Boom Boom Boom
[HELLLLOOOOOOO SOCCER FANS!!!]
CHEER CHEER CHEER
[WELCOME LADIES AND GENTLEMEN TO THE 2XXX HOLY ROAD FINALS WHERE THE TOP 8 TEAMS IN JAPAN HAVE GATHERED ON ONE FIELD TO DECIDE WHO THE STRONGEST JR.HIGH TEAM IS IN THE NATIONNN!!!]
CHEER CHEER CHEER
[IT’S FINALLY THE MOMENT YOU HAVE ALLLLL BEEN WAITING FOR!! WITS, SKILLS, STRENGTH AND LUCK WILL BE NEEDED AS THEY FIGHT TOE-TO-TOE IN MATCHES THAT WILL HAVE YOU AT THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT!!]
[AND NOW…]
[I AM PROUD TO INTRODUCE OUR EIGHTTTT FINALISTS!!!]
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE
[FIRST UPPP…THE BLOCK A VICTORS…THE TERRIFYING MASTERS OF THE ‘DARK KESHINS’. ONE OF THE THREE REMAINING, UNDEFEATED TEAMS IN THE TOURNAMENT, THEIR NAME HAS CAST A HAUNTING SHADOW ON THE SOCCER WORLD AFTER DEFEATING THE SPANISH NATIONAL TEAM ‘RED MATADOR’…
OUTEI TSUKINOMIYA!!!]
Turning around in the hallway leading up to the field, Nosaka sucked in a deep breath that only Haizaki could hear.
He wasn’t nervous.
It was the moment he and Haizaki had been preparing for a year now. Everything they did was for soccer’s sake…
There was no reason to be nervous, he repeated to himself…
If they had even the slightest trace of hesitation they would never be able to win against them . Shuddering at the memory, Nosaka’s fingers began to dig into his palm and he made eye contact with Haizaki quickly before turning his blank, grey eyes to the rest of the team he had gathered so diligently.
This was the team that he was betting everything on. If this didn’t work…
Nosaka closed his eyes and shook himself free from the grasp of his self-doubt, then smirking he raised his right hand and the eleven Outei Tsukinomiya members walked onto the field to the sounds of cheering and booming fireworks.
[NEXT UP ARE THE RUNNER-UPS FROM BLOCK A, THE MIGHTY GODS OF ZEUS ACADEMY!!! WILL THEY BE ABLE TO SECURE REVENGE AGAINST OUTEI OR WILL THEY FALL FROM THE HEAVENS ONCE MORE??]
Khronoa, who was standing in the middle of the Zeus lineup, looked up upon hearing the announcer declare their school’s name. Holding her hands in a triangle in what appeared to be a praying position, she attempted to find mental tranquillity amidst the overwhelming noises of the stadium.
It was too late however, and she found herself seconds later swept up with her other team members, waving to their fans from the field.
[THE VICTORS OF BLOCK B, ‘THE GUARDIANS OF THE NORTH’, HAKUREN JR.HIGH!! KNOWN FOR THEIR IMPREGNABLE DEFENCE THEY HAVE YET TO LET A SINGLE GOAL THROUGH IN THE PRELIMINARIES…BUT WILL THEY BE ABLE TO KEEP UP THIS STREAK IN THE NATIONAL FINALS??]
Jumping up and down like a bird leaving the nest for its first flight, Tsukishiro rounded up the members before having them waddle behind her as she led them onto the field with a bubbly smile that showed no sign of stress or apprehension, even stopping to pose for the reporters while making sure show off Hakuren’s sponsors.
[The runner-ups of Block B, Dragonlink!]
“WAIT??? That’s it??”
The captain of Dragonlink, Kotaro Yamamoto, hearing the lacklustre build-up for their entrance, became an unconsolable puddle of tears and was dragged onto the field by his teammates.
“Come on, Captain. We’re up against Eisei Gakuen. Let’s just appreciate making it to the finals!”
“B-B-BUTTT WE’RE THE LEGENDARY DRAGONLINKKKKK. WHYYYYYY”
[THEY’RE HERE FOLKS! JAPAN’S REIGNING CHAMPIONS!! THEY HAVE BECOME THE DEFINITION OF STRENGTH. THEY ARE THE–]
[...]
[...]
The two announcers in the commentary box fell silent interrupting them, first a blue head could be seen emerging from the shadows.
Next red…
White…
Black…
With an unbothered expression on his face, Seiryuu made eye contact with the other captains with Tsukishiro waving genially back at him, while Nosaka was the only one to return his gaze, giving the other boy a cryptic look.
Following close behind, Suzaku did a smug hair flip as she basked in the limelight. As the main character team it was important for her to show the other teams that Eisei Gakuen wasn’t a team they could mess with and thus it was common sense that a hair flip was only done by confident people!
Meanwhile as Suzaku chortled gleefully at her own genius, Haruka wet her lips with excitement while Daigiichi who was standing beside her, was checking on their siblings to make sure no one got lost on the way to the field, specifically Doi.
With the entrance of Eisei Gakuen, the entire stadium had fallen silent, as if in unison their breaths had been stolen from them.
There was no need for their introduction.
Everyone knew the name of the ‘4 Celestial Guardians of Japan’.
Shaking his head free from the spell of awe, the commenter quickly recovered and rapidly tried to remember where they were supposed to be and accepted the note cards they had made earlier from his partner.
[ANNNDDDD WE HAVE THE SCHOOL THAT STARTED IT ALL FOR JAPAN. HOME TO MANY LEGENDS OF INAZUMA JAPAN INCLUDING ‘THE GOALKEEPER OF GOALKEEPERS’ ENDOU MAMORU AND ‘THE WIND OF REVOLUTION’ MATSUKAZE TENMA….IT’S RAIMON JR.HIGHH!!]
“Alright you scaredy-cats! Don’t be nervous, just follow my lead, backs straight (I’m watching you Makoto!) and don’t even think about embarrassing an angel like myself out there! Hmph!”
Giving her best effort at what she thought was as close to a perfect inspirational speech possible, Serika flicked her hair such that the light reflected off the platinum-blonde strands and blinded the Raimon members before beginning to strut behind the guide boy assigned to them by the JYSA.
Stepping onto the field, Mika took a sideways glance at the other teams that had already lined up as they awaited a speech from the current head of the JYSA, Sakuma Jirou.
Yuuma Nosaka…a boy with no past according to the intel her family had provided…
Rhea Kikuchi…a famous defender that had made Zeus a considerable powerhouse in Japan once more. Not to mention their ace striker Khronoa Yoshizawa, who was considered Zeus’s counterpart to herself; the two girls both being second years who were currently ranked just below Seiryuu as top strikers in the nation.
“YOOOHOOOO!!! MIMI-CHANNNNN~~~”
Tsukishiro…well she was the same as ever. Sweatdropping, Mika ignored the tall girl who was hollering at her trying to grab her attention.
Kotaro Yamamoto…not a threat to Raimon in any way. Pass.
Finally, her eyes swept past the marine-blue hair that was rustling due to the slight breeze that had settled in the stadium. Still feeling awkward due to how their last meeting had ended, Seiryuu continued staring straight ahead while she recognised Daigiichi, who was giving her a wide smile and mouthing.
“Hey Ojou-Sama!!”
Settling in line behind Serika, Mika calmed herself and stood up straight, refusing to allow the palpable tension in the stadium from disturbing her inner thoughts. It was useless to worry about things that were out of her control now.
Sigh
[WELCOMING up next… give your hands for Susa–…]
10 Minutes Later
Giving a magnamious wave to the crowd, Sakuma Jirou put his right hand behind his back and his left on the podium while congratulating the teams for making it as far as they had come. Then, after wrapping up a rousing speech, he called for a final applause for the present 8 teams while declaring,
“LET THE EXHIBITION MATCHES BEGIN!”
Eisei Gakuen v Susanoo Academy, Exhibition Match, Holy Road Stadium
Leaning on one of the stair railings, Yuka gave a look mixed with both horror and disgust as he watched the Susanoo members begin to get into their positions on the field.
He had never seen… things like that before.
Standing on Susanoo’s side of the field were 8 grotesque, humanoid figures that resembled geometric shapes of all kinds. With twisted features, two shapes that appeared to be eyes and purple, translucent skin it took some time for his mind to attempt to connect what he was seeing to reality. Not wanting to look at the creatures any longer, he shifted his view to his left and right where no one else seemed to notice the hideous monsters and settled his gaze onto Nosaka who was giving him an enigmatic half-smile.
“What the hell are those things?”
“So you can see them after all.”
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Pausing, Nosaka closed his fingers around the railing and his face hardened as he began to speak in a serious tone.
“I warned you, didn't I? That the ‘Dark Keshins’ aren’t something you can handle right now. Well, the ‘Dark Keshins’ aren’t just something that you summon out of thin air and use as you please. As you can surmise from the name…
Hmm…
Let’s just put it this way...
Have you ever gotten something in life without paying a price?”
Nodding slowly in understanding, Yuka didn’t even blink as he asked without hesitation,
“So how do I get one?”
Nosaka chuckled hearing the answer he had known he would receive and responded,
“Yuka.
You already know that when we play soccer, our emotions are magnified many times over and this can manifest itself as a ‘hissatsu’. Pure power taking on a visible, tangible form that can break all the known laws of our world...
However, some of us have a more potent, pure and condensed form of power.
And do you know what I’ve found?
That in each and every case, the source of this power was derived from negative emotions that had twisted and stretched at the bounds of our world like nothing we had ever seen before. And when you continue to nurture this energy, it twists and twists and twists…”
Snap
Snapping his fingers with dramatic flair, Nosaka smiled once again and his eyes half-closed as he whispered,
“And just like that…the boundary of our world breaks.
Furthermore, if the energy is potent enough, it can even continue on, beyond our world until it finds a new world to forge a connection to…”
Realising where this was heading, Yuka’s gaze cooled as he cocked his right eyebrow…
“And if the energy isn’t strong enough?”
Nosaka’s eyes had a touch of wryness as he angled his head towards the stadium knowing Yuka already knew the answer to that question.
“As you can see here, some aren’t able to handle the rebound from the explosion of power and well…if you believe in souls then I’d say it breaks but if you don’t believe in souls then even I don’t know what to tell you. After all, only a select few are able to see the ‘true forms’ of those who have unsuccessfully attempted to wield the powers of the ‘Dark Keshins’”.
Face brightening once more, with this Nosaka patted him on the shoulder and left to prepare for the exhibition match with Hakuren leaving Yuka alone, watching silently as Seiryuu let out a roar that could be heard even from where he was standing.
DRAGON GENESIS!
Currently, Other Side of the Stadium
“Is it over already?”
Galahad turned his head to where Mika was sitting back down in her seat after being dragged away from seeing the Eisei Gakuen vs Susanoo match to go to the bathroom with Serika because the other girl insisted she needed company to use public facilities.
“Yeah…It pretty much ended before it could even begin. Seiryuu-san got possession of the ball, used ‘Dragon Genesis’ and it was over.”
“An accurate summary, Yozora-kun but extrapolating the data from their preliminary matches, it should have been well within Susanoo Academy’s abilities to block that shoot from such a terrible angle and distance. So it seems like what any smart team would do…they’re hiding their abilities from us. A shame but the only logical thing to do.” interjected Kenji.
“What’s the point of these exhibition matches anyway if they’re not going to try?” asked Gabriel while munching happily on a set of onigiri he had packed for himself last night knowing there would be no time to eat breakfast today.
“I believe the tradition originated with the new head of the JYSA, Sakuma Jirou, who thought it would be good for publicity and another way to draw in new audience members by pitting the top seeds of each block against each other in ‘warm up’ matches before the actual tournament begins tomorrow. This is why the matches function similarly to our practice match in Hokkaido under ‘first blood’ rules. The first team to score a goal wins or if neither team has scored at the end of 30 minutes, the match will be declared a draw.”
Pushing up his glasses out of habitat, but much to Serika’s irk, Kenji began to add on to Mika’s explanation and continued,
“It was also supposed to be a courtesy for the second seed teams to see the capabilities of the higher seeded teams and put everyone on a more even playing field but as you would expect, most teams wouldn’t shoot themselves in the foot like that so the exhibition matches usually end up being pretty uneventful. In any case though, with Hakuren being our upcoming opponents tomorrow we should watch the next match as carefully as we can to see if we can glean anything new that will help us.”
Mika touched her bottom lip thoughtfully hearing the last part of Kenji’s explanation. While she knew logically, and looking at the history of the Holy Road exhibition matches this was true, she had a strange suspicion that this would not be the case for the upcoming match…
Hakuren vs Outei Tsukinomiya. Exhibition Match.
A strange air had descended in the Holy Road Stadium as the two undefeated teams readied themselves for the start of the match. Despite it only being for exhibition purposes, the temperature in the stadium had fallen to sub zero degrees and Mika felt her fingers begin to numb as the cold wind bit at her digits.
Surprisingly, it seemed that Tsukishiro would be starting and she had to wonder how the older girl would fare against the up and coming Outei, whose name had spread across the globe. No matter how confident the Hakuren captain was, they would be hard pressed to counter the ‘Dark Keshins’ with the skills they had shown in the training camp against Raimon.
Glancing to her right, she saw Leonidas watching the match intently and impulsively began to reach out to grab his left hand that was twitching nervously but then retracted her hand back before he could notice, wondering exactly what her body was doing. Instead, she yipped out a cold, “Watch the match well” to him and refocused herself to the field where the starting whistle had already indicated the match was beginning.
[It seems Outei Tsukinomiya is starting with an offensive-oriented 3-3-4 formation, which is certainly a bold decision by their captain, Nosaka Yuuma! However, this could pay off considering Hakuren’s notoriously difficult to break defence so let’s see how this plays out for Outei as their forward, Asami Matsushita makes a beeline for the goal as we speak!]
Quickly swerving to the left to avoid Hakuren defender, Kichiro Kawabe, Asami saw Haizaki roaring to pass the ball but ignored the silver-haired striker and showed off her sharp teeth that glinted maliciously in the light while kicking the ball straight upwards with ferocity as it began to glow with pink-golden flames.
Soaring upwards, Asami’s purple hair lit up like a raging flame as she began to kick the ball in a spherical shape in the sky with each kick adding more momentum to the ball until finally the sky was cast black. From the darkness, emerged a pink cloud as a terrifying boom could be heard from the audience,
Letting out a wild yell, a girl’s ecstatic voice could be heard shouting,
THE EXPLOSION!!
However, matching her energy, a spiky-haired boy with his characteristic venomous, red eyes licked his lips and watched as the explosive shoot approached the centre of Hakuren’s goal zone.
Absolutely fucking pathetic.
He couldn’t believe this was what all the ruckus was about.
Moved by how shitty the approaching hissatsu was, Ryoga dug his feet into the ground while putting his hands in his pockets.
GAHAHAHAHA
Hisssss
As the ball rotated, it slowly began to lose momentum while a soft sizzling sound could be heard from Ryoga’s abdomen that he had used to block the hissatsu shoot burning a hole in his uniform.
Yawning, Ryoga pointed to his exposed six pack and flipped off Asami while rolling his tongue out before declaring
“Low diff motherf—”
“Mmmpppfffh!!!”
“TSUKISHIRO!!!”
“Teehee~~ Language Ryo-chan!”
From the stands, as Mika watched Tsukishiro dash back to the defensive zone to block Ryoga’s mouth before he could get yet another yellow card for offensive language this season, the Raimon team simultaneously sweatdropped as the other Hakuren members all let out a sigh of relief Tsukishiro had the sense to run back in time before Ryoga could cause the team any more trouble.
Though the match started out with a literal bang, following this exchange both teams began to play more cautiously, until with 10 minutes were left on the clock, Nosaka decided extending the match any longer would no longer bear any fruit. Even though he acted like an idiot, Ryoga Katata was the only player he had determined to be a threat on the Hakuren team and judging from his performance today the Hakuren defender had no intentions of showing up the cards he had hidden up his sleeve anytime soon.
Barking an order to the offensive line, Nosaka turned to fellow midfielder, Kairaku, who in most scenarios was at least more reliable than Tamaki even if the skill levels were incomparable.
“Ignore Katata-san for now. All you need to do is carry it down the line until Tamenaga #5 moves to force you centre. You’ll know what you need to do when that happens.”
Excited to finally get his orders, a boy with long, dark orange hair that looked as if it had not been brushed in many months, did a handstand before readjusting the camera attached to his head and finishing up with a salute.
“Sure thing, boss! I’ll make sure to make it as flashy as possible!”
“I didn’t say you had to—”
“GWAHAHAHAHAHAHA”
Sigh
“I’M GOING RIGHT DOWN THE LINE HAKUREN! GET READY FOR THE GREAT KAIRAKU ENKAIIII. ARE YOU WATCHING EVERYONE? IN JUST 10 SECONDS YOU’LL SEE JUST HOW AMAZING MY SOCCER SKILLS ARE YOYOYOYO!”
Resisting a facepalm with all his might, Nosaka ignored the orange buffoon that was making a ruckus to his right and began to position himself to be ready for a cross from the other midfielder.
“Ryouhei!”
Using the silver-haired forward as cover, Nosaka watched as Kairaku somehow managed to make his way into his position and crossed the ball across the field to Haizaki who was waiting centre field where he was marked by the waiting Ryoga who swore upon realising they had already been caught in Nosaka’s trap.
There was no way he would be able to stop Nosaka and Haizaki without revealing his new hissatsu…
DARK KESHIN : Ankoku Shin Dark Exodus!
Maou no Ono!
As an enormous, violet-enshrouded axe fell on the ground cracking the field and blowing back the other Hakuren defenders, only Ryoga was left standing as the shadowy figure summoned by Haizaki picked up the axe and slashed downwards, sending the ball flying to the far corner where Nosaka was waiting for it.
Even if there was less than a 0.1% chance of them losing, Nosaka wouldn’t take any chances. They would need to eliminate Ryoga Katata before he could potentially become a threat to Project Mars.
Closing his eyes, Nosaka found himself in a blank white room, devoid of any objects. However, uttering the name of the owner of this room, the scenery quickly changed leaving Nosaka standing in murky swamp with a dark and muddy soil clinging to his legs as if trying to drag him beneath the turbid waves. As his body adjusted to the new environment, he began to feel an excruciating pain run through his body as he looked around and found himself now surrounded by a sea of purple, blue and white flames that licked at his body before dancing elegantly as if playing with him until a path parted among the sea of flames and from within emerged a large humanoid-figure whose face, or more accurately, faces could not be seen.
Holding his arm out in a futile attempt to protect himself from the flames that continued to produce black, billowing clouds of smog that blanketed the area he walked closer and closer to the figure until he stood in front of the giant.
Towering over Nosaka, the figure that was cast in flames of multiple colours seemed to be watching him for a moment before dying down to a simmering blue which revealed four arms that were crossed in front of the gigantic mustard-yellow body.
“You’ve returned”
“I need more power.”
“...”
“...”
Looking at Nosaka up and down with bemusement, the giant slowly opened his giant mouth with canine, sharp fangs and his stomach began, generating vibrations deep in the swamp.
HAHAHAHAHA
“Human folly truly does amaze me. You do not belong here. Leave now.”
Upon seeing the giant wave him away like an annoying bug, Nosaka could no longer remain silent and lost his cool. Seething, he began to shout,
“YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND! YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT I’VE LOST OR WHAT I NEED!”
However, before he could finish the second head on the giant which bore an expression of fury answered back,
“No….YOU are the one who does not understand. I do not care for your reasons. You humans are always the same…
Fire is both destructive and yet is the source of life. A forest needs fire to thrive. Certain seeds depend on it to germinate. In ages past, fire warmed the humani, allowing them to survive in harsh climates. This is the power of Fire. Fire has kept humanity warm and safe in their caves, hardened their tools and weapons. Fire has driven every great civilization, from the ancient world right up to the present day. Without the heat of the sun, this planet would be nothing more than rock and ice.”[1]
Turning his back to Nosaka, the three faces could no longer be seen and so only the giant’s voice rang out,
“I only grant these flames to those who bear the resolution to bear them. Now leave before I change my mind.”
No.
This wasn’t an option for him, he had risked everything to come here and so ignoring the giant’s words, Nosaka blindly began to run through the bog and into the flames in order to desperately follow the giant’s large footsteps and tripping, he could only plead,
“Please…”
Ha.
Letting out a sigh, the three headed giant’s last head that bore a pitiful gaze took a glance at Nosaka and relented.
“...”
“I shall offer you a taste of the flames you so desperately seek.
So go.
Bathe the world in flames and see what happens. However, I do not wish to see your face again. Leave and do not come back.”
Returning to the field with a gasp, Nosaka’s grey eyes burned with red dots in his pupils and he let out a roar,
DARK KESHIN : Gokuen no Asura! (Asura of Hellfire)
Yaksha Rekka! (Yaksha Inferno)
Lighting the field on fire, Hakuren’s side of the field quickly became a sea of flames that resembled the area Nosaka had just returned from and as if all life was being sucked out of the stadium, the red-hot flames surrounded the ball and then began to consume everything in their path as the ball and flames headed for the last defender standing in the way of the goal.
Smiling with satisfaction, Nosaka’s smile froze in place as he felt a chill run down his spine while a tall girl spun past him and let out a cold whisper,
“Know your place”
Gliding across the field, a cold wind came that began to sooth the scorching flames while a glowing path of blue ice that resembled bright sapphires covered the ashy path of flames until it completely suffocated the orange fire.
Continuing to spin on skates made of ice that had surrounded her cleats, Tsukishiro’s body began to dissolve into small, white snowflakes that disappeared in the maelstrom of ice that had now completely overtaken the field leaving no trace of the hellish landscape behind.
Reappearing throughout the storm, snowy apparitions that appeared to be Tsukishiro guided the ball on an icy path surrounded by hail and frigid gales to Outei’s goal. Then, rematerializing in the middle of Outei’s field, Tsukishiro gave one final kick to the ball from the side and sent it racing towards Umika who was foaming at the mouth with elation.
Yuki-onna no Mai! (Dance of the Snow Woman)
“Move”
Pushing aside Yokunaba and Kotarou who were moving to intercept the hissatsu shoot, Tamaki moved with some urgency, dropping his panda pillow for the first time in the tournament, and grunted softly as the ball slowly grinded to a halt against his left foot.
“Annoying”
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Ryouhei ran up upon hearing the end whistle, to Nosaka who was looking down at his palm where a tattoo of some kind had formed, and asked,
“What the hell was that?”
Closing his fist, Nosaka took a wary look at Tsukishiro who had just countered his new hissatsu and replied cautiously,
“The resonance is still too low…it’s still not the right time to reveal all our cards. Regardless, I got what I needed today…so it will suffice. We can deal with Katata-san and Tsukishiro-san at a later point assuming they can get past Raimon. I had assumed Hakuren’s ‘Winter Lady’ had all but retired but it seems we’ll have to redo our calculations regarding Hakuren.”
“Now come on, let’s go.”
Putting on a confident smile, Nosaka reminded himself to reward Tamaki for actually doing something useful for once when they got back to school while Yokunaba and Kotarou followed behind him to whine to him about Tamaki stealing the limelight today.
Everything was almost in place now.
Soon.
Current Time, Up in the Stands
“...”
A bit shell-shocked by what they had just observed, Galahad watched as Tsukishiro checked on Ryoga and the other Hakuren defenders for injuries before turning to Mika who was sitting with an unreadable expression beside him.
“Was Tsukishiro always that strong?”
Nodding slowly, Mika answered calmly
“I’ve told you before. Tsukishiro isn’t someone to let your guard down with. Have you ever stopped to wonder how someone like her isn’t ranked by the JYSA and yet was given the title of ‘Hakuren’s Winter Lady’?”
Serika, who was sitting directly behind Mika, leaned forward to rest her head on Mika’s shoulder and answered lazily before Galahad could reply
“Wasn’t she on the news or something for doing something in the Holy Road two years ago?”
“That’s correct, Serika. Two years ago before we all entered Jr.High, Tsukishiro earned her title when Hakuren Jr.High was put up against Raimon Jr.High in the semi-finals of that year’s Holy Road. With Tenma-san having already left for Argentina at that point, Nishozono Shinsuke was the only one left of the original Raimon Eleven that won the first Holy Road leading the team and had gained a reputation as Raimon’s ‘Guardian Deity’. However, shockingly it was reported that during the semi-final match, Tsukishiro was the only person in the entire tournament able to score a point against him. But because Hakuren still ended up losing, and Tsukishiro’s record since then has been…less than ideal, the JYSA has refused to rank her and now only the legend of her hissatsu ‘Yuki-onna no mai’ remains.”
“In fact, I believe this is the first time that we’ve gotten to see this hissatsu since she first used it two years ago!” shouted out Kenji gleefully as he made sure the video he had taken was saved successfully in his phone and began to analyse it in his seat immediately, barely able to contain his excitement at seeing Tsukishiro’s legendary hissatsu.
As the Raimon members began to chat animatedly about the exciting exhibition match, Mika felt her legs tense up and she touched her low lip apprehensively.
She had already known Tsukishiro was strong but seeing her battle evenly with that strange ‘Dark Keshin’ used by Nosaka only made her ever more cognizant of the large gap between them.
Was this what they called the distant summit?
Mika had never felt so…lacking before.
Realising just how far away she was from fighting with the best, despite her nerves, she also felt something else mix in her stomach. Touching her face, she widened her eyes as she found her lips turning upwards in what appeared to be a smile and quickly forced it down.
What was–
Shaking her head, perplexed by the feelings that were stirring inside her, Mika attempted to analyse the complex mixture of thoughts and emotions racing through her mind but was unable to come to a concrete conclusion at the moment.
Whatever this was would have to wait.
Their match with Hakuren was tomorrow and judging by what they had seen today, Raimon would need to bring out everything they had if they wanted to win.