Inazuma Eleven 3, Book 1 : Morning Twilight

Chapter 4 : A Knight's Honour

England, 8 years ago.

"Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom! I want to be like that"

A short, blond boy was vigorously pointed with his stubby fingers at the TV in their hotel where a knight was being shown slaying a dragon in some sort of animated film.

His mother had a serene smile on her face and let out a gentle laugh before patting the young boy's head.

"Are you all set to go Galahad? We'll be able to meet up with your father and brother in Japan soon!"

Galahad nodded his head in confirmation before putting on his backpack, grabbing his action figure with one hand and then reaching for his mother's hand with his other. Galahad had never been to Japan before but as long as he had his family he didn't really care where he was.

He had a bright smile on his face before turning to his mom

"Mmh, all ready!"

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One Year Ago, Before Raimon's Loss to Eisei Gakuen in the Holy Road Quarterfinals

"Yozora-kun? Yozora-kun? Are you sure you're not having any issues with your auditory perception? Perhaps you should schedule an appointment with a physician. Shall I recommend you one?"

Galahad was quickly getting used to Mika's way of speech so he just sweat dropped and assured her that his hearing was fine and he was just lost in thought.

Mika nodded in understanding and continued to look straight ahead as she was walking.

Looking at her refined side visage, Galahad let out a sigh of resignation.

He had expected a few gazes because it was Mika but it was much more than he had anticipated. Galahad couldn't help but take a glance at the girl walking beside him again, and in her school uniform she was already beautiful but this was the first he had seen her outside of school. Even in light-blue knee-length jeans, a casual t-shirt and a light black jacket she had a chic but relaxed look that resembled a celebrity.

Galahad hadn't expected her to say yes when he asked her and the only other 1st year, Kenji Aihara on the first string, to get gelatos with him over the weekend as he recalled the rather awkward conversation between the three yesterday.

Huff Huff Huff

With practice for the day wrapping up Galahad finally saw the only other first years on the team together at the water fountain, and swallowing his nerves he went over to talk to them.

"Hello"

Galahad gave a short greeting, but was met with a clear face of disinterest from Kenji while Mika had her usual unreadable expression. Galahad clenched his hand a few times but this time was determined to invite them out to hang out after practice. Having been intimidated by their cold facades in the past, he hadn't practised in the mirror so many times only to waste his efforts now. Putting on the warmest smile he could muster up he asked

"I was wondering if you guys wanted to grab some gelato from a nearby place that opened up just a while back? I've been there once and it was really good so I thought it'd be good for team bonding if we went tomorrow?"

"Sorry Galahad-kun, I'll be doing some data analysis of the match last night between Orpheus and The Empire" Kenji replied while pushing up his glasses.

"The synchronicity between the Orpheus members was 3.2% higher than their last match and they used a new hissatsu tactic I wanted to break down which will take a while"