[ notes/ slowly but surely we're getting somewhere with this fic LOL. nosaka was meant to be the main love interest but things went in a different direction. never mind that, i'll make it work. <3 so i'll start piecing the story by different settings and characters. so this one starts with nosaka and nishikage rather than yourself. i think it adds more density to the story! enjoy! ]

Nosaka;

She won't pick up her phone.

She won't answer his texts.

She won't come see him.

In less than a month, his entire plan had been ridden to shambles. It broke piece by piece, and he was helpless to fix it. Nosaka wanted more than what he had planned for, but it was one or the other. He couldn't have both, but he was selfish, and he wanted everything. He wanted it all to go his way without a single setback.

At this point, he wasn't so sure what to do anymore. He needed to come up with a fix that would please everyone; but how impossible was that. . .

"Dammit!" Out of nothing but frustration, Nosaka slammed a hand down on the table in front of him. He gave Nishikage quite a startle in the process. The ash-blonde male just stared at the emperor, lips pressed into a thin line.

"That girl is driving me crazy-!"

"Nosaka-san. . . You can't keep hiding things from her forever. If this keeps up then. . . You'll never see her again." Nishikage muttered.

"You think I don't know that-!?" Nosaka had never really lost his cool, he'd always been calm and collected. It was since last night that he was starting to fall apart. There was too much on his mind, and no one to spill his heart out to. . . Asides from you, but, you didn't want to see him. For as long as Nosaka Yuuma was a liar, you did not want to see him.

"Ever since I saved [Y/n] from that damn building, she'd been what I was fighting for. Now she doesn't even want to see me!? What's the point of any of this anymore!?" His anger was unusually explosive. Nosaka was, terrifying to say the least.

"Just tell her everything." Last night Nishikage had found out about Nosaka's condition. He had a brain tumor, and was constantly using antibiotics to tame it for the time being. Nishikage didn't know why he wouldn't go for surgery, but Nosaka was such a secretive person - he told no one. Asides from the enemy's manager, Mikado Anna. Who knows what else he told that girl, for absolutely no reason. Nishikage could understand your anger more than anyone else.

"I have three months to live, Nishikage. Three months is enough to play soccer but three months will never be enough to spend with [Y/n] [L/n]. If I don't get her to fall in love with me in three months. . ." Nosaka lifted three fingers, his grey eyes hadn't wavered for a second. "Then all of this was for nothing."

"Nosaka-san, you can't put that kind of pressure on her. She-. . . She's not well either." Nishikage trailed off, sighing in the process. Nosaka was not making this easy for him, he was being selfish as usual. At this point, no one's feelings mattered more than his.

[Y/n];

It was two days before Raimon's match against Tonegawa Tousen, the legendary captain and goal keeper. The team was nervous, unsure if they would stand even the smallest bit of a change against Endou Mamoru. You racked your brain for some sort of comfort that your team would win, but it was near impossible. So, you spent a lot of time learning about Endou. At the back of your head, you were so sure you'd heard his name before, and seen his face, but you just couldn't remember.

It was a Sunday, and you didn't have anything to do asides from study. So instead of sticking up in your aunt's apartment, you decided to leave for some fresh air. Maybe you'd head to the training center and get some practicing done. Develop a new hissatsu or something. . .

You locked the apartment door behind yourself and padded down the outdoor staircase. Someone stood out on the sidewalk, waiting.

You blinked your eyes in confusion.

"Nishikage?" Your brows furrowed as you quickly approached the male. His dull eyes widened for a moment at the sight of you.

"[L-l/n]. . ." He muttered under his breath before turning himself to face you, pocketing his phone. "I hope you're not busy."

"No, not really. Why?" You asked, fixing the strap of your bag on your shoulder.

". . . May I have a moment, then?" Nishikage softened his voice.

The two of you went off to a nearby coffee shop. You sat down with your phone until he brought over your drinks. You didn't expect him to get something for you.

"Oh, thank you." You flashed him a sweet smile, looking at the drink he set in front of you. It was your favourite. "How did you know I liked this one?"

"Nosaka may have mentioned it at some point." The ash-blonde male responded hesitantly, before sitting down opposite you. He wrapped his fingers around his coffee cup, staring out the window for a while, as if looking for the right words to say. You had absolutely no idea why he wanted to meet with you. The last time you'd been alone with him was all the way back at Outei, when you went to see Nosaka. Looking even further back, you remembered Nishikage had visited you in the Hospital at one point.

"Oh." You pressed your lips together for a moment before taking a sip of your drink.

"He'd be upset with me if he knew we were here." The male muttered. You barely glanced at him. Your relationship with Nosaka was complicated, it was giving you a headache to just hear his name, nonetheless think about him.

He had told you he was in love with you, but wouldn't say anything beyond that. What a ridiculous boy.

"Only recently I heard about his condition."

You almost laughed.

"Mikado Anna, right?"

"Yes." He was almost ashamed to say so.

"Nosaka must regret ever speaking to her about it." You shook your head, staring at your cup.

"He does." Nishikage watched you carefully.

". . . Is this what you wanted to talk about?" Finally, you lifted your eyes to the male. To be honest, hearing about Nosaka all the time was getting annoying, but you wouldn't say that to Nishikage. He must be hurt, after all.

"I-," Nishikage paused. "I'm sorry."

"Well don't apologize, silly." You chirped, followed by a bright smile. "How have you been?"

"I've been well, thank you. How about yourself?" A small simper marred his features. "Your team is facing Tonwgawa Tousen, correct?"

"Mmhm," you hummed in response. "Everyone's worried about Endou Mamoru, he seems impossible to get a goal past." A small sigh slipped past your lips. You weren't so sure when and who Outei would be against next. When you were just about to ask, you remembered certain events that played out around when you'd first joined Raimon. When Outei Tsukinomiya had played against Seishou Academy, the absolute massacre that took place.

"Nishikage I know this may be something you can't talk about, but. . ." You trailed off for a second. "When you went against Seishou Academy, what was that all about?"

"Commander's orders, nothing more, nothing less." Nishikage didn't seem to concerned about responding.

"I see. Thank you." For his sake, you gave him a reassuring smile. "Hey, let's not talk about Nosaka anymore, okay? Please."

Nishikage furrowed his brows as you reached out a hand, placing it on top of his his. His breath hitched, despite it being such a simple gesture. He suddenly became nervous and flustered, but nodded anyway.

"Of course, [L/n]." Nishikage breathed out. You pulled your hand back to yourself, beaming. Before you could say something more, his phone had started to ring. The ash-blonde pulled his phone from his pocket and lifted it to his ear.

"Yes. . . ? Yes, I understand." That was it, before the caller supposedly hung up. Nishikage stared at his phone for a while, before looking up at you. "I need to get going, I'm sorry."

"That's okay, thank you for treating me, Nishikage!"

He smiled, pushing his chair back and standing up. 

"If it's not a bother. . ." Shyly, he tapped in a few things on his phone before placing it on the table, in front of you. He made a contact with your name. You couldn't help but titter to yourself, happily adding your number. Nishikage was too kind to refuse. He thanked you before leaving. Only a few minutes afterwards, you cleaned up and left the coffee shop as well.

You were just about to go home until someone called out to you.

"Look who we have here."

You looked over your shoulder and smiled softly.

"Hiroto, Kiyama-kun. Nice to see you."

"Good afternoon, [L/n]-san." Kiyama chirped, a charming smile marring his features.

"Why are you by yourself? Who did you come with?" Hiroto frowned, chewing at a piece of bubblegum in his mouth

"Hiroto, don't ask her that." Kiyama muttered, slightly nudging the other male with an elbow.

"No, it's alright. I was with a friend, they just left though." You responded nervously. Hiroto was intrusive, but you couldn't help but give into his questions all the time.

"Perfect, then! Come with us!" The purple-eyed male grinned, reaching out and grabbing your hand.

"Wh-what-!?" Your cheeks immediately burnt up. He was vulgar alright, maybe a bit too vulgar, especially around yourself.

"Hiroto! She's busy, you shouldn't bother."

"Ahh! Get off my back, Tatsuya."

"G-guys, don't fight. I don't mind tagging along, I was just surprised is all." You lifted your hands in defense. They weren't brothers by blood, but even still, they shouldn't be fighting all the time. Both boys looked at you in confusion before smiling.

"[L/n]-san, do you like ice cream? I'll buy us some." Kiyama slightly tilted his head, a content look on his face. You let out a small breath of relief.

"You don't need to pay-"

"Yeah, I'll pay." Hiroto cut you off. Of course, he was the rich one here - even if he was gonna be using his father's credit card.

"No, Hiroto. Just let me pay for it." Kiyama furrowed his brows. His expression changed right after he looked back at you, "shall we?"

This was starting to remind you of Shirou and Atsuya, you couldn't help but giggle to yourself. While the three of you walked together, you stood in the middle of both boys, chatting mostly with the red-haired male.

"Raimon is playing tomorrow, correct? I'll come and watch you." Kiyama looked over at you, his teal orbs almost glittering.

"O-oh, thank you, it means a lot." You responded quietly. "I'll make sure to do my best."

"Beat their asses good, [Y/n]." Hiroto smirked, patting your shoulder.

"Of course," with a small laugh, you nervously tucked some loose strands of hair behind your ear. Doing your best was definitely something you could promise, but beating them, not so much. This was Endou Mamoru after all. You should probably be training, but, you felt too bad to leave Kiyama and Hiroto after already agreeing to spend time with them.

Kiyama bought the two of you an ice cream cone as well as one for himself.

"[L/n]-san," Kiyama chuckled, catching your attention. He lifted a hand and gently brushed at the corner of your lips with his thumb. "You got ice cream on your face."

Your cheeks flushed, how embarrassing. You noticed Kiyama was quite close to you as well, he was painfully handsome. . .

"Oi, what the hell are you doing." Hiroto scoffed, grimacing at his brother.

"Huh-? Oh, sorry." The red-haired male caught his senses, pulling his hand away and shoving it into his pocket.

"That's okay." You chimed, bashfully turning away. Hiroto already didn't like it, how his brother looked at you - and how you looked at him in return. He awkwardly started playing with his phone, scrolling through nothing in particular.

"Listen, I'm sorry for leaving so sudden, but I should really get going." You averted your eyes off to the side.

"Already?" Hiroto frowned. He sighed, "I'll text you."

"I'd like that." You chirped, turning to Kiyama and bowing your head. "Thank you for the ice cream, I'll see you around." With a sweet smile, you took off, scampering down the sidewalk. If you told them you were going to be training, they'd probably offer to help you. While it would be nice to get some good company, you wanted to be by yourself for a while. Just you and your thoughts.

Kiyama and Hiroto watched you off, not paying much mind to one another until you were out of sight.

"What was that all about?" Hiroto almost glared at the other male.

"I didn't mean to offend you." Kiyama responded cooly.

". . . [Y/n]. What do you think of her?"

Kiyama furrowed his brows before looking at the other in confusion. What kind of question was that? The red head thought for a moment.

"She's sweet, and kind." He muttered, pressing his lips into a thin line and slightly nodding. "Why do you ask, Hiroto?" As if trying to avoid the situation, Kiyama started to walk, the grey-haired male followed beside him.

"You like her, don't you." Hiroto hooked a thumb in his pocket.

"Are you upset with me, because you like her?"

"Tch. . . Whatever, let's go." As if he was the one who decided to head home first, Hiroto started walking ahead of the other male. Kiyama heaved a small sigh.

"What did that poor girl do to deserve this." Without thinking into it any further, Kiyama rushed to catch up with his brother.