a/n: not really kidou/fudou, but an idea that sparked up.
dedication: kidou/fudou has like magically turned into my otp and ohmigod the feels.
disclaimer: i own nothing.
summary: In which Endou wants a practice match and Kidou nearly has a heart attack when Shin Teikoku shows up. – Kidou/Fudou.
belief
i'm still a captain, kidou-kun
"It's been three hours, Endou! Give it a break!" Kazemaru groaned as he slumped to his knees, exhausted, "The hissatsu won't work – not everything in life does!"
"No," Endou said defiantly, somewhat marred by the sweat pouring off his face, "We'll accomplish it if it's the last thing we do!" He may have put on a cheerful face, but his teammates knew that the inexplicable failure of the hissatsu was bothering him as well.
Around the field, various Raimon members were panting on the ground, completely exhausted from the latest strenuous practice Endou had held in the hopes that the tactics would finally, finally, work itself out. A few of their friends had come to visit, trying to help Raimon achieve their goal.
Or well, most of them were.
"The way things are going, it might as well be," Fudou grinned, bouncing the ball on one knee.
"Thank you, Fudou, for your unfathomable wisdom," Kidou said dryly, before getting up and dusting off his cape, "Endou, I'm ready for another go if you are."
Ignoring Fudou's snickering on his unfortunate choice of words, Kidou and Endou took their places at the starting position, the midfield position. Kazemaru groaned and grumbled something about ungodly stamina – sending Fudou into full-blown laughter – before lurching to his feet and swiping the ball away from the grinning midfielder. Gouenji straightened up in his position, at the opposite goal.
After a sharp glance from Endou, the remnants of Raimon got up, groaning, and resumed the laps they had been doing around the soccer field. According to Fuyuka – the self-proclaimed expert on Endou Daisuke's handwriting – the latest hissatsuwaza required four people.
One to accelerate the ball – Kazemaru – two to receive and coordinate footwork to the extent that it would fool the enemy – Kidou and Endou – and a striker for the final shot – Gouenji.
Unfortunately, Kazemaru's acceleration couldn't be synchronized with Kidou and Endou and the ball usually decelerated by the time it reached the opponent – Fudou and Tobitaka had both come to help – and the hissatsu failed, every time.
"Fine," Kazemaru huffed, kicking the ball to the penalty line and facing towards the field, "Let's get this over with."
"Are you sure you can handle it, Kaze-chan?" Fudou called out, grinning when the blue-haired defender shot him a glare. The gamemaker was getting progressively bored with the endless failed attempts and had resorting to innuendos and quips laced with double meaning – not that Raimon was making it difficult for him.
"Fuck you, Fudou," Kazemaru muttered, starting the dribble and increasing his speed in the few seconds it took to reach Endou and Kidou. His speed was still remarkable, but the endless practice had taken its toll.
"I'd love to, Kaze-chan – time and place?"
Endou and Kidou received the soccer ball but the it carried itself with its own momentum, along with the extra burst of force Kazemaru had tacked on in the end. They tried desperately to keep up with it, passing it back and forth, but the ball slowed to their pace and when they passed Fudou, at the center line, the ball had vanished.
"Man, that was even more pathetic, if such a thing was possible," Fudou looked back at them, the ball spinning innocently on his knee. Gouenji slumped again, resigned to his fate of standing there until the ball actually came to him.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Fudou," Kidou sighed before wearily trudging back to his position. He knew that if he let himself stop, he wouldn't have the strength to keep moving.
"Anytime, Kidou-kun," Fudou grinned, showing a full set of teeth in a predatory manner that reminded Kidou of a shark.
"Come on, Kazemaru!" Endou raised a hand, his unexplainable optimism still rearing its head, "One more time!"
"You said that a week ago," Kazemaru reminded his captain, but made it back to the penalty line, nonetheless.
Failure, especially at this stage, was unforgivable.
"You lot are useless," Fudou surveyed them with a raised eyebrow, before looking to the sidelines, "Tobitaka, switch!"
The purple-haired defender looked up from the book he was reading, lounging on the grass in the semi-shade and agreed, taking Fudou's place on the center line and leaving the gamemaker to relax in the shadows.
Endou's line of sight followed Fudou to where many of his teammates were likewise sleeping in the grass.
"OI, GET UP YOU BAKAS! I DON'T REMEMBER CALLING FOR A BREAK!"
They quickly complied with their captain's orders, getting up and starting to run again, many of them shooting Fudou envious looks.
Kazemaru groaned at Endou's shout but started the hissatsu again, putting possibly the least effort he could. The ball arrived to Kidou and Endou and rolled to a stop in front of them. Endou ran towards it, intent on finishing their part, only to stop when Kidou didn't appear next to him.
Looking back, he saw the Raimon gamemaker on his knees, breathing shallowly, looking about three steps away from collapsing in the dust. "Sorry Endou," Kidou couldn't even lift his head, "I can't finish it."
"Get up, Kidou," Endou said through harsh breaths, his cheerfulness faltering at the long, gruesome practice, "We're so close to finishing it, please, let's just do it one more time –"
"Open your fucking eyes, idiot," Fudou was propped up on his elbows, staring at Endou with a sort of finality in his eyes, "They're exhausted. They don't want to do it one more time. Hell, I haven't even been here for one week and even I can tell its time to –"
"To what?" Endou scowled, "To give up? I don't know how it works in Teikoku, but Raimon never gives up!"
"Tell that to your fucking team, loser," Fudou laughed. Looking around, it quickly became apparent that Fudou was right – Kazemaru was lying on his back, his eyes closed. Kidou didn't look like he was about to get up either. The Raimon members running their laps had collapsed somewhere in between. Tobitaka had reverted to his usual pastime of fixing his hair. Even Gouenji had sat down, fixing Endou with a resolute stare that practically screamed 'Make me get up. Go on, I dare you to.'
Well. That certainly cleared things up.
"Now what am I supposed to do?" Endou sat down, pretending his muscles weren't jumping up and down in complete ecstasy, "I know we can do this hissatsu, I just know it. But no matter what we try, it just won't happen."
"Believe me, I know," Fudou shot back, "I was there for three hours of it."
"Well then, tensai-sama, what do you suggest?" Endou retorted, feeling petulant.
"If you want the genius, it's Kidou-kun, not me. Ask your own gamemaker, captain," Fudou laughed, mockingly using the former title. Endou ignored the scorn heaped onto Fudou's words and looked over to Kidou's slumped form, turning his scowl into the pretty-please-puppydog look that Natsumi had helped him forge.
Kidou looked up, caught the sight of Endou's pleading look and promptly groaned. "Endou, some hissatsus just don't work out," he tried to phrase it in a way that wouldn't hurt, until he got a headache and decided well, fuck it. "You can't always have everything, Endou."
Both of them ignored the 'but of course you can, Kidou-kun, spoilt little brat you are' that came from Fudou's general direction.
"No," Endou got up, surprising absolutely no one with his renewed determination, "We will finish this hissatsu. The Raimon Eleven never gives up!"
His declaration was met with halfhearted cheers, blatant dismissal and even a snort from Tobitaka who clearly spent too much time around Fudou ever since the ex-delinquent transferred to Teikoku.
"That was touching," Fudou snarked, "That was some heartwarming shit, right there. Tobitaka, make a note of it – I'll use that quote in my speech at Endou's funeral. Here's to a brave, determined man who was deceitfully murdered by his best friends."
"A murder that was completely justified, just so we're on the same page," Kidou muttered.
Endou ignored both of them, "I know we can do it – all we have to do is synchronize properly."
"How do you plan on doing that?" Tobitaka asked, sounding genuinely curious. Fudou and Kidou groaned at the same time.
"By putting it to the test," Endou's smile was just a little too dark to be comforting, "We're going to play an exhibition match!"
Kazemaru merely squeezed his eyes shut, as if pretending he hadn't heard his captain. The other members of Raimon did the same, hoping that by playing dead they wouldn't be roped into more of Endou's tortu – training. Gouenji shook his head in exasperation while Kidou didn't even bother. Fudou looked over to the field, an eyebrow raised, "What, now?"
Endou opened his mouth to answer the affirmative but caught the black looks that everyone was sending him and took a hint, "Well, tomorrow, then."
"Endou," Kidou had an expression of long-suffering patience, "It's the middle of summer break. Who the hell is going to play against us?"
"Kidokawa and Zeus won't help us," Gouenji said, listing off the teams, "Hakuren and Okinawa are too far away. Tachimukai's team is scattered on break. Last time I checked, Aliea was planning an extended vacation."
"Teikoku is unavailable," Tobitaka continued, "And none of the other teams I know will come to play against us on such a short notice."
Endou visibly wilted.
"None of the teams you know, Eaglehawk," Fudou laughed, "I'd wager that I knew a couple of teams willing to lend us a hand."
"Like who?" Kidou asked, "The Gangster Group? The Rebel Revolution? Don't hold your breath."
Fudou smiled at Kidou's irritated sarcasm, "In fact, I think I know the perfect team. I'll meet you here tomorrow, same time." He got up to leave, a devious smile on his face, "I'll have to make a few calls, but this is probably as good as you're going to get."
Of course, with that mischievous expression on Fudou's face, Kidou should've really expected something like this.
"I thought Teikoku was unavailable," Gouenji remarked to Tobitaka, watching a set of eleven teenagers in dark green and red uniforms enter. Fudou was talking animatedly to them, using large hand gestures to detail his words.
"Teikoku is," Tobitaka replied, looking somewhat confused, "They aren't members of Teikoku."
"What are you talking about?" Gouenji frowned. Sure, the uniforms were slightly darker and Fudou was wearing the captain's band while Jimon was captain last time he checked, but the team seemed the same, "Sakuma and Genda are right there."
"That isn't Teikoku," Kazemaru echoed, looking deathly pale. Next to him, Endou looked as if he'd seen a ghost. "I haven't seen that team in years."
"Shin Teikoku," Kidou said, as if voicing the name out loud would make the scene before them any less real. Gouenji looked perplexed, still not making the connection, though various members of Raimon were beginning to snap out of their dazed states.
They watched the team come closer to them, finally stopping to halt opposite Raimon. Fudou grinned, his expression one of pure delight as he beheld the shocked and fearful looks thrown his way.
"Fudou," Kidou spat, "What is the meaning of this?"
"Kidou-kun, no need to be so rude," Fudou's smirk threatened to split his face in half, "This is Shin Teikoku. Shin Teikoku, Kidou Yuuto. You've met before."
"I remember," Sakuma stepped to Fudou's right, an impish grin on his face, "Quite an intense game that was. I look forward to a rematch." Kidou got another shock at Sakuma's face – once more he'd replaced his normal eyepatch with the tinted one. In fact, everything had been replicated down to the smallest detail – Genda's hair, the uniforms, everything except –
"And in order to make it even more realistic…" Fudou drew a necklace out of his pocket, a simple string with a purple pendant. Even though Kidou realized it was fake, his eyes still widened with shock as Fudou put on the pendant, the purple stone gleaming as a reminder of the dark power that had enticed them all.
"The team that you told us about was Shin Teikoku?" Kidou had never seen Endou so close to losing his temper when soccer wasn't on the line. "Who in their right mind would think that they would be perfect for a match?"
Kidou saw the imperceptible narrowing of Fudou's eyes, indicating that Endou's words had roused his ire. "Your new hissatsu requires strategy. Baring Kidou, I am the best gamemaker in Japan and you've never beaten my team."
"They used forbidden techniques!"
"You talk and talk and all I hear are excuses," Fudou smirked, "I can understand if you're too scared, especially against big, bad Shin Teikoku."
"I'm not scared," Endou gritted his teeth, looking more incensed than ever. Privately, Kidou marveled at Fudou's ability to piss people off – he'd turned it into quite the talent.
"Then let's get this show on the road," Fudou turned, heading for the opposite side of the field, "Unlike you, my time's actually worth something – use too much of it and you'll have to pay."
Kidou had to admit, Shin Teikoku was good.
The first time they had played, Fudou had relied on the Aliea meteorite and forbidden techniques and rough playing but none of those came into the picture here. They worked like a well-oiled machine, their teamwork was finely honed and their hissatsus complemented each other in a way Kidou had never seen before. On top of it all, Fudou had grown even stronger as a gamemaker – his plays were perfect, he utilized his teammates' abilities to the maximum and his ball control was the best Kidou had ever seen, Toramaru included.
His moves were challenging enough to give Japan's tensai gamemaker a run for his money.
Kidou belatedly realized that they should've really kept a closer eye on Fudou. Even Sakuma and Genda had leveled up considerably since the last time they'd met, at the finals of the Soccer Frontier. And Shin Teikoku…
He couldn't imagine the amount of preparation and willpower it must've took to keep the team running, to keep playing, to train until the entire team moved like one. Kidou's gamemaking abilities were undisputable, but it had been awhile since he'd seen captainship done that well.
Fudou frequently left openings for them to try their new hissatsu, and it continued to fail. Either Fudou or Sakuma were always waiting at the center line, quick to steal the ball and try another attempt on the goal.
The game went back and forth, both teams playing their fiercest as the score remained tied, 0 – 0.
Finally, Kidou saw it.
An opening – too small to be intentional – had opened on the left flank. Signaling Kazemaru, he passed the ball and took off, Endou joining him from the goal just as Kazemaru's kick reached him. The two of them kept the ball at the speed it was, swerving through midfielders at breakneck speeds. They were rewarded as their movements finally clicked into sync, causing the soccer ball to glow a dark green.
Shooting pass the center line and a shocked Fudou, they passed the ball to Gouenji, who looked so surprised he almost forgot what his part was. Fortunately, he remembered, altering the ball's trajectory until it was aimed straight into the goal, he sent it onwards with his own boost.
The ball crackled with red electricity as it flew straight towards Genda. The goalkeeper has sufficiently recovered from the shock of the completed hissatsu to bring out his own techniques but the soccer ball shattered through them all. It stopped spinning against the net and bounced down at Genda's feet.
"GOAL! Raimon leads Shin Teikoku, 1 – 0!"
"We completed it," Endou said softly, awed, "We actually completed it!" He did an impromptu cheer in the midfield, much to the amusement of all the players.
"Finally," Kazemaru said, sounding extremely relieved. Even Kidou let his own relief flood him – he'd begun to think it was impossible.
"Don't sound too happy, Kaze-chan," Fudou grinned as Genda kicked the ball back into play, "The game's not over yet and Shin Teikoku doesn't like losing."
The ball rolled to Fudou's feet and he stopped it, putting a foot on the soccer ball and smirking, the dark smile that the old Fudou would've worn, back when he was under the influence of Aliea Gakuen and Kageyama.
All it took was one name for Kidou to realize that something was about to go horribly wrong.
"Sakuma!" Fudou yelled, causing an onslaught of déjà vu to stop Kidou in his tracks, "Go!" He passed the ball to Sakuma, who stood in front of the goal with an eerily familiar smile on his face – a smile that broke Kidou out of his trance and sent him running.
"Winning is the only thing that matters." Kidou heard Sakuma's whisper and saw the crazed light in his eyes and knew that he'd be too late.
"Emperor Penguin Ichigo!" Sakuma yelled, choking on his words a second later and collapsing to his knees, shaking. Kidou could only watch in horror as Sakuma trembled, clearly in agony as he doubled over, shaking with the effort not to –
Wait a minute. He was laughing.
Kidou looked around and saw most of Raimon transfixed, unable to move in astonishment. Shin Teikoku looked fairly alarmed, though Genda had only raised an eyebrow in response to Sakuma's move and Fudou –
And Fudou was next to Sakuma, kicking the soccer ball straight into the goal, past Endou's shell-shocked figure.
"GOAL! Raimon ties with Shin Teikoku, 1 – 1!" The whistle blew three seconds later.
"Crude, but effective," Fudou remarked as he held a hand out to Sakuma, which the still-wheezing boy accepted, pulling himself upright. "Nice touch with the evil smile, by the way – you almost fooled me."
"That'll be the day, Fudou," Sakuma shook his head, chuckling, as his teammates started to realize what had happened and dissolved into a mixture of scolds and praises for the shot that tied the game.
Meanwhile, Kidou discovered that his mouth was, indeed, functioning properly. "What the hell was that about?" he said, so angry that his words turned to a hiss, "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"That was the plan, Kidou," Sakuma grinned, looking completely unapologetic about it. Kidou quickly decided that he spent too much time around Fudou.
"It almost gave me a heart attack," Genda remarked, coming up from the goal.
"Well then, it's a good thing the soccer ball wasn't on our side, then," Fudou quipped. Kidou could practically see his dark influence saturating the air and corrupting them all.
"That was a nasty trick!" Endou looked righteously angry, "It was a dirty, underhanded thing to do! I expected better from you!"
"It won us the game and didn't break any rules," Fudou pointed out, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Besides," Sakuma reasoned, "We helped you, didn't we? Your hissatsu was completed, whatever it was called."
"I wouldn't be so impolite to those who've rendered you their services," Genda said coolly, looking down at Endou, who seethed at the blatant reminder of Shin Teikoku's help.
Kidou felt his heartbeat gradually start to slow down and wondered whether Fudou's general behavior was contagious, and if it was – as evidenced by Tobitaka, Sakuma and Genda – how long it'd take before he became thoroughly infected as well.
le fin
a/n: well, then. the first step towards creating more fudou love, in general.