I'm back, my pretties! Who missed me? *Hit with tomato* My hair! Lol Anyways, sorry this took so long. I got a lot of work piled on to me at the last second and I had a couple mental break downs, but I'm okay. Anyway, I re-watched the episodes I needed for this chap. Hope it was worth it! We're jumping to episode 76 now. I'm sort of planning to do this as a 'behind the scenes' type fic. Basically, I'll be focusing on events leading up to what you actually see in the anime and some background thoughts during the scenes. This chapter will focus more on Hiroto's thoughts and feelings.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inazuma Eleven or its characters. I do not profit from this story.

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

Hiroto sighed quietly to himself as he lay back on his bed. He'd barely seen Midorikawa all day after practice and he was beginning to worry. Lately, he'd noticed the greenette had seemed tired and worn out. Hiroto would often see him practicing alone at night too. 'He's pushing himself too hard again.' He thought. Seeing Midorikawa practicing at night had brought back all too familiar memories of the greenette spending hours and hours in intensive training during his time at Aliea Academy. And he'd only pushed himself more after his exile from the project.

'He's going to destroy himself.' Hiroto sucked in a breath and stared up at the ceiling, tracing the thin cracks in the mortar with his eyes. Part of him was saying that he needed to let Midorikawa handle it himself, but the part of him that loved the green haired boy wanted to do something to stop his pain. It hurt him to watch the other boy suffer by his own means.

The redhead jumped slightly when someone knocked loudly on his door. "Hey! Are you coming to dinner?" Tsunami opened the door and leaned in, smiling at the former Genesis captain. Hiroto returned the smile and nodded as he pushed himself off the bed and followed the pink haired boy down the hall. They headed down the stairs and into the cafeteria where the rest of the team was gathering. Hiroto felt his heart jump slightly when he spied the dark eyed boy that had held his attention for the last few days.

Hiroto fell out of his thoughts when Tsunami placed a hand on his arm and pulled him over to where the girls were dishing out food. They accepted the trays from the girls and Tsunami pointed to a spot by Kabeyama. "Wanna sit over there?" Hiroto paused for a moment then shook his head. "I'm going to hang back for a moment." Tsunami raised an eyebrow but nodded and walked over to sit down. Hiroto leaned his back against the wall as he listened to Kidou speak, all the while keeping his eyes on the greenette.

Midorikawa, overall, seemed rather uninterested in what Kidou had to say, regarding the brunet with a brief gaze every now and then as he ate. Kidou rattled on about combinations shoots and new hissatsus, but Hiroto was too focused on Midorikawa to really pay attention. 'He seems okay right now. Maybe I'm just blowing this out of proportion.' He thought. Eventually, he was waved over by a couple of the other team members and sat down to eat.

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

"Bring it!"

Hiroto watched from his place on the sidelines as Fubuki and Hijitaka charged toward the goal. The first run was a failure, resulting in Fubuki getting slammed by the ball. After the white haired boy assured everyone he was fine, Kidou sent them all off to practice.

They quickly separated into two teams and Tachimukai tossed the ball in. Kidou got it right away and sent it to Kogure but Midorikawa swiped it before he could pass, only to be blocked by Tormaru. The two boy's battle for the ball for a moment before the black haired tiger managed to slip the ball away. Kidou yelled a congratulations but the greenette wasn't so supportive. Midorikawa slid for the ball but Tormaru jumped over the move and passed to Tobitaka.

Hiroto smiled slightly. 'Toramaru has gotten so much better. I don't know where it came from but he's totally changed.' He raised an eyebrow when he caught a flash of green in the corner of his eye. He turned to watch Midorikawa grab a water bottle from the bench and chug it down, panting heavily when he finished.

'He's exhausted.' Hiroto thought. The greenette placed the water bottle aside after taking another drink and took off on a run. Hiroto was immediately tempted to follow him but stopped himself. 'I need to give him a chance to work it out himself.' Hiroto continued to stare after the dark eyed boy for a moment before Kidou called him back to practice.

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

The team exchanged exclamations of relief as they sat down to eat. Hiroto noticed a free seat by Midorikawa but was pulled over to another table by Tachimukai before he could do anything. He overheard Kazemaru and Kidou discussing the wind user's new hissatsu and Tsunami's overexcitement about his combination hissatsu while his partner expressed a much different emotion.

"S-SPICY!"

Everyone in the room jumped when Hijitaka suddenly leapt from his chair and began running around the room. Kogure let out his trademark laugh and held up a small bottle of hot sauce. Hiroto watched the chaos for a moment before picking up his tray and walking over to the greenette who now sat alone. He caught a sigh from the dark eyed boy as he approached.

"Mind if I sit here?" he asked softly. Midorikawa spun around, startled by the redhead's sudden presence. "Hiroto." Said boy smiled and sat down. He chuckled inwardly when the greenette fidgeted nervously and shifted around in his seat. "How have you been? I haven't gotten to see you much." Midorikawa poked at his food a little bit. "I'm okay."

"No one's giving you and problems?" Midorikawa shook his head, keeping his dark eyes trained on his food. Hiroto took a bite of his own lunch, watching the greenette quietly as he pushed the food around on his plate. "You're not going to eat?" the redhead asked. He watched the former Gemini Storm captain tense slightly then shake his head. "I'm not very hungry."

Hiroto reached over and touched his hand. "You should eat. You need to keep up your strength for practice." Midorikawa mutely nodded, never moving his eyes from his tray. Hiroto frowned and squeezed his hand slightly, averting his eyes to the table. Midorikawa jumped when Hiroto suddenly let go of his hand to grab his tray and stood up sharply.

"Finish eating then meet me on the field in ten minutes." Midorikawa watched in confusion as Hiroto stormed from the room. He'd never seen the red haired boy so intense before. The greenette jumped slightly when he registered what Hiroto had said and quickly shoveled his food down.

"Ah! That's spicy!"

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

Midorikawa looked around at the dark field as he jogged closer. He couldn't see Hiroto anywhere. Had he taken too long? Had the other boy left?

The greenette's eyes went wide and he gasped and brought his arms up in front of his face as a soccer ball shot past his head. He whimpered slightly, eyes screwed shut as he stood there trembling and waiting for the next attack.

"Look at me."

Midorikawa slowly opened his eyes and lowered his arms. A familiar redhead stood in front of the goal, foot resting on top of a soccer ball. "Hiroto?" Midorikawa said cautiously. Said boy locked his eyes on the younger boy and lifted his foot off the ball. Midorikawa barely had any time to get out of the way when he fired the ball at him.

The greenette yelped when he hit the ground, folding his arms tightly over his head. What was Hiroto doing? He tensed when he heard footsteps approach. He gasped when Hiroto grabbed his arms and hauled him to his feet. "Take your track suit off. We're training. Now." Midorikawa swallowed and shed his track pants and jacket. He felt uneasy about Hiroto's sudden harsh attitude but it was obvious the redhead wasn't giving him much of an option. By the time he finished, Hiroto had received another ball.

Hiroto didn't give him much of a warning before firing the ball at him. This time, Midorikawa caught it with his chest and was able to pass it back. Hiroto kicked it back again and they continued like that for some time.

Midorikawa stumbled slightly as he nearly missed a pass. His chest felt tight and his head was spinning. He was sweating hard and could barely breathe. Midorikawa dropped his hands to his knees and panted heavily as he tried to re-center himself. "What's wrong, Midorikawa? Are you finished already?"

Hiroto's voice cut through his thoughts and the greenette felt tears well up in his eyes. "Who care's anymore! Even if someone like me tried to do more…!" Midorikawa felt his voice crack slightly during his outburst. Tears spilled over his cheeks as he panted. "It was a mistake in the first place to put someone from Aliea Academy's second rank team on here…"

The green haired boy sucked in a sharp breath. He never should have accepted Hibiki's invitation in the first place. Raimon's coach was wrong. He had nothing to offer these people. If he had been bested by them while using the power of the Aliea meteorite, how could they expect him to perform up to the world's standard without it?

"I don't think so"

Midorikawa gasped and lifted his head to stare at Hiroto in shock and confusion. Hiroto smiled at him, the first he'd seen since they had started this practice. "After Aliea Academy disappeared and you've been able to enjoy soccer with everyone, hasn't your soccer changed?" Midorikawa blinked. "My soccer?"

Hiroto shut his eyes. "You seemed to be overexerting yourself when you were with Gemini Storm, but after Aliea Academy was gone, you've been enjoying soccer with all of your heart. Running after the ball candidly and standing back up every time you fall. That's why you grew able to fight evenly with those from Epsilon and Genesis." Midorikawa watched the redhead as memories ran through his head, stunned. He had no idea Hiroto had been watching him so closely.

"And now you've been chosen to be here." Hiroto's smile widened and he opened his eyes, focusing them on the younger boy. "You'll be fine, Midorikawa. Have some confidence in your own soccer." Midorikawa stared at the redhead for a moment, allowing his words to sink in before he smiled too and nodded. Hiroto's own grin widened and he took a step forward, holding up a fist.

"Alright, then let's do it again."

"Yeah!"