"And Kazuya passes to Asuka..."

"He get the pass... He shoots and..."

"Aki stops it! No goal for Asuka today!"

It was another regular day for Aki, Domon, and Ichinose. The three were in Ichinose's back yard, playing soccer like usual. Aki laughed as Domon grabbed his hair in frustration. She was getting better at playing goalkeeper, and it was all thanks to her best friends. She tossed the ball out to Ichinose and switched places with Domon.

"Aw, I hate being goalkeeper," Domon complained. "Why do we have to switch?"

"'Cause it's fair, Asuka," Ichinose said. He kicked the ball in the air and bounced it on his knee. "Besides, you're a terrible goalkeeper, so this should be easy!" he laughed and kicked the ball to Aki, who smiled and started to dribble up to the goal.

"Aki positions herself for a shot and... at the last minute she passes it to Kazuya!"

"What a beautiful play! Kazuya takes the pass and shoots!"

"...and Asuka doesn't even bother because he knows he can't catch that!" Domon said as he watched the ball fly into the net. He laughed and put his hands behind his head. "You see, that's why I'm a defender."

The three of them laughed and rotated again. They continued their pattern of playing and switching until the sun started to sink in the sky, casting a red hue over everything. Aki had grown quite tired by now, and even though the boys wouldn't admit it, they looked pretty beat too.

"Do you guys want to go in and get a drink?" Aki said. "Because I'm really thirsty."

Ichinose looked at Domon, who nodded. "Well, I'd hate to leave the field this early, but uh... she does have a good point."

Aki rolled her eyes. "Oh come on guys, don't be silly. You'll get sick if you don't stay hydrated." she ran up to Ichinose's back door and waited for her friends to catch up. Domon was close behind, but Ichinose kicked the ball around a few more times before heading up. They made their way inside, and Aki and Domon sat down at the kitchen table when Ichinose went to go grab some drinks.

"Oh man, today was really fun." Domon said. "I wish we could play like this all the time."

"Me too," Aki said. Some of her happiest memories were with those two – and soccer. Playing with them after school, watching their matches... Even though Aki wasn't as much of a soccer freak as the boys, she still loved the sport. "But summer break is coming up pretty soon, so we'll have a ton of time then."

Ichinose walked over to the table, carrying a big pitcher of lemonade and three glasses. "I can hardly wait for summer!" he said. He set the glasses down and filled them full of lemonade.

Domon grabbed his glass and downed half of it in one go. "Ah, this stuff is pretty good,"

Aki took a few sips of hers and nodded. "It really hits the spot,"

Ichinose sat down between the two and held up his glass. "Cheers!" The three tapped their glasses together, drank their lemonade, and started to chat. They discussed their plans for the summer, talked about school, friends, and all sorts of other stuff. They sun kept sinking in the sky, and soon it was twilight. The three friends had completely lost track of time, so when Domon looked out the window, he gasped.

"Jeeze, it's already gettin' dark? Man, I gotta get home..." he said. He quickly finished his eighth glass of lemonade and took his glass to the sink. "I'll see you guys on Monday!" And with that, he was out the door.

Ichinose chuckled after Domon slammed the door shut. "Oh Asuka." he pushed the pitcher over to Aki, and she noticed it was almost empty. "Do you want any more?"

Aki shook her head. "Oh, that's fine." she said. Ichinose poured the last of it in his glass and gulped it down. When he finished, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Do you want help with the dishes?"

Ichinose shook his head. "Nah. Just set 'em in the sink and I'll get them later." he said. He and Aki cleared off the table, and when they were done they sat back down. Ichinose yawned and stretched his arms. "What time is it?"

Aki glanced down at her watch. "It's around 10," she looked over at Ichinose, who was starting to look pretty tired. She giggled. "All that soccer must have worn you out."

Fighting back a yawn, Ichinose shook his head. "What? Nuh uh. I'm... fine."

Aki rolled her eyes. "Sure you are," she said.

"I could go all night if I wanted to," Ichinose said. "But... I'll stay in here and keep you company." he winked at Aki, and she slapped his arm.

"Kazuya!" she crossed her arms while Ichinose laughed.

"Hey, what did I say?" he said.

Aki shook her head. "You're just being dumb," she said. But right now, Aki was trying really hard not to blush. Lately, she had been feeling different around Ichinose. She'd always been teased about her best friend being a boy and that one day they'd fall in love or something, but Aki promised to herself that she was just friends with Ichinose, and nothing else. For a while, that was true. But things started to change, and now... she was falling in love with him.

But she'd never let him know that.

Ichinose was pretty popular with the girls, and Aki knew that he probably liked some of them. And why even bother risking their friendship? She was scared to know what would happen if he didn't like her back, so she had no plans on telling him how she felt. Still, it would be nice if he did end up liking her back...

"Hello? Earth to Aki!"

Aki jumped back to reality when she noticed Ichinose waving his hand in her face. "Oh... sorry. What?"

"I asked if you want to go down to the basement to watch some TV," he said. He pointed behind him to the door.

"Sure," Aki said. They left the table and made their way downstairs. Aki had always liked Ichinose's basement. It had gray carpet and lots of comfy chairs and couches, and pressed against one wall was a large TV. Ichinose ran ahead and jumped on to the couch and laughed when he landed in a heap of cushions and pillows. Aki giggled too, and she walked over to the couch and sat down calmly. Ichinose was laying down, taking up most of the space on the couch, so there wasn't a whole lot of room for her. But that didn't bother her much.

"So, what do you want to watch?" Ichinose asked. He grabbed the remote off of a coffee table and started to flip through the channels. "Hm... news, cartoons... oh, soccer!"

"Of course," Aki said. Ichinose was always watching soccer. Not that Aki minded. She really liked watching it too, but when they did watch it together, Ichinose rarely talked. And lately Aki had wanted to talk with Ichinose a lot. "Who's playing now?"

"England and France," Ichinose said. He sighed and tossed the remote back on the table. "Boring."

"You know, you could always watch something else," Aki suggested. She looked over at Ichinose, and he shrugged.

"I could... but it's still soccer," he said. "And... Oh, look at that pass!" Ichinose suddenly shot up, knocking a few pillows to the ground as he did so. Aki turned her attention to the TV too, and she saw that a forward from France was making his way up to England's goal. He passed again and...

"Oh, he's crazy if he thinks he can make that..." Ichinose said.

"...He's going, he's going... and well folks, it looks like he just missed it!" The announcer on the TV said. The camera cut to a shot of the forward, who was know on his knees, grabbing his hair.

"He looks like Asuka," Aki pointed out. She and Ichinose laughed at the similarities between him and their friend. They watched the game for a few more minutes, then it cut to a commercial.

"That would be so cool," Ichinose said. "You know, to be on TV, playing soccer."

"But some of your games have been on TV," Aki said.

"Those don't count. Who cares about local stuff? I mean world wide broadcasts! Everyone in the world could see me playing..." Ichinose smiled. "That's my dream. I want to get to the world level so everyone can see me doing what I love."

"You really do love soccer, don't you?" Aki said.

"More than anything in the world," Ichinose said.

Aki looked down at the floor. I want you to love me more than anything... she thought. She shook her head, though. That sounded ridiculous. She looked over at Ichinose, who was now sitting upright. He pushed some pillows over to the side and Aki swore she saw him inch closer to her.

"I can tell," Aki said. She laughed a little. "I mean, you talk about it enough."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ichinose asked.

Aki shrugged. "It's just... sometimes it's like that's all you care about."

Ichinose nudged her arm. "Hey, that's not true... I care about a lot of stuff."

"Like what?"

"Well... I care about food. And water. And shelter."

"...seriously."

"But I do!"

Aki gave him a look, and Ichinose rolled his eyes.

"Okay, okay. Don't be such a girl about it. I... care about my family. And I care about Asuka, and I really care about you. Happy?"

"Yes," Aki said. She then realized what he just said. He said he really cared about her. Really. As in more than just regularly. So maybe-

It was probably just nothing. She really cared about him, even before she started to like him. They were really good friends, so why wouldn't he, anyway? But he didn't say that about Domon...

Aki then noticed Ichinose staring at her, and she realized that she must have been staring too. She felt her face burn and she quickly turned away. Ichinose did the same.

"Uh... I mean, I really care about Asuka too... it's just..." he stuttered.

"Oh, yeah... I know," Aki said. "So... um..."

Ichinose shifted in his seat, and Aki was positive that he was getting closer. "Um." he stretched his arm out and accidentally bumped Aki's hand. He quickly pulled away, and Aki moved her arm, too. "Uh.. s-sorry..."

"It's okay..." Aki said. She messed around with a pillow she had on her lap, and Ichinose was idly flipping through the channels. After a while he sighed and set the remote down. An infomercial about a fancy blender was playing, but Ichinose didn't seem to have his attention on that. He kept looking down at his hands, and a few times Aki caught him glancing over at her through the corner of her eye. She kept her focus on the TV, not daring to look over at him. What was he doing, anyway? She heard him shifting again, and this time Aki glanced over quickly. Ichinose kept getting closer to her, bit by bit.

But of course Aki didn't say anything. It... it wasn't a big deal. She kept her focus on the blender commercial, which was becoming harder and harder to focus on. After a while, Ichinose was right next to her, with maybe a few inches between him. Aki's heart was racing, and she swallowed hard.

Ichinose tapped her shoulder. "Uh... Aki?"

Aki turned to face him and was just about to ask what he wanted when he pressed his lips against hers. It took her by surprise; her eyes widened at first, but soon she relaxed. They held the kiss for a few seconds until Ichinose pulled away. Aki brought her hand to her lips, and Ichinose faced the other way. Aki saw that he was blushing, though, and she was too.

"Um... sorry," Ichinose said. "That was really dumb." he glanced over his shoulder and looked Aki, and she shook her head.

"No... that wasn't dumb at all." she said. Ichinose smiled a little bit, and Aki did too.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah... I liked it," Aki said. She felt her face burning again, and she noticed Ichinose blushed a bit more too. He tentatively reached over for her hand, and Aki reassured him by grabbing his. She could hardly believe what had just happened. Ichinose didn't look so sure either, since he kept looking down at their hands and touching his mouth.

Aki leaned her head against his shoulder and smiled. "You know what? I really care about you too."

-.-.-

AN

And here's Ichinose x Aki, requested by kristinagm18! I hope you all like it :)

So Inazuma Eleven Go is coming out tomorrow, and I can't wait. (Even though I haven't watched the last episode of the original yet OTL) I hope it's going to be good.

I'm going to take a break from requests/romance requests because honestly, I'm all out of ideas. I felt like I've been reusing a lot of stuff, and I think it's time to take a little break. But I have plenty of friendship stuff planned! :D

Class finals are starting soon... wish me luck!

Icee Suicune ^^