Break Him Out Of His Shell

Chapter 17: Unexpected Half

-Takuto's PoV-

I took a glance to my right, Tenma was staring into the nothingness, his head was hanging on the side, much like he couldn't keep it straight. I started to get worried and decided to try to comfort him by reaching out to him.

He flinched away from my touch, he was about to say sorry by pushing both of his hands together. His sleeve turned up a bit, I felt my heart stop beating as I saw a bandage covering both of his arms, starting right on the wrists. It... It seemed... n-new. I had to turn my head to the side as Tenma woke up from his stupor and sat down correctly.

"I will destroy you, Raimon" Yukimura shouted from the other side of the train.

We started to practice before the match. The ice was slippery, we couldn't make passes at all, the ball went in the opposite direction every time we tried to shoot.

It was time: we were formed in the middle of the pitch to shake our hands. Tenma was pale, even paler than what he was in the train.

"You are gonna die, pretty soon, this little game has reached its end." Yukimura yelled from the other side of the pitch as the whistle blew.

Under a minute they were in front of our goal-mouth, it was hard to tell how they got there so quickly, it was as if their feet barely touched the floor. They were dancing through us, as if we were some sort of dancing mate. Tenma made an effort to try to stop them but he was just too fast.

"Eternal Blizzard" And it entered, and we did absolutely nothing. This was going to be a hard game. "Is this the famous Raimon? The team ready to 'help us'? You are dirt compared to the power Fifth Sector has!" He turned his head. "And you now why? BECAUSE FIFTH SECTOR NEVER TURNS THEIR BACK TO YOU WHEN YOU NEED THEM, EX-COACH!" Yukimura left after that as the game resumed.

Out of nowhere, Kariya cut one of our passes and told me to use our spikes under the shoe to help us move, we had an opportunity after all.

We were in ball possession, but their defense was too tight, I was blocked by a rigid wall of ice.

"Guys, DOBLE WING!"

-Third's PoV-

Both of them were equal, very well performed, except by a factor: the head player of the right wing was collapsing by the effort. The passes got slower with time and the barrier seemed too good. For a moment it was easy to tell where the ball was. Or so the other team thought, the midfielder was quick to see the move they made to his direction and the pass to Tsurugi quickened enough in velocity and strength to break the other team's formation.

Tsurugi was ready to shoot, when he saw Hikaru on his right and decided to give the new one a chance.

"Dark-Energy Star!" And he scored, with a tactic no one had ever seen before, with an incredible force and Raimon couldn't be happier with that tie, they jumped towards the boy now lying on the floor due to the happiness of his friends.

He had pink hair, he was behind the bench of Raimon, staring as his memories mixed with reality.

"Come on, you can do better!" A boy said to a younger version of the man now watching the game with a laugh.

"Here I come!" The boy answered by shooting towards an imaginary goalmouth made by two sandals.

How... How could he forget what happiness felt like? How could he take that away from young boys? Why did he do that? Just... What was the point?

The happiness was soon overpowered by overwhelming sadness.

Their passes were cut quickly after that goal, Hakuren was furious, the immense wall of ice stood once again in the middle of the field.

-Tsurugi's PoV-

"Matsukaze!" Tenma was right beside me, waiting for me to make the first pass. I caught something with my eye, something red from his uniform. I was about to say something...

"Right here, let's go!" He gave me the ball back as in front of me were Takuto and Kariya and for his side Kirino and Hamano.

Both wings started well, Tenma's passes grew weaker by the second. I couldn't handle it, I stopped in my tracks and so did he at some point.

He was five meters ahead of me, in ball possession, ten feet away from the other team wall.

"T-Tenma?" I called him with little to no voice.

He turned to look at me. I will never forget that face. He was pale, plain white, his ankle was visibly swollen over his sock, his figure was trembling because of the cold. I kept scrutinizing him as I walked slowly towards him.

"Tenma...?" I heard Takuto from his back.

Then, the red I saw ended up as a drop on the floor. I remained staring at the floor as another drop met the first one... then another one... then four... And I met his face, his eyes closing, his knees giving up, they could no longer sustain his body. The first half was about to end and I couldn't care less.

He stumbled backwards and was about to fall, Takuto was there to catch him. The rest of the players were running towards us.

Tenma was lying nearly unconscious on a small puddle of his own blood.

"I-I just can't deal with t-this a-anymore." He went still.

"SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE" I turned with fury to the other team. "YOUR SOCCER IS GOING TO KILL PEOPLE I LOVE, THIS ISN'T SOCCER, THIS IS MAFIA." I went to punch Yukimura, my eyes red from suppressed tears, but I couldn't hurt another player, I got the ball and shot towards the goalmouth, we were 1-2.

I turned around and saw... a famous person coming towards us.

-Takuto's PoV-

I started crying, a river coming down my cheeks, we can't have lost him, not now, not yet... I uncovered his arms with extreme care, my trembling hands unable to respond to my brain clearly.

The sight was awful, the damage had been done the previous days, they were covered in old and recent red, and they kept going up, a little above the elbow.

A man quickly approached us, his eyes were full of tears and had a high ponytail sustaining his hair and he was followed by another pink haired one.

"I WON'T LET YOU COME ANY CLOSER" I screamed at them, I don't know why. I felt a sudden rush of energy inside my heart. As if a bomb had collided into my heart and blew it all apart, Maestro came right from the floor and materialized in front of me, protecting us both.

"I won't let you touch my Master and my Protector." His voice was deep and demanding, his four arms creating a physical barrier between them.

"HE NEEDS IMMEDIATE HELP! MAESTRO; GET OUT OF MY WAY OR HE MIGHT DIE!" At that point, Pegasus came too, it was a ghost, it had no colors, it had no wings, it had nearly no voice and it came from Tenma's back.

"Goenji, he can't... I can't..." He took a second to recover some air? "I'm losing him... he needs you. Let h-him, Maestro." And with that, Tenma's chest started to move in a slower-more-steady-motion, Maestro under my will, let G-Goenji pass.

-Goenji's PoV-

I was watching the game, from the entrance of the pitch, in the shadows. When I saw my boy giving up, I couldn't believe what stood before my eyes. I had to act quick.

"TENMA, TENMA!" I got to my knees after my interaction with Pegasus, I had never seen him so weak. I took Tenma in my arms and started running to the exit. "TAXI, TAXI, STOP YOU SON OF A BITCH" He did and without asking, we turned straight to the hospital.

I stared at the motionless boy on my arms and broke down.

"I... I had no idea, all this time... I'm sorry."

Nurses and doctors took him away from me, and soon, I was left alone, with my heart in a fist, barely able to breathe as my heartbeat was bumping against my ears.

"Please... please, come to me."