The first half started. Shindou kicked the ball to Tsurugi, who passed the two forwards. He smirked.
But then he got blocked by two midfielders, Sakazaki and Busujima. Shindou and Tsurugi shared a look. The navy-haired forward did a no-look pass to the captain, who did his hissatsu Fortissimo.
Suddenly, the keeper Shinoyama summoned his keshin, Kika Hei Galleus. He stopped the ball easily. He smirked and Shindou gritted his teeth.
Shinoyama threw the ball towards their captain, Isozaki Kenma.
The forward was able to get through Raimon's midfielders. He was now facing Shinsuke. He smirked and kicked the ball in his stomach. Shinsuke fell on the ground. Every one of Raimon looked at him. ''SHINSUKE!'' They yelled.
The ball rolled out of the field.
Shindou narrowed at their captain. ''What was that for?!'' He yelled at him angrily.
Isozaki shrugged. ''Well, I wouldn't do it if you would just obey Fifth Sector. And if Tsurugi will not stop you, then we'll do it for him.'' Then he walked grinning evilly back to his own half.
Shindou felt something inside him getting angry. ''Tenma... Hurry up...'' He mumbled.
Kirino was sitting by Shinsuke. ''Are you okay?'' He asked.
The first-year nodded and stood up. ''I'm fine! Thanks for asking, Kirino-san!'' He said and smiled. Kirino smiled softly at him and walked back to his position.
They resumed the match. Immediately, Mannouzaka got the ball from Raimon almost immediately after the whistle sound. ''Mitsuyoshi! Use your keshin to score!'' Isozaki commanded.
Mitsuyoshi nodded and ran to the goal. He summoned his keshin. ''HERE WE GO! NOW GO KIJUTSUMA PURIM!'' He yelled.
He kicked the ball together with his keshin towards the goal. Sangoku wanted to catch it, but was surprised by its speed.
Raimon looked at him in awe. ''GOAL! MANNOUZAKA OPENS THE SCORE! 1-0!'' The commentator said in excitement.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
''Aki-nee, are we almost there?'' Tenma asked when he looked at the time.
''Yeah, almost. Two more minutes and we're there.'' She answered with a soft smile.
Tenma nodded his head. Good thing he was patient.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Sangoku couldn't stop the ball once again. Mannouzaka made their second goal. ''GOAL!!! MANNOUZAKA'S YOZAKURA SCORES ANOTHER GOAL JUST BEFORE THE SIGNAL!'' The commentator yelled.
They hurt Raimon's team badly. Kirino had an injury and the rest was all bruised. Shindou felt himself getting angrier by the minute. They were losing, and he knew it.
''They have a two points difference. There's no way we'll win this!'' Kirino yelled and tried not to show a pained expression.
''This isn't fair! The whole team is supposed to help!'' Shinsuke said with a frown and Midori put a bandage on his arm.
''Kirino. Shinsuke. Are you two able to play in the second half?'' Shindou asked.
''I'm fine,'' Kirino said and did his thumbs up.
''I can still play!'' Shinsuke yelled with a wide grin.
''It's no use. We'll lose this. We have to. We have a two points difference. Just give it up already.'' Kurama said, earning a quick nod from Hayami.
''Nobody is going to give up.'' A voice said. It was a boy, you could see that from his posture. But the shadows blocked his face and body.
Shindou sighed. A small smile appeared on his face. Everyone was relieved and shocked at the same time. ''You sure took your time...'' Shindou muttered.
''I'm sorry I'm late!'' Tenma said and gave them all a big and reassuring smile. Endou saw himself in Tenma and couldn't help but grin.
''You're able to play?'' The coach asked the boy, just to be sure.
''Yeah!'' Tenma answered excitedly.
He looked at the scoreboard. For one second, a frown appeared on his face. ''It's only two points. We can manage, I'm sure of it! And... Another thing...'' The boy turned towards Kirino, Sangoku, Shinsuke, and Kariya. ''Why are they all bruised?'' He asked dumbfounded.
'''They got beaten up by Mannouzaka,'' Ichino explained.
''Hm. Okay. Are you guys okay now?'' Tenma asked.
''We're okay!'' They all said in perfect sync.
''Glad to hear. Coach, can I play?'' Tenma asked.
''Yeah. Hayami, you're on the bench for the second half.'' He stated.
''Okay...'' He answered and frowned.
Midori studied every face of Raimon. ''Aoi. Akane. With me?'' She said and pulled them with her.
=-=-=-=-=-=
From backstage, you could hear the whistle. Midori sighed.
''I'll get straight to the point. The ones that rebel against Fifth Sector in our team won't make it all alone. We'll need to do something to get the whole team to rebel.'' She said.
''Shin-kun will find something out'' Akane said and took a picture of the facepalming Midori and the sighing Aoi.
''It will be fine. Just give them a pep talk when the time is right. You'll know when that is.'' Aoi said.
=-=-=-=-=-=
It wasn't really going well. They managed to score 1 goal thanks to Tenma, who took all the beatings but continued to fight anyway.
But now, he was tired. He just wanted to lay in bed and fall asleep. Tsurugi and Shindou ran towards him. ''Tenma! Are you still able to play?'' Shindou asked.
Then the match continued.
''I'm... Fine...'' He said.
Mitsuyoshi growled and kicked the ball to Tenma, who caught it with his face. He fell on the ground. Then they saw he blacked out.
Shindou was surrounded by black and purple aura. Everyone was staring at him in shock. ''You're just released from the hospital. And...Now... You're lying on the ground once again. As captain, I failed. I couldn't protect my team... This makes me so angry...'' Shindou hissed.
''RAAA!'' He yelled. A keshin appeared.
Listen to this :)
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''SOUSHA MAESTRO!'' He yelled. The captain faced the other captain.
''You will regret hurting my teammates... You will regret working under Fifth Sector's command... You'll regret using soccer to hurt others...'' Shindou said in a deadly low voice. He walked towards the ball who lied next to Tenma's back.
Shindou ran to the other's half with his Keshin. When Raimon was about to switch Tenma, Tsurugi offered a hand and helped the other first-year up.
Tenma turned to them and gave them a grin, signaling he was fine.
''Good acting. Shindou-san believed you were really unconscious.'' Tsurugi complimented.
''Thanks. But this wasn't as planned. I promised to help them score, but the only thing I did was helping them hurting me. So, that's when I thought I could use this to my advantage to help Shindou awaken his keshin, just to say sorry.'' Tenma explained.
''Heh well, look at the faces of Raimon,'' Tsurugi said and pointed at the others.
They were looking at Shindou in awe. From what they've been told, only SEED's could awaken keshins. And now, their captain had one.
But at the same time, they liked it very much.
Shindou was now in front of the goal, facing Shinoyama. ''HARMONICS!'' He yelled.
He and his keshin scored their second goal, bringing the stand up to a tie.
''GOAL! SHINDOU TAKUTO SCORES THE SECOND GOAL! IT'S A TIE! JUST A FEW MINUTES LEFT BEFORE THE END, WHICH TEAM WILL WIN?'' The commentator said.
Shindou's keshin vanished. He smiled. Then he remembered Tenma was unconscious and turned around. He was shocked by the fact that Tenma was standing. He was supported by Tsurugi.
Then he saw his friends' shocked faces. He smiled sheepishly at them. ''That was.... AWESOME!'' Kirino yelled, fanboying over his friend's keshin.
''Thanks...'' Shindou said.
Midori stood up from the bench. ''It's almost time. They aren't going to let Shindou, Tenma or Tsurugi through. In fact, they are going to hurt them. That's when I'm going to give them the pep talk.'' She said.
''How can you tell?'' Aoi asked.
''Look at Mannouzaka's faces. You see the faces they make? It tells me that.'' She answered.