Beads of sweat clung onto his skin, evidence of his training, and it caused his snowy white hair to plaster itself over the nape of his neck. It drenched his sweater, sticking the fabric to his abdomen and Ibuki clutched his shirt, fanning himself with it in order to alleviate the stickiness. "Damn it..." he mumbled, dejection for himself lowering his tone as he cursed himself for missing a goal.
Stupid move, Ibuki, stupid move.
He can't entirely be blamed, there's a heavy thought lurking at the back of his mind, and he can't seem to shake it off. Even his superior concentrating skills can't deteriorate it enough to focus completely on practice, and he felt like an idiot for getting carried away with it. The very thing obstructing his righteous path of protecting the goal is his feelings for a certain ravishing manager, and that was none other than you.
With an enchanting smile, and captivating [e/c] pools, you sought out prosperity of the team along with everything you had. When you were watching, he was sure that no matter what came in his path, he'd be able to accomplish all the trivial things, and stand tall with pride. The goddess of victory for him was truly you, and not a soul could convince him otherwise.
"It's okay, Ibuki-kun! You can block it next time!" the melodious chime of your encouraging voice rung in his ears, and he took a second to lock eyes with you and nod in your direction. Ignoring his heart going aflutter, he clapped his hands together and returned to his defensive stance. 'She's watching...Don't mess up. Focus, you're the keeper. Don't let a single shot in!'
"Bring it!" came his bellowing shout, and Tsurugi affirmed his statement and he drew closer, ball skillfully being dribbled with his feet. The striker brought his leg back, and pushed forward with all his might to kick the ball with the laces of his cleat to give an added boost of power to his shoot. The overly powerful shoot was sent swiftly on a course of adrenaline, and Ibuki forcefully mustered all his strength into his hands as his feet stayed grounded into the grassy terrain nestled at his feet.
Using everything, he stood his ground as the soccer ball came colliding roughly in opposition to his gloved palms, ball still spiraling with tremendous power and he can feel his feet begin to become overwhelmed and skid back a bit. Staying strong however, he managed to keep the ball in control, and earned a vigorous amount of praise coming from both you, and a few other teammates.
Of course he's focused on your compliments mainly, but he can't help it!
"Everyone, come take a break! Aoi-chan prepared some water bottles for you all~" you shouted, calling in the swarm of lively peers known as New Inazuma Japan. They were all shining so radiantly out there on the field, and it seemed like a shame to rip them from what seemed to be natural now, but proper rest was essential if they were going to ride momentum and continue winning.
Espying a certain goalkeeper making his way over, you plucked a water bottle from the chilling cooler and brought it over to him, "Here you go, Ibuki-kun!" your hands wrung themselves together after he graciously took the item from your hand, ravenously gulping down some of the refreshing water that left a rejuvenating feeling in its wake.
"Thanks," he calmly thanked you. This water might've tasted a little better than yesterday's, only because he received it so lovingly from the girl of his affections. But now—he wants to mentally punch himself for thinking of something so dumb.
You nodded your head, busting out an endearing grin along with allowing a subtle amount of heat to suffuse on your cheeks. "You're welcome! You were great out there. You're getting better at stopping Tsurugi-kun's shoots!" you let yourself ramble on for a moment, earnestly meaning all the praise you were dishing out to him. To you, he honestly was a great goalkeeper.
"Yeah! I won't let anyone score, not even him!" and there he goes flaunting his usual catchphrase, one you had grown accustomed to hear; and so what if he doesn't always live up to that, at least he has a strong-will, and spirit.
"We wouldn't want it any other way. We believe in you," you told him softly, grin dispersing into a fainter, glowing smile. Ibuki found his cheeks growing warm, and he cocked his head away from you, fixating his line of vision onto his other teammates for a moment.
A lengthy moment of silence passed by.
"Hey," Ibuki started, gaining your attention back that seemed to have of drifted and became preoccupied with something else. "Do you think we could be something more than just this...?"
Now Ibuki, the loner wolf-kind, rarely gave out any weary questions. Where was that strong-will of his you were just thinking about? "I don't...get what you mean?" you mumbled out, confusion written on your features, and you even gave your head a cute tilt to empathize your question.
Inwardly groaning, he opened his mouth to speak his planned, calm response that was playing in his mind, but...his words didn't quite match up. "What I'm trying to say is... I like you, and I wanna go out with you!" Ibuki placed his hands on your shoulders at his declaration.
Your face was the definition of surprise, and apparently so were the teammates who heard that little outburst. "Eeeeh?!" First Kusaka confessing to Morimura and now Ibuki to you—As his sudden confession finally kicked in, you found your face doubling in heat, and cheeks blossoming into the brightest shade of red you could imagine.
His hands constricted their hold on your shoulders, gripping them a little tighter, "What," he dryly spoke out, tone edged with a hint of confusion himself. Why was everyone so shocked and not saying anything? Entering a snit about the fact that he was left out of something, he let go of your shoulders and pivoted in his spot, giving a small "whatever!" before stalking off back onto the field.
You were completely transfixed on what had happened, you never expected Ibuki to confess to you, and certainly not during practice; even if it was break. Your hands found the hem of your shirt, and fiddled with it, tugging on it to stave off the strangely unsettling whirl of butterflies in the pit of your stomach. Everyone else went back to practice moments later, continuous shots being taken at the goal, and even you at the standing at the side, with the buzz of a cheery Sorano in your ears, you couldn't exactly pry your eyes off of Ibuki.
The same went for him. Plum orbs raced back, and forth from the soccer balls to your figure. If he was kicking his ass for a reason, there it was—he was surprised telling you his feelings hadn't removed any pressure, or relieved him in any sense. He thought by doing so he'd be able to focus with all his might, and yet...here he is.
He just hope you'd reach an answer faster than he anticipated.
Giving his cheeks a harsh slap, once, twice; he brought his trained eyes to Tsurugi, lined up already with a ball trapped under his foot. "Are you ready?" the striker inquired, stony, and serious all the same. Ibuki nodded firmly, mirroring his typical defending stance, the one he always used when he was protecting the goal and catching a shoot.
He was expecting a normal, yet extremely powerful shot—not the infamous Bicycle Sword! The worst part was that before the shot was made he actually had given you one last look(ugh, why were you looking over at Manabe and Minaho?!); and then, that long string of menacing blackness with violet eliciting from it splotched at the corner of his eyes, and he didn't have enough reaction time to lift his hands up to level with the shot and it collided right into his face!
"IBUKI-KUN!"
Your heart had stopped for a moment, watching as his newly limp body flung backwards along with the ball. Everyone was surprised, panic washing over all their faces, and everyone, including you, came bolting to his side at breakneck speed. By the time you reached his body, fainted in all it's glory, your heart had coursed into a palpitating hysteria of dread; was he okay?! The pain of your organ pounding against the bones of your ribcage like a drum was nothing in comparison to the mindset of Ibuki being injured was.
"I-I'll bring him to the hospital!" as a manager it was your duty to oversee the development, and health of the team so it seemed natural that you'd be the one to assist him to the hospital. Matsukaze granted you permission, and you mumbled "leave him to me!" before hoisting him up with a bit of help from Tsurugi. One arm roped around his waist, while his arm was strung around your neck and you held the hand that dangled with all your strength.
And you tirelessly hauled him to the hospital.
"Nng..." a guttural grunt came from Ibuki, his groggy lids finding themselves being pried open as a lulling light invaded his vision. He blinked a couple of times, ridding himself of that tireless haze glossing over his plum orbs. Still faintly fazed by his awakening, he could only make out a distant "he's awake!" by a voice that was very similar. Ibuki let out another groan, shifting under the sheets tucked over him into a sitting position only to have a splintering pain smack his head mercilessly. "Ugh!"
He felt delicate, warm hands come around him encasing him with a tender feeling he felt himself liking. The hands eased him backwards, settling his head on the plush pillows, consoling the throbbing headache only a bit. And that's when everything came back; he was going to stop Tsurugi's shoot, and then he failed miserably due to his lack of concentration. Dammit. That's probably how he ended up here, in the hospital; the overwhelming amount of white flooding his color scale was enough give away for him.
But then another thought occurred to him.
He sharply turned his head and discerned a patent manager, you, of course. That gave him the explanation on how he wound up grounded to a bed, and that fleeing he was just pervaded with. "[Last Name]...?"
You let out a nimble sigh of relief, ah, good; he was okay. "How are you feeling? You should sleep, your face is pretty scraped up."
At your words, he lifted a hand to his face and felt the splotches of bruises, and bandages littered his face. They stung if he applied too much pressure of them, and as you saw him wince you reached over and grabbed his hand, pulling away from his face to further protect him from reopening any wounds. "You brought me over here, right? Thanks, though I probably would've been fine if we just stayed at the boardinghouses."
Another sigh fell past your lips, "You don't get it, do you?" you squeezed your hold on his hand, causing him to glance over at your curiously. "What if you were really hurt? I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you." by now he had begun to hold your hand back too, practically giving you an iron-grip to exclaim he wasn't going anywhere, he was here, and fine.
"I'm just surprised you weren't paying attention, that's unlike you," you added swiftly, not giving him a chance to enter any say in what you just previously stated. You almost didn't want to hear it, just him holding your hand was enough.
Ibuki hummed, "That's because I was looking at you."
More heat came to your cheeks, and you swallowed thickly as nervousness began to invade your bloodstream again. You leaned over slightly, placing a kiss to his cheek, taking care as you daintily placed your lips over a bandage. After a second, you slowly drew yourself back but a sharp pull on your hand flopped you onto the bed uncomfortably but your face had closed distance with Ibuki; your lips on his. Ah, that cheeky!
Even if the pressure on your back wasn't the most comfortable thing, the way yours and Ibuki's lips fitted together caused you to drown everything else out and indulge in the sensation. A grin spread on features, a satisfied groan uplifting his vocal cords as you pushed yourself back from him. "Ibuki-kun..." you breathed out, retreating back to your seat at his bedside.
"I really meant what I said before. I like you," his enunciated, wanting to etch his words in your mind, and heart. Let you take them into consideration thoroughly, and maybe now you'd have your answer. Something in his gut told him you did, though.
You can tell by looking to his eyes that he's serious, and earnest in his second confession. Your steady heart broke out of it's calm pace into a rapid one, and it was harder to breathe, like the air was being ripped from your throat. "I like you, too..." your voice was barely audible, it was something that really embarrassed you to no extend; saying something like that! Even if they were your honest feelings..
"Say it louder," he murmured, a bit of disappointment riding into his rough voice.
Sucking in air, you nodded and spoke, just a bit louder, "I-I like you, Ibuki-kun! And don't make me say it again." you brought your lips into a pout, puffing your your cheeks childishly, and it almost worked on forcing down the raspberry blush from powdering your cheeks further.
A stupid, stupid grin he had. "Good. Thanks!" by now he was positioning himself upwards, feeling that splitting headache vanish at the sounds of your words, and (healing?) kiss. He sat upright, looking over at your reddened face which made him almost bashful about the situation. "That means we're going out, and you can't look at anyone else on the field!"
Removing the pout from your face, you gave him a worried expression. "W-Well, I would never! 'Sides, I always looked at you to begin with too..."
"What was that?"
"N-nothing!"
But wait... is he really going to be able to focus on practice now that you are his girlfriend?!
a/n; I wrote this like two months ago...asdfhgjkl;
inazuma eleven go (galaxy) © level-5