5AN: As always, let me know if you would like any story expanded or even requests for that matter ^^. Thanks for reading!
Familia
Looking at Sena, he appeared to be an easy target. It had happened to him numerous times before joining football and finding his inner confidence. Still, physically, he wasn't imposing like everyone else around him.
He usually didn't have problems in public, except, for some reason, tonight.
Team Japan was on a late night outing. There weren't clubs that would let them in, since they were all underage, but still the downtown district was bright in its markets and live music. Sena didn't mean to be out so late, but he'd never been lucky with directions and was separated from the rest of the group.
He hadn't noticed a man following him until he had crossed the street to a darker corner, and the man had set upon him.
"Hey," the man said. He looked to be in his late twenties. Drunkenness played with the cocky tilt of his mouth. "What's your name?" he slurred.
"M-My name?" Sena asked, holding himself tighter.
"Yeah." The man got close enough for Sena to smell a heavy dose of alcohol on his breath. "What are you doing out here all by yourself? Not safe for someone like you. Could be mugged. Or worse."
Sena couldn't help recoiling back again. He started looking around, planning his escape. He was wearing loafers and the ground was rain-slick, but he still had a better shot running off than trying to deal with the man.
"I need to be going," Sena said.
"You're not even going to introduce yourself? There's some really fun clubs we could go to."
"I—I'm underage," Sena tacked on a perfunctory, "sir."
"That doesn't matter to me."
"N—I have to… I really need to be on my way…" Sena's back pressed against a cold wall, and the man was incredibly close now.
"Now hold on." The man laid a hand on Sena's shoulder. It wasn't like Kakei's grip, practically flimsy in comparison, but it was somehow worse. Sena couldn't move away. "Hmm," the man leaned in.
"Step away from him," Shin's deep voice cut in. Sena breathed out in relief.
"Huh? This doesn't concern you," the man said. The man was taller than Shin by a few centimeters. He stood up to his full height in his drunken stupor.
Shin, unfazed, closed the distance between them and ripped the man's hand off of Sena. The man stumbled back and slipped onto the sidewalk.
The man shrank under Shin's stare. He collected himself, embarrassed, and lurched away, glancing back nervously a few times until he was out of sight.
"Are you alright, Kobayakawa?" Shin asked. He cautiously placed a hand on Sena's shoulder, comforting if a bit unpracticed. His hand was warm and reassuring, and Sena leaned into it.
Sena took a steadying breath. Being frozen in place like that was still a bad habit from his gopher days that he was trying to overcome. He could handle himself, but it still didn't hurt to have someone like Shin around.
"Yeah," Sena said, looking up at Shin. "I'm okay, thank you."
"It would be best if you stuck close until we rejoin the group."
"Okay," Sena said, making no move to remove Shin's hand.
Amerika
Shin watched Sena's back as he retreated back into the arms of Hiruma. Shin knew what they'd had was not meant to last, but he had forgotten in their month together.
Sena snuck a glance back at Shin, gaze searching for something.
Sena belonged to the class of the elites, belonged to Hiruma. Hiruma, sleek in a black suit and black shades, black heart. Somehow Hiruma owned Sena body and soul.
Maybe if Shin knew how to play the rich kid game, he and Sena could have had something, but he hadn't grown up with a throne.
Still, Sena's eyes were searching for someone. A connection. He looked out of comfort in Hiruma's arms, alone next one of the most powerful men in the Plex.
Anger simmered in Shin's veins due to—he didn't know. He'd been used for something, by someone, for some purpose he couldn't grasp. Used and discarded, and there Sena ran off into the sunrise.
What U Need
Sena saw Shin as many things: a teammate, a rival, a tremendous athlete. More than that, sometimes, but more often now, Sena would get the sense that, somehow, Shin was alone.
Standing alone amidst group huddles. It didn't seem to bother anyone else. Sena didn't know how no one else could see it. How did no one else notice?
Granted, Shin wasn't exceedingly expressive, but still: the crease between his eyebrows, the slight downturn of his mouth. They never left.
Sena wished he could get that face out of his brain. He saw it everywhere. When he went home, in his thoughts, in the shadows. Shin had a hold of Sena.
Sena decided, a few practices after that, to reach out in a way most others hadn't to Shin and be something that Shin needed.
"Shin-san, would you like to walk to the dorms together?"
A friend.
River
The river was a strategic point in the war effort. It was wide enough to allow smaller steam ships to sail through and supply the inner troops. Both war participants more or less commandeered one side of the river, so crossing it was inherently forbidden.
On each side of the river were thick forests until they eventually cleared way to civilization. However, where Sena was stationed was in the thick of forest. Under the cover of night, Sena slipped from the encampment and through the trees until he reached the riverbank once more.
Crossing the river with a row boat was Seijuro, wearing the enemy's uniform.
The current was treacherous, but Seijuro was strong and made short work of it.
Sena and Seijuro stood across from each other. They had one hour once a week. Any more could lead to suspicion of their trysts. There was so much to talk about but no time to speak.
Seijuro cradled Sena to him.
"Seijuro, I—"
"Don't say it, don't say it." Seijuro clutched Sena closer.
One last kiss, one last breath together.
Toothbrush
The first time Sena wakes up in Shin's dorm, he can blame it on a football social mixer that was hosted the night before to kick off the fall season. Shin's dorm was just closer than going all the way back to Sena's school. They shared the bed because—sleeping on the floor would have been bad for Sena's back.
Sena gargles mouth wash while Shin brushes his teeth next to him. They use Shin's dining hall guest pass and get breakfast together.
The second time, it's because Sena got invited to attend a football event hosted at Oujou as a Deimon delegate. It only made sense for Sena to spend the night after the event had drawn late.
He wore Shin's t-shirt to bed because—he didn't want to get his nice clothes dirty. He got some weird looks by other students as he walked with Shin to get breakfast again (probably since he was wearing a wrinkled suit on a Saturday morning).
The third time Sena spends the night at Shin's is after a long training session Shin invited him to. Just the two of them. Shin offers his dorm and Sena, truthfully, doesn't deny the invitation with any real sort of conviction. Sena steps into the bathroom to shower for the night when he spots a second toothbrush next to Shin's.
"I thought it prudent to get you a toothbrush since you spend nights here," Shin says.
"Ah," Sena says, red faced.
"You should leave some extra clothes as well." Shin quirks his lips. "Unless you would like to continue wearing my shirts to bed. I do not mind."
"Ahhh," Sena says, covering his face.
Sena ends up leaving an entire overnight bag at Shin's, which really is prudent seeing as it ends up being used every weekend from then on.
Oh Devil
Shin had once heard that the devil would be attractive. It had been a warning that he hadn't cared to entertain seeing as it couldn't possibly pertain to him and his rising ambitions in the football world.
He hadn't known how literal the warning was.
Wearing red with devilbats on the uniform was number twenty-one. The player had caught Shin's eye immediately as a talented, if rookie, player.
Then he had stumbled across the person underneath the uniform, and he didn't need to see twenty-one's face to recognize the musculature and posture as the same in the nervous boy in front of him.
But he had seen the boy's face, and he knew, immediately, that the warnings had been right.
Parents House
Sena had ever known he would do something so stereotypical as to sneak in someone to his home. But it was easier this way. Shin had a sister that got home early. Sena's dad worked late and his mom always went to bingo on Fridays.
They had finished their evening jogging, when Seijuro had asked, "Mind if I come around?"
"You don't have to ask," Sena says, already guiding them back to his house.
"It's only polite," Shin says, crowding a little closer to Sena.
Sena's been working up the courage to tell his parents. But not yet. Not quite.
Change Your Mind
Painfully, it was never the right time between Sena and Shin. During high school, Sena had been unknowingly smitten with Shin. It took him a long time to realize that what he felt for the Oujou player went much further than admiration. But it didn't take long to realize that Shin hadn't felt the same.
By the time they attended university, Sena had moved on. But then, apparently, Shin had fallen for Sena, but never acted on it.
Now, as pros, they played on the same team, lived close to each other. They tried to ignore what they had felt before, but it was starting to show despite their efforts.
It was during a quiet moment at Shin's house that he had asked, "If I had a chance, would you let me know?"
Heavy Shoulders
Sena slept peacefully next to Shin. Shin couldn't fall asleep. It had been their first time. After four months of going slow for Shin's sake, they'd had sex in Sena's dorm room.
Shin had been a virgin. Sena wasn't.
Shin had wondered about Sena's previous lovers—he knew most of them, other accomplished players from their cohort—and why they went away.
Shin couldn't relate. He couldn't see any reason not to be with Sena. Still, he did feel a devilish voice whisper in his ear things that caused jealousy to flare in his stomach. It was hard to fight that feeling, like heavy shoulders, but he knew the truth.
Sena loved him, and that alone was enough to ease his worries.
Lip Gloss
"Huh, that doesn't seem like a trick that would work," Sakuraba says, frowning.
"It appears that Hiruma might just be farming blackmail material," Takami replies.
On the field, most of the Deimon players are sporting unflattering lipstick smeared onto their lips. The cheerleaders can't stop laughing long enough to help apply the makeup better on some of the truly unfortunate looking guys.
"Yeah, I think you're right," Sakuraba says. "What do you think, Shin?"
Sakuraba and Takami turn to Shin.
"Are you… okay?" Sakuraba asks.
"Shin?" Takami waves a hand in front of Shin's face, but not even that breaks the other's concentration. Takami follows Shin's line of sight.
He's hyper-focused on Sena. But his eyes look more intent than usual, and he also hasn't said anything at all. His fist is pressed tight against his mouth.
"Oh, my," Takami says. His eyebrows are raised all the way to his hairline.
"What? What is happening?" Sakuraba is looking more concerned by the moment.
"I think 'something' might have been awakened in Shin."
Sakuraba whips his head from Shin to Sena several times. He has to admit, Sena doesn't look tragic with the product on. The color is even flattering and accentuates the plushness of his lips. Then it clicks in Sakuraba's head. "Oh. Oh."
"Yeah. 'Oh.'" Takami clears his throat. "Hiruma must really know what he's doing."
