“Ugh…”

Grabbing her head that was still ringing from the impact of ‘Deep Sea Call’, Khronoa looked around with blurry vision as she observed the scoreboard change from 0-1 to 1-1.

“They’re good…”

Turning to face Rhea who had just spoken up while helping the other members stand on their feet, Khronoa nodded thoughtfully.

“Just like we expected…” replied Khronoa in a low voice while looking at the Susanoo forward Okumi Kujira. Despite Susanoo Academy maintaining a rather low profile in the preliminaries it was no surprise that they were wielding the ‘Dark Keshins’ that Outei Tsukinomiya had shown off in their Exhibition match with Spain.

Still.

While it was still within their expectations, that wasn’t going to make the next 45 minutes of the match any easier.

Clap Clap

Slapping her cheeks lightly, Khronoa smiled naturally and spoke up in a positive tone,

“We won’t be able to just rely on the ‘Catenaccio Counter’ anymore but that doesn’t mean it’s over yet! It’s just like Fideo-san said! Individual strength isn’t the only factor that determines the victor, so let’s keep focused and we’ll move to Plan B.”

“Khronoa-san is right! If Susanoo scores one, then we just have to score one more! We’re still tied up so the match is still anyone’s game!” said Rhea while rallying the Zeus members together towards the bench.

Ha…

Not making eye contact with the others, Selene sat down wearily beside the bench so she could recover as much of her energy as possible during the short 15 minute half-time. Even though, Khronoa and Rhea were trying to keep the atmosphere upbeat, Selene knew the team was in a pretty shitty position thanks to that lumbering giant Okumi breaking through ‘Catenaccio Counter’.

Before training with Fideo, Zeus had mainly kept to a basic midfield zone press meaning they barely had any time to practise the low-pressure oriented formation needed in order to master ‘Catenaccio Counter’...

And even though they did have a ‘Plan B’ discussed, it was just too risky for Khronoa at this stage of the Holy Road and there was absolutely no way Selene would let her put so much pressure on herself if she had any say about it.

Looking up with a serious face, Selene’s mouth hardened into a line as her gaze fell on the orange-haired striker who was currently moving around exuberantly and helping the managers hand out water to the others in an effort to keep the atmosphere light.

Sigh.

Khronoa was always like this…

“‘Saintess of Zeus’ my ass” muttered Selene in a heated tone.

The students at Zeus Academy had arbitrarily given Khronoa that title without even asking and had no idea about the crap that came with it…

7 Years Ago, Zeus Elementary Grade 1, Class 3

“Otsuki-chan!!”

Selene looked over at the group of girls who were waving her over and she waved back with excitement, happy to be back from Spring Vacation and be reunited with all of her friends…or well most of them. It looked like Aoi and Yui-chan were in different classes from her this year.

Oh well!

She could see them during lunch or after school anyway.

Not one to sweat the small details, Selene quickly got over her momentary disappointment and sat down with her friends as they whispered about the other groups of kids that were filling up the class. But as someone who wasn’t really interested in gossiping about other people, Selene mainly just nodded her head at the appropriate times while she observed her new classmates with her own eyes.

A group of stereotypical idiots over there…

The introverted nerd of the class at the front…

Some kids she recognised from the kids soccer club to her left…Maybe she would go talk to them and see if they wanted to play after school…

…?

Pausing for a moment, Selene tried to look past a group of boys and girls who had surrounded a desk at the opposite corner of the room. Despite doing her best to crane her neck to somehow see through the crowd, the best she could see was the glimpse of a soft-orange that caught her eye.

“Otsuki-chan?”

Selene turned her head back at the sounder of her friend’s voice and pointed her finger at the crowded desk and asked, “What’s going on over there?”

“Hmm?”

“Oh, her! I heard she was going to be in our class this year! Khronoa Yoshizawa! According to some people who went to her kindergarten she’s really nice! She’ll do anything you ask her to! We’re lucky we’re in the same class as her right, Otsuki-chan?”

Selene allowed her friends to continue chatting, only half listening as the crowd finally began to disperse and found herself staring at a surprisingly normal-looking girl with soft features and a smile that seemed to brighten the classroom and purify the air around her. However, seeing the girl’s smile as she waved amicably to the departing students, Selene felt an uncomfortable pit in her stomach that made her look away.

She didn’t know why but something about that scene had just seemed…off to her and even though Selene couldn’t put her finger on it the unease lingered in the air around her and instead she went back to zoning out while she and her friends waited for class to begin.

Later that year, Zeus Elementary Sports Festival

[GOAL! Class 3’s Selene Otsuki widens their lead with a powerful kick into the upper left! Really nice teamwork being shown all around at this year’s Sport’s Festival! Keep up the fighting spirit everyone!!]

Pushing her way through her teammates, Selene’s gaze fell on the sidelines where Khronoa’s distinct presence caught her eye yet again. Though the girl was busy handing out refreshments and cheering for the team alongside the rest of their classmates she had an annoyingly wistful look in her eyes that bothered Selene.

If Khronoa had wanted to play then she should have spoken up earlier when everyone was volunteering for the soccer event!

While Selene had done her best to shove Khronoa to the back of her mind over the school year, the other girl always had that aggravating smile on her face. It made absolutely no sense to Selene! If Khronoa wanted something then she needed to speak up for herself or no one would be able to know!

However, no matter what demands were made of her or how badly she wanted something, instead of standing up for herself, just…nothing! Instead, all she would give back as a response was that same, gracious smile that never seemed to match the eyes which hid a shadow of forlornness that itched at Selene’s consciousness.

First it had begun with their sensei…

“Khronoa-chan, do you mind picking up the class’s homework today?” asked their sensei after the class had voted for Khronoa as their class representative.

“Of course Sensei! Leave it to me!” chirped back Khronoa before their sensei could even finish.

Then their classmates…

“Noa-chan! I forgot to do my homework, do you mind telling Yamamoto-Sensei for me?” asked a small boy with his hands held out in front of him in a praying position.

“Sure Sato-kun. Don’t worry about it!” answered back Khronoa with a pleasant smile.

With increasingly ridiculous demands…

“Class Rep! We accidentally broke our lunch trays, could you tell Sensei that you did it? Sensei won’t get mad if we say you broke it but he’ll get super mad if we say it was us! Please! Pleaseeee!”

“Alright, just make sure not to touch anything. You guys go grab new trays and I’ll clean up after you all, I don’t want anyone to get hurt, okay?”

“You really are a saint, class-rep! Thanks a bunch!” yelled out a trio of small boys who were looking down sheepishly at the giant mess they were leaving behind for Khronoa. However, not wanting to clean up after themselves, they decided the convenience of having Khronoa do it for them was too appealing and ran off unbothered to grab new lunches.

That showed no respect for the ‘Saint’ of Zeus Elementary

“Hey, Khronoa that pen is so cute! Where’d you get it?” asked a small girl with brunette hair that was sitting next to Khronoa and in front of Selene.

“Oh, thanks Nishimura-san! My mother got it for me while she was in Bangkok last week, I really–”

“Can I have it?”

“Huh?” answered Khronoa with surprise before turning her eyes down as she hesitated for a moment. However, quickly making up her mind she put a wide smile back on her face and nodded affirmatively.

“Mmm. Sure! Here, I hope you like it!”

“Thanks Noa-chan, you’re the best!”

Watching the exchange happen before her very eyes, Selene rolled her eyes and snorted loudly behind the two girls.

“Unbelievable…”

And unable to take it any more Selene had finally decided to intervene but…

“Noa-chan, can you grab some extra strawberry milks on your way back from the canteen for the rest of us! Thanks!” asked a small girl, not looking up from the video being shown at the centre of their circle.

“Yup! No problem, Murata-chan! How many should I bring?”

Waving to the boy next to her who was currently holding the phone for the group, the girl stopped to count and yelled back,

“Six please! Thanks again Noa-chan!”

“No problem” responded Khronoa readily and she began to close the door until no longer to bear it for a moment more, Selene stopped the girl by grabbing her wrist.

“Hey! Murata, Sato, Noguichi, Matsui, Ueno, Goto! I didn’t know we needed six wheelchairs…since you all apparently don’t have working legs of your own!”

“Whoa, Otsuki-chan, why are you getting so mad? Noa-chan was already going to the canteen so she might as well make our lives easier and grab some extra drinks while she’s on the way back!”

Now completely flabbergasted at how lazy her classmates had become, Selene pointed angrily at the group and began to shout,

“Yoshizawa-san isn’t your slave, so shut up, stop watching your dumb TikToks for five seconds and grab your own milk!”

However, fearing that a fight would break out soon Khronoa ran between the group and Selene and grabbed the purple-haired girl’s sleeve in concern.

“Thanks for being concerned about me Otsuki-san but it’s really not a big deal! Murata-chan is right! Since it’s on my way it’s really no trouble at all…really!”

“Ha…”

Unable to believe what was happening, Selene shuffled back to her seat with a huff and sat down disgruntled. She had even thrown the girl a lifeline and she refused to take it! It’s like her mother said,

馬を水辺につれていけても水を飲ませることはできない

(You may lead a horse to the water, but you can't make him drink!)

And so, resolving herself then, Selene promised to herself, “I tried my best, so I won’t care about her anymore! Not my friend, not my problem!”

Now walking home after championing their class to victory in the Sports Festival, Selene quickly shook her head in disappointment as she realised yet again her thoughts were being consumed by that dumb girl despite her resolution!

Splash

Pricking her ears up suddenly, Selene looked around carefully as her sensitive ears picked up abnormal splashing sounds from the river. Not sure whether she had imagined it, Selene maintained her composure and scanned the river systematically starting from the bridge to a rather large and irregular shaped log and continued past to the imposing grey rocks the older kids liked to use for pictures.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Wait.

A log?!

Whipping her head back to the middle of the river, Selene ran up to the riverbank to take a closer look and upon closer examination she quickly realised that the ‘log’ was in fact a kid even smaller than her and currently clinging onto a large dog that was desperately trying to keep the two afloat.

Rushing into her pocket as fast as she could, Selene unlocked her phone urgently and called 119 immediately upon this realisation.

“Yes? Hello?”

“Hello, this is 119. What is your emergency?”

“Yes! My name is Selene Otsuki, I’m at the Tokokuma riverbank, next to the Zubuhata Bridge! There’s someone drowning! Please send help now!!”

“Okay, we’re sending help now. Whatever you do, do not go into the river and stay calm Otsuki-san! You’re doing great. If you can safely, please keep your eyes on the person and—”

Nodding her head as she continued to run alongside the boy and his dog, Selene’s eyes widened when she saw a familiar stream of sun-orange hair by the rocks which were connected to an all too familiar girl of tiny stature.

“No…No way…Not even she’s that dumb!”

Splash

Selene closed her eyes with horror permeating every bone in her body as she observed Khronoa dive headfirst into the river and begin swimming towards the drowning duo.

What on earth was she thinking… and what was she even doing here?

There was no time for useless thinking!

Instead Selene began to pray that Khronoa was a strong swimmer but panicked upon seeing her reach the drowning boy then begin to struggle and flail around.

“That dumb girl!!!!” seethed Selene as she began to kick off her shoes and run towards the riverside.

“Miss? Miss are you there?” shouted the emergency dispatcher but it was too late and the phone had already been abandoned.

Thanking God and Buddha that the river’s currents weren’t too strong right now, Selene slowly made her way towards the trio and wrapped the small child on her left shoulder and the struggling Khronoa on her right before wading through back to the rocks that Khronoa had jumped from.

Though Selene was used to swimming at the local pool, she had never swum with two people on her arms and felt her face begin to bob under the water.

Pffffff

Spitting out the water and blinking nonstop to try and block it from attacking her eyes, she felt her arms begin to numb and blackness began to emerge at the edges of her vision.

Was this the end?

Though it was the middle of June, Selene’s body began to grow colder and she was about to let go when a strong push from behind threw the three onto the rock and looking back she saw the large dog that she had left behind barking at them.

“Dog-kun!”

Now completely exhausted, Selene watched helplessly, unable to lift a single muscle, as the white dog that had saved their lives was swept away by the river and she closed her eyes, muttering wearily…

“Dog-kun…”

******

“Are you awake?”

“Otsuki-san?”

“Otsuki-san?”

Waking up with a start, Selene’s multicoloured black eyes mixed with blue and yellow looked around chaotically as she tried to get up but found herself in a blue gown in a hospital room of some sort. Not sure where the voice was coming from, she reached out and felt a soft blob in her hand and found herself grabbing Khronoa’s squishy left arm and recalling the events before she had blacked out asked,

“Did we die?”

“Nope! Thanks to you, some rescuers found us and rushed us here so we’re both alive!”

“What about the dog? Did they find the dog? It was large and white! Like a marshmallow!”

“Dog? What dog?”

“The dog! It saved our lives!”

“There wasn’t any dog Otsuki-chan…but that boy survived thanks to you. His parents came while you were sleeping to thank us but the doctor said you needed to sleep more so she told them to leave…”

Ha…

Resting her head back down in the bed, Selene said a small prayer for the dog before feeling anger well up inside of her.

Reopening her eyes, she began to scream at Khronoa in frustration,

“Are…Are you dumb?! Why did you try to rescue that kid if you can’t swim! You just made everything…”

Not able to fully articulate herself due to her boiling rage, Selene spat out the only word she could think of

“Bad! You made everything bad! What if you had died! Didn’t you think about that? What were you thinking!! You’re so….”

“So stupid!! You’re so dumb and stupid!!”

However, Selene paused her tirade when she saw Khronoa nodding silently while big, gumdrop crystal tears began to form at the corners of the other girls’ eyes.

“I-I’m sorry Otsuki-san!! You a-almost died b-because of me! I’m really, really sorry!” hiccuped Khronoa as the severity of the situation finally hit them.

“I-I’m sorry Otsuki-san…I just wanted to help…”

I-I’m sorrrrryyyyy….”

Now crying or more accurately wailing, Selene was no longer able to understand anything that was coming out of Khronoa’s mouth and so she waited until the girl finally managed to stop the tears and was now hiccuping silently.

As expected, Khronoa’s naivety and blind desire to help others was what had gotten her into trouble and Selene sighed so wearily that it would be hard for anyone to believe she was only seven years old.

“You’re so dumb, you know that?” Selene asked while still laying down in her bed like a mummy.

“I know.”

“Sit down in your bed Yoshizawa-san.”

“Okay.”

Meekly walking over to her bed at Selene’s command, Khronoa shuffled under the sheets leaving the girls looking like two small mummies under their white, heated blankets.

“Yoshizawa-san, why do you want to help people so much?” Selene asked curiously while staring up at the ceiling.

“Isn’t it normal to w-want to help people, Otsuki-san?” hiccuped Khronoa back.

“Yeah but not like you! You’re weird…You shouldn’t make yourself sad to make others happy! That’s what my mom says and my mom is the best!”

“I don’t make myself s-sad to make other people happy! It makes me happy to make other people happy!”

“....”

Feeling like this conversation was going in circles, Selene sat up in her bed and looked over at Khronoa who was still bundled up in her sheets so only her head was visible.

“Yeah but what about you ? Don’t you ever do anything to make you and just you happy? Don’t you have any dreams or anything! Everyone has a dream!” asked Selene in exasperation.

“World peace?”

“You…You!!!” shouted Selene while pointing her finger at Khronoa with fervent intensity.

“I mean your dream! Haven’t you ever wanted to do anything for yourself!!” she repeated, about to lose her mind from talking to the other girl.

Pausing to think as if it had never occurred to her to think for herself, Khronoa sat up as well and stared at Selene directly in the eye with her own bright, sunglow eyes.

“I—”

“I want to…” whispered Khronoa, but mumbled the last part unintelligibly.

“What did you say?”

“I want to…to play soccer! I saw you today and you were so cool, Otsuki-san! It really looks like fun, running on the field with all your friends, scoring together, winning and losing together, as a team!” murmured Khronoa with longing her voice so palpable that Selene found herself walking over and clasping the other girl’s hands.

“Okay! Let’s do it then!”

“...?”

“Let’s play soccer together! If you want to do something…just do it!”

Excited that Khronoa finally had something that she wanted to do for herself, Selene shook Khronoa’s hands up and down.

“And don’t worry about any pests from bothering you or preventing you from playing! From now on we’re sisters! If someone tries to mess with you then they gotta deal with me too now, ‘kay?”

A bit surprised but happy nonetheless at this development, Khronoa nodded shyly in agreement as she found herself caught in Selene’s flow but then paused as she recalled a slight complication in her mind,

“I have a younger brother, his name’s Prometheus…is that okay?” asked Khronoa hesitantly, not sure if Selene would accept both Yoshizawa siblings.

“Mmm…sure why not? Anyway, starting now, you can call me Selene! We’re going to be the best soccer duo in the entire world!”

Khronoa hid a small laugh behind her hands as Selene stood on the bed with her finger pointed towards the sky aggressively. While she was a bit confused at what was going on in the purple-haired girl’s head, she had never met someone like Selene before and found herself enjoying their time together much more than with other kids her age.

Selene looked down and smiled in satisfaction as she observed Khronoa giving the first genuine smile she had seen and found herself smiling as well.

If Khronoa wasn’t going to take care of herself then…

Then it was up to Selene to help this stupid girl or no one would!

******

“Selene!”

“Selene! What are you doing?!” shouted Khronoa over the sounds of the match.

Waking up from the nostalgic memory of the first day of their friendship, Selene found herself on the field running straight towards Okumi who was preparing to plough through Zeus’s defence by herself once more.

“Let’s do it, one more time!” cried out Selene in response.

Not sure of what Selene was thinking, Khronoa though baffled, nodded her head with trust and signalled to the other members to initiate ‘Catenaccio Counter’ around Okumi who was screaming hysterically,

“Don’t get in the way of my love!”

HISSATSU TACTICS : CATENACCIO COUNTER

𝔻𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝕂𝕖𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟 : 𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕆𝕔𝕖𝕒𝕟, 𝕐𝕦-𝕂𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕘

Daunted but refusing to back down, Selene stared down the army of blazing red eyes that were gazing down at her from the titanic whale emanating behind Okumi and dashed forward towards the opposing striker.

“Don’t look down on our will! You’re all strength and no technique you big brute!” shouted Selene while fighting with the much larger girl for possession of the ball.

Ugh.

Watching grimly as Okumi made her way past her, Selene got back on her feet as soon as she fell and felt her legs propelling her forward faster than she had ever run before.

Not realising the power that was emerging from her body, the golden specks in her eyes began to shine like small stars while soft, rounded black ears emerged from her head with an equally black armament forming around her legs that resembled a sharp blade. Pushing off the ground, a large boom resounded across the stadium as Selene kicked herself off a barrier of air, repeating this thrice more in a zigzag fashion until she appeared in front of Okumi whilst performing a smooth backwards flip

Moon Rabbit’s Dash!

Giving a kick to the stolen ball, Selene roared out with all her might

“Noa!!!”

Khronoa tapped her foot lightly against the ball that had just been sent to her with a wide cross from Selene. Eyes shining with a fierce light, she looked across the field at Themis who nodded her head in understanding and the duo abandoned the ball while running to the sides of the field.

No sooner had the two strikers moved out of the way, did their captain with cotton floss blue and pink hair come running up the field to send it soaring high into the sky with a powerful kick that summoned the earth in the shape of a large, sleeping woman. Already at the top of the mound of earth, Khronoa and Themis kicked the ball at each other creating a clash of white lightning that destroyed the ground beneath them and sent the ball racing down the slope of the sleeping woman’s back and straight for the goal.

TREMOR OF THE SLEEPING GODDESS!

𝔻𝔸ℝ𝕂 𝕂𝔼𝕊ℍ𝕀ℕ : 𝕍𝔼ℕ𝔾𝔼𝔽𝕌𝕃 𝕊ℍ𝔸𝔻𝔼

[GOAL!! Zeus reclaims the lead with a powerful combination shoot by the efforts of captain Rhea Kikuchi and strikers Khronoa Yoshizawa and Themis Suzuki! A great pass and defence from midfielder Selene Otsuki as well! Zeus is keeping their dream of a first victory in Holy Road alive, let’s see if they can maintain this lead with 30 minutes remaining!]

“Damn!!” shouted Senna with venom dripping from his mouth.

He had seen that irritating Zeus midfielder zoning out like she was having some sort of main character flashback but still hadn’t been able to react fast enough in time to stop her.

“Damn it!” he repeated with more fervour in his voice.

This couldn’t be the end.

It just couldn’t!

Not after Nosaka had abandoned him with the other trash on this team. He had sworn at that moment he would crawl back to Outei Tsukinomiya no matter the cost and master the ‘Dark Keshin’ but while even Okumi had managed to summon the power of the ‘Titan of the Ocean’ he remained unable to do anything during the match…

Staring at the horrifying true faces of his teammates, Senna grimaced.

Was he just as mediocre as the rest of them?

It couldn’t be…

No, no no no no no no!

The sclera of his eyes turning black, Senna’s eyes turned progressively more snake-like as his voice became increasingly hysterical as he faced his teammates.

“I’m not like the rest of you!

“I…I’m special!”

“I swear it, I’ll consume you all and take all that you have for myself! All your talent will be mine Nosaka! I swear, I swear, I swear, I promise!”

Grabbing his face as a large snake tattoo began to overtake it, Senna ignored the whistle indicating the kickoff and felt a low hiss echoing in his mind,

“Eat…Consume…Suck…Devour…Hungry…”

Slurping up the wave of saliva that rushed into his mind, Senna looked around wide-eyed as he spied Okumi once again trying to power her way through ‘Catenaccio Counter’ by herself. Dashing forward to interrupt the Zeus midfielder, Senna found his face only centimetres away from Selene’s and he grinned.

“Not this time, ‘Lunar Rabbit’!”

Then, turning his back to block Selene he shouted furiously at Okumi,

“Okumi, NOW!”

𝔻𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝕂𝕖𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟 : 𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕆𝕔𝕖𝕒𝕟, 𝕐𝕦-𝕂𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕘

Seeing the ‘Dark Keshin’ so close up, Senna found himself mesmerised by the girl and her titan’s beauty and he wondered to himself calmly,

If I cut open your head and eat everything inside will I be able to use that power as well?

“Hungry…so hungry…” hissed the unknown voice in Senna’s head, louder this time.

“Hungry, hungry! Eat! Consume!”

Eyes now fully black, Senna felt a dark shadow surround his entire body and coil itself around him and reach upwards into the sky. With muddy green and black scales, the figure rose higher until two ripped wings emerged that led to a head, if it could be called a head. Rather than a face, instead, four fangs that were dripping a mysterious purple liquid, surrounded a mouth which began to screech hideously while shaking from side to side as if the body could not support the weight of the mouth-face.

𝔻𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝕂𝕖𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟 : ℕ𝕚𝕕𝕙𝕠𝕘𝕘, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔸𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕒𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕄𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕖!

Feeling a surge of cold water enter his veins, Senna mimicked Okumi’s movements as she began by smashing her right foot into the ground. Then propelling himself onto a shadowy whale conjured by his keshin, two powerful whirlpools emerged to wash away the Zeus members with the torrential floods as Senna and Okumi shouted together,

DEEP SEA CALL : DOUBLE DRIVE!!

Brazen Theft!

Looking on as the ball smashed Prometheus into the back of the net with a destructive crash of water, Okumi joyfully picked up Senna and put him on her shoulders in celebration as she ran around the stadium.

“Kaibushi-san! They love us! They love us so much!”

“Put me down, Okumi!!” shouted Senna nervously as he began to sweat. However, as Okumi ignored his words and continued to parade the duo to show off their new combination hissatsu, Senna’s words became increasingly more explicit until the Zeus members were left wondering what half of the words Senna was shouting meant.

“Ughhhh…” groaned Rhea as she got up disorientedly.

The team was seriously taking too many bashes during this match…

At this rate their stamina wouldn’t be able to keep it up much longer while on the other side of the field, the Susanoo members on the other hand still looked refreshed.

Picking herself back up, Khronoa helped Selene back up who had taken the full brunt of Senna’s side of ‘Deep Sea Call : DD’ and looked back at Prometheus who was standing up unsteadily and muttering,

“How are we supposed to defend against those ?”

Khronoa blinked slowly as hope began to flicker in the air like a candle fighting a gust of wind. Then biting her lip, she paused before opening her mouth to speak up,

“We’ll just have to do it somehow! We’ll keep a tight lock on Kaibushi-san and Kujira-san so lighten up the pressure on the other Susanoo members! We have no choice now…”

Then, silently whispering to herself below her breath she continued,

“We need to win…We have to…”

Looking at her injured teammates who were struggling to stand due to the devastation of the ‘Dark Keshins’ Khronoa thought to herself grimly.

Not only was their dream to win the Holy Road on the line, she had promised Selene that they were going to become the best soccer duo in the world! And while she didn’t know what Nosaka’s motive was, if Outei Tsukinomiya was allowed to continue Project Mars then even more terrifying teams like Susanoo Academy were sure to emerge so they had to be stopped! Before all the soccer they knew and loved was changed forever…

Playing soccer was the best decision she had ever made, and Khronoa had never regretted accepting Selene’s offer to play on the same field so there was no way she was going to let that be taken away from her or her teammates!

Their dream wasn’t going to end here!

Tweet Tweet Tweet

“Themis!”

However, no sooner had Khronoa sent the ball for a short pass did a dark shadow emerge to intercept the ball before it could make its way towards the other Zeus striker.

“Feeling tired Ms.Saintess? You should just roll over then and let us finish this!” remarked Senna gleefully as he and Okumi began to race along the left and right wings respectively towards Zeus’s goal once more.

No way!

She couldn’t let her teammates block another one of their shoots, but if they scored…then the match would be over!

Starting now, you can call me Selene! We’re going to be the best soccer duo in the world!”

Those words from that day…

Changed Khronoa’s life for the better.

Khronoa had never known it could be so much fun to play as a team of eleven and the Zeus Eleven had all become people she cared deeply about. Without them…

Where would she be now?

“I’m going to protect our dream!”

Making this declaration, Khronoa accelerated in a straight line and with a full-powered spring found herself facing the demonic whale and serpentine figures wielded by Okumi and Senna.

Even if she had to sacrifice herself…

Susanoo wouldn’t score anymore today!

DEEP SEA CALL : DOUBLE DRIVE!

Standing in front of the powerful shoot, Khronoa stood firmly and waved her right hand in front of her. Summoning forth the golden-white gales and majestic, bright winds to envelop the double whirlpools, Khronoa groaned as it felt like her body were on fire with enormous power struggling from within her body, trying to escape but with nowhere to go it instead caused immense pain that caused her to almost lose consciousness.

“What’s strongest doesn’t stay that way forever but the next strongest thing is always waiting inside of you!”

Holding on, Khronoa felt her skin begin to burn up under the intensity of the light and began to hear shouts in the distance.

“Nee-chan!”

“Khronoa!”

“Yoshizawa-san!”

“NOA!!!”

The shouts of her teammates were like cold water that filled Khronoa with new strength and using the last bits of her willpower she let out a strong shout,

WHITE…

HURRICANE!!

Eyes closing as the world began to dye in blackness, Khronoa whispered weakly to Polus as the ball headed towards him slowly,

“I’m sorry….I’m leaving it to you guys…”

“Yoshizawa-san!”

Though Polus liked to mess around with his teammates, seeing Khronoa flutter onto the ground like a piece of paper made his heart begin to beat with rage and giving a stare of death to the Susanoo midfielders he kicked the ball with his right foot eight times causing a black cube to appear with a question mark of a different colour on each side. Giving the ball six more quick kicks with his right foot, 5 more cubes appeared and flew across the field in random directions until converging onto Selene.

Cube of Wonder!

Gritting her teeth, Selene’s eyes flashed once more while jumping up to trap the ball sent to her by Polus and long, black ears popped from her head once more. Dashing upwards into the sky, she arched her back as a luminous, full yellow moon appeared behind her. Completing the flip while giving the ball a powerful spike with the edge of her foot, the ball melted into the clear moon and like a tear of liquid gold falling from the sky, the golden teardrop increased in velocity as it slammed into the goalie.

Moonlight Drop!!

[GOAAAAAAAAAAL!!! WITH ONE MINUTE REMAINING ON THE CLOCK, MIDFIELDER SELENE OTSUKI SCORES THE THIRD POINT FOR ZEUS THIS MATCH!! IT LOOKS LIKE ZEUS HAS ALL BUT SECURED THE SECOND SPOT IN THE SEMI-FINALS UNLESS SUSANOO ACADEMY CAN PULL OFF A MIRACLE!]

“Ball! Ball!” screamed Senna as the race against the clock began.

𝔻𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝕂𝕖𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟 : ℕ𝕚𝕕𝕙𝕠𝕘𝕘, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔸𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕒𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕄𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕖!

DRAGON GENESIS!!!

Door of Origin!

Ghosts of Forgotten Past!

Hammer of Judgement!

“Don’t even think about scoring after what you did to Khronoa!” swore Rhea bitterly as she moved to intercept the long shoot from the Susanoo striker. Using Phoebe and Theia’s support, Rhea groaned miserably as the ball just barely stopped in front of her feet but let out a sigh of relief alongside the other two defenders hearing the final whistle.

Tweet Tweet Tweet

[And….THAT IS THE MATCHHHHHH!!! ZEUS WINS 3-2!! A FIERCE BATTLE WAS RAGED BUT THE GODS OF ZEUS ACADEMY REIGN THE VICTOR! CONGRATS TO OUR SECOND SEMI-FINALIST TEAM FOR MOVING ON! WE’LL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO THEIR SEMIFINAL MATCH AGAINST RAIMON NEXT WEEK!!]

Ha…

Collapsing on the field, Selene felt her chest heave up and down strenuously as they took in their victory. Only taking a few moments to rest, she forced her body to move so she could ask Coach Hera about Khronoa’s condition.

“Khronoa will be fine, they took her to the local hospital just to be careful. After you all rest, we can go see how she’s doing, sound good?”

Arguing that it would be better to see Khronoa as soon as possible rather than after they wait, Selene was forced to assent reluctantly by Coach Hera and Khronoa’s parents who called and assured her that Khronoa was doing fine. Selene then trudged behind the other Zeus members who were all hesitant to celebrate knowing Khronoa was in the hospital right now recovering from the last ‘White Hurricane’.

However, pausing in the hallway to the locker rooms she barked out,

“Hey! What’s with the mood? You’re all acting like Noa is dead! If Noa were here, do you think she would want to see you all moping like a bunch of sad grannies! Let’s get changed quickly and then we can grab our stuff and go visit Noa-chan okay?”

Nodding slowly, the Zeus members began to loosen up and hurry back to the changing rooms as they excitedly began to realise that they were moving on to the semi-finals for the first time in Zeus’s history at Holy Road!

Falling behind though, Selene rested her back up against the wall as the shadows hid her from the view of any passerbys.

Though Zeus had won…

Could they truly say they had gotten stronger if it had required a sacrifice from their teammate?

Not sure of the answer, Selene rested her head on her arms melancholically as the loud sounds from the locker room began to emerge and drown out her thoughts.

A bittersweet victory.

******

“SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!” lamented Senna as Okumi carried him in her arms.

After losing the match, while the other members robotically marched off the field, Senna instead refused to leave the field as he cried and punched the field woefully.

“It’s not fair! It’s not fair, it’s not fair, it’s not fair, it’s not fair”

“ItsnotfairIt’snotfairIt’snotfairIt’snotfair!!!”

Crying so much, snot was now dripping from his nose and onto his uniform, Okumi was requested by the officials to remove the ‘disturbance’ from the field and so picking him up easily, she carried him away and entered the hallway leading outside when the two stopped.

Not sure of why his transportation had stopped, Senna looked up at Okumi’s face who looked shell shocked and jumped down to see who she was facing.

“Nosaka-kun?!”

“I see you still lack respect for your superiors, Senna-kun.” answered back Nosaka wryly[1]

“Ugh…”

Not wanting to face him after their humiliating defeat to Zeus, Senna looked away while Okumi was of no use and standing like a statue beside him.

“Congrats on proving yourselves to be utterly worthless in this match. I had no expectations of you all but somehow you still manage to disappoint.”

Gnashing his teeth together, Senna just barely managed to restrain his mouth while Okumi looked around nervously wondering what was going to happen to them. Watching Nosaka step forward to approach the duo, both closed their eyes subconsciously and were thus surprised when they felt a hand on their shoulder while Nosaka whispered gently,

“Don’t worry though, you’re both back on the team. While the two of you are…disappointing, we recently freed up some space after all…”

Shivering, Senna and Okumi nodded with their lips zipped shut as Nosaka waved for them to follow him back to Outei Tsukinomiya.