The next morning, you decided to take Haru out for a walk for a bit. Just to kill some time. And luckily for you, Hikaru decided to accompany.
You two haven't talked like before in a while either. He's been acting so off lately so you were more than happy when he offered to accompany you.
You opened the front door and almost lost it when you saw the state of the front yard.
It was completely torn up like as if it was just hit by a hurricane. You walked round the trashed yard and picked up a dead flower.
"C'mon I just planted these" The worst part was that this is the third time it's happened this week.
"Hey, Manager, come look" you suddenly head Hikaru's voice and went to join him, still holding Haru's leash tight.
You frowned when you saw a soccer ball just lying there. It looked just as beaten up as the rest of the yard.
Your frown then turned to a scowl.
'Someone has been practicing here'
You picked up the ball and saw a familiar sign and initials on it. You recognized it in a heartbeat as you clenched the ball angrily.
"M-Manager? Are you okay?" You noticed Hikaru had taken a step back sensing your rage.
You took a deep breath and gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Hold onto Haru for me for a while, okay sweetie?" you gently handed the leash over to him before heading back to the front door.
"S-Sweetie?"
Once you reached the door, you banged it open.
"Kira mother freaking Hiroto!!" Everyone in the room paused what they were doing to look at you.
"Told you she'd find out," Tatsuya suddenly said as he shook his head while still scrolling through his phone.
"Care to explain what happened to the to the front yard?" Your voice was low and came out through gritted teeth.
"I...uh... Do I still have a way to get out of this?"
"What is wrong with you?! I literally just had it fixed two days ago!" You yelled as you hurled the ball at him, which he caught easily by the way.
"Why were you practicing in the front yard anyway? The backyard is big enough for all of us" Nosaka mused and Hiroto glared at him before turning to face you.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? It's just that I like practicing on my own sometimes. I'll pay to get it fixed, promise" he said but you were still not letting it go.
"Uh huh, no way you're taking the easy way out of this! You are going to clean that mess up by yourself!" You crossed your arms.
"B-But I'm not a gardner," his face fell. "Neither am I now you better get to it if you want to finish it up today," you said.
"Today? How bad is it?" Gouenji asked and Tatsuya snorted, "Very bad, trust me,"
You then sighed before turning around to Hikaru who had Haru snuggled up in his arms. He blinked at you as you took the leash from his hand and placed Haru on the floor.
"C'mon let's go,"
___________
"Do you think I was a bit harsh?" You asked as both you and Hikaru sat down on a bench in a park to rest for a bit.
"About what?"
"Hiro messing up the yard,"
"Oh, well I think that-"
"Like, I know he didn't mean to do it on purpose but c'mon!"
"Yeah, well-"
"But even if he did do it on purpose, I probably shouldn't have made a big deal out of it"
"That's-"
"And he also still apologized so maybe I should just reconsider letting him fix it on his own"
"I-"
"I think you're right. I guess I did overreact a bit"
"But-"
"Thanks, Hikaru, you're such a great and listner" you smiled patting the boy on his shoulder as you rose to your feet.
"Let's go,"
"Wh......why do I even bother?" He mused as he shook his head amusingly at you before following your lead and heading back home.
You got home and saw Hiroto sitting on the porch, his head resting on both palms as he contemplated how he's going to fix all of this.
You tried to hide your smile as you watched him think. You've never seen him so deep in thought before.
"Hiro," you called making the said striker flinch back a bit.
"M-Manager, y-you're back" he stuttered looking everywhere else but at you.
"Look. I'm sorry for overreacting and yelling at you in front of everyone and if you don't want to, you don't have to clean up," you said but to your surprise he frowned.
"Did you hit your head or something? Why are you suddenly acting so forgiving? Is this a trap," He raised an accusing brow at you, this time making you frown.
"What?"
"It's a trap, right?" He turns towards Hikaru who just shrugs.
"You know what, forget I even said anything! Clean this place up since you want to so bad!" You huffed before storming inside but stopped when you felt Hiroto grab your wrist.
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Thanks" he said half laughing at your red face but you still glared at him.
"C'mon, Maya, I was only joking" he smiled but you still gave him a deadpan stare.
"Fine, I'll take you out for ice cream later today," he sighed making you smile.
"Now you're talking" you ruffled his hair, much to his protests, and went on inside.
*⚽*
It was around 7pm in the evening. You had just arrived from your little trip to the ice cream shop with Hiroto as you decided to rest in your room for a bit since it was still a bit too early to start preparing dinner.
On your way there, you saw Nishikage leave Nosaka's room with a look of hurt and anger on his face.
You watched him walk all the way to his room before slamming the doors shut.
You frowned.
This wasn't like him to act like that. Now that you thought about it, you can't even remember him loosing his cool like that.
You wanted to ask Nosaka what had happened but decided to check if Nishikage was alright.
You walked over to his door and knocked. It took a few seconds but he finally opened the door.
He didn't even bother to greet you or ask what you wanted as he just left the door opened for you to walk in and went to sit on his bed, probably continuing to think about what he was pondering on before you knocked.
You stood by the door after closing it gently but he still didn't say anything thing or even move at that.
"Seiya?" You called but was met with dead silence. He didn't even look at you.
Now you know for a fact that something was definitely bothering him.
"Seiya, are you okay?" You asked softly as you went to sit beside him on the edge of the bed and placed your hand on his shoulder.
He still didn't respond as he kept staring at nothing.
"You know you can tell me if something is bothering you" you said making him sigh.
"Is it about Yuuma?" This time he actually looked at you. Bingo.
"Tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can talk to him for you," you said "Here, lay down for a bit," you knew he wasn't really used to people taking care of him since it was usually the other way around but you are still his manager so it was your duty.
Plus he was practically one of the nicest and sweetest people you knew even though he doesn't show it very often.
He obliged to what you said without complain and you adjusted yourself a bit so that you were sitting up and resting your back on the headboard while he was laying down.
"So, what happened?" You asked after a moment of silence.
"It's just that Nosaka-san has been having these weird headaches and spontaneous seizures lately," he started.
Hold up.
"He's been having what?! Why didn't he say anything?!" You asked
"He didn't want to make a big deal out of it and worry you for no reason but I found out just yesterday after practice," he continued.
"What did you do then?"
"I confronted him. I told him to tell you and go see a doctor to get himself checked out because what if...." He paused and you looked at him.
His eyes were tightly shut as he gripped onto the sheets. You patted his head a bit waiting for him to calm down untill he finally let out a sigh.
"What if what?"
"What if it's connected to the brain tumor he had a while back," he finally said.
"Brain tumor? I thought he already had it taken care of," you said rather confused. It's been like five years already so you wondered why it would affect him now.
"He did but Nosaka-san is known for doing risky things in order to protect the ones he loves and I just feel like there's something he's not telling us." He replied staring at the ceiling.
"Well, if it is related to his brain tumor then he should see a doctor" you stated.
"That's what I've been trying to tell him but he's just too stubborn. I tried to talk to him again but he just kicked me out.
Huh?
"He did?" You asked and the goalkeeper nodded.
Yup, Nosaka is definitely hiding something. Because for him to kick even Nishikage out then that means he doesn't want us to figure something out.
"I'll talk to him for you, okay?" You smiled before getting up. "You should rest for a while. I'll come get you when dinner is ready" you said before leaving.
You glanced at Nosaka's door before heading up to your room.
You knew Nosaka very well. And you knew that the first time he was diagnosed with his brain tumor, he refused to tell anyone and even kept playing soccer until he almost completely destroyed himself so you wouldn't put it past him to do it again especially with the Asian Football Championship still going on.
But you also knew that if something was actually wrong with him and he decided to keep it from you all then he must have his reasons but just to be safe, you decided to call coach and request for him to be benched in the next game.
It was a lot to ask since Asuto couldn't also play thanks to his sprain but you knew your coach would find a way.
And with that, you made your way downstairs to start preparing dinner for everyone.
On your way to the kitchen, you bumped into Matteo.
"Maya, I would like to talk to you for a bit" he said. He sounded serious which was kind of rare making you worry a bit.
"Is everything okay?" You asked.
"The truth is-" his words were cut off by the sound of a loud crash coming from the living room so you decided to check it out.
"I'll be right back," you said as you went to the living room and frowned at the sight.
You saw Asuto sitting on the floor looking like he's about to cry from pain and Haizaki and Atsuya holding one of his crutches each looking like they were about to hit each other with it. There was also a broken framed picture on the floor with shattered glass around it.
Kidou and Mizukamia were trying to hold Haizaki back while Tatsuya and Shirou were trying to hold Atsuya back. Meanwhile, Akio and Kira were just laughing in the background.
"Are you guys crazy?! What are you doing?!" You asked as you went to kneel beside Asuto and help him walk towards the couch and away from the broken glass.
"Long story short, they got into a fight over whose the better striker, took one of Asuto's crutches each and decided to hit each other with it, Asuto ended up losing his balance and crashed into that picture" Endou explained finally pointing at the broken pieces of glass on the floor.
"Well, what used to be that picture," he scratched his head making you sweat drop.
You felt like you should already be used to these things happening randomly but for some reason, you still weren't.
With great effort, Kazemaru and Gouenji were able to pry both crutches from Haizaki and Atsuya before placing them by Asuto's side who flinched when you tried to check if his leg was okay.
"It's all his fault! If he weren't so delusional about being the best striker on the team then poor Asuto wouldn't even be in all this pain," Haizaki said roughly poking Atsuya on his chest.
"My fault?! It's you who's being delusional!" The orange haired striker yelled back.
"Will you both shut up! I don't care who's fault it is, I want you both to apologize to him right now!" You said motioning to Asuto who was currently being reevaluated by Olivia.
They both then mumbled a
'sorry' before turning the other way from each other. "It's fine, really. No need to apologize," Asuto replied as he waved them off.
"Well luckily, I can't find any pieces of glass that might have have punctured your side, just a light bruise which should heal in a day or two and your leg still seems fine" Olivia said as you breath a sigh of relief knowing that it could've gone so much worse.
After cleaning up the mess of broken glass and making sure that no one would accidentally step on a stray shard, you resumed back to the kitchen.
You then turned to Matteo remembering that he had wanted to tell you something.
"Ah, Matt, you wanted to tell me something?" You asked as you looked up at him.
"N-No just forget it. It's not that important." He said and you were about to ask again when he picked an apron and wore it before tying the strings round his waist.
"Want some help?" He asked.
"Sure," you said finally deciding to change the topic and let the old one go.
'I can't tell her just yet, it's still not the right time....'