On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Edo Period V

He stopped right in front of the girl, the archer's bow right on his head. His smirk grew wider. "Makaiou Zodiac!"

The giant appeared out of his back, and immediately, the archer began to shoot at him. However, its claw-like wings were able to deflect them with ease. Its two forearms grabbed on the bow, preventing her from shooting more, and the two wings went to her shoulders, pushing her back.

It made the girl cry out.

"Kimiko!" Tsurugi glared at him. "What are you doing?!"

He only blinked. "Huh... It wasn't painful last time... Well, all the more reason to end it. Zodiac!"

The two claws lifted before quickly cross-slashing her torso, making the archer disappear. With a final cry, Kimiko fell to her knees.

Zodiac retreated into his back, but before anyone could ask, his eyes glowed.

Okita's widened. "That trick... That's how he gave me his power to move so freely!"

"What?"

"Zanark is..."

"Giving power to Kimiko?"

"Wrong." He replied. "I'm taking it back."

The girl's body suddenly stiffened. She bit her lip to keep herself from crying out again, so hard it bled. Her fingers dug into the soil, clenching so hard her knuckles were turning white.

"Zanark." Gouzu called. "If you take it away, then what'll stop her from getting out of control?"

"She already did go out of control." Shinjami pointed out. "There's no point in keeping that seal on her. Her powers had grown too much for his forced MixiMax."

Taiyou looked up at that. "Forced MixiMax? Like what Kongming did?"

"And just when did you manage to do that to Kimiko?" Kirino asked.

"Come on. Are we really going to believe the enemy's word?" Kariya said.

"Believe your own eyes then." Shuten pointed at the girl.

When they turned to her, their jaws dropped. Her skin had changed to a tanned tone, and her hair went from blonde to a minty green. It was like the Protocol Omega they ran into when they were in France.

Slowly, she changed back to normal, and Zanark's eyes stopped glowing. Shakily, she sat up, looking up at him.

"T-Thanks... I... I guess I owe you one...?"

"Actually, you owe me two." He smirked while she frowned.

"Who... Who are you? W-Why do you know so much about me? And... why do I also just barely know you all?"

"I am Zanark Avalonic. A member of the lower middle class without a name, and captain of Zanark Domain."

"But you do have a name." Sakamoto pointed out.

"And you know full well that's not what I mean." She said, trying to stand. Taking notice, Tsurugi was by her side at once and helped her stay up.

"Then, I'll tell you two things." He held a finger up. "First, we have no personal ties to one another. The only reason I'm willing to help you is because I owe someone."

Someone wanted him to help me? "Who?"

He didn't answer that. "Second, it's in your best interest to master that keshin of yours. Preferably before it destroys another forest."

Her eyes widened. "Another?! You mean I―"

"You're older now, so you should be able to do that much."

"Older? Wha..." She was getting more questions than answers at this rate. But then, his teammate's words from before the match rang in her ears. "... Yasha mentioned the name 'Kiko'. What does that have to do with me?"

"Who knows?"

"Zanark!"

"I don't have any reason to tell you anything, nor are you in the position to demand an answer." He said, his expression turning serious. "I'm calling in one of those favors now."

Her lips zipped shut. She didn't like it, but she did owe him. At least for what he just did. She threw him a look that said "This isn't over" and left it at that.

He suddenly took out his sphere device, teleporting his team away and clearing the field.

The team gave their youngest friend a worried look before turning back to their opponent.

"Get rid of the soccer ban!"

"Give us back Coach Endou!"

His hand reached to his back pocket and pulled out what looked like a purple gem. "By Endou, you mean this stone, right?"

Tenma's eyes widened. "Coach Endou is a Chrono Stone!"

"Here."

He tossed it over to them, only for someone in full white to grab it. A bright light was emitted, and when they regained their sight, they found the person had gone.

"Coach Endou!"

"T-That was―" Kimiko cut herself short when she heard the sound of a jet. "Zanark!"

The boy had hopped on to his bike and rode off, disappearing into a wormhole.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry for the late update! Got caught up with some things, but the next one should be updated on Monday still!