One-sided Riku/Kid. Femmeslash.


The first time Riku falls in love, she is standing in the women's locker room, on her first day as a member of the Seibu Wild Gunmen. She's changing, and trying not to look at the cute cheerleaders too much, feeling nervous about stepping onto the field for the first time, even if it's just practice.

It takes her a little while to notice that someone has tapped her on the shoulder, and she's being spoken to. She whips around to see a tall woman with a lazy smile, and her heart skips a beat.

"You're..Kaitani Riku-chan, right? Our new running back?" The woman asks, and Riku realizes that she has a jersey in her hand, number 7. She hadn't known about any other girls on the team when she joined; she hadn't really paid attention. "I'm the quarterback. Call me Kid."

It takes Riku a few minutes before she realizes that the woman expects her to say something back. "Right, yeah! Riku, that's me!" She laughs awkwardly, and wishes she had said something that sounded cool. But Kid (was that really her name?) didn't seem to even notice Riku's nervousness.

"It's good to have you on the team." she says with a smile, and pulls her jersey on over those bulky pads. She picks up her helmet and strolls leisurely from the locker room, leaving Riku behind. And Riku really wishes she had sounded more cool and confident, to impress her newest teammate.

After a few weeks of practices, Riku finally realizes that the fluttery feeling she gets whenever she looks at Kid, whenever Kid talks to her, is a crush. She doesn't know what to do about it; but every time Kid tries to hold a conversation in the locker room, Riku ends up blushing and mumbling her responses. It's simply embarrassing.

She has to say something to Kid; she has no idea what her chances are, but she can't keep her mouth shut forever. And maybe she'd get lucky? Riku could only hope.

So after a victorious game during the fall tournament, Riku asks to talk. They are standing side by side at their lockers, away from the cheerleaders. Riku can't even look at Kid, staring hard at the floor when she opens her mouth.

"Kid-san..ah..you know, I really like you.." She mumbles, wishing she felt more confident. Maybe if they had been on the field, she wouldn't feel so unsure of herself. But Kid is still her friend; a person she admired. "I mean..y'know, really like.."

Kid doesn't say anything for a few minutes, and seems to be digesting this information as she pulls her hear off. Riku chances a glance at her face; she doesn't look shocked or troubled by what Riku had told her, more thoughtful and calm.

When she finally opens her mouth to speak, her voice is gentle, and Riku already knows she's being rejected, just from her tone.

"It's fine, Kid-san." She says, interrupting whatever it was that Kid had been saying. Riku pulls on her school uniform's jacket, and stuffs her jersey and the rest of her gear into her bag hurriedly. "Sorry." She adds, as she practically sprints out of the locker room.

Several days later, Riku realizes that it had been useless to say anything. At a team strategy meeting, she watches Kid fall asleep on Tetsuma's shoulder.

It's not that never happened. Kid had an amazing talent for napping whenever and wherever, and the meeting was running long, after an exhausting practice. Riku watches as she leans against Tetsuma's side, and tucks her head against his shoulder, and she sees the nearly imperceptible change in Tetsuma's posture, how he relaxes, how his expression softens. The realization hit Riku like a ton of bricks

It was so stupid, how could she not have noticed? Saying that stuff to Kid had been useless; all it had done was make things awkward. Kid had someone, and Riku was an idiot for not noticing sooner. Who had she been kidding, thinking she had a chance with someone like Kid-san? Riku felt like the world's most clueless idiot.

All she could do now was hope that she hadn't totally alienated her best friend on the team. An apology was probably in order.

Riku tries to apologize to Kid the very next day, before practice starts. Again, they're in the locker room together changing, when Riku speaks up.

"Kid-san, about last week.." She starts, but this time, it is Kid who interrupts.

"Don't worry about it." Kid says with a soft chuckle. She finishes dressing before Riku, and reaches over to ruffle her short hair. "We're still friends."

Riku feels her heart skip a beat, but she just gives Kid a grateful smile, and scrambles into her pads. This crush thing probably wasn't going to get better on it's own, she figures, but at least she still has her friend.