A hand poked out from under the blanket and slammed on the alarm clock in order to stop its annoying ringing. Aphrodi heard a groan from the other occupant of the bed, but his head hurt too much for him to care about who it belonged to. He sat up and rubbed his forehead with his palms, making the silent promise to never drink so much again. He then took a look at his surrounding, surprised that it didn't look familiar. It wasn't his home in South Korea but his new Japanese apartment. He sighed. His mouth was dry, he needed some water. He got up and grabbed his shirt, putting it on without bothering with the buttons; he didn't feel comfortable walking around naked with just socks on, even if it was his home.

The way to the kitchen was a real torture. Every step he took made too much noise to him. Even the purr of the fridge sounded like a jet engine. Aphrodi opened a cupboard and took out a glass. As he filled it with water, he realized with a wince he had no aspirin left. He would have to bear this headache for the time being. He chugged down the water.

Aphrodi's memories from the previous night were quite blurry. He remembered inviting Kidou over for a drink. They had talked about soccer and players from Teikoku, Kidokawa Seishuu and Raimon. Things had gotten steamy after they had finished the second bottle – a fancy Italian wine that Kidou had brought. They had somehow made it to the bed, something Aphrodi was grateful for. A night on the couch would have killed his back; modern furniture weren't very comfortable.

It wasn't the first time he slept with Kidou, though they weren't lovers in a proper sense. Aphrodi didn't consider them to be fuck buddies either. It was mutual appreciation that brought them together and the bed was just another field for a battle; though the alcohol made Aphrodi forgot who won this time.

Kidou came into the kitchen, shirt and pants on, looking as if he hadn't been drinking the night before. Or maybe Aphrodi had drunk much more than him. It was only now he remembered that Kidou knew of his weak spot for European wines. The blond man groaned in annoyance.

"Hangover?" Kidou asked, red eyes glittering with amusement.

"Shut up…" Aphrodi's brain was in too much pain for him to come up with a witty retort.

"Are you working today? I'll drive you."

For a second, Aphrodi hesitated between his pride and not having to walk to the school with his massive headache. He chose the latter.

They made a stop at a coffee shop near Kidokawa Seishuu for breakfast – Aphrodi's fridge was too empty for Kidou's taste. The place was noisy and the blond man was thankful for the painkillers his friend had provided. They did wonders.

"Won't you be late?" Aphrodi asked Kidou after taking a sip from his latte.

"I told Sakuma to take care of the morning training."

"I see. How nice to have someone who can take over you any time."

"Well, it was how it was planned at first."

"You have no intention to return to Italy then?"

"I like it here.

Aphrodi smiled. "Yeah. I can understand."

"You're not going back to Korea then."

"I think I'll travel back and forth."

Kidou set his empty cup on the tray and leaned back in his chair. Aphrodi glanced at him. When Kidou was sitting like that, he reminded him of a certain person.

"He's interesting, Kageyama's nephew," the blond man said.

Kidou didn't look surprised by the sudden topic, as if he had been able to follow Aphrodi's trail of thoughts. "He has his uncle spirit."

"It's too bad you didn't make him play against Kidokawa."

"You knew about this kid for longer than I did."

"I met him once he was just a toddler." Aphrodi smiled at the memory, secretly enjoying Kidou's slight frown. "Angry he never told you about his family?"

Kidou didn't reply. Aphrodi's smile grew wider.

"You're a lot like him, you know: secretive to people you care about, trying to hide your feelings. But I know." Aphrodi's eyes grew sad.

"It's been ten years." Kidou had no intention to talk about Kageyama, at least not after several glasses of wine. Aphrodi was the other way round. He refrained from talking about his former coach when he wasn't sober.

Aphrodi finished drinking his latte. His tongue darted out of his mouth to lick the rim of his cup; a slightly erotic sight that Kidou didn't fail to notice.

"Trying to appease me?"

"Maybe. Or maybe I'm just the natural flirt."

"Or both."

Aphrodi failed to suppress a quiet laugh. Kidou smiled.

"Well, I should get going. The kids are probably already waiting for my arrival." At least he was sure Kishibe was; he was always the first to arrive and the last to leave the training ground.

"Want me to pick you up later?"

Aphrodi raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were going back to Tokyo?"

"The ride to here doesn't take long, and I still have a bottle in my car."

"Two nights in a row. Someone's getting insatiable here." Aphrodi stood up. "But I think I'll pass. One hangover a week is enough."

"Planning on having someone else over?"

"You're getting nothing out of me." Aphrodi winked and walked to the exit. He could see Kidou's face reflecting on the glass door. He pushed it open and stepped out.

The chill outside made him shiver. He had no plan for the following night. He just wanted to keep his relationship with Kidou as it was. Just a friend he could have a good time with occasionally. Nothing more.

"I'm not falling in love again," he whispered to himself.

Inside the club room, Kishibe opened his locker door and began getting changed into his school uniform. The tip of his hair was still damp from the shower he had taken. Next to him, the Taki brothers were bickering again; Yoshihiko was complaining that Sousuke had taken his towel and the elder brother tried keeping the piece of cloth out of his reach. Kishibe held back a sigh. There wasn't a single day where the two brothers weren't up to each other's neck at some point. At least, the captain could rejoice it didn't seem to happen on the field anymore.

"Give that back!"

"Screw off, brat!"

The door of the club room opened.

"Is something the matter?" an adult voice asked.

"Kantoku! Nii-san won't give my towel back!"

"That's because it's not yours," Sousuke said, still holding the towel out of reach, even though his brother had stopped jumping to try to grab it when Aphrodi had stepped in the room.

Kishibe could only stare at his coach, interrupting his dressing. Aphrodi was smiling.

"The managers are bringing back the clean towels inside," the man said.

The team captain stared at his coach's moving lips, the sound of Aphrodi's voice reaching his ears though he wasn't really listening to what he was saying. Kishibe was often spacing out like that when the blond man was around, staring at him with his mouth slightly open.

Kishibe had a crush on his coach. It had taken a long time for him to come to terms with this. At the beginning, he had blamed this infatuation on the fact he had mistaken Aphrodi for a woman the first time they had met. But months after, this feeling within him hadn't subsided one bit. In fact, it had grown, as well as Kishibe's secret video collection: all the videos of Aphrodi's games and interviews he had been able to download on the internet.

Of course, he planned on keeping that to himself. He was well aware of the age difference between his coach and himself. He also suspected his teammates wouldn't be too keen on having a homo as their captain.

But there were moments like this where he forgot to keep himself in check. Sousuke had begun noticing how weird Kishibe was acting. At first, he had just shrug it off, but it was starting to tickle his curiosity.

Since his elder brother looked distracted, Yoshihiko saw this as an opportunity and jumped high, successfully grabbing the towel. He ran away with it before Sousuke could catch him.

"Get back here you little...!" Sousuke groaned, though he had no plan on running after the kid. He had to take his shower now if he didn't want to be late.

Just then, the manager in charge of laundry came in.

"Stop spacing out," Sousuke said to Kishibe who hadn't taken his eyes off Aphrodi for one second.

"Ah..." Kishibe nodded and finished tying the jacket of his uniform.

Sousuke grabbed a towel and disappeared in the shower room. Only Kishibe and Aphrodi remained in the club room at the moment.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't keep them from fighting," Kishibe said, lowering his head.

"Don't let that worry you," Aphrodi replied with a smile. "I had two teammates were just like that. As long as it doesn't come to blows, it's fine."

"But as their captain, I should be able to stop them."

"You're not with them all the time."

"That's true but..."

Aphrodi made his way to Kishibe and patted the boy on the head.

"You're doing a great job as a captain. Don't let some family bickering worry you."

"Yes..." Kishibe hoped he wasn't blushing.

"I'm going to the teachers' room. I'll see you in the afternoon."

Kishibe nodded, though not paying attention to his coach's words. His nose had noticed an unfamiliar scent. Had Aphrodi begun using another perfume? But it smelled too faint... But Aphrodi moved away and made his way to the door, leaving the boy wondering why this scent barely perceptible scent was making him feel so uncomfortable.