"Is Shinsuke here?"
Tsurugi looked up from his tablet to see his brunette captain with a worried look on his face. "No, he's not."
"Ah... Alright. Sorry for disturbing you."
When he was just about to leave, he stood up and called out to him again. "Tenma, wait."
"Hm?"
"Have you seen Kimiko? She was supposed to meet me here..."
He blinked. "Didn't she go straight to her room after dinner?"
"Yeah, but when I checked, she wasn't there." He clicked his tongue. "I don't want to think she snuck out at this hour on an alien planet, but it's starting to look like that's the case."
"Ahahaha... Well, since she still has her abilities, I'm sure she'll be fine. I'm going to continue looking for Shinsuke now."
"Alright. I'll let him know you're looking for him if he comes by."
"Thanks. I'll do the same for Kimiko too."
So, the navy haired boy continued his wait in his dorm car's lounge area, a small space between Shindou and Tenma's rooms that had a table and two chairs for when they simply wanted to hang out outside their rooms. As he scrolled through the data of the previous matches, which Aoi let him copy into his tablet, Tenma suddenly ran by again, with most of the team on his tail. Curious, he followed the group to the cockpit of the space train.
Tenma reported to their coach how the Black Room was inaccessible, and so, he called for their caretaker to look into it.
Kusaka gave a confused smile. "Why are you operating the Black Room system, aunty?"
"I might not look like it, but I'm a scientist who specializes in virtual reality." Kamata replied without taking her eyes off the panel. "Coach Kuroiwa asked me to participate in the Earth Eleven Support Project. I'm also the one who invented this Black Room."
"You?!" Minaho had a wide smile on him. "You're kidding!"
She very much was not, but instead of humoring him, she turned her focus back to matter at hand. "It's completely locked down. It won't open for a while."
"Won't open?" Tenma asked.
"That's how I'd made it to operate."
"No way..."
"Who is inside?" The coach asked.
"Tetsukado and Shinsuke." Shindou stated.
"Oh, and Kimiko too!" Sakura added. "I ran into her while in the bathroom and she said she wanted to see how it works again."
"I see."
That answers where they disappeared to then. Tsurugi held back a sigh. At least it's safer than her going off on her own... Hopefully, anyway.
~~~~~
"This is weird..." Shinsuke said. "An hour has definitely passed by now."
Kimiko nodded from beside him, playing with her souvenir. As it turns out, it really was an hourglass. The sand at the top had just run out not too long ago.
"Why won't it turn back?"
"Maybe I did break it..." Tetsukado muttered.
"Eh?! Then, does that mean we're stuck here forever?"
"Well, there's no point working ourselves up about it. This is the same as being stranded in the ocean. Sitting still and waiting for help to arrive is the best thing to do."
"Tetsukado!"
The blonde placed a hand on the little boy's shoulder. "Now, now, Shinsuke. He's not wrong. Getting angry won't help anyone."
"But...!"
"I was supposed to meet with Kyou several minutes ago, so he's bound to notice and let the others know. They should be working on our way out by now."
"Well, I guess..." He pursed his lips together before looking up at her again. "Kimiko, can you use your abilities, just to check? Like, let them know telepathically where we are and stuff..."
The ex-boxer blinked. "You can do that?"
She gave a wry smile. "Sorry, but I can't. I've been trying to for a while, but it looks like the brain-signal things that the hologram uses interferes with my abilities."
"Huh? How does that work?"
"To put it simply, I can't use telepathy with people too far away from me. While I know we're all still on the same train, the fact that this hologram makes it so that it's as if we're still on Earth messes with my senses."
"No way..." His head dropped before suddenly lifting up again. "Huh?"
Suddenly, the sand around them exploded into five geysers. Five clay figures appeared out of the ground, looming over them.
"Haniwa?"
"Why are they wearing uniforms?"
"They're over here too!"
"W-What's with these things?"
And the rock Tetsukado was leaning on disappeared, white lines taking its place. Two goal posts came out of the ground, and in one of the haniwas' hands was a soccer ball.
Kimiko nodded slightly, understanding where this was going. "Well, then... This is gonna be fun."
~~~~~
The red warnings on the panel were worrying.
"What's happening?" Aoi asked.
"The program has initiated a soccer battle." Kamata explained. "If they win this, it may unlock."
"But they need five people for a soccer battle." Tenma said. "They can't win with just the three of them. Can't we do something?"
"Well, there's not much I can do from outside..."
"How about using virtual avatars?" Manabe suggested. "The system contains our data, and it can bring up to five people. It could be of some help to them that way."
"Okay, I'll try it."
Well, if all they need is a single goal then... At least Kimiko's got that new hissatsu. That is, if she decided to play. Which he knew she probably wouldn't want to unless things were absolutely dire.
~~~~~
Out of nowhere, four holograms of their teammates appeared behind them. Tsurugi, Minaho, Konoha, and Ibuki.
As they spread out to their respective positions, Tetsukado yelled at the white haired keeper. "Ibuki, switch with Shinsuke!"
The hologram was giving him a look.
"Ibuki!"
It almost seemed like he was sulking as he walked off.
"For crying out loud..." The ex-boxer then turned to the shorter boy with a smile. "Shinsuke, we're counting on you!"
"Yeah!" As he headed for the goal, he noticed the blonde heading for the side of the pitch, taking a seat next to the hologram Ibuki. "Kimiko, you're not playing?"
"I'll join in if I feel like I need to." She said giving a thumbs up. "For now, I'll just keep Holo-ki company."
"... Holo-what?"
"Holo-ki. Hologram Ibuki. I also named the rest Holo-ha, Holo-ho, and finally, Holo-kyou."
He sweatdropped but said nothing more. Tetsukado wanted to comment, but the smile she had made him push the idea away.
Soon, the match began. The haniwa were surprisingly stronger than they expected, able to push past all the holograms and score against Shinsuke easily.
Either that, or all the data for these holograms are outdated. There's no way Kyou would lose to these things!
Suddenly, there was a rumble. Parts of the cave began to form cracks.
"Is this...?" Shinsuke had a nervous look. "If I continue to let those shoots in..."
Buried alive in a hologram, huh... Not how I imagined I'd go out after surviving all the crazy stuff Zanark put me through, but...
Shinsuke lost several more goals, and the cave continued to crumble. He then turned his gaze to the side, where they were sitting. His eyes narrowed to a glare, but just before he could get back into position, a giant rock fell near him.
"Are you okay?" Tetsukado asked, running over to him.
"Y-Yeah..."
"They're planning to keep this up until we're crushed! Anyway, you'll just have to hang in there! We're counting on you, Shinsuke!"
"Wait, Tetsukado!" The little boy's gaze went down. "I'll... switch with Ibuki. I'm not strong enough to stop them."
"Shinsuke..."
And so, the match continued with Ibuki the hologram in the goal. But even so, the haniwa's shot got through.
"Ibuki! No way!"
And another, and another, and another.
Why can't he stop them? He's strong enough to take them down...! His eyes widened. "His movements are getting smaller! Just like how I once did!" He stood up and yelled, "Don't move back! Move up more and put all of your power into your jump!"
Kimiko didn't expect the hologram to nod and do as he was told, but she was grateful because it worked.
"Yes!"
"We stopped it! We finally stopped it!"
"Right!" The blonde walked up beside him. "Now, it's our turn to attack!"
He blinked up at her. "Eh? Kimiko, you're joining in now?"
"Kind of. You yelling at Holo-ki gave me an idea." She turned her attention back to the field. "Tetsukado! Do you trust me?"
"Huh?"
"I asked, do you trust me?"
He stared at her for a moment before nodding, which she responded to with a smile.
"Alright, start moving up then!" He did, and she looked over at the keeper, who was staring at her. "Holo-ki, give it to Holo-ho. We'll bring the ball up with short, precise passes between him and Holo-ha!" The three gave their own nods and went to do just that. She then cast a look at the striker, who immediately started running for the enemy goal. "Hehe, even when he's not real, he can still tell what I'm thinking."
Once the holograms of Konoha and Minaho had made it to the center of the field, passing through two of their opponents, she ordered them to pass to Tetsukado. It got through another haniwa as the last one came after him.
"I don't have time to use my move!"
"You don't need it!"
"Wha―"
"Trust yourself! These guys are just holograms made to fight against a specific set of data! Unlike them, you can learn and grow on your own!"
His eyes widened slightly, but he gave a small nod. "Then... Here goes nothing!" He charged ahead with the ball, and by simply relying on his instincts, he got through with simple sharp turns. "I-I actually did it!"
"Now pass to Holo-kyou!"
"It's yours!"
The hologram of Tsurugi took the ball and made a power shot. It scored them their first goal.
"Yeah!"
"Alright!"
"Sweet!"
And the five haniwas disappeared.
"They vanished! We're saved!" Shinsuke cheered.
"Yeah!" Tetsukado nodded. "All thanks to you two!"
"Huh? Even me?" Shinsuke asked.
"Nice support! Ibuki wouldn't have been able to do that without your advice!"
He gave a wry smile at that. "How could I have been so mistaken? We're on the same team, but all I kept thinking about was beating Ibuki. That's right. There's two of us here. We just have to get stronger together! Then, one day, I'll definitely catch up to him!"
"Yeah!"
The four holograms seemed to smile right as they disappeared, and the whole room turned to normal.
"It changed back! Did the system fix itself?"
Before either of them could give the ex-boxer a response, the door opened and all their friends came running in.
"Shinsuke! Tetsukado! Kimiko!"
"You three aren't hurt?"
Tenma and Shindou were the first to arrive, as expected.
"We're totally fine, as you can see." Tetsukado smirked.
Aoi sighed. "Thank goodness."
"Training by yourselves in secret... Quit causing so much trouble."
"Sorry, Ibuki." Shinsuke replied sheepishly. "I'll be more careful next time."
The white haired boy seemed surprised, but said no more. Instead, it was―
"Well, this isn't the worst thing you could've been trapped in, so it wasn't all bad."
The dissing tone made her pout. "You thought I snuck out again, didn't you?"
The navy haired boy smirked. "Who knows?"
"In Tsurugi's defense, you are the type."
"Aoi! Who's side are you on?!"
"The side of safety! Now that you're back, I'll definitely keep my eye on you again!"
"Oh, come on!"
~~~~~
The next day, after breakfast, Ishigashi called on them and took them to the other side of town, saying he wanted to show the stadium. The only confusing thing was that all they could see was barren land.
"Here it comes."
At those words, they all followed his gaze upwards. The spaceship they once saw on Earth was there, on its way to land. As it descended, parts of it opened up and transformed, creating a soccer stadium the moment it touched the ground.
"This is Starship Stadium, which can travel freely throughout the galaxy."
None of them could help their dropped jaws.