A/N:The full sentences in itallics are Yukimura's thoughts. And for those unfamiliar with mild japanese, here's a glossary:

Oto-san=father

Senpai=Respected upperclassman

Ne-kind of like a question particle, as in "You'd want chocolate, ne Shirou?"

Arigato=Thankyou

Enough of that now-enjoy!

Disclaimer: Inazuma Eleven belongs to Hino Akhiro and not me, and a good thing too xD

"That's all for today!"

Yukimura registered his Coach's voice as his last shot hit the net, and fell to the ground with a satisfying, snow-muffled thump. He picked up the ball and jogged his way back to the bench. It had been snowing for a while now, and godness knows how long he had been practicing -the sun had gone down ages ago.

"Arigato, Fubuki-senpai.", smiling, he accepted a waterbottle from his teacher, depositing the soccer ball onto the bench for the time being.

Fubuki checked the school clock, which was visible from the bench.

"It's already 7:30, Yukimura. Maybe it's best to return home now, your parents might be worried."

Yukimura immediately jumped back up."Nonono-I can still go on, my parents wont worry at all!"

They don't care, anyway.

But then a thought hit the bluenet:"But you probably have someone waiting for you, ne Fubuki-senpai?", Yukimura bit his lip. He wanted to practice a bit more, but he didnt want to be a hindrance to his Coach.

I don't want to be in the way.

"No, not really", Fubuki scooped up the football and his own water bottle before walking back to the lodge. Yukimura obediently followed, sighing inwardly. And shivering a bit, too: a blizzard was going to start up soon, with all this wind. He shouldn't have left his jacket at home.

"I've been living alone for…quite some time now, actually."

"But what about your family? They're probably waiting for you-your siblings, or your mother and father-", Yukimura stopped himself and bit his lip. Who was he to make assumptions about Fubuki-senpai's home life? It wasn't any of his business!

I should have known to keep my mouth shut.

Yukimura was startled when he received a silence instead of the reprimand most adults would have given him by now. The boy cautiously looked up at the older man, who had paused amidst packing up.

"When…when I was a bit younger than you are right now, my family died in an avalanche.", he paused,"It was my younger brother who pushed me out of the car in time, even if it meant he wouldn't make it out himself."

Silence filled the room. It felt brittle-no, icy.

"So…Eternal Blizzard, it's…?", a nod from Fubuki confirmed it; Eternal Blizzard had been his long-gone younger brother's hissastsu…which meant…

"W-Well, I don't know if it'll help,"Yukimura chose his words carefully,"You can be part of MY family, and be MY Oto-san, and-"

A surprised laugh broke out from the boy's older companion.

"I'm pretty sure you already HAVE an Oto-san, Yukimura," Fubuki shook his head, still smiling. He took out a small, white scarf from his bag.

"This was Atsuya's-my brother, I mean", Fubuki elaborated."I kept it with me because I didnt want to feel alone-now I think it's okay to stop dwelling in the past."

He held out the scarf to Yukimura.

No way.

"Take it. You're going to need it anyway", Fubuki offered, gesturing towards the window-it was pretty windy out there.

Yukimura took the scarf. It was a standard, thick woolen scarf. And in reasonably good quality, if it was more than a decade old.

Just like the hissatsu...its something important, and he's giving it to me.

Yukimura looked up at his Coach with sparkling eyes, and true happiness spread all over his face.

"Arigato, Fubuki-senpai!!"

"No problem-now let's get you home, okay?"

"Yeah!"

For once, going home didn't feel damning, or lonely or hateful-despite the harsh wind, the walk home for Yukimura atleast, was elating and energetic-he jumped and skipped most of the way, talking to his senpai about everything from the weather to squirrel hibernation patterns. They were at their destination all too soon.

"I'll see you tommorrow, okay?", Fubuki waved, walking off already.

"Yeah!", Yukimura exclaimed, his new scarf flapping in the wind, almost as if it were waving, too.