Break Him Out Of His Shell

Chapter 18: Friendship

-Third's PoV-

The match was canceled after the incident, now every Raimon player, among the Hakuren players and of course: Endou, Kidou, Goenji, Haruna and Fubuki.

"It's been three hours now..." Endou started, his eyes lost every spark they could have had.

"I knew... I knew..." Goenji's head was between his legs.

The sentence was completed by Takuto.

"I knew he cut, b-but I didn't think it would ever be this serious..." Everyone stared at him in disbelief. "I know now I should have asked him about him and r-reach out to help him... I have no clue why I ignored him..." He stated between sobs.

"His mask is just too powerful..." Tsurugi continued, he had his back on the wall, he was staring at the floor. Everyone silently agreed with him.

Some steps were heard, and the pink man presented himself.

"I am Daigo Senguji, I am the final head of the Fifth Sector..." He turned to look at them and he could feel the hate coming from every single player. "I am... terribly sorry... I-I thought I was doing okay, because everyone deserves to win. I felt terribly bad when I was a kid, you know... a good player scored at us and we would lose... And I just... I know my mistake. I'm sorry for what happened to your friend, I will amend all of this shit." And with that said, he left, unable to stay much longer in the company of those poor kids.

Half an hour later, Tenma would come out of the ER, pushed by Fuyuka. She gave them a calming smile.

" He is tough, he had a dislocated ankle and it was about to be broken, but it had a fissure we could handle." She heard sounds of relief. "He has been self harming for years, maybe he has been doing so for two to four years according to some scars we have managed to find." She had tears by now. "We have f-found evidence of abuse... he had knife scars in his back, deep a-and his own cuts were deep, he could have died if he wasn't carried here immediately." The shock faces she met were hilarious if not because of the situation. "Apart from that... in two months he will be alright, he will wake up soon. He will be in room number 234, if you want to visit."

Tsurugi opened his eyes, he knew where that room was located, he was about to run towards the lift when a hand was placed on his shoulder.

"He needs some time... and so do we."

Those were wise words coming from Shindou.

Within the next hour, an announcement was made through the television, and radios all across Japan: the Fifth Sector was officially dissolved, while many junior highs were celebrating, Raimon was in front of a certain room, among a certain orange-haired boy. Now, things needed some explaining.

"I am Amemiya Taiyou and I am friends with the boy in this room and Yuuichi. " He said with a sad smile. "I met Tenma in the shadows once when he was little in this same hospital and... I hoped I could have played with all of you but... things turned out differently, I am... I am asthmatic and my left lung doesn't work so well so at some point, my lungs no longer support heavy breathing from sports like soccer, that's why I am next door most of the time." They just nod, they entered the room, Aki was there, with Sasuke next to a pale yet awake Tenma.

The sight was a disaster, Tenma was attached to a blood dispenser via intravenous, his arms were nearly fully covered by new white bandages, his fingertips were the only thing visible and they were slowly caressing the dog. Some stitches stock out a lot, you could perfectly follow them and discover that some of the cuts were inches long in both arms.

His leg was sticking out and it had a wavy cast on it.

"Hi... guys, I am alright, don't worry." He said using his grin, this time everyone stared into his eyes, and when they didn't match his face, they entered one by one, sitting on the floor, calmly waiting for him to express himself.

Tenma readjust himself on the bed, making pained expressions, Tsurugi and Takuto quickly put another pillow behind his back, they saw the relief on Tenma's eyes.

"When I was little, I stayed at a christian school, there, I met a nun, whose name I barely remember and decided I wasn't really normal. I preferred to be on my own and read and... that was no normal behavior for a child." The silence was heavy in the room, only Tenma spoke and he was happy he was given such space. "She used to... to take a knife and cut my back open. Then, there was this child... his name is Jack... he still lives inside my head..." Tenma threw his hands to his head. "He still tells me everyday... how much of a disgrace I am..."

Tsurugi rushes to hug Tenma, followed by Shindou and Shinsuke, Aoi was in a corner of the room, asking herself why didn't she notice anything. Slowly, Tenma was crying freely in the middle of a bunch of arms, hugs and side hugs, as everyone tried to reach a part of his body to offer little confort they could.

"He reminds me, e-every day... and I can just... I can just... I-I..." His voice volume was descending with every word. "I cut myself." He said over the whisper. His sobs could be heard from across the hall, where Yuuichi was (he was coming back from his rehab, nearly walking on his own). "I no longer know what happened to him after I came here... but he is still making my life awful... I don't understand... Why me?" His tears made a puddle on Takuto's shirt. "W-why was it always me?" With those five words said, he closed his eyes to take a break and regulate his breathing after so much crying. "I might be crazy b-but... please don't leave me."

He sounded so broken that everyone tightened their grip, and Tenma finally comprehended that they were true friends, maybe, just maybe, they could help him recover.

"You have done everything to help us, Tenma." Shinsuke quietly said from our midfielder's side. "We are here to support you, every step of the way."

"I wouldn't give this revolution a chance if it wasn't for you." Takuto said close to his ear.

"I wouldn't even be here if you wouldn't have spoken about fighting." Kurama said.

"You woke us up, you made us want to stand up to Fifth Sector." Hamano said slowly from the hug.

"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." Tsurugi whispered from the right ear. And Tenma opened his eyes, impressed. "I have always admired you, for your spirit, for who you are, so do not dare leave us, Matsukaze!"

He cleaned his tears away with Tenma's cheek, leaving a cute blush on it.

"M-maybe we... we can all work together... on repairing me?" He asked timidly, with the ghost of a true smile on the corner of his mouth.

"We can surely manage that, precious." Takuto answered with a giant grin of his own.

Tenma flushed red and he felt he could die out of happiness, his heart had no desire for no one right now, he wanted to get rid of the voice inside his head. It was then...

"He has left... he hasn't answered in hours now, this is a new beginning... we... we can do this..." He was impressed. "I can do this with your help."

With that sentence being said, he finally broke out of his shell, he no longer needed to put up a façade, he could be free, he could be himself again, he could love soccer again and he could play with his friends again. It would surely take time but it was a nice and clean start: he KNEW he had good and supportive friends, a family that he had created, bonds that would never be destroyed.

"I can do this with you all." And with that, everyone started celebrating the new chapter that was about to be written. 

The past was there, it was about to be a travesty, but, for Tenma, they would go all the way to the moon and back.

The End

Thank you all for reading this work.