[ notes/ oookaaay this chapter took a while to release. anyways, this one was pretty long so i thought i'd end it instead of writing the rest of the current episode (episode 24 i think). that's fine, it means the story goes on longer, we're coming to an end TT. i personally like this ending, reader-chan has come so far. she is now a strong and independent sakka player. also!!! i wanted to announce that i will definitely be writing for season Orion! so the story goes on! please support me to the end ! ^ v ^ ]
[ warning: this chapter contains heavy cursing ]

It was a warm night, the cool breeze brushing through your hair felt quite refreshing. You hadn't gone home yet, only because you wanted to spend some more time with your friends. You'd eaten dinner with them at their current home away from Inakuni Island, for the first time you'd eaten dinner with a bright, energetic family. You all talked with one another, you laughed, you smiled. . .

After Yone-san - the cook - had placed a plate of food in front of you, your eyes welled up with tears and you'd burst out crying. Everyone immediately rushed to your side and tried to comfort you. Something as simple as a real dinner, with people you loved, had made you so grateful you'd cried.

Just thinking of that again made you smile.

You were outside on the veranda with Mansaku, Asuto and Hiura.

"[L/n]? What are you smiling about?" Hiura tilted his head, a simper of his own marring his features.

"It's nothing, Hiura." You giggled, and shook your head.

"Next is the finals. . ." Mansaku took a deep breath. "We've made it. Doesn't it feel surreal?"

"It does." Hiura muttered.

"I never imagined we'd make it this far." Asuto added.

"Really? You seemed pretty sure we'd win up until now." Mansaku turned to the dark haired male. Both you and Hiura exchanged a short glance.

"Was I?" Asuto laughed. "I guess I was just excited." There was a moment of silence before Mansaku spoke again.

"We're up against Outei Tsukinomiya." He said, hesitantly. It almost felt like your heart skipped a beat once you hear that name. The last time you had confronted Nosaka, he strangely confessed to you, and you ran off. You didn't want to hear it.

"Will you be okay, [L/n]?" Hiura's gaze softened.

"I have to be okay. I don't really have a choice, do I." You furrowed your brows, smiling sadly. The three boys suddenly felt guilty. You'd been a huge part of the team, and often the reason for their wins. They didn't want to force you to play a game if it made you feel upset.

"That reminds me. We still don't know how you and Nosaka-san are so close." Asuto perked up. This caught your attention, a small sigh slipped past your lips.

"That's right. . . I never explained, did I?" You nestled your eyes shut for a moment. It was better to tell the story now than never, besides, these three boys were your friends. They'd accepted you without a second thought, the least you could do was tell them a little bit about yourself.

"I was from a bad family. I had parents who neglected me, they barely fed me and looked after me. I'm not so sure how, but when I was young our apartment had caught on fire. My parents. . . Never came to rescue me." You trailed off. You were told they had died, that was all you had left. The fact they had died was the reason they didn't save you, not that they'd left you to burn. "The person who saved me was. . . Well, Nosaka Yuuma." You looked over your shoulder to the three.

They stared at you in shock, pity, whatever it was in their eyes.

"And since then you were in the hospital, right?" Mansaku furrowed his brows. You nodded, managing a small smile.

"Nosaka came to see me almost every day for years." You remembered almost every day perfectly. His visit was the only thing you had to look forward to. Your eyes lit up every time you saw him, your heart felt warm, you had hope. You thought when you would leave the hospital, you'd leave it holding his hand. Now things were different.

He kept so many secrets.

How could he look you in the eye, and say he loved you?

When he wouldn't even tell you what school he went to. Or about a girl he visited every day asides from you?

What kind of. . . relentless monster--

"Thank you." Hiura suddenly said. You lifted your eyes to him. "Thank you for choosing Raimon."

"Yeah!" Asuto piped up. "It was your choice to join our team, so thank you! We're really happy we got to meet you."

They melted all your worries away.

"You're welcome. . . I'm glad I got to meet you all as well." You pressed a hand against your heart. "Really, really glad."

Not long after you scampered on home. Your aunt hadn't returned to the apartment from work yet, so you were spared the lectures of being out too late at night. Early in the morning you quickly dressed, slipped on your shoes and rushed out the door. There were two adults waiting outside. . . You slowly approached them, your eyes wavering.

Why?

Why. . . ?

Why now?

After all these years. All these years of being so painfully alone. The nightmares, the panic attacks, the endless amounts of hours spent sobbing, wishing you were dead. Wishing to God, that you'd died in that fire. . .

Why were your parents here now?

"You're all grown up. . ." Your mother breathed out, reaching a hand out to stroke your hair. Terrified, you stepped back. "What's wrong, [Y/n]? Don't you remember us?"

You tightly clutched to the strap of your bag, unable to speak or move. Your mother was just about to step closer to you, before someone intervened. They grabbed your hand and pulled you aside.

"You're not qualified to be anywhere near [Y/n]." A voice sounded, venomous. You only knew one person that could sounds so terrifying; Nosaka.

So your parents were alive, and he knew.

"And what gives you the right to decide that? She's my daughter." Your mother shot back.

"If she was your daughter you wouldn't have left her to die!" Nosaka let go of your hand, his eyes were writhing with anger.

"We didn't leave her to--!"

"Bullshit!"

Even you flinched at his tone of voice.

"You've failed as parents, you did nothing but make her suffer. You're not allowed back into her life just because it's fucking convenient for you." The red haired male grit his teeth. "I told you to never come near her again, or you'd regret it."

"Nosaka- please what's going on-?" You grabbed his hand, staring up at him with pleading eyes. As soon as he looked at you, his anger faded for a moment. He heaved a deep breath before looking back at your parents.

"Let's go." He gave your hand a small squeeze, before escorting you down the sidewalk. The both of you were almost jogging, and he often looked over his shoulder to see if you were being followed. Once your mother and father were completely out of sight, and most likely unable to find you, Nosaka stopped. He brought you to a lone park bench, and asked you to sit down. He was well aware you were upset with him for other reasons, but he hoped you'd give him the time of day.

Quietly, you sat down, and he took a seat beside you as well, staring down at the grass beneath his feet. His eyes nestled shut for a while, he looked so stressed out.

". . . Did you know they were alive all this time?" You asked him softly.

"Yes." He responded without any fuss or hesitance.

"You threatened them to stay away from me too, right . . ?"

". . . Yes."

Your eyes welled up with tears completely against your will. Letting them fall free, you grabbed onto one of his hands with both of your own. Already sobbing, you brought it up to your chest, hugging onto his palm tightly. Nosaka looked up at you, almost as if he'd cry as well.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry [Y/n]." He breathed out.

"No. . ." You shook your head. "Don't apologize, Yuuma."

Nosaka furrowed his brows. Staring at his hands in yours, he quickly retracted it to pull you against his chest, wrapping his arms around you. His embrace was warm.

. . . So warm.

He smelled faintly of cologne, the same one he wore for all these years.

"Hey. . . [Y/n]. . . If I die. Would you miss me?"

"So much." You clung onto him tightly, barely able to choke out through sobs. "You have no idea."

"I don't really have much longer." Nosaka muttered.

You came to a short halt before pulling away, wiping your eyes then looking up at him. There was a sad smile on his face, but it didn't look forced.

"But you said- you said you'd be okay. What happened!?"

"Things change. Life is a fickle thing, isn't it?" Nosaka wiped at your florid, tear stained cheek. "I told myself a while ago, that this was an emergency. I only had a few months to get you to fall in love with me. . ." He smiled. "It looks like I've failed."

"Yuuma-"

"It's better if we leave thing this way. Until things are different, let's not do this." He breathed out before standing up. Nosaka offered you a hand, which you reluctantly took.

"We're fighting your team next." You quickly changed the subject. Nosaka blinked his eyes.

"Ah, that's right." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "Originally I planned to recruit you to my team instead. You ran off and joined Raimon, how cruel." Nosaka jested with a small chuckle. You weren't really in the mood for his jokes, so you frowned.

"I love Raimon, and everyone in it." You muttered under your breath. "I've made so many friends, met so many people. . . I've finally done something with my life."

"In that case I have no regrets." The red head chimed. "I have to go, I'll see you soon."

"R-right, I should get to school too." You grabbed your bag from the bench. Nosaka shifted his feet to turn himself, facing you properly. One of his hands reached out to hold your cheek, and he leaned in rather slowly.

You closed your eyes and waited, but he took his sweet time, grinning at your cute face. Finally he closed the gap and kissed you. He pulled away, but immediately came back for another kiss, then he was done. The two of you parted ways, Nosaka feeling much better than he had in forever. You on the other hand, were worried as all hell.

He couldn't possibly be dying, could he?

You heaved a sigh, stepping into the club room, to be greeted by everyone on the team. They all brightened up and bid you a good morning, your mood was immediately lifted.

"[L/n], you're here!" Asuto piped up, grabbing your hands and leading you to sit down beside him.

"Good morning, everyone." You chimed. "Oh- where is Michinari-san?"

"He's. . . Still in the hospital. We're going to have to play against Outei with just the eleven of us." Hiura broke the news as gently as possible. You were definitely upset about Michinari, but of course he needed to rest - that was most important.

"I see. We'll go see him later today, right?" You lifted your head. They all liked the idea and nodded.

There was a sudden beeping from Asuto's watch, you peered over. It was a text from coach.

"Got a new member. . ." Asuto read out. Everyone paused, before freaking out.

"What-!? Talk about perfect timing!" Hanta piped up.

"I wonder who." Iwato muttered.

That's when the entrance doors opened, two familiar boys stepped into the room. You recognized them to be from Seishou Gakuen, Kido Yuuto and Haizaki Ryouhei. . .

For some reason Haizaki seemed to surprised to see you, and his eyes widened. You frowned, why was he looking at you like that. Finally, you remembered.

Months ago, you'd sort of met him in the arcade when Nosaka took you.

"Y-you-" Haizaki's eyes slowly turned into a glare. "You're Nosaka's-"

"Y-you've got it all wrong-! I promise you, I have nothing to do with his team. We're just old friends. . ." You trailed off, lifting your hands in defense.

"Do you have any idea what that bastard did!? Why the hell are you friends with him!?" His sudden outburst caught you off guard. He was honestly frightening.

"Haizaki, calm down." Kido placed a hand on his shoulder, but the grey haired male didn't feel like it.

"Because of him, Akane-. . . ! It's because of that whole fucking school!" Haizaki broke out of Kido's grip and stomped over to you, forcefully grabbing your shoulders. Everyone in the room stood up, trying to get him to leave you alone.

"Haizaki, she didn't do anything wrong!" Asuto grabbed Haizaki's arm, while Hiura took hold of the other.

"Miyano Akane!" You burst out, catching the male off guard, His grip loosened around your shoulders, and the two other boys managed to get him off of you. All four of you were panting.

"You know her?" Haizaki fumed, gritting his teeth.

"I was in the hospital. We were in the same treatment program, but for different reasons." You took a deep breath. "I had no idea what her relationship with Nosaka was, and as soon as I found out, I intended to cut off all ties with him, honestly."

But thing were more complicated than just that.

"What did he do to her, Haizaki-kun?" You softened your voice, the look on your face made him avert his eyes in guilt.

"The Scales of Ares is a program build to make robots of children. So they'd be perfect. It was designed to create the perfect children for ungrateful parents." Haizaki started, his voice was so bitter. Filled with nothing but hate and anger. "Nosaka is their star student, the liar that brought kids into the program. . . One day Akane came home in a wheelchair, her brain had completely shut down."

Your eyes slowly trailed down to his hands that were balled into fists.

"Every time I visit her. . . She doesn't even look at me. She doesn't say anything. . . She doesn't even know I'm there." For less than a second, Haizaki's voice broke.

Heartbroken, maybe?

"I met her in the hospital." You took a small step closer to Haizaki. "She barely spoke to me, but she wouldn't say anything about what happened. That's when Nosaka walked into the room. . ." Your expression faltered. "With flowers."

"I'll do whatever the hell it takes! Whatever it takes to destroy him!" Haizaki raised his voice again

Despite everything Nosaka had said to you today, you were angry. Whatever his sick, twisted definition of love was - it didn't match up with yours. His influence had hurt countless people, and you'd just met another one of them.

As much as you loved Nosaka Yuuma.

He needed to be stopped.

You lifted your head, eyes glinting with determination.

"Join Raimon!" You pressed a hand against your heart. "We have the same resolve."

"Yeah. . ." Haizaki narrowed his eyes, a smirk turning up at the end of his lips. "We do."

Everyone stared at you in disbelief.

"We will defeat Nosaka Yuuma. I can promise you that on my life."