Work Text:
Aiku walked into the locker after having a bit of trouble finding Sendou anywhere around the facility. The loss to blue lock was excruciating, and Aiku knew that Sendou took most of the blame on his own shoulder as per usual. The guy is the team ace, and they’ve taken care of each other ever since they’ve joined U-20 together. It pains him to see Sendou take the loss so harshly, but it’s expected, the guy’s passionate about football as much as anyone else in the team.
Aiku’s eyes roamed around the dimly lit locker before seeing a small figure sitting on one of the benches.
“Sendou.” Aiku said as he approached the man sitting on the bench. His voice was soft, gentle and patient. He hates when Sendou’s like this, it pains him in an odd way that he can’t exactly describe. He knew he had always cared for him on a deeply personal level, but the sensation is odd, much more than anything he’s ever experienced.
“Sendou come on, let’s head home.” Aiku said with a smile to his voice as he ruffled Sendou’s hair after joining him on the bench. All he received was silence, but he knew Sendou was probably still taking the loss pretty hard. The dimly lit locker was only illuminated by the hallway light leaking through the open door, but even so, Aiku could tell Sendou had been crying.
He’ll wait for as long as it takes, but he’s not going to leave Sendou’s side till he’s at least better. It’s like a silent promise between them, whenever Sendou gets upset, Aiku’s always there to bring him back up.
“Sorry.” The first words that left Sendou’s mouth were hoarse and damaged. Aiku could feel his heart drop in an almost painful way as he sighed. He leaned his head back, neither of them locking eyes as he just lets the moment linger while he thinks of the right thing to say. As Aiku had predicted, Sendou’s blaming himself for the loss.
“No, it’s not your fault.” Aiku said in a calm voice as he rubbed reassuring circles on Sendou’s back. He was smiling gently at Sendou, even if Sendou doesn’t see it since he chooses to keep his head down.
Sendou lets out a choked up and abruptly short laugh, nothing humorous behind his tone, just a deep sense of pain that lingers in the air.
“Sendou-“ Aiku tried to speak before he was quickly cut off.
“I’m such a useless ace huh?” He spoke, a small chuckle to his voice but Aiku knew he was taking this all VERY badly.
“Dude, stop-“ Aiku tried his best to stop him from this self destructive behavior. He hasn’t seen this side to Sendou in awhile, and he’s glad he doesn’t, because it’s really painful to hear the heartbreak in his voice.
“Fuck… I’m useless…” Sendou said, his voice was choked up as he’s clearly crying again, his head in his hand as Aiku could hear the sniffling and trembling in his voice.
“Maybe we wouldn’t have lost if I was a better player-“ Sendou continued with a choked up and shaky voice.
“Dude. Stop.” Aiku cuts him off as he places his hand on his shoulder. A small frown formed in his face as he kneeled down in front of Sendou.
“Stop babying me.” Sendou said, in an annoyed tone that puts up no actual fight behind his word. Aiku only chuckled softly at his response.
“I don’t feel like it, so I won’t.” Aiku’s rough, calloused hand gently caressed Sendou’s cheek as he lifted his face up so that their eyes could finally meet. Even after saying those things, Sendou’s not really making an effort to fight back on Aiku’s actions.
Aiku lets out a soft laugh as he sees his puffy red eyes, red nose and tear-stained cheeks. Sendou gave him an annoyed look as his initial sadness turned into annoyance.
“You look ridiculous.” Aiku lets out a soft and joking chuckle, smiling softly at Sendou as they continued to maintain eye contact
“I hate you.” Sendou said, frowning gently as his expression visibly softened at Aiku’s words. He leaned into Aiku’s touch as Aiku ran his fingers over his cheek to wipe away his tears.
“Love you too dude.” Aiku responded jokingly as he cleaned up Sendou’s appearance, smiling like an idiot at the way Sendou’s expression visibly softens. At least he’s able to take a joke now, and he’s even slightly smiling, which is an amazing improvement.
Aiku threw Sendou a heated towel before walking back to the bench.
“Thanks.” Sendou said in a soft and quiet voice, his voice had stopped being shaky as Aiku also handed him a bottle of water from his locker. Sendou wiped his face down with the wet and heated towel, the sensation easing him down as he felt Aiku sitting back down on the bench.
Aiku placed the cold water on Sendou’s neck to snap him out of his trance. Sendou yelped at the sensation before snapping his head back at Aiku with an annoyed but embarrassed look. The two locked eyes for a few seconds, Aiku was somewhat taken aback at first but he started laughing after a few seconds.
“Wha-“ Aiku started with an amused tone
“Not a word, Aiku.”
“That was so cute-“ Aiku said with a small laugh.
“Dude shut up.” Sendou said defensively and a small blush was creeping onto his face at his own reaction.
“I genuinely hate you so much-“ Sendou said before snatching the water out from Aiku’s hand, the man across from him only laughing at his response. Sendou’s pretty short tempered, but Aiku knew that, and he loved that part of him.
Aiku chuckled at this as Sendou gave him a somewhat annoyed look, but his softened eyes made it hard to take him seriously.
“On a serious note though.” Aiku said before leaning in closer to Sendou, his voice dropping all of the joking and teasing demeanor as it’s now replaced with a serious and genuine sound.
“It’s not your fault dude. You did amazing on the field, we all have our ups and downs, but what’s important is that we keep heading up even after we’ve been put down.” Aiku started, his voice was soothing and rich to Sendou’s ears, it made him feel safe, and it was reassuring. He hates that Aiku can just calm him down so easily. It made him feel reliant on him, but the way his heart was beating faster and faster with every second was making him feel like he was losing his mind. He trusted Aiku, he really does, but he doesn’t exactly know why. It’s an odd feeling, and he finds himself relaxing whenever he’s near. Aiku’s presence was soothing to him, and he loved it as much as he hated it.
Aiku just has a talent for making people feel better, and Sendou really appreciates him as the team’s captain.
“You’re the best ace I could ever ask for, and just know that everyone on the team appreciates you, and so do I.” Aiku said as he lightly tightened his fingers around Sendou’s shoulder in a reassuring way. Sendou felt the tears coming again as he heard those words, fighting back against it as he tried his best to keep his composure.
“It does nothing to dwindle in the past, let’s just accept it and move on.” Aiku said as he looked at Sendou
“Together, like we always do.” He added, and that sentiment completely broke Sendou’s composure as he felt the tears rushing out of his eyes again.
Aiku chuckled at his reaction as he rested Sendou’s head against his shoulder, giving him a halfway hug and reassuring him as he gently stroked his hair. Aiku wiped away Sendou’s tears, he was even a pretty crier.
“Ready to head back home now?” Aiku asked him softly, his voice a deep and reassuring tone to give Sendou some stability.
“Mhm…” Sendou responded as he sniffled, Aiku giving his hair a rough ruffle to snap him back to reality.
“I’ll cook for tonight-“
“Absolutely not, I’m not eating cup noodles for the third time this week.” Sendou responded with an annoyed but joking tone, wiping his face down again with the heated towel.
“Or…. Maybe I won’t cook…?” Aiku responded as he turned his head away.
“I knew it.” Sendou responded as his eyebrows knitted, a clearly annoyed expression but his small chuckle made Aiku’s heart jump out of his chest a little.
“Take-out?” Aiku asked as he grabbed their bags, holding it as they walked home together as per usual.
“Aiku… do you not know how to cook? I swear ever since we moved into the same apartment, my diet has become ungodly unhealthy.” Sendou asked in an annoyed tone, raising his eyebrow. He was right though, Aiku can’t cook for shit, but that’s ok, because Sendou’s a great cook.
“Or maybe it’s because I want to taste your cooking.” Aiku said in a teasing and flirty way, but Sendou knew he genuinely loved his cooking.
“So you can’t cook, got it.” Sendou chuckled at his words, clearly convinced now that he’s taking care of a man child. He has to wake Aiku up every morning for practice, make breakfast and dinner for both of them, and remind him constantly to clean up around the apartment. Aiku takes care of the laundry and shopping, and is a reliable person to talk to no matter the situation. He’s a keen listener, and is extremely caring and supportive.
“Hey, that’s rude! I know how to cook…somewhat?” Aiku argued as they walked down the hall together to the facility’s exit.
“I don’t consider frying eggs as cooking, Aiku.”
“Ok maybe I don’t know how to cook…” Aiku said in a defeated tone as he rubbed the back of his neck with a smile. Sendou knows him too well, way too well. It’s kind of scary how he’s just able to read his mind at times, but he honestly doesn’t mind it.
Sendou let out a genuine laugh at his words, his face lit up with enthusiasm as Aiku felt his heart skip a beat. Was something wrong with his heart today? Did he push himself too hard or something? Why was it functioning so weirdly?
“I’ll cook for tonight…” Sendou said as he walked alongside Aiku, their hands grazing slightly as Aiku’s heartbeat sped up, a warm feeling settling in his mind as his heart felt so full… It was strange.
“I honestly don’t know if I even trust you in the kitchen.” Sendou said, laughing again as Aiku frowned slightly at his word, a small smile on his face still as his eyebrows knitted in annoyance.
“You’re so mean to me…” Aiku said as they continued on with their daily banter. He’s just glad Sendou’s finally smiling and laughing again, it makes him feel at ease. Their eyes locked for a moment as Aiku felt butterflies at the bottom of his stomach.
Being the final wall doesn’t just mean Aiku’s just a good defender on the field, it also means he’s the stability that his teammate can lean on after a rough day of practice or a particularly gruesome match. Sendou’s making that statement very hard to upkeep though, the way he’s smiling was making Aiku soft and jittery.
“Also, clean up your room.” Sendou said in an annoyed voice.
“Sir, yes sir.” Aiku said as he yawned into the air, both of them exchanging a small loving smile as something just clicked in his mind.
‘I’m so hopeless…’ was the only words that ran through Aiku’s mind as they walked back to the apartment together.