"Tenma?" Tsurugi knocked against the door with a weak rap. Despite knowing what Tenma's reaction would be, he still came, wanting to speak with Tenma again. However, when the door opened, he was met with a low snarl.
Beneath him was Sasuke, baring its teeth at him with a vicious snap. "Grr!"
Tsurugi backed away. Sasuke didn't move but he kept his eyes straight on him.
"Sasuke?" The striker said, dumbfounded. The dog only growled louder and he stepped forward in front of the door, completely blocking the entrance to the room.
Tsurugi stared at him and he began to understand Sasuke's intentions. He wasn't allowing the striker come into the room at all. Tenma must've told him already, and the dog was merely protecting his master.
"Can I speak to Tenma?" Tsurugi slowly asked. It felt weird for him to ask that, to a dog nonetheless. But, he had to do it.
Sasuke barked angrily, which Tsurugi assumed was a no. The navy-haired boy sighed, "So he told you what happened, then."
Sasuke continued to growl, not moving an inch.
"Let us help him, Sasuke." Tsurugi stated to the dog. All he got was another loud bark from him.
"Sasu-"
"Tsurugi-kun?" A female voice cut his sentence. The said boy blinked, before turning around to see her.
"Aki-san."
Aki gave him a small smile and walked towards him. "I didn't hear you come in."
Tsurugi frowned. "I'm sorry. I didn't knock when I came here."
Aki let out a giggle, shaking her head. "No, it's fine. Tenma did the same thing earlier." She stated, glancing at the barely open door and Sasuke growling in front of it.
"I see." Tsurugi said, doing the same. Both of them didn't say a word after that, merely looking at the dog and the door.
"...Tenma ran straight to his room when he came in." Aki said eventually. Tsurugi stayed silent, letting her talk.
"Even though I was in the living room, he didn't greet me at all. He just opened the manor door, ran to his room and closed the door without saying a single word." Aki explained.
"I was about to go to his room and ask him what's wrong, but Sasuke beat me to it." She said, smiling at the dog before her.
Sasuke almost stopped growling when he saw Aki. But since Tsurugi was still there, Sasuke continued. The striker looked at the dog with a frown.
"Sasuke wouldn't let you in?" Aki asked.
Tsurugi shook his head. "No. He just keeps growling."
Aki nodded quietly. She glanced at the dog and then at the door he was blocking.
"Tell me, Tsurugi-kun." Aki muttered quietly. The young woman turned to him with a worried expression. "What exactly happened in Okinawa?"
Tsurugi winced. Instantly, all the memories of what happened came back to his mind. It took everything in him to not walk away right then and there.
The striker bit his lip. He didn't want to tell her, but at the same time he needed to tell her. Aki's the one that took care of Tenma when he came here. She deserved to know. Aki probably didn't know the whole truth, either.
Tsurugi sighed. Like it or not, he had to explain.
"It started when we were going home from the match."
Aki had used at least five tissues when he was done. When Tsurugi started to tell her everything, Aki led them both to the living room to chat in private so that neither Tenma nor Sasuke could hear. And she was thankful she had done that, because if she hadn't then they would've heard her sobbing by the door.
Tsurugi stared at her sympathetically. This was why he didn't want to tell her. He knew that she would end up crying her heart out when he's done.
He told her basically the whole thing, not leaving a single detail. He told her of Tenma's weird behavior when they had reached the mansion. He told her of Karin's accidental slip-up. He told her of Kenta's stern warning to not bother Tenma again.
He told her of Tenma's talk with his...father. He told her of Tenma's reaction when he saw him eavesdropping. He told her of Tenma's outburst. He told her of everyone's reaction.
Everything. He told her everything.
He had seen enough people cry yesterday, Tenma alone was enough; he didn't need nor want to see another person cry again.
"But..."
Aki's voice snapped him from his thoughts. He looked up and saw that Aki had stopped her crying, now only mere hiccups.
"I heard Tenma say you betrayed him." Aki stated, wiping her tears. Tsurugi couldn't help but do a double take at that, even though a part of him expected it.
"What did he mean by that?" Aki questioned.
Tsurugi turned away from her, not bearing to look at her in the eye. "...I broke my promise with him. I had told him that I wouldn't tell anyone, but I went behind his back and told everyone."
The striker balled his fists and he gritted his teeth. "But, I didn't have a choice! I just couldn't watch my best friend suffer and do nothing!" He nearly shouted the last part to the woman before him.
Tsurugi quickly calmed down and sighed, "I...I had to do something. I can't stand seeing him hurt." He eventually confessed.
Aki watched the striker's near outburst in shock and surprise. Until now, she never saw Tsurugi like that. She didn't expect him to lose his cool. But after hearing his reasons, Aki gave the boy a smile. It was probably not a good smile, since her face was a mess because of the crying, but it was still a smile.
"It's not your fault." Her soft voice said.
Tsurugi turned back to her with his eyes wide. Out of all outcomes and comebacks he predicted, what she just said wasn't one of them.
Aki saw the disbelief in his eyes and furrowed her eyebrows. "You wanted to help a friend in need. What's wrong with that?"
"I betrayed him." Tsurugi replied. "I broke our promise-"
"For the better." Aki interrupted. She put her hand on Tsurugi's shoulder comfortingly. "Tenma will understand. He's just shocked that someone knows, since he's been putting it in the dark for so long."
"...He won't forgive me."
Aki shook her head. "No, I'm sure he will. Tenma's the type that already gave his forgiveness even before the person asked for it."
A small smile appeared on the striker's face and he almost chuckled. That does sound like Tenma.
"Thanks to you, he won't be facing this alone anymore." Aki pulled her hand away, placing it on her lap. "You broke his trust, though, so you and the others have to think of a way to earn it back." Aki added, giving him a taste of reality.
Tsurugi stayed silent, but nodded anyway. "I will." The striker said with a small smile. "Thank you, Aki-san.
When Tsurugi walked back to Tenma's door, Sasuke was still standing there, guarding it. Apparently he stopped growling when the boy was out of his sight, but he went back to doing it again when Tsurugi came into his view. Tsurugi almost sighed, seeing that this dog was almost as stubborn as his owner.
Tsurugi stopped in front of the dog. "Sasuke, let me in."
Sasuke didn't move from his spot. He merely bared his teeth and barked.
Aki went to stand beside Tsurugi and crouched to Sasuke's level, giving the dog a smile. "Please, Sasuke. At least, let Tsurugi-kun talk to Tenma from here."
Sasuke still didn't budge.
Noticing that their efforts weren't enough, Tsurugi took a deep breath and said, "I won't hurt him again."
Both Aki and Sasuke looked at him in surprise. Seeing that it was too late to back down, Tsurugi continued. "If I do, you can hurt me as a punishment."
Sasuke's eyes perked up, and he stopped growling. The dog looked at him, as if he's searching for any signs of a lie. Even Aki was a bit shocked at the sudden statement.
"Please, Sasuke." Tsurugi said quietly, frowning while pushing his stubborn pride aside. "Let me talk to him."
That seemed to be enough for Sasuke, since he slowly walked away from the door. Tsurugi himself didn't expect the dog to finally let him do it, but he was grateful nonetheless.
Aki's eyes softened and she pet the dog. "Thank you, Sasuke." The dog leaned to her touch, wagging his tail.
"Thank you, Sasuke." Tsurugi nodded. Then, the striker turned back to the door and proceeded to knock on it. But, a low snarl stopped his knuckle from touching the wooden surface. Tsurugi glanced at Sasuke, slightly surprised.
The dog glanced between him and the door and did a quiet growl. Tsurugi understood what he was trying to say. Sasuke may have let him talk to Tenma, but he didn't trust him enough to go in the room.
Makes sense, Tsurugi thought. I would probably do the same if I were him.
"Okay." Tsurugi said, pulling his hand away from the door. Sasuke huffed, and leaned back to Aki's touch.
"Let's go, Sasuke. It's time for lunch." Aki said to the dog, earning a happy bark. Sasuke quickly made his way to the door, glancing at Tsurugi cautiously before walking out of the manor with Aki behind him.
Aki turned to Tsurugi and flashed him a reassuring smile. "Good luck." She mouthed to him. Tsurugi gasped quietly, but he nodded and smiled back. Aki waved at him and followed Sasuke outside.
Turning back to the door in front of him, Tsurugi took a deep breath. This was the reason why he followed Tenma to his house. All of this happened because of him breaking his promise, and Tenma was obviously hurt by it. This was Tsurugi's chance to tell Tenma his reasons.
And, he was not going to mess it up.
"Tenma, I know you're in there." Tsurugi started. "Your dog didn't let me in, so I can only talk to you from here."
He got only silence as a response.
Tsurugi bit his lip and continued. "I know you're mad at me. No, you're furious maybe. You probably hate me and everyone else right now. But, it's okay. I understand."
"But, let me explain myself just this once. Why I broke our promise. Why I went behind your back. Why I told everyone your secret."
Again, only silence greeted him. But, Tsurugi ignored it.
"Tenma, you're important to me. You're precious to me. Not just me, but to everyone else. You're our precious friend. You're the one that made us realize that we love soccer. You're the one that lead us to winning the Holy Road championship. You're the one that cheers everyone up. You're the one that saves the day. You're the one that motivates us to be stronger. You're the glue that holds us all together."
"That's why we care about you. We don't ever want to see you sad, even more so cry. We don't ever want to see you hurt or injured. That's why everyone always freaks out when you got injured. Especially Shindou-senpai and Shinsuke. They practically went nuts every time." Tsurugi smiled at the last part.
"We don't want to see you suffer. We don't want to see you in pain. Even though you heal pretty quickly, we'd still be worried." Tsurugi admitted. After that, he stayed silent for a few minutes. What's going to matter would be what he says after this. Tsurugi's not the type to do a speech, but it doesn't hurt to try.
"...That's why I broke our promise. When I saw that man hurt you, I felt really angry. There was this sudden rage inside of me that almost made me burst into the room that very second. He hurt you; he hurt my best friend. I couldn't stand that." Tsurugi said, balling his fist.
"When I saw you cry, I couldn't stand that either. You're not supposed to cry. You're supposed to be happy. You look better when you're smiling. That, I'm sure everyone in the team will agree."
"But when you told me to not tell the others, I couldn't agree to that. You basically told me to hide your suffering and sadness from everyone else...I just couldn't agree to that. I think I'll never agree to anything like that." Tsurugi said, shaking his head to no one in particular.
"I had to tell them. Like I said, we don't want to see you sad or hurt. We'll do whatever it takes to make you happy. I don't care what we do, but if it'll make you happy, then I'll gladly do it. We'll protect you. We'll beat whoever dares to even lay a finger on you. You won't be hurt again." Tsurugi said with the most determination and confidence he ever had for a while.
"You've been suffering alone for way too long. You hid your pain from your friends and acted cheerful all the time. Sometimes, you even faked your smile." Tsurugi looked down, frowning.
"I'm sorry I didn't realize it sooner. I'm sorry I didn't notice it sooner. I'm sorry I didn't help you sooner. We're all sorry, for not realizing that our most precious friend was suffering from the inside."
"I'm sorry that we broke your trust. I'm sorry that I broke our promise. It's okay if you don't forgive us. I'm sure everyone will understand. But, there's one thing that I want you to know, Tenma." Tsurugi looked up from the floor and took a deep breath.
"You're not alone anymore. You have a lot of friends that are beside you, that are willing to help you. All you need to do is ask, and they'll be there...I'll be there. You've helped and saved us countless of times. This time, we'll help and save you."
Silence filled his ears. Tsurugi stared at the door with a worried frown. Did Tenma hear what he said? Did Tenma understand what he meant? Or did he ignore every word Tsurugi said?
Realizing that he won't get a response, Tsurugi sighed and turned to the door. But, he had one last thing to say before he goes home.
"We're going to try our best to earn your trust back. And, we'll always be there for you. That's a promise that I'll never break as long as I live." Tsurugi ended his speech. Then, he made his way to the manor door.
"It won't be easy."
Tsurugi gasped and turned around. Standing there in front of the door was Tenma, still wearing the clothes he wore when he got here. His hair was messy, probably because he stuffed his head on the pillow for too long. There were tear streaks on his face, meaning that he had been crying again. Tsurugi mentally frowned when he saw that. The brunet looked tired and sleepy, but otherwise he seemed fine.
"It'll be hard and challenging." Tenma said, his voice hinting that he was indeed tired. Tsurugi didn't know if he was referring to them regaining his trust or them being forgiven or maybe even them releasing Tenma from his father's wrath. He didn't know, but he still nodded anyway.
"Everything will work out somehow." Tsurugi smiled and answered with Tenma's signature motto. Tenma blinked at the familiar saying. His face was blank for a few minutes, before he finally flashed a small smile.
"Yeah."