A golden sun rose above the horizon, bright rays breaching out from the light white clouds and drowning the earth in it's morning glory. Two stiff arms stretched into the air which relieved the tension growing throughout the muscles, you pried open your tired lids, suddenly remembering your goal for being up so early.

Morning practice of course!

Sadly, it was an accommodation that typically fell on a Friday, since no one attends the school during the weekends; which meant no gym available to train over that time span, so Ms. Akiyama proposed a while ago that there be a double practice on Fridays. It was one of the only smart ideas that wretched woman has, and you had to give her some credit in that aspect. As much as you dislike removing yourself from your bed two hours early...

You arrived at the scene punctually, always right on the dot of time, and unsurprisingly caught sight of Ibuki practicing as hard as usual. However, that normal clamor of the large doors which wouldn't faze him did, and he found himself stopping in his tracks, and turning back towards you. "Morning," he nonchalantly greeted while propping the basketball under his arm.

Waving your hand, you reciprocated his small greeting. "Good morning, Ibuki-kun." after saying that you strolled over to the bench, quickly catching glimpse of your box set out on the bench. Your eyes steady themselves over to Ibuki who's already on his way over to you.

"It was really good. The bento, I mean. I'm glad I got to eat all of it without having to share any of it," he announced calmly, almost acting as if that selfish sentence hadn't bothered him at all. He's ate your lunches previously, except, as mentioned before, you shared it with the entirety of the team. In this situation, he could eat everything served without having to worry about another pesky member (The other basketball team members weren't even worthy of your lunches!) attempting to steal it all.

You beamed brightly, gaze now riveted on the box beside you as a flood of elation gyrated through your being. "Thank you! But come on, you shouldn't be too greedy," you jokingly scolded, that evident splash teasing coloring your words.

Ibuki easily caught onto that, but he felt the rush of unfairness palpitate his heart nonetheless. Ibuki was always the lone-wolf type, pressuring himself and depending on his own abilities, yet he had to admit when it came to you that didn't mean anything anymore. He knew his worth, he wanted you to see it, and frankly speaking he only wanted you by his side; despite everything you selflessly stood as the team's manager, caring so much for each individual member along as a whole.

Selfishly, he wanted you all to himself, so for you to tell him not to be too greedy was something he certainly couldn't abide to with his full heart. He didn't want you paying attention to those other worthless members as much as him...he's the one with the talent. "I need to eat lots," was his counter to you, quite blunt and certainly not flashing any emotions clamped behind his tough exterior. "Besides you gave it to me, so let me enjoy having it to myself."

He had a point. "Fine, fine."

Just then, the rest of the members came piling through the doors, pooling into the gym and curtly cutting off your alone time with Ibuki. Both of you were discreetly cursing under your breath, Ibuki not so quietly, upset that you could no longer be dawned in precious time alone. You not so much; just being by Ibuki's side, whether or not someone was around, was enough for you.

"Alright, is everyone here?" you questioned, standing up from your spot and briefly rummaging through your bag for the clipboard. You turned most of your attention away from Ibuki, dictating it onto the crowd of people now flooding within the gym. "I changed up the menu a bit! This should help improve your individual stats before our next match!"

'Yesss, [Last Name]-san!'

Everyone was doing splendid so far! Some members worked on perfecting their shots, while others teamed up to do varying passes to each other, and the remaining amount of them trained their dribbling by swooshing skillfully around tacky orange cones you set up intricately into a zig-zag pattern. You figured you could call break soon, seeing as how sluggishly their strength deteriorated over the course of time; they had been at it for a bit now.

Deciding mentally to stop them in ten minutes, you focused your thoughts back to the players and their training. The next few moments passed by slowly, a dwindling amount of high tension stringing into the air, until everything sped up in an instant; right before your eyes a spheroid ball came flying in your direction, inches away from slamming against you, and you could only screw your eyes shut as you awaited the sudden impact whilst a shriek was torn from your throat.

"[Name]!" the blunt voice of Ibuki shouted, raw with shock and concern, and his sneakers squeaked as he raced against the clock to charge for your form. His heated tempo proved to be in his favor, and he was able to knock the ball roughly away from its dangerous course of hitting you just in the nick of time. Your eyes were pried open as you felt something come around your body with a tender warmth. "You're fine," he breathed, breath ragged from the inkling of panic he briefly felt and his lumbering steps over to you.

Realizing his arms were around you, the familiar bounce of a ricocheted ball resounded through your ears, and you could only bring your hands up to grab fistfuls of the back of his shirt. You were transfixed on what happened, the heat collecting on your cheeks was distant in your conscious, one minute you had a ball flying at you and the next you were wrapped up in Ibuki's embrace.

"Th-Thanks," you breathlessly expressed your gratitude. He had just saved you so heroically, and you were also positive he was on the complete opposite side of the court; had he really ran the entire way just to save you from an impending basketball? Pondering on that crashed you back to earth and you pushed yourself heatedly against Ibuki, suddenly desperate for his hug. "Really...Wow."

"Don't worry about it. You're safe," he exasperated, another rare and devilishly handsome smile curving on his lips as the two of you finally peeled yourselves from each other. The member who had accidentally threw the ball your way had yet to have of confessed and apologize for his harmful mistake, and Ibuki certainly wouldn't have that.

Pivoting on his spot, a dangerously abhor glare being shot at the entirety of the team, and he bellowed out, "Who threw that?!" Everyone stayed quiet, every member with abashed expressions hung their heads a bit lower, and clearly unwilling to admit to anything. "What are you doing! [Last Name] could've gotten hurt, and you idiots aren't doing anything!" he ranted, scolding everyone in his line of sight as you stood behind him...wondering to yourself if you should pipe up now.

"Ibuki-kun, it's alright. I'm sure it was an accident, so—" you were promptly cut short as he rendered his terrifying gaze onto you, obvious anger glistening over his plum orbs; he was in sheer vexation over this matter, you could tell.

"It doesn't matter! Whoever did it should really step up and say they're sorry," he argued with you, tone dropping an octave due to his aggression. He didn't mean to take any of his anger out on you, but he was in such a state of wanting to protect your well-being, he let it shelter him more than he might've intended.

You sucked in air, unsure on how to settle him down, yet you acted on your instinct and reached over and clutched his hand; feeling the lightly calloused skin smother against your own softer feel. Ibuki let out an inaudible gasp, feeling his anger disperse gradually as he squeezed your hand back, and his flushed cheeks died down into the typical pale he always wore. "Thank you for defending me. We should get back to practice, and pretend that this didn't happen, alright?" you bargained with him a bit, and he found himself idly nodding his head; unable to forget the hand locked with his, or the brave act he just pulled off.

You forgot your notes back at your classroom, the school day along with practice had both punctually ended, and you scampered hurriedly through the hallways to get back your lost item. Upon entering your classroom, you saw Matatagi suavely leaning against a desk with your notorious, glaucous notebook in his hands and being waved in the air.

"I figured you'd come back for them," he surmised, lips quirked into a charming smile that seemed to have been accentuated by the rays of sunset seeping through the glass windows.

Nodding your head, you slid the door closed behind you, barely a sound being made except the subtle ring of wood sliding against wood. "Did I leave it on my desk?" you questioned, inwardly groaning as you prayed he hadn't taken a peak inside it yet. You had some personal stuff you could really do without him knowing. Or anyone for that matter.

Now it was his turn to nod his head, "Yeah. You're lucky I forgot something, too." As you approached closer to him to take back what was rightfully yours, he stood up with the notebook hanging loosely from his hand into the air. "Ask nicely~"

Oh, nice; he was teasing you. "Please give me my notebook," you mumbled, griping silently under your breath. What was even the point in this? He should just really give you back your notebook. A bashful grin splitting on his face, and tiny yellow-colored flowers popping up around the frame of his face occurred before he leaned over and gave you a quick peck on your cheek before handing back your notebook.

"It wasn't that hard, right? I'd hope not." He'd be a little concerned on how idiotic you really are. "Ah, that reminds me. Are you free tomorrow?" he queried, head tilting to the left slightly as he asked.

You shook your head, brows furrowing together in confusion. You never had anything planned on the weekends, typically. Matatagi gave you a thumbs up as he noticed the answer he was hoping for, "Good. Tomorrow, we're going on a date!"

"Wh-What?! You want to go on a date?" you stammered out, cheeks beginning to dust a cute shade of pink. You had never been on a date before, and you were sort of hoping that the one who took it from you was Ibuki not Matatagi(he seemed to be stealing your first everything).

"This new amusement park is having its grand opening tomorrow, and all the tickets are free. I thought It'd be fun if we went together," he enunciated the word 'together' to get his point across. You could only swallow thickly, it seemed as if you hadn't a choice. Well, an amusement park date does sound like fun you had to admit— "I'm your boyfriend, so let's go together."

"Alright," you agreed to his idea. Then he began to discuss what time he'd come pick you up at your house, and that you should dress for slightly humid weather. After that was all finished, he gave your cheek one last kiss before promptly telling you he would walk you home.

a/n; I'm super excited for the next chapter! Cute date with Matatagi? yes pls. Thank you for reading!

inazuma eleven go (galaxy) © level-5