Hey there :3

Yeah, a knew One-shot, this time at the request of jameis.

I hope you'll like it ^^

Have fun, though it is short

(Had some problems with this fic but now I think it is okay... at least I hope so. And I don't want to let jameis wait any longer x3)

Note: Beware mentioned Boy's love

Disclaimer: Inazuma Eleven and its characters are not mine and I don't earn anything with it

It was late afternoon. No clouds filled the sky, which was about to turn into a light orange.

Slowly, Afuro climbed up the stairs to reach the place where you could see the sky like nowhere else: The Steel Tower Plaza. He didn't go there because he wanted to look at the horizon but rather because he suspected to find the guy he was searching for. Indeed, he found him, the current captain of Inazuma Japan, Endou Mamoru. The boy sat on a bench, mostly resting from his practice, therefore Afuro, who hadn't been noticed yet, approached him.

"May I sit next to you?", he asked, surprising the brunet.

"Aphrodi! Of course", he smiled, removing his gloves and his bag from the bench so that there was enough space for the other one. The blonde smiled slightly, though it seemed kind of sad.

The reason was simple: He was again called by his past name. Although he wanted to forget about the past and move on to the future, forgetting all about the things like the aqua of gods, he couldn't. Because they were still calling him by his god–name. They, not just Endou.

Even the commentator of the Asia FFI preliminaries hasn't used his human name. It wasn't fair.

"It was a nice game, wasn't it?", Endou interrupted his thoughts without even recognizing the preoccupied mind of his friend.

"Right. It's a pity that we lost but at least we were able to show you the results of our training."

Endou just smiled when he heard that.

"Yes, even if we were surprised to see Gazelle and Burn in your team."

And here it was again. Although Endou was not mad about them after the whole alien-thing, he still called Nagumo and Suzuno by their alien-names. Afuro was not sure why but he came to the conclusion that they were just not close friends of him – at least he called Hiroto and Midorikawa by their human name. The striker sighed. Was he even allowed to want Endou to call him by his real name? Did he deserve it after all the things he had done to him?

He could clearly remember the first time he met the goalkeeper although he wanted to forget about this part of his life as well. The had been arrogant when he came to pay them a visit and thought that Raimon was not worth to be Zeus' opponent. He kind of provoked them, said that their practice wasn't enough to overcome their power. Even if he was amused by Endou's will and thought the match might be enjoyable, he still felt confident; Raimon would be no match for them.

Oh, he had been mistaken. The final had shown him that he was no god, someone who didn't even deserve to play football. They played with unfair means, fooled their opponent with their strength and moreover they fooled themselves.

But Endou had forgiven him. That he trusted him in the match between Diamond Dust was enough proof. This had been the moment when he saw him with different eyes. No, wait, even before that, after the FF final, he started to understand his view. Endou had removed the scales from his eyes.

He was thankful for that. Soon, this gratitude turned into admiration and now he could even call it love. It was ironic that he, who was named after the Goddess of Love, fell in love with someone else – shouldn't it be vice versa? He wasn't allowed to fall so easily in love with someone, especially not with a boy. A relationship between boys was not accepted by everyone and above all Endou was kind of popular now. So if he... Afuro interrupted his own thoughts with a frustrated sigh.

He has scolded himself before he came to this place for thinking about consequences. He just wanted to bring up the courage to tell Endou about his feelings. Nothing more. After all, the goalkeeper had to decide how he would react to his statement.

"Aphrodi? Are you alright?", Endou asked worriedly when he heard his frustrated sigh and when he recognised how the body of the other tensed. Terumi smiled awkwardly. He hadn't paid attention to the other one and felt embarrassed. Nevertheless he was to ashamed to tell the truth so he just nodded slightly.

"I'm fine. I just thought that it is kind of frustrating. We trained a lot but weren't able to win."

"You mustn't let this affect your volition. After all, Practice is –"

" - like Onigiri. Yes, I remember you said that to me when we first meet", Aphrodi chuckled.

"You should keep that in mind. You're a great player and I think that everybody supports you", Endou explained further, still with his usual grin.

"You may be right. Although I think that a lot more people supports you."

It wasn't a lie, Afuro really thought that. Endou had something which encouraged people to change for the better. And any of these people supported him. The brunet paused for a moment as if he was trying to understand Aphrodi, but then he smiled.

"Sure. Also, our managers are doing their best. Even Natsumi who isn't with us at the moment supports us."

The blonde forced himself to smile as, suddenly, one thought crossed his mind.

"You truly like her, do you? I mean Natsumi", he asked the goalkeeper not sure if he really wanted to hear an answer.

"Of course. She is a precious friend", he smiled seeming like he didn't understand the meaning behind these words

Silence spread between them, lasting for a couple of minutes till Endou asked the other one something.

"Say, Aphrodi, is there a reason for you to come here?"

"No, not really", Terumi answered. A lie. He did want to say something. He wanted to tell Endou his feelings. But now he was not sure if he was already prepared to tell him yet – or if Endou was prepared to hear his confession.

"I just wanted to wish you luck. You are now carrying all of Asia's hopes, so you have to win the FFI. You have to do your best for Fire Dragon, too", he added to affirm his lie.

Confused eyes blinked at him as if the brunet had expected something else, but Aphrodi just shrugged it off as his imagination and stood up.

"It's quite late. I think I'll set off", he said while looking at the now luminous horizon.

"Okay. Make sure to watch our future games. We'll do our best", Endou applied to Afuro, smiling at him lastly, till he walked away.

When he was out of sight, Endou sighed. He remained silent for a while till he packed his things to set forth. He threw a short glance at the sky, frowning. And the words he whispered quietly were swallowed by the sunset.

"Idiot. Do you really think I hadn't notice?"

Three little words.

"I am sorry"

For not returning your feelings.

I cannot help it; I just like her to much.

That's it. Sorry if some of you expected a happy end. I think Endou is not a person who is so much interested in love. I wanted to make him totally oblivious at the beginning but decided against it in the end...

Btw: Does anybody of you like EndouNatsumi beside me? I think it is kind of rare (That's the reason why I hinted this couple here x3)

Writing on a InaGo Fic at the moment, be prepared :'D

Bye for now