Disclaimer: Diamond no Ace belongs to Terajima Yuuji.
(oh, but you never knew)
"You're going to Seidou?"
Tanba laughs, cheeks tinged pink, smile bashful. He turns away, raises one hand to scratch his cheek. "Yeah," he says, "I heard the entrance exams are tough, but if I prepare for it, I think I can make it."
Manaka stares at him. "But why? Weren't you invited to Ichidai, too?"
He expects Tanba to be surprised—on the off chance he hasn't heard from Ichidai yet—or confused—maybe the coach wasn't clear about it—or sheepish, even—because maybe he just forgot, maybe it slipped his mind, maybe maybe maybe—
Instead, Tanba huffs out a tiny laugh, says, in an even tinier voice, "I want to be as good as you."
That's enough to shock Manaka speechless, roots his feet to the ground as he freezes in mid-step.
Tanba finally turns to him then. "I can't keep chasing you forever, Kacchan."
Why not? Manaka almost asks, catches it just in time as the words perch on the tip of his tongue, unbalanced.
The laughter in Tanba's eyes fade, meld into a quiet, sturdy resolution. "I want to change myself at Seidou. I'll do my best to become an ace there, so that one day, maybe not next year, but maybe the year after that, we can finally stand on the same field and play each other as equals. The way we never got to here. So," here his gaze flicks to the floor, before coming back up once more, "until then. Wait for me, Kacchan. I promise I'll get there."
And just like that, the words go tumbling back down his throat, down where he can't reach them. Manaka takes a deep breath, feels the words rattling in the base of his lungs. "Of course," he says, aiming a friendly punch at Tanba' shoulder. "Don't take too long, though. We've only got three years."
Tanba's answering smile is so bright, it rivals the afternoon sun; pleasure flushed across his face, and teeth flashing white as he turns away, too embarrassed to maintain eye contact.
A small part of Manaka goes cold.