{"You came." Ichihoshi Hikaru x Nosaka Yuuma / Nosaichi | Inazuma Eleven Orion}

"Cheeks warming up"

Nosaka Yuuma's POV
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We were both sitting but I could see that Hikaru was playing with his hands a lot, he still seemed in an anxious state.

I speak up to try to calm him down
"Hey Hikaru, look at me for a second"

Hikaru turns his head slightly towards me, he had the expression of a person who no longer knew what to do "..Yeah..?"

I turn completely towards him and bring my hands closer to his, he looks at me a little distraught and with his cheeks a little red. "Um..nosaka? I .. don't understand?"

I continue to look at him while smiling "May I?"

He looks at me with his eyes blinking and his mouth closed, but then he replies "Y-yeah.."

I take his hands and admit that the feeling of his warmth makes my heart beat faster, but I try not to think about it at the moment while I hold back the urge to caress his hand with my thumb
"Do what I tell you, please"

He looks at me and nods yes, with his consent I begin to explain to him what to do  "Close your eyes, we'll do it together. Clear your mind and now, inhale and exhale"

Hikaru smiles a little and I can sense a sense of gratitude in his eyes, he closes his eyes and does what I tell him.

I do the same with him and then repeat  "Inhale and exhale", he does as I tell him and we repeat the action several times until he seems to have calmed down.

I release his hands slowly when we're done, and I feel the void of not feeling the contact of his skin against mine.
He looks at me embarrassed but with a more relaxed expression, he quickly says thank you and silence reigns.

About 30 seconds have passed when I decide to speak again "Do you think you feel a little more relaxed now?”

He turns to me again with a smile, answers me in a calmer tone "Definitely, thanks Nosaka"

I cross my legs and put my hands on one knee, it's a gesture that I tend to do very naturally when I'm concentrating on something "Well, so I would say it's time to continue the discussion from before"

I turn my gaze towards him and the smile is  replaced by an expression that was still relaxed, but more serious. He nods and so I have the go-ahead to speak.

"I admit that initially, even though I knew you were a good person inside, I couldn't know 100% if I could trust you."

Hikaru watches me as I say this, and his expression becomes slightly sadder, but I can see he's trying not to show it, so I continue. "But Hikaru, you see, you think the only reason you joined the team was that we felt sorry for you, and that's where you're wrong.I thought Asuto had made your ideas clear that evening, but I'll be the one to tell you too. Not only were you not the terrible person who had committed all those horrible actions, but you were also an incredible and resourceful player."

Hikaru continues to look at me and I see that his expression has become happier, his look told me to continue talking "In the match against Arabia, you showed your strength to the fullest, and contrary to what you think, you are not only intelligent but also have impressive athletic abilities"

I turn towards him even more "Maybe you didn't know, but during the tournament a while ago, I was examining the skills of each team, so I know what I'm talking about" I finally add "What I'm trying to tell you Hikaru, is that you are not only a great teammate and friend, but also strong in what you do and indispensable. After everything that had happened you tried to make us understand how sorry you were in every possible way. You always helped with cleaning, cooking and were kind to everyone. As for your believing that you are someone only because of me, if it hadn't been thanks to me and the others, someone else would have noticed your talent and now you would still be a great footballer. But we would never have released you into Orion's hands, especially since I know what that means."

With my speech finished, I smile at him waiting for him to say something. Hikaru looks embarrassed, but this time in a happy way "You..you really mean what you say?"

I get closer to him and put my hand behind his back "Of course I mean it, after working with you for so long I know what you're made of. You don't REALLY think I'm self-sabotaging my team just out of pity for someone?" I raise my eyebrow as I laugh and he looks at me sheepishly with his eyes open.

I decide to tease him a little more "You're certainly perceptive in the field, but not very perceptive in these things." I wink at him and he gets even redder, he decides to argue back "H-hey! And to think I was about to say something nice to you! Maybe I shouldn't?" He pats my torso while winking and laughing

I look at him smiling and putting my legs and hands back as before I put my face on top of them "Oh no no, now you have to tell me these "nice" things you're talking about!"

He laughs a little more with his hands on his belly and blushes "I won't insist, you were very kind to me today. I wanted to say that.. what you say means a lot to me, since I admire you so much.."

For the first time today I was the one who felt my cheeks warming up, and above all I didn't expect something like this. I sit up and look at him with a raised eyebrow "You admire me?"

Hikaru looks at me shocked and then bursts out laughing "Wasn't it OBVIOUS? Since like.. the start?"

I blush even more as I touch my hair, all I can do is blink.I'm used to people saying things like this to me, but I've never been in a position to receive these words from the person I like.

Hikaru continues talking while his cheeks also color a little red "I mean.. I am always close to you, I have tried several times to attract your attention or live up to your expectations, I always try to impress you in some way. What else should I have done to make you understand?"

I look at him while all this news goes around in my head, somehow giving me the false hope of being reciprocated, even though I know if he means all this from a football point of view. And with all these words, it brings me back to what he had said before, which I had temporarily buried in my mind. "You have no idea how much.."

With all the hope in my heart, I hoped to know how the sentence ended.