Riku ran as fast he could, his hands protecting the ball. Shinryuuji's Agon was right behind him. Sena stood at the sidelines, holding his breath.
"RUN RIKU!" He cried. Riku looked over to him and gave him a thumbs up. Sena smiled, but then the smile quickly faded. Agon had caught up to Riku.
"You trash, you have no hope of winning this game" Agon said, laughing. Riku gasped and looked beside him, but Agon had jumped back behind him.
Agon grabbed Riku's leg and pulled him down towards the turf. Riku lost control of the ball and it fell from his hands. Agon smiled.
Everything went in slow motion. Sena watched wide eyed. But suddenly his facial expression changed to surprised excitement.
Riku extended his hand and tipped the ball, but it was just enough so that he could get a slight grip and pull it to himself. He clutched it and kept the ball to his chest in a death grip. Agon growled.
"No" he said, through clenched teeth. The whole team and audience for the Gunman's team cheered. Agon wasn't having that. Suddenly he pulled hard on Riku's leg, but this time twisted it, hard. There was loud cracking sound, and Riku's eyes flew wide open.
They both hit the ground, at the in zone. Riku had his hand over the line.
"…..TOUCHDOWN!!" The ref called, blowing his whistle. Everyone cheered. But suddenly the cheering was interrupted by Riku's long, bloodcurdling scream.
Everything was silent. Everyone watched as Agon got up and brushed himself off. He frowned down at Riku. Riku was cringing and reaching for his right leg, with trembling hands.
"You trash" Agon said, he threw back his leg and then swung it forward.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Riku cried, and this time didn't stop screaming, he was shaking violently and thrashing as the pain shot through his leg.
"RIKU!!" Sena cried. He and Kid ran up to him, as did the whole team. Riku was still screaming.
"Riku what's wrong?!" Kid asked, he knelt down and tried to touch Riku's leg, but Riku cried out again when he did. Kid retracted his hand, but then gently reached back down to pull the pant leg up, even when Riku was screaming bloody murder, and pounding the ground, his teammates restraining him. Kid gasped.
Sena looked at Riku's leg and had to fight the urge to puke. It was totally mangled. The bone hadn't punctured the skin, but it could be clearly seen popping up, not where it was supposed to be.
"Oh, Riku" he said, Riku had settled down a little bit. Sena looked up when he heard a sudden hitch in Riku's breath. A tear rolled down Riku's cheek, then they started to flood out.
"Sena?" Mamori called from behind the group, she had come to watch the game too. She reached them and when she saw Riku she gasped and put her hand to her mouth.
"Oh my god" she said. Suddenly there was laughing from behind them. Sena and Kid looked up to see Agon still standing there, where he was before, looking straight at the group.
"Agon…" Sena said, hissing under his breath. Agon looked at Riku, who was steaming.
"Even though you won, you'll still be nothing but trash" Agon said, making Riku cringe. "You had no chance against me, why did you even try?" Agon laughed again. Another tear ran down Riku's cheek.
Suddenly, without thinking first, Riku sprang up on his good leg and tried to jump for Agon, screaming. Agon was surprised at first, but then Riku landed on his broken leg and the pained screaming started again.
"Riku no, what are you thinking!?" Sena cried, running to Riku again, holding him in his arms. Riku couldn't take the pain, he finally lost it. He threw up, puke staining his uniform, and the turf. A small line of drool ran down from his mouth.
"Oh, Riku" Sena said again. He looked up at Agon with hate covering every inch of his face.
"You bastard, how could you do this to him?!" Sena shouted, but Agon just turned away, laughing. Agon's teammates stared in horror at what Agon had done.
"A-Agon-san" Ikkyu stammered, his eyes wide as he watched Riku writhe and cry in pain. Unsui looked at Agon with disgust.
"Agon!" he cried, Agon looked at his twin brother. They stared, expressionless for several seconds, then Agon smiled.
"He had it coming" Agon finally said. Everyone's eyes flew open wide. They watched as Agon left the stadium.
Riku had passed out from the pain. His leg was indeed broken, but in four areas! Sena watched as they took him away by ambulance. A tear ran down Sena's cheek as he started to think.
"What if Riku never gets to play again, what if he never heals?" He heard himself ask. Suddenly someone put their hand on his shoulder. It was Kid. He didn't look very happy, but he tried to smile at Sena. It didn't work, Sena already knew he was just as tore up about it as he was.
"Sena, there you are" Mamori said, she came running up to him. Sena waited for what she had to say.
"I called Hiruma, they're on their way" she said. Sena smiled, sadly at her and nodded, then looked down.
"Riku".
Riku still slept when Hiruma and the others arrived at the hospital. Kurita was the first into the room.
"RIKU-SAN!" he cried, bursting in and running up to the bed. Sena stopped him, before he could wake Riku.
"Wait Kurita, he's had a rough day, let him sleep" Sena said. Kurita stepped down. That's when the others walked in. They all looked at Riku, sadly. They saw his casted leg and closed their eyes. Hiruma was the last one in.
"Hiruma-senpai" Sena said, but Hiruma walked straight up to Riku without a word. He watched Riku's sleeping form for a while, frowning. Riku breathed deep and ragged. Every once in a while he would shake, almost as if he were cold.
Hiruma blinked and looked at Riku's leg. The cast covered only the main area, where it broke, so his thigh and right foot were left bare. Hiruma slowly went to touch Riku's leg, the part that was uncasted, almost as if to see of there were any more spots that were missed.
Sena jumped when Riku groaned in his sleep. He started to get up, but Hiruma put his hand up, Sena stopped.
"Hiruma what are you doing?" Monta asked. Hiruma said nothing. Riku made a noise that sounded like a cough and gasp. Sena started to get up again, but Hiruma still held him back.
"Don't worry, he's alright" Hiruma said, smiling.
"He'll play again", the others stared at him, confused. Hiruma still didn't turn to face them.
"It'll take a while but he will play football again, I guarantee it" Hiruma said. Suddenly a moan came from Riku. Everyone looked at him. He opened his eyes.
"W-where am I?" he asked, sitting up. Finally he saw everyone. He was shocked at first, but then it went away.
"G-guys, you all came?" he said, Sena was the first at his side. Everyone smiled at him.
"Riku you're awake, you had us worried for a second" Sena said, putting his head on Riku's shoulder. Riku looked down at Sena and smiled. He ran a hand through Sena's hair.
"Finally you're awake" Hiruma said, smiling his devilish smile (you know the one I'm talking about) "You're gonna be fine" he finished. Riku smiled, then frowned. Everyone looked confused.
"Hmm, Riku what's wrong?" Sena asked, looking up at the teen. Riku sighed.
"Why did this have to happen?" he asked, everyone stared at him, "I lost the game for us, all because of my recklessness" he said. Sena cocked an eyebrow.
"What do you mean you lost?" he asked. Riku looked at him, still frowning.
"I couldn't make the touchdown" He said. Suddenly Kid started laughing.
"Huh?" Riku looked up at his teammate, with confusion. "What's so funny?" he asked, confusion in his voice.
"We didn't lose" Kid said, this made Riku even more confused "You couldn't remember because of the pain, you made that touchdown" Kid said, walking up and patting Riku on the back. Riku stared at him, comprehending his words.
"I…..made the touchdown?" he asked, "but Agon……."
Mamori laughed.
"He gave you the extra push you needed to get across the line" she said, smiling at him. Riku's eyes grew wider.
"But how?" he asked, bewildered. Hiruma growled and frowned.
"Would you just shut up, you won the game, deal with it" he said. Everyone looked from Hiruma to Riku and back again. Riku said nothing, then he smiled. He then hung his head and started shaking.
"Uh, RIKU!" Sena said, sounding scared. He was about to push the nurse button, but then he heard something come from Riku's mouth. Laughter. Riku threw his head back up and started laughing. Sena and the others watched him. Suddenly tears started to form at the corners of Riku's eyes.
"I…..I did it, we won against Shinryuuji, it wasn't just a dream after all!" he cried, he started to cry, tears of joy streaming down his cheeks. He buried his face into Sena's shoulder, almost as if he was trying to hide himself. Sena smiled and hugged Riku, closing his eyes.
"Yes, yes you did, you did win" he said into Riku's ear. Everyone watched them and smiled, some of them even started to cry a little. Kurita sniffled a little, then the tears came pouring out.
"RIKU-SAN!!" He cried, as he ran to the bed. He gathered both Riku and Sena in a huge bear hug.
"K-Kurita….." Sena said, one of his eyes closed, his face turning red.
"C-can't breathe…" Riku finished, he was turning purple, he had stopped crying a while ago. Kurita finally let them go, but still cryed. Riku gave a small chuckle, but then suddenly he felt a sharp pain go through his leg.
"gahh" Riku gasped, his hands shaking as he reached toward his injured leg. Sena and the others were alerted to his gasp and turned to look at him.
"Oh, RIKU what's wrong?!" Sena asked, putting a hand on Riku's shoulder. Riku couldn't say anything, he could only focus on the pain. The throbbing was getting harder and stronger. Tears started to form again, but these were tears of pain. Suddenly Riku passed out again.
"Someone call the nurse!" Sena cried, and Mamori was the first to the phone.
"Hmm, it looks like we missed a break in the bone" the doctor said, examining the X-rays again. Sena and the others straightened in their seats, even Hiruma.
"Here" the doctor pointed to a part of Riku's bone where it was broken almost in half, but not quite. Monta stood up, fists clenched.
"How could you miss that?" he asked, furious. The doctor shrugged.
"It's a common mistake, anyone could make it, but that's not the bad news" he said, this made everyone freeze.
"W-what is the bad news?" Sena asked, he was the only was courageous enough to say it. The doctor sighed, then answered the answer no one wanted to hear.
"The way this bone is broken, it may not heal correctly….." he began, then he sighed again. Everyone waited…….
"Riku….." the doctor hesitated, everyone was getting restless……
Finally he finished…..
"Riku may never use this leg again" he said. Everyone stopped breathing. Sena could hear his heart beating a thousand beats per second. Hiruma and Kid looked down to the ground, closing their eyes. Mamori put her hand to her mouth, tears being fought back. Monta and Kurita could only stare at the doctor and the X-rays, stunned.
Sena looked through the window into Riku's room. Riku was asleep, breathing lightly, dreaming of his victory, not knowing what might happen to him. Tears welded up in Sena's eyes, as he thought……
"…….Riku"
(TBC, hope you are enjoying it so far, I know I'm working on like several fanfics now, but I have to write them down or I'll forget!! please review and I'll keep writing)