A/N: Tadaaa~! A Kirino/Kariya story, just for you K/K fans out there. 83 To the Shindou/Kirino supporters: don't worry, these two are still my InaGo OTP, but there's just something about Kirino/Kariya that attracts me... It's a guilty pleasure; I don't support it, but still like it in a way, so much so that I managed an entire fic about them. XD I did my best, I hope you guys like it! -heart-

Kirino was in a bad mood. He had actually been rather grumpy all week. It was now Thursday afternoon, five minutes after soccer practice. He and Kariya had been assigned to stack away the tools the team had used today. This chore was nothing unusual to Kirino, as he and his teammates switched weekly according to Shindou's schedule, but the whole problem was that his current partner was Kariya. Kirino groaned to himself. Why Kariya of all people? Shindou was well-aware of the tension between them. Of course, when Kirino complained to him about the issue, his best friend reasoned that he'd partnered them up because of their mutual rivalry. "This is the perfect chance for you to get along," he said.

Yeah, right. Kirino glared at the floor while he stacked up a bunch of traffic cones. If there was one thing missing from Kariya's mind, it was the intention to get along. He had done nothing but bully his senior the past week: leaving several tools in his way, dropping them at random near a mud puddle, and kicking a ball in the back of his head when he wasn't looking, respectively resulting in bruises, dirty legs and a throbbing headache on Kirino's part. Sadly, the pink-haired defender never got any further than accusing him without solid proof, as there were no witnesses and Kariya denied all types of offense by waving them off as 'accidents'. And this had been going on for three days straight. Kirino was so looking forward to the weekend… Rather than inquiring what the hell Kariya's problem was, let alone trying to get along with him, he actually started to wish he could prank him back, just for once. Just to give that little jerk a taste of his own medicine; see how he would like it.

Kirino picked up the cone tower and turned to put it away in the storage room, which he then noticed was already occupied by Kariya. To Kirino's surprise, his fellow defender hadn't tried to prank him even once today – or had made attempts without succession, as Kirino had been extra cautious ever since practice ended. He made for the door when a sudden thought occurred to him. Kariya was in the storage room, alone… The one light bulb that was supposed to illuminate the tiny space should've been replaced eons ago, and Kirino knew the door could only be unlocked from the outside.

A fairly unusual grin spread on Kirino's face. It couldn't be more perfect. This was it, this was his chance. His mind suddenly focused on one goal, which was ironically a prank of all things, the defender dropped the cones and ran for the door, slamming it shut without a second thought. The first thing he heard was a gasp, then a stumbling noise, as if Kariya had tripped on something himself.

"S-senpai?" He was shocked, to say the least. If Kirino heard right, Kariya's voice was even filled with a bit of fear. He felt no sympathy for the other boy, however; instead, Kirino leaned his back against the door and crossed his arms, deciding he would wait a minute before letting Kariya out. Or two. He was going to enjoy this bit of much-deserved victory.

"S-senpai! Kirino-senpai! What is this, let me out!" Kirino was surprised to suddenly hear Kariya shout mere inches behind him. He now sounded utterly scared, frightened, actually. Not a second later, the door started to tremble against his back. Kariya was banging on it repeatedly, continuing his pleas to open the door. Kirino backed away and stared at the quivering door in shock. He initially thought this was Kariya's attempt to get him to pity him and free him right away, but the more Kariya yelled at him, which he never stopped doing, the more real his words sounded. Kirino never thought Kariya would respond this frantically to an innocent prank. He figured he would insult him calmly, or at the very least, remain unimpressed. However, the younger boy sounded anything but.

Kirino didn't have the heart to withstand any more of Kariya's begging when he actually started to use the word "please". This was no joke; Kariya wanted out of there, desperately. Kirino opened the door and his bafflement was instantly squashed by an enormous load of guilt when he saw the look on Kariya's face. He looked white as a sheet, his eyes nearly leaned out of their sockets, and his lips, as well as his entire body, were trembling like mad. The one emotion he expressed, as rare as it may be, was pure fear. Kirino's eyes widened as well. He had never seen Kariya like this before. All he did was pull an innocent joke – had he hit a soft spot of his? Kirino thought about it and realized even Kariya might be hiding a phobia or two behind that brick wall of his. Could it be that he was claustrophobic…? Even worse, afraid of the dark? Everybody knew it was pitch-dark in that room as soon as they closed the door. Everybody, except Kariya, who had only been assigned stack-up duty for the first time. Oh crap, what had he done…?

"K-Kariya," Kirino stammered. He lifted his hands, but then wondered what he was supposed to with them. Kariya looked like he would break apart at the slightest touch. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just trying to—"

"… heh."

Kirino let out a yelp when his right arm was suddenly yanked at, pulled forward and then released, letting him fly into the storage room and crash into a couple of tools. He ended up on his back after rolling over once and groaned at the pain, placing a hand on his head. When he opened his eyes, he saw an upside down Kariya with one hand on his hip and one on the doorknob. His big, fearful eyes were now squinted mercilessly, and his quivering lips had curved into a solid, evil smirk. "Stupid senpai."

Kirino didn't even have time to speak before the door slammed shut, leaving him in the darkness. He got up on his feet and ran for the door, starting to bash on it just like Kariya had done. Unlike his fellow defender, though, he wasn't the least bit scared – he was overflowing with rage.

"Kariya!" he shouted. "Open this door right now!"

Kariya simply laughed on the other side of the door, clearly not intent on obeying his order. "You're such a loser," he snickered, and to Kirino's horror, the footsteps that followed faded further and further away from the storage room. He wasn't seriously…!

"Kariya! Kariya! Open the door!" Kirino kept hitting it, even charged it with his entire body, but of course, the damn thing wouldn't budge. And when he heard another door slam not far away, Kirino knew Kariya was leaving the soccer building. And keeping him locked up here.

"Dammit…!" The defender sank down on his knees, both of his hands lingering on the wood. He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, almost unable to contain his increasing anger. He'd been had… big time. Why, oh why had he fallen for Kariya's act, even though he'd sworn to himself he would never be fooled again…? He had been so careful today, and in return, Kariya had degraded him twice as painfully with a prank much worse than throwing some stuff in his way. Kirino clenched his hands against the door, wondering what the hell he had ever done to Kariya to deserve this.

Eventually, his fists relaxed into hands. Kirino needed a few minutes to calm down, but once he got there, he took his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Shindou's number. Reluctantly, he put the device against his ear. "Shindou? Yeah, it's me. Listen…"

Fortunately, Shindou had only just left the school terrain when Kirino called him. He instantly rushed back to the soccer building and not even five minutes after his best friend's call, he opened the door to the storage room. Kirino, still seated on the floor, got up and greeted the brunet with a grateful smile. "Thanks…"

Shindou smiled back. "No problem." He peeked over Kirino's shoulder into the storage room and then scanned his surroundings. The floor was a mess, and the storage room, after Kirino had been thrown into it, wasn't much better. Shindou let out a sigh and looked at his friend again. "He really did it this time, huh…"

"I'll kill him," Kirino hissed, instantly mad again when Shindou reminded him of that little hell spawn. He clenched his fists once more and added: "I'll kill him with my bare hands."

Rather than advising his friend to refrain from murdering a teammate, Shindou gave him an apologetic frown. "Hey, Kirino… I'm sorry."

Kirino perked up, surprised. "Why are you sorry?"

Shindou looked away unsurely. "I really thought you two just needed some quality time to get along… I didn't think Kariya would go this far."

In spite of his anger, Kirino managed a smile and patted his shoulder gently. "It's fine, Shindou, don't worry about it. I don't blame you. It's the fault of Kariya and that twisted mind of his… I have no idea what goes through his head, seriously."

"He still hasn't explained himself?" Shindou was aware Kirino had questioned Kariya on his behavior multiple times, but to no avail. Considering today's event, the brunet put a hand on his chin in thought. "Perhaps I should have a talk with him…"

Kirino nodded automatically, figuring Kariya wouldn't be able to defy the word of his captain. Then a scene from earlier came to mind: the moment when he had let Kariya out of the storage room. The boy's expression at the time had been burnt into his mind: Kariya had looked utterly frightened, as if his heart was ready to stop on him, as if he was almost literally scared to death. Kirino frowned doubtfully when he recalled his fellow defender's pale face. Kariya was a good actor, but not that good… Somehow, even if just a little bit, the fear he'd radiated was real. Meaning he had found a weakness he could corner him with.

"… wait just a moment," he muttered, interrupting Shindou's decision to finally defend him against Kariya. "I'll give it one more try myself." Yes, tomorrow was Friday… the last time he and Kariya would have to stack away things together for a while. Tomorrow was his only chance to profit from Kariya's weak point. He was going to do that… and he was going to find out why Kariya had been determined to make his life hell from their very first meeting.

"You're not angry about yesterday, are you, Kirino-senpai?"

Friday. After soccer practice. In front of the storage room. Kariya with his hands on his back and that disgusting, angelic smile on his face. He clearly thought so little of yesterday's prank that it surprised Kirino he even inquired about his feelings.

Kirino managed little more than a grimace and needed a surprising amount of effort to calmly reply: "Of course not. It was a harmless joke, I understand."

"Good! Then let's get to work." Kariya turned around and started to collect soccer balls with the same smile, which surprised Kirino a little. It seemed an apology – no, not even that – was all Kariya thought was necessary to forget yesterday's joke. Kirino narrowed his eyes on his back, vengefully. Soon, the joke would be on him.

However, it turned out Kirino's plan was less simple than he thought. Both he and Kariya refrained from entering the storage room and didn't even dare to linger in the doorway, in case one of them was ready to repeat yesterday's prank. They both placed the tools right next to the door and went back outside. Tactfully, neither of them questioned the other boy's actions, as their motives were the exact same. Which eventually annoyed Kirino's to a frustrating degree. He just needed Kariya to enter the storage room once, only once! But the defender clearly refused. Another thing Kirino noticed was that Kariya made no attempt to prank him today. Everytime their eyes met, Kariya would send him that same kind-hearted smile, which, when compared to his devilish expression from yesterday, creeped Kirino out rather than it reassured him.

When he realized nearly all tools had been exhibited in front of the storage room, Kirino completely lost his patience. Their last day together was about to end without a single fuss, and he couldn't stand it. Kariya was about to go outside to fetch the last cones when Kirino caught his arm, dragged him along and slammed the storage door behind his back. He knew what he'd just done: he locked them both in. Oh well, he could just call Shindou to free him again.

Both to his surprise and expectations, Kariya immediately started to panic again. Kirino couldn't see him in the dark, but he heard him step backwards and crash into the supplies like he had. He was about to cross his arms and start his interrogation, when Kariya, who had apparently stood back up, bumped into him next. Kirino yelped in surprise when his weight almost threw him over and grabbed Kariya's upper arms to push him away, but the boy was painfully persistent in his current state of fear.

"Kariya," he started, but he couldn't help but feel sorry for him when Kariya exhaled a yell, filled with so much fright that it sent shivers down Kirino's spine. The other boy clasped onto the fabric of his shirt and Kirino could feel him shake against him, once again throwing him off-guard. It was so rare, so odd to see Kariya like this… He was usually so composed, so good at hiding what he really felt. The fact that he freaked out in a pitch-black room to this extent was enough to confirm Kirino's assumption: Kariya was afraid of the dark.

"Kariya," Kirino repeated, and he stopped trying to pry him off when he realized Kariya wasn't going to move. "It's okay, everything is fine. Don't be scared."

Kariya didn't respond, nor did he change his position. Kirino suspected his words didn't even reach him. Just like a soccer ball, they bounced off the indestructible net that surrounded the blue-haired defender, who, in heavy contrast to his usual, devious self, was now scared to death. He even went as far as pressing his face into Kirino's shirt, making the other boy realize how close they actually were. A badly timed blush hit Kirino's cheeks and for a moment, he wondered if he should abort his plan. But he almost instantly declined. Kariya was meant to be scared, so he could take advantage of his vulnerability and get to the bottom of his real thoughts. If he let him escape now, he'd never find out.

Kirino let out a sigh when Kariya continued to lean against him, his shirt squeezed between his fingers and whimpers escaping from the boy's mouth every few seconds. He appeared to prefer the darkness of Kirino's chest over the unpredictable darkness of the surrounding walls. The longer this uncomfortable position lasted, the more guilt started building up on Kirino's shoulders. He wanted to question Kariya, keep a firm posture and show him he wasn't going to fall for his tricks, but it was so hard when Kariya's yammering tugged at his heartstrings over and over and over. The one other thing he could do after letting him out was blackmail him with his knowledge of Kariya's first known phobia, but Kirino felt bad just for locking him in; he didn't have the heart to resort to blackmail, even if Kariya rightfully had it coming.

"Kariya…" Kirino repeatedly softly, and he hesitantly placed a hand on the other boy's back. It was probably ridiculous to try and comfort him when he was to blame for Kariya's freak-out in the first place, but he didn't know what else to do. He couldn't possibly play the bad guy and interrogate him now.

Surprisingly, his gesture appeared to have an effect. Kariya instantly flinched under his touch, but then seemed to relax as Kirino felt him move back a bit. He was probably looking at his face, even though he couldn't see it. Once again feeling uneasy upon realizing Kariya's eyes were scanning him in the dark, Kirino retracted his hand and muttered: "A-are you okay…?"

Kariya sniffed a few more times before he went quiet, and Kirino assumed his wordless answer meant a yes. However, Kariya approached him again the very next moment, grasping his shirt and holding him close a second time. He had stopped shaking and now remained quiet, so Kirino tried to back off and stammered: "K-Kariya? What are you doing? Let go of—"

"Senpai…" Kariya interrupted him in a whisper. To Kirino's astonishment, his voice was amazingly soft. He had only said one word, but Kariya had never sounded this sincere before, Kirino was sure of that. When his senior didn't answer, he quietly added: "Let me… stay like this for a moment…"

Kirino, still rather taken aback, was about to inquire why, but then figured Kariya was still scared and simply trying to get over it. Of course, a phobia wasn't that easy to get rid of. Kirino considered himself lucky that Kariya had resorted to clasping onto him instead of rampaging through the entire room.

"… alright…" he agreed slowly, "but can we sit down? You're standing on my feet…"

To his surprise, Kariya managed a snicker at that remark. It wasn't even an evil snicker; this one didn't sound the least bit ill-meaning. "Sure," he answered, and he moved along when the other boy sank down against the door. Kirino expected Kariya to go sit next to him or something, but instead, Kariya remained right where he was, staying put between his legs while his head rested against his chest. For a reason he couldn't figure out for his life, Kirino blushed once more at the close contact. Now that Kariya had stopped shaking, he realized how soft he actually was… Kirino hastily shook his head. It wasn't the time to think about things like that. Kariya was still his captive, he was going to ask him questions as soon as Kariya was capable of answering them properly. Sadly, Kariya managed to cloud that intention just by hiding his face in his chest. The fabric of their shirts wasn't exactly thick, and the fact that Kariya would've practically been kissing his chest if it weren't for an almost non-existent border doubled his blush in a heartbeat.

"K-Kariya… a little distance, please…" he stumbled, but Kariya didn't listen to him. He brought his hands to Kirino's waist and whispered, barely audibly: "Kirino-senpai… you're warm…"

Kirino swallowed hard. Was Kariya really fighting his fear of darkness…? Not that Kirino had much experience with it, but to him, the other boy's behavior came across as nothing less than flirting. His heart sped up when Kariya's hands slid to his back next, catching him in an abrupt embrace. Kirino felt how Kariya pressed him closer in a firm grasp he wouldn't just manage to sneak out of, and suddenly, he sensed that he was the captive rather than Kariya. Kirino cleared his throat, reminding himself Kariya was probably ready to speak decently at this point. He wouldn't let… whatever he was doing, distract him from his goal.

"Kariya…" he started. He heard how unsure he sounded, so he tried to sound more stern when he continued: "I'm sorry you're scared, but… I need to ask you something. You avoided the question every other time I asked, so… I thought this situation might help."

Kariya stunned him once again by not answering. He didn't have a single comment on his words. He didn't pull an innocent face and denied all knowledge of a possible issue, like Kirino expected him to, nor did he fly out at him about locking him up in the dark, only to take advantage of his weakness. All he did was sit there with his senior in his arms, clinging onto him like a child. Kirino never did know what went through Kariya's mind, but now he was even more clueless.

"… Kariya… do you hate me…?" the pink-haired defender asked slowly. After all, that had to be why Kariya kept bullying him, right? Kirino had no idea why Kariya would hate him, as they'd only met when he transferred to Raimon, but once the question was answered, he could inquire further—

"… no. I don't hate you, senpai."

Kirino blinked in surprise. What? "Y-you don't…?" To his embarrassment, his voice was full of insecurity again.

"No… If I hated you, I'd stay away from you," Kariya answered softly. "Why would I waste my time on someone I despised?"

Kirino had to admit that made sense. There wasn't anyone in particular he hated, but he, too, would definitely have better things to do than bully that person around. That was exactly what Kariya did, bully him around, but he didn't hate him… Did that mean he liked him…? Kirino shook his head a second time. Of course he didn't, Kariya enjoyed seeing him conflicted. What was he thinking…

"Then… why do you keep doing it? Teasing me around, hurting me on purpose, making things harder than they need to be? You even used to spread lies about me among the team. Don't think I've forgiven you for that."

"I don't," Kariya said simply, so simply that Kirino almost felt stupid for saying it.

"T-then… why…? What did I ever do to you, Kariya?"

Kirino felt Kariya shift against him, but he didn't move away. He simply seemed to reposition himself, taking his sweet time to answer in the meantime. When Kariya stopped moving, complete silence filled the room, once again making Kirino uneasy. This was it, this was supposed to be the moment he'd finally find out what Kariya's problem was. Why the hell wasn't he answering…? How hard could it be to just tell him? Was he asking him to reveal some deep, dark secret or something? The more he thought it, the more curious Kirino got. He was finally about to meet the side Kariya had always hidden, the side he refused to reveal.

"… Kirino-senpai… has it ever occurred to you that I'm doing these things out of something other than hatred?" Kariya whispered.

The first thing Kirino noticed was the dark, almost angry tone in his voice. When he thought about Kariya's words, he had no idea how he was supposed to respond. Obviously, the answer was no, but… why did Kariya ask him this? Was he an idiot for not figuring out there was some different reason, a reason he was still clueless about? The only other thing he could think of was that Kariya actually liked him and that he claimed Kirino's attention for himself through pranks, but… the mere thought was ridiculous, right?

Kariya took Kirino's silence as a 'no' and let out a sigh. "You're so stupid sometimes, senpai," he scolded, and he was about to turn away when he remembered they were still in the dark, and the blue-haired defender instantly dug his face back into his senior's chest. Kirino let out a sound at the sudden movement and tried to ignore his warm cheeks, which continued to darken. He couldn't let Kariya's questionable actions distract him from the matter at hand…

"W-what are you talking about?" He placed his hands on Kariya's shoulders to let him know he was serious. "Just tell me why you're doing this! What did I do to deserve this from you?"

"Nothing," Kariya said, and Kirino could sense he was smirking, even in the darkness. He gritted his teeth, instantly preferring a scared Kariya over a, well, normal Kariya. Because the normal one was starting to tick him off.

"Don't joke with me!" Kirino couldn't help but raise his voice. "You're not acting like this to anyone else! What the hell is your problem, Kariya?"

"I don't have a problem with you," Kariya merely replied. Kirino thought he was messing around again, but the genuine tone in his voice made him think twice. He couldn't tell anymore which of his answers were truthful or not. What if Kariya was spouting crap, just to piss him off? After yesterday, Kirino considered him capable of anything.

"Stop pestering me!" he shouted, and in a split moment of rage, he managed to gather enough strength to force Kariya off. He pushed the other boy away from him and heard a crash right afterwards, making him realize he'd thrown Kariya into a bunch of supplies. At this rate, it was a miracle everything was still in one piece, including themselves.

Kirino heard Kariya struggle to get up and utter multiple whimpers again. The boy had instantly reverted to his scared self, but thankfully, he didn't resort to yelling this time. It seemed he had at least gotten used to the darkness, but by far not enough to remain unafraid of it.

"K-Kirino-senpai!" he suddenly cried, and sounds of a struggle were still audible. "I'm stuck!"

Kirino raised his eyebrows. "Stuck how?"

"I don't know, it feels like a rope," Kariya complained, and Kirino instantly remembered the corner of the room contained a few pieces of rolled up rope. From the sound of it, there were other tools limiting Kariya's space as well, keeping him from moving enough to shove the rope off.

Kirino got up and was about to free him, but then changed his mind. He crossed his arms and glared at the corner Kariya was seated in. "I'll help you, on the condition you tell me the truth," he said firmly.

"What truth?" Kariya stammered. The frightened tone in his voice made it difficult for Kirino to remain in stubborn mode instead of helping a fellow teammate, as he usually would've done. "Nothing I said was a lie!"

"Yes, it was," he persisted. "You may not hate me, but that doesn't excuse your behavior, Kariya! Why is it that you keep bullying me, what about me is different from others?"

"I'm not telling you!" Kariya snapped, and his voice instantly swapped to an angry one, fully ignoring his phobia. "You clueless, stupid, girly senpai!"

Kirino could bear being called clueless, perhaps even stupid, but it was that last adjective that made his blood boil. "What was that…?" Without thinking, he stomped over to where Kariya was and, after needing a second of search, managed to grab him by the collar. Kirino tried to pull him up, but Kariya was indeed being held back by one of the ropes, so his senior sat down on his knees instead.

Kariya could do little more than look in his direction, as his hands and feet were both stuck. Still, there was no doubt in Kirino's mind that he was glaring, which was why he glared just as deeply back.

"You're really pissing me off…" he hissed, tightening his grip on Kariya's shirt. "If you don't tell me what the hell your problem is right now…"

"… then what? What will you do?" Kariya challenged. "Are you going to hit someone on the team? Even Shindou-senpai won't be able to prevent your suspension."

"I can just say you got the bruise from falling into the supplies," Kirino barked, but he did refrain from punching his teammate. It just wasn't his nature to resort to violence, even in severe cases of Kariya. Reluctantly, he let go of the other boy and lowered his head. It was clear to him that whenever he pushed, Kariya pulled. He wasn't going to explain himself; not now, not ever. Even when Kirino had him scared shitless, he refused to bare his soul.

Kirino let out a sigh and said, much calmer now: "… Kariya… at least… stop doing it. Just stop. I have no idea what your reason is for harassing me, but it's a real pain in the butt. Why is it so hard for you to just get along?"

Kariya didn't answer that. From the lack of sounds, Kirino figured he wasn't even moving. But he was: he turned away his head the very moment he heard that last question. Why couldn't he get along with his senpai…? That wasn't his intention. If anything, Kirino was the one Kariya longed to get along with the most; he just expressed himself differently from everyone else. Kariya gritted his teeth. Why couldn't his stupid senpai realize that…? Had he really gone too far for him to see it, his liking to his fellow defender? Had he pulled too many pranks for Kirino to notice the admiring look in his eyes, the genuine smile aimed for him and only him? Apparently, he had. Kirino had only noticed his eyes when they were squinted in a sadistic glance, and his lips when they formed a devious smirk. He didn't realize that this side of Kariya's was the real one, that only he had access to an aspect of him that he hid from everyone else with a chirpy face. Kariya lowered his head as well. Stupid, oblivious senpai…

"… fine," he muttered, almost spitefully. "I'll leave you alone, if that's what you want…"

Kirino perked up, rather surprised to hear those words. "… I don't want you to leave me alone," he quickly clarified. "I just want us to, well, get along… Perhaps we could even be friends. I know you've made friends with others from the team, so why couldn't we?"

"Tch." The thought of just being friends with Kirino pissed Kariya off. Being his friend meant that he had to share him with Kirino's other friends, and that was something he refused to accept. He wanted Kirino all for himself, without people getting in the way… but if it was either sharing his senpai or making him hate him, Kariya didn't need much time to choose.

"Fine," he repeated, in a not much nicer tone than before. "Let's try to be friends."

Kirino failed to catch the sarcasm in his words and flashed a smile. He almost couldn't believe that Kariya finally had a change of heart, enabling them to finally interact normally, but at the same time, it relieved him greatly. He was finally released from the endless pranks, the 'unexplainable' bruises on his body, the sudden soccer balls to the back of his head. At long last, he would never have to watch out for possible 'jokes' from Kariya again. Kirino was so glad his plan hadn't been for nothing. It hadn't quite brought the results he wished for, as he was still confused about Kariya's motives behind his harassing, but knowing that was going to change now made him happy enough to let it go.

"Good," he said, and he lifted his hands to finally help Kariya out of his uneasy position, when the door opened behind them and a sudden burst of light illuminated the two boys.

Shindou gawked into the storage room with wide eyes. Not only was the place a total mess, Kariya had ended up trapped between several supplies, while Kirino, kneeled down before him and having his hands raised, looked like he was about to do something to do him. "… what's going on here…?"

"Shindou!" Kirino smiled at him at first, but then took in the look on his friend's face and realized the situation must look worse than it was. "A-ah," he stammered, and he waved his hands in denial. "Kariya made an unfortunate fall, that's all. We were just talking before that, right?" He gave Kariya the same smile he had given their captain, but his overall expression was now darker – particularly because of his eyes that urged him to agree with his words.

Kariya sighed and rolled his own eyes. He had no problem confirming Kirino's story; the thing that bothered him the most was the finally visible – and embarrassing – sight of him tangled up in a bunch of random stuff. "Yeah, we were," he nodded without making eye contact, hoping that would somehow keep the other two from seeing his red cheeks.

"Oh…" Shindou smiled as well, clearly relieved. He walked over and kneeled down next to Kirino, helping his friend get Kariya loose. "I just came to check up on you," he clarified, looking from one boy to the other. "How was your… talk?"

"It was fine," Kirino chimed. "We solved our problems." Right after saying that, he started to wonder if it was true. If their problems had really been solved, Kariya would've opened up and been completely honest with him, wouldn't he…? Kirino ultimately decided to shrug it off. Their final conclusion was more important than whatever Kariya may be hiding, and who knows, perhaps he might reveal his motives in due time, when they had become actual friends.

"Really? That's great," Shindou smiled, and he pulled Kariya up after he and Kirino finally managed to free all of his limbs. He looked at both his teammates and added: "I'm so glad you two finally reached an agreement."

Kirino nodded happily, sharing Shindou's sentiments, but Kariya's opinion was different. When it came to Kirino's friends, captain was the one who took up most of his time – in other words, his biggest rival. However, he clouded his real thoughts with his usual deceiving smile and said: "Me too, senpai."

The three boys then agreed to put everything back in place together, including the tools Kirino and Kariya had left outside the storage room. Kirino and Shindou engaged in a conversation that first regarded the 'alone time' of the two defenders, but Kirino quickly concluded that it "wasn't important". He and Shindou then continued talking about other things, while Kariya glared at their backs from the other side of the room. Not important, yeah, right. Kariya knew better; Kirino just didn't want to share the embarrassing experience in front of him. He would definitely tell his precious best friend all about it once they parted ways later.

Seeing as neither of his seniors broke the conversation to talk to him, Kariya continued to shoot unnoticed glares their way. It was disgusting to see them together, talking in an intimate fashion that obviously meant they knew everything about each other. Kariya had managed to keep it a secret, but the suppression didn't decrease his desire to get closer to Kirino himself. One day, he would be just as close to him as captain, closer, even. He would win him over and make him realize how much he actually cared for him, even if his ways of showing it were basically reversed. Kariya glanced at his pink-haired senpai once more before he put away the last soccer ball. He was, beyond a doubt, determined about one thing: he wasn't going to give up.

A/N: And that was it! I hope you guys enjoyed! X3 As for my next fic... uh, I'll get back to you on that once I have an idea. OTL Please leave a review, and until next time~!