User:Genda Koujirou/Fanfiction contest/01 03

First contest, finalist number three!

Summary: When you get to a certain age, you sometimes start to develop feeling for those around you. And sometimes you need to tell those people how you feel. It's not that easy, that's why you go to your best friend for advice. But if your best friend is Kirino, then I suggest you run in the opposite direction...

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The chestnut and coffee leaves rustled through the wind on this fine Friday morning. An unexpected shine from the sun brightened the whole of town. The sweet sound of birds singing couldn’t have made this peaceful morning any better than- Ring! Ring! Huh? What was that- Ring! Ring! Ring!

“The person you are calling is temporarily unavailable at the moment; please leave a voicemail after the tone.”

“Yo Shindou! Get up lazy-ass I thought we were meeting at the bus stop for 7:30am! I’m on the way to your house. See ya!”

“Uuuugghh…” was the only thing that could escape Shindou’s mouth after that abrupt wake up call. Shindou sat up in bed, hair muddled up, puffy eyes and pale skin. The consequences of staying up all night on the internet. ‘Never again…’ thought Shindou. Thank goodness today was the last day until spring vacation. 2 weeks of sun, friends and soccer. He couldn’t wait!

As the half-asleep boy crawled out of bed, Uchikina, one of the maids, came in to check on the young Master Shindou.

“U-um Shindou-kun, you’re 20 minutes late! P-please hurry and come down for breakfast. Thank you!” she quickly exited his room.

‘I hope Uchikina-san can overcome her shyness soon’ Shindou thought as he went to brush his teeth and get ready for his shower.

Smartly dressed as usual, Shindou walked downstairs in his uniform to be greeted by his servants. (His mum and dad are at work by the way…) Ring! Shindou touched his pocket but no buzzing was felt. Ring! Ring! Ring! ‘Oh it’s the door’ he realized.

“I’ll get it Shindou-kun” said Uchikina very faintly.

“No it’s alright I’ll go” Shindou offered. He toured the small pathway exhibiting his family pictures as he reached the door and opened to find… that.

“Hey Shindou! That smells tasty! What’s for breakfast? I hope its bacon, I haven’t had bacon since Wednesday and what are doing eating bacon! You were supposed to meet me…” he went on as he walked to the kitchen to the refrigerator.

Shindou sighed, “Good morning Kirino…”

0o0

Traditionally, Kirino made himself at home and dug into the piece of creamy white chocolate cake Shindou had been saving since his parent’s anniversary.

“I hope you don’t mind Shindou-kun” bowed Uchikina.

“Yeah Shindou-kun” Kirino grinned foolishly. Shindou glared at Kirino, he hated when Kirino acted like a goody-two shoes angel when he was at his house. Even with their friends the 2 faced boy would pretend like butter wouldn’t melt. He was the only one who knew Kirino’s true nature. Why was he friends with him?

“Shindou-kun! You need to leave for school!”

Shindou snapped out of his train of thought and viewed the clock. 7:58!?

“Let’s go Kirino!” Shindou said as he grabbed his bag. Kirino thanked Uchikina for the early dessert and left out of the door.

“You knew I was looking forward to that cake!” Shindou angrily informed Kirino.

“Well that’s payback for leaving me at the bus stop.”

“I had late night that’s why!”

“Yeah probably dreaming Akane.” Shindou was taken aback.

“I don’t even like her!”

“Sure! Then why is your face red?” Shindou was taken aback again. He gently stroked his cheek to find it was slightly warm. Damn that Kirino! The very boy grinned at his friend’s embarrassment.

“Seriously though, when are you going to tell her? It’s been what, 5 months since you fell head

over heels for her.”, the silver haired boy’s rosy cheeks became more coloured with every passing second as the pig tailed boy went on about his undying love for the shy manager. ‘Only a few more hours, then we’re free’ said his intuition.

Eventually, the boys reached Raimon Junior High, once home to the legendary Raimon Eleven led by the incredible goalkeeper Endou Mamoru. Their on-going conversation concerning Shindou’s crush caused them to increase their lateness.

“We’re sorry Sensei!” the boys said as they rushed into the classroom 25 minutes late.

“Go to your seats and open your textbooks to page 28. Now class, let’s continue adding fractions. First you find the common denominator of the fractions…”

The boys walked to their seats. Shindou looked even worse than he had when he woke up. He saw some of his fellow classmates taking a few glances, silently mocking him, wait mocking him? That’s silly!

‘No it’s not Shindou. You can see it in their eyes.’

‘Look intuition, I don’t feel like arguing right now!’

‘Scared you’ll lose?’

‘I can’t lose to myself!’

The argument between himself ended 3-1 to his intuition. It also gained the confused looks of all of his classmates. His abnormal facial expressions were given the blame. Shindou banged his head against the desk, very embarrassed. Suddenly a paper aeroplane landed on his arm.

‘Sigh, the ridicule begins…’ He opened the note, seconds later his cheeks became glowed with a tint of pink.

‘Shindou, are you feeling alright?

Anyway can I call you later, I have something to ask but I can’t say it face to face. I hope you feel better.

~Akane’

A wild grin appeared on Shindou’s face and remained there for the rest of lesson.

12:00, Lunchtime!

As the second-years exited the classroom, Shindou’s smirk still stayed on his face which freaked out Kirino. He knew there was only one reason why Shindou would put that weird facial expression on.

“What’s that in your hand? “Asked Kirino nearly making Shindou jump out of his trance.

“Um… nothing! Just notes from class.”

“Hmm… well I didn’t take notes; maybe you could share them with me.” Kirino replied giving his best friend a smug look.

‘Damn your nosiness Kirino!’

“Well?”

“U-uh… bye!” then with that, the copper eyed schoolboy dashed down the corridor.

“Don’t think you can get away that easily!” was shouted by the defender as he too ran down

the narrow corridor bumping into teachers and other students. He had to know what was in that note! Luckily, Shindou was quite a fast runner and was able to keep a safe distance from his best friend. Until his big boned senior happened to interrupt his daring escape.

“Oi Shindou! You going to prac-“

“Not now Amagi-san!” the frantic boy yelled as he bolted pass his elder.

“Huh? Oi Kirino! What’s up with Shin-?”

“Not now Amagi-san!” yelled the even more frantic boy, leaving the third year to go over what had just happened. He was inching closer and closer to discovering Shindou’s secret. Nothing would stop him now.

“KIRINO-KUN!” That voice sounded oddly familiar…

“KIRINO RANMARU!” Yep, that definitely sounded familiar. Kirino immediately stopped his chase and turned around to see the angry face of Kyouzou Kinzan, the despised principal of Raimon Jnr High.

“What are you doing young man?” he shouted.

“Just running to um… the toilet!”

“The toilet? But they are in the other direction…”

Crap! He’s sussed me out.

“You know the consequences of running in the school building! Detention after school! And it is mandatory!” and with that, he went back to his duties of annoying all the students (and everyone else). Kirino was left dumbfounded. He also realized that Shindou was long gone; he’d have to wait until later to figure the secret…

Minutes later Shindou had finally reached the clubroom. As he entered, he was welcomed by 2 lovable first years.

“Hello Shindou-senpai! Why are you out of breath?”

“Come on Shinsuke! Senpai was getting in extra training before coming to the clubroom, right?” Shindou did not appeal to lying, but telling his friends that he had been running away from his psychotic friend who was trying to discover what was in the letter given to him from his long-time crush Akane didn’t sound right. Not that they would believe that story anyway…

“Uh yeah! I’ve been working up my speed for… a new… hissatsu technique!” the nervous boy enquired as lied through his teeth.

“Really! Wow that’s impressive Senpai! I can’t wait to see it perfected!”

“Yeah! But we still have to work on our techniques too Tenma!”

“That’s right Shinsuke!” the second year was always amused at his younger friends’ enthusiasm for soccer.

“Where’s Kirino-senpai?” questioned the mischievous first year, “He’s normally following you like a lost puppy.” the now aggravated boy tried to keep his cool at Kariya’s wise crack comment.

“Now Kariya, you know Kirino and Shindou are childhood best friends. It would be unusual for them not to be with each other” informed the trusty goalkeeper Sangoku. Kariya rolled his eyes, he didn’t like lectures.

“Thanks Sangoku-san. Anyway I don’t know where he is.”

“Probably staying after class! You know how dedicated he is when it comes to work!” said the oblivious Nishiki. Shindou’s mind remembered all the times Kirino would copy his homework and take credit for any pair projects they did. If only they knew…

A few minutes later, the rest of the Raimon members entered the club room along with the managers but Kirino was still nowhere to be found. At last Coach Endou finally made his appearance followed by Kidou Yuuto and Otonashi Haruna.

“Everyone! Since today is the last day of school until the holidays, I have decided to cancel todays practice!”

Everyone cheered. It had been a long time since they went home early and a great way to start the long rest from school.

“Thanks Coach!”

“I can’t wait to go out after school!”

“Sorry… I’m… late…!”

“Kirino?!” everyone said. Indeed it was the pink haired boy. After his detention was given to him, he drowned his sorrows in the triple chocolate muffin being served in the lunch hall. Only until he saw the clock did he realise that there was an important announcement from Coach Endou to hear so he ran the length of the corridors again.

“What took you so long?” asked Hamano.

“Oh… I was um…helping my teacher… clean up and I lost track of time.” Thank God for his quick lying skills.

“Ha! Told ya he would be there” grinned Nishiki.

As everyone went back to their lives, the late boy went up to his grey haired friend, he whispered,

“Don’t think you’re safe now, I’ll find out one way or another…” alarming Shindou. He knew when Kirino had a target; he would do anything to object it.

3:30pm Home time!

Shindou made a quick exit out of the school gate to avoid any problems cough Kirino cough. He had finally made it home and was just about to open the do-.

“Hey Shindou!” Please God let that not be the certain pink haired boy I’ve been trying to avoid… Luck had not been on his side today. Just as he was about to speak, Shindou’s mum opened the front door.

“Welcome back Takuto, oh and you invited Kirino round. Hello Kirino.”

“Hi Mrs Shindou, did you have good day at work?” Tsch, suck up…

“Yes I did thank you. Well what are you waiting for Takuto? Invite your friend in.”

Sigh “Come on in Kirino…” the boy said gloomily. His guest made no hesitation to stride into his house like he owned the place. The boys walked into Shindou’s room and all hell broke loose.

As soon as the door closed, Kirino made a dash to Shindou’s bag and begun a long round of tug of war.

“Just show me the letter!”

“It’s none of your business!”

What felt like hours later, neither boy would let up. But Kirino made a dirty move. Tickling. He knew Shindou was the most ticklish person he was friends with. One touch of his sides would put him off.

After a few pokes, the ticklish boy fell back on his carpet while Kirino held his bag up in victory.

“Don’t you dare!” shouted the defeated boy, but it was too late. By the time he had finished his sentence, the victorious boy’s hand was already inside his bag and pulled it out clutching the note and began reading it. Shindou put his head in his hands and bent down. Now he knows…

“Congratulations Shindou!” wait congratulations? No teasing or mocking just congratulations?

Shindou was baffled! Not only did Kirino act mature about the situation, but he also didn’t say anything to embarrass him!

“I’m sure this is definite proof she likes you!” said Kirino

“How can you tell?”

“I have a natural instinct for this sort of thing!” he said proudly. Shindou’s sweat dropped. The last thing his friend knew about was love and relationships (not to mention homework).

“Boys! Dinner is ready!” shouted Mrs Shindou.

“Come on! After we eat, I’ll teach you all you know.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of…” muttered the worried boy under his breath.

Roughly an hour later after their delicious meal, the now full boys retreated to Shindou’s room to begin the lessons of love.

“You have to be ready for when Akane calls. Talking to girls isn’t your strong point so I’ll teach you all I know.”

“Hey wait a minut-!”

“So let’s begin!”

Hours had passed by and Shindou was still clueless on how to talk to Akane. Kirino wasn’t any help at all; he only went on about irrelevant things like making sure to wear trainers instead of his expensive shoes on a date just in case they go to the park or not eating anything for the whole day just in case he gets bad breath. They weren’t even going out yet…

‘That’s enough out of you Intuition!”

Hey if it wasn’t for our argument you wouldn’t have got that letter!

‘Shut up’

“You alright Shindou?” asked Kirino. His friend had been watching him silently freak out over the Akane situation.

“This isn’t working Kirino, what am I going to do?” the depressed boy put his head in his hands.

“Well first of all don’t go crying on me! You need to be more assertive, like me!”

Depression was taking over him little by little as the rose haired boy chattered on like a parrot.

‘Hmm… my encouraging words aren’t doing any good. Maybe a bit of reverse psychology will help…” thought the aqua eyed teen while watching his buddy drown in sorrow.

“Sigh I guess there’s nothing we can do now… She’ll just go and like one of the other members on the team…”

Like Kirino had expected, Shindou raised his head with a surprised look thrown on his face.

“Akane is a pretty girl after all; she could have a pick of any of the boys… Maybe even Tsurugi.

Tsurugi?

“He does have quite a lot of fan girls after him, he could be a threat.”

“Okay now you’re just talking nonsense!”

“Am I? I’ve seen the way he looks at her at practice!” teased Kirino. Shindou’s face became red with anger.

“Shut Up!”

“He could just sweep her off her feet while you cry buckets of tears-”

SMACK!

The silver haired male’s hand made contact with Kirino’s face. His eyes widened as he realised what he just did. Kirino however was motionless, his cheeks became scarlet. Silence filled the atmosphere.

“Kirino…?” The very boy was still frozen as ice.

“Look… I’m sorry for hitting you just then.” apologised the now guilty Shindou, “But you were mocking me-”

“You bastard! I was only joking!” yelled the hurt boy, “God my face aches!”

“It was only a little tap!” he defended.

“Oh yeah? Is this a tap?” Kirino threw his fist at Shindou’s face and punched him.

“What are you doing!?” shouted the beaten male.

“It was only a little tap!” ridiculed Kirino.

“That’s it!” Shindou exclaimed as he advanced on to Kirino. The pinkette boy kicked his opponent’s stomach as the other pulled his pigtails. They both yelled in pain but neither was giving up. The grey haired boy grabbed Kirino’s arm and tried to twist it. The pinkette was not going to let that Shindou get the better of him that’s why he stamped on foot. The noise he made couldn’t be described nevertheless it was surely in agony. The coffee eyed boy fell on top of his foe and slammed onto the floor. They both were out of breath from their battle and had no energy to continue.

Ring! Ring!

Shindou sat up immediately. Who could be calling him at this time? With what energy he had left, he stood up to retrieve his phone.

“Hi, it’s pretty late so I can’t talk right no-”

“Please Shindou! It’s important.”

Wait

…

Akane!

His cheeks automatically heated up. How could he stupid as to not remember Akane’s phone call. That idiot Kirino! He looked over to him to see an angry figure, clenched fists and breathing heavily. Best to stay out of his way he thought.

“Shindou? Are you still there?”

Oh right! Akane.

“Sorry Akane. I was umm… having a nap.” Sigh another lie…

“Oh I’m sorry Shindou. I didn’t mean to wake you” her voice was so soft and sweet.

“Don’t worry. Anyway what did you want to talk about?”

Back to Kirino now. He was glaring daggers into Shindou’s back. Bastard. He can’t take a joke and hits him, great friend. He eyed his friend talking on the phone to Akane. Ugh… his smile made him sick. He wanted to wipe it off his face…but how? He put his chin in his hands, how could he embarrass Shindou even further? Gasp! Kirino slyly smirked. Perfect!

The fuchsia haired boy cleared his throat and walked up behind Shindou to begin using his hidden power.

“Shindou-Chan, hurry up and come back to bed~”

The grey haired boy’s eyes widened what the hell-?

“Shindou-Chan why are you taking so long~?” Somehow the swift defender was able to convert his voice to that of a girl’s!

“Shindou? Who’s that? “Asked Akane. What could he say?! Oh, it’s just my male friend Kirino asking me to come back to bed?!

“It’s the… TV!”

“Shindou-Chan! Don’t make me have to kiss you to get you back in bed!”

…

WHAT?!

Shindou and Akane gasped. The boy shot Kirino a glare that could kill while the very boy just smirked. ‘I’m going to kill you!’ mouthed the angry teenager.

“Shinny-Chan! Don’t be mean” pouted Kirino.

SHINNY-CHAN??!! Shindou tried getting away from the annoying nuisance but he was always a step behind him.

“Shindou-Chan! Shindou-Chan! Shindou-Chan!” How was he supposed to get away from that and talk with Akane?

“I can hear you’re busy right now Shindou so… um… I’ll go now.” Said Akane gloomily.

“No wait don’t go!” pleaded Shindou, “Besides what did you want to tell me?” It was Akane’s turn to blush now.

“Um… I…”

“Akane?”

“Can we talk tomorrow?”

“Sure, when are you going to call?”

“Actually can we meet up?”

Shindou was taken back. Akane wanted to meet up, with him?

“Meet up? O-ok, what time?”

Meanwhile, Kirino was dumbfounded! How could his Oscar winning performance make Akane still talk to that idiot? Shindou put the phone down. ‘Oh no here comes the trouble’ thought Kirino but when the boy turned around, he had a tint of pink on his cheeks and he showed off a big grin as wide as his face.

“Shindou?” questioned the curious boy. The loved up boy was slowly traveling around his room chanting, “Date with Akane… Date with Akane…”

“It’s not a date!” reminded the cyan eyed boy who was clearly annoyed with love-struck idiot. Shindou wasn’t listening though, he continued chanting.

“Boys! It’s time for bed!” said Mrs Shindou.

“Okay.” Replied the boys cheerfully. Shindou was still in a trance as he changed for bed, while Kirino depressingly got into his sleeping bag to get ready for 24 hours of a lovey-dovey Shindou asking for more advice. Sigh.

0o0

8:28 the pinkette boy slowly arose from his dreams, half-opened eyes tried to adjust to the bright lights surrounding him. A figure was slowly approaching him. He didn’t take any notice until the person grabbed him by his shoulders and started to shake the living soul out of him.

“KIRINO!” it shouted.

He immediately shot up to see a teary eyed Shindou bending leaning over him.

“What are you doing!” yelled a blushing Kirino. His blush increased when the upset midfielder pulled him close and hugged his torso.

“W-what are-?”

“Kirino. Help me…”

He was shocked. Kirino had never seen his friend like this since they were in elementary school.

“Kirino… I need you.” What?! The pig tailed was speechless, what kind of question is that to ask your best friend?

“Shindou… I”

“No Kirino I need you! I need you to… to… help me pick something to wear!”

…

Kirino pushed his appealed friend off of him and went back to bed.

“Kirino please! I don’t know what to wear and I’m meeting Akane in 10 hours!” The embarrassed boy remained in his sleeping bag. “Please Kirino!! Remember all the times I was there for you?”

Memories of Shindou and Kirino’s days as young innocent boys flashed at the back of the blue eyed male’s head. “Remember all the times I was there for you?”

“Don’t call Kirino names!” yelled a little Shindou.

“Or what? Is your girlfriend gonna cry Boo Hoo!” remarked a mean schoolboy.

“He’s more of a boy then you could ever be!”

“What did you say?” the schoolboy clenched his fists and threw a punch at the younger boy...

“Shindou-kun, are you alright?” worried an upset boy with his hair in a ponytail.

“Don’t worry! I’ll be fine!” ensured the badly bruised boy “I won’t let anyone tease you, even if I get hurt instead” he smiled.

“Shindou-kun…”

“Kirino…?” pleaded a desperate Shindou, “Sigh I guess I’ll choose myself…”

“Alright you’ve persuaded me. Let’s go.”

“Really?!”

“Yes really, now hurry up before I change my mind”

10:56 and nothing for Shindou to wear.

“For a rich fancy guy, I thought you would have better taste than this.” Ridiculed the pinkette as he held a pair of purple and green striped jeans.

“I thought you were supposed to be helping me.”

“I am helping you by throwing these ugly clothes in the bin, where they belong!” Kirino dragged a black plastic bag filled with the silver haired boy’s clothing towards his door.

Shindou frowned, “My uncle got me those jeans! And that jacket!”

The pinkette raised his eyebrow, “I’m sure Akane will love the brown and green in this jacket! They match so well together.” The aggravate boy snatched his clothes.

“I asked you to help find clothes to wear not to throw out!”

“Well none of your clothes are good enough to wear!” the pinkette lunged forward and grabbed his companion’s shoulders, “If you want to impress her, then you have to go with something new.”

“Something new?”

“Yes! Do you have money?”

“Not that much, my parents cut down my allowance.” The boy reached into his draw holding a pile of notes. “Is this enough?” Kirino was too busy admiring the large sum of money in his friend’s hand to answer his question. He had never seen that much money before. Shindou however was completely unaware of his luck.

“Let’s go!”

“Yeah!”

12:42 and still nothing for Shindou to wear.

“Ugh! We’ve been searching for an hour now in this shopping centre! When are you going to find something?” complained the cyan eyed impatient boy.

“Until I find something perfect! You said it yourself.”

“I said find something new not perfect.”

“Same Difference.”

“Uuuggghhh!” moaned Kirino, what would he get out of doing this?

“Hey Kirino, I’m starving! Want to get lunch?” Kirino shot up with a beam of delight.

“Sure! Your treat!” the pinkette ran to the nearest restaurant.

“Hey wait up!” yelled Shindou trying to catch up to the defender.

Kirino finally stopped running in front of a fancy looking restaurant.

“Un café Merde. Sounds posh!” said Kirino. Shindou’s sweat dropped.

“Come on! We can’t get served out here!” the pinkette entered the building. Shindou looked under the restaurant’s sign, Nous servons de la nourriture plus la merde en France! The coffee eyed boy silently thanked his parent’s for French lessons and too entered following his friend.

The boys approached a waitress with a menu. She asked if they wanted a table for two and they agreed. As they walked to their table, they could see uptight, snooty people nibbling on cakes and sandwiches.

“Here are your menus! Bientôt de retour!” sweetly said the waitress.

“Bentot retor!” smiled Kirino.

“Bientôt de retour.” Corrected the fluent teen.

“What does that mean?”

“Be back soon.”

“Oh…”

“I am back! What would you like to order?” asked the waitress.

“I’ll have a salad with dressing please” politely said the brown eyed boy just before drinking his water.

“One salad, dressing included. What would you like young man?” this time the question pointed to Kirino.

“Hmm… I’m not sure yet. Give me a minute”

“Okay, well how long have you two been petite amie?” Shindou spluttered his drink, nearly choking.

‘Petite Amie?!’ (Petite Amie = Sweethearts)

“Um… were not-”

“Oh! I’ll have the strawberry swirl cake.”

“One strawberry swirl cake, thank you for ordering at Un Café Merde! Au revoir!” she then winked at Shindou and retreated back to the kitchen. “One salad and strawberry cake for the les amants mignons.

‘Les amants mignons?!’ (Les amants mignons=Cute lovers)

Shindou was seriously about to throw up now, it wasn’t the first time someone mistook the boys as a couple but the idea still horrified him. The curious pinkette tilted his head, “What does that aman minon mean?” Brown eyes scowled the pigtailed boy’s question. “Ok don’t lose your hair! I was just wondering.”

Kirino playfully tried to make a paper swan from his napkin, meanwhile the grey haired boy attempted not to puke out his insides from the waitress’ quote. A few minutes later, she came back holding 2 plates with the boys’ meal. She placed them onto the table.

“Here you go! Profitez-en!”

The midfielder peered at his food. The salad could be considered as a pile of leaves with mayonnaise on the side. They really put the merde in Un Café Merde he thought. Kirino nonetheless was enjoying his food, a monster sized slice of cake with strawberry filling, whipped cream, strawberry jam on top and the juiciest strawberry buried inside. The pinkette happily dug into his lunch.

‘I guess watching Kirino attack his food will entertain me for now…’

2:03 still nothing for Shindou to wear and Kirino was now enjoying his 7th slice of strawberry swirl cake.

“Hurry up Kirino! I’m meeting Akane in only 4 hours and I have no clothes”

“That can wait, this cake is delicious!”

“I can tell…”

Shindou continued glancing at his watch. When the boy finally finished eating, he leant back into his chair with his belt undone. The prodigy walked to the waitress and paid for the meal. She happily said “Come back soon avec ton copain” ‘with your boyfriend?!’ A vein popped on an angry Shindou’s forehead.

“Nous ne sommes pas un couple!” (We are not a couple!) He shouted and grabbed Kirino’s shoulder on the way out.

“What was that about?”

“Nothing…” he replied grumpily.

Kirino shrugged it off and followed Shindou to a clothes shop. The shops had clothes even worse than Shindou had! And more expensive too. They exited with no luck.

“Uuugghhh!! What am I going to do??” Shindou cried as he sat down on a bench.

“Look, I’ll try to get you something while you think of what to say to Akane”

“Really?! You’ll do that!”

“Of course! We’re friends” smiled the pinkette. He walked away from Shindou and attempted to buy him clothes.

3:55 and FINALLY some clothes for Shindou! It was a rough journey, but the pinkette succeeded. Before he reached the bench his eyes widened. A girl (18 year old looking) was leaning next to Shindou, and not a pretty one. He ran over to rescue Shindou.

“Come on cutie! Go out with me!” she flirted but the silver haired boy wasn’t having any of it.

“Leave me alone!”

“Not until you give me kiss!” she was now holding Shindou’s wrists.

“Shindou! What are you doing to him you idiot?” bellowed the teen as he arrived at the bench.

“Who are you?”

“I’m his boyfriend!”

…

The pinkette put his arms around the boy’s neck and hugged it. Shindou was frozen from the pigtailed boy’s words. “He’s mine! So clear off!”

A couple of metres away, Tenma, Shinsuke, Tsurugi and Kariya were enjoying some ice cream on this sunny day.

“What did Shindou-senpai say when you called him?” asked Tenma to Kariya.

“He didn’t answer.”

“What about Kirino-senpai?”

“He said he had special business to attend to or whatever.”

“What could that mean?”

“Probably just an excuse not to come with us…” Shinsuke sadly said.

“No! I’m sure they have an important thing to do today that’s all. Right Tsurugi?”

“Yeah…” The navy haired boy wasn’t listening but he regularly agreed with the windy midfielder.

“He’s mine! So clear off!”

Tenma, Shinsuke and Kariya slowly turned to look at each other. Tsurugi stopped licking his ice cream and froze. Was that-?

The shouting from this familiar person became louder.

“Let’s check it out!” whispered Kariya.

Everyone followed him and put their head round the corner to witness something they thought they would never see.

“You have a boyfriend?” asked the girl.

“Uh… I-“

“Yes he does! We are on a date right now if you don’t mind.”

DATE?!

“Alright you can have him” the girl walked angrily.

“You can let go of me now”

“Why would I want to do that?” smiled the cyan eyed boy.

“Because I told you to!”

“Don’t be mean Shindou!”

The 4 Raimon boys put their heads back round and stared at each other.

“I knew there was something going on between those 2.” Said Kariya

Tenma and Shinsuke had a slight blush on their cheeks while Tsurugi continued eating his ice cream. The boys walked away trying to figure out if that actually just happened.

In the meantime, Kirino and Shindou headed home quickly after that public display of affection.

5:47 almost time to meet Akane! Shindou had butterflies in his stomach, he was so nervous; he was shaking as he put his clothes on. He was wearing dark blue jeans, a black top and a white jumper over it.

“Don’t worry pal!” reassured Kirino,”Just act normal and I’m sure everything will be alright.”

“Y-you think?”

“I know. Now hurry and go before you miss her!”

“Okay, and Kirino?” the pigtailed boy turned around; “thanks for everything” Shindou smiled.

“No problem! Tell me how it goes.”

The anxious boy left his room but little did he know that Kirino would know how it goes since he was going to the riverbank too. Excellent!

Shindou was nearly at the riverbank. The butterflies in his stomach increased as he got closer to his destination. ‘What am I going to do? What am I going to say? What is she going to say?’

As he edged closer, he could see a silhouette leaning against a tree. The silhouette became more recognisable when he got even closer. Then Akane turned around, she was wearing a pale blue dress and a white cardigan on top. She looked beautiful…

Akane’s beauty got the better of Shindou as he tripped up on a rock flat on his face.

“Shindou-kun!” Akane helped him up. The brown eyed boy’s face was as red as a tomato. He was silently cursing at himself but stopped when he looked into the shy manager’s eyes. Her gorgeous lavender eyes put him in a daze. The 2 classmates stared at each other for what felt like hours.

“Hey mister! Can you pass the ball?”

The teens snapped out of their daydream with a blush on both of their faces.

“Here you go!” the midfielder passed the ball to the little kid.

“Thank you!” he ran away back to his little group of friends.

“You’re very nice.” Complimented the chestnut haired teen.

“Thanks.”

“The sunset is fascinating”

“Not as much yo- I mean yeah” Shindou just wanted sink into ground at this point. Akane touched her warmed up cheeks.

“Um… so… what did you want to talk about?”

“Oh… um… I” Akane’s nerves kept getting in the way of her speech. Her whole face was pink which Shindou found very cute. She was silent for a minute trying to build up her courage.

“Um… you know Midori-kun?”

“Yeah.”

“Well she has a… a crush…”

“On who?”

“Y- uh… Kirino-kun”

“Kirino?!”

“Yes”

…

“So why are you telling me?”

“Well… since you’re good friends with him and I’m good friends with her, we could… get them together… somehow.”

“You think that could work?”

“Definitely!”

“That’s a very nice idea Akane.”

The shy girl’s face became rosy again, “T-thank you!” Shindou took Akane’s hand into his.

“I promise to help get those 2 together” he smiled sadly.

“What’s the matter?”

“Oh nothing…”

The shy manager became irritated, “Why won’t you tell me?”

“Look just don’t worry about!”

“I want to help!

“Well you can’t!”

“Why!”

“Because I don’t want to tell you!”

“How come?”

“Because if I told you may never speak to me again and that would be my worst nightmare!”

“You would be that upset if you never spoke to me again?” the chestnut haired girl calmed down now.

“Of course I would… You’re important to me…” the boy’s cheeks heated up.

“I am?” he nodded. Shindou just realised he was still holding her hands. The teens looked at each other. They gently started to lean into each other…

“KISS HIM/HER ALREADY!!” the couple jumped out of their skin. Who the hell was ruining their moment? 2 figures rustled in the shrubs. Kirino and Midori.

“What are you 2 doing here?”

“Spying of course” replied Midori.

“Yeah I figured you might need some help since you’re not a love expert like me.” Midori giggled.

“Well come on Shindou, we need to start our homework.”

“What homework?”

“Uh… maths. Let’s go.” The pinkette grabbed his friend’s arm.

“Sorry for the interruptions”

“Don’t be sorry!”

“Well, see ya.”

“Bye Shindou-kun.” The girls and boys went their separate ways. Akane and Shindou looked back at each other as they got further and further away.

“That was a success! What were you talking about?"

"Oh nothing just... school."

"Okay. So is Akane your official girlfriend now?”

“I don’t know. Maybe…”

“I guess my advice worked”

“Not exactly”

“Well now that she’s your girlfriend, it’s time I told you about the birds and bees-”

“Not another word out of you!”

The boys laughed as they walked back to Shindou’s house. After today, the grey haired boy knew the answer to why he was friends with him. Because they’re both idiots…