Chalk scraping against the blackboard, lids drooping over glossy [e/c] orbs, and pencil slowly deteriorating it's quick pace in copying notes. You were losing focus; fast. Maybe - Maybe just five minutes of sleep will do you some justice, perhaps shift your mindset from attempting not to pass out to actually listening to the lesson.

Giving into that nagging feeling of sleep, you folded your arms over your desk and plopped your head comfortably on top while your eyelids fluttered closed. Five minutes...five minutes...was what you told yourself before you were completely pulled away from conscious into dreamland. You even had a strange dream involving Matatagi leading a parade of cats, and strangely enough one of the cute creatures trailing behind looked strikingly similar to Ibuki.

"You fell asleep during the lesson? You're an idiot."

You felt a chill run down your spine as you heard that distant insult, and the dream you were indulged in was promptly ripped from you due to the harsh pain being inflicted on your forehead. Jolting from your sleep, your hand instantly came to alleviate the stinging occurring on your head. "Ow, ow."

"Ah, you woke up. Good Morning, sleepyhead," a voice teased, laughing as you gave them a dazed expression, and he could tell that you were still half-asleep. "Should I smack you again?" Matatagi divulged under his breath, genuine in his claim though.

"Matatagi...?" you dumbly confirmed, a hand coming to rub the excess sleepiness lurking in your body. You sat up in your seat, arms now stretching out your stiff muscles. "What are you doing here?" Oh, it looks like no one else is here - wait, how long did you sleep for?!

What an obvious question. "It's already been two weeks, and you're still asking me that?" he rolled his eyes, yeah, that little nap must still be messing with your head. A lovely two weeks has passed since Matatagi proposed that little contract, and you had abided by that term. Not much has happened - asides from sneaking off during your practices, and simply just...hanging out? It was rather boring. "I actually have something I want you to do."

"Hm? What is it?" cue another eye rub, which Matatagi felt his heart rate increase. What was this—Why did you suddenly look a lot cuter than usual? How stupid, thinking such things over something as frivolous as you waking yourself up.

"Well..."

.

Hair tied back as best as you could, you rolled up your uniform sleeves and tackled the task at hand. Making a bento for Matatagi wasn't something you'd like to be spending your night when you could be finishing that unsightly line of homework sitting in your bag. But, this had to be done! Smacking your cheeks to give yourself a shot of adrenaline and focus, you pulled out the eggs from the fridge and cracked them over the pan.

.

Jogging up the stony steps to the rooftop, you cradled the precious bento for Matatgi with you, and you ascended up the steps at a fast velocity. You pried open the metal doors once you were at the top, and thankfully no one came here, and that's the only reason why you agreed to meet up with him at lunch. If you two weren't seen by anybody sharing a lunch together, no one would know or get any ideas.

Just as you predicted Matatagi was there up on the rooftop, cherry-blossom wind flowing through his brown tresses as he leaned dangerously on the railing while he waited for you to make your famous arrival. It'd be a lie if he hadn't admitted to not being secretly pleased with meeting you here today, so he indubitably had to hide that smile when he finally heard your voice fly into his eardrums.

"Wow, you really came," he dumbly blurted out; though he truly held no doubts there in you making your presence known. Your disposition within keeping strong to this contract was evident, so espying you here wasn't all that shocking.

You came closer to him, nodding your head whilst rolling your [e/c] eyes sarcastically, "Who do you think I am? You asked for lunch, and so I delivered," you countered to him, finally making your way to the spot adjacent of Matatagi. "Here," you added, jabbing the box at his arm to signal for him to take it.

Graciously taking the box, he pivoted in his spot so his back hit the metal railing, and leaned against it again as he unraveled the cloth from around the box; plucking off the lid and settling the inner box within in it. There was a lot of food stuffed within the smaller confines, and he felt an inkling of surprise wave through him at how much you were actually able to pack...and actually packed.

"Thank you," he replied before taking the chopsticks and immediately digging into the array of food offered in front of him. A smile curled on his lips upon impact, the taste swirling around his taste buds and drowning him in a delectable flavor. "It's good! I didn't know you could cook this well," he exclaimed with a mouthful, uncaring that every word said was muffled from his eating.

"Of course I can cook! I sometimes make lunch for the basketball team," you point out to him. You don't make them very often though, but sometimes during meets you'd make a large lunch for them to enjoy before the match as another source for energy before they tackled the game. Everyone there seemed to appreciate it a lot, too; especially Ibuki. He'd always be first to grab the right utensils and dig into the food hungrily, compliment you with a lot of zest afterwards too.

The thought made you giggle. "What's so funny?" Matatagi questioned as he picked up on your string of laughs, and he gave you a curious stare as you settled your laughs but the smile stayed.

"Nothing. I'm just thinking about someone," you honestly confessed but opted not to divulge the name, you didn't particularly want him waltzing into every aspect of your life...he's already 'took' the title of being your boyfriend, you don't need him knowing about your strong feelings for Ibuki.

Someone? Who? Matatagi narrowed his eyes at you, causing a shudder to rack down your spine involuntarily. Is that why you wanted to keep it a secret? There's someone else you're interested in. Without realizing it, Matatagi had grown extremely agitated and antsy at the thought; who could it be? Obviously someone from the basketball team.

He had a rival, and he didn't even know it.

Everyone was practicing rigorously as usual during practice, sweat bouncing from their forearms as they hurriedly sped through drills, and their breaths were tattered from the intensity of nonstop effort. Ibuki was shooting hoops as always, maneuvering himself skillfully around his teammates before swishing the basketball into the hoop perfectly.

Your [e/c] orbs glanced over at the clock perched high in the gym wall, hands of the clock directing at the numbers to signify practice was about to come to an end, so you stood from your spot and yelled out, "Five more minutes! Don't stop now, keep going!" Your message was successfully conveyed to them as they all picked up their paces to challenge themselves for the final stretch of time.

You truly loved seeing the team like this.

Setting yourself back onto the bench, hands instinctively clutching the whistle wrung around your neck on a thin string, you gave your full attention to individual members for short intervals until your gaze finally met Ibuki for the last minute; the same intense stare of focus, and concentration contorting in every crevice in his toned face.

As if his playing was in sync with the time, the final hoop he made was the second practice was to be halted, and you blew your high-pitched whistle which jolted everyone from their plays and caused them to stop. The squeak of their shoes stopped, and everyone's breaths mingled together in the air as they panted to regain their breath before conversing amongst each other.

"Good work everyone! See you tomorrow, and remember to eat a good dinner!" you chimed to them all, some of them waving bye to you as they collected their towels and such to bring back with them to the changing rooms. Ibuki was last to pick up his items, and it was on purpose of course; but you didn't have to know that.

"Oh, Ibuki-kun! I have something for you," you suddenly piped up as he picked up a towel and wiped away at the sweaty skin from his face. He gave you a curious look, and mumbled out "What is it?", not entirely sure what sort of thing you'd bring to him of all people. You picked up your bag from the floor and riffled through the contents before finally fishing out what you wanted to give him. "Here," you added, gesturing a box over in his direction.

"A bento?" he questioned, putting down his soaked towel and taking the box from your soft hands.

"Mhm! I made too much for lunch...and I thought you might like to have it," you murmured out, a fresh blush flourishing on your cheeks as he received the box and you discerned that subtle smile curving on his lips. "You can bring me back the container tomorrow, okay? It's my favorite," you commented, slinging the aforementioned bag over your shoulder and getting up from your seat.

Ibuki inspected the box for a hurried moment, recognizing the [f/c] colored polka-dots, and little bows peppered over it; what a simplistic yet cute design. "Thanks," he breathed out, still a bit shocked to get this from you; but definitely happy nonetheless.

"Hm? Did you say something?" you inquired, not having picked up on his gratitude. You were about to go turn away because you still had work to finish up doing before you were able to leave the vicinity of the gym, but Ibuki's iron-grip prevented you from doing so: his lightly calloused hand wrung around your hand, inevitably tugging and turning you around back to him. You were practically flush against him as he leaned down and whispered in your ear, "Thanks. I'll eat it all."

Every inch of your skin crawled with goosebumps as his hot breath fanned over your ear, and then the torrent of heat came promptly afterwards. You could feel your entire body temperature rise as he relinquished his hold on you, and you stammered out, "I-It's fine! Please tell me how it is tomorrow!" You spun speedily on your heel, marching off swiftly to go push the basketball carts into the equipment room and attempt to lower the humidity level coursing through your body.

An even larger grin split onto Ibuki's face as he watched your fleeting, and embarrassed figure vanish to the equipment room.

a/n; I FINALLY UPDATED—

When I read your question Lotus, I was literally in the middle of working on this! This is definitely still ongoing, thank you for thinking about it! Dedicated to youu~ (^q^)

inazuma eleven go (galaxy) © level-5