Chapter 13 : Teikoku Drama -err Bonus 2

"Sakuma." Kidou found his friend at the entrance of the Dark Icicle Residence. The one-eyed boy stood in the shadow of the gate and seemed to have waited for the strategist.

"I knew you would come eventually", he explained.

"You're not wearing that coat today?", Kidou asked. Then he realized what he had said. The strategist shook his head; it wasn't like him to talk before thinking. "Err … I mean … Because it really suits you."

Sakuma was surprised. "Is that what you came here for? Only to see me wearing that?", the one-eyed player tried to stay calm and ignored his friend's compliment.

"Why didn't you say anything?", the strategist changed the topic and asked his friend straightly. "You figured out the whole KA-Mio/Kageharu story long ago, didn't you?"

Sakuma looked on the ground. "Yeah."

"Sakuma, why didn't you tell me?" Kidou couldn't hide his confusion. "Don't you trust me anymore?", he asked slightly afraid of the answer.

However the one-eyed boy didn't reply to that. "There was no reason for it, I told you I want to do this on my own."

"You didn't trust Endou and the others enough." Kidou came closer to his former and looked directly into his eye. "We will defeat their European team, despite of the previous matches, Endou is still full of spirit – you know him."

"This isn't about Endou, Kidou." Sakuma didn't look at the strategist, but at the landscape behind him. He was cool – more than Kidou liked. Didn't his words trigger anything in him?

"I know." Kidou was only centimeters away from his friend, who still decided to ignore his presence and look away. "Sakuma, this is about us." Now the strategist laid his hand on his friend's shoulder trying to force him to look into his face.

But Sakuma shook the hand away and stepped back. "Don't you understand anything?" Suddenly his voice got louder and more serious, the coolness broke. "It's about ME."

"Sakuma, I didn't mean … ", Kidou began the sentence, but he didn't know how to continue. Desperately looking for words, the strategist helplessly looked at his friend.

"You did. Because it's always about you, you're the genius gamemaker, you're the one Kageyama chose and you're the one Endou and the others believe in." Sakuma's words hurt like pricks and made it even more impossible to bring the situation back under control. It was a situation Kidou hated, he simply didn't know what to do. Their was no strategy to win his friend back.

"Listen to me, Sakuma!", Kidou shouted, hoping to reach the other boy. But he knew it was in vain, he had never been good when it came to emotions.

As result Sakuma became only more distant. "You didn't think that I would be able to handle this alone, that's why you came, isn't it? You thought only you could do this, right?"

"I was just worried … ", Kidou tried to save the situation. "I wanted to help … ."

"See? it's 'I' again", the other boy remarked. "That's why even Fudou is better than you. He let me do my thing and supports me while you're only full of yourself."

"Fine then", Kidou resigned. He had only one idea how to show what he really felt. "I'll go now and I won't tell anybody what I found out about KA-Mio. The final is tomorrow; until then you have time to prove that you can do this by yourself."

Sakuma looked surprised at the strategist. "Thanks, Kidou", he answered then with a softer voice. He obviously hadn't thought the strategist would understand.

"There is one thing I want to now before", the other boy began. " Well … Are you … you and Fudou … ." But then he lost the confidence to continue his question and left his sentence incomplete.

As to speak of the devil the said boy appeared. "Jirou? The boss wants to talk to you!" Then Fudou saw the boy he looked for talking to Kidou. "Come to spy again?", he asked arrogantly.

"It's alright, Akio", Sakuma answered for the strategist. "We're done here anyway."

"Wait, answer my question", Kidou demanded. "And since when are you two talking to each other by using your first names?"

Sakuma was already on his way into the building, as he heard the words of the strategist, he turned around and looked at him. "It's just as I told you", he replied then with a smile on his lips. "It's always you."

After Sakuma had left the strategist viewed at Fudou, still thinking about his friend's words. "You have known this all along, didn't you?"

But Fudou just grinned. "Who knows … ."

"But why did you provoke me with pretend to be all close to Sakuma?"

The other boy turned around and went back to the building. "Obviously because it was fun", he answered still grinning.

Kidou smiled. "This part of you will never change."