Forced Manipulation

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Mmmm..." Kiyoshi moaned slightly as he took a small sip from the styrofoam cup. "Thank you, sir..."

"No problem, kiddo," Hank smiled, taking a sip from his water. "My name's Hank, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Hank... I take it you're Misato's boyfriend?"

"Mhm."

"Heh," He let out a tiny chuckle. "Katsurou mentioned you a couple of times while we were on FaceTime. He likes you a lot and thinks you're right for his sister."

"Heh, well, I'm glad he approves." Hank laughed. "How did you meet Katsurou?"

"Oh, well, we knew each other due to matches, and people liked to call me Katsurou's only weakness because I never lost to him." He snickered slightly. "Although we actually never talked to each other. Eventually, our coaches decided to sign our teams up for this soccer camp during our spring vacation in Tokyo and we finally got to talk to each other! He was so nice, unlike what the media portrayed him. They portrayed him like he was this cold, emotionless soccer player that was a good leader, but he's so much more than that!"

"Mhm, he was nice to me when we first met as well, he was talking about his first year and how his team won a match after their captain got demoted."

"Oh, yeah!" Kiyoshi exclaimed, his eyes sparkling slightly. "He told me about that, he and that team are something else! I'm glad his coach made him the captain!"

Kiyoshi smiled warmly as he reminisced about him and Katsurou talking, all while he took another sip of his hot cocoa. He could remember meeting Katsurou for the first time, how they seemingly noticed each other in the locker room, changing after a long day of practice. Amidst the number of their teammates changing in the locker room, throwing off the muddy clothes, and replacing them with new, fresh clothes, they still managed to see each other. Yet, it wasn't a cold glare, like the two would have on the field, this look was one full of curiosity and interest. It was like Katsurou wanted to go up to the slender male and talk to him, but he didn't have the courage to do it. Hell, it was Kiyoshi who had to make that first move, when Katsurou was alone in the locker room.

✭✭✭✭

(March 3rd, 3296)

"Man!" Minato groaned as he slammed the door open. "That practice was so tough! Coach made us run so many laps! I think my legs are going to fall off!"

"Oh, you'll be fine, Minato," Kiyoshi grinned, putting his inhaler back into his pocket. "Coach made us run because we weren't in sync. You know that."

"Still! We won though!" Minato said, looking down to his captain.