19. don't let our motivations die (keep our fire burning bright)

Ishido Shuuji is in for an unpleasant surprise if he thinks separating Raimon going to stop them from gaining their bearings.

Raimon reassemble.

Their first night in God Eden Island is alright, all things considered.

-

-

-

Akane really wants her camera back right now, because Kurama is communing with wild snakes and it's morbidly fascinating.

"A normal girl would be freaked out, you know," Kurama mutters.

There are two snakes coiled around each arm, a particularly thick one winding around his neck, resting its head on Kurama's. That's not to number the multiple that are spindled around his fingers, a few hugging his waist, and one of them is leaning down from a branch, looking for somewhere to rest too.

They didn't particularly do anything. They just started coming as soon as Kurama and Akane made it into the jungle, and because Kurama didn't chase them away, they just stuck. More are coming.

"Then it's great I'm not a normal girl," Akane says. "Are they venomous?"

"Of course. Like, half of them," Kurama says, "they're wild. Don't touch them."

"Ehhh, why not?"

"Be afraid, dammit! Fear is important for survival," Kurama hisses. "I swear to god I did not sign up to babysit! Just stay there until I'm done!"

"Okay..." Akane pouts. "Not very possible, but okay."

"What do you mean, not very possible," Kurama grumbles. "Just be quiet."

Now this was possible, so Akane obediently covers her mouth with her hands and sits down like a good girl.

Kurama sighs.

Being able to befriend animals is an important trait in the wild.

Hissatsus, at their core, were not natural. But it definitely helped you connect to your skills in a way similar to experienced hunters, explorers, and professors. Hissatsus drag you up and personal with your element, and brings you closer to it on a fundamental level.

That's why Hamano will always thrive in every activity by the waters, it's why Shindou can play a song on the piano after briefly hearing it once, and why Kurama will always be a member of the wild.

"We can trust them," Kurama says, greeting each and every one of the serpents crawling around him. Some slither off, winding into separate directions, but one of them looks back, beckoning him forward. "Let's follow."

Akane nods.

In a survival situation in the mountains or the jungle, Kurama is primarily in charge of securing shelter, and leading everyone toward it.

-

"Hey, where are we meeting?" Midori asks. They've managed to escape, and are now hiding in the gap of a large tree. "You guys seemed to understand but..."

She reaches up to her head, briefly swiping her bangs back.

"What's this mean?"

Kirino huffs, looking out for any signs of pursuers. "That's Minamisawa-san's habit."

Midori raises a brow. "And?"

Hayami reaches out as well, raising a hand to find shadows. "It means we head southward (minami), and we'll figure out the rest from there. Or, Kurama will. We just have to stay somewhere safe until then."

"...You guys are telepathic or something?" Midori groans. "I don't get anything at all. I mean I guess it makes sense, but... you're disturbingly coordinated."

"Well... it's more like we made some educated guesses."

Raimon of this generation hasn't been in survival situations much, but with Raimon's track record of extensive road trips beginning in Coach Endou's generation, there has been a tradition of arduous training camps across the country each year.

(Yes, they're rich as fuck. But morale is important and why the fuck not.)

So if anything, they know how to improvise.

"So in our situation just now... We're missing Sangoku, so the coordinator is Kirino," Hayami says. "And Ichino's the second team's captain, so he's the best to take the role of temporary leader. We'll have to settle the rest of the roles when we regroup, since we've got newbies along."

"Huh? Ichino, of all people?" Midori's not very keen on the idea. "I mean, not to be mean, but he's kind of a backstage guy."

"It's better not to underestimate Ichino," Kirino says. "Did you know? It's not the Captain that you should fear in an enemy team... it's who will be capable of taking initiative when the chain of command breaks down."

Raimon's got plenty of those, though, from Tenma to Tsurugi to Kirino himself, so Ichino's definitely the one with the least chances to shine. Ichino's one of those that are fated to crumble as long as he stays in Raimon Junior High, fated to always be stuck in the sidelines because of the competition.

So an opportunity like this is a chance in a million.

-

Ichino and Shinsuke are taking the route of the trees, maneuvering from branch to branch like ninjas. Shinsuke's having an easy time and Ichino's struggling, but they're getting by gradually, with Shinsuke scoping out the skyline.

"There's a weird building," Shinsuke says, "uh, that way. There's this big canyon-looking thing. There's only forest all around, then we're just surrounded by the sea."

"So, northeast from here is their headquarters," Ichino hums, looking down toward what looks like a ruined watchtower, "seeing as we have ruins like these around, I don't think they're actually doing much with the land around it. Kind of a waste of land."

"Ichino-senpai, how do you know the directions so easily?"

"How... ah, I was looking at the shadows just now when we were on the huge rock," Ichino explains, "it's sunset, so the sun is in the— this is hard to explain, but basically we're currently looking at North, South, East, and West," he says, pointing in the direction as he mentions it.

Shinsuke squints, utterly confused. "Okay?"

"Well, it doesn't matter now," Ichino dismisses. "If it's grasslands and forest as far as the eye can see, then I suspect God Eden is actually an isolated facility. They're hiding the building between all this forestry."

That means God Eden's location is an official secret, similar to a military base camp.

They don't have their phones, which also meant that there would be almost no hope of being able to run out far enough to find civilisation to save them.

"Any other landmarks you can find?" Ichino asks.

"No, but... there's a black van driving out from that stadium right now. I think it's headed for the sea."

"The sea?" Ichino asks. He can't get any higher on the tree they're on, since other branches above them can't handle Ichino's weight— but the sea... "Of course! We're definitely not the only ones they nabbed! They're bringing the others here, too. We have to go help them!"

"What?" Shinsuke balks at that conclusion, "but then— wait, how do we even—"

He stops short.

There's a rustle overhead.

Simultaneously, they look up to see a King Cobra staring them down from the foliage, hissing warily.

Both of them instantly fall silent, faces going sheet white.

Then there's screaming, mixed with unceremonious scrambling, and a very painfully loud thunk as they fall disgracefully into the bushes in a silently screaming heap.

Then they hurry to their feet and continue screaming, the snake following right behind them.

"Are they supposed to be THAT huge?!" Shinsuke's voice is above a whisper and below a screech. "What were we supposed to do again? Don't run straight? Go into the trees? Play dead?!"

Ichino can't even be coherent, he's just running with all his might. "Ru-run, RUN—"

-

Ichino and Shinsuke spill out into a clearing, skidding facefirst after tripping over a root.

"Ah, there they are," Kurama says. "Now we're all here."

Ichino lifts his teary eyes up to see everyone gathered around a temporary shelter— a cave— and Kirino and Akane are there, waving at them in greeting. Hayami and Midori look very ragged as well, clearly having just been through the same ordeal.

Ichino sniffles when Kurama extends a hand to help him up.

"You're so cruel..."

"How so? You're the one that ran away from it," Kurama says, and Ichino and Shinsuke shriek at the sight of the same king cobra coiled around Kurama's arm. They jump up, hugging each other in fear. "Buddy was just going to lead you over. You hurt its feelings. Here," Kurama brings his arm closer to them, earning another sharp squawk, "say hi."

"Well, someone's having fun," Midori mutters, miserable.

"Kurama, that's enough bullying for now," Kirino hollers, "we don't have much time."

"Alright, alright," Kurama sighs, setting his friend free. "Thank you for your help. Don't think about those ungrateful cretins."

He turns around to see Ichino and Shinsuke have made their leap to freedom as well, Ichino with his face buried in Kirino's stomach in a hug, sobbing loudly. Shinsuke's in a similar position, clinging to Kirino's arm instead.

"Did you see what he did?! He's such a bully!"

"There, there," Kirino's doing some equivalent of a soothing motion, patting them on the shoulder and back. "He's very mean, isn't he? Kurama, you should treasure your juniors a little more."

"Hey! Back to business!" Kurama barks.

-

"Isn't this attempted murder?" Akane asks, a little too late.

Midori, Shinsuke, and Kurama stand in a line with one soccer ball each under their feet. As for how they got them, Kirino very conveniently stumbled upon a storage of broken and worn out balls in a nearby area and they picked the barely usable ones out.

(Well, they've been here enough times in the future, so Kirino sort of has some secret spots memorized.)

"It's okay," Ichino says. "If they want to sue us, they'll first have to explain why we're here, why our teammates were there, and this location. They won't risk it all on their own reputation, so it's fine. Worst case scenario, we all pretend we're four instead of fourteen."

"Oh, so basically we do the 'hysterically crying traumatized kids' plan," Midori says, "awesome. I'm all for it!"

Kirino is very concerned about everyone's sanity at this point, but maybe it's too little too late.

"Guys," Hayami hollers from a tree branch above, "the van's coming."

"Alright," Ichino says, crouching down for Kirino to climb onto his back. "Operation begins now!"

They split up immediately, Midori taking the straight road forward with a hard charge forward. She doesn't dribble, just grabs the ball under and arm and charges like a rugby player.

Kurama swipes right in, leaping into a handstand, throwing the ball between his feet into the air.

"Sidewinder!"

The black van drives closer, taking a hard brake when the driver spots them. But by then, it's too late.

Midori's a little clumsier, but she kicks the ball too, strong and sharp, cutting right under the vehicle, grinding past a wheel. The driver, already distracted by Sidewinder, swerves sharply. The vehicle sways dangerously off angle.

Shinsuke leaps then, "Full Throttle Jump!"

The ball was not meant to smash right through the window, but alas, let's hope the driver didn't die. The van overturns, a wave of terrified yells sounding from the back as the tires screech and the car topples

The door breaks open with the collapse, and Ichino hurries in with Kirino, lifting the door to yell. "You guys in there alive?!"

Kirino breathes slow and calm as a familiar voice yells out, "wha– you guys?!"

"What is going on out there?!"

"Did you guys attack a van? For real?"

"Guys. Stop. I get motion sick."

Ichino beams when Sangoku and Coach Endou kick the rest of the door out, enough to crawl out.

Inside the van, Amagi is helping Hamano up, and Kurumada picks up a still unconscious Tenma. Aoi is lending Sangoku a shoulder, but when she spots Midori, she beams, jumping right off the car into her arms.

"No time to explain!" Ichino says. "We're running now!"

"Wha—" Endou stops short. Behind them, Fifth Sector is rapidly approaching as backup. But Endou looks up to find something flickering— a shine of light in the distance, a flash of moonlight reflected in something like glass, visible vaguely overhead.

Hayami's still seated where he started, glasses in hand, trying his best. It won't work for long, but they'll know what to look for. Akane is on the same branch, waving.

"Yes, sir!" Sangoku declares for the rest of them.

"But can we really make it from this distance? They'll catch us—"

Ichino raises a finger to his lips.

Eyes turn to Kirino on his back, whose hands are folded over Ichino's head. Kirino's eyes open once again, and the mist that engulfs everyone is suffocating. No one can see a thing, barely hear a thing—

—just one hollow, haunting voice.

"Deep Mist."

-

"...Isn't that attempted murder?" Ishido Shuuji sighs, looking at the scene through the security cameras. "Has Fudou been interacting with them or something?"

"Should we go out and seize them?" an agent asks.

Ishido Shuuji lifts his head and proceeds to stare in exasperation. Honestly, sometimes, he wonders if he's the only rationally-thinking figure in this building.

"...if you still haven't learned your lesson, I suppose you can try," he says. Then, finally relenting a bit of seriousness back into the situation, "we have more than enough hostages against them, they won't be leaving anytime soon."

On the screen to the left, Kidou Yuuto and Otonashi Haruna sit silently in a cell.

-

"Attention Raimon."

The announcement comes on a loudspeaker to the whole island.

"The Holy Road Prefectural Finals will be taking place on this very island, in God Eden stadium, exactly three days from now, On Wednesday, nine in the morning."

The group curses. They've barely gotten settled, and there comes the bad news.

"This is kidnapping, right?"

"This is illegal!"

"Technically, everything happening right now is illegal," Akane says. "We're on an Official State Secret, we attempted murder via carjacking, et cetera."

To which Hayami groans, "congratulations, none of us can be sued for that. Unfortunately. None of us can sue for this either. It's a losing battle. We're up against Fifth Sector and we've already seen that they have the power of propaganda on their side."

"You know," Endou mutters, "maybe I should have called Rika after all..."

"Please be aware that failure to turn up will be recorded as resignation."

Kurama curses.

"This sucks," Sangoku sighs. "We have no mode of communication, no method of keeping records. We're completely at their mercy."

"We are definitely not going to be fighting Aoba, are we?" Hayami says, "they'll do that thing. Swap out every member with a Seed. We're fighting a team of elite Seeds on hell island. Could this situation get any worse?"

"Hayami, taunt the devil, and it will come knocking," Sangoku says.

"We don't have Tsurugi, Shindou, and Minamisawa," Amagi says, "that's pretty 'worst case scenario' if you ask me."

Kirino nods. Even El Dorado's channel is useless if they have nothing to prove it with. They went through all the effort to set up a live stream function, too. Now the greatest opportunity to expose the Fifth is...

His eyes meet Ichino's, Midori's, Hamano's, and Akane's.

As members of El Dorado, they have to do something about this. There should be something they could do, they just didn't know what they could do.

"It'd be nice if we had a hidden camera on hand or something," Hamano says. "For kidnapping situations like these, that's like, secret agent starter pack, right?"

Kirino and Ichino blink in surprise.

Akane, of all people, is the one to exclaim loudly, "OH!"

All eyes turned to her. No one's got any of their pouches on, and their conspicuous items were taken away as well. But if there's something they definitely won't take away...

"We do!" Akane says, really excited. "Have a hidden camera!"

-

Minamisawa fixes his hearing aid on his ear, groaning at the ache in his shoulder.

"Seriously, all my muscles are going to ache like a motherfucker tomorrow," he mutters into the mirror, cradling the bruise purpling at the crowd of his eye. This is going to be black tomorrow and that sucks.

"You alright?"

"What about you?"

Shindou slumps over the bars, and Minamisawa comes by to sit, back to back. Tsurugi hasn't come back from whatever training he's going through yet.

Minamisawa huffs, the bandages wound around his shoulders extremely uncomfortable. But he's not going to mention the gloves Shindou's wearing, so he hopes Shindou extends the same courtesy.

"I never really... realized how hard it was to keep a Keshin materialized for a long time," Shindou sighs deeply, "I feel like someone made me play a seven-hour sonata twice a day."

"Am I supposed to understand that comparison?"

"I guess not."

They sit there, only breathing for a long, long time. Rest is precious, they understand. In this place where sleep and eat is the only thing between training, they need to conserve their mental strength for as long as possible.

"So," Shindou glances upward, to Minamisawa's ear, "how long's the battery in that thing? Nice that they let you keep it."

Minamisawa chuckles. "They let me keep the spare batteries," he says. "Let's hope I never have to use them." Hell if he's staying here for that long. "Geez, what are the others doing? Are they really alright out there?"

"I wouldn't worry," Shindou says.

And he doesn't elaborate.

Minamisawa eyes him skeptically. "Well, if you say so."

They used this same hidden camera to record footage of Tsurugi's phone, all the way back in the beginning footage of El Dorado's exploits. It's kind of amazing to know it's come in handy to spy on God Eden, too. A bit of a shame he can't connect it directly to El Dorado from here, so he has to get out of here alive, first.

Minamisawa isn't going to tell Shindou about the camera, though. This camera is visual only, but they don't know if Fifth Sector is eavesdropping by any other method.

"But this is a great opportunity," Minamisawa says. "Hate to say it, but Fifth Sector's methods are cruel, but they're still active because it works— hey, keep me company a little longer, dammit."

Shindou slumps back, his breaths evening out with sleep.

Minamisawa sighs.

They have to rest as much as they can. Train as much as they can. They won't get as great an opportunity to improve their skills ever again. If this is a hell mode training session, then what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

Fifth Sector is really underestimating them if they think they'll cripple their forces by trapping their key players here. Fifth doesn't think that they'll be able to escape, so they're genuinely training them as prospective Seeds right now.

Might as well take advantage of that.

-

"How do I say this..."

Endou oversees the campsite with only awe.

Kirino and Hayami sit around the fire, weaving together ropes with vines. Midori, Amagi, and Tenma are searching for as much firewood as they can, while Sangoku, Kurumada and Hamano are out finding food and water. Ichino, Akane and Aoi clear up the roads for suitable bedding and shelter, and finally, Shinsuke and Kurama are in the treeline, looking out for their surroundings.

Endou can only relent a very sincere, "wow."

There are rags and mats around here, for some reason. Apparently this broken temple-like place they've chosen as their camp grounds had been an old storage room, which is why there are used soccer balls here too, along with stuff like rusty fences, cracked cones, old netting, and miscellaneous items like clay storage jars and totems.

"Coach Endou, is something wrong?" Ichino asks. "Also, would you prefer a hammock or a mat to sleep on?"

"I'm fine with whatever's left over, thank you, and no, nothing's wrong," Endou says, as Ichino continues to sort through their supplies systematically. "Just. Consider me very impressed. When did Raimon turn into Survival Academy?"

"I don't know, but according to Ms Otonashi's stories, about the time of the first alien invasion," Aoi says, very dryly.

"Huh? When was that?" Endou says. A second later, "...wait, that's my generation."

"Coach Kudou drilled in the basics to us over the years, and the level was still hell even if you're in the second team," Hayami says, visibly going through some wartime flashbacks in his head.

"Exciting!" Akane beams, "girls get tent privileges, always!"

"It'll be my first time sleeping on a hammock!" Shinsuke says, beaming, emerging from the branches. He's upside down with his legs hooked over the branch, really excited.

"You're really getting comfortable up there, aren't you?"

"I'm Spiderman!"

"You mean monkeyman?"

"Have some sense of urgency, everyone," Sangoku says, coming back with a basket of wild fruits and mushrooms. Kurumada's hefting up clay jars filled with water, while Hamano's got a string of fish over his shoulder. "We'll need to keep sharp. There's no guarantee they'll truly leave us alone for all three days. Also, there are wild animals out there, so take care not to agitate any of them.

"I'm against it!" Hamano instantly raises a hand, and Sangoku swirls around, scandalized by the betrayal.

Immediately a few other hands raise up, including Kirino's multitasking hand that's still trying to figure out how to braid vines, and Kurama's disconnected hand coming from nowhere in the foliage. Shinsuke's raising his hand, still upside down. Ichino isn't raising his hand, but he is counting them.

"Seven hands raised," Ichino says. Only him, Hayami, and Sangoku are not raising their hands. Amagi, Midori, and Tenma are still out looking for firewood. Endou is staring in confusion as Ichino declares miserably, "condolences. Your order has been outvoted."

"Yay, we are not having some sense of urgency!" Hamano cheers. "And we are not keeping sharp! You guys can come down now, Shinsuke, Kurama!"

"Is there really a point, honestly?" Hayami says, "Sangoku-san, you know better than to hope for any kind of composure in this situation. Without Shindou and Minamisawa around, we're forced to follow the lead of the barbarians."

"Who are you calling the barbarian squad?!" Kurama yells.

"If you've got a complaint, come down here and talk to our faces, you disembodied voice," Sangoku says, mildly irritated.

"No, I like it up here."

"I kinda like being up here too," Shinsuke admits, "but okay if I can stop looking out, can I spend a moment here being one with the jungle?"

Sangoku lifts his head into the sky and counts to ten. "Sleep in the branches for all I care, at this point."

"For real?! We can?!"

Sangoku snaps, "of course not! There are BUGS!"

"And snakes!" Kurama adds, brightly.

"You have a response to everything!" Sangoku throws his hands up in defeat.

"What is even going on?" Amagi says, exasperated as well. The firewood team has returned, and honestly, it's a rather amusing sight. Sangoku is questioning reality, Endou is questioning reality slightly differently, and everyone else is genuinely just minding their own business.

At this point, the tents are being set up, and some of the food is already laid out around the fire to cook. They're moving their leftover food stock inside, and Kurumada's helping the girls with boiling water in a pot. Coach Endou's gone over the shock to help with the heavy lifting, too.

"Wanna come up, Tenma?" Shinsuke asks, still upside down.

Tenma beams up, setting down the firewood. "Yes!"

"Comrade!" Shinsuke declares.

"Stop it," Kirino says, not even looking up as he finishes a thread of rope, "it's dinnertime. Everyone gather around, it's time for a debrief."

"Okayyy," comes the chorus of voices from everyone. No complaints, no refutes, not even a hint of a whine from the ones in the trees.

Sangoku facepalms. "Yeah. Yeah, you guys listen to Kirino."

-

"They took Minamisawa?" Amagi asks, "that's definitely weird."

"That's right, Kirino-senpai's the one with the Keshin," Tenma says. "You think they'd have taken me too?"

"Probably they'd take everyone at once if they could, but we woke up in time to escape," Kurama says. "Maybe Minamisawa was just at the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"Maybe..."

Ichino and Hayami's eyes meet.

"Don't," Hayami says, hand held over Ichino's face when he tries to speak up. "He'll strangle us with his own hands."

Everyone's staring, eyes narrowed. Well clearly at this point, they know something about it, and that's a sign that if they didn't spill immediately, they were going to get the answers probably tickled or pinched out of them.

Ichino continues to stare at Hayami incredulously.

"Hayami... I don't know how to break this to you, but he already did that," Ichino says. "Though, I was the only victim on that part."

"Excuse you, I'm a victim too!" Hayami insists. "He put me at the top of the hill and didn't fasten the brakes! He caught me, but I died three times on the way down!"

"He did what?!" Sangoku, Hamano, and Endou spin right around in horror.

Hayami instantly crumbles, "alright, fine, who wants to get strangled with us later when Minamisawa finds out we spilled?"

"It's okay, I'll pick you guys up and start running," Kurumada says. "Like, over to Okinawa or something. He won't chase that far. Probably."

"What do you mean, probably?!" Shinsuke gapes.

"It's okay, I can ask my mom to house us," Tenma says.

"Tenma, that isn't the problem," Kirino is beginning to sympathize with Sangoku.

"Never underestimate how angry Minamisawa can get," Amagi says. He provides no other context, he just turns to the first years and emphasizes with all the sincerity in his soul, "just take my word for it and don't."

"Okay, you know what, I'm actually afraid of it now," Ichino says, "can all of you just forgive us and let's wait until Minamisawa gets back to explain it himself? Just know he probably hates this as much as we all do."

It's jarring, almost, to be able to sit around a campfire and share the story of their day like this. They get the serious situations out of the way before moving back into comfortable topics. Hamano illustrates all the cool things that happened over their weekend at Kaiou, and Shinsuke vividly describes their day of hell trying to train with Kidou. They're missing three important players and two teachers, but for now, they'll pretend to forget it and get a good night's rest together again.

They'll worry about it all tomorrow.

-

Meanwhile, the helicopter team has spotted the Inazuma Caravan off the shores of Tokyo Harbour. They alight to raid it, a snap of Touko's fingers bringing a squad of bodyguards from the Ministry of Defense, systematically clearing Fifth Sector agents from the site.

"I have found a comrade!" Namikawa declares, coming out of the van with a harpoon on his shoulder.

"A comrade!" Wanda punches the air.

"Comrade," Yoshimine echoes, though his tone is more of a complimentary echo. "Are there any more?"

"Nope!"

"Darn it."

Namikawa, Wanda, and Yoshimine ended up coming along while the others stayed home with Aki.

"...I know I don't have a right to ask this but," Touko has her arms crossed, "why on earth is that in the caravan?"

"You really don't have the right to ask," Fudou says. "Your souvenirs are just as bad."

Ichinose has no idea what is wrong with today's youths, but honestly, none of them have the right to speak. They're not the Inazuma Menace Legion for no reason. Maybe they should have gone to pick up Tsunami, since they were flying anyway. He would love it here.

"More importantly, are we sure we should be letting the children hold that thing, it's an uncompromised weapon?"

"Quiet, American."

"Why is that an insult?!"

"Anyways, if they're here, then..." Touko sighs, looking out toward the sea. "They really went outta the country, didn't they? They wanna die or something?"

Fifth Sector has been operating without the knowledge of the Prime Minister, outside of Japan's jurisdiction. In a worser era this could label them an enemy of the state, but alas, clearly Fifth has lines in the government as well, so there's little the Zaizen can do without first cleaning up the mites in his fireplace.

"I guess we gotta do this the old fashioned way, then," Ichinose chuckles. When the Kaiou trio turn to him, Ichinose grins, "It's Raimon— nah, I guess it's closer to Inazuma tradition— but it goes like this."

Ichinose raises a fist, and Fudou and Touko do the same.

And then they punch the air and Touko loudly declares, "ready to overturn capitalism with the power of soccer, boys?!"

Fudou and Ichinose yell back, "YEAH!"

Ichinose turns back to the flabbergasted Kaiou boys, "something like that. Anyways, you guys do know the way to God Eden from here, right?"