Synopsis: oneshot. Just before Yuki and Micro-Ice's first date, Meï tries to explain him something

Disclaimer: the animated show "Galactik Football" doesn't belong to me. I'm not making any money with this fic so please, don't sue me.

First date

Micro-Ice's bedroom at the academy

For the umpteenth time, Micro-Ice tried to flatten his hair. He checked his teeth, his hands, wondered if he had not better putting another tee-shirt on… The holo-phone rang. He ran to it, completely panicked. "Yuki, can you wait just a little… oh, it's you, Meï!"

"Yuki's getting ready with Tia", Meï explained. "Can I have a word with you?"

"Of course!" he said, relieved. "Come!" And he waited while inspecting his wardrobe. Having a great sense of fashion, Meï would probably help him choosing his clothes.

She entered the room one minute later. Micro-Ice didn't notice a frown that slightly altered her usual polite smile. "Hello", she said. "There's something Thran wanted to tell you…"

"Later, I need your advice now! Which tee-shirt would look better on me, d'you think? The green or the orange?"

Meï sighed. She was asked this kind of question by various people at least once a week. Sometimes she was fed up about it but this was no time for complaining. "Your green is too stained and your orange clashes with your skin color. Your white or your blue would look better."

"Thanks! You're a great friend, Meï", he said happily while throwing clothes on his bed to find said shirts. "You're really the best of the best! This blue?"

"No, this is grey-blue. Listen, Thran is worried about Yuki."

The boy froze and turned to his friend. "Worried? What do you mean, she's not ok?"

"She is, just now. But… I don't know how to tell you… she's his cousin, he's very fond of her, and he doesn't want anything really bad to happen to her."

Micro-Ice nodded. "Well that's normal. But Yuki's strong, you know. She played against the Xenon's, d'you remember? And I'm here to protect her."

"That might be the problem."

The boy frowned and sat on his bed, on top of several crumpled tee-shirts. "Tell me. Why does Thran think I am a problem?"

"You're his friend, that's why he asked me to explain you", the girl answered while trying to find a seat. "He thinks I'll find the words better. Do you remember what happened with Zoleene?"

Micro-Ice nodded. Four years earlier, he had dated that girl very briefly. Then he had realised she was not really interesting and broken up with her. He hadn't heard of her for years. "Why are you telling me about her?" he asked, puzzled.

"Because Thran remembers her. He also told me about that girl you met two years ago, Anina. If he remembers well, you had a crush on her at first sight, you went out with her twice…"

"Three times", Micro-Ice corrected.

"Yes. And then you dum… you broke up with her like you did with Zoelene. I know you didn't mean to hurt anybody but this pattern comes often in your life, Micro-Ice. A crush at first sight, a brief relationship and then a break-up. Thran hopes you're not going to do the same thing with Yuki, you know."

Tactfully, Meï decided not to mention the way Micro-Ice also had had a crush on her a long time ago. The boy shrugged. "Yeah, but Yuki's not Zoeleene, or Anina. And, well, why is Thran so interested in me and Yuki?"

"Because you're his friend. He knows his cousin since she was a baby, he likes her and if you ever break her heart, he'll have to resent you. He just hates that idea. He doesn't want to choose between you and her, you see? Yuki's strong, but she's also a sensitive person, and you're her first boyfriend. So please, be careful about what you're going to do. And don't wear those shoes, they're horrible."

The boy nodded, got up and went back to his wardrobe. "OK, then, but what kind of shoes am I going to wear?"

"These ones will be perfect," Meï said, gesturing at a pair. "Did you hear what I told you?"

"Of course! Thran would hate it if I ever break Yuki's heart. I'll be careful. Is that why Thran was reluctant to see me with Yuki from the beginning?"

"Well… maybe."

Micro-Ice sat down and tied his shoes while eying Meï. Lucky girl, she had been in a relationship with his best friend for four years and everything was still ok between them. He wished the same thing could happen to him. Every time he fell in love, the beautiful princess quickly became an annoying frog or, in the case of Meï, just a good friend (which wasn't a bad thing, after all). Why?

Maybe it was partly his fault. "I'll be careful", he said again. "I promise."

Yuki's bedroom

The redhead was putting on some make-up, trying to look calm and composed. In fact, she was so nervous that she had the feeling her heart was going to explode. But she didn't want to show how uneasy she was in front of Tia, who was trying to be helpful. "Do you think he'll be late?" Yuki asked in a hopefully casual tone.

"I hope he won't! That would be an ugly thing to do."

Ugly. This single word reminded Yuki of so many bad memories. The nasty kids in the playground who mocked her and called her an ugly duck, the teachers who were always nicer with cuter children, and the teenage girls who told her she would never have a boyfriend… She used to smile at all the attacks and pretend it was not important, but it was. It had undermined her self-esteem.

Maybe her low self-esteem was the reason why she had developed the Breath so late. And maybe it was also the reason why she had somehow rejected Micro-Ice at first: she used to think he was too good for him. She thought of her cousins and had a sudden burst of affection for them: they had taught her football and repeatedly told her she was a good goal-keeper. Thran had even insisted that she applied to become Ahito's replacement in the team. It was as if he had repeatedly shouted: you're a good person, you can do great things and you have the right to exist. And now their team had won the cup, partly thanks to her. It felt so good…

But she still felt quite uncomfortable with the way she looked. "Do you think I look good?" she asked Tia suddenly.

"Of course!" the other girl said with a nod at the outfit Meï had chosen. "This color looks great on you."

"Thanks, but I don't feel very at ease."

Tia laughed. "That's normal. Everyone is a bit nervous on their first date."

"And it's just a date. It's not as if we were going to get married or even have another date later…"

The elder girl was moved by the way her red-haired friend was trying to hide her fears. "Listen, Yuki", she said. "When I first met Rocket, I didn't even think I could fall in love with him. And then, when I fell in love with him, I first believed he couldn't be interested in me. Everything can happen."

Yuki nearly jumped. Tia and Rocket being a couple was so obvious to her that she could hardly imagine it had been otherwise once. "You thought he wasn't interested in you? Why?"

"I'm a tomboy and I had heard that all boys want girly girls. Well, go to this date and have some fun. I'm sure you'll have a great time and if he doesn't want another date later, it'll mean that he's stupid."

Yuki nodded, astonished by the fact that Tia had also been insecure about the way she looked, hugged her briefly and left the room. Once outside, she walked slowly to the boys' room, knocked at the door and waited with the same feeling as if she was about to play a difficult match. It was time to believe in happiness…

The end…