Monarch 1: Perseverance

5 - Rekka and Kazuyuki

The day after Jace caught Rekka and Kazuyuki on the roof with Haruna and Katsuki, they owed him a full explanation. They explained exactly what happened and just how much force they used.

"Did you actually harm anyone?" Jace asked.

"I knocked a dude out..." Rekka said, nonchalantly. "He had to have been the leader of the group. Other than that, maybe slight bruising on the neck, but nothing more than that."

"I see..."

"We're sorry for using force without permission," Kazuyuki said, bowing over the table they were sitting at.

"Oh, no!" Jace waved his hand, dismissively. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm very happy to see the level of control from you in a situation like that." Jace leaned back in his chair. "If it were me... I'd have a hard time not lobbing their heads off. Well done." Rekka and Kazuyuki were slightly confused. They were expecting a scolding. "However..." There it is... "Keeping your classmates out after dark isn't a good look. Please be sure to either have your friends home before nightfall, or at least let their parents know, so they don't worry."

"Yes, sir!" Out of habit, both Rekka and Kazuyuki addressed Jace as a major.

"Don't you call me 'sir'!" Jace said, jokingly. "I ain't that old yet."

The next week, soccer tryouts were happening. Rekka was pumped. She had been practicing in the local park all week, working on her different moves. Kazuyuki helped her work on her reflexes by taking a few shots on the net. Even though Kazuyuki wasn't interested in joining a sport, he was still good at them.

On the day of the tryouts, Rekka walked into the girls' locker room to see Haruna changing.

"Heyo, Shozaki!" Rekka walked over. "You ready to strut your stuff?" Rekka lightly patted Haruna's shoulder.

"Arg!" Haruna flinched and moved away from Rekka's hand.

"I'm sorry!" Rekka recoiled her hand. "Are you okay?" Rekka examined Haruna, who was holding her shoulder and leaning over. "Haruna?"

"I'm okay!" Haruna finally snapped upright. "I took a tumble while practicing the other day. Guess I landed on it wrong."

"Oh, no!" Rekka sat down next to Haruna. "Will you be alright today?"

"Of course!" Haruna pumped her arm. "It's not a big deal. Promise!" Haruna had mostly let her guard down around Rekka now.

"Good!" Rekka examined the gear that Haruna was wearing. Rekka knew that Haruna wanted to go for goalkeeper. But Rekka noticed that Haruna's gear was... Less than optimal. It looked like her padded gloves had lost most of their cushion. Her cleats were worn out and had small holes in them here and there. She wore normal shorts instead of padded ones. And her shin guards were almost too small for her. They only covered the middle of her shins instead of most of her lower legs like decent shin guards should.

"Alright! Better get changed." Haruna got up and stretched. "The soccer team waits for no one!"

"R-right!" Rekka snapped herself out of it and got changed. It wasn't her place to judge or be worried about Haruna's gear. Haruna should know her limits, so she'll be fine.

After Rekka got into her gear and tied the two long strands on the side of her head back, she jogged to the field. She caught a glimpse of Kazuyuki and Katsuki sitting in the stands. As soon as they made eye contact with her, they both waved. Rekka smiled and waved back as she jogged up to Haruna. Rekka joined Haruna in some stretches before tryouts started.

Tryouts consisted of performing various soccer moves and being evaluated by the coaching staff. Because of the number of people participating this year, the tryouts were going to be performed in a knockout style. While the participants were being evaluated, if the coaching staff determined that someone wasn't fit to make the cut, they would be asked to leave. It really did put the pressure on Rekka and Haruna to do their best.