It was a 6:00 PM on September 11, 20XX. Autumn was the impending season, and lots of people were going home, wearing coats, hats, and some were wearing mittens. Most of the students going home from school went directly home or to their friends' houses to hang out with them.

But not one student from Kidokawa Seishuu. It was their soccer club's captain, Kishibe Taiga. When he left the school, instead of going straight home as his mother told him, he turned and made a detour to the cemetery close to where they lived. Before he reached the cemetery, he stopped at the local flower shop to buy a bouquet of red roses.

When he reached the cemetery, the guard greeted him, surprised at his sudden arrival. "G-good afternoon, young man... What can I do for you? And... who could you possibly be visiting?" Kishibe looked at him and said, "Good afternoon, sir. I came here to visit my grandmother - or rather, her body. May I ask, have you moved her body somewhere else?"

"Uh, okay... what's her name?"

"Kishibe Kikka, sir." The guard searched for her name in the cemetery's documents on his computer (A/N: Why does a guard even have a computer in the guardhouse? Isn't that supposed to be in a separate place?). "Nope, her body hasn't been moved anywhere, young man. Why do you ask?"

"Just asking, sir. Anyways, arigato, and have a good day." With that, he proceeded to enter the cemetery and look for his grandmother's grave. When he finally saw it, he placed the bouquet on top of the headstone and mused a prayer for her soul, that it may rest well in the skies above. Halfway into it, he stopped and suddenly looked up. The gray sky reminded him of his grandmother's hair, and the crows circling the cemetery reminded him of her old black eyes, filled with wisdom of bygone days. He looked at the roses and remembered that it was her favorite flower. She loved roses and they were the gifts she would never grow tired of.

Just thinking of her made his eyes water as he remembered the times they shared together. When he got hurt physically, she would always be the one to heal his wounds. When he was bullied or teased badly, she was always there to defend him. Above all, she was the only member in his family whom he really felt love from. His parents... were nothing more than mere rent, food, and tuition fee providers. The memories of him and his grandmother were more vivid and happy than those of his parents. All the memories he had of her were lively, vivid, vibrant, and happy - except for one. What was that, you ask? The day his grandma died. He remembered the day very vividly.

*flashback*

It was a sunny day in _ prefecture (because I don't know which prefecture Kidokawa is in). All the citizens in XXXXX town were just doing their normal work, uninterrupted when suddenly - BANG! - a shot pierced the air. All the citizens who heard it turned to look at the source of the sound. What they expected to see was a police shooting a criminal. What they saw was a criminal and a dead old lady. A young kid ran over to her and tried to shake her, trying to wake her up. Police cars came over to the scene, arrested the criminal and went over to the body.

"Obaa-san, please! Wake up! Wake up! I beg of you, Mr. Policeman please bring my grandma to the hospital! Please! Wake up!"

"Hey, kid," said one policeman as he gripped the kid's shoulder. "Get away from here. Your grandmother will be brought to the hospital, there's just no guarantee that she'll survive. In fact, the only guarantee we have is that she'll die. You'd better leave, kid." And with that he pulled away the young boy and handed him over to his parents.

The day of the funeral was a sad one. A sea of black shirts, shoes, pants and umbrellas flooded the place where the funeral was being held. Family members and close relatives hugged each other, tears streaming down their faces. The coffin was being lowered into the dug-out grave. The family members paid their last blessings. After the funeral, one by one, they all left.

All except for one - Kishibe Taiga, he was still there, hunched over his grandmother's gravestone, saying these things: "Obaa-san, can you here me? Are you still there? ... I know you can. I know you are. How do you feel about the shooting? It was an unjust shooting done by a criminal whom you wanted to stop. But you didn't. The police shined, again. But I want to give you justice. I want to show the world what you taught me, to do my best and shine in all that I do. And I will. I will, through soccer. I'll play it and become one of the top players in Japan. I promise you, whatever you taught me will not go to waste. If you told me to do my best, I'll play my best. If you told me to shine, then I will shine, for your sake. I promise you, Obaa-san. I will play soccer, and become one of the top players of Japan."

*end of flashback*

"Haha, and to think that was my motivation to play soccer all this time..." He smiled. "And in a way, I did. I did fulfill my promise to become one of the best soccer players in Japan. But I didn't do it just by myself, no. I did it with my teammates, my coach, and even Raimon's captain - what's his name again? Oh right, Tenma. I did it with their help, but most importantly, with yours. Your words to me and your bold example of standing up against injustice gave me an example I should have followed all my life. I thought I did, but when the Fifth came and started manipulating soccer... I guess I didn't stand up for what was right at that time. But now I know. I know that I should stand up for what is right. And I thank you for that, Obaa-san. Arigato for teaching me and guiding me all this time. Arigato, Obaa-san. Honto ni arigato."

"You're always ever welcome, Taiga-kun..."

"N-nani?"