Inarizaki's Hidden Foundation

Ch. 14 - Oof

"Hey guys, so I talked with Mina the other day, and she's going to be training a 3rd manager for us," Coach announces.

Huh? This is the first I'm hearing of it, you think to yourself.

Mina gestures to the tiny girl next to her and says, "This is Momo. I'm going to be kind of busy this next semester so she'll be picking up the slack for me."

Momo speaks up, "Hello, nice to meet you all!"

The team greets her and so do you. Mina is seriously acting strange and isn't her usual self throughout the rest of practice. What's going on with her?

»»————-　　————-««

"Mina talk to me. What's going on? Why are you suddenly training someone who will be essentially replacing you?" you ask her after practice.

She looks sullen but tries to perk up. "I really have to focus on my studies because my grades are dropping. And she won't be completely replacing me. I just need to take a small step back from managing."

You're not convinced but before you can continue questioning her, she adds, "Do you mind if I stay over this week? I got into a fight with my parents and I don't want to see them right now."

You raise your brow. "Sure.. but as long as you patch things up with them by next week. Regardless of what you fought about, they're your parents, Mina." She nods and says, "Yeah, I know. Thanks. Hold on I have my stuff in the lockers, I'll be right out!"

She disappears into the school building and while waiting for her, Osamu approaches you.

"Hey.. do you know if Mina is doing ok? She keeps avoiding me," he says.

Nodding your head, you say, "Looks like she got into a fight with her parents. Just give her some space right now."

He nods sullenly and waves goodbye as he joins his twin and Suna to go home.

When Mina comes out of the lockers with a giant duffle bag, you drive the two of you back to your place and once there, you lay out a futon for Mina in your room.

"Why don't you take a shower first?" you tell Mina. She nods gratefully and goes into to the bathroom.

The rest of the night you decide not to bring up her parents and try to cheer her up instead by getting ice cream after dinner.

"It's been a while since we had a sleepover like this," you tell Mina happily while licking at your treat outside the convenience store.

Mina barely touched hers but tries smiling and says, "Yeah, it has been a while. I'm really grateful to have you as a friend, Y/N. It always seems like you're taking care of me."

You reassuringly rub her back in response. And that's when she bursts into tears. "Aw, Mina. It'll be ok, you and your parents will make up like you guys always do."

Her tears turn into sobs and through the sniffles she says, "It's- not.. just that. Osamu cheated on me.."

Your hand stops rubbing circles midway. "What? Oh my god, Mina what the hell?? When did this happen? With who? Holy sh*t I'm gonna bash that bastard's face in." Your voice rises and you struggle to keep in your accelerating anger.

"With.. Sayuri. I saw them making out behind the school yard before practice a few days ago. I never confronted him about it but I've been ignoring him and all his calls." Once again. That stupid btch. You almost burst with rage but right now you needed to comfort Mina.

Taking a deep breath, you continue rubbing her back. "Shh, shh. Mina, why don't we go back to my place and watch something. We don't have to talk about it right now. How does that sound?" She nods, tears streaming down her face and you lead her back to her place.

Oh, when I get my hands on that freaking idiot.. he'll be sorry he was every born.

»»————-　　————-««

It's Saturday, game day. The past few days at practice, it took almost your entire being to not go up to Osamu and beat him to a pulp. Because you were so busy trying to keep your fists to yourself, it came off as rudeness to Momo, and it seemed like she was deathly afraid of you especially since you towered over her small frame.

Kita had noticed the change in attitude in you, being the ever observant boyfriend, but since it wasn't your secret to tell, you tried to play it off as mood swings.

"This is not just a change in mood, Y/N. I've seen you on your period and this is much worse than that," Kita told you.

For some reason, that pissed you off more than it normally would and you had stormed off without a word. Ever since then, he had kept his distance, thinking it best for you to cool off before talking about whatever was bothering you.

Inarizaki was up one set against their opponents. Coach had chosen you to be on the sideline with him so Mina and Momo were in the bleachers watching from above the court. The entire game, you felt Kita's eyes on your back, as you were a lot quieter than you usually were at their games. Each time Osamu scored, your hands would ball up and you clenched your teeth real hard. When it was finally over, you called down Momo and Mina down to help gather their things as they went to the lockers to clean up.

An hour later when everything was put away, the guys had finished their meeting and split off to go home. Kita caught up to you while you were alone and touched your arm lightly. "Hey, can we talk? You have to let me know what's going on. Believe it or not but your attitude is affecting the whole team. They're all sensing something weird with you."

You sigh, letting out a bit of the pent up tension in you. "Yeah.. I guess I owe you an explanation. Can we talk in your car? Hold on, I'm gonna give Mina my keys so she can go home first."

You run over to Mina who was waiting for you outside the girls' locker room and hand her the keys. "Hey I have to talk to Kita about a few things, so you can leave first and take my car home."

"Oh are you sure? I don't mind waiting." she replies.

"Nah, it's okay. This might take a bit and I'll catch a ride with him," you say, smiling and squeezing her arm reassuringly. After she nods, you jog back to Kita and both of you go over to his car.

Once inside, you completely break down and tell him the entire story. You don't know why you're crying but it's probably because of the not being able to let out your anger and frustration. Kita listens carefully and gives you his full attention. After you are done telling him everything, you're just a sobbing mess, feeling terrible for your best friend. He takes you in arms and lets you cry into him while rubbing your back in circles.

"It's okay, I'm sorry you have to go through this for Mina," he whispers into your ear. Occasionally, he kisses the top of your head.

It seems like forever until your cries finally die down and you rest your head on his shoulder while he continues to embrace you and hold you close.

"Thanks for listening. It was hard keeping that all in," you say weakly.

"Of course. I can only imagine," Kita replies softly. "But please don't beat up Osamu, no matter how tempting that is. Violence should never be the answer. And even just one of your punches might take him out cold."

You laugh at that. "Yeah, my fists do pack a punch." Smiling up at him, Kita cups the side of your face and rubs his thumb across your cheek. There's a moment of tension and it's like time stops for the two of you just staring into each others' eyes. He brings his head down and brushes your lips with his. It's the first kiss you've ever shared and it's so sweet. He goes in again, this time with a little more force and purpose. You accommodate to his soft lips, returning the kiss 2-fold. You snake your hand up his chest and around his neck, pulling him closer. It's about to escalate as he pulls at your waist when you both break it off to breathe.

He then smiles and says, "As much as I'd like to continue this, you should be with Mina right now."

Oh, right. I had forgotten about her for a minute. That's just the effect that Kita had on you. When you were with him, it's like all your worries disappeared.

Sighing, you say, "Yeah, you're right. She shouldn't be alone."

He kisses you one more time before letting you go back to the passenger's seat and starts the engine.