I’m sorry for the late submission, I got caught up in a lot of things. Here’s an inazuma-haikyuu crossover!
---
They lose the first set.
It is to be expected, Shindou thinks, after all, they did not have a proper setter. Although Tenma’s agility and reflexes were fast, if the ball could not even get to him, it was pointless.
Gritting their teeth, Raimon trudges back to the benches, except that, Tsurugi’s there and-
Tsurugi’s there.
“What are you doing here?” Kurama hisses. The other members glare at him, not bothering to hide their hostile aura.
“Coach!” he calls out, his voice desperate, eyes pleading. He’s in his uniform, their uniform, Tenma notices.
This Tsurugi is desperate, determined, nothing like the cold smirks and snickers that he was used to.
Endou speaks to him privately, and Tsurugi is subbed in.
---
If their first set was bad, the first half of their second set was a disaster.
Tsurugi’s tosses were accurate, pinpoint accurate, but the trust and bonds between the Raimon members wasn’t there. There was no way they would trust an outsider, especially one that had been sent to sabotage their school… The tosses ended up slipping out of their hands, earning their opponents several free points.
Shindou finds himself sighing, as he jumps for yet another toss. Was there really no way to change the outcome of this match?
“Tsurugi!” a voice cries out. Matsukaze.
Instinctively, Tsurugi tosses to the shorter boy, his body responding to the desperate cry. He curses inwardly. As a setter, he was supposed to make rational decisions, and Shindou, who was not being marked, was obviously a better choice than Matsukaze-
Tenma’s hand hits the ball with surprising force, and it surges forward, past the waiting hands of the Seeds, blowing them away with ease as it makes contact with the floor.
Silence.
The announcer falters, before recovering from his shock.
“It’s… Raimon’s point!”
The team breaks into cheers, coach Endou smiling at them as they hi-five each other, and Aoi positively glowing as she aggressively (was there any other way to describe it?) snapped pictures. Tenma reaches out for a high-five, but Tsurugi turns away.
“Save that for when we win.”
One by one, Raimon begins to move, racking up point after point as Shindou coordinates their movements, with Shinsuke bringing them multiple chance balls. Kirino’s graceful blocking, combined with Kariya’s read blocks form a wall in front of their opponents.
Tenma and Tsurugi continue to score, their impromptu quick sets gaining them the points that they had lost earlier.
Tenma’s legs are hurting, burning, from the constant jumping, but he smiles, and calls for another toss.
“This is real volleyball!”
They win the second set with ease, and Shindou thinks that maybe, just maybe, that this, their team, their revolution, could work out.
The Stars in His Eyes || Endou & Hiroto (Secret Soccer fic)
Holy shitola, I am v late, but IT IS STILL CHRISTMAS OVER HERE IN YONDER TIMEZONE, and a late gift is better than none, I hope. This is to @sinbald, who had Endou/Hiroto as an option for request, and “stargazing” was a prompt, so great inspiration was there! The fic shall be under this read more. Happy holidays!!
The Stars in His Eyes
Endou and Hiroto
To Hiikun: This is officially my first-ever Inazuma Eleven fic that does not involve an AU. I’m a sucker for these two in a brotherly sense and I have a secret adoration for them as a ship, and when I saw the requests and the prompts, you gave me the hugest inspiration. I seriously hope you enjoy this fic, because I couldn’t stop smiling writing it. I hope your holidays are as wonderful as a one-hour long special of Inazuma Eleven (and not a recap episode, either). With warm holiday wishes, TF/furyandpatience
--
After the Football Frontier International ended, and the dust had (considerably) settled, there were still many things left undone. Being the number one team in the world mattered not if there was still room for improvement, and to the ever-inspiring Endou Mamoru, there was always room for more improvement. The trophy which told him otherwise gleamed with the exceptional pride of his teammates, however, there was still so much to be done! When asked, “What’s next, Endou?” by his many peers, rivals, friends, and so on, the answer was simply, “I’m going back home to Japan with my team, and we’re going to practice!”
It might have been because everyone was too pumped up on the adrenaline of winning the world tournament to notice, but everyone who was a part of Inazuma Japan cheered behind their captain in massive agreement. Little did they know that he was serious. On the plane ride home, everyone slowly came to the realization that Endou was going to make this happen and the dread set in. The few who were indifferent to Endou’s determination (and even humored by it) ignored the complaints of others and wandered off into their own little worlds mentally.
Of this group, the aptly spacey Kiyama Hiroto, tuned out the arguments and shouting. His mind went to other things; outside of the inevitable when he returned home—meeting people, taking pictures, signing a few things, returning to Sun Garden to check up on his hardworking brothers Midorikawa and Saginuma—there was a lot more he wanted to do. His sharp blue eyes scanned along the plane, noting the nuances of everyone’s expressions. He smiled to himself, grateful that he had the opportunity to play soccer alongside fifteen of the strongest teens in the nation. Slowly, Hiroto’s eyes fixated on the smiling face of his captain. The perpetual glimmer of soccer-driven passion in his big, brown eyes made his heart soar for multiple reasons. No one had ever displayed fortitude to him in such a way that Endou did. His drive was infectious, and from the moment he chose to pursue Endou, he was captivated indefinitely.
Before Endou’s focus could shift and potentially catch Hiroto staring, those light blue eyes glazed over to the next person. Sitting adjacent to the object of interest was Kogure, someone Hiroto had grown an unlikely friendship with. That was…an interesting day, but aside from matters which shall never be mentioned again, he learned a great deal from the younger kid. His childish whimsy made him smile. He was in the same boat as Kogure, as there was a lot of stuff he also never got to experience as a kid. Despite this, the only thing he apparently got to experience that Kogure didn’t was going on a camping trip. Come to think of it, Hiroto mused, he promised Kogure that crazy day that they would all go on a camping trip. With everyone now together, it would behoove him to bring up the idea now—besides, it would be a nice break from the constant soccer-playing. From the back of the plane, the redheaded boy opened his mouth, the team all turning to him as he spoke.
“Endou,” Hiroto began, his soft voice gripping the captain’s attention, “I would like to make a suggestion.” A smile stretched across Hiroto’s pale face, his eyes shifting to Kogure momentarily. The younger boy blinked, and then smiled widely as the realization set in.
--
The idea was graciously accepted by the team. A day or so after the return to Japan, everyone prepared for this trip. There was a possibility that the next time these boys were going to see each other was going to be a stretch. This event was going to be the last thing they did together before going their separate ways, and Hiroto was proud of himself for bringing it up when he did. He made Kogure happy. He brought everyone together for one more day, and it brought everyone up to higher spirits. Hiroto was able to spend one more day with all his friends, and more than that, he was able to see Endou in action for one more day. It really made the difference.
In everything that Endou did, he was passionate and full of energy. Setting up the tent was an adventure and a half with him, especially with his lack of geometric coordination. Fishing for dinner that night, although it was primarily Tsunami’s job, was a train wreck, but even so, Endou made it fun. He smiled through it all. His optimism was infectious, and did it ever shine through to everyone else. Hiroto found himself smiling more often after he met Endou, and now as the decrescendo of excitement lingered above the camp, the smiles grew tired, and the lights in everyone’s eyes grew glassy and heavy. A fun-filled day turned to night and most everyone was ready for much-needed sleep. The only two who felt alive enough to stay awake were Endou, who was much too excited about the recent events to even think about sleep, and Hiroto, who was naturally a night owl.
Endou wandered far away from the campsite, the night sky above him at its clearest. The stars that shone above him were as stunning as they were over Liocott, and he wondered if they were the exact same stars from the island. To Endou, these stars meant more than just the aesthetic—he’d spent many nights like this one together with his friends, one-on-one conversations of hope and desire and encouragement which were the perfect precursor to the following hopeful day.
“They’re bright tonight, aren’t they?”
The voice broke the quick thoughts racing through Endou’s mind. The boy turned, and walking up beside him was Hiroto. His eyes were agleam with wonderment at the vastness of the sky, and it seemed that the stars themselves were trapped inside that happy expression.
“Yeah!” Endou responded, always happy to see Hiroto. “I’ve always liked coming outside just to hang out. It was under these same stars that I grew closer to some of our teammates. I’ve talked to Kidou, Fubuki, Kazemaru…all of us have been under these stars together.” The brunette tilted his head just slightly, a thought crossing his mind. “Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a chance like this with you, Hiroto. I guess we were always just that busy, huh?” He laughed, rubbing the back of his head.
“Aha, well, we did have an agenda, Endou. Although, it would’ve been nice to have more moments like this…” Hiroto hummed. “Quiet moments like this. Midorikawa and I had the chance to see the stars like this once, but there was no way we could’ve stayed out later. Like this, we aren’t dictated by time.”
The duo stared into the blue-black heavens, freckled with white specks that somehow drew them in. “Maybe I just didn’t notice it, but you’re right.” Endou said. “We didn’t have time for anything, did we? While we were too focused on fixing ourselves and training to become a better team, none of us took the time to become closer to each other.”
Hiroto’s eyes widened just slightly for a fraction of a second. “Mm. You understand.”
“It’s because of you that we’re all getting to know each other…almost for the first time tonight! Thanks to you, we just had a day of fun, without the worry that we have to win a match against someone tomorrow.” Endou turned his head to Hiroto, that bright smile which outshone the stars they cared for so much flashing at him.
The redhead boy felt something inside of him melt. An entire supernova of emotions overcame him inside, and he was thankful that he didn’t overly express himself by nature. He was happy, too. There was something he wanted so badly to say to Endou, and not since his regrettable Gran phase has he been able to be as open and honest. The stars above him that he’s always loved remind him of Endou, especially as he looks into those eyes.
But instead of saying what he meant, he responded with a simple, “Thank you.” He paused. “Actually, thank you, Endou. Without your friendship, I don’t think I would’ve been as confident to speak up about this idea, even if I actually promised it to Kogure. I guess I just…wanted to show thanks rather than just leave off with nothing but the hope that we’ll get to play soccer again one day.” At this, Hiroto’s eyes grew misty, but not teary. His soft expression was hidden as he took his eyes off Endou and looked down at the ground.
A warm hand fell on Hiroto’s shoulder. The pale boy blinked, his gaze traveling back to Endou, whose smile did not once waver. “Well, now we’ll always have this memory on top of all the good ones we made at the Football Frontier International. Now when I look at the stars, you’ll be there, too, along with everyone I’ve ever made friends with right here.”
Hiroto grew quiet, his surprised expression slowly becoming more enamored. The stars, like Endou, are charming and vibrant and never change. The sentiment expressed was more than enough for Hiroto, and at this moment, they didn’t need any more words.
All he wanted was to gaze into the stars, which were reflections of Endou.
To: njordsnios
Merry Christmas!!! A bit late bit still... I hope you had a good one and sorry for making you wait for your present! I remember seeing you draw wolf!Fubuki a lot, and though I’m terribad at drawing anthro characters I still wanted to draw something related to that:D
AAAA aaaaaaaa im so sorry this is really late;; was really busy this holiday but i hope its okay!! this is for yun, happy holidays/merry christmas!! ^v^ u say enkaze im On the way
Msg: First of all, Merry Christmas !! I thought it be a good idea to draw it like this but I think I messed a big time on the BG I hope you will forgive me ;v; BG is not my strong point aaa But I hope you like it nevertheless !! Thank you for helping me when I was asking questions staying anon. ^^ I appreciate it a lot haha !! Merry Christmas again and I hope you have a nice day ~! ♪
⭐Merry Holiday Noa!!!⭐
Here we have romshuu showing off their sweaters (made by Shuuzo and based off of this) to somefubu while they enjoy a nice cup of hot choco~
I hope you like the gift and I hope the rest of the year and the coming year is wonderful for you!⭐⭐⭐
For @yuukitachimukai !! I was your secret santa!
Drawing this was a whole lot of fun, and I have two other things for you, I'll link those once I'm home in a few days...I hope that's okay! I also hope you'll like these, and have a wonderful holiday!
Hi Green!! I was your santa! I drew you some enkaze! I imagine they're sitting in a nice cafe out in the mountains with a nice view... I really wanted to draw stylish Kazemaru too but a lot of him ended up covered. I hope you still like it though! Happy Holidays, I hope you're enjoying your day and that good things come to you in the new year
To: Ru
From: Hiikun
they escaped the winter and went to the beach or something lol
drawing them was so much fun! tsunatachi is really cute!!
i hope you like your gift and have a merry christmas!
When I read that I was going to be your secret santa, I was really nervous. I really look up to you as an artist, and I didn't want to disappoint you. I noticed you were a fan of Osomatsu, and I thought Fudou would look good in some of Karamatsu's pants.
Anyways, Merry Christmas, and I hope that you have a wonderfully happy day!!
hi!! i'm sorry for the late submission i thought it was due on the 24th not before >< here's my entry for CG/Cheesegrab! thank you for hosting the event!
Dear PK: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope you have a lovely holiday period!! I must admit, when I first got your wishlist I was totally stumped, because even though I am fond of Kariya I totally don’t know him, and the only Midorikawa I’ve ever done was the Inazuma Elections. Anyway, I went onto your blog and saw that you liked cacti, so this appeared. I hope you like it!!
The kid had stood out the moment he set foot into Sun Garden. He had been small and sly with thick lower lashes and a weariness of the world that had contorted his every step. Midorikawa had seen many kids with chips of various sizes on their shoulders pass through the Sun Garden doors, but something about this kid was different.
Hitomiko stood up and their conversation stilled (which meant that he already owed this kid one). “It’s the new arrival,” was the only explanation she offered before she glided off to help him with his bag and to take him to his new room. She was as efficient as ever, he could give her that.
It was still too late for the rest of the room though. The laughter and chatter had cut like the power going out the moment the kid has shown his face. It wasn’t that he had arrived with a bad temper, either. In fact, the kid’s face had been so blank that Midorikawa’s heart had skipped when he first noticed it.
But that was precisely it. It was his general aura, aloof and unapproachable, wanting so fervently to be ignored. It sucked you in. You couldn’t help but stare.
“So how’s your final year, Midorikawa-kun?” Hiroto broke the silence and his voice reverberated loudly around the playroom. Midorikawa wasn’t sure if it was because he was oblivious or because he was too observant, but either way, the conversation was rapidly being steered back to unwelcome territory.
“It’s fine,” he replied, in a more appropriate volume of voice, gaze still fixed on the child plodding across the room. At anywhere but Hiroto, really. “If all goes well, I’m set to graduate with a Merit.” Of course, though the older man hadn’t made a big fuss about it, he knew that Hiroto had graduated with a Distinction. Not that grades mattered that much when it came to your success after university, but it sure was funny how little things changed.
“Have you thought about what you’re going to do after university? It’s jobhunting season, isn’t it?”
‘I know you’ve thought a lot about what you want me to do after university,’ Midorikawa thought, but kept it to himself.
“There are a few companies I’m interested in,” he began cautiously instead. “Nomura, Mitsubishi…” he listed off the various corporations that had been at the job fair he’d popped into on a whim the other day. It had been a good experience. The free gifts for joining the companies’ mailing lists had been tempting. The rumours of the fresh graduate salary packages flying around the nearby café had been even more so.
Hiroto’s eyebrows rose. “That’s quite ambitious. Those are pretty big companies.”
Midorikawa shrugged and smiled. “Well,” he said, hoping his voice sounded much lighter than he felt, “better aim high than not try at all, right? I mean, after the people here spent so much time and effort into raising me, I have to make something out of myself.”
He fixed his gaze onto Hiroto then, though he wasn’t sure exactly what type of expression he was making. “You get that too, right?”
“Yes, of course,” Hiroto replied, but it was too automatic and too practised. Midorikawa ended up leaving that day feeling even less sure of everything than before.
Hiroto wasn’t around the next time he visited. Busy with work, he’d said.
Midorikawa didn’t envy him. He knew that it was crunch time for the Kira Corporation right now. The shareholders’ meeting was coming up and no doubt Hiroto was rehearsing his speech and making last-minute adjustments to his presentations.
So this time, it was just Hitomiko opposite him. She had served him sencha, her favourite. They were drinking silently.
It was incredibly awkward.
Midorikawa didn’t know why he still came back. He loved the place, sure, but it had changed completely from the place he had grown up in. Hitomiko had done renovations upon becoming the manager of Sun Garden, and every single leaking pipe and crack in the wall had been fixed. It was better for the kids living there now, but for Midorikawa it just wasn’t the same. And, of course, the kids he’d grown up with had either spread to all four corners of Japan or changed completely from the cute little beans he remembered. They weren’t running around the grounds around them playing tag or hide-and-seek anymore. No, he reflected ruefully, they were too old for that now.
He took another sip from his cup and set it back down on the table. Though Hitomiko had just refilled it, it was already running low again. Midorikawa cast his gaze around and it settled on the kid from last time, who was quietly reading by himself in the corner.
“That’s Kariya, the new kid,” Hitomiko said, noticing his shift. “Come to think of it, he arrived when you were here last time.”
“How’s he settling in?”
Hitomiko smirked. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”
She called Kariya over, and the boy came over without any fuss. He introduced himself, and Midorikawa did likewise before pointing to the book that was now closed in his hands.
“What are you reading?”
Kariya shrugged. “Nothing special,” he said, showing Midorikawa the cover. (It read The Outsiders. A translation of an English book, and pretty hefty for a child not even out of primary school to boot.) “I found it in one of the shelves. It was the most interesting looking one.”
Now that Midorikawa thought about it, he remembered that one of the kids he’d roomed with at some point over the years had been obsessed with foreign literature. He’d put money that this was one of the books he’d left behind.
“You’re thinking of Shuuji-kun, aren’t you,” Hitomiko said, her tone becoming amused. “I remember this was one of his.” Kariya turned towards her, his mouth opening slightly, and Hitomiko explained, “Midorikawa used to live here.”
Kariya was silent for a few moments. Midorikawa could see the gears turning in his head (which, to be honest, was a pretty welcome break from how you could never figure out what Hiroto was thinking).
Then Kariya turned back to him.
“How did your parents die?”
The question threw Midorikawa completely off guard. You didn’t just ask someone you had just met that. But they were both orphans, and Kariya had just arrived at the orphanage. He knew how important a question this was, so he would give it the respect it deserved.
“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully. “I was too young.”
The light went out of Kariya’s face faster than you could switch it off. He shrunk into himself again and started to rustle the edge of the book with his fingers.
“How are you finding Sun Garden, anyway?” Midorikawa asked in what he hoped was a pleasant-sounding voice. “What have you been up to since you got here?”
Kariya shrugged. “Not much.” He turned away. “I mean, what’s even the point, anyway?”
He wandered off without even excusing himself, but Midorikawa didn’t have it in himself to feel offended. He could sympathise with the kid. He’d seen a lot like him in his time at Sun Garden. Though, he had to admit, never before at that age.
“That child has been angling for adoption ever since he got here,” Hitomiko said quietly once Kariya had left the room. “He probably made more effort than usual because he thought you were a potential adopter.”
What? Did he look old enough to be a father? He wasn’t even out of university!
It had to be the glasses. Midorikawa resolved to make an appointment with the optometrist at the next available opportunity.
“Maybe he’s shy,” he said. “It must be hard to make new friends too at that age.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Hitomiko said. “But the kids have been trying, and he just brushes them off. He doesn’t seem to want to talk very much. He’s certainly got a prickly personality.”
“Hm,” Midorikawa said. “Prickly, huh?”
One of the first things Midorikawa did the week after that was to buy a cactus. He had looked online and balked at the prices, but once he realised that his university probably had a Weird Plants Society (okay, with a different name) it had been an easy task to actually locate it and obtain one of the spiky things. Apparently it wasn’t a high quality specimen at all, but if Midorikawa couldn’t tell how exactly he doubted an eleven-year-old would be able to notice the difference.
He brought it on his next visit to Sun Garden. Well, to hide it he also brought most of the kids little presents, but the only reaction he really paid attention to was when Kariya suspiciously inspected the pot.
Midorikawa hadn’t wrapped it. He’d heard that the spikes didn’t regenerate and hadn’t had the faintest idea of how to wrap it without catching them. He didn’t want to be the one that ended up ripping off, or having to watch Kariya rip off, half the spikes along with the wrapping paper.
“Thanks,” Kariya said in a voice that could dry seaweed. His face was almost as blank as it had been the first time Midorikawa had seen him.
Midorikawa’s heart flopped. He had no doubt that the cactus would be going into the trash the moment he turned his head.
“Did you know that cacti are surprisingly hardy?” he said. “You don’t actually have to try very hard to take care of them. But when you see them grow and bloom flowers, it’s actually really satisfying. I used to measure my cactus every day and keep a diary of how much it grew.”
Okay, the last bit hadn’t been true. Midorikawa had never owned a cactus. He had got a little carried away.
Kariya’s eyes flickered over from the cactus to him. His gaze was thoughtful, with a little bit of scepticism mixed in his eyes and the quirk of his eyebrows. “Oh really,” he said, his tone less dubious this time. He looked almost interested.
Midorikawa widened his smile, perhaps in reaction to his sinking heart.
God damn it, he realised, he had to buy a cactus of his own now.
The next time Midorikawa visited Sun Garden, he was fighting to keep a relaxed pose and a straight face. Easier said than done after getting off the phone with Hiroto.
Hiroto had stopped dancing around the issue of his future. He’d switched to the direct approach. Maybe he had been meeting up with Gouenji on the sly.
“You should come work for Kira Corporation,” Hiroto had told him. For about the ten billionth time.
“I’ve already applied for a lot of grad schemes,” Midorikawa had replied, quite a bit less serenely than after the first time he’d been told that.
Hiroto had hummed. “You probably wouldn’t do well at graduate schemes.”
“Excuse me? I’m a History major. I don’t know if you’ve read the paper recently, but that shit is complicated. I’m sure I can handle whatever they throw at me.”
“No, it’s not that,” Hiroto had backpedalled, but Midorikawa had stopped listening. Why should he, when Hiroto never did? The conversation had deteriorated. He had ended it to save them both any more suffering and strode into Sun Garden.
Kariya was waiting for him, giving only a small grunt at Midorikawa’s greeting. He seemed to be in a peculiar mood too.
Midorikawa knew why, of course. You’d have to be blind to miss the streamers and farewell banners plastered all throughout the front lobby. (Come to think of it, Hitomiko had said that Sun Garden was seeing a higher adoption rate lately. Maybe it was the economy.)
All his frustration over his own situation slipped away. “Chika-chan was adopted the other day, wasn’t she?” he asked, gently. “Did you ever talk to her?”
“No way,” Kariya said flippantly. “She’s a girl.”
Then he grew moody again.
“I don’t get it,” he finally said. “I’ve been showing my face whenever an adult comes by. And I’m not stupid. I read a lot, I’m good at sports, I can play music. I’m a great kid.”
Midorikawa stayed quiet. Kariya was in no way a bad kid, that was for sure.
“So why has it been so long?” Kariya finished. His voice cracked. “Why doesn’t anyone want me?”
It was Kariya’s age. Midorikawa had never seen a child older than eight get adopted. Eleven? Might as well unpack and let loose, because you’d be staying for a long while.
But of course he didn’t say any of that.
“You are wanted,” he said instead, and he was surprised at how strong his voice was. “Sun Garden wants you.”
Kariya sniffed and gave a small cough, clearing his throat. “Of course Sun Garden has to want me,” he said. His tone was patient, like he was explaining how to add numbers to a small child. “It wouldn’t be a very good orphanage if it didn’t accept orphans.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. Hiroto and I grew up here just fine. Why do you want to leave so much?”
“I just don’t want to stay here,” Kariya said. “It’s like…” he stared at the floor, cheeks pink. “This just feels like a place I have to pass through.”
“That’s not true at all,” Midorikawa said immediately. But he was oddly conscious of his heartbeat and the echo of his own words.
“Anyway,” Kariya said, “you wanna see Spikey Spike?”
“'Scuse me?” Midorikawa felt his smile freeze. But the name had slipped out of Kariya’s lips so earnestly and smoothly. To even let a smile at the ridiculousness of the name slip out would crush the kid and make Midorikawa want to throw himself into prison just to stave off the guilt. Especially considering the mood they had both been in just before.
“Spikey Spike,” Kariya said, giving him a strange look. “You know, my cactus. He’s really cool!” He perked up and took Midorikawa’s hand, dragging him off to the direction of the rooms. “He sprouted flowers, you know!”
What? Flowers? Midorikawa couldn’t even get his stupid cactus to last a few hours on his windowsill without getting burnt, much less care for it well enough for it to grow flowers. Half of him wanted to accuse the kid of lying, earlier sympathy be damned.
But the little plant on Kariya’s desk in his room looked much, much better compared to how it had been just weeks ago, when he’d first dropped it off. Its skin was a rich, dark green, shiny and unblemished and firm to the touch, not squishy like his own, and its spines stood strong and straight. And, of course, there were the flowers, three of them clustered at the top of the cactus, with petals as white as the nighttime moon.
“This is really beautiful,” Midorikawa said, and he was only half-aware that the words had slipped out.
Kariya’s ears turned pink, and the expression on his face became a curious mix of sheepish and haughty.
“Well, duh,” he said. “Spikey Spike’s the best.”
Midorikawa was going through his rehearsed answers to the most common interview questions, and quite a few of the more obscure ones, too, for about the hundredth time when his phone rang.
It was Hitomiko. She rarely, actually never, called, so he picked up in a flash.
“You have to come,” she said the moment he opened the line. “Something’s happened and Kariya is inconsolable. You’re the only one who can help.”
Midorikawa didn’t quite remember what exactly happened after that, but he had never rushed faster, been more conscious of every single red light, or felt so weightless until he reached Sun Garden. Then the exertion of the past forty minutes caught up to him. But he couldn’t focus on that. There was something more important.
He knocked on Kariya’s door. Dread was starting to pool at his stomach.
There was no answer.
Midorikawa knocked again, three sharp raps. “Kariya? You in there? It’s me.”
There were some shuffling sounds, and then the door swung open to reveal Kariya and a mess.
Ah. So it was this.
Ceramic shards of the same colour as the cactus pot and a healthy smattering of dirt were strewn all over the floor, and on one edge of the mess, the cactus lay on its side in two pieces. Midorikawa looked up at Kariya, and the boy immediately put his hands behind his back. Midorikawa looked back down and his sharp eyes caught the droplets of blood staining the rug immediately.
“What happened?” His tone of voice dropped. “Did someone do this?”
Kariya hesitated, and Midorikawa could see the decision he made at that moment.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “It was an accident.”
“Hmm,” Midorikawa said, unconvinced. Kariya was obviously hiding something, but that didn’t matter right now.
He fished a magazine out of his bag. It was the winter issue of the university student magazine, looking quite the worse for wear after having ridden around in his bag for the better part of the last two weeks. He still hadn’t read it and probably never would. But hey, this was a much better use for it than wiping up coffee spills.
He tore its pages out and used them to gingerly pick up the cactus pieces. Aside from having been split from each other, they actually looked fine. At the very least, they didn’t look dead. He set them off to a side before turning back to Kariya and the mess.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, and from behind his back, Kariya brought out his shaky hands. His lower lip was trembling and there was a distinctly unhappy turn to the edges of his mouth. He looked like he was about to cry at any moment.
“I’m fine,” he said. “It’s just a scratch. Is Spikey Spike dead?“ His voice was bleak.
"No, I don’t think so.”
Kariya’s eyebrows rose. Clearly, he had expected an answer to the contrary. Midorikawa knelt down to take a better look at the mess, and Kariya asked, “Will he die?”
“No,” Midorikawa murmured. “Not if I can help it.”
He started to clean up, getting alcohol wipes and a few band-aids for Kariya while he was at it. In between disposing of the shards and vacuuming up the dirt, Kariya gave up the full story.
Some of the boys had been fooling around like usual, and they’d broken into his room. The standard rough and tumble had ensued. The cactus had been a casualty.
“They like to make honking noises. Like a truck,” Kariya said. His face was flushed and he was looking determinedly at the floor. “I think they think it’s funny.”
Upon hearing that, Midorikawa felt heat rise from within his core and streak through every part of his body, straight to his ears and the top of his head and down to his fingers and toes. It was a feeling he hadn’t had for a long time.
“I know it was an accident,” Kariya continued glumly. He looked over at the two pieces of cactus sitting on his desk, their previously smooth skin patchy and their previously sleek spines bent or broken off. “I know they say I never talk to them.”
Midorikawa’s fingers twitched, and he had to concentrate to keep his breathing soft and even.
“Who are these kids exactly?”
A few weeks after the incident, Midorikawa dropped by Sun Garden again on the way to the Kira Corporation headquarters. He had a meeting with Hiroto in just over two hours. He had made his decision.
He was going to take Hiroto’s offer of becoming his personal assistant. Jobhunting had been an experience he never wanted to repeat again. Preparing for the same questions ten different times with each company having their own unique twists and requirements, just to score a desk job where he wouldn’t have any real responsibility, had stopped being appealing after the cactus debacle. Actually, if Midorikawa were to be honest, it had never really appealed at all.
So he would work for the Kira Corporation. But he would do it on his own terms. He would tell Hiroto that he wanted a more involved role in Sun Garden. God knew Hitomiko needed the support, too.
But that was a conversation for the future. Right now, he was watching the kids run around, waiting for Kariya and Spikey Spike to return.
Kariya appeared, holding the re-potted cactus in both hands. He had taken good care of it. Apart from the scab mark running down its side, it looked like it had never seen an accident, much less been in one. A swarm of children surrounded him, looking his plant up and down and all over.
“This is sooooooooo cool.” A girl who couldn’t be older than eight came up to him, dragging a friend along with her and pointing at the cactus. “It’s so cute!”
The friend crossed her arms and the expression on her face was less than thrilled, but that didn’t stop the girl from looking up at Kariya. “Can you teach Tomoyo how to grow these too?” she asked.
Kariya shrugged, feigning nonchalance despite his flaming ears. "That’s the guy who got me this,” he said, pointing over at Midorikawa. “And well, yeah, why not? If you can stay patient for long enough, anyway.”
Normal people would have bristled and walked away. But the kids at Sun Garden were used to him by now. Tomoyo laughed, her voice sounding like bells, and hugged him.
As Tomoyo skipped away, her attention caught by some other thing, Midorikawa got up. He went over to Kariya, since the kid was frozen to the spot and didn’t seem like he was going to come over any time soon.
“Seems like you’re going to be staying a while, huh?”
The flush started spreading into Kariya’s cheeks.
“I’m not leaving just yet, that’s all,” he said. “I gotta make sure the cactus is okay first.”
“All right.” An overwhelming feeling of satisfaction started to flow through Midorikawa’s veins. He didn’t even try to keep it out of his voice.
Kariya’s mouth scrunched up, and he turned even redder, if that was even possible. “But I’m not becoming Kira Masaki, got that?”
Midorikawa’s smile broke into a grin, just for a brief second. Then he eased his features back into their perpetual smile.
“I’m still Midorikawa.”
When he got home after the conversation with Hiroto, he spotted the extra piece of Kariya’s cactus (he was not going to use the name Spikey Spike any more than he had to, that was for sure) still lounging on his windowsill. The piece had dried up a little, and the broken edge had scabbed completely over.
Midorikawa’s gaze slid over to his own cactus sitting next to it. On a whim, he found a knife and sliced a piece off both his cactus and Kariya’s. The liquid from the plant coated the knife in a light sheen, and Midorikawa twitched the blade back and forth, watching the reflected light dance around. Then he found some paper and string in a nearby drawer, bound the two pieces together, and left them to graft.
Here’s my gift for the lovely tohokas! I wasn’t satisfied by this only, though, so I wrote a little ficlet thing to go with it c: (under the readmore!)
It had been a cold day, and Christmas Eve was even colder. Tenma’s breath turned into a small cloud when it hit the air, something he found too enjoyable to Tsurugi’s tastes, as he kept blowing and blowing and blowing. Tsurugi sighed. He really loved Tenma, but he just wished he were less of a child at times.
“Kyousuke, look!” The chestnut-haired boy yelled as he pointed towards the clouds emitted from his mouth. Tsurugi shook his head with a small smile on his face. He would be lying if he said that he didn’t find Tenma’s childish enthusiasm adorable though.
Tsurugi grabbed his boyfriend’s hand and pulled him along. “We have to hurry, the shops are closing.”
Tenma’s eyes widened as he realized his original goal of the trip. They were going to buy their Christmas presents (because they had been too… busy? Yeah, totally busy, they hadn’t before). Of course Kyousuke would buy one for his parents and his brother, and Tenma wanted one for Aki. The navy-haired boy simply rolled his eyes as the other darted from shop window to shop window, seeing new exciting stuff the entire time.
“She would love thi- Oh, wait, she’d like tha- No, that’s perfect! Actually, that’s…” He said as he ran across the street.
“Calm down, Matsukaze.” Tsurugi muttered from underneath his scarf.
Tenma whirled around with sparkles in his eyes. “But look at all these awesome things!” He said.
Tsurugi smiled and kept on walking. He knew they would probably take a long time, but he didn’t mind. They would just have to grab a bite somewhere later on. He grinned. As if that was such a bad thing.
I sure hope you like it and have a wonderfully merry Christmas!
have a bonus Kirino (who happened to be my muse for this drawing so he was in my warm-up drawing, naturally, and yes, warming up-drawing is just an excuse to draw even worse)
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