Disclaimer: Don't own it…don't own it… (PoT)
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Friendship's Gift
Chapter 4: The Soccer Game
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"You kick like this…with the inside of your foot…"
It was midday now and Sakuno, Momo, Shuichiro, and Ryoma were out in the backyard. Shuichiro explained the basics of soccer to her, but Sakuno lost him somewhere along. First, she always had a hard time not only playing sports but also understanding the rules of sports. She remembered how long it took for her to remember the mechanics of tennis when she was younger. Second, the backyard was huge. Not surprising, since the house itself was in the middle of a large clearing, but Sakuno was surprised they even had enough space for another building in the back. Shuichiro told her it was for the indoor tennis court when he noticed her looking on their way out.
"Nee-san, you're not listening."
Shuichiro was kneeling on the ground, his hands holding on to a soccer ball. He was looking at her with a frown on his face. Momo was a few feet away, making unnecessary grunts as he stretched. Ryoma stood several spaces away from him, hands locked at the back of his head, as he waited for Shuichiro and Sakuno to finish going over the basic rules of the game.
"Oh. Sorry…" replied Sakuno sheepishly, looking at Shuichiro. "I think I got most of it, though. Maybe if we just played, I'll get it then…"
"Okay," said Shuichiro, eagerly getting up from the ground. "Explaining the rules is boring anyway…"
"Wait a sec, kiddo!" Momo approached them. "How are we going to play? We're only four people…"
"Someone can be the goalie," said Shuichiro. "We only have one goalpost anyway. Then the other three play against each other. Simple as that."
"Chotto matte!"
"Huh?" Sakuno turned with the others to see the source of the loud voice, Nanjirou Echizen, making his way across the field to the four of them. He didn't look very pleased.
"I'm playing with you guys," he said irritably, closing his eyes.
"Oyaji, you have to be kidding…" Ryoma came over, arms crossed now.
"Shut up! Your mother says I need the exercise!" Nanjirou yelled at him. "Besides, she'll throw away my magazines if I don't, and I have a feeling she's only making me do this so she and that old hag can have some amusement."
Indeed, Sakuno could see Rinko and her grandmother peeking out the kitchen window. She blushed crimson. If she stumbled and fell…
Momo broke into laughter, however. "So the old man's joining? This is going to be fun!" he said.
Shuichiro went on to explain the game as Nanjirou smacked Momo in the head. "Well, now we can have a two versus two match. 'Jii-chan can be the goalie, since he's older…"
"Grandson! I demand you take that back!" Nanjirou cried out indignantly.
"What for? He's right," said Ryoma.
Shuichiro went on, despite the interruption, "…so now we just have to pick teams."
"Echizen and I are together," said Momo, dragging a reluctant Ryoma over to his side.
Shuichiro gaped at Momo. "That's not fair!" he cried. "Nee-san here can't play! You'll win easily!" He didn't notice Sakuno glaring at him at all.
Momo shrugged. "Surprise us. Come on, Echizen…"
Ryoma sighed. It was clear he wasn't excited about playing the game.
"Well, if that's how it's going to be…" said Nanjirou, murmuring rude things to himself as he went to the goalpost.
Shuichiro placed the soccer ball at the center of the field. Then he turned to Sakuno. "Listen carefully…when I say 'go', you kick the ball, passing it to me. I'll take it to the goalpost and you cover me, all right?"
"All right…" Sakuno replied unenthusiastically. She wanted to take more part in the game but Shuichiro was apparently 'in charge' already.
She stood next to the ball. Ryoma stood in front of her, the ball between them. "Well, this is going to be easy, isn't it?" he said.
He was challenging her already and the game hadn't even started. Sakuno's stare hardened. She wasn't going to let him get to her. She knew that was just his way of playing games—taunting his opponents to gain an upper hand in mentality. She wished she could say something back…but she honestly had no idea what to say (taunting not being one of her strengths) so she settled for glaring at him as best as she could, waiting for Shuichiro's call.
"Go!"
--
"Oh my, she's very good…" Rinko said, looking out the window.
"You think so…?" said Sumire, her eyes a little wide. She had snorted a bit into her tea but Rinko didn't notice. Rinko also didn't seem to notice that everything Sakuno did was not part of a good, elaborate play. Because as the young woman's grandmother, she had completely seen through her granddaughter's move and knew…Sakuno had messed up big time.
It only looked good from so far away.
--
"Itai!" Ryoma cried.
Sakuno flinched.
Shuichiro ran ahead with the ball, Momo following suit. Neither of them had noticed that Sakuno had accidentally kicked Ryoma on his ankle…hard. She had been so determined to get to the ball first that when she heard Shuichiro's call, she immediately kicked towards the ball. Her aiming was horrible—she hit Ryoma and the ball so that the ball sped straight to Shuichiro, who ran ahead with it as if nothing wrong had happened. It really did look like she did exactly as Shuichiro said, no flaws involved.
Her face reddened incredibly. She couldn't believe she hit him like that. What was so hard about kicking a ball? "I'm so sorry!" she cried, hurrying to his side. He was on the ground, holding on to his foot.
"It's all right," he said, though it sounded forced. "I've had worse injuries than this." He got up and flexed out his foot but despite what he said, he winced a little as he placed it back on the ground.
"I'm sorry… When I kicked, I—"
"Nee-san!" Shuichiro and Momo came running over. "We scored! I didn't know you kicked that well!"
Ryoma stared at Sakuno and Sakuno lowered her head in shame. She had to be redder than a tomato by now. "I didn't hit very well…" she mumbled.
"Eh? What's that?" Shuichiro asked. Momo leaned in curiously.
"I hit Ryoma-kun on the ankle…" she mumbled again.
"Well, it can't have been that bad. I mean, I didn't even see it happen," said Momo, chuckling. "Echizen, you can still play, right? Right?" He went and kicked Ryoma's ankle lightly, making the latter cry out in pain.
"What are you doing?!" Ryoma cried, limping away.
"Eh?! It's bad?" Momo's eyes widened.
"Oi! What's going on over there? Let's hurry up and finish this game, I have girly magazines at stake here!"
"So we can't play anymore?" Shuichiro looked up at Sakuno and Ryoma with disappointed eyes.
"I can still play," Ryoma said immediately.
"No, you can't," Sakuno cut him off. "If you run around with your ankle like that, you're bound to get another injury."
"I told you already, I've had worse."
"You're being stubborn."
"Well…" Momo cut in slowly. "Even if Echizen can't run, he can still play…have him switch with his old man, let him be the goalie."
"But that's boring…" said Ryoma.
"It's a good idea, though," said Momo. "You won't have to move much. And we can keep playing."
"Yeah!" Shuichiro piped in.
Ryoma finally obliged and they had him take over the goalpost. Nanjirou was now paired up with Momo. Even though he said he was only playing because of his magazines, he looked very excited to show what he could do to his grandson. So at the start of the next game, Nanjirou got to the ball first before Sakuno and ran ahead with it.
"Let's get 'im!" Shuichiro cried, already following suit. Sakuno nodded and ran with him, Momo behind her.
"Aha, ha, ha!" Nanjirou cried in mirth. "You won't get a hold of me, kids! Sesshonen! Get ready because I'm coming!"
"Baka Oyaji…" Ryoma murmured to himself at the goalpost.
"Here I come—!" But Nanjirou didn't get to the goalpost. Shuichiro was able to get close enough to his grandfather that he jumped on him. He missed by an inch but managed to get a hold of his pants. Nanjirou's pants were pulled down to his legs, causing him to get tangled up and trip. Shuichiro landed on top of him but he wasn't grinning yet. "Get the ball, Nee-san!"
"Hai!" Sakuno pushed herself to run as fast as she could. She could still hear Momo running behind her. She was surprised she hadn't tripped so far, especially under this much pressure.
I got it! she thought in glee. Now she just had to run to the goalpost and score. And she would kick correctly this time, she thought as she neared Ryoma. She was determined to score this goal herself. Ryoma was crouched a little, awaiting her kick.
And she kicked.
--
"Oh, dear." Rinko put down her cup of tea on the table. She glanced anxiously out the window.
"That's twice now," Sumire said. Her eye cringed.
Rinko nodded. "I shouldn't have suggested he played. But Shuichiro-san was so eager…"
Sumire finished the last sip of her tea. "This is going to be harder than we thought."
--
The soccer ball seemed to take forever to part with Ryoma's face and land on the ground. There was silence on the field, as everyone waited for his reaction. Sakuno stood there, mouth open. She was at a loss for words.
Then the snickering began. Nanjirou pulled Shuichiro off him and the two were holding their laughter. Momo wasn't so successful. He doubled over, laughing out loud. "Oh my… Oh my… Echizen… your face…!" he couldn't even speak coherently.
There was a bright, red circle on Ryoma's face. Even though the laughter should have eased the tension in the air, Sakuno still felt horrible. That was the second time she injured Ryoma on the field, albeit unintentionally, although it still made her look bad.
"Gomen ne!" she said. As if it would do anything to ease his pain.
"I'm fine…" he said, his hand to his face.
"Demo…" Sakuno paused. Shuichiro and Momo came running over. Nanjirou was too busy rolling on the ground laughing to join them.
"Maybe we should stop playing now. Get you some ice inside…" said Momo.
"Right," he said, already walking toward the house. His laughing father was getting on his nerves.
Momo stared back at Sakuno. "Wow, I didn't know you possessed such cruelty," he said jokingly.
Sakuno smiled faintly. "I'm sure he thinks I did it on purpose…"
"Nah," said Momo, looking back at Ryoma's walking figure. "He's fine."
Shuichiro picked up the soccer ball from where it landed on the ground. He studied it as he said, "Oi, Nee-san, I'm never playing soccer with you again."
--
It was seven in the evening and Sakuno was folding Shuichiro's laundry in the laundry room. Momo had gone home two hours ago. Rinko and Sumire were discussing things in the kitchen, a little too quietly, and Sakuno had to wonder what they were talking about. Nanjirou was in the theater room watching television. Rinko advised no one go in there while he was still there.
When she was finished, she put Shuichiro's clothes in a basket and climbed the stairs to go to his room. As she was getting closer, she could hear voices coming from inside the room. The door was ajar.
"Itai! Don't touch it."
"It still stings? Nee-san kicks hard. Ne, 'Tousan."
"Hm?"
Sakuno put the basket down on the floor. She could see part of the room inside and knew it was Ryoma and Shuichiro in there. She wondered if she should just go in and bring in Shuichiro's clothes. No…she didn't want to interrupt them. Maybe if she just stayed in her own room for a while, until they were done…
"You missed my birthday last week."
"I know…I'm sorry." A short pause. "Where do you want to go?"
"Eh?"
"I missed your birthday. You must have wanted to go somewhere. We'll go tomorrow."
"Anywhere I want?"
Ryoma didn't say anything. Sakuno figured he must have nodded.
"Then I want to go the amusement park!"
"Che…I thought you'd say that."
"You said anywhere I want!"
"Fine. I'll take you tomorrow."
"Yay!"
Sakuno could hear footsteps now and she started. She didn't realize she stood rooted to that spot, just listening to their conversation. She tiptoed quietly to her room and locked herself in there. She waited to hear Ryoma walk down the hall and head downstairs. She sighed. Then she smiled. Their conversation was so…cute.
She waited a few minutes until she walked in to Shuichiro's room. Shuichiro was already in bed, tucked in under his covers. His small television was on, displaying some loony cartoons. "Hi," he said nonchalantly as she walked in. "Were you going to tuck me in now?"
"Sort of," replied Sakuno. "But I see you're already tucked in. Actually, I just had some clean clothes to put away for you."
"Oh," said Shuichiro. He watched the television quietly as Sakuno put his folded clothes neatly in his drawer. "Could you turn off the TV for me?" he asked when she finished. Sakuno turned it off for him. She went to his side, placing her hand on his cheek. "What are you doing?" he asked, looking at her strangely.
"Nothing," replied Sakuno. She took her hand away. "Good night, Shuichiro-kun."
"'Night, you weird Nee-san."
Sakuno let the rude comment go for tonight. She noticed Shuichiro was puzzled that she hadn't said anything to him about it. He looked so cute now, when she wasn't busy thinking about how rude and mean he could be. Maybe she'd grown a soft spot for him, despite the way he treated her before. She switched off his lights, letting him go to sleep.
--
"He's sleeping," Sakuno said to Rinko when she walked into the kitchen.
"Oh, good," said Rinko. "Here, pass this to Ryoma."
"Huh?" Rinko passed her an ice pack. Sakuno only just noticed that Ryoma was there, sitting at the far end of the table. She thought Rinko was the only one in the dim-lit kitchen.
"He still has a small headache," said Rinko.
Sakuno flushed. It was her fault. She walked over to him, giving him the ice pack. "Sorry," she said again.
"Mada mada dane, Ryuzaki."
"…What?"
"You just don't stop apologizing, do you?"
"I gave you two injuries today."
"And I told you already," he said, holding the ice pack to his head. "It doesn't matter so stop apologizing to me about it."
"All right…" replied Sakuno, frowning slightly. "Good night, Rinko-san. Good night, Ryoma-kun." And she left the kitchen.
Rinko looked at Ryoma after Sakuno disappeared from the kitchen. "You could have been a little easier on her," she said calmly. "She didn't mean to give you that headache."
Ryoma sighed, putting the ice pack down. "It's not her. I'm just a little tense."
Rinko placed a hand on her son's shoulder. "It's Shuichiro, isn't it?" He didn't say anything. "I called you on his birthday so you could talk."
"My stupid manager didn't let me pick up any calls that whole week. I was busy and he didn't want anything to get in the way," he said bitterly.
"It'll work out, Ryoma," said Rinko. "Besides, Sakuno-san is here."
"How is that going to change anything?" He looked at her impatiently.
"Well, she'll take care of Shuichiro, among other things," she said, walking back to the fridge to serve herself a glass of milk. Rinko was enjoying toying with her son's mind. She knew Sakuno suspected something going on between her and her grandmother. But her son was even denser than Sakuno in that respect. Therefore, she was allowed a few word games with him. "Good night, Ryoma," she said. She ignored the confusion showing on his face as she left him to sit alone in the kitchen.
Author's Note: Hmm, I'm beginning to think that this story is going to be very long. I just don't want Ryoma and Sakuno immediately falling for each other. I would rather like to build it up and take my time with it. Besides, there are plenty of other things I'm thinking of putting into the story and there will lots of chances for the character development then. I'm getting excited just thinking about it already! Ooo, this is going to be fun…