On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Ratoniik II

A short walk later, they arrived at a soccer pitch right by a similar field of flowers. As Banda was invited to join, Manuuba had decided to skip out on a quick game, pretending to still be sick, so Ichikawa joined his side to even out the numbers. Kimiko found a spot on the other side that seemed like a slope, so she decided to lay there as she took notes on the gravitational effects that are visible as they play.

Banda was fast and nimble. He made a lot of mistakes, ones that made her think he might've just started out on the game, but he always managed to bounce back afterwards. What's more, even when the others were getting tired after over an hour of playing, he could still continue moving, claiming that "There's no time to be feeling tired!" Seeing his plays gave her a rough idea of how the others in Ratoniik's team could play as well.

The ground is just the same grass as on Earth, but the gravity is a lot lighter here. The ball would probably be in the air a lot, so we'll need to work on aerial movements...

A sweet scent came from somewhere nearby. Looking towards its source, she found some familiar people standing in the flower field.

"Masato-nii... Shuuya-nii and... Kidou Yuuto-san...?"

What were they doing on this planet?

How were they even here in the first place?

Curious, she put her tablet away and began walking towards them. They didn't seem the least bit affected by her confusion. In fact, they seemed to ignore it entirely, only staring her down.

The last time she felt this nervous was when she had to face them all again after Holy Road.

The first to speak was the goggles wearing man. "Do you think creating menus like that can help them?"

She probably should be used to the cold treatment from him, but for some reason, that still surprised her. "Wha...?"

"Do you think you've done something by joining the previous match?"

"W-What are you talking about?"

"With the way you are now, do you really think you can save anyone? Do you really think you can protect anything?"

I thought we were over this... She bit her lip before turning to her two relatives. "M-Masato-nii... Shuuya-nii... Why are you two just keeping quiet? You don't agree with him... Do you?"

They gave her a blank stare, and in all honesty, that scared her more than what Kidou was saying. Suddenly, they turned around and disappeared.

"Hey, wait!" Her hand grabbed nothing but air. "Y-You've got to be kidding me..." She turned to Kidou again, who's expression was unreadable beneath those goggles. "Not again..."

"You are not allowed to leave. You will stay until the regiment is complete. As of right now, the power you've shown isn't enough."

?!

"If you want to be there on time, you better give it everything you've got and―"

"Not enough? You say everything I've done isn't enough?" She let out a self deprecating laugh, shaking her head and doing all she could to ignore the memories threatening to resurface. "Is that all you can ever say about me? That I'm not... enough...? No matter what, I'm not... I'm not...! Even after everything I've done to get here, I..."

"If you had ever been of any use, your precious Kyousuke wouldn't have to suffer, would he?"

!

"SHUT UP!!!" Just as she squeezed her eyes shut, something tugged around her neck. Opening her eyes again, she found her pendant hanging out of her shirt, swaying slightly.