Archive of Our Own ^beta

‘’Hey, Haru. Want a tour of Nagasaki?’’

That simple yet meaningful offer made the boy momentarily forget all his worries, all his regrets about not having valued football while he still had it, and his eyes widened, tears still falling slowly but surely.

‘’...What?’’ Haru whispered, finally raising his head and meeting Unmei’s eyes, whose brightness seemed like they could pierce through the darkness that had led him here, all the way to Nagasaki in hopes of meeting him.

Unmei smiled softly, and he offered his opened up hand to Haru. He hadn’t expected today to turn out this way, but… He understood how much Haru needed something like this. Something to take his mind off his troubles, his injury, everything.

And Unmei, as clever as he was, hadn’t failed to notice that perhaps, ultimately… What Haru needed right now, was a friend. And he was more than glad to fulfill that role today.

Haru just looked at Unmei’s inviting palm, and then, a bittersweet smile formed on his lips too. He wiped his tears with his hoodie’s sleeve, and then reached his hand to Unmei’s, finally touching for the first time in what felt like something really intimate and meaningful. Their grip on each other’s hands tightened for the brief moment that it lasted, and finally, they pulled away.

‘’C’mon, let’s go!’’ Unmei showed himself energetic, something most of his teammates should have to double-check if they personally saw. He started walking already in direction outside of the school, towards the staircase, and turned his head around to see if Haru was following.

‘’Y-Yes, coming!’’ Haru finally snapped out of it, and he quickly followed. His pace was slower though, as expected of his ankle injury. Unmei quickly caught on and instinctively matched his pace, walking right by his side.

—

The relaxing breeze of the ocean coming from Nagumohara Port soon filled the young teen’s lungs as they arrived by train. Unmei had decided (even against Haru’s stubborn self) that they’d be mostly traveling by public transport, as he didn’t want Haru to further injure himself in his bad foot.

‘’This is where I arrived first, I came by boat.’’ Haru glanced at the port from where he had first set foot on Nagasaki. Unmei nodded, as they walked by a stone bridge.

‘’Hey, look.’’ The turquoise-haired boy suddenly pointed at something, as he walked by the edge of the bridge and looked down at the river flowing beneath. Haru raised an eyebrow and curiously approached as well. He gasped softly when he saw what Unmei meant.

‘’Woah, it’s turtles! Let’s go see ‘em!’’ Haru excitedly took off, crossing the bridge to go around it to the small stoney path on the river’s side. Unmei chuckled lightly and followed along. ‘’Sure, but don’t fall, unless you wanna be soaking wet the whole trip.’’ Unmei couldn’t resist to tease him a bit. Haru turned around on his tracks and giggled, shaking his head in mock exasperation. ‘’I’m not that clumsy, man!’’

He then, carefully not to hurt his foot, stepped onto the little rocks mid-river, where the turtles were hanging around. Unmei hopped onto them too, and bent to take a closer look.

‘’They’re so cute, look, Unmei!’’ Haru was practically melting. Unmei found it kind of endearing, he would have never expected someone like freaking Haru Endo of all people to have a soft spot for turtles of all animals.

‘’Right, haha. They’re Mauremys japonica, or… just japanese pond turtles.’’ He said, sheepish mid speech at his usage of the scientific term. Yes, part of Unmei’s data research of Nagasaki prior to moving had been about the ecosystem.

‘’Ooh, you even know their full legal name!’’ He couldn’t resist to poke some fun at it in good faith. Unmei just huffed and looked to the other side, not bothering to even reply.

Haru seemed even more fascinated when he noticed a pair of turtles that had climbed up a stone next to them. He bent lightly, leaning on his knees to watch them with a huge grin. ‘’Hey, lil ones! You wanna be our friends, don’t you?’’ Haru softly tapped one of the turtle’s beak.

‘’It’s gonna bite you.’’ Unmei warned, not able to contain the amusement in his expression.

‘’No, it’s not.’’ Haru stubbornly replied, still deciding that it was a good idea to pet the turtle’s cold skin and beak. Then, just as Unmei had predicted, it happened: A little chomp to Haru’s index finger.

‘’Auch! Hey!’’ He pulled his hand away, waving it from the light pain on it. Unmei ran a hand through his hair in exasperation.

‘’Told you so.’’ He deadpan replied. Haru stared at his reddened finger for a sec, and then at Unmei, and started laughing heartily. Unmei couldn’t hold a smile to appear on his lips anymore as serious as he wanted to act, and it eventually also turned into chuckles.

 

—

After their turtle-filled endeavors, they continued on their journey through the port, this time going somewhere Haru had had on his mind since he arrived.

‘’Ice cream, huh?’’ As they arrive to the ice cream stand, Unmei glances at it curiously. It had been a while since last he had had ice cream with someone else. In fact, he probably hadn’t since he was a kid, hanging out with Soramiya back then.

As for Haru, he couldn’t even say the same in that regard. He had never had anyone to share ice cream with, neither he had friends for it, neither his family had ever thought about something as trivial despite how common it is.

‘’Yeah! I kinda wanted to try it earlier, but I thought it was a bit embarrassing to eat it by myself…’’ A bit sheepish, Haru spoke, glancing sideways at Unmei.

‘’Yeah, I guess. Although you shouldn’t care that much about what others say.’’ Unmei shrugged.

Upon arriving to the stand, the old woman in charge smiled warmly at them. ‘’Hello, dears. Would you like some fresh ice cream? Special of the house today is vanilla flavoured, with the particularity that it’s shaped like a gardenia.’’

‘’Ooh!’’ Haru was amazed by that. He hadn’t actually seen it from close up earlier, so seeing how original it was had him surprised.

‘’We’ll have two, please.’’ Unmei said politely. The woman nodded and soon pulled two freshly made ice creams for the boys.

‘’Here you go! –She handed two ice creams to Unmei, and then quietly whispered to him with a grin– You know, these are ice creams made to be shared with a loved one. One is supposed to exchange it with their partner, as if sharing flowers.’’

Unmei could feel his cheeks flushing immediately. Luckily, Haru was too busy distracted staring at something else to have heard or suspect anything. ‘’W-We are not like that. We’re just friends.’’ He replied with a higher-pitched voice than intended.

‘’Hohoho! Sure thing, dear. Enjoy it, you two!’’ She raised her voice again, and waved sweetly. Haru returned his attention to them, and his mouth practically watered when seeing the ice creams in Unmei’s hands.

‘’They’re calling for me already!’’ The brown-haired footballer said with clear excitement. Unmei extended his hand and gave the other ice cream, the words of the old lady about how it was meant to be like ‘exchanging flowers’ lingering on his mind for longer than necessary. He did his best to hide the slim blush showing on his face.

‘’There you go.’’ Unmei gave a tentative lick at the vanilla ice cream. Haru wasn’t as careful and instead straight up gave it a huge bite, his face turning from a grin to a purely pale and frost-bitten one, and of course a huge tremble.

‘’Brain freeze?’’ Unmei asked with a smirk, giving another lick to the ice cream.

Practically two seconds later, Haru laughed, the frost-bitten totally forgotten now and nodded. ‘’Yup, pretty big brain freeze!’’

When Unmei looked at the boy’s face, he could barely contain his laughter. His lips were twitching into a huge unrestrained smile. Haru noticed that, and raised an inquisitory eyebrow.

‘’What’s with that look? Anything on my face?’’ Haru gave another lick to his ice cream as he stared back at Unmei.

‘’Pftt… Look.’’ With his free hand, he pulled his phone and started the camera app, then showed it to Haru so he could see himself.

‘’Ah!’’ Haru stared at himself in disbelief and amusement when seeing he had vanilla all over his face, he even had a particularly funny spot under his nose that looked like a moustache.

‘’Nice moustache, dude.’’ Unmei couldn’t hold it anymore and he burst laughing. Haru blushed lightly in embarrassment but he also started laughing in unison.

‘’You’re evil for laughing, you know!’’ He washed his face with his hoodie’s sleeves, which now became white in vanilla.

‘’Looks like your black hoodie is now white.’’ Unmei jumped directly at a new chance of teasing the boy. He didn’t usually do that, but he was growing more and more comfortable in his presence, something he would have never expected to happen prior to today. After all, ‘Haru Endo’ had always been a goal, the very own representation of football he had been pursuing since the beginning, and who he had to defeat to get to the top of his football journey. This certainly brought such fresh views onto him.

‘’Hey, haha, maybe it’s a new fashion style!’’ He playfully flexed his arm to show off his strained sleeve, and chuckled along with Unmei. ‘’Mom’s gonna kill me later for this though!’’ He added sheepishly.

—

After finishing up their ice cream, the two wandered for a bit around the area, but something had caught Haru’s attention. It was a promotional magazine about a zoo in the town, in specific regarding the penguin enclosure. Apparently there was an offer today where they allowed people to see the penguins for free.

And so, they now found themselves in a bus heading towards the zoo, with Haru and Unmei sitting next to each other and going over the magazine.

‘’Oh man, I’m so excited! I did go to a zoo once when I was little in Tokyo, but I barely remember it now!’’ Haru kicked his legs excitedly on his seat, grinning wide as he looked at the magazine being held open by Unmei.

‘’Is that so? I don’t think I’ve ever gone to one. It never really interested me.’’ Unmei replied with a little shrug, although he was a bit curious about it now that he was going with someone else for the first time.

‘’It’s so cool, especially with penguins!’’ Haru pointed at the penguin’s photos in the magazine, and Unmei grinned a bit.

‘’You seem to like pretty strange animals. First the turtles, now penguins. What’s next?’’ The turquoise-haired boy said with amusement.

‘’So what about it? Aren’t they cool?’’ He chuckled, ‘’What’s your favourite animal anyways, Unmei?’’

Unmei’s answer was immediate, serious and from the heart.

‘’Cats.’’

‘’Cats?’’

‘’Cats.’’

Haru looked at him a bit surprised. Cats were the most common animal to have as your favourite, and someone like Unmei seemed like he’d have something far more strange as his favourite. Although it also fit him this way.

‘’Do you have a cat?’’ Haru asked, now curious.

‘’Nah, my mom is allergic, sadly. But I like to pet and feet stray cats though. Some even talk to me.’’

 

‘’Talk… to you?’’ Haru looked at him, now in even more disbelief.

Memories of a certain cat called Josephine flowed through Unmei’s head. He didn’t even try to explain it, he didn’t want Haru of all people to think he was nuts.

 

—

When they arrived at the zoo, Unmei had to practically hold Haru’s wrist so he didn’t just go off running, considering his ankle was in pretty bad condition. That’s how excited he was.

They made it in time to watch the zoo’s caretakers walk and feed the penguins in their enclosure. The two boys were on their knees watching closely, surrounded by many families taking their children to see the animals.

‘’Isn’t the way they walk just hilarious?’’ Haru glanced at his new friend, giving him a cheeky wide grin. Unmei couldn’t help but let out a faint chuckle. ‘’Heh, your sense of humor is pretty broken.’’

Unmei really couldn’t believe how silly ‘the monster of football’, son of the best football player in th world Mamoru Endo was. He had never been one to judge a book by its cover, but he had done so with Haru Endo, and now he was realizing how big of a mistake that had been. This guy was just a kid in the end, just like him. And a very energetic and cheeky one at it.

 

—

An hour later, when the penguin spectacle finished, they went back by tram to the comercial district. When they got down in the tram station, Haru could just look with huge fascination as the tram left.

‘’...It’s just a tram. Why are you so excited?’’ Unmei rubbed his neck, a bit confused. He was getting used to this guy being unusually excited about anything, but this was just on another level.

‘’We don’t have these on Tokyo! It’s the first time I see one!’’ He grinned, looking back at Unmei.

‘’Of course, you’re one huge city boy.’’ The other teased, smirking lightly at him.

“Hey, there's nothing I can do about it!” Haru playfully shoved the other boy in the shoulder, as he giggled and walked ahead.

For now, they had planned to eat something. It was around 4 PM now, and they were both getting pretty hungry after having traveled half the town (and wherever else they’d go in what they had left of today) in just a few hours. Unmei took him to a place there was no way Haru could miss while in Nagasaki: Tsukimi’s noodle shop.

When opening the door, the energetic woman quickly rushed to them. “Unmei! Looking for a good udon to fill yourself before training? Oh, and you brought a new pal!” She glanced at Haru, giving him a smile, which he returned.

“Udon? I really wanna eat it! My belly is rumbling!” The boy said cheekily, as Unmei just chuckled a bit at the words. He had no idea what kind of intense eating experience he was about to go through.

When sitting on the stools, the noodle was soon brought over, and silently ordered by Unmei, the special training began…

“Now, keep up and eat everything, sweeties, or else~!” She stood behind the counter, with a challenging glint on her eyes.

Haru had no clue what was going on or why the ambience had suddenly turned so competitive, but he was totally into it. A smirk dangerously close to the one he once carried when he still found football fun appeared on his lips. “I'll finish it all before Unmei! Itadakimasu!” He spoke quickly in order to start eating, and then he went straight at it.

“Hey, that's cheat–” He sighed as he spoke equally fast, “Itadakimasu!” And quickly started eating to catch on. The woman cheered and hyped them both from behind the counter, as Haru did his best to fastly eat the noodles.

“Mhhmm thwey awhre swo gwood!!” Haru could almost feel himself crying of joy from how tasty they were, especially when paired with a good challenge like this. Considering he only got to eat something different from his mom’s cooking on special ocassions… This definitely was a huge thing for him.

“Don't talk with your mouth full.” Unmei stopped eating momentarily to scold him, then went back with the flow.

“Less talk, more eat, sweeties!” The owner slammed her hands on the counter, looking at them with pure raging passion, which Haru was totally sharing at the moment. Unmei was doing his best to keep up, but he couldn't match this kind of enthusiasm even if he tried.

After they were done eating –although Haru very clearly finished first–, they both leaned back on their stools rubbing their now filled stomachs.

“Nicely done, boys! I like your new friend, Unmei. He part of the team too?” She asked, smiling at the two.

“Oh, no, he's just visiting. He doesn't live here.” He was a bit cryptic explaining it, but he didn't wanna give too much info on who Haru was. He was practically a celebrity in Japan, and they had been lucky no one had really recognized him so far.

“That's a shame. But still, you’re always welcome to come if you want! Your friend here certainly gets his teammates pumped up for their training thanks to my noodles.” She winked.

“So that's Unmei’s secret training regime, huh? Noted.” Haru said with a mischievous glint, and Unmei just rolled his eyes in amused exasperation. In the coziness of the moment, the fact that he was likely not gonna be able to play football again, or at least in a very long time, had been forgotten and instead replaced by this bright moment of joy.

 

—

It was getting late now, so next and last thing on the schedule for today was the observation tower of Nagasaki, where they had arrived by cable car. Despite none of them really saying it, it was obvious they were sad their time together would soon end, and at this point they were just trying to enjoy the small amount left.

“Man, these views are something else!” Haru had cathartic look on his face as he approached the edge, leaning on the hurdles of the top of the tower and his gaze fixed on the town, now so small looking. Unmei followed, placing a hand on the hurdle as he looked down too.

“Don't tell me you haven't seen somewhere from this high up before, either?” At this point, Unmei was just kidding, glancing at the boy besides him. But this once, he got a no for an answer.

“I’ve been to a place kinda like this. In Tokyo, there's a steel tower I like to climb to and relax and watch the sunset from there.” With a calmer and more nostalgic tone, Haru started speaking, his voice was softer. Unmei listened intently, not interrupting, as he directed his gaze to the horizon, the wind tousling his hair slightly.
“Both my dad and my grandpa used to go there a lot when they were younger. I guess it’s in our blood or something.” The boy continued, and then took a sigh. “Just like football.” He finished, whispering this last part.

Hearing those words made Unmei’s heart pump a bit faster and his muscles tense. Of course, that's what everyone always said: Haru Endo was destined to a path of greatness in football just like his family. But hearing the way he was speaking now… Did he even…

“...And what do you think of that?” Unmei found those words coming out of himself almost unwillingly, but he had to know. He has to know if he was okay with his fate being written like that.

Haru took a moment to think of what to reply. He also led his gaze to the far horizon, and lifted his hand towards it.

“I… was born to play football. Since I was young, I’ve been practicing, and I’ve always had a lot of talent.” He firstly spoke. The playfulness that had been lingering around both had been set aside, instead, having a small heart to heart. “And it made me happy, genuinely. It's just been lately that I found… football to be kinda dull, I guess.”

“...You can't do the same thing non-stop all the time and not expect to get burnt out eventually. It was bound to happen, the way I see it.” Unmei’s words might have come off as quite blunt and harsh, but he thought that's probably what Haru needed instead of some half-hearted encouragement.

“Right… I just wish it hadn't been… this way.” He looked down at his ankle, wrapped completely under bandages, and grimaced lightly. Unmei sighed as he looked down at it too.

Then, silence filled the air, none of them further contributing to this little conversation. Instead, they enjoyed the beautiful views of the small town, as the sun was slowly setting.

“These views… really are wonderful. It really feels like I'm in the top of the world. One where I wanna be.” With genuine and soft words, Haru turned to look at his friend, and gave off a bright, yet bittersweet smile. The sunset was right behind him, shining intently, and almost blinding Unmei, who just gave a small smile in return.

—

It was around 8 PM now. Haru’s train back home was set to go in an hour, so it was about time they returned. The boys entered the cable car they had come from.

They stood next to each other, watching the scenery getting closer as they descended back to civilization. They hadn't exchanged words for a bit, but Haru was very clearly looking to say something, as his gaze constantly darted back to Unmei, and his mouth would open briefly and then close as soon as it did.

As observant as Unmei was, he obviously noticed those tiny details, even if he played dumb.

In the end, Haru finally said what he intended to, and he gave an honest, grateful smile at Unmei. “Unmei… thank you so much for today.”

Just those words were enough to activate a strange flutter in Unmei’s stomach. He lowered his gaze for a moment, smiling softly to himself, and then met the boy’s round brown eyes.
“Seems like you’re feeling better after all. Glad to see it.”

Haru didn't need to reply, just his gaze was enough to say that he indeed felt better than he had felt in a long time. With his gaze off to the sky, he then spoke quietly.
“...I finally get it. Back then, when you asked me what it was like… I didn't even understand that question.”

Unmei’s memories about their first encounter flooded all back to his mind. How desperately he had wanted to know what it felt like, for Haru, to be able to play football like this. And what a detached answer he had gotten in retaliation back then.

“Truth is… you were critizising me. I had it all on a silver platter… And I didn't even try to enjoy football.”

Unmei didn't reply for a few quiet seconds. He looked at the other with an unreadable expression, and then replied.

“No, I was just curious. Because I wish I could know that feeling.”

Haru listened to the other’s words, and then he took a seat, dodging Unmei’s gaze, as if he felt guilty.
“Well, guess what. It turns out that I was the problem. How can you enjoy something if you don't even try?”
There was a hint of self-loathing in his words that didn't go unnoticed by Unmei. He was starting to become awfully familiar now with Haru’s personal problems, which weren't few. It made his heart twist painfully, as he listened to the boy speak.
“...I guess I just took being able to play for granted.”

“Haru…”

—

The walk to the train station was silent from both parts. Either tired from the long day they had spent, or nor wanting to ruin it by further speaking about their feelings… It was time to say goodbye.

The two both stood in front of each other at the station’s entrance.
“Unmei… I'll be going now.” He gave a weak smile.

“Yeah… Today was fun.” Unmei replied, nodding quietly.

“It really was… see you around.” Haru looked at Unmei, his eyes showing much more than his few words. It was clear there was so much he would have loved to thank Unmei for. But figuring out the words lingering hidden in his heart wasn't such an easy task.

Those were the last words they shared. Unmei just gave a little smile, as he watched the brown haired boy, who shoved his hands onto his pockets and turned around, walking into the station, and soon disappearing among the mass of people.

Unmei looked at him walk off for longer than necessary, and then he, himself, turned to leave. However, he stopped right away in his tracks. His heart was yelling at him to not let this day end up like this. His usually so composed and analytic brain was filled with the precious and sad memories of today, and the new understanding he had of the Raimon’s star player.

He couldn't let this one last thing go unsaid. No way. With newfound determination, he turned around, and then ran. He ran inside of the station, hoping he could still catch Haru before he left back to Tokyo for good.

He could feel his heart-rate pump up dangerously, and his body muscles all tense and stiffen at the cardiac effort, but he couldn't afford to worry about his own wellbeing right now. Haru’s was more important.

He ran, ran up the stairs, almost falling and tripping a couple of times, until he finally took glance of the boy's back, walking to his train about to leave.

“Haru!” He practically yelled on top of his lungs, stopping right behind him and catching his ragged breath. For a moment, Haru didn't turn around, as if wondering if this was really happening or if he was imagining it. But something close to… hope filled his feelings right at that moment.

“Unmei…? What are you doing here?” He asked, disbelief written all over his expression.

“There's something I… need to tell you.”