"This is the Shinsengumi's headquarters." Kirino said.
"We finally found it." Taiyou muttered.
It was a building much larger than any of the ones they've seen so far. Despite that, its height was just about the same, so it was rather hard to spot. What gave it away was the white and blue banner hanging over the gates. It was something no other building had.
Upon closer inspection, they found a wooden sign that clearly states it was their destination.
"What are you doing? Let's go in already!" Kinako turned to Midori, who seemed to be using every bit of energy she had not to act recklessly.
"What do we do if they suddenly attack us?" Kariya asked.
"We'll be fine! Kondou-san was a nice person!"
"True..." Thought he said this, Taiyou still had an unsure look on his face.
That seemed to be all Midori needed to her to let herself go. "Okay then, we'll have to take our chances!" She said, rolling up a sleeve.
But before they could, footsteps came from behind them.
"Someone's coming!" Fei warned.
They all hurried into the bushes to hide. From there, they saw a familiar dark green haired boy. He was in Kondou Isami's clothes.
"Zanark?"
"Why is he wearing that?"
"What's he scheming this time?"
Kimiko watched as his back grew smaller and smaller as he walked further and further away. She felt her arm being grabbed, and only then did she realize she was reaching out to him.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Kyou..." She turned away from his questioning glare. "I wanted... to ask him things."
"Ask him things?" Midori repeated. "You mean about how you know his whole team and stuff?"
"Well, that too... But I was going to ask if he's okay, first and foremost."
"Huh?!"
"I know he's the enemy, but I can't help it! I can more than sympathize with the whole 'unstable powers' thing. It hurt me a lot... So I just want to know if he was hurting too..."
Tsurugi kept staring at her before letting go with a sigh. "Even so, now's not the time. He's without a doubt planning to mess with us again, so ask him when it's all over."
Well, she can't go against that. "Alright, fair enough."
~~~~~
They decided to fall back and wait a little further away. Staying by the gates for too long would only make them suspicious.
"Waiting here is fine and all, but how do we tell who's Okita Souji?" Kariya asked.
"That's easy." Midori said. "Just see whether or not they're a hottie."
"... Are you sure that's alright?"
"Of course! There's no way Okita Souji isn't a hottie."
"Who knows what reality has in store for us."
"Kariya!"
"So," Kinako spoke up to cut their banter off. "When is he going to come out?"
"That'll be when he goes to patrol the city." Midori replied. "Just sit back and wait in the meantime."
"Patrol the city, huh?" Fei muttered. "No matter how much they try to control the ronin, it's not like they can stop the workings of time."
Kirino's gaze went from him to the sky. "Perhaps the Shinsengumi are simply trying to uphold the warrior code that the Bakufu samurai lost. Like us trying to protect soccer right now."
"No matter what sort of person you are, you have your own values on what's right, huh?" Kariya summed.
"Yeah, maybe."
"Your own values..." Taiyou repeated. "I think I can understand that."
Tsurugi stood a little further back from the group, occupied by his own thoughts. Kimiko glanced over before moving to sit by him, leaning her back on his leg.
She didn't need to read his mind to know he was thinking of his first few weeks in Raimon.
They waited, and waited, and waited, until finally...
"A hottie!" Midori suddenly said.
Out the gates came a green haired man. And he was, indeed, rather good looking.
Kinako tugged on his coat when he passed them by, surprising him. "Hiya! Are you Okita-san?"
"What?" He blinked at her before replying with a wary look. "You have the wrong person. Okita-san is ill, so he is resting in his quarters." Then, he went on his way without second thought.
"He said Okita-san is resting." Kinako told them, though they could clearly hear their talk.
"Don't be so casual about it!" Kariya scolded.
"You had me in cold sweat!" Midori added.
"So Okita is bedridden." Tsurugi stated.
"What do we do now?" Taiyou asked.
"We'll have to sneak in and find him." Fei said.
Kimiko frowned. Hoping that Zanark doesn't get to him first...
They went around the walls, lifting each other up to peek over them, and quickly ducking down before they could get caught. But every side of the base had at least a single samurai guarding it. There were absolutely no openings.
"We're not getting anywhere at this rate." Fei said with his arms crossed.
"What should we do?" Kariya asked. "We can't MixiMax unless we bring Okita Souji back with us."
"Tenma's group is lucky to have Wondeba with them, huh, Kyou?" When she got no reply, Kimiko turned to him fully. "Kyou?"
He didn't seem to hear her at all. His gaze was focused on a purple haired man walking out to the headquarters.
"Okita-san!" Another man called out to him.
"That's Okita Souji?" Taiyou muttered.
"We finally found him!" Fei said.
Kinako blinked. "He really is a hottie!"
Midori smiled smugly. "Right? That's how Okita Souji should be!"
Kirino shushed them, trying to listen in further to the two's conversation.
"Should you be walking around outside?"
"No need to worry. What is this commotion I've been hearing?"
"Sir. We just received word on Sakamoto Ryouma's location."
"What? Where?!"
"At the third torii in the outskirts of town."
"Okay!" And immediately, he began running in that direction.
"He's leaving! What do we do?" Midori asked in panic.
"Let's follow him!" Fei led them as they run behind the purple haired man.
But it was hard for them to keep up,
"He's fast!" Tsurugi stated. "Isn't he ill?"
"Sure doesn't look like it!" Taiyou replied.
"He must be pushing himself a lot." Kimiko added in.
"Yeah, you two would know, wouldn't you?"
"Shut up, Kariya!"
"Focus!" Kirino scolded. "We have to hurry! If Shindou and the others are with Sakamoto Ryouma, then things could get dangerous!"
Tsurugi's eyes narrowed and he suddenly picked up speed, surprising the rest. Kimiko was first to snap out of it and caught up, leaving everyone else behind.
They followed him all the way out of town, and found a large field. More importantly, in that field was the Sakamoto Team with a large, blue haired man. By the time they got down there, Okita already had his katana drawn and was aiming to cut that man's head.
Tsurugi ran and kicked a ball to his hand, making him drop his sword. Tenma stood there with wide eyes. He seemed to have had a similar idea, but was beaten by a second.
"Everyone else is here!" Kinako exclaimed when the rest of their group finally caught up.
"This is...!"
"So they are with Sakamoto Ryouma!"
"I guess this means I owe my life to soccer." The blue haired man, apparently being Sakamoto, said with a laugh.
"Don't forget your promise with me, Okita Souji." They all turned to the side of the pitch to find Zanark and his team in the Shinsengumi's uniform. "I gave you my power so you could settle your fight through soccer."
"Gave him your power?" Tsurugi's look turned to a glare. "I see. So you're the reason Okita Souji is..."
"Why are you wearing the Shinsengumi's robes?" Nishiki asked.
"The look suits me, don't you think?" He asked mockingly, holding an arm out. "I hijacked their minds 'cause it seemed interesting."
"I want to ask you something!" Fei cut in. "When we had that match with Liu Bei and the others... Back then, what happened to you?"
He laughed. "I thought you'd say that. I have nothing to tell you!"
The green hair boy's eyes narrowed, but Kimiko couldn't accept that answer. "Zanark!"
"What is it now?"
"Did it hurt?"
His smug expression was immediately replaced with a surprised one. And it wasn't just him. The jaws of the four behind him dropped as well. Or at least, for three of them. Engir's mask made it hard to tell.
"I'm asking because I went through a rather similar thing right after. Your powers triggered mine, and it forced out my keshin." Her head dropped for a moment, considering what more she could say, before she met his gaze again. "It hurt a lot for me. Until now, I can still feel it tingling slightly. So I was wondering if... you're alright..."
He stared at her for a moment before his usual smirk came back. "Is that all? I admit, even I didn't expect you to say that. I'm rather touched you still care about me."
She blinked. "'Still'?"
"We'll have all the time in the world when I'm done with this era." He tossed a red coin and it expanded into a sphere. "Now, let's fight!"
"Field Make Mode."
The empty field turned into a proper soccer pitch. Zanark's teammates' clothes all turned back to their red and black uniforms. Okita Souji's did too.
"If we win, you will give Sakamoto Ryouma to me!"
"So I'm the prize?" The large man asked, pointing at himself. "Then, I've got to fight for me!"
"Yeah!" Nishiki said, standing up. "We'll show them the power of the double Ryoumas! Right, Tenma?"
The brunette gave a smile. "Yes! It'll work out somehow!"
The enemy team had Shuten as their keeper, Org and Gouzu were the defenders, Engir in the middle, and Okita up front. Their team had Shinsuke, the two Ryoumas, Tenma, and Tsurugi.
The battle started with Engir passing to Okita. Despite it being his first time playing, he was able to pass Tenma and stayed in possession of the ball. It went to Org and then back to him. He was right in front of the goal, but before he could shoot, Sakamoto did a slide tackle.
"So you guys have been teaching Sakamoto Ryouma to play... while Okita Souji got power from Zanark..." Kimiko muttered. "Realistically, that would mean Okita has the upper hand, but Sakamoto is holding out pretty well out there. You guys taught him really well."
"He's also a fast learner." Aoi stated. "He learned to do a bicycle kick after watching Nishiki-senpai do it once."
"Oh? That's neat!"
Sakamoto had the ball this time. He passed it to Nishiki, who made a shoot, but Shuten caught it easily.
"Damn it!"
"Nishiki-senpai is being pretty fierce!" Hikaru said.
"Yeah. He's playing with his idol Sakamoto Ryouma, after all." Shindou stated.
They were pretty evenly matched. Both sides were able to attack and defend in turn, not giving the other an inch. However, as things went on, it became abundantly clear how Okita was only going after Sakamoto.
Realizing this, Fei went over, coming up with a plan.
In the next round, Tenma had the ball and passed it to Sakamoto. However, when Okita appeared in front of him, he stopped and passed it over to him.
"If you want it that badly, you can have it."
"What?"
"Show me how handy the captain of the Shinsengumi's first unit is... Or is it 'feet-y'?"
"You'll regret this."
Okita was headed over to their goal, but Sakamoto quickly caught up to him again. He was blocked. Engir told him to pass, but Okita refused, saying it was between him and Sakamoto Ryouma only. He was caught off guard when Nishiki suddenly charged at him.
"We have another Ryouma here!"
"What?!"
"You focus too much on Sakamoto Ryouma!" He managed to kick the ball away from him,
"Make it in, Tsurugi!" Tenma called.
Landing it right by the navy haired boy's feet. "Kensei Lancelot! Armed!" He did a power shoot and they finally got a goal.
"Alright!"
"Yes!"
"Good job, Kyousuke!"
Then, all of Zanark Domain disappeared, the field along with them. Okita's outfit changed back to his Shinsengumi uniform and immediately, he began coughing his lungs out.
"How's that?" Zanark said, suddenly on his bike. "You learned a little about what soccer is, did you?"
Okita turned to him with a glare. "Were you testing me?!"
"Pretty much. It was quite enjoyable."
"Cut the crap!" Nishiki said. "Just what do you think soccer is?!"
"See ya." With one last smug look, he rode off.
They all ran across the field, checking up on Okita, who seemed to be having trouble breathing.
"I'll be leaving too then." Sakamoto suddenly said.
Okita's head snapped to him. "I won't let―" He was cut off by his own coughing.
"I have important business to take care of. It was fun playing soccer. Thank you."
They watched him walk off, before realizing that the other man's coughing wasn't stopping. Aoi ran over and kneeled beside him, rubbing his back. It calmed him down enough and he was able to properly look up and thank her.
"He was playing soccer in such bad health?" Shindou asked.
Daisuke floated out of Aoi's pocket once again. "He's used up a lot of energy in a short amount of time, because he forced his body to move through Zanark's power."
"Oh no!"
"That's unbelievable!"
To this extent... To kill Sakamoto Ryouma...
Her thoughts were cut off when her friend walking up to the man. "Why are you going so far?"
She blinked. So he was thinking the same thing I was...
Okita used his sword's scabbard to push himself up. "I... don't have much longer to live."
!
His eyes narrowed down on the boy. "If Sakamoto's plan succeeds... It will destroy the Bakufu. It is our Shinsengumi's duty to protect the Bakufu. Therefore... Before my life ends, I will do away with Sakamoto Ryouma!"
He had a single-minded will to overcome anything that stood in the path of his goal. His tenacity was familiar.
Too familiar.
The second he turned to leave, Tsurugi's shoulders stiffened. Kimiko's eyes wandered over to him, activating her ability.
An image of his brother appeared.