Inside the Lion's Mind

Disclaimer: One of these days… Level-5 shalt relinquish its hold on the great Inazuma Eleven anime, and hand it over to yours truly. I must stress the phrase one of these days. As in, it hasn't happened. Yet.

"She's staring again."

Genda turned his head slightly at the sound of his best friend Sakuma Jirou's voice. His sharp eyes quickly located the black-haired girl in question, who hurriedly dropped her head at Genda's glance.

"She's totally into you," Genda muttered, turning back to his work.

"You think?" Sakuma wondered, a hopeful note worming its way into his tone.

Genda abruptly turned around. "You don't like her back, do you?"

The Teikoku striker shrugged. "She's cute."

Cue the raised eyebrow. "She's cute. And?"

Sakuma grinned sheepishly. "And… she's pretty nice."

Genda rolled his eyes. "But do you like her?"

"Yeah… I guess," he smiled dreamily.

Genda groaned. "Hey Kidou, get a load of this crap. Can you believe he's getting all mushy over some girl? Of all the girls he could've liked, he chose Little Miss Priss Yuuna-chan. Remember how she used to laugh at us whenever we did something wrong back in primary school?" Kidou didn't give an answer. Genda tilted his head towards Kidou, only to find the strategist blushing.

"Uh, Kidou? Why are you blushing worse than a chick on prom night?"

Kidou's head shot up, his blush deepening. "I don't know what you're talking about," he mumbled.

Genda groaned. "Am I the only one here that isn't acting like a sissy?" he whisper-yelled.

"Genda-kun! Up!" Their English teacher, Meguni-san called, a stern expression on her face. Sighing, Genda rose from his seat and crossed his arms, his aloof air already in place.

"Is there a problem, miss?"

"Indeed there is. Perhaps you'll enlighten the class about the topic of your conversation with Kidou-kun and Sakuma-kun."

Genda feigned an exasperated face. "Well, it's not my fault that my two best friends turned into lovesick morons overnight, Miss!"

"So how was detention?"

Genda huffed. "Don't even mention it. Meguni-san made me write 'I shall not talk about vulgar matters in class' fifty times. My hand's still aching!" he cried, rubbing his hand against his jeans subconsciously.

Sakuma laughed over the phone. "So talking about girls is vulgar. Remind me not to swear in front of Meguni-san, she might send me to juvie," he snorted. Through the speaker, Genda could hear something creak, and assumed that Sakuma had thrown himself onto his bed.

"Please. The woman's had it in for me ever since I came back from Shin," Genda muttered, referring to their time at Shin Teikoku. "So how's your girl doing?"

Even through the phone, Genda could visualize his best friend's tan cheeks filling with color. "For your information, Yuuna-chan's not my girl…yet," Sakuma added in a whisper.

"Yet, huh? And what exactly makes her so damn attractive?" Genda inquired, toying with the lion charm that hung from a belt loop from his jeans. It was a 13th birthday present from Sakuma, and he kept it near him at all times.

"An easier question would probably be what doesn't. She's pretty, she's smart, she's funny… she's just all-round amazing," he said wistfully.

Genda snickered. "Listen to yourself—you're pathetic. Pretty? Smart? Funny? News flash: Kidou's smart, he's funny when he wants to be, and half the girls in school want to get into his pants, which means he must be pretty hot, though quite honestly I don't see it myself. And on top of all that, he's filthy stinking rich. Doesn't that make him double hot? So you should just date him."

Sakuma groaned. "You're such a troll, Koujirou. Come on, Kidou's our best friend. I don't see him like that."

"Because he's your best friend?"

"Well, yeah."

Genda tried to ignore the weird pain in his chest and covered it up with a joking, "I thought I was your best friend."

It worked—Sakuma laughed. "Of course you are, Koujirou. You'll always be my best friend."

"Oh Kami-sama, that proves it. You're gay," a voice on Sakuma's end said snootily.

Genda heard Sakuma sigh. "Nee-san, what the hell are you doing in my room?"

"Still not hearing a denial," Sakuma's sister sang.

"I'm not gay, I'm bi, okay? Now what do you want?"

"Just came to get my Berryz Koubou CD back. Is that Genda-kun on the phone?"

"Yeah. What do you care?"

"I don't, really. Hey Genda," she called.

Genda smiled. "Hi Airen-chan,"

"Sweet as sugar as always, Genda-kun. Well, I'm off," Airen said, her footsteps retreating.

"Thank Kami-sama she's gone," Sakuma said under her breath. "Wasn't sure how much more I could take with her messing up my room every time she drops in."

Genda chuckled good-naturedly. "Nah, Airen-chan's cool."

"Easy for you to say. At least you don't have to live with her."

"I'm sure she's not that bad. You're just overreacting, man. Hey listen, I've got to go. Dinner."

"Sure, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Bye."

"Yeah."

After Sakuma clicked off, Genda sighed and threw his Blackberry onto his bed as he sank into his plush red swivel chair. He had lied to Sakuma—dinner had ended a little over half an hour ago, just a while before the forward in question called.

Just thinking about the blue-haired boy left Genda giddy. He wasn't sure exactly when he started feeling about his best friend the way he did, but Genda knew that the feelings he had for him were much more than friendship. He found it harder and harder to look away from the piercing orange eyes of the Teikoku striker every time he stared into them. There was so much depth in them—the desolation of loss; the joy and relief of hard-earned victories; the pain and burden of his past; the brightness for his future.

Genda opened the right-hand drawer in his desk, looking for one of his most prized possessions. Stretching his arms deeper into the drawer, he finally found what he was looking for: a metallic-looking gray eye patch with a jagged hole right in the middle.

"Here, you have it. I can't stand the sight of it," Sakuma had said, shoving him the eye patch.

The nurses outside their door were chatting with the doctor, but it was white noise as Genda clenched his fist with the eye patch in it. "Jirou… what happened… it was all Kageyama-sousei. And maybe we were stupid to trust him a second time, but you can't beat yourself up over it."

"I hadn't seen Kidou in so long," the forward whispered. "I had thought that, the next time we saw each other, we'd laugh and do stupid stuff together like we used to, just the three of against the world. But today…" he shook his miserably, wincing when his neck screamed in pain. "I couldn't even shake his hand. I couldn't even congratulate him properly for winning the Football Frontier. I couldn't do anything."

In the next bed, Genda sighed. "I know how you feel." And he did. He was the only person who could possibly understand what Sakuma was going through.

"That's why you're the only person I can trust with this eye patch. Think of it as me when I was at my weakest and most vulnerable," Sakuma smiled weakly. "The side that I'll only allow my best friend to see."

Genda fingered the worn strap. He still remembered the warmth he had felt at Sakuma's words, the pride and honor that had filled him at being Sakuma's sole confidant of the whole Shin Teikoku escapade. He remembered slipping it into his hospital robes, and how heavy it had felt. But it was a good kind of weight—the kind that reminded you of your place; the kind that showed you people still cared. It was the weight that tied him down to his existence.

"You can count on me. I won't let you down."

Sakuma's sleepy grin was quite possibly the most beautiful thing Genda had ever seen.

A/N: I'm a little mad at myself... I wanted to write something really, really good for Mamera-chan, my soul sister (x3 :D), since I'm dedicating this fic to her and all… but instead, this happened. I am so disappointed in myself /sighs/ *retreats into emo corner* Well, the most I can say is this fic isn't over yet, and I'll probably expand it into a three-shot, or maybe even a real multi-chapter. I don't even know. All I know for sure right now is that I sort of know the direction I'm taking, but I'm always open to new ideas and twists, so go ahead and leave a review (:

Yeahhh I gave Genda a Blackberry :P Because, in my opinion, he's suited for one. I don't even... Gah. Orz. I know I don't make sense.

I don't even know what to write in this author's note anymore :'(

Review? (:

Oh, and who else loves Genda as much as I do? He's my third favorite, right after Kidou-kun and Gouenji-kun. He totally deserves more street cred~ Love him to bits ^^