One minute of additional time.
The ball hung in the air, spinning lazily under the lights of the stadium. The shouts echoed from the stands onto the pitch, but to Ohma Shidō, that was nothing more than background audio.
[ Raihishō Junior High 3rd Year FW, Ohma Shidō (獅堂 央真) 15y/o ]
*FW = Forward
Chest first, Ohma brought the ball down to his feet, the leather smacking against his laces with a satisfying thud. With a single motion, he twisted around his man with explosive speed.
Two more defenders converged, but Ohma's roll didn't slow. With a blazing feint, Ohma left them behind like leaves in the wind in a show of sudden acceleration that left the spectators bewildered.
The young forward was in front of the penalty area now. His teammate sprinted inside on the right, cutting a threatening line toward the goal. Ohma's eyes flicked to him, and he readied a perfect pass. It might have connected sweetly had he actually gone through with it.
Ohma stopped his foot on the ball, pulling it back toward him to cut onto his right side, the move aiming to bait the last man pressing him into a fatal misstep.
"Predictable," The #3 muttered under his breath, snatching the ball right from Ohma's feet mid-drag. "We've been lookin' at you the whole game. In a situation like this, you'd never make that pass, no matter how easy it was."
Ohma's stomach dropped to his feet. He was outsmarted. Already, the defender was looking up for the pass. Ohma tried in vain to stop him from clearing, but he'd already sent a perfect long ball to #6.
"For fucks sake…" Ohma cursed, immediately turning on his heel to the opposite side.
Ohma wasn't the most genius of players, but even he- who'd been playing for all ninety minutes- knew that the biggest threat on that very pitch was #10. He sprinted back, his heart pounding in rhythm with his heavy steps as #6 lobbed the ball over Ohma's teammate. It was precise and intentional, and it was falling to the feet of the worst person it could have landed at.
[ Gintaka Junior High 3rd Year FW, Rio Kagamiya (鏡谷 理央) 15y/o ]
Ohma managed to get in front of him, his breath escaping as his jaw hung low. With bloodshot eyes, Ohma dropped his weight, leaning into Rio with his eyes burning with focus. His nostrils flared and his muscles coiled like a spring, prepared to explode the moment Rio took the ball down.
"I'll finish you," he slurred. But the ball clung to his foot as if falling into a cushion. It was controlled so cleanly by Rio that Ohma froze for the briefest fraction of a second. A fatal hesitation.
That was all Rio Kagamiya needed.
A crowd-stimulating elástico flicked the ball around Ohma's ankle and just like that, the path was open. Ohma turned to lunge at Rio, his outstretched arm reaching for his collar. However, Rio had already released the ball, and it curled straight to his teammate's feet with surgical precision.
"Nice pass, Kagamiya-kun!" His teammate called out with a big smile as the ball bounced gently off the side of his foot, before hammering it toward the bottom-left corner of the goal. The keeper leapt, stretched, but the ball slipped under him and thudded into the net.
The stadium erupted into wild cheers, the Gintaka Middle's cheer squad loudest of all. The supporters might as well have held hands in cheer as they jumped from their seats to roar for their team. The Gintaka boys all celebrated in a large huddle, lifting their forward up into the air in excitement.
Ohma barely registered the cheers over the pounding of his own heart. Gintaka was celebrating, but despite the jubilation, only one man on that team remained calm— unnervingly so.
Rio turned around, taking a few slow steps toward Ohma who was now slumped on the ground in disbelief. With cold eyes, Rio looked down at his opponent.
"Your style of football is repetitive and boring." He said, his voice sharp like a blade. "If your team had had a proper forward, I bet he would have capitalised on that last play."
Ohma's blood boiled. His hand tightened into a fist so tight that his knuckles whitened. He wanted to swing so badly. He wanted this guy to feel it, but he held back with grinding teeth.
"Keep that energy, Rio Kagamiya." Ohma snarled, "You'd better not stop playing in high school. 'Cuz next time, you're finished."
Rio's face didn't change. If it did, it would have shifted from a cold stare to a disapproving scowl. Despite that, Ohma still kept his eyes locked onto his rival. It was a stare laced with malice and vengeance. Rio would regret being so smug— that's what Ohma swore.
Rio broke the heated silence with a kiss of his teeth, turning on his heels to return to his team, who immediately began hugging and praising him for his efforts.
The locker room smelled of sweat, turf, and the faint metallic tang of adrenaline. The head coach went on about how everyone did the best they could over the low sobs of the players. The echoes of the stadium still made Ohma's ears ring.
Everything became static. Background noise. He couldn't even make out anyone's faces as his vision went blurry while his mind sunk into a deep ocean. In that ocean, Rio Kagamiya was just floating there. The final whistle replayed in his mind as if it was heard from above water. The sound was muffled, but it was still disturbing.
"Your style of football is repetitive and boring. If your team had had a proper forward, I bet he would have capitalised on that last play."
Those words burned into his memory.
His knuckles screamed inside of his fists as they tightened. That was just false. He wasn't the problem— he couldn't have been. I'm unbeatable, he thought. I'm strong, he thought.
Despite that, he still lost to Rio. It was the first time somebody had ever made him feel small and insignificant. Did he really fail?
No. His team was the problem. They couldn't keep up. Couldn't see the kinds of plays he wanted despite him being their undisputed ace. They didn't give him the ball enough. That's why they lost. Them. Not him.
His jaw clenched, and the coach's pep talk concluded. Teammates patted each other's back, voices hoarse from effort. Ohma didn't even notice. All he could feel was the heat of his anger and the spark of a new determination.
Next time… I'll destroy him… Next time, I'll show him who I am.
Eight months later, the gates of high school opened promisingly for Ohma Shidō.
The schoolyard of Hakuho High School bloomed in shades of green and pink. The cherry blossoms fluttered lazily from the trees, catching the spring sunlight before settling onto students' hair and uniforms. The air was lukewarm, a satisfying breeze massaging exposed skin. The courtyard buzzed with the calls of thrilled students talking to old friends, or recruiting new first years. Rows of booths lined the square, each one decorated with different banners, flyers and props. Upperclassmen waved enthusiastically, competing for the attention of the newcomers.
"Join the theater club!"
"Come on! Join the track and field club!"
"If you're Japanese, baseball is the way to go!"
Everywhere Ohma looked, there were different people with different interests. So much ambition. Everyone here seemed to have promising achievements ahead of them.
He stuffed his hands into his pockets, tilting his head at the chaos as he worked his way through the pool of people around him.
"Hey, you!" A voice rang out in his direction. When he looked up, a senior stood before him. He was pretty tall, only above him by an inch. He had broad shoulders and bulging biceps which threatened to rip through the sleeves of his gakuran. "Aren't you pretty tall? You should most definitely join the basketball club."
"Huh? No way, I'm not interested." Ohma dismissed him casually. "Sorry, muscle-senpai."
"It isn't muscle-senpai. It's Daichi Kugisaki!" The senior announced, a fist pressed against his own chest.
"Oh, well, either way, I'm not interested." Ohma repeated. "I'll be going now."
He wasn't interested in origami or debate or calligraphy. He came here for one thing. His gaze swept over the crowd until he spotted it. The simple but proud table with the bold sign:
FOOTBALL CLUB
Meanwhile, further away from this exchange, a group of three second-years stood around holding up piles of sheets with a badly drawn football on them.
"Football!" One called out freely, "Come join the football club!"
"Tokida-chan, that's not it, I'm afraid." The second told him.
"Then, how should I go about it?" Tokida asked.
"Starting now, step foot into the football club!" The second grinned, his thumb pointed up in utter proudness.
*What he said was 'サッカー部,差っから入れ' (Sakka-bu, sakkara ire). Sakka means "soccer", and sakkara means "right away".
"Uh, I think I've had enough of your puns, Sakano." Tokida sighed in exasperation, before turning to the third second-year. "Hey, Yoshi. You should project your voice a little more."
"Okay, if you say so." He responded monotonously, then called to passing-by first-years in the same monotone.
"Okay then." Tokida sighed. When he turned around, a large shadow loomed in front of his face.
"Are you the football club?" Ohma asked, standing over Tokida with his large frame.
"I wish we could have gotten more." A third-year girl sighed, sitting at the football booth alongside a third-year boy.
"We got five new applicants." The boy said, "It's alright, though. It means our squad will be that little bit deeper."
"That's a good point." The girl said. "Well, anyway, if we can win the Inter-High and Nationals this year, the legacy we leave for the underclassmen will be huge. They'll be a big deal."
"That's a crazy amount of pressure to put on the poor captain," the boy said, eyes narrowed as a bead of sweat traced his cheek. "Anyway, that's kind of my fault to begin with."
"You are the captain." The girl leaned back on her chair, a cute smile painting her face. "What's a little pressure? Are you getting soft, Mochi?"
"I'll do my best, manager-san." He said, sulking on the table.
"Anyway. It doesn't seem like there'll be any more coming along." The girl, who was apparently the manager, concluded, "Should we just…"
Again, Ohma's shadow loomed in front of the seniors- this time the captain and manager- as Tokida stopped behind him.
"I brought a new recruit, Mochizuki-san." Tokida announced quietly. It took the manager a second to realise the giant of a teenager standing in front of her.
"This is the football club, right?" The two third-years looked up at Ohma in bewilderment. It was like two rabbits cowering before a dragon.
"Uh, yeah." The manager nodded her head. Who is this kid? She thought. He has the intensity of a fire-breathing dragon.
"I wanna join." Ohma said, lifting his leg over the back of the chair and sitting down. His bottom slammed against the seat with enough force to make the captain flinch. The movement caused the chain necklace on him to shake, flipping the connected ball-shaped pendant over on the opposite side.
"Oh, well. I'm sure you're aware, but this school's team is quite fresh," the manager explained, taking a cup of tea from the side to give to Ohma while she did so. "Someone with your physique would be a great addition to-"
"I don't care." Ohma cut in, taking a few sips of his tea before it was finished. "When I put my name down, I can go right?"
As such, Ohma left down his name on the sign-up form in front of him. There wasn't anything under the 'reason for joining' section written down. Once he was finished, he stood up and left, underhanding the plastic cup into a nearby trash-can.
"Wait a minute, Ohma Shidō-kun?" Mochi called out, prompting Ohma to stop. "Don't you have a reason for joining?"
"Well, isn't it obvious for everyone who signs up?" Ohma asked after a brief pause, his head tilted to look at the two seniors. "This school is meant to be super strong, so I came here. Simple as that."
He scoffed, his hands now deep into his pockets as he marched into the school building.
"Oh, Ohma Shidō." Tokida repeated the name, having been standing there the entire time. "I know that name."
"You do?" The manager asked,
"Yeah. He was a big deal in his prefecture in middle school. Because of him, his school represented Gifu for three years at nationals."
"Gifu?" Mochi repeated, "Isn't that in the Chūbu region? Why would he come all the way from there to Tokyo, and to a school like this if he wanted to play football?"
"Who knows?" Sakano chimed in, producing himself, alongside Yoshi, right behind Tokida, which prompted him to jump in startlement. "But man, he just looks like one of those rare breeds, don't you think?"
"For a first year, he is kind of intense." Tokida commented, his head turned away to hide the embarrassment on his face after the jump scare.
"That, on top of the middle school prodigy we managed to get." The manager began, "This year's first-years are going to be ridiculous!"
The morning bell rang. Students shuffled into their new homerooms, murmuring greetings and sorting into their seats. Ohma claimed a desk second from the back, on the column that was at the window. He dropped his bag with a thud and scanned the rest of the room casually. He didn't notice the familiar dark purple hair behind him until a few seconds later.
When he turned around to make a double-take, his eyes widened with surprise and anger.
"What? Rio Kagamiya?!" He exclaimed, catching the attention of the students who were already in the classroom. Rio Kagamiya, the one who defeated him- and the one he swore revenge against, is at his high school? Rio's expression didn't change. His head only tilted back slightly, but he had the same unimpressed scowl on his face.
"Kagamiya, you know him?" Their classmate asked. It seemed to be a friend of Rio's.
"Uh, I just remember his face." Rio said, "His name isn't coming to me. Could you remind me?"
Ohma's eyes could only get wider at Rio's dismissal. Greatly angered, he stood up and slammed his palm against Rio's desk.
"I'm Ohma Shidō." He declared, "You better remember that. Because I'm going to destroy you."
Rio scoffed patronisingly, raising his brows.
"How will you beat me if we're going to be on the same team?" Rio asked him, with a facial expression that said 'dumbass'. Ohma recoiled, his palm slowly arching off of the surface of the desk as he considered Rio's words. Ah. Guess he's right. He thought, feeling a little foolish. Either way, he wouldn't back down.
"Well, we have to try out, right?" Ohma began, "In that case, I'll make sure you don't make the team. You'll have to transfer to another school, and I'll face you then!"
"Go ahead and try." Rio responded coolly, "You brainless lummox."