Ice Queen

Chapter 7 - Namikaze High School vs. Arashi Tech

Today is Friday, the day of the match between Namikaze High School and Arashi Tech. There weren't too many people so Tsubaki and Nanako found good seats that overlooked the entire field. The sun was setting soon so Tsubaki was glad that they picked a seat where the sun wasn't directly shining on. Still, she decided to reapply her sunscreen and while she was doing that Nanako leaned in and told her, "I heard that if we win this our school gets to go to the finals!"

"Really? I never thought our school's soccer team was that good." Tsubaki muttered.

A few minutes before the game started, people began to flood making the deserted stadium feel more lively.

"Where is Bachira's mom?" Nanako asked.

"I think she couldn't make it today because she had a meeting," Tsubaki responded.

"Ahh, ok. We'll have to cheer twice as hard for him then!" Nanako said enthusiastically.

Suddenly everyone started to become quiet. Players from Namikaze High and Arashi Tech came onto the field. Namikaze High was wearing their school colors, a light blue with a darker teal accent and a wave on the top. Nanako tried to get Bachira's attention by waving her hands up in the air while yelling his name. Tsubaki tried stopping her since people were giving her weird looks, but she didn't care since Bachira smiled and waved back to the both of them. Tsubaki's face started to heat up, but she couldn't tell if it was from the secondhand embarrassment when Nanako was yelling or if it was when Bachira flashed his signature smile at her.

Namikaze Highschool had possession of the ball first; number 10 passed the ball to number 11, and the team captain dribbled the ball down the field, passing from person to person.

Most of the game consisted of Namikaze high passing around, trying to get past Arashi Tech's defense. It was almost half time and Namikaze High finally made it to the penalty area. Almost by coincidence, Bachira had an open shot to the goal, but the team captain outright ignored him and decided to take the shot, but he hit the pole instead.

"Ugh! Are you serious? Bachira was open!" Nanako practically took the words right out of Tsubaki's mouth.

Come on Bachira! You got this! Tsubaki thought as she clenched her fists.

The ball hitting the pole gave Arashi Tech the chance to make a counterattack. There were only 3 more minutes until halftime, but Namikaze wasn't prepared to defend against an all-out counterattack. Everyone on Arashi Tech ran down the field, destroying Namikaze's defense. Now that they were in the penalty area, they scored a goal in the top right corner of the net earning a loud cheer from the crowd. The buzzer went off signaling the end of the first half.

Tsubaki was irritated, not at Arashi Tech, but at Bachira's teammates. She understood that he wasn't the most popular guy, but he is the best player on the team.

So why didn't he pass to Bachira, she thought.

"Tsubaki, what kind of snacks do you want?" Nanako asked.

"Get me some Takoyaki. And don't forget to ask for extra mayo!" Tsubaki yelled.

When Tsubaki looked back at the field, she saw Bachira sitting on a bench, away from his teammates with his head down and a water bottle in one hand.

If only I could do something to comfort him, Tsubaki thought.

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By the time Nanako came back with the snacks halftime was already over and Bachira was back on the field.

Arashi Tech had possession of the ball first, attacking aggressively to Tsubaki's surprise. They passed between each other until they ended up in the penalty box. The crowd roared louder the closer they got to the goal. One of the players shot the ball but ended up being blocked by Namikaze's goalie.

Tsubaki sighed a breath of relief when she felt Nanako shaking her shoulder violently.

"Look! Bachira finally got the ball!" Nanako said enthusiastically.

Suddenly Tsubaki became very interested in the game. She even forgot that she almost choked on her Takoyaki when Nanako was shaking her.

Bachira dribbled the ball down the field, easily evading the opposing team.

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"Bachira!" one of his teammates yelled.

No... Too slow! At this rate... They'll never be better than the monster! Bachira thought.

That was when someone from Arashi Tech pulled on his jersey, causing him to fall down.

"What are you doing Bachira?! Don't hog the ball!" One of his teammates yelled.

"Look around you!" another one said.

"Don't play so selfishly!" The coach yelled angrily.

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"Ugh seriously! That has to be against the rules! Why isn't the ref saying anything?!" Nanako yelled.

Tsubaki squeezed her fists so hard out of frustration that her knuckles turned white. Before she said anything, she noticed that Bachira was still on the ground, looking up as if someone was reaching out to him.

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The match ended with Namikaze High School losing 0-1. Tsubaki and Nanako couldn't help but feel bad for Bachira.

They tried looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

"I tried texting him, but he isn't replying to any of them," Tsubaki said as she held her phone.

"Where could he have gone... Oh! I know!" Nanako said.

"Where!?" Tsubaki said impatiently.

"You know that bridge, near the school that Bachira always talks about?"

"Yeah... I think I remember him mentioning it before."

"Well, you should go there to make sure he's okay. I promised that I would help out my brother with something so, you'll have to go there alone~" Nanako said as she started to wiggle her eyebrows while making kissy faces.

Before Tsubaki could say something back, Nanako already ran off.

She rubbed her temples and said, "How have we been friends for so long?"

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It was only a five-minute walk to the bridge for Tsubaki. Below the bridge were grassy fields that surrounded the crystal clear river. The cool autumn air sent a shiver down her spine and from the distance she could see Bachira kicking the ball back and forth between the pillars.

"Bachira..." Tsubaki said while walking up to Bachira.

He stopped kicking the ball and sat down against the wall, hugging himself.

"Maybe... I am weird" He said with a sad smile.

Tsubaki wasn't the best at comforting people, nor was she the best with words. When she would comfort her siblings, she would usually wrap her long arms around them while listening to whatever they had to say.

Tsubaki slide down to the ground, right next to Bachira, and gave him a hug. She's never hugged a boy, excluding her relatives, so she thought that this would be awkward. Instead, it was oddly comforting. Sure the body heat that Bachira produced while playing made him sweaty, but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was make Bachira feel better.

Bachira finally hugged her back after what felt like an eternity, and together they stayed like that, in each other's company.

"Thank you, Yukiharu" Bachira said.

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Hey everyone!

I heard from somewhere that people don't like fanfics in the first person, so I thought it would be fun to switch this up. I think I like writing from the third person better so I'll be writing like this for the rest of the story. What do you guys think?