GOOOOOOOOO-

[iwillmendyou]

Characters: Hanatarou Yamada, Rikichi Konoe.
When: Friday, August 20.
Where: Open training yard.
Rating: G.
Summary: Rikichi and Hanatarou meet up for a game of soccer. Good thing Hanatarou brought extra bandaids.

Comments

a million years late orz

[inuzuri_tiger]

Soccer was only the most amazing game ever conceived of, and futsal doubly so as it could be played inside and therefore go unimpeded by incumbent weather. Rikichi was going to school him in not only the basics, but the finer points of soccer as well. It was a beautiful game and Rikichi was sure that Hanatarou could be a great player with a little bit of initiative.

Rikichi had been balancing a ball on his foot and popping it about as he waited for Hanatarou to arrive, but his friend's emergence from the sewers left the guy pretty well shocked.

"Hana-kun!" he exclaimed in surprise, letting the ball fall to the ground. "That's uh... a pretty unorthodox method of travel, ain't it?" he asked, trotting over to greet the smaller man.

[iwillmendyou]

"It was quicker!" Hanatarou said. "And... um." He flushed a guilty pink and hide his face as he climbed out and slid the heavy stone panel back into place. "I finished my shift, so I shouldn't have to... I mean, I..." He fretted for a moment, thin hands plucking at his sleeves. "I'm avoiding certain people so I won't have to do certain things. I'm tired of running errands today," he finished in a small voice.

Hanatarou forced a smile that didn't take very long to become genuine. "Ah, Rikichi-san! Are you going to show me how to play today?"

[inuzuri_tiger]

Ahh, right. Hana didn't have to explain any further; Rikichi had been in the Fourth Division for a while. He understood that sometimes the Fourthies often took abuse because they were looked down upon by more macho shinigami. It wasn't fair, but the stigma of 'weakest' Division was hard to shake, despite them being perhaps the most crucial of all.

"You bet I'm gonna show you!" he said with gusto. "C'mere and let's kick around the ball a bit. The basics aren't hard, but you gotta learn to control the direction that the ball goes when you kick it." He demonstrated, kicking the ball lightly toward Hanatarou and waiting for his friend to shoot it back.

[iwillmendyou]

It thudded lightly against his feet and Hanatarou simply stared at it a moment. Rikichi said it was fun and as Rikichi seemed to have a better idea of fun (or at least more openly enjoy his idea of fun), Hanatarou was inclined to believe him. Hanatarou took careful aim (he thought it was careful, at least) and kicked the ball back to Rikichi. It skittered past him in a wobbling sort of arc, but at least kept going far enough Hanatarou at least didn't feel bad about distance.

"...I think I should practice that more..."