Written By: Rie
Beta By: Rai
Revised By: Rai

x~: smile || dream || forever :~x


.

.

.

..

...

...

..

.

.

.

"Are you kidding me?" she asked quietly. "Ichinose-kun?"

.

.

.

..

...

...

..

.

.

.

Aki and Domon waited anxiously in the midst of the noisy crowd. Domon stared intently at the LED screen that displayed the flight arrivals. Aki could hear the faint buzzing, ear-piercing noise that comes from a plane landing.

"Aki... One more time. Are you sure that phone call was... was Ichinose?" Domon asked, looking at her with wide-eyes. Aki kept her gaze at the screen. She clutched her bag tighter.

"Yeah," she said quietly, nodding. "He called me to say he's be arriving in Japan today." Domon hadn't bothered to close his mouth.

"But..." Domon said sadly, staring back at the screen. "He's..." A horrible and traumatic experience surfaced in both their minds.

He, Aki and a brunette – Ichinose – were sitting at a small grassy area near the side of the road. A truck was honking a few feet away from them. Ichinose had caught sight of a small dog that was about to get run-over. Acting on reflexes alone, he threw the ball carelessly to his side and ran to the road. After that, everything came in slow motion.

"ICHINOSE-KUN!" Aki yelled worriedly, tears spilling from her eyes.

After that, all they could remember was a bright flash of light and their beloved friend, crashing to the ground, unconscious, bleeding... hurt... After that, they've always thought that the ever-bright smile of Ichinose would never be seen... ever.

"Ichinose died in that accident," Domon said gravely, although until now he still couldn't accept that fact. "He was taken to some big-name hospital in a far-away city, but he didn't make it... That's what Ichinose's dad told us over the phone."

Aki remained silent with pursed lips. Nonetheless, Domon continued.

"If he's alive, how come he's never contacted us once before today? Why would he pretend to have... died?"

Aki looked up hopefully, her eyes shining with hope.

"We'll know once we see him. I want to see Ichinose-kun alive and happy, don't you, Domon?" Aki asked.


Meanwhile, back at the Raimon Junior High grounds...

"Where's Kino-senpai... and Nikkou-senpai?" Haruna asked curiously, looking around for any sign of the two managers. She then caught sight of a male brunette watching the boys on the field.

"I wonder if he's thinking of joining..." Haruna said, cocking her head to one side. She faintly heard Someoka doing his signature Dragon Crash. The mysterious male brunette's black eyes widened. He smiled as the glowing blue ball zoomed towards Endou.

"NEKKETSU PUNCH!" Endou said, effectively stopping the ball with a flaming fist. The ball rolled over lazily to the brunette.

"Oh?" he said, picking up the ball and staring at it blankly for a few seconds.

"HEY! Could you kick that back here?" Endou called from the posts, waving his arms. The new brunette smiled and started to dribble the ball onto the field happily.

"Huh?" Kurimatsu and Handa nodded to each other and tried to block his way, but he effectively maneuvered around them. Haruna gasped from the benches. The boy grinned at the dumbfounded pair behind them, who in turn grinned back.

"Wow, he was able to dodge those two so neatly!" Kidou and Gouenji looked up to see what she was talking about. Endou said, "Whoa!" to himself.

The unknown brunette then stopped the ball just outside the penalty area. He smiled up at Endou as a form of request.

"Bring it on!" Endou said, taking up a stance. The boy nodded and did a back flip. He spun on his arms in a counter-clockwise direction.

"SPINNING SHOOT!" he yelled, kicking the ball as he revolved.

"GOD HAND!" Endou cried, summoning the said keeper move. A yellow hand appeared and caught the ball. Endou's foot slipped back a good five inches before he stopped it. The ball was still smoking in Endou's open hand.

"You win," the brunette said, walking up to Endou. Endou smiled up at him.

"You would've gotten it in if you'd shot inside the penalty area," he said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"That's an amazing technique you have there," the boy praised as he looked up to the sky.

"Thanks!"

"I wish I could show that to my friends back in America," he said fondly. Endou's eyes widened slightly.

"You play soccer in America?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah. I was recently chosen as a candidate to represent the Junior Team," he said proudly.

"I've heard about that," Kidou said, crossing his arms. "They say there's a genius Japanese player who would be a shoo-in to represent America in the future."

The boy smiled up at them.

"Is that you?" Shin'ichi asked. The team gathered up around the boy and started to interview him.

"I wonder what happened to Ichinose-kun," Aki said as they walked back onto the field. "He wasn't on the plane he said he'd be on, and I can't reach him on his phone." Domon shrugged carelessly.

"For the time being, let's wait for him to – hey, what's going on over there?" Domon and Aki stopped short at they caught sight of the team members huddled around.

"So why did you come to Japan?" one of them asked.

"I have to visit an old friend in this school," he replied.

"Um, guys, what's up?" Aki asked curiously, trying to see what it was about. Endou wriggled out of the circle.

"Oh, Kino!" Endou said excitedly. "Come on here! There's this guys who's really good in soccer and – ACK!"

Without any warning, the boy they'd been huddled around charged out of the group and hugged Aki tightly.

"EEHHHH~" the team cooed. Domon and Endou were staring at the pair with wide eyes.

"Huh?" Aki asked, blushing as she stood still. The boy didn't release her from the hug.

"H-Hey!" Domon cried indignantly. "What do you think you're – oh?" The boy released Aki from the hug. Domon and Aki's eyes widened in recognition.

"It's been a while, guys," the brunette said. Aki's eyes shone.

"Eh..."

"It's me," the boy said, doing a gesture with two of his fingers and winking at Aki.

"I-Ichinose-kun!" Aki said happily, her eyes brimming with unshed tears of joy.

"Tadaima, Aki..." he said, beaming. Aki hugged him tightly.

"Ichinose-kun..." she whispered.


"Why weren't you at the flight you were supposed to be in?" Aki asked in a disapproving yet joking tone.

"I managed to catch an earlier plane than the one I had in mind, so I thought I'd surprise you!" Ichinose said, smiling. He turned to Domon. "Though I never expected Domon to be in the same school, though."

Domon put his hands on the back of his head casually. "Meh, I'm just an afterthought compared to Aki," he said cheekily. Ichinose and Aki laughed. Ichinose then fell silent and gazed at the sky with a small frown on his face. He knew the time had come for him to explain why.

"The doctor back then said I wouldn't be able to play soccer anymore..." Ichinose said sadly. "Everything around me grew pitch-black and I grew bitter and depressed..."

Aki and Domon frowned as well.

"I didn't want you two to see me like that, so I asked my dad to tell you that I'd... died."

"Oh, I understand," Aki said sympathetically. Ichinose wiped the frown off his face and smiled.

"But you know I couldn't have just given-up on soccer completely. That's why I kept rehabilitating myself every single day since then... You remember that promise, don't you?"


"Guys, let's make a promise... We'll play soccer together!"


"It was thanks to that promise that I was able to overcome those hard times..." Ichinose looked up hopefully. "And now that I'm able to play, I plan on making America a soccer nation!"

Aki smiled happily as Domon chuckled.

"So it's the complete revival of the genius midfielder, Ichinose Kazuya," Domon said.

"I'm a genius?" Ichinose asked playfully.

"HEY! ICHINOSE!" Endou called enthusiastically from the goal-posts. "Let's play!"

"O-okay!" Ichinose replied, smiling back at him. He stood up. "Domon?"

"Okay." The defender followed him back on the field. Aki beamed.

"Aki-chan!" a completely different voice called out this time. Aki looked around and saw a female brunette with chocolate brown eyes running towards her.

"Oh, Megumi-chan! Where've you been?" Aki asked curiously as Megumi sat down on the bench, panting.

"Oh – pant – I just had something to – pant – attend to..." she replied vaguely. She scanned the field. "Hey! Who's that?" she asked, pointing towards Ichinose.

"Ichinose Kazuya. He's an old friend of mine," Aki said happily. Megumi saw her bright expression.

"A pretty special one by the looks of it," she said, smirking slightly. Aki blushed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, looking at the other direction.

"Haha, sure you don't," Megumi said, poking her shoulder. "Hey, your friend's great at soccer!" she said as Ichinose dribbled the ball past Shishido. Endou watched him expectantly while Gouenji observed him intently.

Kidou darted in-front of him, blocking his path. Ichinose smirked and did a clean heel lift. Kidou smirked.

"Gotcha!" Kidou jumped up to steal the ball, but was surprised to see it curve past him and back into Ichinose's possession.

He was able to predict my heel lift... Cool... Ichinose thought happily.

He saw through that and made the ball curve. And all through the heel on top of that...

Ichinose ran back up the field with Kidou chasing him from behind.

"He's on the same level as Kidou?" Gouenji said in surprise. "No, it looks like his skills go even beyond that!"

"All right! Next up is a penalty kick showdown between him and me!" Endou said excitedly.

"Here I come!" Ichinose said as he placed the ball carefully on the ground. Endou took up his stance.

"Right!" At this, Ichinose placed a well-aimed kick to the near-left corner of the net, scoring a goal.

"He's amazing, to be able to score at the last possible moment," Kabeyama said.

"His abilities are amazing," Kidou agreed.

"One more! I'll be sure to catch it this time!" Endou said.


"They've been at it for an hour now!" Haruna said, smiling. Aki giggled.

"Both of them hate to lose," Aki said. This time, Haruna giggled.

"They're really alike, aren't they? Even if they look completely different."

"Yeah, I've always thought so too, ever since I met Endou-kun..." Aki said softly.

"Aki-chan, I can't stay for long..." Megumi said, gathering up her things. Haruna looked at her inquiringly.

"Why not?" she asked. Megumi shrugged.

"I just have some... stuff to do," she said. "But don't forget to update me next practice, 'kay? Who knows what might happen!" And with that, she slung her bag on her shoulder and ran inside the school.

"Where does she keep running off too?" Aki muttered to herself, clearly suspicious.


"This is a good team!" Ichinose said, grabbing a towel and wiping his face. "You've been playing soccer with amazing people!" he added, his voice sounding muffled.

"You're jealous, aren't you?" Aki teased, smiling.

"You could say that, but my team in America won't lose to them!"

"You're really back to your old cheerful self," Aki said happily.

"Yeah. I'm really sorry for worrying you," Ichinose apologized as a breeze ruffled their hair.

"Nah, it's okay..." Aki said.

"But still, I'm glad you two forgave me for what I did." Aki smiled at him once more as she stared down the field. Ichinose followed her gaze.

"You like Endou, don't you?" he asked. Aki gasped.

"I can tell..." said Ichinose, "...because I like him too." Aki blushed.

"U-uh, I've never thought of Endou-kun that way," she said, waving her hands in-front of her face as an added gesture. Ichinose smiled at her knowingly. She looked away, pouting.

"Oh, you..." she said, but she smiled nonetheless and so did Ichinose.

.

.

..

...

...

..

.

.

.


From Rai-chan:

Sorry this came in extremely late, and I love you guys for following it - much more reading it! All the best, and I wish you all success far greater than mine! GANBARIMASU! AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TSUBAKI SASUKE OF SKET DANCE! PAPPIPPAPPE!

From Rie:

Heard about the awards, and I never expected that, really! You guys are so nice to us and I promise that I'll do my best to make you NOT disappointed!


"Endou! There's something I'd like to try out with you in memory of us becoming friends..." Ichinose said determinedly.

"Okay, let's do it!" Endou said, punching his fist into his other hand.

"Can you help us out, Domon?"

"You're not thinking of doing...?"

"Yeah, Tri-Pegasus."


..in memory of us becoming friends...

x~:smile:~x

- because it's the best thing you can give to a friend.

x~:dream:~x

- because nothing is impossible to anybody with a dream.

x~:forever:~x

- learn to keep trying, and trying, and trying.


hugs, kisses, strawberries and chocolate,

Rie and Rai~x