Reita/Ruki -Soccer- 1/1
Title - Soccer [1/1]
Author - Chieko
Rating - Pg-12?
Warnings - Language
Pairings - Reita x Ruki (GazettE)
Disclaimers - Generic disclaimer rules apply.
Summary - A good game of soccer always brings out the best- and worse- in everyone.
Let's see, the last time I posted anything on this God-forsaken site was in April.
It's... now August.
Hello, World. I am alive.
Like many of my works, this was started at 11:30 at night and completed a month later. It was suppossed to be more "romantic" and crap, but I just went with the flow and made it not.
The main focus is on soccer and running around. This is called "dynamic" writng, or so I think. Romance became the 2nd focus. So therefore, nothing really happens till the end. At least I was able to make myself smile while typing. :P
Probably the most I've ever typed for a single story. I feel good.
++++++
For two weeks the sun constantly hid its face. Everything was covered in a gloomy blanket, the atmosphere and landscape bleak. Mornings were misty, afternoons dreary, nighttime dark and silent. No one felt like doing much nowadays; without the sun they had no energy or desire to run around. The sun was the charger that refreshed their batteries. Many thrived on the light that it gave; without the light, the world had no meaning to it. But finally, after the eternity that was two weeks, the sun emerged from its cloudy home.
Immediately the small country of Japan began showing signs of life once more. The sky returned to its lovely blue color, the streets started buzzing with more life, birds flew around happily without chance of being rained on. The world seemed to return to its natural bright colors, thanks to the simple sunshine. It was once again perfect for one to shuffle around outside with friends and family. It was also perfect to play soccer again.
For the past few weeks, most of the Peace and Smile employees stayed cooped up in the company building or at home; none enjoyed walking around under gray skies. But with the return of the sunshine everyone was eager to frolic outside and stretch their legs and walk around and play.
Reita had the brilliant idea of setting up a huge soccer game against various bands. He had thought up the wonderful plan when he had accidentally stumbled into a closet filled with broomsticks and old sports equipment. What a bag of sports equipment was doing in the PS building was completely beyond him. But hell, might as well get as much use out of it as possible.
With the help of Kai, Reita roamed through the building hallways, asking around if anyone was interested in playing a friendly soccer match. A few were enthusiastic about the idea; most didn’t want to play, but said they would come and watch the match.
Reita hummed to himself as he walked down a hallway, checking rooms to see if any other fellow PS employees lurked inside. The Gazette bassist peeked his head into a large room, looking around. The room was large and spacious and sparsely furnished; a few windows took up nearly the entire opposite side of the door; a highly polished chestnut table stood in the center, 12 chairs placed uniformly around the edge. And sitting at the head of the table was none other than Reita’s fellow band mate, Ruki, absorbed in completing a Rubric Cube.
Reita’s heart nearly leaped for joy, for Ruki was the one who made his heart happy. For some time now, the bassist had been pining after the Gazette’s petite vocalist. But of course, it was not wise to make advanced on your bandmates, plus there was also the looming possibility of being rejected by the smaller man. So Reita had no choice but to keep his feelings secret. But the least he could do was keep a sharp eye on the other man and made sure no one else tried to hit on him.
Taking a deep breath, Reita entered the large room and sat down in one of the comfortable chairs on Ruki’s right. Reita amused himself for a few moments by spinning the chair to his left, then to his right, then to his left again, before he leaned both elbows on the polished table.
“Sup, Ruki,” Reita said with a smile. Ruki looked up from his Rubric Cube and smiled at the blonde man.
“Sup, Reita,” Ruki smiled. Reita’s nearly melted from the heart-felt smile he just received.
“What are you doing?”
“A Rubric Cube. Did you know that even if you solve one side, you still need to solve all the other sides one at a time? All these years I thought that if you solved one side, you solve the whole thing. It’s a bit disappointing, really.”
“Really? I thought that too,” Reita said with wide eyes. Rubric Cubes were really fascinating things. “Maybe if I had two hours, I could solve one side, then another ten hours to solve the rest.”
“I managed to solve three sides, but had to scramble them again,” Ruki said melancholy.
“Oh, that’s too bad.”
“So, did you come in here for something, or what?”
“Huh? Oh yeah. Since it’s sunny outside again, I thought that a bunch of the PS bands should have a ‘friendly’ soccer match. What’d you say, Ruki? Up for a game of soccer?” Reita asked, leaning forward excitedly.
Ruki made a face. “Akira, I’m not good at soccer. You know that. Remember soccer during high school? I always made a fool of myself,” Ruki said with a slight frown. He placed his (still) unsolved Rubric Cube on the table, staring at the multi-colored squares with mild interest.
“Ah, high school, what fun,” Reita said dreamily. “I loved doing soccer in PE-“
“I didn’t.”
“-and I feel like remembering some of those nostalgic values today. C’mon, Taka, come play with us! It’ll be fun, I swear! You can be on my team and all you have to do is just chase after the ball and make sure the other team doesn’t get it. You were good at defense, I remember that, and you always ran your hardest after the ball. Please, please come play with us? Pretty please? Ruki?” Reita asked with his best kicked-puppy look. Ruki gave him a blank stare.
“You’re no good at that face- try taking lessons from Kai. Anyways, I wasn’t good in high school, and I probably still suck today. But since you’re my friend and I never want to see you make that face again, I’ll go down and try to play.” Ruki gave a weak smile and Reita returned it with a genuine grin.
“Alright, c’mon, let’s go down. Everyone’s probably already at the field.”
++++++
The soccer field was no more than a small, grassy area 5 minutes away from the PS parking lot. The area did not have any form of equipment, save for a small sandbox that was occupied by three small children. Those who were interested in the upcoming soccer match migrated over to the field, talking while Reita and Kai set up cones for the field boundaries and trashcans for goals. The small children in the sandbox looked up at the group of men with slight interest, before returning to their sand castles.
“Okay, those who want to play, step forward; those who just want to watch, go somewhere else,” Reita called out to the men, trying to get their attention. A few of his fellow employees gave him strange looks, but otherwise shifted to where they were supposed to be. After everyone had moved, there was a line of nine players, plus Reita (10 in all).
“Okay, since this game was my idea, I’ll be one of the team captains,” Reita informed. More looks were exchanged. Reita ignored them. “Who wants to be the second team captain?”
“I will.”
“Okay, Tora, get your ass up here,” Reita grinned. Tora stepped out of the line and moved next to Reita, giving the blonde bassist a smug look. Reita returned the look with a glare of his own, telling the other to pick his first teammate.
“I chose Kai,” Tora called out. Kai smiled and bounded over to the tall guitarist, giving Reita an apologetic look.
Reita mentally cursed his kindness by letting Tora pick first; Kai was easily the best soccer player in the company and could be his own one-man team. “Ruki,” Reita called. The bassist gave Ruki a smile as he trudged over; Ruki could only give a sick-looking smile in return.
“Don’t worry, Ruki. You’ll do fine,” Reita tried to reassure him.
“Yeah, right. That’s what everyone said in high school,” Ruki muttered.
“Isshi,” Tora picked next. A few people stared as Isshi gracefully walked over to Tora’s team, a calm smirk on his lips.
No one expected Isshi to want to play soccer. In fact, no one even knew if he liked sports at all. Like most of Kagrra, he kept to himself. Watching him play would be interesting…
Reita mentally surveyed the remaining players. He didn’t know much about their skills, so he had to put blind faith in his own gut. “Akiya,” Reita picked. He picked the guitarist simply because he wanted to irk Tora, who seemed to be quite attached to the other guitarist, and also simply because he seemed eager to run around after a small, white and black ball.
Akiya walked over to the bassist’s team, casting a saddened glance at his band mate and friend. Tora glared at the blonde and Isshi cast him a disapproving glance (mainly because he was separated from his band mate), which Reita happily ignored.
The rest of the remaining players were divided up evenly between the two teams:
“Hiroto.”
“Yasuno.”
“Nao.”
“Keiyuu.”
Ten men divided up into two groups of five stood opposite each other, starting at the other team. Tora, Kai, Isshi, Hiroto, and Nao (Kagrra’s Nao, not the other one); opposite them Reita, Ruki, Akiya, Yasuno, and Keiyuu.
“Okay, Tora, now that we both have our teams, it’s time to play! First team to 10 points wins, ne?” Reita asked. Tora nodded in response.
“Let’s flip to see who starts with the ball. Head gets the ball; now, CALL IT!” Reita yelled as he tossed a coin high in the hair.
"Heads!” Tora yelled.
Reita caught the coin in his fist and flipped it over in his hand, all in one fluid motion. He lifted his hand, hoping to see something that related to the tails side, but frowned instead.
“Judging, by your look, I’d say my team starts with the ball, hm?” Tora smirked. Reita glared up at him.
“Bastard. Just take the ball,” the bassist growled as he rolled the ball none too gently to the guitarist, who simply stopped it with his foot. Reita motioned for his team to follow him as they made their way to the far end of the field.
“Yasuno, you’re goalie. Think you can handle it?” Reita asked as he called everyone in for a team huddle.
“Fo sure!” Yasuno cried, pumping his fist into the air. Reita just stared with a blank face at the pink-haired man, then shook his head. He dispersed the huddle, but could still hear Yasuno talking lively with Keiyuu from behind him. Damn Kra freaks.
“Hurry up, Reita! Let’s go!” Tora yelled impatiently at Reita’s team spread themselves around the field. Reita only flipped the guitarist off before the game began. It was madness. First, everyone ran towards the ball at once, creating a huge mass of bodies that were all kicking at the same time. Finally, someone managed to kick the ball outside the mass, causing a stream of PS employees to chase after the black and white ball.
Kai gained control of the ball (surprise, surprise), and dodged other players with ease, running towards the other side of the field as fast as he could.
“Kai! Kai!” Isshi called as he effectively ran around a frenzied Ruki. Kai spotted his teammate, never losing control of the ball. He skillfully maneuvered the ball away from Akiya, turning this way and that, before forcefully and smoothly passing it to a waiting Isshi. Isshi received the ball, quickly moving it away from Ruki, who tripped in attempts to steal it from the other vocalist. Isshi smirked at Ruki before running towards the goal.
Yasuno stood firmly between the trashcans, a look of pure determination on his face. The ball was getting closer and closer, the space between the drummer and the other player diminishing at the speed of light. Closer… closer… HOLY CRAP!
“Ahhhhh!” Yasuno yelled as the soccer ball was speeding right towards his face. His reflexes reacted as fast as they could, and his arms whipped up to protect his precious face.
“Good job, Yasuno! Nice block!” Keiyuu cheered from a few feet away.
“Huh?” Yasuno dumbly replied looking down. There by his feet was the ball; he had blocked it. He had actually blocked the damn thing. And now his arms hurt as well and a red blotch was starting to form- Isshi kicked pretty hard.
“He got lucky,” Isshi scowled as he backed a few feet away from the goal, waiting for the other man to throw the ball back into play.
“Throw the ball in, Yasuno,” Reita yelled at his teammate. The drummer nodded and chucked the ball towards the center of the field as hard as he could, once again resuming the game. Reita felt pretty lucky about his team now- sure, some of them seemed like they didn’t know what they were doing, but at least they had excellent reflexes.
++++++
Twenty minutes later and Tora’s team was up by 5 points.
3 vs. 8.
Reita was mentally cursing everything that walked the earth by this point. Tora’s team was excellent- no, fucking amazing- and Reita had a sinking feeling that the smirking guitarist KNEW which members to pick. Kai, Isshi, Nao, Hiroto- they were all really good soccer players. And Tora must have known that. Which was why he picked them.
The bastard.
He had purposely picked all the skilled ones and left the… not-so-skilled ones for Reita. Oh joy. And now his team was beating Reita’s team, and if he lost, he would never be able to live it down.
Damnitdamnitdamnit!
Reita called a time out and gathered everyone around him for a pep-talk.
“Okay, look, so they’re beating us-“
“They’re murdering us, Reita!” Keiyuu squeaked.
“-but we can still catch up. Everyone should still guard the person they’ve been guarding the entire game-“
“Uh, Reita? Every time I get the ball, Isshi and Nao leave their man and follow me around. Which means I can’t get the ball towards the goal. They block me. And pinch me too,” Akiya frowned. Reita ignored him and continued on.
“-but if you need to, leave them and go after someone else. Try to move around as much as you can and try to get an opening. If someone runs in front of you, immediately run to a new spot and try to stay open. Obviously, the ones who seem to have the most talent at making goals on this team are Keiyuu and myself. Which means that they’ll try to block us the most. So it’s up to you guys to get open, get a clear shot, and pray that you make it, because we’ll be passing it to you guys a lot more often now, got it?” Reita growled. His team nodded, a little uncertain. Reita didn’t really blame them; going up against your own bandmates who would charge at you the moment you got the ball in your possession was a little scary. Who knew that Hiroto could be so aggressive?
“All right, now let’s get out there and try to win, okay?” Reita tried to encourage his team. Everyone simply mumbled and walked away.
Reita bit his lip. Things weren’t looking too good right now. The bassist’s eyes scanned the field and landed on Tora; the guy had the nerve to smirk at him.
“Stop smirking, you bastard! You rigged this game! I know you did!” came the sudden outburst from the blonde’s lips. Several people turned to look at them, making Reita flush. Tora simply smirked again and shrugged, making Reita even angrier. Maybe he should go over there and give him a good punch in the jaw… break that pretty mouth of his…
“Reita?” said a soft voice by his side. Reita turned to see Ruki standing there, gnawing on his thumb. Instantly, the bassist’s heart softened and he forgot his anger.
“Yeah, what’s wrong, Ruki?” The vocalist looked a little distressed.
“I… I want to quit the game. I’m just not any good. I wasn’t good in high school, and even in my 20’s I still suck. I let everyone I’m guarding get away from me, and I suck as a goalie. So, I think I’ll just go sit out for the rest of the game. I’m sure someone would love to come take my place,” Ruki smiled weakly.
“No! You can’t leave!” Reita cried. Ruki’s eyes widened from the exclamation and Reita could feel his face and neck warming up. He had to think of something, fast. “Uh, I mean, um, you can’t just leave the game. You’ve already made it this far, why not just finish it?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, 5 of the other team’s points came from when I failed to defend the goal 3 feet behind me.”
“Ruki, at least try!”
“I’ve been trying this entire fucking time!” Ruki growled, glaring up at the taller blonde. Reita was taken back, and seeing that angry look hurt him.
“Ruki… please, I know you’re no good at soccer, but that’s the fun of the game. Even if you’re not skilled and you just plain suck, you can still run around with your friends, mess up, get back up, mess up some more, laugh about it, and have a good time. I just think that you’re a bit too self-conscious. Look at Yasuno: he’s a little absent-minded and he’s not the greatest goalie ever, but he still plays. He just laughs about it and keeps going on. That’s what makes soccer so much fun- you keep going forward,” Reita explained, smiling a little. Ruki sighed, the angry look disappearing from his eyes. He smiled weakly up at the taller man.
“Now you’re trying to be a therapist? Good luck with that,” Ruki said. Reita laughed, and Ruki smiled, a real smile this time.
“Forget it, let’s just get back in the game. I’m sure we can still kick Tora’s team’s ass and-“
“Heads up!”
WHAM!
A soccer ball came flying out of nowhere at the speed of a jet plane and knocked Reita in the back of the head, bouncing off with a hollow ‘thud'.
“Ow, crap!” Reita yelled, clutching the back of his head, eyes screwed up in pain.
“Reita!” Ruki cried. “You all right?” the vocalist asked with concern, gently tugging Reita’s sleeve so he would bend down to his eye level. He felt his fingers through the bassist’s hair, feeling for any bumps.
“Ow!”
“Guess I found where the ball hit you, huh?” Ruki murmured as he brushed his fingers over a small bump forming at rapid speed.
“What happened? Reita? That ball looked like it hit you pretty hard!” Kai asked as he and the rest of both teams shuffled over to where Reita and Ruki were.
“He has a bump on the back of his head now. Feels like it’s getting pretty big, too,” Ruki informed Kai. Kai nodded and went into ‘mother’ mode, asking Reita if he got hurt anywhere else, if he needed ice, if he could still see, etc.
“Get away, I’m fine,” Reita scowled as he shooed Kai away from his head. He did not want Kai tending to his head, he wanted Ruki, damnit! When Ruki’s fingers were gently twining themselves through his hair, his pain had completely disappeared. If only he could get Ruki to do that without being hit on the head. But he couldn’t. The pain was fading away to a dull throb by now. “Who kicked that ball at me?” Reita growled as he stood up to his full height. Everyone looked nervously around as Reita eyed every single one of them.
Finally, Nao timidly raised his hand. “I didn’t mean too, Reita, honest. It just sort of happened. I kicked the ball wrong, and it went up in the air instead of on the ground. I’ve been told I kick pretty hard too, and I’ve hurt teammates before, and-“ Nao was never able to finish his apology, as Reita charged towards him, yelling something about ruining the moment and Kingdom Come. Nao squealed and dashed away as fast as his legs could carry him, Reita only a few precious steps behind. Isshi and Akiya ran after the blonde, trying to save their own bassist from premature death. Ruki could only frown, sad that Reita had to leave so soon.
++++++
5 ‘o clock in the afternoon and the soccer match had finally ended. Tora’s team had won 10 points to five. Reita would never be able to live it down, the guitarist would make sure of that. As penalty Reita’s team was forced to clean up the soccer field. Reita felt bad about his team losing for some reason, so as a reward for playing as hard as they could, he volunteered to clean up by himself. Everyone gave him grateful looks and smiles as they walked away, waving their goodbyes. Only Ruki had chosen to stay with him and Reita couldn’t have been happier.
Reita hummed to himself as he walked around the makeshift field, picking up cones and moving the trash cans back to their original spots. Ruki tagged along behind him, chattering away about his trip to see his family last week. Every now and then Reita would laugh and Ruki would smile, happy to see his friend enjoying his story.
The duo had made it to the last goal, where Yasuno had blocked many a ball. Reita was about to move the trash cans before Ruki stopped him.
“Wait, Reita. I want to try kicking, just one last time,” Ruki asked, looking up at the bassist. Reita shrugged and Ruki turned to retrieve the soccer ball sitting a few yards away. Slowly, the vocalist dribbled it to where his friend was staying, never taken his eyes off it for a second. When he was perfectly aligned with the center, he took a few steps back and breathed deeply. He could do it this time. Oh yes, he could…
Taking big steps, Ruki propelled himself towards the black and white sphere, feeling when it connected squarely with the inside of his foot.
The ball soared through the air, only to bounce off one of the trashcans with a hollow bang, sending the metal can toppling over, the ball rolling a few feet away.
Reita didn’t know quite what to say, as Ruki looked extremely pissy at that moment. He tentivaly took a few steps toward his friend, leaning down slightly to look him in the eyes.
“Ruki?”
“…”
“…Ruki?”
“Fucking ball can’t go straight,” Ruki muttered.
“Of course it can, you just need to kick it in the right place, that’s all,” Reita said with a grin. Ruki glared up at him, but the bassist wasn’t fazed. He shuffled over to where the ball was and skillfully dribbled back towards the goal. Lining himself up like Ruki did before, Reita took a few steps back, before running forwards again. All Reita saw was the ball in front of him. Too bad he missed the hole of mud he placed the ball in front of.
Running at full force, Reita stepped into the slippery dirt, causing him to loose his balance. He yelled, waving his arms around, feeling his feet leave the ground. With a large ‘THUD’ he landed on the ground, his head bouncing on the dirt.
Perhaps that spot was the reason many seemed to slip when they were near this particular goal.
“REITA!”
Reita groaned, opening his eyes slowly. Ruki was kneeling down next to him, hovering over the bassist.
“I think… I think I’m dead,” Reita groaned.
“Stupid. You’re not dead.”
“Oh. Then am I in heaven?” the bassist asked with a weak smile. Ruki only chuckled and brushed the blonde’s bangs out of his eyes.
“Thanks.”
“For what? Making sure that you’re still alive?’
“No. For not quitting the game earlier. It really meant a lot to me when you decided to keep on playing. I’ve always liked you and don’t like to see you give up on things, whether it be games or lyrics. You’re a talented person, Ruki. I like that about you. Of course, I like you also because you’re good looking and stuff too. I’ll try to teach you to get better at soccer as well. We’ll make sure you can kick the fucking ball straight next game, and then we’ll kick Tora’s ass together. My head hurts too. I think I might have a concussion. It hurts really badly. Did anyone else fall down during the game?” Reita rambled on. Ruki patiently listened to him, a faint blush on his cheeks. Either the fall had messed with his friend’s brain in more ways than one and was making him say he had feelings for Ruki, or Reita had just confessed his feelings to him and actually meant it in his blissful state.
“Reita,” Ruki cut in, “does it hurt?”
“-make sure he pays- huh? Oh, yeah. It hurts.”
Ruki smiled to himself, before he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the other’s lips. He gently pulled away, looking into Reita’s face for any type of reaction.
Reita had a cheesy grin on his face. “I knew you liked me. I knew it. Ha, I was right. But my head hurts, not my lips.”
“You didn’t say where it hurt, Akira.” Reita laughed at that and snaked a strong arm around Ruki’s neck and pulled him down for another kiss. This time their lips met for longer, Ruki’s lips meshing against Reita’s. Reita moved away and started pressing tiny kisses around the corners of the other’s mouth, near his eyes, on his cheek, anywhere he could reach.
“Stop, Reita, stop, we need to get up and go home,” Ruki laughed as he half-heartedly tried to pull away from the arm wrapped around his neck. “Besides, we still need to get ice for your head- you’ve banged it two times today. I’m surprised you don’t have a concussion.”
“I’d rather chuck some ice at Tora’s big head,” Reita chuckled as he released Ruki from his grip. The vocalist stretched out his neck and back before lifting himself off his hands and knees. Leaning down to help his band mate and friend up, Ruki smiled. Reita took the offered hand and eased himself upwards, cringing at how dizzy his head felt.
“C’mon let’s go- no, not that way. The building is over here,” Ruki grunted as he tried to direct the dazed bassist in the right direction. Reita grinned and allowed Ruki to lead him.
“Thanks again, Ruki.”
“Hmm?”
“Thanks again.”
“For making sure you’re head is all right?”
“No, for playing today. It really made me happy.”
Ruki smiled at his friend. “No problem. But maybe we should find a less dangerous sport- one that doesn’t involve bands running at each other at full force.”
“Maybe you’re right. How about volleyball? I’m sure there are some nets somewhere in the PS building that we can use,” Reita suggested as the smaller blonde led him by the hand back to the parking lot. Ruki only groaned in response.
++++++
Fin.
When they kissed, I was like, 'Oh snap, I'm not good at this.' But I persevered and trucked on through. Har har. XD
I liked playing soccer in PE. But it always ended up with me being hit in several unpleasant places, or the field looking like World War III. But hey, what can you do.
This is probably the longest thing I have written to date. If you read through this entire thing, you are amazing. :D
Any thoughts? Let me hear 'em!
Author - Chieko
Rating - Pg-12?
Warnings - Language
Pairings - Reita x Ruki (GazettE)
Disclaimers - Generic disclaimer rules apply.
Summary - A good game of soccer always brings out the best- and worse- in everyone.
Let's see, the last time I posted anything on this God-forsaken site was in April.
It's... now August.
Hello, World. I am alive.
Like many of my works, this was started at 11:30 at night and completed a month later. It was suppossed to be more "romantic" and crap, but I just went with the flow and made it not.
The main focus is on soccer and running around. This is called "dynamic" writng, or so I think. Romance became the 2nd focus. So therefore, nothing really happens till the end. At least I was able to make myself smile while typing. :P
Probably the most I've ever typed for a single story. I feel good.
++++++
For two weeks the sun constantly hid its face. Everything was covered in a gloomy blanket, the atmosphere and landscape bleak. Mornings were misty, afternoons dreary, nighttime dark and silent. No one felt like doing much nowadays; without the sun they had no energy or desire to run around. The sun was the charger that refreshed their batteries. Many thrived on the light that it gave; without the light, the world had no meaning to it. But finally, after the eternity that was two weeks, the sun emerged from its cloudy home.
Immediately the small country of Japan began showing signs of life once more. The sky returned to its lovely blue color, the streets started buzzing with more life, birds flew around happily without chance of being rained on. The world seemed to return to its natural bright colors, thanks to the simple sunshine. It was once again perfect for one to shuffle around outside with friends and family. It was also perfect to play soccer again.
For the past few weeks, most of the Peace and Smile employees stayed cooped up in the company building or at home; none enjoyed walking around under gray skies. But with the return of the sunshine everyone was eager to frolic outside and stretch their legs and walk around and play.
Reita had the brilliant idea of setting up a huge soccer game against various bands. He had thought up the wonderful plan when he had accidentally stumbled into a closet filled with broomsticks and old sports equipment. What a bag of sports equipment was doing in the PS building was completely beyond him. But hell, might as well get as much use out of it as possible.
With the help of Kai, Reita roamed through the building hallways, asking around if anyone was interested in playing a friendly soccer match. A few were enthusiastic about the idea; most didn’t want to play, but said they would come and watch the match.
Reita hummed to himself as he walked down a hallway, checking rooms to see if any other fellow PS employees lurked inside. The Gazette bassist peeked his head into a large room, looking around. The room was large and spacious and sparsely furnished; a few windows took up nearly the entire opposite side of the door; a highly polished chestnut table stood in the center, 12 chairs placed uniformly around the edge. And sitting at the head of the table was none other than Reita’s fellow band mate, Ruki, absorbed in completing a Rubric Cube.
Reita’s heart nearly leaped for joy, for Ruki was the one who made his heart happy. For some time now, the bassist had been pining after the Gazette’s petite vocalist. But of course, it was not wise to make advanced on your bandmates, plus there was also the looming possibility of being rejected by the smaller man. So Reita had no choice but to keep his feelings secret. But the least he could do was keep a sharp eye on the other man and made sure no one else tried to hit on him.
Taking a deep breath, Reita entered the large room and sat down in one of the comfortable chairs on Ruki’s right. Reita amused himself for a few moments by spinning the chair to his left, then to his right, then to his left again, before he leaned both elbows on the polished table.
“Sup, Ruki,” Reita said with a smile. Ruki looked up from his Rubric Cube and smiled at the blonde man.
“Sup, Reita,” Ruki smiled. Reita’s nearly melted from the heart-felt smile he just received.
“What are you doing?”
“A Rubric Cube. Did you know that even if you solve one side, you still need to solve all the other sides one at a time? All these years I thought that if you solved one side, you solve the whole thing. It’s a bit disappointing, really.”
“Really? I thought that too,” Reita said with wide eyes. Rubric Cubes were really fascinating things. “Maybe if I had two hours, I could solve one side, then another ten hours to solve the rest.”
“I managed to solve three sides, but had to scramble them again,” Ruki said melancholy.
“Oh, that’s too bad.”
“So, did you come in here for something, or what?”
“Huh? Oh yeah. Since it’s sunny outside again, I thought that a bunch of the PS bands should have a ‘friendly’ soccer match. What’d you say, Ruki? Up for a game of soccer?” Reita asked, leaning forward excitedly.
Ruki made a face. “Akira, I’m not good at soccer. You know that. Remember soccer during high school? I always made a fool of myself,” Ruki said with a slight frown. He placed his (still) unsolved Rubric Cube on the table, staring at the multi-colored squares with mild interest.
“Ah, high school, what fun,” Reita said dreamily. “I loved doing soccer in PE-“
“I didn’t.”
“-and I feel like remembering some of those nostalgic values today. C’mon, Taka, come play with us! It’ll be fun, I swear! You can be on my team and all you have to do is just chase after the ball and make sure the other team doesn’t get it. You were good at defense, I remember that, and you always ran your hardest after the ball. Please, please come play with us? Pretty please? Ruki?” Reita asked with his best kicked-puppy look. Ruki gave him a blank stare.
“You’re no good at that face- try taking lessons from Kai. Anyways, I wasn’t good in high school, and I probably still suck today. But since you’re my friend and I never want to see you make that face again, I’ll go down and try to play.” Ruki gave a weak smile and Reita returned it with a genuine grin.
“Alright, c’mon, let’s go down. Everyone’s probably already at the field.”
++++++
The soccer field was no more than a small, grassy area 5 minutes away from the PS parking lot. The area did not have any form of equipment, save for a small sandbox that was occupied by three small children. Those who were interested in the upcoming soccer match migrated over to the field, talking while Reita and Kai set up cones for the field boundaries and trashcans for goals. The small children in the sandbox looked up at the group of men with slight interest, before returning to their sand castles.
“Okay, those who want to play, step forward; those who just want to watch, go somewhere else,” Reita called out to the men, trying to get their attention. A few of his fellow employees gave him strange looks, but otherwise shifted to where they were supposed to be. After everyone had moved, there was a line of nine players, plus Reita (10 in all).
“Okay, since this game was my idea, I’ll be one of the team captains,” Reita informed. More looks were exchanged. Reita ignored them. “Who wants to be the second team captain?”
“I will.”
“Okay, Tora, get your ass up here,” Reita grinned. Tora stepped out of the line and moved next to Reita, giving the blonde bassist a smug look. Reita returned the look with a glare of his own, telling the other to pick his first teammate.
“I chose Kai,” Tora called out. Kai smiled and bounded over to the tall guitarist, giving Reita an apologetic look.
Reita mentally cursed his kindness by letting Tora pick first; Kai was easily the best soccer player in the company and could be his own one-man team. “Ruki,” Reita called. The bassist gave Ruki a smile as he trudged over; Ruki could only give a sick-looking smile in return.
“Don’t worry, Ruki. You’ll do fine,” Reita tried to reassure him.
“Yeah, right. That’s what everyone said in high school,” Ruki muttered.
“Isshi,” Tora picked next. A few people stared as Isshi gracefully walked over to Tora’s team, a calm smirk on his lips.
No one expected Isshi to want to play soccer. In fact, no one even knew if he liked sports at all. Like most of Kagrra, he kept to himself. Watching him play would be interesting…
Reita mentally surveyed the remaining players. He didn’t know much about their skills, so he had to put blind faith in his own gut. “Akiya,” Reita picked. He picked the guitarist simply because he wanted to irk Tora, who seemed to be quite attached to the other guitarist, and also simply because he seemed eager to run around after a small, white and black ball.
Akiya walked over to the bassist’s team, casting a saddened glance at his band mate and friend. Tora glared at the blonde and Isshi cast him a disapproving glance (mainly because he was separated from his band mate), which Reita happily ignored.
The rest of the remaining players were divided up evenly between the two teams:
“Hiroto.”
“Yasuno.”
“Nao.”
“Keiyuu.”
Ten men divided up into two groups of five stood opposite each other, starting at the other team. Tora, Kai, Isshi, Hiroto, and Nao (Kagrra’s Nao, not the other one); opposite them Reita, Ruki, Akiya, Yasuno, and Keiyuu.
“Okay, Tora, now that we both have our teams, it’s time to play! First team to 10 points wins, ne?” Reita asked. Tora nodded in response.
“Let’s flip to see who starts with the ball. Head gets the ball; now, CALL IT!” Reita yelled as he tossed a coin high in the hair.
"Heads!” Tora yelled.
Reita caught the coin in his fist and flipped it over in his hand, all in one fluid motion. He lifted his hand, hoping to see something that related to the tails side, but frowned instead.
“Judging, by your look, I’d say my team starts with the ball, hm?” Tora smirked. Reita glared up at him.
“Bastard. Just take the ball,” the bassist growled as he rolled the ball none too gently to the guitarist, who simply stopped it with his foot. Reita motioned for his team to follow him as they made their way to the far end of the field.
“Yasuno, you’re goalie. Think you can handle it?” Reita asked as he called everyone in for a team huddle.
“Fo sure!” Yasuno cried, pumping his fist into the air. Reita just stared with a blank face at the pink-haired man, then shook his head. He dispersed the huddle, but could still hear Yasuno talking lively with Keiyuu from behind him. Damn Kra freaks.
“Hurry up, Reita! Let’s go!” Tora yelled impatiently at Reita’s team spread themselves around the field. Reita only flipped the guitarist off before the game began. It was madness. First, everyone ran towards the ball at once, creating a huge mass of bodies that were all kicking at the same time. Finally, someone managed to kick the ball outside the mass, causing a stream of PS employees to chase after the black and white ball.
Kai gained control of the ball (surprise, surprise), and dodged other players with ease, running towards the other side of the field as fast as he could.
“Kai! Kai!” Isshi called as he effectively ran around a frenzied Ruki. Kai spotted his teammate, never losing control of the ball. He skillfully maneuvered the ball away from Akiya, turning this way and that, before forcefully and smoothly passing it to a waiting Isshi. Isshi received the ball, quickly moving it away from Ruki, who tripped in attempts to steal it from the other vocalist. Isshi smirked at Ruki before running towards the goal.
Yasuno stood firmly between the trashcans, a look of pure determination on his face. The ball was getting closer and closer, the space between the drummer and the other player diminishing at the speed of light. Closer… closer… HOLY CRAP!
“Ahhhhh!” Yasuno yelled as the soccer ball was speeding right towards his face. His reflexes reacted as fast as they could, and his arms whipped up to protect his precious face.
“Good job, Yasuno! Nice block!” Keiyuu cheered from a few feet away.
“Huh?” Yasuno dumbly replied looking down. There by his feet was the ball; he had blocked it. He had actually blocked the damn thing. And now his arms hurt as well and a red blotch was starting to form- Isshi kicked pretty hard.
“He got lucky,” Isshi scowled as he backed a few feet away from the goal, waiting for the other man to throw the ball back into play.
“Throw the ball in, Yasuno,” Reita yelled at his teammate. The drummer nodded and chucked the ball towards the center of the field as hard as he could, once again resuming the game. Reita felt pretty lucky about his team now- sure, some of them seemed like they didn’t know what they were doing, but at least they had excellent reflexes.
++++++
Twenty minutes later and Tora’s team was up by 5 points.
3 vs. 8.
Reita was mentally cursing everything that walked the earth by this point. Tora’s team was excellent- no, fucking amazing- and Reita had a sinking feeling that the smirking guitarist KNEW which members to pick. Kai, Isshi, Nao, Hiroto- they were all really good soccer players. And Tora must have known that. Which was why he picked them.
The bastard.
He had purposely picked all the skilled ones and left the… not-so-skilled ones for Reita. Oh joy. And now his team was beating Reita’s team, and if he lost, he would never be able to live it down.
Damnitdamnitdamnit!
Reita called a time out and gathered everyone around him for a pep-talk.
“Okay, look, so they’re beating us-“
“They’re murdering us, Reita!” Keiyuu squeaked.
“-but we can still catch up. Everyone should still guard the person they’ve been guarding the entire game-“
“Uh, Reita? Every time I get the ball, Isshi and Nao leave their man and follow me around. Which means I can’t get the ball towards the goal. They block me. And pinch me too,” Akiya frowned. Reita ignored him and continued on.
“-but if you need to, leave them and go after someone else. Try to move around as much as you can and try to get an opening. If someone runs in front of you, immediately run to a new spot and try to stay open. Obviously, the ones who seem to have the most talent at making goals on this team are Keiyuu and myself. Which means that they’ll try to block us the most. So it’s up to you guys to get open, get a clear shot, and pray that you make it, because we’ll be passing it to you guys a lot more often now, got it?” Reita growled. His team nodded, a little uncertain. Reita didn’t really blame them; going up against your own bandmates who would charge at you the moment you got the ball in your possession was a little scary. Who knew that Hiroto could be so aggressive?
“All right, now let’s get out there and try to win, okay?” Reita tried to encourage his team. Everyone simply mumbled and walked away.
Reita bit his lip. Things weren’t looking too good right now. The bassist’s eyes scanned the field and landed on Tora; the guy had the nerve to smirk at him.
“Stop smirking, you bastard! You rigged this game! I know you did!” came the sudden outburst from the blonde’s lips. Several people turned to look at them, making Reita flush. Tora simply smirked again and shrugged, making Reita even angrier. Maybe he should go over there and give him a good punch in the jaw… break that pretty mouth of his…
“Reita?” said a soft voice by his side. Reita turned to see Ruki standing there, gnawing on his thumb. Instantly, the bassist’s heart softened and he forgot his anger.
“Yeah, what’s wrong, Ruki?” The vocalist looked a little distressed.
“I… I want to quit the game. I’m just not any good. I wasn’t good in high school, and even in my 20’s I still suck. I let everyone I’m guarding get away from me, and I suck as a goalie. So, I think I’ll just go sit out for the rest of the game. I’m sure someone would love to come take my place,” Ruki smiled weakly.
“No! You can’t leave!” Reita cried. Ruki’s eyes widened from the exclamation and Reita could feel his face and neck warming up. He had to think of something, fast. “Uh, I mean, um, you can’t just leave the game. You’ve already made it this far, why not just finish it?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, 5 of the other team’s points came from when I failed to defend the goal 3 feet behind me.”
“Ruki, at least try!”
“I’ve been trying this entire fucking time!” Ruki growled, glaring up at the taller blonde. Reita was taken back, and seeing that angry look hurt him.
“Ruki… please, I know you’re no good at soccer, but that’s the fun of the game. Even if you’re not skilled and you just plain suck, you can still run around with your friends, mess up, get back up, mess up some more, laugh about it, and have a good time. I just think that you’re a bit too self-conscious. Look at Yasuno: he’s a little absent-minded and he’s not the greatest goalie ever, but he still plays. He just laughs about it and keeps going on. That’s what makes soccer so much fun- you keep going forward,” Reita explained, smiling a little. Ruki sighed, the angry look disappearing from his eyes. He smiled weakly up at the taller man.
“Now you’re trying to be a therapist? Good luck with that,” Ruki said. Reita laughed, and Ruki smiled, a real smile this time.
“Forget it, let’s just get back in the game. I’m sure we can still kick Tora’s team’s ass and-“
“Heads up!”
WHAM!
A soccer ball came flying out of nowhere at the speed of a jet plane and knocked Reita in the back of the head, bouncing off with a hollow ‘thud'.
“Ow, crap!” Reita yelled, clutching the back of his head, eyes screwed up in pain.
“Reita!” Ruki cried. “You all right?” the vocalist asked with concern, gently tugging Reita’s sleeve so he would bend down to his eye level. He felt his fingers through the bassist’s hair, feeling for any bumps.
“Ow!”
“Guess I found where the ball hit you, huh?” Ruki murmured as he brushed his fingers over a small bump forming at rapid speed.
“What happened? Reita? That ball looked like it hit you pretty hard!” Kai asked as he and the rest of both teams shuffled over to where Reita and Ruki were.
“He has a bump on the back of his head now. Feels like it’s getting pretty big, too,” Ruki informed Kai. Kai nodded and went into ‘mother’ mode, asking Reita if he got hurt anywhere else, if he needed ice, if he could still see, etc.
“Get away, I’m fine,” Reita scowled as he shooed Kai away from his head. He did not want Kai tending to his head, he wanted Ruki, damnit! When Ruki’s fingers were gently twining themselves through his hair, his pain had completely disappeared. If only he could get Ruki to do that without being hit on the head. But he couldn’t. The pain was fading away to a dull throb by now. “Who kicked that ball at me?” Reita growled as he stood up to his full height. Everyone looked nervously around as Reita eyed every single one of them.
Finally, Nao timidly raised his hand. “I didn’t mean too, Reita, honest. It just sort of happened. I kicked the ball wrong, and it went up in the air instead of on the ground. I’ve been told I kick pretty hard too, and I’ve hurt teammates before, and-“ Nao was never able to finish his apology, as Reita charged towards him, yelling something about ruining the moment and Kingdom Come. Nao squealed and dashed away as fast as his legs could carry him, Reita only a few precious steps behind. Isshi and Akiya ran after the blonde, trying to save their own bassist from premature death. Ruki could only frown, sad that Reita had to leave so soon.
++++++
5 ‘o clock in the afternoon and the soccer match had finally ended. Tora’s team had won 10 points to five. Reita would never be able to live it down, the guitarist would make sure of that. As penalty Reita’s team was forced to clean up the soccer field. Reita felt bad about his team losing for some reason, so as a reward for playing as hard as they could, he volunteered to clean up by himself. Everyone gave him grateful looks and smiles as they walked away, waving their goodbyes. Only Ruki had chosen to stay with him and Reita couldn’t have been happier.
Reita hummed to himself as he walked around the makeshift field, picking up cones and moving the trash cans back to their original spots. Ruki tagged along behind him, chattering away about his trip to see his family last week. Every now and then Reita would laugh and Ruki would smile, happy to see his friend enjoying his story.
The duo had made it to the last goal, where Yasuno had blocked many a ball. Reita was about to move the trash cans before Ruki stopped him.
“Wait, Reita. I want to try kicking, just one last time,” Ruki asked, looking up at the bassist. Reita shrugged and Ruki turned to retrieve the soccer ball sitting a few yards away. Slowly, the vocalist dribbled it to where his friend was staying, never taken his eyes off it for a second. When he was perfectly aligned with the center, he took a few steps back and breathed deeply. He could do it this time. Oh yes, he could…
Taking big steps, Ruki propelled himself towards the black and white sphere, feeling when it connected squarely with the inside of his foot.
The ball soared through the air, only to bounce off one of the trashcans with a hollow bang, sending the metal can toppling over, the ball rolling a few feet away.
Reita didn’t know quite what to say, as Ruki looked extremely pissy at that moment. He tentivaly took a few steps toward his friend, leaning down slightly to look him in the eyes.
“Ruki?”
“…”
“…Ruki?”
“Fucking ball can’t go straight,” Ruki muttered.
“Of course it can, you just need to kick it in the right place, that’s all,” Reita said with a grin. Ruki glared up at him, but the bassist wasn’t fazed. He shuffled over to where the ball was and skillfully dribbled back towards the goal. Lining himself up like Ruki did before, Reita took a few steps back, before running forwards again. All Reita saw was the ball in front of him. Too bad he missed the hole of mud he placed the ball in front of.
Running at full force, Reita stepped into the slippery dirt, causing him to loose his balance. He yelled, waving his arms around, feeling his feet leave the ground. With a large ‘THUD’ he landed on the ground, his head bouncing on the dirt.
Perhaps that spot was the reason many seemed to slip when they were near this particular goal.
“REITA!”
Reita groaned, opening his eyes slowly. Ruki was kneeling down next to him, hovering over the bassist.
“I think… I think I’m dead,” Reita groaned.
“Stupid. You’re not dead.”
“Oh. Then am I in heaven?” the bassist asked with a weak smile. Ruki only chuckled and brushed the blonde’s bangs out of his eyes.
“Thanks.”
“For what? Making sure that you’re still alive?’
“No. For not quitting the game earlier. It really meant a lot to me when you decided to keep on playing. I’ve always liked you and don’t like to see you give up on things, whether it be games or lyrics. You’re a talented person, Ruki. I like that about you. Of course, I like you also because you’re good looking and stuff too. I’ll try to teach you to get better at soccer as well. We’ll make sure you can kick the fucking ball straight next game, and then we’ll kick Tora’s ass together. My head hurts too. I think I might have a concussion. It hurts really badly. Did anyone else fall down during the game?” Reita rambled on. Ruki patiently listened to him, a faint blush on his cheeks. Either the fall had messed with his friend’s brain in more ways than one and was making him say he had feelings for Ruki, or Reita had just confessed his feelings to him and actually meant it in his blissful state.
“Reita,” Ruki cut in, “does it hurt?”
“-make sure he pays- huh? Oh, yeah. It hurts.”
Ruki smiled to himself, before he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the other’s lips. He gently pulled away, looking into Reita’s face for any type of reaction.
Reita had a cheesy grin on his face. “I knew you liked me. I knew it. Ha, I was right. But my head hurts, not my lips.”
“You didn’t say where it hurt, Akira.” Reita laughed at that and snaked a strong arm around Ruki’s neck and pulled him down for another kiss. This time their lips met for longer, Ruki’s lips meshing against Reita’s. Reita moved away and started pressing tiny kisses around the corners of the other’s mouth, near his eyes, on his cheek, anywhere he could reach.
“Stop, Reita, stop, we need to get up and go home,” Ruki laughed as he half-heartedly tried to pull away from the arm wrapped around his neck. “Besides, we still need to get ice for your head- you’ve banged it two times today. I’m surprised you don’t have a concussion.”
“I’d rather chuck some ice at Tora’s big head,” Reita chuckled as he released Ruki from his grip. The vocalist stretched out his neck and back before lifting himself off his hands and knees. Leaning down to help his band mate and friend up, Ruki smiled. Reita took the offered hand and eased himself upwards, cringing at how dizzy his head felt.
“C’mon let’s go- no, not that way. The building is over here,” Ruki grunted as he tried to direct the dazed bassist in the right direction. Reita grinned and allowed Ruki to lead him.
“Thanks again, Ruki.”
“Hmm?”
“Thanks again.”
“For making sure you’re head is all right?”
“No, for playing today. It really made me happy.”
Ruki smiled at his friend. “No problem. But maybe we should find a less dangerous sport- one that doesn’t involve bands running at each other at full force.”
“Maybe you’re right. How about volleyball? I’m sure there are some nets somewhere in the PS building that we can use,” Reita suggested as the smaller blonde led him by the hand back to the parking lot. Ruki only groaned in response.
++++++
Fin.
When they kissed, I was like, 'Oh snap, I'm not good at this.' But I persevered and trucked on through. Har har. XD
I liked playing soccer in PE. But it always ended up with me being hit in several unpleasant places, or the field looking like World War III. But hey, what can you do.
This is probably the longest thing I have written to date. If you read through this entire thing, you are amazing. :D
Any thoughts? Let me hear 'em!