Less than five minutes were left on the clock and both girls still only had one point. Lin was now on a more equal playing level, as instead of kicking she continued punching the ball instead. No matter how hard she whopped the ball though, every time it'd get kicked right back by Ingrid's legs of steel. "No…No it can't…end like this…" Ingrid spoke in-between heavy breaths. "I'm not gonna let this end on a damn tie! All that training, I won't let it be for nothing!" Heavy amounts of sweat were dripping down her face. She upped her strength but seemed to neglect stamina training.

The peanut gallery cheered on their captain, louder and more energized than ever. "You can do it, Cap'n!" "Don't give up!" "Rip her face off!!!" It seems Katie had become motivated to cheer loudly as well, if Lin heard that last yell right.

Kick, punch, kick, punch, this was starting to feel a lot more like tennis than soccer. Time was ticking by though, it won't be long until they'd have to stop playing and Lin could get by without giving Ingrid an undeserved ego boost. Still, the repeated action got both boring and tiring, Lin slowly began zoning out, no longer fully focusing on the ball and instead aimlessly looking around to keep her mind entertained and lids open.

Most of the kids stood to the side, but there was one girl standing somewhat close to Ingrid's net. Actually, she was too close even. The girl was gripping at the rope and pressing her face right up to it. If Ingrid at any point missed the ball, it would bump directly against that weirdo's face as she stood right in the middle with her legs and arms spread wide.

Due to Lin constantly moving she couldn't quite make out the girl's features aside from her red dress and long…pink hair? Huh, cool. She's never someone her age with a completely dyed head.

…She looked familiar…Those were Lin's last thoughts before her vision suddenly grew dark.

When she opened her eyes again, Sieglinde found herself lying on an uncomfortable bed in the nurse's office. Lucia sat by her side, doodling something on a sticky note, when she noticed Lin slowly trying to sit up again she shrieked and nearly fell out of her seat in surprise. The sudden loud noise caused Lin to fall back down in shock.

"Lin! You're not dead!" The brunette said with glee as she wrapped her arms around the blonde. "I was so worried about you! Look, I couldn't draw a single straight line." Lucia handed Sieglinde the sticky note; it had a four panel comic on it. The first one had one squiggly line, the second and third have two squiggly lines and the last one depicted a vertical squiggle next to a horizontal squiggle. "That's how worried I've been…"

"What happened exactly? When did I…How did I get here?"

"Ingrid kicked the ball right against your head and you passed out. Luckily Mr. Mel was nearby and he carried you here as fast as he could. Uh, he did accidentally cause you to bump against walls a few times while hurrying though."

That would explain the pain in Lin's head…and legs. The blonde girl looked over at the clock, she was KO'd for a good while, it was already 2PM. Her legs felt heavy, but Sieglinde used every muscle in her body to stand up. She looked around the room and found her cardigan neatly folded on an empty chair.

"Lin? Are you sure you're alright to move?" Luc asked, "The nurse said everything seemed fine…but you did get a mild concussion. It might be better if you lie down for a bit more."

"I'll rest, but not here." Lin answered. "Any longer on that thing and I'll just end up with more pain in my back. I'm going home." She reached for the door and swung out face first, her still sensitive head bumping against something stiff yet soft. Lin looked up and saw a woman she absolutely did not want to deal with right now.

"Slept well, Neapolitan?" Ms. Hanagaki asked. "I've heard you had quite the tumble."

"Quite the- I got kicked in the head with a ball, not pushed down a flight of stairs."

"That sounds rather painful too, but not as bad."

Lucia pulled Sieglinde back, giving her a stern look to keep quiet. "S- Sorry, Ms. Hanagaki, but it's getting late and we were just heading home…" Lucia explained, her nails digging tightly into Lin's shoulder.

"That's actually why I'm here, kids." Yumeko responded in that strangely soft tone. "I've heard that Ms. Neapolitan here got a concussion…it's rather dangerous to walk around on your own in this state, let me drive you to shelter."

Both girls' jaws dropped, quickly scrambling for some kind of excuse as they why didn't want to. Before they could refuse however, their teacher was already grabbing them by the wrist and dragging them to her car.

This counted as kidnapping, right? Grabbing someone and forcing them to come along even when you clearly try to fight back. Then again, this is a trusted and known adult, she waved to the other teachers still chilling in the parking lot and explained where she was taking them, so it doesn't seem like the woman was taking them away in secrecy to enact violence upon them.

Perhaps she really is just showing genuine concern and wants Sieglinde to arrive home safely…but then, why was she driving the opposite direction of Lin's & Luc's homes?

"Miss? You're driving the wrong way. Our streets are on the other side." Lucia meekly commented from the backseat.

"I am aware."

"So then, shouldn't you be turning around and…"

"This is the way to my home."

"…Huh?"

Ms. Hanagaki fiddled with the car radio, no frequency was coming through so she put on a CD instead. It seemed to be personally burned as the front cover was covered with strange markings in sharpie. It took a bit for the disc to load but soon the radio started blasting Eurodance. Rather unexpected, it almost distracted Lucia from the fact that they were definitely getting kidnapped right now.

Sieglinde was starting to feel nauseous, at first she thought it was due to the music, but she seemed to be simply getting carsick. She cranked one of the windows open and leaned her head out a bit. The girl lay there for a while, breathing in the fresh air of the nearby forest.

Her conscious was slowly fading, her head throbbed and she suddenly felt so exhausted. Just before her eyelids closed together, she took note one last time of where they were. Yumeko was driving close to the edge of town, just where the town was beginning to end and the woodlands would begin.

There in the distance stood a large…red…house…

…Who was that standing next to it?