"Are you sure you want to be out here in the cold for this conversation?" asked Musashi as Youichi walked alongside him.

"There's no fucking space for you in that apartment, I completely fucking trashed it," Youichi replied.

This was an obvious lie. The place had remained spotless as Youichi couldn't bear to trash the place when every part of that apartment now reminded him of Mamori.

But that was also the problem.

Her hard work of decorating the place for the Sato family was still there. Musashi was bound to pick up on this, and Youichi had no time to deal with Musashi questioning him further. He knew why Musashi had come to see him. He had expected this. But it was a lot earlier than he predicted.

"Let's just buy some hot drinks to warm ourselves then," said Musashi, who appeared calm, but Youichi could sense restlessness and annoyance coming out of him. He groaned internally. He really wasn't in the mood for this.

They stopped by a vending machine with hot drinks and bought canned green tea, sugarless. They then settled on a nearby park, with Youichi sitting on the bench as Musashi remained standing. He maintained his distance, staring at the empty park that's meant for tennis and badminton players.

"Kurita was supposed to join me, you know," Musashi spoke up.

"Oh? Then why isn't the fatty here?"

"He knew this would be a sensitive topic and that it was better I go alone than the both of us ganging up on you."

"How thoughtful," Youichi's reply dripped with sarcasm.

Musashi finally looked at Youichi, who took a slow sip from his drink. "Are you okay?"

Youichi almost choked on his drink. "What the fuck kind of question is that?!"

"You seem… different."

Youichi scanned Musashi's face, which he now realised wasn't filled with annoyance.

It was concern.

Youichi cackled lowly. "It's been a while since we met up after all, and a lot has happened."

"Then tell me about it."

"Since when did you fucking care so much?"

"Since I realised the person you had depended on since second year high school is now MIA."

"That's a fucking short time then," Youichi sneered. "I don't need your concern. If you're worried about Anezaki, as I told everyone, she's fine."

"I'm not asking about Anezaki," Musashi replied sternly, then sighed. "Look… there's a reason Kurita and I became worried. We were there, we've been watching you both."

Youichi narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Since our 3rd years, remember?" said Musashi. "How can we not notice what was going on between the two of you?

While the three of us coached the remaining Devil Bats and planned our own separate ways, you and Anezaki began to work together instead, and planned a path that ensured both of you would create a winning Football team."

"I can't believe how exciting American Football is!" Fuyumi squealed, clinging on to Mamori's arm as they walked along the shops in the main village.

It was already fully dark, and they had just left a local restaurant where Mamori had the most amazing hot pot she had ever tried with sweet miso and grilled rice sticks. "An Akita specialty!" Fuyumi explained.

But on top of some further discussions about the Sato family and their traditions, Fuyumi could not stop asking questions about American Football. Mamori had spent the afternoon showing her clips of the games on the laptop Youichi had given her, grateful that Fuyumi had better competence in opening files than her.

Fuyumi absorbed everything; the Deimon Devil Bats, the Saikyoudai Wizards, the many opposing teams her teams faced like the Ojou White Knights and the Teikoku Alexanders. Seeing Fuyumi so engrossed fascinated Mamori, that she couldn't help but talk about every aspect of it all afternoon.

"I'm actually surprised you're so interested in it," Mamori laughed.

"How can I not? You make it sound so exciting!"

"Really? I would think it's quite a rough sport for women to enjoy, especially with how brutal it can get."

"But YOU enjoy it!" Fuyumi replied, her eyes lighting up in excitement as she looked at Mamori. "And I can just tell by the way you talk about it, you absolutely love it! I mean, the way you talk about the possible gameplays and strategy is filled with so much passion that I can't help but be swept away by it all!" Fuyumi sighed loudly.

Mamori couldn't help but giggle in reply. Yet Fuyumi continued.

"And to think, it's because of American Football you fell in love and married with your now husband!"

Mamori stopped, much to Fuyumi's surprise. Mamori couldn't hide the confusion she felt from Fuyumi's last statement. It felt confrontational, in-your-face, that it caught her off guard. "Oh… yes, I suppose you would think that… right?"

Fuyumi looked visibly confused as she continued clinging to Mamori. "But… you talked about him a lot in your explanations, and you also mentioned that you both had the same dream…

To win the Rice Bowl."

"And?" Youichi drawled, though he was certain Musashi had hit a nerve in him.

Musashi sighed again. "Do I need to make it obvious?" To which Youichi shrugged off. "It was clear to Kurita and I that you and Anezaki developed a special bond since then. And I don't think the both of you had ever stopped depending on each other to achieve your goals. Until now."

Youichi couldn't respond. He looked away. So Musashi continued.

"The reason why we're worried is because we know under normal circumstances, you would never make it possible for her to leave. Especially since you're both still a distance away from winning the Rice Bowl. You would have done everything in your power to keep her by your side. She's too useful to you, she shares the same dream as you, which means for you to let her go leads to the fact that we're dealing with some unusual circumstances here."

Musashi took a sip of his drink, his eyes trailing away for a moment but continued to keep his gaze with Youichi within sight, as Youichi continued to look away with a blank look. Musashi was sure he was on the right track with this discussion. "Keeping her at a distance may throw your enemies off but it will definitely throw you off as well. So I am asking you again:

Are you okay?"

"Well, we share the same dream of winning the Rice Bowl, yes…" Mamori trailed off, suddenly uncertain if she wanted to pursue this line of thought. Despite knowing it would be easy to just agree with what Fuyumi was saying, for some reason Mamori couldn't help but hesitate.

Something was scaring her.

Fuyumi wasn't going to let her off though, as she continued. "You told me the both of you had been working together since high school, and you trust each other a lot. Didn't you?"

"I…" Why did it all feel foreign to her? Surely she said those things, right? After all, they weren't wrong. But why did it feel different in this context?

Why did it feel like she was facing a fact she had been ignoring all this time?

"Mamori?" Fuyumi called out to her, as it was obvious that Mamori was getting lost in her thoughts. "Is everything okay?"

Mamori blinked, and nodded her head slightly. "I'm fine, I just… for some reason, never thought of American Football being the reason why I married him."

"Oh, you're right!" Fuyumi laughed. "You married him because you really love him regardless of American Football, silly me!" Fuyumi nudged Mamori to keep walking, to which Mamori obliged as it's true, they had limited time outside of the Sato household and were now on their way to see the trail Fuyumi was expected to walk through.

"Then tell me…" Fuyumi continued. "What made you realise you love him?"

"Ah…" There it was. She knew with Fuyumi's eagerness and excitement, the topic of romance between her and Youichi would pop up. Mamori had planned it all out should anyone in the Sato family ask about it. She was going to tell them that she had always played the role of support for him, so it made sense to marry him especially under this context.

But after a whole day of talking about American Football and her adventures with Youichi in tow, and now realising she had to put that aside for this current task, Mamori realised she was actually in a very vulnerable state.

As she finally had to face the fact that had been haunting her in the background this entire time.

A new sensation instantly filled her chest, a memory of a particular moment during her 3rd year emerged. The memory of Youichi and her meeting on the rooftop back at Deimon, both of them holding their list of selected colleges, which she was now seeing in a new light.

There was a full minute of silence, to which Youichi spent evaluating the facts on how to act now. Musashi was trustworthy, and at this stage he wasn't even a threat to the Rice Bowl as the Takekura Babels had an early loss as they decided to focus on their careers first.

Plus, as Musashi said, he had observed them enough. Surely he could help in one particular area that had been bothering Youichi ever since.

So he took the plunge.

"Anezaki is useful," he finally spoke up, still looking away. "Too useful. To the point that she's now made herself fucking useful in my own personal affairs. To the point that I cannot fucking plan any other way to solve these issues without her."

Musashi quietly let Youichi's words hang in the air for a moment. Youichi was finally opening up, which was good progress, a lot faster than expected. But he had to ask, "Is this related to your father?"

Youichi softly cackled. Of course Musashi would know, their fathers were in contact before. "That fucking old man was this close to ruining everything for me. He was this close to robbing me of the Rice Bowl that I actually wished he would fuck off and die already. And just like that, she appeared, being the solution I never knew I needed."

Musashi had so many questions, but decided against it. Youichi was treating the hot can of tea as a hand warmer now, refusing to take another sip.

"That's exactly what I fucking hate about her." Youichi's eyes narrowed. "She makes it too easy for me to use her.

To the point that I wanted to protect her. And you're right…

What better way to protect her than to keep her by my side."

"There was this moment in our 3rd year of High School," Mamori spoke, with Fuyumi walking alongside her. "We couldn't play American Football during that year as our school doesn't allow 3rd years to participate in sports anymore. We had to focus on college entrance exams by then.

I thought I would move on from American Football the moment I stepped into school grounds during my first day as a 3rd year student. I had meant to walk towards my new classroom, start my new life, focus on my dream of becoming a Kindergarten Teacher. But…I found myself on the school field.

There was nothing going on at the field at the time. It was meant to be a day of orientation, of recruiting new members after all.

But he was there too."

"Oh…" Fuyumi restrained herself from jumping in excitement at this story and disrupting the obvious flow Mamori was in.

"He told me he knew I couldn't resist and even placed a bet," Mamori laughed softly. "And he was right, so the bet ended up with me being rewarded with a can of juice. The next thing I knew, we spent most of our school year observing the Devil Bats, aiding them in training and concocting plans that not only led to the Devil Bats victory…

But also their defeat. And it was the idea of defeating the Devil Bats, the group we so carefully raised and trained with for years, that made everything exciting."

"I knew someday I wouldn't be able to have her with me," said Youichi, now slouching against the bench. "I knew I had to let her go at some point. But I fucking hated that the reason she's not here is because she's gone off to make herself useful for me in some other way instead of doing something for herself.

That's not what I wanted. That's not how it should fucking work.

But as always, she figured it all out. She found a way to make it work. And I want to be excited about this, the way her ideas always do to me before. Because if we pull this off, this could literally be the biggest Trick Play I could ever commit on the field when the time comes.

But…"

"To be honest, my initial goal at first was to separate myself from my childhood friend, Kobayakawa Sena," said Mamori. "So the idea of defeating the Devil Bats was really just me wanting to see if I can defeat Sena in his own game, rather than play the support role I always had with him.

But really, it became more than that. The more time I spent with Hiruma-kun, the more I realised this had potential. We really could do it, we really could make the ultimate team that would lead us to even bigger dreams, maybe even bigger than the Rice Bowl, as long as we were together.

So on the day we were required to submit our list of intended colleges to go to, he told me to meet him on the school rooftop. We never spoke in detail about college at that time, but I knew we were going to do so then. I already had one on the top of my list. And he already prepared his.

And we weren't surprised that we both chose Saikyoudai.

Yet I think… seeing his reaction when we both revealed our top choices… that was the moment I realised…"

"She deserves better than this," said Youichi. And in a corner of his head, he also added, she deserves better than me.

He didn't even need to say it, but he knew Musashi picked it up. They were left in silence, as Youichi made it clear he wasn't going to explain further. "Well then…" Musashi finally broke the silence. "I am glad you finally got that off your chest. But you're being ridiculously negative."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Musashi finished his can of tea before continuing. "Look, Kurita and I observed you both and saw the way you two were plotting during our 3rd years, obviously planning to bring the downfall of any team opposing the team you were definitely going to create together. Heck, I joked with Kurita that whatever future team we decide to be on together, we may actually lose the moment we face you both.

But because I observed you both I can assure you of one thing…

Anezaki would have no regrets doing all that she can for you. The main reason she was eager to go to Saikyoudai with you was because you made her ideas, the possibilities she saw, the victories she could clinch, you could make them into a reality.

So whatever personal issues she's helping you deal with, it's because she already can see that victory with you. She knows you can make it happen by supporting you this way. So for now, she has to do what she can so you can get that victory. Even if it means…" Musashi hesitated. Despite wanting to be supportive, Musashi knew he still hated the fact that Anezaki had to leave.

Youichi had his arms crossed by then, sneering at Musashi's inability to continue. Musashi sighed, took a deep breath and continued, "What I'm trying to say is don't discount Anezaki's commitment to helping you as you utilising her as a tool. Despite what you think, it doesn't sound like you manipulated her into this. She chose this, a decision which I can assure you we all despise.

But now the question is, what will you do to support her decision?"

That question caught Youichi by surprise. "Harh? What the fuck did you say?"

"She always played the role of support for you. Even if she is actively making decisions independently from you, her decisions have always been to support you in some way. So don't you think it's time you stop feeling guilty for using her as you claim and start playing a supportive role for her too?"

"What the fuck do you mean, I already am…" Youichi trailed off. He was initially irate at everything Musashi was saying, almost regretting telling him as much because what the fuck does he know? Of course he's been supporting Mamori all this time, of course he knew this was all he could do for her!

Then Musashi's words really hit him. Despite all his assurance to her that they will win this, his base motivation to support her lately had really been out of guilt. For feeling bad that she had to go through this, for believing that the misery she was experiencing with the Sato family ordeal was his fault.

But what if he took away the guilt? What if he completely embraced his role as Mamori's support after all?

… As a husband?

… As Mamori's husband?

Youichi cackled, softly at first. Then louder. Then even louder, to the point that he threw his head back, making Musashi panic as a couple of boys in the distance were seen running in fear. "Oi, are you crazy? What happened to you?" asked Musashi.

Youichi finally calmed down, but an evil grin had now replaced his initial blank and sullen face. "You know what, you really have some fucking nerve to come over and lecture me about playing a support role when that's exactly what I've been doing."

"... Really? Cause it sure didn't sound like it earlier."

"I don't have to tell you everything, all you need to know is that Anezaki is safe, and we will still win even if she isn't here."

"Sure," Musashi shrugged, though a smile curled up on the corner of his lips.

Youichi continued cackling to himself. He can't believe he was actually seeing things much clearer now. It made sense. Everything made sense now. There was no need to feel guilty. Mamori wanted this as much as he did, and just as they discussed, they really need to utilise everything in their cards to score an overall victory.

But it was because of this clarity that Youichi finally came to terms with the pain that had been growing since Mamori had left. He felt a shadow of her presence appear next to him, which he was sure was smiling at him in support. The shadow that had followed him everywhere, especially in that apartment.

It all came to one obvious conclusion.

Ah…. I really did ...

"... I really like him." The moment those words left Mamori's mouth, she paused and felt her face turn hot. Because Fuyumi had reached a point where she couldn't restrain herself any further.

"AAAAAH YOU SAID IT! YOU SAID YOU LIKED HIM!" she cried, grabbing both of Mamori's hands and jumping in place. Her excitement made those walking past stare at them, and Mamori felt like she could burst into flames from the embarrassment she was experiencing.

"What was it?!" Fuyumi spoke loudly. "What was his reaction?! Did he blush, did he giggle, did he hold you in his arms because he knew he had you?!"

"Ah no, nothing like that," Mamori laughed nervously. "He just smiled."

"A smile?"

"Yes. A genuine smile."

"Hmm hmm I see," Fuyumi nodded. "It must have been enough to make your heart beat for you to realise you like him."

"You know what… you're right," Mamori replied, but it was the tone that made Fuyumi pause. "Because I've seen that smile before. He always smiled genuinely especially after the Devil Bats claimed a victory. So at that moment I couldn't help but feel amazed that I got to see it up close."

"That's because getting you to go to college with him is a victory as well!" Fuyumi swooned. "Ah, that's so romantic. I'm sure the two of you were the ultimate couple in college and everyone looked up to you both."

Were we…? Mamori wanted to deny it, but something nagged at her that there might be some truth in it had she paid closer attention to her surroundings.

Because the more she thought about it, the more her heart ached.

Mamori was lost in her thoughts again so Fuyumi broke through once more. "You miss him, don't you?"

As Mamori and Fuyumi continued walking, Mamori couldn't resist a bittersweet smile at that question.

"You're right. I miss him. A lot."

Youichi gulped down his drink and got off his seat. He threw the can precisely to the trash can next to the vending machine at a distance. Then grabbed Musashi's empty can and did the exact same thing.

"Impressive," Musashi commented, especially since the trash cans had only can sized holes rather than an open top. "You've improved your aim a lot."

"That's fucking child's play," Youichi cackled. "I have an even bigger surprise waiting for the day we face a particular opponent. But first, let's get to the closest convenience store. I'm getting you a treat."

"That's… awfully nice of you," said Musashi cautiously. "Surely it's not to reward me for that little talk we had over Anezaki?"

"Fuck no," Youichi cackled. "You freely offered your thoughts and that's all I needed. No, this treat…

Is for you to give me insight on all you know about Kurosaki Eric so far, and how you will get that information."

Author's Note: I hope this chapter wasn't too messy and it flowed well enough. This was a really tricky chapter of balancing emotions and conveying the story, so despite my edits I am still pretty worried. Do let me know what you think of it.

I just got my second dose of the vaccine and the one major side effects of the vaccine is that I get insomnia. So I made this the most productive insomnia ever by writing out these chapters. I just really hope it flowed well enough and, as always, Hiruma isn't too OOC. I needed him to overcome his guilt without it being so sudden, which is why Musashi played such a big role.

As always, I cannot promise a definite schedule. I've been facing a lot of challenges personally, but I'm doing my best to not let it get to me and to focus on what I love doing more. This fic included! Until then, stay safe, everyone. Please take care of yourself.