Once everyone left, you and Sangoku had stayed a while back. Both of your guardians had arrived, and you and Sangoku shared the fluster from the shower of congratulations and praises your guardians gave.
However, you had to excuse yourself in that moment. Yuukoku had you promised first you'd regroup with them outside. Then, you exited the locker rooms.
The hallways in Teikoku Academy was large. Even with the map, you had stood staring at it, trying to discern where were you and where Tsurugi would be.
That boy tends to go to the vending machines, you pondered. He must really like to drink soft drinks a lot, huh? But could he still be in the school? Should I just go outside and find him there? But then Uncle will drag me away —
"What are you doing?" said a masculine voice behind you.
You emitted an ugly screeched and elbowed the person behind you. The person yelped, holding onto his stomach.
You twisted around. You paled when you realised you had elbowed one of the defenders from Teikoku. With his light white hair that defied gravity from below to the top, his fringes that covered most of the left, thus revealing only his right violet eye, you remembered his name was Ryuuzaki Ouji.
Immediately, you waved your hands around over his stomach. He held up a hand to cease your fretting.
"Calm ... down," he grunted. He patted his stomach, sighing. "I'm fine. If I can't handle a measly hit to the stomach like that, what use I am defending the field?"
Your response was to bow to him nonetheless. He blinked twice, before, as softly as he could, told you to stand straight. You followed his request with twiddling fingers.
"You..." he started, rubbing his neck. "You're one of Raimon's players, or one of their managers?"
You held up two fingers.
"Ah, you can hold ... both positions?"
You nodded.
"Not much of a talker, are you?"
You smiled while your eyebrows crinkled upwards. He sweated.
"Sorry, that was insensitive of me to ask."
You shook your head.
"Oh, so it wasn't insensitive?" He paused, then cleared his throat. "Anyways ... what are you doing? Haven't your whole club went back?"
You held up a hand. Then, you brought out your phone and typed to him. He read what you wrote. His eyes narrowed.
"So you're looking for that traitor?"
You glared back. He sighed.
"Ugh, he's already left. Why do you even want to search for him?"
"Because there's something I want to check on him."
"What? You fractured a bone of his when you hug him?"
You growled at that, and Ryuuzaki jumped. The growl you emitted, he thought, sounded far from what humans would make. Once you saw his relented figure, you huffed and turned away from him.
"H-hold on!"
You turned back to him, an eyebrow raised.
"Don't you realise what you've done?"
Your eyes blinked in surprise. You regained yourself to think for a moment, but Ryuuzaki pressed on rather to wait for your answer.
"Aren't you scared of what will come from the face of Fifth Sector?"
It hits you what he had asked. Tsurugi-kun, your heart ached. There was certainly consequence for him. Your eyes also softened towards Ryuuzaki, taking him by surprise.
Ryuuzaki was a SEED, too, like Tsurugi and that Andou from Tengawara. There's certainly a lot out there, who some could be in the same predicament as Tsurugi or worse, and wants to escape.
Of course, you don't know how Ryuuzaki feels, but you made sure you were honest with him. You showed him your answer:
"I know the consequences. And I'm scared, but I'm prepared, because it's the risk I wanted to take for my friends."
You smiled, before you left him be to ponder over your words.
♡ --- ♡ --- ♡
It was at the time you had brought ice cream thanks to your Uncle that you managed to find Tsurugi. You saw, within the corner of your eyes in the ice cream store, that you spotted Tsurugi walking down the lane earlier.
You told your Uncle there was something you wanted to do. Once you clarified to him what it was, he accompanied you in your search.
The two of you reached the riverbank. You tapped on Yuukoku's palm that you've found Tsurugi. He nodded, and released your hand to reach the latter.
Tsurugi turned around when he heard footsteps behind him. "[Surname]?" he said. You waved.
He, surprisingly, made some space on the stairs for you to sit down. You thanked him with a small bow before taking the seat besides him.
"What are you doing around here?" He narrowed his eyes. "Did you stalked me? Since you did that before and met Nii-san."
You grew red in embarrassment and shook your head. He stifled a chuckle. He made sure to look away when he caught your surprised stare.
"Ahem," he coughed," I was just kidding. You're probably out with your ... relative over there, again, I presume?"
You nodded.
"He's your Uncle, right?"
You nodded again.
"You two ... are very close. Does he play soccer too?"
Your smile widened. You nodded your head a bit too fast. You, after handing your ice cream to Tsurugi, whipped your phone out to reply:
"Uncle played a lot when he was younger. Of course, now isn't as frequent because of his eyes."
"His eyes?" Tsurugi repeated. "Wait, is he...."
"Yep, he's blind."
"Then, how do you two communicate if he can't see you use sign language and he couldn't hear your voice?"
"I tap his palm."
"Tap his palm? You don't trace words down on his palm instead?"
"Sometimes I do. Other times I use both."
"So you mixed it up huh..." Tsurugi went silent for a moment. He looked to the sky.
You looked to the sky too. It was a pretty orange, mixed with pinks and dark blues. Aside from night, this was one of the times in the days when you were energetic. Your cheeks turned pink when you remembered the time Shindou had seen your little dance on the riverbank field.
"How does..." Tsurugi began "... how does he share the same dreams as you?"
You understood the question. Tsurugi wondered how Yuukoku, whose eyes were blind; unable to watch you play, unable to see your smile when you score a goal or play with your friends, that you two could share the joy of soccer.
You smiled softly. "Uncle knows I love soccer, and he can hear it when I kick a move the ball around. He understands my love for soccer, and I understand his own love for soccer. For me, I think that's enough for us to share our dreams together."
Tsurugi stared. His mouth pressed into a thin line while his eyes turned to the ground. His head was buried in between his legs, so you couldn't quite tell if he had a change in expression. You laid a hand on his shoulder.
"I envy you," he suddenly said. "Did you know that? I really envy you. About how you can muster up a smile, about how brave you are on the field, whether it's against me, or against others. You just –" His voice shook, and so did his shoulders. "But it's so weird. You don't push me away, despite what I did. You're still here. Why? Why are you so willing to listen?"
Your eyes softened. Tsurugi, which you couldn't see, bit his lip to withhold the whimpers in his throat. But he couldn't stop the tears that dropped onto the pavement stairs. You reached out a hand again to pat his hair. Your fingers that combed through his strands made him struggle further to not cry out then and there.
"You ⸺ I ⸺ how do you do it? H-how," he gasped, "how do you find your solutions? How can I find a way to help Nii-san now? H-his legs are ⸺ I ⸺"
You hugged him. Your cheek was pressed against his hair, and all that was between you and Tsurugi were the whispers of both of your breathing and Tsurugi's sniffles.
You pulled away when Tsurugi moved in your arms. He didn't dare look at you, his head still lowered to the ground, while he wiped his face.
He did muster up the courage in the end to face you, despite being embarrassed that you could see his red nose. With some stutters, he voiced out, "T-thank you for ... this. Ugh, I shouldn't have just loaded it out on you ⸺"
You hushed him. From your eyes, you signalled he shouldn't degrade himself, so he sighed and nodded. He looked away again, placing his hand against his chin and mouth.
"You won't tell anyone else about this, will you?"
You shook your head. He gave you a doubtful stare.
"Promise?"
You held up a pinkie. Another childish act, Tsurugi couldn't help but think. Even so, he lifted up his own pinkie and intertwined it with yours. You shook both of your pinkies up and down.
Tsurugi's eyelids were lowered once your pinkies broke apart. He whispered to you, "That plushie you gave ⸺ and if Nii-san did tell you about it and all ⸺ yeah, I kept it."
A star of surprise hits your head.
"I was being considerate!" he reasoned quickly. "Ahem, look, I ... I'm sorry, for those times when I hurt your feelings and pushed you away. And also, for that time in the riverbank."
Ah, he must be referring to our first practice with Coach Endou, you realised. You gave him a smile, signifying you accepted his apology.
However, he frowned. You tilted your head, a concerned frown on your face, as though asking him whether there was something wrong again. He shook his head.
"Let me make it up to you, properly," he added. "I'll teach you how to use your Kenshin, and I can ⸺ if you ⸺ ever need help, you can ask for me ... for my help, a-as your friend."
He turned away quickly so you wouldn't see his blush. Though, you giggled when you noticed the reddened tips of his ears. A mixed wave of embarrassment and annoyance washed over him.
"Hmph, whatever." He stood up. You jolted, standing up after him. Immediately, you grab for his hand, surprising him.
"Thank chu! For wanting to be my fwiend!" you voiced out, despite in a raspy tone.
Tsurugi's face slowly reddened again. However, he mustered up a little smile as he nodded your way. "So," he mumbled, "you don't mind we start over?"
You shook your head, smiling back.
Suddenly, a cough came from behind the two of you. Tsurugi snatched his hand back. Yuukoku was now closer in distance between you and Tsurugi. You saw he held up some more ice cream cones.
"Did I interrupt something ongoing?"
"Ah, no sir," Tsurugi answered.
"That's good to hear." Yuukoku handed out an ice cream towards Tsurugi, much to the latter's surprise. Hesitantly, Tsurugi took the ice cream and thanked your uncle.
"You're welcome," Yuukoku said. "Ice cream is a delicious way to cheer up after some tears."
Tsurugi choked on his ice cream. You patted his back quickly. Although he couldn't see your pout directed at him, Yuukoku chuckled.
Your uncle reached out and patted Tsurugi's head. "I'm not teasing you, kiddo. But if it seemed that way to you, I apologise. I say, it's a good thing that you're not bottling those emotions up anymore."
"What ... are you trying to say, sir?" Tsurugi asked. His grip on the ice cream tightened as he peered up at Yuukoku.
"I'm saying kids like you should have fun at your age. And that kids like you shouldn't feel the need to hold back your feelings. It isn't healthy."
Tsurugi stared; mouth agaped slightly.
"And if you do have any problems, you can tell a trusted adult, be it a relative, counsellor, etcetera. Or if not a trusted adult, then a friend will do. That's how you can come up with a solution to your problems. Two heads are better than one after all."
Tsurugi cast his gaze at you, then back at Yuukoku, then back onto you once again. You and Yuukoku gave him a smile. Smiles that made his insides warm. Yours gave him a little flutter.
What Yuukoku said was true, Tsurugi noted that. Tsurugi saw it now how lonely he was, especially when his older brother spends more time in the hospital because of his legs, and when his parents worked hard to get money to pay for the hospital bills.
"Thank you for your advice, sir," Tsurugi had whispered before he received another pat to the head by Yuukoku.
"You're welcome again, kiddo."
Tsurugi made a resolve that day. He'll better himself, for Yuuichi, for himself, for his parents. He'll do his best, too, to gain the trust of his teammates, and to gain your trust.
Small steps, he reminded himself, until you can see him as a worthy friend.