#meanwhile a girl i know from another club? her coach trains her for free each friday 💀 ngl im a little bit jealous

[thoughtfulseason]

we had like 7 last fights today after coach left hehe bad girl vibes

[shinjukuspiritcommittee]

Health and Sports Team Building 1

Fan Event 1

Location: ???

Oh, you’re back. Why? Because you wanted to…? Or maybe… because you felt you had to? You really didn’t get much of a say in it I’m guessing. I’m in the same boat I guess. A lot of the things I know just get decided for me and I don’t ever have any control in what I do. It’s why I asked. I’m just curious if you ever felt that way, that’s all…

~~~

Location: Shinjuku Academy

After another long day of classes, it seemed a well deserved respite was in order for you and your friends. You let loose a rather loud yawn which your friends took notice to. “Finally gettin’ tired of classes?” Kengo teased. You explained that wasn’t quite the case, but rather just exhausted altogether from the lack of sleep.

This seems to have alarmed Shiro. “Oh really? I wonder what could have kept you up.” Shiro’s cold gaze pierced through your sleepiness. You panicked a bit while you responded that students from Yoyogi Academy had kept you out a bit later than normal on your way back. “Hmm, well you are quite popular so it’s no surprise.” You tried to deny you were that popular…

“I agree with Shiro.” Moritaka added. “You are quite known after all that’s happened this past year.” The comments made you a bit sheepish and you wondered aloud if they really thought so.

Ryota laughed. “Yep! There’s just something about you that draws in all sorts of folks. You’ve made a lot of friends too and get involved with all these crazy schemes.” Ryota had a point all things considered. Especially since your sports academy friends did give you a personal invitation to go to their school for their Health and Sports day event. This surprised your friends. “Are they allowed to do that?” Ryota asked with a bit of concern.

“Most cases, no.” Shiro replied. “But since we all celebrate Health and Sports day differently…”

“Whaddya mean? Don’t we all just get the day off?” Kengo asked.

“We do, but Yoyogi Academy is still one of the few prominent schools in Tokyo that still celebrate Health and Sports day. Schools all across Japan used to celebrate it but over the years it’s importance has dwindled quite a bit. At the very least Yoyogi Academy tends to draw out a bit of a crowd every year given the number of athletes that participate so it makes for a nice excuse to watch them compete.” You commented that sounded like a fun day and get a bit excited at what sort of events they might compete in. “All sorts of things like a relay race and tug of war.”

“I once heard they did a Cavalry Battle. Is it true!?” Ryota asked with an equal amount of excitement.

“It’s one of the more uncommon ones but I believe there was…” Shiro pondered. Those didn’t quite sound like normal games. Now you were more excited to see such events play out. You even suggested all your friends should go. “Well, I’m not against going to watch.”

“Lame.” Kengo replied. “If you’re gonna go to a sports school the least you could do is not act like a total bookworm!”

“And maybe you might learn a thing or two about better health habits.” Shiro quipped right back.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, really. Just all those sweets are gonna catch up to you one of these days.”

“...You little-”

Ryota couldn’t help but laugh at the two’s bickering as it was commonplace for the two to act like that while Moritaka sighed. Ryota continued on through his laughter “While I’m not the biggest sports fan, I’d love to go watch and cheer too.”

“Hmm, perhaps I could hone my skills with their sports clubs.” Moritaka added. “Do you think they have Kendo students?” That actually reminded you that they do. In fact, you met one yesterday…

One day earlier

Location: Shinjuku Park

“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” A girl with her brunette hair tied up in a pony tail asked you as you were on your way back while on your guild patrol. You took a mental note of her uniform and how her hair was quite unkempt. However familiar she was not a girl you’ve interacted with before. “You sure?” You suggested she might just be mistaking you for someone else. “Hmm… not really. I couldn’t forget a face as cute as yours~.” Well- Wait, hold up. Cute? “Yep.” She chuckled as she took a comical step forward, getting close but not quite touching you. Just who was she?

“That’s enough Yui.” Durga said as a small group of three Yoyogi students jogged up to you; Kyuma, Gunzo, and Durga. “Tatsuya was right, you’re gonna scare people just running up like that.”

The girl who was apparently named Yui backed away from you laughing to herself. “C’mon, can’t I have a bit of fun? They’re totally someone who definitely looks like they need a date~.” You interjected what that was supposed to mean. “That you’re cute. You think so too, right Durga?”

“W-What does that have to do with me!?” Dura stammered out while blushing from embarrassment. “Besides, this one’s a pal of ours!”

“What a funny coincidence!” Gunzo laughed. “Guess we took our jog a bit too far up. So what brings you the way out here?” You didn’t want to burden them with your responsibilities too much so you simply said you were out for a stroll since it was Shinjuku Park. While everyone else was convinced, Yui took notice something of you. You noticed but neither of you said anything.

“Well, whatever the case it’s good to see you again!” Kyuma said. “David’s pretty happy to see you again too.” You were glad David and Kyuma were doing well. “We’d love to stay and chat but we should probably head back soon. We’ve gotta make sure everything is ready for tomorrow.” What was happening tomorrow?

“You haven’t heard? Sports Day is coming up.” Gunzo answered. “Its basically a day when we all take the time to learn more about healthy living. Well all of us in the Academy at least.”

“Yeah, it’s mandatory for us…” Durga sighed. You pointed out she didn’t sound very excited. “Yeah, well… the work’s kinda boring and we had to waste a bunch of good days for training to set up for some boring lectures! It’s definitely dreadful!”

Yui then cut in. “That’s no way to talk! We get to do as much outside as we do inside, remember? Can’t have fun without a little torture!”

“Oh, right! I almost forgot about those since I didn’t do any of that work…” She admitted bashfully.

“It’s too bad you can’t play with us.” Gunzo said to you. “It’d be great to be on the same team again!” You actually brought up your school was giving you the day off and you didn’t have much planned so a day outside sounded like a bunch of fun. “Wait, seriously!? Some people get all the luck…” He grumbled while Legion murmured to him you were still there. “Uh, I mean-! That’s great! Totally!”

Kyuma then got on board with the idea. “That sounds like a lot of fun! I hope we get to play against each other!” You told Kyuma you looked forward to it. “Alright! I’m getting pumped just thinking about it!”

“Whoa, hold up a sec!” Yui jumped in. “You can’t just invite anyone to play in these events with us… can you?”

“Well, I’m sure Mr. Arima or Mr. Avarga could get you approved.”  Kyuma suggested.

“Hmm, actually… Tatsuya’s been at the infirmary a lot lately… maybe he can help.” Yui brought up.

“Ever the reliable Den Mother.” Gunzo said. “I’m sure he’s able to convince Mr. Arima. The two are also doing that seminar together, right?”

“Yeah, I think…” You were confused by who they meant. “Oh, right. Tatsuya is a classmate of ours and a member of the Kendo club like me.” Yui explained. “I’ve known him for quite a while… hmm, maybe you two should meet sometime.” He sounds pretty nice. “Yeah…” She said that with a bit of concern in her voice.

“He really is! He’s always helping us around campus and all sorts of smaller things.” Gunzo said.

“Though his lectures…” Durga sighed. “He’s almost as bad as the coaches about studies…”

“Well, maybe if you did study a bit more and got your grades up he wouldn’t be so hard on you.” Kyuma chided.

“Let’s not talk about that! We gotta get back before curfew anyway! See ya!” Durga then bolted off without her other three friends.

“Hey wait a sec- You can’t just ditch us like that!” Gunzo cried out as he and Kyuma charged after her.

Yui looked back at you a bit nervously. “Y-You know… you really should come. I know it’ll our friend happy!” You said you would but what made her so sure Tatsuya would be happy. “He just… would, okay? I can just tell by looking at you! Anyway gotta go bye!” She then charged off after her friends too leaving you by yourself to ponder what to do.

Present Day

Location: Shinjuku Academy

Everyone remained silent as you recounted your story the whole way through. They all took a minute to process what was said until Kengo finally spoke up. “Some just have all the luck.” You asked what that meant since it didn’t seem out of the ordinary for you. “You always get invited to all the fun stuff!” I-It’s not always… was it? You were just the one who had the free time to do so. Besides there wasn’t any harm in extending your invitation out to your friends.

“Yeah, that sounds good at least!” Ryota said. “It’s too bad Toji is gonna be busy tomorrow. I’m sure he would have enjoyed that lecture they were talking about.”

“I know I’m curious.” Your advisor stated. “It’ll be nice to get a change of pace for a change too.”

“Now you’re talkin’!” Kengo whooped.

“I’ll be accompanying you as well then. I would love to test my skill against athletes of that caliber.” You were confident Moritaka could stand his ground and even beat them. “I’m not trying to be THAT impressive. But… it does sound nice.” The canine therian went on sheepishly.

Meanwhile…

Location: Yoyogi Academy Dorms

Tatsuya had wrapped up his work for the day and was ready to turn in early to get a head start on tomorrow’s preparations since he had to do that lecture on mental health with Mineaki and an upperclassmen pretty early in the morning. As he was nearing his room someone called out for him. “Tatsuyaaaa~!” You called out as she jogged over. When she reached him she panted and took a sip of her sports drink. “Man, you shoulda came on that run with us~.”

“Well I was busy.” Tatsuya pointed out while motioning to his bag.

“Oh, right uh…” Yui hesitated at her misspeaking. “Anyway, about Sports Day tomorrow I realized we hadn’t talked much about our plans after that lecture.”

“We haven’t talked much, but I’ve been making plans.”

“What kinda plans?” Yui asked. Tatsuya wordlessly pulled out a paper from his bag and before presenting it to Yui he made her promise to not tell anyone about it. Once she agreed he showed the contents to her and it was all of his approved sports for Sports Day. Yui was taken aback by how many rejections there were. “There’s no way this is real? Can Mr. Arima really pull you from this many activities!?” Tatsuya nodded. However before he could explain Yui continued speaking. “There has to be a mistake. I’m sure I can persuade Mr. Arima to give you a chance. It’s probably your grades or something right? Don’t worry we’ll get this fixed.”

“Wait a sec-” Tatsuya tried to stop her but she took off again for the main building with his paper still in her hands. He took a picture of it so he remembers what sports he was approved for but his main concern was that paper getting lost and getting loose. Tatsuya sighed to himself. “You can’t just fix things because you want to…”

Location: Yoyogi Academy

Yui raced down the halls hoping Mr. Arima hadn’t turned in for the day so she could talk about Tatsuya’s case. While she made it to the office only a student was standing there. “What’s wrong?” He asked as she came up.

“Uh… I was looking for Mr. Arima…” Yui breathed. “Is he not in?”

“You just missed him. He made his way back to the dorms.”

“Dang it, I musta just missed him…” She sighed. “Thanks anyway, er…”

The canine therian replied with “Yasuyori, third year.”

“Ah okay… Uh, you can just call me Yui! I’m a second year. Anyway, thanks again!”

“No problem.” He told her as she ran off to go find him. “Yui, huh? She seemed nice. It’s too bad she missed him…” For some reason he was rather melancholic as he spoke to himself about her.

[thinkingaboutyoungroyals]

The Space Between Us

Summary: It’s the Monday after Costume Day and Cyrus finds himself avoiding T.J. at school. 

A/N: I’m sorry. I am so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I just had a lot of feelings.

“Do you think Andi’s still mad at me?”

“Possibly.”

“But I really didn’t want to do the costume!”

“You kind of sprung it on her last minute. A heads up would have been nice.”

Jonah groaned as they entered the school doors together, weaving through throngs of chatting students. “She hates me.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Cyrus sympathized. “Look, she’s just going through a lot right now. Give her time.”

The other boy sighed. “I guess.” Then, he gave Cyrus a pointed look. “How are you doing?”

“Me? I’m fine. Why?”

“Well, I saw you a bit last Friday. You looked upset.”

Cyrus managed to maintain a poker face. “I’m fine,” he repeated. “Anyway, what do you think of-.”

He froze in his tracks, his eyes trained on another figure down the hall.

T.J. was there, talking to a classmate, friendly smile plastered on his face.

As if the world just turned back on its axis, Cyrus was transported back to last Friday.

He woke up excited and ready to face the day. He put on an all-white outfit with his shirt bearing a giant “S”. He put a strainer on his head as a hat and walked to the bus stop looking like he was trying to ward off an alien abduction. But, he didn’t care because his costume was clever and had a deep, personal meaning.

And, then, T.J. showed up, not wearing their agreed costume. And the icing on the carrot cake was Kira showing up, gloating about their matching costumes. 

Double Dribble. What the heck did that mean?! 

T.J. apologized and allowed the girl to whisk him away, leaving Cyrus behind as a miserable salt shaker with no summer to complete him.

He was brought back to the present by Jonah’s voice going, “Cyrus? You okay?”

The boy shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Yeah.”

Across the way, T.J. happened to turn his head in their direction. Green eyes met his brown ones.

T.J. smiled and lifted a hand to wave.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Cyrus looked away. “I gotta go. See you later.”

“Wait, I thought we were getting breakfast,” Jonah asked, confused.

But, Cyrus’ feet were already taking him away to another direction. He didn’t know where exactly he was going but he needed to get out of there. 

Seeing T.J…. he suddenly couldn’t breathe. It felt like a hand was wrapped around his heart and squeezing it until it turned to dust.

He did a pretty good job dodging T.J. for the rest of the day.

(They passed each other in the halls during second period but Cyrus hid behind a tall classmate. Then he saw T.J. hovering by his locker during third period and decided he didn’t need his English notebook after all and took a different set of stairs to get to class.)

He felt a little bad but every time he saw the jock and looked at his face, he would remember. And, then, the feelings of betrayal and abandonment would take over.

All his senses were telling him to let his friend explain, to hear him out and listen. Cyrus wasn’t one for jumping to conclusions. He believed everyone had a reason for doing something and he always prided himself in being open-minded when it came to listening to other people.

But, this time, something was different. This time, the pain in his chest was interfering, preventing him from thinking, logically. And, thus, he chose to run away.

At lunch, he sat with Andi and Buffy, as usual. Jonah was nowhere to be found, probably still clearing clear of Andi’s wrath. 

Meanwhile, the pixie-haired girl was ranting about her parents’ decision to cancel the wedding. Buffy listened sympathetically and Cyrus tried to be as well, even as he picked at his lunch.

“Am I overreacting? I don’t think I am. I’m allowed to be upset, right?”

“Totally,” Buffy agreed.

Cyrus hummed.

This time, the two girls turned to him.

“Are you okay?” Andi asked.

Cyrus smiled, faintly. “Yeah. Why?”

“Well, for one, you’ve been really quiet.”

“Is this about T.J.?” Buffy asked. “Do you want me to have words with him?”

But, Cyrus shook his head. “No, I’m fine, really.”

His athletic friend frowned. “You know it’s okay to not be okay, right, Cyrus? You’re always telling us that.”

“And we’re here for you if you need to talk,” Andi added.

His girls… how did he get so lucky to have two of the most amazing best friends in the world?

“Thanks, guys,” he said, gratefully. “I mean… it’s no big deal. I’ll get over it. And...”

He trailed off, his eye catching a familiar blonde head walking towards their table.

Quick as lightning, he jumped to his feet and grabbed his bag.

“Cy?” Andi questioned. “Where are you-.”

“I gotta go,” he said, picking up his tray. “I’ll see you, guys, later.”

He dumped the contents of his tray in the nearest trash can and practically tossed it on the rack.

Then, he sped off.

He had never run so fast in his entire life. His Gym teacher would have been proud.

……..........

T.J. miserably watched Cyrus practically hightail out of the cafeteria after seeing him approach. He couldn’t blame him. He broke his promise.

He didn’t know what came over him. Being close to Cyrus had never bothered him before. He liked being close to him. He was his best friend. And, yes, maybe he also had not-so-friendly feelings for him, but it was never an issue…not until Kira said those things that made him feel like he should be ashamed.

And, what more, Cyrus ignored his texts all weekend. And was avoiding him all morning. And was running away from him now.

He had never felt so pathetic in his entire life.

Anxiously, he approached the table where Cyrus sat before.

The two girls immediately noticed his presence and glared.

“What do you want?” Buffy snapped, coldly.

If looks could kill, T.J. would be a goner.

Well, he made this bed. He would lie in it.

“Is Cyrus mad at me?” he asked, cursing his voice for being so faint.

But, that seemed to gain some sympathy. Buffy’s gaze softened.

“No,” she replied. “He’s not mad.”

“Just disappointed,” Andi supplied, flashing him a pointed look. “You really hurt him this time. How are you going to fix it?”

The guilt T.J. had been carrying since Friday multiplied tenfold.

“I didn’t mean to,” he said, but even that sounded like a lame excuse. “I… I wasn’t trying to hurt him. It’s just… stuff happened and…”

“You should be explaining this to Cyrus, not us,” Buffy pointed out.

“He won’t talk to me! He keeps running away from me! He won’t even answer my texts!”

“And this time, it’s not because of us,” said Andi.

T.J. was out of his wits at this point. He just wanted to talk to Cyrus, apologize, and patch things up. He knew he messed up and he didn’t want to lose him because he had a moment of weakness. He let Kira play into his insecurities and he ended up hurting Cyrus.

“I need to talk to him,” he practically begged the two girls. “Please?”

He knew his image with them was pretty shot at this point but if there was anyone he knew who could help him fix things with Cyrus, it would be these two… if they were feeling generous.

The girls turned to each other, their eyes having a silent conversation.

“I don’t think we can really help you,” Buffy said, slowly.

T.J.’s heart sank.

“But…” Andi looked up to meet his eyes. “We know Cyrus has fifth period free and he always does his homework on the first-floor lounge. The table by the Science lab.”

“And he didn’t really eat much of his lunch,” added Buffy with a kind smile.

Hope bloomed in T.J.’s chest.

“Thank you,” he said to them, breaking out into his first smile of the day.

With determined steps, he headed for the food line.

……........

“The swimming club went to a swim meet in another town. They took 4 cars and 2 vans. There were 5 people in each car and 8 people in each van. How many people went on the trip?”

Cyrus read the problem over and over again before beginning to write an equation. Halfway through, he crossed it out and started drawing them out, instead.

Why did they have to take 4 cars and 2 vans, anyway? Why couldn’t they just take a large coach bus and be done with it?!

His musings were interrupted by another presence.

In a few seconds, an object was set down next to his notebook: a chocolate-chocolate chip muffin.

He looked up to see T.J., looking worse for wear.

Cyrus gulped. It was too late to run away.

“Can I sit?” the blonde asked, gesturing to the seat across from him.

Putting his pencil down, Cyrus shrugged, feigning nonchalance.

T.J. sat down, his gaze not leaving him for a second, as if he was afraid that Cyrus would disappear if he did.

His worries weren’t unfounded. If leaving didn’t require packing up his things and swinging his legs over the bench, Cyrus would have gotten away by now.

“You didn’t answer my texts all weekend,” T.J. started.

He cleared his dry throat. “I was busy,” he mumbled, directing his gaze at anything else but the jock in front of him.

T.J. had his puppy dog face on. Cyrus was weak to that.

“Cyrus…”

He picked up his pencil again and turned his attention back to his homework, trying to ignore the way his hand was shaking and his penmanship barely legible.

“Cyrus… I’m sorry.”

His hand froze.

Slowly, he raised his eyes to see T.J. looking utterly miserable.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to, it just… happened.”

It just happened. Cyrus hated that. What exactly happened that made T.J. abandon all their plans and left him hanging like a piece of lettuce no one wanted?

Slowly, he put the pencil down again. Clasping his hands underneath the table, Cyrus finally asked the one question that had been bugging him since Friday.

“Why did you do it?” His voice was soft and strained.

But, T.J. heard it. The jock looked away, guiltily, for a moment before looking back at him.

“I wanted to do the costume with you, honest.”

“It didn’t seem that way to me,” Cyrus replied, coldly. “Do you know how humiliating that was? And I don’t even care that you didn’t do the costume. I’m more disappointed by the fact that you didn’t even have the courtesy to tell me before I put that stupid strainer on my head.”

“You looked really cute,” T.J. stated, with a small smile.

Cyrus glared, ignoring the blood rushing to his cheeks.

T.J.’s face fell. “Sorry.”

Cyrus’ eyes stung. “I wouldn’t have minded if you realized that you liked Kira and wanted to do the costume with her instead of me. I get it, I was probably a last resort but I still would have appreciated-.”

“I don’t like Kira.”

That made Cyrus pause and squint, suspiciously, at him. “What do you mean? You wouldn’t just drop a costume you planned to do with me and do something else with another person if you didn’t like them!”

“I don’t!” T.J. insisted, sounding distressed now.

“Then, why?!”

“Because!.... Because…”

T.J. seemed to be having a sort of internal debate with himself.

Cyrus felt awful for pressing but he needed answers. He wanted answers. He was done being the passive one, for once. He just needed to know. And he wanted to be treated like he was important, for once.

“I… I can’t really explain it…” T.J. was fidgeting. “Just… the day before… Kira found me at the park. She told me she wanted to do a costume with me but I told her I was already doing one with you. But, she wouldn’t stop asking and then… then she… she said some things…”

Cyrus furrowed his brows. “What did she say?”

T.J. opened his mouth but no words came out.

“T.J.?”

“S-She… U-Um…”

T.J. truly looked distressed now, like he was about to cry and hyperventilate if he continued.

Cyrus’ heart twitched. “Okay, you don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want to.”

T.J. swallowed. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you. It’s just… it was bugging me. And I freaked out. I did the costume with her without thinking and I wanted to tell you that morning before she showed up. And I’m… I’m still trying to figure things out… but, I don’t like her! I swear!” he added, quickly. “I’m just… figuring things out…”

He sounded genuinely sorry and if Cyrus knew anything about himself by now, it was that he when it came to T.J. Kippen, his resolve was weak. He didn’t know how the blonde managed to finagle his way into his heart but he was there to stay.

“Okay,” he replied.

T.J. appeared to light up, a small smile playing on his lips. “I know I don’t deserve it, but… do you forgive me?”

Cyrus managed a small smile of his own. “Yeah. I forgive you.”

T.J.’s smile widened.

“But…” Cyrus bit his lip. “I think… we need a little space.”

Fear flashed in T.J.’s eyes. “Cyrus-.”

“Just because you apologized and explained everything doesn’t mean I’m immediately okay with what you did.”

Cyrus gathered all of his strength to maintain a steady voice and a calm demeanor because if he didn’t, he might actually cry. And he didn’t want to cry in front of him.  

“You really hurt me, T.J.,” he finally confessed.

A traitorous tear managed to escape his eye.

“I forgive you but I need space from you.” He closed his notebook and grabbed his bag.

“I-I don’t want space,” said T.J., his voice breaking. “Cyrus, please-.”

“I don’t want to do this either.” Cyrus swallowed the lump in his throat, feeling another tear brimming at his eyes. “But, I need it. We need it. Use this time to figure out exactly what my place is in your life. And… I think I have a few things I need to think over, too.”

His heart hammering against his chest, he stood up.

“Cyrus,” T.J. called out, desperately, also rising to his feet.

He glanced at the lone chocolate-chocolate chip muffin on the table before giving the blonde a small sad smile. 

“Bye, T.J.”

Turning on his heels, he quickly walked away. In a few steps, he was tempted to look back but forced his gaze forward, dragging his heavy feet away.

Turning a corner, he ducked into an empty hallway.

Shrouded in darkness, he finally allowed his tears to fall freely and silently.  

He made this choice. He didn’t know if it was the right one, but he knew he needed it.

But, then, why was his heart breaking?