*ೃ༄ your pov

Everything was all too sudden.

Not a single day of the past would've been enough to prepare me for this incident.

My eyes widened at the sight of Chigiri on the floor, bringing his right leg closer to his chest as he bit down on his lips to prevent himself from screaming in pain.

I threw my clipboard and stood up from the bench, blowing my whistle to pause the game as I ran towards Chigiri.

When we got to the school clinic, the nurse did whatever she could to stop the pain, even for a little bit.

That afternoon, I sat on the chair next to his bed, frowning at the sight of his back turned towards me. I didn't dare to speak, allowing him to shed the tears he did not wish for me to see.

I wasn't sure if he was afraid of injuring his leg and not being able to play soccer again, or if it's because he lost the one thing he had the most pride in.

If only I could understand the grief of losing something so dear to me. Maybe then, I'd be able to do something other than sit here, waiting for him to recover.

He was then sent to the hospital for further medical attention. His mom wanted me to come along to provide as witness for the soccer club since I was their manager.

Apparently, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament which is used to stabilize the knee joint.

The doctor warned him that if he were to tear this again, the chances of soccer being in his future would be unlikely.

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"Isn't that the former genius?"

"Come on."

The sounds of the two students who were fangirling over him a couple weeks ago caught my attention.

"Isn't that the girl who got cheated on by the same guy multiple times?" I cooed, looking over my shoulder to make it known that I was referring to the girl in the bun.

The look in my eyes could be mistaken as playfulness, but it held nothing but resentment for the two of them.

"Calm down, L/n." Chigiri placed a hand on my shoulder.

The two students quickly took the opportunity to run away before I could say the things I was planning to say.

"How can I calm down when people are saying such things to you?" I asked, turning to him with a small frown.

"Oh? It's been a while, Mr. Genius. Why are you here?" one of the Wanima brothers approached with the other standing smugly behind him.

Another one...

"What are you worth now that you can no longer run and your talent's in tatters?" he whispered in his ear.

I examined Chigiri's expression. His eyes filled with sorrow and regret. This only fueled my anger even more.

"It's simply a matter of whether you have talent or not. Right?" he quoted something Chigiri said to them when we were walking home.

"Serves you right, former genius!" he laughed, spinning on his heels as he walked away from us.

My fist clenched from the inside of my pockets, pursing my lips as I tried to hold in the words I wanted to say to them. But knowing the man next to me, I'm sure he wouldn't want me to say anything.

Chigiri had physical therapy sessions to get his leg back in shape. I accompanied him in his every session since his mom and sister were busy and entrusted me with that role.

"Dang it..."

I would always hear him curse that from under his breath.

A few months passed and Chigiri was back in shape. Though, he refused to run at his top speed, in fear that he'll have to completely give up on his dreams.

"Chigiri is back." I announced as he emerged from beside me in his winter attire, ready to get back into playing.

"Good job on your rehabilitation. Just take your time to get back into it." the coach reassured, not wanting Chigiri to force it.

They decided to start their practice. Thus, once again, I was seated on the bench as I served as a witness and a mini coach for the team.

My face twisted into a scowl when I caught sight of the Wanima brothers teasing Chigiri for being slow in the middle of the game.

Those two have always despised him for being favored by the coach because of his talent in soccer, especially the speed that has won many matches.

I observed the young boy's expression, noticing the visible pain of no longer being able to be at the very front as he always had.

Seeing him clearly like this...how do you expect me to remain silent?

Out of spite, I blew the whistle, stopping the Wanima brothers from scoring a goal against Chigiri's group.

The players looked at me, bewildered at the sudden blow of the whistle.

"Rest for a while! It's almost the end of practice!" I declared.

Having no choice but to follow my orders, they stopped playing and went toward the bench to drink their waters and wipe away their sweat.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Chigiri looking at the grass below him, trying not to lose himself to grief.

When he looked up, I called him over with my gaze, commanding him to come to me.

He immediately made his way towards the bench, trying to hide how upset he was over the whole thing by covering it up with a blank stare.

I grabbed the towel from my bag and dabbed away at his sweat, handing him his water bottle in the process.

"Pretty privilege." one of the Wanima brothers scoffed.

"Yeah, something you'll never experience." I said, not even bothering to look at him. Just seeing the two of them was an eyesore already.

Suddenly, I was grabbed by my collar by the Wanima brother who, for some reason, refused to speak.

"Hm? I don't speak caveman." I sneered.

The Wanima brother scowled. I could almost see an irk mark forming on his forehead.

"Hey, if you're gonna take your anger out on someone, take it out on me." Chigiri grabbed his wrist, glaring at him.

This began to cause a scene as other members of the soccer club took notice of what was going on.

Junichi, the older twin who was selectively mute, gave Chigiri the meanest look he could give as he looked down at his hand gripping on his wrist.

Keisuke, the younger twin who translated everything for his older brother, suddenly stood up from the bench and swung his arm at Chigiri's face, catching me off-guard.

The crowd gasped as Chigiri staggered backwards. His eyes were enough to tell you that he was getting annoyed of everything.

Usually, I'd take the pacifist route in handling this but seeing how the twins weren't planning to cooperate, I don't think I'll be able to hold myself back as well.

Noticing that Junichi was distracted with Chigiri and his younger brother, I took the opportunity to slide down and escape his grasp.

Junichi finally got back to his senses but before he could respond, I kicked his knee caps, making him kneel on the ground, much to his confusion.

I then kicked him in the stomach before rushing over to my friend's aid, throwing a punch at Keisuke for even causing a scar on Chigiri's face.

"Hey, hey! What's happening?" the coach finally caught sight of the brawl that was about to escalate.

"Coach!" I gasped, fixing myself.

"I was helping Chigiri since he's still recovering when Junichi suddenly got jealous of the attention I was giving him." I briefly explained, adding in a few lies.

"And so...you decided to attack them?" the coach raised a brow, not sure if he should believe my story.

"The Wanima brothers started it first." I remained calm, not wanting him to be suspicious.

"The rest of the club members can testify to that-" I looked over my shoulder and eyed the crowd, "right?"

Be my puppets.

The crowd erupted into multiple shouts, agreeing that they saw the Wanima brothers pulling my collar and throwing a punch at Chigiri.

"I simply defended Chigiri and me. I didn't want him to get hurt, considering he just finished his rehabilitation. I deescalated the fight and took matters into my own hands so this could never happen to anyone else." I elaborated.

I could feel Chigiri's stare on my figure, watching as I remained serene throughout my explanation.

I didn't want to show any personal feelings since that would make others think differently of the situation. And I made sure to add in words that would make him lean over to our side of the story, even though any rational person would do that.

After the coach decided to suspend the Wanima brothers from participating in any club activities for a month, I glanced over to Chigiri, finally allowing our eyes to meet after he had been staring at me this whole time.

The moment our gazes locked onto each other, he quickly looked away, trying to avoid my gaze. This made me laugh silently to myself as he never liked being defended by others.

But if he's not going to fight for his honor, then who will?

Finally, once everything settled down, we concluded the soccer club's practice with one last warning from the coach to avoid fighting amongst each other, directed toward the Wanima brothers who looked almost the same now with the huge frown on their faces.

The meeting eventually ended, so I guided Chigiri to the nurse's room.

The nurse wasn't present since she was helping someone from the basketball club, thus I had to deal with Chigiri's swollen cheek.

"Chigiri, stop moving so much." I scolded, using my hand to hold his cheek in place while I applied a cold compress on the other.

"S-Sorry." he stuttered, avoiding eye contact with me.

He sat down on the bed, forced to face me while I treated him. I could tell he was embarrassed because I was using my hand to cup his cheek to make sure he doesn't move while I deal with his swollen cheek.

I couldn't tell if he was uncomfortable or if it was just his swollen cheek that's making his face look like it's on fire.

After I was done reducing the damage on his face, I informed him that it'll heal within a few hours or days. If it doesn't go away in two weeks, I told him that we'll go see a professional.

I then followed Chigiri to the boys' changing room so that he could get out of his sweaty attire.

I carried both of our school bags, one on each of my shoulders as I leaned against the wall next to the door that led inside the room.

"Hmph." a huff accompanied the two pairs of footsteps that exited the changing room, making me look up.

"You're lucky we punched your man instead of you, is what my brother said." Keisuke exasperated.

"Threatening me now?" I breathed out, crossing my arms.

The taunting smile that formed on the corners of my lips infuriated the twins as they fought off the desire to make sure I never have the ability to look at them in such a belittling way.

"You two still want to go?" Chigiri stepped out of the room, noticing the situation I was in.

The two scoffed and left us alone when they realized that Chigiri could act as my witness to their threatening remarks.

Though, if they were planning to continue, I was going to destroy their future of being a soccer player. I'm guessing Chigiri knew that, so he stopped me before I could.

"Let's go home, L/n." Chigiri ushered, walking ahead of me as he purposely slowed down his steps to wait for me. I caught up with him, joining him as we made our way to our house.

The neighborhood we grew up in was as tranquil as ever, with our footsteps being the only ones that echoed throughout the vicinity.

A brilliant sunset spread across the sky, casting its golden rays across the world.
As the sun began to set, the sky turned from orange to pink, and the clouds looked like they were on fire.

Chigiri looked beautiful under the evening sun. Despite having a cold compress on his cheek, his skin glowed as if he was showered with gentle kisses of the sun's rays.

The whole world seemed caught up in the beauty of this moment, and there was a sense of harmony and peace that pervaded the atmosphere.

"By the way..." Chigiri broke the silence of our walk, glancing toward me.

When he noticed my eyes already fixated on him, he looked away in response, his ears reddening.

"Thanks...for defending me earlier." he murmured, his free hand fiddling with the straps of his school bag.

"It's no problem." I replied, a small smile appearing on my face as my eyes softened at his awkward way of thanking me.

It was a truly awe-inspiring sight to behold.

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