A/N: Konnichiwa, minna-san! I'm guessing most of you don't remember these two characters, seeing as they're both pretty minor. Hayabusa is a midfielder from Tengawara. He's the one with purple hair/lipstick and a falcon Keshin. Mitsuyoshi is probably a little more memorable: he's a forward from Mannouzaka. He also has purple hair, slightly resembles a panda and has Conjurer Purim for a Keshin.

I never truly thought about these two together before talking about them with Elfana, so I want to dedicate this fic specially to her. X3 I hope you enjoy, everyone!

Hayabusa Hideki stood in front of Mannouzaka Junior High, and he wondered what the hell he was doing here. Not even fifteen minutes ago, he had been lounging in the Tengawara soccer club room, analyzing training and match material regarding other school teams. Seeing as Seeds worked for the same organization, they were allowed to share their practicing methods in order to get stronger. Hayabusa, fully confident about his own abilities, failed to see the use in revealing secrets between schools and was about to turn the current video off when a particular boy caught his eye: Mitsuyoshi Yozakura, forward of Mannouzaka. Hayabusa didn't know why, but his eyes were stuck to the screen the moment he saw his fellow Seed. He watched as he easily stole the ball from his opponent, brilliantly evaded the defense, and managed one Keshin shoot after another, using his Conjurer Purim.

When the video swapped to other players, the first thing Hayabusa did was grab the remote and rewind Mitsuyoshi's moments. The longer he took him in, the more he started to feel like he… knew him. Of course, he was well acquainted with all of his fellow Seeds, but looking at Mitsuyoshi made him feel like he had seen him before… Before the two of them became Seeds, before Fifth Sector was even founded. Had they met before? Did they know each other beyond the Seed position, and had Hayabusa somehow forgotten about their original connection? He racked and racked his brain for an answer, until he realized just thinking about Mitsuyoshi wasn't going to help. He needed to see him.

And that was why he was here now, inwardly beating himself up. Never mind the fact that Hayabusa had let the forward take complete control of his mind; why on earth had he gone through the effort of visiting his school, of asking him for confirmation regarding an assumption that might be completely wrong in the first place? Hayabusa furrowed his eyebrows, sending the Mannouzaka building a displeased look. He didn't understand why he hadn't just let the issue slide. Mitsuyoshi wasn't in his team or even part of his school, which meant they were, in the end, opponents. Why would he go to these lengths for a mere opponent? It wasn't like he was particularly fond of Mitsuyoshi, or shared a closer bond with him than any other Seed.

Figuring he was probably wasting way too much energy pondering about this, Hayabusa sighed and made for the school entrance. The bell rang just as he neared the door and the midfielder quickly moved to the side, wanting to avoid the Mannouzaka students that came storming mere seconds later. He leaned against the wall, closely inspecting the crowd for a boy with violet hair tied in two – may he say, rather adorable-looking – buns. Hayabusa widened his eyes when he spotted the one and only forward and called his name.

Mitsuyoshi perked up when he heard someone shout for him and turned his head, locking eyes with the Tengawara midfielder. The moment they met one another's gaze, Hayabusa felt some sort of spark flash inside his body, almost as though he'd been struck by lightning. But there was no pain inside of him, no unpleasant feeling whatsoever. The sensation also lasted a mere second, confusing the midfielder even further. It was almost like whatever phenomenon had just hit him was trying to tell him there was indeed more behind the fellow Seed than he thought.

Mitsuyoshi's condition didn't seem far off from his. He froze just as abruptly when he met Hayabusa's golden orbs, his thoughts trailing off so much that the surrounding students almost ran him over. Mitsuyoshi only just managed to regain balance and pushed his way through, until he stepped right in front of the other boy. Even though there was plenty of noise around, their eye lock drowned out everything they heard, resulting in an awkward silence. For some reason, neither of the soccer players said a word to each other. Hayabusa wanted to open his mouth, but he suddenly wondered what he was supposed to say. All this endless contemplating about the Mannouzaka forward, and he hadn't even considered what he was supposed to say past a simple "Hello."

Mitsuyoshi, growing impatient with the idleness between them, raised an eyebrow and asked: "Why did you come here?"

Hayabusa frowned as he barely managed to pick up even one word due to the enveloping chatter. He leaned closer and asked: "What?"

Imitating the action, Mitsuyoshi repeated: "What are you doing here?"

Hayabusa placed a hand behind his ear. "I can't hear you!"

"I ASKED WHAT YOU'RE DO—ugh, let's just go inside." Mitsuyoshi rolled his eyes and grabbed Hayabusa by the wrist, dragging him into the building. The midfielder still wasn't quite sure what Mitsuyoshi had been trying to tell him, but he figured he wanted the two of them to be alone. The Mannouzaka player pulled him all the way to the soccer club room and shut the door, after which he sent his colleague another impatient look. "What are you doing here, Hayabusa? Did the Holy Emperor send you?"

Hayabusa raised his eyebrows, but then realized Mitsuyoshi thought he was visiting on a business matter. The comprehension wasn't supposed to faze him as much as it did, seeing as all they shared in the end was one and the same goal: maintaining control of soccer in Japan. Thinking about it, Hayabusa grew slightly discontent with the social gap between them, but tried not to think much of it. "Uhm, no, uh… Mitsuyoshi, I came for something different. Y-you see, I, uh…"

Mitsuyoshi gave him an odd look, and Hayabusa didn't doubt he would've done the same thing in his place. He sounded like a freaking moron, not even managing one decent sentence. He really should've thought more about this, but he probably hadn't because he figured he wouldn't need to: Hayabusa was never insecure about himself and rarely, if ever, stuttered in front of another person. He always knew what to say and firmly stuck to his words. Sadly, that bit of his reputation shattered right in front of the purple-haired forward, who took him in like he'd proclaimed his love for a piece of fruit. "Spill it, Hayabusa, I haven't got all day."

"R-right." Hayabusa cleared his throat and started, much softer than he would've liked: "Have we… met before?"

Mitsuyoshi stared at him. "What?"

"I-I mean… Before we joined Fifth Sector. I just feel like we've seen each other before that…" Hayabusa avoided eye contact as he did something much more embarrassing than stuttering: he blushed. A lot. He felt like a complete idiot for even considering stealing Mitsuyoshi's time for such a dumb question. Even if the answer was yes, which he highly doubted in the first place, what was he supposed to do? How would this piece of information make a difference in his life? What did it matter if he and Mitsuyoshi had met before, it's not like the other boy gave a crap about this stupid issu—

"… heh." Hayabusa flinched out of his thoughts, only to see Mitsuyoshi lean back on one of the benches and flash a smug – and surprisingly attractive – smirk. "Took you long enough," he told the floor.

Hayabusa blinked a couple of times. "… I beg your pardon?"

Mitsuyoshi snickered at his awestruck voice and looked up at him. "Does this sound familiar?" He reached up and undid his buns, letting his hair cover his shoulders in small, gentle waves. He then got up, grabbed a soccer ball and pressed it against his side, only to give Hayabusa a glare and make himself sound ten years younger: "'You can't play with us, you look like a panda! Like pandas are any good at playing soccer! I don't need weaklings in my team, get out of here, panda boy!'"

He had the midfielder at the very first word. Mitsuyoshi's shoulder-length do looked familiar to begin with, but the way he talked, moved even, was flawlessly identical to Hayabusa himself. That is, his six-year-old self. He actually took a step back as that one nagging gap in his memory was suddenly filled by a less than heartwarming scene, hitting him like a blow to the chest.

"Goal, goal, goal! Hideki-kun did it again!"

A six-year-old Hayabusa Hideki placed hand on his waist, using the other to flip his medium hair as a sulking goalkeeper went to retrieve the ball. He and his friends were having a match with another group of boys, and it was nothing out of ordinary that Hayabusa's team was in the lead with 10-0. Playing soccer was like breathing to him; he possessed a talent for the sport, which made it all the more fun. Being good at something meant he didn't need to put effort into it.

"You're amazing, Hideki-kun!" one of his teammates chimed, his fists clenched eagerly. "We're so happy to have you on our team!"

"Yeah, yeah!" the others nodded enthusiastically. "There's no way we can lose with you as our ace striker!"

Hayabusa grinned proudly. He was more than used to receiving such praise. Of course, he expected nothing less for earning his team victory after victory. They really would be nowhere without him.

Soon after, the match ended with Hayabusa's sixteenth goal. There were still ten minutes left, but the other team decided to call it quits after suffering so many blows.

"Thanks for playing," the captain groaned as he handed Hayabusa his ball.

"My pleasure," Hayabusa smirked. He was about to walk over to his friends when a timid, barely audible voice reached his ears: "U-uhm…" The forward turned around and eyed a boy his age, his purple hair in two buns and a soccer ball clenched in his hands. He needed visible effort to even look Hayabusa in the eye as he spoke. "Y-you… you're really amazing at playing soccer. Hayabusa Hideki-kun, was it…?" He lifted his head slightly, his eyes shining with hope as he extended his arms. "M-my name is Mitsuyoshi Yozakura… I love soccer too… I-I was hoping we could… play it together."

Hayabusa stared at him as if he'd gone crazy. He'd never seen the boy before, but that didn't keep him from rejecting the kid right away. A weak, weird-looking player like him on his team? His reputation would be in shambles. Hayabusa startled the other boy, as well as his friends and opponents, by letting out a mocking laugh. He pointed at Mitsuyoshi and scoffed: "You can't play with us! Have you seen yourself, you look like a panda!"

Mitsuyoshi flinched at the accusation and took a step back. His hopeful expression broke for a sad, panicked one. "B-but—"

"Like pandas are any good at playing soccer, right, guys?" Hayabusa looked at his friends, who started to laugh and point as well. "He really does like a panda!" "What a weirdo!" Even the other team joined in on the mockery, throwing countless accusations in Mitsuyoshi's direction.

Hayabusa smirked self-indulgently with both teams on his side and turned back to Mitsuyoshi. "I don't need weaklings in my team," he declared calmly, so calmly he actually sounded a little cold. "Get out of here, panda boy."

"Yeah, yeah! Panda boy, panda boy!" The other boys repeated the nickname as many times as they could, before the accused boy himself turned on his heel and started running off, tears running down his cheeks.

"… I didn't stop crying for an hour," Mitsuyoshi whispered, once again seated on a bench and gazing at the floor. "As much as I hated you for breaking my heart, you did hit the nail on the head. I was weak. I loved playing soccer, but I couldn't even pass properly, let alone score a goal. I vowed to get stronger that day… just as strong as Hideki-kun, who I looked up to."

Hayabusa stared at him in awe. He couldn't believe that not only his assumption was right, but he had inflicted this much impact on the other boy as well. So this was why Mitsuyoshi looked so familiar to him… Why hadn't he remembered before? Why had he even forgotten?

"… is… is that why you became a Seed…?" he slowly asked, breaking the silence. "To become strong?"

Mitsuyoshi nodded and looked up at him. "That was the first time I saw you again since that day. I recognized you right away and I was shocked at first… but then again, I figured I shouldn't be surprised Hayabusa Hideki had become a Seed. Soccer always came naturally to you, unlike me. I had to fight to get stronger." The forward cast a gaze on the lockers, seemingly in thought. "After that day… I considered cutting my hair as well. That time you compared me to a panda wasn't the first, nor was it the last. Not only did you bash my soccer skills, you made me self-conscious about my appearance as well… But as I advanced in soccer, I decided I didn't need to change outwardly. You made me out to be a joke, and I was fine with that. It's okay to be a joke. I was different, I still am, and I'm at peace with it. I don't mind being this crazy, witch-like person. As I realized that, Conjurer Purim was born. He's the very essence of this wicked soccer player."

Hayabusa widened his eyes in shock. Mitsuyoshi had developed his Keshin because of him…? Even more, he was the reason Mitsuyoshi had joined Fifth Sector in the first place? He almost couldn't believe it. The midfielder placed a hand on his head, gritting his teeth as he looked at the floor. Mitsuyoshi was who he was because of him, but he still felt the urge to apologize, as rare as it may be. After all, he had been clueless as to how much pain he'd actually caused him until now. "… Mitsuyoshi… I…"

"Hayabusa," Mitsuyoshi interrupted him sternly. Hayabusa instantly shot up and stammered: "Y-yes?"

"Did you… did you come all the way here just to ask me this? To chat about old times?" Mitsuyoshi regained eye contact and Hayabusa was taken aback by the abrupt force the boy emanated. He almost seemed mad, and thinking about it, Hayabusa wasn't too surprised. It was his own fault for forcing the forward to recall painful memories.

He awkwardly lowered his head and answered: "Uh… yeah. I just wanted an answer to this, I guess…"

Mitsuyoshi snickered. "Why? Am I suddenly important to you?"

That was a good question. Hayabusa had been wondering himself since he'd set foot on Mannouzaka terrain. He lifted his head and took another step back when he saw Mitsuyoshi was now approaching him, an intimidating smirk on his face. First he was angry, now he seemed to be enjoying himself. What was going through that kid's head…?

Mitsuyoshi kept on nearing him, eventually forcing Hayabusa back against the wall. The Mannouzaka forward widened his smirk, knowing Hayabusa couldn't escape in his current position, and filled the gap until he stood right in front of him. He took the boy by the chin, making him look into his eyes. "Am I not invisible to you anymore…? Do I matter to you now?"

Hayabusa struggled to even speak. "I-I never meant it like that—"

"Must be nice having your entire team in the palm of your hand, your opponent's team, even," Mitsuyoshi cackled. "Have things changed, Hideki-kun? Are you not your team's ace striker anymore, just a stupid midfielder? I'm a forward now, and Mannouzaka's reputation relies entirely on me. Me and Conjurer Purim."

Even if Hayabusa knew what to say, he would've immediately swallowed his words. Mitsuyoshi moved even closer, leaning on his toes and pressing their bodies together. Hayabusa pasted his hands onto the wall, looking for a way out, but Mitsuyoshi kept a firm grip on his shoulders and didn't stop moving until their lips, just barely, touched.

"I'm stronger than you now," he whispered, his voice filled with scorn and gloat. "The tables have turned, Hayabusa Hideki. Surpassing you is the greatest thing I've ever done. You'll always be below me from now on. You're just second-rate."

Hayabusa petrified, not so much due to his words as the malicious look in the other boy's eyes. Mitsuyoshi gave an evil smirk before he stuck out his tongue, very slowly licking Hayabusa's lower lip. The Tengawara player barely even comprehended what was going on. His head was a mess as he experienced fear, regret, anxiety all at the same time… and somewhere, deep inside of him, pleasure as well.

Mitsuyoshi withdrew very slowly, using every second of the moment to enjoy his superior position. He flashed another devilish smirk and licked his lips, having stolen some of Hayabusa's purple lipstick. "Plums… Very tasty."

The first thing Hayabusa did was, instead of shoving the other boy away and creating a healthy distance, blush and avoid eye contact. He only now seemed to realize how close to him Mitsuyoshi had been standing, and he wondered what on earth had possessed him to let the boy have his way with him. "… what… the hell… was that…?" He was relieved to at least have his voice back, even when the gaps between his words lasted at least a second.

Mitsuyoshi simply chuckled; a chuckle very similar to the one he uttered whenever he summoned his Keshin. Having watched his segments on the training tape over and over, Hayabusa recognized the sound right away – and actually grew a little scared of it. Being weird was the least of Mitsuyoshi's peculiar traits; he had just proven himself to be menacing, merciless, and cunning in less than a minute.

"Didn't I tell you?" the forward said, snapping Hayabusa out of his thoughts. He placed an index finger under his chin, forcing him to make eye contact a second time. "… I'm crazy. And I don't mind that at all." He retracted his hand and added: "There's a practice match between Tengawara and Mannouzaka tomorrow. See you on the field, lipstick boy." The forward then moved away and left the locker room, leaving Hayabusa to pick himself back up. As soon as the midfielder detached from the wall, he almost dropped down on his knees, unable to process the blow Mitsuyoshi had just applied on him. No one had ever affected him like this before; he had no idea what to do. More than ever, Mitsuyoshi Yozakura had resembled a witch just now, manipulating and playing with him. Hayabusa was frightened knowing the weak, sensitive boy he had rejected years ago basically had him down on his knees now. He was frightened, so… why was a part of him pleased? Why had it indulged in being touched by the Mannouzaka forward, happily accepting the body contact and furthermore, that moment his tongue licked his bare skin?

Feeling himself blush again, Hayabusa figured he should get out of here. Whatever unexplainable conflict was rummaging through his head, he had the answer he had come for – even if he'd received much more than that – and he no longer had any business here. The Tengawara player fled from the locker room and was practically running by the time he exited the school, almost feeling like it was glaring ominously into his back. Even though the building itself did nothing, there was one Mannouzaka student that eyed the outsider through a window, arms crossed and smirk wide. His eyes stalked the Tengawara midfielder until he disappeared from view. Mitsuyoshi Yozakura definitely looked forward to tomorrow's match.

A/N: Why didn't Hayabusa just wait until the practice match to confront Mitsuyoshi? I have no idea; he was probably too preoccupied to remember they'd see each other soon, I just didn't know how to work it in. Oh well, this wouldn't be a traditional story of mine if it didn't have a hole or two. XD Hope you enjoyed, everyone! Please let me know what you think!