Avoidance

Disclaimer: /sigh/ No, I don't own Inazuma Eleven. No matter how much I may wish to, I don't. Don't rub it in.*retreats into emo corner* Ooh, but I do own Teikoku's new coach, Nagasaki-san. Even though you won't be seeing much of him. Meh.

Note: Okay, so in this little fic, Kidou, Sakuma, and Genda are all back in Teikoku, and Fudou has transferred to Teikoku Gakuen roughly six months ago (Or whatever amount of time you want. It doesn't really affect anything.) Now, let's pretend season 3 never happened/probably never will. Think of it as a not-exactly-but-still-sort-of-AU. Cool? Okay(: *runs before she gets pelted by rotten tomatoes*

Warning: BL. Don't like it, then get the hell out of here. Now. I do not want to be held accountable for any mind-polluting, seeing as I probably won't be able to afford any therapy sessions.

"Pass the ball, Fudou!"

He didn't even glance over, just kept on running, kicking the ball with that arrogant smirk on his face. Swearing under his breath, Kidou slowly came to a stop, wiping the sweat off of his face and panting slightly.

"That's the third time this week," Sakuma said quietly, coming up behind him. Kidou nodded. It was the third time that week that Fudou had ignored him when he had asked him to pass the ball. Not only that, he also wasn't talking to him for some reason.

"And you're sure you didn't do anything to piss him off?" Sakuma asked. Being Kidou's best friend, he had (of course) noticed the tension between Kidou and Fudou, even before Kidou asked him about it. After working with Fudou for a while, Sakuma knew now that Fudou wasn't a complete jerk, so this sudden lapse in good behavior came as quite a surprise to the Teikoku striker.

Kidou mulled the words over in his head, even though this was actually the fifth time Sakuma had asked him this question. In the end, he settled on his standard answer. "I do a lot of things that might irritate him, but I've always done these things, and it's never bothered him before." Sakuma, having heard the answer before, just nodded absently.

"Fudou!" Teikoku's coach barked. Every head swiveled to look at Nagasaki-kantoku, while a few of the upperclassmen snickered. Across the pitch, Genda locked eyes with Sakuma, who shrugged, to which Genda grimaced in sympathy for Fudou.

"That's the third time you didn't pass to Kidou this week when he asked you to. I'm not sure how things operated back when you were in Shin Teikoku, but here in Teikoku Gakuen, we prize teamwork among many things. I don't know what's gotten into you, Fudou," Nagasaki-kantoku shook his head.

"With all due respect, Nagasaki-kantoku, I think I can score a goal perfectly fine without Kidou butting in," Fudou said in a bored voice, studying his nails. At this, the coach turned slightly purple.

"Now look here, Fudou Akio…" he began, shaking his finger at him. All Fudou did in response was walk towards the changing room with his hands in his pockets.

"I forgot to tell you, Kantoku—I can't stay for the remainder of today's practice. Stuff to do, people to see. Till tomorrow, then," Fudou said with a mocking salute and his signature smirk. Genda sighed while Sakuma rolled his eyes. Kidou could only watch Fudou's retreating figure and wonder what the hell had gotten into him.

"Hey Kidou, wait up."

Kidou halted in his footsteps to wait for the goalkeeper and the forward to catch up to him.

"What's up?" he asked once they had arrived. Genda made a "walk with me" gesture, and the three of them started walking in the direction of Steel Tower Plaza.

"So… nice weather we're having."

Sakuma snorted. "Genda, stop being an idiot," he laughed, punching his friend.

Genda nodded seriously. "Right, you're right. Kidou, you need to talk to Fudou."

"Well, I didn't see that one coming," Kidou said, raising his eyebrows. "What for?"

Sakuma rolled his eyes. "Genda, I apologize for calling you an idiot. Obviously Kidou, the self-proclaimed genius, is the dumb one of this trio."

"I'm not self-proclaimed—it's widely known that I am in fact a genius," Kidou smiled at Sakuma's remark.

"Well then, Mr. I'm-a-genius-and-everyone-knows-it, if you're as smart as they say, you should have figured out why Fudou needs talking to."

Kidou frowned, slightly affronted. "Of course I do. I just don't understand why it has to be me, is all." Sakuma exchanged a look with Genda, which seemed to say, "how stupid can this guy get". Kidou's scowl grew even more pronounced. "You know, if you have something to say, just say it. I won't get mad."

Genda sighed. "Kidou… it's kind of sensitive. How should we put this…?"

"Fudou likes you," Sakuma said matter-of-factly.

Kidou grew confused. "Well I should hope so. We're teammates, after all."

Sakuma groaned and facepalmed while Genda pumped his fist into the air triumphantly.

"Pay up, Sakuma," Genda grinned, holding out his hand. Sakuma sighed and dropped 800yen into his outstretched palm. "Told you he was a romantically oblivious idiot," Genda crowed as he pocketed the money.

Kidou came to a stop, lines of irritation obvious on his face. "Okay, you two, what the hell is going on?" he asked his two best friends, completely mystified as to what was happening before him.

Sakuma glared at Kidou. "What's going on here, is if you weren't such a baka, I wouldn't have had to give 800yen to Genda."

Genda chuckled. "Sakuma and I had a bet as to whether or not you were a total dunce when it came to love and stuff. Loser has to pay 800yen. Obviously Sakuma was the one to defend you, so you had better apologize pronto."

Kidou sputtered. "Why would you even bet on something as meaningless and trivial as that?"

Sakuma shrugged. "In our defense, we're not the only ones doing it. I mean, you may be a genius when it comes to soccer and math and stuff, but when it comes to feelings, let's face it Kidou—you're no good at that," he finished sheepishly.

Kidou growled. "You people have no lives," he muttered grumpily, stalking off and ignoring the laughter coming from behind him.

"Come on Kidou, you know we didn't mean any harm," Genda said as he clapped a hand onto the strategist's shoulder. Sakuma tugged on Kidou's uniform's sleeve.

"Yeah, Kidou. We're sorry—come on, talk to us." Kidou sighed. He could never stay mad at them for long. He "hmm"-d, which signaled that he wasn't angry anymore.

"What did you mean then, when you said that Fudou likes me?" he asked.

Sakuma raised his eyebrows. "Well, it's obvious, isn't it? I mean… Fudou's avoiding you, and only you; he freaks out whenever anything remotely connected to you is mentioned; and whenever you try to talk to him, he just mumbles one-word answers and walks away as soon as he can. He likes you…you know… like that."

Kidou thought about Sakuma's words, and then came to the glaringly obvious conclusion that he had so blindly missed. Color rushed to his face, and he suddenly lost the ability to form a coherent sentence. "Wha—huh—that's not even—Mmph!" He finally said, glowering at his two best friends. The best friends in question were trying desperately not to laugh at Kidou's reaction. When Genda's and Sakuma's laughter had died down, Kidou's face (finally) went back to its normal hue.

"Look. There's no way Fudou likes me… that way. It's just not possible. He's a guy; I'm a guy. And Fudou's not that kind of guy."

Sakuma gritted his teeth. "Kidou, trust me when I say you're not exactly the most acute guy when it comes to people liking you. So if I say Fudou likes you, then he likes you, because I am much better at this chick thing than you will ever be. I was taught by the finest," he said, puffing out his chest proudly.

Genda raised an eyebrow. "Hey Jirou… the 'finest' wouldn't happen to be your sister… would it?"

"Don't underestimate my sister. She's scary," he shuddered slightly, and then turned back to Kidou. "Go talk to him. Seriously. I promise you, that if you do, you won't be disappointed."

Kidou grunted out a, "I'll think about it," and the three friends walked on in relative silence.

A/N: Reviews are magic *v* Which is why if you liked this, drop a line and I might just update faster :D pretty please?

I'm not sure why, but I find it funny that I chose to write a KDFD fic instead of a KidouSakuma fic, because I actually like KidouSakuma more, even though I ship them both. Ah well. Maybe I'll write KS next time (: That should be pretty fun lol :D But I think Genda and Sakuma have a weird and surprisingly cute sort of chemistry, so I might just work on a fic about them. Any ideas, miina-san?

But anyway, onto the serious stuff. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Avoidance! You know the drill: Read and review! Loved it or hated it, tell me all the same ConCrit, as always, is welcome. Flames will be given to Kazemaru, Shishido and Kurimatsu for Triple Boost. And yes, I did just re-watch episodes 64 and 65 :)

Okay, enough of this ranting and babbling and randomness. REVIEW!

~VSD*