The Truth Behind His Smile

Some Company

The room was quiet and completely draped in the pitch dark as always. It made sleeping easier, but it made waking up hard. He couldn't tell whether he was awake or still dreaming and he could say the same about the time. How many times had he accidentally overslept because he had thought that it was still midnight when it was already closing noon?

"...what time is it?" he grumbled, not that he cared. He was drowsy and just wanted to go back to sleep. Then there it was again. A noise of some sort; some rhythmic taps. In no way was that the usual squeak from the old walls. The racket continued until finally, with a loud groan, Tenma dragged out his feet and made his to wherever the noise was coming from.

Once he touched the cold surface of the wooden door, which he could feel quake with the noise, he instinctively felt for the door's knob again.

"It better be morning, Kenta..." He hissed from the sudden bright light hitting his eyes between the tiny gaps of the door.

"It's actually half-past eleven." The voice told him from the other side. It took a minute to process his words. Then Tenma jumped, rubbed his eyes, put on the best smile he could that wasn't so tired or dripping with drool.

"S-Sorry. What is it, Tsurugi?" Tenma asked, acting like nothing happened earlier. Tsurugi slowly took in his friend's appearance. It seemed like the brunet slept right after he left, but judging by the dark circles under his eyes, he hadn't slept enough. Speaking of his eyes, they appeared to be a little red. Tear-streaks were also quite visible, but not entirely noticeable. He must've been crying again, Tsurugi sadly thought.

But, the striker pushed those thoughts aside for the moment and simply smiled back. "Nothing, I was just wondering if you want some company."

Tenma blinked at his statement, "At this hour? Shouldn't you be sleeping?" the brunet asked. Tsurugi chuckled, shaking his head. "It's fine. I'm used to staying up past midnight anyway."

The midfielder frowned, looking concerned. "Really? That's not actually a healthy thing to do."

Tsurugi gave him a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, that's in the past. I've been having more than enough sleep nowadays." And, that was the truth. Sleep didn't really come to him that easily, especially after his brother's accident. He started to sleep like normal when he joined the team, more specifically after the Teikoku match.

Tenma looked quite skeptical, but he was too tired to argue even more. "All right, if you say so." He then opened the door wider for the striker. "Come in." he said, pointing to the left of the quiet room. "There's an extra bed here for sleepovers. You can stay there." Tsurugi nodded, and took the first few minutes to take in how dark it was. He could barely see a thing.

Instinctively, he flipped a nearby switch to brighten the room. The boy next to him, still adjusting to the light, let out another irritated 'hissing' sound. Tsurugi quickly shut it off, apologizing for that.

"Don't do that!" He scolded. Tsurugi couldn't have picked a worse time to talk Tenma. As he tried, he was clearly more cranky than usual. Most people would if their sleep was suddenly disturbed.

"Did you eat dinner?" Tsurugi asked, recalling the fact that both of them missed it. Tenma blinked, clearly still sleepy.

"Huh? Oh yeah, Kenta came here and gave it to me when you left. It was delicious." he answered. Tsurugi smiled, "I see." He himself forgot to eat it, but that was okay. He survived God Eden; surely he could survive a dinner-less night. But pushing that aside, Tsurugi remembered the reason he came here.

"I actually wanted to ask to you something." He confessed as he made his way to the bed. "Why haven't you told anyone else about this?"

When Tenma didn't answer, Tsurugi decided to ask something else. "Have you thought about telling the police?"

Tenma didn't answer again. From the sounds fumbling blankets, he wondered if Tenma was listening or just focusing to get to his bed.

"Are you listening?" Tsurugi asked. It was then his foot hit something. He placed down his hand to feel what it was. The answer was a thick soft quilt blanket. Pressing down his fingers, it was like touching a warm cloud. He sat down on top of it.

"...I am." Tenma then answered. It was muffled, so Tsurugi could only guess that he had covered himself under his blanket. "But, he's...still my dad."

"Even when he treats you like that?" There was a mix of confusion and anger there that they both sensed. Neither really understood Tenma's answer.

"He wasn't always like that." Another flimsy answer from Tenma that neither understood.

"Does that part matter?" Tsurugi asked him. His tone said that he didn't think it was. A logical side of Tenma understood, but his other more emotional side was still taking its time to grasp it.

"I guess it shouldn't but to me it does." He honestly replied. "I know it's stupid, you heard it yourself. He's not my dad anymore, neither am I his son. But, I just...can't," Tenma adjusted his position under his blanket before continuing, "A part of me agrees with you, but I just can't bring myself to tell anyone."

Now finally having adjusted to the dimness in the room, Tsurugi stared sadly at the bundle on the bed beside him. "What if...I did it then? Would you mind?"

A low mumble was his only response. It wasn't a consent or disagreement, just that. Tsurugi wasn't sure if that was even an answer.

"Yes or no. It's a simple question." Tsurugi said. When there was no response, he got up. To Tenma's surprise, the striker sat by his bedside.

"Tenma, let me help you. Please." Tenma blinked. Never had he heard Tsurugi beg before. It surprised him enough that he finally wriggled out of his blankets to look to where he was.

"I...I'm sorry, Tsurugi." A needless apology in Tsurugi's opinion. Tenma was in no way at any fault. "Listen. It's not like I live here anymore. I live with Aki-nee now, my dad can't do anything there. I'm happy, honestly."

"You don't sound like it." Tsurugi said. He could hear Tenma laugh.

"Yeah...but what can I do?"

"Tell someone! Someone who can help you! Coach, Kidou-san, Aki-san...!" Tsurugi was saying whatever name came to his head. "Heck, maybe even Gouenji-san can help."

"It's none of their business. I don't want to get them involved, that includes you." Tenma simply stated, turning away from the navy-haired boy. Tsurugi stared dumbfounded at the brunet before him. "None of my business? Tenma, you can't possibly expect me to just sit back and watch."

Tenma shifted a bit, obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation. But, Tsurugi swore that he heard a very quiet "I know." from him. Before the striker could say anything though, Tenma beat him to it.

"L-Let's talk this out tomorrow, okay? It's almost midnight, we both need our sleep." he suggested, turning towards his friend.

'Right now, I could care less about sleep.' Tsurugi thought, suppressing the urge to say it out loud. But, he knew that Tenma was the exact opposite. The brunet was tired, both physically and mentally. So it was no wonder that he really wanted to end this conversation and sleep. With that in mind, Tsurugi reluctantly nodded at his friend's suggestion.

"All right," he stood up from the bed, making his way to the door. "Sleep well, Tenma."

"You too, Tsurugi."

Giving away a dejected sigh, Tsurugi got up, stopping just a moment to look back at Tenma before finally showing himself out. It was times like this he wished that he had been gifted with something as simple as being able to talk properly with another person. Negotiation or encouragement...if he had been skilled one of either then perhaps he could have-

His train of thought stopped with the towering figure in front of him. Every hair in his body jumped as he instinctively stepped back from the man.

It was Tenma's father.

Tsurugi's luck couldn't be worse.