A/N: ver·ti·go n. pl.

The sensation of dizziness.

An instance of such a sensation.

A confused, disoriented state of mind.

My first HH story here, and definitely not my last. This is a tribute to a friendship that I think is very special, and one that certainly deserves to be elaborated on and celebrated. This may not be the best of my writing, but I sure did have a lot of fun writing the boys!

Do read, enjoy, and review!

Vertigo

Success.

Kanou Kyousuke drunk in the wonderful feeling for what seemed like the umpteenth time, standing in front of the hotel, wind ruffling his dyed hair. It had been ten years since he had last played in his high school Orange Hill team, and he had come a long way in those ten years. Not as long or as fast as he would've liked of course, but he had already come to realize that that was just his impatience talking.

He had come to realize a lot of things, lately.

Standing as still as a statue, revelling in the warm feelings that cascaded through him, he contemplated the glass doors of the restaurant in front of him. He had come this far. Should he open it?

Perhaps, or maybe not. He couldn't decide. After all, it was his friends who were waiting there for him – friends he hadn't met in over seven years. Sakai and Rodrigo had traversed along their own paths as well, reaping nearly as much fruits as he had, but he had had hardly any opportunity to even talk to them face to face.

No, Kyousuke though, shaking his head. He ought to rephrase that. He hadn't created those opportunities… He had found himself quite proficient at doing that previously (for a reason that made his lips curl into a wistful smile), so why hadn't he done the same to meet these two? Was that how distant they had become? Had he really ignored his friends to such an extent that it had taken Miki, not any of the three, to arrange a meeting – more like a reunion, Kyousuke liked to think – at a local restaurant, persuading all three of them individually to go? Kyousuke couldn't find the answer to these questions, then found that he didn't want the answer, didn't even need it. Miki knew it – then again, she seemed to know more about him than even he did himself.

He found that he didn't mind that one bit.

Waking from his trance, Kyousuke reached out with one hand and pushed the doors open, entering the restaurant. His eyes roamed the plush interiors of the swanky restaurant – What was Miki thinking? Do I grow my money on trees, or something? – before they finally rested on a table that was slightly secluded from the rest of the place. Sakai and Rodrigo were already there, and they smiled in greeting as Kyousuke looked in their direction. Kyousuke smiled back, and soon was at the table.

Their appearances were not much different. Rodrigo's thick, curly black hair was still closely cropped, while Sakai's wavy pale tresses were still worn long. Kyousuke felt that they were now worn even longer – right up to the shoulders. Rodrigo was no longer lanky and wiry – muscles rippled underneath his dark skin. Sakai was still pale – almost beautiful, Kyousuke thought derisively – his slender – yet firm – and athletic features being well suited to the position of goalkeeper he played. Rodrigo's golden-brown eyes sparkled at him in that serious and dedicated fervour, while Sakai's slate-blue eyes regarded Kyousuke with cool, calm affection.

"Hey," Rodrigo said, his voice a rich baritone. "Long time no see, man."

Kyousuke hung his coat on the chair, and sat down, rolling his eyes. "Tell me about it."

Sakai smiled placidly, resting his chin on laced fingers. "I don't think we'd need to do that, Kyousuke." His right eyelid drooped in a wink. "Not when it's been you who's taken such pains to avoid us."

Kyousuke's jaw dropped in disbelief. "Me? Of course not, I –" Then he caught sight of Sakai and Rodrigo restraining their chuckles, and scowled. "Feh. You were pulling my leg."

"As usual," Sakai added, grinning.

Somehow, even to the friends who hadn't met in seven long years, the words as usual seemed perfectly normal. Even more than normal, perhaps. They found that none of them had really changed – that the Cocky Trio was exactly as how it was the day it disbanded. Kyousuke found himself glad for the fact.

Sakai beckoned to the waiter, who quickly and discreetly scampered over. "Champagne, please," he said. "Your best." The waiter nodded and returned with a tray of tall crystal glasses and a bottle of the said liquid, while Kyousuke and Rodrigo shot incredulous looks at their former teammate. Sakai only smiled. Having tasted the champagne, he nodded his approval, and the waiter poured a small amount of the golden liquid into the glasses he had placed in front of the three. Then, having placed the bottle on the table, he disappeared as discreetly as he had come.

"So," Rodrigo said, in the typical air of someone trying to start a conversation, "How's everything been with you two?"

Sakai sipped delicately at his drink. "That's a rather ambiguous question." He cocked his head. "Did you mean soccer?"

Kyousuke smirked. "You talk as if soccer and life are two different things."

The placid smile on Sakai's face did not alter one bit. "Unlike you, Kyousuke, I do have a little bit of life outside soccer, even if most of it is centred around the game." He suddenly sighed. "I've been vaulting between Manchester United and Chelsea these past few months." He shrugged lightly, the sigh still tugging on his handsome features, as if he bore some onerous burden on his shoulders. "What can I say? Everyone wants the benefit of my considerable prowess at goalkeeping."

Though Kyousuke and Rodrigo snorted as one at that statement, they knew that truth did lurk in there somewhere. Sakai was one of the best goalies in the world – if not the best – and they could imagine that he'd be in high demand.

"What about the personal side of it?" Rodrigo said, leaning forward, an uncharacteristically inquisitive gleam in his eye.

Sakai smiled wider.

Kyousuke squinted at his pale-haired friend. "I thought I heard about a girlfriend, and…?"

To the other two's surprise, a hint of colour crept into Sakai's pale cheeks. "You heard right." A pause, as he sipped again. "Anne Sakomoto and I are engaged."

"Whoa!" Kyousuke clapped Sakai enthusiastically on the back, nearly making the man spew the champagne in his mouth all over the pristine white tablecloth. "Congratulations! How come we never came to know about it?"

Sakai gave a small disapproving scowl at Kyousuke, then shrugged. "Anne and I wanted to keep it under the wraps for the time being, to avoid too much unnecessary attention."

Rodrigo's eyes narrowed. "You take your popularity for granted." When Kyousuke and Sakai cast curious looks at him, Rodrigo shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "I mean, life's okay for us, now – but when will it all change? What happens when we start losing more than we win? Can we even talk and laugh like this and splurge money on champagne?"

Sakai immediately set down his glass, his slate-blue eyes suddenly icy. "Look, Rodrigo – "

Before he could continue, however, the waiter appeared at the tableside once again. "Your orders, sirs?"

Rather sullenly the three men gave their orders, and when the waiter was out of sight, Sakai glared at Rodrigo once again. "Listen, Rodrigo," he began again. "I know that you probably didn't have that great a childhood, but there's no reason to be pessimistic on a day we are supposed to be having a reunion after seven years, commemorating our successes. Do you have some problem with me buying champagne?"

Rodrigo's golden-brown eyes flared. "Oh, I see. So you take some common sense as pessimism? I know that you've had an opulent childhood, Sakai," he said, his voice dripping with acid harshness, "but I didn't think you'd want success and popularity at the cost of your sensibility."

Kyousuke intervened before the argument could get out of hand. "Cool it, guys," he said, placing a hand each on Rodrigo and Sakai's shoulders. To his relief, the two of them calmed almost immediately, almost as if they had lapsed into the argument involuntarily. Kyousuke eyed them both with an amused smirk.

"God, you two are still so immature."

Obviously it had been the wrong thing to say. Now Sakai and Rodrigo's glares – twin pairs of furious ice and fire respectively – turned their full, and substantial power on Kyousuke. Kyousuke was not to be intimidated, however, and glared right back, his own green eyes smouldering. They stayed that way for quite some time, each glaring at one another, before – out of the blue – Kyousuke started laughing.

He threw his head back, and started emitting such loud guffaws, that more than a few head turned toward their table. Rodrigo and Sakai blinked, thrown off-guard, but soon started laughing as well. Suddenly, everything felt just… right, once again – everything was that way it had been in high school, the way it was supposed to be…

Kyousuke was the first to get out of the laughter, his loud guffaws reduced to small chuckles. "Well, now. That definitely brought back memories."

Rodrigo grinned widely. "True." He turned to Sakai. "Hey, take no offence for what I said earlier, man – I suppose I did take things a little too seriously."

Sakai smiled back. "I can't say I don't, but the argument did bring back some rather … bittersweet… reminisces…"

"Yeah, I remember the time when…"

Kyousuke drummed his fingers impatiently on the table, interrupting Rodrigo as he prepared to go down memory lane. "Listen. We didn't come here to gossip about the past like a bunch of old ladies. By God, hearing you two talk just makes me wonder where you've hidden your roll of knitting work, and your spare set of teeth."

Rodrigo rolled his eyes in annoyance, while Sakai still smiled in a manner that was slowly – almost subconsciously – infuriating Kyousuke. "Oh, wouldn't you like to know," the goalkeeper said.

Rodrigo sniggered, while Kyousuke blinked. "Wha –?"

"Oh, never mind," Sakai said, sighing. "Shouldn't have expected you to understand."

Kyousuke scowled, but didn't take the matter further. "As I was saying, why are we talking about the past, when there's obviously so much to discuss about the present?" He took a cautious sip of the champagne. A strange taste, but not bad. Couldn't beat beer, though. "I mean, it's been ages. I don't even know what's going on with you guys." He sensed Sakai opening his mouth to say something, and hastily intervened. "And no smart-ass comments from you."

Sakai looked slightly offended, but shrugged. "I guess that's a valid point." He looked at Rodrigo. "So, how's life been at Brazil?"

A genuine smile graced Rodrigo's lips then, and his expressive brown eyes registered true affection. "Everything's been going well – at least, so far. The family moved to a new, better apartment a couple of years ago… I could finally afford it, and a few of my siblings have started going to work themselves." He leaned back, his fingers gripping the edge of the table tightly as he remembered the poverty that his enormous family had suffered before he had come to Japan and made his mark in soccer. "As for the soccer front, I'm still trying to claw my way to the top. As much as soccer has improved here, it's still a lot easier to reach the top in Japan than in Brazil. It's kind of lucky that my team decided to hold their training camp in Japan this month."

He was interrupted by the waiter approaching their table once again and placing the dishes that they had ordered in front of them. "Starters, sirs," he said almost reverently, and was gone.

A grin curled Kyousuke's lips – a grin whose delight could be invoked only by the sight of good, steaming food. He was soon digging into the soup – complemented from time to time by a bite of salad and a sip of water – while Sakai and Rodrigo watched him in disgusted fascination. "And he says we shouldn't be reminded of the past," Sakai remarked wryly.

"I heard that." Kyousuke sipped his last drop of soup, and looked up to see, unsurprised, that the other two had barely even started theirs. Ever the choosy pansies, Kyousuke thought, fighting back an urge to roll his eyes. "Geez, a man can't even eat around here with people commenting about it behind his back."

Rodrigo lifted an eyebrow. "You call that eating? Man, I've seen pigs have better table manners."

How unnerving. Miki says that almost everyday, as well… "Ha ha," Kyousuke said dryly. "What a funny comment, Rodrigo. I swear I'm suppressing nearly uncontrollable laughter."

"Well," Sakai said, smiling once again, "It's always appreciable when one learns to laugh at oneself."

"Tch." Kyousuke frowned. Now they were really testing the limits of his good humour…

Sakai seemed to realise this as well, for he sent a placating, apologetic glance at Kyousuke. "Relax, Kanou – didn't mean to offend you, or anything. How's everything on your end of the line?"

His eating spree abated, a thoughtful look flickered across Kyousuke's face. "Me?" He grinned. "Oh yes, everything's fine."

"And you say that I'm ambiguous." Rodrigo rolled his eyes.

"There's nothing much to say that you guys probably don't already know," Kyousuke said, shrugging. "I've moved from Amsterdam to AC Milan, and playing alongside my brother has been… I don't know, better than playing against him, I guess." He sighed, running his fingers through his orange hair. "My one regret is that I haven't played for my country in the World Cup yet. I mean, they must have realised by now that they need me!"

Sakai bit back a sarcastic retort that bubbled to his lips, and smiled placatingly at his friend. "Oh don't worry, we'll be in the team by next year."

Kyousuke raised a sceptical eyebrow. "We?"

"Yes, we," Sakai confirmed. "Believe me, I have it from an authoritative source."

The grin spread on Kyousuke's face again, while Rodrigo gave out a sudden laugh. "Well, then, it'll be fun beating you two, then."

A sly smile flickered over the two Japanese teenagers' faces. "Oh, so you're in the Brazilian team, hmm?" Kyousuke drawled. "Well, all the more reason for us to win. Besides, we know every one of your moves, Rodrigo."

Sakai wagged a soupspoon warningly at Kyousuke. "Not all things never change, Kyousuke. Probably the worst thing you could do right now is underestimate Rodrigo, and vice-versa."

"Never said a truer thing," Rodrigo concurred. "Besides, before Kyousuke's attempts to veer us away from the topic at hand succeeds, let's ask it out loud: what of your personal life, Kyousuke?"

Kyousuke's gaze didn't meet those of his friends, as he shrugged non-committally. "Family's still sticking together, Seisuke and Miss Kaori got married, and are about to have their first kid… not much more than that. You've probably heard about all of that, which basically means I don't have any personal life at all. Unless you want to listen to my day-to-day accounts like a bunch of gossiping old ladies – which I hope you're not – I have to say that –"

"Whoa, stop, Kyousuke," Rodrigo said, blinking in the wake of his friend's sudden tirade. "What about Miki? Obviously you've been in touch with her a lot more than you were with us, considering the fact that it was she who arranged this meeting."

"Miki?" Kyousuke sipped more of his drink, still not looking either of them in the eye. "What about her? How am I supposed to know?"

"Kyousuke." There was a slight clink as Sakai's soupspoon clattered back against the bowl. Kyousuke looked up to see the goalkeeper looking – nay, staring – at him with an intense irritation that belied his usual demeanour. "I may have borne and tolerated – maybe even encouraged, in some convoluted way – your stubborn nature back in high school, but I have no reason to do so right now." His eyes narrowed, and Kyousuke had a distinct feeling that he had just stepped into the scrutiny of an icy scanner. "Cut the bullshit," Sakai said quietly, "And get on with it already."

Fighting back an urge to gulp, Kyousuke tried to muster up some irritation into his expression. "Okay, okay… since you guys seem to be simply clamouring for the details – for reason I'm not even sure I want to know – I'll tell you. Miki and I…" Here he faltered, but a collective glare from his table-companions quickly caused him to pick up his monologue again. "We've been… keeping in touch. And… well," he blushed furiously, "I guess you could say that she's my girlfriend now."

There was still no response from the other two. They just continued to look at him expectantly.

Damn. "We've met each other… a lot of times these past few years, whenever she could take time off from college, and me from soccer practice. I've… visited Japan quite a number of times, just to see her." The blush escalated to the point where it seemed that all the considerable amount of blood running through his body had congregated in his face. "We're… we're now… I mean, it happened about two weeks ago, but we're…" He let out a long breath, and finally said it. "… engaged."

Rodrigo laughed in congratulatory disbelief, while Sakai smiled widely. "I swear, Kyousuke, you're amazing," he said. "You're the only twenty-six year old I've seen that's still as shy of love as a thirteen year old." He laughed his response to Kyousuke's half-hearted glare at his remark. "Anyway, Congratulations, man; about time this happened."

Kyousuke sighed, fingering his glass. "Yeah, whatever you say." A sudden wave of goodwill seemed to wash over him, all of his resentment and doubt washed away in the eddies of its tsunami. After what seemed like a long time, he felt completely at peace with the world, and was content, for the moment, to relish with his friends a moment that was the fruit of many years of hard work and suffering. As if finally coming to a decision, his grip on his glass tightened, and he lifted it into the air. "A toast," he announced.

Rodrigo and Sakai looked startled for a moment, but soon smiled, and lifted their own glasses into the air.

The moment seemed to be frozen in time – the three best friends in a gesture of warm camaraderie, the three best friends, who were the three most different individuals you could ask for, yet three best friends, who were best friends, because of their love for soccer. Three best friends who seemed to be at the pinnacle of their success, but still had quite a way to go, three best friends who were, for the moment, just happy to be able to cherish each others' companionship at such a high point in their life – at such a stage where the healing of old wounds and old, forgotten, broken dreams was its zenith. Kyousuke felt like a man renewed.

"To us."

Looking down at his life from the high point that Kyousuke was experiencing, he could find only one explanation for all the goodwill and happiness that was cascading through his soul.

Vertigo.

Finis