On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Faram Orbius III

"And now, everyone's doing their best to train for the upcoming match with the hope that they'll set you free if they win." Kimiko finished with a sigh. "That was the longest storytelling I've ever had to do. Never going to do that again."

"That's not an option." Her navy haired friend whacked her over the head for that. "What my fake did, the stones, the cannon, Mizukawa-san and... and..."

"Potomuri?"

"Yeah! And most importantly, the state of the entire team! How the hell am I supposed to know about it all if you don't tell me?"

"You could just... you know... be there."

She smirked as he gave her an unamused look. No words needed to be said. She could hear his thoughts perfectly.

Fuck. You.

"But all that aside, this is great!" She stretched as they made it up the steps. They made it back to the hall that she first came through. "We can go back to the train and let everyone know the good news! Then, we can fight Faram, win, and―"

"I'm not leaving."

She froze right as they reached the door leading out to the docking bay. The exact same one that she had teleported herself to. Turning around, she saw him with his head hung low as he walked towards the edge.

She shook her head and followed after him, standing just a little bit further back. Her mouth opened to ask, but the words remained stuck in the back of her throat. So, she closed it and waited.

With his gaze cast downwards to the city (the train station), he let out a sigh. "I can't fight them. Not after all of this. I know that, by the tournament rules, Faram would be fine. They'd be in second place. Between the two, Earth is the only one in any real danger of being taken over... But..."

A frown made its way to her face. "You grew attached to the people here when you went out exploring, didn't you?"

"You know about that too, huh?" He let out a wry smile. "Yeah, and some of them are pretty attached to me too. All the kids I met in the slums... and some others I talked to in town." His gaze went to the castle. "The guards, chefs, and general staff... I've basically become one of them, Miko. They're my friends as much as all of you guys are..."

"Not me though, right?" She couldn't help the urge to tease. It had been way too long. She hugged his arm and looked up at him with a wink. "I'm your childhood best friend. I'm special!"

"That's... Yeah... Yeah, right. You are."

She sweatdropped at his weak reply. "I'm kidding. You didn't have to agree to that."

"No, no, no. You're special. You go above and beyond anyone else on my list." He muttered something inaudible while rolling his eyes slightly. "You're the only one that can fry my brain like this."

"At this point, I'm surprised it's not overcooked yet."

"I never said it wasn't."

"Oh, oops." She chuckled, not bothering to apologize. Why would she when this has always been what they were like? "Well, you have too many brain cells anyways. A few burnt ones won't do anything."

She gave him a slap on the back, but immediately regretted it afterwards.

"Fuck, ow―!"

His eyes were on her in an instant. "Your hand...!"

As if the bandages it was wrapped in weren't telling enough, it had a black spot on it too. Specifically, in the area where she held her gun, where she was shot... again.