A/N:

I honestly don´t know what I had planned for this, but I found it in my Docx documents and I was kinda curious as they dated like 5-6 years back or something. And this was kinda what I spotted in it; a chapter for something I had prob planned and used for beta exchange. While I may not know what my plan for it was, I figured I could always make up something around this.

Disclaimer:

I do not own Inazuma Eleven or any of the characters

- CHAPTER ONE -

[ Because I can ]

If their school had rooftop access, Suzuno mused, that's where they would be. But it didn't. Or rather, it did, but it was closed off, and for all of Nagumo´s bragging, the red-head didn't actually know how to pick locks.

Suzuno wasn't sure if Nagumo stopped trying or not - he had a feeling, despite what Haruya said about the rooftop being too cliché, the other still tried to break through the door whenever no one was looking. Not like that really mattered. What mattered was that they were skipping class, even if it wasn't on the roof.

They were behind the garden shed at the back of the school, with the concrete wall in front of them being the only barrier between them and the empty streets. Sometimes he wondered why the red-haired boy never suggested just leaving the school instead of doing this halfway skipping behind a shed.

Sometimes he wondered why he didn't do it himself.

It seemed like a sort of unspoken agreement between the two of them to just skip class and do nothing behind the shed. They hardly even talked. Okay, not hardly, they do talk often enough. It's just that eighty-seven percent of the time they did, they would end up arguing and spend the rest of that hour sitting away from each other in awkward silence. It's a different kind of silence, a dreading kind of sort, and Suzuno, much as he hates to admit it, hated that.

Their usual silence was better, whatever kind of silence that was.

The class that they skipped that day happened to be biology. They were supposed to dissect a sheep's eyeball or something like that. It wasn't as if they were disgusted or anything, it was just the third time in their two years they had to dissect an eyeball, and they agreed that they couldn't see the point of dissecting a cow's eyeball, a pig's eyeball then a sheep's eyeball. It was pointless and a waste of animal eyeballs, whatever else they use animal eyeballs for.

That wasn't the point, was it? No, it wasn't.

But Suzuno remembered, in a language class, that they must contextualize. He hardly listened, really listened, to language classes though so he might have done that wrong. Anyway, the point was, that day, they had a talk. And it was one of the thirteen percent of times they did not end up arguing. In fact, they agreed. And no, not just on the eyeballs, even if they did agree on that too.

"The student council president, what was his name? Hiyama or something - what do you think of him?" Nagumo asked suddenly after that rather lovely, rather short, scientific discussion that ended in both of them nodding in agreement for the lack of anything else to say.

"I think it was Hiroto," Suzuno corrected him, which made the other scowl - like hell he paid attention to that one assembly he actually attended this year.

"What about him?"

"I don't like him," the redhead took a sip from his can of Fanta.

Yes, neither of them actually smoked or did drugs or anything. They were failures even at being delinquents, Suzuno felt sometimes, but that suited him just fine.

Hiroto - Hiroto Tatsuya was it? He didn't remember much about him. Nagumo wasn't the only one who wasn't paying attention to the assembly. One can blame them though, it was an extremely dull one regarding school uniforms that no one would take note of anyway.

He had red hair, really, bright red hair. Which Suzuno noticed not from the assembly but by sitting four seats behind and two seats to the left of said student council president in class. They never really talked despite being in the same class though. It was almost as if they were just too different.

Hiroto just seemed to be able to get along with everyone and Suzuno - well, he didn't really get along with anyone else but Nagumo and maybe sometimes, that half-Korean transfer student Afuro from class C. And it wasn't as if they were fantastic friends or anything. The blonde dragged them out to go shop or arcade or movies once in a while.

Nagumo and him - well, they're just sort of stuck together since middle school because - he can't remember why now. It was just sort of the way it is and the way it ended up working out.

"Hmm, I guess I don't really care about him," Suzuno said. Although that was a lie. Something about Hiroto did bug him. Maybe it was just his aura or his face or something like that. Maybe it was how he was often surrounded by people and seemingly came from a well-to-do family. Maybe he was a little jealous, but he didn't like that possibility, so quickly struck it off his list.

Actually, it was just two days after that talk behind the shed, that Suzuno had his first talk with this Hiroto Tatsuya.

Since then, he hadn't skipped any classes - he and his usual red-haired companion had this agreement to attend classes just enough times for them not become a concern just so the school wouldn't have to call up their parents. Really, they weren't better students than this. Paying attention in class was optional, and that was a bit of an unspoken point they both respected.

Nagumo today, however, was down with the cold - something Suzuno told him he didn't believe, because the guy is an idiot and idiots don't get ill. However, he thought he skipped enough times for his classmates to just disregard him. On top of that, he, and well, Nagumo, were part of the go-home club, so it's not as if they made their presence known through the various sports, cultural and just rather odd clubs that Raimon High offered.

If they have any reputation, it was - well, he couldn't even say he had a reputation of being a delinquent, especially next to some of the actual delinquents of their school who - probably - had better things to do than to drink soft drinks and eat convenience-store-bought bread behind a shed. So he was surprised - not a good kind nor a bad kind - just surprised, when Hiroto approached him during lunch.

"Suzuno," the student council president smiled - it was a smile that the boy often saw him use around his teachers and students he hardly knows. How did he even know his name anyway?

"Do you have a minute?"

"Nope, buying lunch today, and you know that ramen bread is popular," he answered coolly - a student council president approaching someone like him could really only mean trouble, he thought.

"Class ended a little early, you would've missed it already," Hiroto replied, unfazed. Maybe he had to agree with Nagumo on how he did not like the student council president. "And the rest won't run out so quickly."

He sighed. "Fine, but make it quick. What do you want?"

"Nagumo isn't in today?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

Please, don't say Hiroto stopped him just to make stupid small talks. What was the point in doing something like that with him anyway? It wouldn't do much good for them and Hiroto could have small talks with anyone. Like, what about that captain of the football club he seemed to really get along with? Endou, was it? Or the green-haired second-year student council secretary that Suzuno noticed because of him putting up a Confucius quote on their classroom's blackboard one morning before a test for Hiroto. An encouragement or something.

Some girls commented it was rather cute. He just thought that green-haired kid had ugly handwriting.

"It's just that," Hiroto continued, his smile unfaltering, it was honestly getting more than a little annoying. "You two are always together."

"Well I apologize then, for betraying your expectations," Suzuno scowled. "May I go now?" It wasn't so much a question as a declaration. He side-stepped past Hiroto and headed to the door. Getting annoyed made him even hungrier.

''Why do you skip class?"

He glanced back shortly. "Because I can."

Despite what Hiroto said, they might still have that ramen bread.

So much for foolish hope in getting that ramen bread. It actually didn't bother him that much, however, if at all. He managed to get two plain rolls and honestly, they were filling enough and at the end of the day, that was what lunch, or really, meals, in general, mattered for - it ceased his hunger. It wasn't as if he were a gourmet chef himself, and food criticism was pretty low down his career choices list.

"Give me a break," Haruya rolled his eyes. "Sure I didn't do the Japanese literature homework but I was sick."

Not that Suzuno was really against skipping Japanese literature. Mr. Kudou was hardly his favorite teacher, and considering the man didn't really like either one of them, that just meant he liked Mr. Kudou even less. But he just had a little thing against the redhead asking him to copy his homework. They weren't supposed to be much involved when it came to the actual education side of things. He thought this was clear.

"Since we're skipping it anyway, you might as well do it tonight."

"Tch, fine. Not like you did well, I bet."

"Stop acting like such a kid."

This is the kind of childish conversation that would lead to the aforementioned awkward silence. Suzuno knew this, but seriously, when it happened, he could not help but just go along till it reached that point. Not that it mattered again after this hour. They'd be back to the way they are - whatever they were - as they would head back to class.

"Mind if I join you?"

Well, although that was a new development. Both of them looked up to the intrusive voice - for a while, there was an awkward silence - but this was yet a different kind of silence. A sort of shock - Suzuno couldn't really tell at this point.

"Hiroto," Nagumo was the first one to speak and again Suzuno couldn't read it - not the tone of Nagumo´s voice, not the atmosphere. It was tense. Yes, that's all he could say about it. It was tense.

"What're you doing here?"

Hiroto shrugged and took a seat next to the other red-haired teen. "Like you two, I'm skipping class."

Nagumo eyed the other - or at least, Suzuno thought so. It was hard to see, being on the other side of Nagumo, he could only see his usual companion's mess of red hair, and a little past it, for the other wasn't very large despite his large ego, Hiroto's brighter shade of locks and green eyes.

"Why?" at the sound of Suzuno´s voice, which he swore, sounded a little higher-pitched than usual - which he did not like - the two of them turned and looked at him. "Why?" he said, a little louder, a little bit more confident - that sounded a little more like how he usually does. Much, much better.

"Because," Hiroto gave that smile - that smile that was mentioned before - peeking right past the other redhead and looking straight into Suzuno´s blue eyes. "Because I can." And for the first time, Suzuno noticed that smile could just be honestly scary. It was one of the times he had to ask himself - why didn't he notice it before?

"Don't joke around!" and for that one time, Suzuno was thankful for Nagumo´s brash nature and his rather lacking ability to read the atmosphere. "Are you mocking us?"

Hiroto shrugged. "Why would I? Mr. Kudou's lessons could get tiring for everyone, you know?"

"Then find someplace else!"

"It's not like you bought this place," Hiroto was smooth, for the lack of better words. Scarily so, he replied so naturally and quickly to Nagumo without losing a bit of cool. Honestly, it's not something everyone could do - not even Suzuno after all those years spent together.

"Why you-!"

"Nagumo," Suzuno put a hand on his regular companion's shoulder.

It was not that he himself wasn't baffled, a little upset and a little bit more than ´a small bit´ frustrated with what happened, but for starters, a fight here wouldn't be good. The second reason would be that Nagumo seemed to be losing his cool to the point he'd soon be a little incomprehensible - which happened rarely, so he had to quietly applaud Hiroto for it. As for the third reason...

"Drop it," he added, a cold tone lacing in his words.

His companion had a range of emotions shooting across his face and he wanted to yell at him, Suzuno noticed, yet he turned towards his lunch with a glare. "Just - just don't get in the way."

Smile still unfaltering, the other smiled at this. "I won't trust me."

Thirdly, God may know what Hiroto would do if anything happened. Suzuno didn't have a good feeling about it - and a feeling that whatever that guy might have in mind, he'd probably carry it out anyway. Not that he would just let Hiroto do anything he wanted. But right now wasn't the right time to do anything yet.

"I," Nagumo fumed on their way home that day.

They lived nearby and often enough, walked back together until they had to split up. Not for any particular reason except for the fact that they were going the same way. Suzuno knew where this conversation would go just from that slow, angry monosyllabic word.

"Hate. Him."

"I know."

The next time they did skip class - the next week on a Tuesday, one of geography, Hiroto didn't join them. Neither did he the next time, that same week on Friday, or the next week on Wednesday and Thursday. Since then too, Hiroto didn't approach them in class and acted as if nothing happened.

Twice, Nagumo almost confronted him. But Suzuno stopped him on both occasions. If Hiroto wanted to just leave it at this, then that would be for the best. It wasn't smart in his opinion to provoke the other.

So it seemed like everything was back to normal. Just maybe, not that he would tell Nagumo, or anyone else this, the few times he noticed Hiroto glancing at him with that smile during lesson times. He was sure that Hiroto only did so when he knew that Suzuno would notice.

He just seemed like that kind of person. It still gave him the chills. He never claimed to be spectacularly good at understanding others, but Hiroto's level of incomprehensibility he felt was even beyond what he normally saw in others.

"What was with that Hiroto that day anyway?"

After another week had passed without any further explicit actions from Hiroto, Nagumo brought up the incident again. On a fifth period Wednesday, it was English class that they skipped.

The ´incident´ was unspoken during the past three weeks like it was some sort of taboo topic, but Suzuno was sure that he wasn't the only one who continued to be silently bothered by it. Nagumo´s question simply confirmed his guess.

"I think, we should just leave it at that."

Something that bothered Suzuno about Hiroto, was his unholy timing.

"At what?" an unwelcome yet familiar voice caused both of them to tense up.

Not this again...

A/N:

Okay, I honestly have no idea what this was supposed to be but well, let´s just roll with it and see what I can make up for this in a next chapter. Might as well use this as creative exercises. Like "This is the start, imagine how it continues".

Ideas are welcome thou.