On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Patching Up

When the door shut, everything became dark once again. He heard some muffled voices from the door and a lot of footsteps walking away afterwards. They're probably going to nii-san's room.

With a small sigh, Tsurugi turned his attention to the blonde on the bed. How exactly was he supposed to handle this?

"You don't have to. Just get out." Her voice came from underneath the blanket. Now that he's actually inside, he can see that she was facing the wall.

"And leave you to rot here by yourself?" He got closer until he was standing right by the bed. There weren't any chairs around that he could drag over and sit on so he hoisted himself up and sat by her legs.

"..."

"..."

The silence was starting to become unbearable.

Seeing no other way out of it, he decided to kick start the conversation. "I found out who the Holy Emperor is about a week after I ran into you. Right before the semi-finals, I figured out what his goal was."

"Good for you." He decided to ignore the sarcasm.

"Since it's Gouenji-san, I can't imagine that he was the one who sent you back to God Eden." He thought a little before adding, "I don't believe you went there yourself either."

This time, she didn't reply.

"Kuroki-san was with you, or so Hakuryuu told me. Given the timing of when you left..." Realization hit him. "It... wasn't for training." He only got a glimpse of half her face, but her expression was enough to tell him that she knew what he was going to say. "It was punishment, wasn't it?"

"... That's just your assumption."

"You were told to take responsibility for my actions because you were the one who brought me in. You left without saying anything because you knew that I'd just assume you were going abroad again. You..." And finally, it all dawned on him. "You wanted all of this to happen. You've been trying to get me to stop from the start, but because I didn't listen, you―"

He was cut off by a sudden sting on his cheek. Did she just―

"I'm not here to listen to another one of you brothers' episodes." Before he knew it, she had sat up. "None of this is your fault. It's not Yuuichi-san's fault either. It's not anyone's fault, but mine. I was the one who put the idea in your head. It was the only thing you ever wanted for the past six years, so of course you were easily tempted―" She inhaled sharply. One hand instinctively squeezed her chest while the other covered her mouth as she coughed.

Broken ribs. "Hey, lay back down." He scooted over and gently pushed her back to the bed. "Calm down and take deep breaths." She followed his instructions and the coughing slowly resided. There was still stinging in her chest but it was bearable for now.

She managed a small laugh. "You know... If you don't end up being a world-class soccer player... You'd probably make a good doctor."

"Yeah, not happening." He shook his head. "In just a few more months, I won't have a reason to keep coming here anymore either."

"Eh?"

He gave her a smile. The first genuine one she had ever seen him with in a long, long time. "Nii-san's getting his surgery soon."

"W-WHAT?!" She shot back up, before her insides started pounding again, forcing her back down. She let out a few coughs before managing to ask, "H-How? There's no way Senguuji Daigo approved―"

"It was an anonymous donor. They didn't say who they were, but they wanted the money to be used for nii-san's sake." His expression softened even more. "Soon, nii-san's going to play on the pitch again. We can play soccer again like we used to."