Hiya peoples! Here's more HiroMido coming attcha! I was thinking about Midorikawa's self-confidence issues and I wanted to expand on it a little bit. Reize is actually the only Aliea captain that did actual illegal attacks (destroying the schools, kidnapping the Prime Minister, injuring the members of the opposing team, etc.) and Midorikawa already has a poor image of himself to begin with.

I apologize if this isn't as good as my other works. I've been having some problems lately. I went to the doctor for different reason but left with an appointment with my college's counseling center. Apparently, according to the doctor and some of my friends, I have symptoms for minor depression, so I'll be getting evaluated this Monday. We'll see how that goes.

Edit: made some corrections to this chap, as recommended by the lovely Oneofyourbiggestfans. Thanks for the critique, hon!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inazuma Eleven or its characters.

*~8~8~8~8~8~*

Hiroto relaxed against the back of the couch and propped his book up on his knees. Sun Garden had been very quiet lately and a good number of children (himself included) had taken to lounging in the living room for hours on end, playing video games and reading.

Hiroto thought it was boring. Other than playing soccer with the others, there wasn't too much to do. Ever since Gazel had been whisked away to Korea by Aphrodi (for who knows why, he didn't even know they knew each other) and Burn had lost his verbal sparring partner, things had been far too quiet.

Hiroto perked up a bit when a familiar greenette entered the room. He'd always been attracted to the smaller boy but had never had the courage or opportunity to make any type of move with fear of scaring him off. And the greenette's antisocial behavior hadn't helped. Especially during and after Aliea Academy, Midorikawa had become very reserved and quiet, preferring to hole up in his room alone.

The redhead watched as the younger boy leaned over the back of the chair Hitomiko sat in to hand her a stack of letters and other mail. She smiled and accepted it before standing up. "Mail's here!" she called. Hiroto chuckled to himself as the room flooded with kids. Hitomiko leafed through the mail.

"An, you got a letter from your pen pal."

"Yay!"

"Reina, your magazine is here."

"Thanks!"

"Nagumo, your math textbook is finally here."

"Damn it!"

Hitomiko paused and held a letter up for a second. "Hiroto, you have a letter from Coach Hibiki." Green eyes blinked and the redhead got up off the couch to accept the letter. "What is it?" Reina asked, looking over his shoulder. "I'm not sure." Hiroto said. The other kids gathered around the boy, trying to see the letter. Hiroto opened the envelope and carefully unfolded the letter. He let his eyes scan over the contents.

"What is it?" Nagumo asked. Reina looked at him. "Hiroto got invited to some meeting at Raimon for soccer players." Burn's jaw dropped and he was about to yell but was cut off by the rest of the kids instantly converging on the redhead, wanting to see the letter or congratulate the boy.

Through the chaos, Hiroto managed to catch a flick of green hair as it disappeared from the room.

*~8~8~8~8~8~*

Hiroto lost count as to how many times he had reread the letter. It made his heart pound in his chest. This could be the opportunity he had worked for his whole life. Everything could finally be paying off.

"Are you sure you don't want to go?" Hiroto stopped as he heard his sister's voice from around the corner. He peeked around the side and spotted her and Midorikawa standing in the hallway. Hitomiko was gripping a piece of paper in her hand.

"I'm just not interested." The greenette said softly. The dark haired woman crossed her arms over her chest. "It could be a great opportunity." Midorikawa just shrugged. "I know. I'm not interested." Hitomiko frowned and leaned down to him, taking his hands in hers. "Midorikawa, is something wrong? Is there anything you want to talk about?" Hiroto's eyes widened when Midorikawa ripped his hands away from the woman and angrily snatched the piece of paper from her.

"I said I don't want to go!" he screamed, chucking the crumple paper against the wall and taking off down the hall. Hitomiko yelled after him and followed. After they were out of sight, Hiroto turned into the hall and picked up the crumpled piece of paper off the floor. He read it quietly to himself and blinked in shock.

*~8~8~8~8~8~*

Midorikawa sighed as he walked towards his room. He felt bad for screaming at Hitomiko. She was only trying to help, after all. The greenette sighed and pushed the door to his room open. He gasped when he found a familiar redhead sitting on his bed. "H-Hiroto? What are you doing here?" Hiroto looked up at him then pushed himself up off the bed and pulled the paper out of his pocket. Midorikawa tensed.

"W-where did you get that?" he asked. Hiroto turned the paper around a couple times. "Found it in the hallway." He turned his eyes to the greenette. "Why did you throw this away?" Midorikawa averted his eyes from the older boy and fidgeted with the edge of his shirt. "I-I just didn't want to go, that's all." Hiroto frowned.

"Why?" Midorikawa swallowed and wrapped his arms around himself. "I'm just not interested." He mumbled. The green haired boy spun around and tried to head to the door but Hiroto seized his upper arm and yanked him back. Midorikawa yelped quietly in surprise.

"Don't lie to me." Hiroto said firmly. Midorikawa trembled under Hiroto's piercing gaze. It took a lot to make the redhead angry and Midorikawa had never actually seen him so.

Hiroto suddenly seemed to realize what he was doing and instantly released the younger boy, letting him stumble back a bit. Hiroto sucked in a breath and bowed his head, pushing a hand into his hair and gripping his bangs. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so harsh with you." Midorikawa rubbed his arm slightly and turned away from Hiroto. "I just don't want to see you give this up for no reason."

"Why would they even invite me?" Hiroto looked up at the greenette, surprised. Midorikawa let his arms drop to his side and turned his eyes to the floor. "After what I did to everyone, why would they want me to come? I'm not even good. I'm a monster." Hiroto gasped and quickly moved to take the younger boy's hands in his own.

"Don't say that! You're not a monster!" Hiroto wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and held him tightly. Midorikawa pressed his hands to Hiroto's chest and dropped his forehead to his shoulder. "Everyone'll hate me. I hurt so many people." Hiroto tightened his grip.

"You didn't hurt anyone. That was Reize. You're Midorikawa. They won't hate you. They aren't like that." Midorikawa shook his head and Hiroto held him tighter. The redhead felt his heart drop into his stomach when the other boy began to shake and sobs escaped from his throat. He wanted to say something but settled on just holding the smaller boy and rocking him gently. After a moment, Hiroto picked him up bridal style and carried him to the bed. Hiroto sat down and held the greenette in his lap and nuzzled the top of his head.

"Are you okay?" Hiroto asked as Midorikawa's sobs died down. The green haired boy sniffled a little bit before nodding. "I'm sorry." He said softly, pressing his hands to his face and sniffling. Hiroto smiled and pushed his hands away, reaching a hand up to brush some remaining tears from his eyes. "It's fine. You can cry if you need to. I'll stay right here." Midorikawa reached up and wiped his eyes on his sleeves. "Thank you." Hiroto smiled softly and took the younger boy's cheek in his hand and ran a thumb under his eye to wipe away another tear. Midorikawa blushed as Hiroto started to lean towards him.

Both boys leapt apart abruptly when the door clicked open and Hitomiko leaned in. "Oh…is everything okay?" she asked, spying Midorikawa on the floor where he'd fallen off the bed. The two boys nodded frantically, Midorikawa blushing heavily. Hitomiko smiled and held up the cordless phone. "Coach Hibiki is on the phone for you two. Should I tell him to call back later?"

Hiroto shook his head. "No, that's fine. We'll take it." Hiroto cast a look over his shoulder to Midorikawa who took a deep breath and nodded. Hiroto grinned and held out a hand to the smaller boy. The greenette hesitantly accepted the gesture. Hitomiko smiled a little to herself and passed the redhead the phone and shut the door. Hiroto regarded the other boy with another smile before bringing the phone to his ear.

*~8~8~8~8~8~*

Burn huffed loudly as he dropped down onto his bed on his stomach. "This sucks! Gran and Reize got invited to some soccer thing! Gazel's in fucking Korea! And I'm fucking stuck here!" the redhead grabbed one of his pillows and chucked it at the door. He jumped when the door swung open and the fluffy bed accessory smacked Hiroto in the face. The fellow redhead blinked a couple of times in surprise before speaking.

"Not the 'hello' I expected but oh well. Someone's on the phone for you." Burn blinked. Someone was on the phone for him?

"Are you gonna take it?" Hiroto asked. Burn quickly shook his head to clear it. "Yeah, yeah, I'll take it." Burn got up off the bed and accepted the phone from the redhead. Hiroto grinned and walked from the room. Burn leaned a little to one side, catching a glimpse of a familiar greenette leaning on the wall opposite his room. The younger boy blushed slightly as Hiroto turned and gave him a soft smile, touching his face tenderly for a moment before grasping his hand and pulling him down the hall.

Burn rolled his eyes then suddenly remembered the phone in his hand. He looked at it for a second before raising it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Burn? Hey, it's Gazel…"