...I just made a joke.

I made a joke and then inspiration slapped me in the face and I wrote this in an hour and a half. I don't even know what this is but I love it. It's AR spirit at its finest.

So... enjoy, I think?

~'0'~

It starts on a dare.

Raimon's first-years are hanging out at Tenma's house - "because your cousin makes the best snacks" - and they were bored and Kariya suggested truth or dare.

They should have stopped after Kariya dared Shinsuke use Majin the Hand to catch someone jumping form the second story window.

Alas, after the prominent scolding Aki gave them, they are once more safely in Tenma's room and Shinsuke, spitefully, looks right at Kariya when he says, "truth or dare."

And thus, they continue.

The game stays, while not mild, less life threatening and eventually it lands on Tenma.

"Dare."

"Alright," Hikaru says, thinking deeply. "I dare you to... uh... design a hissatsu from the top of your head!"

He grins sheepishly at the startled looks that gets him.

"Uh, sure," Tenma says slowly. "But I've actually been trying something new so I don't know if that counts...?"

"No, no," Kariya interferes loudly. "That'd be too easy. Make it- make it themed!"

Aoi giggles, and the boys share amused looks as Hikaru agrees, putting a hand to his chin as he thinks it through. It doesn't take him long to suddenly look up, hitting his hand with his fist. "I've got it! Use the penguin shoots as inspiration!"

Tsurugi outright laughs at that, mumbling a "good luck" to Tenma.

The brunet opens his mouth to retort but, really, he's got nothing. His friends are already starting to crack up, and he knows Kariya will start taunting him if he doesn't say anything.

Tenma has not been a soccer fanboy for his entire life to fail here. His pride won't allow it.

He knows every single penguin shoot, even has a penguin plushie somewhere in the back of his closet - although he would never admit that, not even on pain of death. Probably. He can do this.

And so he settles back, frowning as he thinks it through.

"Oh god he's really doing it," Shinsuke mumbles.

Tenma hums quietly, silent for a few more seconds. Then he slowly nods once more, looking at his friends once more, and begins. "Okay, so, you're just approaching the goal, right?"

"Right," Shinsuke says warily.

"But then there's a screech. Have you ever heard a peacock screech? It's like, uh," Tenma tries to repeat it, making a sort of aaahw sound that gets a chuckle out of all of them. "It's like that, right?"

He's actually really getting into this now. "You've got that screech, right, and then you twirl. And you throw out your arms for balance and flair!" he gets to his feet, spinning around to show what he means. "And if there's like, defenders coming to stop you, you spin until they're right in front of you and then you stop with your arms spread and there's a peacock tail that opens and knocks them away!"

Tsurugi presses a hand to his eyes, grinning helplessly. Aoi has begun giggling, holding herself as she laughs.

"And then!" Tenma stops, still in his former pose - legs and arms spread like he's trying to block a door. "Then you throw your head back!" he mimics the motion he's seen peacocks make at the zoo. "And then you shout the name of the hissatsu and there's this wind from behind you that scatters all the feathers from the peacock tail and blows them right towards the goal! Anyone trying to stop it will be blown away by it and the keeper gets blinded by all the feathers!"

Kariya cracks up, joining Tsurugi and Aoi, and Shinsuke and Hikaru are grinning wildly. "What would you even call this shoot?" the latter asks.

It's Kariya who answers.

Kariya, who is notoriously bad at naming things. "Prance of the Peacock," he says, voice perfectly serious.

The next moment, they're all howling with laughter. Tenma drops to the floor and Shinsuke curls in on himself as he hugs himself, stomach beginning to hurt from laughing so hard.

"Who would even use that shoot?" Hikaru gasps out, looking near tears from laughing so hard.

Tenma and Tsurugi are hit with it at the exact same moment.

They look at each other - a look filled with realization, excitement, like they're on the exact same frequency - and declare together, "Shindou-san!"

Just one split second of silence, their friends left gaping at them.

And then they all, simultaneously, lose it.

When Aki comes by ten minutes later it's to the sight of them all crying with laughter, Tenma and Tsurugi pretty much hanging off each other, the only thing keeping them upright each other, while Kariya has his head on the table and Hikaru is just completely spread out on the floor as he simultaneously laughs and tries to gasp for breath. Shinsuke is leaning against the desk literally crying, and Aoi is holding her school bag to her face, shoulders shaking.

Aki smiles and leaves them to it.

~'0'~

It becomes a bit of an inside joke.

They don't actually mention it all that often when with the team - somehow it feels like their senpai would understand, and who knows what would happen then - but they reference it often enough when it's just them.

It doesn't even start out that bad! But then Aoi makes a sticker collection, not just of the initial offended peacock, but also of one mid-fall, one with its neck turned almost 180 degrees and its eyes narrowed to a glare (Kariya says it reminds him of how Shindou looks whenever the first-years are scheming somewhere, how he'll suddenly turn around and just look like he's telling them I know exactly what you're thinking), one that looks imposing with its neck extended and head tilted down, and many more.

There's no stopping them anymore after that.

It's just... there's something so funny about poking innocent fun at their senpai like this, especially because Shindou has, well... a certain flair for the dramatics. And the peacock pictures suit him really well.

Shinsuke has started sneaking pictures of Shindou looking annoyed or mad and they all respond with the sticker they think fits best. Then Tsurugi starts making comparison pictures.

It goes on like that for a few weeks with no issues, but alas.

Everything has to come to an end somehow.

They're having a heated discussion in the soccer club group chat - not their private first-years only one, but that's easy to forget with how Tenma and Tsurugi are dominating the discussion - and after the captain expresses a fairly controversial opinion, Hikaru responds with a peacock sticker.

Which wouldn't be a bad thing, y'know, if they weren't in the main group chat.

It brings Tenma and Tsurugi's discussion to a quick stop.

And then Aoi sends, her message hopefully not revealing anything incriminating, "Hikaru, wrong chat."

They can almost hear him say it when Hikaru responds with, "Oops."

Of course there's some confused reactions - Hamano sends a question mark, Kurama asking what they've come up with this time, idiots - but the senpai mostly ignore and forget about it.

The first-years can breathe a sigh of relief at not being caught.

That is, until they get into trouble only a week later. It's nothing big, in retrospect, but it does lead to a scolding from Shindou - and since he's not actually physically present (the first-years are in detention while the of the team rest is at soccer practice), he contends himself with using the group chat. From the looks of it, the other senpai are enjoying themselves immensely, as they always are when Shindou chews anyone out.

Usually the first-years wouldn't even be on their phones while in detention, but the teacher hasn't shown up yet, and, hey. They're teenagers. What do you expect, really? At least they're not playing soccer with one of their bags.

(Whether that has happened before is neither here nor there.)

Anyway, back to the main point. Shindou scolding them. It's been going on for almost ten minutes now, Aoi dutifully typing out apologies whenever Shindou falls silent for more than thirty seconds.

It finally seems like he's winding down, though, the messages becoming slightly calmer in tone.

Tenma can almost perfectly picture his friend, the upturned nose, the huffy noise he makes sometimes.

Tenma has also always had a mischievous streak wide.

Tenma, being in detention, does not have the promise of soccer to distract him.

...he's never claimed to be particularly strong-willed.

He sends a peacock sticker.

The reaction is immediate. Shinsuke let's out a loud gasp in the silence of the classroom, while Hikaru sounds particularly shocked as he lets out a disapproving "Tenma-kun!"

Tsurugi snorts in amusement - ha, take that! Tenma knew he'd understand the joke - while Aoi just sighs very, very tiredly. Well, she has known him longest, so it makes sense. Kariya lets out a loud cackle that's no doubt audible even in the hallway, and he doesn't stop.

In the group chat, the senpai express their confusion.

Tenma cheerfully sends a, "sorry, my hand slipped" to the rest of their team and then immediately after, "have to put our phones away, teacher's here." That one, at least, is not a lie - no doubt they're responding to the sound of Kariya still cackling like a hyena.

~'0'~

After that, no one's really surprised when it happens again.

Obviously it's Kariya to blame this time. Who else would it be?

Shindou is mentioning a strategy for their next match, and just so happens to get carried away. It's not the first time and it won't be the last, and the team has learnt to see the fun in it when their strategist gets so into his plans that he even forgoes his usual meticulous spelling.

Kariya sends a peacock sticker.

Shindou doesn't actually notice it, none of the senpai really seem to - they're used to random stickers by now - but the first-years certainly do. It gets a laugh out of all of them later that day at practice.

And so it becomes a thing they do. Most often, surprisingly, Shinsuke is the culprit - he's a fan of sending random peacock stickers in the chat whenever he physically sees the look on Shindou's face. Tsurugi and Tenma will be discussing something with their team's strategist, the rest of the team several feet away, and Shinsuke will send a sticker of whatever peacock he feels like Shindou looks like the most at that moment.

It's probably the thrill - they could do this in their private group chat like before, but there's something so funny about using their inside joke right in front of their senpai's noses with them having exactly zero clue. Tsurugi has even started making haughty "caw" sounds under his breath when Shindou sounds particularly prideful.

They love their former captain, they do.

But it's just so funny.

Alas, as always, the truth has to come out sometime.

They're in the clubroom, none of them even have their phones out. It's a strategy meeting for their oncoming match - they're all passionate enough that they'd never be on their phone and potentially miss important details.

Shindou has been criticizing their current strategy for a couple of minutes now, growing more and more passionate in that quiet way of his, one it took them all a while to learn how to recognize. He sounds composed as always, but his words have sped up a little and he's began gesturing.

It's always the gesturing.

Kirino likes to joke, if you want a read on Shindou's mood, look at his hands - it's his tell and he always forgets to keep them still. Excited or infuriated, he'll be gesturing wildly. Trying to keep his emotions controlled when he's upset, he'll be squeezing something like his bag or even his other hand, until his fingers turn white. When particularly sentimental, he likes to reach for people he's close to, barely there touches on shoulders although recently he's grown more comfortable with bigger things - particularly with Tenma, he's began patting his head, and with Tsurugi, clapping him on the back or squeezing his shoulder.

Anyway. He's gesturing now.

Tsurugi, seated next to Tenma, has been doing a voice over since said gesturing began. "Caw, ca-caw, cawcawcaw, ca-caw," he's whispering and Tenma has to hold his breath or risk bursting with laughter.

It's moment like this that he remembers Tsurugi is, in fact, a younger brother.

Finally, finally the soccer gods have mercy on Tenma's soul and Shindou's rant comes to an end. With it, so does Tsurugi's voice over.

Tenma still has to bite his lip to keep the laughter at bay, though.

They're moving onto the discussion part now that usually comes after one of Shindou's strategic word storms - in a bit, both Tsurugi and Tenma will be expected to participate if only because they always do. The brunet desperately tries to compose himself.

It's very hard, especially when Nishiki makes a suggestion that causes Shindou to make a little huffing sound.

"Caw," Tsurugi whispers and Tenma almost doubles over trying not to laugh.

"Oh my god!"

The sudden shout interrupts their discussion, all eyes turning to a startled Hamano, who was previously seated on Tsurugi's other side and has now stood up to point accusingly at the two first-years.

"Hamano?" Hayami asks warily.

Hamano doesn't seem to hear it, stuck staring at Tenma and Tsurugi. "The peacock thing! I finally get it!"

"What?" one of the other senpai mutters, but Tenma and Tsurugi are too busy suddenly sharing a panicked glance to check who.

"It's Shindou!' Hamano continues, because he's a traitor with no regard for the wellbeing of his younger friends. "You're making fun of Shindou!"

"Wait, what?" the strategist says.

By now, everyone seems to have forgotten their upcoming match in favor of watching the new drama play out. Hamano has turned to Shindou, explaining, "Tsurugi was making bird sounds when you were talking just now. I was wondering why he was doing it but then he did it again and I realized he only did it when you were talking. And the bird stickers! Whenever it's not random, it's always whenever you're saying something."

Shindou is left gaping like a fish for a second, and then he's turning to his younger teammates - to ask whether it's correct, presumably, but there's no need for that.

Tsurugi looks particularly red and is refusing to meet his eyes. Aoi has burrowed her head in her hands. Hikaru looks like a dear in the headlights. Shinsuke has sunk so far down in his chair only the the tips of his hair are visible. Kariya has pressed one flat hand to his mouth and is staring up at the ceiling. Tenma, for the first time in his life seeing Shindou completely speechless, loses it.

He's been trying not to laugh for nearly ten minutes now and he just, literally, loses it, doubling over while he laughs so hard he's beginning to tear up and has trouble breathing. There's a hissed, furious "Tenma!" from Tsurugi and it really doesn't help.

"I - can't - breathe," Tenma gasps out which, really, doesn't help the "can't breathe" problem. He's half-aware of his fellow first-years - Tsurugi seems to want to disappear, just like Shinsuke, but Kariya has started cackling as well and he can hear Aoi's quiet giggles too. Of course - she's just as much of a gremlin as Tenma, no matter how well she pretends otherwise.

"What," Sangoku says slowly, "is going on here?"

None of the first-years are willing to answer - none but Tenma, because screw it, the joke's over and done with anyway. "Shi-Shindou-san looks-" he gasps out, "he looks like an offended peacock when he's- when he's mad, and with his Soul, and he just-" and there goes Tenma's short moment of coherency again as he loses it again.

Shindou's squeaked "what?!" is the highest they've ever heard his voice, and, well the laughter is contagious.

Tsurugi cracks then too, and Shinsuke could either be sobbing or laughing, no one really knows. The entire team is just staring at them all laughing like complete maniacs - whatever they were expecting, it wasn't this.

Well, not the entire team. "You know," Kurama says innocently - Kurama! Who would've ever thought he'd be the first-years' unexpected ally? "I can see where they're coming from."

And then the beamer at the front of the room, previously showing their opponents' usual formation, switched to a picture of a peacock staring right into the camera. In the search bar above it, Kurama has typed "grumpy peacock".

Shindou squeaks again, staring at it in shock. Then he gets over his shock, whirling around, expression set into an offended frown and face more red than they've ever seen it.

He looks remarkably like the peacock picture behind him.

...Raimon loses it.

~'0'~

In the end, Shindou isn't that mad about the joke, surprisingly enough.

He's still a bit red and his arms are crossed and yeah, he's definitely annoyed, but his lips are twisting up at the corners like whenever he's trying not to smile.

"I knew our first-years were gremlins," he says when asked, releasing a deep sigh. "I just didn't think I'd be their target." And finally that smile breaks through. "And I suppose it is kind of funny - my Soul is a peacock for a reason."

Well, it's not as if he can deny it, not after Tsurugi has shown them all the Shindou-peacock comparison picture collection he's build up by now. Because, really, the likeness is almost uncanny.

"I do want you to stop making bird sounds whenever I talk, though," Shindou adds, shooting Tsurugi a mild glare. The striker doesn't meet his eyes, mumbling something under his breath that could be an agreement. His cheeks are pink.

"Please," Tenma adds immediately. "I don't think I can survive holding my breath that long again."

Shindou snorts.

"Caw," Kurama mumbles, and this time, the entire team laughs - including Shindou, even as he rolls his eyes.

~'0'~

...that is what Tenma thinks of as he stares at the peacock picture in front of him.

He's back in their old clubroom, which he exchanged for the high school one a year ago. He's stuck in the past, both with his team yet not, and somehow it feels like time itself is taunting him.

Hamano brought a book of funny bird pictures he found in the library and has been showing it off, which led to Amagi revealing a surprising knowledge about different bird species - although Tenma already knew about it, he's supposed to take them bird watching in a couple of years.

And now Hikaru has the book open on his lap, Tenma on one side and Shinsuke on another, Kirino leaning over the back of the couch to catch a glimpse of the picture as he makes a sound of amusement.

The picture, showing a peacock staring right into the camera.

No, Tenma tells himself sternly. Don't do it. You're not really thirteen, you have better self control than this. You are more MATURE than this. For soccer's sake, Matsukaze, don't-

But Tenma has always had a mischievous streak, and he's never been particularly good at denying it.

And so he opens his mouth and, sounding perfectly innocent, says, "hey, don't you think this one looks like Shindou-senpai when he's offended?"

~'0'~

Tenmaaaa, don't put your team through this again :'D

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! See you next time.

- Yara

Also: look up a video on peacock sounds. I beg you. It's hilarious and makes this one-shot even better.