"Being the eldest of six, Raiden knows how to deal with children."
In which Hijikata slowly becomes the team's older brother.
⚽⚽⚽⚽
Being the eldest of six, Raiden knows how to deal with children. His siblings are so young that he feels like he has become sort of like a parent. Whether it's pranks, squabbles, nightmares, picky eating or anything else, Raiden feels like he has seen it all.
Perhaps that is why, when an uncharacteristically quiet Kogure leaves the cafeteria without leaving chaos in his wake, Raiden feels his internal alarms blaring. Frowning, he makes a mental note to keep an eye on Kogure for the rest of the day.
Unfortunately, Kogure's mood does not get better today or the day after that or the day after that . He is quiet during practice, not even acknowledging commands verbally — though he does obey them at least. There are no snarky comments to get under other people's skin and motivate them to do better. Most concerning of all, however, is the lack of pranks.
Usually, not a day starts without someone screaming in frustration because of the crude marker scribbles on their face or because they're sopping wet from a bucket of water balanced meticulously on the door or at an insane amount of spice snuck into an unfortunate soul's breakfast. While it's frustrating to be on the receiving end of Kogure's pranks, they never really fail to make things lively for the rest of them, even if it is at the expense of whoever Kogure decides is the victim of the day.
Now, however, it seems that Kogure's mood has hit the rest of the team's morale quite hard — even Endou and Tsunami can't seem to cheer everyone up for long. Heck, Someoka deliberately says something that would usually have Kogure mercilessly poking fun at him for hours, but he receives no reaction from their smallest member. Even Fudou is beginning to shoot Kogure quizzical glances, which is the highest level of care he would ever allow himself to express so openly.
Thus, when practice ends and Kogure practically flees into his room, Raiden follows him, patting Otonashi's shoulder reassuringly on his way.
He is just about to knock on the door when he hears sniffling from inside, and Raiden decides to skip the part where he has to convince Kogure to let him enter. Opening the door, Raiden enters the barely lit room, frowning when he spots Kogure's slumped form on the edge of the bed.
Raiden had entered the room pretty sure of himself, but now, he has no clue what he was supposed to do. Kogure isn't one who usually needs reassurance or comfort, so this new vulnerable behaviour is an uncharted territory. Mentally, Raiden tells himself off for not letting Otonashi take care of this. She is the only one Kogure would ever be completely honest with.
Some shuffling from the lump on the bed catches Raiden's attention. It seems that Kogure has finally noticed him. "What do you want?"
No going back now.
Raiden walks forward until he is right next to Kogure, who huffs but otherwise doesn't make a move. "I… uh…"
Now that Raiden has made it this far, he has no idea what to say next. He decides to be honest. Kogure is scarily good at telling when people are lying to him — not as good at detecting honesty and genuine concern others might have for him, but he's getting there — and from what Raiden has noticed, Kogure appreciates honesty.
"I was worried," he blurts out. At Kogure's raised eyebrow, he rubs the back of his head, flustered. "We all are, actually. Are you okay? You've been pretty down lately."
Kogure huffs and looks away, glaring at his hands. "I'm fine."
"Yeah, that didn't sound very convincing."
"So what?" Kogure snaps. "Just leave me alone! It's not like any of you actually care."
Okay… Raiden is probably not qualified for this.
He does not leave Kogure alone though. Instead, he sits next to Kogure on the bed, though he tries to keep a comfortable distance between them. "What makes you say that?"
Kogure's hands ball up as he practically shouts, "Why would you?! Even my mom didn't—!" His mouth snaps shut immediately, and from the way his eyes widen, Raiden gets the impression that he hadn't meant to say that.
Raiden definitely isn't qualified for this.
To be honest, he doesn't know much about Kogure's family; the kid never really talks about it. However, he did overhear a conversation once, between Otonashi and Kogure himself, and he doesn't like the picture it had painted. What kind of parents just left a five year old at a station with no explanation? Kogure could have gotten in an accident, or been kidnapped, or worse.
How to approach this?
Apparently, he doesn't need to think too much about it because Kogure spares him the effort by speaking first, still not looking at him. "Sorry. I didn't mean to shout."
"Don't worry about it," Raiden says. He tries for a reassuring smile but he isn't sure if he succeeds or not. "But, uh, you know, the team really does care about you." At Kogure's scoff, he says, "I'm not kidding. Do you really think Otonashi doesn't care about you? Otonashi, Kabeyama, Kurimatsu, Tachimukai, Hiroto, Endou. What gives you the impression that they don't care."
Kogure curls into himself a bit. "Yeah, well, they're nice to everyone. Even if people don't deserve it."
Raiden sighs a bit. "It's not just them. Someoka cares." When Kogure starts to say something, Raiden cuts him off hastily. "He does. Did you not see him today? He was willing to let you make fun of him. Someoka, letting you make fun of him so you could feel better. Why would he do that if didn't care?"
Raiden pauses to let that sink in before continuing, "Everyone's been worried these past few days. Didn't you notice how quiet it's been? When is it ever quiet around here?" Perhaps he's already beating a dead horse by now, but he needs Kogure to understand. "We are not them, you know, and we would never abandon you like they did."
For a while, Kogure remains silent. When he finally does speak, hsi voice is thicker than usual, "Thanks. I already know all this, but… I needed to hear that."
Raiden finally smiles and reaches out to ruffle Kogure's hair. Kogure swats his hand playfully, a small smile slowly making its way on his face.
Laughing a little, Raiden pats Kogure's shoulder. "Now cheer up! Someoka won't give you a chance to poke fun at him again, so you might want to milk it while it lasts."
Kogure snickers. "You don't need to tell me that."
⚽⚽⚽⚽
When Fudou enters their shared room in the middle of the night, Raiden is not surprised one little bit. It's not the first time Fudou has sacrificed sleep in favour of practice and it probably won't be the last. No one can convince him to not push himself, not even the coach. Fudou is sneaky, and after the first time he was caught returning from his late night practice session, he has become careful in not getting caught.
As much as Raiden would like to give Fudou his own lecture about self-care, he also wants there to be someone Fudou doesn't hide from — or rather, doesn't know he should hide from — in case something does happen. After all, Fudou is not one to mention his problems or ask for help off the field. Heck, he's barely started to ask for help on the field. A small part of it is probably because of the team's initial reservations about having him on the team in the first place, though even that was fueled by Fudou's own antagonistic nature. The larger part is simply because Fudou is not someone who likes to rely on others — and probably hasn't had anyone to rely on for a long time too.
Raiden notices Fudou limping over to his bed in the dark. He's barely putting any weight on his injured leg and now that Raiden has noticed it, he can also make out Fudou gripping the bed firmly as he walks.
"Fudou?"
Fudou jumps, and stumbles on his injured leg, cursing as he falls backward with a loud crash.
Raiden winces and rushes forward to help. "Sorry. Are you okay?"
Fudou is still cursing, eyes shut tightly. When he does respond, it's through gritted teeth, "What do you think?"
He raises an alarmingly little amount of fuss as Raiden helps him sit on the bed. That in itself is a clue that something is very wrong.
Giving Fudou a warning look, Raiden says, "Stay put."
Fudou scoffs and rolls his eyes, but he also doesn't try to get up when Raiden moves even slightly away, so Raiden takes that as a victory.
He switches the light on, and Fudou says, "Are you insane? You'll wake everyone up!"
"Should have thought about that before entering the campus at midnight," Raiden says as he turns around.
"I don't need to see to—"
"What is that?!" Raiden cuts in sharply, trying his best to keep his voice low, staring in horror at the swollen, purple lump that has replaced Fudou's left foot.
Fudou rolls his eyes, as though Raiden is exaggerating and his foot hasn't swollen to twice its size. "Nothing," he snaps. "Now turn the damn light off and leave me alone."
Raiden glared at him. "You're insane. How long have you been hiding this?"
"That's none of your business."
"Hold on, I'll get an ice pack," Raiden says and hurries out of the room.
He doesn't really want to leave Fudou alone with such an injury; he's notorious for pushing himself too hard. Of course, Fudou always says that he knows his limits, but Raiden has come to realize that Fudou's definition of the word "limits" is not the same as everyone else.
Somehow, Raiden manages not to wake anyone up as he gets an ice pack from the fridge and heads back. Even more surprising is the fact that Fudou hasn't moved one inch from his place even as he scowls at Raiden when he enters.
Fudou tries to snatch the ice pack from his hand but Raiden holds it away.
"I can do it myself," Fudou insists stubbornly.
Raiden sighs at the look on his face. It's the same unyielding expression he has seen on the eldest of his younger siblings many times before. Experience has taught him that against that look, Raiden may as well give up.
Raiden does not give up, because he is dealing with a serious injury and not just trying to coax a begrudging apology from his brother for starting a fight.
"Just let me help," Raiden says. "You're already going to be in enough trouble when the coach finds out."
For a moment, Fudou just stares, and Raiden uses the chance to start icing his foot. After a while, Fudou finally speaks, "You– You're planning to tell on me," he sneers. "That's such a—"
"Yes," Raiden says.
Fudou stares at him again, caught completely off guard by the sudden interruption.
"I'm going to tell the coach because you can't play on this foot. Just be glad we don't have a match soon."
Fudou's features morph into a glare. "Tch. I'm fine. Unlike the rest of you babies, I don't need to be coddled."
Raiden just rolls his eyes. "Needing help is not the same as being coddled, Fudou." Fudou looks like he is about to retort, but Raiden doesn't let him. "And besides, unless you let this injury heal, you won't be able to play at your best, so we kind of need you to take it easy."
Hopefully Fudou will listen if he phrases it this way.
Fudou remains silent for a while but at least he no longer complains as Raiden does his best to reduce the swelling.
"Fine."
Raiden has to hold back a laugh, though a chuckle does leave his mouth. "You sound like you're agreeing to your death."
Fudou rolls his eyes. "Tch. The girls are gonna be annoying to deal with."
"Should have thought of it before hiding such an injury."
Removing the ice, Raiden examines it for a moment. The swelling has decreased a bit, but the area is still purplish. Perhaps they will have to wake someone up after all.
"I didn't think it would get this bad," Fudou said quietly.
Raiden started at the admission, almost dropping the foot in surprise. He glanced at Fudou. What had brought that on?
"You still should have said something. It couldn't have swollen this much suddenly."
Fudou shifted uncomfortably. "I, uh… I didn't think about it."
For the first time, Raiden saw a vulnerable expression cross Fudou's face. It was probably the closest Fudou would ever get to apologizing — to Raiden, at least.
Raiden cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yeah, well, don't make a habit of it."
Giving the foot one last glance, Raiden got up and said, "Well, this is beyond my qualifications. I'll have to get someone else."
Surprisingly, Fudou didn't complain. In fact, he didn't even say anything. It was so unexpected that Raiden had to take comfort in the glare Fudou sent his foot, as though it was all the foot's fault.
Laughing to himself, Raiden patted Fudou's head and left, grinning when he heard Fudou squawk indignantly.
⚽⚽⚽⚽
Hiroto is one of their top players. The redhead was the captain of Aliea Gakuen's strongest team for a reason. Not to mention, Hiroto manages to remain a starting player while playing the same position as the likes of Gouenji, Toramaru, Kidou and Someoka.
So, when Hiroto misses a relatively easy pass, it raises some concern
But when he easily brushes it off with a, "Sorry! I'll get it next time," the team brushes it off along with him.
However, when the same thing happens again and again, the concern not only reappears but also intensifies. Raiden tries not to worry too much; it's probably just an off day. It happens to everyone.
"Don't mind, don't mind!" Endou shouts from the goal.
Hiroto grits his teeth in frustration but shakes it off, getting ready for another shot.
Next time Raiden, Kurimatsu frowns in worry. "What's wrong with him?"
Kogure, too, is frowning. "He looked kind of tired at breakfast. Maybe he didn't sleep well."
Raiden tries to analyse Hiroto for any clue, but the latter is scarily good at pretending that nothing is wrong, so that doesn't help much. Maybe he's reading too much into it; it could just be a bad day for him.
But then, the same thing happens again the next day. By now, even Endou is forced to acknowledge that enthusiasm won't fix this problem. Even Hiroto is starting to get frustrated, snapping at people quicker than usual.
When practice ends and Hiroto practically storms off, Raiden just frowns. His frown deepens when Hiroto marches right past him and Raiden notices the dark circles underneath his eyes.
There is a tap on his arm and Raiden turns to find Endou. "Hey, Hijikata, could you go talk to him? I would, but the coach wants to talk to me about something."
"Sure, no problem," Raiden says. He probably would have gotten involved regardless.
Staring at the door of Hiroto's room, Raiden is beginning to second guess. This new behaviour is really unusual and if Hiroto is going to talk to someone about it, it would probably be someone he's really close to. Like Endou.
Then again, if he wanted to talk about it, he probably already would have.
Shaking his head, Raiden raises his hand to knock on the door, but the moment his knuckles touch it, the door opens to reveal the very object of his concern.
Now that Raiden is close enough to observe, he can see just how exhausted Hiroto looks. The eye bags aside, his skin seems paler — though that could just be his normal pallor; Hiroto's natural skin tone is too pale. His eyes are closing repeatedly, despite his valiant efforts to keep them open, and he's even swaying slightly.
Raiden hesitantly touches his shoulder and Hiroto starts, as though he hasn't even noticed Raiden yet.
Hiroto turns to him, blinking disorientedly, and Raiden frowns at him.
"Hiroto, when was the last time you slept?"
It takes a bit too long for him to answer. "Huh?" As Raiden is about to repeat the question, Hiroto's face scrunches up in concentration. "Dunno."
Raiden sighs. "Well, I don't know what's going on but you're going to catch up on all the sleep you missed."
He grabs Hiroto's shoulder and starts to lead him back inside his and Tsunami's shared room. It's unnerving how little of a fight he puts up, but at least Raiden doesn't have to argue with him about it.
Hiroto pretty much passes out before he even reaches the bed. Raiden leaves the room with conflicted feelings; he's not sure if he should leave but he also doesn't know what else he can do. Hopefully sleep will fix the problem.
Briefly, Raiden wonders why it got this far for someone to intervene; Coach Kudou usually takes their health pretty seriously. Not to mention, Hibiki-san is also there. Then again, it's entirely possible that Hiroto deflected their concerns or convinced them that nothing is wrong — he's unnervingly good at hiding his problems. Not to mention, the coaches have their hands full dealing with all of them. Come to think of it, he's pretty sure Someoka accidentally wrenched the cafeteria's door off it's hinges while chasing Kogure yesterday.
When Raiden gets up at midnight for a glass of water, he does not expect to run into anyone there, much less Hiroto. Perched on the kitchen counter, the redhead looks more rested than the afternoon, but that's not really saying much. He still seems tired, and Raiden feels a pang of irritation on seeing him.
"What are you doing here?!" he whispers aggressively.
Hiroto raises an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure I live here."
Raiden crosses his arms. "You know that's not what I meant. Shouldn't you be asleep?"
"I'm fine. I've been sleeping all day."
Raiden just rolls his eyes. "Three hours do not make a whole day. You still look tired."
At that, Hiroto looks away. "I'm fine."
Raiden tries not to shout. "No, you are not. You didn't sleep for two whole days. I didn't expect this from you of all people."
Hiroto sighs, a contemplative expression crossing his face. For a while, he seems to think about something, and then, he turns to Raiden and says, "It's nothing to worry about. I just can't sleep."
Raiden assesses him for a moment. Hiroto is wearing a reassueing smile that seems genuine, but Raiden has younger siblings who have tried fake smiles on him before. He can feel that something is wrong. "Can't or won't?"
Hiroto's smile falters, and he sighs and looks away again. "It's happened before, right after the whole Aliea Gakuen thing. I'm not sure why it started again, but I'll figure it out. I can handle it."
Raiden hadn't considered that the Aliea Gakuen business might have caused issues for the kids involved, which is stupid now that he thinks about it. As far as Raiden knows, Hiroto and his friends had been trained to adopt their alien personas for three years before Aliea Gakuen made it's debut. Not to mention, the fact that their own father — biological or not, the children considered him as good as their father — had used them in such a horrific way.
Had he been in Hiroto's place, Raiden isn't sure that he could have forgiven that easily.
It's possible that their involvement in The Kingdom's plight could have resurfaced those feelings; after all, while Kira Seijirou hadn't done anything even remotely close to what Garshield had done to The Kingdom, both situations involved adults using kids to fulfill their own agendas. Of course, Raiden isn't going to say any of this to Hiroto.
"You know," Raiden finds himself saying instead, "you don't have to deal with it alone. We're all here for you."
At that, Hiroto lips twitch into a smaller but more genuine smile. "I know. I just didn't want to bother anyone."
At that, Raiden raises an eyebrow. "By not sleeping until you pass out?"
Hiroto gives a weak chuckle. "Not my best idea, I'll admit." His expression morphs into something serious. "I'll try to sleep, okay? And I'm sorry about worrying all of you."
Raiden rolls his eyes as Hiroto moves out of the kitchen. "Don't sweat it."
⚽⚽⚽⚽
It's a well-known fact that Endou is someone who will always power through the pain. He will endure anything for soccer, whether in training or in actual games. It's not unusual for Endou to practice until it gets dark, often because Endou simply doesn't notice the time passing while he's practicing.
It is unusual, however, for Natsumi of all people to approach him, asking him to help her convince Endou to take a break.
"I've been trying to talk him into getting some rest," Natsumi says as she leads him to Endou usual training spot, "but he never listens to anyone when he gets like this."
Of course, Raiden has noticed Endou's unflinching focus on completing the hissatsu his grandfather gave him the clue to just days ago. Everyone has noticed it. It's hard not to when Endou is barely seen in their lodge anymore. Sure, it's inspiring and all to see him so determined to improve, but it's also worrying when you consider how far Endou tends to push himself.
They find Endou right where he expected them to, doing exactly what Raiden expected Endou to do. The spinning tire connects with Endou's outstretched hand as he gives a familiar shout. Behind Endou, a familiar majin shimmers into existence, though the red cape is a new sight. The ethereal being is nothing new for Raiden, though it's new appearance gives it an almost majestic look — if you can even call a majin majestic.
The contact is fleeting though, and almost as soon as the tire touches his hand, Endou is sent flying backwards, the majin fading out of existence as quickly as it had appeared.
Endou gets up even after that nasty fall, trembling but still standing. The frustrated but focused scowl on his face is nothing new, not in the face of a tactic that refuses to be complete.
Before he can subject himself to that pain again, Natsumi rushes forward. "Endou-kun!"
Endou turns, his focus torn as the scowl leaves his face. "Natsumi." His eyes travel to Raiden as he, too, makes his way forward. "Hijikata? What's going on?"
For a moment, Natsumi just blinks. And then, she says, "What do you mean "what"?! I told you to take a break! You're going to get yourself hurt!"
Endou just blinks at her. "But I'm so close to figuring it out! I almost had it! Did you see that majin?" By the end of his little rant, Endou is wearing a grin.
Raiden holds back an exasperated sigh as Natsumi just scolds him further. "I don't care how close you are! I won't let you tear yourself apart trying to figure this out!"
"But we need this hissatsu to win against Little Gigant!"
"We also need you to win against them!"
"But—"
"Natsumi's right, Endou," Raiden cuts in because once those two start bickering, they may as well be in their own world. Raiden hasn't known Natsumi for long but even he can see that. "It's no use figuring out that technique if you injure yourself and cannot play."
"I'll be fine! I've trained harder and—"
"Show me your hands."
Endou falters at the request. "What?"
Raiden holds out his own hands. "Show me your hands."
Hesitantly, Endou complies. Raiden grabs Endou's wrists, trying to be as gentle as he can because surely, after two days of non-stop punching tires, his hands have to be beat. And his arms too, probably.
Raiden removes Endou's gloves and— Yeah, they're pretty beat up. There are large, purple bruises all over his palms, which is a bit concerning considering how thick a goalkeeper's gloves tend to be but not entirely unexpected. Frowning, Raiden turns it over, ignoring Endou hiss of pain, to find similar bruises on the backside as well. It's not the worse state Raiden has seen Endou's hands in, but it's not good either.
"See? It's not a big deal," Endou says as though such large bruises are normal. Probably are for him.
"That's not okay, you dolt," Natsumi says.
Before Endou can retort — probably to being called a dolt rather than the actual statement — Raiden intervenes. "Endou, take a break for now."
Endou turns to him. "But Hijikata—!"
Raiden holds up a hand and Endou stops his whine. "I said "for now". You can start training again in the evening, but I don't want to see you anywhere around here for at least three hours."
Endou looks at him as though Raiden has gone mad. "Three hours?! What am I supposed to do until then?"
Natsumi sighs in exasperation. "Read a book or something. It's not that hard to think about something other than soccer for a while."
Raiden doesn't mean to laugh at Endou's disgusted expression, but he just can't help it.
He ruffles Endou's hair. "I'm sure you'll figure it out."
"But—"
Raiden shoots him a warning look.
Endou deflates immediately. "Fine."
Raiden nods. "Yeah, that's what I thought. We need our goalkeeper in top shape for the match, you know. Can't have you getting injured before it."
Endou sighs. "Alright, alright. I get it."
As they begin their walk back to the lodge, Natsumi says, "How come I said the same thing and you didn't listen?"
Endou frowns, crossing his arms as he actually seems to think about it. Everyone falls silent for a while, but eventually, Raiden catches Endou shooting him cursory glances. He truly seems to think that Raiden hasn't noticed. It's honestly kind of cute.
Raiden pulls out his phone, pretending to be too busy to notice what's going on around him. From. The corners of his eyes, he sees Endou brighten up at the "opportunity".
Endou leans a bit towards Natsumi and whispers, "Hijikata's scary when he's mad."
Raiden pauses briefly. What?
Natsumi raises an eyebrow. "Hijikata-kun?" she says doubtfully.
Endou nods emphatically. "Yeah. He just gives you this disappointed look and you can't help but feel like you're the worst person on Earth!"
Endou doesn't seem to realize that he isn't whispering anymore, so Raiden tries to smother his laughter. Seriously, of all the things to be scared of, he hadn't expected this.
Natsumi giggles too, so at least Raiden can know that he isn't the only one who finds it hilarious.
Endou frowns at her. "I'm serious. It's awful!"
Raiden finds it very hard not to laugh as Endou tries to convince Natsumi that Raiden's "I'm not angry, just disappointed" look is just like his father's.
⚽⚽⚽⚽
April 29, 2022
Word count: 4,512 words
This one has been on the back burner for a while, but I had the sudden urge to complete it. It's been a while since I've written some of these characters, and it's the first time I've written Hijikata, so any kind if feedback would be appreciated.