Another world's soccer

"Hey!" Akatsuki said, controlling the ball and shooting the ball to the goal post.

"Hey, try passing the ball." Teijiro said, walking backwards.

"Haha, sorry, sorry. I just felt like shooting it into the net." Akatsuki said, laughing.

"You know they'll be a keeper during the game." I said, kicking the ball back to him.

"Yeah, Koenji couldn't make it today. He would have helped there." Akatsuki complained, passing the ball to Teijiro.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that. I'll just act as a defender for now." I said.

"Hmm… you sure?" Akatsuki said, his lips curving into a sly smile.

"Come at me." I said, smiling as he ran towards me, the ball still with Teijiro who also ran forward.

◇◇◇

"Ha… I'm tired." Akatsuki said, gulping down a bottle of water.

"You know… the guys from Team Z are actually pretty good." Teijiro started.

"Mm-hm. I did watch their match against Team S." I said, eating some rice.

"5-1, huh? I heard that Team S is actually pretty good, too. Can't believe they were beaten so easily." Akatsuki said.

"Hm…" I looked at the screen of my phone before nodding my head disapprovingly.

"What's wrong?"

"Looks like our days of rest are coming to an end." I said, smiling at my screen and standing from the grass.

"What do you mean?"

"This." I said, pointing at a message on my phone.

"Crazy."

◇◇◇

"You guys, how've you been?" The coach asked, smiling at us as we helped him grab his bags.

"We've been doing great." We said.

"Looks like you guys have been training, that's good."

"Haha, what can we do?"

"Ahem… I also need some help." Coach Yuki said.

"Ah! Sorry." I apologized, grabbing his bag.

"That's more like it." He said with a smug smile.

"Anyway, I'm so hungry." The coach said, yawning as we walked into their building.

◇◇◇

"Okay guys, here's the thing…" The coach started as we listened intently.

We all sat in the sitting room after having dinner with the others.

"The next match will be held on the day after tomorrow. Our opponents for the match will be Team Z. Mind you, they're real monsters." He said.

*The first set and the second set. The first from Team A to M and the second from N to Z. I've always suspected this but… did they group us based on how good we were in soccer. When we played against Team T, I knew they were on a different level from the others. Team Z… this next match might be quite tricky.* I thought, looking down, my finger placed on my upper lip.

"You guys have been doing well since you started but… if you fail the next two matches, you lose. That'll be the end of everything."

"Ugh…"

"Well…"

"But! I'm sure you guys can do it. Let's reach the knockout stage." He said.

"Yes coach."

*Team Z, I can't see any weakness in their defence, and neither can I find any in their offence. We can only train harder, or we'll lose pathetically.* I thought, looking up at the coach who smiled at me.

"Okay, go get some rest in preparation for tomorrow." He said, standing immediately and walking out of the building.

"Well, that wraps up our short break." Akaji said.

"Right? I wanna relax a bit more." Ryuto said.

"We'll have to cancel our plans for tomorrow, Chika-Chan." Yusuke said.

"Mmn." She said.

"Teijiro." I called.

"Yeah, let's go."

"Till tomorrow, Akatsu-kun." I said, waving at him as I and Teijiro walked towards our room, which wasn't very far from the sitting room.

"Those two have been isolating themselves from everyone else." Kimishita said.

"Yeah, now Akatsuki is acting weird, too."

"Weird? Haha, we've been training with each other since. How's that weird? Anyway, see you guys later." He said, walking out.

*These guys don't change, do they?* I thought, opening the door to my room.

"Well, looks like your date with Hirota will be cancelled too …" Akaji said as I stopped.

*Hmm…* I thought before shutting the door behind me.

◆◆◆

"That's all for today." The coach said.

"All? It hasn't even been 30 minutes." I said.

"Ugh… he still wants to keep training?"

"Dammit, the coach might listen to him."

"Atsushi-kun, Yuki agreed to have a match with us. For training." He said, smiling at me.

"Oh… then that's good."

*It'll be good to have a practice match before the real deal. We can't risk relaxing when tomorrow's match will be tricky.*

"Hey guys." Hitoto said, waving at us as he walked into the field with the others.

"Who the hell are you calling Yuki?!" Coach Yuki snapped.

"Hahaha."

"Let's see how good you guys are." Akira, one of the guys staying in Akajis' room said.

"Yeah."

*Hm? Those two guys from my room. They're forwards? I expected it to be Hiroto, though.* I thought as the coach blew the whistle.

They began passing the ball among themselves immediately. The whistle was played.

*Well, I might learn one thing or more from…*

"What the?" I asked, looking back immediately as Kenji, one of my roommates, ran past me.

*I didn't even see him.* I thought, turning back immediately.

"Guys, he's coming!" I shouted as Ryuto tried blocking his view with Akane and Kimishita before him.

Kenji did some crazy fast turn before playing a lobbed pass towards the box.

*No one is there. Why did he…*

Shinji ran in from the back, controlled the ball and curved the ball into the upper right corner of the post.

I looked at the net in shock. It was too shocking the way the goal was scored. They went from normal play to aberrant play.

*Dammit…* I thought, running back to my position.

*They were too fast for me to follow.* I thought, smiling.

"Haha, see, my boys are good." Coach Yuki said.

"I can see it. I won't say I expected it but… it's not like it wasn't expected."

"Hm? What the hell did you say?"

"Hahaha."

The match continued, and 20 minutes into the game, they had already scored 3 goals.

*Wow, this is actually shocking. Those two guys… although they look calm when we're in the dormitory, they are pretty much crazy on the field. What's this feeling… I'm feeling… excited.* I thought, my lips curving into a wide grin.

I placed my left leg in a vertical direction, squatting a bit with my right leg upfront while looking intently at the ball being passed to Kenji.

*Got it.* I thought, running back a bit and tapping the ball in between his legs before running forward.

"What?" Kenji asked, turning back immediately as I ran forward.

*Haha, I want to run that fast too! That fast! I can score, too! Hahaha!* I thought, running forward and dribbling past Hiroto.

"Eh?" He asked, trying to drag me down as I shrugged him off while running forward.

"Wow." Yuki said.

"What did I tell you."

"This has indeed cleared my doubts. What do we do now?"

"I don't know. But let's see how it plays. We still have a long time till…"

GOAL

"Atsushi, that was crazy." Akatsuki said.

"Ah…"

*What just happened? It felt…*

SO GOOD.