Saturday (11/15/XX) 9:00AM
I massaged the side of my neck that was covered in a bandaid as my team walked onto the field. I let out a yawn while I stretched my arms.
Sen nudged my arm with his elbow. “Are you feeling alright to play today?”
I yawned a second time while rubbing the tiredness from my eyes. “Yeah, I didn’t get much sleep last night, but I’ll be fine.”
I was too busy thinking about Nikolas…
Ryunosuke jogged up to us, putting his hands on our shoulders. “You boys ready?”
The two of us nodded. We moved to our positions and the match began.
-
Beads of sweat were running down my temples as the blazing sun burned my skin. It was the second half with my team being two points behind the opposing team.
I wiped the perspiration from my face as the ball was thrown back onto the field. I glanced at Ryunosuke who was standing at the mouth of our goal, ready to catch any oncoming balls. Sen currently had the ball, weaving between the blue and white uniforms who were trying to steal it away from him.
“Sen! Pass!” I hollered as I ran next to him.
He gave me a nod and kicked the ball to his left. I stopped it with my left foot and began dribbling the ball. I was fifteen steps away from the goal, but the other team’s defense was difficult to penetrate. I looked to my right and saw another teammate of mine behind the opposing teammates signaling me to pass. I continued to dribble the ball, waiting for the right moment to kick the ball to him.
One of the players tried to steal the ball away from my feet, but I was too agile for him to reach me. I watched as the ball danced around me, swiftly avoiding the feet of the other player. I ran around the player and finally saw an opening. When I looked up, I saw a familiar figure standing outside of the boundary.
I gasped and almost fumbled over the ball. I was careless for one second and no longer felt the ball touching my foot. I groaned and put my face into my hands.
Across the field, I saw Ryunosuke looking to the side too with a face twisted with irritation.
There he was, standing in his school uniform with a bandage on top of his right cheek.
I self-consciously ruffled my hair and looked in the other direction as my face began to redden. How embarrassing…
The sound of girls squealing from the sidelines could be heard from the centerfield. Usually, girls come to watch the game to cheer on their boyfriends or crushes. However, the center of attraction slowly became an unexpected guest. Since he was wearing his school uniform, he looked like a sore thumb, but that didn’t faze any of the girls who were smitten by his handsome features and tall, muscular physique. I could see the girls whispering and giggling to each other as they peeked at Nikolas every so often.
Nikolas on the other hand was undaunted, appearing almost aloof with his hands in his blazer pockets. I saw his cherry-red eyes glance at me and I instantly turned away, biting my lip in awkwardness. I hope he didn’t see me staring…
I pushed my hair back and attempted to get my head back in the game. The ball was still in the opposite team’s possession, but they were unable to score a goal. One of my teammates successfully kicked the ball right as one of the opposing players kicked the ball to pass it to their teammate. The ball glided in the air, all the way out of bounds.
We all watched as it flew in Nikolas's direction.
I gasped in fear and screamed. "WATCH OUT!"
The vampire saw the ball and caught it with his right hand before it collided with the face of the girl next to him. All of the girls that were surrounding him were in awe and clapped.
He gave the ball to my teammate who was bowing repeatedly. Nikolas waved his hand and reassured him that he was unharmed. The girl beside him was bowing too, thanking him. He nodded and seemed to ask her a question that made her shy enough to play with the hem of her skirt.
I clenched my jaw and glowered at the girl.
Nikolas nodded as she responded and faced forward to watch the game.
I was screaming inside of my head. I can’t be thinking about Nik, I have to focus on the game!
-
My team managed a victory by one point. We huddled together on the field, utterly thrilled that we won our first game of the season. I hugged Sen, Ryunosuke, and a few other teammates before heading to the locker room. I saw Nikolas in the corner of my eye, but something deep down was telling me to avoid him.
We all rinsed off the grime and sweat from our intense game, feeling the refreshingly cool water on our hot skin. As I was changing I heard some of my teammates talking about having lunch to celebrate our win.
“Akio, join us for some yakiniku! Captain is paying!” One of my teammates called out.
The majority of the team started walking out with their sports equipment, laughing and yelling with enthusiasm.
“Ryunosuke! Akio! Are you coming?” Sen hollered from the entrance.
The two of us nodded. “Hold on! I’m changing my clothes!” I replied.
Sen grinned and walked out with the others. As I was putting on my pants, I heard Ryunosuke call me. I was about to answer him and looked up to see a tall figure entering the locker room. I trembled and hid behind one of the lockers, covering my mouth.
“What are you doing here?” I heard Ryunosuke fiercely ask.
“I need to talk to Akio.”
“You have the nerve to show your face today!” Ryunosuke complained, “Your appearance made him flustered the entire game! I know I told you to talk to him, but I didn’t mean right now!”
“When should I talk to him then?”
I heard Ryunosuke grumble to himself before replying. “Well," he said, "it seems like Akio isn’t here right now.”
Nikolas was silent. I bit on my fist, hoping that he wouldn’t enter the room.
“Akio probably wouldn’t like to see you unexpectedly.”
There was another silence.
“He probably wouldn’t,” Nikolas muttered.
“You should figure out a time and place to meet. Communication is important, so make sure the other party is ready to have a serious conversation.” Ryunosuke groaned. “Why am I giving a vampire relationship advice?” I heard Ryunosuke rummaging through his locker. "Well, I should get going,"
I could tell Nikolas hesitated before he started to walk out of the locker room, listening to how uncertain his footsteps were. I looked down at my chest and clenched the ring that was still around my neck. My heart felt as if it were ready to burst, but all I could do was put my head down in my arms.
"Akio, he left."
I looked up and saw Ryunosuke. He held out his hand to help me up. I grabbed his hand while looking down.
He put his hand on my left shoulder, right next to my bandaid. I heard an audible gasp escape his mouth. "I knew it."
I hurriedly put my shirt on while Ryunosuke angrily mumbled to himself. "Did it happen during the lunar eclipse?"
I slowly nodded.
His right eye twitched before he pushed up his glasses. "I'm going to kick his ass."
Ryunosuke started to walk away, but I desperately grabbed onto his shirt. "Please don't!"
"If I had known he did that to you I would've cursed him on the spot." Ryunosuke grabbed his wand out of his pocket.
I let go of his shirt, gazing down. "I let him do it to me."
His eyes widened in surprise. Ryunosuke exhaled and put his hand to his forehead. "You gave him consent to bite you?!"
I brushed my hair with my fingers and nodded while staring at my feet.
"Why are you avoiding him then?" The wizard questioned.
I shrugged. Deep down, did I fear that he would hurt me? I pondered. I would be lying if I told myself that I wasn’t afraid of him attacking me again. No, there’s something else that’s holding me back.
“The last time I was with him he rejected me when I tried to touch his-” I bit my tongue before finishing my sentence. Ryunosuke frowned in puzzlement. “Um, he made a move on me, but when I tried to do the same he sent me-”
“He did WHAT now?”
I raised my hands and started to vigorously shake my head. “N-no! Wait, Ryu, please listen! What I’m trying to say is, I don’t know if he truly likes me.”
Ryunosuke shut his eyes and lifted his hands in defeat. “I don’t want to meddle any more with the situation you’re in, so all I’m going to say is to talk to him.”
“That’s the thing, I don’t know HOW OR WHEN!”
“HE WAS JUST HERE, BUT YOU DECIDED TO HIDE! I EVEN COVERED FOR YOU!” He picked up his sports bag and pointed his wand at my face. “I’m done with this drama. If you want to fix this, YOU need to do it yourself.” He twirled the wand around his fingers with a serious look. “However, if he decides to lay a finger on you again, he’ll be hearing from me.”
I also grabbed my sports equipment and slowly nodded.
“C’mon,” his tone softened, “let’s go eat some yakiniku.” He beckoned me as he moved toward the entrance.
I gave him a weak smile and the two of us walked out of the locker room together.
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