Fair warning for the next chapter: It's going to be long.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inazuma Eleven or Inuyasha, no matter how much I wish I did.
Practice Makes Perfect
Chapter two: What is soccer?
A bright sunny day greeted a small five-year-old girl running down the steps of her grandfather's shrine, not really placing any particular care in where she set her foot down while she quickly descended the long staircase. It was when she stepped on a wobbly stone slab that she completely lost what little balance she had at her age and toppled painfully down the rest of the stairs, which were fortunately only four more.
"AH- oomph" The girl's scream was cut short and the air was knocked out of her lungs in her collision with someone else, breaking her fall.
"Itai, itai! That really hurt..." a little boy groaned from his place sprawled out on the hard sidewalk and rubbed his sore head, holding himself up by his elbow.
"Nngh"
Startled, the boy looked down feeling the weight of something over his legs that hadn't been there before only to find out it was a girl, the same one that had fallen down the stairs. She too rubbed her head; squeezing her eyes shut in pain with small tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Ow, ow, ow. Reluctantly opening her eyes after wiping away the tears she stood up, blue eyes widening after she noticed the boy she had landed on.
The girl bowed low to her waist, her mouth going a mile a minute with apologies "I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention and I fell down the steps, please forgive me!" Seeing him still on the ground, confused, she helped him stand up with a few more muttered apologies.
The boy simply shook his head and extended a hand to her while smiling "It's ok, my name's Mamoru Endō, what's your name?"
"Oh my name is Kagome Higurashi, nice to meet you Endō-san" Kagome shook his hand with a smile of her own.
"It's ok, just Mamoru" he shrugged and adjusted his orange headband "Alright Mamoru-kun, then you can call me Kagome if you want to." She opened her mouth to say something else but then Kagome caught sight of a black and white ball at the foot of the shrine stairs. Curious, Kagome kneeled and picked it up before fixing her blue sundress back into place.
"Hey is this yours?" she gestured to the ball in her hands.
Mamoru nodded hurriedly and took the ball from her, grinning. "Yep. This is my soccer ball"
Tilting her head, Kagome mulled over the new word "Soccer? What's that?" Mamoru stared at the confused girl in shock, his eyes rivaling the size of dinner plates and his jaw dropped in disbelief. No way, she doesn't know what soccer is? Determined to introduce his new friend into the amazing world of soccer, Mamoru launched into an explanation with Kagome paying very close attention.
Some time during their discussion they had moved over to sit on the stairs, until Kagome decided to ask Mamoru something she deemed important.
"Will you teach me how to play? Pretty please?" She thought he was about to refuse so she clasped her hands in front of her and did what her father called "Puppy eyes" by widening them a bit and tearing them only a little, trembling her lip completed the look.
"Um uh Yeah! Of course I will!" He didn't know what to make of the look Kagome was giving him but Mamoru knew he couldn't say no while she looked at him that way. He didn't know how he knew that, he just did.
The kids walked down the street to a nearby park that turned out to be Kagome's original destination and stayed there until their respective mothers came looking for them, which was when the sun was just beginning to set.
It was a rather comical scene the women found their children in, what with Kagome trying to bounce the ball on her head then knees and Mamoru standing beside her looking like a true coach; his little arms crossed and feet apart while he corrected Kagome's movements and instructed her on a better way to get the trick done.
Once they had reached their children, the two of them were surprised to see each other.
"Kun-Loon? What are you doing here?" Baffled, the woman in question looked up from her daughter and smiled at her friend from middle school "Probably the same thing as you Atsuko, just here to pick up my little girl" Kun-Loon nodded towards Kagome.
Atsuko mentally squealed at the sight of the little girl who looked so much like her friend and she kneeled to her height with her hand stretched out "Hello there sweetie, what's your name?" suddenly feeling shy, Kagome slowly shook the woman's hand "My name's Kagome Higurashi. Um... are you Mamoru-kun's mommy?" Atsuko nodded "Yes, I'm Atsuko, Mamoru's mother."
Meanwhile, Kun-Loon was doing a similar introduction with Mamoru although the boy was way more outgoing than Kagome and was somewhat chastising Kun-Loon in his own child like way about the fact of Kagome not knowing the importance of soccer. Shaking her head in amusement, Kun-Loon continued to listen to Mamoru say how soccer was a great sport.
"We should meet up tomorrow Atsuko, it seems our kids are already good friends" Kagome took her mother's hand and waved goodbye to Mamoru.
"See you tomorrow then Mamoru-kun!" the boy smiled widely "Bye Kagome-chan, let's play more soccer tomorrow too!" the grown-ups said their goodbyes and then left to their respective houses, their children looking over their shoulders to wave one last time at each other.
Over the years they kept meeting up in that very same park or in each other's houses and every time they did they had improved their skills in soccer even more than the last time they had gotten together. Mamoru and Kagome became best friends in the first year they had known each other and their mothers were quite happy that they got along as well as they did. The two of them knew almost everything there was to know about the other and they were always there when one needed someone to talk to, whether it was in person or on the phone.
Mamoru had come by when the news of Kun-Loon's pregnancy had reached his home, the kids making their parents laugh with their silly discussion.
"Ne, Kagome-chan, why didn't you say your mom was having a baby?" the boy whined dramatically, causing a few giggles to erupt from Kagome's mouth.
"I just thought mom was getting a big tummy 'cuz she was eating a lot all the time" She shrugged.
"What do you want it to be, a boy or a girl?" by that time all the adults were listening in on the conversation.
"It's obvious Mamoru-kun, I want it to be a boy"
"huh? But I thought girls only want sisters..." Kagome shook her head "No 'cuz then I can't teach her soccer if she starts to think like all the other girls. She'd say 'Nooo soccer is for boys and dollies are for girs' or something like that" Kagome's father laughed heartily at her answer.
Imagine their surprise when Kun-Loon gave birth to a boy they named Souta.
Then after Kagome's eighth birthday rolled around, it being two months before Mamoru's, her father and grandmother died in a car crash. Mamoru's parents were there to console Kun-Loon and Mamoru comforted Kagome to the best of his ability.
"Don't cry Kagome-chan! Your dad wouldn't have liked to see you sad, he'd want you to be happy instead a-and go outside and have fun" He had said to the sniffling girl curled up on the couch of her new home; Kun-Loon had moved the little family in with her father-in-law to help him out with the shrine and to take care of him.
"I-I know you're right Mamoru-kun, but it still hurts..."
A year later was Mamoru's first soccer match against another school and Kagome was right there to cheer him on, whooping when his team scored a goal.
"Yeah! Go Mamoru-kun! Don't let them get a single goal in!"
Each of her cheers made him more confident and he managed to block all but one of the balls kicked his way. The final score of the game was 4-1 with his team being the winner.
"That was so cool Mamoru-kun! You were all like v-shooom and then fuaaah and you won!" Kagome made wide gestures with her arms to demonstrate her point "Thanks Kagome-chan!" they grinned.
The memories that had been sealed within the Higurashi were unlocked a few days after that, the scars appearing on Kagome during one of Mamoru's visits. Each of the scars caused the same pain to Kagome like when they were inflicted though thankfully only lasted a few seconds each. Mamoru was shocked into stupor and came out of it after Kagome nudged him.
"Can you keep a secret?"
What the answer to Kagome's question was plain obvious and Mamoru swore to never tell anyone without Kagome's permission. Atsuko found out later on thanks to Kun-Loon.
They entered middle school and kept seeing each other just as often, though Kagome usually came to his house unlike before.
Another year passed and they were a few weeks into their second year of middle school, attending different schools since Mamoru lived in Inazuma and Kagome lived in Tokyo.
Which was why Kun-Loon was wondering whether or not she should transfer her child to Inazuma, seeing as there were more opportunities to attend schools known for their soccer teams. She had called Atsuko the day before with the idea in mind and the other woman proposed that Kagome could move in with her family if she did decide to send her to school in Inazuma.
Now in the kitchen, she debated the idea with the only other adult living in the Higurashi shrine.
"So, should we send her there?" calmly sipping his tea, Takeo Higurashi eyed his daughter-in-law critically; he knew what she was talking about, of course he did. His granddaughter was an aspiring young athlete and on her way to being a professional soccer player, he couldn't be more proud at her progress, not to mention she always completed her shrine duties to perfection including the complete mastery of archery. So how could he say no to something that would undoubtably bring her closer to achieving her dream?
"We will, so go on and instruct her to have her things packed by tomorrow, the train leaves early you know." Kun-Loon smiled and stood up from her chair, going to inform her daughter of great plans they had for her.
Even from his place in the yard, Souta heard an excited squeal coming from the upper level of his house that shocked him into kicking his soccer ball into the opened storage shed. Cringing, he listened to several ensuing crashes and prayed that his grandfather wouldn't notice.
Back inside the house, Kun-Loon giggled watching her daughter quickly grab a large yellow backpack she had bought for her and stuff most of her favorite outfits inside, as well as most of the sweatshirts and pants that she owned.
She couldn't help but shake her head at the last part, knowing her daughter was rather self-conscious about her body thanks to her trips to the feudal era. After Kagome had turned eight, she, Takeo and Souta remembered Kagome's trips to the past, the scars that she accumulated there had started to appear on her body seemingly out of nowhere and Kagome preferred to hide them sometimes around people she didn't know very well.
"Mom, do you know where my little suitcase is? I can't find it where I left it last..." Half of Kagome's body was under her bed, looking for her suitcase while her legs kicked lazily in the air. Laughing, Kun-Loon went into the hall closet and pulled out the little black suitcase Kagome was looking for.
"It's right here Kagome." The teen swiftly pulled herself out from under the bed and bounced up to her mother "Thanks mom! Now those cleats... where did I put them... Oh yeah" the rest of the evening went on in a similar way, with Kagome packing and Kun-Loon helping her out.
Pulling herself into bed, Kagome couldn't help but think. I bet this is going to shock the wits out of Mamoru. She then drifted to sleep with a soft giggle and a smile on her face.
End of chapter.
And that's chapter two all finished, let me know what you think about it so far by leaving a review. There's also a poll on my profile, so if you want another type of crossover, go vote!
Oh and just so you know, when someone in Japan stops saying -chan -kun -san at the end of another person's name, it indicates that they have a close relationship with that person. In this case Atsuko and Kun-Loon.
Let's just confirm this, Kagome and Endō are friends (best friends actually) sure if you guys want I'll through some fluff in there but that's it. No romantic feelings.
Before I forget, thank you so much for reading, reviewing, following and adding this story to your favorites. It gives me inspiration and I motivates me to keep on writing.