@kahem: lol the bro code right we’ll see if see does indeed go all the way and break it
@kurogumi: Wmatsui is gone since it would make the title too long
Yuki falling for Jurina that would be interesting wouldn’t it
@ChuuuPuffss: Ah well Mayuyu does make an appearance, albeit a tiny little mention
You could also say the reason Rena didn’t contact Yuki was cause Jurina pissed her off so much in the morning she just spent the whole day in rage
@ryeangryu: That monkey emoticon lol and I gather you think Jurina made a mistake
@mo-chan:Don’t worry about Mayu she won’t fall for Rena or anything like that but I might try that out in another fic lol
@DC2805: Well that is the definition of a love triangle
Though this one is a bit shorter than others
@Yuki88: lol Yuki is just that awesome
Ah, Rena getting angry would be scary… But does she ever find out?
A/N: The final chapter is here! Thank you all for reading my first attempt and I hope you guys like the ending...
Chapter 5~君を忘れるための涙~The Tears to Forget You-
“Arrgh!” A shock went down my spine as I felt a light vibration in my hand. I turned my head on my pillow to see my phone flashing. Sitting up in my bed I saw that it was Yuki who had messaged me
“Thanks so much for last night, Jurina. I really appreciate your help and good luck with the match today!”
A relieved smile came across my face “So last night definitely wasn’t a dream then.” My finger unconsciously rested itself on my bottom lip, still clinging to the sweet sensation that I stole from Yuki’s cheek.
“P.S. I’ll be cheering you guys as loud as I can!”
I daftly giggled, thinking about the ways I could show off to her on the pitch. First off I’d have to find her in the crowd and then make sure I embarrassed the opposition in front of her, in fact I could dedicate the winning goal to her and along with that maybe even steal another kiss...
“Who are you going to be kissing dear?” My mum was standing in the middle of the doorway her eyebrow raised in curiosity.
“Huh you must be hearing stuff I haven’t said anything”
“No, I clearly heard you talking about stealing a goal or dedicating a kiss or something like that.” Crap, me and my stupid imagination. I must’ve started babbling away to myself.
“Well just ignore everything I just said” Breezing by my mum I entered the bathroom to see a tomato staring back at me from the mirror. “What the heck am I thinking I gotta focus.” I stared running the tap before slapping my face several times to wake myself up from my daydreaming. Once the sink was filled with water I went ahead and submerged my head. Yuki can wait till later, right now I can only afford to think about the match. Pulling my head out of the water I flicked my hair to the side, well there’s still Rena to deal with… “Doesn’t matter I’ll just win the game by myself.” I muttered returning to my room to begin my preparations. I changed into the proud black and white stripes of my school, lobbed my boots into my bag and headed downstairs.
“Hey mum, dad I’m better get going now.”
“Jurina make sure you eat something before you go.” My dad called me from the dining room.
“Well if you insist.” I nicked a piece of toast from my dad’s plate and held it in my mouth as I rushed out the house.
“Good luck, dear!” I could just about hear my mum’s shout of encouragement as I left the house.
Half way down the way to the school I spotted Rena walking ahead of me with her bag slung across her shoulder. I looked over my shoulder to make sure the road was clear before jogging across and running by Rena. She would still be furious about the argument we had yesterday and I couldn’t afford another confrontation with her, I had rather hoped that she would take out her anger on the opposition. The crowds were already starting to gather around the grounds. Never before had I seen so many people gather for a match.
“Looks like people are expecting quite a spectacle today.” A hand came to rest on my shoulder. “Make sure you give them one Matsui.”
“Coach, please don’t shock me like that.” I lifted her hand off of me and faced her.
“Sorry about that, just trying to do my job and inspire you before a big game.” She gave me a reassuring pat on the back. “Hey look you partner just arrived.” Rena stepped through the gate and marched straight towards me yet she was staring right passed me. “Right you two let’s get going to changing room now, everyone’s been waiting on you.” Placing her hands on our backs she escorted us into the changing room where the rest of the team was already in a huddle. Each member carrying a rigid expression, the magnitude of the occasion was clearly getting to them. We joined them to fill up the ring and placed our fist in the centre to begin our pre-match ritual.
“Right you lot this is no different from a normal game, so go out there enjoy yourself and as long as you put in the hard work the rest will sort itself out.” This was coach’s favourite phrase, always talking about effort, but then again it always helped the team relax before a match. “Fight on three. One, two, three!”
“Fight!” Our spirits erupted causing the room shake under our voices. We broke up and returned to our own bags to finish our final preparations before one by one we left the changing room and onto the pitch.
By the time I reached the pitch Rena was already in the centre circle with the referee and two members of the opposition. Still avoiding direct contact with Rena I took up my position next to her in the circle.
“So you’re the infamous double Matsui pair?” The shorter girl with a red hairband suddenly spoke out to us. “Let me tell you this now compared to me and my sister you two are nothing.”
“Miyuki you shouldn’t be so disrespectful.” The other girl showed very little emotion considering she was wearing the armband for her team. “You’re insulting us by comparing our combination to some lowly pair like them.”
“The hell did you did you ju—”
“Why don’t we let the football do the talking?” Rena stepped in front of me and stuck out a hand toward the other captain. “Matsui Rena.” She faked a grin, though it wasn’t very convincing and she actually looked a little psychotic.
“Watanabe Mayu.” The girl loosely accepted Rena’s hand with a smirk, then turned to the ref. “They can have kick-off. Come on Miyuki let’s get in position.” They walked in separate directions and stood either side of the circle. The referee blew his whistle and we were under away.
・・・
“What the hell are you two doing out there! We would be winning by now if you two knew how to pass it to each other!” The coach was right; the first half was a complete disaster. Rena and I hadn’t exchanged a single pass between each other and that had caused us to fall behind 1-0 at half-time. “I don’t care what is going on between you two but don’t you dare let some stupid argument be the reason we lose the game.” She pointed an accusing finger at the two of us. “Now get out there and win the game!” She shouted, trying to lift our spirits before we went back out to the pitch.
The second half started out as badly as the first half. Rena and I still only occasionally passed it to each other. I kept opting to go for the spectacular shots instead of passing it to her. With five minutes to go the opposition’s sly captain picked the ball up on the edge of our penalty area. I rushed across and slid in at her trying to get the ball back. She merely flicked her foot to daintily lift the ball over my outstretched leg. As she went by me I could hear her snicker before she lashed the ball into the back of the net.
“Hmph, such an eyesore.” She sneered at me not even looking happy about having scored.
“You want to say that again.” My teeth ground against each other as I stood up, clenching my hand into a fist.
“Sure, you’re complete disgrace to your team.” I snapped and started swinging my fist at her smug face.
“Take this you litt—” A sudden force hit me from the side knocking me onto the ground.
“What are you doing Jurina? You trying to get yourself sent off!” Rena grabbed me by the collar and picked me back up. “Look I’m sorry for continuing to be petty over yesterday, so let’s start playing properly now.” She set me back on the ground and walked off to the centre again.
“Hey Rena” I called out to her. “I’m sorry as well.” I bowed down in apology before joining her in the centre circle. I looked across at the scoreboard, 2-0 five minutes left. I couldn’t help but laugh at our situation.
“Jurina did you hit your head when you fell?” Rena looked a little confused by my strange reaction.
“Imagine if we go and win this game now.” Rena’s eyes grew twofold in size upon seeing my grin. “We’ll be legends.” The referee blew his whistle and we immediately turned on the opponents. Rena and I weaved in and out of the opponents knocking the ball between each other with each fluid motion. Finally Rena was clear through on the goal and smashed the ball into the net. The crowd roared they finally had something to cheer about and they sensed a comeback was on.
“Come on! Just one more guys let’s do this!” It was refreshing to see Rena have the hunger in her eyes again. The entire team felt the change in her aura and they started to believe in themselves. The problem now was the time, we only had a minute to score and we needed to get the ball back. Rena came across to me and gave me some instructions. “When they kick off immediately start running toward their goal; I’ll make sure to get the ball back.”
The whistle went off and I took off. I just put my head down and ran; I trusted Rena would fulfill her part of the job so I had to do mine.
“Jurina!” I glanced back to see the girl with the red hairband sprawled across the floor next to Rena, who then kicked the ball towards me. Once I received the ball there was only one player between me and the goal. It was the devious captain.
“I won’t let you pass!” This was the first time I had seen her lose her composure, so this match did mean something to her.
“Try me.” I stopped the ball with my right foot then spun around, knocking the ball through her legs with my left heel. Oh how sweet revenge is. With only the keeper to beat I swept the ball into the bottom corner. The referee signaled the end of the game.
“Get in!” I roared. My teammates were all piling around me, the crowd applauding our impossible comeback.
“Hey you lot we haven’t won yet!” Takahashi-sensei broke up the celebrations. “We still have to win on penalties!” She proceeded to tell us the order in which we would take our penalties. “Jurina you’ll be the last one up.” I acknowledged my responsibilities as the ace and waited for my turn.
Everyone ahead of me had scored their penalties, making the score 5-4 to them. This meant I had to score mine. Stepping up to the ball I went through my usual process, taking 1… 2 steps away at a slight angle to my left. I shut my eyes, focusing on the top right corner of the goal. Then another image floated into my head. It shouldn’t have appeared here. I had gone through the entire game not even thinking about her once yet now at such an important time my mind wandered away from football. Running up to kick the ball I opened my eyes to try and get rid of the image. As I made contact with the ball the image reappeared in the corner of my eye. Yuki was there next to the goal nervously gazing at me as the ball left my foot. Bang! My heart plummeted at the sound. The crossbar was still shaking from the impact of the ball.
Everyone else started to filter away from the pitch leaving me there, a solitary figure with my hands on my hips ignoring all the commotion around me. My world was collapsing around me, everything I had been preparing for all gone in just a single second. Eventually I was the only one left on the pitch so I returned to the changing room to collect my things before heading back home.
・・・
The road back to my house had never felt so deserted. The sun was already fading away behind the clouds and not a single other soul was in sight. Still in my uniform I decided to visit my sacred place and try to forget about the day, though deep down I knew that no matter what I did the disappoint would continue to haunt me. I was too busy worrying about Rena being distracted by Yuki, to think that I would be the one that fell apart because of her beauty…
Turning the corner I headed up the dirt track toward the shrine. When I arrived there was someone sitting on the stone beside it. They looked up and noticed me walking towards them.
“Jurina, I knew you’d eventually come here.” Rena’s eyes were slightly red from the disappointment of the loss but they were nowhere near as dejected as mine.
“Rena I— I’m so—” My legs gave way and I broke down in tears. I didn’t want Rena to see me in such a miserable state. I came here to forget about my failure not to cry about them. Rena came up to me and surrounded me with her slight arms.
“It’s ok Jurina just let it all out.” I continued to wail onto her shoulder. My soaking tears forming a puddle on her red t-shirt. “I had Yuki’s shoulder to cry on and you can have mine.” Of course she has Yuki to console her now she didn’t need me to comfort her any more, but wait…
“Rena, isn’t it Yuki’s birthday?” My grip around her got tighter as I sobbed these words. Why was Rena wasting time with me on such an important day?
“Don’t worry she understands that you need me and even I would have come here even if she told me not to.” Rena pulled away and grasped me by the shoulders and flashed soothing smile.
“Thanks Rena but I’m okay now.” The tears were gradually slowing. “I’d better get going now.”
“Wait Jurina, just one last thing.” Rena caught a hold of my arm. I noticed a silver coin gleaming in her other hand. “It’s not quite an entire piggy bank but I hope it’s good enough for you.”
“You still remember that?” I was surprised that she remembers that gesture I made from all those years ago.
“Of course I do. You’re my precious best friend Jurina I’ll always be here for you.” Rena threw the coin into the box and shook the bell. “I wish that we can win the next year.” In my mind her previous words were still reverberating. I finally realized how stupid I’ve been. How could I forget such an important thing? Something shifted in my heart and I finally made the decision that I should have done long ago.
“Hey Rena” I stared directly into her eyes. “Thanks so much and I’ll see you on Monday.” Not waiting for a reply I rushed all the way back to my house and ran straight past my parents into my room. After casting away all my bags I grabbed something from the shelf then sprinted back out the house past my bewildered parents.
Panting heavily I climbed the last few steps to the shrine; it was time to make my decision. I came to halt at the box and emptied the contents of my piggy bank into it.
“I wish for my best friend to live in eternal happiness with Yuki.” A tear drop streamed down my cheek as the bells rang out. I’m glad that I that fell in love with Yuki. I understand that it was a mistake on my part but now I look back, it just shows how close we are falling for the same person, and now I understand exactly why you love her. But I will forget about my love for her because your happiness is just as important as mine. Deep down I had always known that this was something I had to face. Ever since I developed these feelings for Yuki there was a small niggling in my heart, but I wanted to ignore it. I convinced myself that I could continue loving your girlfriend without hurting anyone. Of course that’s impossible. At least one person will suffer from such a situation, and I will be that person for I was the one who committed the sin. No matter how many tears it takes I will forget about my affection for Yuki. This way you’ll never know about my mistake and live forever in bliss with Yuki.
END