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irisviel101 · 2 years

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I rewatched a few episodes of Inazuma Eleven last week, there was definitely way more trauma and dark stuff in the show than I realized before.

Off the top of my head, we have:

Season One:

Raimon getting annihilated by Teikoku (that's so common in the show though, so does this even count? I feel like it should)

Gouenji and his sister's storyline (I think that counts)

Kageyama literally trying to kill Raimon by dropping construction beans on them

Kidou seeing his teammates getting brutally injured and hospitalized by Zeus

Aki and Domon's flashback and memories of Ichinose's "death"

Zeus Jr High being encouraged to drug themselves to become inhumanly strong

You cannot convince me that Raimon was not messed up after the match with Zeus. They were literally being beaten up until near the end

Season Two:

All of season two is like one big trauma factory for these kids. This was probably the darkest season of the series.

Aliea Gakuen destroying various schools

The team getting beaten up by them under the guise of a soccer match (again and again by nearly every team)

Fubuki's backstory and his whole character arc (DID, PTSD, his insecurity of not being good enough, his self-destructive fixation on being perfect, it's also implied that he wished Atsuya was the one to live instead of him)

Gouenji being blackmailed by the aliens and his sister being threatened which is why he has to leave the team and go into hiding

Kazemaru and his extremely slow breakdown until he leaves the team

The whole Dark Emperors thing

The Aliea Gakuen kids being used by Kira in a fight they have nothing to do with

Kageyama manipulating Sakuma and Genda into destroying their bodies to mess Kidou up. The Shin Teikoku episodes were dark and scary af

Kogure's backstory of being abandoned as a kid and his behavioral and trust issues surrounding that

Rika is implied to have issues surrounding her parent's divorce (in the English dub, she mentions that her dad just straight up walked out on them)

Hiroto's story is pretty messed up as well. Kira renames him to replace his son because he looks a lot like the original Kira Hiroto, and Hiroto has clearly internalized it and devoted his woke life to make Kira happy even at the cost of himself. Then, Kira uses him and the rest of the Aliea kids to get revenge on the government for Kira Hiroto's murder, actively using Hiroto's toxic selflessness to his own advantage and manipulating him and the other kids to fight this war for him. Then, Kira forces Hiroto to release the limiter, knowing that it can cause severe and even permanent damage to these kids. There are many instances where Hiroto falters when faced with extreme violence only to end up following his father anyway because he feels like he owes it to him.

Hitomiko's coaching style is not very good either. I like that that's the point and it's used to give her cgaracter development, but one of her strategies was to remove all defense abd let Endou take dangerous shoots over and over again to show him that he needs to get better, something he could have figured out on without that too. Also, Hitomiko puts Raimon through so much without even telling them why they're fighting in the first place, which is kind of like using them in her own fight, like Kira Seijirou did with Aliea Gakuen.

Just the fact rhat these are children fighting actual terrorists

Raimon's mental health in this season was in a pretty bad state

Endou's depression period

Season Three:

Kidou's character arc with Kageyama

Fudou's backstory

Almost everything Kageyama does to Inazuma Japan and Orpheus

The Kingdom's plotline of them being blackmailed and their families basically being held hostage

Ichinose still having damage from the accident in his past

Kageyama's death

The entirety of the heaven and hell arc. Haruna was almost sacrificed and Rika was almost married off to a demon

Literally everything Garshield does in this season. Blackmailing children, human experimentation, plotting to take over the world, confining The Kingdom's real coach etc.

Daisuke's backstory with Garshield, especially when you consider that he spent forty years in hiding and had to fake his death and let his family and friends think he died for so long because of his altercation with Garshield

And these are just what I can think of at the moment. I'm pretty sure I missed a few things.

The point is, Inazuma Eleven has a lot of dark stuff in it, especially when you stop to think about the stuff the show didn't explicitly point out.

#inazuma eleven #ina11 #IE #analysis

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askteikoku · 1 year

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NaruMura with 21: Through a song ❤️

First of all sorry everyone for the disappearence, I got sick. I also passing for an art block so I only add the writting but as soon as I recover for this too I'll try to do some chibis for each ficlet! Here you have! Hope you'll like it!

Narukami had never fallen in love with anyone, he had spent his fourteen years up to that point with no interest in anyone else and love was a strange and abstract concept that only appeared frequently in the songs he listened to. A phenomenon that occurred around him uniting his friends but that did not directly affect him.

If he didn't expect to fall in love, much less did he expect that the person who finally managed to reach his heart lived more than two thousand kilometers from his city.

And yet it was inevitable for him to fall in love with the Oumihara team's engaging tactician, Otomura, whom he met during a Teikoku match against the Okinawan team when he was in his second year of middle school.

He was surprised that the captain of the Oumihara was good friends with Kidou and Otonashi, they told him how they had met a year before and how they recruited Tsunami, who also was a great friend of Fudou's and who was screaming in the sea at that time because the pinkhead took his friend surfing in the same table and due to Fudou’s inexperience they ended up falling because of a wave.

They all laughed, and Narukami found that Otomura's laugh was much deeper, more intimate and extraordinary than any music he had ever heard.

From that day on, Otomura and Narukai began to talk, because somehow their passion not only for soccer but also for music allowed them to connect like two gears ready to fit into each other. Every day they spoke through messages, telling each other about their days, exchanging songs they liked and sending memes that made them laugh until they cried with sore stomachs from the laugh.

There came a time when Narukami was looking forward to finishing his daily chores at school and training so that he could talk to him. In the same way that there came a time when their conversations through messages became conversations through video calls.

During the summer of his third year of Middle School, his friend invited him to spend a few days with him in Okinawa. Doumen and Otonashi, who were up to date on the boy's feelings, not because he had come to tell them but because it was too obvious what they were, congratulated him and repeated once more that they were sure that Otomura felt the same as him.

But Narukami wasn't sure about it, it was true that he was in love, it was true that they got along perfectly, it was true that they were talking until late and that on some occasion they fell asleep because they didn't want to end the call. But it was also true that they lived very far from each other.

Summer passed and with it Narukami lived a dream vacation with long walks on the beach, cold fruit juices of vibrant color, barbecues with the rest of the Oumihara team and numerous friendly soccer matches.

Winter passed and with it Otomura lived the coldest winter of his life, with snow fights against the Teikoku boys, watching the sunset in Inazuma’s Steel Tower Park and visiting Narukami's favorite cafeterias to drink hot cocoa to recover the heat.

With that feeling in his chest hidden deep in the silence that Narukami kept, time went by, a new summer came and a new winter came. The encounters between the two boys continued to increase: Narukami went to visit Otomura during Golden Week, they saw each other at soccer matches, and they even went to a concert together of a band that they both liked a lot and that was touring Japan.

And then, when Narukami was in his second year of High School, he received some news that made his not-so-secret secret tremble. Otomura had to enter the University and he decided to study in Tokyo.

That changed everything, since they would no longer have hundreds of kilometers separating them but would live in the same city.

When Otomura traveled to Inazuma to look for a flat, Narukami accompanied him and when he finally moved they were both unpacking, singing happily with background music coming from an old radio from the boy with light blue hair.

It got late and Otomura invited him to stay the night with him, the first night in that student flat in Inazuma near the University he had finally managed to enter. They ordered Chinese food and sat on the floor, the radio still playing.

“Which University will you apply to, Kenya?” the boy asked suddenly, causing the other to blush and choke on the noodles.

“I have decided to apply to the same one as you. Maybe we can get into a club together.”

Otomura looked at him with slightly raised eyebrows and two pinkish spots slightly coloring his cheeks, he closed his eyes and smiled happily.

"Of course. I have heard that they have a rather interesting Music Club, although the Football Club is also tempting.”

Narukami chuckled.

“Here we both continue with our two great loves.”

"Three."

Narukami's light blue eyes narrowed, heart pounding. Was Otomura hinting at what he thought he was hinting at? He said nothing but continued eating in an unusual silence, a silence that had little left to disappear.

He bathed after dinner and Otomura lent him his clothes. Narukami wasn't sure which was worse, the horrible fish joke on the shirt or the fact that it smelled like his friend.

“Kenya, before I came here I wrote a song for you, do you want to hear it?”

"Did you write a song for me, Gakuya?" Narukami's face was completely red, and he was not much different from the other boy, he nodded with a heavy feeling in his stomach and Narukami settled next to him.

The strategist took the keyboard he had brought with him and placed it on his crossed legs. He began to move his fingers decisively across the keys while the letter he composed coming out of his lips.

A beautiful love song.

Narukami stood up immediately and his eyes widened each time without interrupting despite believing that the strong beating of his heart must be interfering with the melody, until Otomura finished with an "I love you."

Then he raised his violet eyes to discover the impact of his song. He couldn't see Narukami because as soon as he pushed the keyboard away, Narukami jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"I love you too, Gakuya!"

#inazuma eleven #narukami kenya #otomura gakuya #narumura #teikoku #Valentine's Day at Teikoku #fic request #teikoku gakuen

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spatio-rift · 1 year

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can i talk about this real quick... i know this is the magical soccer world etc so i shouldnt think too hard about it but it bothers me that the consequences of shin teikoku were completely shoved under the rug come ie3... genda and sakumas injuries were so bad they could have died from them. and they had to go through some pretty critical surgeries after that. im just wondering.... why barely 3 months later they were both fit to take on the world w soccer.

im no medical professional obviously. but with how bad it was id expect their recovery to take a lot longer than just 3 months (or a few days/maybe couple of weeks for genda in the anime?!)... and in terms of writing this is meant to be something truly horrible that deeply affects kidou (sorry to sakuma and genda but this is what the purpose of this whole arc is). i feel like its not as impactful if you just go "eh theyre fine now, kidous still mad about it i guess but its not a big deal" like... commit

#inzm

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inazumaeveryday · 2 years

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Day 7

Location: Kidou’s house

Kidou: Good morning, mar.

The regional qualifiers for the Football Frontier have finally started.

Our first match is in three days.

mar: (The regional qualifiers are finally here…)

Option 1

mar: Who are you going to play against in your first match?

Kidou: It’ll be either Ryuuguu or Kofun.

Option 2

mar: Who is Raimon going to play against in their first match?

Kidou: Oh, Raimon?

If I remember correctly, their first match is against Nose… Call it bad luck.

Nose is a pretty strong team. There’s a good chance Raimon will actually lose this one.

Kidou: Come to think of it, it’s already been a week since you came to my house. Only three more weeks…

The winner of the Football Frontier will already have been decided by the time you leave.

Heh… But of course, we already know it’ll be our Teikoku Gakuen.

Kidou: mar, your uniform is wrinkled.

You should ask Hakamada to iron it for you.

Morning practice

Kageyama: The regional qualifiers have begun.

But you all know that it is but a stepping stone to the national tournament. The winner of the Football Frontier will be our Teikoku Gakuen.

Kageyama: I want you to show me a perfect, absolute victory.

Team: Yes, sir!

Kidou: The commander’s words have a lot of power.

A “perfect victory,” an “absolute victory”...

By repeating these particular words over and over, he makes sure that we always have them in mind.

Location: classroom (social studies)

Kidou: The history of soccer is filled with legendary players.

…I wish I could face them in a match.

Location: hallway

Kidou: …Hm. A call.

It’s me.

…Yeah. So?

…As I thought.

Yeah, got it. I’ll call you back.

mar: (I wonder who called him…)

Was it one of your informants?

Kidou: Something like that. But eavesdropping on someone’s phone calls is a bad habit to have, you know?

Anyway, speaking of informants… Domon’s a Raimon student starting today.

I’m looking forward to his report.

Genda: Domon’s transferring today, right… Did you hear anything from him?

Kidou: No, nothing yet.

Genda: I see… He’s got a good sense of humor, so hopefully he’ll fit in well at Raimon…

Location: classroom (science class)

Kidou: The materials used to make soccer balls and shoes have been evolving alongside science.

...I can’t even begin to imagine what they’ll be like in a hundred years.

Location: hallway

Kidou: I’m honestly jealous of you, Oono. You’ve been blessed with a great body.

Oono: Really? I’m jealous of you, captain!

I’d love to be able to dribble as fast as the wind like you do.

Kidou: Haha! The grass is always greener on the other side, huh?

Henmi: Oh man… Just one more and…

Kidou: What’s wrong, Henmi? You don’t look so good.

Henmi: Um… So I was in class, and then I fell asleep…

And then they cut my ticket… [1]

Uugh… One more mess-up and I’ll get sent to the disciplinary room…[2]

Kidou: Hmm…

Sorry, I can’t really say I sympathize.

Location: shooting range (PE)

Kidou: Every sport has its own rules.

If you look more into it, you’ll find some really unexpected ones. It’s pretty interesting.

Location: cafeteria

Kidou:mar, do you just eat the foods you like?

You should eat a balanced diet.

Location: schoolyard

Kidou: I should probably read the rest of the report now. I need to figure out the info they sent me.

Location: classroom (Japanese)

Kidou: I couldn’t tell the difference between sonkeigo and kenjougo[3] when I was younger.

But not anymore. I’m able to naturally use them both now.

Location: hallway

Kidou: To solve a Japanese problem, you need to apply mathematical thinking to it…

And to solve a math problem, you need Japanese skills.

Heh, that means you need to work hard at both.

Location: classroom (math)

Kidou: I hear a lot of people struggle with calculus and trigonometric functions.

Well… It’s true that they never make use of it in their daily life, so I can understand why they’d have a hard time with it.

Location: hallway

Sakuma: Do you guys study together at home?

mar, you can tell me… Does Kidou have some kind of secret method that makes him so good at studying?

Kidou: We don’t study together. We’re advancing at different paces so there’s no point.

Sakuma: I-I see…

Location: classroom (music)

Kidou: I see. So abdominal breathing makes it easier for your voice to reach your teammates on the field…

Maybe we should get the team together and try singing as a chorus sometime.

After school

Location: clubroom

Kidou: mar, I’ll be leaving at 17:00 today. I’m going to Mikage Sennou with the commander.

He said you were free to tag along if you wanted.

Location: in the car

Mikage Sennou is also participating in the regional qualifiers.

I heard they have an unusual way to train their players.

Location: Mikage Sennou

Kageyama:Oh… This is Raimon’s data.

Toyama: Impressive, aren’t they, commander?

Our soccer players are fully managed by our school’s powerful computer system!

Kageyama: Interesting. It’s quite realistic for a computer program.

Toyama: These soccer cyborgs will show you a perfect victory in the real match against Raimon as well!

Kageyama: Victory?

Crushing Raimon isn’t victory, it’s mere pest extermination!

Toyama: Y-yes, of course, sir!

mar: (Crushing Raimon…?)

Option 1

mar:Um, what did he mean by “pest extermination”?

Kidou: …………

Option 1

mar: Commander Kageyama is really scary…!

Kidou: The depth of the commander’s desire to win is unfathomable. We can’t even begin to understand it.

mar, you should be more careful about what you say.

Kidou: Nose is a strong team, but we lack data on Raimon so their abilities are unknown…

The commander always has Teikoku’s triumph on his mind, so he’d want to be prepared for every possibility and eliminate any risks to our success.

Location: in the car

Kidou: It’s important to collect as much data as we can, but it is ultimately just plain information.

What’s important is what we do with it.

At home

Location: Kidou’s room

Kidou: Don’t think you know everything from just looking at part of the data.

That’s something I make sure to be careful about.

Location: bath

Kidou: Hahh… The hot water feels great.

I can’t describe this feeling with data…

Location: dining room

Kidou: mar, when you drop a spoon or fork at a restaurant, ask a waiter for a clean one instead of picking it up.

Well, it’s best if you don’t drop anything at all.

Location: Kidou’s room

Kidou is having one of his kingcraft lessons.

Kyougoku: A good leader is generally thought to possess charisma.

Whether or not one is considered charismatic, however, relies solely on the perception others have of them.

Kidou: So charisma is not something that one can simply acquire…

Kyougoku: Precisely! But you do not need to worry about acquiring it, Yuuto-san. You are already charismatic enough.

After the lesson

Kidou: The legendary Inazuma Eleven? Oh, so he’s their coach’s grandson…

Alright, keep me posted.

Oh, mar, you were there.

I just heard from Domon that Raimon is desperately trying to come up with a new special move to defeat Nose.

They even rented a ladder truck.

Haha… What a bunch of idiots.

Anyway… What did you think of Mikage Sennou?

mar: (Mikage Sennou…)

Option 1

mar:The simulation dome was amazing!

Kidou: I agree, it’s an interesting system. It might even be worth implementing at Teikoku.

Kidou:...If Mikage Sennou makes it to the finals, that is.

Option 2

mar: I was curious about those wires on the player’s head!

Kidou: They’re electrodes. They link the players to their coach so he can give them instructions.

They also scan the opposing players and display an analysis of that data.

Kidou:They seem to place a lot of importance on data… But data can only relay you information on the past.

I heard they’re considered to be as strong as our Teikoku, but if they’re satisfied with only beating past versions of their opponents, they’re no match for us.

From what I understand Teikoku has a ticket system where all students have a ticket that gets cut if they break the rules, and if they misbehave again they get sent to like extreme detention. I'm assuming they only have 1 chance before being punished because Teikoku has been said to be strict about rules + the fact that it's a "ticket" (same word you'd use for a 1-use ticket that gets cut when used)

Interestingly the word Henmi uses is actually "punishment room" and when I looked it up I mostly found results about something similar to solitary confinement in prison

2 different branches of polite speech

#sorry for the waittt i was exhausted yesterday #ill be a little busy this week so i might just focus on adding all the conversation options from previous days instead of posting new days #oh god i was struggling with oissu today

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riotouseaterofflesh · 1 year

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🎧🎵 when you get this, you have to put in 5 songs you actually listen to at the moment. Then tag 5-10 followers to do the same consider yourself tagged if that’s your thing! 🎵🎧

Delerium - Remembrance (i’m actually cheating a bit here, since this past couple weeks i’ve been basically only listening to this album so the truest answer would just be other tracks on here, so instead of that the rest are from background tabs from a bit earlier)

Xandria - You Will Never Be Our God

Kinoko Teikoku - Yoru Ga Aketara

Emilie Autumn - What If

Judas Priest - Angel

(tagged by @uuuuutan who i think was actually my source for at least two of the listed songs...)

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angelliyo · 1 year

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ABOUT ME !

Greetings! I am Cupid. the following info may be useless, though you can read it if you'd like!

I'm a demiromantic/sexual, lesbian female who uses any pronouns, though I prefer if you use he/him or they/them on me as it brings me more comfort!

I'm not exactly the best at english, since it's not my first language. So if I accidentally make a spelling mistake, please correct me! And sorry in advance.

I'm into gyaru (rokku and himegal) fashion, and also lolita (Gothic) fashion!

I listen to a bunch of kpop and jrock! My favorite group/soloist is definitely enhypen, chuu, babymetal, and yousei teikoku!

I often type in caps to express my excitement, if I ever type in caps please don't think that I'm angry or anything!

I also use emojis ironically, and use some emojis like; (≧∇≦)/ to make myself look cute ⊃ο<*

REQUESTS !

I'd like to write stuff for twisted wonderland and obey me, even though I'm not the best writer..

I accept matchups! (will be talking about those in another time)

And also accept headcanons, imagines, character x character, x reader, that stuff!

here are some common rules !

I. I refuse to write any nsfw. I'm uncomfortable writing that, though I can make posts hinting yk- just plz don't request smut😭

II. All ortho/luke x (someone) posts are strictly platonic, as they are children. And so are brother x brother posts.

III. PLEASE DON'T REQUEST YANDERE FICS😭😭😭 I honestly hate that stuff.. So if you want a yandere fic, ya got the wrong place😔🤚

IV. I'm probably gonna write more satan/asmo/barbatos/solomon/lilia fics because I love them sosososoosps much😍😍

V. I'm a slow writer so just gimme like a few weeks then you got ur request🥺 /jjj but srsly- I am pretty slow, so it might take a while to make them. (Plz be patient with me😢)

Requests are.. Open! But might take slower to write since there's still school and there's a hard ass exam coming up- 😭😭 might fail so pray for me /hj

That's it for my (not so) little introduction! Thank you lots for reading, may luck be with youu! 😘😘😘🥰🥰🥰😍😍😍😘

#introduction #Pray for me since I'm about to fail school #Please help😭😭#twisted wonderland #Twst #Obey me #Om #twst requests #obey me requests #requests #reqs open #Also forgot to add I do art commissions #They're closed rn so don't even bother🙄🙄‼️‼️

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horocandy · 1 year

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HELLO HORO!!! TOP 10 INA characters you want to know more about?

HII SORRY IM SUPER LATE TO THIS but here we go🫶 I can’t think of 10 characters tho so I’ll do 5!!

1. sorry for including genda and sakuma in every single one of my answers but I genuinely want to know. what happened between s2 and s3. it’s frustrating how they just swiped off the whole Shin Teikoku arc like it was nothing… also, what became of Sakuma after Kidou left (again) in Go, I can easily imagine him having a mental breakdown every other week having to deal with the insane Teikoku kids. and just. where the hell is Genda in Go 😕

2. or y’know what, just Teikoku in general😭 what about their feelings when they lost against Zeus, and after Kidou joined Raimon, and I’m not even gonna talk about Ares… so much frustration around them, they deserve so much better

(honorable mention for Gojou. come on, I need answers)

3. AKIII UGH AKI MY LOVE. I just hate how for 3 seasons straight they were like ‘yeah Aki used to be super good at football, but let’s not focus on this cause she’s a girl after all´ JUST LET HER PLAYYYY

4. Nae!!! why did they introduce a new character in Ares only for her to never be relevant again.. she was so cute and fun I would have loved to see more of her 😕

5. anddd Otomura!! no particular reason except for his super cool design, and also his whole gimmick was really fun. he and Narukami should be friends I think

#ask

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czenzo · 2 years

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food (and a kiss) is the best medicine

[ao3]

summary: Genda falls ill and Sakuma visits to cheer him up with some company and comfort food, only to be hit with the realisation that his feelings for Genda are slightly more than that of a normal friend.

words: 3,585 rating: G

note: I was overcome by gensaku feelings then some kind of inazuma eleven fic writing deity possessed me and blurted this out in one go in the space of like two hours. this fic is so unbelievably self-indulgent and I have no shame >:)

edited 01/05/23 – revisited this fic and realised that when I wrote it, I completely forewent Japanese naming conventions and had Jirou refer to Koujirou by his surname for the whole thing. whoops! that's been fixed, now.

Koujirou was sick.

In all the years Jirou Sakuma had known him, Koujirou Genda had never fallen ill, and they’d put it down to him having a strangely strong immune system (perhaps it even had something to do with his German genes; his mother and her side of the family were a particularly resilient bunch).

Up until now, that was.

Jirou hadn’t realised just how much he’d become accustomed to his everyday school routine until it was suddenly shattered by Koujirou’s absence; even Kidou, who prided himself in rarely letting anything shake him, seemed to have been thrown off-kilter throughout the day, thanks to the lack of Koujirou’s tall, comforting presence beside him.

Teikoku Academy, unsurprisingly, banned the use of mobiles throughout the school day, and every single one of Jirou’s attempts to sneakily send a text to Koujirou asking if he was okay were thwarted by an eagle-eyed teacher coming around the corner or a goody-two-shoes who spotted the glare of his phone screen under his desk. The need to know where Koujirou was, if he was okay—oh, God, what if something awful had happened?—and the fact he couldn’t find anything out until the end of the school day was eating at him, gnawing at his brain more than unexpectedly losing to Zeus did when the defeat was still fresh in his mind.

The relief of leaving the school grounds and finally being able to send a text without the fear of getting caught was unimaginable, and in his desperation to quickly click send, Jirou’s fingers flew too fast over the keyboard and resulted in a barely decipherable message:

Jirou Sakuma >>> arebyku ok?? didnt see yiu t school tosay i was worrekd

He took a breath, steadied himself, and typed out a second message.

Jirou Sakuma >>> sorry, typed too fast. meant to ask if you were okay, we noticed you weren’t in school today :(

Koujirou had never been one to be glued to his phone, so the lack of an immediate reply shouldn’t have concerned Jirou—but it did anyway, and Kidou eventually had to convince him to put his phone back into his bag for a while instead of staring at the screen until a reply came. Kidou had a knack for commanding people both on and off the court, and in this instance, although Jirou was thankful for the intervention, his hands still itched to be holding his phone so he could read and reply to Koujirou’s response as fast as he possibly could.

It was as he was removing his shoes at the front door to his family home that his phone buzzed, and Jirou almost flung the shoe in his hand across the hall in his hurry to dig through his bag and find his phone.

Koujirou Genda >>> I’m ok. Caught some kind of bug, I’ve spent the day in bed.

Oh. Koujirou was never sick.

“Everything okay, Jirou?” his mother called from the kitchen. The smell of her cooking wafted through the house and Jirou paused to inhale it, almost groaning at the realisation that she’d cooked one of his favourite meals. Fennel and tomato shorba—a recipe passed on to her from his father’s side of the family, and a meal that was always well received no matter the occasion. She’d made it for Diwali the previous year when they'd invited Koujirou and Kidou to join them in their celebrations, and Kou hadn’t shut up about the shorba for weeks afterwards.

Maybe he could take some to Koujirou in a flask—sure, it was spicy, and probably wouldn’t be wise to eat with an upset stomach, but surely he would appreciate looking forward to eating it once he was feeling well again. Or was that just Jirou trying to come up with an excuse to visit him?

He’d become so lost in thought (his mother’s cooking often had that effect on him) that he’d forgotten to respond quickly as originally planned, though this time, Jirou carefully considered his words as he typed.

Jirou Sakuma >>> sorry to hear that :( I could bring round some shorba to cheer you up??

Koujirou Genda >>> I’d be too tempted to chug it all the second you got here. Don’t think my stomach could handle the power of green chillies right now.

Jirou felt his heart sink, but his rapidly developing misery paused as he saw Koujirou begin to type again.

Genda Koujirou >>> (Bring it anyway.) :)

Success!

“Could I have half of my portion to put in a flask for Genda?” Jirou said as he popped his head into the kitchen. “He’s ill, and you know how much he loves your cooking.”

“Oh, sweetheart, that’s so thoughtful of you,” his mother smiled as she prepared the rice to be served as part of the family’s meal. “But won’t the spices make your friend feel worse?”

“He likes spice,” Jirou replied quietly, before adding at a volume his mother would hear, “it’d be for when he gets better. Something to look forward to.”

“Alright. If you can quickly stir the pot for me and find a flask somewhere in the cupboards—I really need to organise those—you can take some to your friend.”

◇

Jirou could count the times he’d visited the Genda family residence on just one hand; when they weren’t playing soccer, the two of them, along with Kidou, often chose Jirou’s home to hang out at. Kidou’s father was filthy rich and owned a home with many valuable, breakable objects, and the Genda household was the exact same, with the addition of servants who seemed to watch your every move.

Jirou’s home was the only one that didn’t feel like a museum.

Jirou Sakuma >>> I’m outside!

Koujirou Genda >>> That was fast. Did you run?

Jirou Sakuma >>> maybe.

Genda Koujirou >>> Ring the buzzer at the gate. I’ve already let Yamato know to let you in.

The large iron gates that loomed at the end of the path leading to the Genda home set the bar for how intimidating the residence was. Jirou pressed the buzzer attached to the intercom and was greeted by the familiar voice of Yamato, the head servant in the household.

“Name and reason for visit.”

“Uh… Sakuma Jirou. Visiting Genda Koujirou,” he replied, with so much uncertainty that his response sounded like a question. It always slipped his mind just how filthy rich the Genda family was. Don’t get him wrong—Jirou and his family were comfortable, comfortable enough to afford Jirou's attendance at Teikoku, comfortable enough for him to have no qualms mingling with the rich kids that also attended, but the Genda family were on a whole other level.

Jirou still hadn’t wrapped his head around the concept of house servants. Despite Koujirou rarely talking about his home life, Jirou knew he had always hated it, the way he was raised more by Yamato and the other staff than his own parents.

The gates slowly opened, and once Jirou made his way up the path, Yamato greeted him at the door. He gave him directions to Koujirou’s room (directions, the house was so large and labyrinthian that he needed complex directions to find the right bedroom), but Jirou managed to get himself lost along the way anyway.

Jirou Sakuma >>> kou.

Jirou Sakuma >>> I’m lost inside your house

Koujirou Genda >>> Where are you right now?

Jirou Sakuma >>> in a hallway with a fancy bathroom on one side and some kind of guest room on the other

Jirou Sakuma >>> on the second floor

Koujirou Genda >>> Walk the opposite way and go past the stairs. Turn right, first door on your left.

Jirou Sakuma >>> thanks

Jirou Sakuma >>> it should be illegal for houses to be this big

Jirou lightly rapped his knuckles against the door and prayed that it was the right one, his other hand tightening its grip around the silver flask he’d procured from the depths of his kitchen cupboards. If the house hadn’t been dead silent (further proving Jirou’s theory that it was basically a museum or an art gallery of some kind), he probably wouldn’t have heard Koujirou’s raspy voice telling him to come inside.

The sound of it made Jirou wince. Koujirou sounded awful.

“Hey,” he said quietly as he entered, taking care to close the door behind him as soundlessly as possible.

He’d seen the inside of Koujirou’s bedroom even fewer times than he’d visited his home, but it was still as lifeless as he remembered. The decor matched the fancy guest bedroom he’d been lost beside just moments before, and Koujirou’s mother’s strict no-posters-or-other-miscellaneous-wall-decorations rule meant the walls of the vast room looked bland and characterless, aside from the soccer ball sat tucked away in the far corner. The desk, nightstand, and wardrobes were all made from the same lavish wood, and the sofa in the corner of the room that sat in front of the large TV on the wall looked immaculate, as if it was rarely ever used (which was no surprise, considering Koujirou tried to spend as much time away from his home as possible). The grand four-poster bed that sat directly opposite the door was the second most interesting thing about the room. The first was the boy lying in the middle of it.

Koujirou was by far the tallest of Jirou’s friends, and easily one of the strongest, but as he lay surrounded by a sea of bedding, skin pale and blotchy with illness, Jirou wondered if he had imagined all of his strength. How could this weak, tired boy be the same boy who would defend Teikoku’s goal until his dying breath, who gave the strongest and most comforting hugs out of anyone Jirou knew, who was resilient and determined no matter what life threw at him?

“Hey,” Koujirou croaked, shuffling to sit up in his bed. Jirou was quick to stop him, rushing to his side and ensuring his friend didn’t strain himself too much.

“Kidou wanted to visit too, but he had some… family thing, tonight. He didn’t say much about it.”

“His father’s always keeping him busy,” Koujirou said as Jirou pulled a chair to his bedside, voice just a whisper so as to not strain his throat, “it’s alright. I’ll see him when I’m back in school.”

“Do you know when you’ll be back?”

Koujirou shook his head. “Hopefully in the next couple of days. I can’t miss out on too much soccer practice.”

“Your health is more important.”

“Yeah, but how’s Teikoku going to practise without a goalkeeper?”

“We’ll manage. You shouldn’t push yourself until you’re completely ready.”

“Hypocrite,” Koujirou scoffed, and Jirou pushed down the sudden onslaught of memories of Shin Teikoku.

“Yeah, well, we were both going through it back then. But that’s in the past,” Jirou raised an eyebrow, “and you should have more sense now.”

“Okay, mother.”

“Shut up,” Jirou stifled a laugh and dodged a playful hit to the arm from Koujirou, who, despite still looking worn out, seemed to be gaining a few drops of energy. Jirou placed his flask onto the nightstand. “Hey, I brought the shorba, as promised.”

“Oh, I love you so much,” Koujirou rasped, and Jirou felt his brain shut down. The flush that rose to his cheeks thankfully went unnoticed by Kou, who was too busy reaching for the flask to inhale the scent of its contents to notice how his words had affected his friend.

Jirou kept his hands tightly clasped together in his lap, and prayed for his mind and body to sort themselves out.

“I can’t wait to have that. It’s taking every ounce of strength to not wolf it all down right now.”

“Alright, shorba boy,” Jirou laughed, “I’m moving this out of arm’s reach.” He took the flask from Koujirou's (weak) grasp and moved it to the desk on the other side of the room so that Kou would have to leave his bed to retrieve it, which, judging by his current state, wouldn’t be happening any time soon. (Although honestly, with how much Koujirou loved Jirou’s mother’s cooking, he wouldn’t put it past him to try.)

“You’re horrible. I can’t believe you’d revoke my food privileges like that.”

“You said it yourself earlier, your stomach wouldn’t be able to handle the heat of the chillies right now. You’d just throw it all back up.”

“I’ll take that risk. It would be worth it.”

“Don’t be dumb. Stick to water and plain foods for now.”

Koujirou groaned, and Jirou snorted at the emergence of his friend’s melodramatic side. Soon after, they fell into a comfortable silence, soaking up the comfort of one another's presence. The gentle breeze from the open windows toyed with the ends of Jirou's hair, and reminded him he needed to re-do his roots soon. He caught Koujirou's eye and exchanged a smile.

“Shorba aside,” Koujirou said eventually, "thanks for coming over. It’s sucked being stuck inside all day.”

“It’s no problem. I’d have come even if I didn’t have any food to give to you. It was weird, not seeing your face at school all day.”

“Missed me that much?”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” Jirou looked away. “Maybe. Just a little bit. Kidou did too.”

“Oh, you’d both crash and burn without me.”

Inwardly, Jirou agreed. Kidou would be fine, surely, but Jirou himself? He couldn’t imagine a life without Koujirou Genda.

“We’d be just fine, thanks,” he replied, though Koujirou grinned at the obvious insincerity.

From the back pocket of his jeans, Jirou’s phone buzzed, and Koujirou closed his eyes to grab a short moment of rest while he checked the notification.

Mother >>> Dinner will be served soon. Make sure you’re home within the next 15 minutes.

Jirou hissed a soft curse under his breath. It took at least ten minutes to walk between his and Koujirou’s house, which meant he barely had any time left to spend with his friend… who was, Jirou realised as he looked back up from his phone, now sound asleep.

Oh.

“I guess I’ll get going then,” he murmured, taking care to not disturb the sleeping Koujirou as he put his chair back at the desk. Jirou looked at the flask that sat there, then glanced over at Kou, who was still fast asleep with a serene look upon his face. His hair was loose and unstyled, and sat in its natural curls that Koujirou hated and consistently fought away with buckets of hair gel. A few stray curls had broken away from the rest and lay across his face, brushing against the tip of his nose.

He should move them. Koujirou’s sleep would be disturbed if he sneezed.

In a few quick strides, Jirou was back at Koujirou’s bedside, and with a feather-light touch he brushed away the hairs from his friend’s face. His forehead was warm to the touch; in that moment, Jirou was overcome by the sudden urge to kiss it.

And so he did.

It was an unusual sensation, one he at first enjoyed until he soon became overwhelmed with a horrible sense of guilt. He quickly turned on his heel to rush out of the room and get out of the unreasonably large house. It made Jirou feel so small as he passed through the halls full of artwork and descended the grand staircase, and quite frankly, he hated it.

Fuck. He shouldn’t have done that. Why did he do that?

The guilt ate at him so much that he didn’t enjoy dinner anywhere near as much as he normally would, and although his parents picked up on it, they didn’t pry, which Jirou was eternally grateful for.

That evening, he did as many things as he could to distract himself—throw and catch a soccer ball as many times as he could before getting bored, flick through his manga collection, scroll mindlessly on the internet, and eventually, when he became too sick of his own internal monologue, he texted Kidou.

Jirou Sakuma >>> how was the family thing?

Yuuto Kidou >>> Fine, thank you. How is Genda doing?

Jirou Sakuma >>> still pretty rough, but he’s alright. misses soccer though

Yuuto Kidou >>> That doesn’t surprise me. He would live in a soccer net if he could.

Jirou Sakuma >>> he would.

Jirou paused and wondered if he should bring up the thing that had been quietly playing on his mind. Slowly, he typed it out, then toyed with the sensitive skin of his lips with his teeth as his thumb hovered over the send button.

Jirou Sakuma >>> there was no family thing, was there?

Kidou was quick to reply.

Yuuto Kidou >>> I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Jirou Sakuma >>> you were so vague about it all. why’d you lie about being busy?

Yuuto Kidou >>> I assumed you would prefer to visit Genda alone.

Jirou stopped typing his reply just as quickly as he began it, and went through a cycle of typing and deleting for what felt like hours before he settled on the most eloquent response he could come up with.

Jirou Sakuma >>> why???

Yuuto Kidou >>> The two of you are close.

Jirou Sakuma >>> but you’re his friend too

Yuuto Kidou >>> It is in the past now. He appreciated your visit, didn’t he?

Jirou Sakuma >>> yeah

Jirou Sakuma >>> I feel like you know something I don’t

Yuuto Kidou >>> Not at all. Goodnight, Sakuma.

Jirou Sakuma >>> night kidou

◇

Jirou almost had a heart attack when he looked at his phone the next morning.

Koujirou Genda >>> Hey, can we talk about yesterday?

It was a Saturday, so school didn’t interrupt his hour-long panic session, which was then proceeded by at least thirty minutes of him reading and rereading Koujirou’s message and frantically searching for more information between the lines. He was asleep when Jirou did that stupid thing, right? He couldn’t know about it—surely?

He wouldn’t know until he replied, but Jirou couldn’t handle the stress of waiting between replies in a text conversation, so he simply bit the bullet and called him.

“Hey,” Koujirou said when he picked up. His voice still had a rasp to it, but it sounded fuller, and slightly livelier, than how it did the day before.

“Hi,” Jirou replied, and was greeted by a bout of horribly uncomfortable silence. It seemed to last for aeons, but when Jirou eventually decided to break it, starting off with “So—”, Koujirou had already begun his next sentence.

“Why did you kiss me?”

Ah. Shit.

“I— I, uh, God, Kou, I’m so sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking—”

“Why are you apologising?”

“I—” Jirou stopped pacing around his room. “What?”

“Why are you apologising?” Koujirou repeated. “I only asked why you did it.”

“Because it was a horrible thing to do,” Jirou replied, slowly. “And I don’t want it to ruin our friendship.”

“Okay,” Koujirou said, before pausing to cough, “but I’ve been waiting for you to do something like that for a while, so I wanted to know why you chose to do it now.”

“Say that again, but slowly.”

“So I wanted to know why you chose to do it now..?”

“No, no. The part before it.”

“I’ve been waiting for you to do something like that for a while?”

“Yeah. What?”

“What?”

“Koujirou, what’s going on?”

“I thought it was obvious. I’m pretty sure Kidou picked up on it a while ago.”

“I’m coming over.”

◇

“What have I missed?” Jirou said as he walked into Koujirou’s room, taking less care to be as quiet and cautious as he was yesterday in favour of quickly getting answers.

“Not much,” Koujirou replied, still in the same spot of bed. “I had a nap after you hung up.”

“No, no”—Jirou pinched the bridge of his nose—“both you and Kidou seem to know something I don’t. Why were you fine with me kissing you?”

“I told you,” Koujirou said slowly, as if it was blatantly obvious, “I’ve been waiting for you to do something like that for a while. I’d have made the first move myself, but I didn’t believe Kidou when he said you felt the same way.”

Jirou stood in the middle of the room, feeling completely and utterly lost.

“I don’t understand,” he murmured.

Koujirou sighed and hauled himself upright. “C’mere.”

Jirou complied and moved to the side of the bed, the same spot he was in the day before (back when things felt a lot less complicated).

“You can move away at any time, alright?”

“Okay?” Jirou's frown melted away as Koujirou held both sides of his face and kissed him squarely on the lips. It was slightly awkward, and a bit messy, thanks to neither of them having properly kissed anyone before, but it was everything Jirou had dreamed of and more, and he found he suddenly felt empty when Koujirou pulled away.

“Oh,” was the only response his brain could muster afterwards.

“Yeah.”

“Kidou’s known the whole time?”

“Well, I never told him anything outright, but you know Kidou. He’s freaky smart. Figured it out himself.”

“I can’t believe him.”

“He’ll probably be happy to hear we sorted things out.”

“Kiss me again."

◇

When Jirou woke up the day after the next to find his head felt like someone had repeatedly slammed a soccer ball into it and he couldn’t eat any food without throwing up, he knew exactly what the cause of it all was.

But it was completely worth it.

Koujirou Genda >>> Kidou’s ‘busy’ after school, so I’m coming to visit you on my own.

Jirou Sakuma >>> :)

#inazuma eleven #inazuma eleven fic #sakuma jirou #genda koujirou #gensaku #czenzo.fic

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