The Space Between [RanTaku] [MuneTaku]

t h r e e

What was the matter with Shindou? Ever since he came back, he'd been incredibly distant. Kirino couldn't help noticing that he had been acting strangely since the call. At practices he barely spoke to him, he always disappeared afterwards, and to cap it all, Kirino felt replaced. Shindou had started hanging out a lot more with Ibuki. Wherever he was, so was Ibuki. Kirino couldn't concentrate at all as he stared blankly at the field.

"Hey! Kirino! Pay attention!" He heard Tenma shout as the ball was swiftly taken from him by Shindou and kicked forcefully into the net behind him.

Kirino spun round, he could see Shindou with his back turned towards the net.

"Keep your eye on the ball next time." Shindou said to him, quite sternly, still keeping his back turned. He tossed the ball backwards to Kirino and turned to take a water bottle and towel from Akane. She seemed to have gotten past her crush on Shindou: she was acting fairly normal around him. 

"You're distracted, Kirino. Take a break!" Endou yelled from the sidelines.

Kirino couldn't argue with the coach so he threw the ball back into play and took a seat on the bench.

Was it a coincidence that Kirino was sat right next to Shindou? Shindou was quick to notice but before he could move away, Kirino grabbed his arm, stopping him from going anywhere. There it was, that feeling in Shindou's stomach: the same one he felt during the call on the train.

"What is going on with you? Why are you avoiding me?" Kirino half shouted. Shindou looked at Kirino, wishing he'd let go of his arm.

"I'm not!" Shindou really wished Kirino would let go of his hand.

"Cut the crap, Shindou! I'm not stupid."

"I'm not avoiding you! I'm talking to you right now." Shindou said, a flicker of a smile playing in his lips.

Kirino couldn't help but smile a little even though it wasn't supposed to be funny.

"It's not gonna kill you to tell me what's going on." Kirino finally let go of Shindou's arm after realising how awkward it must have looked.

Shindou couldn't escape it now. He had been contemplating telling Kirino for a while.

"So, what is it?"

"It's just that..." Why was he getting nervous? He rarely got nervous about anything!

"Oh just spit it out." Kirino could see the rest of the team leaving practice.

"I'm trying to."

"What is it, Shindou? Tell me." Kirino began to worry a little, was it something serious?

"Well it's about me. Me and-"

"Is everything okay here?" Ibuki appeared from behind Shindou and put his arm around his shoulder.

In that instant, Kirino put two and two together. The first name basis, the smiles, the blushing, the constant hanging out. So that was why Shindou was avoiding him.

"No, everything's completely fine. I'll be going now." Kirino forced himself to smile before walking away, finding out more than he wanted to.

"Kirino, wait!" Shindou called after him.

He followed Kirino back to the changing rooms, which was empty now the rest of the team had left. Kirino stopped.

"So this is why you were avoiding me. You could've just told me."

"I didn't know how to tell you, I was going to but-"

"But what?"

"I-i don't know."

"I thought we were friends."

"We are friends!"

"Yeah, sure." The bitter sarcasm in Kirino's voice felt like a slap in the face.

"This is why I didn't want to tell you! I knew you'd react like this!" Shindou retaliated. He didn't understand why Kirino was taking it so badly.

Kirino sighed. "You could've told me."

Nobody spoke for a long time. Kirino sat down and Shindou sat not so far from him.

"So... you and Ibuki huh? How long?" Kirino said quietly.

"A while now." Shindou replied.

Kirino sighed. He'd missed his chance.

"I never thought in all my life that you'd ever like someone. You seemed like the 'single forever' type." Kirino teased.

"Thanks for that." Shindou replied sarcastically, but glad they were talking again.

"I'm not joking! I imagined you in the future with like seventy cats." Kirino laughed.

"Those are old ladies, Kirino. And you know I'm allergic to cats." Shindou rolled his eyes.

"Okay so maybe not cats." Kirino shrugged. All it took was a look and they were in tears of laughter.

Kirino looked at Shindou, who had his big goofy smile on his face and was brushing his wavy hair out of his face. They were okay again, but it seemed like they were going to be just friends for a while. He'd just have to deal with the fact that Shindou and Ibuki were together now, even though the way he felt about Shindou hadn't changed one bit. In fact, he feared it had gotten stronger.

Shindou looked at Kirino, a feeling of relief flooding through him. He gotten that off his chest. He had to admit that he'd missed Kirino's company. But as much as he tried to focus on Ibuki, moments like this with Kirino always made his head spin. Why did he feel so confused? The answer should've been crystal clear.

Sorry I took so long, I'm so unreliable with updating time but I hope you liked this chapter.