[Fanfic] Shaved legs.
Title: Shaved legs
Author: hikarinoniji
Rating: PG
Pairing: Yabu/OC
Genre: Romance/Comedy
Disclaimer: None of this ever happened.
Summary: When he first meets that tall foreigner on campus, he decided he doesn't like her. She is blunt, bold and shows no respect to men. However, when he ends up being locket up with her, he sees a whole different side of her.
The first time we met was on campus. She was big, loud, simply there and not afraid to show it. Her half-long brown hair was tied up in a tight ponytail, her bangs casually framing her round face and covering her big round, bright eyes. Her lips were nearly always formed into a mischievous smile, a playful grin and a silent warning to those who passed her. She wasn’t one to mess with.
She was tall, taller than me probably, but I wasn’t sure because of her ever so sloppy posture. She was a foreigner without a doubt, but one without an accent and with excellent knowledge of our language. She was the type of person people either really liked, or just really didn’t. I happened to do the latter from the moment we met.
I rushed through the people. Classes had ended just now and I hoped to be first on the training fields to shoot some balls by myself, before the rest of the team would show up and things would become crowded. She was present at the wrong moment, the wrong time and next to that she probably wasn’t taking her surroundings in account or she would have seen me rushing her way. We bumped into each other and I felt my own lanky body bouncing off against hers and falling backwards.
I winced and uttered a curse underneath my breath. When I looked up I saw she already got up again, wiping the dust and dirt from her ripped jeans with the edge of her university sweater’s sleeve. She casted a look at me, and muttered, “I’m sorry lady, you alright?”
“Lady?!” I heard my own voice cracking as I nearly spat out the question, what part of me made her think I was female?
She blinked, her blue eyes taking up my body once more and sticking around near my leg area.
“Oh my god,” she exclaimed in English, “you’re a guy.”
“What made you realize, Sherlock?” I asked back, annoyed by the fact that she seemed to be legit surprised.
She stifled a giggle and pointed at my legs, I followed her finger and saw nothing out of the ordinary about them.
I think she saw my puzzled look because she explained, in a rather bold manner, “the amount of hair on your legs might just be enough to knit warm sweaters for my entire dorm. Really, if you were a girl you would have shaved it. Really, bless your legs for keeping awkward situations like these to the minimum.”
Was she serious? I looked at my legs again, wondering whether it was really that bad, before remembering myself I had to come back with a witty comment. I couldn’t let this girl walk all over me.
However, before I opened my mouth to speak, a third voice chimed in and both our heads turned to the voice, “oneechan! There you are…”
A tall young man came dashing our way. Despite his build, height and quite heavy voice he looked like he was younger than the both of us and as he came closer his eyes shifted over my body.
“Oneechan, why is Yabu-senpai on the ground?”
She shrugged casually, “because he ran into me. How do you know his name anyway?”
“He’s the captain of the school’s soccer team,” the younger male eagerly answered, and hadn’t I been so offended by the fact that the girl, who was obviously named Hikari (which I thought was strange for a foreigner), bluntly said I ran into her while she was at fault herself too, I would actually have been proud people around here actually knew my name.
“Ah,” she answered casually, her gaze meeting mine as she stuck out her hand to help me up, “well, nice meeting you, captain-senpai.”
Not wanting to look like a loser, needing the help of a girl to get up I ignored her hand and crawled up myself, not even bothering to wipe off the dirt off my shorts, after all, they would get dirty again during training anyway. She looked at me, and I was sure I saw a slight hint of rejection visible in her light eyes. However, she quickly turned her head away from gaze and looked at the younger boy.
“Come on Yuto, we have somewhere to go,” quickly she grabbed the younger man’s hand and dragged him along as he tried to squeak a protest, which obviously got ignored by the tall girl. I watched as they disappeared from my sight and shrugged. She was none of my business anymore.
I picked up the bag I had dropped and swung it over my shoulder. Casually, I looked at the direction Hikari had disappeared and I shook my head. Nope, none of my concern.
I had still been the first to arrive at the field, but by the time I had changed shoes and placed my bag somewhere safe the other’s slowly started dropping by too. New and old faces, scared and excited ones. They looked me up and down, each and every one of them drawn to the bright red piece of fabric around my arm. It showed I was the captain, the one in charge. It also meant I had to be the leader on the field, the most trusted man on the field, and while I liked having the authority I was afraid for the burden it would bring along with it.
Years ago, it had been since our University had last won something, but that was way before my time. I decided that this was my year, I would give my team the glory back it deserved.
I looked around and saw a decent amount of people had gathered on the field, some chatting, others passing the ball to each other as a little warming up.
“Yo, Kouta,” I heard a familiar voice saying and my eyes lid up as I saw my best friend walking up to me.
“Hikaru, don’t tell me you’re here for the try-outs,” I grinned.
“Hell no, I’m here to see how you gather yet another team of failure’s,” he laughed and because of that mischievous laughter I knew he was messing with me, I just wasn't going to admit to him it was working, “did you know it has been exactly 22 years since we last won that shiny cup you want to have so, so much? I wish you luck buddy!”
Awkwardly, I laughed back at the brown haired who patted my shoulder as friendly gesture.
“I’m going to win this year though!” I yelled as he made his way to the stands, but instead of turning around and proving me wrong he just stuck a hand in the air as a sign he heard it.
I sighed and whistled between my teeth, they had enough time to get ready by now, it was time to gather and start the try outs.
The boys gathered around me and just before I opened my mouth to speak, a high voice interrupted me.
“I’m sorry I’m so late, senpai. We got lost on campus, didn’t we, Yuto?”
The image of Hikari appeared in front of me, and I blinked. Instead of the casual clothes she had been wearing before, she now wore a soccer gear, that seemed to be too big for her. The red and white shirt swayed around her body and underneath the white shorts two smooth legs were shown.
My eyes fixed on her legs I smirked, “you’re a girl.”
She mimicked the gesture and raised a brow with it, “I see you are not.”
Stiffed laughter erupted from within the group and I felt my cheekbones getting a red shade. I clapped my hands to silence them and looked away from her legs, my gaze thrown in the center of the group.
“No time to talk anymore men-“ I emphasized the word ‘men’-“we have work to do.”
They all nodded at me and assenting cries sounded from the group. I was content to see everyone was able to find their place to where they had applied to try out for, even that handful lady and her tall friend that didn’t seem as bad.
Then it was time for me to watch out. Check my attackers, middle fielders and defenders. I noted they skills, speed but also their teamwork and timing. Soccer was a team sport after all, and just talent alone wasn’t going to bring anyone anywhere.
I found out the tall youngster that seemed to be dragged to anywhere by that girl, was 17-year old Nakajima Yuto. He has skipped a grade and was now in his first year of university. He was fast and skillful, gentle to his teammates a little less caring when it came to the opposite team. His movements were quick and stylish and for a moment I was awed by the young talent. He was the perfect middle-fielder I needed to back up and assist my attackers.
I smiled as I wrote down his name, but turned around when I heard excited cheers behind me. There she was again, in the goal, flexing her fingers as her blue eyes were fixed on the ball. She had bitten her lower lip and seemed to radiate such a concentration I nearly forgot who it was.
One of the guys that also made the team with me last year dribbled the ball at his foot and I remembered his killer shot. I wanted to warn her, after all she was still a girl, but I was to late and with a loud ‘thump’ the other’s foot had hit the ball before it blazed away.
I squinted my eyes, 3, 2, 1… cheers. I opened them again to see her lying in her goal, face to the ground but the ball firmly clenched in her hands. Her gear was messed up and he ponytail was loose. I figured she must have had some cat-like reflexes to be able to catch the ball, and nearly wanted to cheer for her. However, when she got up and her eyes met mine, all she did was show me a smug smirk and she casted her eyes down to her legs.
‘I’m a girl.’ It said.
And that was when I decided my team was boys only.
“Okay, guys, I have the list here. Congratulations to every one who was able to join the team, to those who weren’t picked, try harder for next year.”
I could feel how all their eyes burned on my face as I slowly read out their names. The team was far from perfect, but I was pretty sure I had seen some raw talent underneath that. I just had to polish it a little bit.
“… and Nakajima Yuto. That was the final list for selections, training starts tomorrow at 4, I expect you all to be there.”
Disappointed mumbles and happy laughter rose up, but one high clear voice silenced them all.
“Captain, mind to tell my why I’m not on the list?”
If her eyes had been able to shoot daggers, she was controlling herself really well right now. I took advantage of her impatient mood as I imitated the same gesture she made at me when she caught that ball, “I didn’t think you were able to do it.”
“I stopped every, single ball.” Her voice was low and cold, but I wasn’t going to be taken aback by a female.
“That might be so, but I took the entire team in account, and not just your individual talents, to which I admit you possess,” was my answer back, and I saw she wasn’t satisfied with it. I understood, I wouldn’t be either, but I was captain and this was my game, not some stranger girls who happened to be a decent goal keeper.
“… but I can make you a deal, you can become a part of the team.”
Her look softened, but her lips were still pursed, she obviously didn’t trust me. “as what?”
“Well, since you have no balls, you can take care of ours?” I threw her the net of balls and because of her quick reflexes she was able to catch them before they would hit her. Her face was red and her eyes were set on kill.
There was laughter here and there, but she didn’t seem to mind as she threw the net back with an even greater force. “Since you feel imitated by the presence of a girl, I’m guessing… Neither do you. Don’t worry, senpai. You can take care of them yourself.”
My smug grin disappeared as she snatched up her gloves and barged off the field, leaving the entire team behind her. At least it seemed like she wasn’t going to come back any time soon.
We trained 3 times a week, 2 hours a day. No matter whether it was cold, too hot, raining or too windy to get the ball anywhere, my boys were out on the field training their asses off. Gradually I felt like we were becoming better, and after 2 tough months we had toned back the goals we got against us from 10 to 2.
“You suck and it’s your own fault.”
I nearly choked in my own drink as I stared at Hikaru who casually sipped his soda and looked at me from over the edge of his class.
“I had never thought you were the person to choose with your dick instead of with your legs like you usually do when it comes to soccer.”
I threw him a glare, but he didn’t seem to mind and even though his voice was soft, I could hear the sharp edge underneath it, “I hate soccer and even I could tell she was really good, Kouta. And now you forced that tall Nakajima-kid to be your goalie, because everyone else refuses, but to me it seems like you’re dying to get him to play with you in the field. I don’t get you.”
It was true that would I have chosen Hikari to be my goalkeeper, Yuto could be moved to the center and I was able to play the attacking 4-3-3* system I loved so much. With him in my back we would be able to break open the game and he could assist me as the center attacker for goals. It was the perfect plan, if it wasn’t for that smug looking girl in my team.
Silently I just sat there and drank my coke. In defeat, Hikaru just shook his head.
“You do what you think is best, Kou…”
Yeah, I would do that.
Later that night, after my pretty much one-sided conversation with Hikaru, I passed the fields on my way to the dorms. Everything seemed to be alright, but as I came closer I saw there was a light still on in the little shack where we stored out supplies.
I frowned, wondering whether one of my boys had been ignoring my speeches of keeping it easy the night before the games and I moved closer to see who was still in there.
As I stood in the door, I heard a soft female voice humming and my frown grew deeper.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Hikari turned around, her big blue eyes alarmed. She seemed to relax when she saw it was me and shrugged.
“Yuto asked me to give him some tips for tomorrow, but when we came here to practice I noticed-“ she smirked “-you haven’t been really taking good care of your balls.”
I rolled my eyes and stepped inside, per accident knocking away the piece of wood she has used to keep the door open. She shrieked as the door slammed behind me and the lights fell off. Quickly I turned around, rambling at the door, but giving up after a while, leaving a frustrated kick on the wood.
I was sure I heard a muffled sob coming from somewhere in the darkness and I pierced my eyes as I tried to look for her location to figure out whether this wasn’t just one of her lame jokes.
I laughed, sneering, “afraid in the dark?”
There was a silence, after which I heard a weak voice coming from a corner, “No… Just really claustrophobic.”
I shrugged, fiddling with the light switch, but there was no way to get it to work again. In the mean time, I could hear her hitched breath coming from not too far away from me and I wondered whether she was serious about it. I squatted down and by touch I crouched over the ground to find her. In a corner, surrounded by perfectly pumped soccer balls she sat, and by the feel of it she had pulled up her knees and warped her arms around them to protect herself.
Her body shivered upon my touch, but she didn’t move and as I traced the contours of her face I could feel the wet teardrops underneath my fingertips. I bit my lower lip. If there was one thing I hated more than being stuck with someone I didn’t like, than it was a crying lady.
I hesitated, before squeezing my body next to her, blindly taking her hand in mine. I felt her looking my way, her breath dawning upon the crook of my neck and I shrugged.
“I hate seeing a woman cry, so… Don’t, okay? I’m here and nothing’s going to happen.”
I swear I saw her nod and I thought of a way to make her stop crying. The first thing that came to my mind was to make her talk.
“So, your name is Hikari. Strange, for a foreigner.”
She chuckled lightly, “I’m not a foreigner or, at least not all of me is. Yuto is my nephew, we share the same grandfather. My grandmother was an American lady and when she died right after my dad was born he remarried Yuto’s grandma after that. My father in his place, married a German-American lady and that’s how I got born. My father kept things close to his roots though, so they named me by a Japanese name. I do have a second name, which is foreign.”
I noticed that she getting her to talk wasn’t all too hard and it seemed to calm her down a little. I smiled, my thumb rubbing the palm of her hand.
“And what got you into soccer, Hikari?”
Even through the dark I could see the whites of he teeth as she popped up in a radiant smile, allowing her body to settle next to mine a bit.
“My father loved the game and as his only child I was bound to love it too. We went to games together and it became our thing. When why mom was being a nag and we wanted to hide from her, we escaped into our own little world made out of leather balls versus plastics, off-play, bad referees and the newest players. Other girls went out shopping with their moms and bought pretty dresses, I went out shopping with my dad and we bought new soccer shoes or gloves. He is the reason I will be the best goalkeeper there is.”
I couldn’t help but notice the way she talked about her father in a past tense, and how the grip on my hand had become stronger as she told about him with a slight tremble in her voice, that she nearly seemed to be able to hide. I swallowed away the lump in my throat and faced her.
“What happened to your dad?”
She sobbed again and I pulled her closer, for her to burry her face in my jacket. Had I disliked her enough to keep her off my team before, right now I only felt compassion and maybe a little more in her presence. Her body stocked and I could hear her voice coming from somewhere pressed against my arm.
“He died when I was 10, a heart attack, there was nothing we could do.”
I bit my lower lip, mumbling a soft ‘I’m sorry’ but I felt like I could do nothing more than pulling her closer to my body and offer her the little bit of compassion I could give.
I don’t know how long we sat there, and how late it was when the door swung open, but I would almost say it hadn’t been long enough.
“Neechan?”
Nakajima Yuto looked us up and down and his eyes stuck at me, “captain?”
Hikari jumped up and ran towards her younger nephew, exclaiming she had been scared and that she was glad he was here.
“You’re my savior Yuto-chan!” she chirped as she gave the younger a kiss on his cheek and ruffled his jet black hair.
I felt a jab of slightly jealousy going through my body, but she turned around and smiled at me. “It wasn’t that bad though, Yabu-senpai isn’t so bad when you get to know him.”
She bow a bit towards me, “thank you senpai.”
After that she took Yuto’s hand and dragged him out of the shack, rambling on about the fact that she was hungry and needed something to eat.
I sighed, got up and frowned at myself. It was now or never. I ran outside and called her out.
“Hikari?”
She turned around, looking at me with the question mark almost written in her azure blue eyes.
I scraped my throat and gathered my guts. “I expect you to eat well, and sleep even better tonight. Tomorrow at 9 is our game and I expect you to be there. Just in case…”
She pouted, seemed to be wanting to say something but refrained from doing so. Instead she nodded and smiled at me.
“Will do! Captain-senpai!”
~omake~
It was the last game of the season, and if we won. We would be champions, after 22 years the cup would be ours again. It were the last minutes of the extra time and right when I was about to fire a killer shot, that beautifully got passed to me by Yuto, someone thought they would be helpful if they’d kick me down.
Penalty.
I puffed my cheeks and sighed. The keeper looked strong. I looked over my back, and saw Hikari had gotten out of her goal to check out what was happening. I raised my hand and gestured her to come closer.
“Hikari, can you do two things for me? One is to confirm, the other is to give me something.”
Casually, she nodded. “Sure.”
“Okay, as you know, if I score this one, we’ll be champions and you’ll be my girlfriend, right? The second thing is, I need a good luck charm, or else I can’t score.”
I smirked as I saw her puzzled face, getting a red shade.
“We’ll be champions and I’ll be what? D-Don’t joke around like that senpai,” she muttered, a little scandalized.
“I’m not joking,” I smirked and she looked at the ground.
“Okay. I’ll be your girlfriend.”
“And my charm?”
She looked around, the opposite team as well our own looking at her with pleased smirks. She bit her lower lip, wiggled a bit at her place and then pulled me closer as she quickly pecked my cheek.
“Is that all I get?” I pouted, half laughing at her flustered face.
She grinned, “just score, damnit. If you do you’ll get more.”
With that being a given I turned around to the goalkeeper of the opposite team, that now didn’t seem to be all that hard to pass anymore. I looked over at my shoulder, to Hikari who had taken place next to Yuto and I nodded.
I took a few steps back, gathered some speed and swung my leg, the foot hitting the round leather just in the right way as the ball took off. The keeper ducked into the right way, and I held my breath. What if we didn’t win? I had more to lose than just the game now.
However, as by a God’s miracle his hands missed the ball by an inch and the referee blew his whistle.
The game was over. We had won. I had won.
I felt hands pulling me to them, raising me and dancing around me. I felt them putting me down and pushing me against someone else. Hikari’s soft body pressed to mine, and I warped my hands around her waist as she did the same around my neck.
“I did it,” I grinned, my forehead leaning against hers.
She grinned back, “you totally did, senpai.”
A mischievous smile crept up my face, “say about getting more after I had scored-“
There was no need for me to finish the sentence. A warm pair of lips pushed themselves onto mine and while I happily responded to this gesture I figured Hikari was just the kind of person you either really liked, or really didn’t.
From the moment I really knew her, I did the first.
------------------
* The 4-3-3 system is the one Rinus Michels and Johan Cruijf invented more than 30 years ago. The systems makes use of 4 defenders, 3 middle-fielders where one is in the back of the middle attacker and two attackers on the wings. It is an attractive way of playing really attacking because the attacker in the middle gets assisted by 3 other players. It also gets called "Total football" sometimes.
I hope you guys liked it, and comments are always appreciated!
Author: hikarinoniji
Rating: PG
Pairing: Yabu/OC
Genre: Romance/Comedy
Disclaimer: None of this ever happened.
Summary: When he first meets that tall foreigner on campus, he decided he doesn't like her. She is blunt, bold and shows no respect to men. However, when he ends up being locket up with her, he sees a whole different side of her.
The first time we met was on campus. She was big, loud, simply there and not afraid to show it. Her half-long brown hair was tied up in a tight ponytail, her bangs casually framing her round face and covering her big round, bright eyes. Her lips were nearly always formed into a mischievous smile, a playful grin and a silent warning to those who passed her. She wasn’t one to mess with.
She was tall, taller than me probably, but I wasn’t sure because of her ever so sloppy posture. She was a foreigner without a doubt, but one without an accent and with excellent knowledge of our language. She was the type of person people either really liked, or just really didn’t. I happened to do the latter from the moment we met.
I rushed through the people. Classes had ended just now and I hoped to be first on the training fields to shoot some balls by myself, before the rest of the team would show up and things would become crowded. She was present at the wrong moment, the wrong time and next to that she probably wasn’t taking her surroundings in account or she would have seen me rushing her way. We bumped into each other and I felt my own lanky body bouncing off against hers and falling backwards.
I winced and uttered a curse underneath my breath. When I looked up I saw she already got up again, wiping the dust and dirt from her ripped jeans with the edge of her university sweater’s sleeve. She casted a look at me, and muttered, “I’m sorry lady, you alright?”
“Lady?!” I heard my own voice cracking as I nearly spat out the question, what part of me made her think I was female?
She blinked, her blue eyes taking up my body once more and sticking around near my leg area.
“Oh my god,” she exclaimed in English, “you’re a guy.”
“What made you realize, Sherlock?” I asked back, annoyed by the fact that she seemed to be legit surprised.
She stifled a giggle and pointed at my legs, I followed her finger and saw nothing out of the ordinary about them.
I think she saw my puzzled look because she explained, in a rather bold manner, “the amount of hair on your legs might just be enough to knit warm sweaters for my entire dorm. Really, if you were a girl you would have shaved it. Really, bless your legs for keeping awkward situations like these to the minimum.”
Was she serious? I looked at my legs again, wondering whether it was really that bad, before remembering myself I had to come back with a witty comment. I couldn’t let this girl walk all over me.
However, before I opened my mouth to speak, a third voice chimed in and both our heads turned to the voice, “oneechan! There you are…”
A tall young man came dashing our way. Despite his build, height and quite heavy voice he looked like he was younger than the both of us and as he came closer his eyes shifted over my body.
“Oneechan, why is Yabu-senpai on the ground?”
She shrugged casually, “because he ran into me. How do you know his name anyway?”
“He’s the captain of the school’s soccer team,” the younger male eagerly answered, and hadn’t I been so offended by the fact that the girl, who was obviously named Hikari (which I thought was strange for a foreigner), bluntly said I ran into her while she was at fault herself too, I would actually have been proud people around here actually knew my name.
“Ah,” she answered casually, her gaze meeting mine as she stuck out her hand to help me up, “well, nice meeting you, captain-senpai.”
Not wanting to look like a loser, needing the help of a girl to get up I ignored her hand and crawled up myself, not even bothering to wipe off the dirt off my shorts, after all, they would get dirty again during training anyway. She looked at me, and I was sure I saw a slight hint of rejection visible in her light eyes. However, she quickly turned her head away from gaze and looked at the younger boy.
“Come on Yuto, we have somewhere to go,” quickly she grabbed the younger man’s hand and dragged him along as he tried to squeak a protest, which obviously got ignored by the tall girl. I watched as they disappeared from my sight and shrugged. She was none of my business anymore.
I picked up the bag I had dropped and swung it over my shoulder. Casually, I looked at the direction Hikari had disappeared and I shook my head. Nope, none of my concern.
I had still been the first to arrive at the field, but by the time I had changed shoes and placed my bag somewhere safe the other’s slowly started dropping by too. New and old faces, scared and excited ones. They looked me up and down, each and every one of them drawn to the bright red piece of fabric around my arm. It showed I was the captain, the one in charge. It also meant I had to be the leader on the field, the most trusted man on the field, and while I liked having the authority I was afraid for the burden it would bring along with it.
Years ago, it had been since our University had last won something, but that was way before my time. I decided that this was my year, I would give my team the glory back it deserved.
I looked around and saw a decent amount of people had gathered on the field, some chatting, others passing the ball to each other as a little warming up.
“Yo, Kouta,” I heard a familiar voice saying and my eyes lid up as I saw my best friend walking up to me.
“Hikaru, don’t tell me you’re here for the try-outs,” I grinned.
“Hell no, I’m here to see how you gather yet another team of failure’s,” he laughed and because of that mischievous laughter I knew he was messing with me, I just wasn't going to admit to him it was working, “did you know it has been exactly 22 years since we last won that shiny cup you want to have so, so much? I wish you luck buddy!”
Awkwardly, I laughed back at the brown haired who patted my shoulder as friendly gesture.
“I’m going to win this year though!” I yelled as he made his way to the stands, but instead of turning around and proving me wrong he just stuck a hand in the air as a sign he heard it.
I sighed and whistled between my teeth, they had enough time to get ready by now, it was time to gather and start the try outs.
The boys gathered around me and just before I opened my mouth to speak, a high voice interrupted me.
“I’m sorry I’m so late, senpai. We got lost on campus, didn’t we, Yuto?”
The image of Hikari appeared in front of me, and I blinked. Instead of the casual clothes she had been wearing before, she now wore a soccer gear, that seemed to be too big for her. The red and white shirt swayed around her body and underneath the white shorts two smooth legs were shown.
My eyes fixed on her legs I smirked, “you’re a girl.”
She mimicked the gesture and raised a brow with it, “I see you are not.”
Stiffed laughter erupted from within the group and I felt my cheekbones getting a red shade. I clapped my hands to silence them and looked away from her legs, my gaze thrown in the center of the group.
“No time to talk anymore men-“ I emphasized the word ‘men’-“we have work to do.”
They all nodded at me and assenting cries sounded from the group. I was content to see everyone was able to find their place to where they had applied to try out for, even that handful lady and her tall friend that didn’t seem as bad.
Then it was time for me to watch out. Check my attackers, middle fielders and defenders. I noted they skills, speed but also their teamwork and timing. Soccer was a team sport after all, and just talent alone wasn’t going to bring anyone anywhere.
I found out the tall youngster that seemed to be dragged to anywhere by that girl, was 17-year old Nakajima Yuto. He has skipped a grade and was now in his first year of university. He was fast and skillful, gentle to his teammates a little less caring when it came to the opposite team. His movements were quick and stylish and for a moment I was awed by the young talent. He was the perfect middle-fielder I needed to back up and assist my attackers.
I smiled as I wrote down his name, but turned around when I heard excited cheers behind me. There she was again, in the goal, flexing her fingers as her blue eyes were fixed on the ball. She had bitten her lower lip and seemed to radiate such a concentration I nearly forgot who it was.
One of the guys that also made the team with me last year dribbled the ball at his foot and I remembered his killer shot. I wanted to warn her, after all she was still a girl, but I was to late and with a loud ‘thump’ the other’s foot had hit the ball before it blazed away.
I squinted my eyes, 3, 2, 1… cheers. I opened them again to see her lying in her goal, face to the ground but the ball firmly clenched in her hands. Her gear was messed up and he ponytail was loose. I figured she must have had some cat-like reflexes to be able to catch the ball, and nearly wanted to cheer for her. However, when she got up and her eyes met mine, all she did was show me a smug smirk and she casted her eyes down to her legs.
‘I’m a girl.’ It said.
And that was when I decided my team was boys only.
“Okay, guys, I have the list here. Congratulations to every one who was able to join the team, to those who weren’t picked, try harder for next year.”
I could feel how all their eyes burned on my face as I slowly read out their names. The team was far from perfect, but I was pretty sure I had seen some raw talent underneath that. I just had to polish it a little bit.
“… and Nakajima Yuto. That was the final list for selections, training starts tomorrow at 4, I expect you all to be there.”
Disappointed mumbles and happy laughter rose up, but one high clear voice silenced them all.
“Captain, mind to tell my why I’m not on the list?”
If her eyes had been able to shoot daggers, she was controlling herself really well right now. I took advantage of her impatient mood as I imitated the same gesture she made at me when she caught that ball, “I didn’t think you were able to do it.”
“I stopped every, single ball.” Her voice was low and cold, but I wasn’t going to be taken aback by a female.
“That might be so, but I took the entire team in account, and not just your individual talents, to which I admit you possess,” was my answer back, and I saw she wasn’t satisfied with it. I understood, I wouldn’t be either, but I was captain and this was my game, not some stranger girls who happened to be a decent goal keeper.
“… but I can make you a deal, you can become a part of the team.”
Her look softened, but her lips were still pursed, she obviously didn’t trust me. “as what?”
“Well, since you have no balls, you can take care of ours?” I threw her the net of balls and because of her quick reflexes she was able to catch them before they would hit her. Her face was red and her eyes were set on kill.
There was laughter here and there, but she didn’t seem to mind as she threw the net back with an even greater force. “Since you feel imitated by the presence of a girl, I’m guessing… Neither do you. Don’t worry, senpai. You can take care of them yourself.”
My smug grin disappeared as she snatched up her gloves and barged off the field, leaving the entire team behind her. At least it seemed like she wasn’t going to come back any time soon.
We trained 3 times a week, 2 hours a day. No matter whether it was cold, too hot, raining or too windy to get the ball anywhere, my boys were out on the field training their asses off. Gradually I felt like we were becoming better, and after 2 tough months we had toned back the goals we got against us from 10 to 2.
“You suck and it’s your own fault.”
I nearly choked in my own drink as I stared at Hikaru who casually sipped his soda and looked at me from over the edge of his class.
“I had never thought you were the person to choose with your dick instead of with your legs like you usually do when it comes to soccer.”
I threw him a glare, but he didn’t seem to mind and even though his voice was soft, I could hear the sharp edge underneath it, “I hate soccer and even I could tell she was really good, Kouta. And now you forced that tall Nakajima-kid to be your goalie, because everyone else refuses, but to me it seems like you’re dying to get him to play with you in the field. I don’t get you.”
It was true that would I have chosen Hikari to be my goalkeeper, Yuto could be moved to the center and I was able to play the attacking 4-3-3* system I loved so much. With him in my back we would be able to break open the game and he could assist me as the center attacker for goals. It was the perfect plan, if it wasn’t for that smug looking girl in my team.
Silently I just sat there and drank my coke. In defeat, Hikaru just shook his head.
“You do what you think is best, Kou…”
Yeah, I would do that.
Later that night, after my pretty much one-sided conversation with Hikaru, I passed the fields on my way to the dorms. Everything seemed to be alright, but as I came closer I saw there was a light still on in the little shack where we stored out supplies.
I frowned, wondering whether one of my boys had been ignoring my speeches of keeping it easy the night before the games and I moved closer to see who was still in there.
As I stood in the door, I heard a soft female voice humming and my frown grew deeper.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Hikari turned around, her big blue eyes alarmed. She seemed to relax when she saw it was me and shrugged.
“Yuto asked me to give him some tips for tomorrow, but when we came here to practice I noticed-“ she smirked “-you haven’t been really taking good care of your balls.”
I rolled my eyes and stepped inside, per accident knocking away the piece of wood she has used to keep the door open. She shrieked as the door slammed behind me and the lights fell off. Quickly I turned around, rambling at the door, but giving up after a while, leaving a frustrated kick on the wood.
I was sure I heard a muffled sob coming from somewhere in the darkness and I pierced my eyes as I tried to look for her location to figure out whether this wasn’t just one of her lame jokes.
I laughed, sneering, “afraid in the dark?”
There was a silence, after which I heard a weak voice coming from a corner, “No… Just really claustrophobic.”
I shrugged, fiddling with the light switch, but there was no way to get it to work again. In the mean time, I could hear her hitched breath coming from not too far away from me and I wondered whether she was serious about it. I squatted down and by touch I crouched over the ground to find her. In a corner, surrounded by perfectly pumped soccer balls she sat, and by the feel of it she had pulled up her knees and warped her arms around them to protect herself.
Her body shivered upon my touch, but she didn’t move and as I traced the contours of her face I could feel the wet teardrops underneath my fingertips. I bit my lower lip. If there was one thing I hated more than being stuck with someone I didn’t like, than it was a crying lady.
I hesitated, before squeezing my body next to her, blindly taking her hand in mine. I felt her looking my way, her breath dawning upon the crook of my neck and I shrugged.
“I hate seeing a woman cry, so… Don’t, okay? I’m here and nothing’s going to happen.”
I swear I saw her nod and I thought of a way to make her stop crying. The first thing that came to my mind was to make her talk.
“So, your name is Hikari. Strange, for a foreigner.”
She chuckled lightly, “I’m not a foreigner or, at least not all of me is. Yuto is my nephew, we share the same grandfather. My grandmother was an American lady and when she died right after my dad was born he remarried Yuto’s grandma after that. My father in his place, married a German-American lady and that’s how I got born. My father kept things close to his roots though, so they named me by a Japanese name. I do have a second name, which is foreign.”
I noticed that she getting her to talk wasn’t all too hard and it seemed to calm her down a little. I smiled, my thumb rubbing the palm of her hand.
“And what got you into soccer, Hikari?”
Even through the dark I could see the whites of he teeth as she popped up in a radiant smile, allowing her body to settle next to mine a bit.
“My father loved the game and as his only child I was bound to love it too. We went to games together and it became our thing. When why mom was being a nag and we wanted to hide from her, we escaped into our own little world made out of leather balls versus plastics, off-play, bad referees and the newest players. Other girls went out shopping with their moms and bought pretty dresses, I went out shopping with my dad and we bought new soccer shoes or gloves. He is the reason I will be the best goalkeeper there is.”
I couldn’t help but notice the way she talked about her father in a past tense, and how the grip on my hand had become stronger as she told about him with a slight tremble in her voice, that she nearly seemed to be able to hide. I swallowed away the lump in my throat and faced her.
“What happened to your dad?”
She sobbed again and I pulled her closer, for her to burry her face in my jacket. Had I disliked her enough to keep her off my team before, right now I only felt compassion and maybe a little more in her presence. Her body stocked and I could hear her voice coming from somewhere pressed against my arm.
“He died when I was 10, a heart attack, there was nothing we could do.”
I bit my lower lip, mumbling a soft ‘I’m sorry’ but I felt like I could do nothing more than pulling her closer to my body and offer her the little bit of compassion I could give.
I don’t know how long we sat there, and how late it was when the door swung open, but I would almost say it hadn’t been long enough.
“Neechan?”
Nakajima Yuto looked us up and down and his eyes stuck at me, “captain?”
Hikari jumped up and ran towards her younger nephew, exclaiming she had been scared and that she was glad he was here.
“You’re my savior Yuto-chan!” she chirped as she gave the younger a kiss on his cheek and ruffled his jet black hair.
I felt a jab of slightly jealousy going through my body, but she turned around and smiled at me. “It wasn’t that bad though, Yabu-senpai isn’t so bad when you get to know him.”
She bow a bit towards me, “thank you senpai.”
After that she took Yuto’s hand and dragged him out of the shack, rambling on about the fact that she was hungry and needed something to eat.
I sighed, got up and frowned at myself. It was now or never. I ran outside and called her out.
“Hikari?”
She turned around, looking at me with the question mark almost written in her azure blue eyes.
I scraped my throat and gathered my guts. “I expect you to eat well, and sleep even better tonight. Tomorrow at 9 is our game and I expect you to be there. Just in case…”
She pouted, seemed to be wanting to say something but refrained from doing so. Instead she nodded and smiled at me.
“Will do! Captain-senpai!”
~omake~
It was the last game of the season, and if we won. We would be champions, after 22 years the cup would be ours again. It were the last minutes of the extra time and right when I was about to fire a killer shot, that beautifully got passed to me by Yuto, someone thought they would be helpful if they’d kick me down.
Penalty.
I puffed my cheeks and sighed. The keeper looked strong. I looked over my back, and saw Hikari had gotten out of her goal to check out what was happening. I raised my hand and gestured her to come closer.
“Hikari, can you do two things for me? One is to confirm, the other is to give me something.”
Casually, she nodded. “Sure.”
“Okay, as you know, if I score this one, we’ll be champions and you’ll be my girlfriend, right? The second thing is, I need a good luck charm, or else I can’t score.”
I smirked as I saw her puzzled face, getting a red shade.
“We’ll be champions and I’ll be what? D-Don’t joke around like that senpai,” she muttered, a little scandalized.
“I’m not joking,” I smirked and she looked at the ground.
“Okay. I’ll be your girlfriend.”
“And my charm?”
She looked around, the opposite team as well our own looking at her with pleased smirks. She bit her lower lip, wiggled a bit at her place and then pulled me closer as she quickly pecked my cheek.
“Is that all I get?” I pouted, half laughing at her flustered face.
She grinned, “just score, damnit. If you do you’ll get more.”
With that being a given I turned around to the goalkeeper of the opposite team, that now didn’t seem to be all that hard to pass anymore. I looked over at my shoulder, to Hikari who had taken place next to Yuto and I nodded.
I took a few steps back, gathered some speed and swung my leg, the foot hitting the round leather just in the right way as the ball took off. The keeper ducked into the right way, and I held my breath. What if we didn’t win? I had more to lose than just the game now.
However, as by a God’s miracle his hands missed the ball by an inch and the referee blew his whistle.
The game was over. We had won. I had won.
I felt hands pulling me to them, raising me and dancing around me. I felt them putting me down and pushing me against someone else. Hikari’s soft body pressed to mine, and I warped my hands around her waist as she did the same around my neck.
“I did it,” I grinned, my forehead leaning against hers.
She grinned back, “you totally did, senpai.”
A mischievous smile crept up my face, “say about getting more after I had scored-“
There was no need for me to finish the sentence. A warm pair of lips pushed themselves onto mine and while I happily responded to this gesture I figured Hikari was just the kind of person you either really liked, or really didn’t.
From the moment I really knew her, I did the first.
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* The 4-3-3 system is the one Rinus Michels and Johan Cruijf invented more than 30 years ago. The systems makes use of 4 defenders, 3 middle-fielders where one is in the back of the middle attacker and two attackers on the wings. It is an attractive way of playing really attacking because the attacker in the middle gets assisted by 3 other players. It also gets called "Total football" sometimes.
I hope you guys liked it, and comments are always appreciated!