21. it's so easy to blame someone else (for your faults)

The world begins to shift drastically. El Dorado regains control over media coverage, and with backup arriving, Raimon finds themselves with the upper hand in the situation.

But Inazuma Japan never stops gaining new enemies.

From the beginning, the ones against them was never just Fifth Sector.

-

While Raimon survives on God Eden, mainland Japan is in turmoil.

"What do you mean, they're all missing?" Endou Natsumi raises her voice. "And no one noticed until now... What were you even doing, Chairman Kinzan?"

In the head office of Raimon Junior High, Chairman Kinzan faces the woman and her escorts entirely nonplussed, but Fuyukai, his assistant, clearly looks nervous.

The Fifth agents have left. And Chairman Kinzan only knows as much as a very agreeable sponsor would.

There's nothing Natsumi can do to get an explanation from him.

"Well, if it isn't the daughter of the former Acting Dean of Raimon enterprise," he says, feigning innocence. "I was just about to invite you to the very limited-seatings of Raimon versus Aoba. Your husband is present, after all—"

"Chairman Kinzan."

Natsumi's voice is cold.

"I'll have you know... no one has ever been allowed to belittle me before."

The two men at her side sigh, stepping forward.

"You know, we're been nice, thus far," Natsumi says, sitting down on the chair provided and crossing her legs upon it. "Because legally, you're still the Chairman my father gave his position to, and there's little we wanted to stir up in Raimon when things were so difficult, juggling Fifth's establishment and all. I feel we've let you run free a little too long, and that has really given you too much ego for your own good."

Chairman Kinzan clicks his tongue.

"Where do you get off, talking so snidely to me, young lady?"

"Young lady, young lady," Natsumi sighs. "You really don't understand your situation."

"Wait, Lady Natsumi!" Assistant Principal Fuyukai jerks forward, but it's too late.

The man to the right— Tobitaka Seiya— reaches in. And he grabs Chairman Kinzan with a gloved hand wrenching forth his hair.

And then, Tobitaka slams the principal's head down, violently and loudly against the table, earning a terrified noise from the assistant principal and a pained howl from the Chairman.

Tobitaka's face is without a single emotion in it, raising his arm only to plunge it back down once more, this time denting the prized oak wood table and earning a shriek of a crushed nose bone for his efforts.

Natsumi looks down at him from her chair, not a hint of a smile on her face.

He keeps his hand there, even when he earns a weak whimper for his efforts.

"I'm hardly as nice as Kidou, nor am I nearly as roundabout as Gouenji, or as pacifistic as my husband," she says, wrapping her hands over her knee, "I prefer things, quick and fast, and to the point."

The man to their left, Midorikawa Ryuuji, sets down a stack of papers on the desk.

"Earth has a saying that goes like this," he says. "The jug will go to the well once too often. Good tidings will eventually break down. You haven't been sitting on that chair for long, sir, but I believe with the changing of the eras, you should retire, so the younger generation may take up the mantle."

Those are leaving papers.

Written and organized, fully processed and run through with stolen information, details, and agreements— all that's left is a single final signature to officially transfer all position and authority of Raimon Junior High's workings to Endou Natsumi, former Dean. She has the qualifications, after all.

(How did he even get all that information?)

"Isn't he great?" Natsumi says, snidely, and Midorikawa chuckles. "It's good to have friends, you know. Connections, like, say, to a pharmaceutical company where you buy your monthly prescriptions."

"You flatter me, Lady Natsumi," Midorikawa says, light and cheerful. "I am a secretary, after all. What would I be if I couldn't furnish necessary documents in a timely manner?"

"Tha– that's a crime!" Chairman Kinzan snarls. "You've stolen my confidential information, this could land your entire company in the smokes if—!!"

"If?" Natsumi's voice is stone cold.

The hand tightening in his hair makes the Chairman clamp up instantly.

"Go on. If what?"

That's rhetorical.

There's nobody above the age of twenty that doesn't know of Tobitaka Seiya. The famed delinquent, of whom led a violent group of local peacemakers up until just about five years ago where he came clean and started working in Rairaiken.

He's long come clean of his violent roots, but there's never been a doubt that he would act when told to.

(And they've heard stories of those that dared stir up trouble in Inazuma Town only to be utterly destroyed.)

"Wha—" Assistant Principal Fuyukai balks. "This is ridiculous! You don't have the authority to fire the Chairman!"

"Fire him?" Natsumi says. "Oh dear, this isn't that at all."

She smiles.

"I'm just... you know..."

Tobitaka lifts the Chairman's head forcefully from the table. The man curses, loud and furious, "you fucking wench! Don't think Fifth Sector will ever let you get away with—!!"

Tobitaka smashes his face against the table once again.

This time, blood sprays.

Assistant Principal Fuyukai gasps.

Natsumi smiles just a little wider. "...I'm just here to gently encourage my father's old friend to retire. There's nothing wrong with that, right?"

Fuyukai's knees crumble as he falls to a sitting position on the ground.

"Y- You—! You're out of your mind, Raimon Natsumi!" he exclaims. "Physical violence? You're stooping to that level?"

"Huh?" Natsumi questions.

Do you really have the right to tell me that?

But she doesn't bring that point up.

Instead, she chuckles, "Oh dear, you're getting on in your years, aren't you, Sir Fuyukai?" she smirks. "I went to a private all-girls junior high, you know? Full of elites and nobility. But then Papa brought me into Raimon junior high, and allowed me to skip classes and wear the uniform however I wished, even if I didn't wear it in the right colours. He never stopped me no matter what I did, how much of his authority I abused... do you remember what that reason was?"

Fuyukai shrinks back, terrified eyes lighting up with recognition.

Natsumi answers him anyways. "Because I started a gang war in that other school, and papa really didn't want me doing it again. So he allowed me to rule Raimon Junior High, provided I... well," she chuckles. "Kept myself controlled."

She glances toward him, luxuriating in the way he flinches.

Who ever cared about playing nice, anyways?

Endou, maybe.

For Natsumi, the gloves have long come off. She just waited some time for her husband to be away so she could do whatever the hell she wanted and play dumb about it later.

Even in the original Inazuma Eleven, there were cliques, after all. The peacemakers, the socialites, the intimidators... and well.

Well. Like, for say, the cutthroats that just don't let morals hold them back.

They weren't the legendary Inazuma Eleven for no reason. They had more enemies than they knew what to do with, and the survival camp tradition was just the tip of the iceberg of just how messed up their generation was.

-

"Honestly, I can't believe this island is the infamous God Eden..." Touko murmurs, "I did hear the Football Association lost their hold on it shortly before the establishment of Fifth Sector, but I didn't think this is what happened to it."

The SPs fly the helicopter as they hover over the island, much too huge to quickly scour. It's familiar— uncomfortably so, even though they haven't seen this place in a long while.

Liocott Island, where a once-fateful Football Frontier International once took place...

"They say various world leaders invested into buying the land for the creation of a joint military base," one of her SPs reveal. "At the time of the decision, it was stated to be used for world conferences... though, clearly, that isn't what occurred."

"Wait, can you tell us that?" Ichinose asks.

"We could get shot out of the air any second. I'm saying whatever I want."

"You do know that's the exact opposite of assuring."

"We could get WHAT," Namikawa's voice raises a notch. He's clutching the harpoon closer. "I told you we should have gone by sea! Zeus will strike us out of the sky!"

"Zeus will not. Fifth Sector will," Fudou says, dryly. "If Zeus does, I'll call Aphrodi up and yell— oh wait. Wrong Zeus. Ignore me."

"That's infinitely worse!"

"You can get shot out of the sea too, you know," Touko says, because she apparently doesn't want to contribute to trying to make anyone feel at ease today either. "But it's okay, I'm a Defender! I am above you all!"

Namikawa still looks incredulously confused.

"It's okay, she's a capable Defender," Ichinose assures. "Just uh, don't think too hard about it. We'll be fine. I can call Pegasus if things go wrong."

Fudou adds, "Oh, and my penguins can fly, so it's okay."

"Your penguins can what," Wanda says.

"Penguins are flightless birds," Yoshimine says, confused.

And Fudou, meanwhile, comes to a very dry realisation. "Wait, is her superiority complex the reason why she's always making towers and standing smugly in the center of them? She wants to be literally of higher standing?"

Touko beams. And she doesn't elaborate.

(They say that hissatsus are borne of your core personality, after all.)

"Wait, who're you texting?" Ichinose asks Fudou. "There's a signal here?"

"There's always a phone signal where Touko's SPs are. Security hissatsu and all, they're very convenient in bypassing electrical jams," Fudou says, "also, El Dorado's live right now."

And then he connects his headphones to everyone's ear guards, so they could all hear the radio.

"Would you believe it?! News has it that the entire team of Kaiou and Raimon are currently missing! Coaches included!"

"It hasn't been long since their match at all, but after this short but scandalous live video went viral on Meme-dorado forums just yesterday— many suspect that both teams were kidnapped."

"I mean, that's clearly the side view of a Raimon duffel bag just— you know what give me a moment I am whipping out my paint tool and conspiracy boarding this damn blurry screenshot— Raimon Eleven were kidnapped right out of their own damn clubroom, by the guards posted around to protect them! Unbelievable!"

"According to final eyewitness reports, Raimon and Kaiou had been having a short observatory exchange after their match. They were actively posting their activities right up to the point they were whisked away by agents identifying themselves as Fifth Sector and onto an unmarked bus."

"All soccer clubs around Japan, beware! I'm sure you're all still in your lockdowns, but COACHES, your kids might be in danger!"

"Real question, who's handling the page right now?" Ichinose asks. "I have vivid memories of Otomura and Otonashi's Inazuma radio phase."

"Let's just be glad Tsunami's not involved at the moment," Touko offers.

"Megane and..." Fudou pauses. "Oh, Natsumi borrowed Tobitaka for a second. So I think he's alone with... Aoyama, I think? He should be around."

"And why is Sakuma texting the Inazuma Menace chat asking where's his son?"

"Now, be at ease," comes a third voice, "I'm sure this is simply Fifth Sector's attempt at being quick and quiet with the confidential arrangements for Raimon vs Aoba."

And then the helicopter is once again thrown into chaos.

"Why is Miyabino on the radio?! When even—" Fudou yelps, "Text that guy right now— Sakuma! Sakuma, we found him!"

"Ah," Touko says, "it seems Sakka-sama claimed a new disciple while we were away."

"Then why'd they bring Kaiou along?"

"They have to fill the seats at least a little."

"Wouldn't they just fill it with SEEDs, then— oh! Right. Every current player in Kaiou is a SEED. Nevermind."

"Sakuma is now asking where's Fudou," Touko reports dryly. She casually shuts up an incoming call and tucks it into her pocket. "There's a smiley face emoji. Okay, we cannot tell him. He will kill us all and Megane and there will be no one left. Everyone agree to ignore all calls from now."

"Ahem Missus Miss Touko-san, what is that caller ID I just saw on your phone," Ichinose speaks up, monotonous, concerned, very concerned. "Are you also ghosting the Prime Minister? Is that what I saw?"

"I am not," she says, the picture of an honest honest woman. "Oh how could I ever. Ghost my papa. Oh who do you think I am, a heathen? An unfilial daughter?"

"Silence, we are listening to the radio here," Yoshimine says.

"I'm going to live stream the aerial view into Meme-dorado~" Wanda sings, holding his phone firmly against the window. "It's okay, I'm muted I promise."

"Stop! This place is a national secret!" Ichinose yelps.

"I can't hear you," Wanda continues..

"We are not only muted, we are also deafened," Yoshimine says, with the tone of someone saying something profound. "It is an essential skill in life."

"Kids. Kids you're not allowed to be more chaotic than us," Fudou speaks up. "This is illegal. Stop it."

"I have Aoyama's number, I believe..." Namikawa frowns at his phone. "Witness. We bestow you with footage of the naval historics. Talk about it. Gratitudes. Done."

"AND WOAh!" the reaction is instantaneous, "everyone turn your attention to Meme-dorado because we've just got LIVE FOOTAGE OF THE BATTLEGROUNDS! Go look before our site gets taken down for the fifth time this hour! Don't worry, it'll be up again soon enough. But go look anyways they can't punish all of us!"

"Stop it! Stop driving more traffic! This is hell to recover!" Megane begs for mercy, "I'm not even getting paid for th—!!"

And right on cue, the entire radio goes friction frequency silent.

Wanda whines when his live stream gets cut off.

"...well, we all saw that coming," Ichinose chuckles. "Keep filming, anyways, we can always use that footage again for other things."

"Megane's really working overtime just fighting a war against the government taking the site down, huh..." Fudou sighs, "do you think they've noticed where our base is yet?"

"It's okay, we can always move to my house if Kidou's place gets exposed," Touko says. "But we won't get caught! I already asked Hiroto to run all the old Aliea bases on haywire so any government trackers get disrupted."

"Oh my god we got Hiroto the legendary veteran alien terrorist into this," Fudou mutters. "We're invincible now."

"I'm sorry, did you just call someone else a terrorist?" Ichinose groans.

"Oh come on, Ichinose! I start a cult one time and you're holding it against me my whole life?"

The three of them pause as they find Namikawa, Wanda, and Yoshimine staring at them, entirely baffled, unsure if they should even bother addressing half of it.

-

Kirino is doing alright, all things considered.

He follows the river, chasing the ball down on the rocks against the rapids. Hamano is right behind him, struggling to keep pace.

"Hey come on now! Kirino! Slow down!" Hamano yells. "Coach Endou said not to do training so dangerous without his supervision, you're going to get us scolded!"

Kirino understands that, in the back of his mind, but in the forefront of his mind he knows he can do much more than this. This is nothing. He's trained along this road plenty, because it helps his focus and ball-control.

Though, this terrain has always been more of Kariya's thing.

(Back when they Miximaxed...)

(Can they win this match without Nishiki, Kariya and Hikaru? Who's going to make up for what they don't have?)

(Shindou, Tenma, and Tsurugi are hardly as close as they used to be. And two of them's even hostage. There's no way Gryphon will show up for them.)

(They can't defeat Zero.)

(What can Kirino do to fix this?)

"KIRINO!"

The volume of that shout startles him so much, he completely misses his next landing and goes tumbling right into the rapids with a shriek, arms flinging out to grasp for any semblance of— yep, nope—

"AHHH!" Hamano screams, "HELP! KIRINO GOT WASHED AWAY!"

Several heads come out of the foliage and yelp in surprise. "What? Kirino?!?" Kurumada yells. "Get him back, what if he hits his head on some of those rocks?!"

"I have a feeling we just watched another poor baby animal get washed away by this same river yesterday..." Aoi sighs.

"I wonder how that goat's doing right now?" Tenma says. "Shuu did say it didn't happen often, but I guess there are exceptions."

Shinsuke is baffled. "Guys?? Can we worry about Kirino-senpai?!"

"Oh come on..." Kurama groans, "Hamano, go get him! That guy really doesn't know how to take care of himself when Shindou isn't around!"

"Killer whale is saltwater, Kurama, I can't! Get Sidewinder!"

"Dammit I have to do everything around here!"

-

Surprisingly, the one that scoops him out of the water is none of the students, and Endou's just a moment too late to come to the aftermath.

Namikawa sighs deeply in disappointment at each and every one of them.

Kirino is staring up at Sea King Poseidon, utterly flabbergasted in the mighty Keshin's arms. He's not trusted enough to be put back on his feet. Poseidon is largely quiet and unemotional, but Namikawa is glaring at him enough for Kirino to quietly be good today.

Well, Namikawa is a captain of a team, all things considered. Wouldn't be much of one if he couldn't inflict the fear of the gods into his juniors.

"Your match is not until tomorrow! What are all you blind laggards doing crawling about like headless maggots?!" he snaps. "You think scrounging for purchase at the last second will let you stand a chance against a wave already upon you?! NO! All you do charging into the tsunami is diving to your own deaths! Do you crave the constraints of Davy Jones' locker so desperately, you fools?!"

Raimon stares, incredulously, as Namikawa squares all of them down including Coach Endou and yells at them for personal endangerment in foreign jungles.

"Ahem," Wanda says, when everyone proceeds to look very intimidated but very confused. "Basically he means don't be reckless."

"DO YOU BITCHES HAVE THE RIGHT TO SAY THAT?!"

Wait, who yelled that?

There's a loud gasp as something whirrs and— a strong wind nearly sends Shinsuke flying before Amagi snatches him back— a helicopter lands harridly upon the forest's clearing soccer field.

Touko leaps out of the door the second she gets close enough, a tower rising under her feet to catch her, building steps one after another until she's right before Namikawa and Wanda.

Endou's jaw drops.

"T—"

He doesn't get to say anything. Touko's hand comes down vertically in a sharp chop right over Namikawa's head, earning a rather undignified squawk.

"How dare you jump out of the helicopter!" she yells. "HOW DARE YOU!"

She then spins to Wanda and does the same thing. The boy tries to run but fails, dragged back by the collar for strike two.

"Oh come on! Poseidon caught me, it was fine!"

"I don't care what your godly astral projections do! YOU DON'T JUMP OUT OF THE HELI," she screams, "by god golly, Endou you deal with this on the daily?!"

"...ouk—" Endou is too bewildered to even compose a thought. "Tou...koooo?? Why— but you— what happened to— Why did you, Namikawa— HUH?? WHY ARE YOU HERE?"

"Alright, let's skip the yada yada," Fudou exits the helicopter, peeling off his headset and taking a headcount.

"Fudou??"

"Wait— a helicopter!" Sangoku stands up immediately, Ichino realizing the same thing right after him. Akane takes a picture. "We can leave this place!"

"Uhm no we can't," Hayami says. "We are kind of missing some very important people."

"Phones!" Kurama and Midori yell, "cameras, anything! The internet!!"

"Wow, phone addiction," Fudou says, calmly taking out his phone, "are you kids really craving social media so terribl— hey!"

Shinsuke leaps to snatch it right out of his hand.

(Endou barks out a laugh at that.)

"GUYS LOOK AT THE NEWS!"

"Does the world think we're dead?!" Surprisingly, Aoi is also way too enthusiastic about the newfound phone, standing up and dusting her knees to get to it. "Oh my god my mom is going to be so worried..."

"Aki-nee is going to be so mad at me..." Tenma gathers, too, and all semblance of structure is gone. "Come on, we have to call the police! This is a kidnapping!"

"Idiot, they've obviously already done that," Amagi groans. "The news sites will be useless right now. Check El Dorado!"

Amidst the noise Ichino hollers, "take a selfie, post our status to Meme-dorado now!"

"What makes all of you assume we have a cell service in the middle of the jungle?" Sangoku groans.

It seems like, when you take teenagers away from their phones for a day, you get a bunch of rabid animals that jump at the sight of one. Akane is fervently taking pictures of this natural phenomenon. She will probably be the cameraman in a real apocalypse situation one day and no one has any doubts on that.

"But this works out just right! We're live-streaming the match, just as how it should be!"

"Yeah! This means we can go wild and prove it all to the world!"

The team's spirits lift immediately. Now it didn't even matter if they could win— they really felt like they could. And with the broadcast on their side, there's no way Fifth Sector will be fine after this.

"First, we need to get Tsurugi, Shindou, and Minamisawa back, along with Kidou and Otonashi," Endou says. They're probably unhurt. Fifth is in for a hell of a scandal if they are— Endou wants to hope, at least.

"No problems there," Touko says. "We're tearing down God Eden while we're at it. If possible, I'd want to postpone the match, but..."

"No sense in it," Ichinose says, alighting from the helicopter last, a frown set on his face. "The world needs to see what's going on right now, and I want to bring the kids home as soon as possible. This place gives me horrible vibes."

Endou nods.

"I can't help but think there's a greater force to this all," Endou says, "something worse than the Aliea meteorite. There's got to be a reason Gouenji got involved without telling us... I don't think it's safe for us to act with the kids. Since Gouenji's getting involved, it'd be better to keep the more dangerous parts of it to us."

"Of course," Fudou huffs. "This was always an adult problem. The kids are only in the center of this nonsense because Senguuji Daigo knew he couldn't do shit to adult football categories."

Touko chuckles, "I mean, Aliea kinda set the trend, didn't they?"

"Pretty sure it's Kageyama that started it," Ichinose huffs. "All the way back in Teikoku... hey, Kidou got kidnapped? Damn, Gouenji knows how to seclude the brains of the ops."

There's a violent sputter in the background, "KAZUYA-NIISAN?? YOU'RE IN JAPAN?"

"Aaaand there's my tiny pegasus! How've you been, buddy?"

Ichinose casts a glance back at the others before going towards the kids again. The adults will have to talk about this later.

Later, when the kids are safe.

(None of them notice Kirino staring at them, fists gripped, eager to contribute to that conversation— but Kirino knows that they only see him as a kid, and thus, he can't.)

(Maybe it's fine to do nothing, Kirino thinks. Maybe it's fine to just leave it up to them.)

(Kirino isn't an adult anymore, after all. He just happens to be a time traveller, but he's still a kid that's unwillingly caught up in all of this.)

(Unwillingly? That's a lie. Kirino caused all of this by changing the way the world worked. Kirino's the one that needs to be accountable for his actions the most. He can't run away from all this— he can't—)

(He will. Because what can a ticking time bomb like him do?)

-

Ishido Shuuji scrolls through social media because unfortunately, #MemeDorado is trending on every platform known to man. People are taking screenshots, making mirror sites, watch-it streams, all to divert traffic from the ever-crashing site.

It's impossible to kill El Dorado. There won't be any point in taking down the site anymore.

But this new viral picture— honestly, he's a little baffled. They're stuck on an island and the first thing they do with cell service is post a group selfie of at least five people making mocking faces and raising their middle fingers. It's addressed to him.

Clearly Fudou has had too much influence here in recent years.

He's a little gratified by the way Endou looks wholeheartedly ashamed.

There's a hand in the corner of the frame with a two-fingered heart, and Ishido Shuuji unfortunately recognizes the rings on her alternative fingers very well. One of them is a hidden camera and the other is a taser. Both of them are studded so she can punch people harder. Darn it. Touko's here, too.

Also, have they forgotten that he's in the damn Inazuma Menace Chat, too?

He sighs, glancing toward Supporter X, who's looking out the window toward the stadium forlornly. And then, he notices on the CCTV that the cell that once held Haruna and Kidou is now empty.

Oh, come on.

His door opens, and Kidou Yuuto marches right in, purpose in his steps and a frown so deeply ingrained in his brows it was visible even over his goggles. He's followed by Haruna, who looks a little upset, and Yuuka, who's pouting. And Toramaru, who is holding his hands together in preemptive apology.

Alright, so basically, Ishido Shuuji is never going to get a break.

"We need to talk."

Kidou's words are curt.

Supporter X has turned around, and Kidou levels them with a glare, as if expecting them to leave so they could have a private conversation.

"I told you he had a guest," Toramaru murmurs.

"I wished it were Senguuji so I could teach him a lesson myself," Kidou grounds out menacingly. "If you're not related, please leave."

"Uhm, also," Yuuka speaks up, "there are very many penguins raiding the training rooms right now... Is that okay?"

Ishido Shuuji sighs, externally this time.

"Alright, I give up," he stands, throwing aside the scarf around his neck. "What do you want me to do? At this point let's just drag me down from my throne as dramatically as possible, I'll follow whatever damn script you're proposing if it'd make my job easier."

A pause.

"And the weird guy in a cloak," Kidou reminds.

Ishido Shuuji hisses.

"Kidou, don't let them get awa—!!"

Supporter X calmly sets down their tea. "It looks like I've overstayed my welcome."

With a flicker, they were gone.

"Crap."

Kidou freezes at the door. There's only one exit, "how on earth—"

"Get the kids!" Ishido Shuuji yells, stepping out of his desk and to the teacup. There's a card under the mug, and he picks it up before hissing sharply. "Toramaru, hurry up!"

He stands there, hands shaking with frustration even as Toramaru and Otonashi run off to do as they're told.

Kidou steps forward.

"What's that?"

Ishido Shuuji hands it to him.

"Fifth Sector's been getting their score orders from Supporter X for some time now, and this match just got its own."

-

Shindou hasn't seen Minamisawa since yesterday. He hasn't seen Tsurugi even longer. The match is starting in an hour and the Fifth is determined to keep him locked in this training room through it. Is there really nothing they can do except wait to be rescued?

Apparently, yes.

But Shindou has never felt as much joy as when that purple penguin shattered through the viewing room windows overhead, spraying glass everywhere.

His first thought was honestly, wow. Cool. Even countless of his hissatsu shoots couldn't break that thing, but a single penguin shattered it in an instant.

That is one strong penguin.

And, penguins are terrifying.

"Shindou-kun!"

He's engulfed by a pair of arms so quickly, he doesn't react at first, simply confused. And when Ms Otonashi squeezes tighter he suddenly realizes how heavy his shoulders are, how exhausted he is, how everything hurts—

And he finds himself clinging back.

"Where the hell are we?" Ms Otonashi sounds terribly distressed.

"It's the intensive training room. There's as little distractions as possible, meant for the analytical types like Shindou. The idea is that they can connect with their Keshin when left with only their own head and—"

"Go insane?"

"Well— you're mad," Toramaru says, "but I just got here."

"Toramaru!" Ms Otonashi raises her voice, "are you kidding me right now? The human mind can only handle seventy-two hours with zero stimulus and you left a CHILD in here! You're trying to tell me this is normal?!"

Shindou lifts his head to find the man that brought them from the clubroom,

"Of course it's not supposed to be!" Toramaru hisses back, offended she would even imply he was any way involved in this. "Ishido Shuuji dismissed this proposal the second it was proposed, and he went through various lengths to make sure it stayed that way!"

"Then explain what the hell I just saw!"

"This is what I was going to show you guys! Why do you think I broke you out to begin with, I have no authority here!" Toramaru groans. "And as long as Supporter X exists, nothing we do matters."

"What?"

"Come on!"

-

"It seems like you're getting out of here," Shuu says, and Minamisawa can't resist the jolt in his shoulders at the genuine surprise.

Shuu doesn't lie. If there's anything Minamisawa knows from their time together, it's that.

"Good luck getting back," Shuu says. "The match is in a few hours, though, I don't know if you'll be playing in your state."

"Of course I am!" Minamisawa snarls. "You better be on the field, too!"

Shuu chuckles. "You're so motivated. I'll look forward to it, then. Be careful, though, I'd recommend you don't try to play with your teammates like you used to... it's not going to be the same anymore."

Unnerving.

This is a facility meant to produce SEEDs, and Minamisawa and Shindou have just spent two whole days immersed in it, they can hardly remember how to breathe outside of it. It's only been two days, but it's felt like an eternity.

An eternity, and though Minamisawa knows he's stronger, there's a power inside of him that he knows so much better how to use now— but he can't help the utter disgust that hcurns up at the thought of just how hard he's worked to get here. How torturously it was clawed out from within him, he has to brace himself before thinking of soccer again.

"You really don't belong here, Shuu."

In this hellscape, Shuu is warm, like sunshine. Though his soul screams for a vengeance, freedom-craving Exodus— he's calm, and noble, and unfaltering.

Minamisawa understands what Keshin are now. And he can't help but find Shuu so incomprehensible.

Shuu only looks back and smiles in his tender, warm way.

"I don't really belong anywhere," Shuu says. Melancholically, his gaze rests on Minamisawa, like he was looking at something precious and dear to him. "But I'm always here. I'm always left watching, but it's not my choice where the world goes."

Shuu steps out, and doesn't close the door.

"See you on the field. You might get mad, though."

When he turns the corner Minamisawa pursues, but Shuu is already gone. It's a long, narrow corridor with no open doors. So, how...?

"Minamisawa!"

He spins around to see Trainer Kidou, catching his breath. The trainer drops to his knees immediately, carefully taking him by the upper arms and inspecting him up and down.

"You okay?"

Minamisawa juts out a nod.

No, he's not okay.

But he didn't want to say that at all.

Kidou doesn't believe him, but he doesn't chase an answer. He gets up, and Minamisawa reaches up to his ears— to the hearing aids, and takes them off.

"Trainer Kidou," he starts. "I need to give this to El Dorado."

Kidou immediately drops back to Minamisawa's height, full at attention.

"...right," he's clearly baffled. "Let's get you somewhere safe."

Minamisawa nods.

Then, realizing that was the end of the instructions—

"—But where's Tsurugi, then?"

Trainer Kidou stands up and moves on, refusing to answer.

-

It works out.

Kirino thinks this is the best possible scenario— drag the confrontation of Ishido Shuuji up by months, save their caught comrades— and this match is off the table.

This works.

They'll have to deal with Senguuji later, but for now, Fifth Sector is effectively over, right? Kirino just has to go with the flow from now. They don't have to fight Zero, the SEEDs in this facility can all be saved, and—

—and why does he feel like things worked out without him even doing anything?

Things will work out somehow. Yeah. Sure, Kirino believes that, but...

"Fudou, Ichinose You two take Namikawa and the others around," Touko says. "You guys find our lost kids and Kidou and Haruna, and then come back to join us. Got it?"

They nod affirmatively. There's no way they'll come all this way just to waltz into Fifth Sector control, after all.

"Touko will come in with me, I guess?" Endou asks.

"Yep! I'm Trainer Zaizen, just for today!"

Fudou shrugs, "pretty sure you're not allowed to sit on the bench if your name's not in the list, but... oh, whatever, you can karen your way into anything."

"You bet I can!"

"Alright, game faces on, guys," Ichinose says. "The managers will have our cameras, and we'll keep track of El Dorado's feed, but it all goes up in smokes if you guys lose."

"We're not going to lose!" Tenma exclaims.

"Yeah!" Shinsuke adds, "even if— even if Captain's not here right now, we did our best these two days! We'll be fine!"

Yeah, that. They'll have to figure that out inside.

"We're going to win!" Endou says, pumping a fist before extending it forward. "Take down Fifth Sector, and then we're all going home!"

Everyone raises their fist toward him in a circle.

With a one-two, they cheer into the sky.

"We're doing this!"

-

They're led into the building by a single unresponsive SEED. Kirino has no qualms about this, and he knows the structure of God Eden very well— but something's off. Other than how unnervingly populated it is compared to in the future, of course— but something haunts this place.

Something sinister. Something that reeks of an energy that once split his head apart.

It's not quite the same, but it feels similar. Saryu had once said that God Eden felt like a place where energies collided and gathered in dangerous ways. It's a place where momentary miracles in timelines and paranormality may occur, whether it makes scientific sense or not.

Maybe that's why this place was apparently where Second Stage Children were born. It's where the future believed to be the most fateful location in the world, and Kirino never quite warmed up to this place.

Even Brynhildr felt uneasy here.

The sheer energy of untamed, riled, and unsatisfied Keshin linger and waft, not knowing where to go. It's threatening to explode, and it's making Kirino sick because he feels it, he feels just how much those Keshin want to be heard, some grieving, some enraged, more frustrated, others terrified.

"What's wrong, Kirino?"

Sangoku notices first, and Kirino can't respond, trying to hold back the churn coming up his throat. He just shakes his head.

"Is this that thing? Where you know how many Keshin the other team has?"

Ichino looks around, concerned, and whispers the last part of his question. They don't enter the waiting room yet, instead, everyone closes in, hiding Kirino from view, keeping a lookout with a wariness in their shoulders.

Kirino just shakes his head once more.

This place is disgusting.

Even back in his world, where the energy's far more condensed with the energy of time travel, mixi-max, and souls— it never gets this bad. Someone's tainted this place with misery and horror, and the earth itself is crying out. There's a fog of sadness shrouding everything, and Kirino can't help the instinct of wanting to connect with it, to comfort it.

It's not tangible, it's not real.

But his sensitivity to the obscure concept of mist makes it feel so genuine.

"Let's get him inside."

-

Even when they move from the lockers to the field, Kirino can't shake it. He can't shake the foreboding sense that things aren't going to be alright. Even though it's going so smoothly, even though he knows this match will be difficult— he can't even bring himself to be confident.

He's supposed to drive the fighting force. He can't falter.

(But he can't breathe, why is he so scared? What is he so scared of?)

The crowd is full of SEEDs. He knows this. They're all booing them. This is expected. Instructor Kibayama gloats about how they can't leave, unless they agree to become SEEDs— Kirino expected this. Of course.

But then Ancient Dark shows up as their opponents. Without Unlimited Shining.

And Kirino did not, in fact, expect this at all.

"Ancient Dark is just a part of our Second Stage Project," Instructor Kibayama says, "they will test your limits. You best understand where we're coming from before you get hurt— if you wish to save your pitiable fair soccer so badly, then, perhaps, you need a wake up call on just how terrifying soccer can be."

The cameras are already rolling. Instructor Kibayama says this, knowing full well the entire world is watching.

"Shuu..." Tenma's voice is faint.

Aoi's shaking, too. "Kai, too. You're facing us— but—"

"But... why?"

"They did say they were SEEDs. No wonder they were away from their forest. They were letting us have it... they were watching us from the start to get our weaknesses."

"I knew we couldn't trust these damn SEEDs!"

Kirino can't even bring himself to stop his teammates from lashing out. Of course they'll feel betrayed here— Shuu let them have the forest, almost like a mocking courtesy, knowing full well they would soon fight with their soccer on the line.

"Was that lunch party a lie? Was the fun all a lie?"

Shuu doesn't answer.

He only smiles, "well, I wonder."

Kirino can't breathe. (Why? Why, why, why?) He looks around, but there's no cage overhead. Shindou, Minamisawa, and Tsurugi are not here. The team in front of him is still Ancient Dark. It isn't Zero. Hakuryuu isn't here.

(Why did it change?)

"Now," Shuu says, "Akane-chan, you're filming, aren't you? Then, let the world see this."

Shuu flips up a card from his pocket, raising it up so the camera gets to see it full frontal and clear.

"It's our score order."

2-0, in Raimon's favour. The Fifth has declared that the victor of this match should be Raimon.

There's a startled gasp from Raimon. Confusion, "what does this even—"

"Are you messing with us—"

"Of course not," Shuu says. "You guys have been doing this all the time, right? Winning fairly, making sure the world hears your voice. You want to win, don't you? You want to go all out, don't you?"

Shuu tosses aside the card.

"Those were the points you deserved," he says, and his voice goes low. "But in the pursuit of fairness, we of Ancient Dark are going to destroy that score order, just as Raimon has been doing this whole time."

Shuu sets his gaze forth in a deep glare.

"If you can still pursue your 'justice' after this match, then maybe you were right," Shuu says, "but don't forget. Fifth Sector tried very, very hard to teach the world just how terrifying soccer can be, but you didn't listen."

Shuu turns around.

"Wait, Shuu—!!"

Tenma is interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. Sangoku pulls him back, and then, Hamano does, too.

What can they do?

Shuu has said his piece. All they can do right now is brace themselves for the roughest match of their lives.

They turn away from each other, not sharing a handshake, or even a good luck wish. They turn away, to their respective benches— and start warming up.

"...Kirino?"

Ichino turns around.

They need to gather to be briefed on positions by Endou. He still hasn't given anyone the Captain position yet, and everyone's nervous about that.

"What do I do?"

Kirino's voice is shaking and terrified.

"This is my fault. What do I do?"

Ichino takes Kirino's hands quickly. "What are you talking about?" oh, of course Kirino reaches his breaking point now. It's been incoming since they entered this place. "Calm down, Kirino. Calm down— Kirino! Breathe!"

"We can't win, Ichino."

How the hell are they supposed to win against Shuu without Shindou, Tsurugi, and Minamisawa? Without Nishiki, Kariya, and Hikaru? Tenma isn't even a Captain yet, and Shinsuke isn't a goalkeeper. This is hopeless.

If Kirino hadn't ruined so much—

—why didn't he realize this sooner?

(God Eden only exists because Supporter X made it come into place. It's a direct intervention from the future, to change the world in two hundred years.)

(Kirino isn't playing single-player chess. Whatever the hell happened when the caravan crashed— something went wrong. And whenever something goes wrong, of course, the world changes in ways incomprehensible to the people living in the past.)

(Kirino has been ruining the future, bit by bit, by acting all of his own accord.)

(How bad was it that Supporter X is trying so hard to crush Raimon like this?)

(Kirino has accidentally triggered a war between himself and the entirety of the future, and he has no idea how to fight it alone.)

"We can't win, Ichino," Kirino says. There's a broken cry in his voice, "everyone on Ancient Dark has a Keshin. It's impossible for us to win."

"Wha—" Ichino takes Kirino by the shoulders, not minding how everyone has turned around in alarm by now. "What are you saying, Kirino?"

And so, the Kanto District Preliminaries Finals from hell— begins.