Distances
..
Shindou is everything she loves.
He reminds her a lot of an orchestra conductor, as he directs the team the strategies with a sense of confidence and gracefulness that she doesn't have. They follow his directions flawlessly and they perform their very best in their performance. Even she, who serves as their helpful manager along with two of her peers, follows his directions without fail.
But, he is also like the sun. While he shines so brightly and provides the world a beloved warmth that lets them live, he's too far. Too far for her to touch, too far for her to even speak to.
Which is why she decides to only admire him from afar. She stands on the sidelines of the soccer field, and with a warm smile on her face, eagerly takes pictures of the man she loves moving, twirling, and kicking the ball.
And of course, she takes pictures the entire team as well. For documentation purposes, obviously.
.
Their graduation happens, and tears are shed.
She remembers the solemn air as the procession moves onwards, her movements as she steps up to take her diploma, the shouts and exclamations from her juniors congratulating them all for getting through the years, and their cries as they huddle together for an embrace.
Kariya is in denial that he is crying, but he couldn't help but choke out the tears as he tugs and pulls and hugs his favorite senior. Kirino only pats him on the head, and reassures him that he will never forget him.
Tenma and Shinsuke are hugging Kurama, who silently struggles to free himself from their grip. The always radiant and smiling juniors are now crying too, especially the current captain of the Raimon Junior High Soccer Club, whose tears overflow and his eyes are all red.
Ichino, Aoyama, Hayami, and Hamano watch the three proceed onwards with their crazy antic and they couldn't help but chuckle at it, whilst wiping away the tears in their eyes.
Aoi comes near her, and congratulates her with a bright smile and tears in her eyes. She smiles back, and tells her that she's happy and she will miss her dearest friend.
Her eyes turn away from Aoi's to find the man she loves, speaking to Tsurugi. While not as evident as almost everyone else's, he's on the verge of tearing up in front of him. Tsurugi speaks to him, but he looks like is almost shouting at him rather initiating casual conversation. Shindou listens to him attentively and unfazed by his actions, all while continuing to smile and give him reassuring pats on the shoulder.
She realizes that she is staring at him for a tad bit too long than usual when he turns his head and they come to have eye contact.
Her cheeks burn to a crimson red, and she quickly shifts her gaze back to Aoi, who couldn't help but giggle as she watches her.
But she remembers for some reason, that before she turns away to face her dearest junior, that she has felt a sense of euphoria in their little moment.
She remembers Shindou looking back at her and giving her nothing else but his eyes softening as their eyes meets and a warm and pleasing smile forming on his lips.
Her heart flutters.
.
By fate or destiny or something along those lines, they enroll in the same senior high school and manage to become classmates on their first year. She wonders why Shindou has decided to enroll in Raimon Senior High anyways, when his parents can willingly enroll him in the most prestigious school in the district.
But of course, she doesn't try to question him. She never does.
Everywhere she steps to in the school, she is surrounded with many, many, too many unfamiliar faces. However, his presence has given her a small sense of comfort around these faces. It is like her only guiding light in the haunting hallways of the school, and she wants to follow it.
She falters from this idea though, she always does.
This feeling she has is quite bothersome. Why is she unable to take a step forward to him? Why does her legs lock itself in place as he strides by her and greets her? They have known each other for three years, and they are at least friends. He says he considers everyone part of their club to be friends.
So why why why do I feel this way?
She feels a hand touch-almost like holding-her shoulder, and she stops her footsteps. She turns to see him, Shindou Takuto, looking at her with the same warm smile from graduation.
"Hello Akane, you look lost. Do you need my help?"
.
She thinks this is all too unreal and everything is just a fantasy.
But it's not. Everything is real.
He starts to talk to her more often than those three years of acknowledgement and friendship. Shindou appears by her side every once in a while, and inquires her if she would like some tutoring in any of the subjects today. Sometimes, he asks her if she would help him with a complicated Algebra problem that their teacher had come up with on the spot and made it their assignment.
Not wanting to be rude, she accepts all requests and offers from him. They manage to ace most of the tests.
Often times, he would ask her if she would like to come and hang out with him after school.
These inquiries are what churns up all those complicated emotions, bursting into colorful flames, and soaring into the sky. Her cheeks and ears burn up whenever he asks, and often times, she would accept it.
Shindou walks to the ramen shop, with her trailing behind him. She watches him from behind, and takes in every detail of his back. His hair looks nice and smooth as always, bouncing a bit as he takes a step. He stands up straight yet he walks like he feels all the burdens in the world have uplifted from his shoulders. He walks slowly and gracefully.
Just looking at him makes her feel all kinds of happiness, but being so so so near him makes her feel all kinds of...tension? She couldn't quite get it. It's almost funny, but she doesn't laugh.
He is too far away, she always thinks, he is too far far far away.
That's what she thinks.
.
Never in her life was she ever confessed too, but today was the first time she encounters it.
Unfortunately, she declines and the poor young boy apologizes and walks away whilst sulking.
And almost immediately, the entire encounter flies off her head like it was nothing special of any sort. The only special encounters she ever gets were those during her junior high days, ah, she misses the good old days.
She never thinks of the incident again until the boy reappears to her classroom, reaches for her, and willingly tries to ask her out again. But before she could respond to him, the boy turns away and is hot on his heels. The girl tilts her head, and wonders why he would even run before receiving the answer.
Shrugging her shoulders, she returns to fix up her bag and prepare to leave. She heads for the door and is about to turn the knob and leave, only to feel someone pull her back and stop her movements.
Shindou stands behind her, holding her hand and smiling softly.
Holding her hand, huh...
How-
"Akane, would you like to go somewhere with me?" He inquires for the third time this week.
Oh God.
Her cheeks turn to a shade of crimson and she swore she could feel her heartbeat racing so so so fast. His somewhat rough and big hands softly grips to her soft and fragile hands. His hands, his hands, holding hers. She thinks of how rough they feel against her soft skin, and wonders if it's because of the intense training from practice or it's just how boys' hands feel.
Either way, those tensing emotions rise up from her depths and she almost thought she's dying.
Still shaking, she nods to his inquiry and he smiles a bit wider. Shindou lets go and she reluctantly wants to pull him back to her grasp. But she decides against it, and having calmed down, follows him to wherever he wants to go.
.
She misses those moments of comfort where she would always stand at the sidelines.
And she wonders why he drags her to center stage with him.
What has changed? Where was that once radiant sun of hers? None of these moments ever feel like the past, where she watches him only from afar and would constantly take a photo of him when he gracefully makes a move with the soccer ball.
While the sun still exists in him, he is way too close to her. She doesn't understand why he has found himself content to be by her side, from someone who barely stands out in the crowd, the one in the supporting lines, the one in the sidelines. His presence being too close to hers feels like her skin is burned when she stays under the sun for too long.
But it's not she dislikes his presence at all, no.
It's...a complicated feeling, she thinks.
.
"Shin...-sama."
The words feel weird to her tongue, as she never addresses him with her personal nickname for him in so long. But she dons on her brave face and questions his actions, so all the unresolved emotions inside her would finally be put to ease.
Today, she decides where they would be hanging out and she decides it to be on the school rooftop. He walks before her as usual, and when he opens the door, a cold breeze meets them. They stand near the edge, with Shindou leaning his back on the barbed fence.
"Yes, Akane?"
"...P-Please...explain to me something." She stutters out, "...Why...are you so nice to me?"
She clenches her fist as she finishes asking and looks down. The emotions starts to rev up inside her again, and she wants to kneel down and just scream and let it all out. The churning and the bursting and the soaring and her cheeks burning up once again come back like a big tidal wave that hits the shore. She wants to understand it all!
"Akane," He began to speak, "...is...do you not like me?"
She makes a quick gasp and looks up at him, shocked. That wasn't it at all! She loves him! She really loves him and admires him and cares for him!
"N-No. No! I...don't not like you. I...like you, a lot." She gulps, "I just don't...understand why...you want to hang out with me."
A silence had momentarily occured, until Shindou takes a deep breath and chuckles a bit. She furrows her eyebrows and tilts her head, wondering why he was...laughing?
"Well, Akane, it's just that...you...are a very interesting person." He speaks, "I know we never got to know each other well during our junior high school years, but after seeing that we are in the same school once again, I wanted to know more about you. You were always taking pictures of us and you supported us all the way. And seeing you now, after hanging out with you for the first five months of school, I think...I really like you, Akane.
He speaks of her with such sincerity and kindness and happiness that she couldn't believe would be coming from him. For some reason, all the tension and edginess that keeps building up inside her is slowly dissipating. For the first time, she feels a lot better and much more happier. For the first time, she wants to know more about him too.
"...That...I never knew you thought of me that way. I...really like you too, Shin-sama." was the only response she could think of for him.
He chuckles, "Akane, don't call me that anymore. Just call me Takuto."
Her heart flutters.
She realizes, not even his best friends addresses him with that name.
Akane smiles.
"Takuto." The name feels so nice to say, "Thank you, Takuto."
Shindou smiles and without hesitation, he pulls her to a tight hug. Her eyes widen at first, surprised by his sudden action. But she no longer hesitates, and returns the hug by wrapping her arms on his waist.
Because now, more than ever before, Akane feels so close to Shindou.
And she doesn't want to let go.
Ever.
prompt: Akane still liking Shindou from afar; art cover belongs to pixiv user id=418565
A/N: HEY I HAVEN'T WRITTEN FOR THIS FRANCHISE IN...LIKE...two years? a year? i forget. you probably won't even know who this is, as this isn't the account(s) that i used to write for inazuma.
anyway! this fic is part of a challenge between my friends and i are doing, and i got to write down a fic for Sarah! you can see what the prompt is at the start of this author's note. with her prompt, i decided to play around with it. i was fascinated with the idea that Akane admiring Shindou from afar, which lead me to a sort of headcanon that Akane prefers to be far away from Shindou and she has this idea that she's too far away from him. but in reality, she wants to be closer to him. she's just too nervous to make the first move.
that's it, i guess! hope you like it, Sarah! and if you, the reader, are willing, please do leave a review on this fic!