On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Mistakes Made

Sakura woke up early that day. She might've even been the earliest. She headed out and breathed in the fresh morning air. Seeing as no one else was awake, she decided to take a walk near the mall and see if it was open. If it was, then maybe she could do some early shopping to get herself in a good mood for practice―

Spiky, navy blue hair caught the corner of her eye.

So maybe she wasn't the first to wake up after all.

Tsurugi was standing on the edge of the central square, facing in the direction of the train station. He held a soccer ball in one arm and something else in this other hand. Something way too small for her to see from this distance.

Just as she mulled over whether or not she should greet him, his head seemed to drop before turning to the road leading to the Seaside Stadium.

Huh... I wonder what that was about.

~~~~~

"Here is the information for our next opponent, Australia's Big Waves." Manabe said, pulling up the charts. After breakfast, he had called them all to the meeting room to show them the information he managed to gather. "According to the data, their average score per match is 7.67. They always win by a wide point margin."

"So they're a team that possesses outstanding offense." Tsurugi concluded.

"The issue would be how we can defend against them." Tenma added in.

"Data only consists of numbers." Minaho stated. "Once we have an actual match with them, I'll uncover their weak spot."

Shindou's fists tightened on each other. "By then, it'll be too late."

Manabe was going to continue, but he was cut off by the door opening. Kamata stood there with a large smile on her face. "Sakura, your parents are here to visit."

The pink haired girl had wide eyes when she heard. She headed out to meet them, but Tsurugi was almost sure her expression darkened when she did. But that wasn't any of his business, so he'll ignore it for the time being. He shifted his focus back to the meeting, just as everyone else had.

~~~~~

The day of the match came fast. They didn't have a set strategy for it yet, but they had to go for it regardless.

They spread out across the field as they waited for their opponents. Most of them got into partners to warm up. Matatagi and Tenma, Kusaka and Tetsukado, Minaho and Manabe, and the girls together. Meanwhile, Tsurugi and Shindou stood in front of Ibuki, the former with a ball under his foot.

"Come on!" The keeper called. Tsurugi made his usual power shot and the white haired boy was able to block it easily. Immediately, it was like he got an ego boost. "Did you see that? I won't let anyone score a goal through me anymore!"

"We'll see how it turns out in a real game." Shindou coldly stated.

"You just leave the goal to me!"

But of course, he wouldn't. Tsurugi could only stare after his senior with an internal sigh.

When their opponents arrived, they headed into positions. It started with his and Tenma's kick off. Tenma dribbled as far up the field as he could, but he was blocked by the other captain. It was stolen off of him, but then it was taken back before another opponent got through. Their game went back and forth, but Big Waves were the ones pushing them back.

Sakura's throw in was next. She gave it to Tetsukado and called for it to be passed right back. When she fell short, they thought it was a miss, but she used her gymnastic abilities to get to it before the enemy could.