11. ENDED, AGAIN
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AFTER
that win, you went back to your room, now a little more calm than you were before. You lay down on your nice, fluffy bed and looked up at the ceiling. You stared blankly for a few moments, before you pulled out your notebook and pen, and tapped it against your cheek.
You flip back a few pages, all the way back to the page where everyone's talents are listed. The first thing you do is scribble out Kuon's name and put an angry face next to his now illegible handwriting. You then go down to Chigiri's pretty handwriting, and there, you write next to it,
Incredible speed.
A satisfied smile stretches across your lips, and you snap your notebook shut, sliding it onto your desk before leaning back against your headrest. Today was a good day. You've never felt so connected with these people, until that moment. You were uncaring of the looks—the stares, and everything else.
You finally felt like you were a part of their team. It's not just them, anymore, but it's you too. You feel a wide grin stretch across your lips. This doesn't seem so bad, not as it felt when you first arrived, anyway. You were never the best people person, but you did still want to get along with them at the very least. This was much better than anything you could've ever hoped for.
There is a knock at your door. You tilt your head forward, then slip on a pair of white slippers and jog up to the door, opening it and peeking outside. There, it's Isagi standing there, with the rest of the team standing behind him, doing their own thing—Kunigami and Chigiri talking casually, Iemon and Imamura taking jabs at Igaguri, Raichi about to attack Bachira, and Gagamaru having Naruhaya in a chokehold—normal behaviour.
Isagi looks at you, and you make eye contact with him. He gives you a sweet smile, "Hey [name]. We were just gonna get some food and thought you might wanna come along."
Your heart fills with a sense of warmth at the prospect of them wanting you around. They want you around them, and not just because you're their manager, but because you're their friend. This was so moving it almost brought you to tears. You nod almost immediately, grabbing your phone from your table and rushing off with Isagi by your side.
You walk with them, watching in confusion at how some of them slumped their back so much. Raichi in particular, his posture is terrible, you think, then feel laughter bubble out of your lips.
Iemon, who is leading the group, says, "The final match of the selection is against Team V. The only team in building 5 who hasn't lost a match yet."
Raichi grumbles, the same irritated expression on his face as always, "Who cares who our next opponent is gonna be? All we've gotta do is win."
"Not like we have a chance with just 10 of us," Gagamaru slumps down, beady eyes trained on the floor. Naruhaya verbally agrees with a shoulder-slumping sigh.
Iemon stops you all as soon as you get to the cafeteria, behind the wall against the door. "Hold up. Do you guys hear that? Shhh..." You lean over and look through the doorway. There, you see Kuon, with three boys.
Instantly, you narrow your eyes and shoot him a burning glare—even if he can't see you—you hope that he senses your rage. You have half a mind to walk right over there and beat him up yourself, and you clench your fists at the prospect. You decide to stop trying to plan how you'll jump him, and listen in.
"—Basically, the deal is, I give you info on Team Z, the kind you could use to stop them from making goals. And in exchange, you guys let me advance as the team's top scorer. You do that, and I can promise you one thing, you'll have the advantage in every single match!" He sounds far too cheerful for your liking, and you feel rage boil behind your ears and grow even hotter.
"There he goes, back at it," Iemon deadpans, visibly exhausted of him. Raichi growls like he's back in the wild again, hands gripping at the doorway and eyes narrowed sharply.
"Let me kill him."
Usually—you tend to keep out of things like this, but you whisper under your breath and look up at him, "Get him, Raichi."
"Cool your bloodlust," Kunigami gives you both a disappointed expression that you don't bother to react to—still completely and utterly focused on the traitor in front of you.
"—So, in closing, by working together, I guarantee your chances of making it through the second selection will skyrocket! Well? What do you say? Wanna partner up?" He clasps his hands together hopefully. You scrunch up your nose, feeling bile rise through your throat.
"I refuse," the one on the far left says.
"Sounds like a bother," the other in the middle says. Your eyebrows raise in mild surprise when you realise that you know this guy—the person you bumped into right before the game against W. So, the purple-headed boy with his bare feet on the table—gross—must be...
"Boring to boot."
You can hardly see, but the one on the left pushes his glasses up and sticks his nose up in the air, "You realise the proposition you're proposing is devoid of any merit whatsoever. In fact, it would be a demerit. Essentially, your main priority in making this little arrangement is taking an initiative approach..."
Your jaw drops and your eyes almost pop out from your skill from how wide they grow. This guy is an idiot! You can barely stop yourself from laughing aloud—Isagi having to slap his hands over your mouth as you chortle, shoulders shaking.
"Would you knock it off, Zantetsu?" The purple boy is now rubbing the head of Nagi, his voice lithe and amused. He still does not remove his feet off the table. You have eaten at that table before. You will not continue to eat at that table. "Nothing is gonna help make your dumbass sound any smarter."
He turns to Kuon, his smile falling the moment his eyes leave Nagi. "As for you... I could never stand people who are lame or boring..." He cocks a brow, giving him a suspicious look. "And you exhibit both those qualities."
Nagi is slumped in his seat, a slab of steak on his fork hovering above his mouth. "It's your call, Reo. I couldn't care less. I don't even have the energy to chew my food... Give me a piggyback out of here..." Somehow, he sounds even more exhausted than he did the last time you met. Maybe that's why Reo keeps rubbing his head like he's a pet. You snort.
"Nagi, I brought you to the cafeteria in the first place because you said you were hungry!" Reo says—in a way that you would usually find in an exasperated or even annoyed tone—however, he sounds concerningly pleased and willing to carry him.
Nagi's face plants down on the table, and his voice is slightly muffled when he speaks. "Sorry, but it's too much of a hassle right now..." The purple-head doesn't complain any further and picks up the snow-haired boy, sliding him onto his back while supporting him under his legs.
Zantetsu seems to be considering something extremely important (should he eat leftover steak) that might be life-threatening (he might look stupid) if he proceeds (he does, and it was so worth it).
Kuon gets up out of his chair when Nagi and Reo start walking away, hand outstretched to them, "Wait, we can work something out!"
Nagi peers back at Kuon, face completely expressionless as he talks, "Hey, Reo? Any idea why this guy is so desperate?"
"Guess he wants to win." Reo chuckles—a hearty sound that erupts from his chest.
Nagi's eyes lower, and he leans into Reo's neck. He lets out a heavy breath and tilts his head so he's looking at Kuon—eyes tired and blank, "You can't win without sneaking around? Being weak sounds like such a hassle. I'd rather just quit playing."
Nagi's eyelids close, and his lashes brush against Reo's cheek as he talks lowly, "Hey, Reo, is soccer so interesting you'd still play even on the losing side?"
At this, you see Isagi's eyes flare up and he walks through the doorway, over to the boys you were previously spying on. You try to tug him back and shake your head vigorously—but you can't stop all of them, and you end up not even trying. Your gaze drops low as Isagi stands in front of the piggyback-ed and piggyback-er, "Hey, hold up."
Reo gives him a confused side-eye, brows raising and nose scrunching up, "And who are you?"
Isagi points at the two accusingly, completely ignoring the boy's question, and his brows furrow in an angry stance, "Never look down on soccer!"
"You still haven't answered my question."
"I'm with Team Z, Yoichi Isagi, and I'm the one who's gonna defeat you," Isagi states proudly and stands proudly as the rest do. Except for you of course—standing a good few meters away from them, staring at your teammates with a blank expression. At this moment, you decide that you are not with Team Z.
Reo gives them another glance, this time, less confused and more weirded out, before his eyes land on you, and his irises shrink. "You are Team Z's manager."
You shake your head, "No, I'm not."
"Liar!" Bachira points at you. You refuse to look at him, choosing your fate of staring right at Reo—who stares right back in response. It almost felt violent, the way he refused to look away—like he would lose, or something.
You only break the intense eye contact to look at the boy on his back—head resting on his friend's shoulder—and you think that maybe, Reo does speak for him in a way, because every time you've seen this snow-haired boy, he's never spoken up for himself. His closed eyes flutter open, and he looks at you, lids rising slowly but surely.
He yawns a little, before meeting your gaze, "It's you." He mumbles, "I... remember you."
You shake your head, before turning around on your heel and walking the other way. "Okay, cool. Bye." You don't bother to even glance behind you as you walk, stuffing your phone into your pocket and staring at the ground.
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Today marks the fifth day since you have heard from Kyouka. With your knees pulled up to your chest—you can't help but think about that when you glance over at your dark phone screen. You huddle up against your legs and sigh longingly, a quiet noise that doesn't go unnoticed by Chigiri (who, to be fair, you are sitting directly beside). He gives you a look, something you pointedly ignore.
Iemon—who has now taken charge of leading the team meetings, now that your previous self-assigned coach turned out to be full of bubbling malice—speaks, "Team Y's Niko scored the equalizer against Team W. So match nine ended in a draw." He presses a button, and the chart of wins shows up on screen. "As a result, we're now in third place out of the five teams competing. What's more, the only match remaining in building five is ours' against Team V. If we draw, we won't advance, due to our worse goal difference. So if we want to survive... then we need to win. Plain and simple."
Raichi pauses his actions, and you can almost see his ear twitching when he turns to look at Kuon, pointing at him accusingly with a sharp voice, "Hey, Kuon's listening in. The scum."
You don't say anything, but you do move your head around and stare at him, eyes narrowed and cold before you move back, choosing to shuffle closer to your strange source of comfort—Chigiri.
"So what? Who's gonna want to work with him now, anyway?" Naruhaya pouts out his lip and leans back in his sitting position.
"Seems like a miracle Team Y came away with a draw."
Chigiri rests his arm on his knee and pulls it closer to his chest, tilting his head as he stares at the video of Niko scoring a goal on screen, "That is strange. Niko didn't strike me as the type of player who would take on shots himself."
Bachira giggles, stretching out his arms and legs before he looks directly at Isagi, sticking out his tongue, "I guess he got inspired by a certain someone."
"Alright, now let's discuss the key players on Team V—our final opponents." Iemon's voice cuts through the conversations, and everyone diverts their attention over to him. The slide changes and it now shows Reo, Nagi, and that idiot boy from before. "This trio has managed eighteen goals over three games. Their team's gone undefeated thanks to their incredible ferocity on the attack."
"Zantetsu Tsurugi," there is now a video of Zantetsu running across the field, "5 goals. Reo Mikage," it shows Reo grinning widely as he kicks a ball over, "6 goals. And Team V's top scorer—Seishiro Nagi," the slide shows Nagi catching a ball with the tip of his heel in what looked like an impossible motion, "7 goals. If we don't stop them from scoring, we'll be packing our bags."
In a way, you almost find it impossible to believe that your team would be able to beat them. The words start stringing together and becoming fuzzy as your eyes rest down.
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