AUTHOR’S POV

“You done?” Kotaro knocked at the bathroom door making Ame flinch that has yet to pee. She didn’t realize she was spacing out the whole time and wasted a good few minutes. “H-Hana…?” he opened the door slightly to peek but ended up getting a massive bump at the head because of Ame slamming the door at his face.

“You pervert! Be patient!” she scolded.

“I’ve been waiting for 5 minutes!” he complained with a cute pout.

Ame ignored him and went inside a cubicle to finish her business. Afterwards, she stepped out of the bathroom to be greeted by an awkward looking Kotaro. She swallowed the lump in her throat still trying to find the words to say to him.

What should she say? Thank you? Or should she just sneer at him? Or better, ignore his presence. But that would seem rude.

Ame fidgeted her hands and tried to find something else interesting, to avoid eye contact with Kotaro; but flinched when he called her. “You’re staying at the farer area right? Seirin?” she turned her head to look at him and nodded without saying anything. He nodded. “I got it, then I’ll walk you there”

You don’t need to. Ame wanted to talk to him but there was something holding her back.

Kotaro already walked farther than her before she even realized and walked after him just a few feet away. They quietly made their way to Seirin’s area back, catching several pair of eyes on them. Both looking surprised and confused.

“Ame-ne, you got lost again, didn’t you?” Kyo was the one who broke the silence between the tension created. Ame was still standing beside Kotaro.

“U-Uh, y-yeah…” Ame replied awkwardly. “But Kotaro helped me reach the restrooms… and offered to walk me back…” she shifted her hands uncomfortably. She caught sight of Teppei staring at them which brought her back to her senses turning to her friend. “T-Thanks for that! You should eat your lunch!” after she bowed, she went back to Teppei’s said grabbing her bento again, and stared at it blankly.

Reo gave Kotaro a look which the forward player nodded at and left. “I’ll see you at practice then, Reo-nee, Eikichi…” with that, he left, bringing the tension with him. Everyone let out a deep sigh.

“Is it me, or did it felt really awkward?” Shinji whispered which Rinnosuke nodded in agreement.

“Shh!” Riko shushed the two slapping them lightly with her paper stick then turned to Ame. “Ame-san…” she noticed Ame’s change of mood all of a sudden.

“Amei-chan…” Teppei stared at her and reached out his hand to her. “Are you okay…?”

“S-Sorry…” Ame squeezed his hand burying her head on his chest. “Could you give me and Kyo a minute?” she requested lifting her head from Teppei. “I just want to talk to her…”

Everyone gave her a worried look, noticing the agony in her eyes.  Riko was the first one to speak up. “All right, I think you’re all done eating! Let’s go back to training!” she announced so the players quietly fixed their lunches and follow Riko to the open field.

“Are you sure?” Teppei asked, concerned.

“Un” Ame nodded her head. He gave her a kiss on the forehead before going with the team to continue training. While Ame was left with Kyo, Reo and Eikichi bid their goodbyes, knowing their just a hindrance to the two.

“You’re going to be okay, Hana” Reo encouraged, putting a hand on her shoulder and smiled.

“Thank you, Recchan” Ame smiled at him then at Eikichi. “We didn’t get a chance to talk that much, but I’m glad you worked on your skinny body” the gorilla flinched at her comment. “Let’s have a reunion sometime… all of us”

“Yeah” Reo patted her head before leaving the area with his teammate.

“See you, Reo-nee! Eikichi-nee!” Kyo waved goodbye then glanced at her sister who looked like her life was sucked out at her. Well that was before…

She panicked.

“K-Kyo! What do I do?! K-Kotaro! I saw him again! A-And he…!” Ame started ranting then punched the wall beside her.  “He peeked in the girls’ restrooms! Can you believe him?! That little--!”

“You should calm down, Ame ne…” Kyo held her arms soothingly. “I don’t get you. One minute you look gloomy, and the next thing you do is punch something innocent. What do you really want to say?”

“I want to talk to Kotaro again but I can’t. I want to be close with him again but I don’t know how to. And I want him to be my Onee-chan again but I think he doesn’t want too”

“How can you be so sure that Kotaro-nee doesn’t want things to be the same again?” T_T

“Because I told him I don’t want to” that made Kyo face palm.

“Ame-ne…” she groaned. “Learn to filter your mouth sometime. Don’t say things you don’t really mean”

“Well, can you blame me? After what happened, I…” Ame paused thinking how it could be possible for things to return the same way as before. Five years ago was just child’s love, puppy love, it was merely love for kids; but right now, she didn’t know what to feel towards him.

(A/N: To avoid confusion, Ame and Kotaro’s confession happened when she was 12)

“So, what do you want do now?” Kyo asked as she watched Ame slumped on the floor.

“I don’t know…” was Ame’s response. “I just… don’t want things this way… I don’t want live my life with bad vibes towards Kotaro forever…”

“Then, talk to him” Kyo suggested making Ame twitch and look up at her.

“Are you serious?”

“What? It’s the only way to clear things out. Stop being a coward and face him. It’s not like he’ll eat you or something”

“That came out pretty wrongly, Kyo”

“Stop being dirty minded!” Kyo hit Ame with a paper fan. ‘Where did that came from?!’ “Either way, you still have to talk to him” the older sister buried her face in her knees as she curled up into a ball.

“When?” she murmured.

“As soon as possible…” Kyo trailed and looked troubled. ‘Oh, right, I still have to tell Ame-ne about…’ “Ugh, fine if you put it that way” Ame finally agreed and pulled herself from the floor. “Maybe I’ll meet with him after the Kaijou match… or wait, maybe at the finals… Rakuzan will probably be one of the finalists…”

“NO!” Kyo protested. “You can’t meet him during the finals! You have to talk to him before the finals!”

“Eh, why not?”

“It’s because—!”

Ame wondered why Kyo stopped and raised an eyebrow. Kyo looked troubled. She turned around, facing her back at her sister and mumbled. “Just clear things out okay?”

Ame stared at her sister and smiled. “Un, I got it”

“G-Good…” Kyo sighed then faced her again. “Also, oka-san said that Daizo-san wants to meet us after the semi-finals”

“Meet us? What the?” Ame suddenly frowned. “Why does he want to meet us now?” there was bitterness on her tone that says she doesn’t like her mother’s fiancé.

“I-I don’t know! J-Just… I’m telling you this now so you would be prepared when meeting him, okay?!” Kyo was stuttering for some reason. And she looked nervous. “E-Excuse me, I have to go…”

“Oi, Kyo…” Ame scratched her head wondering why her sister was acting kinda weird. Taiga suddenly appeared behind her and asked what was wrong with Kyo. “Who knows? She’s probably swooning over you since you’re just behind me while we were talking”

“I was about to ask you something, senpai” Taiga reasoned and twitched his eye. “Wait, swooning over me? What does that mean?”

“Oh, Taiga you dense tenshi. So, what was your question?” Ame pulled Taiga back to the team where she met with Teppei again.

“How are you?” he asked, approaching her.

‘And I didn’t get to ask her a question’ Taiga rolled his eyes knowing Ame’s attention was now on Teppei. ‘Never mind…’ he walked away joining Tetsuya in training.

“I’m okay now. I cleared things on what I want to do with Kyo. She’s such a great help” Ame assured hugging him.

“I’m glad you have a sister like her” he whispered at her ear.

“Stop being lovey-dovey! We’re training!” Shinji complained, secretly that he’s single. It goes same for the other players.

“Why do they have to point out how being single is lonely?!” Junpei turned to clutch mode as Riko glanced at him. “What? It’s your choice whether you want to ask out a girl or not. But in my opinion, it’ll just be a hindrance to our goals”

“Having a girlfriend gives you inspiration!”

“Then why don’t you ask out the girl you like?!”

Riko and Junpei were glaring at each other, their faces a few inches apart. They noticed this and Junpei was the first one to look away. “She’s not interested in being a relationship right now…”

“E-Eh?!” Riko backed away and found her shoes amusing. ‘Why do I get a feeling he’s letting me hear those things?’

“Alright, Kiyoshi, Ame, focus here, let’s go back to training” Junpei pulled Ame and Teppei away. “You can cuddle after practice”

Ame pouted making Teppei blush. “Fine!”

‘She’s so straight forward…’

“Captain, may I go to the restrooms?” Taiga asked popping a vein on Junpei’s head.

“You idiot! Hurry up!”

“H-Hai!”

Out of fear, he quickly ran towards the restrooms rushing to go back to practice. After peeing, he burst out the restroom door and was about to make a run for it when he heard weeping in the girls’ restroom. He stopped and leaned on the door trying to figure out who was that and gasped. “K-Kyo?” 

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I am sooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry for not updating for so long!!!!

I had a short writer's block... (yeah "short") but here you go! Another chapter of Turn My Cold Heart to Iron! :D

So yeah... I guess a few chapters to go... or i don't know... 

Hehe, you'll just have to see! :D 

And check my page! :D 

https://www.facebook.com/theretardedwriter