Chapter 2!

Yes, apparently this- and many other unpublished stories- is the reason to my slow update in The Everyday Snowstorm. Sorry, Shiranai Atsune-sempai-sama! D:

Jer-bear. Writing in bold so you can see this, you half-bear. :P Have you gotten my letter? AND YES, I DID PUSH THROUGH WITH THIS HELL YEAH. :))

OCs! OCs! Thank you for the submissions! :3 I can't guarantee acceptance, but good luck to us all! :D And from the looks of my current candidates, there's competition for Kazemaru, then Hiroto, then Sakuma! ;))

Buddies…whaddabout Tobitaka? Poor guy! D':

Disclaimer: I call dibs on the live-version Kazemaru!


2: The Victims

She could've called them, 'The Lucky Ones' if it weren't for her.

"Do you realize that you're missing two more people and two of these people don't even go to school?!"

The pale-skinned girl was sighing again as her cousin ranted on about the list she had made. On the field, Kazemaru was a great defender and listener- mainly because whatever he said would be drowned out by Endou's loud soccer-cheers anyway. "I swear, you will fail this challenge before it's even literally begun!"

The girl had her ears plugged.

"Sokudone, listen to me!" He and his cousin were off to the bridge by the riverbank to meet her guy best friend with whom she had late afternoon sundaes at Sherry's. "I'm talking to you, Done!" The tealnet was practically whining beside her now as she was grinning like mad.

Genda Koujirou raised a brow at the scene between the identical relatives.

"Hello, human fuzzball," The blackette greeted casually as she put her hands down. "Have I got a little offer for you!" As a response, the brunette goalkeeper grinned a Casanova grin. "I'll accept your suggestion."

'Sokudone's List of the Lucky Eight:'

"Wha— really?" The cousins were flabbergasted. Now it was Genda's turn to drop his grin. "Wait, so you weren't offering to treat me to Sherry's?"

"This coming from a successful moneymaker's son?" Sokudone scoffed. Her best friend's father was a prosperous businessman- even Kidou's father would admit so- and as the girl, she used her gender to her advantage to make Genda feel obliged to pay. The sole lass in the trio heading to the sundae shop felt her mouth pouting. She'd forgotten the beast-like keeper was a spoiled, rich brat.


'Number One,'

"You think I can't get myself a date for a formal event that's nine months away?" The spiky haired brunette tried not to laugh with an ice cream filled mouth. Across him, Kazemaru had an expression of definite doubt about his eccentric cousin's choice. Directly in front of Genda, Sokudone's face was scowling from the reaction. "Are you going to ask me to go with you again, like last year?"

'Genda Koujirou.'

Now it was Kazemaru's mouth that dropped faster than his spoon.

"What exactly is your relationship?" The tealnet defender asked, but his question hung in the air.


'Number Two,'

"Why are we shopping for penguin plushies?" Kazemaru asked that weekend. As the violet-eyed girl tossed a one-eyed fowl, she answered, "Bribery purposes. And if that doesn't work, I can threaten him with them."

"With penguin plushies."

"Call them false fowls. It sounds cooler that way." Sokudone grinned as she handed the money to the cashier. As Kazemaru had noticed about himself, all he had been doing in response to his bloodthirsty cousin's antics were sigh and ask questions disbelievingly.


"I have a really bad feeling about this," Kazemaru looked around the giant hall leading to Teikoku's soccer field. He heard Sokudone half-scoff, half-laugh in front of him as she pushed the shopping cart filled with artificial penguins. "You're a pessimist. Since when have you ever thought of something positive?"

"When Endou's around." He heard his cousin snort amusingly.


'Sakuma Jirou.'

"You do realize that the Valentine's Ball is nine months away from now, right?" The eyepatch wearing tealnet asked the identical cousins as he yielded practice. "And for the days between this month and the Valentine's Ball day, you're busy burying yourself in penguins and soccer. Where's the time for date-hunting?" The girl in denim jeans had her arms crossed victoriously. Sakuma sighed. "Now give me my penguins." Immediately, Kazemaru retracted the pocket knife from the stuffed flightless bird's beak and tossed it on the cart his cousin had brought earlier.

"By the way, what's the difference between close friends and best friends?" The one-eyed defender wondered to the two. The Teikoku striker put his arm around the smirking Megamino. "Simple," He answered casually.

"Genda's the overly-abused bestie."


"Oh, I know where this is going," The two brunettes- although had no history together- chorused nervously as a huge pile of yellow potassium rested on the dining table in the Kazemaru household. Sokudone grinned at her best friends. "He's my little circus monkey. It'll be easy."

'Number Three:'


"I don't see why I should be here too when Shuuya and I have to do the grocery shopping for his family," Kyogiaiko Nayujin still couldn't remove her eyes from the yellowy sight. "Sokudone, please don't kill him." The ex-Gemini Storm striker added, as she always did when she mentioned anything affiliated with her boyfriend.

The blackette clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

"That matter aside, I am not going to be his personal dart board," Genda Koujirou stood up and headed for the door, his wrath seething under his skin. "For a best friend, you can equal to an insensitive jerk." He said bitterly with his back turned, unaware of the figure approaching behind him.

Nayujin made a hissing sound. "Yikes."

"Oh, and you think of yourself as a goody-two-shoes, yeah?" The as-short-as-Kurimatsu player hopped on her best friend's back, almost knocking him off-balance from the sudden weight. "I'm your scapegoat, and you're mine. You scratch my back, I massage yours. Remember?" She heard and felt the Teikoku keeper snort. "That's the other way around."

"This is how you two make up?" The dark-eyed girl already chowing down on one of the potassium vessels asked behind the two best friends. Genda with Sokudone still in toll turned around to face her. "Better than spending all my Sherry's coupons on your Strawberry Madness sundaes," The blackette flashed a grin.


'Fudou Akio.'

"If it isn't my favorite onna," The almost bald boy grinned deviously at the sight of a banana-filled basket in the air. "What brings you here?" He asked as he took the basket from the disgusted girl's hand. "Why are you even in the hospital?" She scoffed appallingly as the other tall brunette beside her snarled at Fudou, who smirked slyly in response. "It's called banana hunting."


"So, about the Valentine's Ball…" Sokudone bit her lip uneasily, having full knowledge of the violent reaction the banana fan would have towards it. Genda, never having left his companion's side, was surprised to hear Fudou laugh. "You think this is funny?" The spiky brunette bared his teeth, irritated.

"Koujirou," The blackette shut her eyes, warning him. Hesitantly, the latter sat back down. Fudou managed to stop himself from getting the keeper in trouble more. "I figured you might need help looking for a date and so I decided I would help you." Sokudone literally said in one breath, but the Mohawk-brunette heard her clearly.

"Why can't it be you as my date? I won't bite," He finally answered her, with both of them ignoring Genda's surprised outburst in the background. Everyone who knew them well enough was aware of the physical relationship between the two; the boy may have been her pet monkey, but she was his favorite voodoo doll. Sokudone, though, was smiling with her teeth bared and eyes closed. "That's not going to happen anytime, Akio."

Fudou had an upset- but adorable- look in his face. "Why not?"

"Because you're bananas," Genda answered for his best friend, having seemingly recovered from his shock.


'Number Four:'

"Ugh, please do not drag me into something that you're going to leave me for halfway through in the process," Nayujin groaned as she felt an all-too familiar grip pulling her arm- and the rest of her- out of bed. "On one condition," The raven-haired midfielder grinned as she heard the thud of her bestie's head on the floor.

"No, dang it; you cannot kill Shuuya!"


'Kiyama Hiroto.'

"It's too early in the morning," Kira Hitomiko said as her head bobbed drowsily between the half-open door and doorpost. "Even for you, Nayujin."

"We just want to see Hiroto, Hitomiko-nee," The ex-resident of Sun Garden hastily said when the adult was about to close the door on them. "Just for a while!" Sokudone added behind her taller best friend. Hitomiko sighed tiredly as she let the two pleased girls into the waiting room.


"Invited? To a formal ball?" The half-awake redhead repeated questioningly as a green-haired boy crawled into the waiting room as well and on to Nayujin. "Come on. The team hasn't seen you ever since the FFI," The blackette reasoned out as her best friend struggled to avoid the sleeping Midorikawa's drool. Still, Hiroto was unmoved. "Other than a tuxedo, what else do I need?"

"Ehdeht…" Quietly and unintelligibly, the self-proclaimed matchmaker answered.

"She means a date; it's a Valentine's ball, after all," Nayujin managed to fend off another wave of her ex-teammate's slobber. "And since she's the one inviting you, she's decided to help you find one."

"Can Midorikawa come?"

"Not as your date though," The blackette apologized with a grin.


'Number Five:'

"I still don't understand how you can be so rude to Tobi," The girl with violet orbs said to the mirror as she lazily finger-combed her hair. "He's really nice, you know."

"He was rude to Endou and had a bad attitude from the start," The boy with the goggles retorted. "But that's the thing," Sokudone turned to face him in his five-star room. "That was all in the past, that was back then in the beginning; he's different now- we've all changed." Kidou Yuuto smirked. "You're sappy."

"At least I have a sense of fashion, and so does everyone else who doesn't wear a cape in bed. And that includes Tobi."


'Tobitaka Seiya'

"W-Welcome," The moose-haired ramen cook said the moment the door of Rairaiken slid open. "Kidou, Sokudone-san," He gaped momentarily before feeling the hot pan that Hibiki had just used on his head. "Hey Hibiki-san, Tobi," The girl smiled kindly as she and her companion sat on adjacent stools. "He didn't even add –san to my name," The caped strategist whispered as soon as Tobitaka was out of earshot.

The capeless sidekick punched him in the shoulder.


"What brings you here?" Hibiki entertained the two as his apprentice cooked the ramen in the kitchen. "Uh…" Confused as to how to answer, Sokudone could only gawk, which left Kidou to fill in for her, much to his dismay.

"She wants Tobitaka to attend the Valentine's Ball being held nine months from now. She promises to get him a date and a tux," The young cook's ears caught the words the moment they fled Kidou's mouth. "And no, I can't be his date because I've made plans!" Sokudone added impatiently when the elderly chef was about to hint to her.

'Number Six:'

"Have you?" The brunette was mildly surprised and quite amused. "Yes, m'dear gogglebrain, I have," She snapped back lightly as soon as their bowls were served. Kidou was secretly smug; everyone on the team knew Tobitaka felt indebted to Sokudone's kindness and supportiveness- rarely seen or felt by anyone- during the FFI which he repaid with homemade meals and shared recipes.

"Itadakimasu!" The childhood friends- thanks to Kageyama- chorused hungrily.


"Come shopping with me, soon, okay, Yuu-chan?" The blackette stuck out her tongue playfully at the taboo nickname the latter loathed. "What for? Sports bras? There's barely anything in there to hide in the first place," He joked as his mealmate and the young cook blushed simultaneously.

"For tuxedoes, stupid. Your dad acknowledges my fashion sense more than he'll ever appreciate yours."

'Kidou Yuuto.'


"So what are you going to do about the last two empty slots?" Nayujin asked as she examined her favorite cap. Sokudone put down the hot cocoa mugs on the table beside the fraud-alien's legs. "Long-distance relationships are so hard to keep," The petite one answered with a sly smile. "Especially when it's with boys."

"No way," The dark-eyed girl had difficulty reattaching her jaw back to her face. "You invited foreigners?!" But the violet-orbed girl only blinked on.

"I never mentioned anything like that," She said.


WELL. Pretty long! Still need more submissions since I'm quite having a difficult time. Maybe it's because of the sleep deprivation…oh well! At least you know who the six guys are (but you probably already did in chapter one after reading the A/N). :))

Reviews and OCs! *A*

-AniMa