Sweat trickled down her face. Her vision was blurry. She wipes her forehead. This is a stalemate. This was their last chance. She glimpsed at the scoreboard. Shibuya University: 1-0-1, Fujishima Technical Academy: 0-1-0-1. Penalty rounds were always nerve-wracking. The entire stadium watches, in pin-drop silence.
Mai takes three long deep breaths. She focuses on her goal. She can do this. She will do this. She moves three steps back. She settles on a plan of attack
Lin watches with bated breath. He gasps when he realises what she is doing. She turns her body right as she stretches her left leg to kick the ball. The goalkeeper gets confused as to which direction the ball will come. The goalkeeper swerves right when the ball flies in straight in the net.
The crowd roars. Shibuya wins by three goals! Mai gets picked up by her teammates. Her SPR family cheers her on, even Naru, who stands and claps. He cannot believe his eyes. It was impressive.
Mai turns to look at her friends in the stand. Her happiness intensifies when she see Lin standing and grinning while clapping. If you ask her she will deny that she played extra well just for him. She might punch you.

After a quick shower, changing into a powder pink dress, white sweater and ballet flats and a mini celebration with her teammates, Mai swiped on her lipgloss as she raced out of her college to the group waiting outside. When they saw her coming, Yasu, Houshou, Ayako and John started chanting, "Mai! Mai! Mai!"
She blushed, "Oh god guys stop!"
Lin gave the twenty year old girl a lookover. Two years of running around for hours on fields had shaped her calves in an irresistible way. He looked away when his shikis started to chuckle. What is he even doing, noticing and appreciating the way her legs looked?
John, an avid football fan, exclaimed, "That was the smartest thing ever! You turned your body in different directions to confuse the goalkeeper and shot in straight! That WAS GENIUS!" He raised his fists in the air.
"Haha! I don't know but I thought it would be a good idea to do so," Mai murmurs.
"Oh come on! Don't be so shy, or modest!"
That could have gone on forever if Yasu's stomach didn't start grumbling.

It was a fun dinner. Even Naru praised her skills. Mai choked on her yakitori then. This semi-nice Naru was taking some use to.
Later they were all walking when somehow she and Lin had ended up walking side by side. He was musing quietly at the transformation of the girl beside him. Today was honestly spectacular. The eighteen year old he last saw versus the one now was so different, yet…He cleared his throat, "Mai?"
Mai says, "Yes?"
"Can I say something? Just nod if I am right, okay?" She nods, he continues, "You took to sports so every night you could be so tired that when you sleep, you don't dream at all?" Another nod. "So, because of Gene?" Another nod. "And other spirits too, right?" Another nod, and a sigh. So this is why the last case they were on, Mai was scared stiff from one of her dreams. She was out of practice.
He did really get to the core of it all. This was her one big reason. She figured if she was dead tired, she would have a dreamless sleep. And she did. Also, the astral projection stopped. However, if she fell asleep in class then she would leave her body behind. Her Feudal Japanese History class bored her to death.
Lin sighs, "Mai. I know how you must feel." He places a hand on her shoulder and smiles a little. And yet, she is still Mai Taniyama. They had stopped. They were facing each other. Her brown eyes sparkling and his dark eyes soothing. She couldn't turn her gaze away, and for some reason his eyes chose to remain fixed on her. For a second it felt that they were the only ones on the street.
Mai smiles, fighting tears, "Thank you Lin-san."
Lin shakes his head. He is about to say something when Ayako shouts, "Hey you two! You can stare into each other's eyes later!"
Mai blushes and stumbles forward, while Lin fixes his tie which did not fixing and follows Mai.
That was odd, Mai thinks, her skipping a few beats. She needs to be careful. She dreads letting Ayako get wind of her feelings for Lin. That would be disastrous.
What was that, Lin asks himself, his shikis chuckling again. He frowns, his shikis sometimes pissed him off so much.