On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Holy Road and Something More

The Holy Road is at its base a soccer tournament held to earn the title of Japan's number one junior high soccer team. But just like most other matches, it was under Fifth Sector's control. Raimon's first match was against Tengawara, they were meant to lose 2-0.

Kimiko watched in slight awe as the captain blocked their shot, stating that he will no longer follow Fifth Sector's commands. He used Kami no Takuto, and scored a goal using Fortissimo. What made him have that heel-face turn, she had the cheering brunette to give her a clue. Before the first half ended, Tengawara called out a keshin to even the score.

She wasn't sure what happened, but the chairman and principal were heading towards the changing room. Endou came out not too long after, the two yelling at him. One thing's for sure, Sangoku came out with a different look in his eyes than before.

A few minutes into the second half, Tengawara managed to steal the ball. It was centered for their keshin user, Hayabusa, to score with, but Sangoku caught it before he could.

"Shindou! Don't hold back! Make a full-on attack with Kami no Takuto!" He said as he threw the ball. "Tenma and Shinsuke should be able to keep up with your pass-work now! After all, they've been practicing like crazy!"

"Senpai!"

"I'll protect the goal! Go! Let's win this match!"

"Yeah!"

And so, it grows. In the end, with Shindou's keshin special shoot, Sousha Maestro's Harmonics, they won, 2-1. Kimiko didn't need to spare a glance to know her friend was fuming.

~~~~~

"You're right. They do have potential." The man kept replaying certain scenes from the district preliminaries. "And they're using it to rebel."

"What are you going to do with them?" She asked.

He smiled at her. "Care to guess?"

In the darkness, the man could see her purple eyes turning a few shades brighter. "Hm... Nothing, because it's better to use them for your goal instead."

"It's not a guess if you're reading my mind." He waved his hand, dismissing her. "Go on, Kimiko. Kuroki will pick you up again later."

She bowed.

~~~~~

"You're late." He wasn't glaring this time.

Seeing this, she gave him a smile. "I got held up by traffic."

"You took the train."

"Uh... long lines?"

He rolled his eyes. Whether the pun was intentional or not, he didn't care enough to retort. They headed for the local hospital, heading up to a room up on the third floor.

"Nii-san." The man before them had navy blue hair and orange eyes, not unlike her friend.

He looked up at him from his wheelchair, smiling. "Kyousuke!"

She peeked from behind her friend. "Yuuichi-san, it's been a while."

"Kimiko!" His smile grew wider. "It sure has!"

The two took him to the terrace, where children kicked a ball around. They stopped under a tree, each sitting down on either side of the wheelchair the man was in.

"How are you feeling?"

"Oh, pretty good today. There's no pain."

"I see."

She leaned her head against the armrest. It was nice to listen to the brothers talk. Their voices were soothing, largely contrasting all the mocking and sneering Tsurugi had been doing since the first day of school. Seeing this, the man patted her head, earning a very content smile.