Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Hungry Heart no matter how much I wish I do. Yoichi Takahashi does. The only thing I own is the plot and some other characters that don't exist in the anime or manga.

BEHIND THIS STRENGTH IS WEAKNESS

Chapter 1 – I'm Holding On

Darkness began to fall on the sky as the sun had already set. It's time to go, Tsujiwaki Miki thought as she took a glimpse of the clock standing on her table. Though it's still rather early for her to go, she stopped working as she put down her pencil, leaning back. She had already graduated from college and got her first job as a shoe designer, mainly shoes for sports such as basketball and soccer.

She stretched her arms out to the air and also her neck to at least loosen up. Taking off her eyeglasses and putting them on top of the table, she began packing her things preparing to go home. After that, she looked around, finding her officemates were still working. She lifted her hand and waved at them.

"Goodbye everyone! See you guys tomorrow," she said and all the others waved back at her and went back to work.

As soon as she finished fixing her things, she took her bag and some of her stuff and headed to the door and to the elevator. It brought her to the ground floor and she stepped off.

She left the building and began walking to the train station though her apartment was merely a block away from her place of work. She's not going home yet; she's going somewhere else.

As soon as she reached the train station, she bought a ticket and stepped inside the train. It brought her to a familiar place where she used to stay before when she was still in high school. Yes, she's going back to visit Jyoyo Akanegaoka High School.

She stepped off the train as soon as it stopped and began to walk to her school. It wasn't that far from the train station so she managed to get there in 15 minutes. It was already dark but there were street lamps that lit up the way.

Seeing the soccer field that the female soccer team used to train in, Miki stopped walking on the bridge and leaned on the rail. There were people playing in the pitch and she gazed upon them.

"Just like the old days. They train hard even if it's already dark," she said to herself and smiled as she saw herself in the players. Those players were just like her and the rest of the girls back then who kept training and never gave up.

She just stood there and kept watching the girls train, not minding the cars that passed behind her. She wondered if she could play soccer again after giving up on it. Yeah, she gave up on it after she graduated from high school and entered college. Not that she no longer liked it but she had to focus more on her studies otherwise she'd lose her scholarship. She still loved it but she had to prioritize other things.

I'd love to play again after those years. She said to herself as she kept her eyes on the team. As she was remembering her high school days, she couldn't help but miss Kanou Kyosuke, the orange head that couldn't help but always bring trouble. Yet, he's still able to get away from it. He had always been good and getting better.

Miki wondered how he had been doing in Holland. Since the day Kyosuke joined the Dutch Team, she had been watching all of the games in order to at least support him. That's all she could do.

She hadn't seen him face to face yet since the day he left. She wondered why and was beginning to get upset. She acted as if she never got upset at Kyosuke but this was too much. He made a promise to her that he would come back but he had never done it. He never came back and that upset Miki. But no matter how upset she was, she kept waiting for him and never minded how long it would be. I'm still holding on to your promise, Kyosuke, no matter how hard it is for me.

With her knowing, a car stopped a meter before her. She didn't see it as her eyes was set on the girls' team. Inside the car was a silver-haired guy that once played for the male soccer team long ago as the goalkeeper. He stared at the lady's figure standing before the car and tried to remember who she was. It wasn't long before he finally remembered she was Tsujiwaki Miki.

"Tsujiwaki Miki," he smiled, kinda happy to see one of his old schoolmates again. He took the seatbelt off and stepped out of the car, approaching Miki.

Miki stood still until she felt someone walking toward her and turned her head to the right. At first, she wasn't quite sure who the guy was but when the light struck the guy's silvery hair, she figured out that he's one of Kyosuke's team mates.

"Sakai?" she spoke and couldn't believe she's meeting him again.

"Tsujiwaki Miki, long time no see," Sakai Jefferson Koji said as he stopped in front of her. He stretched out a hand to her, waiting for her to shake it.

Taking and shaking his hand, she said, "Wow. I can't believe you remember me. Anyway, it's been a long time. It's nice to see you again."

"I'm awesome that's why I remember things."

"You've never changed, still cocky as ever," Then, she pulled her hand and went back to watching the team.

Sakai, on the other hand, walked beside her and did the same, leaning on the rail of the bridge and took a look at the female soccer team training in the pitch many feet under the bridge.

"How can I forget the captain of the girls' soccer team and Kyosuke's GIRLFRIEND?" he said, putting emphasis on the word 'girlfriend'.

Hearing that, Miki began to blush as she turned her head to him. "Girlfriend? What girlfriend? I'm not Kyosuke's girlfriend and for the record, he and I were never a couple," she denied hopelessly though she was certain he wouldn't believe her.

"Yeah right," Sakai couldn't help but laugh out loud but not loud enough to disturb other people. He seemed to not believe in what Miki said. "So why are you here?" he suddenly asked.

"Should I be the one asking that? Anyway, I kinda miss this school a lot so I always come here after I'm done working to relax," she answered, "How about you? Why are you here?"

"Actually I was heading to my house until I saw you and decided to step off the car. I missed a lot in here," he replied as he looked around. "It's nice to be back."

"Now I wanna see the other members of 'The Cocky Trio'. I wonder where they are and how they are doing," she said, talking about Kyosuke and Rodrigo.

"I've been seeing them once a year whenever there's a match between our clubs. Rodrigo is playing for FC Bayern Munich, a German team. I'm playing for AC Milan and Kyosuke is playing for Ajax Amsterdam. I really miss playing with them."

Hearing Kyosuke's name made frown but she tried to not make it obvious. "Who would've taught you guys would go big? Before, you guys used to be team mates and now, you might be opponents to each other," she said.

"UEFA Champions League is coming. I heard Rodrigo's team would be competing. I don't know about Kyosuke's though. His team has kinda been messing up lately," Sakai answered.

"Kyosuke…" Miki spoke all of a sudden and Sakai turned to her. "I'm sure he and his team will be competing in the UEFA," she continued and forced a smile on her face. Knowing Kyosuke and his skills, she's quite sure he's gonna make it to this prestigious competition along with his team. She's happy for the guy but hearing his name kept hurting her heart.

Sakai figured something was wrong with Miki but said nothing about it. He's in no position to do so as he believed. "I'm with Kyosuke's brother, Seisuke and I'm sure that would spice things up. If ever Ajax makes it to the Champions League, Kyosuke might as well compete against me and his brother," he said.

"A fight between brothers huh? That would be interesting," Miki said.

"Yeah and I bet Kyosuke would be kicking his own brother's ass in the game. Heck, they'd kick each others' asses," Sakai said and let out a laugh. Miki didn't say anything as she stared at nothing blankly. She seemed to be in deep thought and Sakai noticed. "Is something wrong?" he asked though he kinda knew the answer.

Miki nodded as she bit her lip. "Kyosuke…" she told him. "What the heck is wrong with him? What's gotten into him that he doesn't come back to pay us a visit? Does he ever have a plan on coming back to Japan? Doesn't he know that his friends are waiting for him? Doesn't he even know that I am waiting for him? And you know what? It's been years and I haven't seen him yet nor have I gotten any word from him," she continued with a hint of aggravation in her voice.

Sakai chuckled though he knew it's inappropriate. "Now you want me to think nothing is going on between the two of you," he said. "You're upset because he hardly comes back and doesn't contact you or anything."

"He promised me that he'd come back and yet he never did it. You know how upsetting that is, don't you?"

"Now that Kyosuke's a professional soccer player, he has to train a lot for the games that he barely has time for himself," Sakai said.

"Training is good but can't he keep in touch? I mean, he should've at least called. What about you? Aren't you a pro too? How come you have time to come back?"

"I'm off training for a couple of weeks. After that I'll go back to Italy to get ready for the UEFA."

Miki let out a sigh, seeming to lay off her anger for a moment. "When will that be by the way?" she asked, shifting the conversation into other stuff.

"A month from now. If you want, you can come and watch us play. You'll meet Seisuke and if you want, you can ask him about Kyosuke."

Hearing this raised Miki's spirit. She liked the idea but she broke into a forced smile, "Thanks but I can't. I have a lot of things to do," she answered.

"Well, just come if you feel like doing so. Anyway, I gotta go. See ya!" Sakai said and waved a hand at Miki.

"Okay. Take care and kick Kyosuke's ass for me if you happen to meet him," Miki told him before he could walk away.

"Yeah. I sure will," he said and finally went off to his car. Miki stood and watched him step into his car and drive away, her eyes following his direction.

She couldn't get her mind off of what Sakai said earlier. The idea seemed to be nice. Sure, she could go and watch the game in the stadium where the UEFA would be held. She could always request for a break from her boss, couldn't she? If I go there, I might meet Seisuke. I could ask him about Kyosuke. Heck! I might even meet that orange haired idiot there.

She glanced over her wristwatch to check to time and decided to back to her apartment as it was already getting late. She began walking to the train station, still thinking about the idea. Shortly, she found herself smiling.

I'll go there. I'll try. No. I should go there. She was fully determined to go. For her, this was an opportunity that was good enough to pass. Not only that she might be able to see those people she wanna see but also she would be able to witness one of the prestigious soccer competitions in the world.

But, there's a problem. Getting a permission to have a break from her boss was nearly impossible, knowing how extremely obnoxious and strict her boss could be. Furthermore, she got a lot of work to do and had to get it done otherwise she'd get kicked out of the company. Surely, she didn't like that to happen because it's her only source of income. One more thing, she didn't have enough money to afford the tickets.

As she made her way to the train station, her smile slowly faded. That's it. I will never get a chance to go there.

Auhtor's Notes: It's not Sakai/Miki though the first chapter makes it seem like that. Anyway, what do you guys think of it? Kinda crappy, isn't it? Oh well. Just hit the button that says 'Go' on it and leave a review, will ya? Comments and Criticisms are always welcome. Well, the constructive ones of course. More reviews make me wanna write more.

Thanks for reading!