I kicked the soccer ball as I ran towards the goal. I ran swiftly and in good pace. I dribbled the ball and passed a couple of members.
I was doing very well, until I saw a short guy with light blue hair in my peripheral vision, sliding on the ground to kick the ball away. But I kicked the ball up in the air and jumped off the ground with it. The short guy glared back at me with a surprised and an annoyed look.
The others also looked surprised and impressed. I landed back on the ground and continued dodging people in my way. My feet or legs didn't hurt since I somehow had a high pain tolerance. I continued to run fast.
'What a nuisance...' I coldly thought in my head. I smiled back at them, looking like I was having fun with them.
But I was not having fun.
Why do they like this game...?
[Third POV]
While [Name] was doing her entrance exam, Coach Endou watched her closely, examining not only her plays but her expressions. He couldn't figure out what was wrong about her.
"Is something the matter, Coach Endou?" Shindou asked as he notices him thinking about something.
"I think something is...peculiar with your classmate." He honestly answers, crossing his arms. Shindou gave him a confused expression.
"What do you mean?" He asks.
"Well, I can't put my finger on it." Endou sighs while smiling.
Kirino hears him from the back of the bench and smiles reassuringly. "I can assure you [Name] is great, talented player who gets a long with everyone. She's amazing as well. You could say teamwork is one of her strengths. I think she's fine being in the team."
"I didn't know you admired [Name]-san." Shindou says as he notices him complimenting her a little too much.
"Oh, I always appreciated her thoughtfulness and how she takes responsibility. That's all." Kirino nervously replies back.
"I just hope you're right about that." Endou quietly says to himself.
Shindou manages to hear him. He takes Endou's words into consideration. He watches [Name] carefully.
[Yukihina [Name]]
After I passed through my opponents, I ran up in front of the goal. I kicked the soccer ball with lots of force. The goalkeeper who I heard his name is Sangoku, prepared himself to block the ball and used his hissatsu technique when the ball came in contact with him. For some reason, he wasn't strong enough to block it and the ball made it in the net, with Sangoku in it.
Everyone, the managers, even Shindou and Kirino, stared at me more surprised than they were before. I guessed that scared them.
'Perhaps I put too much force into that kick of mine.' I nonchalantly stared at the ground.
"My apologies that must've frigh-" I turned around to apologize but my sentence was cut off by Tenma when he ran up to me.
"That was incredible, [Name]! That kick of yours, just how did you do that?!" He exclaimed excitedly. I stared at his grey-ish eyes. How could I not stare, we were close. His eyes were shining with...passion.
'There's that look again...' There's a part of me that likes the look in his eyes, but for some reason I just don't understand the meaning of it.
"Oh, I don't know, I just kicked the ball as if I was a striker?" I replied bashfully as I rubbed the back of my head. Shinsuke followed Tenma.
"You just kicked?!" Shinsuke exclaimed. "You made it in without using a hissatsu technique and got past Burning Catch! That's really impressive!" He looked up at me with admiration.
"I agree with him! You're very strong you know!" Tenma says to me.
"Thank you, you two." I smiled at them.
I turned my focus to Sangoku, who was still on the ground. I walked over to him and held my hand out to him so he could get up. He accepted it and stood up.
"Are you alright? I didn't hurt you, did I?" I asked with concern in my voice.
"No, I'm fine, thanks. I'm used to it as a goalkeeper. I'm actually more impressed with how you did it without a hissatsu technique." He says as he dusted off his uniform.
"Really? Tenma and Shinsuke said the same thing."
Then the others came up to me and complimented me. I smiled and accepted their praise.
"Seriously? What a show off." Kurama commented snarlingly, crossing his arms. I didn't care what he thought.
"I mean, she's supposed to show off what she can do." His friend, Hamano, says to him. "You gotta admit that was cool!"
"Yeah, whatever."
[Shindou Takuto]
"You have an impressive classmate, Shindou, Kirino." Coach Endou says to me and Kirino.
Tenma and Shinsuke ran up to me and Coach Endou excitedly. "How come you never told us about her? She's amazing! Everyone seems to like her already!"
"We could've recruited her earlier!" Shinsuke added.
"Just because [Name] is good at soccer doesn't mean she likes soccer." I sternly said to them. "And also, [Name] didn't seem interested in soccer at all, so I didn't bother asking her to join." I added. They seem to understand.
I watched [Name] happily interacted with my teammates from afar. Tenma is right, everyone on the team seems to like her. Now that I think about it, I wondered why she wanted to join the soccer club in the first place. My thoughts disappeared when Coach Endou blew the whistle.
"Okay, time for the next round!" Coach Endou announced to everyone. They all turn to look at him attentively. "[Name], you're pretty awesome for your first time in a while. If you're ready, we can move on."
[Name] nodded understandably. "Of course."
I suddenly had this gut feeling. I frowned to myself as I held onto my left arm, remembering what Coach Endou said earlier.
I never got to know [Name] personally. All I know was that she is an honor student who excelled both in academics and sports. I usually see her hang out with others in our homeroom or underclassmans who looks up to her.
I only spoke to her if it was about schoolwork, which was rarely. In class, she was very kind to others, whether they were younger or older than her. You could say she had every positive traits there is and no flaws. She treated everyone with respect and vice versa, including me.
One time when I was sick and stayed home from school, Kirino told me he was frustrated with a classwork assignment. [Name] noticed that he was struggling and offered to help him, which he accepted. He told me there were times when he didn't understand the equations, which made him feel bad for [Name], for wasting her time. But she was very patient with him and explained the problem throughly until he understood.
Now I understand why Kirino admires her.
So I don't want to believe something is wrong with [Name]. I glanced at her again, only to see her grinning with the others while they head to their positions.
I shook my head a little. 'Maybe I'm overthinking it.' I thought.
I was distracted by my thoughts and didn't notice Tenma's concerned look towards me before he ran to his spot on the field.
[Yukihina [Name]]
When the second round started again, I ran straight to the goal, kicking the ball as I go. Someone quickly stole the ball from me. I did expect it though.
I mentally sighed. 'Now I have to get the soccer ball back.'
The ball was passed to Hayami, whom I immediately chased after. He ran fast but I ran faster. He began to panic when I was literally right behind him.
"A-Aah, how is she running that fast!?" Hayami yelped after he glanced over his shoulder. "S-She's behind me!"
It sounds like he's personally trying to run away than keeping the ball away from me. I don't intend to look scary.
"Hayami-senpai! Pass it to me!" Shinsuke calls out across from him.
"P-Please take it!" Hayami exclaims timidly as he kicked the ball to Shinsuke.
It was a terrible pass because I managed to get the ball back from them.
Shinsuke and some of the others gasped in surprise. I was near the goal, dribbling.
Out of nowhere, Shinsuke appeared in front of me, blocking my way. I stopped and held the ball under my feet. I glanced around to see if there was any alternative route I can go. But I was blocked by Tenma and Kurama.
My nonchalant eyes shifted at the goal behind Shinsuke. I sighed as I knew I was blocked and I could have gotten in trouble for keeping the ball for a little while. Before they could run simultaneously and steal the ball away from me, I attempted to shoot the ball by kicking it in the air before jumping high after it.
Everyone looked up at me with their mouth gaped open like as if I were goddess from Greek mythology, descending to Earth. My [hair color] hair flown in the breeze and the sun shines my hair when I jumped up high. It's good that I wore black stockings or it would've been improper. I shot it towards the goal with all the last remaining effort I had in me.
Then Shinsuke jumped almost high as I did, which caught me off guard. He had a determined look like the one before.
"I can jump high too!" He yelled before I landed back down on the ground, unhurt.
He used his defensive hissatsu technique I seen him practicing. I don't know much about it but it seemed to have fail when the ball shot pass him. Shinsuke landed on the ground, uninjured but upset that his hissatsu technique didn't work.
The ball was shot in the upper left area of the goal. Sangoku wasn't able to reach for the ball on time.
"Again?!" He exclaimed, watching the ball fly into the net. I stared ahead blankly at the goal I made for a moment.
After a moment, Coach Endou signaled everyone to gather at the bench. We were wondering what was going to happen since I needed to make one more point in order to pass the exam.
"Congratulations, [Name]. You passed!" Coach Endou announced with a cheerful grin.
"Eh!?" Everyone stuttered, except Shinsuke and me.
I only tilted my head, confused. "Hm?"
"Yep. You passed the exam." He repeated.
"Sir, I didn't make the third goal yet." I reminded him, confused still.
"Your athletic abilities, strategic skills, and the fact you got pass two hissatsu techniques without owning a hissatsu technique yourself is quite remarkable." He explained. "I think that's enough for you to join the club. I don't need to see anymore."
"Oh, I understand. Thank you." I bowed to him for respect. Then I looked at everyone else. "I will do my best to do my part and winning matches with everyone on the team." Everyone, who are now called my teammates, welcomed me into joining.
After that, Shindou approached me. "Hey [Name], I was wondering, what made you want to-"
He was interrupted when Tenma butted in without realizing. "That was so cool of you, [Name]! I saw the way you jumped high."
"Ah, thank you again Tenma. You're too kind." I thanked him. He does praise people...a lot.
"I think you might've jumped higher than Shinsuke! What do you thi-" Tenma's grin dropped when he looked behind his shoulder to look at Shinsuke, but he seems to be frowning to himself. "Shinsuke?"
"Yeah, that was cool." Shinsuke sighed disappointedly.
"What's the matter?" Tenma asks, concerned about his friend.
"I was really confident to stop [Name]'s shoot. I was hoping Full Throttle Jump would work." He explains sadly. "I'm upset that all my hard work were wasted."
"Please, don't think like that Shinsuke." I cut into their conversation. He looked up at me. "What you did was amazing as well! I never seen anyone jump as high as I did. I thought your hissatsu technique was going to work on me."
"Huh, really?" He questioned. He sounded hopeful.
"It shocked me." I nod my head, giving him a reassuring smile. "Just keep believing in yourself, then you will achieve what you're looking for."
Shinsuke's face starts to light up. "Thank you for that, [Name]. I really do appreciate that!"
"No problem."
'Believing, achieve, looking...? I don't really meant it. I mean, who am I to say such things...?' I thought to myself when Sangoku approached Shinsuke to talk about his hissatsu technique.
'I'm a liar. Even the way I act towards all of them is a lie.' I mindlessly thought.
I snapped out of it when I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned around and see a younger girl with short blue hair.
"Hi, my name is Sorano Aoi. I'm one of the managers in the club. Please call me Aoi." She introduces herself.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Aoi." I give her a small smile.
Aoi's cheeks became a little pinkish for some reason. "Um, I just wanted to let you know your soccer uniform will be prepared next week."
"I understand. Thank you for letting me know."
"Hey, don't forget about us!"
My eyes shifted to the two other girls behind Aoi. They both look like they were in same grade as me. One of them didn't say anything but took a picture of me with her pink camera and mumbled "how pretty" while smiling softly. I didn't care about that.
"I'm Seto Midori and that's Yamana Akane. We're both second years and the managers workin' along with Aoi." Midori introduces herself and Akane. She seems hot-blooded but strict. As for Akane, she's looks like a bubbly girl.
"Nice to meet you two. If there are three managers, then this team must've been a handful hm?" I said, giving her a little teasing smile.
Midori groans. "Yeahh, drama happened between them recently and stuff but it's all good now! I'm hoping' that we don't go through the same crap again."
"I'm glad they made up for now." I glanced at my phone for the time. It was twenty minutes before club activities were ending for the day.
'It's almost evening. I want to be home before mom gets back.' I put away my phone and walked to Coach Endou, who was talking to the advisor, Otonashi. I grabbed their attention.
"Excuse me, if you don't mind, I'd like to leave a bit early." I requested. They accepted it.
"Bye-bye." I waved bye at them. I picked up my bag from beside the bench. Then I noticed Shindou, staring at the ground, probably thinking about something.
"Hey Shindou-san, I'm heading home early. What did you want to ask me earlier?" I asked him as I wore my bag on my shoulder.
He looked up at me. "Oh, it's okay now. It wasn't important."
"Are you sure?" I asked back. He nodded unsurely as an answer. "If you say so."
Tenma, with Shinsuke following him, came up to me. "Are you leaving already?"
"Yeah, I'd like to get home early." I said to him.
"We were hoping you can practice with us for the remaining club activity." Shinsuke says, upset that I was leaving early.
"I'm still not over how you played back there. We wanted to see you play again." Tenma added.
I chuckled. "Hey now, I've joined the club. I can practice with you guys tomorrow."
"Tomorrow is a weekend." He informed me like I didn't know that.
I took out a pen and slip of two papers and wrote. The two were puzzled to what I was doing. I handed them the paper. "Here you go."
"Oh! I-Is this your..." Tenma's cheeks turned slightly red when he realized what it is for some reason. Shinsuke simply grinned like he just received some signature from an idol.
"That's my email address." I finished his sentence for him. "We can talk about what day to practice together, hehe."
"Ah, thank you for that. I-I had fun playing with you [Name]." He grins back again. Shinsuke agreed with him by nodding his head.
"Fun?" I slightly tilt my head to the side.
"Yeah, we had fun! I hope you had fun as well?"
"Oh, yes. I had fun too...?" I smiled uneasily but my answer sounded like a question.
"That's great! See you!" Tenma waved bye at me, with Shinsuke.
I waved back at them with a closed-eyed sweet smile. Then my usual blank face appears again immediately after I turned around to walk home.
'I didn't have fun today. I joined the soccer club to understand what makes the games fun and to find what I'm looking for. I hope my decision about joining the soccer club was right.'
"I really do hope I can find it." I desperately say to myself.
[Shindou Takuto]
I could see the exhaustion in [Name]'s eyes as she turned around, her back facing us. It didn't look like she was tired of the game but she looks like she was tired of something else. I don't know what it is. I watched her climb up the stairs and walk away from the field.
"Are you okay Shindou-san?" Tenma asks me. I didn't notice him approaching me. "You had that same look on your face when you were looking at [Name] earlier."
"Look?" I questioned.
"Yeah. You looked like you were thinking about something...difficult? So are you okay?"
"Actually, no," I answered him honestly. "I don't know if [Name] is really...[Name]."
"Huh, what do you mean by that?" Tenma slightly tilts his head in confusion.
"I don't know. Coach Endou says he was suspicious of [Name] at first."
"If [Name] has troubles, then I'm sure she would've talked to us about it. We are friends now." He gave me a reassuring smile.
"Why would she be troubled?" Shinsuke naively questions. "[Name] passed the exam without any problems. She's perfect in club."
"We don't know that for sure." I sighed, "Honestly, me and [Name] aren't really acquainted with each other. I don't know her personally."
"I-Is that so? Oh! How about we check up on her, so that way you don't have to think about too much?" Tenma suggested.
"That's good idea!" Shinsuke agreed with him.
I smiled a little. "Yeah, thank you."
————————————————————
[Author Notes]:
• Happy (very late) New Years! I almost became an online-shopping addict at the start of a new year! :D
• I know, I'm terrible at writing/describing the soccer games.
• A small reminder that if you think [Name]'s shot scene was unrealistic, there's characters that summons penguins off the ground, playing in outer space, people stopping time, and the ball stays in the air for like a five minute monologue.
• Tbh, I don't play soccer/football so I don't know how the positions work. I'll eliminate a character in a match to get [Name] in or something, since this is like, my story.
• Can someone recommend me online stores or an artist with a small business that sells any Inazuma Eleven merch, like pins, keychains, posters, or plushies. I already got Mercari and AliExpress. (eBay is too expensive, like I saw Tsurugi Kyousuke with tons of merchandise but it was over $800, like whyy?)
• I want to create an Inazuma Eleven (Go) shrine, mostly if my favorite characters. I used to have one for LEGO Ninjago when I was younger, until I took it down.
• It's actually very difficult to find IE stuff in the US 😭
• If there's any mistakes or if something doesn't make sense, please tell me. I sometimes don't edit properly and I wrote this at night.
• 3,330 words.
————————————————————
Thank you for reading!