𝗾𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗼𝗶𝘀
(𝗻.) 𝖺 𝖼𝗋𝗈𝗌𝗌𝗋𝗈𝖺𝖽𝗌; 𝖺 𝖼𝗋𝗂𝗍𝗂𝖼𝖺𝗅 𝖽𝖾𝖼𝗂𝗌𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗈𝗋 𝗍𝗎𝗋𝗇𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗉𝗈𝗂𝗇𝗍 𝗂𝗇 𝗈𝗇𝖾'𝗌 𝗅𝗂𝖿𝖾.

𝗡𝗨𝗥𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗡𝗝𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

"Menhera— yo, you good?" Shidou leaned forward in concern with frantic, outstretched hands to examine the state of the injured girl, only to scrunch his face incredulously when Maribel scurried away from him.

"...." Jaw slackening, he witnessed as the girl he called his best friend, swayed into the open embrace of the other woman present. The treachery was in cold blood, this girl had no shame in doing such a heinous sin right in front of him. How could she? How dare she?! That fucking bitch!

"You're actually such a nasty bitch, y'know?" Shidou sulked with crossed arms.

"Don't care, Joshna's my friend and you're just... um," Maribel hesitated, her words muffled by the aforementioned girl's chest, an acquaintance or something...

"And I'm what to you? Huh? A fucking roach?! How could you?!" He cried hysterically with pained, shaking hands that cradled his anguished chest.

"Uh, you do look like one." Maribel commented offhandedly.

"Reba hates roaches too." Joshna muttered with confidence as she meticulously blew air into the former's watering eyes, an action necessary to remove any invasive debris that may cause further irritation.

The nurturing of the girl was calm, collected. No ounce of panic was made evident. Joshna seemed to have the situation within control, her gentle touch and affirming tone a soothing salve to the burning injury. And Maribel would've have fallen victim to its charm had it not been for a certain someone's eerie grumbling.

Shidou watched with a darkened, envious gaze as some random chick off of the streets seduced Maribel into her embrace. Fucking bitch! Menhera's supposed to be my friend!

Joshna, was no 'random chick off of the streets'. The nostalgic psyche occupied a special place in Maribel's heart: her life force. Having met in middle school and only growing closer in their last year seemed too tight of timing. However, the fortuitous friendship had bloomed to immense sublimity over the past three years. From being placed in the same science and art class in middle school (Academic Secondary School), to then being in the same maths and design tech class in high school (Academic Secondary School, see bottom for more info), it was truly a windfall of great opulence that had fallen upon Maribel.

A corny and cliché trope of which brought out the inconceivable from Shidou: jealousy.

He normally wasn't a jealous person, nor was he particularly prideful. If anything, he was a hype man, the biggest hype man of all time. A silly, chill guy (ignoring the potty mouth and aggressiveness) who'd fight a meteor with his bare hands for someone who'd wormed their way into his good books. But Shidou was also human.

Human enough to feel adrenaline. Human enough to feel fear, the mother of the former. Yet despite being an adrenaline junkie, this specific fear made him anxious, a little agitated.

Shidou felt easily replaceable because unlike him, Maribel had other friends. He however, I don't— he didn't really have that.

It was stupid to feel this way he'd remind himself constantly. A vociferous and vehement voice breathed down his neck. Expendable. Continuously and repeatedly. Disposable. He wasn't even top priority, those two had known each other for way longer. A floater friend. Even calling himself a friend seemed far too much of a stretch. His presence was unneeded, an unappreciated bonus.

So he tried talking more, he tried too hard, so hard. Did too much, the unnecessary, just to be in Maribel's bubble and by extension her circle of friends. But even then, she admitted straight to his face that she didn't see him as her friend. That she would never be friends with him, or with any guy in general. (That, and the fact that Maribel held grudges. She will never forget the time Shidou pointed out her moustache)

It stung, it really did. Because even if Maribel made sarcastic jokes 24/7, half of the times she meant them. People often failed to notice her sarcasm just as much as they failed to notice her sincerity. Shidou, however, didn't. He knew at that very moment, she was being truthful and candid. But for convenience sake, he pretended it was another sarcastic quip of hers.

When he quietened down and didn't 'explode enough', his presence became faint, his existence became indistinct. Shidou became nothing, and at the end of the day, his pillow became witness of his lament.

"Menhera—"

"Ah! Shit, you okay Ferreira?! That was a nasty hit to the face.." A voice interfered, the coolness and warmth behind it noticeable. "Or to the eye, I guess.."

"No! Some blind bitch kicked that ball straight into my fucking eye!" Maribel replied to Isagi's worry, to which the boy sweat-dropped at the unexpected foul language. "Which fucking, bench-warming, bastard was it—?"

"Oi! Igaguri! Hurry up and apologise to her!" Isagi uncharacteristically raised his voice at the nervously approaching baldy. I never took her for the type to get so foul-mouthed when angry... Igaguri.. my prayers are with you!

"Ah—! Um— I'M SO SORRY!! I REALLY DIDN'T—" His voice wobbled and cracked with a higher pitch as he gestured restlessly, eliciting a humoured cackle from the blond beside him.

"You fucking shithead! You're a man right? So then how the fuck is your aim so damn, fucking shit?! Hah?!" Maribel spat with abhorrence as she feebly palmed the stinging, now swollen eye.

"Uh! I-I! Um, I REALLY DIDN'T MEAN TO! It was an accident, I swear! Um, also, I don't understand what you mean by that...Eugh, I'm so, so sorry!" He bowed 90 degrees with unimaginable penitence. 

"HAHHAHA! She's questioning why your aims so shit when you have a dick, chestnut!" Shidou cried hysterically, even if Maribel hated admitting it, their humour was of the same pod, hence the immediate comprehension.

"This ain't enough, Maribel, it's half-hearted as fuck. Just look at him, he's not even putting his back into it..." Igaguri made sure to straighten his legs and neaten his back into a complete right angle when he heard that, but even then, the girl continued. "He'll need to go full dogeza mode before you even think of humouring this bullshit." Joshna muttered behind the nodding Maribel.

"D-dogeza..?" Were they being for real, for real?!

"I see aim and accuracy is something we'll have to collectively improve on." The cool voice of a new addition derived a few giggles from those who understood the underlying message, namely a cyan head and the same ash blond from before. (Kaiser's bench impact in ch. 259)

"Pfft—! AHAHHA! Next time imagine her face as the goal, maybe then you'll retire bench warming and earn some, HAHAH!!" A grating, borderline jarring voice gloated.

"Why the fuck are you laughing with your mouth wide open like that when your teeth look like they're a school for special need kids, hah?!" The girl traced an invisible pattern of a zigzag and motioned to the ash blond's pointed teeth. Kurona seeing this, effectively clamped his mouth shut and shifted away from the small crowd to avoid being the next in line of receiving an unprovoked insult. Special teeth...?

Now, it's not that she had a problem with the blond per se, Maribel didn't casually insult people for the sake of it, she was better than that. But under the circumstances of humiliation, her mouth ran full throttle without thought. This bad habit of hers, clearly reoccurring when it came to her interactions with Kaiser.

"Hah? The fuck you talking 'bout when you got wired teeth, you nerd?!" He looked down at her and scrutinised her expression. "Acting like some hard bitch when you're literally fucking crying..."

"I'm not!" Maribel denied for the nth time, her dark brows pinching in exasperation. "And at least I'm getting mines fixed, good luck finding a girl with them dog shaped teeth."

"As if a man would ever pick a potty-mouthed woman like you who doesn't even know when to take a step back, you emo-looking fuck!" Raichi couldn't help but lean slightly closer to stare at her meticulously shaped brows, they're strangely perfect... His gaze then moved down to her watering eyes before shifting to her scowling lips. She was significantly shorter than him, it was somewhat endearing and he couldn't help the urge to point it out. "You're so short I can't hear ya from all the way over here." He taunted, increasing their proximity. A smug smirk on display that was quickly replaced with a slightly pained countenance when feeling a harsh tug at the back of his collar.

"Don't get too close to her.." Shidou muttered, his tone holding an air of baleful hostility before doing a whole 180 and shifting drastically back to his playful self, "she's got the herpes lurgies~!"

"NO! I DON'T!!! I SWEAR!" Maribel hysterically clutched her head to soothe the incoming headache.

"Then what's all them red spots on your face?"

"THESE ARE ACNE SCARS!"

"Mhm, so believable~" Shidou drawled out buoyantly. "You weren't saying shit like that last night, you slut."

LAST NIGHT???? AND SLUT?? The group reeled back in befuddlement. What the hell did Shidou mean by that???!

"No! I never said shit like that you liar!" The girl denied persistently.

"Miss, your eyes," Noel paused, hoping he'd have her attention that seemed to be too focused on bickering with the tawny teen beside her. "I've been told that there was a little accident, so I came over to se—"

"It wasn't just a little accident." Abruptly turning to face him, she bluntly mocked his words of concern with a straight face, completely having forgotten of the fact that this was an adult she was conversing with.

"Oh." It then clicked, he was most likely a teacher, and the fear of having spoken so carelessly to one sunk in deep. She was in deep fucking shit! "Ah! I'm so sorry, Si—!"

But Noel shook his head as if to say he wasn't bothered by it. "It's fine, but how are your eyes faring?" He motioned to her watering eyes and patiently awaited for her response before then further assessing her condition for any possible concussions with a few more general queries about her the situation and so on. Some to which Maribel responded in a sardonic manner, but after seeing him blankly stare straight into her soul without even a speck of humour evident in his blank eyes, she meekly corrected her supposedly lame joke.

"Alright, if that's all, follow me." Noel then turned to face Shidou, "did you speak with the director?"

"I'm gonna go speak to him now..." he muttered, hands deep in his pockets before turning to face Maribel again with a look of expectancy. "D'you have the sketchbook with you?"

"Mhm, it's in my left pocket—"

"This one?" He inquired, digging into her coat's pocket without any prior notice.

"Yeah, I've only done like two more paintings though." The girl responded, seemingly unbothered by his antics.

"It's fine," he reassured after pulling out the blush pink, pocket sketchbook that was undoubtedly a treasure with an unmatched price tag. "Just wanted to look through some old shit. Plus, I'm gonna borrow some oil pastels and I wanted to test them out with project veLapin."

Maribel sweat dropped at this, his use of the term 'borrow' was not extremely accurate. Shidou missed out on mentioning the part where the oil pastels would be borrowed without official consent or permission. However, he wasn't technically wrong either, since they would be returned to its rightful owner and surprisingly in better condition than they were originally acquired. So, it was kind of hard to scold him for it.

"With project veLapin?" Maribel questioned with a strained smile.

"Yep! I need to fatten him up again, they've starved my second son of his true potential, again." He complained whilst skimming through the contents of the sketchbook. "Menhera, clench your fist for me."

Maribel did as told without much protest, and like a long-established custom between two allied nations, he gently bumped her fist before waving goodbye.

"Bye bye Joshna!" He enthusiastically waved at his archnemesis, and much to his delight, the girl ungainly waved back with a sheepish smile. With an effervescent skip in his steps, Shidou separated ways with the two girls to do who knows fucking what.

Maribel then took the initiative to pursue the taller french man that had politely asked her to follow him for medical attention, not before flicking off the baldy responsible for this little accident and the bastard with the ugly teeth, Joshna closely accompanying along beside her.

The silence shared between the three was peacefully shattered when Joshna queried about his french background and his ability to speak French, also unconsciously blabbering on about how Maribel could speak it too. This ensuing the trio to engage in small talk, specifically consisting of Noel attentively asking Maribel of her connection to France and what not, in french. It wasn't very common for the footballer to meet a native speaker in Germany and actually hold a conversation with them, so he couldn't help getting a little fervent.

It was disturbing. Seeing a stone-faced, grown man getting excited all of sudden. The awkward looks shared between Maribel and Joshna said enough of what was needed to be said.

Too absorbed from communicating in looks, Maribel failed to notice the obstruction beside her. A heavy robustness bumped harshly against her shoulder, and noting it was another person she'd accidentally collided into, Maribel turned to face them, an apology hanging by the tip of her tongue.

"Couldn't even dodge a shoddy shot like that, hm?"

"...." Maribel paused in her steps, ah, that familiar silvery voice she'd never grow accustomed to. He had to see that of all people..?

"Must've hit your eye real hard if you couldn't see your surroundings, huh?" He leaned down with a sneer, "you going home early today then?"

"I fucking better." Deciding to let his taunting comments slide, she spoke her thoughts. Maribel wanted to go home early today, and with an adult vouching for her after being witness to the little accident firsthand, it already seemed like a done deal. 

"For something as small as this?" Kaiser emphasised with an unreadable look. His words didn't match his inner turmoil, but obviously Maribel wasn't a mind reader, she could've never known.

Mouth pursing at the hardened edge of his tone, she squirmed under his frigid scrutiny. For once, she found it hard to rebuke his unnecessary remarks. "...."

"Hm, go home early and get your shit together before I come over, you'd better not let this minor injury hinder our project's productivity."

"...I won't." With furrowed brows, all she could do at that very moment was sheepishly comply. Fidgeting with her nail as she walked away from him, unable to meet his gaze from the pang of humiliation. He's always embarrassing me...

Because it was true.

Perhaps the girl was being melodramatic about all of this. In all honesty, it wasn't even that big of a deal, it was just a hit to the head. Anyone could thug it out, but it did hurt. It really did.

Maribel couldn't distinguish whether the intensifying pain was from either being hurt by a ragged football or the sudden shift in Kaiser's attitude towards her. It really did catch her off guard, he's such a piece of shit!

"Maribel, your eye is like, really red..."

"There's more shit in my eyes."

"Oh."

The girl didn't bother dwelling on the reason for the nth rush of tears either.

(It was 100% the debris in them)

Later that day,

Fuck, he'd trained a little too heedlessly today it seemed. The stagger in his step as he walked to Maribel's home a tell tale sign of recklessly pushing himself beyond his limits. Kaiser cursed himself, it was a rookie mistake he'd committed. One only an amateur would make.

Kaiser wasn't an amateur. So besides the ache in his calf, this negligence was also a hard hit to his pride.

But was he even to blame?

Cannot be defeated. Will not become second fiddle.

When someone becomes impatient for results, they adopt a shortcut mentality and begin cutting corners. Kaiser was a mortal just any other, and a mortal with ego more fragile than the social norm. Inferior. When restless, tiny cracks appear in his otherwise confident demeanour, and irrationality blooms.

Gently grounding his foot, he took another deep breath to alleviate the profound throbbing in his calf. Shit, perhaps he should've taken a slight moment more to stretch his burdened muscles. Brows pinching in agitation, he swallowed down the sentiments of regret as his muscles bore the weight of sloppiness. No, Kaiser didn't do half-hearted shit, he was just— short on time today...

Apparently so short on time he'd no choice but to forsake the essential stretches post workouts. It was already about 20 minutes past from the negotiated meeting time, and