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Asuto would find himself sighing contently, over and over, while laying on his bed, gaze roaming outside of the window to the nightsky, so filled with stars as it had become usual here, in Mount Fuji’s foot.
During this week, the forward’s mind had kept repeating the events of that day he spent with Ichihoshi on the forest, how eventful yet fun it had been, and how it had brought them closer.
Sure, he had arranged that hang-out with the thought of helping Ichihoshi understand that he was part of the team, and most importantly, friends with everyone. He was glad everyone was starting to warm up to him, now that the conflicts and Ichihoshi’s troublesome actions had been long set aside, but in specific, Asuto felt himself growing especially interested in him, for whatever reason.
He wondered if it was pity. At this point, no one was stranger to Ichihoshi’s sad background, and how he lost his family on that accident. But, Asuto didn’t want to think of it that way, even silently shaking his head at the thought. He already wanted to be friends with him, even since the beginning, and that wouldn’t have changed no matter his story.
And then, there was the thought of how he was alone in the world. Asuto could relate to that too well, he had found himself in that same situation not even that long ago.
His gaze turned towards the photo of his mother, which he so gently kept on the nightstand beside his bed, a nostalgic smile crossing his lips. He once had felt like the entire world was crumbling beneath him at her loss, and he guessed Ichihoshi must have felt something very similar.
But he had his friends, he had football to help him push through, no matter how bad things were. Maybe, that similarity in situations was what made Asuto want to get closer to Ichihoshi after all. Having reached that conclusion, it did make sense to him. He felt so sympathetic towards him, he wanted to help as much as possible too.
He sighed. He would be lying to himself if he said he didn’t feel giddy at the idea of hanging out with Ichihoshi again, together, with no one else around.
Asuto kept rolling in bed, too restless at the moment to even think on sleeping. He switched positions constantly, rolling to his side, laying on his stomach, placing his hands behind his head. And his heart was pumping, which wasn’t helping either. He recognized the feeling, it was excitement, just like when he was about to step onto a football pitch.
Except that this time it didn’t originate from football.
At that point, he realized it was no use, he wouldn’t fall asleep like this. He checked his phone, the bright light momentarily blinding him – 4 AM. That was so late, especially for his standards, he normally went to sleep much earlier.
When his eyes adapted to the light, he rubbed them and turned the phone off again. However, instead of laying back, sat on the edge of his bed, and checked over at his roommate, Goujin, only to find him fast asleep. Good, he knew he would have kept bugging him if he had seen him awake right now.
He pushed himself to his feet, off the bed, and made sure to walk on his toes as to not make any sound, then opened the door as slowly as possible to leave, not before grabbing his sweatjacket first.
The black-haired finally let a sigh of relief he had been holding when he was successfully in the hallway without waking Goujin or anyone else up.
‘’I’ll get some fresh air.’’ He whispered, a little groggily, and then made his way through the hall, soon enough reaching the outside of the building.
Immediately, a wave of cold air hit him like a truck. He shivered and audibly made a little sound of discomfort, and at that moment he was extremely glad he decided to get the sweatjacket, otherwise he would have been freezing more than he already was.
Hugging himself, he wandered through the outline of the building they were staying at, soon enough reaching the lake’s port.
‘’Huh?’’ Asuto narrowed his eyes, and then they went wide as plates when he surprisingly spotted someone out there, too.
He was sitting in a bench, facing the lake, and his back was unmistakable, thanks to that blue hair. It was Hikaru Hichihoshi – ironic, considering he arguably was the reason why he hadn’t been able to sleep.
He debated whether to approach or not. He seemed pretty relaxed, observing the stars above, which seemed to shine for both tonight.
But, ultimately, he realized that the reason why he was here must have been similar to his. He probably couldn’t sleep either, no normal person would be out here at this hour otherwise. So perhaps they could try and push through it together, he thought.
With a shy smile, he nodded to himself and then approached the bench.
It looks like Ichihoshi had detected him, his head moved slightly, but he didn’t actually fully turn over. Instead, he chose to speak, not facing him.
‘’Asuto, what’s up?’’
It was only afterwards that he actually took a look at his side, at last finding that he had correctly guessed who it was.
‘’Woah, how did you know it was me?’’ Puzzled, the other asked, although he couldn’t help but have a grin on his face.
‘’I recognized your footsteps.’’ In quite a simple way, the other responded, sending him another smile.
‘’You can recognize footsteps?’’ Asuto seemed oddly curious by that fact. He had had people recognizing him only by his spiky hairstyle choices, but this was something new.
Ichihoshi just chuckled lightly and moved a little to the side in the bench, a silent invitation in case Auto wanted to take a seat.
‘’Yeah. Once you get used to them, they’re pretty easy to perceive and associate with someone. You, for instance, always walk in a really confident manner, like you don’t have a single care in the world.’’
‘’You make me sound so simple…’’ The other just chuckled sheepishly. He didn’t hesitate to sit then, his hands by his sides gripping the edge of the bench.
‘’I didn’t mean to say that.’’ The blue-haired replied, giving an honest and a little flustered grin, and then shook his head. ‘’Besides, your footsteps were a little different this time anyway.’’
‘’Maybe it’s cause I’m tired? I mean, I couldn’t sleep, so…’’ Asuto replied, rubbing the back of his neck.
‘’Yeah, me neither. It happens to me a lot, though.’’ The other admitted, his glance going down to his feet. Asuto was a bit concerned at that, raising an eyebrow. He opened his mouth as to speak, but then he closed it, unknowing on whether it was sensible to ask.
In the end, he stood quiet, and instead just shot him a look of sympathy. He had had his days on which he hadn’t been able to have a drop of sleep either, back when everything was worse.
Ichihoshi seemed to catch on that feeling, and he looked at him briefly, giving a quick smile. Then, he resumed to look at the stars, and so did Asuto.
This reminded him of the chaotic day at the forest. How they had carelessly gotten lost there and had to take refuge in a small cave when it started raining out of nowhere. They had also stargazed then, similarly to now.
Asuto’s face twitched into an amused smile when he remembered something else from that day.
‘’Hey, Ichihoshi. Do you think any kappa lives in this lake?’’ He pointed at the lake stretching in front of them, and he seemed about to burst out laughing.
‘’Pft… Don’t say that, maybe that old man will show up again!’’
That’s what it took for both to start laughing loudly, together, the moment more lighthearted than Asuto thought it would get when he decided to get out and get some air to clear his mind.
When the laughter died down, Asuto wiped a joyful tear off his eye.
‘’That was a really fun day, wasn’t it?’’
‘’Yeah– Except for the part that you almost got us eaten by a wolf.’’ Ichihoshi replied, giving a content little chuckle that showed he was just messing. Asuto bashfully rubbed his arm.
‘’Well–’’
‘’Or when you got us lost because you got the worst map ever.’’
‘’I mean–’’
‘’And when we fell down a cliff and you hurt your ankle.’’
‘’Alright, you win.’’ Asuto lifted his arm in playful defeat, a little embarrassed, albeit amused.
‘’But despite all that, it was still fun though. And…’’ Ichihoshi’s playful tone became a bit more serious, fidgeting with his hands. Asuto tilted his head a bit, but didn’t reply, instead gave him space to formulate his thoughts.
‘’I got happy that you wanted to spend time with me. It was also nice how everyone else came to look for us when they saw we were gone.’’ Ichihoshi was looking onto the lake now, finding his own reflection meeting back his eyes. Asuto’s expression softened, and he leaned back in the bench a bit.
‘’That’s because you’re our friend now, Ichihoshi. And my friend too, in specific.’’
That claim had been pretty straightforward, it made Asuto himself a bit flustered, but he stood by it. Outside of their entire team bond, he genuinely considered the boy sitting right there to be his friend.
Ichihoshi had been told this multiple times by Asuto, so he couldn’t say he was surprised. But still, he felt a flutter in his stomach that translated into how content he felt hearing that.
‘’...Thanks, Asuto. You’re my friend, yeah.’’
His words came off a little dry, but the feelings beneath them were clear. He wasn’t entirely used to sharing his sentiments like that yet.
Asuto smiled at him lightheartedly.
‘’We should hangout again. That would be cool.’’
Ichihoshi finally looked back at him, and then he nodded.
‘’I’d love to. Maybe somewhere a bit calmer next time, though?’’ His tone became teasing again, although he would indeed prefer to set aside Asuto’s crazy adventures for another day.
‘’Haha, sure! We can come up with something else! There’s no rush right now, we can think about it some other day.’’
Although in reality, Asuto himself would have loved to do it even right next day – but they had training to do, and the next match was getting close.
‘’Of course!’’
After that, which received a hum from Asuto’s part, they didn’t speak another word for a bit. Instead, they spent a few minutes in comfortable silence, observing the stars which seemed to shine brighter than ever.
That silence was broken by a yawn from Ichihoshi’s part. Asuto tilted his head to glance at him, and it seemed to transfer the yawn to the boy, like a virus.
‘’Uhm… Wanna go back?’’ Ichihoshi asked lowly, his gaze looked tired.
‘’Yeah, let’s go. It’s getting super cold too.’’ As if the wind hear that, a particularly cold gust of air went for the two, making them shiver.
Soon, both got up, and walking side by side, they headed back to the building. When they reached the door, they knew they’d have to be silent as to not wake anyone up, so anything else they’d possibly want to say, it had to be here.
‘’Hey… thanks for talking to me tonight.’’ Ichihoshi was the one who firstly spoke, giving a look of gratitude at Asuto.
‘’Thanks to you too. I’m here for you if you need anything, okay?’’ Asuto pat the boy’s shoulder, giving off that characteristic radiant smile of his.
‘’Yeah… I’ll keep it in mind.’’
A light blush found its way to Ichihoshi’s face, whether it was from the intimacy of the situation or the physical contact, he had no idea. Noticing it, Asuto couldn’t help but have a blush also creep onto his pale cheeks.
The black-haired stepped back, shaking that off, and then awkwardly chuckled.
‘’Well, I’m gonna go to my room now. Good night?’’
‘’Sure, good night, Asuto. See you tomorrow.’’
With that, both went in, and they finally went to their respective hallways, saying bye to each other.