/Niki's POV/

I, just like everyone else, was worried about Akira. He never did well on rainy days, but that never stopped him from playing in a game before. We all knew that if we were better, we wouldn't need him to come into the game and help us out, so we practiced really hard.

Of course, all the other teams kept stepping up their training as well to try and beat us, so we were always on par with them, never truly better. Akira was probably the only one of all of us who could easily beat the other teams, but he never came into a game until sometime in the second half, no matter how badly we were losing.

That was his way of showing that he trusted us to do a good job. If he felt we weren't truly trying our best, he'd not come into the game at all. That had only happened once before, and we'd lost very badly.

I shook my head to clear those thoughts away and turned to Akira. He was panting and his face was slightly red, but he wasn't sweating as much as before. I had an arm slung around his shoulders to support him and make sure he didn't fall or stumble. He didn't bother to tell me to stop, knowing full well that I'd just ignore him.

We were almost to the bus when Harushi Middle's captain blocked our path. His eyes were downcast, but I could make out the faint tear tracks on his cheeks. "Congratulations on your win," He said, trying to sound happy as he held out his hand to Akira.

Akira nodded and shook it, smiling as well. "It was a good game," he told the other teen. "Had I been even a fraction of a second slower it may have ended differently." The other captain smiled and nodded a little before he went to go back to his own team.

When we got onto the bus, Akira slid into the seat by the window in the first row and I sat next to him. He yawned and put his head on my shoulder, closing him eyes. "I'm tired," He muttered.

"Then get some sleep," I answered, pulling my unfinished book out of my bag. "It's about an hour or so before we get back to the school." He hummed a bit and I opened my book just as everyone else filed onto the bus. The ride back was rather quiet, since half the players fell asleep and the others were talking quietly.

I looked up as we pulled up to our school. Calico Middle was a big private school that excelled not only in academics but also in the arts department and sports department. They had really amazing programs for each, with advanced classes for those who wished to take them, big studios for those in the arts department to use and beautiful sports fields, courts, equipment, training programs and more.

Everyone who was accepted here lived in one of the three dorms. There were the academic dorms for the really smart people in advanced classes and who were in academic clubs, or there were the art dorms, for anyone in art clubs or taking multiple art classes, or there were the sports dorms, where we all slept. It was for kids like up who were on a sports team.

Our dorm was the furthest away from the school but closer to all the fields and the gym. We weren't split up by the team we were on, but all just mixed in together so we could also get to know other people. We also shared rooms.

The dorms were laid out where there was one big room with four other rooms attached. Each room held two people in it and the main room it was connected to had a kitchen, a television with a couch and chairs as well as a table. There was one big bath for everyone to use at the same time so nobody fought over who got to use it first and so nobody was late, though we each had our own, smaller bathrooms with just a toilet and sink.. Of course, the girls were all in separate dorms, and they were laid out the same way.

Akira was the only one who got his own room with a personal bathroom attached. The administration says it's because he's the dorm advisor, but we all know it's just because he look so much like a girl and is so often mistaken for one that they're afraid of what the guys may try and do. His room was a little bigger, and used to be used for the teacher who was the dorm advisor, but since the teachers now had their own dorm building, they changed it.

If some dorms couldn't handle not having a teacher around, one of them would move back in and stay in that room, but for us, we were normally too tired to do anything except sleep.

"Niki," I looked up saw our coach, Yamoko-sensei there. I must have been spacing out since everyone else except Akira, who was still sleeping, and I had already left the bus. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I said. "Just a little tired from the game is all." He nodded and moved out of the way as I stood up, moving Akira's head off of me as I did so.

Just as always when Akira fell asleep, I picked up my bad and his, slinging them over my shoulders before I also picked him up. He wasn't really heavy at all, so it didn't make much difference to me.

I followed Yamoko-sensei to the dorms, getting into the elevator to head up to the top floor. That was where both mine and Akira's rooms were, as well as most of the other soccer regulars. Most of us shared rooms, but there were a few other sports players mixed in and the rest of us were down on the lower floors.

Yamoko-sensei had a master key to the sports dorms, so I waited for him to unlock Akira's room before I deposited him on the bed and set his bag down. When that was finished, I left, shutting the door behind me, and went to collapse onto my own bed. I hadn't been lying when I said I was tired.