Title: Perception

Chapter : One-shot

Summery : In which the Furuya's underestimate Erika's observation skills.

Rating : K+

Genre : Romance. Fluff. Slice-of-Life-ish.

Warnings : None, except for occasional POV switching.

A.N. : First "Ginga e Kickoff" story that's in English? Sweet. Hope you enjoy the one-shot ^^

Disclaimer : I do not own any of the characters or any concept of Ginga e kickoff.

It was sweltering hot outside on that fine summer day, the evening sun beating down on the backs of anyone who dared be outside. There was a slight warm breeze that gave only seconds worth of relaxation before being dunked back into the heat wave. Few ventured outside into the park that held little to no shade, but even from a mile away a person could hear the familiar 'thunk' of a soccer ball.

Erika was not the type of person to let the heat stop her from practicing her favourite game. If she was to get better and become more skilled then she would have to make some sacrifices. 'Talking about sacrifices', Erika thought to herself as she placed a foot on her soccer ball and picked at her baggy t-shirt, 'I'll need to wash this sweaty shirt a bunch of times.. Such a sacrifice of time...' She shook her head sadly, before hooking her foot under the ball and quickly flicking her foot in the air. As the ball became airborne Erika swung her leg around as hard as she could and watched as the ball soared through the air into the soccer net with her leg still extended outwards.

Something that Erika constantly thought about was becoming better, faster, more dependable and not to mention to gather as much confidence as she could. The difference between the junior players and the seniors was not skill - she would have to remind herself – but their confidence. To say that the red-haired girl had little confidence was something to laugh at. She wasn't nearly as cocky as any of the Furuya triplets or Auto, yet she had more confidence than Reika, Kagi and Shou. A happy medium. But she didn't want her skills to stay a 'happy medium', it would be crazy to do so. No – she wanted to be the fastest runner, the one who nobody could catch up to. Yes, scoring goals was another thing on her list of dreams - but come on! With the demon triplets and boy wonder on her team it was difficult enough to simply get the ball, let alone score a goal.

Another thing – the triplets irritated her, yet at the same time intrigued her. They were cocky as anything, but had proof about why they were. Each one, despite their similarities, had a different personality. While Kota was the silent one, Erika had no doubt in her mind that he was just a firecracker ready to explode. Ryuuji was more intellectual of the three, showing signs of quick perception and was quite qualified in manipulating others. Ouzou was like a mixture of the two – hotheaded at times, yet his head was screwed on tight. He was also more of a teaser compared to the other two, liking to point out others mistakes. Then there was Auto, who was silent and straightforward - but always put his priorities before the teams.

Really, what a frustrating group. The girl couldn't even remember how many times she wanted to pull out her hair because of them.

Erika hadn't noticed how long she had been in thought for until she realized that it was dimmer outside. Swerving around, the red-head found that the sun was indeed quite low in the sky. She would have to leave home soon, much to her detest. Normally she would be with Shou at that moment, practicing anything that came to their minds. But he had repeatedly apologized earlier that day in saying that he would have to help his mother with the restaurant for the next following nights. Apparently it was tourist season and people liked to go to the little BBQ restaurant – not that Erika could say that she didn't like the family-run shop, quite the opposite really.

Tucking a piece of her bang behind an ear, Erika began to jog towards the goalies net. She didn't have as powerful of a kick like Masaru-sensei (or Kota), but she could tell that she was improving greatly. From all the running and stamina exercises she had worked on, Erika's muscles were just praying for a good kick. She could definitely live up to the name 'Speed Star', now she only needed to spread the name nationwide – no, worldwide.. Wait, more than that. Galaxy wide. To achieve greatness one must dream of seemingly impossible feats. Erika could admit that their dream of being the best team in the galaxy a bit unbelievable – but she was certain that with enough teamwork, practice and their coach they could do anything.

With that sappy thought in mind, Erika picked up her ball and twirled it in her hand. She paused for a moment as she heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps sneaking up behind her. She automatically tossed the ball into the air before drilling it with her foot fiercely, sending it spiraling through the air. Whoever thought to creep up on her deserved a good soccer ball in the gut, or perhaps the face! Either way she found herself spinning on her heel to face the person in question. Her face automatically soured at who had just appeared.

Ouzou Furuya. She could tell by the part in his hair, and the red shirt he wore. Of course it would be him just randomly strolling around the park. But... Where were the other two? Now that she thought about it, Erika couldn't remember a time that Ouzou was alone without one of his brothers. She could recall seeing Kota alone multiple times. Ryuuji and her hung out alone together during practices.. But she had never seen Ouzou alone. It was odd for the triplet to be by himself, but she hesitated to question it. Maybe it was because of the fact that her soccer ball was flying at him and might (hopefully) injure him. 'Serves him right.' She thought to herself, 'creeping up on cute little girls, he might be mistaken for a pervert.'

As expected, he was easily able to deflect the attack with a kick of his own which ended up hitting Erika in the gut. Sucking in a breath quickly, Erika glared daggers at the boy. No need to send it back! Simply kicking it away would be good enough. Gez, talk about De Javu... Taking a wheezy breath, the red-head took the ball in one hand blinked a few times to get the dots that had appeared in her eyes away.

"Improving I see." Ouzou drawled with his hands deep in his jeans pockets and shoulders slouched to a relaxing pose. "Good for a girl of your standards."

At first she was surprised – a compliment? Then things started to make sense as he went to the point of no return. Good for a girl of her standards?! Erika's arms shook in anger, causing her to drop her ball. You could practically see steam coming from her ears and nose as she struggled to put words to her mouth. "Y-you-" She finally managed in a stammer while raising a pointed finger at him. "NOTHING IS DIFFERENT BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN! WOMEN CAN BE JUST AS GOOD, IF NOT BETTER, THEN MEN!" She suddenly exploded, taking large stomps towards him and poked his chest hard. "AND JUST SO YOU KNOW, I KNOW I HAVE A MIGHTY GOOD KICK." She gave him another venomous look before driving her finger harder into his chest – as if that could get her point across better.

The triplet merely looked between amused and smugness. He hadn't really expected her to blow off like that. Then again every other time he or any of his brothers mentioned something about her being a girl Shou would suddenly appear and drag the red-head away. He had wondered what her reaction would be, but didn't expect it to be so harsh. At least she wasn't hitting him – yet.

At his silence, Erika brought up the question she wanted to ask. It had a sharp attitude to it. "Where are your brothers at? Hiding behind the bleachers?" She ignored the fact that there were no bleachers in the park, but mentally started to hit herself for saying something stupid.

"I actually came here alone." He clarified for her, shifting his weight to his left foot.

The girl regarded him warily. If he came alone that would probably mean he wanted something from her. Erika couldn't imagine what it could be, he and his brothers seemed to have everything. Ouzou wouldn't purely come all the way over to the park just to practice himself and the thought that he wanted to practice with her didn't seem like a possibility. So, when in doubt, ask. "What are you doing here then?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something." Was his vague reply.

Erika could feel her impatience rolling in. What was seriously up with this guy? One moment he is criticizing the women population, and then next he is saying that he needed to talk to her. Pursing her lips in thought, Erika rubbed her temple with the finger that had previously been on his chest. At that moment a good ole warm-up practice sounded like a great way to release the steam in her. But she still had this little twit to deal with. "What is it?"

There was silence for a few moments, and Erika's stomach started to coil. Was it something totally drastic? She could see the concentration on his face and the wheels turning in his head as his eyes seemed to dart everywhere except for her face. When she had thought he had finally gone mute he spoke. "Close your eyes."

Erika blinked at him, not really comprehending. Why would she need to close her eyes? Rolling her eyes at him she said, "Okay, but expect punishment if you say something out of boundaries." With that she gave him a half-hearted glare and closed her eyes. Really, was closing her eyes any help with what he wanted to say? Erika didn't really expect it to be. Maybe he was nervous or something? The red-head nearly laughed there, a demon triplet being nervous? Simply unheard of, something totally cr-

Suddenly she felt something press against her lips. Erika's eyes immediately opened to find that Ouzou had put his very own lips to hers. Her mind instantly went blank, and the coil that had been in her stomach before intensified to the point of it almost hurting. Erika, for what seems like a once in a lifetime, was speechless. It would be a lie to say that her cheeks didn't flare up brightly, her heart didn't start pounding in her chest like a drum and that she didn't completely freeze up. Actually, she did all three of these.

It took her a few moments to realize that 1: his eyes were open and 2: he was slowly backing away from her face. Erika's mouth opened to question him, but she then shut it. She continued this a few times, confusion written all over her face. It was still hard for her to grasp – Ouzou Furuya had just kissed her. Right there in broad daylight too! Okay, well it was mostly dusky out, the sky a mixtures of oranges, pinks and reds. But that was beside the point.

The first, and only, thing to come to mind when she told herself to say something was, "T-that wasn't s-speaking." She flushed pink again, but refused to leave eye contact with him. She was not going to appear weak, even when he exploited her weak spot! This was, by the way, being treated like a woman. It always made her flustered, especially when around boys. Like those idiots in her class that keep asking her if Shou and her were in a relationship. It always made her embarrassed and cause her to lash out at them. She had always been one of the boys, always had been too much of a tomboy and being treated like a girl was a bittersweet experience.

Ouzou chuckled lightly, hardly audible. "Does that mean you liked it?"

Erika found herself resembling a fish once again, mouth opening and closing while blinking owlishly. "H-how did you get that from what I said?!" Erika found herself exclaiming, completely flabbergasted. Her hands then clenched into fists, and she gulped loudly. "Y-you know, that was u-uncalled for!" She stuttered weakly with her face still beat red. "T-totally out of boundaries!" Then she started punching him in the chest repeatedly, trying to calm her own erratic heart. 'This is so embarrassing!' She thought to herself.

But her babble didn't seem to dishearten the boy. Instead he smirked his famous triplet demon smirk. Here was the Speed Star reduced to speaking nonsense just from a simple kiss. "Actually-" He started, but was interrupted.

"Don't smirk like that!" Erika pointed rudely at his face. At that moment all she could think of was that those smirking lips had been on hers not even a minute before. "A-and step away! You're too close!" Which he was, she could feel his breath on the top of her head and desperately wanted him to step away so her body would stop reacting crazily. And, unfortunately, her pride wouldn't allow her to step back and away from the triplet ('show no weaknesses'). When he appeared to have no intentions of moving Erika roughly pushed him backwards so there was some distance between them.

At the last second he grabbed her wrist as her arms started to go back to her side. He easily dragged her forward so they were nearly chest to chest. Erika inhaled sharply and wiggled in his grasp. She stared up at him with wide eyes, once again rendered speechless by this boy. He took great care in grabbing her chin carefully, tilting her head upwards more. Erika found herself once more blushing fiercely before looking away from him. He was such a bastard! All she wanted to do was practice her soccer skills, and here she was doing nothing but sputtering and blushing like a useless heroine in a shoujo manga.

Here was Ouzou, once again pressing his chapped lips to her own, hoping to convey his hidden feelings without having to say them out loud. Behind his mask of confidence and haughty attitude, he was quite afraid of her rejecting him. Getting girls to fall for him was pretty easy because most of the time they were already smitten with him. But with Erika her one true love was soccer. She was much like Kota in that way. Even when the triplets tried out tennis all Kota would think about was soccer.

He had tried to silently tell her his feelings – passing her the ball during their first match in the tournament, congratulating her when she scored a goal, training with her during practices.. But she didn't seem to get it. So here he was trying to 'I like you!' openly... Yet even that didn't seem to be working. Did she think he was fooling around? Sure, he was a self-proclaimed delinquent, but he could be very serious when he wanted to be! Right now he hoped that with this gentle kiss he was giving her would get it to her brain that he liked her more than 'just friends'.

Meanwhile, Erika was trying not to become a puddle of goop. She had no idea about what was running through his head, but she did know what whatever it was it was about her. Whether that was a good or bad thing was a mystery. When he gave her that second kiss... To be frank, Erika felt overwhelmed. Completely and utterly mind blown. Once again her heart started to beat irregularly, face flushing and as still as a statue. She tried to move away, get away from the boy who was acting so out of character... But she felt stuck. And as he carried on, the coil in her stomach started to relax and her heart to flutter.

What was wrong with her?

Finally he broke them apart, his grasp on her wrist hesitantly left, leaving a ghost of a touch. Instantly she clutched the wrist he held to her chest. Ouzou took a step backward, eyeing her carefully for signs of emotion. Erika slowly brought a hand to her lips, staring at her feet. That... He... Kiss... second? Her mind wasn't working properly. Erika opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She took a shakily breath and then looked up at him almost timidly through her eyelashes.

To say that she was surprised to see him blushing was an understatement. That seemed to change things around for her. He was blushing... Which meant he was embarrassed? Was he embarrassed to kiss her? Erika's lips moved and made silent words, wondering what to say with this new development. "I.." She finally managed to say then trailed off when she realized that she had no idea what to say. This seemed to react badly with Ouzou.

He knew it. He knew she was going to reject him, and then he would have to watch her from afar. He had always wondered if she liked Shou or something. The two of them spent the most time together, and while they didn't seem like the type of people to get into a relationship you could never know. He knew that Erika had once had some affections for Auto, but he had assumed that those feeling had already passed.. So while trying to take this silent decline like a man, Ouzou turned and made his way to leave.

But Erika surprised them both. She suddenly reached out and grasped his hand within her own thin and calloused fingers. Ouzou paused for a moment and turned to look at her, his face pulled into his normal neutral one. "U-um.." She licked her lips, trying to find the words that would help her say what she wanted. When nothing came to mind she did the only thing she could think of. She went on her tippy toes and kissed him on the cheek before recoiling.

Looking at him sheepishly, she back pedaled away from him. Turning around so she didn't see Ouzou's confused face, Erika jogged over to where her ball had fallen. Grabbing it and holding under her arm, she glanced over her shoulder at the boy who had stolen her first, second and third kiss. With a small grin on her face she said, "I think I like you too." That all said and done she sprinted away from him (totally not trying to show off her speed!).

Since she ran away she couldn't see the look on Ouzou's face. It was shaped into that of a smirky-grin (he knew no other) and had stuffed his hands in his pockets. He stared after the girl he was infatuated with until her shape became a small dot in the summer's sunset. Sighing lightly, Ouzou tried to think of a way to break this news with his brothers. The three were tight knit and knew nearly everything about each other... Besides his crush for Erika that is..

Just as he was about to leave a voice spoke up. "About time!" Eyes widening slightly, the boy turned to the voice much like his own. There stood... Ouzou?

Cringing slightly, the triplet dug his foot on the ground. "Good evening..." He greeted.

"What are you doing, Ryuuji?"

Ouzou – or now known as Ryuuji - pondered on this. "Taking a stroll in the park?"

Ouzou – the real one - smirked at his tricky brother. "Are you telling me or are you asking me?"

"... Telling you."

"Hmm.." Ouzou said with a cocky, all-knowing smirk on his face as he slowly walked over to his brother. He reminded Ryuuji of a predator after it's prey, with his small and slow movement - like if he went to fast then Ryuuji would run away. The older triplet knew that this wouldn't end in his favour. "Now, tell me, why do you have your hair shaped like mine?"

"I.." Ryuuji started, and then ruffled his hair so it went back into its normal place. "Have no idea what you are talking about."

"I think you do." Ouzou said stopping right in front of his brother. Eyes trailing from his brother's hair to the red shirt he wore. "I think that you were pretending to be me. But the real question, brother, is why?" At Ryuuji's silence, Ouzou continued with his knowing rant. "Why would my brother pretend to be me? My stunning good looks? Why would he do that, since we have the same face? Then, perhaps... would it have something to do with a certain speedy soccer girl?" Ouzou's smirk widened as his brother flinched slightly. "Bulls-eye."

"..." Ryuuji decided that silence was the best answer as his brain tried to wrap around the sudden occurrence. He had not expected Ouzou to come waltzing in.

"Now Ryuu, tell me why you think kissing a girl with my face is a smart thing to do?" Ouzou contemplated, teasing him with the childish nickname. "If she thinks that it was me who did it... Then wouldn't it be me that she starts to like?" Though the question itself was innocent, it sounded like he was enjoying the situation far too much. The large smirk on his face assisted this thought. "You should probably tell her the truth in practice tomorrow."

"..." Ryuuji looked up at his brother with the identical face and sighed, "I know..."

He hated it when his brother was right.

|| - THE NEXT DAY - ||

Erika was getting ready for their soccer practice with Masaru-sensei. The two were waiting around for the other members of the team to arrive while Shou ran around chasing Jack. Shaking her head, Erika bent down and tied her cleats tightly. Looking up she realized that the Furuya triplets had arrived, but not wanting to look like a creep she casually looked away to Shou. Who was once again freaking out about this and that. Slowly after Tagi and Auto waltzed if with Reika trailing after them.

After that the team was all assembled and they started the practice. Erika acted as if what happened yesterday hadn't, focusing all of her concentration on soccer with ease. She was still trying to get faster, and so far she thought that it was working. Her endurance had increased and she was pretty sure she could outrun everyone on the team. This thought got her partying in her head. 'Take that, demon triplets!' Erika thought to herself with a grin and striking an exaggerated victory pose. The next soccer game they participated in she would show off her running and dribbling skills to everyone. Prove that the triplets and Aoto weren't the only powerhouses on the team. HA!

Needless to say, Shou and Reika both gave her questioning glances.

The training went on smoothly and soon enough the sky was setting and the team was dismissed. The redhead found her way skipping happily to where her gym bag was. She would have to go and change into her normal clothes in the bathroom since her current ones were all sweaty. Shouldering her backpack, she and Reika made their way to the girl's make-shift changing room. Both were ignorant of the stares the two were getting.

Erika had changed into her normal clothing: her salmon coloured sweater and blue jeans. Reika changed into her purple shirt and blue jeans as well. The two came out talking casually, Reika playing with a key chain attached to her bag.

"So we have Maths and Science homework tonight, right?" Erika asked, tightening her ponytail.

"Yeah." Reika replied softly, her eyes slowly looking around the field. "We have a test in history tomorrow too..."

"No way!" Erika yelled out in surprise, arms flailing in the air. "I totally didn't study for that!" She then turned on her heel and looked around the field for a certain spiky haired boy. "Shou!" When said boy looked her way she yelled again, "We have a history test tomorrow!"

"WHAAAAAT?!" he yelled back, running around the field aimlessly - freaking out just as much as she - before sprinting over to them.

Reika giggled at the two and their antics. Of course they would forget, saying that they relied on Reika for their school information. They thought too much about soccer to even concentrate during class. "Don't worry," Reika patted Erika's shoulder sympathetically, "I don't think you two will do bad."

Even as she said this, both of the two's heads were limp in depression. "If I fail another test my mom says I'll have to skip some of my practices, and ground me to my room..." Erika sighed.

"If I fail, my mom is going to make me clean the restaurant with a toothbrush as punishment.. again.."

Reika smiled sadly at her friends. "It's okay. It should be easy. Mostly multiple choice."

The redhead nodded, clenching her hands into fists as she stared into the sky with determination burning through her eyes. "We. Can. Do IT!" She said to herself, punching the air happily.

"That's right!" Shou exclaimed, regaining the joyful gleam in his eye. The brunette suddenly took a deep and exaggerated breath, causing both girls to look at each other worriedly. "TOMORROW ERIKA AND I WILL PASS THE HISTORY TEST! YOSH!" Erika could almost feel the shock wave of his scream and instinctively leaned away. The girl could also feel the uncomfortable stares of her teammates on her back, and felt like glaring at Shou for attracting attention. Grinning like the idiot he was, Shou fist pumped the air. "Time to study!" Which, in the language of Shou was to sit in front of his notes staring blankly at the page while trying to remember who did what and when.

"It's after lunch, so we can study at recess and lunch break..." Reika reminded the two.

"Thank you, Reika!" Shou cried out, dramatic tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Alright!" Erika grinned, "We can do this."

"I have to go now, though." Reika told her friends, clutching her bag strap.

Shou nodded in agreement, "I'm going to study with every cell in my body!" Yeah. 'Study'. "Bye guys!" Shou quickly made his as he sprinted out of the gates, hopped on his bike, and cycled away.

"Okay, see you tomorrow!" Erika called in their wake, though she was left hanging as the other two were already gone. She sweat-dropped at their sudden departure, and wondered if Shou remembered that the two of them were supposed to go to the convenience store. He had probably forgotten.

Erika breathed in through her nose. She would study all night if she had to! She could not fail the test and risk missing practices. An all nighter was not out of the question! 'Reika's awesome.' She thought to herself, as she slowly made her way to leave, shaking her head at the problem at hand. She would have to get home as soon as possible.

As she got to the gates she had the oddest feeling at the back of her neck. It was as if she was getting stared at. Intensely. Looking over her shoulder with a slight frown, she found that the triplets were all staring at her. Erika stared back, brown eyes flickering between the three of them. This lasted about a minute before she shrugged and stuck her hands into her pockets. Going back to walking, Erika strolled past the gate and down the sidewalk.

Silently she was trying to remember what the test tomorrow was about. Obviously it was about history... Whistling softly, she realized that it might be harder to study than she thought. At least she had the comfort to think that she and Shou were in the same boat at that moment. If she was going to fail, then so was he!

Then she heard someone shout her name behind her. Curiously turning around, Erika cocked her head to the right and looking back at the caller. It was Ryuuji. "Hey." She said casually, hands still in her pockets.

"Afternoon." He said as he pulled up in front of her. Erika raised an eyebrow as she noticed that he looked pretty flustered. "I just wanted to tell you..." He then paused, looking for the right words to say. Erika waited patiently, wondering what he wanted to say. "To tell you that.. It was me.. yesterday.. That, you know.. was with you." He finished lamely.

"Oh." Erika blinked, "I already knew that." She told him honestly.

"What?" Ryuuji asked, blinking a few times. "How?"

Erika laughed. "Do you three really think that I can't tell you guys apart?" She asked with an amused expression on her face. "I realized it the moment I pushed you. Ouzou would have pushed me back, but you didn't." She shrugged nonchalantly, though this was technically a lie. She had suspected it when she had mention his brothers being behind the bleachers, something that Ouzou would have definitely commented on. "And I know that it wasn't Kota. He doesn't talk that much - façade or not."

At his confused face, Erika was certain that she was correct about all she said. Did they not recognize that Erika was actually quite observant? Erika nearly laughed at the thought that they thought she could be fooled by a change of hairstyle and shirt colour. It was actually very funny, and she was only left with the question of why he had even tried to hide behind his brother's face. She decided not to question him. For now.

"Is that all?" Erika asked. She just wanted to get home and study, after all every second spent was a second wasted.

"So yesterday.." Ryuuji finally spoke, "When you said you liked me.. You meant me, and not Ouzou?"

Erika rolled her eyes but she still had a smile on her face. "You can figure that out yourself." His insecurity about this topic was actually pretty cute. Shaking her head with a laugh, Erika turned around and started to walk home - intent on reviewing to her history notes before it was too late to study. She would tell him that yes, she had been talking about him yesterday, the next time she saw him.

Thus leaving an alone and confused boy on the sidewalk. He was watching her retreating figure with a flabbergasted expression on his face, trying to piece together the internal puzzle in his head. He had always been complimented on his intelligence, he was quite simply a genius. Solving equations and writing thesis's on particle theory were something to laugh at. Yet this had him, the genius player of the Mamoria Predators, at a standstill. So.. Did that mean that she liked him? Or not? Maybe she was just playing with his mind?

"Girls.." He said to himself with a sigh, "...Are confusing."

A.N. : Ta-Da!

Were you surprised? I left a few hints indicating that it wasn't Ouzou, though I hope that you guys were surprised! I find Erika and Ryuuji a cute couple, but they aren't my favourite couple ^^ Maybe I should make a Erikaxeveryone one-shot (jokes.)

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and leave a review if you enjoyed it! ^^