Notes: Wow, 2 months to get this chapter out? I totally apologize for that. November was NaNoWriMo month and December has to be one of the busiest and most stressful month for me. So the moment January kicked in, I told myself I HAD to get back into finishing this story!
Only to realize I can't finish it just yet. As I feared, I'm going to write another chapter which HOPEFULLY will be the last chapter that ties everything up... Unless I find more reasons to keep writing. Can't confirm anything. But then again, I see a lot of you are enjoying the fluff and I suppose you might be happy with that? XD If you are, great!
Simple, slightly fluffy (I wanted to make it more fluffy, I swear! But Mamori wouldn't comply!) chapter ahead. I hope to make the next chapter a little more interesting that fills in the blanks I made here. Enjoy!
The first thing Mamori heard before fully waking up was the sound of tapping. That sound always felt familiar somehow, like she had heard it over a million times by now. The image of the person who was usually the source of that sound began to form before her slowly-opening eyelids. But she soon realized that the tapping was irregular, and there were sounds of gunshots.
That's strange… she thought to herself, before finally opening her eyes.
It took a while for her to realize that she was not in Hiruma's room where she last remembered. She was lying down, instead, on the couch in the hall. A short peek outside revealed it was still dark and judging by how cold it felt, it must be in the middle of the night or maybe close to morning. But a thick, warm comforter lay where it was placed above Mamori, protecting her from the cold. And sitting right before the couch where she lay was Hiruma.
Sitting idly on the floor and leaning against the couch with a jacket on, it was not his laptop that he was tapping, but a game console controller. Mamori's eyes trailed the connection of the controller to what appeared to be a Playstation 3. Just above that, a television displayed a first shooter game with a character holding a rifle as he moved quietly through a dense forest.
The sight confused her. Him? Playing a video game? "Hiruma… kun?" she spoke up, a little hoarsely.
Tapping a few more times before finally hitting pause, Hiruma turned to Mamori with a grin. "You're finally awake," he said. "Not dreaming again are you?"
"Dreaming?" asked Mamori who was getting more confused. Was she really dreaming right now? After all, she was here in the hall, when she should have been in Hiruma's room. And Hiruma was here with her, wide awake and playing games. She sat up, still looking rather dazed, and suddenly felt the sharp cold landing on her bare hands. Pressing both hands together, she knew this wasn't a dream.
"Oi! Lie back down already!" Hiruma scolded. "It's still fucking cold and you're still sick!"
Mamori jumped at this, quickly nodded and laid back down, snuggling back into the warm covers. Everything felt strange now. Even though her senses were telling her she was definitely awake, everything still looked and felt like a dream. Hiruma barking out orders out of concern definitely did not fit the bill of his usual self.
But then again, it had been going on since she had fallen sick. "How long have I been here?" she asked him as he resumed playing.
"In a few more hours, you'd have been here for a day," he replied, eyes glued to the screen before him as the sound of rapid gunshots echoed through the hall.
"Why am I in the hall?" she continued to ask. "I thought I was in your room."
"You were," he grinned. "I was sleeping in the hall when you suddenly woke up and began to pester me."
"I-in my sleep?" Mamori gasped.
"Well, if you don't remember anything then that's pretty much it," he cackled softly. Though Mamori suspected it was not as simple as that. But she also knew Hiruma probably did not want to talk about it.
Mamori groaned a little. First, she ended up staying over at Hiruma's place. Now she had sleepwalked and bothered Hiruma even more? "I'm sorry…" she mumbled.
"Eh?" went Hiruma with an annoyed look.
"I said I'm sorry!" Mamori said a little louder, then coughing a little at the pain she felt in her throat. Hiruma said nothing as she took a few more breaths. "I didn't mean to cause you so much trouble. Here I am, sick, and intruding at your place. I'm keeping you from doing any work and even football practice. And even my own mother came!"
Hiruma frowned a little more when Mamori mentioned her mother. "What's wrong with your mother?"
"Nothing!" Mamori replied. "She's amazing, but I'm sure you were very uncomfortable having her around in your place."
Judging by Hiruma's expression, Mamori was sure she was right. Yet he neither agreed nor disagreed out loud, but merely focused on the game before him as his character threw a couple of bombs at what appeared to be enemy soldiers. His silence and strange distance made Mamori wonder if her mother could have said something to Hiruma, but she pushed it out of her mind. She really didn't want to think about it.
Sighing a little, and feeling even more awake, Mamori decided to watch what Hiruma was doing. "What are you playing? I didn't know you had a Playstation."
"Modern Warfare," Hiruma replied, grinning wickedly. "And this isn't mine. Got this off from some poor sucker who used my 'services' and couldn't pay me back."
Mamori blinked. "You're still using that black book of yours for other things?"
"I need the extra income," he stated matter-of-factly. "And besides, it's a fucking wonderful way for me to gain more information on all the idiots."
"That sounds really dangerous," said Mamori, looking worried.
"It's what I live for, Fucking Manager," he said as he shot a couple of more enemy soldiers up close completing the level with what Mamori thought was pretty high marks. "Keh, stupid game. That was way easier than I thought."
Mamori grinned a little as Hiruma then set up to play another level. He glanced at her and caught that smile. "What're you grinning about?"
She giggled in between a few light coughs. "Well, it's not every day that I get to see you play something that isn't just football. It's quite a nice change."
"Keh. My life isn't all just fucking football, you know," he said as he began to play a harder level. This time in a snowy, deserted army base.
"I know," Mamori replied, eyes still on Hiruma. "But we've made it such a big part of our lives that I guess we tend to forget. I admit, whenever I see you, the first thing that comes to mind is football data, planning strategies and organizing what needs to be done for the team."
Hiruma silently nodded as though he thought the same. "That's all we've been fucking doing since we first met, isn't it?" he said. "Of course, I initially made your damn life a living hell on purpose."
"Because I'm a girl, right?" Mamori laughed a little.
"No, because you being in the team was too fucking good to be true," he grinned. "Gotta admit, it was way too fucking easy. After all, I knew who you were. Anezaki Mamori. Part of the discipline committee. Very damn aggressive. Attempted to 'discipline' me a couple of times. That didn't work too fucking well, eh?"
"That's because you're a stubborn fool," sighed Mamori, though her smile remained. "But I still don't get why me joining the team was too good to be true."
"Cause I didn't think you'd end up liking football," he answered as he left the game idly to look at Mamori. "You're way too smart to want to join a club for a game of men trying to beat each other down. You're too smart to come down to that level. But fuck, you learned the game and came up to my level even faster than I could expect. I thought you'd be useful only in terms of cleaning, looking after the idiots and just getting the data together. Now you do more than just planning strategies with me, you practically…" Hiruma stopped himself, stiffening a little before facing the TV screen once more and continuing the game.
Mamori heard and saw all this curiously, her heart beating strangely fast. She wasn't sure what to make out of Hiruma's words, but whatever that was happening now was a rare occasion. She had never seen Hiruma this honest before… even if he has come up to her during a game, pouring his thoughts and fears of how things are faring. But this felt different… significant somehow.
Or her sickness was getting the best of her and she was merely over-thinking this. "I really didn't expect it either," she admitted, a smile lifting the corner of her lips. "I never really saw it as me stooping to a lower level. After all, I joined and learnt everything about football just so that I could protect Sena. How did I end up loving the game so much? Since when did I prefer investing every little time I have to analyze it? I can't remember anymore."
"Do you regret it?"
Mamori realized Hiruma had stopped playing the game to watch her intently, as though her reply to that question deserved all his attention. Again, that strange feeling resurfaced within Mamori as she gazed right back into his eyes. Was he worried that he had worked her to the point that she had fallen sick? Was that why he asked her that?
… Did he care for her that much?
Breathing slowly, she replied with a strong conviction, "Never."
Hiruma seemed content with that reply. His grin returned as he then resumed the game. Mamori watched him for a moment, as a million thoughts rushed through her head. She had never seen Hiruma like this before. But then again, whenever they met up, it was always with one goal in mind: to win at football. So seeing this side of Hiruma, talking about how he felt about her, asking her if she had any regrets… it was strangely personal.
Mamori then wondered if it was probably greatly needed at this point. Back in Deimon, when she was sick with a mild cold, or even when Hiruma had broken his arm, they didn't let anything stop them from claiming victory. They never paused to think about anything beyond that. They never stopped to even look at each other beyond their current roles.
And now that she could, a strange feeling began to grow within Mamori. It felt odd, like it was a new feeling, yet it had been around far longer than she remembered. It also made her feel strangely embarrassed, as she began to see Hiruma in a different light.
She thought she'd just blame it on the sickness for now. Feeling much better and more awake, she got up and sat next to Hiruma, covering herself with the comforter. He glanced at her curiously, as she continued to stare at the screen. "Wanna try playing?" he asked her as he nodded towards another controller near the game console.
Mamori hesitated, as she knew she would be terrible. She could barely use a laptop, what more a Playstation? But as she thought about it some more, she came to a strange conclusion. That as long as she was with him, things like that never really mattered. "All right," she replied, reaching out for the other controller.
Hiruma cackled gleefully as he exited his current game to start a new level. "Kekeke, don't expect me to go easy on you, Fucking Manager."
"I know you won't," said Mamori, shrugging. "But I may miraculously be able to defeat you just once."
"Keh, if that happens, I'll buy you a box of creampuffs."
"And if you win?"
Hiruma grinned as he set the level up for two players to fight against each other in what looked like an abandoned city. "Your debt to me will rise twofold."
"But you haven't told me what you want since I stayed in your place," said Mamori, nervously holding on to the controller.
"I'll tell you after the game," said Hiruma. And with that, they began to play.
Extra Notes: Any of you hate me yet? Again, I apologize for the serious lack of fluff. This chapter had so much potential, I know. But I couldn't get myself to do it, I have no idea why! I guess I really want to save it for the next chapter? Especially since it'll be done in Hiruma's POV? (And yes, that's a teaser for you, and I don't know why I intend to write fluff with HIRUMA's view. What's wrong with me?) I'll do my best with the next chapter, guys.
Until then, thank you all for the amazing comments and support for this story! ^^