Act 2: Secrets of the Skies
Segment 2: Calm After the Storm
Chapter 2-4: Unexpected Alarm
The subway train rattled and bumped. Takaharu grunted as he was forced to push into the person right in front of him and then behind. He was a touch early, yet still the morning train was absolutely packed. Not quite so badly that pushers were needed, but certainly bad enough that he kept his other hand firmly in his pocket to avoid touching someone.
Arriving at Ochiai. Ochiai. T02.
He sighed. "Just one more," he muttered to himself. At least Lomamon, in his phone, had the comfort of not having to be squeezed between people like this.
A score of people departed the train and relieved the pressure in the cars. Takaharu took a deep breath. Never before had he appreciated so much the ability to simply breathe comfortably. He'd have to deal with this for the next two months. It's all worth it, he told himself. Dad's bothering me anyway. I need to learn how to deal with this. He exhaled.
A rather wizened old man sitting some chairs down took a look up at him and gave him a knowing smile as the train rattled into Nakano Station. He stood up and grabbed a pole. "Good luck and work hard, son," he said as he disembarked with a beat-up leather briefcase.
Takaharu watched him leave, then caught himself staring and hurried off the train before it turned around. He picked his way up the stairs and emerged at ground level, then looked around. Nakano wasn't somewhere he went often. Which way was the office, or even north? "Ah, heck, whatever." He pulled out his phone only to see Lomamon was back to napping. He'd barely been able to wake it earlier. At least now, though, the sun was coming up.
He tapped the office location into his map application. It turned out to be somewhere just north of Route 25, well to the east, and about an eleven minute walk. "Huh? Oh, right, right…" he muttered to himself as he began walking, "Nakano Broadway is right here." He put his phone back into his pocket and grinned as he began walking toward it. It took only a few minutes to get there. He made a mental note to come back and check it out at the end of his shift.
The winter breeze picked up as he stepped back out to a wider road. Even so, it was still warm enough for early February. He picked up the pace. He wanted to make sure he was there early enough to make an impression, something that his dad had made sure to remind him of the day before. He'd set four alarms just to make sure he woke up early enough.
He peered into the glass door. The lights were on. He knocked. A woman's head popped up, blinked at him a few times, then went to answer. "Segawa Takaharu?" She looked to be in her fifties.
"That's me!"
"Come in! Welcome! I'm Nozomi. Dr. Yagami isn't here yet, but feel free to settle in." She led him to the other side of the office desk. The chair was well-used but clean and had been patched once in the front of the chair's foam padding. He glanced down at it. "Ah, sorry about the old chair. It was all we could get on short notice."
"Oh! It's fine."
"The desktop is all set up and ready to go." Takaharu settled into the vet's office chair. It felt a bit odd being on the other side of the desk, even though it wasn't his usual veterinarian's office. Dr. Yagami Toru had been a close friend of his current veterinarian, and he had graciously forwarded his résumé onward.
"Doctor!" He rose from his chair as Dr. Yagami opened the glass door. He sported a jaunty beret and a tweed jacket. Takaharu fought the temptation to snap a photo of him right then and there and forward it to Kazuhiko to tease him about English dress.
"Good morning, Takaharu." The man was likely in his mid-fifties, yet still had incredibly stable hands. When Takaharu had brought it up after the interview, he had laughed and said it was from a habit of staying away from all forms of caffeine, so much so that the only tea he drank was jasmine and other such teas. "How was the commute?"
"Ah… busy, I have to admit," he complained while fiddling with a pen. "The morning trains really are something else."
"Mm, yes. My children complain about the same thing, but I suppose that's just how it is. There can only be so many tunnels and bridges." He went to hang up his coat on a rack behind the office desk. "Hopefully you'll like it here."
"I – of course! I will, sir!" he exclaimed and saluted. Nozomi glanced up from a spreadsheet on her monitor and held in a laugh.
That got a hearty laugh out of the mostly bald man. "Takaharu, this isn't the self-defence forces."
"Ah – r-right!" He put his hand back down.
Dr. Yagami gave him one last amused look out of the corner of his eye. "You've been watching far too much anime, haven't you." It wasn't a question at all. He turned and walked to a wash basin after putting on a lab coat.
"Uhh…" Takaharu thought about what to say as he stood around awkwardly and shifted his weight back and forth. There was no way he was going to admit to it, but his parents would have agreed with that sentiment. "I, uh, eheh."
Dr. Yagami dried his hands off with a paper towel. "Anyway, I'm sure you'll do fine. Nozomi is quite experienced, so if you need help with the booking software or the scheduling, you can ask her."
Takaharu glanced over at the woman as the veterinarian went off to prepare an examination room with an assistant, who gave Takaharu a quick wave as she passed. "Uh, Nozomi…" he started as he sat back down.
"Something on your mind?" she replied.
"Uh… um… are you, by any chance…"
She burst out with laughter. "Related to Dr. Yagami?" He nodded. "No, we don't share any relatives that I know of. But it's a frequent question. We do look like we could be cousins."
"A-ah, I see. Sorry! I just – just needed to ask."
She seemed in good spirits regardless. "Mm. Then, anything else on your mind?"
"U-uh, well… what animals do people usually bring in?"
"The normal things, I guess? Mostly dogs, cats, hamsters, maybe a few reptiles and other exotic pets. Though we are asked on rare occasions to treat any strays people find in the area."
He nodded. It had been a similar experience for him. Tailmon had been an untagged cat, and they had brought it in after they'd found her curled up under the apartment's doorway.
"Maybe you'll get lucky and catch someone bringing in an exotic pet. Dr. Yagami is trained as a herpetile specialist, after all."
"Herpetile?"
"Amphibians and reptiles."
Takaharu eyed someone coming in for their appointment. They had a carrier with them. "Good morning!" he exclaimed as he stood.
• • • • • • •
Noriko
[map location]
How about this place? It's pretty good
They make great latte art
February 3 12:59
Sure! Sounds good to me
How about 2 pm on the 8th?
February 3 15:33
Okay with me, see you then~!
February 3 16:01
I'm on my way there
13:28
I'm there, I don't see you though
13:57
Just running a bit late! Sorry
Caught up at work a bit
14:01
I think I see you!
14:05
• • • • • • •
"Hey! Sorry about being late," Takaharu apologized. "Heh, I forgot my shift is actually a bit longer than I expected."
"It's fine, it wasn't too long," Noriko replied. The two walked into the nearby café. The sound of espresso machines and grinders filled the air.
"Ooh! What is all this?" he asked while looking a shelf of bags up and down.
"Single-origin coffee," she replied. Takaharu picked a bag up and turned it around, then made a face of shock and set it back down. "Too expensive for you?"
"U-uh, well… it's, it's, just a bit more than I expected, haha." He switched his attention to the fridge case. After having seen Yuuka do her thing, the case was looking very normal, perhaps even a bit disappointing. He looked back up. "Are you getting anything?"
"Me? Hm, not really. I was only going to get a latte."
"Oh, okay." He stood back up straight. It could wait. He could always drop by the Ishida businesses afterward.
The two of them ordered drinks and sat at an empty table. It being the middle of a weekday meant room was plentiful. Noriko draped her jacket on the chair's back. "How was work? Where are you working?"
Takaharu replied, "Just a veterinary clinic."
"So soon? Incredible."
"I-it's not that special," he laughed. "I'm just doing office work, like managing papers and calling people and that."
"Still, it seems pretty nice to have an income."
He nodded. "It's not much, but it is better than nothing."
Noriko leaned back to make way for a waitress carrying their drinks and thanked her. Takaharu asked, "Anything you've been up to since exams?"
Noriko shook her head. "Just catching up with friends from high school so far. We all went our separate ways."
"Ah, me too. Well, actually, we did that over the new year break. One of them is already went back abroad."
"Abroad?" Noriko blinked with surprise as she sipped her latte. "Where to?"
"Vancouver." Takaharu stared at the latte art. Noriko hadn't been kidding; they had managed to draw out a whole forest on it. It was almost too perfect to ruin, but it was a latte after all. He sipped it. The drink was much thicker than he expected.
"Vancouver! Wow. I hope to visit some day. It looks so beautiful in photos."
Takaharu grinned. "Same, really. I've never been either." He took another sip.
"So… Takaharu, what do you do besides work?"
Takaharu coughed and laughed at the same time. "I, well… you know, normal guy things." Noriko raised an eyebrow. "Gaming, anime, that stuff."
"Ah." She held a tight face. "Exactly what kind?"
"Eh… all of them, I guess? Though I usually end up back with the fantasy stuff."
"Fantasy, like isekai?"
"Mostly, yeah."
She nodded and softened her expression. "I've seen a few recently."
Soft music floated over from Alison's room. Brian rubbed his eyes as he looked away from his laptop screen. Alison had been getting more and more curious about what he was up to late at night. Being awake so late wasn't abnormal for him in any way, but he figured children had a way of knowing when something was amiss. Certainly at least his daughter had a sense for that.
He still had no idea how to admit it to her. Doing so would break her heart, but he had to tell her some day. Better soon than later, he realized. Otherwise, she might make promises she couldn't keep.
Brian closed his laptop. He'd had enough applying to various universities abroad for the day. Amongst his options, he had narrowed them down to a select few. MIT was certainly still on the list, as was UCLA and a few others in the USA, but so were UBC, University of Toronto, and McGill.
He thought better of it and reopened his laptop, then typed an address into a map website. It was close enough to Toronto, he felt, a bit quieter, possibly less expensive, and they seemed to be a more focused computer science school. The only thing was that it was, by Japanese standards, relatively unknown. It would be hard to get some kind of knowledge trade going. It was hard enough with UBC or University of Toronto. Getting one started with the University of Waterloo would be nearly impossible.
More importantly, when it came to university rankings, it seemed Waterloo was much closer than the other, more prestigious places he was applying to. It was more likely they'd respond to him with a favourable offer, and he could do with all the favour he could.
A knock at his door interrupted his thoughts. "Alison, what's up?"
She opened his office door and stared at him intently with worry.
"You good, kiddo?"
"Papa, it feels like you've been bothered by something."
"It's nothing, Alison. Just some things happening at work."
"You've been saying this for almost two years, dad." She paced over to his chair and gave him a hug. Her light brown hair tangled with his blonde beard. "It makes me worried when you stay up so late at night."
Brian sighed. There wasn't much sense in hiding the truth now, was there? Not that she was getting the sense something was wrong. "Alison," he started, then paused. "I… I'm not sure how to say this." He rubbed his bald-shaven scalp.
Alison cocked her head at him. "What's wrong?"
"We… we won't be staying for your junior high."
Alison dropped her arms and took a step back. "What do you mean?" she inquired.
"My contract isn't getting renewed, and…" he shook his head. "I can't convince the government to extend me citizenship when I'm not getting a new contract. So I have to leave, and…"
Alison made a choking noise. "But…"
Brian regretfully closed his laptop and stared at it. "I'm sorry, Alison." He tried to look her in the eyes, but she averted her gaze. "I've tried all I can. Your next school year is your last one here, and then after th-"
She made another choking noise and fled to the safety of her bedroom, where some pictures of her and her friends were strewn on her desk. "How… how can I just leave?" she asked herself. A drop landed on the glossy paper and rolled down onto her bedsheet. "I can't… where?" She stared at the smiling faces of her classmates and her friends. So she had just over a year left? How was she supposed to explain she'd be leaving them all behind after this? All of them were citizens here.
Brian knocked on her door. "Alison?"
The only noise that returned was pained crying.
Asuka shivered. Chiba's stadium could get bitterly cold with the frost-laden wind blowing in from the coastline. It was right there, after all. The mid-February temperatures were not kind today. She rose with the other substitutes to keep warm on the sidelines and watched as Ji-min held up the ball, avoided a defender, and tried to make her way out of the press, only to have it bounce off an opponent's shin and glance out for a throw-in.
She glanced up at the scoreboard again. By the 30th minute, Tori had already scored to put their side up by a goal. Nagano were looking a bit shaken with Chiba's intensity, and it was only a miracle that an early shot by Kanna had double-posted – once off the left, then off the right – and come back out to keep the score relatively reasonable. Still, Maria was going wild in midfield with so much space in front of her and was free to ping long balls to Tori and Ji-min as she felt. It was likely only a matter of time before Nagano collapsed, unless they changed something at the half.
The crowd of green sweaters and drums roared with anticipation as another one of those Maria Cruz long balls went sailing up and toward a dashing Tori far up the pitch. She carried it to near the corner flag, then whirled a foot around the ball. The opposing left back Nishiogi Aino took the bait and stepped back toward the top of the penalty box, expecting Tori to move back towards midfield. Tori immediately carried the ball with her to the goal line and made the entry into the penalty box. She looked up and saw players moving into the range right in front of goal and lifted the ball up with her right foot.
The ball curled up and over bodies. Goalkeeper Umi thought better of trying to claim that one. It would sail to her back post before she could get back in time. A Nagano shirt – one of the foreign players, Kelly Dushin, jumped up for it and headed the ball away. The Canadian international's header only went back as far as the edge of the box where Asuka's teammate Shinobu was waiting, having held back a bit on the play, and took her shot one-time.
The strike slapped right into the straying hand of Nagano midfielder and captain Saori. "No, no, no! It was ball-to-hand!" she complained to the referee, who had promptly put the whistle in her mouth. Despite the Nagano protests, the referee pointed straight to the spot without hesitation.
Kanna walked over to Shinobu. "Yours?"
"I don't know, I'm not that great at these."
"Alright, then I'll take it."
The referee motioned at two players to actually step outside of the box and stop wasting time with protests, then turned to ensure Kanna and Umi weren't up to shenanigans. Umi jumped and flapped her arms, then stepped from side to side and steadied herself. Kanna looked up, left, right, then down and exhaled sharply. "Just as practiced." She took three steps back, stared Umi straight in the eyes, then took her run up and footed it as well as she could according to her practice.
The ball went straight to the top-right corner, and Umi guessed correctly. Her long limbs and outstretched hand seemed to travel in slow motion as everyone – the bench, the crowd, Kanna, her teammates, the Nagano players – all stared.
The sound of rubber striking fibres and then metal was all they needed to know. A gasp of shock went around the stands as the ball popped back off the frame and landed at the feet of a Nagano player, who hurriedly kicked it away to clear the danger. Kanna bit her lip and shook her head at the goalmouth. Umi must have seen something in her run-up that telegraphed her intent. Otherwise, that would have been unsavable. Umi, for her part, was busying herself barking out positioning instructions for the upcoming corner kick.
Asuka snorted and leaned against an advertising board. "What a save, huh?"
Saya was beside her again. "Incredible."
"Bet it doesn't stay a one goal game, though."
Saya shook her head. "Seems impossible."
Ji-min raised her hand, then put it down and curled it into the box. Shinobu got her head to the ball, but the presence of two others made it far too difficult to her to get the right angle and it sailed just wide of the far post. A huff of disappointment went around the stands. She cursed her bad fortune and retreated back to position.
Asuka and Saya returned to their warmups. The warmth generated by their moving muscles was just enough to fend off the wet cold wind. "Saya?" Asuka huffed between jogs.
"Hm?"
"Do you ever think about what comes after sports?"
"Not at all. It's too soon for that." Saya glanced over at her as they stretched their calves. "Something bugging you?"
Asuka shook her head. The red streak had been rejuvenated over the January break and training. "Just came into my head last week, that's all."
Saya stood back up straight and walked towards the benches along with the other substitutes. "Honestly, I don't even know where to go after Chiba."
"After… Chiba?"
"Of course. If you want to improve, you have to keep moving on to something new, right? As a player, anyway. The coaches can take training courses or some such, but not for us."
Asuka sat back on the bench. The idea of having to move again unsettled her. Where else? The only place close to home would be Verdy Beleza, unless she dropped down to the semi-pro Nadeshiko or some other club from the surrounding area joined the league. She thought back to the preliminary offer that had come in from Portland. Perhaps she would have to entertain overseas living after all.
Another roar of the crowd snapped her out of her introspection. Kanna was holding the ball up with her back to the Nagano goal, and Shinobu was in support. Kanna reeled the ball back in and flicked it with the back of her heel, right between the legs of the defender behind her. Shinobu sailed past and latched onto it before anyone else could realize that this was the plan and found herself wide open in front of Umi. Shinobu flicked her eyes up. Umi wasn't leaving much open. She glanced to her right. Kanna was wide open. It was an easy assist.
Drums and horns blasted from above Asuka as the green-clad crowd danced in the rows of seats. Asuka looked back up to check if any of her friends had come. If they had, she couldn't see them. "Did they come?" Saya asked. Asuka shook her head. "Kind of a shame."
"Ah, it's fine. I can't expect them to make the journey all the time." Asuka glanced over. Saya was holding in something. "Oh..."
"Mm." Saya was trying to hold in her mirth.
Asuka squinted. "Who…"
"The guy, I forget his name."
"Takaharu?" Asuka shook her head with disbelief. He was the only guy who could have shown up, so it had to be him.
"Yeah, him." Asuka burst out laughing. "Wait, what's so funny?"
Asuka continued laughing as her coach stared with curiosity. "He's incredibly average! Like, there's almost nothing special about him whatsoever."
"Yeah, but he seemed like a high-energy person. I kind of like that."
Ami, the head coach, coughed a single laugh up and returned to watching the players on the pitch. Asuka replied, "That he is, but other than that, he's really not anything unique. He just plays games and goes on trips all the time."
"To where?"
"Ah… like, y'know, Nagoya, Osaka, even over to Taiwan or Hong Kong occasionally, not too far. He keeps making noise about wanting to go back home someday."
"Home? Isn't he Japanese?"
"Not born here, though."
"Then…"
"Canada. Toronto, I guess. I've never been either."
"Ahh! That place!" Saya seemed even more enamoured now. "Did you know there's a castle right in the middle of the city?"
Asuka made a doubtful face. "Are you sure?"
"Yes! It's called Casa Loma! Ah… I wonder what it looks like in person…"
Asuka whispered "Casa… Loma… Loma… oh. Ohhh…" and then buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook.
Saya snapped out of her trance. "You good?" Asuka didn't respond. "Are… are you okay?"
Asuka howled with laughter. "I'm fine! It's – I can't say it but, I – that's too funny!"
Nagano weren't quite finished yet. The crowd seemed to feel it as well. The Nagano bench had swapped out a midfielder and a forward and looked to have taken a different shape. It was going to be a risky move on their part, but it seemed to have worked in their favour. The crowd gasped and sighed in relief as a Nagano shot by forward Yukako pinged an upright and was booted away by left-back Fujiko for a Nagano corner kick. Chiba coach Ami shook her head and glanced at the time on the scoreboard.
"Time for fresh legs," she advised an assistant. "Let's see…" The two stared at the lineup and formation sheet. Her assistant had been sketching out potential shapes for Nagano and danger zones. Most importantly, it seemed that the two-goal lead would have to do. The midfield was starting to slow, and if Nagano were going to push, then they needed to stay compact. She glanced at the bench, then back at the tablet. "Do we shift and take off Shinobu?"
"Possibly, though as it is, it would be good for the wingers to get a rest as well."
"We could always change both."
A sudden gasp and a murmur went through the crowd. The Chiba bench snapped to attention as the referee blew her whistle a few times and motioned for a medic. The green-clad medic rushed onto the field. Ami crossed her arms. "Never mind. What now…"
Maria was lying on the pitch and clutching her leg and hip. She slapped the ground. She was clearly in distress. A Nagano and a Chiba player stood around as the medic attended to her. Asuka shook her head sadly. Saya asked, "Did you see what happened? I didn't."
"I think she landed hard on one foot. It might be a tendon injury or muscle injury, I don't know."
Ami exhaled and shook her head. "Why is it always at terrible times?" she muttered to herself. "Do we have any central midfielders that can take that role?"
"Theoretically," replied her assistant, "no. We're all depleted on holding midfielders."
"That's what I figured."
"But we could adjust Shinobu to the attacking midfielder role, then slide Ji-min into centre, put on Asuka…"
Asuka's head whipped up at the mention of her name. Ami replied to her assistant, "And slide down to a 4-4-2, you mean."
"We can't cede midfield, that's the tough part."
"Agreed. A tight 3-4-2-1…"
"Theoretically possible, but three substitutions at once might be a bit much."
Ami rapped her fingertips against the inside of her arm. "I'd still like to give more of the girls a break though."
"Should we risk it?"
"I think we can afford to drop either striker at this point. It would be nice to see who else can play that role anyway." Ami flicked her eyes up. The substitutes stared back in expectation. Somebody was going in at the least, as Maria had been helped to her feet, but was in no condition to continue playing.
The assistant scribbled down two names on a substitution slip and handed it to the fourth official as Ami came over. "Asuka, Saya, you're both going in."
Saya blinked in surprise. "Wait, what?"
"Yeah, you."
"I – right!" She got to her feet as Asuka nudged her in the shoulder. "This is unexpected," she whispered to her teammate.
Asuka glanced at the substitution slip. It had both Maria's and Shinobu's numbers on it. "Looks like they're giving Shinobu a rest. She might not be too pleased with that." As the fourth official lifted her electronic board, Asuka was the first one to take the pitch as her number went up. "Asuka, you're on the left wing. Tori is staying where she is, and I need Ji-min to slide down to the middle," guided Ami.
"Got it. Cut inside?"
"If you can. But stay defensive. We should protect our lead. Saya, I need you to stay further back as well, even if it means Kanna is on her own up top. We'll be relying on you to make it hard for them to get something started. Make sure you stay in position. Asuka, you too."
"Of course," Asuka replied. She took to the field as Maria was helped on her way back around the pitch. Shinobu glanced up and blinked in surprise that her number had gone up. As Shinobu walked past Asuka, they high-fived, and then Shinobu gave Saya a quick hug on the sideline.
"Hey, good luck, keep your cool out there," Shinobu remarked to Saya.
"T-thanks."
The game resumed as the ball was dropped at the feet of Nonoka, the Chiba goalkeeper. She played short to Ayame, the captain, who was content to play short and back along the defensive line. Being up by two into the final third of the game was a comfortable position to be in. After a few touchy attempts to advance the ball, the other defensive midfielder, Mioko, looked up and spotted Asuka floating into a half-space unmarked. The ball quickly came to her, and Asuka stepped forward with the three paces before sliding it back over to Saya. The youngster seemed on edge. Asuka considered running forward as her training normally would tell her to, but she stopped and hung back. They didn't need to give up the ball so easily, and Saya was getting surrounded.
Asuka dropped back. "Oi!" Saya quickly played the ball back, and Asuka looked up again. The three Nagano shirts had shifted their attention to her. She gently passed it back to Mioko.
Saya glanced over at the bench, then at Asuka. "No need to look forward, just look for an open person," Asuka remarked. Saya nodded, apparently a little too awestruck by the sea of green jackets. Asuka shook her head and laughed to herself. She had about the same reaction when she first came into a game last year.
Nagano double-teamed Tori as she was passed a poor ball and forced her to cough it up in her own half, then pushed forward with numbers. Asuka fell back along with the rest of the green shirts to defend. The Nagano captain, Saori, received the quick play by her teammate Hiroe, then looked up. Mioko kept in step with her as Saori looked for a way around, then flicked the ball just past Mioko's foot. The Chiba midfielder stuck out a leg, but too late, and caused Saori to tumble to the grass. "Ahh, sorry," she apologized.
Saori rolled back to a sitting position and got back up. "It's fine," she replied as the referee painted out a rim around the position of the ball and stepped forward several paces, then sprayed out a line where the wall was to be. It was a decent distance from goal, but certainly within striking range, especially for Saori herself or for Nagano's international, American Erin. The two of them stood near the ball as Asuka stood watch from afar to mark her opposing number, right-mid Yuki. Saori ran up as the whistle blew, then ran past it. Clearly from this kind of angle it would be Erin with her left foot, and she wordlessly punted it. It curled impressively, but it seemed the angle had also put her off a bit. The ball came well over the heads of Kanna, Mioko, and Saya, and headed towards goal.
"Hup!" Nonoka leapt off the ground and watched the ball spin. It was going to be a tight one, but saveable. She got a solid palm to it and pushed it aside. A loud whooping washed down from the stands as she hurried back to her feet in case there was something else to save. Another Nagano shirt had gotten to the ball and promptly let one loose from a tough angle, hoping for something to spill, but Nonoka swallowed up the awkward shot with two outstretched arms on the grass. She clutched the ball and laid there emphatically, then looked up.
Ami breathed a sigh of relief. So far, so good. She was fully aware they needed as many wins as they could to catch Kobe.
The ball was kicked forward again, and Chiba went back into a cycle of holding possession carefully. The supporters continued to thump out chant after chant. Asuka checked over her shoulder to try to shake off the Nagano shirt near her. Her teammate, Fujiko, played the ball up to her, but moved no more. Asuka had little option but to send the ball away with a Nagano shirt nearly pressed up to her, but instead sent it to Mioko, who sent it on to the midfielder who had moved from attacking to defensive duties, Ji-min. She then moved it across the pitch to Tori, but she was clearly showing signs of fatigue. She steadied herself and looked up, then played it back to Ji-min as Nagano left-back Aino stepped up to her.
Asuka realized Ji-min was in plenty of space to think. The Nagano right-back, Kelly Dushin, was completely unaware. Asuka jolted forward and caught the attention of Ji-min, who suddenly punted forward. Saya glanced over her shoulder and realized Asuka was breaking away and followed up the pitch. Suddenly the field of play was stretched!
The ball sailed well up into the sky. Asuka, with her speed from being a substitute, easily left Kelly in the dust and latched onto it, then began to cut inside. The centre-backs were both too tired to catch up in time. Asuka opened her hips and stroked the ball as cleanly as she could.
Goalkeeper Umi stretched out a leg and a hand. It was the best she could do with Asuka so close to her, but it was enough. The ball bounced off her shin and popped right into the centre of the penalty box. Saya's eyes widened. This was the opportunity! She easily tapped it into the open net.
The Chiba players walking back to the locker room were in high spirits. "Hey, congrats on your first goal, Saya!" Asuka high-fived her teammate.
"Uh, well… it was pretty simple as far as goals go," she replied.
"Goal's a goal! No matter what it comes from or how. Heck, if it comes off my butt, I'd still celebrate it!" Asuka flicked a stray lock of red hair back.
"You would," Saya laughed. Asuka shrugged. Saya's face returned to a serious expression. "Did you hear anything about Maria?"
"No, nothing. It seemed minor, but I'm not sure." The medic passed by at that moment. "Hey, how's Maria?"
"She went to the hospital for preliminary scans. It, uh…" He bit his lip. "I'm not sure."
"Oh." Asuka's shoulders fell and she shared a concerned glance with Saya. "What is it looking like?"
"Minor, but something in the knee. Could be at least a month. More than likely, though, she's done for the season. There's only a few games left." He shook his head. "It happens in the sport, quite a lot."
Asuka's breath hitched. She knew how bad knee injuries could be for one's career. "I see."
"Anyway, don't let it affect you too much. She's in good spirits regardless, and a trooper." The medic continued walking back to the medical room.
Asuka resumed walking alongside Saya as Nonoka passed by. "Something bothering you two? You look unhappy for having just won a game," the tall goalkeeper remarked. Asuka was pretty sure she and Satsuki would compete for tallest.
"Maria's done in her knee, so the medic said," explained Asuka.
"I figured she had, it looked like it from out there." Nonoka shifted her gloves under her arm. "Tough landing, but she'll be back, I'm sure."
Rei squinted. "You really weren't kidding, were you?" Her laptop screen had both Makoto's face in near-clear quality and what could possibly have been a person behind a witness' blur.
"At lea… the sound quali…ty is alright," came the response.
"You sure we should be doing this?" asked Makoto.
"Why not?"
"Well, I think you need a lawyer, since you're all blurred out. Are you doing an anonymous interview for someone? You should get a voice changer or something."
Rei choked on a sip of water. They were thinking exactly the same thing after all. Ryuta let out a sharp laugh. A vague white shape moved behind him. Had they not known about Amedramon, Rei would have assumed it to be a large white dog.
There was a sigh from Vancouver. "Should I j… turn o… video the…?"
"I think you should, before your connection dies again," advised Rei.
The blurry feed switched back to Ryuta's profile picture. "Better, I hope."
"Oh, yeah, much better." Rei sighed. Yuuka had warned them about how terrible his video quality would be, but they hadn't imagined it would be quite that terrible.
"Right, then, Makoto…"
"Yeh?"
"Thanks for the lecture notes."
"No prob."
"Wait," interjected Rei, "you gave him your lecture notes?"
"I sure did. He could handle it, right?"
Rei squinted at her laptop. Makoto had an amused smile on his face. Etsuko shuffled about in the back with a mug of water and disappeared out of frame. "You're not supposed to give those away like that."
Makoto waved the concern away. "Yeah, yeah, but like, Ryuta's not a terrible person. I think."
"That's not my point!"
"I know, just… online resources are obtuse, y'know? I walked him through it all anyway. He's good. I think, honestly," Makoto remarked between gulps of water, "he might do better than both of us."
"That I don't doubt."
Ryuta replied, "Hey, we'll see when I actually get to third and fourth year. You never know."
"You're the one studying at a top 50 university! It made me feel kind of bad about picking Waseda when I looked it up, you know," Makoto rebutted. "I didn't realize Canada had so many good universities. Why did your parents bring you back here? It seems Canadians have a top tier education system."
"Beats me. Whatever, it happened." There was a thump on the line. "Amedramon – you good?" There was a whine of pain. "What did you do?" Rei stared at her screen with concern, as did Makoto.
"Ow." It was the voice of Amedramon. "I fell off the bed right onto my wings."
Ryuta sighed. "You… aish." All Makoto and Rei could hear was a grunt of effort. "They're okay, right?"
"Yeah, they just sting a bit."
Makoto grinned. "Right, well, back on track?"
"Yeah. Rei and I have had some spare time since, so we wrapped up our work. The machine learning model runs surprisingly well on a laptop."
"It's not too complicated," Rei commented.
"True."
"Did you have a chance to look it over, Ryuta?"
There was a sound of something breathing heavily on the other side. Rei figured Amedramon was doing that thing again. "I did. I understood most of it, I think. I didn't realize there was so much vector math at first, but I guess it makes sense."
Makoto tapped at his phone. "You know, you really do make efficient mobile apps."
"Thanks. I've been practicing for a while," Ryuta replied.
"So, uh…" Makoto started, "we good to give this a try?"
Rei nodded. "Can't hurt."
"Okay, well, here we go." Makoto tapped the app on his phone. It spun, loaded, then showed a map. Immediately a pin dropped some distance away, in Shibuya, followed by another in Saitama, then a third in Minato Ward. Makoto's phone vibrated several times and played a familiar jingle.
"Okay! Okay, never mind!" he laughed as he quit the app. It continued to ping. "Ah! You put in a background mode!"
"Of course I did!" Ryuta exclaimed. "Why wouldn't I?"
Somewhere in the Tokuda apartment, Gaku yelled out, "Makoto, what are you doing?"
"Just testing out something! It's fine!" He hurriedly force-exited the app.
Rei's shoulders shook with mirth and cradled her forehead in her open palms. "Of all the sounds you could have selected… you put in the Chosen Children's Digivice sound effect when it drops a pin?"
"I needed something recognizable, right? Couldn't be any normal notification sound on the phone," Ryuta defended.
"But did it have to be that?"
Ryuta didn't answer the question. "Anyway, it seems the model's a bit off still. There's obviously no way there's several of them with nobody knowing about it in some other way."
Makoto sighed. "Guess we're missing something, aren't we?" He looked over the code again, as did Rei. After several quiet minutes, he muttered, "I… I'm dumb." He snorted and slapped a palm to his forehead. "You want to know what we didn't account for?"
"What?"
"Self-interference."
Rei cackled. "Ha! That makes a lot of sense. Agh, well, guess we both have more work to do. Ryuta, you're done with first year at the end of April, right?"
"Yep."
"Nice. Are you sticking around or coming straight back after?"
"I was going to tour a bit, maybe a week, and then return in May. Hopefully nothing happens by then."
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WE League Week 16 sees Kobe worries grow with shock loss to Chifure AS Elfen
NNK Sports | Published 2022.02.14 11:25
Week 16 of the inaugural WE League brought plenty of spice as Albirex Niigata played host to champion hopefuls Urawa Red Diamonds. A feisty and back-and-forth game produced four goals with two apiece. Despite being far lower in the standings, Niigata held their nerve and produced nearly an equal offensive effort to the visitors. Niigata left-midfielder KON Shio (48') started the goals after the keepers on both sides, AWAJI Himeko and SASAKI Sumie, stood on their heads for seven saves combined in the first half. The Reds would quickly respond with headed goals from both URABE Tomiko (54') and ENDOH Harue (58') (assisted by OKUHARA Mana and American Jordan BROWNE). Niigata would find their equalizer from the spot following a foul and booking for Taipei centre-back CHEN Mei-qi, slotted to the bottom-left by HIRAO Aki (65'). Following the goal scoring burst, there would be many opportunities turned away again as shots on target summed to nearly twenty for the match.
Goalscoring did not stop there this weekend as JEF United Chiba managed a few bumps along the road to a convincing 3-0 victory over AC Nagano Parceiro. Green-clad fans were treated to a rare double-posting by striker NAKANO Kanno, followed by a wonderstrike by right winger KOBAYASHI Tori (19'), assisted by left-winger LEE Ji-min. The unsavable strike thundered off the bottom of the crossbar and bounced off the goal line, then nestled into the netting, with Nagano goalkeeper FUKUMORI Umi rooted to the spot. Then, Umi would turn Nagano hero as she saved a penalty in the 34' to hold the deficit to one goal, but would then be isolated later as NAKANO Kanna would get her goal from a neat run of play, assisted by SAITŌ Shinobu (41'). The injury bug would come back to bite Chiba, however, as influential midfielder Maria CRUZ exited the game with what has been found to be a slight MCL tear, and is reportedly ruled out for the remainder of the season. Not to be discouraged, Chiba withstood some invigorated heavy pressing by Nagano and first-time player and substitute SUGAWARA Saya would make her mark in the 80' when teammate NAGATOMO Asuka's shot rebounded directly into her path.
Sunday started relatively peacefully with a quiet 1-0 victory at Sendai, where MyNavi Sendai's Therese REHN (28') managed to break into the box following a spell of possession by the home side and find the far post. The goal was assisted by midfielder and captain AIBA Kurumi. Visitors Omiya Ardija Ventus failed to register a shot on target in the first half and only tested their opposition twice in the second.
However, the spicy result of the weekend came at Chifure AS Elfen, where a clearly fired-up home crowd pushed the bottom-place side to another shock victory over high-flyers. This time, the victim was INAC Kobe Leonessa, who have performed poorly since the restart. The 3-2 victory by Chifure epitomizes the defensive gaffes in the league-leading side which previously had not existed before the restart. Chifure stormed out to a two-goal lead by efforts from American international Riley XAVIER (11', 20') and held on after that to keep the 2-0 lead at half-time. Notably, both goals were caused by mistakes made in possession and by allowing too much space to Chifure to possess the ball in front of the Kobe box. The away side returned from the break clearly with their plans adjusted and changed formation to better nullify the Chifure two-pronged attack, which enabled Kobe to find a goal via an unfortunate deflection. A shot by Kobe striker Lily WONG Hei-fook bounced off the shin of Chifure defender ISHII Keiki and sent goalkeeper ITSUNO Keiki the wrong way (55'). Chifure were not one to lose hope so quickly, though, and fought back to recover the two-goal lead, with overlapping right back and Spanish international Lana Mercedes MIRANDA PEREZ sweetly curling one past IIDA Kyoko from a tight angle (68'). Kobe would push and push to equalize, but after a goal by striker SATOU Yoshika in the 78', Chifure keeper ITSUNO Keiki would stand tall and fend off another four shots on target to bring her saves on the night to ten. While the win does not change much for the bottom of the table, the dropped points will certainly mean the teams chasing Kobe will be licking their lips as the opportunity presents itself to overtake.
Although the two games were timed within the hour of each other, it appeared that those chasing clubs received the message. Tokyo Verdy Beleza visited fellow chasers Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina and blew out the hosts 1-4 in a stunning reversal of what had been a normally defensive-proficient squad. Home side winger Janine COOPER sent in a low cross to the foot of striker MAEDA Kasumi (5'), rousing a sleeping Verdy Beleza side into action. The equalizer came from the resulting centre-field kick, as after just twelve passes, German international Karin Elsa ZIMMERMAN received a slide pass from last-minute replacement centre-midfielder FUKUSHIMA Chinatsu (6') and slotted the ball to her near corner. Tokyo would then find the second goal just after the second half began with the home side asleep at the wheel. Pressure from Canadian international Annabelle-Margerite OUTREMONT produced a turnover that was fed to Zimmerman for her second of the night (47'). Verdy Beleza would punish the sleeping Sanfrecce Hiroshima side again in the 57' with a set piece goal. The ball was headed away by defender MURAKAMI Kyo only to land directly at the feet of Zimmerman, who unleashed from 22 yards and sent goalkeeper ASO Hikari sprawling. With the hat-trick completed, Zimmerman would be substituted in the 65' to a respectful ovation of applause for her output despite being on hostile territory. Verdy Beleza's left midfielder FURUTA Shigeko would finish off the scoring in the 83' on a clinical finish.
Free-tumbling Nojima Stella Kanagawa will be hoping the week off will help reset their fall, but barring a miracle comeback, it now appears a championship title is impossible for what was once a promising side.
While the results do not change that Kobe is on top, they are now tied on points with Tokyo Verdy Beleza and lead only on a 5 GD advantage. JEF United Chiba and Urawa Red Diamonds follow closely behind with 26 points each, on GD +8 and +6 respectively, and fifth-place Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina are not far behind with 23 points.
There remain six game weeks in the season, with all clubs playing 20 games total.
LEO: 27 (8-3-3) | +14 (29-15)
BEL: 27 (7-6-2) | +9 (30-21)
JEF: 26 (7-5-3) | +8 (20-12)
RED: 26 (6-8-1) | +6 (22-16)
REG: 23 (6-5-3) | +7 (19-12)
STE: 16 (4-4-6) | -3 (17-20)
ALB: 16 (3-7-5) | -4 (16-20)
PAR: 14 (3-5-6) | -10 (10-20)
MYN: 13 (2-7-6) | -6 (12-18)
ELF: 12 (3-3-8) | -9 (14-23)
VEN: 11 (2-5-8) | -12 (9-21)
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