"The quarter-finals for Football Frontier International Vision 2 Asia district preliminaries is here at last! Today, I bring to you the match between Japan's Inazuma Japan and Saudi Arabia's Shamshir!"
"Everyone, let's go!"
"Okay!"
Their kickoff started the match.
Almost immediately, the enemy captain took the ball from them. While they brought the ball up with passes, Shindou was able to cut through them with Einsatz. However, it was stolen right back. It got back to the enemy captain, who scored the first goal using Oil Rush.
It was their kickoff again. Matatagi was able to bring the ball up by quite a bit before getting blocked. Tenma ordered him to pass to Kusaka, who only barely managed to touch the ball before it got stolen.
They seemed to be exchanging a couple of words before he lost his temper and made a dangerous tackle. A foul. The exact same kind as the one from the Teikoku match.
"Why are you doing this, Kusaka?" Tenma called out. "You practiced so hard! Don't you care if you can't get to play soccer anymore?! Kusaka!"
None of his words seemed to be getting through, but Konoha was suddenly behind him. She muttered some things that they couldn't hear from further in the pitch, but it seemed to bother him enough to make him respond. His gaze then went up into the stands.
Konoha then went to Tenma, telling him something, which then prompted him to talk to the other midfielder even more.
We really can't have a single match without something happening, huh?
"Shut up."
"What was that, Tsurugi?" Minaho was suddenly behind him with a questioning look.
He shook his head. "Nothing. Thought I heard something is all." Before the orange haired boy could say anything else, he quickly got into position. The last thing he needed was the little detective to get into his business.
I blame you, you stupid voice.
Who's the one with the brain using this voice in the first place?
Ugh...!
The whistle suddenly resounded through the stadium. The first half just ended.
"Do you even want to play properly?!" Funaki scolded as Kusaka walked past.
"I'm sorry." Was his only reply before he headed into the tunnel.
"Tenma." Shindou suddenly called. "Let's keep Kusaka out of our plays in the second half."
"Eh?"
"We'll lose everything if he disrupts the game with his rough plays."
"But I'm sure Kusaka understands that what he did was wrong!"
"For now, this is what we should do. Isn't it?"
"That would be our best option in our present condition." Manabe stated.
"It's an accurately-made decision." Minaho added.
"Will that really be for the best?" Sakura asked.
"We don't exactly have a choice, do we?" Tetsukado returned it with his own question.
"Wait!" Tenma cut back in. "I want all eleven of us to fight together! I want to play soccer with all of you guys!"
"Will that help us win?" Shindou said coldly.
Gray eyes widened and he looked down in thought. "... Fine then."
Amber eyes widened slightly at his voice crack. It was definitely a painful decision for him, and not one that he ever thought he'd see the brunette agree to, but there were bigger things at stake.
But even if you succeed this way, would you really be able to call it a true win?
... Shut up.
Shamshir had the next half's first kickoff. Kusaka tried to block him but was easily evaded. Shindou stole the ball using Einsatz again. He then passed it to Sakura, who then passed it to Tenma. But before Tenma could get it to him, the enemy made a pass cut and headed back down their side of the field.
Shindou managed to steal it back once again, and they made their way up with passes. As time passed by, it seemed that Kusaka was also starting to understand why they weren't passing to him.
Soon, Matatagi was the one to make it to the enemy goal. He made a shoot, but it was blocked easily. It was then passed to their captain.
"Do it! Hissatsu tactics! Dai Sabaku Sunaarashi!"
Suddenly, the whole field was covered by a giant sandstorm. One by one their team was swallowed and before they knew it, they arrived in front of the goal.
"Oil Rush!"
And another one went in.
Arabia's lions, Shamshir... They have a very powerful hissatsu tactics. They had to think of a way to get through it fast, or they were done for.
Next was their kickoff again. He passed the ball to Matatagi, who then gave it to Tenma. Seeing him moving up using Z Slash, he called out to him for the ball, but it was stolen before he could make the pass.
Kusaka was the one that went after him. He tried, and tried, and tried until his frustration was clearly starting to show.
"Damn it!"
"Don't rush, Kusaka!" He called out before he knew it. "Look more carefully at how they're moving!"
He didn't seem to have heard him though. After clashing with the enemy captain a couple of times, he was jabbed roughly on his chest, sending him to his knees. As the enemy taunted him, Tenma yelled for him to stop.
Luckily, he listened.
And in the split second the enemy captain let his guard down to click his tongue, Kusaka was able to steal the ball from him. It rolled over to Konoha, who panicked and simply stuck a foot out, which made it head straight for one of their strikers, but Minaho was able to clear it, sending it all the way back to the center of the field.
However, as the game progressed, it started feeling wrong. Kusaka was targeted more and more while the rest of them were marked and unable to do anything. He was tackled, kicked, headbutted... They were purposely trying to rile him up.
"You make me laugh for thinking someone like you can win against us. Weakling."
That word. That single word was all he didn't have to say.
"W... What was that?!" Before they knew it, Kusaka was on his feet, his maroon eyes wide open with only rage in them. "You called me weak?! Through pain, I'll show you how strong I am!"
But before he could land a hand on him, Tenma had his arms around him, holding him back.
"Kusaka, this isn't a fight! You're playing soccer with your friends... With us!"
"I am playing soccer!"
"No, you're not! Soccer isn't a fight! Even if you did beat him with your fists, that's not real strength!"
"Being strong is better than being weak!"
"I don't see anything strong about you right now!"
"What?!" His eyes slowly closed and his usual expression returned, though even as Tenma loosened his grip, he seemed extremely bothered. "When I show them how strong I am, everyone compliments me. Not one of them leaves me..."
"Kusaka..."
"Kusaka!" A call suddenly came from the tunnel.
"What's this?! A gang of thugs suddenly stomps onto the field! The game has been stopped! This is unprecedented! Never before have I seen this in all my years as a sports commentator!"
"Hey, Kusaka, I hear you pushed my boys around yesterday." The one who appeared to be their leader said. "I'm here to pay you back my thanks."
Tenma tried to cut in to make sure a fight wouldn't happen, but Kusaka told him to stay out of it. Meanwhile, the gang continued to taunt him, using the single keyword that would nag him the most.
"Weakling"
When Kusaka lost it, he made a move to punch them, but Tenma got in the way, taking the hit instead.
"Wha...?!"
"Kusaka... Soccer... Right now, you're playing soccer with us!"
"You think I can just hang back after he dissed me like that?!"
"Kusaka!"
"Enough chatting, let's get on with it! Weakling."
"I'm not weak. I have gotten stronger." Kusaka's glare turned to him and suddenly, a bright red aura surrounded him. His bandana flew off his hair as it changed from wavy brown to curly white.
"Kusaka... No!"
"T-That's fine by me! B-B-Bring it the fuck on!"
But Tenma quickly got up and got in between them again. "Kusaka! Is this the strength you keep talking about?"
He only got a glare in response.
"This isn't real strength! You've got to face what you're scared of without running away from it! That's what a really strong guy would do! Even if you're scared of something, you have to face it!"
Little by little, his aura seemed to dissipate. And then, suddenly...
"Ryuu-chan!" A girl with red hair called out from the stands.
"S-Sato-chan?!"
Both of them use the 'chan' suffix... Childhood friends? With the knife-twisting pain that suddenly appeared inside him, Tsurugi bit his lip to keep himself from reacting.
"Ryuu-chan, why are you putting yourself under so much pressure?"
"Because... Because you hate guys who are weak... That's why, I..."
"You were never weak back then, Ryuu-chan. Even though you were scared, you brought out the courage to face those bullies for me! There was nothing weak about that! That's what I liked about you!"
"Huh?!"
"But that time, I didn't know what to do with myself and I ran away. I have always wanted to apologize for that!"
And then it was like a dam broke out. A waterfall of tears burst from Kusaka's eyes as he wailed his heart out.
"The sissy is crying." The thug leader, with zero sense of empathy, continued to taunt. "What's the hold up? Come on!"
"Get out!" Kusaka ordered, his voice, though still loud and angry, also sounded collected. He continued to glare until they decided to leave. Letting out a sigh, his hair turned back to normal and Tenma handed him back his bandana. "So this is what it means to be strong, huh? I think I figured out one millimeter of how that feels like. Captain, I'm sorry for causing you all that trouble." He tied it back around his head before giving a thumbs up and a smile. "Come on, let's play soccer!"
"Yeah!"
They split off to their respective positions, their captain's being near the front, so Tsurugi didn't have to walk too far to talk to him.
"Tenma, are you alright? Seems like you got hit pretty hard."
He was met with a smile. "I'm fine! No, actually, I'm better than fine! And so is Kusaka!"
It brought out his own small one. "I can see that."
"That um... That 'Sato' that came and talked to him just now... She must've known all about Kusaka's pain and fear. Now that they've talked, it's like all of his burdens were lifted."
"Yeah... I'm a little jealous." He bit his lip the second the words slipped out.
"Tsurugi..."
"Forget about it." He sighed before letting out his usual smirk. "Let's win this. With all 11 of us."
And the brunette's smile returned. "Yeah!"
~~~~~
"Now that the trouble has been avoided, the match resumes!" The commentator said. "Shamshir moves up to obtain their third point!"
Kusaka was the one who stepped up to stop them. "Look upon the real me!"
As a bright red aura surrounded him, his bandana flew off and his hair turned white once again. He yelled out as the pulses seem to grow, but then they dissipate in one long breath. Despite looking wild, he was calm.
Then, he easily stole the ball. He proceeded to go through all of Shamshir's defenses.
"Kusaka! Matatagi is free!" Tenma called.
Heeding to his wish, Kusaka made the pass and Matatagi used Parkour Attack. It was their first goal.
Not too long after, Tsurugi followed with his Bicycle Sword.
Tenma went next with his God Wind, but with all of Shamshir's defense taking a hit from it, the force was reduced, and the keeper's Dry Blow was able to stop it.
Shamshir tried to counterattack with their hissatsu tactics, but Kusaka stood at the very front.
"Kusaka, don't! You'll get blown back!" Shindou warned.
"I... will stop them!" He willingly let himself get swallowed by the sandstorm, but right after, it was broken through, and he had the ball.
He charged up to the enemy's side of the pitch before burying his feet into the ground. With his hands in his pockets, he leaned his head back as far as he could before springing his whole body up, slamming the ball with his forehead.
"Kyoubou Head!"
The ball was red, as if all of Kusaka's raging energy had entered it somehow, and it headed straight into the goal, earning the third point.
Their winning point.
"The match is over! Inazuma Japan wins 3-2 against Shamshir and advances towards the semifinals!"
"Kusaka!" Tenma went back to the other brunette excitedly. "You made the winning point! That hissatsu shoot was amazing! Let's keep this up and win the semifinals too!"
"Aha..." Kusaka rubbed the back of his head, seemingly embarrassed. "...Soccer is pretty nice."
And Tenma's smile got infinite times brighter. "Right?! Soccer's great, isn't it?!"
"Yeah!"
Tenma then went to all the rest to encourage them for their next game. They all had smiles on their faces, all of them proud of their win.
The only one Tsurugi noticed who wasn't smiling was, of course, Shindou. So he walked up to him. "With every game, they're all coming together. And at the center of them all, at every time, it's Tenma."
"Yeah..."
Well, even if the tone's still dry, at least he's agreeing.
~~~~~
"Kusaka-san! Kusaka-san!"
When they left the stadium, they were met by three unfamiliar faces. Or at least, they were unfamiliar to most of them.
"Hey, guys!" Kusaka greeted them back with a smile. "Did you come to watch the match? I'm sorry to say you're pretty late!"
"Oh, nah! We saw the whole thing from the big screen downtown and came to congratulate you!"
"You were so strong, Kusaka-san!"
"The way you blew away the sandstorm... That was awesome!"
The brunette let out a sheepish laugh. "Ahaha... Thanks, you guys."
"Huh? Did something about you change?"
"Ah, don't sweat the details. Hey, give him that thing we were told to bring!"
"Oh yeah!" One of them, who had black and white hair, walked up to him with a letter. "Here you go, Kusaka-san."
"Huh...? This is for...?"
"It's for all of Inazuma Japan." The blonde one stated. "So you see, those thugs that appeared in your match... They actually spotted us as they were heading out of town and tried to beat us up."
"They what?!"
"But then there was this ball that came flying out of nowhere and sent them all flying! You should've been there, Kusaka-san! That girl was awesome!"
"Huh? A ball?" Tenma asked.
"And a girl?" Aoi continued.
"Sent them flying just like that..." Shindou repeated.
Tsurugi ignored all three of their stares.
"That sounds amazing!" Sakura smiled, cutting in. "What did the girl look like? They might be one of captain's friends!"
"M-Maybe! Ahaha..."
"Ah, well, sorry, but we didn't see her face." The green haired one said. "Actually, at first, since she was wearing this cool blue hoodie, we couldn't tell if it was a guy or a gal. We only found out when she spoke and told us to give you guys that letter after helping us get away from those thugs."
"She said she's a huge fan of you guys." The black haired one continued.
The blonde then nodded at the two of them before turning back to Kusaka. "Well, that's all we came to do. Good luck in the next one, Kusaka-san!"
"Thanks! Look forward to it!"
"Yeah!"
As they left, Kusaka handed Tenma the letter for him to read. They gathered around him as he opened it. Tsurugi was only slightly disappointed it was a typed letter, meaning he couldn't see from the handwriting who it's from, but he kept his mouth shut and listened as the shorter brunette read it out loud for them.
"'Dear Inazuma Japan, you've come a long way, but your opponents will only keep getting stronger. Work hard and have fun, because that's what soccer is all about! I'll be cheering for you all! Signed...'"
"Signed by who, Tenma?" Aoi asked.
"Uh... It says, 'I don't know what name to put here so for now just say I'm your biggest fan'..."
They sweatdropped at that.
"Well... That's creative in its own way..."
"But still, to get a letter from a fan! We've really grown famous, haven't we?"
"We better keep the energy up so we don't disappoint them!"
"Alright! We can do this guys! Let's win the next one too!"
"Yeah!"
But even as they let out their cheer, Minaho noticed the navy haired striker clenching his fist around a fireball keychain.