Training was intense.
That's what I'm going to say.
Fidio helped us in realizing what we were up against, which was Little Gigant. It surprised me with how Rococo's formation was: The midfielders and the defenders joined the forwards, meaning that every member (excluding the goalkeeper) were up in the front lines. Not to mention that even if that formation was highly impossible (for my standards; I don't know if any other soccer team was able to do that), it was still manageable. How did Little Gigant even master this kind of play? Moreover, the match lasted fifteen minutes only. But even with that amount of time, we managed to get one point. Just one, thanks to Emperor Penguin #3. Endou even managed to get a hold of his new technique, God Catch (courtesy of Megane).
"Pretty intense, huh?" Jousuke asks me while eating a few carrots. At least he can manage to eat without the jelly. I still do. I don't know why people like eating rabbit food.
"Yeah, it was." I answer, still eating the jelly. At least it tastes less like rabbit food.
Two days after that, we got a video call from Raimon. And whoa, the soccer club had a lot of members. Handa had said that Inazuma Japan representatives are from Raimon have gained them popularity, and the number of the soccer club members increases every day. The club room was even rebuilt. Some of the new members of the Raimon soccer club recognized me; Back in first year, while I was with the National Soccer Youth team, my dad told me to train those guys. I did what he asked, and here they are.
Just only a few more days before the match with Rococo.
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"You OK?" I turn to Tachimukai. Somehow he had managed to find me at the shore. No one was with him, which surprised. I was expecting Jousuke to go with him, or maybe even Endou. Before I could answer, Tachimukai continued, "You were gone for thirty minutes." "I wanted to think." I answer.
"If it's fine to ask," Tachimukai scratches the back of his head. "What were you thinking about?"
"How we all got this far." I answer. I pat on the ground, telling Tachimukai that was fine for him to sit. He did so, but judging from the distance, he was still pretty nervous around me. An awkward silence immediately came upon us. To be honest, I didn't know what to say to him.
"Uh..." Tachimukai tries to start the conversation. "I've always wondered about your name." He says.
"My... name?" I look at him curiously.
"Etto..." Tachimukai fidgets with his fingers. "Sakuma has a lot of meanings if you look into it."
Aku for Evil. Akuma for Demon. Saku for Bloom. Kuma for Bear. Uma for Horse. "Well, you're not wrong."
"And your first name seems foreign." He points out. It's true, but I never really knew my first name origins.
"Again, you're not wrong. Thing is, I don't know why I was named 'Rena'." I answer.
"Hmm..." Tachimukai ponders on. "Rena means 'Joy' or 'Rebirth'."
I raise an eyebrow. With my last name with both good and bad meanings, why would my mother name me that? Tachimukai notices my expression, then begins to explain. Or, in my case, theorize. "Well, since you had the curse removed, it's like your you again." He says, smiling.
I never really thought of that.
"Wow." I say. "You think I was reborn?"
"The curse is gone now, right? You can play freely again." Tachimukai says. "If your name was translated into English, then you would be The Bear of Blooming Rebirth. OK, I think I said too much." He gives a small, nervous laugh.
YOU ARE READING
The Copy Cat (old version)
Fanfiction"Soccer is played freely, no matter what gender or race you are." That was the motto Sakuma's twin sister had lived by, though, no one would ever understand, since people believed that, "What's for boys are boys and what's for girls are for girls on...
