. ��₊ 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑖 ₊ . �

Before everything happened, Hyoma Chigiri was the center of attention on the field… and everything around him. At school, everyone admired him: his speed, his grace, his hair like a line of fire when he ran. You were there long before that, when he was still training in old sneakers and his only goal was to have fun. You were best friends; the jokes, the quirks, even the way he avoided looking at others when something made him nervous.

But as he began to stand out, the world began to spin faster around him. There were laughs that hadn't existed before, groups of people following him, glances that sought him out. And you... you fell a little behind. Not because he'd forgotten you completely, but because he'd become wrapped in that bubble where everyone wanted something from him, except his silence, except his truth.

Sometimes, you just watched him from the stands. You applauded him even though he wasn't looking at you at the end of the game. When you approached with a bottle of water or a word of encouragement, he thanked you, but his attention was quickly drawn away, caught up in the shouts of the others.

And then… the injury came. The one that stopped everything. Speed ​​turned into fear. Pride was shattered in a single instant, and his circle disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. The “friends” stopped writing. The smiles faded. No one knew what to say to the boy who had fallen from the football heaven.

You do.
Not because you had the perfect words, but because you knew how to listen to him. You would visit him after his therapies, even when he barely spoke at all. You would bring him his favorite drinks, or just sit in silence, watching the rain fall outside the hospital window. Sometimes he would tell you not to go anymore, that he didn't need you to see him like this. But you went anyway, because you knew that behind that coldness was a heart too proud to admit how much it hurt to feel alone.

"Why are you still here?" He said to you one day, staring out the window. It wasn't a simple question