"We've lost." Tsurugi acknowledged. "But we will be sure to turn this defeat into something meaningful."
"Let's hope so." Hakuryuu smirked before turning to the blonde, who was still standing by their goal. "Hey, Kimiko! We're going! Are you coming along?"
"Oh, thanks, but no thanks!" She called back. "I'll head back on my own!"
"I can't have that." Fudou interjected. "Your cousin will kill me if you disappear under my watch."
"I'll be back before dinner, I swear!"
"Suit yourself." The white haired captain went over and rolled the ball under his foot before passing the ball to him. "Here you go. Make sure you don't miss."
He clicked his tongue. "Oh, I won't."
He smirked again before following the brown haired coach out into the tunnel. The rest of Resistance Japan followed. All but her.
Kimiko turned her attention to him. "What did he mean by 'don't miss'?"
He shot her a look.
"W-What...?"
He kept his expression from changing.
She sweatdropped, chuckling nervously. "Okay, okay, I know you're probably still mad at me about... well, that... and you have every right to be! B-But I have to ask you to wait a bit more, because I swear everything will make sense in―" She was cut off by the ball sent to her face. It blew her back into the goal.
"Kimiko! Tsurugi!" Tenma's jaw hung open as his eyes darted back and forth between them.
"H-Hey!" Tetsukado, who was still standing beside him, also had wide eyes. The whole team did too.
Ibuki, who was by the goal, could only stare as the girl sat up. Her face was red from the impact, but she was still able to manage a glare.
"Ow?! What the heck, Kyou?!"
He remained indifferent. "Just so you know, I've been waiting to do that for a long, long time."
"Ugh... Fair enough. It didn't hurt anyway, it just took me by surprise..." She sighed. "I deserve that."
"You got that right." He walked up to her and held a hand out, helping her up.
"Kimiko!" Another blue blur ran past him, and suddenly Aoi had pulled her into a tight hug, which she returned rather happily. "You're finally back!"
"Nice to see you too, Aoi." She turned to the rest of them. "Tenma and Shindou-san too!"
"It's been a while." Shindou nodded.
"And that was a new hissatsu technique, wasn't it?" Tenma said excitedly.
"Yup!" She then turned to him with sparkling eyes. "But honestly, it's nothing compared to your Bicycle Sword. It was one thing seeing it on TV or on the stands, but when it flew past me and through Senguuji just now, it looked so much cooler!"
He blinked. "TV? You mean you've seen our other matches? ... You didn't just recently get back?"
Her smile turned stiff at that. "Ahaha... Yeah, so uh... Funny story... I've been around since the day before your exhibition match against Teikoku."
"... And you never once thought to visit, or call, or text, or let me know in any way?"
She took several steps back. "I am sorry. Please, do not kick me again. I have a good reason for it."
"And that is?"
"Uh... Well... You see... Ehehe..."
He took another deep breath, and did what he always did.
"Ow! I told you to stop hitting me for every little thing, you bully!"
"And I told you I'll consider it when you stop being stupid."
Aoi giggled. "I'm glad to see that nothing's changed."
Tenma nodded with his own smile. "Yeah."
"So uh..." Only when Tetsukado spoke up did they remember the other eight were still there. "You're the 'Kimiko' Tsurugi was talking about?"
Her eyes sparkled even brighter than before. "Kyou talks about me? What did he say?"
He cut off before the ex-boxer could respond. "That you're an idiot."
"Meanie!" She then turned her attention to the others. "And by the way, I want everyone to just call me by my first name. I'm younger than you all, so you don't have to be formal with me."
"O-Okay..."
"Gouenji child." At their coach's tone, her expression switched once again. This time, it was stiff and serious. "Do you have it?"
She dug her pocket and pulled out a thin case with a chip inside. "As you requested, for the Black Room. Minus keshins and MixiMaxes, it has all the data from the previous Holy Road as well as the training held in God Eden." Four pairs of eyes widened at the name of that place, but before he could take it, her hand pulled up slightly. "Chairman Gouenji has a message regarding that training. Under no circumstances will you allow them to use Level 5 or anything beyond. He's already locked them, but in case you have any ideas about hacking them open..."
"Very well." He took the case and left, Mizukawa following after him without so much as greeting her.
The moment he left, she let out a sigh. "He's probably the one person I'm more afraid of than Kidou-san... and Senguuji Daigo."
"What's on Level 5?" Shindou asked.
"Danger. And the thing that made Kyou pull out Lancelot for the first time."
"... I'm sorry I asked."
He shrugged in reply. "Goes to show we really shouldn't use it."
"What's a 'Lancelot'?" Kusaka asked.
"He's a very loyal and skilled knight from the story of King Arthur." Minaho stated. "As for his relation to soccer..."
"It's nothing important. He's banned from using him for the FFI anyway." Kimiko cut in, saving them the trouble of explaining. "Anyways, Kyou, can I borrow you for a little bit more?"
"Why?"
"Because Odaiba is huge and I want to see as much as I can before curfew. Now, come on!" Without waiting for his response, she grabbed his arm and pulled him out.
The others watched in silence for a while before Tetsukado opened his mouth again. "I thought he was joking when he said the ball was to beat her up."
~~~~~
The two separated briefly to change back into their tracksuits. Or at least, he did. When she came out of the toilet, she was still wearing the light blue jacket zipped up to her neck, but since her pants had changed to her old black ones, he'll assume she was wearing her usual white t-shirt under it. Just before he could ask what she did with her pink hoodie, she began to ramble all about the day's events, sidetracking him to other thoughts.
"So you were the one that ambushed us just now?"
"I prefer to call it testing your instincts."
"Mmhm. And that's my jacket, isn't it?"
"It looks better on me, therefore I claim it as mine."
"Right. And your hair's gotten a little longer."
"I couldn't find the time to cut it while I was there. Or here for that matter. Speaking of which, do you have an extra hair tie I could borrow?"
"You stole my jacket, but you're now asking nicely for a hair tie?"
"Do you want me to take the one on your head off?"
"... Here."
"Thanks!" She quickly tied it to a low ponytail before grabbing his arm again. "Let's go to the amusement park!"
He clicked his tongue. "That's fine and all, but do we have to go all the way around to the intersection? It's easier to just go through the mall..."
"Is it?"
"Did you not see the sign outside when you came here?"
"Nope. We just followed Fudou-san straight to Seaside Stadium."
"... Get over here." It was his turn to grab her arm and lead her back to the stadium.
They went through a tunnel not too far from the entrance, took an elevator from the aquarium area, before emerging at the street in front of the mall. With the large Ferris wheel behind the building, it was clear where they needed to go.
"So what do you wanna do?" He asked.
"I want to say 'everything', but we don't have time for that, so..." She took a quick scan of the area before pointing to the Ferris wheel, "First, that." and then a stand not too far away. "Then, that for lunch, plus ice cream. Then, you can show me your dorm room!"
"Not interested in the Aqua Mall?"
"Not that I'm not interested. It's more like there's so many things in there that we wouldn't be able to cover with just today, and you still have training in the afternoon, so I might as well just leave it for some other time. There's also the Mermaid Hall just now, the yacht harbor, and the huge training area in front of the stadium..."
"That's true."
"Mmhm! So let's go!" She pulled on his arm again, heading to the ride.
Being that early, there weren't many people around. They didn't even need to queue before heading into one of its gondolas. The ride was nice and peaceful as they watched the scenery around them getting smaller and smaller.
"You know," She suddenly spoke up with her forehead on the window. "You'd think that, after being on a plane so many times, you'd get used to this kind of view, but... It's still breathtaking to me."
"Well, it is a nice view." He agreed.
"Yeah." She nodded before turning back to him. "By the way, what's in your sleeve? Whenever I grab your wrist, it feels like there's a weird, hard thing in there."
"Oh, that. It's this thing." He opened the mouth of his sleeve and his keychain dropped, hanging by the chain.
She blinked. "Isn't that, like, really uncomfortable?"
"Yeah, but I don't have anywhere else to put it."
"What? But it's a keychain! You can put it on your phone, bag, jacket zipper... You can literally put it anywhere else!"
"I don't like how it looks anywhere else."
"Wha..." She stared at him for a moment before shrugging. "Alright, suit yourself then, I guess."
"What about you?"
"Huh?"
Putting the keychain back inside his sleeve, he pointed to hers. "You also have a 'weird, hard thing' in your sleeve. What is it?"
"Ah... That's..." She pursed her lips before hesitantly pulling it up. A thick, white armband was there, with what looked a lot like a screen on it that practically screamed that it was future technology. "It's the time bracelet."
"Time bracelet? Isn't that the thing Gouenji-san was given by Fei's father?"
She nodded. "This was his actually. He then gave it to me after that whole fiasco ended."
"... That thing was to help him travel through time and keep his original memories while we changed the course of history and all that, right?" When he got another nod, he only became more confused. "So, why are you still keeping it? We don't need to time travel anymore."
"Yeah, but I do." She let out a wry smile. "I still need to keep in touch with Professor Aruno for updates about my cure."
"Your cu―?!" Before he knew it, he was grabbing on her shoulders. "You're telling me that you're still dying?!"
"W-Well, when you put it like that..." She muttered to herself before shaking her head. "There's still plenty of time! And he called me yesterday saying that it's almost done! Give it another few weeks, and I'll―"
"Then, why are you here now?!"
"W-Well! When I found out about the FFI happening around this time, I got impatient, so...!"
"You could've just watched from the future, couldn't you?! I'm pretty sure El Dorado has their time-TV or whatever that thing is they used to spy on us back then!"
"They do, but it's not the same! I wanted to see your moves in person!"
"Why?!"
"Because I missed you, okay?!"
His jaw dropped and his brain froze. Her face turned red in embarrassment as he felt his own heating up. Thank god we're at the top of the wheel.
Yeah, no one can hear us screaming from way up here.
He blinked. Was that... That was you, right?
Regaining her composure, she raised an eyebrow at him. Of course it was. Do you know anyone else in this era able to use telepathy?
No, just... It's nothing. Forget it. For the first time in four months, he was not crazy. Finally!
What do you mean 'finally'?
Never mind. He hated her ability. I said forget it.
She gave him a look before shrugging. Alright then, as you wish.
When they got back to the ground, they continued their banter as always. They ate lunch together, bought ice cream, and hung around for a little while longer before going to the bridge leading to the dorms, stopping only once because she begged him to take a picture together with the ocean view.
When they arrived, as he expected, the first thing she did was jump onto his bed, burying her face in his pillow. She then proceeded to comment on every item he had in his room, as well as jumping in excitement when he told her his brother was finally on crutches. He made her tidy it back up before taking a peek at Shindou and Tenma's rooms and leaving.
He showed her the meeting room and explained who was staying in the other dorms. They then proceeded to the information gate, where she introduced herself to their caretaker, who insisted on giving some food for her trip home.
Oh! Curry bread! Haven't had any in a while!
Kamata-san makes curry-related foods just about everyday. We always have them for dinner.
No way! You're living in curry heaven!
Having it too often kinda ruins it, though...
Then why don't you help her out?
I have my training to focus on, stupid.
Ah... Right, right.
"What's with that face, Kimiko? Are you doubting my cooking skills?"
"Ah! No! Not at all, aunty!"
"Don't worry about her, Kamata-san." He cut in before things could go downhill. "We need to be going now. There's still some places for her to see."
"Alright then. Hope you enjoy them!"
"Thank you, aunty!"
He showed her to the pitch on the front, where most of their training was held. Just as he was about to show her the port nearby, beeps came from her pocket.
Taking out her phone, she quickly read through a message before letting out a sigh. "Well, that's the end of today's fun."
"Gouenji-san?"
"And Masato-nii. At the exact same time." She let out another sigh as she rolled her eyes. "Fudou-san must've reported back already. I should've sent the picture from earlier so they wouldn't worry, but this is also an overreaction."
"Are you just going to do that now, or...?"
She stared at her phone in thought for a moment before slowly shaking her head. "No. Masato-nii asked me to run some errands on my way back, and looking at the list, it's most likely what we're having for dinner. I need to get on it if I want to make it home in time."
And so, he walked her to the station, completely ignoring the stares some people were giving them. It was most likely due to how she was hugging his arm the whole way, but he had also just lost 3-1 in half an hour against their old rivals, so his pride was the last thing he had in mind for the day. And besides―
"Thanks for today, Kyou." She said with a smile, finally letting him go. "It was short, but I had a lot of fun."
He gave a smirk. "The next match is the finals. When we win, I'll take you to every single spot here to celebrate."
He thought he saw her smile falter for a moment, but when he blinked, she was grinning mischievously. "Oh? That sounds like a date."
"Maybe it is."
She laughed. A sign that she did not take it seriously at all. "Okay! I'll be cheering for you then! As always!"
Speakers came on, announcing the train was about to arrive. She gave him a quick, surprise hug before walking off with a wave.
Seeing her back made something inside him twist. Before he knew it, his mouth opened. "Miko."
He didn't expect her to turn around so quickly. "Hm?"
"I..." His voice was caught. The back of his head went into a quick spiral before he mentally hit himself. "Me too." That was all he could manage.
She blinked. "Huh?"
"... No, nothing. Be careful on your way."
She showed him an expression that was somewhere between confused and frustrated. "What the heck, Kyou? You're so weird sometimes."
"I said it's nothing! Hurry up or you'll miss your train."
"Hm... Well, okay, whatever. See you!"
"See you."
The doors closed behind her just as he felt the keychain dropping to his hand again. Clenching it tight, a small smile appeared as he watched the train depart, knowing full well that his thoughts were being read.
I missed you too.