The Art of Relations 9

"Alright, boys!" Coach Moon exclaimed as we set our equipment on the bench that'd be ours for the first game. "Get stretched properly and start warming up. Serj, Skylar, you boys know the drill!" I nodded as I bounced a bit on the balls of my feet. I was full of energy, which I knew wasn't going to last forever but felt good at the moment.

"Line it up!" Skylar yelled to the others. It was our job to lead the warm ups as the coach signed us all in and did other official like duties. I truly did not envy him at all, especially since I knew he didn't particularly like doing them.

While we took off in our first lap around the field I held back to match my longer strides to those of Nikolai's. "When we have finished group warm ups, make sure you finish stretching. Can not have you hurting yourself in the first game," I said as we turned one of the corners of the field. Nikolai blushed a little, but nodded.

I turned my attention back to my own warm ups, making certain to keep an eye out that everyone was properly stretched and loose for the upcoming game. The last thing we needed was loosing players early because someone hadn't done their pregame work out properly. This was the first tournament that Skylar and me were the captains for and suddenly I felt the pressure start to weigh down on me.

It seemed as if I didn't have to worry much though as the first game started and we spent the entire first half smearing them across the grass. I had made two scores against their quickly drawn out goalie. Nikolai had scored another leaving the score at three to zero. Our defense was keeping every ball continually racing back up towards us on offense and the other team spent more time running up and down the field than anything else. During our halftime break Coach Moon instantly launched into his usual pep talk.

"We've got the lead," Coach Moon said as we sat in the grass, giving our legs a brief rest. "But that's no excuse to get lazy. Keep driving on their goal and take every shot available. Skylar, Henry, keep up the good work and don't give them opportunities to shoot on Jackson. The more opportunities that they get, the more likely they are to score and once they do that, you'll feel the tide start to turn. We have to keep the momentum on our side."

After that speech, we came out in the second half as fired up as we had at the beginning of the game. Nikolai ended up using the handspring move in the first minute and making our fourth goal the other team. I could hear that their coach was on the border of raving mad, yelling to keep Nikolai and me from scoring on their goal. Unfortunately, it seems that they forgot about Arthur, our left wing, as they scrambled to stop Nikolai and me. That let him make another two goals on their now very tired out goalie. The defense was now really scrambling and in the confusion I scored for the eighth time. By the time the whistle blew for the last time it was a complete shut out.

"Excellent work, boys!" Coach Moon exclaimed. "Our next game isn't until tomorrow at one so you have the rest of the day to relax before I expect to see you here at eleven-thirty on field number three. Take some time to watch some of the other games, but try to stay in groups. I don't want to catch anyone wandering around the complex by themselves." We all agreed and went to collect our things as the JV with us grabbed the equipment to take it back to coach's car.

"Peanut, we're going to head over and watch the game on field three," Skylar called as we grabbed our individual bags. "Coming?" Nikolai nodded, but held up a finger before running to where his foster father was standing by the fence.

I came up to them just as I heard Kyle telling Nikolai to, "Be safe."

"Do not worry, Mr. Martin," I said stopping next to the blonde. "We shall not let anything happen to our little peanut." Nikolai blushed and I smiled yet again at how incredibly adorable he was.

"I'll be counting on you then, Serj," Kyle said and I nodded solemnly. I wouldn't let anything happen to Nikolai. I made certain to pick a spot in the grass that was several yards down from the stands so that there was less chance of random people sitting by us. I really didn't want to have them upset Nikolai. It didn't seem to work however as girls kept coming over and trying to talk with us. At first we didn't bother moving but then I realized how very uncomfortable they were making Nikolai and decided to get up and move away to humor them. Many gave us numbers and I took them to be polite though I knew I would just throw them away first chance I got. I was never really interested in my fans that was; besides, I had someone else on my mind.

The tournament was huge. There were thirty-two schools represented for both girls and boys. We were the only all boy school in it, but apparently there were a couple of all girl schools represented. The only downside to it was that with this many schools, the four fields that were being used were crowded. There were literally people everywhere. The upside was that it was a one and done type tournament, so once a team lost they were out. It meant that by the end of tonight at least twenty-four teams would be going home.

The games were scheduled two hours apart to allow for brief overtimes and warm up time for the teams. Boys' games were four hours apart, with the girls' games in-between. We'd had the first game today, but tomorrow we had the second of the boys' games. We sat on the sidelines and broke down all the other teams' strengths and weaknesses. It was getting fairly late when I suddenly felt Nikolai lay his head against my shoulder. I felt the heat rise to my face but tried hard to maintain a neutral expression and keep my eyes fixed on the team playing in front of us. I waited until halftime before I gently reached up to tap on of his smooth cheeks. "Nikolai, wake up. It is time to go home."

He sat up and rubbed his eyes sleepily and I had to quickly look away so that I wouldn't be tempted to do or say anything foolish. Sometimes I really wished he'd stop being so darned cute all the time. It made keeping my feelings to myself incredibly difficult.

"Don't worry about it," Skylar said behind me as I stuffed my bag just for something to do. "This game's pretty much in the bag. So we won't really be missing anything by leaving a little early."

Skylar helped Nikolai to his feet and I grabbed his bag before we made our way over to where I had parked my car. As soon as he was inside, Nikolai fell asleep again and I had to smile at him. I dropped off Skylar first before heading to Nikolai's apartment complex. Kyle came down after I called him and helped gather up Nikolai and take him upstairs.

When I got home I was not even slightly surprised that none of the lights were on. Sometimes I really wondered if my mother even realized I wasn't home. She always went on about how worried she is about me but then she doesn't even leave the porch light on. It made me wonder if she wouldn't rather just have had Romani and not me. I sighed and shook my head to free it of the uncharacteristically depressing thoughts as I unlocked my front door and stepped inside.

I tried to be quiet as I went up the stairs but apparently I wasn't quiet enough. "You know, Mother really hates it when you come home so late," Romani said as I walked past his door.

"Well then, do not tell her when I came home," I replied.

Romani scoffed a bit and leaned up against his doorframe, "I don't get you, Serj."

I raised an eyebrow at that "What is there to get?"

"Why do you do things when you know they upset Mother?" He asked folding his arms over his chest. "I mean, she doesn't ask for much and you have to go and ignore her anyway, and then you complain when she gets upset. You're such a brat."

"Me?" I echoed in disbelief. "I am not the brat, Romani. I have a life. And just because you do not have one is not a reason to talk to your older brother as if he were younger than you. Besides, if you care what mother thinks so much then why are you still up waiting to argue with me?" I hissed as quietly as I was able considering he had gotten me a bit angry.

"I wasn't waiting for you," he denied.

"No?" I asked in surprise. "Then why are you still up?"

He scowled, "I couldn't sleep."

"Of course not." I said rolling my eyes in disbelief. My brother never experienced a night without sleep in his life. If he was awake he hadn't gone to bed yet. "It is late, Roman, and I am tired. So unless there is something pressing, I'm going to bed," I said dropping my bag just inside my door as I walked in. Romani huffed and turned back to his own room. I shook my head and quickly took a shower before collapsing on my bed.

The next morning I had distinctly less energy than on Friday. I wasn't completely drained but I could definitely feel that I had played a game the day before. I noticed that our first team was a co-ed and instantly got nervous on Nikolai's behalf but I could already see Skylar and Kyle talking with Coach Moon so went over to where Nikolai was fumbling with his shoes. I bent down to be next to his ear. "Nikolai, relax. Just pretend they are boys. I can promise they will play like them."

He nodded a little, but still seemed less than confident. As I did my usual warm ups, I watched Nikolai carefully for any sign that he might be unable to do this. I didn't want to push him past his limits. Especially not over something like a soccer game. I would rather lose than risk Nikolai's comfort. Someone else could play his position. Not as well as he had come to play it but they could play it with a decent amount of skill. If they couldn't they wouldn't be on the team to begin with.

After warm ups, the game started and went as smoothly as the day before. Although, the other team had known to keep a closer guard on Nikolai and me, they had the distinct disadvantage of not knowing just how many tricks my adorable blonde could pull out. In fact, I was more than a little surprised at all the moves he was managing to throw into our offensive attempts. I was scrambling to keep up with his sudden passes and abrupt turns in direction but I managed to catch all the passes and make shots off all the ones he gave to me. I was in awe of him, I honestly wasn't sure how I managed to focus enough on the ball to complete his assists. Truly, we seemed to have an excellent on field chemistry that left our opponents baffled and scrambling to adapt. And, of course, as they adapted, Arthur began to shine as the sleeping giant they had completely forgotten about.

Once the game was over, we had six and a half hours to kill before our next game. Which coach gave us as free time with the instructions to avoid spending too much time in the sun or going off on our own. We'd have a team dinner around five o'clock, but otherwise we were free until quarter after eight. Skylar, myself, and Nikolai wandered around glancing at different games that were going on. I was getting more than a bit annoyed with all the girls that were stopping us left and right though. Especially when they started gushing over Nikolai. I wanted to pull him close and tell all of the girls that were scaring him and quite obviously interested to go find someone else to slobber over. The possessiveness that rose up in me was a bit unsettling actually. I had never before considered myself a particularly jealous person. More than one gave Nikolai their numbers through either myself or Skylar and that only made me even angrier. But when I spotted Nikolai throwing them in a trashcan when he thought nobody was looking my jealousy abated mostly. I had been foolish to be jealous even for a moment knowing Nikolai was terrified of females. I forced myself to laugh at my own stupidity. Nikolai had assuaged my worries without even knowing he had done so. He'd done it without even knowing I'd had them.

At dinner, everyone was talking about the games they'd watched, making predictions about which teams they expected to meet on Sunday in the semi-final and final. I ended up getting drawing into a debate over a few different upcoming matches though I doubted any of the teams they mentioned would actually see us on the field. They all had to go up against Avalon or Queen Mary's and both of those schools had the reputation of playing dirty and ruthless.

After dinner, we went over to our future field and almost instantly our fans swarmed us, specifically Skylar and me as we were the co-captains and for some reason all of the fans wanted to end up on a date with a captain. We tried our best to get them dispersed but it took much longer than we intended. Once the crowd cleared both of us noticed that Nikolai had disappeared, which made my heart jump with worry. We immediately started looking for him, running all over the public areas looking for any sign of him. I was getting more and more panicked by the minute. I couldn't stand the thought of something happening to Nikolai. Suddenly, Skylar's cellphone started to ring.

"Where is he?" Skylar asked and I instantly looked over. Someone had found Nikolai!?

"Where is he?" He repeated even more anxiously.

"Please do, he is deathly afraid of women." My heart clenched tightly at that.

Skylar hung up and started running, I was barely even a step behind him. I had to get to Nikolai. I had to be sure he was alright. We all rushed over to the restrooms and found a crowd of girls in a mock fight. The goalie from our first game that day was chasing most of the girls off but when they saw half our team, Coach Moon, and Kyle running over they really fled. I spotted Nikolai on the ground and my breath caught in even more worry than before. He was unconscious.

"Nikolai!" Kyle called worriedly. "Nikolai, wake up!" called again as he held Nikolai half off the ground. Nikolai suddenly jerked upright and instantly flung his arms around Kyle.

"Clear off," Coach Moon ordered. "I expect to find you all sitting and watching the game at the next field we play on." I stubbornly remained behind though. I needed to be sure Nikolai was really alright. It didn't surprise me that Skylar stayed as well, he was just as protective as I was, sometimes more so. I noticed Nikolai's white board discarded a little ways away and picked it up along with the dry erase marker. I gently brushed the dirt off the pristine white surface, wishing I could do so with Nikolai's remaining terror.

"Nikolai..." Kyle said softly, trying to gently pry the blonde from his neck. "Come on now. You have to tell us what happened." Nikolai shook his head, tightening his hold even further around Kyle's neck. "Nikolai, loosen your grip some. You need to help us understand what happened to cause you to pass out."

"Let's start with why you went off on your own," coach said, his voice both angry and still worried. Nikolai sighed, pulling back from Kyle enough to look around. I figured he was looking for his white board and wordlessly handed it out to him, honestly I didn't trust my voice at the moment. It already felt like my throat had closed up.

Went to the bathroom, he wrote slowly.

"And then?" Coach Moon prompted, his hand tapping against his leg in agitation.

And then someone grabbed me, saying that there were girls from his school who wanted to meet me that Serj and Sky wouldn't let get close. I didn't want to go. I tried to pull my arm back, but his grip was too tight. He paused again, clearly debating about something. His hands trembled as he cleaned his board and I felt my heart break for him. He left me surrounded by a bunch of girls. I guess I panicked when they kept touching me and the smell of their perfume just... It all just reminded me of her.

"Nikolai, who was it?" Skylar asked in his angry protective tone. Nikolai shrugged slightly in response to the question.

"Can you describe him at all, Nikolai?" Kyle asked and the blonde nodded, wiping the board clean yet again so that he has space to write.

Dark red uniform, yellow stitching on the hems and around the number. Number 11. A stream of curses broke past my lips and my only saving grace from being reprimanded for them was that they were in very fast Russian. I doubted even Romani would have been able to understand me. I should have been watching closer! I should have protected Nikolai from Rossi! I knew how terrible that boy could be! Skylar started storming off with his shoulders stiff and hands clenched and I would have followed him had Coach Moon not instantly stopped Skylar.

"Freeze, Skylar," Coach Moon said. "I know you have this thing against anyone messing with your friends and your team, but getting yourself in trouble isn't the way to resolve this. You getting suspended for the rest of this tournament is just what he wants to happen and you know it. Actually, he's probably hoping that both you and Serj will be that stupid." I cursed again, knowing he was probably right but not liking it in the least.

"Wait, you know who it is based off just that?" Kyle asked.

"A few years back the league made it mandatory that all team captains were required to wear the numbers one, eleven or twenty-one," Coach Moon said. "It was to help the referees identify them on the field quicker and easier. So, that tells us the person who dragged Nikolai off was a team captain and the uniform color is only worn by one school. It probably doesn't help that Rossi is known for causing issues amongst any team that is a potential threat to them to win."

"He's done things like this before?" Kyle asked clearly upset by the news.

"Not like this," I admitted before Coach could. Though he had done horrible things to players in the past he'd never done something that could truly harm someone before. "It is normally something that makes a player from another team swing on him first. Which is probably what Coach meant by saying he was aiming for me and Skylar to come after him. Until that point, neither of us had really left Nikolai's side, so it was safe to assume he was a friend of ours."

Kyle, you're a cop. Isn't there something you can do? Nikolai wrote before looking up at his foster father. Kyle sighed and pulled Nikolai into a tight hug and this time I was keenly aware of the pang of jealousy and how ridiculous it was. As long as Nikolai got comfort I shouldn't care who gave it to him. Or that's what I kept trying to tell myself.

"Unfortunately, I can't," he ground out. "I wish I-" He stopped, cutting himself off midsentence. "Maybe I can. Nikolai, I need to go make a phone call. Do you want to stay or would you rather go home after what happened?" Nikolai paused as he thought and I knew he was debating the choices. As much as I wanted him to stay I didn't want him to if he couldn't do it. If going home would make him feel better than that was what he should do.

Stay, he wrote slowly but I covered his hand with mine to stop him.

"You do not have to, Nikolai," I said softly. "You are allowed to take some time and get back to yourself. We shall win tonight and we shall still play tomorrow, when you are all here."

Nikolai shook his head and wiped his eyes. If I go, he wins still, he wrote and gave an attempt at a smile. I wasn't entirely convinced but I didn't have a chance to protest again.

"If he wants to stay, he can stay," Coach Moon said firmly. "And I'll be damned if anyone not from our team is going to get with five feet of him off the soccer field. Next time one of you boys goes off on your own, you're going to be removing my shoe from your ass!" It was a threat he didn't have to make as I wouldn't be letting my little Nikolai out of my sight again any time soon. And definitely not with someone like Rossi around.

"You're sure, Nikolai?" Kyle asked. Nikolai nodded. "I'll leave him in your care then, Coach Moon, but I'll be back in time for the game." The blonde nodded again as Coach agreed and Kyle stood and walked off towards the entrance of the complex, already pulling out his cell phone.

"Take Nikolai over to the rest of the team, Serj," Coach Moon said, standing up as well. "I'm going to go find where Skylar snuck off to and see if I can't find the medic around here to be double sure Nikolai is alright."

"Ya, sure, Coach," I said, offering a hand to help Nikolai off the ground. "Are you certain you are alright, Arahaes?" I asked. Nikolai looked at me strangely and I realized my slip up. "Ah, Arahaes is Russian for peanut, Nikolai. My apologies. I did not meant to use the Russian word for it," I explained a bit awkwardly. I wasn't going to add that I had begun using it while hugging my pillow to my chest as his substitute. "Anyhow, are you certain you are alright?" I repeated.

Nikolai nodded but I led him over to where the medical tent was set up anyway. I made certain to pick on of the men and not the female nurses that were milling about. After an extremely brief check up, they declared Nikolai perfectly fine with the instructions to drink something with some sugar in it and sit down for a while. I instantly led him back away; not wanting to linger there in case someone decided that meant it was a good idea to pick on Nikolai even more.

I left Nikolai by the protection of the rest of the team and especially Skylar whom I trusted to keep him safe even more than I trusted the rest of my team. I quickly ran over to the nearest concession stand and got three Gatorade bottles of varying colors. I knew Skylar would want one and I figured I should drink one as well since we had been out in the sun most of the day. I returned and held out the drinks for Nikolai to choose between. After he chose his, I tossed one at Skylar and sat down on the grass beside him.

The game going on was actually fairly predictable. I had seen both of the teams play already so wasn't too surprised when the one team took the lead. I was at least trying to keep things interesting though, by keeping up a fairly regular commentary on how each team was playing. If nothing else it kept me watching. Though, honestly, my mind was a bit distracted. I could see Rossi standing at the other side of the field scowling at us. Apparently, he didn't like that Nikolai was alright. I had to restrain the urge to bolt across the field and punch him for what he'd done to the adorable blonde beside me.

The girls' team in green had gotten up to five goals and lost two of their own when I noticed a police car pull up on the side of the fields. I turned to look with a fair bit of curiosity. I wasn't at all sure what was going on but I had a sneaking suspicion it had to do with whatever Kyle had planned for Rossi. I watched as a police officer got out and start towards the field. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw the officer make his way to Rossi and start to arrest him.

There was quite a bit of commotion and the game came to a screeching stop. Everyone was watching as Rossi proceeded to make quite the scene as the officer led him away in handcuffs. Skylar jumped up onto the fence in front of us "Holy shit, I think Rossi's getting arrested!"

I couldn't help the smile as I saw Rossi get led away. He deserved it. "It looks as if Kyle made something happen," I commented while Rossi was put in the back of the police car. Nikolai looked over at me sharply. "What? It is true, nobody else could have achieved that." Nikolai turned back to look at the police car with a bit of wonder and I worked hard to suppress my smile.

But Kyle said he couldn't do anything. If he could be arrested, he would have been able to do it. Nikoli scribbled quickly. I couldn't help but smile at how naïve Nikolai could be and Skylar was nearly doubled over in laughter. I was half expecting him to fall from his perch.

"Just because he is being taken away does not mean he is being arrested, Arahaes," I explained as Skylar continued to roar with laughter. "But it does make people very uncomfortable and scared. Plus a uniformed officer is far more scary than Kyle would be while out of uniform and off duty."

Eventually, the excitement died down and the game resumed, though there was much more chatter around us as everyone in stands tried to figure out what had happened. I wished I knew what Kyle was having done to Rossi. I had never liked him much or the stories of locking bathroom doors so opposing team members were locked inside all game. This act against Nikolai had sealed my dislike of the boy though. We sat and watched the game finish and by the time it had Kyle had returned and tapped Nikolai on the shoulder.

"Sorry that took so long," he said as we turned to look at him. "But I don't think you boys have anything to worry about from him off the field anymore. I honestly thought he was going to wet himself when he got out of the car at the station." I almost laughed at that. I hadn't even realized Kyle had been with the officer, though really I figured I should have.

I caught a look from Coach Moon and realized we were the only ones not warming up for our next match. "Nikolai, we need to start warming up," I said getting to my feet and brushing the loose grass off my shorts. Nikolai nodded and got up as well. We immediately started our stretches before taking off in our customary laps around the field before Nikolai separated to stretch out even more. I tried hard not to watch. I didn't need that sort of distraction.

The game started but I could instantly tell something was wrong. Nikolai's shots were a bit wild and his passes not nearly as accurate as I knew they could be. As they were setting up for another throw in I ran over to Nikolai and grabbed his arm gently yet still firmly. "Pull yourself together, Nikolai," I said, using all of the co-captain sternness I could muster. "Forget it all and focus on the game." He nodded and I went back to my position, hoping that would be enough to snap Nikolai out of his lack luster performance. I didn't want for Rossi to have gotten him even slightly out of his normal range of talent. A dirty trick like he had pulled didn't deserve to even be regarded and needed to be shaken off as soon as possible.

It seemed to work as his playing dramatically improved after that. I was glad that I was able to help and insanely proud that he had been able to do what I'd said and shake off what had happened. I tried to be practical about it but a tiny voice in my head kept piping up that it was because I said something that Nikolai had gotten better. Though I knew that was probably far from true.

Nikolai left almost as soon as the game ended though and though we had won the game I wasn't nearly as excited about it as I felt I should be. The victory was completely overshadowed by what had happened to Nikolai. Sometimes I really did feel completely useless.

As soon as I got home I took a long shower and collapsed across my bed. Arina almost instantly lay down on my back and started licking a spot on my shoulder. I raised my head slightly and glared at her. "I just washed, you know," I muttered to her.

"You really shouldn't talk to your cat."

I looked over and saw Romani standing in my doorway. "Nobody asked you, Romani," I snapped. I was in no mood for his smart mouth.

Unfortunately, I apparently snapped a bit too loud. "Sergej! Don't talk to your brother that way!" My mother yelled up the stairs in loud Russian.

I sighed angrily, "Yes, Mama!"

Romani chuckled a bit and I glared. "Oh, and your stupid cat tore up a pair of my socks again," he said throwing the ruined fabric into my room. I stared at it dully. What exactly did he want me to do about that? Sew them back together? "Keep the fur ball outta my room."

"Keep your door closed and she could not get in, now could she?" I asked sweetly. Romani scoffed, clearly disgusted. He'd never liked Arina. He wasn't much of an animal person in general. When I heard the door to his room closed I looked over my shoulder at Arina, who was purring loudly in my ear. "Good kitty."

That night, I dreamt about Nikolai again and had to take a cold shower as soon as I woke up. After a second shower to warm up from the first, I got dressed and made my way downstairs to the kitchen. The cook had already made breakfast and I sat down to eat. My mother was at the end of the table sipping her coffee and speaking with Romani about his plans for the day. I noticed she didn't bother to even ask me how the tournament was going. She didn't care enough I supposed. Mikhail would have asked me.

It was odd how completely separate from my mother and brother I was beginning to feel. It was as if a wall was slowly forming between us. We just weren't interested in the same things. They hated my cat, they didn't care for sports, they simply expected me to have good grades, mother didn't understand why I would 'waste time' tutoring other students, and I had absolutely no idea what they did all day around the house. Honestly, I was beginning to feel like I was living with complete strangers and I couldn't help but wonder if they knew me at all. They certainly didn't seem like they knew me when they spoke to me.

Romani was getting more and more snarky lately and mother was growing even more uptight than before. It was suffocating. Especially when nobody but Arina ever seemed to be on my side. My stepfather wasn't around enough to be anything more than a breath of fresh air from time to time.

I found an excuse to leave the house a bit early and got in my car and drove down the block where I pulled over and pulled out my cell phone. I pressed speed dial and waited for my stepfather to answer. "Hello?" He answered in Russian.

"Where are you again?" I asked.

"Far enough away that this call is extremely expensive per minute," he replied with a bit of dry humor, "What happened, Serj?"

I sighed heavily. "Nothing really. I just...I hate it when you're not here. Not to sound like a stereotypical teenager or anything but they don't understand me, Mikhail."

He chuckled a bit, "You're right. You sound like a stereotypical teenager."

I scowled, "You know they haven't even asked about the tournament?"

"How's the tournament going, Serj?" he asked obligingly.

"We're up to the semifinals."

"Maybe they assume since you're still going every morning that means you're doing well," he suggested.

"Or they just don't care," I muttered. "I could be going out and getting drunk or..or...stealing candy from babies!"

"The minute the baby cried you'd give the candy back with extra for making it cry in the first place," He said chuckling at me still "And you can't stand the taste of alcohol."

My scowl got deeper. "See, they wouldn't know that! All she has time for is her precious Romani!"

"Serj," he said suddenly stern. "You know your Mother loves you."

"Ya...she just loves Romani more."

"That's not true, Serj."

I sighed but didn't bother to debate the point. Neither of us would ever budge in this argument. I had had the distinct impression my brother was the favorite for quite a while and no matter how much Mikhail denied it I couldn't shake the feeling of being pushed to the side of my mother's attentions. "When are you coming back?"

"Soon."

"How long are you staying?"

"A while." I sighed heavily again. That's what he always said. "Listen, Serj, I have to go. Good luck on your semifinals."

"Ya, thanks." I muttered. "Goodbye, Mikhail." He said his own goodbye and the phone went dead. I wasn't at all sure if talking to my stepfather had made me feel better or not but at least someone in my family had taken the three seconds to wish me good luck. Even if they thought I didn't need it, it was nice to hear.

The park was considerably less crowded on Sunday since there were only eight teams left in the tournament between both girls and boys. The semi-final games for the girls were getting ready to start as our team started gearing up and doing basic stretches. I was having an unusually hard time focusing on what I was doing. I figured it was a side effect from the less than stellar morning I had had and just forced myself to listen as the rest of the team rambled about our upcoming semifinal match versus Avalon. They were rougher than Queen Mary's but they also played marginally cleaner. Personally I cursed our luck of having to go up against both teams on the same day. I would have preferred a bit more of a break than what we had received.

The game was messy to say the least. And I had we had to fight for every ball and watch unexpected limbs flying at vulnerable parts of our bodies. Avalon busted our halfback's nose near halftime sending him to the bench where the amount of blood quickly started soaking though a towel that a medic was pressing to his face. I was slightly afraid that the pure amount of blood he was loosing would send him to the hospital but my fears were allayed when the blood flow started to slow down some. Skylar was the most successful of our defensive players in sending the ball back down the field where I usually picked it up and passed it to Nikolai and Arthur who were in better positions to make shots usually. I kept that up until passing became difficult and started running the ball in.

Their goalie was excellent and kept the score tied at complete zero. Near the end of the game, Nikolai went down hard on a foul. I ran over the immediately as the referee threw up a yellow card. Nikolai didn't seem particularly hurt as he dusted himself off but I made certain to watch him for a minute as he walked to take his penalty shot. I was relieved to see he still looked more shaken than anything else though now I was wondering what exactly he was going to do. We hadn't worked on many strange penalty shots with Nikolai. It hadn't seemed an issue to work on for some reason.

I watched a bit anxiously as Nikolai readied himself. This one shot could win the game and I would be ecstatic to get this game out of the way and that much closer to winning the tournament. I didn't want to put any pressure on Nikolai but I couldn't deny I wanted this penalty shot to go in and break our tie. Nikolai nodded his head and the ref blew his whistle. Nikolai wasted no time in bolting down towards where the ball was sitting.

My eyes widened as the ball ricocheted off the goalies' face and Nikolai went into another handspring to slam his heel into it with a resounding smack. The ball sped past the bleeding goalie and hit the back of the net. The goalie hit his knees as blood gushed from his nose but I was far more interested in Nikolai. He looked a bit shocked, either that it worked or that he'd done it in the first place and I laughed as I ran forward with the others to congratulate him on one of the most incredible shots on goal I had ever seen.

Off to the side all the coaches and refs were gathered. Clearly debating on whether they were going to allow that goal to stand or not. I hadn't thought that he'd broken any rules though I didn't have the rulebook memorized or anything.

"Nikolai!" Coach Moon called and the blonde broke away to run over to him as the conference broke apart. A minute later he ran back to his position and I smiled as the refs stated that the score was now 0 to 1 in our favor. All we had to do now was keep them from scoring and we had won.

Nikolai had to be extra nimble on the field for the rest of the game however. More than once I caught sight of slide tackles that were a bit late and overly aggressive tackles from the other team but none of them were ever called on it. I could only be thankful that Nikolai was able to dodge all of the physical attacks. The whistle blew and Nikolai almost instantly fell backwards onto the grass. I smiled and jogged over to where he was but before I could say anything several members from Avalon swarmed us.

"Move it!" Avalon's captain said, a fair number of the other soccer team was behind him but already ours was gathering around us to keep the odds even. "We have some unfinished business with the pipsqueak there." He said as I heard Nikolai scramble to his feet behind me.

"I don't know what 'unfinished business' you think you have, but you aren't getting anywhere near Nikolai," Skylar said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He owes us for what he did to our goalie!" one of them shouted and I scowled darkly at that. It wasn't really a surprise as it was obvious from the moment it happened that they'd been less than happy about it.

"Nikolai owes you assholes nothing," Jackson said and I glanced back to see Nikolai's tiny form disappear behind several other, larger, bodies. "If I remember correctly you broke our mid-fielder's nose first. So, there's already been an eye for an eye here."

"And a nose for a nose," someone else piped up.

"And if you insist on taking this further, the whole world will end up blind," I commented inserting as much venom into my voice as possible as I folded my arms across my chest. There was no way in hell I was going to let Nikolai get hurt by these brutes. It was bad enough they'd hurt a member of my team during the game I wouldn't let them hurt Nikolai after it was already over.

"And unable to smell," Skylar piped up and I smiled widely. He would use a pun at a time like this.

"Break it up!" Coach Moon yelled and Nikolai started heading for the bleachers. Before I could even move the Avalon captain grabbed him by the arm and wrenched him around.

"I wasn't-" he started to snarl, but then his face twisted into a grimace of pain and I blinked in surprise as his hand fell away from Nikolai. It only took a minute to realize why he'd let go. Nikolai had kneed him right in the groin. I winced a bit at the thought as he hit the ground while Nikolai continued walking to the bench. He was acting like nothing happened but I for one had been completely surprised by the sudden move. I smiled as I followed him to pick up my things. I was glad he stood up for himself, even if it had surprised me.

"Nice shot, peanut," Skylar said, draping his arm across Nikolai's shoulders as we made our way off the field. The blonde blushed again and I had to look away to hide my smile. He was just so damned cute. Even after a show of temper, because he clearly hadn't expected it of himself either.

We sat down by the fence and watched the finals for the girls' teams and relaxed a bit before our own final match. I had half a mind to call Mikhail again but I figured he wouldn't be too happy for me eating up even more minutes just to give him the update. Kyle brought us Gatorade and water, as well as bananas to keep our muscles from cramping up as we sat around. Again, I felt the desire that my mother at least pretended to care about soccer. She didn't have to be an avid fan or anything, just showing up once and a while would be nice.

The nervousness was almost tangible in the late afternoon air as we began our warm ups for the last game. All of us were filled with nervous energy, including me. This was my first final game of a tournament where I was the captain. Or rather, co-captain. I hadn't felt this much responsibility before and I knew Queen Mary's was incredibly difficult of an opponent. After all, Rossi was on this team. The problem wasn't just because they liked to stretch the rules far too much but they had a decent amount of skill to back it up. This was the team I had most worried about going up against.

The game started off as rough as our previous one had. Our defense was kept on their toes and struggled to send me the ball so that I could make a shot or send it to one of the others. Rossi was the major problem though. He was all over the place both on the field and in his attempts to take out as many of our players as possible. More than once I got a jab to the ribs from his elbow but I pushed the soreness out of my mind as much as possible to focus on the ball. No matter how hard I tried though I couldn't seem to get any ball to go into the net and the more I struggled to do so the more and more frustrated I got, which always put a damper on my shooting abilities. If I got frustrated enough I couldn't even get the ball to go into an unguarded net.

I felt a bit of my frustration ease though when Nikolai finally managed to score a goal. The problem with that was that Rossi started badgering Nikolai every chance he had. Whenever the small blonde had the ball Rossi came barreling towards him and slid tackled him at full speed. It was dangerous and I was growing more and more worried that Rossi would actually hurt my crush. It finally happened when Nikolai went into a handspring to take a shot on goal. Time seemed to slow to a lurch as Rossi's cleat knocked Nikolai's arms out from under him and the blonde hit the ground with terrifying force. My eyes widened and I wanted to go beat Rossi's face in. "Nikolai!" I didn't even notice that the ball went in the goal.

I ran over as did Coach Moon and half the other members of our team. It was pandemonium and my anger spiked at the tears of pain in Nikolai's eye. I wanted even more to beat Rossi's smirking face in. But Coach Moon's stern command to go take the penalty kick kept me from doing so. I wasn't sure why Coach Moon was always able to assert his authority but it was probably a good thing. I imagined Rossi's head was the ball as I took my kick. The force actually made the top of my foot sting a bit and the ball was going so fast and hard it went through the goalie's grasp to score.

I hated having to continue playing while Nikolai was hurt on the bench and as soon as the whistle blew I was sprinting over to where he was still sitting. The medic was already there and pushed Nikolai's shoulder back in its socket, making me cringe. The medic said that Nikolai should go to the hospital but he should his head and refused to go. So the medic wrapped his shoulder tightly with medical tape instead.

"Arahaes," I said, sitting beside him once the medic had finished wrapping up Nikolai's shoulder. "You should go to the hospital like the medic said. We shall hold down the fort here and we shall win." Nikolai shook his head, a few tears still escaping from his beautiful green eyes. "Why not?"

"Because he's as hard headed as the rest of you," Coach Moon replied. "He probably is even thinking about trying to continue playing after half time." Nikolai blushed and fidgeted for a moment before turning pleading puppy dog eyes on Coach Moon. "Don't look at me like that! You're injured! What kind of coach would I be if I let you back on the field not at a hundred percent?"

"A damn good one," Skylar remarked, earning an evil glare from the coach. Nikolai pouted just a little bit and I quickly looked away so that I wouldn't do something I would later regret.

Coach Moon sighed heavily. "Give me the first aid kit," he said, sighing again. He quickly started taping Nikolai's arm in place. I couldn't blame him in the least. I would have found a way to give Nikolai anything in the world if he'd turned those puppy dog eyes on me much less that pout. "I swear this is the first and last time I'm sending a one armed player onto the field. I don't care how much you guys try to coerce me!"

It was a train wreck for Queen Mary's after Rossi had been red carded. They couldn't seem to adapt to not having him on the field. It made it that much easier for us to increase the lead and the rest of their forwards lacked the same skill to get around a now very aggressive Skylar. In the last few seconds of the game, Skylar cleared the ball all the way down to our side of the field, leaving it up to me to fight with their defense for. I headed it off towards Nikolai, not remembering that he was off balance and couldn't do some of his crazy tricks with only one arm. But somehow he still managed to surprise me and flip to slam the ball into the net one last time as the whistle blew. Cheers erupted everywhere and pride swelled in my chest. Nikolai had come such a long way in so little time I couldn't have been more proud of him if I'd tried. I knew the grin on my face would be stuck there for quite a while as I hurried over to the celebration that was going on right there on the field.