On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Two Faced Dragon

"Thank goodness it didn't turn into anything big." Sakura added.

"What are you all doing here anyway?" Tenma suddenly asked.

Manabe pushed up his glasses. "The truth is, we got to wondering and checked up on several things."

That they also did.

"Kusaka is actually quite a dangerous person."

"He caused a problem at his school, so he and his friends are expelled from school right now." Minaho said. "At school, he was a delinquent who controlled the baddest of the bad kids."

"Normally, he has the kind face of Buddha, but once he loses his temper, he changes into a demon." Manabe continued. "The dragon 'ryuu' kanji that's in his name earned him the nickname 'The Dragon With Two Faces' in that school."

"His terms for being hired by Coach Kuroiwa is that both he and his friends be reinstated back into their school."

"But it's strange. I went back even further in my investigations about him, and apparently years ago, he was a very kind person who was more of a scaredy cat than someone who got angry easily."

It took quite a lot for Tsurugi to not react to that because― How the hell did you find that kind of info?― And he hoped that there wouldn't be anything that'd prompt any investigations on him. Being beginners, they knew nothing of Fifth Sector, and it was in everyone's best interest to keep it that way.

"But after a certain incident, he suddenly changed into a whole different person."

"Incident? What happened?" Tenma asked.

"I don't know that much..."

"Either way, Kusaka is going to be dropped from Inazuma Japan." Tetsukado said. "Trainer Funaki came in earlier to tell us that."

"That's inevitable." Minaho nodded. "It didn't develop into anything serious this time, but what about the next time? It would be horrible if he causes another problem for us and ends up withdrawing the team anyway."

"He can't do that!" Tenma immediately defended. "I'm going to have a talk with Trainer Funaki!"

"Tenma." Shindou called back. "Why are you defending Kusaka that much?"

"Why...?" He looked down for a moment before staring him back with even more determination than before. "Anyway, I'm going to Trainer Funaki!"

"Tenma!"

He ran off, not letting anyone else change his mind.

"Always so persistent..."

"Well, it is Tenma." He couldn't help the small smile creeping up his face as he stood up.

"And where are you going?"

He blinked at his senior. "It's dinner time, isn't it?"

Apparently, they all forgot with all the drama that went on. They then stood up and headed for the cafeteria. Tenma came not too long after, looking far more relieved. Kusaka was at practice the next day.

~~~~~

On the day of the quarterfinals, Kusaka woke up the earliest. He wanted to get some extra practice in before the match. Knowing that he was one of the ones falling behind the most, he needed it.

He couldn't drag the team down anymore. Not if he wanted to protect his friends.

After changing into his tracksuit, he decided to practice dribbling all around Odaiba. That early in the morning, hardly anyone should be walking about, so it was perfect. He took a ball from the front field and went a couple of laps around it before making his way to the crossroads. Just as he turned towards the station, he stopped.

Their navy haired striker was standing there with his back to him, facing the station. He had a ball cradled in one arm, and was holding something else in his other hand, though, with how tiny it was, he was sure he would've missed it if it wasn't glinting in the bit of sunlight that was starting to come out.

The first train soon arrived and people were beginning to fill the space. When it departed for the next station, he heard the boy sigh. When he turned around, he thought the pair of amber eyes widened a little, but they returned to normal so fast that he couldn't really tell.

"Practicing?" He was asked.

"Y-Yeah... Kind of..."

The striker nodded. "Don't push yourself too hard. We don't want you exerting yourself before the match."

"Ah, right..." He watched him leave silently.

He couldn't bring himself to ask what he was doing there.