Title : Other Half
Pairing : Kirino x Shindou
Fandom : Inazuma Eleven
Author Notes : A little late for the date, but it's actually up on my tumblr and on my DA already cause I scheduled it, just because I had something going on that day. Enjoy~ My favourite pair in Go :D

Summary :

They have been together almost all their life, so when they are alone, away from each other, it stings. 5 moments in Galaxy when Shindou wants Kirino by his side, and the one moment they got back together.

Ever since they met each other when they were four years old, Shindou can count the times they weren't together with one hand. Alright, maybe two hands, but some of those moments are hardly remembered, since they are together a good 85-90% of the time. Unless it was for a reason that they could not prevent, like class placements (to their horror), going back to their respective houses when play time's over (that's cured with lots of sleepovers) or that one time when he found out that his entire timeline is a fake and they had to travel back to Nobunaga's time (he made up to Kirino for that by paying extra attention on him for the next trip), Shindou knows he will always have Kirino by his side, and over the time, it had become something they both took for granted.

So when they did end up separating several times and for several reasons during the FFI V2, it was a shock to both of them.

He had been extremely pampered by his best friend's presence, Shindou realized with a start. He had felt an echo of wrongness in his heart when Kirino's name wasn't announced to be part of the Shinsei Inazuma Japan team, and that echo hit harder when the gray haired boy looked up to the stands as he walked into the stadium, into their first exhibition match against Teikoku. Kirino had nodded at him, confidence in those blue eyes, utter belief that Shindou would do excellently regardless of team. Wordlessly, he had nodded back, reflecting those confidence with his own, confidence that he would do his best friend proud.

If only he had known what a disaster this entire match would turn out to be.

Shindou felt desperation build up inside him, as the match go on and everything seems to be falling apart at the seams. Nothing, absolutely nothing had worked and he had been so used to a team that could follow his excellent strategies through, only to face with people who can't even follow his simple line of direction. How could they how could they play with such disrespect how could theyhowcouldthey-!

All of it build to a grand finale, crashing down on his composure at the end of the match. It broke him, tears welling up at the corner of his eyes, and he felt the urge to scream, to rage, to do anything but stay here and be quiet. Shindou couldn't stop the tears from rolling down his cheek, feeling the peer pressure of the audience settling onto him. Every shout, every yell, ever mock settled on his bones like heavy weights, and he couldn't find the strength to keep them up.

Somewhere in those crowd though, he could imagine Kirino looking concerned, but unable to get any more closer to the field. He could already imagine his best friend's worried look, instinctively knowing Kirino is going to seek him out later and distract him from today's event, if only to feel a little better. Maybe the pink haired boy would drag him for some ice cream, or let Shindou play the piano with rage while he listens, understanding the frustration and having felt the same even if he wasn't on the field and playing alongside.

They know each other well enough.

But now, now though, Kirino is stuck in the stands and Shindou is crumbling under the pressure. There's nothing to hold on to, no one to hide his face in and cover his anger, his shame. No where to hide to, no one to pull him and cover for him just for that split second he needed to gather his calm and he hates the feeling of being lost in the swirl of emotions.

It was only a short distance, but Shindou is acutely aware that he wants the constant presence by his side, but it's simply not there.

"Going to space!?"

Shindou had nodded wordlessly, sipping on his tea. Kirino's surprise was justified; Shindou himself had trouble believing it if not for Coach Endou, Gouenji and Kidou being there. They hadn't look as though as this is a joke, so there's no doubt that everything is real. For every second as this reality set in, the weight of the burden gets heavier and heavier, and briefly, Shindou wondered if he could hold on, hold on when he has no support to hold onto.

Kirino reach out to take his own comforting sip of his tea, but hesitated at the last minute. He fidgeted on his chair uncomfortably, before daring to voice out what's in his mind. "When will you be back?" the pink haired boy's voice was a whisper, the implication of the question obvious to them both.

How long is Shindou going to be away?

How long are they going to be separated?

How long are they going to be alone?

Shindou tightened his grip on the handle of his teacup, setting it down quickly before he crushed the frail porcelain. That question had occurred to him, of course, and he had asked the same to Coach Kuroiwa, but not getting a set answer (as always). It frustrates and kills him to know that he can't give a definite answer to Kirino either, and the gradually crushed look on his best friend's face is surely mirrored on his own.

Kirino closed his eyes and sigh softly, feeling Shindou stand up, practically stomping over to the grand piano in the center of the room and poured his heart. The defender knows the answer instinctively by Shindou's movements, by his expression, by the song he is playing out (or more like banging on keys), and his shoulders sagged at the thought.

The uncertainty is crushing them both, and for the first time, it's as though as the stable ground they had known all their life is yanked out of their feet.

The whole Raimon Soccer club had come to see them off. In that sense, Shindou felt utter gratitude to them, even if it makes the following temporary goodbye harder than it should be.

They played a game, of course. Why would they miss out on playing a game at a time like this? It's only symbolic.

Symbolic, Shindou thought, of how far he had leapt ahead of Kirino and hadn't realized it. Playing against his best friend shows their skill differences, and it became painfully obvious that he had left Kirino behind. Nothing between them matched anymore, not like when they were two sides of a coin, a key defender and a key offense, best friends with mirror skills and complementing moves. Not the grace they had shared, not the speed and not the tactical mind that would have required them close to no communication during a match.

No, his mind screamed, when did I leave you behind? When!?

The thought of Kirino struggling to catch up to him makes his heart skip a beat, and Shindou felt guilty in that very moment. One cannot accuse him of not noticing Kirino's jealousy during their trip back in time to France; Shindou did grow up with the pink haired defender, after all, but he had all the confidence that Kirino would solve that on his own. Everything had settled alright back then, but will it repeat again, in this fragile period of time?

Shindou thinks he couldn't stand it, if he left Earth with a troubled Kirino behind. Could he bring Kirino with him, perhaps? Can he beg the Coach hard enough?

But Shinsuke hadn't been allowed to go. He had heard from Tenma, understanding why Tenma would go as far as begging the coach. Shindou would have done the same for Kirino.

As the time comes for them to leave and the midfielder looks at his best friend with worry, the red gleam of the captain band around Kirino's upper arm makes him sigh in relief. The pink haired defender will be okay, he realized, smiling and giving a hug to each member of the Raimon Club. Kirino will be fine and waiting for him to come home, and all he could do now is to make sure they succeed in keeping this planet safe.

The Galaxy Nauts left Earth's atmosphere, and Shindou blinked away the tears that had welled up. The sight of Earth from space is breathtaking.

If only Kirino is with him.

They had kept each other updated with emails and occasional voice calls, but being light years away from Earth can really hamper one's communications.

Shindou made sure to keep Kirino updated; his emails easily reaching three pages and that's him trying to keep everything short. He made sure to include all the sights, all the food, all the experience of the planets they had visited to Kirino, made sure he jot down everything on the email that he sends as often as he could. Voice calls are more luxurious; it is, after all, not an easy thing to make voice calls back to Earth, and even then they had to account for the time differences, which more often than not cancels the idea of calling altogether.

So when they did have a chance to make a video call, Shindou jumped at it.

He didn't realize how much he truly misses his best friend until he sees him on the screen, smiling that brilliant smile of his. Kirino and all his grace, warmth mirth in his eyes as he teased Shindou about the group finally working like it should, and Shindou realized with some sort of satisfaction that Kirino could read him, his much more relaxed expression, even if they are light years away from each other. He, in return, observed the pink haired defender for a while, noting that with captainship comes a certain confidence that Kirino carries with him now, and it suits him.

It suits him, with all that grace and beauty and warmth in his smile, even as the video call disconnected abruptly, Shindou fancied he could see Kirino gave him a final wink, a gesture of luck.

The midfielder returned to his room with newfound motivation to work harder. He cannot lose, not when he had everything at stake, his home, his family, his best friend. Too much would be gone and he couldn't let that be. What he would do to have Kirino by his side now, cheering him on like the pink haired defender always does, with his charming smile and stunning eyes and Shindou paused.

When had he begun considering their friendship to be something more?

Adorning Aoi with the ring of flowers is so very Tenma.

Their victory had tasted so sweet, so grand and so very satisfying. The fact that not one planet has to be sacrificed is wonderful indeed, and Shindou could feel the burden sliding off his shoulders. Cheers rang around him, people happy that this entire event is over and can be put behind them, and life can go on as usual. Very soon, everyone can go home and Shindou felt a certain eagerness to go back. He must be homesick, he thought, but then, everyone is, having been away from Earth for so long. Everyone have family and friends back home, and surely they want to reassure them that everything is okay now.

Shindou took off his crown of flowers, playing with the soft petals. For a moment, he could imagine Kirino's hair underneath his fingertips, soft and gentle, much like their owner's personality. He imagined placing the ring of flowers on top of all that pink hair, sees the white bringing the brilliance of Kirino's baby blue eyes, complementing his best friend's smile, the laughter from the pink haired defender warmer than anything he knows.

Then Ibuki clapped his back, cheering something so loud Shindou only heard half of, and the image was gone, replaced with the ring of flowers in his hand, on top of no one's head and looking unbearably lonely. He felt the urge to snipe at Ibuki, as he always will and always does even if they no longer go head to head with each other, but instead, he held his tongue back, figuring to cut Ibuki some slack, considering they just won and all and the goalkeeper is probably overexcited. Blandly, Shindou thought of how Kirino would like Ibuki's presence, if only to rile Shindou up a bit, playfully and totally harmless. They would probably go along well.

But until then, Shindou though, he can't wait until he gets home and put his flower crown where it should belong, atop the head of a pink haired angel.

In the end, as he steps down from the Galaxy Nauts and Earth feeling strangely surreal to all of them, Shindou could feel his heart hammering.

His grip on the flower crown is killing the plants slowly, and he should probably loosen that grip if he ever plans on gifting his best friend with it. Kirino would tease him endlessly if he comes back with a bunch of wilted flowers as souvenir. Speaking of the pink haired defender, Shindou spotted him among the other Raimon Club members, who had waited for their arrival back home.

The midfielder could feel his throat getting dry, his heart hammering harder, if that's possible. For the first time he could remember, Shindou doesn't know how to start a conversation with Kirino. No words would come up to his head, nothing had prepared him for a situation where they had separated for a long time, only to meet again and what's he going to say? Hi, I'm home, we saved the planet and everything is alright now, and, uh, I love you? No way.

Shindou nearly ran back to the spaceship when he sees Kirino approaching, all the grace in every step the defender takes. He can't do this, he can't do this, but the midfielder is rooted on the spot and could only stare with his mouth slightly open as Kirino smiled at him, chuckling slightly at the awestruck expression.

"Are you not going to say hi?" The pink haired boy teased.

No, he was totally going to say hi but he doesn't know how to, but he wants to, of course, he just doesn't know how and as Shindou struggled to get his words formed, his eyes met Kirino's and all he sees in them is warmth.

Warmth and happiness and the brilliance of his soul and love, pure and utterly unabashed love. They can read each other too well, so how did he ever missed that?

Shindou puts the flower crown on the top of Kirino's head, and then leaned in to kiss him on the lips.

"I'm home."

Omake

And of course, Ibuki had to spoil it by wolf whistling in an epic loud tone (how he reached that volume by whistling is a mystery Shindou has no interest in finding out). The goalkeeper is chuckling something about how Shindou has a girlfriend and how he never said that to any of the team and Shindou didn't bother holding Kirino back when the defender proceeded to punch Ibuki (on the shoulder, not tall enough) for calling him a girl.

Yeah, Shindou thought with an amused satisfaction, they'll get along just fine.

Several notes for after you read the story ;

- Mentions of key offense and key defender refer to the episode 38 of GO (for Shindou as Key offense) by Kidou, and Shindou calls Kirino a Key defender in episode 23 of Go.

- Mentions of mirroring hissatsus refer to Presto Turn and Melody Wave on Shindou and Kirino respectively. It's available on their default Go moveset in game, and it's almost like they exchanged a sub version of their main hissatsus, Fortissimo and The Mist. Similar gestures and ideas (The Mist/ Presto Turn by moving around and confusing the opponent, Fortissimo and Melody Wave with their similar theme, plus kick with music notes).

- For the jealousy in the France arc of Go:Chrono Stone; well, every fan of this pairing knows those episodes very well. XD And yes, I think Shindou actually noticed, considering the look he gave during the half time when they fought against Zanark, and how he replied Kirino after Kirino got to the answer he wants. :P

- About how they could read each other very well is demonstrated several times during the series, most noticeably during Kariya's episodes, Gryphon movie first half of the show, France arc, Crossover with Danball Senki movie and many more, those are just the highlights. XD

- About how Shindou misses Kirino is my interpretation of his sentence in Chrono Stone, during the France arc, when he said, "Having you by my side is reassuring to me."

- Kirino is captain to Raimon Eleven during Inazuma Go Galaxy. It's not shown in the anime (which sucks) but it's confirmed in game. XD

- Always figured out Shindou would be the last to realize he's in love. In an interview with Kobayashi Yuu (Kirino's seiyuu) and Tai Yuuki (Kariya's seiyuu), Kobayashi-san reveals that Shindou never found out about Kariya being mean to Kirino, but when asked if Kirino feels like punching Shindou because of it, Kobayashi-san laughed and promptly said no. According to her, Kirino made sure to hide it so well and made sure Shindou never found out, a proof of their friendship by not wanting to burden him. My headcanon is that Shindou totally knew it all along, but like the France arc, trusted his best friend to find his own answers. This probably carries over to their love life as well XD

- I like the relationship between Ibuki and Shindou; not in the sense of a pairing, but as a pair of rivals they totally had it going. I always thought that if Kirino was given a little bit more screentime during Galaxy and that he had interacted with Kirino they would have gotten along. XD