The Truth Behind His Smile

Busted

When the striker bit his lip and slowly turned away in shame, Tenma's eyes widened as he got his answer. His mouth was agape and he wanted to scream, cry, perform a hissatsu on him, and storm out all at the same time. But Tenma controlled himself, saying that it would do him no good. So, he just gave his 'friend' the fiercest death glare he could do.

Tsurugi almost backed away in fear when he saw the brunet's glare. He expected him to snap and scream, but this was definitely much worse. He glanced around the room and saw almost everyone backing away from Tenma too. It's the first time all of them saw their captain this angry, and they were scared to the core.

"I trusted you." Tenma hissed at him, eyes narrowing. Tsurugi felt like he was slapped at the face hard. He could clearly hear the brunet's pain.

Tenma looked like he wanted to say more, but he thought better of it. He closed his eyes and just sighed sadly. Everyone was a bit taken aback at that, at how Tenma could change personalities in just a few seconds.

The captain slowly opened his eyes and he gave Tsurugi a betrayed look. "...I trusted you, Tsurugi."

Tsurugi felt his own eyes tearing up. This was way worse than seeing Tenma cry. The Tenma he was seeing was not the cheerful Tenma he usually see every day. No, this Tenma was broken and devastated.

Tenma slowly looked around the room, giving everyone a sad, disappointed look too. "So, you guys already know about...that?"

"...yeah." Shindou answered in behalf of the team.

"And, that's what you wanted to help me with?" Tenma frowned.

"You think we're going to let him do that to you?"

"He won't do it. I'm too far away for him to do that." Tenma reasoned.

"But-"

"Enough! I don't need any of your help! I'm not as helpless and stupid as you all think!"

"Wha-That isn't why were doing this, Tenma! We're just worried about you!"

"So you decide to just involve yourselves in my business?! Just leave me alone!" Tenma finally snapped.

"What's wrong?" A voice interrupted. Everyone in the room turned towards Endou and Haruna, who both just walked in.

Endou slowly took in the atmosphere of the room. Everyone looked pretty scared and worried. And Tenma was taking deep breaths. The coach instantly knew what was going on.

"Tsurugi, did you tell them too?" Tenma asked the striker without averting his gaze from his coach.

"Tenma, this isn't what you think-" Endou tried to explain.

"Oh, it's not?" Tenma furrowed his eyebrows at Endou. He went back to his bag and made sure that he didn't forget anything. "So, Tsurugi didn't go behind my back and betray my trust by telling everyone that my father abused me!?"

Almost everyone flinched when he said the word 'abuse'. 

"Tenma-"

"I know my own situation! I don't need any of your help!" Tenma grabbed his bag and stormed out of the room, leaving his stunned friends and coach.

Silence filled the room, with everyone still trying to take in what just happened.

"I think we screwed up." Kariya said matter-of-factly.

"You can say that again, Kariya." Shinsuke added sarcastically, slumping his shoulders.

...

...

"...I think we screwed up."

"Kariya!"

-

Tenma ran all the way back to his apartment. His excellent dribbling skills made it possible to dodge and avoid every single person on his way. Fortunately, all lights were green. So, he didn't need to stop at all.

When he made it in front of the apartment, he saw Sasuke resting in his doghouse. The brunet would usually pet him first, but right now he was too angry to do that. So, Tenma ignored his dog and quickly went inside, running straight to his room. If there was anyone there, he wasn't in the mood to notice and greet them too.

Tenma opened his room door and threw his bag angrily on the floor. He didn't care if it was ripped or anything of the sorts. He just needed something to let his anger out.

The first thing that came into mind was soccer. But, Tenma couldn't afford to do that. Soccer was what brought him happiness and what distracted him from his father's doings in the first place. He couldn't and wouldn't use it for his anger.

In the end, Tenma decided to not think about it anymore and just fell exhausted on the bed. He remained there for the next few minutes, not doing anything but gazing to the ceiling, deep in thought.

A bark suddenly brought him back to reality. Tenma averted his gaze to his dog before him. Sasuke was cooing worriedly at him. Tenma blinked, he must've been so deep in thought to not notice his door opening and Sasuke walking in. The dog jumped onto the bed as well and started licking his cheek.

Tenma couldn't help but chuckle at the show of affection. He let Sasuke lick him a few more times, before he put his hands on his face. "Thanks, Sasuke." Tenma thanked his dog. Sasuke barked, seeming relieved that Tenma was alright and happy.

Tenma's hands moved from his face to the top of his head, and began to pet Sasuke. The dog enjoyed that, and he adjusted his position so that he was sitting beside the boy. Tenma continued to pet him for a few more minutes, before his smile turned into a frown and he let out a sad sigh.

"I'm sorry I didn't greet you earlier, Sasuke. It's just..." Tenma trailed off. "I just had a really bad day." Sasuke whined sadly at that. Tenma noticed, so he gave the dog a smile. It wasn't a happy smile, but it was a smile nonetheless.

"I met with...Dad again yesterday." Tenma stated. Sasuke perked up and he growled at the mention of the man.

"It's fine, he didn't do anything to me." Tenma lied. Sasuke didn't seem to believe him, but he managed to calm down a notch. He was still growling, though.

"But, I also met with Kenta and Karin again!" Tenma said enthusiastically. Sasuke's ears perked up and he barked excitedly. "Sorry, I forgot to ask them to make you your favorite."

Sasuke whined before setting his head back down on beside Tenma. His master proceeded to scratch his ear.

"And..." Tenma sighed. "I hate Tsurugi."

Sasuke's ears perked again and he cooed sadly. Tenma could almost hear the unspoken question.

Why?

"He...he betrayed me." Tenma stated slowly, furrowing his eyebrows. "I told him about Dad, because I thought he wouldn't tell anybody." The brunet sighed. "But, he did."

Sasuke growled angrily at that. But when he saw his master's sad teary eyes, he stopped growling and instead licked his cheek again. Tenma chuckled gratefully at how his dog was trying to cheer him up. He wiped a few tears from his face and he proceeded to hug his best friend.

"Thanks, Sasuke. I know you'll always be with me, no matter what." A happy bark from the dog confirmed what he said, and Tenma hugged him tighter.

Unbeknownst to them both, a young woman was standing in front of their door with her knuckle frozen in place. Her eyes went wide and she silently gasped at what she heard.