Another world's soccer

"What's wrong with Atsushi-kun?" Akatsuki asked.

"I don't know, but he's been that way since we played against the guys from Mimori." Teijiro answered.

*This feels different from when we played against the other 12 teams. These guys are strong, just like the guys from Team T.* I thought, lying on my bed, my lips curved in a smile.

"You guys were really good." Teijiro said to Shinji, who smiled while sitting on his bed.

"Haha, of course we are." He said as Kenji climbed up his bed.

"I didn't think that Kenji will…" Teijiro started before looking at Kenji, who had already dozed off.

"Ugh…"

"He's always tired and sleeps after a match."

Knock knock…

"Hm? Who's that?" Akatsuki asked, walking towards the door and opening it.

"Um…"

"Hm? Akane?" Akatsuki asked, looking up at me.

"Is Atsushi-kun inside?" She asked.

"He's resting now. He'll probably not want to meet anyone now. Maybe come see him later." He said.

"Oh… is that so? Well, I'll be leaving." She said, smiling and walking out.

"Yeah." He said, shutting the door.

"Was that Akane?" Teijiro asked.

"Yeah, she came to see Atsu." Akatsuki said, climbing up my bed.

"Akane? You mean the girl with long black hair?" Shinji asked.

"There are three girls with black hair from our team here." Akatsuki said.

"No, the other two are a little shorter than her."

"Ah! The tall one is Misaki. Akanes is slightly shorter than Misaki."

"Oh, I've seen him speak to the Misaki girl, so I thought it was her."

"Nope."

*Ha… I'll be on the bench in tomorrow's match.* I thought, facing the left side of my bed.

◇A while ago.◇

"Haha, you guys did well. You tried holding up against them." The coach said.

"They were so good." Ryuto complained.

"Of course they are. Anyway, nice game. You guys had three goals, and they had five."

"Such poor scores."

"Well, have a good rest today for tomorrow's match. Like I said before, it won't be an easy match. They're strong. For tomorrow's match, we'll be using the 4-3-1-2 formation… and finally the guys on the bench… Atsushi and Misaki." He said, looking at me.

"I'm on the bench? Why?" I asked.

"That's all." He said, walking out.

"Pfft…"

"Well that was unexpected."

"Let's go, guys."

◇Back◇

*Well, I'm sure he has his reasons. More importantly… I can't wait to play against these Momiji guys again.* I thought, grinning widely.

"Hey Atsu, let's play some games."

"Okay." I said.

"Oh… didn't expect you to answer me."

◇◇◇

"Matchday, the match against Team C and Team Z is about to go underway. These two teams won their first matches and earned three points each. I'm your commentator…"

"You guys do your best, okay?" The coach said, sitting beside me.

*Team Z… they all look serious.* I thought, looking at them intently as the game began.

The guys began passing the ball amongst themselves. I looked at the defenders from Team Z and saw how they looked uninterested in the match. It was like they already knew every move we wanted to make.

*Why aren't they moving? Akaji has already run past them.* I thought as Akaji shot the ball to the net.

*G…* I looked at the keeper who held the ball firmly while looking at Akaji as if pitying him.

*That… he was just at the…* I thought as he threw the ball far towards the middle.

"Well that was unexpected." The coach said as I looked up at him.

*They just became more serious. Where they trying to show us how good their keeper was?* I thought, watching them as they dribbled past Akaji.

"Tch, you won't get past us." Kimishita said, sliding for the ball as the guy with the ball flicked it over him while jumping over Kimishita.

"What?" He asked, looking at the guy who kept going forward.

"Hmph!"

Teijiro ran back with Akatsuki as they both slid for the ball before getting it away from the guys feet.

"Got it." Akatsuki said, running forward.

As he ran forward, one of the defenders(a girl) ran towards him, using her body to push Akatsuki aside.

"What the?" He asked, trying to stand his ground.

He used the inside of his left foot to tap the ball behind him and run behind the defender before playing a corner to Teijiro, who headed the ball to the post.

*Even their girls are this good?* I thought.

The keeper already blocked the ball from entering the post, which earned my team a corner kick.

*They're really good.* I thought, smiling at them.

"Hm?"

◇◇◇

"It's already nearing half-time, and none of the teams have broken through."

*The guys are doing their best to keep up with them, but it looks like they're getting tired.* I thought, looking at the guy who was to play a free-kick.

He moved back a bit after calculating at the distance between him and the post before playing a curved shot towards the goalpost.

"I got it." Koenji said, jumping towards the left corner of the post.

*No, he doesn't.* I thought.

"Ugh…" He groaned, falling on the floor as the ball got into the post.

"Goal! They have broken through!"

"Dammit." Yusuke cursed, walking back to his position.

*Whoa, these guys might actually be tougher than I expected.* I thought as the guy who scored looked at me.

"Hm?" I asked, looking at him as he showed a smug look.

*Did he just look at me?* I thought as he ran back to his position.