When they arrived at their present time, Fei informed them that it was the afternoon, just over a week since they left. After Wondeba parked the caravan beneath the bridge, they headed up the stairs leading to the club building.
"Do you think everyone is back to normal?" Tenma asked.
"They should be." Fei replied.
"This is a bit nerve-wracking." Aoi muttered.
"Seeing how ticked Beta seemed when you guys surrounded her, I think it should be fine." Kimiko stated.
"The only way to find out is to head in and see." Shindou opened the doors to the locker room.
"Oh, you're back." Kurumada was the first to greet them.
"Hey, the juniors shouldn't be keeping their seniors waiting." Sangoku said as he bounced a ball on his knee.
Amagi was smiling beside him. "That's right."
"They're back to normal!" Tenma cheered, walking in. "Thank goodness!"
Kimiko smiled. "Remind me to bring all the goodies tomorrow."
"Are you all okay now?" Shinsuke asked.
The older goalkeeper gave a nod. "Yeah. I did feel as if something was wrong, but everything's okay now."
"Yeah, right now, I feel pretty fine." Kurumada added in.
"My heart feels so serene." Hayami smiled.
"You guys were under mind control, but now you're free of it since we beat Beta." Shindou explained.
"I wasn't even aware of that." Hamano said with his usual laid back tone.
"Anyway, for the present, things are how it should be!" Midori's attempt at lifting the mood back up was crushed by Tsurugi's next words.
"No. We're still missing Coach Endou, and Daisuke-san isn't back to normal yet."
"In order to restore everything to the way it was, we need the strongest eleven in history." Wondeba reminded.
"Now, hold on." Nishiki went up behind Ichino and Aoyama and grabbed them by their shoulders. "At least take a moment to be happy that the soccer club is back."
"That's right, Tenma!" Shinsuke said, turning to the brunette. "You ought to say something as our captain!"
"Eh?!" He seemed like he was about to protest, but seeing the looks they gave him, he gave in and went to the center of the room. "Okay then... I ask all of you. Do you like soccer?!"
"Yeah!"
They all pumped their fists into the air, smiling wide. Almost everything was as it should be.
Almost.
"It's been a while, so why don't we all go practice?" Tenma suddenly suggested.
"Good idea!" Shinsuke said, grabbing the ball out of his hands. "Let's do it!"
"Wait, Tenma! Soccer is still banned!" Hikaru reminded.
"Oh, that's right..."
"Gouenji-san is helping us to delay the school from demolishing the soccer building, at least." Nishiki said. "They won't find us out easily in here."
"Hmm... I guess that's true."
"We have about a month to assemble the strongest eleven in history..." Kimiko muttered under her breath, letting only her best friend hear.
"We already spent over a week in the Sengoku Era, so we need to speed things up." He replied in a similar tone. "Hopefully, we won't have to be at a different time period for every single one."
"You mean take two or three MixiMaxes from a single period? ... That would be nice."
"Captain! Welcome back!" A new voice suddenly joined them. They turned to find a girl with long brown hair jumping around their captain.
"Who's she?"
"No idea..."
"Everyone in the soccer club, hiya!" She smiled at them with a playful salute.
Caught in the moment, Tenma saluted back. "Hello... Um, who are you?"
"Who am I?" She blinked. "Eh?! Captain, don't joke like that! I'm the ace striker!"
Tsurugi turned to Shindou for confirmation if he heard that right. "Ace... striker?" The ex-captain looked just as confused.
"That's Raimon's uniform!" Tenma said, eying her outfit. "Are you interested in joining the managers?"
"Is that it?" Midori asked.
"Captain Tenma, you're so funny." She turned to the others while laughing and pointing at him.
"C'mon, captain." Hamano spoke up, doing her salute. "Did all of that time-traveling make you forget about our team member?"
"That's right. Look!" She flipped her hair to her front and showed them the number 10 on the back of her jersey.
"Eh... EHHH?!"
"Since I won against Tsurugi in our striker showdown the other day, I'm the team's ace striker now." She said, smiling.
Kimiko felt her jaw drop, making a very weird face. "I... I can't decide if that's amazing or... really funny..."
"That's exactly what you said when their competition was over." Kirino stated.
"... Was it now..."
"With that exact same expression."
"You end up choosing to laugh, though." Kurama smirked.
She nodded slowly. "I feel like I'm about to laugh right now."
Hearing that, Tsurugi shoved her head to the side.
"And that's exactly how Tsurugi reacted to it too!" The girl said, laughing at the two as if she's seen their banter a million times.
"Another time paradox occurred." She heard Fei mutter to himself.
"I-Is that right?" Tenma was very unsure on how to deal with the situation. "By the way, um... What's your name?"
"Oh, if you insist." She faked an exhausted sigh. "Let me re-introduce myself. I'm Nanobana Kinako!" She saluted once again, this time with a wink. "Nice to meet you!"
They only stared at her. That name was not familiar at all.
"Oh, but I guess stealing the ace number wasn't a great idea. Then, I'll take it off." Before that could happen, all the girls surrounded her, covering her up. All the boys turned away as well.
"E-Eh?"
"Nanobana-san!" Kimiko's eyes seemed to shine and the girl's jersey glowed in a similar color. It then pulled away from the girl's grasp and straightened itself down.
Aoi sighed in relief. "Good thinking, Kimiko."
"Whoa! That was your superpower, wasn't it?!" The girl said, turning fully to the blonde.
"Oh, uh... yes?"
"That's so cool! That's the first time I've seen you use it!" Then she covered her mouth. "Oh! But don't worry! Your secret's safe with me!"
She gave a wry smile. "I appreciate that."
"Oh, but why are you so formal all of a sudden?" She asked. "Call me by my first name! Like you do with all the first years aside Kariya!"
"So she's also a first year..."
"Hm? What are you muttering about over there, Tsurugi? I'm in your class, you know!"
"Ah..."
"Hey, that made me realize something." Midori spoke up again. "Kimiko... you call all the first years by their first names, even when you haven't known them for all that long, huh?"
"Well... yeah. Because I see everyone else do it. Midori-san and Akane-san too."
"Well, for us, we told you to call us by our first names, but as for Tenma and the rest, you didn't ask, did you? Even though you're a year younger?"
"... Ah." That was when her meaning finally clicked in her head. "I'm so used to calling Kyousuke by his name that I just end up doing the same for everyone his age... Sorry, everyone... except Kariya."
"Why do I keep getting singled out?"
"Because everyone still calls you Kariya. Or would you rather I call you Masaki from now on too?"
"Nope. Kariya's good."
"Well, it's fine." Aoi smiled. "Tenma, Shinsuke, and Hikaru don't mind either, right?" The boys shook their heads with a smile.
"And me too!" The brunette girl jumped in, smiling wide.
"Alright then... Kinako?"
"Yup!"
The blonde was smiling at her, but her mind was connected to the navy haired boy beside her. You got your butt handed to you by her, eh?
In a timeline I don't remember. He shot back. I'm gonna want a rematch.
I'll look forward to that, then.
Upon being asked by the others, they explained what they've been doing since they've been away. From the Holy Book of Champions and Daisuke's condition, all the way to the strongest eleven and their time in the Sengoku Era.
Hearing about the MixiMax, they all headed straight for the indoor field to test Shindou's new abilities.
"Mixi Trans, Nobunaga!"
They all watched in awe as he passed through Kirino, Kariya, and Amagi. Their shock increased further when he scored with Setsuna Boost.
"Amazing, Shindou!"
"Nothing less from you!"
"With this power, we just might be able to beat El Dorado!"
"Too awesome!"
"No, I still don't have full mastery of it. I need to keep training more."
Kariya was the only one who noticed Kirino's downcast expression.
Aoi suddenly took out a pink pouch from her pocket, where Daisuke the stone floated out of. "Alright, everyone. It's time we got going again."
"To the next in line for the strongest eleven in history!"
"Good idea!"
Wait, right now? Kimiko turned to Tsurugi with a worried look. I know we need to hurry, but we just got back...
He shrugged. Let's just listen first and see.
"Now, for number 2 of the strongest eleven in history... Our next target is... Power number two. A charismatic defender who rouses up his team's courage, changing it into an iron-wall defense."
They waited in suspense for him to announce who it was going to be.
"..."
"..."
"U-Um..."
"Hmm, me?"
The mood immediately fell along with them.
"The thing you say after!" Tenma said. "When you give us someone as an example."
The stone laughed. "In that case... Power number two. A charismatic defender who rouses up his team's courage, changing it into an iron-wall defense. For instance... Jeanne d'Arc!"
"Jeanne d'Arc was a charismatic soldier who led her troops to victory in a historical war." Kirino stated. "She was even said to have heard voices from God."
"That sounds wonderful!" Akane said.
"Right!" Kinako held a hand up. "Since we're both girls, how about I do it? I'll do my best!"
"Okay then, it's in your hands!" Daisuke said to their surprise.
"That's it?" Shindou asked.
"Isn't it usually how stuff like this goes?" She asked.
"I don't think so..."
"What happened to that whole 'In this form, I can see the powers lying deep within you' stuff from before?" Kimiko was ignored, making her pout.
"I've already arranged for the artifact to be procured."
"Eh... By who?"
"I have a suggestion." Fei suddenly spoke up. "I'd like only eleven of us to go for time jumps from now on."
"You want to restrict our numbers?"
"That's right."
"Why?"
"We should keep our numbers low, in order to keep any bad influences on the time route to a minimum."
"Then, as coach, I will decide which members should go!" Wondeba immediately yelled.
"No, I will decide since members with the possibility of MixiMaxing should be taken into consideration!" Daisuke interjected.
"Hey, you're just a rock!"
"At least I'm better than you!"
"Hold it! How can a bear be less worthy than a rock! This is the utmost―"
"Now, now, you two." Fei got between them. "Wondeba, I think we should let Daisuke-san handle this one."
"... Fine."
"We should be able to obtain the artifact by tomorrow." Daisuke said. "Therefore, we will leave tomorrow."
"What about the members for this trip?" Kirino asked.
"I'll decide that by tomorrow."
"Jeanne d'Arc..." Tenma muttered to himself, wondering what sort of person she is.
Meanwhile, Kinako was getting giddy by just the mention of her. "Don't, you're embarrassing me!"
~~~~~
"When I said 'remind me to bring the goodies', I didn't expect everyone to spam the group chat..." Kimiko sighed, putting her phone on silent. She'll reply to it all later.
"How much stuff did you buy anyway?" Tsurugi asked, walking beside her.
"Kind of a lot, but none of them were too expensive. They're all souvenirs." She shrugged. "You could've told me what you want and I would've bought it too, you know."
"I've never been to America, so how am I supposed to know what stuff I want from there?"
"You could've searched about it. Maybe even ask Yuuichi-san." Seeing he wouldn't reply, she kept her gaze on the hall. "Well, whatever. I got you two something anyway."
"You did?"
"Yup. I'll show you when we're inside." She opened the door with a large smile on her face. "Yuuichi-san! We're back!"
"Kimiko! Kyousuke!" The man on the bed grinned when he saw them. "Welcome back! How was the trip?"
"Eventful, that's for sure." The younger brother said, taking a seat beside him. Kimiko sat on the end of the bed, right by his legs.
"Mmhm. And how was America?"
"Not as exciting as the stuff going on here." She chuckled. Then, she dug her pockets. "Here you go. Fire Tornado keychains!"
Sure enough, in her hands were two identical acrylic keychains of a blazing soccer ball surrounded by rings of flame.
"The limited edition one?!" Yuuichi took one with an even brighter smile on his face. "Thank you, Kimiko!"
"This was there?!" The boy asked, staring intently at the one handed to him.
She pulled out her pendant with a smile. "Now, we match!"
Putting it on the table next to his phone, Yuuichi turned to the two again. "Then, what time period did you go to?"
"The warring states period, Oda Nobunaga's time. Shindou-senpai's the one to MixiMax with him."
"Oh? Then, when will you get your own MixiMax, Kyousuke?"
His teasing was met with a small smile. "Who knows..."
"Yuu-san, Yuu-san, Yuu-san!" Kimiko called, earning a chuckle.
"Yes, yes, yes?"
"Have we ever mentioned a girl named Nanobana Kinako to you?"
"Hey, Kimiko!"
"That's... Isn't that the name of the one who beat Kyousuke a little while ago?"
"Yup! That's the one!"
"You little―"
"Now, come on, Kyousuke. You were praising her when you talked about her last time."
"Was I...?"
"You don't remember?"
She and Tsurugi exchanged glances. She hopped off the bed and headed for the door.
"This might be a long explanation, so I'll go grab some drinks. Be right back!"
"You just want to dump the job of telling everything onto me!"
"Yes I do!"
And she closed the door before he could protest further. Heading over to the nearest vending machine, she bought three bottles of water. On her way back, she ran into a purple haired nurse.
"Oh, Kimiko. It's been a while." She said, smiling kindly.
She returned it with a nod. "Fuyuka-san, it's nice to see you again after so long."
"Here to visit Tsurugi Yuuichi?"
"Yup!" Then, her eyes widened, remembering someone else she could visit. "By the way, how's Taiyou doing?"
"I'm glad you asked! He's actually just been discharged not too long ago."
"R-Really?! You mean he's healthy enough to go out and play like he wants?!"
"Yes. It's just a shame that soccer is banned... He really wanted to play with Raimon again."
She wanted to tell her not to worry, and that they were working hard to get it back. But she couldn't, so she only gave a nod before continuing her way.
They had gotten to know each other during the time she was hospitalized. They, along with Shindou and Yuuichi, would sometimes gather together in each other's rooms, depending on which one of them wasn't allowed to move anywhere for the day. Thanks to that, her time in the hospital wasn't boring.
Passing by a window, she smiled at the setting sun.
Hope you're alright, sunshine.