It was his personality that made Kazemaru want to join the soccer team despite being a member in the track club. He lightly smiled at himself, remembering the first time Endou approached him and asked him to join.

"Kazemaru, didn't you say you wanted to fight against first-rate players?"

They weren't close back then, yet he remembered what Kazemaru said weeks ago. It surprised him and he felt a strange wave of happiness wash over him. It was what pushed him to leave the track club and join the soccer team. He wanted to fight alongside the person who saw him as an important friend from the very beginning.

"And then- Kazemaru?" Endou blinked when he noticed his friend looking at the ground. Tilting his head to look at his face, he realized that he had dozed off. He looked around the place, wondering where he could place him so he would be able to sleep comfortably. Suddenly, an idea struck him. Placing his arm over his shoulder, he shifted Kazemaru's body so that his shoulder was pressing against Endou's and his head was resting on his shoulder. Raimon's captain lightly smiled before staring at his friend's face.

It had been around three days since Kazemaru's aliea meteorite necklace shattered into pieces and he returned back to Raimon. He behaved strangely at first, always appearing surprised whenever Endou approached him and asked him to walk home with him or practice soccer with him. Despite being usually oblivious, he knew the reason was because of the guilt in his heart. He had been the captain of a team that wanted to take down Raimon team, people who considered him to be teammates. It was only normal for him to see himself as someone inferior, someone who didn't deserve to be friends with Endou.

But he was going to have none of that.

He wasn't going to allow his friend to think low of himself. He wasn't going to allow himself to make the same mistake that drove him friend to seek help from the aliea meteorite. He wasn't going to allow him to become that person that wanted to take down Raimon ever again. Kazemaru was an important friend of his and even if it took him a hundred years, he was determined to make him see that they were friends; that Endou never once saw him as an enemy or traitor.

Endou smiled before closing the notebook shut. He fluttered his eyes shut. It was warm next to Kazemaru. Ah. Is this it? After Kazemaru's departure, Endou started feeling like something was missing. No matter how much time he spent with his other friends, his heart was never fully content.

Until now.

The important piece missing was Kazemaru. Endou didn't realize how his heart was intoxicated with happiness whenever he was around his friend. Sitting next to him in this dusty yet comfortable shed was what he had been longing for all this time. He lightly smiled before dozing off. "Welcome back home."

Making sure his captain was asleep, he moved his hand to rest on Endou's arm. His smile widened as his eyes brimmed with tears. He lightly squeezed his arm.