On The Side Of The Pitch With You

One Last Parallel World

"Kimiko... hates soccer?" Tenma couldn't understand it. "But she plays with you all the time! Maybe she doesn't love it as much as we do, but she still says that it's a fun hobby! And a while ago, she called me saying she's going to America and asked if I wanted her to buy anything for me! She supported us throughout all of Holy Road, despite not being physically there and―"

"The last time she even looked at a ball was nearly a year ago." Tsurugi cut off. "I haven't gotten a hold of her since. Gouenji-san told me she was his cousin, and about her abilities after Holy Road, but..."

"You're both right." Gouenji cut in. "Tsurugi's experience is what's 'right' in this timeline, but Tenma's memories are what's 'right' in the original."

"Then, that means there's still one parallel world left!" Fei stated.

"Exactly. And because of that, I'd like to ask for your help."

"You can count on us, Gouenji-san!" Tenma smiled. "Let's hurry and go give soccer back to Kimiko!"

"Hold on, Tenma." Shindou finally spoke up after taking all the new information in. "First of all, do we even know what happened to cause this?"

"T-That's..."

"And second, do we have an artifact to go back to the exact time the problem happened?"

"W-Well..."

"Please think it through before doing anything..."

"S-Sorry..."

"As for what happened..." Gouenji hummed in thought. "It could be..."

"Huh?"

"About a year ago, a couple of weeks before her eleventh birthday, we sent her to a training camp..."

"That sounds like fun!"

"... To Teikoku Academy."

Shinsuke immediately took it back. "Nevermind."

"She finished her regiment, but didn't come home until two days after. And as soon as she got back, she got rid of anything she had that was related to soccer and refused to play no matter who offered." He frowned. "It was my mistake to ask Kidou to be harsh on her. She developed both a fear and hatred for soccer because of it."

"Gouenji-san..."

"Then, should we prevent that training camp from happening?" Shinsuke suggested.

"No."

"But I thought―"

"It might've caused her pain, but that training camp was necessary. As I've mentioned, she has special abilities normal humans don't have. That training is so that she could understand the amount of power she had and learn to control it better." His held up his bracelet again and showed them some images. "Even in the original timeline, she still went to that training camp and went through the exact same training as this timeline. So, whatever caused this branch in worlds must've happened in the two days that she went missing."

"But then... How would we know what happened?" Tenma asked.

"Simple." Tsurugi met them with a blank stare. "We ask."

~~~~~

"Kimiko, you're back! Let's start on that combo technique like we promised!"

"Kyousuke..."

"Hm? What's wrong? You shouldn't be upset on your birthday."

"... I hate soccer."