A/N: Thanks to all of you that reviewed, I enjoy reading them immensely.

Chapter 5

Seiji took possession of the ball and his team dashed onto Sye's side of the field to assist, but as they traveled Kento came out from no where on Sye's team and stole the ball right out from under Seiji. Seiji skidded over the soft dirt and nearly fell over, but regained his balance and looked to see where the ball had gone.

Sye was already halfway across the field toward Seiji's goal, he ran to catch up, but another member of Sye's team was there to assist. Seiji's defense group went after Sye, who had the ball. Sye passed to the one girl on Sye's team and she kicked it right into the goal. The whole team jumped up and down in victory. Seiji growled, but went back to center line.

The girl ran up to Sye and hugged him; they laughed and went back to their own side.

"That was very good!" Sye yelled to them. "Now we go on the offensive!"

There seemed to be some unspoken plan that was devised between the platoon. They adjusted quickly, completely changing positions. Everyone, even Ryo was confused.

The game went on for twenty minutes and eventually Seiji's team got put into gear, they started working together more and made several goals with Seiji's help of course, but Seiji and Sye were getting exhausted, leading all of these attacks.

Thirty minutes through the game and Sye and Seiji had started checking the opposite team's members and shoving them roughly. Several people complained, but they sucked it up once nothing was done about it. Sye and Seiji had gone without stopping once and Sye stopped completely after scoring another goal. They were at the center line again and the ball was sitting in front of Sye for him to do with it what he wanted, but he crouched down and balanced, trying to breathe.

Seiji knelt next to him and they exchanged a few inaudible words before they both rose and went back to the center line.

They lasted another ten minutes before Ryo told the referee to call a time out for them, even though there wasn't supposed to be one.

Ryo walked onto the field and up to Sye who was again resting.

"What's wrong?" He asked gently and knelt next to Sye.

"I'm out of shape." Sye admitted and leaned his head back, exposing his neck and regaining control of his lungs again.

"Are you sure that's all?" Ryo replied.

"I could keep going for another hour without stopping if I really wanted to, but this isn't a game and it doesn't really matter."

Ryo nodded and walked over to Seiji. "What's going on?"

"He's good." Seiji smiled looking at Sye. "He's very good."

"Did he tell you why he can't hold his breath?" Ryo asked gently, his hand on Seiji's back.

"He told me he wasn't feeling very well when you asked him to come here earlier and it's just catching up with him. Why? What did he tell you?"

"He said he could keep going, but he's not pushing himself because this isn't a real game that matters. He says he's out of shape, too."

"I'd agree with that!" Seiji laughed. "I think I am a bit too. I was pretty lazy over the summer. It's all a part of soccer season starting. We'll all improve with more practices."

Ryo nodded and walked off the field.

Seiji and Sye met at the center line again. Sye mumbled a few things to Kento and the girl on his team, Aimee, and they went and told a few things to some others and it made its way around the team oddly. Seiji laughed.

"You don't look so good." He chuckled.

"You don't look so good either." Sye mumbled back and they laughed together. They paused. "I don't want to finish this." Sye whispered.

"Why?" Seiji asked calmly.

"We're at a tie right now and I don't frankly feel like seeing who is better. I believe you are the better of the two of us and that is good enough for me, besides our troops shouldn't think more highly of themselves over any others."

Seiji agreed finding a lot of truth in this.

Ryo seemed to already know what they had decided.

Sye gathered his team up and walked over toward Ryo. Seiji gathered his team to him and they walked over to Rowen.

Now it was as if Rowen and Ryo's teams were starting from scratch, neither team had more points than the other. They traveled out onto the field as Sye and Seiji's platoons sat down exchanging pinnies with the other teams.

Ryo met Sye as they walked by each other. He caught Sye's arm and before Sye knew what had happened, he was in a warm kiss with Ryo. Their lips locked a moment, then released. They separated quickly and Ryo kept walking. No one noticed anything; as far as they knew Ryo and Sye had merely shared a few words.

Sye looked back at Ryo as he walked off. Oh, boy. He thought. He touched his lips casually as he sat down. Was I just kissed? I've... never... been kissed... like that before. The horrible thing is... I think I enjoyed it. Good for me, I suppose, but Ryo and Seiji... aren't they supposed to be together?

No one had actually ever told Sye this, he just assumed it, but maybe he was wrong...

Seiji walked away from his team and across the field. He spoke to Rowen and Ryo briefly and left them so they could start the game again. Seiji walked over to Sye and sat beside him.

"Who do you think will make it onto the team?" Seiji wondered as Ryo took possession of the ball and Rowen raced after him to cut him off. Several of Rowen's teammates fell over as Ryo went strategically around them, he passed the ball to a teammate who made the goal.

"Of my team or yours?"

"Both."

"Kento, Aimee, and that kid with the red hair on your team." Sye listed.

"Really? I didn't think he was that good."

"He has good foot work, his only flaw is he doesn't know all the rules of the game, but he can learn easily, I think. He picked up on my strategy after three plays or so, then it was really only him that ever got in my way. Aimee is very good, I think. She follows orders to the letter, and even improvises if the plan doesn't go right. Kento is a hunk of strength without a direction. He can be taught to use his talent as well. What about you?"

"I wouldn't recommend anyone on my team, but there was a short, black haired freshman on your team that was quite speedy and maneuverable."

"A.J.." Sye nodded. "He doesn't follow orders very well." Sye whispered tiredly.

"Would you disagree with my choice?" Seiji turned to Sye calmly.

"No." Sye leaned back on the bleachers until his back rested against the bench row behind himself. "I wouldn't disagree, but if you think you can persuade him to be a team player then by all means pick him, but he didn't once follow an order I gave him. He tried to be the leader and order others around, but it didn't work out. When your players stole the ball from him while he passed it and so on, that was all because he wouldn't listen to me." He massaged his temple.

"Yes, that was stupid of him, but I think we could knock some sense into him."

Sye nodded. "That brunet girl over there." Sye pointed to the girl on Ryo's team. "She's on fire, quite fast, and agile. I think she would do nicely on the team."

"She's slowing down though. She might not hold up the entire game." Seiji warned.

"Yes, but we could always rotate her out after the start of the game, or put her in near the end when our players are tired and we need someone strong and fast."

Seiji agreed. "You're sharp." He commented.

"No more than you." Sye replied waving the compliment away.

They continued to watch the game in silence. Sye's team cheered Ryo's team on the whole time. Once they started screaming and yelling happily when goals were made, Sye shouted at them to sit and they obeyed angrily.

"Maybe they should be cheerleaders instead of soccer players." Sye whispered and shook his head disappointedly. "All that screaming for one team is putting down the other." Seiji's team sat silently wrapped in the game on the other side of the field discussing their chances.

The game ended with Ryo's team leading by ten points, but Rowen's team made the last goal.

The teams were talking with each other while Ryo and Rowen walked over to Seiji and Sye. They all sat on the bleachers facing each other. Sye had a clipboard in hand now.

"What's that?" Rowen wondered.

"While you guys played we went and found the sign-up list for practice today, so we have the names of everyone here. Seiji and I talked about the ones we thought were pretty good and we put stars next to their names."

Ryo nodded and sat up next to Sye so he could look closely at the papers. He leaned over Sye to look at them. Sye lifted the clipboard so Ryo could hold it and he leaned back again, comfortably. Ryo took it and sighed.

"What's this at the bottom?" Ryo wondered and pointed to some scribble at the bottom.

"It says, brunet." Sye answered. "The chick on your team was pretty good, but we didn't know her name."

"Amanda." Ryo looked down the list and found her name. He put a star next to it. "What about you, Rowen?" Ryo leaned back like Sye. "Is there anyone you thought was good?"

He thought for a moment. "Jeremy. The short thin little kid. He was pretty tactical and had a lot of ideas for game plans. Most of them worked, some of them failed, but I think all of his plans would have worked if more of the kids understood them."

"Yeah." Ryo shook his head. "He was so obvious though and not that good at playing the sport. I think he'd be better for basketball or something."

"I'm just saying we should probably consider him, even if he only sits on the bench and helps us with plans. If he has the ability to help us and we have the space on our teams, why not?" Rowen shrugged.

"Alright." Ryo agreed. "Seiji, anyone?"

"My team was a bunch of misfits. I thought they had some potential when I chose them, but it turned out that was a no. That Astrolle kid on your team though, Rowen. He was cunning and quick to react. He was holding a lot of the talent on your team."

"As it goes, with Astrolle Jon, we have seven new recruits, then us, that makes eleven. We should have at least five more good ones, even if they aren't perfect, they only need to be good at the sport and fast."

"I can name five." Rowen paused looking up into the sunny sky. "Amber, Jason, Tommy, Keith, and Josh. They were all decent players from each of our teams."

Ryo agreed and marked it down on the sheet he held. They consulted with each other for another five minutes, they rested a bit, then Ryo stood and called attention to himself. The crowd of people hushed quickly to hear what he had to say.

"We have a list of people, but I'm sorry to say only twelve of you qualified." There were some disappointed groans and anguished growls. "I'm sure you all had some kind of interest in this sport, but you were either, too slow, too disobedient, too cocky, or just too bad! That's the way this game is. I'm sorry for those of you who haven't made it, but here are the final twelve." He held up the list and looked it over as he spoke loud and clear. "Kazuhiko Kento, Vazquez Aimee, Birch Tinnah, Tears A.J., James Amanda, Burns Jeremy, Astrolle Jon, Schultz Amber, Carey Jason, Reagan Tommy, Richards Keith, and Wildowski Josh!" He spoke each name perfectly.

The girls were huddled together and jumping for joy, but most of the boys were bad sports about it. They stormed off angrily or swore excessively. One senior walked right up to Ryo and tried to punch him.

"Damn fag Sophomore!" He shouted.

Ryo dodged it and dealt him a lethal blow of his own. The boy fell onto his friend, who steadied him. The guy's nose was bleeding. He angrily touched the spot and looked at his hand.

"Your mother was trash and your father was worthless! You're no different than them fag!" His friend tried to hold him back. Ryo leapt at him about to strike him again, but Sye had Ryo under his arms. "You'll rot in Hell for this!" The senior willingly turned his back on Ryo now and walked away. Ryo struggled to get loose from Sye. He thrashed and ended up hitting Sye hard across his face.

Sye released Ryo and stepped back from him. Ryo gasped when he realized how hard he had hit Sye. He had taken his rage for that senior out on his newest friend. This was nothing like Rowen, or even Seiji who he would blow his anger out at and get hit back just the same. This was someone he'd just met and grown to appreciate and he'd decked him.

Sye didn't look at him, he dabbed his fingers into his mouth and produced a large bit of blood on his hand.

Ryo took a step toward Sye and he took a step away, defensively. Rowen came up behind Sye and touched his shoulder lightly. Sye turned to him and Rowen inspected the wound.

Rowen smiled wryly. "It's not that bad."

Sye licked his broken lip, sucking the blood away from it.

"You alright?" Seiji asked calmly. Sye nodded.

"Are we done here?" Rowen wondered looking at Ryo, though Sye did not.

"Yes." He sighed. "Sye, I'm sorry."

He waved the comment away closing his eyes. "S' alright." He slurred through the blood.

"Yeah, but..."

"I'm goin' home." Sye cut him off and left around the bleachers.

Ryo would have gone after him like Rowen did, but Seiji and the new recruits waited. He turned to them scowling.

"This isn't going to be the easiest training in the world for you all. It will be hard, especially since there aren't that many of you. Are there any questions before I go on?" The rest of the kids had already gotten off the field and left in a flurry of anger.

The girl Amber raised her hand. "Will it just be us playing?"

"No, Seiji, Rowen, Sye..." he paused, "and I will be playing as well. Five of you will be on the benches until we get tired, then you will go in. I'm confident it won't be necessary to replace us, but it depends on your strengths and weaknesses, to whether or not you will have to replace each other."

The short, black haired freshman, A.J., raised his hand, a frown on his face. "What do you expect from us and is it possible that we will be leading each other?"

"I expect you to do what I tell you to, to the best of your ability. Let me give you a bit of advice." Ryo smiled deviously. "I am the captain of this team." He gestured to Seiji. "And you're looking at the co-captain. I give the orders, but never do I accept any orders. You will not be controlling the team and if you don't learn to play with your teammates you will be off this team quicker than you can say one, two, three, punch! Got it?"

The kid scowled and nodded.

"Good. Any other questions? Okay. Why don't you all go play another game? Six on six and we'll watch you and give you tips."

They nodded and looked at each other.

"For now, I will appoint two temporary captains and you will do as they say." Seiji sighed exasperated. "Amber and Jon."

They both approached Seiji.

"Will you call me Astrolle instead of Jon?" He asked.

Seiji smiled and patiently nodded. "Pick your teams."

They went at it. Amber picked the other three girls, while Astrolle picked three boys, then Amber thought about her choices and picked two more, as did Astrolle. When they were through A.J. was last to be picked and he was on Astrolle's team. He seemed cocky nonetheless.

"You got all the girls on your team." He laughed, talking to Jeremy.

Ryo chuckled. "That's your problem." He spoke to A.J.. "These girls aren't the pushovers you play against in gym." He laughed and handed Amber the ball. "Go at it!"

They ran onto the field and started to play. Seiji and Ryo observed for a while telling them to move occasionally, or to run after the ball, or not to push, etc., but Ryo's mind wasn't on the game.

"I'm so pissed, I hit Sye." He groaned.

"Don't worry about it. You hit Rowen the other day too remember and he wasn't a sore sport about it?"

"Yeah, but Sye is much more fragile than Rowen is. He feels so... his feelings are touchier than ours... much more sensitive." He growled and pulled his bangs aggressively.

Seiji stepped in front of him, his arms crossed, and a frown on his face. "Are you in love with him?" He snapped and sneered.

"No." He whispered and stepped up to Seiji pushing his chest against Seiji's arms. "Not like that. Seiji, I love you."

"I saw you kiss him." Seiji replied, still frowning.

"Yes." Ryo nodded once.

"You can't just go around kissing him if you don't love him!" He calmed slowly. "Ryo, why?"

"Spur of the moment. I plead temporary insanity." He smirked playfully and rested his forehead against Seiji's as his angry façade finally broke and he embraced Ryo.

"You have to tell him it was nothing." Seiji demanded.

"Why?" Ryo didn't seem to like the prospect of having to do that much.

"He's going to think more of it than it actually is if you don't." Seiji paused. "And I won't have sex with you again until you've told him. Not a kiss, not anything." He stepped away from Ryo.

The soccer game was still going on, but even playing on half the field like they were, it was hard. They played with two goalies, one from each team, and seemed to be making up rules to the game as they went along, but they were enjoying themselves and learning their teammates moves. The girls were the best player on the little teams.

Ryo wanted Seiji close to him again.

"When you tell Sye the whole thing of it, then you can come see me later, but if you don't then don't bother coming over. I'll know if you lie too. Don't think I won't call Sye to find out."

Ryo growled and sighed, but he was determined to meet Seiji later that night like they had planned. "I'll see you tonight." He whispered seductively.

Seiji smiled. "I'm going to take a cab home. You finish up practice with them." He walked off shaking his head and Ryo groaned.

He did some one-on-one with the kids when he joined the game a few minutes later and showed them a few techniques. Half an hour later, the kids were on their way and Ryo left on his bike for Rowen's house.

This isn't going to turn out well. He predicted and sped over there.

When he walked into the house he heard laughing and headed to the living room. The residents of the entire house were sitting on the couches and chairs around the coffee table, playing Monopoly and by the looks of it, Rowen was winning; which wasn't a surprise, but Rowen's mother, Diane, was close behind him with houses on Boardwalk and Park Place.

They all looked up when Ryo came in. Sye's lip had started to heal, but his beautiful face was a bit purple along the jaw bone where Ryo had hit him. He felt a bit squeamish at the moment when his eyes met Sye's.

"Can I talk to you?" He asked, smiling a little and laughing like they had been. Sye rose and walked up to him. "Outside." Ryo whispered and they walked outside. Sye leaned against the railing to the little porch. What remained of the light in the sky was shining on Sye's beautiful hair and fair skin. "Uh, Sye listen, about what happened before..."

"The punch or the kiss?" He wondered. It sounded funny when Sye said it like that.

"Uh, both." Ryo answered.

"Okay."

"I'm sorry about the punch. It was meant for that other guy, you understand?"

Sye nodded.

"The kiss..." He whispered and looked around. "Don't take this the wrong way, but it was really more of a spur of the moment thing. It just popped into my head and I had to do it. I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, or..."

"No, you just confused me a bit. I thought you and Seiji were supposed to be together so I was surprised, but since you meant nothing by it, I'll just disregard it as having meant anything."

"Don't do that." Ryo murmured stepping closer.

"What?" Sye raised his brow.

"It meant something." He paused. "It meant that I care for you, just not like I care for Seiji."

Sye laughed and smiled. "I understand and it means a great deal to me, thank you. I very much wanted to get to know you before and be part of your inner circle. With that little kiss and even the punch, I suppose it means I am now." He smiled and Ryo's eyes fell sadly on the cut-open lip.

Ryo caressed his cheek with his thumb gently. "I'm so sorry I hit you. You didn't deserve it."

"It'll heal." Sye replied confidently. "I'll always be there for you though, so if you ever need me just give me a ring; don't hesitate. Anything."

Ryo was very happy to hear this. He bobbed his head several times and turned to leave.

"Going to see Seiji?" Sye questioned a smirk on his face.

"How'd you know?"

"I imagine he probably saw us kiss and made you come here and explain yourself."

"Is it that obvious?" He sighed, the stress lifting from his shoulders somewhat and making him stand a bit straighter.

"You were so tense when you started. I knew you had been forced into it."

Ryo sighed, embarrassed, and scratched his head. "Yeah, well, thanks." He turned to leave and suddenly remembered something. "Oh and Seiji might call you later. Just tell him that I told you, okay?" He waved. "Bye!" He drove off on his bike and Sye walked back inside.

After another hour of playing Monopoly Sye was bored with it and Rowen was aggravated with his mother's cheers of happiness when she took their money, though she refused to take Sye's.

Sye and Rowen went upstairs for sleep. Sye had retrieved his bag from his house before they had returned to Rowen's place, so now he could change into his comfy silk string-tie night pants.

After making their way up the stairs, Rowen and Sye were about to part for their separate rooms –Sye taking the guest room- when Rowen snapped.

"Sye!" He called. Sye turned back to him, his hair flying as he spun. Rowen couldn't resist his urge –a trait he wished he hadn't picked up from Ryo. He grabbed Sye's shoulders with all his strength to keep him still and he covered Sye's mouth with his own. He moved his face away from Sye's, frightened of his own actions and of Sye's response. He saw Sye baffled and began to panic.

A/N: Okay, this has been a bit delayed in coming out, but I was a bit saddened by how few of you reviewed. I guess it was all the soccer that threw you off or something, but this fic isn't based all on soccer, I just happened to be a bit fond of the game and had no idea how it was played. I wanted them to play a sport that I like watching my boyfriend play, but I'm no better at basketball rules and stuff than I am at soccer, so of course... I had to look up the rules for soccer. –water droplet- Don't pick on me for stuff like the face-off. –sighs- Just enjoy the fic. It's not supposed to be perfect with last names and whatnot, I was just curious is all and now I'm too lazy to change Sye's last name or the way I spell it. –shrugs- Oh well.

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!