Inside the Lion's Mind

Disclaimer: I'm not in the mood. Everyone here knows I don't own it anyways.

When Genda woke up, he felt slightly light-headed and his hand was, for some reason, sore. He blinked a couple of times, taking in his surroundings. He was apparently inside his bedroom, the sheets tucked snugly around him on his bed, with afternoon sunlight filtering in through his light orange curtains.

He tilted his head to the right, wondering what could be making that numbing feeling in his hand. His eyes widened in shock as he took in the tan hand that belonged to his best friend, who was now snoring lightly in his old creaky rocking chair.

He squeezed Sakuma's hand, making a face at the unpleasant feeling of pins and needles travelling up his arm.

"Mmm…" Sakuma murmured, stirring slightly.

"Dude," Genda whispered. "Wake up."

Sakuma curled into the chair. "Five more minutes…"

Genda snickered. "Sakuma. Seriously, get up."

"Genda?" Sakuma muttered drowsily, his eyelids fluttering as he realized that the formerly incapacitated goalkeeper was sitting up sniggering at him. His orange eyes widened.

"Genda Koujirou, what the hell are you doing sitting up? You should be lying back down, dammit. Do you know how sick you are!? You need all the rest you can get. You have to—" he was cut off by Genda lightly whacking him.

"You sound like my mother, man," he chuckled. Sakuma pouted slightly, but immediately flushed when his best friend started laughing even harder.

"Okay, okay, you can stop now," Sakuma grumbled as Genda's laughter subsided.

"Wait… you stayed the whole time I was sleeping?" Genda asked, smiling slightly.

"Of course," Sakuma blinked in surprise. "You're my best friend."

Genda couldn't stop the stab of pain that shot through his chest when Sakuma called him his best friend. "Yeah… thanks, man." He looked down at his dark blue sheets, not wanting to meet Sakuma's bright orange orbs.

"Hey," the striker said softly, lifting Genda's chin towards him. "You okay?"

There was a silence as they stared into each other's eyes. It wasn't like those corny, cheesy romantic comedy movies. Everything was just quiet, as blue-grey eyes met sunset orange.

Genda felt his face heating up, but he didn't want to look away.

I wish this could last forever.

"What?" Sakuma asked in bewilderment.

"Umm… what, what?" Genda tilted his head to the side.

"You just said you wanted this to last forever."

"Oh. That." Color rushed to the goalkeeper's face. "Uh..."

"What did you want to last forever?"

"It's—it's nothing," he closed his eyes, trying to block his best friend's stunned face from his mind.

"Genda Koujirou." Sakuma put his hand against Genda's cheek. "Look at me," he murmured. Reluctantly, Genda opened his eyes, only to find Sakuma's face inches away from his. He froze, his muscles keeping him from moving away.

"What are you doing," Genda whispered.

"I'm convincing you to tell me," Sakuma smirked, and leaned in.

His lips were surprisingly soft against Genda's. They were warm, so warm as they molded against his. Too soon, Sakuma pulled away, blushing slightly.

"I'm in love with you," Genda blurted out. His eyes widened along with the forward's as he realized what he had just said and the implications he would have to face.

"God, no, Sakuma, I'm sorry, I didn't—"

"Do you mean it?" Sakuma asked quietly.

"I…yes," Genda said seriously. "I know you're probably going to hate me for this, but I mean what I said. I'm sorry…" he trailed off.

"Koujirou…"Without another word, Sakuma launched himself at Genda, hugging the life out of him.

"Sakuma… you're… suffocating me…" Genda managed to choke out, his hands yanking at Sakuma's uniform.

"Oh. Sorry," he grinned sheepishly, letting go of him. After Genda's face had returned to its normal hue, he began talking animatedly.

"Jesus, Koujirou, all this time I thought it was just me and my stupid feelings, you know? I thought that I couldn't be in love with my best friend, because that was so wrong! It has nothing to do with us both being guys, after all, Kidou and Fudou are together now and no one sees anything wrong with that, but I mean, it's you! We've been best friends since the dawn of time, and now that I suddenly like you, I mean, love you but not as a brother, I just didn't know what to do, but you—mmph!" The rambling cyan-haired boy was cut off by a pair of lips mashed against his. He moaned a little as Genda's tongue licked his lower lip, begging for entrance. Sakuma, who was pretty much delirious already, still somehow found the willpower to keep his mouth tightly clamped. Genda, sensing the Teikoku striker's reluctance, let his teeth graze casually over his lips, causing Sakuma to gasp. The goalkeeper seized the opportunity and thrust his tongue into the moist cavern that was Sakuma's mouth, and soon the innocent kiss became a battle for dominance as their tongues intertwined with each other.

It seemed like an eternity had passed when they broke apart, gasping for air, yet still holding on tightly to each other.

"Thanks, " Genda huffed, trying to regain his breath. "Thank you for shutting up."

Sakuma rolled his eyes. "Scoot over," he said.

Genda's eyes widened. "Um, dude, I don't think we're ready for that yet—"

"You baka!" Sakuma scolded, fighting his blush. "I wasn't suggesting we… do that, I just wanted to sit next to you!"

Genda grinned mischievously. "You sure you didn't mean it like that?" he asked slyly.

"If you're going to act like an immature child, Genda Koujirou…"

He chuckled. "Okay, I'm sorry. Come on up." He patted the space next to him. Sakuma flopped down next to him, his head resting lightly on Genda's shoulder. They didn't say anything for a while; simply enjoying the serenity between the two of them.

"But I thought you liked Yuuna," Genda said abruptly, breaking the silence.

"Yuuna-chan," Sakuma smirked.

Genda rolled his eyes. "You should've realized by now that I really don't care what comes after Yuuna. And you're avoiding the question," he added, giving Sakuma a pointed look.

The boy in question sighed. "I never really liked her. It was just a way to get you jealous, ya know?"

Genda frowned a little. "But you didn't even know I liked you…"

"Well, I was just hoping for some kind of reaction. It didn't necessarily have to be jealousy."

The goalkeeper stared at Sakuma. "You are one pretentious, provocative little jerk, did you know that?"

"A pretentious, provocative little jerk that's loved by his best friend?" he asked hopefully. Genda sighed.

"Sure…" he murmured as he kissed his forehead.

The next day at school, there was chaos.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WERE NEVER INTERESTED IN ME?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE THE ONE! YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE WHO'D ACTUALLY LISTEN TO ME! AND NOW YOU GO AND TELL ME THAT YOU WERE NEVER INTERESTED?! THAT IS NOT SOMETHING YOU WANT TO SAY TO ME, SAKUMA JIROU. FROM NOW ON, WE ARE FINISHED!"

"Yuuna… we never started."

Yuuna choked back a sob. "It's Yuuna-CHAN!" She screamed back at him. She then picked up her stuff and hightailed it out of the classroom, wailing her head off.

Genda, who had just come in with a furiously texting Kidou, stared at his boyfriend (God, he loved that word) in bafflement.

"What happened here?" he asked slowly, walking up to Sakuma.

Sakuma shuddered. "She confessed…I told her the truth… it was terrible," he whimpered, a haunted look on his face.

Genda winced in sympathy. "Poor you."

The forward only nodded wearily. "Yeah… where were you anyways? I can't believe you made me deal with that alone."

"I was coming in with Kidou."

Both of their heads swiveled to look at the playmaker, who was blushing like a schoolgirl while staring at the screen of his phone. The two exchanged a look and rolled their eyes.

"Fudou," they said in unison.

"Where?!" Kidou's head shot up.

Genda facepalmed while Sakuma roared with laughter.

A/N: Meh. What a lame ending to a lame fic. Oh Kami-sama help me… I'm no good with chapter fics.

I'm a terrible person. I take so long to update (first-class procrastinator speaking xd), and when I do, it turns out like this. Gahhh.

I know I have an issue with ellipses, but I'm working on not using them as much.

*Sigh* Review, minna-san?

I'm just not in the mood. :(