England, 8 years ago.
"Mum, mum, mum, mum, mum! I want to be like that"
A short, blond boy was vigorously pointed with his stubby fingers at the TV in their hotel where a knight was being shown slaying a dragon in some sort of animated film.
His mother had a serene smile on her face and let out a gentle laugh before patting the young boy's head.
"Are you all set to go Galahad? We'll be able to meet up with your father and brother in Japan soon!"
Galahad nodded his head in confirmation before putting on his backpack, grabbing his action figure with one hand and then reaching for his mother's hand with his other. Galahad had never been to Japan before but as long as he had his family he didn't really care where he was.
He had a bright smile on his face before turning to his mom
"Mmh, all ready!"
*************************************************************************************
One Year Ago, Before Raimon’s Loss to Eisei Gakuen in the Holy Road Quarterfinals
"Yozora-kun? Yozora-kun? Are you sure you're not having any issues with your auditory perception? Perhaps you should schedule an appointment with a physician. Shall I recommend you one?"
Galahad was quickly getting used to Mika's way of speech so he just laughed awkwardly and assured her that his hearing was fine and he was just lost in thought.
Mika nodded in understanding and continued to look straight ahead as she was walking.
Looking at her refined side visage, Galahad let out a sigh of resignation.
He had expected a few gazes because it was Mika but it was much more than he had anticipated. Galahad couldn't help but take a glance at the girl walking beside him again, and in her school uniform she was already beautiful but this was the first he had seen her outside of school. Even in light-blue knee-length jeans, a casual t-shirt and a light black jacket she had a chic but relaxed look that resembled a celebrity.
Galahad hadn't expected her to say yes when he asked her and the only other 1st year, Kenji Aihara on the first string, to get gelatos with him over the weekend as he recalled the rather awkward conversation between the three yesterday.
Huff Huff Huff
With practice for the day wrapping up Galahad finally saw the only other first years on the team together at the water fountain, and swallowing his nerves he went over to talk to them.
"Hello"
Galahad gave a short greeting, but was met with a clear face of disinterest from Kenji while Mika had her usual unreadable expression. Galahad clenched his hand a few times but this time was determined to invite them out to hang out after practice. Having been intimidated by their cold facades in the past, he hadn't practised in the mirror so many times only to waste his efforts now. Putting on the warmest smile he could muster up he asked
"I was wondering if you guys wanted to grab some gelato from a nearby place that opened up just a while back? I've been there once and it was really good so I thought it'd be good for team bonding if we went tomorrow?"
"Sorry Galahad-kun, I'll be doing some data analysis of the match last night between Orpheus and The Empire" Kenji replied while pushing up his glasses.
"The synchronicity between the Orpheus members was 3.2% higher than their last match and they used a new hissatsu tactic I wanted to break down which will take a while"
"Oh sure! I get it! Have fun with that Aihara-kun, no worries."
Galahad sighed and turned around to leave, he had expected as much but he was still a bit disappointed.
"Alright"
"Huh?"
"I said alright, are you perhaps having issues with your auditory perception Yozora-kun?" asked Mika without a trace of sarcasm.
"Alright to what?"
"Did you or did you not inquire as to whether we wanted to go to get gelato? I would hope you aren't having any memory issues at this age Yozora-kun"
Galahad sweatdropped a bit hearing Mika talk. However, he wasn't surprised as he had seen her talking with a few of the other members before and he knew she was a bit awkward based on their reactions.
"Are you sure? It'd just be us two..."
"It will be a bit awkward as the two of us aren't familiar with each other but I've read that all first interactions are inherently awkward so there's no reason to be embarrassed Yozora-kun. I also think it will be an... efficient way to promote 'team bonding' as you put it. According to the How To Get Along with People series, eating together is one of the most universally accepted methods to form bonds with others. As soccer is a team sport, optimal performance will require strong teamwork..."
"Yozora-kun? Which way do we go from here?"
Galahad shook his head from his flashback and quickly looked around to get his bearings.
"We'll be taking this right... And um...Kuroha-san, you don't have to call me Yozora-kun all the time... actually everyone just calls me Galahad so you can too"
Mika's large purple eyes just blinked at him a few times before she turned her head forwards again.
"Understood. Then you may address me as Mika as well."
"Oh you don't have to–"
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"It is socially expected that as peers, if I am to call you by your first name, then I must reciprocate and allow you to call me by my first name."
Judging by the tone of her voice, Galahad suspected she wouldn't take no for an answer and was a bit surprised by how easy-going she was compared to the rumours about her.
"Alright Mika" replied while Galahad flashed a bright smile, slightly startled by how well it was going.
The two continued to walk in silence, and the atmosphere had become slightly less suffocating compared to the start.
Galahad then turned to Mika to break the silence
"So Mika, have you eaten Gelato before or is this gonna be your first time?"
"..."
"I've read about them before. Gelatos are a frozen delicacy originating in Italy. It is similar to ice cream but is usually denser and rich–"
She stopped herself once she saw Galahad look at her and replied to his gaze.
"No, I haven't eaten them before. My tutors didn't want me to gain weight from desserts and my soccer trainers judged it would prevent me from performing optimally during matches."
"Oh, then we could've gotten something else instead of gelato today, sorry I didn't know you were on a diet." apologised Galahad while putting his right hand behind his head feeling guilty that he hadn't considered something like that before asking her.
Mika turned her head away from him before lightly whispering,
"Just one portion wouldn't hurt... and gelato would no doubt be more efficient for team building than a different food..."
Galahad saw the tips of her ears turn a bit pink so he laughed and to spare her feelings he replied
"Yup you're right Mika. If you want team building, it's gotta be gelato. No other options"
After that, they continued their walk peacefully for a few minutes until they finally arrived at the store and ordered their gelatos. However, just when they were exiting the store they heard a cry to the left where a little girl had dropped her cup of gelato and her mother appeared quite distressed while trying to appease the girl.
Galahad turned to Mika before saying,
"Do you mind waiting a bit? I'm going to run inside and get a replacement for that girl real quick before they leave." He was about to rush back into the store before he felt a hand grab his sleeve.
"What do you think you're doing Galahad? It's the girl's fault for dropping her cup and it's the mother's responsibility to get her a new one, not yours. You don't even know her so why would you spend your own money to do that. There are no social expectations or rewards for acting this way so pull yourself together and let's go"
"..."
Slightly disappointed even though he knew she was right and in order to not make any waves or disturb the nice atmosphere they had going, Galahad decided to drop it and follow along.
As they continued to walk, they passed the still crying girl and her mother and a pang of guilt washed over him but he was startled to see Mika drop on her knees in front of him and begin talking to the little girl.
"You should be more careful, you can't expect your mother to pay for your mistakes in the future. If you don't want to be a burden then learn how to be more responsible with your food and don't make trouble for your parents"
"..."
Galahad was about to interject and apologise for her but he was surprised to see Mika put her gelato into the hands of the small girl.
"I haven't eaten any of it so you don't have to worry about the communication of any diseases. I don't like gelatos so you're lucky and today you can have mine, so stop crying alright?"
The girl stopped crying and she and her mother both began to thank Mika profusely before they parted ways.
"Thank you pretty onee-chan" cried the girl before she began to devour the gelato in front of her and walked away with her mother.
"..." '
"I thought you said it's the girl's fault for dropping her gelato" Galahad teased once the girl and her mother were out of earshot.
"...It is... but I thought to maximise the happiness that one could have from eating the gelato it should be given to someone who could enjoy it more than I. It's just more... efficient that way."
Galahad just gave a "mmhmm" in acknowledgment before looking down carefully at the girl walking next to him as they walked back to the bus stop. To be honest, Mika was quite infamous at school, not only because she was one of the two "goddesses" of the first years, known for her good looks but also due to her frigid atmosphere and sharp tongue that had created many victims in primary school. While it was true that her features created a sense of distance, looking closer he sensed a flicker of disappointment in her eyes. Galahad began to laugh internally and tapped her shoulder to get her attention leading to her looking at him with a bit of confusion.
"Mika, my stomach is starting to hurt...It'd be a waste to just throw away my gelato so I think you should eat it."
Mika stared at him like he was an idiot before she scolded him
"I knew you were sick...here... let me get the business card of a physician I know. You need to take care of your health if you want to play soccer Mr.Yozora" while looking through her purse.
Galahad stopped her by waving his hand and said,
"It's not that serious. I'll just go home and rest up a bit and I should be fine in the morning"
Mika narrowed her eyes in suspicion but closed her purse in assent.
Mika commented, "Well...it would be a waste to throw away this gelato... so it seems I have no choice but to eat it in your place" before moving to take the gelato from Galahad's hands.
Seeing her gracefully take a small bite, Galahad couldn't stop himself from laughing as her lips trembled, appearing to be suppressing a smile after chewing her first bite. Hearing his laughter, Mika swiftly turned to glare at him before icily asking him
"And I'd like to know what's so amusing that calls for your boisterous laughter Mr.Yozora"
"Oh, I just thought of a joke I saw on TV last night. Sorry about that."
"......"
"Thank you"
"Huh?"
Mika coughed a bit for continuing
"For today... it was... the first time I was invited to a team activity and I found it to be quite an efficient method to mentally prepare myself for our upcoming match"
Mika coughed again when Galahad didn't say anything and began to walk a bit brisker than before.
Looking at her retreating back Galahad thought to himself
"Cute."
"???"
Galahad realised what he was thinking and shook his head a bit before blushing. Now wasn't the time for these types of thoughts. Slapping his cheeks, he told himself that he was just taking care of her as part of his duty as a teammate, that was it, before he began running to catch up with Mika who was steadily increasing the distance between the two.
*************************************************************************************
Present, Inazuma General Hospital
"Yozora-san? Yozora-san?" called out a nurse.
Galahad shook himself awake before running up to the front desk.
"Are you Kageyo Yozora's guardian?" asked the nurse.
"I'm his older brother"
"Alright, then I'm going to need you to sign here, here, and here okay?"
"Okay, thank you, got it"
Galahad nodded to show he understood before signing the papers. He sighed and finished up at the front desk before going to visit Kageyo on the second floor.
"Hey, Kageyo it's me. How're you doing?"
"..."
"..."
As usual, there was an uncomfortable silence in the hospital room as the tension between the two brothers was palpable enough the nurse inside rushed to finish taking Kageyo's vitals before leaving the room.
Galahad put aside the teddy bear that he had brought for Kageyo and sat down in the chair next to the hospital bed.
"I heard from the nurse that it's not much longer until you can get your second surgery done"
"..."
"You're going to be out of here in no time, so don't worry about anything and leave everything to me, okay Kageyo?"
"..."
The boy who had been silently watching Galahad, finally opened his mouth to speak.
"You can stop the act now Onii-san"
Galahad lowered his head in his chair as his face darkened while the younger boy continued to scream until his voice became raspy from hoarseness.
"Don't ever forget that you did this to me. I should be the one playing soccer, not you and we both know it!"
"It's not fair, it's not fair, IT'S NOT FAIR"
The black-haired boy began to cry intensely before letting out a scream of rage and throwing the bear Galahad had brought for him across the room.
Used to this, Galahad got up from his chair and got ready to leave.
"...I know...don't worry. I won't forget...and I'm sorry"
Galahad then got up and closed the door before sighing heavily. Between the new kid in the soccer club, the dream he had in the waiting room, and now this he felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him and closed his eyes for a bit before leaving the hospital.