Title: When The Inside Wants Out

Chapter one: Faithful Dreamer

“Jeeze, it’s just like Takeshi to do something like this!” I growled as I balanced a stack of my playbooks in my arms along with some of our star forward’s.

“Always leaving his stuff all over the place…he’s so absentminded!” I yelled, and then pictured Takeshi’s apologetic smile. I sighed.

“What else can I expect?” I grumbled and made my way down the empty streets.

I looked out into the darkness, desperate to spot Takeshi’s house. Blinking twice to clear the sleep from my eyes, I plowed on, smiling when I saw a large white banner with the words: “Congratulations Takeshi!” in bold print.

‘That has to be his house…’ I thought, shaking my head.

“Wins are a team effort…yet that guy has to hog all the credit.” I slammed my fist on the doorbell in anger.

Then, realizing what I had just done, I wiped the anger from my face, and plastered on a smile. Just as I had prepared myself, a brown haired girl with a stick of pocky in her mouth came to the door. She wore glasses and was in her pajamas. I blushed suddenly, remembering how late it really was.

“Hey, Liz Ricarro…awesome race today!” she grinned.

I smiled, and struck a dramatic pose. “Well, it was a team effort….but hey, what can I say?” I laughed.

“Here to see Takeshi, then?” she asked.

I nodded, figuring she was his sister. With curious eyes, I looked past her into the house. It was shrouded in darkness.

“Hmm…it’s late, so I don’t know if—

“—Oh! I’m sorry! I’ll be quick!” I blushed once more, cursing my knack for bad timing.

Takeshi’s little sister smiled and bit off the end of her stick of pocky. With one hand, she waved me inside, and upstairs.

“It’s the door on the right, you can go right in. But be sure to be quiet, my parents are sleeping,” she touched a finger to her lips and disappeared downstairs.

I nodded, and pushed open the bedroom door to my right. Desperately, I tried to keep the stack of playbooks in order, but failed miserably. Two fell off the stack and thudded on the carpet.

I winced, and looked inside. Takeshi was lying back in bed, quiet. With a tired sigh, I closed the door behind me and took four books of my stack. Carefully, I laid them on his side table, and stared at Takeshi’s sleeping form. His hair was ruffled, his usual side cowlick sticking up.

“Takeshi…”I said his name under my breath, not sure if I was angry, or just dazed.

I took a seat in a chair next to his bed, and frowned. I had no reason to be angry. Takeshi was the leader…he was the forward. He won us the race against Sledge Mamma today. Sure, it was just by a hair, but he did it. He came through.

“For once,” I snorted, and then clenched my fists.

“Why can’t I be like you…?” I asked, watching his chest rise and fall with even breaths. I imagined he was breathing into me.

“Everything comes so easy…” My voice was a barely audible whisper, tapering off as I felt tears form at the corners of my eyes.

‘Snap out of it Liz…’ I thought, and unclenched my fists.

“You really deserve this…this life of yours,” I sighed heavily. “You don’t know it…but you do.”

I thought of how hard it must be for him, to have all the weight…the pressure on his shoulders, and felt ashamed.

“But you’ve got to have heart. You’ve got to stop it with this one track mind of yours!” I heightened the volume of my whisper, and touched his hand.

Takeshi moved involuntarily, and I retracted, smiling wistfully.

“You have to believe in yourself…really believe, and know someone’s always got your back,” A tear rolled down my left cheek, but I did nothing to stop it.

“I’ve got your back,” I whispered to Takeshi, and then looked out the open window, blowing cool kisses against my skin.

A second tear came – then a third – a fourth…

“Passion. You’ve got to always race with passion, Takeshi,” I managed to choke out.

I was crying now. Me, Liz Ricarro, crying like a baby. I stifled it into my hands, and then tried to stroke down his cowlick. For once, it stayed down.

“Takeshi…” I whimpered. “You jerk.”

I closed my eyes and continued to sob, as quietly as possible. However, I heard him stir, and knew it wasn’t quiet enough. I gasped as I saw his eyes open.

“Liz?” he murmured drowsily, and stared straight into my eyes. “Y-you’re—

He reached out to touch me, but I pulled away, embarrassed, and angry for getting so emotional.

“I’m sorry!” I sputtered, careless, and ran.

I heard Takeshi’s footsteps trailing me downstairs, but I kept going, not even remembering my playbooks. I didn’t stop until I got outside, and even then, I speed walked to the end of the street. From the corner, I watched him stand on the doorstep in sweatpants and white T, his cowlick pointed up. Quickly, I looked away.

“Dammit..."I whispered to myself, and hurried home. I couldn’t face him again…not after that….

A/N: Yeah, I know Liz sounds a bit OOC, but still, I like the idea of that pairing, so she’s going to have to lighten up a bit. Don’t worry, next chapter, she’ll be her regular tough old self…on the outside. Oh, and the chapter shortness will become a thing of the past. Trust me.