Kukai had been always number two for the longest he could remember. Or rather, as long as he knew Ikuto. Ikuto and he were next door neighbors for some time and they would play various sports together. It was fun, but one day, they drifted apart. It wasn't abrupt or anything and neither of them really cared. There were some nods here and there as they sometimes passed by each other so their relationship wasn't particularly sour either. Kukai really didn't mind.

He was always known to be the happy-go-lucky one. His motto had always been to look at the bright side. Maybe because he was always viewed as the number 2, that he was forced to become optimistic and always try hard and hope that one day, he would beat Ikuto.

Kukai then met soccer.

"You're finally ready, huh?" An encouraging voice said with an addition, a pat on the head. It was his teammate, Daichi.

"We're finally here," Kukai muttered back. He could hear the audience roar in anticipation from a distance.

Kukai seemed to be naturally gifted. He could make swerves and kicks that Ikuto could never even dream of. Kukai already had his own small fanbase but his popularity soared when he led his middle school to the national's. Of course his parents nor his brothers thought it was particularly impressive and found it more "cute" that the baby in the family was growing up. About two months later, Ikuto moved to somewhere faraway. Kukai never bothered to know exactly where. He was closed up in his own excitement. He was special. He could beat number 1.

The whistle blew. The game started.

Kukai met Amu on the fifth day of high school when she was elected to be the manager of the team. Though she was timid at first, she turned out to unafraid to speak her opinion and yet, very kind. He instantly liked her. Before long, they dated.

It's been 14 years since. A lot has happened. He had won the nationals for his soccer team in high school all four years and landed a spot in a prestigious college. Although most gave up the sport as soon as they arrived to college, Kukai refused to give up. He loved soccer and the sponsors loved him. After a rather long chain of successes, he picked out a beautiful ring and spent more than many nights twirling the box and thinking of a creative way to give to his beloved. He was on fire. He didn't even feel the slightest trace of his old self who was always intimidated and forced to turn to optimism to even have a drop of self-esteem.

"PASS!" Kukai slid just quickly enough to push the ball away from the player's feet and roll the ball out of bounds. That was close. It hasn't been more than 15 minutes into the game and his hair was damp with sweat. The damn sun...

It was two years ago on this day of the match when Amu, who had gone abroad for work, tearfully announced that after 12 years of dating him, she liked someone else and they had to break up.

"GOOOAAAL!" Kukai's eyes widened. He had let the opposing side slip past him. If only he had been paying a bit more attention...

Kukai could almost hear his heart break into a million pieces. He then felt that they were stamped and thrown to the sewers when she whispered the name of the man she liked. Ikuto. Ikuto. Ikuto, they seemed to echo. Of all the men in the world. How? He didn't know what to do at the time. He felt that he had simply made a facade of perfection. As he wished he could just turn invisible and wrapped a blanket over himself he realized that he had not talked to Amu for ages. At least two weeks. He also realized that their conversations were short and he was the one always ending them. Why didn't he give her proper attention? Of course she'd be bored. It was his fault. He'll apologize.

"KUKAI HEADS UP!" Daichi yelled. Kukai felt something incredibly heavy hitting his arm and the impact threw him to the ground. He saw with a blurry vision the ball bounce near him. What had happened? The heat and pain made Kukai light headed. A small crowd went around him asking him repeatedly if he was okay. Kukai nodded and got up. It was 1 to 0. He heard something in the announcement but he couldn't hear very well. The next thing he knew,Kukai's mouth dropped.

There was Ikuto Tsukiyomi in his uniform for Kukai's opposing team. Ikuto gave the same type of nod he used to give when they passed by each other in the hall so long ago. As he turned around, Kukai could see #1 gleaming against the annoying rays of sunlight. Kukai had heard that Ikuto had joined a soccer team but because of his rather low profile, Kukai had never really paid attention. He, in fact, started to wonder if it was a different person.

"Kukai, why don't you give a kick?" Daichi asked, rather kindly. Kukai wasn't sure what he meant by his tone but he mechanically walked. Something pink caught his eyes and saw Amu with her beautiful cherry hair wrapped in a bun and her honey eyes wide. He tried to ignore the fact that she had probably just came in time for the match to see Ikuto. Kukai clenched his teeth. There was no way, after all this time, he was going to lose here.

He took deep breaths and did small stretches as he approached his opportunity, the ball. This kick would change things forever. Kukai could see his ex-girlfriend, Amu watching him not far away in the stands with large, frightened eyes. He had hurt her, but he was going to get her back. From #1, that is. Kukai took a deep breath again. He'll get her back for sure.

Kukai looked at the sapphire yes of his old friend and wondered for a brief moment if in another dimension, they were the best of friends they could have been. As he looked to see Amu once more, something shined so brightly it made his eyes hurt and he slipped, just a bit but enough to miss the target area of the ball and making it an easy save for the number 1.

"Good job on your game, Kukai," said a cheerful voice on the other side. It was his big brother, Unkai.

"Thanks."

2 to 1. Kukai's team had won rather narrowly.

"Ah, you moved too fast during the kick with Ikuto, though. You're not usually like that. Were you surprised to see him?" his brother asked. Though it was true that Kukai was surprised to see him, especially like that, that wasn't it.

It was nothing more because of the painful reminder of something he already knew before the game even started, when Amu's engagement ring shined so brightly.

He was delusional all this time.

He will never win. He'll never win her heart.

Fifa! Wish I could play soccer again. Who are you cheering for? Goalies are usually number 1 or number 13 btw. Probably my last fanfiction?

Cheeeeers,

Edit:

I decided to write one more chapter. It'll be a surprise on what it'll be about however I won't change the status to ongoing. I doubt I'll do two more...but maybe.

Unkai still reminds me of poop (according to my kdrama skills, unka means poop).