Tangent | Soukoku; AU [✔]

33 ➳ clutch // d.o

the crowd was wild. it was the wildest that i have ever heard them to be. it was more chaotic compared to the crowd of the world's final championship if i say so myself. the game was in favor of port mafia during the early game, and all of a sudden, the tides had switch to the enemy side. the favor was on the side of the opponents for a good solid 30 minutes.

but then, in just a matter of one minute, port mafia clutched to get the favor back on their side. and i can tell just from the replay of that minute that everything was xyren's idea. the crowd's scream was a mix of that in shock, awe, disbelief, and all sorts of emotions. it was probably because it was port mafia's first time to shine in the limelight like that.

as their game was almost done, i finally decided to get out of the stadium. i'm not really entirely sure as to why; perhaps i'm just getting this feeling that i should get out of there as fast as i can. i stood up from my seat and walked towards the nearest exit.

whilst i drag my feet to the door, i saw from the corner of my eye that one of the bigger screens have zoomed in to the face of the female support. i mean, nothing changed, really - it's still just her hair-covered face and the serious lips she always plaster. even so, somehow i just know that something wasn't right. shortly after, the camera panned to the shorty's face, which i knew better than anyone else that that is the face of an angry player.

i didn't dwell on it too much for now; i need to clutch myself out of here first!

i dashed out of the venue as fast as i can, and as far as i could be. even outside of the venue, there were many media lurking and waiting, so there was just no way i could lounge there for too long without being noticed. i guess i just have to wait until later before i can make any arrangements with xyren.

i ended up walking as far as that spot where i first met her. this should be far enough, right?

boy, i need to catch my breath first.

once i did, i fished my phone out of my pocket and shoot a message to xyren. i'm not entirely sure if she'll reply as fast as she normally would, but i'll just leave it at that anyway.

'hey, nice save out there.' i sent. i was about to dump my phone back to my pocket when the device beeped less than a minute after hitting send.

'thank you,' xyren replied as a single message, followed by another separate message afterwards. 'thinking is such hard work.'

i wonder what she meant by that. did she mean to say that the game took a mental toll on her? or is it something that i'm missing?

i won't think too hard for now, but i replied to her 'do you wanna meet later and talk about it?'

expecting that i was going to receive another fast reply, i waited for a few minutes. and more minutes... but there was none anymore.

oh well, i understand. they could either be discussing something now or something else entirely. i'll leave it be for now. however, it does make me wonder what i saw back there in the big screen. something is definitely up that must have happened during the game.

maybe... maybe they won, but at what cost?

i have my hunches already. my deepest hopes that it's not what i think it is.