a/n: hello this is terribly self indulgent with these two ships. there are headcanons thrown in here like a lot of them for the minor characters at least

The captain remained still, standing just at the exit of the field that led back to the stadium. Maroon eyes gazed out upon the empty and quiet setting. The taste of defeat was still well in his mouth, though it wasn't as foul as another loss was. It still left an ache in his chest, losing always did, no matter how happy he claimed to be. But, he knew this loss wasn't like any other.

Zeus was a strong team, a formidable opponent. A team that once relied on gifts from gods now held their own. And yet, the odds were simply not in their favor for this match. They were unable to defeat the likes of Raimon once again, but Aphrodi didn't mind.

His team had come together, a mix of old and new working together, all having the same goal in mind. Their practice and hard work brought them into a new and transformed Zeus and he's certain that if they were to face any other opponent, victory would have been theirs.

Now isn't time to dwell on what could have been. There was always a second chance- tomorrow would be another day. Aphrodi finally pulls his gaze away from the field, body turning and heading back to meet with the team. That's where his thoughts go to. His teammates. He had already spoken some enlightening words after the final whistle, but he still wanted to think of how to keep their morale up. Perhaps a nice game of soccer on their familiar godly fields would help.

Lost in his thoughts, he doesn't recognize the figure that is standing in his path. He notices it, doesn't give much thought until his eyes begin to focus on the figure and comes to a stop. The blonde blinks as he begins to notice just how familiar the outline of this person is, the uniform that he's wearing, that gray spiky hair, those shining teal eyes.

"You lost."

Their blunt words but they distract him enough to stop his staring at Hakuren's captain.

"Your words sting me," Aphrodi replies, a smile forming as a hand is placed over his chest. "It is the truth. We may have lost but it was an honorable one."

"Sorry about that," Fubuki says in a softer tone as he begins to take small steps towards Aphrodi. "I know you tried your hardest. I was watching the match, you know."

"Were you?" An eyebrow raises as his tone becomes playful. "You should have cheered. It might have given me the strength to make the final goal needed to win." He ends with a short chuckle.

"I did, but," a sigh escapes Fubuki. He pauses, glances backwards as if expecting someone else to appear before looking back. "Atsuya thought I was being silly. Cheering for the enemy."

"Ah." Aphrodi's gaze looks behind Fubuki, as if excepting his brother to appear after uttering his name. "Your brother isn't with you?"

"No," he responds with a shake of his head. "He said he didn't want to see us be gross."

That makes Aphrodi nearly snort, a laugh following right after. He didn't think that would have lifted his spirits so much. He waits until his laughter subsides before finding his voice to speak again.

"Well, at least we won't have any interruptions now, will we?"

Aphrodi takes a step forward, just in time with Fubuki as they close the distance between them. Hands reach out, fingers intertwine with each other. They stand before each other, only heads moving forward. Teal eyes met with maroon, the latter stealing a glance at his snowy lips.

"No interruptions at all, Terumi…"

—

"I still can't believe we lost! We should have won that match!" Heruse shouts, doing his best not to let the world know of his frustration. Hands were running through his hair, making his bangs look disheveled. He wishes there was a rock in the halls so that he could kick it against the inner stadium walls.

"We did our best." A quiet voice speaks up, a hand is placed upon Heruse's shoulder. It causes his head to turn, his gaze meeting with Hadeno's. "I think captain was proud of us."

Heruse stares, frustration still evident on his features. It takes only a moment of simply staring into those shimmering blue hues for him to realize he shouldn't be so angry over this. Heruse takes in a breath, lets out a sigh. The forward attempts at easing up, rolling his shoulders and trying to relax. Hadeno's touch seems to help.

"You're right. We lost the battle but not the war, huh?" Heruse says, attempting to be optimistic. It doesn't last long as his face falls again. "I'm still bothered that we didn't win though. After all our training! We worked so hard to!"

"We've learned something." The hand on his shoulder falls, fingers trailing down Heruse's arm and slips into his hand. Hadeno's gaze is cast down, eyes looking at their hands. He was frustrated as well over this loss, but had been grateful for being chosen to be part of this team. Especially with Heruse. "We'll win next time. We'll show captain what we're capable of- together."

"Tetsu…" His name slips out of his mouth in a whisper. It was sweet of him to try and cheer him up. To others, it may not seem like much, but Heruse knew just how hard he was trying.

A bright smile forms and he adjusts his hand so that they're perfectly intertwined. He gives his a quick squeeze before leaning against him, lightly bumping heads. "We definitely will! Let's tell him we'll grasp victory and not let it go next time!"

"Hm." Hadeno nods.

Heruse stays close to him for a moment before pulling himself away, but keeps their hands together. He had tried to recall where his captain had been last. He had yet to go back to the locker rooms and didn't say where he was going (if he had they didn't hear). If he hadn't left with the rest of the team, he might still be around here. A quick check of the halls wouldn't hurt.

He's grateful that the stadium isn't so complicated even if the halls look similar, it's easy to access and move around in. It's a smaller one to, one that allows the two to find their captain in a short amount of time.

Just as they turn a corner, Heruse who was leading, comes to a halt. A confused look passes Hadeno's features for a second. The defender looks to him for an explanation. All he needs to do is see the shocked look on his face, follow his gaze and understand why he had come to such a sudden stop.

Down this hall, there were two people standing so very close to each other. One was their captain, they could easily tell as he was facing them. The other was a stranger, back turned towards them. The number nine was printed on the back of this uniform. Heruse swears that he's seen it before. This person was familiar, not a stranger, but who was he?

And then it clicks. An image of Aphrodi and another together in a picture he had once shown to them. A gasp escapes from Heruse and his feet are moving before he even realizes it, dragging Hadeno with him towards the couple.

Aphrodi and the other captain break apart suddenly, quickly after hearing the sound of running footsteps towards them. The other person steps to the side, a curious look to see who had interrupted them- all while giving the first years a good look at him.

"It's you!" Heruse shouts, stopping a short distance before them. His free hand raises and points at the snow prince. "Fubuki Shirou!"

Fubuki blinks, startled by this sudden acknowledgement. Although caught off guard, he offers a smile nevertheless.

"That's me. And you are…?" Fubuki waits, glances to Aphrodi for a split second in hopes that he could inform him. They were on the same team after all, the uniforms were a dead giveaway of that fact. Not to mention these two were in the unforgettable Godbull ad.

"Heruse Arisu!" The boy chirps with a salute. "Most people call me Perseus. I'm sure that our godly nicknames aren't foreign to you." He says with a slight grin towards his captain. "And this here is Hadeno Tetsu! Otherwise known as Hades."

Hadeno only raises his hand in a short wave to Fubuki. It's surprising to see how his eyes seem to light up upon doing so.

Fubuki looks back and forth between the two, names clicking to faces. It's his turn to let out a gasp. "Ah, you're the two Terumi tells me about. Sorry for not recognizing either of you. I should have picked up on who you were seeing you together..."

"It's fine! I'm just so glad we finally get to see you and talk with you!" Heruse grins, radiating excitement. "Captain talks so much about you! You should come visit our school while you're still in the area!"

"Perseus," Aphrodi speaks, quickly causing heads to turn. He wanted to stop him before his kouhai had started his real rambling. "Please, don't overwhelm him."

"Ah-!" He ends up taking a step back, realizing how he just appeared before them and ruined the moment they were having. Of course, he hadn't meant to. He had been lost in the sudden rush of excitement upon recognition.

"I'm sorry, captain," comes out as he bows his head slightly. Hadeno does the same.

Aphrodi looks at the two and gentle gaze washes over him. He steps forward and puts a hand on Heruse's head, patting it.

"It's alright, both of you. If you wanted to meet him, we could have arranged something." His head turns to Fubuki. "I guess we had an interruption after all, hm? From me this time."

"And here I was expecting my brother to come and call for me. Well, this is an interesting change."

Aphrodi is glad he's not too bothered, it didn't seem like he was from the look on his face. He looks back to the two, removes his hand, and now waits for the two to stand tall again.

"I'll be with you two in a moment, alright? You didn't come to me for anything urgent did you?"

The two younger ones shake their heads. It's almost comical at how in synch they are with such actions.

"Hmm. Nope! We'll tell you back home! We'll leave you two alone now." He gives another quick bow to Aphrodi before turning to Fubuki. "It was nice meeting you."

Hadeno nods along with him, a silent apology leaving his lips. He waits for Heruse to turn and follow with him. The two begin to make their turn at the corner, but Heruse comes to a stop just before turning.

"Have fun making out!" He shouts before dashing off.

Aphrodi can feel his cheeks flush after hearing that. A hand raises to cover his face, embarrassed that his own teammate would shout that while he was beside Fubuki. He dares to glance at the other between his fingers and swears that he's blushing as well.

"I'm really sorry about them."

Fubuki waves a hand, trying to nonchalantly hide his pink cheeks while doing so. "It's okay…It's not like he was wrong about that happening though, was he?"

"Hmm…" His hand falls and he turns on his foot, facing Fubuki now. "Let's make his words become true, shall we, Shirou?"