"Victor!" Sora exclaimed happily, reaching the trio as Hiromi helped the navy haired boy up, "You're here! I was worried where you went since yesterday! I didn't see you after school and today morning! Where were you?"
Victor's eyes drifted to the short boy who struggled to stand up due to his backbone almost being crushed. He sent him an apologetic look before turning back to the bluenette.
"I was hanging out with Kuroyama," Victor quickly answered, relieved that he finally met up with Sora. He moved his eyes to Kuroyama who greeted the two girls with a smile. Victor turned to the brunette that helped him, wanting to thank her.
"Excellent, we can start the introductions since you both are here." Victor broke his gaze from Sora and noticed the coach of the team standing beside her with Ookami occupying his other side. Victor's brows rose in realization and spun around. The entire team surrounded him and Kuroyama, looking at them like they were the most peculiar duo they had ever seen.
"Uh... hi?" Victor waved uncomfortably while his eyes moved from one player to another. The coach decided to step in.
"Shingestu Nagito, the coach of the team." He introduced, taking a step towards the two boys. He silently turned his head towards a player who had long purple hair tied in a ponytail. His front hair was swept over to the left with a yellow streak dyed across to look like a lighting bolt.
He wore the same uniform as the rest of the players. It was designed to look like a lightning bolt split the bottom half covered in blue from the yellow. And running down from the blue collar and straight down to the sleeves were light blue stripes. The shorts were a darker tone of blue with yellow stripes running down each side. White socks and green cleats.
The only ones who stood out from the team were the captain with his red band and the goalkeeper uniform. Victor noticed the symbol for Raimon on the jersey was a white shield with a red R and yellow lighting bolt on it.
"Omiwari Renon. Captain of the team." He introduced nonchalantly with opened eyes in the colour of dark magenta. Victor felt himself stiffen and couldn't break his gaze. His eyes drifted onto Kuroyama who was in the same state as he was, sweating profusely. They were intimidated. Victor jerked his head away from the captain to see Sora's reaction. She had a strained smile and waved her hand in a polite greeting. He involuntarily caught sight of Hiromi.
Her action left Victor to widen his eyes at her in bemusement. She had her arms crossed and rather than looking scared or intimidated, she was staring back at the captain of the team with a hard look. Victor moved his head to the captain and back at her to confirm this. The captain's brows were furrowed like hers before the brunette broke eye contact by looking away.
A cough echoed through the awkward silence. "Well, I guess I'm going next." A boy standing next to the captain had spiky albino hair and deep blue eyes as he stepped forward, "Namayaki Zarou. Goalkeeper of the team." He introduced as Kuroyama's face lit up. Namayaki wore the goalkeeper's uniform; it was similar to the jerseys, instead it the top was bright orange and the bottom was a shade of dark teal. Black to white stripes ran down from the white V-shaped collar to the sleeves. White socks and blue cleats.
"That's Yamada Baron," He said, jabbing his thumb behind him at a boy with pink hair with his hair swept to the right. He had amber eyes and smiled at the newcomers.
It continued on from the third years to second years of the team.
Victor was shocked to hear that Ookami was the team's strategist as Kuroyama interrogated him like a reporter eager for newsworthy news.
"Is hard being a-mfph!" Victor clamped his hand over Kuroyama's mouth and pulled him away from the team strategist. Ookami chuckled as Victor look down embarrassed.
Nishiki Nozayama came next, a muscular forward with curly dark brown hair tied into a ponytail with brown eyes and the biggest grin anyone has ever seen.
Akashi Ryomaru was a redhead with two curved sides at both sides of his head and ebony eyes. His attitude reminded him of the captain. After his introduction, he turned his head away with a scoff.
Hamano Takuto had dark blue hair that stood up on top of his head with curved ends, lavender eyes and donned a pair of round goggles on top of his forehead. Hamano flashed them a small smile and waved.
Minowari Michio was the team's genius with green hair with three spikes occupying the both sides of his head and indigo eyes accompanied by rectangular glasses.
Hayami Sasuke was a cheerful and energetic defender. Both Victor and Hiromi learnt it when he ran straight up to Hiromi, grabbed her hand and vigorously shook it. He, Kuroyama and Sora fought back their laugh.
And lastly, the only mute person of the team was Ichijuu Jin. With spiked peach hair and blue eyes. Victor knew Sora was fluent in sign languages, so it shouldn't be a problem for her.
"I'm Amemiya Sora and I'll be joining as a manager!" It caught Victor off guard. He never suspected that she was interested in joining the club.
"Kuroyama Yuuya! And I'll be joining as a goalkeeper!" Kuroyama introduced energetically. Victor swore he saw an amused face show itself in the albino goalkeeper's direction, "Victor, it's your turn." Kuroyama whispered, nudging him.
"I-I'm..." Victor hesitated as his voice began to drown, "Matsukaze/Tsurugi Victor..."
He felt eyes fall on him, even the captain's eyes snapped open and stared at him. Victor had his head down to hide his furious blush. Thankfully the coach stepped into the rescue.
"And everyone, this is Hiromi!" He grabbed their attention by walking up to the brunette. Hiromi tossed her head at him in surprise, Okay! Gather up!" He bellowed to the team and blew into a yellow whistle.
"We're going to begin the entry exam. When I call out your name, you're going to be assigned to either Kuroyama, Victor or Hiromi. Understood?" There was a loud "yes" from the club members.
"Akashi and Nishiki," Shingetsu called out as the two strikers walked up to him, "You're going to be with Kuroyama." The two forwards nodded and walked over to the shorter boy who smiled at them. Nishiki and Kuroyama shook hands as Nishiki gave him words of encouragement.
"Omiwari, Ookami, Minowari and Ichijuu. You'll be with Victor."
Omiwari nodded affirmatively as he signalled his teammates to Victor who he reluctantly shook hands with.
"And lastly, Hayami, Hamano and Yamada. You three will be with Hiromi." Hayami did a fist punch in the air as he grabbed Hamano and Yamada (who had been beside him) and dragged them over to Hiromi. "And Namayaki, I'll need you to cover the goal for Victor and Hiromi," Shingetsu added to the goalkeeper who nodded and stood in between Hiromi and Victor. Shaking hands with the two of them and wishing good luck.
The coach walked towards the trio, "Alright, Kuroyama will go first. You need to protect the goal." He said to Kuroyama who nodded, "And you two will have to score a goal, simple. Now I don't expect you to get it on your first try but do your best, okay? Right! Everyone ready?"
"YEAH!"
Everyone got into position. Kuroyama was handed spare goalkeeper gloves as he strode onto the field with Akashi and Nishiki. Standing at the goalpost, Kuroyama readied himself for any incoming balls.
"Remember, don't hold back just because they're new!" The coach called out, cupping his hands near his mouth for more volume as the two strikers nodded back in reply.
Let's see what you got Kuroyama!" Nishiki went first as he backed away and ran full speed towards the ball. With that, he sent the ball zooming straight at Kuroyama who braced himself by bending his knees and having his hands away from his chest. Before the ball could touch his chest, his hands immediately grabbed the ball by the sides and put force on it to stop it from rolling. Light smoke was emitted from his hands as the rolling died down; smiling in triumph, Kuroyama raised his fist in victory as he held the caught ball in his other hand.
"Alright! Come one, give me your best shot!" He yelled out, throwing the ball to Akashi. Meanwhile, while Akashi was preparing his kick, Hiromi who was standing next to the sitting coach at the sidelines noticed he was fully focused on what was going on in the field.
"Show 'em what you got Akashi!" Yamada yelled out encouragingly as red-haired boy smirked confidently to himself.
Doing the same thing, he backed away from the ball.
But he didn't kick the ball immediately; red lines began forming and spiraling the ball. The red lines started to spin faster and faster before the ball was completely engulfed in red smoke that resembled the planet Mars. Little pointed edges that resembled mini volcanoes pointed out of the red ball and erupted red smoke. Akashi then took off and kicked the ball with a hard kick.
"Smoke Eruption!"
The ball went sent flying directly at Kuroyama who was taken aback by the hissatsu technique. Kuroyama suddenly gasped. The red ball had turned itself to face Kuroyama with a large volcano pointed right at him. Red smoke shot out from the volcano like a cannonball being shot from a cannon and engulfed Kuroyama in thick red smoke.
Coughing, Kuroyama tried squinting his eyes to see the ball but the smoke had dust particles which trapped themselves in his eyes. Shutting them tightly, Kuroyama held his hands, hoping the ball would impact with them, but it didn't. The ball zoomed past him, missing the short boy by his ear and scored a goal with the volcano pointed out of the net. The smoke faded away and Kuroyama's eyes became red and puffy from the dust. He stared sadly at the ball in the goal; the red smoke covering the ball poofed into white smoke.
Nishiki and Akashi walked up to Kuroyama and shook hands with him on a job well done. Kuroyama slowly walked back to Hiromi and Sora who reassured the sad boy as Victor went up next. Namayaki tightened his gloves as he patted Hiromi on the shoulder, "I'll be looking forward to your kick." He said and walked over to the goalpost.
Victor positioned himself in front of the ball. He had two midfielders, Omiwari and Ichijuu, two defenders, Ookami and Minowari and one goalkeeper, Namayaki, in his way. Turning his head from one team member to the next, Victor gave a small kick, signalling that he was starting and ran full speed with the ball in his possession.
"Ookami! Minowari!" Omiwari shouted to the two defenders behind him. They nodded and left their spot and ran right at Victor. Victor was taken aback as the defenders blocked him. Knowing it was a trap to lure him, Victor still bounded forward right where they wanted him to go.
Ookami and Minowari immediately jumped into action and went straight for the ball with sliding. Victor, who had seen their trap, held the ball with his ankles and jumped over the defenders' legs which slid past each other.
"What the- Omiwari!" Ookami yelled, instantly standing up. Omiwari didn't nod as he signalled Ichijuu to fall back to block Victor. Omiwari, realizing that Ichijuu and himself wouldn't be able to make it in time to stop the navy haired boy, loudly ordered, "Namayaki! Block it!"
Namayaki who had already been preparing himself for the kick kept his gaze locked on Victor. Without hesitating, Victor gave the ball a good hard kick and it went zooming towards the goalkeeper.
"Beast Glare!"
Like earlier, the ball impacted with the first illusion but instead of stopping, it broke through. The first illusion shattered in fragments as the ball collided with the second illusion. Namayaki forced one of his eyes to stay open as the ball broke through the second illusion and onto the third and final illusion. Unfortunately, the ball had shattered the last illusion and hit Namayaki square in the face. Namayaki was thrown back as the ball bounced away from the goal. And like lighting, Victor ran towards the flying ball in order to kick it into the unprotected goal. Before the ball even reached him, in a blink of an eye, Omiwari had appeared from beside the ball and kicked it away from Victor's reach.
The ball tumbled out of bounds as the coach gave a loud whistle, signalling the out and the game to a stop.
"Good job Victor." The coach praised and patted Victor on the shoulder, "And Namayaki, make sure you don't get hurt on the next kick." He yelled to the goalkeeper who nodded and waved it off with his hand and the other holding his face, "Okay! Hiromi, it's your turn."
Hiromi nodded, feeling nervous inside as she strode onto the field with the ball in front of her feet. Scanning the field, four of the of the 10 members stood ahead of her; two defenders: Hayami and Baron, one midfielder: Hamano and one goalkeeper: Namayaki.
"And don't go easy on her because she's a girl!" She heard the coach called out to the four soccer members who gave small nods however they never broke their gaze from Hiromi and the ball.
Hiromi took her time and inspected the team members one by one, 'It's Hayami-senpai I need to watch out for.' She thought to herself. Bending her knees the same way as the others to alert them that she was ready, 'If I can get past him, then I might have a chance!'
Kicking the ball, she ran towards them at the jogging pace. Hamano appeared right in front of her. Before he could steal the ball away, Hiromi swiftly turned her back towards him and made 180 degrees turn around his side. Taken aback by this sudden movement, Hamano made himself run after her when she bounded towards the defenders.
"Yamada-san!" Hayami shouted over to the pink haired boy who nodded with the same thought. Not realizing their tactic, the two boys took advantage of her confused looks passed onto them as they dashed away to the sides, leaving the middle wide open. Sensing something wrong, Hiromi halted to a stop and looked around for the defenders. When she tossed her head behind her, that was when the game got real. Bolting from behind and straight at the sides, the two defenders dived in at the same time to get the ball by sliding as bright red energy formed around their foots.
"Red Mark!"
"Hiro-mphff!" Vitor, guiltily, clamped his hand over Sora's mouth to stop her from yelling out danger. Sora tried to squirm out of his grasp when he tightly held her shoulder the blue haired girl had to endure watching Hiromi get hurt.
In a split second, Hiromi felt two forceful strikes at her ankles and winced in pain. And by the time Hiromi noticed, the ball had already slipped out of her grasp. Acting quickly, Hiromi fell to the ground with her hands pushing her up for support; she grabbed the ball with her feet before they could steal it. Pushing herself up, Hiromi did a front flip with the ball in her possession to get away from the two defenders who were taken aback. Landing perfectly on her feet, Hiromi bolted towards the goal without a second thought. With every step she took to run, Hiromi winced in pain. Red Mark really did a number on her ankles, however, she was determined to make the goal.
Namayaki prepared for her oncoming kick, confident that'll he'll catch the ball with his arms spread out.
But he never expected her to use a hissatsu technique.
Lightly kicking the ball ahead of her, whenever it touched the ground a bright golden plate like portal would appear. Hiromi halted for a second and made a short jump in the air when the ball came to a stop. While in a mid-air jump, pink petals began shooting out from the golden portal and soared in a figure 8 style around the brunette. At the same time, Hiromi lifted her leg high behind her.
"Flower..."
And brought it down to the ball as a bright golden streak followed after her foot.
"POWER!"
The kick power was immense as the spinning ball wheeled itself towards the goalkeeper as petals continued to shoot out of the ball along with a similar golden streak. Namayaki who didn't have enough time to react to the whirling ball right ahead of him was shot back into the goal when the ball hit him square in the chest.
"Oi Namayaki!" Omiwari shouted, running to the field followed by Nishiki, Yamada and the managers (excluding Sora) bringing along a first aid kit. Omiwari kneeled down beside the albino haired goalkeeper as he let Miwana examine his body for any other injuries. Nishiki and Yamada stood in front of the goalkeeper as the pink haired boy asked concernedly, "You alright buddy?"
Namayaki gave a small smirk and winced in pain when Miwana applied the medicine on his knee that had bruised a bit, "I'm fine."
Hiromi, who was witnessing the injured goalkeeper on the ground, a certain bluenette pounced up at her from the side.
"HIROMI!" Sora yelled out gleefully and full of relief. She had her hands wrapped around the brunette's neck, nearly choking her with a death hug, "I'm so glad you're not badly injured! I was so worried!"
"Y-yeah... Th...That's gr-great..." Choked Hiromi as her face started to turn into the same shade of blue as Sora's hair, "Sora... c-can't... breathe..."
"Oh sorry!" Instantaneously, Sora released Hiromi's neck. Hiromi held her chest, gasping for air, before suddenly dropping to her knees in pain.
"Hiromi!" Sora yelled as she called for Hatsune who came running immediately to them with the first aid kit.
Hiromi was sat on the grassy ground with both of her feet bare from her socks and boots; her ankles were both red in colour from the harsh impact earlier and thin little cuts were visible there from the spikes of the shoes. And all because of Red Mark.
As Hatsune sprayed medicine on Hiromi's ankles, Hayami and Minowari strode over to the brunette on the ground.
Hayami chuckled, looking too happy, "We haven't figured how to get the ball away without hurting the player." He said as Minowari nodded in agreement, "So, we're really sorry about that." He added hastily when he saw Hiromi's severe glare thrown at him, "Right Yamada-san?"
"WHAT?" Yamada shouted back, clearly he didn't hear what Hayami had asked and shrugged it off when he saw Hayami slap his face (he still had his glasses on).
"But I have to say, even if you had gotten hurt, Red Mark seems to be quite a fitting name." Minowari Michio said, pushing up his glasses as he eyed the red cut marks on Hiromi's ankles. Hiromi clenched teeth. Before she could snap back, the captain of the team came marching towards them.
"What was that?" He demanded with a hard look. It was short, direct and impatient.
"Mind specifying," Hiromi asked sweetly. She wanted to tick the captain off and his eyebrow twitch irritably when she finished her sentence, "Captain?"
Hatsune gasped and dropped the spray, she immediately packed everything back in the first aid kit and ran to Miwana. Minowari immediately pulled Hayami away. Only Sora, Victor and Kuroyama remained there standing with Hiromi who was hoisting herself up with the aid of Kuroyama and Sora. Omiwari and Hiromi engaged in a staring contest once again.
"You better watch your mouth if I were you." He warned and left. The ones who ran away scared had their mouths hanging. Except for Hayami, he was shaking Hamano and rambling on about it excitedly.
"You better put on your shoes, the coach is coming," Victor said as he held up one of Hiromi's boots with a sock stuck in it. Hiromi swiftly snatched it away from the navy haired boy and mumbled angrily.
"That was amazing you three!" The coach complimented, reaching them, "Though I would have never expected you, Hiromi, to use a hissatsu technique." Everyone looked at Hiromi.
He continued before she could reply, "After that splendid performance, I've decided. You're all joining the team!" Kuroyama leaped for joy and jumped in the air to give Victor a high five who graciously returned it, "We'll have your uniforms by tomorrow, so you know where to find us."
With that, he strolled away as Sora and Kuroyama cheered on for their success. Hiromi and Victor exchanged competitive smirks as Kuroyama cried out, "Let's go celebrate!"
"That's a great idea Kuroyama!" Sora agreed as she turned her head to Hiromi and Victor, "What do you say, guys? Shall we?"
"Why not?" Hiromi shrugged as Victor nodded. Hiromi looked up at the orange sky. It was getting late, "Where exactly?"
"Rairaiken's of course!" Kuroyama exclaimed like it was obvious. Kuroyama seized Victor by the wrist and dragged the taller boy away
"Kuroyama!"
Sora giggled as Hiromi smirked at the hilarious sight. "Come on Hiromi, let's go!" Sora said, running after the two boys. Hiromi was about to go after her when she stopped and turned around. She caught a glimpse of the captain shooting her a hard look.
'What's up with him?' Hiromi thought, before jerking away her head to join the chase.
Sora and Hiromi managed to find the duo waiting at a traffic light for it to turn bright red at the cars.
"So have you guys been to Rairaiken's before?" Kuroyama asked the trio as they made their way to Rairaiken's, "It's the most amazing restaurant I've been to and the staff there are really nice! Hey, have you guys tried Rairaiken's Super Spicy Supreme yet? It's a limited edition and it's really spicy! I tried it once. Steam burst out from my ears and my face was all red! My sister even took a picture and it was embarrassing! I could show it to you, but it's not with me now. But you really need to try it! It's super delicious! Oh and the ramen too, that's delicious too. Oh and-"
Hiromi stopped listening as she poked Victor from behind and leaned next to him, "He's like Sora, only he can talk about everything." Victor chuckled. He can relate to that.
"And- oh! Hey, guys, we're here!" Kuroyama exclaimed excitedly as he pointed to the restaurant in front of them. They entered the restaurant where a few people were there eating and minding their own business.
"Yuuya!" A girl around the age of 18-19 appeared from behind the counter. She had short, blonde hair and green eyes and wore an apron, "How are you doing?"
"Fine Umuki nee-san!" Kuroyama greeted cheerfully as he sat at the counter with his friends, "Guys, this is Chigare Umuyuki. She's the assistant chef of Rairaiken."
"Hi!" Chigare greeted just as cheerfully as Kuroyama did, "Are you three friends of Yuuya here?" The trio nodded, "I'm glad. It was Kuroyama's first day of school yesterday and I was afraid he wouldn't make any friends. But I can see now that I have nothing to worry about." She ruffled Kuroyama's silver-blue hair affectionately before pulling out a notebook, "So what would you like?"
"Okay! Just give me a sec." She said as she began preparing their orders while she left them to talk comfortably with each other.
"She seems nice," Sora told, "You must be very lucky to have a sister like Chigare-san."
Kuroyama chuckled as he scratched his head nervously. He wasn't sure if he was ready to tell them, "Well... to be honest, we're not blood-related and well... we're not from Inazuma Town either."
"You're not?" Sora inquired, looking a bit shock as the trio leaned in to listen eagerly.
"Yeah. We're from Nagasaki. Umuki nee-san used to be our neighbour back then... before she moved here. My parents are business people working in a large company in Nagasaki and um... well, they decided to move me here, to Inazuma Town, for better education."
"And Chigare-san?" Victor asked.
"My parents couldn't leave their work, so Umuki nee-san volunteered to take care of me. I'm currently living with her in a small apartment she rented. So basically, it's just been me and her."
The trio didn't know what to say as Victor and Sora shot each other resentful looks which didn't go unnoticed by the short boy. Kuroyama quickly waved it off with a genuine smile. The blue haired trio paid no attention to the brunette who looked at the table deep in thought.
"And one Miso Ramen for Hiromi."
Hiromi's head shot up to see Chigare place her ordered Miso Ramen in front of her. Hiromi muttered thanks as she stared at the ramen before digging in with the rest of her friends.
Hiromi became quiet throughout the rest of the evening in the restaurant. The brunette didn't bother to watch steam burst out of Kuroyama's ears or Kuroyama shoving a spoonful of the spicy food into Victor's mouth or the duo ordering large cups of water to drain the burning heat in their mouths. Hiromi ate slowly, deep in thought as she propped up her cheek with a hand.
'How did he know?' Hiromi thought, staring frustratedly at her food, 'Does he know me? But I've never met him before.'
"Hey Hiromi, what's your surname?"
Hiromi had not registered his question as she was busying herself with her own thoughts, "Sorry, what was that?"
"What's your surname?" Kuroyama repeated, "Sora said she forgot to ask you since yesterday."
"I was too busy talking I guess." Sora added with a sheepish smile before looking at Hiromi with eager eyes, "So can you tell us?
Hiromi craned her neck away from Sora's face, "Uh..."
"Captain-get-in- Ack!" A loud thud attracted everyone attention and whirled their heads at the sound from the entrance.
"Hayami-senpai?" Hiromi said astonished. The rose haired boy was lying face down on the wooden floor of the restaurant.
"You alright there Hayami?" Another voice broke out, but it didn't sound very concern for the grounded boy. A muffled sound came from Hayami.
"Namayaki-senpai?" Hiromi pointed a finger at the entrance. The voice of the person poked his head out from the entrance, revealing the albino haired goalkeeper. Namayaki grinned before stepping inside and carefully over Hayami.
"Hiromi! I didn't expect to see you guys here!" Namayaki said as he turned to the entrance, "Hey guys come on in, it's the new members of our team. And please get up Hayami, you're making a scene." He scolded the rose haired boy who was still on the floor and playing dead.
"Come on, can't I have a bit of fun?" Hayami chirped cheerfully, glancing at the albino haired goalkeeper. By that time, everyone in the restaurant had gone back to minding their own business except for Chigare, Hiromi, Victor, Sora and Kuroyama who waited patiently for the duo to resolve their conflict.
"No."
"Fine." Hayami pouted as he stood up almost instantaneously before turning, full body, towards the entrance, "Are you guys coming in or what?"
"I was waiting for you to get up." Hamano's voice said as the dark haired boy stepped inside, twiddling his thumbs nervously as Hayami patted his back in a reassuring and painful way, "OW! That hurts!"
Hayami ignored the wails of his best friend, "What about you? Are you coming in?"
"Of course, I am Hayami." A stern voice told him. It caused Hiromi to blink and sit up straight.
'Oh please no. Not him' Hiromi thought dreadfully.
"If you didn't have to push me then we wouldn't be in this situation," Omiwari said, glaring at the defender who let out a low whistle and shifted his feet. He had averted his eyes from the captain before letting them fall on the only group watching them.
"Hey! It's you guys!" Hayami said, casually walking to an empty table with Hamano, "And I thought Namayaki-san was joking."
"Very funny Hayami," Namayaki said sarcastically as sat opposite Hayami, "One Super Spicy Supreme please."
Chigare flipped her notebook and raised an eyebrow, "Who for?"
"Omiwari." Namayaki couldn't help but let out a snicker as he looked at Omiwari already seated across him.
Chigare smirked, "But I thought he hated spicy food." She pointed out with the tip of her pen pointing towards Omiwari who "hmph" and crossed his arms impatiently.
"Exactly why it's a good punishment," Hayami spoke up with a broad grin, "And for someone who hates spicy food."
Hiromi could see that the Raimon captain was fighting ever muscle in his body to stop himself from injuring Hayami with an uppercut.
"How did that happen?" Sora inquired with a curled mouth that tried to restrain a stifled laugh. Hayami smirked.
"We have this little game called Think Fast. Basically, it's a fast-paced game where you have to think fast." He said, pointing to his head, "Everyone will form a circle and a person will kick the ball to any random person and that person will have to kick to another random person and it keeps going continuously. Anyone who fails to catch or kick the ball back, or even kick it away from the circle-" His eyes drifted onto the captain, "-will have to do a punishment agreed by everyone on the team."
"The punishment's usually decided first before the game starts," Hamano spoke up. "So the person who lost can't get away with a punishment suggested by themselves."
"Exactly," Hayami said, placing his round glasses above his eyes as he slumped against the wall.
"Sometimes the game can have one or more losers," Namayaki added, "For example, Bara, it's Yamada, and Minowari had to stand naked in their underwear beside a park tree."
Sora blushed deep red and buried her face in her hands. Hiromi snickered. Victor bit his lip, quivering as he suppressed an awkward grin and Kuroyama gave a muffled laugh from his hands clamped over his mouth. Hamano chuckled and even Omiwari suppress a smile before frowning again when Hiromi looked at him.
"We even have a picture," Hayami choked out. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and pushed his glasses on his head, "Wanna see it?"
Before Sora could shout out a loud "No!", Chigare came marching over to Omiwari and Namayaki's table to serve their order.
"I will not have you show nude pictures of your classmates in my restaurant." She scolded Hayami who gave a sheepish smile and scratched his neck nervously, "Honestly, grow up Hayami. Here you go Omiwari. One Super Spicy Supreme, enjoy." And walked back to the counter with an amused smile.
The ramen boiled dangerously at Omiwari as he stared at it and hesitantly picked up the chopsticks. Hayami immediately stood up from his seat with his phone ready to record the hilarious sight.
"I'll take the video, you take the picture Namayaki-san!" He told the albino haired goalkeeper who slammed his hand on the table, almost spilling the food.
"No way! I called it first!" He cried out childishly. Omiwari glared at him, telling him to sit before they made another scene. Namayaki huffed and reluctantly sat down, "Fine, you win." Hayami did a fist pump in victory.
"Ready captain?" Hayami asked, showing his teeth in a grin as the captain "tch". He could hardly contain his excitement, "Remember. A MOUTHFUL."
Everyone watched intently as Omiwari shoved a mouthful into his mouth.
His face started to swollen and become beet red with sweat trickling down from his forehead and eyes brimming with tears.
And not a moment too soon, the captain burst out hot, red flames from his mouth. Hiromi, Victor, Sora, Kuroyama, Namayaki, Hamano and Hayami all roared with laughter as Hayami videoed the captain ordering for water, but Chigare was too busy laughing.
"Please, water!" Omiwari said again, his voice hoarse as he held his throat. Chigare nodded.
"Here you go," She said as she placed the cup of water on the counter beside Kuroyama. Omiwari grabbed the water and immediately chugged it down. Omiwari glared at Hayami who was still laughing and grumbled to himself when Hayami said aloud, "You still have to finish it captain!"
It took 20 minutes for the captain to finish his bowl of spicy ramen. And 20 minutes of non-stop laughing.
"Now that wasn't so bad now was it captain?" Hayami asked, replaying the part of the video where Omiwari fell on the floor asking for more water for the third time. Namayaki snicked over Hayami's shoulder at the video. "Wanna watch it?" Hayami waved the phone in front of the captain's irritated face.
"No. You're paying," He pointed to Namayaki's disappointed face, "I'm going." He slumped his bag over his shoulder and walked out as Namayaki paid Chigare. He, Hamano and Hayami bid the four first years goodbye. Hayami stayed behind for a bit.
"We should make him lose more often," Hayami whispered to the closest person, Hiromi, who smirked, "What's your number by the way? I wanna give you the video as a reward for irritating the captain earlier today."
Hiromi thought back when she had been given warning by the captain. Before Hiromi could pull out her phone, Hamano's voice called out from the entrance, "Hayami, let's go!"
"Alright! I'll give you the video tomorrow before practice, 'kay?" He winked at Hiromi and ran off.
The four stayed in silence before Hiromi spoke up, "I think it's getting late, we should go." She paid for her meal, "Thanks for the meal Chigare-san." The rest followed her suit and exited the restaurant.
Kuroyama quickly spoke up, "My house is this way, I'll see you guys tomorrow! Bye!" Kuroyama jogged off to the left side of the street as they watch him disappear.
"Where's your house Hiromi?" Sora asked.
Hiromi pointed to the opposite direction, "Hey that's where we're heading! Let's go together!" The trio began to walk as Sora asked Hiromi again, "Is your house far?"
"Pretty far from here but I know my way," Hiromi added hastily. Hiromi could tell Sora was worried about her safety and seriously was considering on accompanying her, "What about yours?"
"Mine is just around that corner." Sora pointed at the corner in front of them, "I'll go off first, is that alright? Thanks, see you guys tomorrow!"
And with that, Sora disappeared around the corner she had pointed as the duo walked together in silence.
Hiromi continued to ponder over her thoughts. She didn't notice she was walking ahead until Victor spoke up, "My stop is here." Hiromi stopped in her tracks and whirled her head at him to see him point at a corner.
"I'll see you tomorrow Hiromi."
"Uh, sure," Hiromi said unsurely. It wasn't entirely her fault, she didn't know who he was. An earlier memory of the events flashed through her mind, causing her eyes to widen in realization, "Hey, wait up!"
Victor immediately stopped and looked back at her before he could disappear behind a wall, "What is it?"
"You said your name was Matsukaze/Tsurugi Victor. Right?" Hiromi asked, gripping her bag strap and walking towards him. Victor averted his eyes to the side, his face turning pink which Hiromi could see under the illuminated lamp.
"I'm adopted!" Victor suddenly yelled before Hiromi could say anything else. She stepped back in defense, "Just because I'm the son of two of the famous Raimon players, doesn't mean I'm famous-"
"Calm down! I was just confirming!" Hiromi yelled out in defense with his hands in front of her. Hiromi caught his confused look and averted her eyes somewhere else, "I... think I know who you are... kinda."
"What do you mean? I only met you today. I hardly even know you."
Hiromi bit the inside of her mouth as she rubbed her arm. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, but she just couldn't keep that piece of hidden information for herself. Even if she did, he was eventually going to find out, "You know who Shindou Takuto and Kirino Ranamru are?"
Victor raised an eyebrow at her, "Of course I know them. They were part of Raimon too 20 years ago. And my parents' friends too-" Victor stopped short in realization and look at Hiromi whose head was lowered to look at the ground, "Are you saying-"
Hiromi swallowed before gathering enough courage to look him in the eye.
"My name is Shindou... Shindou/Kirino Hiromi. I'm their adopted daughter."