i-i...was supposed to post this yesterday but my family kept me busy orz;;;; so yeah! this random oneshot is dedicated to my friend, Lou-senpai (SHSL Kirino Ranmaru) cause she's awesome and a really GREAT friend! uwu

disclaimer: Inazuma Eleven GO doesn't belong to me!

some reminders: slight AU because of the idea of Kirino and Kariya being really close friends and a little OOC(?)

this fic starts around...umm...idk, maybe before the semifinals match in the Holy Road(?) and it's all friendship(ish?) RanMasa cause...XD

At first glance, I thought that he would just be a stranger to me. Someone who would I barely see everyday or suddenly bump into.

Turns out, I was wrong.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~

"Hey Kariya, want to hang out?" I stopped walking and turned around to see a certain pink-haired boy calling out to him.

"Ehh…Kirino-senpai, why would you suddenly want to hang out with me?" I asked him.

Kirino-senpai chuckled and gave me a pat on the head, and because of that, I moved away from him. If there's one thing I hate, it's getting a pat on my head; it makes me feel so small.

"I just want to hang out. That and I want to get to know you more." Kirino-senpai stated.

I scoffed, "Really? Well, all you need to know about me is that I'm an orphan and I don't wish to make any friends, okay?"

"B-But Kariya…can we at least hang out, just this once?"

I stared at him for a few moments and sighed. Maybe it would be nice to hang out with someone, I was pretty lonely.

"F-Fine…but just this once…"

~O~O~O~O~O~O~

I never knew that from moment on, we would be really close…

"Wah, I had so much fun!" Kirino-senpai shouted out.

We bonded the whole afternoon and night: going to different stores, ate ice cream and played games in the arcade. Kirino-senpai laughed at me when I lost in one of the games n the arcade and I giggled when Kirino-senpai slipped and his ice cream fell to the floor.

By the time we finished, it was almost 10PM at night. I was worried because Hiroto might get mad at him for coming home really late. Kirino-senpai, on the other hand, I knew that his parents were busy at work and they would go home around midnight so they wouldn't know what time Kirino-senpai went home.

"Y-Yeah, it was fun…" I murmured.

I looked up and gazed at the stars above. The night was really beautiful; the stars glistened and tonight, it was a full moon. Then I felt someone tap on my shoulder and I looked behind me to see Kirino-senpai looking at me with a concerned look.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked me.

I shook my head and replied, "Nothing's wrong, it's that…I never had so much fun before…ever since I got separated from my parents."

"O-Oh?"

"Ahaha, you don't really have to know it!"

And because of that day, we started hanging out more…

We formed a secret friendship.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~

No one knew of our friendship, we continued to live on as 'rivals'. We pretended to fight a lot and shout at each other but…it kind of hurts to do so. And so no one knew of it, we hid ourselves at the back of the school to meet up and talk in secret.

But as time passed, the secret friendship started to not be a secret.

And by the time we finished battling against the Second Stage Children and everything went back to normal, we started to hang out every day after school, there was a place in the park where we would go to and talk about our interests and how we spent the day. It was really fun, you know? But then, my friends started to suspect me of something…

"Hey Kariya, you keep hanging out with Kirino-san, are you in a relationship?" Hikaru asked me one time. I spat out my juice and glared at him.

"WHAT?! THAT'S CRAZY!" I declared, "WE WOULD NEVER BE LIKE THAT!"

"Ah, but I saw you one time with him after school. You were both walking to the park!" I heard Tenma proclaim, joining in the conversation.

"Yeah, hmm, so you do like him~" Shinsuke taunted to me.

I blushed a bit and hit Shinsuke on the head, "Ack! I don't like him like that! It's weird, and I'm STRAIGHT!" I declared.

But Tenma, Shinsuke and Hikaru just continued to tease me all the way till school ended. I hid behind the school—also where Kirino-senpai and I would meet up to go to our secret spot—and waited for him.

Jeez, everyone teases me about that, it's so annoying!

After a short while, Kirino-senpai arrived and I told him about what happened with Tenma, Shinsuke and Hikaru. When I finished, he started to complain and rant how that is totally absurd and such.

But you know, even all that teasing happened, we're still close friends.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Soon, we reached the day of choosing the representatives for the Shinsei Inazuma Japan team. I didn't really care if I wasn't chosen or not but Kirino-senpai was really fired up about it.

But when it was over and he wasn't chosen, he was shocked and sad about it…also Shinsuke who we saw nearly crying about it. But then, he told me not to worry about it. It doesn't really matter to him anymore and his concern now is to train harder and become even stronger.

He didn't back down, he kept going and had a bright smile on his face. Sure, he wasn't the best in the team but he wasn't the worst either.

And because of that, we started to hang out more. Kirino-senpai didn't have Shindou-senpai with him so I would stay with him most of the time.

Hikaru and Shinsuke stopped teasing me about me and Kirino-senpai's relationship, which I was grateful for.

I guess being friends with Kirino-senpai isn't that bad at all…

~O~O~O~O~O~O~

So many months have passed since we've been close friends, life feels so normal as usual but at times, it could be a little crazy. Sometimes, it would be depressing. And at other times, it would just be filled with happiness.

Honestly, I feel happier whenever he's around me. He seems like to be the only one who really understands me a lot.

Sometimes, he could go a little too weird (I think) but that's what I like about him.

If there's one thing I want to say to him, it's a 'thank you'.

Thanks for being an understanding friend.

Thanks for being someone who makes me smile when I'm down.

Thanks so much for being there for me.

Q~Q /cries while slightly blushing and looking away/ I'M SORRY IF THIS IS BAD BUT OH WELL...IT'S ALL I CAN MAKE!

a-anyways, i kinda have a message for s-senpai as well! umm, thanks for being a really great friend! it's already a year since we've started to know each other and i can't believe we've gone this far. i know i could sometimes be a pain to you and annoy you especially with...um...some things :D but i'm glad you listen to what i say and i really trust you a lot. so happy one year anniversary of friendship for the both of us! X3

thanks to some people for reading and please do review! QuQ