Prologue, To What, I'm Not Sure

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Something deep inside him compelled him to do it, and for once, he let go of his fear, and gave into his urges.

Heart beating fast, he took a deep breath and prepared himself. He jumped through the second floor window, while trying to reduce the impact, and land as comfortably as possible. Easier said than done. Brushing himself off, the small brunette gave a short glance above to his window, and decided no one would notice it was open. Immediately then, he bursted into a run as feet touched concrete, unable to hold in his excitement a second longer.

We made it!

That one thought, continuously repeated through his mind, filled him with joy, and that giddy feeling went straight to his legs, making him run even faster.

Tomorrow was the Deimon Devilbat's first match of the Kantou tournament, against the previous ten years' winner, Shinryūji Naga.

Sena still felt a small jolt of fear whenever he thought about the "genius player" Kongo Agon, but it was nothing compared to the terror he previously felt before his talk with Mizumachi. Now, he only wanted to make time go faster, and with that thought he ran.

He wanted to face Kongo-san on the field, the God Speed Impulse against his light-speed run. Though he still felt a bit angry at what Kongo-san did to Mizumachi, the football player in Sena craved for the challenge he presented.

Still running, he turned a corner, eyes finally adjusted to the darkness of two in the morning.

Mamori would have a heart attack if she knew what Sena was up to at this hour, but he just couldn't sit still. His body and mind were wide awake, and adrenaline was pumping through him, fueling his run.

The brunette continued running this way, losing awareness of everything, his mind too preoccupied with thoughts of the upcoming game. He went on like that for a good forty minutes, until he ran out of steam.

Sena finally stopped, too tired to run anymore. Doubled over, hands on knees while gasping for breath, he looked up. He was in front of a 24-hour convenience store.

They really knew how to name them.

Thirsty, the obviously under aged boy went into the store, the clerk not even seeming to care.

Paying for his drink, he left the store, and just wandered around.

It was autumn, and that was clearly reflected in the surroundings. The air was cool, ever-present, but not overbearing. It was one of those nights that just made you stop and reflect; a night that demanded to be accompanied by an epiphany, and it felt good being alone, being able to enjoy the atmosphere.

He strangely didn't care, or didn't even stop to think that he should care, about being caught at this time of the night, or morning, for all you technical mother fuckers out there.

Sena continued his leisurely pace, once in a while taking a sip of his Arizona Tea.

Sena realized he was happy, not that he wasn't before. Before, he was merely just accepting life, not living it. Now he was happy and had friends to be happy with, and things to be happy of.

Especially his friends. Before Hiruma-san and football, he didn't bother with people, except for Mamori-neechan and the frequent bullies. There just wasn't really a need to.

Now, however, he knew what he was missing, and couldn't believe how he ever got along without all of his present friends; how he could stand not knowing all of the strange, but interesting, people he knew now.

The brunette would probably be indebted to Hiruma-san all his life, because he was the one who made Sena's current happiness possible. His satanic captain had better leverage on him than any blackmail, and he didn't even know it.

The thought that there was something the all-knowing Hiruma didn't know was very funny.

His mind continued on with its amusing ramblings, until Sena finally reached his house. He was careful to creep back in without a sound, and quietly got undressed. Lying in bed, he thought about his strange behavior of sneaking out in the middle of the night, his recent revelation, Hiruma's leverage on him, and most of all, the big game tomorrow.

So with these random thoughts, he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of different routes and passing Kongo-san on the field with his team's support.