On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Past That Makes Us

He still only had a blank look as he flipped and his leg pushed against the cannonball... and won. The ball was sent back to the cannon it came from, destroying it. But before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, another one missed him by a hair. He landed a bit roughly, but managed to push himself away just as another shot came. He hopped on top of one, making another aim at it and destroying it just as he leapt off the ground again.

"T-That was close..."

"It's not over yet!" Shindou's exclamation made Kusaka's worry return. "Look!"

There were still three cannons left, but a red symbol appeared on screen. Then...

'God Eden, Cannons, Level 4, cleared. Level 5, unlocked.'

"That's never happened before..." Ibuki said.

"Must be a special system lock program for the 'God Eden' training regiments." Manabe pointed out.

'Warning. This is the maximum level of difficulty for this training. Warning. Only a handful of SEEDs have been able to make it out unscratched.'

"Only a handful...?"

"Unscratched...?"

The other four from Raimon exchanged worried glances. No one else understood what that meant, but if those four were this scared about it...

'Warning. System has been locked to ensure the safety of the user. Final Warning. If you wish to continue, please state your name and rank.'

"Tsurugi Kyousuke. Alpha."

'Processing... Voice confirmed. Name: Tsurugi Kyousuke. Rank: Alpha. Trial Record: 49. Success Record: 16.'

"Only 16?!"

"16 out of 49...!"

"Tsurugi!"

No matter how much they called out to him, his eyes were dead set on the challenge ahead.

'Access granted. Proceed.'

Two cannons fired at once this time, but once again, he was able to leap out of the way, both shots destroying the last one that never got to fire. When both shot at him again, he was gone. In his place was a large wolf, heading straight for them, catching one and spinning around it like a buzzsaw. Both him and the ball combined into a single swirl of energy, and when it landed on the ground, it created a shockwave that destroyed both cannons.

As soon as the wreckage was confirmed by the systems, the hologram shut off and the striker... fell onto his back.

"Tsurugi!"

His eyes were wide open though. "Tenma? Everyone?" Confusion overtook his earlier blank expression, and he blinked.

Once.

Twice.

An apologetic look appeared. "Sorry for leaving without saying anything."

"That's not all you should be saying sorry for!" Tetsukado was first to yell out all their thoughts. "Really! I know you said soccer isn't to be taken lightly, but I think you were going overboard right there!"

"That's right! What if you get injured before the match?!" Sakura piped in. "We need all the help we could get, you know!"

To their surprise however, he gave a small snort and sat up easily. "I'm alright. I just needed to blow off some steam beforehand."

"That looked a lot more than just 'some'." Ibuki clicked his tongue. "I know you've got some powerful shots, but... Cannonballs?"

He only shrugged. "It's just―"