This is official my longest one-shot and chapter I've ever written. :) Around 2800 words, which is a lot compared to my usual 1k chapters.
This pairing needs more love. Midori X Nishiki is an interesting pairing. It is also strongly hinted(In my opinion) in the anime, why are there only 2(excluding this one) stories about them? *shrugs*
I just had to write this, now I can work on a request. Yay. ^_^
Disclaimer= I don't own the Inazuma Eleven francise, if I did I would be in Japan. :) The cover, which is obviously a screenshot, belongs to Level-5 too.
Italics: Thoughts.
Let the story begin!
It was a beautiful day for a certain chestnut brown-haired manager.
She looked around the soccer field and smiled. The players were training like there was no tomorrow, Tenma would leave soon. The school had offered him a chance to teach little children soccer.
Akane smiled again. Seeing everyone so happy made her happy as well.
She loved the harmony of the nature too. The birds were singing, the grass was so green and she felt the gentle breeze of the wind.
It was truly a beautiful day.
Akane held up her pink camera. She loved her camera, especially the flower pattern on it. But, she loved her pictures even more. She turned the camera on and began to skip through the pictures she made earlier today.
She sighed, she was in her own little world. Nothing could ruin it.
She was wrong.
A loud bang next to her snapped the girl out of her trance. Akane looked up from her camera to see who rudely had sat down.
"It ain't a beautiful day! It's a bad day!" the girl next to her cried out.
As expected, it was her best friend Midori. The red-haired girl ran her hands through her hair and rearranged her bow. She had a very murderous aura around her, Akane noted.
Akane opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but Midori interrupted her.
"What is wrong? Them! They are driving me insane!" the girl exclaimed annoyed.
Akane tilted her head in confusion. "Them?"
"Yes, them! Hamano, Kuruma and the others! Mostly Hamano though, they keep teasing me! They simply won't forget it!" While she talked, she kept moving her arms around wildly.
"Midori, everyone's looking at us," Akane tried, her voice just above a whisper.
It was to no avail, she was ignored. Midori balled her fists, oblivious to the situation. "I wanna punch 'em, ya know!"
Akane sweat dropped. She had to shut Midori's mouth or else the whole Raimon Eleven will know whatever this is about!
"Ya wanna know why keep teasing me? It has to do with one person," Midori began to conclude. Akane suddenly realized who she meant. Oh no! He's right here and he looks way too excited to know what she has to say! "It's about that one time, months ago, that I called-"
"Midori! Look!" Akane blurted as she laid her hand on Midori's shoulder.
"Eh? You don't want to know?" Midori asked confused. The red-haired manager was even more confused when the other girl shook her head. "What do ya mean then?" The brown-haired girl turned the other girl 90 degrees.
Midori was now facing the large crowd. Everyone was watching her. A small blush appeared on her face. "What'cha looking at?!" she yelled angrily.
An awkward silence followed.
Hamano scratched the back of neck with a smile on his face. "Oi, part of the Raimon Eleven already knows where you are talking about," he grinned, "what do you think of a deal?"
This got Midori her attention. "Deal? Why a deal?! You are the one who keeps annoying me!" She pointed her finger accusing at him.
"Oi, joking around isn't against the law. I did nothing wrong. Two, it's obvious. Just go and confess to him," the happy go-lucky boy replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Midori simply glared at him in response. If looks could kill, then Hamano wasn't alive anymore.
"Wait, Hamano, a shipper?! And everyone acts like it is normal, which means," Hayami muttered to himself. He pushed his glasses further up his nose bridge. His eyes widened when he came to the conclusion.
"END OF THE WORLD! AAAAAH!" The negative boy ran off while screaming for his dear life.
"I thought he wasn't pessimistic anymore?" Kariya whispered to Kirino.
"Yes, for once, you're right. I don't know what's wrong with him." Kirino replied.
"Well, that was random, even for Hayami." Amagi thought out loud.
Nishiki coughed, everyone turned their attention to him. "So, who is the lucky person you like?" he asked with a smile. Dark brown met green eyes.
Silence. Midori had no idea how to reply, for once. The pressure was a bit too much.
"N-nobody!" she finally stuttered. She mentally facepalmed herself for stuttering. She wanted to run away, but she never gave up, never. But never say never.
"Erm, Akane, come with me," she quickly muttered. She ran off, dragging Akane with her.
"Okay, Akane, I know you're gonna lecture me," Midori said.
"Nope," Akane replied with a sweet smile.
"I shouldn't rant in front of everyone, blablabla, I kno-," Midori blinked confused, "wait, what?"
"I'm not going to lecture you, silly," Akane giggled, "why should I? You learn from mistakes." Suddenly she looked serious. "Besides, now the whole Raimon Eleven knows you have a crush on someone."
The red-haired manager gasped and put her hands on her hips. "Not you too! I'm gonna say this one time, not gonna repeat this, I don't have a crush on someone!" Midori cried out.
"If I may guess, was Hamano teasing you about that one time you called Nishiki by his first name?" Akane smiled in victory when Midori looked at her with wide eyes. "I have to admit, he just can't let it go," Akane continued. "But I think you were overreacting," the brown-haired girl concluded.
"Well, yeah, maybe," she scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. She had honestly no idea what to say, Akane had a point.
"My advice is: the next time you want to rant, talk to me alone. That way it is safe to rant about whatever you want since the Raimon Eleven isn't there then," Akane said. She winked. "Just talk to him, that will get this off your mind."
"What?!" Midori yelled. Her face flushed. "No way! Never!"
A voice startled her.
"You never answered my question."
"N-Nishiki!"
The black-haired boy just stood there, grinning. A brown-haired boy stood beside him.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we had to get you, coach Endou said so," Shindou said a bit nervous. He didn't like it that he was chosen to get an angry Midori back to the field. Facing an angry Midori? No, just no.
"Yeah, what he said too," the careless boy smiled.
"We're just going to leave you two alone," Akane said with a mischievous smile.
"NO! Don't leave me alone with him!" Midori ignored the hurt look from Nishiki.
Akane giggled. "Bye~"
The brown-haired girl walked over to Shindou, dragging him with her to leave the two alone.
"W-what are you doing?" Shindou whispered to her. Sure, he felt relieved but he didn't understand why they had to go away from there. An 'oh' escaped his mouth when Akane motioned towards the boy and the girl. "I see," he mumbled, understanding what she was getting at. "But can you let me go now, please? Thank you."
Shindou looked back once before he turned around the corner.
"I think you know why they left us alone," Nishiki concluded.
"Why should I? I have no idea," Midori replied, trying to stay calm. Note to myself, hurt Hamano more to let him learn to stop teasing me! She saw that he didn't buy it, his eyes said enough.
"Was it about me?" Nishiki grinned when he saw her shocked face. Her quick change to a calm expression almost made him laugh out loud.
Midori, stay calm. Maybe I should just stomp on his foot, yes, that will work. Or maybe… She snapped back to reality when she felt something on her shoulder. Her eyes traveled to her shoulder, it was his hand! The girl looked up.
"Keep your distance, samurai boy," she growled angrily. She didn't like this at all. Why is he so long!? I have to raise my head to see his eyes, ugh. She tried to remove his hand, but his grip was too strong. "You…"
"So, tell me, was it about me?" He leaned a bit closer to her face. Nishiki knew he had her right where he wanted, she would have no choice but to tell him.
Unfortunately for him, it was Midori he was dealing with.
"Back off!" she yelled and stomped on his foot.
"Oww! That hurts, you know!" Nishiki held his foot in pain.
"I told you to back off!" Midori yelled at him. She was furious.
"But you didn't answer my question!" he retorted.
"You should've seen it coming!"
"I didn't know you would really stomp my foot!"
"You better keep your distance!"
"…"
"What?!"
"Like now?"
The argument quickly ended when they realized that they unconsciously stood really close to each other. Both their faces flushed an unhealthy red.
They both just stood there motionless, not knowing what to do.
"Yeah, like this," Midori finally said.
"This time I did nothing, don't stomp on my foot again!" Nishiki said to make sure. If she stomped on his foot for the second time, he wouldn't be able to play soccer for a while.
"I promise nothing," Midori replied with a smirk. "Now, back off!"
"No, you back off first!' Nishiki stubbornly replied.
"No, you!"
"You!"
"You!"
"You!"
"You!"
"You!"
"You!"
Silence. They both thought: Why were we arguing again?
They sighed in sync. "Okay, I back off first," they both stepped back.
Midori sighed. "We were so close to each other, so glad ya didn't kiss me," she thought out loud. Suddenly she realized what she had said. "Argh! For soccer's sake! " she cried out and facepalmed. The manager didn't want to think of what he thought.
"So, you thought about that, huh," Nishiki said teasingly.
Midori groaned in annoyance. Here we go…
"You did talk about me? Am I right or am I right?"
When she didn't react, Nishiki tried to test out his theory. "However, let me see your reaction to something and I won't bother you ever again."
Midori huffed. "Whatever." She glared at him. "Don't kiss me or else ya have a problem!"
"Well, I won't do that. I'm not crazy," he said, thinking of her reaction by such a stupid action. He wouldn't even dare to. "I promise."
He gulped, here goes nothing! The boy stepped forwards and put his hand under her chin and lifted her head up. Their eyes met. He was amused by her facial expression. Her whole face became red as well.
He unconsciously grinned. "So it was about me! I knew it!" He let go of her and stepped back. He prepared himself to run if needed.
"What?! Why did that confirm anything?!" she exclaimed, trying to sound angry. She felt just so embarrassed for some reason.
"Pretty sure your reaction tells enough." He smiled. He finally confirmed something! Some unknown feeling had gone away when he confirmed his theory.
The girl ignored that statement. "Why are you so interested anyway, huh?"
Nishiki had no real answer to that. He was just curious, but he couldn't say that. His eyes suddenly lit up. He had a perfect answer to that!
"The soccer players have to look after the managers! So they have to know everything," he proudly exclaimed.
If this was an anime, Midori would have fallen in anime-style. Since this wasn't an anime she simply facepalmed instead.
"It works the other way around, dumbo!" She was getting tired of this.
"Oh." Nishiki pondered about something and snapped his fingers. "The reason I came here was to get you back to the soccer field!"
"You just realized that?"
"No..."
"So, what are ya gonna do now?" Midori asked him. "Or should I just-"
Nishiki cut her off. "Wait! I have a better idea!"
Totally ignoring Midori's are-you-kidding look, he scooped her up in his arms like she was a feather and began to walk towards the soccer field.
"Lemme go! Argh! You probably won't, but I'll surely find a way to hurt ya! And, seriously, are you carrying me in bridal-style?! That is just cliché and overdone!" Midori protested. "I can walk by myself, ya know!"
"One manager, here Coach Endou," Nishiki said when they arrived at the field.
Endou raised his eyebrows in amusement. "Okay, but the practice match already started, just so you know. Thank you, by the way."
Nishiki gasped and ran up the field to the others, totally forgetting about Midori.
"Lemme go!" she complained irritated. "You're just so easily distracted..." She sighed.
"Woops! I totally forgot, hehe." He put her on the ground, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Midori huffed and stomped really hard on his other foot.
"What was that for?!"
"That's what ya get!" She crossed her arms and walked towards the bench.
"One does not simply carry Midori and gets away unharmed," Akane mused.
By the time Midori was done letting Akane catch up what happened, the practice match was already over. Raimon 1 and Raimon 2 tied with a score of 2-2.
"Hey, Midori."
"You still haven't learnt ya lesson? Or-" She paused when Nishiki held up his arms in defense.
"No, no. I was just inviting you to come over to play the new soccer videogame," he said with a smile.
Midori gasped. "No way! That game isn't even out yet! You're kidding." She looked suspicious at him. "Why are ya inviting me, anyway?"
"Hey, I promised you last week, didn't I?"
"I thought ya were kidding!"
"Well, I wasn't. You coming?"
"Sure!" She looked around to see if anyone heard her and motioned for him to step a bit closer. "But, to avoid teasing from Hamano, we have to go away unnoticed," she whispered.
"Okay! I have an idea how to go away unnoticed, I think," he whispered back.
"No, let me take the lead this time," the girl replied.
Nishiki blinked and nodded. The next he knew, was that he was being dragged away by her. She's stronger than I thought. Note to myself, never ever underestimate her.
The brown-haired boy Shindou blinked slowly when he saw the two running away.
"Kirino, did you just see what I saw?"
"Yes, yes I did."
"Tsurugi?"
"Yes, I saw it too."
"Tenma?"
"Eh? What are you talking about?"
"N-never mind."
Nobody would ever believe them if they said Midori and Nishiki were together in one room without arguing constantly. However, it was true, they were in one room without arguing.
Currently they sat in the living room of Nishiki's house, playing a videogame on the wii.
"I just can't believe they really made a game which features us, the Raimon Eleven! It's so funny!" Midori said excited.
"Indeed! We can both play as ourselves too!" Nishiki agreed.
"Using game logic, I'm able to use Mach Wind!" Midori laughed evilly. "Take that!" She pushed a few buttons on her remote. "Mach Wind!"
"I'll stop it! I mean, Shinsuke will stop it!" Nishiki kept hitting the A-button on his remote. "Majin the Hand!"
They kept playing hours and hours, until they realized what time it was. They had so much fun, they didn't realize the time had gone by so fast.
Seeing it was already dark outside, Nishiki offered Midori to walk her home which she refused at first. But she gave in eventually since the boy didn't change his mind.
"Here's my house," Midori stated.
"Yep," Nishiki replied.
"Thanks for walking me home, it's pretty dark. I guess it was safer after all." She grinned.
"No problem at all. It's safe to say we had a lot of fun today, maybe we should do things like this more often?" he asked with a small blush on his face.
"That's something we both agree on then!" She laughed. "Imagine the faces of everyone when they hear we haven't argued a whole afternoon!"
Nishiki laughed with her. "Indeed! Everyone's mind would be blown!"
Midori slowly put her hand on the doorknob. Maybe she…? She smiled to herself and blushed.
"Ya know, what I screamed earlier today?"
"That it wasn't a beautiful day?"
"Yes, that." She gave him a smile. "Maybe, just maybe, is today a beautiful day after all."
"Indeed," he softly replied and stepped closer to her.
Their faces came closer and closer.
Until Midori stomped on his foot.
"I told ya to back off!" she hissed.
"Whoa! I just thought, hey, you know," he stammered while holding his foot in pain. He had an odd feeling of déjà vu.
"Ya never learn your lesson, don't ya?" She entered her house and slammed the door in his face.
"Owww, that hurts," Nishiki mumbled while he tried to stand. Suddenly he realized something.
"So you were talking about me this morning! I knew it!" He grinned in victory.
He swore he heard someone screaming:
"Oh, for the love of soccer! Not again! I take it back, it ain't a beautiful day!"
Even though she would never admit it, they both knew that it was a beautiful day after all.
The end? Hope you liked it! R&R. :) Critism is more than welcome.