True Strength

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"The quarter-finals for Football Frontier International Vision 2 Asia district preliminaries is here at last! Today, I bring to you the match between Japan's Inazuma Japan and Saudi Arabia's Shamshir!"

"Everyone, let's go!"

"Okay!"

Their kickoff started the match.

Almost immediately, the enemy captain took the ball from them. While they brought the ball up with passes, Shindou was able to cut through them with Einsatz. However, it was stolen right back. It got back to the enemy captain, who scored the first goal using Oil Rush.

It was their kickoff again. Matatagi was able to bring the ball up by quite a bit before getting blocked. Tenma ordered him to pass to Kusaka, who only barely managed to touch the ball before it got stolen.

They seemed to be exchanging a couple of words before he lost his temper and made a dangerous tackle. A foul. The exact same kind as the one from the Teikoku match.

"Why are you doing this, Kusaka?" Tenma called out. "You practiced so hard! Don't you care if you can't get to play soccer anymore?! Kusaka!"

None of his words seemed to be getting through, but Konoha was suddenly behind him. She muttered some things that they couldn't hear from further in the pitch, but it seemed to bother him enough to make him respond. His gaze then went up into the stands.

Konoha then went to Tenma, telling him something, which then prompted him to talk to the other midfielder even more.

We really can't have a single match without something happening, huh?

"Shut up."

"What was that, Tsurugi?" Minaho was suddenly behind him with a questioning look.

He shook his head. "Nothing. Thought I heard something is all." Before the orange haired boy could say anything else, he quickly got into position. The last thing he needed was the little detective to get into his business.

I blame you, you stupid voice.

Who's the one with the brain using this voice in the first place?

Ugh...!

The whistle suddenly resounded through the stadium. The first half just ended.

"Do you even want to play properly?!" Funaki scolded as Kusaka walked past.

"I'm sorry." Was his only reply before he headed into the tunnel.

"Tenma." Shindou suddenly called. "Let's keep Kusaka out of our plays in the second half."

"Eh?"

"We'll lose everything if he disrupts the game with his rough plays."

"But I'm sure Kusaka understands that what he did was wrong!"

"For now, this is what we should do. Isn't it?"

"That would be our best option in our present condition." Manabe stated.

"It's an accurately-made decision." Minaho added.

"Will that really be for the best?" Sakura asked.

"We don't exactly have a choice, do we?" Tetsukado returned it with his own question.

"Wait!" Tenma cut back in. "I want all eleven of us to fight together! I want to play soccer with all of you guys!"

"Will that help us win?" Shindou said coldly.

Gray eyes widened and he looked down in thought. "... Fine then."

Amber eyes widened slightly at his voice crack. It was definitely a painful decision for him, and not one that he ever thought he'd see the brunette agree to, but there were bigger things at stake.

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