"Yukimura- Buchu, is something bothering you?"

Akaya leaned on the fence next to his captain, and glanced briefly at his indifferent features before turning his gaze towards the training matches on the field.

"I wonder what Sanada and the others are doing"

He put a wide smile on his face to encourage the captain "I'm sure they are training on their own way, there's no need for you to worry!"

He felt a slight comfort when the captain chuckled. He would do anything for his captain, and for his teammates.

"So, aren't you worried? They might be playing around without us, and having a good time"

His smile suddenly fell, and he looked thoughtfully at his hands. He knew that Yukimura meant it as a joke, but even so, he felt nothing but guilt.

He sensed Yukimura's gaze on him, sure he was surprised why he didn't explode as expected of him.

He chose his words carefully "It's not fare." He went silent for a second, and continued when the other stared at him with questioning gaze "Sanada Fukubucho and Yanagi-san, they are better than me. I should have been the one who leaves."

His hands turned to fists, and he grimaced.

Really, it was so UN fare, what Yanagi did had upset him, but what choice he has? All he has to do is to be more powerful, he needs more training, so much more. He shouldn't make Yanagi regret what he did for him.

"After all these days, you are still upset about that. I thought you overcame this issue"

It wasn't easy, what happened that day wasn't easy at all. Yanagi had, despite his good intention, insulted him. He showed him how weak he was, and threw that fact right into his face.

"Listen Akaya-kun, you are our youngest, you have power but you don't know how to use it yet. Yanagi knows that, so he gave you this chance. You know what to do, right?"

He nodded slowly, they have high expectations of him, but he doubts his ability.

"It seems I'm not the only one worried here..."

He lifted his questioning eyes to the captain, and then followed his gaze to see who he was talking about.

"Shiraishi-san..." He mumbled to himself.

He noticed his increasing heartbeats, but decided to ignore it. He was just embarrassed after the other had called him cute yesterday.

He used the chance that Shiraishi was distracted, and looked at him closely. He couldn't lift his gaze from the ground whenever he was around; he was distracting himself here and there. Shiraishi was leaning on the fence some feet away. It seems he was watching the training, but it was pretty clear that he wasn't seeing anything.

"He is a good captain, thinking about his teammates at a time like this..."

He murmured before he could prevent himself "Look who is talking"

He shut his mouth as soon as the words passed his lips. He gulped before looking at the captain from the corner of his eye. Yukimura might be somewhat kind, but he is deadly scary.

He was glad the captain decided to pretend he hadn't heard him; otherwise he might end up dead. "How did you know what he is thinking about? It might be something else"

"We both Captains, Akaya"

He sighed in relieve, Yukimura's tone wasn't angry at all.

He glanced at Shiraishi again, what drives him to Shiraishi all the time? Could it be guilt?

"Maybe you should talk to him, you are partners after all"

He turned his gaze away; he felt that he had been caught in doing something wrong "It's not that easy, we are from different teams. Besides it was just one match"

"But you did well together, not to mention he is the only one you paired up with aside from Yanagi. It seems he understands you well"

"He handled me well, you want to say?"

"Yes"

He sighed, Yukimura was staring intently at him, and that means one thing, he should go if he was afraid of his own safety.

He walked away slowly; Yukimura's soft voice reached his ear "Don't make that face Akaya-kun, you two won't be able to win if you didn't know each other well enough"

He grunted silently, Yukimura Buchou is so cruel.

Stopping some feet away behind Shiraishi's back, he stood silently. What could he possibly say to the other?!

If it was any other person, he would have smacked his back or hit his head or punched his shoulder to announce his arrival. But with Shiraishi things are different, there's no way he could do such things.

He had hurt him once, there's no way he would do it again.

"Until win are you planning on just standing there?"

He jolted when he heard the unexpected voice, he stared with slight wide eyes at Shiraishi who turned around, and leaned his back on the fence. His usual smirk on place.

"How did you know...?"

He asked after a moment, he was sure he didn't make any sound.

"I smelt your shampoo" His smirk widened.

"Eh..?" A deep frown appeared on his face, and he stared quizzically at the other. When did he...?

His frown deepened while Shiraishi's smirk widened "Don't underestimate me Kirihara-kun"

His curious gaze followed Shiraishi's movement, when he lifted his recently UN bandaged hand to his own hair, and curled a soft strand on his finger before tugging it.

He knew what Shiraishi wanted to tell him from that unexpected move, there's no way for him to forget when the older boy had touched his hair last night. He lowered his head to hide his slowly reddened cheeks, what's there to be embarrassed about? There must be something wrong with him. But for Shiraishi to recognize the smell of his shampoo... It made him feel weird inside. He was actually... happy!

He walked next to the other, and leaned on the fence. His eyes never left the field in front of him, he knew he was being idiot in avoiding looking into Shiraishi's eyes, but he couldn't help it.

While he was watching the training matches silently, his senses were completely focused on the person next to him. They were standing so close next to each other, he should have put some distance between them.

Why he is so nervous?

A low sigh escaped his lips; he should stop over thinking things like this. It's so exhausting, and it has started getting on his nerves.

"I'm not going to ask you what's wrong, because I know you are not going to tell me" He swiftly turned his face to look at Shiraishi as soon as the words left Shiraishi's mouth. He was still on his standing position, and his eyes were staring at the blue sky blankly when he continued "But feel free to talk to me whenever you want" His eyes widened slightly when Shiraishi turned his face towards him suddenly and met his gaze, before he continued softly "Kirihara-kun"

He blinked, he stared at the other's eyes for a moment, he knew Shiraishi meant what he said, but why his eyes were... Completely blank?!

He returned his gaze to look in front of him, and Shiraishi did the same. What he did next surprised him more than the boy next to him, he leaned his body slightly on Shiraishi's upper arm, and said calmly "Shiraishi-san, you are not really that kind, are you?"

He sensed Shiraishi's questioning gaze on him, before the latter looked away with a light chuckle "Who knows"

He feels more at ease now; it's so comforting, leaning on Shiraishi like this. It's even better than talking, there's nothing he could say if he wanted to talk anyway, he himself has no idea what's wrong with him.

Shiraishi Kuranosuki, he wants to know more about this person, he wants to know everything.

"If there's something on your mind, you can talk to me about it" He said it after seconds of hesitation, he has no idea if Shiraishi is going to tell him or not, but he has to try at least.

"It's not like you to say such things, Kirihara-kun"

He grimaced at what he heard, he said with hint of anger in his voice "I might be selfish, but at least I don't pretend to care about others while clearly I'm not!"

"That's so cruel for you to say, but I take it that you are worried about me?"

He released an irritated sigh, and leaned his head on Shiraishi's shoulder. He knows that he shouldn't, but it felt so comforting and he found it so hard to resist "Yukimura Boucho said we are partners, but we aren't close enough"

"Mmm... I see" He went silent for a moment, before he continued "I was thinking about Kin-Chan"

He lifted his head and steadied himself as soon as he heard that name; there was a weird feeling inside his chest. He stared quizzically at Shiraishi, and mumbled "Kin-Chan...?"

He frowned when Shiraishi nodded with a soft smile on his lips; he was still looking at the sky when he answered "He is so reckless, he might do something stupid or dangerous if there wasn't someone to watch over him"

He stared with slightly wide eyes at Shiraishi's face; his gaze was soft, not blank and empty like when he was looking at him.

He ignored the tight knot in his chest; Shiraishi really does care about Kintaro, as well as his teammates. It wasn't pretending as he already thought, the pretending was only for him, Shiraishi didn't deny it after all.

His hands turned to fists, and he forced his features to stay blank. He recognized the feeling in his chest, it was... Pain.

But why? There is nothing between them at all; they are not even friends to begin with. They are just... Partners for limited time, and god knows how long they will be able corporate with each other.

Could they really become a great combination?