Inspired by Chapter 205
Forgotten Encounter
"Whoah! Hey, don't puke here… Um, you! Go to the bathroom and take a break…"
As the coach's whistle blew, signaling the end of practice, soccer players from all directions ran to their freedom. This also included Kise Ryouta.
"Hey, not so fast, Kise!" his coach shouted. "You're on ball duty today!"
Kise's pace slowed and his shoulders slumped in defeat. It seemed like it had just been his turn to pick up the balls a few days ago, but he knew that complaining about it wouldn't get him anywhere. In fact, it would probably hurt him in the long run.
He began kicking all of the soccer balls into their respective goals. Kise figured that if he had to clean up, he might as well make a game out of it. When all of that was said and done, he piled the balls into two big bags and slung them over his shoulder. "Guess I ought to bring these to the equipment shed now," he sighed.
Throwing the bags into the far corner of the shed that they shared with the track team, Kise rubbed his hands together. He was rather proud of himself for cleaning up in such a timely manner. "Time to go home-ssu!"
Grabbing his duffle, Kise decided to take a short cut through one of the rarely used gymnasiums. He still had to go and fetch his school books after all, and his locker was located in a nearby corridor. However, as he was passing by the boys' bathroom, the garbled noise of wretching made him stop in his tracks.
Deciding to check it out, Kise quietly entered the bathroom. "Hello? Is everything okay in here?"
He was answered by the sounds of more strangled gagging. Biting his lip, Kise rubbed his arm awkwardly, debating if he should just give this person some privacy. He didn't have much time to think about that, though. The toilet had been flushed and a pale-faced boy with bloodshot eyes had walked out of the stall.
Noticing that the boy was considerably off-balance, Kise sprung into action. "Hey, hey, take it slow," he instructed. "You just puked your brains out. Here, sit down."
Although it wasn't the most sanitary of options, Kise had the boy sit on the bathroom floor with his back pressed up against the wall. While he allowed the other to get himself comfortable, Kise took the opportunity to examine his company; loose shorts, thick sneakers, and a sweat-drenched t-shirt.
Kise waited until the boy had caught his breath and calmed his heart rate, before asking, "Are you in the basketball club, by any chance?"
The boy nodded slowly, gracing Kise with his raspy-voiced response. "I am, but I'm in the third string."
"Yeah, but a string is still a string," Kise said, taking a seat next to him. "From what I hear, that club is super elite. To make it in at all is something to brag about. Hey, do you want some water? You're probably a bit dehydrated."
Again, the boy nodded.
Bringing his duffle into his lap, Kise began to rummage around inside of it. Pushing aside his cleats and his extra t-shirts, he had finally come across his drinking canteen. "I hope you don't mind sharing," he chuckled lightly, handing his water over to the boy.
When the boy had accepted, he began to greedily drink from the spout of the canteen, something that very much shocked Kise.
"Hey, whoah! Don't drink it so fast! If you stuck in too much air, you'll upset your stomach again."
Heeding Kise's warning, the boy slowed himself to a much more controlled pace. By the time that he had handed the canteen back over to Kise, his face had regained some of its color and his all-around demeanor seemed to be coming together.
"Thank you very much for you kindness."
This was the second time that Kise had been caught off guard within two minutes. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and said, "It's nothing, really. Besides, it would have been kind of heartless of me to just leave you here alone in such a state."
Kise had expected the boy to say something else. It was when he didn't that he continued talking. "When it comes to your practice, not that I know much of what goes on in the basketball club anyways, you should probably try and pace yourself a bit more. Going all out is great and all, it shows your determination, but if you end up like this after every practice, after a while, you're going to want to quit."
Both Kise and the boy were silent for a good length of time, before the boy chose to break it.
"I won't quit."
He had spoken in a tone just below a whisper, a tone so quiet that it beckoned Kise to ask, "I'm sorry, what was that?"
During the entirety of their casual conversation, the boy hadn't once looked in Kise's direction. It was now that he finally did so, showing Kise an expression so devoted, so purely and ultimately determined, that it made a garnished grin spread along Kise's lips in return.
"I said that I won't quit. I will try to pace myself, but I've made a promise with a close friend of mine, and I intend to keep it."
Kise nodded in understanding and placed a firm hand on the boy's shoulder. "And with that kind of attitude, I'm sure you'll get pushed up to the second string in no time at all."
Deciding that it was already late enough, the two chose to walk together toward their school's main entrance. Kise had collected up his school books, and the boy had fetched his own duffle from the gymnasium that was usually practiced in by the third string of players. When they had reached their destination, Kise was busily explaining about how boring soccer was beginning to get, even though he had joined the club rather recently. It was then that, surprisingly enough, one of his teammates was getting ready to leave as well.
"Model-kun, you're still here? Get stuck with picking up the balls again?"
"Yeah…" Kise laughed awkwardly. He didn't really appreciate the nickname that his teammate had coined for him. "I think the coach hates me for getting so good so quickly or something like that."
"You're so narcissistic, oh my God," his teammate chuckled, before waving him off. "Seeya tomorrow."
"Yeah, bye-bye. And I guess I'll see you around sometime, too. You know, like, if I ever catch you barfing like crazy again. Hey! I just realized! I never got your…name?"
When Kise had looked over to his side, the boy had already vanished from his sight. 'Well, that's weird…' he thought. 'I could have sworn he was still next to me.'
Curiosity killed the cat, but Kise felt like gambling with his nine lives. Backtracking all the way back to the third string's practice court, he heard the sound of a lone basketball being dribbled along the court. It set a smile on Kise's face. Peering inside, it was no shocker to him that that very same boy had picked up with his practice regime, probably right from where he had left off, too.
"You've got a lot of guts, kid," Kise commented to himself. "They'll get you far someday."
Hi there! Chappy here! :D
Ahh! I really hope you enjoyed this! This story is, yet again, another dedication story! :D
The lovely mitsucchi of tumblr just had a birthday, and I thought that maybe I could write something cute for her. (:
She's a huge fan of Kikuro, so I hope that this is Kikuro-centric enough for her. XD
Ah, anyways, thank you all for reading and I hope you liked it! :D
- Chappy