Previously on Hemophobia
The brunet continued dribbling as he passed the opponent coming in front of him with blinding speed, everyone looked at him astonished, not quite expecting Tenma to be that fast. No one understood it was a silent challenge to Tsurugi.
But the navy haired teen and the grey-haired understood perfectly what he meant:
'Just because I let you do what you deem is necessary doesn't mean I'm gonna make it easy to you'
(notes at the end of the chapter. I know a lot of y'all don't like reading authors' notes but this one is pretty important)
Commentator's font
'Thoughts'
"Conversations"
Sudden flashbacks
Shindou smirked at that message 'Maybe you didn't change after all.'
The brunet kept running until Tsurugi unexpectedly stole the ball from his with sliding tackled that Tenma saw coming too late to avoid it.
"What the hell are you doing? I told you we could handle this!" Isozaki screamed at the navy-haired and took the ball from his feet. He advanced a little further and kicked the ball towards the sides, where his teammate was running.
"Shirato," he screamed while passing the ball but the object changed its course to hit Hamano in the face, causing the teen to fall and the ball to go outside the field.
"Hamano!" The team screamed running towards the fallen boy.
Isozaki for a moment pretended to be surprised when the camera focused on his face and Hamano's, showing the players involved in the incident. But as soon as he was away from the public's gaze, he smirked and winked at Tsurugi who wasn't looking at him to hide the scowl on his face.
"Hamano isn't getting back up. This is worrying."
The people in the stands and in the benches looked at the screens projecting the boy's pained expression as he gripped his jaw tightly. The coach was about to call him in when the boy stood up saying he was fine and Endou took a breath of relief.
It's not like he had anybody to substitute him with if he indeed called him in. He watched as Kuramada helped him stand from the ground and his face turned to Kurama.
"He's up, and he looks unhurt too!"
The light-haired boy's expression was full of seething resentment and he was sure that rage was directed at Tenma who smirked. Endou knew that face and almost felt himself age 40 years. He was strangely more affected by the upperclassman's anger than the brunet was. Kudou was very much surprised when Tenma walked to him and touched his shoulder
Kurama knew that shot was intentionally aimed to hit the black-haired teen and he knew it happened because they won against Eito academy and were still trying to win. No matter the point of view he looked, everything that was happening was Tenma's fault.
When he felt a hand touch his shoulder and he turned around to see who was seeking his attention, his eyes saw red at the concern Tenma's expression held.
"Don't you dare talk!" He screamed at the teen.
"Don't you dare act like you're actually worried! This is all your fault."
Tenma looked taken aback by his words- keyword being looked. "But Kurama-senpai, how can you blame me for this? It's not like I was the one to hit him with the ball."
"It wouldn't make any difference if it were or weren't you. Since you came to our school, you've done nothing but sprout nonsense, uncaring of everyone else's opinion. You somehow brainwashed Shindou to win with your 'take real soccer back' bullshit." He started, obviously, he wasn't thinking anymore and everyone knew he was going to say something he definitely would regret but they had no idea how to stop him from talking.
"This is all your fault. Thanks to you, we were beaten to the ground by that guy you associate yourself with. Shindou was even taken to the infirmary. I think his head was hit pretty badly since he started talking nonsense. Thanks to you, we're under constant threat of being replaced by Fifth Sector. We were a lot better before you came and we sure as fuck would a lot better if you go away. Whatever happened to you, I'm sure you deserved it!" He screamed out.
Kurama's eyes widened as what he said entered his brain and he understood the meaning of his words. He watched as Tenma's expression drifted from anger to coldness. He looked at those darkened metallic eyes that had the slight hint of a red slit staring at him. He felt like he was being judged.
He suddenly felt his surroundings change as he stared in front of him. He looked at a bloody back, the slash seemed deep and the cut was probably made by a very sharp and long object.
A very sharp and long object that was in his hands. He suddenly dropped the object which with further inspection turned out to a sword. He looked at his hand, his bloody hands. He abruptly touched his head in pain, the events returning to him like a swirling storm.
He accused the king of betrayal in front of everyone.
When the man still negated his claims, he slashed him with his sword even though he was meant to protect him.
His heart skipped a beat when his brain portrayed the slashing sound of his sword against the man's back and he asked himself the reason he did that in the first place.
The man looked at him in betrayal and muttered: "Why..."
He gasped and fell backwards, looking at Tenma as he turned around and started walking away, without saying anything to his claims and accusation. That action reminded him of what he saw in the memory.
"Kurama, are you okay?" Amagi's voice interrupted his thoughts and he shook his head, trying to forget everything.
"Yeah..." he muttered, looking at the silhouette of the brunet.
When the shrill sound was heard again, and the opponent passed the ball, they started kicking the object at the Raimon players with Tenma avoiding all the ones directed at him but doing nothing to stop the others from hitting his teammates.
"Raimon is being taken down by Mannouzaka's rough plays."
Sangoku seeing the beating that was being given to the team, he ran outside the goal area. He knew even with him not protecting the goal, they wouldn't dare go against the 1-0 order given by Fifth Sector. But he sent back with an aggressive shot at him.
"You stay back!" Isozaki yelled at him and looked at Tenma.
The only person beside Tenma and Tsurugi standing up was the trembling silhouette that was Hayami. He really looked like a sheep in the middle of wolves. "This is why I said not to disobey Fifth Sector..." His quivering voice mumbled out.
He was then hit by the ball Tsurugi passed to an opponent. He was in pain but he could still stand. Although he preferred staying on the ground if it meant he would be spared from being hit any further.
Shindou tried to stand back up but Isozaki went in front of him and kicked the ball to his chin.
Tenma's eyes narrowed at the referee who was smirking at the field. The Mannouzaka players weren't doing much to hide his view yet he wasn't doing anything at the blatant rough plays. It was pretty obvious everything happening in that game was pretty much planned.
Isozaki looked around, smirking in glee as he saw the Raimon players squirming on the ground in pain due to the hits they received. He was sure those were going to bruise. At least that would teach them to obey Fifth Sector.
His thoughts were interrupted when he saw a brunet standing at the sidelines, pretty detached from the rest. He passed the ball to a black-skinned player that was near the brunet and nodded towards him.
The teen, having understood the message, smirked at hit the ball hard towards Tenma. They all expected him to fall to the ground, he too clutching his stomach in pain but were surprised to see the ball hit a somewhat invisible wall and fall to the ground.
Tenma stared at their surprised faces and the ball rolling towards his feet. He looked up once again and turned his gaze to his teammates.
"I can play dirty too." He uttered in the silence of the stadium and kicked the ball towards the goal.
The shot seemed to vanish for a moment and was only seen when it sent the net of the opponent's goal flying. The people in the stands started cheering at the turn of events and turned around to see the person who made the shot. Their heads automatically travelled through the field and that was when they noticed the feat the ball left behind it.
All the players of Mannouzaka were on the ground except three. The referee was unsure if to call that a foul. The only way to do that was reviewing the footage. He called a slight pause to the match and went to the computer that was connected to the live feat of the cameras and started doing his reflections.
He begrudgingly announced no foul for the brunet as the thing that sent the players down wasn't the ball itself but the wind created by the blast.
"Man, you guys suck, being sent to the ground by a shot like that," Tenma commented, sticking his tongue out childishly.
"You're going to pay for that!" Isozaki spat out in barely controlled rage as the rest of his teammates started standing on their feet. 'Oh, so it's okay when they do it.' Tenma deadpanned.
"Whatever." He said, waving his hands dismissively and walking to his position as midfielder. Everyone was surprised at his action. A seed basically just declared to destroy him and the only thing he did was CHEW HIS FINGERNAILS!
They stared at the brunet as he chewed his on his fingernails childishly not looking at anyone. He was obviously not taking this seriously.
They started the match again with a kickoff by Mannouzaka, the forwards passed it to each other, hitting the occasional Raimon player they saw on their pathway and the ball eventually got passed to Isozaki who was very close to Tenma.
He kicked the object with fury watching with a smirk as it travelled with speed towards the boy. Tenma revelled in seeing the smirk on the other captain's face fall as soon as it appeared.
The ball had once again hit the invisible wall that seemed to be protecting Tenma sending the object back to his feet.
No matter what he did, the ball never seemed to even graze the brunet's clothes despite the force the ball was kicked with. The spectators were very surprised at this. After years of seeing exploding balls, balls coated with ice and whatever element and flying penguins, it was the first time they saw a technique that wasn't visible. And that excited them. So much they didn't know how to express their excitement.
"Okay that's it, I'm tired of this," Tenma announced and took a step backwards, making the ball go outside the field's line.
"Why the hell are you so adamant on injuring me?" Tenma asked the blunet with cold eyes that sent a chilly sensation down his spine.
"Y...you deserve it," he stuttered and continued, feeling bolder, "Who do you think you are?! Going against Fifth Sector?"
"And who are you? Their advocate? If Fifth Sector was angry at me, they should come and out me themselves. If they can anyways."
Isozaki seemed to not pay attention at the last part and looked at his coach with an angered gaze. The man nodded and smirked, giving approval to the hidden question.
Shindou was the one responsible for the throw-in and since everyone in his team except Kirino seemed to look at him, he passed the ball at Tenma who started dribbling, his skills impressing everyone once again.
After crossing the midfield line and entering enemy territory, a player with strange-looking eyes tried stealing the ball with an unusual tackle. And that unfamiliarity made a slimy feeling entered Tsurugi's guts. He was sure Shindou and some others noticed it too.
He watched attentively, his eyes focused on the player's movements and angle. 'This is...' He was sure of it, those bastards were trying to destroy his tarsals. He knew Tenma knew that and avoided it.
"Damn, I missed."
That was the confirmation, it wasn't just his imagination and he knew they were going to try it again so he started running towards them.
The second time, Isozaki almost succeeded (improbable) but Tsurugi pushed the brunet out of the way before the bluet could permanently end Tenma's soccer career.
"What the hell!" Isozaki exclaimed.
Tsurugi called all attention to himself, stomping his foot on the sphere. "Is this how you bring others down?" He asked in a cold tone. "Don't you think that's going over the board a little?"
"What are you talking about?" Isozaki asked, standing up.
"Don't play dumb with me. Or do tell, was your intention not to disable him?" His amber cat-like eye narrowed more in anger.
"So what?!" Isozaki exclaimed mockingly. "Someone like him doesn't deserve to play soccer."
Tsurugi lost it at that sentence, the only thing in he could see was his brother on that wheelchair, unable to stand or play soccer or even go to school all because he wanted to protect him.
"It's not worth it after all," Tsurugi muttered and turned to the goalpost, sending the ball in with his hissatsu Death Sword coated with all the anger he was feeling at that moment.
He shifted back to face Isozaki and said: "Try that bullshit again, I promise, I won't be lenient."
Isozaki felt fear cross his back at the fury held in Tsurugi's gaze that seemed to disappear once Tenma ran to the navy-haired, raising both his arms, requesting two high fives that were reciprocated.
The brunet didn't smile when he did that because he knew Tsurugi wasn't happy but he was satisfied the navy-haired finally realized it wasn't worth staying with the Fifth Sector organization to fix the very legs his brother injured himself for his ideals. Ideals that Fifth Sector sought to destroy.
"G...goal!" Finally, after all the ordeal that happened on the field, the commentator recommenced his commenting. "This time, Tsurugi cancelled his own goal giving Raimon the advantage of 2-1"
Raimon was surprised at the turn of events. "The world is turning upside down," Kurama muttered in shock.
'He can even brainwash seeds now. Just who the hell is he?' The light-bluet sighed.
Suddenly, the image of a brunet man with a smile that could rival the sun popped into his brain but he shook it away, unaware of the reason he was having these flashbacks that weren't even his memories. He was sure it was somewhat associated with the brunet as such things never happened to him before.
Endou smiled at the new developments. He knew something like this was going to happen but this, this was even better. The only bane in his life was the scolding he would receive from the Chairman but, well, it wasn't like anything they were going to say was going to affect him. So he just brushed it off like dirt on his shoulders.
During the 10 minute break, with the way everyone stood distant from Tsurugi and Tenma someone could assume they had the Plague.
Shindou was talking to Kirino who had injured himself, taking a bad step when he tried to land on his feet after being hit with the ball.
Shinsuke, the ever oblivious little cherub he was, broke the tense silence, "Ne ne Tenma, what was that technique you used to evade the ball being thrown at you?"
This obviously did nothing to quench the anger the upperclassmen were feeling. In fact, they were more infuriated to be reminded Tenma was the only one feeling no pain among all of them.
"Oh, it's a hissatsu technique I developed a while ago. It's called the Impenetrable Barrier." He answered with half-truths. He couldn't help but noticed the way Amagi twitched at the mention of the technique. Well, that could be addressed later.
The silence was once again broken when Kuramada spoke up, behind him were Amagi, Hayami, Hamano and Kurma most likely seconding his claims: "Shindou, are you keeping this up in the second half too?"
Shindou looked surprised at the question. He had made it pretty obvious the many times he claimed he was not backing down. Or was his way of saying it not clear enough? Shindou wanted to say his thoughts but he didn't want to be rude to the three upperclassmen so he kept silent.
"If you are, then you're on your own. We'll have nothing to do with this match." Kuramada said, taking his silence as approval.
"Today's match made it crystal clear. We'll get punished if we fight against Fifth Sector." Amagi added.
"As we said, it's unreasonable to think we can take soccer back and whatnot," Hamano commented with a laid-back tone.
Tenma hummed loudly as he agreed to whatever they said or whatever he was thinking internally.
"I don't really understand your need to say this again. It's not like you were doing anything, to begin with. Just being hit with the ball. So this situation doesn't particularly change anything. It's like hearing a broken cassette you see." The brunet explained his thoughts.
"What!" Kurama exclaimed, insulted.
"Sheesh senpai, calm your heart rate. It's not good for your health. Besides, if we keep winning or if Fifth Sector outs us before that, it won't change any of the situations. We've already begun instigating suspicion in the populace's mind. If they get rid of us, questions like 'What happened to them?' or 'Watching them was so exciting, I feel like I could die of boredom watching these matches. Don't you think it's a bit strange all of them decided to quit playing?' will arise. And people will begin searching and investigating on their own. You guys have no idea how dangerous human beings can be," He said, staring at each of them while talking.
"Even as we speak, there are forums online where topics like this are being discussed. Eventually, they'll figure out what Fifth Sector is doing and try to report their actions to Worldwide organization such as the UN for going against articles such as 4 and 5. How will they receive the evidence? Hackers. Our generation has quite the geniuses. Why do I know this? I'm a hacker myself and I'm fully prepared to destroy Fifth Sector if plan 1 doesn't work." He concluded.
'Been a while since I talked that much.' He thought with a sigh and looked with an expressionless gaze at their surprised ones.
"What? Did you think I would rush into something without preparing backup plans like a fool? Anyways, your participation wasn't needed or requested in this match so it was unneeded for you to announce that too since you've already been doing it."
"Geez Tenma, you surely don't know how to sugarcoat do you?" Endou saif, sweatdropping.
Shindou bowed at the upperclassmen and said seemingly unfazed at the fuck load of information the brunet poured on them: "I really apologize for his rude words and for dragging you into this unnecessary battle, but as he was trying to say, we'll continue fighting anyway even if we only have five people left on the team."
"The second half is ready to begin, both teams are in position..." After a slight hesitation, he added, "What's with Raimon's new formation? Kuramada, Kurama, Hamano, Hayami and Amagi are lined up along the touchlines! What on the world is going on?
And that guys is the end of this chapter. I really am a piece of shit. I just counted and realized it's been 6 months since I last updated. So much for updating every month. I got nothing as excuse except the fact that I'm a piece of shit (Oh well, I already knew that.) Btw, last chapter, I said writer's block is making itself known. Well, it's gone and I really am into writing this a lot in this period but I always get distracted by school studies, church activities, reading fictions, jotting down ideas and reminding myself to write my own story. But my brain is on a rollercoaster and I have two new stories jotted down and I am literally in love with them. But I also have all the ones I wrote on my Projects book and the collab story and I suddenly realise how messy I am. Welp, you have to bear with me and accept me with all my (endless) defects.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed it.
I'm really grateful for the patience you had when I told y'all I wouldn't write for a while (a long while).
I was really surprised at the amount of support this received in such a short span of time. I remember last year when I started writing this just for fun and wasn't even sure if I was going to go on or even end it. I didn't imagine it would even receive a quarter of support it did.
So for all those who voted, thank you very much.
For all those who commented I appreciate y'all. I read all your comments even if I don't reply sometimes. I read them mostly in the moments when I feel discouraged and like all this is just a waste of my time.
For everyone who added it to their reading list thanks a lot.
I really love y'all.
Don't forget to vote or add a thought. Trust me, it keeps me motivated a lot.
Now to the explanation of somethings in the chapter.
-Tenma intentionally put himself at risk of ending his soccer career to make Tsurugi realise Fifth Sector would only make him miserable if he later was forced to put the same thing that happened to his brother on others too. I feel like I needed to explain this as it isn't portrayed well in the anime and I put it like this because this was what I interpreted from that scene.
-Who would ever have thought Tenma was a hacker huh? Bet y'all didn't' see that coming.
-I had the idea of putting the Articles 4 and 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights thinking about school. At the beginning of the school year in September, my class and I started this really cold projects where we would talk about the History of Human Rights and the people who fought for it even before that. So cool dudes like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks... We even did a recording show (which was supposed to be a theatre show but Coronavirus) of it. So while I was writing, I realised the Fifth Sector was blatantly breaking those Human Rights:
Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
(Think about the events at God Eden. It is slavery to force people to do things they don't want to do. Those children did not look like they wanted to be there at all. My assumption is parents under the impression they are doing what is best for their children after hearing the information disclosed by the Fifth Sector agreed without hearing their children opinions. No, my dudes, that is not by their free will.)
Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
(Do I even need to explain this?)