"I should never have left soccer. What was I thinking?!" Sora sat down heavily on the school bench, her face slightly green.
"Serves you right." Taichi said grudgingly, lying on the grass in front of her.
"Thank you, Taichi." Yamato said, rolling his eyes. Sora looked even greener.
"What? She wouldn't be that nervous if she had stuck with soccer."
"He's right." Sora said gloomily, putting her forehead against the tennis racket.
"Sora, come with me." Yamato stood up and pulled her to her feet firmly, "You," he pointed an accusing finger at Taichi, "Should stay here. You are only making things worse."
Taichi sighed, "Sorry, Sora. But I still can't forgive you for ditching soccer."
Yamato decided not to reply his pigheaded friend and led Sora to the school roof. The weather was windy and partially cloudy. They both stood by the wall, facing the school grounds. Sora inhaled deeply as a gust of wind pushed her hair back from her face. Few moments of fresh air had helped losing the greenish tint from earlier.
"Feeling better?" Yamato asked after a long silence.
"Slightly." Sora replied, propping her elbows on the wall and placing her chin in her palm.
"What's exactly worrying you so much?" Yamato asked.
"Everything, Yamato, everything," she said, hiding her eyes in her arms, "Tomorrow is our first match with Kyoto Middle School and I don't think I'm that good at tennis. I mean, I started only four months ago."
"Six. You had been practicing with your mother over the vacations."
"Yeah, but still."
"You have never been that nervous before any of your soccer matches." Yamato commented lightly, smiling.
Sora raised her head, tucking her flying hair behind her ears, "I had been playing soccer since kindergarten. It never felt like anything I had to learn." she smiled slightly, "Besides, everything is just for fun when you are in kindergarten. Not much competition." she sighed, rubbing her arm nervously, her panic state returning, "But now that I'm old enough to get nervous about competitions, I shouldn't have left soccer in the first place."
Yamato glanced sideways at her, his eyes scrutinizing her face. She had lost all of her determined look, her confident eyes, her stubborn set of mouth. She was worried and nervous, rubbing her arm out of habit, her expressions vulnerable, her eyes unsure. She looked . . . breakable - fragile. Yamato blinked and looked away.
"Listen," he started awkwardly, "Your team thinks you are ready. Your coach thinks you are ready. So maybe you are ready."
Sora nodded, looking unaffected by his words. Yamato realized that the reason he couldn't find the right words was because he had never seen a nervous Sora before. They had been friends for two years only and in that time Sora had always been quite confident and determined about her life. Now, though, her confidence was gone and Yamato was getting too caught up in how she looks kind of . . . adorable when she is nervous to find proper words.
His eyes went slightly wide and he blushed furiously at the inappropriate choice of word that came to his mind when thinking about Sora's expressions. He cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable now. Sora looked up at him anxiously. Her nervous expression made Yamato struggle for something - anything - to say to her so that her expression would change to one slightly less threatening to his mental state.
"Sora, I'm not good at giving pep talks and stuff," he began hastily, then chuckled, "You probably already know that. But I know one thing. You had been working really hard at tennis for past few months. If you decide to drop out of the match a day before, you may end up regretting it later. So why don't you just stop thinking about how good everyone else is and focus only on giving your best."
To his great relief, Sora's expressions changed from nervous and unsure to that of thoughtful.
"I guess you are right." she said quietly, "I do think that if I drop out now, I'll regret it as soon as the match begins." she said, nodding, her usual confidence overcoming her rare nervousness, "You're right. I should forget about everyone else. It doesn't matter if I win or loose as long as I give my best." she smiled up at him, "You are not that bad at this advice giving thing."
Yamato smiled back halfheartedly. He found himself actually hoping she would get nervous again so that he can look at nervous Sora again.
x-x-x
"I don't know how am I gonna do that! There are gonna be so many people there." Yamato paced the floor restlessly, his eyes anxious, his face pale with anxiety, his hands tucked deep in his pockets.
"It's going to be all right, Yamato," Sora said calmly, "You have done concerts in school proms and festivals. You will do great out there, too."
"How?" Yamato threw his hands in the air, "Those were school kids only, mostly our classmates I already know. But these people . . . I don't know any of them. And there will be people of different ages, too."
"Trust me, Yamato, there will be some of your classmates there, too," Sora said, smiling, "You have made quite a few fans here. And most of the other people will be close to our age. Teen music bands are usually attractive to the kids of our age mostly."
Yamato paused in his pacing, a look of horror on his face. Sora braced herself for another nerve attack.
"I never thought of that." Yamato whispered quietly.
"Thought of what?"
"What if there is not much public?" he asked, turning to Sora with dread, "I'm getting nervous over going public, but what if people are not interested at all? What if the concert is just a big failure?"
Sora stood up with a frown and glared at Yamato. He looked back with an anxious look and Sora sighed, loosening up.
"Yamato, why don't you relax?" she pulled him to the bench and sat him down forcefully. She then sat in front of him on her toes, "You have done half a dozen concerts for school now. You have made many fans. They love your music, your singing. You are good at this. So just relax. You will have a good audience tonight and they will love your singing just like everybody at school does. No need to be so nervous."
Yamato kept looking at her for few moments, digesting her words, then exhaled and gave her a slightly less nervous smile, "Okay. You are right. It will be all right even if no one comes."
Sora sighed, trying not to smile. He had extracted the wrong result of her long speech but she decided not to mention it. She looked up at him and bit her lower lip.
Nervous Yamato was kind of . . . cute.
Sora bolted out of her thoughts at that word, looking away from Yamato.
What am I thinking, she was surprised at herself, it's just . . . nothing, she told herself firmly, I did not just think that. I did not.
She stood up and stepped back a little. Yamato looked up at her in confusion.
"You are right," she smiled hesitantly, not meeting his eyes, "It's going to be all right."
x-x-x
A/N: Thank you everyone who reviewed my last two chapters. Because of your encouragement, this chapter was finished sooner than I expected. Thank you, Rayy (guest), AyakiStory, Narniagirl2, AmeliaPoptart, Sora Takenouchi Ishida, grandprincessanastasiaromanov5, misaki92, Sora Loves Rain and most of all CassandraOT5 for your nice words and liking the idea of these drabbles.