The Star

Chapter 3: The Beginning

"Sorry...for what I have done the past year back in Shinrai. I only realised it now that I...was being lukewarm before I left..." 

Shit. The words were harder to come out than Rin had thought. He turned his head away, his ego prevented him from saying anything further. For once in his entire life, he hated this ego of his. Flashbacks from the past came flooding back into his mind.

"Your steps are fucking sloppy, work on that."

"Ok..."

"Be more of a challenge for me, Akihito! Even Sae Itoshi don't play like that when he was thirteen!"

"Kay. I will see about it."

"Score more goals! Don't be so freaking lazy! We are not winning the nationals if you are like this!"

"Fine...damn. It is such a bother"

Rin could see Akihito from a corner of his eye. He was tilting his head, trying to read Rin's expression. His jaw was dropping slightly , clearing astounded despite his lack of expressions.

"What the heck was that? I didn't know that you are capable of apologising when you have never even respected me as your senior"  Akihito understood that Rin was quite a responsible person as a leader but not to the point of apologising? 

Was he diagnosed with cancer? He asked himself as his own expression turned uptight.

Noticing on what he was thinking, Rin slapped Akihito's shoulder hard, causing him to almost lose his balance despite balancing being one of Akihito's many strengths.

"Whatever lukewarm thoughts you have right now is not true and yes, I am a human who is capable of saying anything I want to say so stop with that half-baked expression. It is not like you at all." He hissed menacingly, reminding Akihito of an unfriendly black cat in his neighbourhood back in Singapore which hissed at him all the time on his way to school. Rin's lips later pressed together for a moment; then he blurted, "So will you forgive me then?"

"..."

Akihito remained silent. He stood up while clasping his hands behind his back, rocking back on his heels. Now accustomed to the new side of Rin, he glanced towards him and said, trying to get him at ease. "I will only say this once, Rin..." He then gestured Rin to stand up from his sitting position. Rin did as Akihito requested while Akihito pointed over his shoulder.

"I will forgive you..." He trailed off before continuing his sentence while Rin listened closely. "After this!"

A smirked tightened Akihito's mouth as he gave Rin a swift and powerful kick while the latter was not paying attention to his surroundings.

Splash! 

The water crashed onto the rocks with a loud sound.

 Shell shocked, Rin tried to read between the lines. His face stiffened when he realised that Akihito had kicked him into the sea. He let out a small yelp as his skin tingled together with a sudden coldness that seemed to hit at his core upon impact with the seawater. Fortunately, the water was not that deep so Rin could get onto his feet easily which showed how athletic he was.

"Akihito fucking Tham. I'll kill you." Rin yelled through gritted teeth. His nostrils flared as he glared daggers at Akihito who was gazing down at him with no remorse. Rin could not believe that the quiet Akihito he known would kick him into the sea in the middle of Winter.

"Well, you deserved it. Li'l junior." Akihito replied with a shrug, offering Rin who was currently fuming, his most disarming smile as he leaned forward. 

Out of the blue, Rin grabbed Akihito's sleeve and pulled him into the waters with all his strength, causing the latter to choke on some water as he landed with a splash.

"Serves you right." Rin sneered, pulling Akihito out of the sea before walking out of the waters and stepped on land. Back on land, Akihito gave Rin a middle finger and Rin gave back one in reply. It felt like they were little kids again.

Achoo!

Damn, now the both of them were wet and it was freezing as hell.

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"Is it alright for me to stay here?"

"Hah? Why would you want to stay at my house when your house is so much more comfortable than mine?" Akihito raised his eyebrows as he wiped some water from his hair with a bath towel.

"I rather sleep in a shed than seeing Sae Itoshi's ugly face. It pisses me off now that I think about it." Rin explained, his tone sharp as he blew dry his hair. So he still hates Sae...

"I guess you can stay here then but don't be surprise if you see a roach or two since I don't have time to clean the place nowadays." Akihito said flatly, droplets of water continued to drip down his hairs as he took some mattresses from a cupboard.

"It's fine. No roach is more annoying than that antenna freak..." Rin said the last few parts softly before he asked, "No time to clean? Aren't your mother and sister around?"

"...Sara, she is too focused on getting popular so she is now staying at the dorms provided by the agency in order to focus more on her projects. As...for my mom...she is not that well so she is staying at a hospital temporarily so I am alone." Akihito explained, ensuring that he was not overly exaggerated on anything due to the fact that he was not the type to be open.

Rin raised an eyebrow. "Are you managing it...well? I can help"

"Nah. My mom has her insurance and Sara had signed a contract with an agency so all I need to do is to take some extra shifts to pay the necessary." He replied, changing the topic. "How about you? I am curious about whatever that happened in Blue Lock."

"Not that much actually. Just a change of philosophies, why do you ask? You have never really been interested in this type of stuff."

"Ah..." Akihito said, "Cause I am joining for the final selection."

Rin immediately widened his eyes and gasped, "What!?"

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One week later...

"This is the money, Sara. Give me a call if it is not enough." 

"Thanks, brother."

Akihito nodded before walking towards the door with his duffle bag.

"Er...Brother!" Sara suddenly stopped him, causing Akihito to be confused.

"What is it?" He questioned, scratching his hair.

Sara then hung her head in silence before she shook her head.

"Its nothing."She mouthed, voice barely a whisper.

Akihito smiled in return and ruffled Sara's hair, "I will be back so there is nothing to worry. Help me take care of mom in my absence."

"Yeah...of course." Sara murmured in reply, fidgeting with her fingers anxiously for some reason.

"Then see you." 

Akihito waved before shutting the door behind him.

Sara stared at the door for good seconds and then she sighed heavily. It is probably better if her brother does not know...