[ not in the best mood/state of mine, so have some bye bye fudou <3 ]
[ warning ; some cursing !! ]

"How did you two get so close, anyway. . . ?"

"What do you have for lunch?"

"Uhm. . . Kimbap, steam bun and a little bit of rice."

"You're tiny, you can't eat all of that." Fudou grimaced, earning a very short glance from the female. She was currently playing video games during lunch while he watched over her shoulder. Most of the team sat together at lunch - they were sort of their only friends in the school. No one seemed to mind though, they often made a good group.

". . ." Park paused for a moment before straightening up. "Oh, great Fudou. Won't you do me a favor and eat half of my lunch for me?" Dramatically, Park clapped her hands together as if she was begging.

"I will have mercy." With a sudden grin, Fudou happily grabbed his pair of chopsticks and went at her poor lunch box.

"Biased!" Narukami groaned.

"Have some! You didn't even ask!" Park huffed before laughing, completely unaware of the figure looming over her.

"If you don't eat anything, you'll have no strength for practice." This very familiar deep, and cold voice belonged to Kazemaru. Even while they were just enjoying themselves at lunch, he was around to ruin it.

". . . Right. I'll eat." She hadn't argued back at all, and simply picked up a piece of kimbap and brought it to her mouth. As soon as Kazemaru stepped away, the entire group became bitter.

"I'm gonna set his crotch on fire." Fudou mumbled under his breath, immediately earning a swat on the arm from Park. This only made him laugh though.

"I heard that." Kazemaru responded without even looking over his shoulder.

For every time she was scolded on the Teikoku grounds for the smallest of slip ups, it was the supposedly lone rebel that either stood up for her, or gave her a pat on the shoulder.

Everyone on the team said he was a bad influence. He always argued and never saw the other person's side of anything. He always wanted things his way, he always glared at everyone as if they were dirt on the sole of his cleat. Though, how could any of this be true when he was always lending an ear.

"So- what am I missing here?" The ruffian easily accept the can of soda that was offered to him. "Thanks." Honestly, why pass up a free soda? Sure hanging out with a girl was kind of weird, but she didn't talk to the point he got a headache. Not like Kazemaru, or Sakuma - always with their 'you're not following the plan!' bullshit. He meant to be asking her why Kazemaru was suddenly at everyone's throats, and especially Park's when they had been such good friends before.

"Nothing really. At least nothing that I know of." Park muttered in response, sitting down on the bench beside him. She quietly cracked open the pin on her soda can and took a sip. Fudou lifted a brow. Something wasn't right here.

"You know. . . Teikoku is famous for it's rough plays, for eradicating the opponent with no remorse." Fudou's eyes slowly narrowed. This was supposed to be the school that would win the FFI without breaking a single sweat. "Now not only do we have a little girl on the team, but ponytail and Kageyama are watching over us like we're stray dogs!"

". . . I'm sorry." Park frowned, even though Fudou didn't mean to flat out insult her.

"Ugh. Whatever." He inwardly groaned, resisting the urge to roll his eyes and swat the back of her head. "What are you gonna do?"

By this, he meant the tension between her and her old friend - Kazemaru Ichirouta. Or to him; ponytail.

"Nothing. There's nothing I can do, so I won't let it bother me." The girl responded nonchalantly, sipping at her soda again. Finally, he cracked his own can open and downed a quarter of it before standing up. ". . . What's the matter?"

"We're training, get up." He'd huffed. Without any complaints, she obeyed and they scampered back to Teikoku to borrow the field.

He wasn't any gentler because she was a girl, but her nimble plays could keep up with him effortlessly. Fudou was rough and reckless, she was more light on her feet and graceful. This as very unexpected for a school like Teikoku, where it was supposedly pitch black every second of every day.

"Teikoku shows no weakness, never forget it."

And this was drilled into her head as she slowly learned to feel nothing but the urge to win on the pitch when needed. To play like a soldier from Teikoku.

Inazuma Japan's match against the Navy Invaders was unfair in every way possible. Just like nearly every other match played in the frontier, it was an absolute sham. The players were pawns with no regard for either soccer or their opponent. Not until the end of the match did their views finally change, but this wasn't enough. . . This wasn't enough to heal the injuries that Sakanoue, Hiura and Fudou had to bear.

Unlike Sakanoue and Hiura, Fudou had banged up his leg pretty bad. Even wrapping the bandage around it was making him wince in pain here and there, but this definitely didn't match how frustrating it was to have this happen at all.

His mind was made up, with this state of his, he was going back home. Just as he mentally confirmed this, footsteps were heard scampering into the locker room.

"Fudou! You're out of the hospital!" Park had brightened up, before her expression immediately faltered. The look on his face wasn't relieved in the slightest, and the bandages obviously didn't mean he was fully healed, and ready to get back into action. ". . . What's the matter?" Her voice fell quieter.

"What does it look like?" He gestured to his leg in distaste. ". . . I'm leaving the team."

"What-!?" She burst out. "You can't! You can't leave us now, we need you!" Her words cut deeper than a knife.

"What the hell are you saying!?" Fudou shot back, practically yelling at her. This shut her up immediately. "I'm completely useless in this state, are you blind!?"

After this, her arms fell limp at her sides. Fudou already regretted raising her voice at her. It wasn't her fault, but he had no other way to take out his frustrations. Park was just being kind, she was just being a good friend, and he was a straight up asshole.

"I- didn't mean to yell at you." He sighed in defeat, supporting his forehead with a hand.

Pad quietly sat down beside him on the bench and stared at his leg for a while. He probably couldn't even stand up properly. She could almost feel her own leg stinging in pain for him. Mere seconds later, she buried her face into her hands.

"This is so unfair. . ." She uttered. "I had so much hope for this frontier. We were supposed to play fair matches on the field together. . ." It took every fiber in her being not to burst out into tears. "I've wanted to leave so many times, but it was you. . . It was you, it was Ichirouta, Endou, Hikaru and Yuta that made all of this bullshit worth anything at all!"

"Yeah, I get it kid." Fudou breathed out, reluctantly placing a hand on her back in attempt to comfort the poor thing. He felt almost the same way. She'd made things so much more bearable with her stupid jokes and free soda. He was so embarrassed to admit that he enjoyed her company, that she was a close friend of his.

"I hate this. . . I hate this so much." Suddenly, he heard a small hic, a sniffle, and then she was crying.

Fudou's green eyes just barely softened. However he was some reason to cry for, the guy had no idea, yet here they were. Never in his life did he think he'd be consoling a crying person. Her sobs echoed through the empty locker room, and his heart was starting to get heavier with each passing second.

". . . Alright, alright. Come here." He completely gave up, and opened his arms.

"What. . . ?" All glassy eyed and pouty, the white haired girl looked up at him.

"Get your stupid ass over here, that's what." Fudou snapped, unintentionally aggressive.

It took her about two seconds to understand, before throwing herself into his arms and flat out wailing on his shoulder like a lost child. He vividly remembered Sakuma telling him not to bully her before they'd made their way off to the training camp, and then again when they'd visited Teikoku before flying out to Russia. Well. . . At least now he couldn't bully her even if he tried.

Kazemaru outside the locker room dorms had just crossed his arms and nestled his eyes shut.

"Listen. I need you to do something for me." Fudou had to pry the female off of him so she'd look at him and listen properly. Park quickly wiped away at her cheeks and eyes before nodding for him to go on.

"Make sure you win." His grip on her shoulders tightened. "Never let anyone take advantage of you. Teikoku's pride is riding on your shoulders, and Kazemaru's." Fudou clenched his teeth, staring right into her eyes. "I'm counting on you."

The white haired girl heaved a small breath before nodding her head once. Her eyes were dries, and she was finally in a better state of mind. It would definitely be harder to keep fighting when Fudou wasn't around, but even still. . .

"Teikoku shows no weakness. I won't forget it."

The match against Russia was just about to start, and Fudou was already at the airport. He told no one about his leave asides from Park - who he then scolded not to say anything about it to anyone. He as planning on leaving without a word, but she was being too bratty and childish - so he ended up telling her.

So far, this had all been a pretty nice opportunity. Coming all this way to a different country and playing soccer against so many teams. He didn't have any regrets now. He was so very confident in the fact that Inazuma Japan would win.

As soon as he got home, he was gonna take a thirteen hour nap, wake up, and maybe reply to Park's fifteen text messages.