field if something strange happens.” Kirino smiled broadly with such a beautiful expression that the other boy stared spellbound. “Regarding the other, you have many skills and strong points, also if you are looking for something that makes you unique from all the others you must remember your gift with music, I am not kidding when I say that I love listening to you play the piano. You are also a kind, tenacious, hard-working, intelligent and sensitive person. You may be a crybaby at times and a bit spiteful at others, but I love those qualities of yours too. Shindou, I've been in love with you for a long time, so I don't want to forget what you said in the locker room."
The two teenagers looked at each other and smiled sweetly, the pinkhead raised a hand and caressed his cheek without taking his light blue eyes from his red ones, bringing his face closer to his.
“Would you like to be my boyfriend, Shindou? I promise that I will always be by your side and I will only make you cry with happiness. I want to be able to celebrate your victories in the FFI with kisses and caresses.”
He bit his lip again and after undoing the knot of nervousness that was tangling him inside, he nodded.
"Yes, I want us to be a couple, because I love you too.”
"Can I kiss you?"
That whisper said almost on his lips made Shindou's skin goosebumps, who became nervous again, even so he nodded with an embarrassed murmur and Kirino smiled at him. His light blue eyes calmed that abrasion being replaced by a different one.
They put their lips together in a sweet gesture, simple and full of tenderness, Kirino went to close his eyes to press harder against Shindou when two things happened almost at the same time.
The locker room door opened and Nozaki and Morimura came out with an exclamation of surprise and embarrassment and from the other came the shrillest, most agonized and terrified scream any of them had ever heard.
The four of them rushed to the other locker room, the newly formed couple holding hands, Shindou opened the door and they peeked out, scared of what might have happened. Morimura and Nozaki yelled again, covering their eyes at the sight of naked boys.
Shindou narrowed his eyes, his eyebrows tense and an angry tic.
On the floor lying on his back was Ibuki shirtless and suffering from spasms while a bunch of crickets jumped everywhere coming out of his locker. One of them landed on his face and the boy again launched that scream that would have nothing to envy to those in horror movies.
"Now I understand what you were doing in the locker room, Kirino," Shindou growled, glaring first at the goalkeeper and then at Kariya who was laughing out loud in the middle of the locker room, lying on the floor and holding his stomach.
"I'm sorry, I wanted to stop him but I couldn't," the pinkhead apologized with a smirk.
In the locker room there was a great chaos because everyone was laughing loudly at what happened while Ibuki was still on the floor. Not even the most formal and polite seemed oblivious this time, laughing as they ran around hunting all the crickets to put them in the bag where they came from.
Kita exhaled, making a loud noise of exasperation, crouched next to Ibuki's face and smiled mischievously at him.
"Calm down, big guy." The boy took the cricket in his hand and removed it from him, throwing it back and hitting Namikawa between the eyebrows with it. "Now, now, you're safe from that evil cricket."
He patted him on the head a couple of times and glanced at him as the player blushed and covered his face with his big hands, rolling on the floor in embarrassment.
“This has given me several years of life,” Kirino laughed in amusement, squeezing Shindou's hand who sighed heavily.
After cleaning up the cricket mess, scolding Kariya who blatantly stuck his tongue out at them, and taking a shower, they headed outside looking for a basketball court where Ibuki and Kita could finish their bet.
"Who do you think will win?" Manabe asked with statistical curiosity.
"Kita," was the absolute response from all of them who saw at that moment how the orange-haired boy scored a spectacular point from midfield while Ibuki turned pale and went to look for the ball to continue.
Amemiya, who accompanied them along with Kageyama, Kurama, Ichino, and Aoyama, booed the goalie and put his arm around Yukimura’s shoulders while exclaiming something happily.
“I hope Ibuki learns to be a better goalkeeper so you don't get scored too much during the rest of the FFI,” Kirino smiled, smooching his boyfriend's lips.
Shindou didn't respond more than an assertive grunt, but he hugged the pinkhead and sank deeper into that kiss causing Hakuryuu and Tsurugi who were next to him to look at them embarrassed and look back at the court wondering while the back of their hands brushed against each other how it would feel to kiss with that special someone.