title: Comfort
characters: Akane Yamana, male!reader
pairings: one-sided reader/Akane
summary: You just want to let the one you love know that you care.
It was easy to notice the hint of sadness in her eyes, to you anyway. While you were sure others could eventually notice it, you had come to spot it out in an instance. After all, you had always kept an eye on her. And it was so easy to guess why the girl of your dreams had been quite sad the past few days.
The man of her dreams had been sent off to space to participate in some galactic soccer tournament. Yeah, it sounded pretty crazy, but he wasn't the only one to be sent off to space in order to defend the Earth. A couple of others from your team, Tsurugi and Tenma, had been selected. Then there were those other 'soccer' players who were selected. They really weren't soccer players at first, from what you could gather during their time as a team, but even you had to admit that they had progressed from zeroes to heroes. Or something along those lines.
But, they weren't the focus of your thoughts. The whole saving the galaxy was important, but there was something even more important to you. And it involved one of your team's managers, who still didn't seem as happy as she could be.
With her beloved Shindou gone, Akane did not have the energetic smile that graced her beautiful face during the day. Oh, she did still smile, but it wasn't as bright as you knew it could be.
It hurt seeing her down like that, but it hurt even more knowing that her mind was on the team's old captain. Of course, this was nothing new to you. You had become aware of her feelings for the wealthy soccer player very early on (it was way to obvious that she loved that guy anyway) and had told yourself to move on. What chance did you have against someone like Shindou?
You weren't as rich as he was, not as smart, close to it but not really, a rather decent soccer player, and had average looks, at least thats what you thought. You weren't physically the strongest, but had some strength, maybe a little more than that brunette, you hoped so. And lets not mention the whole musical talent, while you had none, that boy definitely had something amazing. Being a part of a famous soccer team had caused you to have a few admirers, but none interested you. All you wanted to do was capture the eye of that photographer who was sitting on the bench. It was a simple wish and yet it was never answered.
You weren't normally shy, maybe a little quiet, but that was usually when you were around her. It was normal to be like that right? Be nervous around the person you loved? That didn't seem to apply to her, but then again Shindou never seemed to notice the way she looked at him. Or really seem to notice anything that she did.
He doesn't deserve to capture your heart when he doesn't even acknowledge your feelings, you thought bitterly. You found yourself rather surprised to such a thought. These little comments occasionally crept into your mind at times. You deemed it as your inner jealousy, something you would not like to have peek out and make yourself look like an angry fool.
You shook your head, shaking that thought away and hoping for the moment that it would not return. Especially since you were jogging over to the bench in which Akane sat, her camera in hand as she didn't seem to interested in taking a picture right now- and that made you frown for a second.
"Akane! Mind if I sit by you?" You asked, gaining a cheery tone. It wouldn't be wise to be sounding down while she was. Besides, you weren't one to normally have a frown on your face anyway.
"Ah, [y/n]," the girl turned towards you, a gentle smile forming as she saw you approach. You felt like just melting while seeing a cute smile like that. "Yes, you may. Are you taking a break?"
"Yeah. I won't bother you too long," You replied, happily sitting down beside her. And as you did, you were becoming a little more self conscious about yourself. Sweat was leaking from your skin and your [h/c] hair wasn't as straight as it used to be thanks to running around on the field. And you didn't even want to think if you were giving off a stinky odor, god she shouldn't even be around you if you were! But she didn't mind this, right? This was all part of being a manager, wasn't it? Or kind of the 'perks' of being one.
You let out a sigh while resting beside her, trying to get your thoughts off silly little things like that. Yet, you found your thoughts still returning to her, wondering if she was okay and wanting to talk to her to see if you could get her to smile like she used to. While you were focused on your thoughts, you had become unaware of the many glances you were giving her.
"Is something wrong, [y/n]?" She asked, tilting her head as she looked at you, curiosity in her eyes as well as worry. "Do I have something on my face?"
"Huh?" You came to as you heard her ask that question. Whoops, guess you really weren't expecting to be caught nor were you even aware of actually looking at her for so long. "No! No! You look fine!" Cute, I mean! "I was just…thinking. Sorry, I just didn't mean to stare…"
The worry on her face disappeared and was replaced with a more peaceful look. "Oh, then I am sorry for interrupting your thoughts."
"No, you don't have to apologize…I was just…" You paused, sort of wondering if you should even tell her what was on your mind. Or at least ask her about it. Nothing could go wrong…right? Akane was a very nice, sweet girl and if she didn't want to speak, then you wouldn't pressure her to speak. So, nothing could go wrong. And its not like you were going to confess, heavens no, you did not have the confidence to ask something like that yet.
"Well…I-I was wondering…" You mentally slapped yourself at that slip of the stutter. Come on, be serious! "If you're feeling okay. We all know that Shindou is temporarily gone and we know that you like to watch him. So, you know…" You gave a slight shrug, hoping that she'd get the message that you (or the team since you had specifically used 'we' instead of 'I') were worried about her.
Akane blinked at you, staring at you for a while as she thought about it. The photographer was well aware that she never hid the fact she loved Shindou, but no one had yet to approach her on this subject. Although, you were unaware of that, you had assumed the other managers had spoken of this to her beforehand. It took her a moment to reply as he gaze had turned from you to the camera that was held in her hands.
"Mmm…yes. I am sad that he's gone, but he'll come back soon. Knowing that makes me happy. Shindou isn't away from us forever. And when he comes back, I'll be able to capture more photographs of him after his intergalactic transformation!" A shine could be seen in her eyes as she proclaimed that statement.
You were surprised to find how optimistic she was about all this. Hadn't the thought of the team failing crossed her mind? It didn't seem like it. By the tone of her voice, she sounded very certain that he would return and all would be well. It was pretty bittersweet. You were glad to see her have so much faith in someone, but if only it were you, then you'd be even happier.
"Ah…well, thats good to hear. I'm glad you're not to sad about his departure. You haven't been smiling as much as you used to."
"I haven't?"
Shit! You mentally cursed. You hadn't realized that you had said that. It seemed so casual to just mention it and now that it was out, you felt like it was the weirdest thing you've ever said in your life! God, you just hoped she wouldn't ask how the hell you noticed that!
"Uhh…yeah, I just sort of noticed, nothing wrong with that." You gave a nervous laugh, completely at a loss of words. Oh god how you just wanted to run back to the field now. Why wasn't anyone asking for you on the field when you wanted them to?
"Hmm…" The girl hummed instead of speaking again. Was she in thought about what you had said or finding you weird? Yeah, maybe leaving should be the right thing to do.
"I'm going to-"
"Thank you."
"Huh?"
"Thank you for worrying about me, [y/n]," Akane smiled, one of those smiles that would normally be given whilst around Shindou. Although there was a different emotion behind this one, it still made your heart soar with happiness.
"Its no problem, Akane! If you need to talk to me any time about anything, then I'll be more than happy to listen!" That had just spewed out of your mouth due to the sudden joy, but you also figured it would be good to let her know that. You didn't want to let her say anything else, if she questioned you more on this sort of subject, who knows what else you'll be admitting.
"Anyway, practice, gotta go, you know how that is." With a flash of a quick smile, you quickly jumped up from your seat. "Thank you for letting me sit beside you, Akane." You gave her a slight bow before rushing off back to the field.
As you did, you felt a little happier than before, a light jump in your step. You were still a bit nervous about what was said, but you were happy that you had gotten that message across to her. And maybe, just maybe you could talk to her again on the subject.
