As Reo walked down the empty hallway of the school’s interior, posters lining the walls, as well as newspaper articles came into view. With every new step he took towards his new coach’s office, Reo reaffirmed how football crazy this town must be.

But Reo wasn’t of the same mind.

His peculiar interest in Shuna, may have given him a reason to stay in the team, but he was still unsure of how to proceed. He was undoubtedly interested in her, and his two newest friends were a part of the same team too, yet…

His past memories wouldn’t dare go to sleep. Reo feared for the moment he would step onto a pitch full of expectations again. Full of responsibilities and hopes.

What if he failed again? Never mind his crushed dreams… What if he wasn’t enough even for Hinami, right here, right now?

With a gulp, he knocked on the coach’s door, and was soon given permission to enter.

“Reo-kun?” Gonda raised a brow, his feet propped up on a chair, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. The room, resembling more of a shed than an office, was cluttered with ashtrays full of cigarette butts. Amidst the chaos, a sparkly clean object stood out – a shiny whiteboard with the layout of a football pitch. Magnetic dots, representing players, were arranged on the board.

“I’m here to—“

“Wait, don’t tell me.”

Gonda raised a hand and cut Reo off, putting out his cigarette in the process.

“Ah, coach?”

“You wanna quit, don’t you?”

Reo gulped, trying to comprehend his words. Was he that obvious during training? And if he was, why was he accepted into the team in the first place?

“You thought I wouldn’t notice?”

“Notice what… coach Gonda?”

Gonda rose from his seat and laughed heartily, almost as if he were joking. But soon, his expression turned serious again.

“Who you are.”

A silence longer, and heavier than the previous one ensued. Reo’s eyes widened, and his heart began beating harder than ever.

“Jyutani Reo, right? The young football prodigy that played his heart out at the U-14s tournament…”

“But… how did you know? I wasn’t that big a deal to have talk of me all the way here…?”

“Well that’s because I was there, at the U14s tournament. Watching from the stands. Your movements today made me sure of it.”

This couldn’t be. Reo had come all the way out to some random island, certain that nobody would have even heard of him… And not even was he dragged into a football crazy team, but his coach even—

“You got sick of it, and quit. After that injury you—“

“Don’t talk like you know me, Gonda-san!”

Reo couldn’t help but raise his voice. He didn’t need patronization or sympathy.

“Hey, calm down, I’m not your enemy.” Gonda sat back down at his chair, and folded his arms. “I won’t tell anyone about your past. It doesn’t matter to anyone here.”

Reo released a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“But….”

There was no way a but wasn’t coming.

“…I won’t let you quit, either.”

“Eh?” Once again, Reo stood awestruck.

“You’re going to play for Hinami Pirates. At least for a little while.”

“At least for a little while? But how long is—“

“Until you regain what you lost.”

“What does that even mean…?” Reo clenched his fists, his heart a storm of anger, resignation and maybe a little curiosity.

“It means you’re going to keep playing football, whether you like it or not.”

“B-but—“

“That is if you don’t want me to spill the beans to everyone.”

“…”

Reo lowered his gaze, and clenched his jaw. He was being manipulated, blackmailed but there was nothing he could do about it. All he had to do, was just play…

Football.

“I see how it is.”

“Well…” Gonda lit another cigarette and stretched. A smile stretched over his face. A gentle and subtle grin. “For what it’s worth, you’ll soon realize that playing for Hinami isn’t exactly bad. We have a huge fan base after all. Play well and you’ll realize how that feels like.”

With a final laugh and a flick of his wrist, he motioned to the door.

“Dismissed.”

Silently, Reo moved to the door, before coming to a halt at the threshold.

“And Reo-kun… trust me, try and enjoy it a little.”

❖  ⚽  ❖

“Pour one more, Mastah!”

“Ah, you sure?”

“Aye, mastah!”

“Well, if that’s what you want…”

In the cool, interior of a Japanese styled shop, Toraichi and Reo fiddled with their cups, while Totori was served his third ice cream for the night.

And yes it was ice cream.

After Reo was done, Totori proposed they celebrated at the small sweets shop just outside their school. In his words, the ice cream was to die for. Maybe that’s why he was stuffing his face with it?

“Won’t you get a massive brain freeze?”

“Nevermind that, his teeth will fall off before he turns 30.”

Reo and Toraichi shared their sentiments on the matter, but their friend was no longer listening.

“Haaah...”

Instead he was just basking in pure post ice cream bliss.

“So did you speak with coach Gonda?”

“…”

Toraich's words made Reo freeze mid spoonful.

“A-About?”

“About Saturday’s match. Did he tell you anything?”

“Nope, not exactly...” 

“What’s the match about anyway? I heard some people say it’s a must win on our way here.”

“Oh, it most definitely is.” The shop’s owner, a middle aged man brought over a few cups of tea, to the teenagers sitting and chatting by the counter overlooking the kitchen.

“Here, it’s on the house.” He smiled warmly, and placed a hand on Totori’s shoulder. “This one here is my most loyal customer after all.”

“Aw, mastah…” Totori wiped a few tears on his sleeve, as Toraichi scoffed.

“Well it’s not every day you get a customer ordering three deluxe ice creams..."

“He does that every day?”

The owner’s smile, and Toraichi’s look of contempt, betrayed two sides of the same answer.

Totori had a massive sweet tooth.

“Anyway!” The young man in question interjected, “Saturday’s match is a matter of life and death.”

“Life and death… you must be exaggerating.”

Totori grinned.

“Well you see, it’s actually simple. Saturday’s match is the second match of the preliminary tie. We uh… lost to Kame Hama away last week.”

“We did? I mean… you did?”

“Yeah it was a tough game, but we ultimately lost 2-1. However, the away goal rule is valid here, so we just need to score 1, and keep a clean sheet.”

Clean sheet was a term that referred to having no goals conceded for a team in a single match.

The away goal rule however was a more confusing term. In soccer, sometimes teams play two games against each other to determine who advances in a competition, one at each team's home stadium. If both teams have the same number of goals after these 2 games, the team that scored more goals when they played in the other team's stadium wins.

“But why are there preliminaries?” Reo couldn’t help but question. Naturally, Totori was delighted to fill him in.

“That’s because there are 12 islands participating in total, with a number of 14 teams. However, to honour the number of islands in the Hoshina Complex, only 12 of them get to participate in the Shinrin league every year. Thus, at the end of every season, the two teams at the bottom of the table, play against the other two teams that hadn’t participated in the league that season, in a playoff, and the winning pair joins the league for the next season.”

“Wow, that’s kinda…”

“Confusing?” Toraichi sipped his tea with his usual straight face. “We thought the same when we first learned about it.”

“Wait! So that means Hinami was in the bottom of the league last season?”

“Ah…”

“Haha…”

Toraichi averted his gaze nonchalantly, while Totori gave a dry laugh to the new kid’s very accurate question.

Don’t tell me. Reo raised a brow.

“You see, last year Hinami didn’t participate in the league.”

“What?!” Reo’s hands against the counter made the cutlery and cups clatter slightly.

“Two years ago, we finished last and last year, we lost in these very play offs.”

“Wow… And here I thought we were some kickass powerhouse.”

“Well, last year was bad luck. But I think that with the new first years that arrived, we got solid chances for a good campaign.”

“We did play in cup matches too.” Toraichi added.

“Cup… matches?”

More information? Reo got the urge to slam his head against the counter for some reason.

“It's a smaller competition than the league, but all 14 teams play in it no matter what.”

“So how far did you go last season?”

“Haha…”

Come on.

Reo was just about ready to wallow in despair with every new bit he learned about the Pirates. 

Much to Reo’s surprise, it seemed like Hinami and the other islands had gotten to great lengths into establishing an actually functioning, almost professional football format.

“But, don’t let that fool you.” Totori bounced back, his chest stuck out proudly. “Hinami is actually one of the most historically successful teams in the league.”

“They are? I mean, we are?”

“Ha! The good old days!”

The owner of the place, cried from the kitchen, his hearty laugh emanating closer with each step.

“When I used to play in the team, we had managed to win our 5th cup!”

“You played for Hinami Pirates too, Mastah?!”

“But of course!”

Totori eyed the tall, burly, and slightly plump owner of the sweet shops. He didn’t look exactly athletic, yet his stories were probably way in the past for him to look the part now.

Incidentally, only high school students could play in the league, so whoever graduated from school, was inevitably forced to retire from the team.

The four men stood in silence within the silent establishment, their attention suddenly drawn to frantic footsteps approaching the door. The sound of running feet grew louder and closer, culminating in a skidding and abrupt halt just outside the flimsy sliding door.

“Excuuuse me! Coming through!”

With a thud, the entrance slid open to reveal, a set of orange-colored twin tails, and a pair of green bubbly eyes.

“There you are!” Suddenly, that small cute round face broke into a grin, and her uniform skirt fluttered in the wind as she hopped inside.

“M-M-Ma-Maemi-chan?!”

Totori stuttered like he had forgotten how human speech worked, and for the first time since he met Reo, his boisterous attitude died down by the blush that crept up his ears.

“Maemi....” Instead of stuttering like the young man besides him, Toraichi gave a lazy, annoyed glare.

While the orange bundle of energy completely ignored her two schoolmates, as was clear by her school uniform, she grabbed a seat right next to Reo on the counter, and gave her order.

With a hop, she adjusted herself, and smirked, “… But, transfer student, Yuusaki Reo!” With a look in her eye exactly like a con-artist and a massive declaration, she pulled out a small notepad, a single tooth fang glistening in the non-existent sun.

“Yeah?”

“YOU are the ultimate scoop!”

“The ultimate… what?”

With Totori too stunned and embarrassed to speak, and Toraichi looking away in disinterest it seemed the new arrival would have had Reo all to herself, if not for…

“You idiot, what are you doing...?” Shuna, who angrily bonked her in the head with her fist. The recipient of the blow responded with a whimpering sound similar to that of a distressed cat.

“But! I sensed a scoop! The ultimate scoop! He’s the new addition to the team! ‘Maybe Hinami found their edge to victory? The mysterious young man!’ penned by Maemi Toraichi, the up and coming star of— UGGHH!”

“Stop talking so much, and calm down already.” Shuna exasperatedly resorted to violence once more, as she grabbed her friend’s (?) cheeks and pulled them out like you would a rubber band.

“Shuna, is she your friend?” Reo raised a brow, while he also thought back to her words carefully. Toraichi, huh?

“Unfortunately…”

“And, sister of…”

He then turned to the young man nonchalantly fiddling with his phone in the back.

“Unfortunately.”

“Why have I been disowned so readily…?”

“What was this about a scoop? And what are you doing here anyway, Shuna?”

“M-M-Maemi-chan is in the school journalism club…” Totori staggered, but didn’t miss his chance to provide information like always.

“And I’m here to make sure, she doesn’t talk your head off.”

“I won’t… I promise, I won’t Shuna-chan…”

“The journalist club, huh? That means you’re—“

“The greatest reporter Hinami has ever seen.” Without a moment’s delay, and seemingly having regained her vigor, the school journalist proclaimed with a proud grin.

“Maemi-chan, is in fact the school’s main reporter when it comes to sports…” Totori pointed out, as he sipped on a glass of water and managed to calm down.

“She’s a nuisance is what she is…” Toraichi muttered.

“Shadup, Onii-chan! Nobody asked for your input!” Maemi taunted her brother by sticking out her tongue.

From the looks of it, they seemed to be approximately a year apart.

“So, Yuusaki Reo-san!” The bubbly reporter straightened her back, an action that made her proportions stand out, as she averted her attention to Reo once more. “What’s your impression? Like it?”

“Hm, strawberry was nice.”

“She’s talking about the team, not the ice cream, genius.” Shuna remarked.

“Haha, you’re so funny Maemi-chan!”

Totori laughed, although Maemi didn’t say anything remotely close to a joke.

“About the team…” Reo scratched at his chin. Other than the abusive coach, or the snob of a captain? He thought, but of course he couldn’t vocalize his thoughts. Instead he shrugged.

“Dunno. Nothing in particular to say.”

“Come on, Reo-senpai! Work with me!”

“Don’t trouble Maemi-chan, Reo!”

“Shut up.”

Toraichi smacked Totori upside the head, his over-indulgence in his sister finally rubbing him the wrong way.

“Never mind that, I heard you managed to dribble past captain Housen in training. That couldn’t be true, right? You couldn’t get past the CAPTAIN… Riiight?”

Maemi’s tone was somewhat odd and her choice of words even more so. Shuna thankfully filled in the blanks.

“She’s got a weird fixation on Housen…”

She spoke in a hushed tone, as Maemi awaited for an answer.

“No comment.”

“Eh?! Come on!” She gritted her teeth, crossing off exageratedly over a few of her notes. “…I’ll just ask Onii-chan during dinner…”

After that little mutter of hers, Maemi continued with her questions regardless.

“Any words on the match against Kame Hama? Maybe a prediction?”

Now that was an interesting question. Reo eased back in his seat, as he eyed the silent Shuna, who had taken a bite out of Maemi’s melting ice cream.

A grin crept up Reo’s face.

Since he knew he would get the chance to play. And there was nothing he could do about NOT playing, there was but one route to take…

“Hinami will progress. And I will score.”

“HOOO!” Maemi’s eyes sparkled like a pair of stars, as her pencil seemed to catch fire from the speed in which it raced against the paper. “That’s great! Sublime! I knew you were a scoop!”

While the young girl giggled to herself, Shuna, raised an inquisitive brow.

“You sure are a narcissist, aren’t you, newbie?”

“A good narcissist does everything in his power to keep his word.”

Reo maintained steady eye contact, refusing to back down. The tension was broken by Totori’s loud, high pitched voice.

“Let’s go! Let’s beat Kame Hama! Hinamiiii, FIGHT!”

“I like the optimism.” Toraichi smiled slightly from his corner. “Pour one more, master! And put it on Toto’s tab!”

“EH?! Why mine?!”