𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐔𝐬

♡︎25♡︎

"You don't have to do this," I said to Awase the next morning as we walked from my house to the park, holding hands. "You know what it is, right?"

"I'm proving myself to your brothers or something weird like that?"

"Yeah."

"What about you? Do I have to prove myself to you?" He smiled and my heart gave a little jump.

"No. Not at all."

Awase had dressed the part this morning- a tee and some breakaway sweats, the snaps by his ankles undone- and I was happy for it. He looked good. He even had on a nice pair of athletic shoes. They were a little too clean, but Katsuki couldn't possibly complain about them.

"Then, I'm fine. I'll just have fun. I may be a scrawny, but I enjoy football."

"A lot of guys are your size. My brothers are just giants."

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Sorry."

"So I thought Mina was coming too."

"When I texted you guys to just meet at the house, she said she was running late and would meet us at the park."

"Great. I thought another new face would deflect some of the attention off me."

Well, the guys have never seen me in makeup, a fitted shirt, or skinny jeans, so that will probably do the trick, I wanted to say.

I squeezed his hand. "You'll do fine."

Most of the guys were already there setting up cones and throwing the ball around. I got a few odd glances that started on my face and outfit then lingered on Awase's and my clasped hands.

"I take it you don't bring a lot of boys home," Awase whispered.

I just laughed.

My brothers walked over, shoulder to shoulder, and I felt Awase tense beside me. Eijiro was the only one with a smile on his face. I wanted to scream in frustration. It was obvious to me now I should've done this more so they didn't act like defensive linemen, ready to take down the quarterback. Seriously, this wasn't my life right now.

"Hey, guys," I said. "Don't be idiots. This is Awase. Awase, the confident but slightly angry-looking one is Sero, the constipated-looking one is Denki, and the goofball on the right is Eijiro."

Eiji laughed. "Constipated, Denki? We said to look fierce." All three of them laughed now, and I relaxed when I realized they were just joking around.

"Good to meet you, Awase," Sero said, shoving his hand forward.

Awase shook it. I looked around for Katsuki and saw him on the far side of the field, passing the ball to TetsuTetsu. So he was still pouting. I should've been the one ticked at him, not the other way around. He was the one who'd called me not only stubborn but clueless.

"All right," Sero said clapping once. "Let's split up into teams. Me and Eijiro on one side, Denki and Katsuki on the other." All four of them played on different teams or the other guys complained. Not just because they were the biggest and the best, but because they all knew each other and could read each other so well that it made an unfair advantage. "Everyone else, pick a side, divide evenly."

"Whose team should I be on?" Awase asked me.

"Sero and Eijiro," I said, because I felt like Eiji would involve him the most, try the hardest to make him feel welcome. He stepped over to the circle forming around them, and I eased off to the sidelines, waiting for my brothers to realize I wasn't playing.

Eiji noticed first and gave me his "What's the deal?" face. I just smiled. Katsuki shook his head, as if he still didn't believe I wasn't going to participate and now seeing it actually happening made him sick. Finally, Sero looked over.

"Pick a side, Y/N," he called.

I was saved when a bubbly voice called, "I'm here!"

Every head turned to look at Mina. Eiji nearly tripped over his own feet. She wore some jeans with flip-flops and a tight black tank top that had sparkly words I couldn't make out written across her chest. It seemed every guy on the field was trying to make out those words too. Her hair was in it's usual curled up form, except today it seemed more styled and a tad bit longer.

"Hi, Katsuki," she called. Now every head turned toward Katsuki. He blushed a little with a scowl across his face as he waved.

She had a foldable camping chair flung over one shoulder, and she took it out of its carrying case and set it up next to me. "If I had known you didn't have a chair, I would've brought one for you too."

"I'm good."

"Do you watch them play a lot?" she asked.

"Yes."

What was wrong with me? Why couldn't I say that I usually played with them? Because I felt like it I told her that, maybe it would change her opinion of me. I'd be the weird one. The one who played tackle football with guys.

"Are we going to play or what?" Sero asked. And with those words, the game started. If I thought they were going to go easy on Awase at all, I was mistaken. Sero, in his attempts to throw the ball to Awase, pelted him in the chest, the side of the head, and the middle of the back. He was able to catch a few, and that's when Katsuki would tackle him harder than I'd seen him tackle anyone before. I was itching to play now, so I could get back at them.

Mina hummed beside me. "Geez, Y/N, you didn't tell me your brothers were as pretty as you are."

"What?"

"Your brothers. They're very model-esque, with their glowing different colored eyes and high cheekbones. They're beautiful."

"Um. . .Don't let them hear you say that."

"I should've guessed with them being related to you and all that they'd be striking."

I growled, watching the game. I should've told Awase to be on Katsuki's team so Katsuki wouldn't have the opportunity to tackle him like that. "Hold on a minute." I said to Mina, and stood up from where I had been sitting cross-legged on the grass. After the play was over, I matched up to Katsuki and, not wanting to embarrass Awase, I said in a quiet voice. "Why are you treating a pickup game like the Super Bowl? Unless you want to get some helmets and pads, lay off, Bruiser. If you tackle him like that one more time, we're leaving."

He wouldn't meet my eyes, but the muscle in his jaw clenched as tight as could be.

"Why are you so mad at me? What is your problem?" I asked.

"You want to know what my fucking problem is?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

I hesitated now, realizing where we were, but he didn't stop. He took me by the shoulders and turned me around to face the guys, who were now all staring at us. "By a show of hands," Katsuki said loudly, "who here would've asked Y/N out in the last six months had they not given the 'We will kill you if you look at Y/N' speech by the three idiots over there when she turned sixteen?"

My first instinct was to yank away from Katsuki's grip and never talk to him again. Ever. But the small thread of curiosity weaving through me seemed to have stitched me to the grass, because I couldn't move.

A few of the guys shifted nervously and galnced at Sero. Just when I started to feel extremely embarrassed that no one had moved, Tamaki raised his hand. His bravery seemed to spur others forward, because at least half a dozen of them put their hands up. Eijiro, thinking he was hilarious, had even raised his hand. Katsuki, I noticed, had both his hands still firmly grasping my shoulders.

"Which is exactly why we gave the speech," Sero said darkly.

"You don't have to change for a guy," Katsuki said quietly in my ear.

If he thought some way I'd be touched by his public humiliation, he was wrong. "Thanks, Oprah, I'll try to remember that." I looked at Awase. "You ready to go?"

He nodded, rubbing his neck.