On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Truth of the Past

"Activate the viewing screens." With a wave of Sakamaki's hands, four large screens appeared in the middle of the room. They connected to form a hollow cube and buzzed before showing a group of twelve playing with a ball in a clearing.

Kimiko felt her jaw drop. "That's..."

"You." Zanark nodded.

~~~~~

"Hey, not bad." Past Org said. "You're catching up real fast Kimmy!"

"Kiko!" The little girl pouted. "It's Kiko here!"

"Sorry, sorry. You're doing great, Kiko."

"Yeah. Keep it up, and you might steal Rastesu's spot as a regular." Past Goblis snickered.

The purple haired boy's head snapped to him. "What was that?!"

"Oh, now he's mad."

"Get back here and say that to my face!"

So he did. "She's gonna steal your spot if you're not careful!"

"Why you!"

"Boys..." Past Shinjami shook her head as she watched them chase each other around. Then, her gaze landed on the girl. "But say, you've taken a real liking to that name Zanark gave you, huh?"

A smile appeared. "Because Z names everyone in Zanark Domain, so since I get one, that means I'm part of the team too! I've never been on a team before! That makes it special!"

"Yeah, yeah, no need to get sappy." Past Zanark rolled his eyes before pointing west with his thumb. "The sun's setting. Shouldn't you start running home now?"

Her eyes widened. "Ah! Oh no! Papa's gonna be so worried! Sorry! See you tomorrow!" She bowed and ran off at full speed.

Past Yasha chuckled. "She's so cute. So innocent and pure, so oblivious to the real world outside this forest."

"Hey, Zanark." Past Shura said, walking up to him. "Is it really a good idea to let her keep visiting us like this? She's just a kid..."

"And it's not like she's really one of us, right?" Past Engir pointed out.

"She's part of our soccer team, but everything else we're doing..." Past Shuten had his arms crossed. "This scuffle we're having with El Dorado... It's too big for her."

"I thought you'd say that." He only leaned back on the seat of his bike. "That four-eyed uncle knows everything, and yet he still let's her hang around for who-knows-what reason. But as long as he's fine with it, I don't have a reason to keep her away either."

"Which means you like having her around." Past Gouzu said with a sigh.

"Well, I don't blame him. Kiko's adorable!"

"Coming from you, Yasha, that isn't really a compliment..."

"But she's also talented." Past Maze said. "Give it time, and she might grow to be our strongest player, only second to Zanark."

Past Rasetsu shot his leader a look. "That's what you're counting on, isn't it?"

He got a smirk in response. "That kid's already a splitting image of her mother. If she grows up to be just like her, then having her as one of us will be very interesting."

"... She's not taking my spot."

"Hells, you're actually scared?"

"Goblis!"