Everyone,hello! I'm new here and this is my first fanfiction XD
I'm a fan of KirinoxKariya, even if I think their relationship is more like Kariya Kirino Shindou *LOL*

I'm sorry for the mistakes, english is not my native language, but I'm trying è_é/ well, hope u enjoy the fic^^
*InaLink is like a twitter for raimon in the game :D
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Practice was over from half an hour when Kirino found himself looking at the soccer field below him. He remembered when he was little he would always ask his mother to stop by the old Raimon gate on their way home to look at the older guys playing soccer, even if it was just for a little time,even if he was able to take just a little peek at those hissatsu, that all was already enough to make him happy and rush at home. Every evening he would call his best friend, busy with his piano lessons, to describe him what he saw that day. Things like "how cool that new defender was",for example, or "how he should go with him the next time, cause maybe if they were lucky enough, the seniors will notice them and let them play a bit on the field".

"I guess I was really naïve back then…" remembering the past grew somehow a warm feeling inside him, even if just for a short time. As soon as images of him and his best friend training on the soccer field came to his mind, he clenched his fists and had to shut his eyes to prevent tears from coming. How stupid, crying over such a thing, he wasn't a baby anymore,so how come he was feeling irritated and nervous to the point of crying? "It's my fault anyway…" it was his fault if Shindou was stronger, if he walked far ahead of him by now, he simply wasn't strong enough as his best friend. He wasn't the strong defender he dreamed to be when he was a little kid. " In the end…I was always the one looking at you from behind…"he sighed-

"Kirino-senpai!" and…at first he wasn't sure the voice he heard was real or if it was just a joke of his mind,but as soon as he turned his gaze to his left and met the golden eyes of his teammate every doubts was cleared. "Kariya…" he's been so focused on his thoughts that he didn't even notice the younger approaching.

"Aah~ I sure am hungry!" the first year stopped by few meters from the pink-haired boy "Hm? Is something wrong?" it took mere seconds for the older one to answer "No, nothing." He knew Kariya was different from the first time they met,but… "Bye" talking to him was pointless. Besides, there were nothing to talk about, were there?

He turned to quickly walk away from there, leaving the younger boy behind him, sure that the words he spoke moments ago would stop him from asking futile questions, but-Kariya sure was different from the little spoiled brat he met few months ago….was he?

"Kirino-senpai!" faking an errand or to be in an hurry were possibilities Kirino thought to use when the little defender decided to walk beside him "What is?" again.

"…" Kariya just kept walking without saying a word, his eyes fixed on the pretty face his senpai was known to have, today ruined by what seemed to him to be… a sad expression? Or maybe he was tired? Yet, he already knew what was bugging his senpai, he just wished to be wrong.

"Neh,senpai…" he didn't' wait for the other attention to continue "Perhaps you are just jealous of Shindou-senpai." What was meant to be a question seemed more like a statement to Kirino.
"What?!" he stopped on his tracks to fully turn his gaze to the younger "What did you say?!"

The way he reacted to his words was pretty much what Kariya expected,just..maybe his senpai didn't realize how angry he sounded.

"I just say senpai,that him having a kenshin…a mixi-max, or a kenshin armor, is making you feel jealous. Sure, that quiet surprise me as well! I never thought Kirino-senpai would be that kind of person." the pink-haired boy widened his eyes at the words. "Kariya!-" "What?" that took him aback. "I'm just stating the obvious" he shrugged his shoulders "I don't blame Kirino-senpai at all! Even I would be jealous if my best friend was able to do that much things while I…"

Kirino frowned "Stop that."

He already knew how it ended.

He was different from Shindou. So why? Why was he there,what was the point of telling him what he already knew?

After few seconds Kariya spoke again in a murmur "…Shindou-senpai sure is cool."

"…" Kirino lowered his gaze to the ground and bit his under lip at the other's words. He was. He really was cool. Not only he became captain on his first year of school, he also was the first one of the team to bring out his kenshin. He went against fifth sector while everyone else just stayed there in fear, and now he mixi maxed with someone like Nobunaga Oda. He was cool. He was too much for him. And if at the begging he felt happy for him, now he was just " You are envious".

Kariya answered his thoughts.
"What?"

"Senpai~ that's already the fifth time! Can't you just pay a little more attention to me?" Kirino flinched in irritation. They both knew the younger one was just teasing the second year. "I said that you are envious. Jealousy, envy…well, honestly I think of them as the same thing" he smirked, his senpai was just too innocent to admit he felt jealous over the playmaker.

"Stop talking nonsense!" and the more he tried to deny, the more Kariya was sure to be in right. And that felt kind of...painful. Shindou-senpai was that much important to Kirino-senpai to make him feel irritated to the point of crying? Cause yes,he saw him before,while looking at the soccer field.

"Senpai,you are so easy to figure out!" Kariya giggled few seconds before hearing what seemed to be a loud slam and found himself looking at his right side.

The pink-haired boy was staring at him with a piercing gaze "I…I told you to shut up! Why you always have to do as you want!?" His right hand was still at mid-air when he realized the first year didn't move of an inch after the hit. That made him shiver. What…what did he just do? But… it wasn't his fault right? It was Kariya's! He did tell him to stop! But he didn't listen to him, like always! And he even thought he changed? Where?! He still didn't care about others words neither of their feelings! "I…-" "Sorry" Kariya spoke first "I didn't mean to make Kirino-senpai angry" when he finally brought back his eyes on the taller, Kirino could clearly see the red bruise on his left cheek. All the firm belief of being in right he had moments ago quickly vanished away. What did he do…

"Kariya, I'm sorry…I just…lost control. I'm sorry.I'm really…"

The first year really did an hard job to not cry. The cheek was hurting as hell and the face his senpai was doing was just- damn it. He couldn't let the tears got him right now,could he?! That wouldn't be cool at all! And he really…he really wanted to be cool like Shindou-senpai for him. But… all the effort he was doing in not crying really didn't pay him back. In front of him was a flustered Kirino, the pink bangs barely managed to cover his eyes while hot tears were falling down wetting his cheeks. Kariya found himself speechless for few seconds.

"K-Kirino-senpai, it's okay! It doesn't hurt at all! And…look, it's barely visible anyway! Besides, it's my fault, I didn't get the words right and-" and how come the other one didn't seem to stop crying but was even getting worse? He was apologizing! And he was even trying not to cry himself!

"Kirino-senpai, really I'm…" but before he could finish the sentence or even try to get closer to his senpai, the other one was already running away, walking beyond him fast. Too fast for him to follow or try to catch up.

The dinner that night at Sun Garden tasted rather bitter for Kariya. He didn't know why. It's not that he didn't like Hitomiko's cook –and even if it was,he wasn't that stupid to admit it- and the other children were as noisy as any other day of the week, so… why he wasn't enjoying the dinner? He even was so hungry after practice that afternoon. That is. It must have been because of that afternoon. Because of stupid Kirino-senpai and the stupid look on his face after he hit him that he couldn't get off his mind. His stupid watery azurine eyes and…the sadness on his expression and…he felt his cheeks burn up. D-Dammit! "I'm full, thanks for the meal" he bowed and quickly got away from the kitchen up to the stairs and right to his room. Hiroto and Midorikawa didn't question him at all, not even for the red cheek. But,after all, they must have thought it was a girl's doing after his bad attempt of confessing to her. There weren't that many guys those days that hit with a slap,right? And Kariya was around "that age" so…well, he too, found it pretty silly now –even if it did hurt!- and Kirino senpai always said he wasn't feminine at all huh? Pfh. Liar.

He laid down on his bed, looking at the ceiling. "…stupid Kirino-senpai." He was just trying to be nice to him, telling what he couldn't figure out alone, so why he got angry anyway? He sighed, rolling on the side. He kept his gaze on the room, even if he was away with his mind, when he heard the sound of someone knocking on the door.

"Masaki-kun?" he snapped out of his thoughts at the voice coming behind the closed door"Hiroto-nii?" the red-haired adult smiled before actually put his hand on the door-handle and enter

"You left before the cake" the little one looked up at the little plate the adult was holding on his right hand "…Are you okay?" Kariya didn't quiet understand what the other meant unless he felt something wet hit his lips "Uh?" wait,what? Was he crying? He blushed at the thought of being seen like that from his "brother" "I'm fine!" he got up from the bed and went straight to the window in hope to hide from the older one. In vain.

Hiroto sighed and smiled, leaving the plate with the cake on the desk next to him "So, who's the lucky one?" Kariya felt his cheeks heat up again,even behind the tears. "W-what?"

The red-haired guy smiled and put an arm around the smaller's shoulders "I know those tears. And the cheek too,you know, I've been young as well!" Kariya just wanted to die. Not only after all the efforts he put on the afternoon the tears won over him in the end, but now he was there with Hiroto, who thought he had some kind of issues with a girl. Wonderful.

"It's-it's not what you think!" he rubbed his left wrist on the eyes to take away the tears "It's just a friend."

Hiroto smiled.

"Just a friend? Then it's okay!" Kariya looked puzzled at the other "What?"

"Crying over a friend it's okay! Friends do not only laugh together, they also argue you know? So…what happened?"

Kariya looked back outside the window again "…" unsure if he should give up or not, the smile on the other's face and the gaze he felt fixed on him, made him surrender "Fine!" he pouted "When I tried to befriend with…this guy on my team…he got angry at my pranks. So I tried to be nice and tell him what I thought, but… he slapped me! Whether I act mean or kind it doesn't matter, it always end up in him getting angry." Kariya felt the tears coming out again "I don't even know if we are friends or not by the way…"

"Of course you are!" Hiroto, who's been silent till now, spoke suddenly after the younger's words "…" Kariya looked at him with a confused look on his face "How can you say that?" Hiroto smiled, gently patting the other's head "That's because he got angry,of course" "…Aah?" maybe he was wrong, he shouldn't have talk to Hiroto at all! Of course it wasn't a nice thing! If someone got angry at you it's a bad thing! Right?

"Masaki-kun, if he got angry it's because he cares, don't you think so?" Kariya wasn't sure what to answer,but…even if it was little, the possibility that Hiroto-nii was right made him feel a little better. Kirino thought of him as a friend? Really? "I'm sure he is feeling sad too right now"

The ex-raimon forward patted again gently his head before turning his back to him "Don't let the cake go waste, you know what happen when Hitomiko see her dishes go back,right?" Kariya shivered "Y-yeah".

Without any more words Hiroto left, leaving the defender in his room. "…I should really eat it" he moved away from the window on to the cake when a suddenly vibe on his pants pocket got his attention "…mh?" he took out the phone and opened the new mail the display was showing. His heart missed a beat when he read the name "K-Kirino-senpai" he stayed there, looking at the display without doing nothing, with the cheeks the same colour as the strawberry on the slice of cake next to him on the desk "…s-stupid senpai!" he shook his head and pushed the "read" button.

It was indeed Kirino's doing. Mostly because it started with lots of "dots" witch Kariya found out his senpai used a lot on his messages on InaLink . Of course, that wasn't because he actually knew lots of thing about Kirino! It was just pure coincidence that he remembered this… characteristic.

He took in a deep breath and read the mail. Aside from the dots and all the "I'm sorry" the message was filled with, he rested his gaze on the last words "Thank you".

"…Thank you" he repeated, just to be sure to have read right. Again, he felt his cheeks burn up as he quickly answered with a "stupid senpai".

That evening,at Sun Garden,the cake tasted quiet sweet for Kariya.