"What's wrong?" Triniekit looked at Yuenelia.
"I prefer to have Zordyz around than to deal with admirers myself," Yuenelia said, averting her eyes.
"You know...you can't always act like this. He's not going to be beside you forever. Just like today; whether you like it or not, you're still going to be approached by people all the time." Triniekit lectured her.
"Zordyz is a softie when it comes to you but he's spoiling you too much."
"I want to be spoiled a little longer," Yuenelia said in a tiny voice. Her face turned beet red upon realizing what she blurted out.
Triniekit's eyes flew open.
"So it's like that!" she came to a realization.
"I knew you've liked him for a long time but how far back was it? How did you fall for him? What made you fall for him? Is it mutual? Does he know? He doesn't seem to know. Is he just oblivious to a fault?" she threw Yuenelia a barrage of questions.
Yuenelia's face turned even redder.
"I-I don't know!" she exclaimed and ran off.
"Oh, come on! Tell me!" Triniekit chased after her.
It took a while for her to catch Yuenelia.
"Promise me you would never tell him," Yuenelia looked so red she might explode from the embarrassment.
"Who do you take me for? I won't tell a soul." Triniekit reassured her.
After staring at Triniekit for a long time, she finally relaxed. She knew she can trust Triniekit but it still took a lot of convincing to make her open up.
They sat down at their usual seat. They had the classroom all to themselves since it was still very early. None of their coursemates was here yet.
"So...any plans to confess to him?" Triniekit asked.
"I will never confess to Zor," Yuenelia gave an immediate reply.
"Why not?"
"We've been friends for ages, it's difficult to say something like that to him."
"You wouldn't know if you didn't try."
"Precisely because I know that that I will never try. We are like family, Trinie. If he doesn't feel the same way, there would be no going back anymore," Yuenelia's voice trembled.
"Knowing Zordyz, once he started to ignore you, he'll ignore you forever." Triniekit pondered.
"But it's YOU we are talking about. He wouldn't have the heart to treat you that way."
"Even if he doesn't, things will be awkward between us. I won't get to do all the things we did in the past without being conscious of how he felt about me." Yuenelia clenched her fists.
She disliked the idea of being distanced by Zordyz. Just the thought of where their relationship will end up if the confession didn't go well made her heart hurt.
"I guess it'll be difficult to get over it once you said it out," Triniekit sympathized with her friend. "It doesn't help that Zordyz never realized the difference in your affection either. Or else, he'll be flustered all the time."
"Because it has always been the same."
"What?"
It took her some time to process Yuenelia's words.
"You mean...you've liked him from the start?"
Yuenelia nodded, her face burning red.
"That's why telling him would be bad huh? There's no way of fixing that once it's gone." she understood Yuenelia's concern.
"Other students are coming in, let's talk about it next time," she patted Yuenelia's back. "You should be honest with Zordyz about your feelings. You never know when someone will catch his attention. By then it'll be too late."
"He might not have the best temper but he treats you the best. You won't find another guy like him out there. You're precious to him as much as he's precious to you. One way or another, things will work out in the end. Don't you think so?"
"I-"
"Trinie~ Yuenelia~ You're already here!" Reyna hopped into the class, ending their conversation.
...
The third day was especially rough for Zordyz. Not even halfway through the match, he was struck hard by amnesia. The pain in his temple shot through the roof. It only lasted for an instant but the effects didn't. He was left feeling confused.
Having had to deal with the sudden loss of memory of people around him for years, he learnt to mask it either by maintaining a calm demeanour or intimidating glares. If it's to keep people away while he recovers, that's what he'll do.
The matches from now onwards are all against seeded teams so switching out and breaking the rotation was not an option.
Playing with senior members doesn't pose a problem but today's lineup was all first-years.
He was not particularly close with Hima, Raysa and Cadence, but they had been playing together for three whole years in junior high. It made it difficult for him to remember them.
He managed to recognise his school's jersey and connect his teammates' name to their faces when he heard them calling out to each other after a while.
The connection phases out every few minutes and he had to relearn them all over again.
He might only have blurred memories of them but that was enough for him to keep track of the game.
It was a different story with Ayden though, who's his childhood friend.