Life As Teikoku's Manager (an Inazuma Eleven f.f.)

The Grand Finale

I want to dedicate this chapter to the wonderful LotusSword on FFN who has supported me from the start! Your reviews always motivate me to do better. Thank you so much! I have mixed feelings about this chapter because unfortunately when I wrote part of it I was in a writing stump (when you think your writing is trash) and I have half a mind to rewrite it someday, but the other part of me says that this is just part of the journey. This chapter to me is a conquering of fear, a fear of myself. This story has taken me to heights I never would have dreamed of, and helped me discover myself along the way. It will forever be considered one of my biggest achievements by myself, and by the time I finish this it will have set a milestone in my life. Even as I keep writing, even as time goes on, Life As Teikoku's Manager will forever have a place in my heart.

While everyone else was sitting down on the ground, being tended to their injuries or just overall trying to catch their breath from such an intense match, I was literally dying here, laying down on the ground, not even bothering to stop gasping for air to leave enough room for water. After all, I was playing with the same amount of energy I use in a usual game, and usually I only play for half a match at the most, not to mention the fact that my games are usually with normal people, not superhuman beings.

Eris, how was she able to, a complete beginner at soccer, train all the way up to the gods' level all in one year, while having to struggle as a cyborg? It was unimaginable. Zeus was truly made of gods, doing what humans could never do. For the first time I felt a sense of admiration towards them, even Aphrodi whom I despised with a passion so heated it made Gouenji's Fire Tornado look like child's play.

"Starting with the score of 3-2 in favor of Zeus, the second half will now commence! Can Raimon pull through and revive the Inazuma Eleven, or will the Olympians be the last ones standing?"

The whistle blew. Someoka was benched for real this time, despite the fact that he was restless and being whiny on the bench, and we were back on the field with eight players and a ninth who has no experience on playing more than one half of a game, and usually at full strength when others are tired.

As I jogged back to my place in the midfields, an action caught my eye from the Zeus bench. Although it may have just been me over stressing, Poseidon popping a mint made me hyperaware all of a sudden. Perhaps it was because this was the same action as before stirring up deja vu in my mind.

We thought we had a chance, and everybody was pumped up, even though we were all tired and beat. Gouenji charged up the field, determined to score another for sure. A big defender stopped him easily, even with Ichinose and Kidou backup. Just like flies, the three of them were flicked away, and our hope crumbled. The defender then passed the ball to Aphrodi.

Rather than taunting us, Aphrodi hit us on directly this time. In record time, he made it across the field to Endou, all while knocking down all of Raimon. I had never seen him this mad before.

"Why, why are you still so passionate even though you have no chance of winning?" Aphrodi growled. He kicked it at Endou, hitting the boy smack in the face. "Why? Why won't you just give up already?" Aphrodi's words had turned into a shout. "Why, why why?"

Eyes blazing, he looked almost like Eris. "You irritate me so much!" he screamed, another ball directed at Endou, as if trying to score a strike at bowling rather than score. Endou crawled back up, trembling.

"We will persevere...for soccer...for the ones who love..."

Aphrodi's anger took on a new level, spatting words I did not understand the deeper meaning. "You think you know about love? I'll show you the power of love...what it can drive you to do." This time Aphrodi didn't hold back. His wings grew brighter than before, his figure blinding, muscles and veins bulging. With a shoot so powerful, it made Divine Sky Dragon look like Dragon Crash next to Triangle Z, the ball flew to Endou.