The Truth Behind His Smile

Normal?

Shindou sighed. "Look, we all agreed to try and keep things normal, right? For now, let's just go with it."

Kariya didn't seem happy, almost looking ready to talk back. But he scratched his head instead, grabbing his clothes and heading quickly to the bathroom. "I call first dibs then."

Shindou turned to everyone else. There was one silent nod from each of them. There was another knock again. "Alright, they're all getting ready! Mind if I stay here with you guys for a while?"

"Sure. The room's messy though." Shindou warned, opening the door.

"It's fine. Hi, guys!" Tenma said, walking in. The others said 'hi' and 'hello' at the brunet, taking in his appearance. Tenma wore a simple blue shirt with a green collar and blue jeans. A white jacket was strapped around the waist.

Tenma's face was pretty clean as well. The team expected small tear streaks, but there were none. But, his eyes didn't seem happy. Even though he was smiling, it didn't reach his eyes. That saddened everyone on the inside.

"Hi, Tenma!" Shinsuke said, waving his hand at his friend.

Tenma waved back before saying, "Shinsuke! Why are you still in bed?"

"He just woke up." Kariya stated matter-of-factly from the bathroom.

"What are you doing, then? Hurry up and get ready! We don't have much time."

"Yeah, yeah!" Shinsuke said as he got up from the bed and headed straight to the bathroom.

Tenma shook his head at his friend, before looking at the room. "You call this 'messy'?" He asked, turning to Shindou.

"Well, yeah. The beds are not tidy, and the bathrooms are pretty wet. Look, some clothes are also scattered everywhere." Shindou stated.

Tenma chuckled. "First of all, the beds look pretty tidy to me. Only a few are actually messy." He gestured to Amagi, Hamano and Shinsuke's beds.

"Second, it's a bathroom. It's supposed to be wet." Tenma stated in a 'duh' tone. "And third, not that many clothes are scattered, only a few shirts and pants. I wouldn't be worried."

Shindou blinked in surprise, before he smiled in relief. "I see; that's good."

Looking at them quietly, to his friends' alarm, Tenma suddenly frowned. "You know, I don't think all of you will be ready by twenty minutes. I'll go ask Kenta if they can wait for a couple of more minutes."

"Oh, thanks." Shindou said, chuckling nervously. "But I'm sure the others will be ready soon. It'd be unfair to make them wait."

"I guess you're right. Still, I'll go tell them that some of you guys will be late." Tenma got up waving away as he left. "See you guys."

"See you." Everyone said, almost simultaneously, stopping a little at the end as everyone gave each other some awkward stares.

-

Tenma returned soon after having informed the cooks of his friends' tardiness. They were nice enough to pass him a cup of hot chocolate before he left. His friends seemed to be envious about it...all of his friends.

Tenma took another sip. He was more used to talking with Shinsuke, sometimes with Shindou and Tsurugi. With Hamano, Hayami, Kurumada...when Kurama made an attempt to talk to him, Tenma gave him a stare before he turned away.

He took another, very long sip before continuing to talk with Shinsuke. In a low whisper, he joked, "Did something happen yesterday?"

The last thing he expected was for Shinsuke to jump on his bed and began rambling on at how nothing was wrong. Such a reaction was not what he expected.

And it only continued later to the table. He was used to the team being lively. Given how gloomy it was when he first came, it was a welcoming change that had become normal. What he was not used to was being the center of that liveliness.

He was used to just talking with Aoi, Shinsuke, and sometimes Kariya and Tsurugi, though most of the time he talked for Tsurugi, but not with the rest. Admittedly, Kurama trying to start a conversation with him sparked some warning bells. Now that even Aoyama and Ichino were trying to talk to him, which he was somehow even more abnormal than Kurama's unexpected gesture, Tenma's head was now trying to come with some excuse to explain everything that was happening.

He wasn't stupid and with each minute of his friends still acting unlike them, Tenma began to wonder if he was being set-up for an elaborate prank or something along those lines.

For the moment, all Tenma could do was eat his pancakes and eye them with a trace of caution. He was half-certain now that something was going happen in that day.

"It seems like the rain has stopped." Shinsuke stated, voice muffled from chewing on his pancakes.

"That's right. It stopped while you were sleeping." Kenta said beside him, refilling the defender's hot chocolate.

"Then, that means we can leave right?" Hamano asked.

"Yes. The roads will be a bit slippery, but other than that there's no problem."

"I see. That's good." Tenma smiled; somewhat relieved they were able to leave so soon. His father would also be happy when he's not here. He won't be able to bother him anymore. But at the same time, he was kind of sad for leaving Kenta, Karin and everyone else here again. Tenma was so deep in thought; he didn't realize that his smile turned to a frown. He also didn't notice his team glancing worriedly.

Karin noticed the silence, so she said, "You should all start packing your belongings. You don't want anything to be left behind."

"We'll do that. Thanks for telling us." Endou said, and gratefully too. "Everyone, we'll leave by two, is that fine?"

There was another brief, awkward silence before Tsurugi promptly broke it.

"I'll go pack my stuff then." The striker got up from his seat to leave.

Following him, Tenma ate the last of his pancakes before excusing himself. "I'll start packing up too!"

He clearly was in a hurry to leave, but no one could blame him. Most nodded their heads and told Tenma that they would be finishing their breakfasts first before following them.

-

"Tsurugi!" The said boy mentally sighed. Tenma today was as energetic as ever; something that was comforting, troubling, or both. Soon, Tenma was at his side.

"Why are you following me? Aren't you supposed to be packing?"

"Yeah, but there's something I need to ask you; did something happen yesterday? Everyone's acting off."

Tsurugi suppressed the urge to raise his eyebrows in surprise. He wasn't expecting that from the brunet. He would have normally praised the boy for his unusual perceptiveness, but with the situation, he waved it off.

"They're just still giddy from dinner. Apparently it was THAT good." Tsurugi emphasized sarcastically, earning him a small chuckle from his amused friend.

"Well, it was that good." Tenma said, smirking a bit. Tsurugi raised an eyebrow. He stayed silent for a while before replying, "Yeah." Maybe.

Technically, it wasn't a lie. He didn't eat dinner yesterday, so he didn't know the taste of it at all, but judging by his teammates' faces, it was probably good. Not to mention, his breakfast tasted phenomenal.

Tenma frowned for a second before he smiled, seemingly satisfied with his friend's answer. "I know. The chefs here never disappoint. They always make the best meals, I looked forward to it every day."

Tsurugi winced internally when he heard the past tense. "I see."

"Well, I have to go now. See you later, Tsurugi! Make sure you don't forget anything!" The midfielder ran ahead of him, waving his hand.

"Yeah." The striker said, watching the brunet's figure walked out of sight.