Chapter 4: To Betray, Or Not To Betray
"Towels, check. Sports drinks, check. First aid kit, check." I went over the unnecessary list Coach Nikaidou gave me. "Goodness, these are general things. I am not an amateur," I commented before glancing at the boys in red shirts and white trousers warming up on the field. "I'm better at manager work than some of them with soccer," I huffed.
"Did you say something, Sumire-san?" Dandou-kun asked with innocent curiosity beside me.
I shook my head, pulling a smile. "Not at all," I said and turned to the other boys. "Good work everyone," I told the ones that helped with setting up. Even with Mitsumiya and Chiyo-chan's help, I didn't arrive on time because of cleaning duty. Those that had time to spare lent a hand setting up.
"It's good to feel useful when you aren't playing in a match. It's like we are guests or something," Dandou-kun said, pumping his fists like a child. As the junior goalkeeper, he certainly had a lot of free time. "Manager is work is harder than I thought."
I nodded. "It's definitely harder than it seems as well. You get used to it with time."
"Gouenji wasn't able to complete Fire Tornado. Will we able to win this?" Nakai-senpai asked, walking over after he finished warming up.
"There's always next year, right? And most of us are first years anyway," Mogi-kun added, reaching for his foot as he stretched on the ground.
I frowned. "Didn't you--"
"We decided we'll aim for the Football Frontier, didn't we? If you make excuses at this time, you'll make them next year," Fukazawa-kun reproached.
I stared at him and hummed playfully. The boys changed the topic, and I turned back to the pitch, gaze setting on Gouenji-kun.
"He's definitely worried," I whispered. I took a step forward, leaping back as I realized my intentions. "What?" I yelped. "Why did I want to lift him up?" I shook my head and glared.
'Frustrating, isn't it? Not being able to answer your own expectations,' I thought. Biting my lip, I turned away as Nosei middle school entered the grounds.
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"What sort of team is Nosei?" I asked Yuuto a few days before the match.
"Putting it in few words, they are a team that specializes in air tactics." He smirked. "If they can't perfect Fire Tornado, they have no chances to win in their own game. But that only gives them a small chance."
I bit the other corner of my lip hard. Witnessing how our defense tightened, Nosei's agile midfielders snickered as they slipped between the players.
"Not even defending pushes them back for long," I said.
"They are like the wind moving between the cracks," Dandou-kun commented. As the reserve goalkeeper, we would also share the bench on a regular basis during matches.
I glanced around me. Dandou-kun was sitting beside me and the Coach was standing on the other side. Their victory or loss meant nothing to me but I was their manager.
"We are done, " Ishii-senpai said at Dandou-kun's left.
"Don't speak so fast!" I pressed, crossing one leg over the other and peering closer. "At least not until the first half."
The ball went back and forth, halftime beeping to a score of zero-zero. Everyone exhaled in unison.
"That's was so tiresome!" Dandou-kun exclaimed. "And I wasn't in the pitch!"
The players came back panting and sweating, a strong odor infesting my nostrils as they approached.
I covered my nose. "Ew." Standing up, I told the two reserve players to help with the sports drinks and towels.
When I returned to the bench, I saw a lone bottle and towel. Soon, I found they belonged to Gouenji-kun. Hissing in annoyance at two who didn't give him the items, I took them before walking up to said boy.
"Here." I handed the items with a small smile, his pained expression still stuck. I made a mediocre effort to cheer the boy in front of me. "Hold it there. I know you can do it."
"Do you have any ideas?" He breathed out after gulping down the drink.
"No, I don't," I lied, feigning guilty look. I placed a foot behind the other, tapping in a four-four time.
"Will you call time out if you think of something?!" He exclaimed, taking a step forward.
I took a step back, leaning backward under his expectant gaze. "The Coach calls timeouts," I pointed out nervously, my heart skipping a beat in surprise. I hesitated between looking away or facing him. We had paid our favors after all.
"I mean if you will tell the Coach to call timeout if you think of something," he rearranged his words, lowering his tone.
"That--That. . . um. . ." I blinked to think of an answer as information overwhelmed my brain: silence and pressure around us settled like a mantle; the internal pleasure of being begged, and the mental weight and consequences of my reply. My heart kept beating against my ribcage as an accompaniment.
"Why do you. . . want to win?" I asked, gaze unable to settle.
"Because I want to face soccer head-on," he replied without hesitation.
I stared deep into his onyx eyes: honest, pure, youthful; like a child. Then, my eyes drifted to the windows on the nearby building, locking with Ryuugamine-san.
Waking from an odd reverie, I quickly took another step back from the boy in front of me. "I will see what I can do," I told Gouenji-kun.
He nodded. "I'm counting on you."
The whistle rang.
I bit my lip and gazed at Gouenji-kun's leaving figure, glancing back at the windows.
Meeting Ryuugamine-san's gaze once again, she turned away and left.
I sighed dramatically. "Where relationships this hard?"
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Tapping my foot incessantly, I dwelled on whether or not to help Gouenji-kun. After that scene, the team had some expectation I would, staring as if I was going to be their savior.
I recalled the oldest Mukata's taunt before returning to the field: "It's not like you have to, like yeah. It's impossible for a manager to be that capable. Just focus on handling bottles and towels, like yeah."
My eyebrow twitched. I lifted my head to Coach Nikaidou. "Coach, you haven't given any orders yet?"
"I will when Nosei scores a goal or before it ends. Whichever happens first."
I nodded. "Then I will say something then," I said without assuring victory.
The worst case scenario occurred ten minutes in the second half. Nosei scored with Condor Drive, its speed surprising Nanzan-senpai. Coach Nikaidou told them to keep the defense strong, and to Gouenji-kun to use the incomplete Fire Tornado to score when the time was right.
"Take them by surprise," the coach finished with confidence. Everyone replied in unison. I told Gouenji-kun to remember the training and replicate what felt right. Making the hissatsu able to tear Nosei defense was important.
The first try was a complete failure. Not only because of its poor execution but because it gave enough time for the goalkeeper to prepare.
The soccer ball bounced off the frame. I sighed and facepalmed.
"Look out!" Gouenji-kun shouted, a little too worried. Opening my eyes, my view was filled with white and black pentagons before my nose screamed in pain and the world flipping on its head.
"Ah! Ahhhhhhh!" I covered my face, gritting my teeth to hold back the tears. The pain drowned the worried yells.
In a hurry, I pushed my body upwards with the other elbow, ignoring any hands in the corner of my eyes. I was taken to the infirmary when a drop of blood fell on the grass, stopping any protest.
After being checked for a bone fracture, I was given an ice pack and a towel to cover my nose. I refused to go to a hospital in case the anemia worsened the bleeding, but I reassured the nurse I would go after the match when I realized her genuine concern.
The nurse sighed with a smile. "All of you kids in sports clubs put the team in front of your own health. Youth."
I grimaced and looked away. "What will happen to the match now?" I mumbled to my company.
"I have no idea." Dandou-kun sighed in exasperation. His face fell and he twiddled his thumbs. "Maybe we should give up."
I fell silent. Being absent from the field caused anxiety to shake me from the inside. "If Nosei were to score a goal, we would hear the students yell," I muttered as if to reassure us.
"You are really worried, Sumire-san," Dandou-kun said with a smile, a hint of gloom in his voice. "I wasn't sure if it mattered to you even if you are always helping us out."
His words made me recall Gouenji-kun's a week ago: "I didn't take you to go out of your way to help someone." And if I was the person Yuuto said I was, being a manager was the job least suited for me. Unless I benefited from it.
"Do I?" I replied blankly, looking away. Kidokawa's win in no way benefited me, so I had no reason to help them. But. . . perhaps I did care. I was part of Gouenji-kun's efforts to master the hissatsu after all.
As if to tear through my doubts, a violin pierced through the awkward air. We lifted our heads, quiet. Seconds passed, a tune like a bird's chirp flooding the room, perhaps the whole building.
"The Lark Ascending," the nurse explained. "It's beautiful."
"Ryuugamine-san," I said in awe; she was the only violinist in the band. Each note was so rich and precise. "As if she was a bird, flying away from everything that ties us down. Subverting expectations. Someone that wants to leave this boring world." I clenched my fists, my chest filled with the same magnetism I felt the previous day. "It is the world people like Gouenji-kun want to reach."
And me.
Dandou-kun stared at me with a confused expression. Ignoring it, I stared upwards. I felt as if I was in a prairie, an endless blue sky spreading over my head. The dark, suffocating forest was nowhere to be seen.
"I played this piece that day," I realized. "I wanted to tell them that they too can stand out."
My lips tightened, and I stood up. I was fully aware I would regret the consequences but I would be a hypocrite if I stood by. Indeed, I was the person Yuuto described but there was an exception to this rule. And it started with him.
"Let's go, Dandou-kun. We have a match to win."
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Fifteen minutes before the match ended, the score had changed one to one. In the bench, Ishii-senpai was replaced with Kurobe-kun. The team kept the 4-3-3 formation.
I asked the member of the newspaper club who was recording the match to show me Gouenji-kun's latest attempt at Fire Tornado. To their protest, I told them there wouldn't be a match to write about if we lost and got what I wanted.
"I see. If we adjust this, he might be able to--"
I quickly asked the Coach his opinion and saw as the blub in his eyes lit up. Calling timeout, the players assembled.
"Boys, this will be the last play." He explained his tactic, slipping in the hint I found, and gave a final pep talk. "Play without regrets. Not because of the Football Frontier but because of soccer itself. That's why you are here, right?"
"Yes!" Everyone replied.
I met Gouenji-kun's expectant eyes, sparkling with youth and burning a desire to win. I knew he had done his absolute best with figuring the hissatsu and that that hope was growing thin.
"Gouenji-kun," I called, "This will be perhaps the last time I say this: Forget the manual, the drawings. Everything but what feels right." Yet, it was merely a hunch. It was through Gouenji-kun's effort that Fire Tornado had to come alive.
His eyes widened, and the team began to murmur among themselves. I continued. "We don't have visual records of the hissatsu but written and our imaginations. However, we have been so focused on imitating rather than creating. Hissatsus are like pieces of art. Give it your style. Follow your heart."
Gouenji-kun stared awestruck before staring at the Coach as if for confirmation. He nodded.
Gouenji-kun stared back at me. "Yes!" he replied firmly. A moment later, the team went back to the field.
I exhaled deeply. "If we lose now, at least I will be satisfied for doing all I could."
"Gouenji-kun may be the captain, but I can't deny you are more suited to lead the team, Sumire," Coach Nikaidou said.
"Eh?" I perked up. "Is that so?" I swiped my eyes around the grass, looking for an answer. Yet, I found nothing but reassurance and glee. I giggled bashfully.
Time moved backwards, the end of the match that will decide the club's future near. Ishii-senpai was able to steal the ball back, and the midfielders brought the ball forward with short passes. It was thanks to the triplets excellent teamwork that they reached the penalty area.
I noticed some hesitation to pass the ball to Gouenji-kun.
"You better make it, Gouenji!" the middle Mukata yelled, kicking the ball to the boy.
Gouenji-kun caught it and jumped to the sky. Using a different tempo, rotation, and leg, a string of fire wrung around him. The ball was covered in fire, blazing through the goalkeeper's hissatsu and into the net.
The end whistle blew. Cheers filled the school. The team jumped, some hugging each other. Students surrounded Gouenji-kun, burying him in a mass of euphoric congratulations.
I covered my mouth, nausea upsetting my stomach. Taking a step back from the joyful ambiance, now dull and distant, I realized I never belonged there until now, but I couldn't go back to being that man's spy.
I had become a traitor, and there would be consequences.
To Betray, Or Not To Betray | End