A/N: Thanks for all the support!!!
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As soon as the ball touched the field Hitsugaya had it in his possession, wasting no time dribbling it forward and through the legs of another player before kicking it to Renji who was open on his left. The redhead dashed forward, stopping the ball with his left foot and weaving it around Uryu who was on defense. Two of the other players wasted no time blocking his way forward and with a fancy foot movement, Renji kicked the ball back to Toshiro. The white haired prodigy spun around another defensive attempt to get the ball back, putting his body between the player and the ball, weaving through the defense as though they weren't there at all.
Seeing her chance Hinamori cut forward while everyone else's attention was focused on Hitsugaya, hoping the boy would see her opening. Teal orbs met brown ones and the next thing she knew the ball was sailing towards her, cutting the distance between them to nothing in less than a second. Gaining control of the ball Momo raced forward, her eyes on the goal and Ganju who was guarding it. Feeling the adrenaline flowing through her veins she feinted right, watching in satisfaction as he dove for it before booting the ball into the left corner, hearing the satisfying swish of rubber meeting the net. A roar of approval rose into the air from the mouths of her teammates and the next thing she knew she was in the middle of a bear hug as her teammates jumped on her, smacking her on the back or giving her high fives. Momo grinned, appreciating the praise and wondering that if this was how they reacted to goals scored in scrimmages, what in the world they would be like in the actual game.
Her eyes scanned the faces of her teammates before resting on Hitsugaya apprehensively. He caught her gaze and nodded once in approval, the corner of his mouth tilted up ever so slightly. A large grin broke out across Momo's face and she couldn't help feeling that that simple act had been better than the multiple congratulations she had received from everyone else.
The two teams lined up again and Momo took a deep breath, allowing her mind to clear and once more focus on the game. This time Hisagi started with the ball and it didn't take a genius to see why he had been named captain. The boy was every bit as fluid with the ball as Hitsugaya had been, weaving between the opposing team without breaking a sweat. Ikkaku and Ichigo were on either side of him and the three worked as a unit, getting the ball further and further down field. The baldy kicked the ball around Mizuiro, a short rather feminine looking boy who was apparently good friends with Keigo, and tapped it to Ichigo who wound up for a shot. Chad was ready for it however and caught the racing ball before it could fly into the net. Running up to the edge of the goalie box the giant threw the ball back up the field and under the waiting feet of Keigo himself who wasted no time in booting it back to Renji. And so it began again.
The redhead dribbled it forward a few paces before kicking it to Toshiro who received it without looking down, his eyes focused ahead on the defenders rising up to challenge him. They spread themselves out and formed a wall, not allowing Hitsugaya forward. A small smirk of amusement twitched on the genius' lips and Momo stared as he barreled right towards them, weaving it between their own legs and hopping nimbly over another's attempt at a steal. Shaking her head Momo hurried after him, silently berating herself for having been so easily distracted. This was tryouts, she had to focus! Toshiro kicked the ball back to Renji who slid past one of the defenders and kicked it towards the goal, only to have it intercepted by Uryu who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Upon first meeting him the wiry boy hadn't appeared very athletic yet Momo had never seen anyone move as quickly as he did. Kicking the ball to Yumichika who was playing a midfield position, Uryu dropped back once more, looking more than a little bit smug at his actions.
Hinamori had to keep herself from laughing as she watched Yumichika sprint forward. The kid had more of a floaty trot than a run and more than once she thought she saw him flip his hair, seeming to enjoy the way it blew in the breeze.
"Get him Hanataro!" Momo heard the yell from somewhere behind her and turning she saw one of the defenders from her team, a tall rather bulky looking kid who she didn't know, yelling at Hanataro who was apparently playing defense for their team. She hadn't even noticed him on the field! Her eyes wide she watched as the smaller boy swallowed, clearly more than a little bit nervous as to how in the world this was going to play out. Taking a deep breath he ran forward, his eyes set on Yumichika and the ball. There was a moment when he leaped forward where Momo believed he might actually have stolen it when all at once he let out a yelp and tripped forward, completely crashing into Yumichika and sending both boys sprawling to the ground.
"That's not good…" Hinamori heard Ikkaku mutter, his voice laced with amusement. Worried that the two might be injured Momo started forward though stopped when Yumichika bolted upright, his face a mask of fury.
"You-! You rat! Do you see what you did to my face!?" he screeched, glaring down at Hanataro and completely ignoring the fact that in the upset, the ball had rolled out of bounds. Hanataro quailed under his gaze, shrinking away from the waves of fury rolling off the other boy.
"S-sorry! I really didn't mean to…" he stuttered, but Yumichika was having none of it.
"You're jealous aren't you? You're jealous of my beauty and so decided to try and taint it by smearing mud on my beautiful face! Well you won't-"
"Ayasegawa!" The pretty boy paused when he heard his name yelled, glancing over where Hisagi was glaring at him.
"What is it?" he snapped, his scowl deepening.
"Get off your lazy ass and go throw in the damn ball. You can continue your stupid argument later but right now we're in the middle of a game!" he exclaimed. A dramatic sigh escaped Yumichika's lips and he shot one last nasty glare Hanataro's way before getting to his feet, dusting himself off, and sauntering over to retrieve the ball. Momo breathed a silent sigh of relief, glad that had gone over so well. Hanataro was not the type of person to trip and fall on purpose and she couldn't help but notice that he seemed to be even clumsier than she was. What in the world was a person like him doing on the soccer field? Shaking her head she refused to let her mind wander, refocusing her thoughts and attention on the game.
Yumichika threw the ball in to Ichigo and play resumed. The orange head was just as much of a threat as Hisagi had been though he wasn't as fluid in his moves. Despite this it was more than a little obvious that the strawberry had skill. Dribbling past Mizuiro he centered it to Hisagi who took a shot at the goal, the ball just barely grazing the outside of the goal post as it whirred out of bounds. Momo released a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. They had gotten lucky. If that shot had been just a little more to the right, she wasn't sure if even Chad could have blocked it.
The big goalie jogged to retrieve the ball, throwing it back in to his teammates and watching guardedly as they once more worked it up the field, the defenders passing it off to the mid players and then the mids to the forwards. Hinamori found the ball in her possession once more and she rapidly dribbled along the sideline, watching the defenders anxiously as they advanced her way. Spotting an opening she centered the ball to Hitsugaya who spun around the opposing players and squared himself up for a clear shot at the goal. The ball rocketed forward, just past Ganju's outstretched fingers and into the net. Momo's face split into a grin and she looked his way, only to see him coolly making his way back to the center line, ignoring the impressed faces of the other players. It's like he's done this a million times… Momo thought to which she realized he probably had.
The game continued on for another half hour before Kyoraku finally blew the whistle, calling everyone back into the huddle. A great yawn escaped his lips and he waved around at them all dismissingly as Nanao shook her head in exasperation.
"Nice job today everyone," he finally said once the yawn was complete. "Your captain's, Nanao and I will talk it over and will have the results posted tomorrow after school." When nobody moved or said anything Kyoraku raised an eyebrow in amusement. "What, are you waiting for a formal dismissal?" he asked them. Nanao shook her head and shoved him aside, pushing her glasses further up her nose after doing so.
"What Kyoraku means to say is that we're done for today. Thank you for all your effort; congratulations to those who made the team and for those who didn't, practice up and try again next year," she said to them. There was a slight buzz of acknowledgement before the boys all dispersed, heading back over to where their water bottles and bags were lying in wait on the side of the playing field. Hinamori followed Ichigo and Renji, content to listen to the two talk excitedly about how they'd felt tryouts had gone and who they believed would make the team and who wouldn't. After a second Renji seemed to notice her standing there and snorted, moving aside to make room for her to join them.
"Stop being so damn quiet all the time. If you want to be part of the conversation just step up and join in," he chided her. Hinamori winced and nodded.
"Right, I'll work on that," she said to him. Upon reaching their belongings Momo leaned down to grab hers, the beat up duffel bag standing out against many of the other player's bright colored ones. Glancing over to where Ichigo and Renji were standing she was surprised to see that the corner of Ichigo's bag was unzipped and what looked like an orange paw was hanging out of the opening. Curious she approached it, wondering what in the world said paw belonged to.
"Um Ichigo?" she asked, looking up at him in confusion.
"Yeah, what is it?" the boy inquired.
"What's that?" she questioned, pointing to the stuffed paw. Immediately Ichigo's face reddened and he desperately tried to zip the bag closed all the way but Renji was faster. Seizing the zipper with his hand he yanked the bag open and grabbed the paw, pulling that along with the rest of it out of the duffel bag. Momo blinked in surprise, staring at the adorable orange lion stuffed animal staring unseeingly back at her. It was very…cute to say the least. Stuffing padded its arms, legs, head, and stomach, giving it a slightly plump look while a single button was sowed into its front in place of a belly button. It had two beady black eyes and its mouth was open, looking almost as though it would start talking at any given moment. What Momo found the most entertaining however, was the fact that it had a single pink flower attached to its left ear, giving the poor lion a bit of a feminine look.
"Ichigo, what the hell is this?" Renji asked him, holding up the stuffed lion and shoving it into his face. Ichigo scowled, his cheeks becoming darker and darker by the second.
"I-it's nothing. Really, I don't know why you guys are making such a big deal out of it," he muttered. Renji merely stared at him, his eyes still sparkling with laughter.
"You have a freaking stuffed animal in your duffel bag and you don't expect me to be just a little bit curious?" he stated bluntly. The other boy scowled, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring back at the redhead.
"It's not mine!" he snapped. At this Renji broke, the first hints of laughter beginning to break into his words.
"Then what the hell was it doing in your bag?" he asked.
"It's my sister's!" Ichigo all but shouted, shoving the stuffed lion back into its hiding place. "She gave it to me today for good luck and I just couldn't tell her no," he finished lamely. Renji stared at him for a second before large gales of laughter burst from his lips, his shoulders heaving as he tried to contain himself.
"That's great! J-just wait until I t-tell Rukia!" he stuttered, trying to speak between laughs. At the mention of the girl's name Ichigo visibly paled and the next thing Momo knew he had leaped at Renji, tackling the other boy to the ground.
"If you tell her I swear I'll kill you!" he bellowed.
"Don't worry; I'll probably die laughing first!" Renji retorted, his face a vision of mirth as Ichigo's cheeks flamed even darker and he proceeded to whack the other multiple times with his duffel bag. Momo felt herself laughing as well, so distracted by the skeptical in front of her that she didn't notice Hitsugaya slip away from the others and head off on his own, face a picture of irritation. There was no way he wasn't going to be late…
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Toshiro pulled up to the large white house about forty five minutes later, knowing they had to be at least halfway through dinner right now. Taking a deep breath he opened his car door and stepped onto the pavement, glaring up at the house in apprehension. A sporty red Mercedes was parked in his driveway which he knew could only belong to the family his father was so keen on him meeting. Figures they were rich, he thought coldly, dragging his feet towards the door.
Letting the breath whoosh from his lungs he turned the knob and pushed inwards, stepping onto the smooth tiled flooring of his entryway and slipping off his shoes. The sound of polite conversation and clinking silverware could be heard from the kitchen off the adjoining hallway and Toshiro took several deep breaths, forcing a pained smile to his face before completing the dreaded walk from the entryway to the kitchen. A hush fell over the people seated there as he stepped in, his eyes immediately going to where his father was absolutely glowering at him. Noting a vacant seat between said man and a petite red haired woman Hitsugaya strode forward, ignoring his father's scowling face and instead sat himself down, attempting to smile pleasantly at their guests.
A beefy man sitting next to the woman stood and held his hand out to the boy, his smile hidden behind a large mustache and multiple chins.
"You must be Toshiro. My name is Eiji Ito, Kazuo here has told us a great deal about you," he said to him, motioning to his father.
"Has he?" Hitsugaya asked, feigning interest.
"Yes, apparently you're quite the soccer player," the man said to him. "I'll take it you're one of the captains?" Toshiro nodded mutely, reaching for the bread and placing a slice on his plate.
"Mr. Ito asked you a question young man; why don't you answer him?" Kazuo hissed, trying to keep his face as impassive as possible. Toshiro bit back an angry response, clenching a fist under the table before turning to their guest.
"Yes sir, I'm one of the Death God's captains," he responded shortly, hoping that was good enough for his father. Eiji cleared his throat awkwardly before motioning to the woman at his side and another girl who Toshiro noticed for the first time. She was quite pretty with long red hair tumbling in curls past her shoulders, creamy white skin, and large eyes the color of emeralds. Glancing up she caught his eyes on her and smiled flirtatiously, batting her eyelids just a little more than necessary. If Mr. Ito caught this action, he ignored it.
"This is my wife Akemi and my daughter Kaori. We've all been looking forward to meeting you," he said to him. Toshiro nodded, his eyes scanning the table for a fourth member of the family.
"My father told me you also have a son who likes to play…" he commented, raising his eyebrows questioningly. Mr. Ito nodded, his large lips breaking into a smile.
"Ah yes, my son Katsu. Unfortunately he could not join us tonight as he had soccer practice himself and was unable to attend dinner. It is my hope that you get the chance to meet him sometime in the future," he responded.
"That would be excellent," Kazuo agreed, clapping his hands and rubbing them together, shooting Toshiro a look that clearly stated 'you had better agree with me.' The white haired boy nodded his head, forcing a weak smile to his face.
"Yes, that be…great," he said, doing his best not to choke over the words. It would be a miracle if he had any free time in the upcoming days so any chance of meeting this man's son would be slim indeed.
Conversation broke out amongst the adults after this and Toshiro sat quietly, spacing out and pushing the food on his plate around absentmindedly. His father was an esteemed lawyer and very high up in the 'world of law,' as he put it. Apparently Mr. Ito was a new client who planned on hiring the man to take on a rather difficult case; they didn't go into detail at the table. Following the conversation, Toshiro found out that Eiji was a rather wealthy man and it was probably due to this fact that Kazuo was so intent on taking up the case.
Once the meal had been devoured Kazuo glanced pointedly in his son's direction, telling him to retrieve dessert from the kitchen. Barely a second after the words had left his mouth, Kaori leapt to her feet and padded after Toshiro, saying she would help him bring said dessert out to everyone. Shrugging the boy let her follow him, thinking little of it. The dessert was set on the counter, a glorious smelling chocolate pie that Kazuo had purchased from the bakery down the street, already cut into perfectly symmetrical slices. Heading over to the freezer, Toshiro opened the door and lifted out a gallon of vanilla ice-cream before carrying it over to the countertop and setting it down. Glancing over to Kaori he was unsettled to see her green eyes boring into him and as soon as his gaze caught hers a wide smile spread over her lips.
"So, what do you want me to do?" she cooed, taking a step closer to him. Toshiro cleared his throat awkwardly and stepped away, shoving the pie at her and making sure their hands did NOT touch in the process.
"Um, if you could just grab those plates over there and dish the pie onto them I'll scoop out the ice-cream," he replied as shortly as possible. She smiled again and batted her eyes in what he supposed she thought was a seductive manner.
"Sure thing handsome," was the response before she went to work on the pie. Toshiro nearly threw up at her obvious attempt at flirting yet fortunately was able to keep himself contained as he wrestled with the frozen ice cream. The sooner this task was over the better, he thought to himself as Kaori had begun to blow kisses in his direction, the pie she was supposed to be dishing out utterly forgotten.
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Dessert crawled by though eventually the time came for the Ito family to depart much to Toshiro's relief. Kaori had been making goo goo eyes at him ever since they had returned from the kitchen and he had had to fight extra hard to keep his pie down and digested. Once everyone was finished he rapidly got up and cleared their plates, pointedly ignoring the red head's attempt to help him and all but dashed into the kitchen and temporary safety.
He would have stayed there longer but he knew his father expected him to see the Ito's off and, rather reluctantly, he walked back out into the dining room to do so. Eiji and Kazuo were just finishing up a conversation when he returned and there was something about the way they were looking from him to Kaori that he didn't like. Shaking off the goose bumps that had suddenly sprang up at the nape of his neck he stood to the side and stared at the floor, refusing to meet anyone's gaze.
"Well Toshiro it was nice to meet you!" Eiji Ito's beefy face had suddenly taken up his entire field of vision and the boy glanced up at him, forcing a painful smile to his lips.
"You too sir," he responded, shaking the offered hand, his fingers disappearing in the big man's meaty grip.
"Don't worry, I'll be seeing a lot more of you, you can count on it!" he said to him. "And Kaori too! Now isn't she just a charming girl?" Hitsugaya would have rather eaten a two ton vat of worms than say that Kaori Ito was a charming girl but seeing how he had no two ton vat anywhere, he had no choice but to follow through with option two.
"Uh yes, she is sir," he replied and Kaori absolutely beamed.
"It was absolutely wondrous meeting you Toshiro," she said to him, taking two steps closer and reaching out to grip his left hand in both of hers. "I cannot wait to see you again my silver prince." At this comment Eiji chuckled fondly and Toshiro turned a brilliant shade of fuchsia. Her silver what!?
"Good day Kazuo, Toshiro," Mr. Ito said before turning and waddling out the door, Akemi and Kaori on his heels. As soon as the door shut behind them Kazuo rounded on him, dark eyebrows slanted over his eyes, arms crossed over his chest.
"I specifically told you not to be late!" he snapped. Toshiro shrugged, not in any kind of mood to argue with his father.
"They didn't seem upset by it. With a kid of their own who plays soccer, they seemed to understand," he responded, his tone more than a bit chilly. His father frosted though he didn't say anything, instead turning his back on his son and walking a few paces towards the dining room.
"I expect you'll be returning to school now?" he asked. Hitsugaya nodded, sensing from the tension in the man's back that his father had something else to say.
"Yes…" he replied, awaiting Kazuo's next comment.
"That girl, Kaori, has taken a liking to you," he said casually. Toshiro didn't trust himself to reply and merely waited for his father to continue. "It would be beneficial to me for you to accept her affections."
"What!" Toshiro snapped, all cool lost as his father's words hit him like a charging rhinoceros.
"Relax boy, you don't have to do anything about it now. I'll speak to Eiji about further arrangements," he said to him. His head spinning Toshiro excused himself from the conversation, digging his keys from his pockets, stalking past his father and slamming the door on the way out of the house. It was very uncharacteristic of him to be unable to keep his cool but having to see that red haired lunatic again might very well spell the end for him. Not two minutes later he was roaring down the road, all thrill from the afternoon's soccer tryouts lost with this new turn of events.
……………
Momo did not sleep well that night. Hitsugaya had come in around 10:30 and he hadn't looked happy in the slightest. He had ignored all her attempts at conversation and had gone promptly to bed, refusing to say a single word to her about what was bothering him. She supposed it probably had something to do with his father but she knew it wasn't her place to ask and therefore she remained silent. Despite her roommate's rather disgruntling behavior, she couldn't help but be nervous about what the following day would bring. She felt like she had done very well at tryouts and she was hoping that whatever results were listed on that white sheet of paper tomorrow would agree with her.
Naturally the following school day went about as quickly as oozing molasses and Momo found herself fidgeting through all her classes, wanting nothing more than for the final bell to ring so she could race back to her art classroom and see the results posted outside. The other players were as restless as she was and when the ending bell did finally ring she was among several others literally running down the halls to check who would be the starters for this year's Death God's.
By the time she reached the art room a mob was already stationed outside the door, students wrestling each other out of the way in their attempts to read the names listed on the sheet. Biting her lip Momo made her way forward, wading through the masses of bodies as she did her best to read the names printed in tiny black letters posted on the wall. She had just about reached it when someone's elbow hit her directly in the face and she squeaked, stumbling backwards and falling to the ground. Gasping in pain she glanced up in time to see a shoe coming towards her and she rolled out of the way, doing her best to scramble to her feet, only to be pushed down again as more people charged forward.
"Ouch!" she cried as someone's foot made contact with her arm. Wriggling forward she crawled away from the crowd, only to feel a strong arm grab her shoulders and quite literally pick her up and out of harm's way. Glancing at her savior's face she was surprised to see Chad standing there, quite literally supporting all of her body weight with one hand.
"Oh hi Chad!" she said rather sheepishly. "Thanks…" He smiled at her before setting her on her feet again.
"No problem. Come on, I'll help you see the list just stay behind me," he said to her. Momo nodded, following him as he waded into the crowd. Being at least a good head taller than everyone else in the mob, not to mention much sturdier, the big goalie was able to push his way easily through the mob's of people and finally emerge right in front of the sheet. Momo was grateful that Chad had assisted her through the mass of people yet now his huge frame was blocking her view, ultimately putting her back at square one. She was about to tap his shoulder and ask politely if he could move two steps to his left when he turned to her, flashing the girl a thumbs up as he said:
"Congratulations new guy, you're right forward." Momo's eyes widened and she nearly pushed Chad out of the way in her rush to see the results for herself. There it was, plain as day: Right Wing…Masaki Hinamori. Knowing that now was not the time to be unleashing a girlish squeal of joy Momo contained herself and followed Chad back out through the mob, only to be met by Renji and Ichigo who were standing there grinning at her.
"Congrats short stuff," Renji said to her, grinding his knuckles into her skull in a clear symbol of affection.
"Ouch…thanks Renji," Momo replied, too happy to care that she had probably just suffered permanent brain damage.
"So are you coming to Matsumoto's tonight?" Ichigo asked her. Momo glanced up at him in confusion.
"Rangiku's? Why would we go there?" she inquired. Renji and Ichigo stared at her in disbelief while Chad looked as passive as ever.
"She always throws a party for the soccer team," the red head explained. "I guarantee you everyone's going to be there; it'll give you a chance to meet people."
"And get drunk as hell!" The three whirled to where Ikkaku and Yumichika were making their way out of the mob, both looking rather pleased with themselves.
"You two idiots made it again huh?" Ichigo asked, though Momo couldn't help but notice he didn't look in the least bit upset with the information.
"Like they wouldn't let someone of my caliber on the team," Ikkaku replied smartly while Yumichika grinned.
"Of course I got on the team. I'll be able to blind the opposing players with my beauty and leave them in the dust," he added, flipping his hair dramatically.
"Anyway, you going to show Hinamori?" Renji asked, going back to the question at hand. Momo hesitated, not wanting to be a spoil sport but also wanting to avoid alcohol as much as possible for multiple reasons. Ichigo, clearly sensing her problem, clapped her on the back.
"Don't worry about it. You don't have to go to get drunk," he said to her. "I don't."
"Spoilsport," Renji hissed, earning him a glare from Ichigo and a punch to the head which he only just managed to duck away from. Momo grinned weakly before nodding her head in defeat.
"Okay I'll go," she said to them. After all, what could go wrong?
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Famous last words…haha anyway. Once again I didn't get to put what I WANTED to in this chapter cuz the dinner at Hitsugaya's got a little long, story of my life. In any case I'm really glad you guys are enjoying this thus far. Next chapter will have some surprises and whether you guy's expect it or not we'll have to see. Thanks to Lorelai Kline for the brilliant Kon being Ichigo's good luck charm idea. You all should read her fic 'Pest Control' centering around Mashiro and Kensei, its brilliant! Thanks for the amazing reviews, I love you all!
~Phoenix
