Tracing Memories

12: S k e l e t o n

That night I was sleepless. Even though I had arrived there from a long journey and after finding out you left the team, cried for hours, I couldn't fall asleep. Endless memories of us kept running in a loop through my mind. I faintly smiled through the tears as these thoughts flashed in my mind one by one while my gaze directed out of the window of the Inazuma caravan.

 I sat up after a couple of minutes. My mind was restless with sadness and confusion. The idea of a Raimon soccer team that didn't include you as their ace striker seemed bizarre to me yet somehow it had become the new reality. 

No one could tell what had suddenly triggered this series of events. All I heard was that Coach Hitomiko didn't see you as a part of the successful team she wanted to create. How could she say that?How could she come to this conclusion after knowing you for a mere month? She didn't see how you practiced your moves till you could no longer stand, how you smiled even through the pain because it didn't matter what happened to you as long as you could push the team towards victory. All of these thoughts made me resent her for taking such a rash decision.

The rest of the team,later I found out,resented her too for the same reason. She never explained her decision to us and it only caused us to believe she didn't really have a solid reason to do so. But we were helpless in this situation and we had no choice but to move on. Eventually, everyone returned to their normal self, concentrating on their next action to further their plan of defeating Aliea Academy and save everyone. 

I, too, pretended that I was fine since I didn't want to slow down the team. I took control of my duties and began researching about Aliea Academy with Haruna. But deep down I missed you all the time. Now that you were gone I truly realized how much time we used to spend together. I missed how you greeted me with a "good morning" every day in school, I missed how we talked about so many different things and enjoyed each one of those conversations equally,I missed how I watched you play soccer eagerly and silently cheered for you and I missed how you sometimes walked me home and we enjoyed the comfortable silence between us. These memories, that I cherished more than ever now, constantly revolved in my mind,making it harder for me to get used to your absence. 

Of course, my mental condition took a toll on my body and my behavior too. I spoke only when necessary and in extremely brief sentences and I barely ate anything. I wasn't me anymore, I was reduced to a skeleton of what I used to be, devoid of any expressions and emotions. As much as I tried to hide my condition from everyone, it was evident I had changed drastically from my previous self. What was once a calm quietness had turned into a gloomy silence. I could tell I was worrying the rest of the team and I tried to pull myself out of my melancholy but in vain.I constantly wondered where you were and what you were doing and desperately hoped I'd see you again before long.   

A/N: Sorry for the angsty chapter. These prompts are getting harder and harder now but I will try my best.

 Happy Holidays everyone! :D

A/n 2: Guys, if you like this story please don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT.I'd love to hear from you what you guys think of it so far. Please don't hesitate.