81. FOR YOU

note: guys im dropping this because ONE i want forgiveness from my pookie lennie and TWO cloudy has been deprived for all this time and the new komi art she made for me is so delicious so papa demands you all say thank you for this found chapter cloudy

oh yea. and jae too ig. sigh. hi jae i know you will be here and i know you might be a little bit disheartened by the title but i love you heheehheheh i promise

also inspired by the song corrupted flower it is SAUR good even tho it is like a vocaloid song and i dont really like those lil things but corrupted flower eats so hard. i think its implying sex but oh well we ball 

SORRY GUYS ONE MORE THING TO YAP ABOUT TO SILENT READERS LITERALLY PLEASE DONT SILENT READ COMMENT ILL READ ANYTHING YOU SAY i quite literally am worse than NAYTHING you could say about character. whatever you want to say I HAVE SAID WORSE many can confirm please dont be scared

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THERE

is something sweet, and almost kind when you stare into the eyes of Karasu Tabito. He's staring down at you with the half-lidded, smirking gaze he always has on—yet, for some odd reason, you do not seem to mind.

Your tablet attached to the side of your waist and your cooler bag slung over your shoulder—you're just about ready to leave when he comes out of nowhere and halts your swift departure. 

It wasn't like you hadn't said goodbye to him. You did—you said bye to everyone—there was no special thing in particular. Except for Rin and Shidou, of course, but they were a whole different story you were not planning on unpacking today.

"Leavin' so soon?" The way he speaks, low yet teasing—if you did not know any better, you'd be inclined to believe he did not care one bit. Fortunately for you—you do know better. He's appeared on the wall beside you in a cool kid fashion—leaning with his arms crossed.

You smile, amused as you play along, "What, you wanted me to stay? Where would I sleep?"

He shrugs—bracing himself up as he walks over close towards you—still looking as foxish as ever as he speaks, as if it's the most natural thing in the world, "I dunno. Plenty of pull-out covers in Merodi's room, since she's ta only one. Coulda bunked with 'er."

He pauses. "And my room's always available."

You'd be lying if you said that heat didn't crawl up your cheeks and your hands were not starting to feel clammy—but that's mostly because of how natural it sounded coming out of his lips. Karasy did not hesitate, not even for a second with his words.

You swallow down whatever embarrassment he has made you feel—he is always like this, after all, you shouldn't take it to heart—"Sorry, I'll have to pass on that. Might cause some trouble with my team."

"Wouldn't mind them bein' all jealous of us."

He gestures towards the both of you while he speaks, smiling.

God damn it, could he stop sounding so smug when he says it?

It's not even the words that make your cheeks glow pink—it's his suave, cool-sounding tone as if this were any other ordinary day. Too bad Karasu hates ordinary things—and you are the most extraordinary thing he's ever known.

"Too bad I would," you reach your hand up in an attempt to push his head back by his nose—but he completely flips the situation and grabs ahold of your wrist with ease and swallow's it's width in his large palm. 

He grins. He is evidently pleased, and it's making you mad and all hot and flustered. "Ya sure 'bout that, pretty?"

"Really sure." You tilt your head to the side a little and smile up at him. The beauty mark underneath his eye crinkles with his smile and you're upset at how pretty he really is. "You're holding on pretty tight. Are you sure you won't miss me?"

His eyes lower, and the swirls within the blue are cut halfway while his smile falls. He looks to be in thought. You're mildly offended he looks as if he has to think about whether he will miss you or not. But you don't get a chance to think for that long, because suddenly your wrist is free but you can't seem to move your head away from his eyes.

He tilts your chin upwards, languidly, and you can see his eyes scanning over every nook and cranny of your expression, "I dunno. Depends on whatcha lemme do next."

You're sure, with how close he is, that he can notice the way your eyes widen and cheeks blare hot, "Wh... What is that supposed to mean, huh?" The stutter escapes your lips before you have a chance to bite your tongue and your stomach twists at how evidently pleased he seems at your shaking confidence.

"Saw you and Isagi, n' ya bondin' with that orange-haired macho man." He murmurs, tone low and distant. "Pretty crazy. Blew up on social media a bunch, too."

Of course, you know that. You know that everything here, right now, is being recorded too—and you know very well that the fans will eat up anything that you give them. You know this all—so why is he repeating this to you? You've seen the comments—some hateful, some caring. Some cute, some strange.

But most of all—they crave such romance. It's tacky and rather funny, but you aren't one to judge.

"I..." You swallow a lump in your throat. "I know."

"Pretty sad, yeah?" He removes his fingers from your chin but you still hold your head in place—as if tranced. "Fa me, I mean. Selfish, hm? Don't really care, though."

He shrugs his shoulder back lightly but you can't draw your gaze away. You purse your lips—all words you were previously planning to say to him died in your mouth as soon as you locked gazes with him.

Karasu Tabito seems to have this effect on people—and judging by the way he's smirking, you're sure he's aware of it, "Why dun' we give those fans a show too, eh? Wouldn't mind seein' a moment like this replay on some stupid edit."

He pauses, and the momentary silence allows you to finally grow aware of how loudly your heart beats in your ears.

"Can I kiss ya?" He finally asks.

The light that shines down above you two falls across his sharp features like honey—surely, you think, this cannot be happening again. In less than two hours, you've come to find yourself in this situation twice. It's so surreal—the world is fuzzy but you manage to see his swirling eyes so clear.

You can hardly feel the touch of his palm on your cheek—and in no manner can you make out what he mumbles to you under his breath. You only feel the soft hit of his warm breath on your lips. 

Your heart pounds in your chest—pumping blood so heavily that, you feel dizzy—and your gut twists, perhaps in anticipation.

The room is cold—but you are burning hot like a star.

A star.

Your mind flashes to that of a woman with bright blonde hair and a pretty, smiling grin—and suddenly, you feel as if you can breathe again. Your vision clears, every nerve of your body tingles and you feel almost out of control of your own mind when you reach up—for a moment, you think you're almost about to slap him—but then, you don't.

You stare up at him with the back of your hand on the cusp of your lips—palm enclosing the bottom half of his face and creating a solid wall between your two lips.

You smile. It is not sweet like sugar, nor is it venomous like a hissing snake—rather it is docile, and silently speaks like a lone alleycat. You look up at him with those eyes—you feel the red hot forming on his cheeks underneath the pads of your fingertips.

You're so close to him that you can practically feel his heart beating in his chest and see the confused, deer-in-headlights expression he sports on his pretty face. His mole crinkles up and so do his sharp eyes—the mischievousness swirling in them was no longer there, and now only stark confusion was found.

Your lips finally move, and your tone is so much softer than you thought—lowered to nothing but a whisper only he could possibly hear, "Sorry—nope."

The giggle that escapes your lips after seems to bring him back to consciousness—the flutter of his lashes across glazed, cloudy eyes—they widen as soon as your hand falls down beside you, but you make no attempt to move.

"...H... uh?" 

It's breathy, soft, and broken, and you've never heard Karasu Tabito sound more confused or pathetic. His cheeks bloom a bright pink and his chest rises and falls with every silent breath.

"If you want to know me better..." You lean up, rising to the tips of your toes and breath fanning the shell of his ear—"Then expose me."

He jerks his head back in surprise—staring at you in flustered disbelief.

You only grin. You have no idea when you had become so coy.

After a few more moments of his open-mouthed, startled silence, you pat yourself down and brush off any imaginary dust. Looking up, back at Karasu—you smile. "I should be going now. Don't miss me too much, right? There's not too long until our game."

He seemed to have composed himself enough to splutter a few intelligible words, "Right... Can't... promise I'll go easy on ya."

Your eyes squint upwards when you grin, "I'd never want you to."

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Finally, you scan your card across the reader and you make your way inside the Bastard München stratum.  It feels like it has been forever since you've been back here—even if it was only for a day.

As soon as you make your way inside, you are met with smiling faces.

"[name]!" Kurona is not smiling, per usual, but the usual blank look in his big eyes is replaced with a bright sparkle. His cheeks puff out like a marshmallow, warm and fluffy, "We missed you."

"I missed you guys, too," You smile, covering your mouth with your hand.

You feel a sudden rush of wholesomeness at the scene in front of you, even if Gagamaru is danging Igaguri in the air with his head trapped in his huge hand. The chestnut is dropped abruptly when Gagamaru whips his head around and stares at you, dead into your soul.

Igaguri crashes to the ground beneath him and Gagamaru stalks over to you with his freakishly long limbs. "Hi, [name]. Where did you go?"

You wave a little and look upwards at the giant goalkeeper, "I was just at another stratum because of some... problems. Have the teams been chosen yet?"

"Hell yeah! I made it!" Raichi announces proudly, popping up out of nowhere with an extremely self-satisfied expression and blushy cheeks. He crosses his arms and chortles, "It's as a defender, so it pissed me off pretty bad, but I guess it'll do for now!"

"You look so happy about it, though..." Yukimiya chuckles and lifts his glasses—his brown locks are pushed away from his line of sight. He looks at you, smiling, "Hello, [name]. I'm glad you're back. It was a little chaotic without you here."

"Right?" Isagi grins, towel around his neck and hair dripping wet. You'd do well to think they'd all just gotten out of the shower. It was pretty late, after all. "I don't think Mariele could handle all of us by herself. I don't know how the others do it all themselves."

"I'd go crazy," Hiori nods, giggling. "It's already difficult enough sharing a field with Isagi and Kaiser."

"But you're always on the bench, so you'd know nothing about that." Gagamaru points at Hiori, who stares at the big man with a shocked expression. Isagi hits Gagamaru's shoulder in shock and whispers for him to apologise—he does so but with a starkly unapologetic expression.

Hiori remains unphased and just laughs it off, but his eyes are empty.

"Anyways," you clap your hands together and smile. "It's time we'd go to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow."

A chorus of agreement and nods follow your words. 

It does not take long before every single soul in that room had left—all but you.

You stand alone, left to your thoughts of what happened today.

Shidou, Rin, Charles, Loki, Karasu...

All people you aren't quite sure how you feel about now. The events of today were drastic, exaggerated, and flat-out weird—but you're sure that tomorrow, the day of the game with Bastard München versus Ubers, where the lady with bouncy curls and a seemingly long history with Mariele, Bianca, remains.

Everything changes tomorrow. You're seeing so many new people, tomorrow. 

Aiku. Aryu. Niko. Barou... all those who chose Ubers. 

You glance forward, then switch off the light behind you and the room goes dark. You don't have a chance to think about what might've happened today, or yesterday, or the day before that. You have to look forward and head into the unknown.

You walk out of the dark room with your tablet tucked safely under your arm and your head held high.

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