breaking through my defenses

chapter 7

a/n I just realized I didn't publish the first two chapters they were in my drafts (I'm so stupid)

The spring sun was gleaming in the blue cloudless sky, the kids were evacuating the school. By the entrance, in a shadowed patch of the ground, stood a reddish-brown-haired boy, testily waiting for a blue-eyed one to emerge from the crowd. It had become an every-day pattern; Sae waiting for Yoichi to split off from his friends who always hampered their training, while soaking his irritation up since it was his only friend, after them and Rin were no longer in the same school. Yoichi always seemed to be surprised as if it was an unusual occurrence.

"You waited for me!" he exclaimed happily; his voice rang in the boy's head irking him even more, he narrowed his eyes.

"Why are you always surprised? This happens every day." he sharply spoke, walking ahead of the boy, who hastily caught up to him, unbothered by his hostility.

"Well yeah, but I thought you'd leave since you told me earlier I got on your nerves." he contended.

"You always do" he corrected, "and you waste my time." he acerbically spat, to which the younger had answered with a heartfelt apology and a promise not to delay him again, melting the other's irk against his will, who kept his grumpy attitude nonetheless.

They went to their usual practice field, improving their technics to eventually play against each other all while Sae had carried the task of abrasively piercing Yoichi's ears with all kind of insults at the tiniest slip (that's where he got his habit from), calling him out in the harshest way possible, which he never took personally, nor held grudge against him for. If he was being honest, Yoichi was decent, good even. He also was a fast learner with sharp senses although he still couldn't effectively put to use, which pissed Sae off since that was such a waste of potential.

He settled on the ground puffing and plowing, ignoring the degrading stare he was receiving from the older. Nothing ever satisfied him and he was close to give up on trying to impress him anyway. "You can't surpass me like that, with such lukewarm performance" he stared down at him.

Yoichi already saw the comment coming, but still protested, "But I scored?"

"it's a 5 points difference Yoichi."

"But it's closer than last time."

Well, that, was true. He's managed to slowly close the gap between them after not even being able to get a single ball in the net, Sae saw the progress and had admired it, but he still sucked, in his scale. He could do much better, he should.

"Such pathetic optimism is a loser thing to do"

He sighed, "fine. Let's keep going" he said, lifting himself up, his legs trembled, throbbing with pain from the excessive exercise, which didn't go unnoticed by the teal eyes.

"No, it's enough for today" he declined,

Yoichi smiled dumbly, knowing that Sae had stopped the practice for his sake. He hated how sharp-witted he can be. He slowly walked up to him, who was once again sat on the ground, and gave him his bottle of water, which he gratefully took with a little 'thank you'. "can I get ice cream?" he asked expectantly,

He squinted, "you're pushing your luck"

"I am." He conceded, "So is that a yes or no?"

Sae walked away collecting his school bag that was long forgotten on the ground. "you're a child, go back to elementary."

His friend proceeded with the same action, limping behind him. "That doesn't answer the question" he commented.

"wasn't intending on that"