Slowing down her body as she saw the ball smoothly hit the back of the net, Khronoa didn't even flinch hearing the boy next to her let loose a long series of curses towards the scoring forward: Alexia Alcântara De Herrera.

Khronoa put her hands on her waist to catch her breath for a brief moment while she watched Alexia high five a man with a powerful build and spiky navy blue hair.

After two months in Italy, Khronoa supposed that it could be considered good that she was put on the U-20's starting lineup but with two of the Five Disasters on the team, 'Desert Disaster' Alexia and 'Sword Saint' Tsurugi Kyousuke there was little she could do. Having almost no opportunities to score, Khronoa had felt her presence on the field continually diminish until she felt as though she was doing little more than running around up and down the field...

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! So fucking annoying!"

Khronoa looked at the boy beside her who was still cursing and grabbing his own hair agitatedly. Despite her attempts to get along with one of the few U15 members that were there as part of the World Awakening Project, Auster Guerra was not someone who enjoyed forging new relationships...or rather any relationships at all.

However, despite his personality which Khronoa liked to describe as 'rough around the edges' though the others on the U20 Inter Milan team described it as 'shitty', she could at least respect his tenacity. While she had almost all but given up on scoring, here he was still acting like a frenzied animal with no leash, spewing saliva, sweat and swears like a never ending fountain.

She had underestimated him.

Khronoa could easily recall her aggressive first conversation with the 'Hunter' of Orpheus, if one could call it a conversation.

Crouching down beside the boy, Khronoa wrapped her arms around her knees and attempted to soothe the forward who had just failed to score on the AC Milan U20 keeper.

"It's okay, Auster! I'm sure you'll score next time! And besides, it all worked out in the end, thanks to you, Tsurugi-san was able to exploit an opening and recover the goal! And that's all that really matters, right?"

"Are you a fucking idiot?" he asked while standing up, his chocolate brown eyes smouldering with disgust.

"If you're going to be a dumb bitch then get off my field and piss off. You're a shitty player and a shittier striker if that's what you think so just shut the fuck up and don't ever speak to me again."

"Ah..."

Wanting to apologise instinctively, Khronoa quickly shut her mouth by covering it with her two hands so as not to irritate the Italian striker further.

She hadn't expected him to take his miss so hard, so she supposed it was on her for bothering him while he was in an irate mood.

Since then, Khronoa had made sure to keep her distance with the Hunter of Orpheus but she couldn't get his words out of her head.

"You're a shitty player and a shittier striker..."

It sounded rather brutal if she was being honest with herself but Auster didn't seem like the person to lie and so she had been carefully observing him and the other strikers to see what the difference was between them.

Even after a month had gone by though, she still wasn't able to figure it out, leading her to seek out other sources of advice.

"You want to know the difference between you and Auster?" Alexia asked with a bemused expression on her face as she wiped her face with a towel and shoved cleats into her bag with a rough motion.

"That's easy. Someone like you doesn't have what it takes to be a striker. Auster does." she answered bluntly while Khronoa followed her out of the locker room with her mouth hanging with dismay.

If someone like Alexia who was on the verge of debuting as a Pro was saying it then there was no way Khronoa could dismiss it any longer.

"If it's not a terrible bother, could you explain why? Am I not working hard enough? Is there something I'm missing?" Khronoa pleaded, knowing how precious Alexia's time was but still wanting an answer to the question that had been bothering her since she arrived.

Not one to mince words, Alexia waved to Tsurugi who was waiting for her and she turned to Khronoa to give her one last piece of advice, feeling in a rather generous mood after their easiest victory yet over SSC Napoli today.

"That's easy. He's a fucking gilipollas and you're a weak-ass monigote. To be honest, the only reason I can remember who you are is because of how terrible you were as a striker today. You have no...what is it called...'Killer instinct', you understand me? You have...no greed. Yes, that's it. No greed."

"You may have done well in Japan from what I heard from Fideo, but based on what I've seen you won't survive a day in the pro leagues...no, not even the U20 league at the rate you're going. I'm only saying this because you asked, not to be rude so don't misunderstand me...what's your name?"

"Khronoa..." she replied melancholically.

"Yeah, well, good luck then kid. Just don't get in my way and we won't have any problems. Chau~" she called out while walking away, leaving Khronoa standing alone in the exit.

"Thank you!" Khronoa managed to remember to spit out but Alexia showed no sign that she had heard her and was already chatting animatedly with Tsurugi who was nodding along as the two walked away from the training centre.

Ha...

The longer she was here the longer the road ahead seemed to be...

Ruminating on Alexia's words, Khronoa was lost deep in her thoughts the next day much to her disadvantage as she was subsequently punished with extra laps around the field at the end of practice. Always able to manage to put a positive spin on things however, Khronoa continued to think about the meaning of what Alexia had told her yesterday as she jogged around the field quietly.

Not greedy enough?

No killer instinct?

Usually those traits would be considered a good thing, no?

Soccer was a team sport so it was only natural to put aside any personal greed for the sake of the team after all.

Khronoa was a firm believer that whenever a point was scored it was through the efforts of the entire team rather than any singular person so it was difficult for her to understand the soccer philosophies that Auster and Alexia were espousing.

Coming to a stop as she finished her last lap, Khronoa tried to imagine herself with the egoism that she could observe in Auster...

Scrunching her eyebrows and lowering her lips in a frown she attempted to put on an enraged expression but she felt absolutely ridiculous and sighed, relaxing her face.

Khronoa's emphasis on teamwork and her selfless soccer had worked for her so far so maybe there wasn't a need to change after all.

Just because Auster and Alexia had their own ways of playing soccer didn't mean hers was invalid either!

So all she needed to do was cheer up and keep trying!


"Khronoa!"

Awoken from her reminiscing, Khronoa looked towards her coach who was motioning with his hands for her to get moving and she hurriedly ran back to her position as the next kickoff began.

Keeping a close eye on the movements of the other players, Khronoa watched calmly as their defenders cleanly retrieved the ball back from the opposing attackers and sent it up the field with efficient passes.

Finally landing smoothly in front of Alexia, the woman threw her left arm out and tightened her hand in a fist while a demonic shadow with a feminine body and dog features manifested behind her. The demonic apparition had long, terrible fingers that had a viscous green liquid oozing from beneath the fingernails and teeth that were sharpened like knives made from pure obsidian. Arranged horribly in a freakishly large maw, when the demonic figure grinned, a shudder ran through the opposing midfielders and defenders in Alexia's path.

Keshin : Dust Devil Ghaddar!

Breathing in through her nose, a red sandstorm began to appear in the middle of the field causing the opposing players to futile attempt to block their eyes from the sand that began to assault their eyes. Continuing to grow in size and ferocity, Alexia's body dissolved in the whirling winds, while scarlet red slash marks struck down violently in front of the defending players opposing her.

Desert Mutilation!

"Khronoa!"

Surprised that Alexia had called out her name, as the woman re-manifested behind the defenders, Khronoa looked at the other forward who seemed to be encouraging her onwards and she accepted the ball with a light tap.

If Alexia was entrusting her with the ball, then it wasn't the time to back down now.

Spinning around and executing a fluid cut around the final defender, Khronoa saw the goalkeeper eyeing her and the ball intensely and just as she was about to begin 'White Hurricane' she hesitated.

At the corner of her eye, Khronoa spotted a short, navy-blue ponytail and taking a short moment to think, she stopped herself and gave the ball a fierce kick.

"Tsurugi-san!"

Nodding his head once, Tsurugi's amber orange eyes narrowed confidently and he held his right arm out. Appearing behind him first was a blood red cape which was attached to a shining piece of silver armour that blinded the defenders that were approaching him.

Keshin : Sword Saint Lancelot

Demonic War Sword, Secace!

Flicking his leg upwards, the ball soared high into the air with the upwards motion and became surrounded with woven threads of midnight blue energy. The keshin behind him subsequently grabbed its sword which shined with an amber hue and thrusting the sword forward along with the ball, it stabbed the goalkeeper directly through the heart and sent the ball and keeper straight into the back of the net.

"Nice assist." Auster sneered from behind her, scorn dripping from his voice but Khronoa didn't take notice and smiled brightly at him.

"Thanks Auster!"

As she suspected, this was for the best, Khronoa thought to herself as she clenched her fist victoriously.

As long as they scored together, did it really matter who was the final person to touch the ball?

"You didn't shoot."

Khronoa turned around only to be met by the sight of Alexia, crossing her arms in front of her with seeming dissatisfaction.

"Ah yes...I just thought Kyōsuke had a better chance of scoring than I did so I passed...was that wrong?" Khronoa asked hesitantly, Alexia's demeanour causing her to wonder if she had made a mistake.

"No...it definitely wasn't a mistake." the older woman scoffed before going over to Tsurugi who was celebrating his goal with the others.

Worries assuaged by her words, Khronoa still couldn't help but feel uneasy due to Alexia's manner of speech and the match was over before she knew it. Then returning to her room in a daze Khronoa continued to contemplate her actions and plays up to this point.

Ha...

"If only Selene were here to talk to..." Khronoa thought melancholically to herself as she drew random star patterns on her pillow listlessly with her finger.

She knew that she could just call the other girl since she was in the Netherlands right now, but it just didn't feel the same as when they were together in person...


"Umm...you alright, Yoshizawa-san?"

"Eh? EHHH?" Khronoa repeated as she looked behind her and saw the cat-like eyes of Japan's 'Sword Saint' Tsurugi Kyōsuke staring intently at her with a look of concern.

"Oh yes! Couldn't be better right now Tsurugi-san! Just doing some thinking is all."

"Oh. That's good..."

"..."

"..."

Feeling sweat beginning to run down his back, Tsurugi began to panic slightly as he tried to think about what to say next.

Tenma and Alexia always teased him for his awkwardness and inability to comfort his teammates 'normally' and so, determined to prove them wrong, he had decided to walk over to talk with the younger striker from Zeus. But now that he was standing in front of her, his mind was drawing a blank.

Feeling a sense of kinship as the only other Japanese member on the team, Tsurugi scratched his neck awkwardly and tried to come up with something to say, finally deciding on "Do you miss Japanese food?".

"Definitely! The food here is great but I think there's just something about Japanese food that makes me feel more comfortable! Oh! But I shouldn't be complaining, after all I'm only here for another month while you've been here for almost two years now!" Khronoa rambled excitedly as she began to warm up to the older striker.

Shaking his head to assure her it was fine, Tsurugi sat down beside Khronoa on the bench as she began to chat his ear off enthusiastically.

Happy to listen since she seemed a bit lonely, Tsurugi listened attentively as she discussed the food and gushed over the people and the facilities. However, Tsurugi couldn't help but notice that she had barely brought up the main reason she was here...soccer, thereby confirming his suspicions that something was wrong.

Alexia had briefly mentioned to him that Khronoa seemed to be struggling with something but she had told him at the end to 'figure it out himself' if he was the one who 'wanted to play pretend as a mentor'. As a result, Tsurugi began to think to himself about how to broach the subject with the striker from Zeus who seemed to be avoiding the topic.

"So...how's the soccer here? Are you learning a lot?"

"Ah..."

Khronoa's eyes lost their lustre while recalling the match from yesterday and began to draw stars in her hand nervously to quell the inner churning of her stomach.

"Well..."

Feeling her body tense up, she checked Tsurugi's face quickly and seeing the encouraging gaze in his eyes she admitted in a soft voice.

"I'm not sure what I'm doing, if I'm being honest. Up until now, trusting in my teammates and scoring as a team was always the priority and we were doing well! We made it to the Holy Road Semifinals for the first time and we had a really exciting match with Raimon !"

"...but we still lost in the end so when I got the invitation from Fideo-san I knew I shouldn't miss this opportunity to improve myself. That way, I could be of more help to my team...that's what I thought..."

"Then when I arrived, the soccer here was completely different from what I thought it would be though. I wasn't really sure how I could improve my playstyle and when I analysed Auster's style of play and asked Alexia for some advice...it wasn't really what I was expecting." Khronoa confessed, now beginning to draw stars in the grass with her cleats as she remembered the older woman's words to her.

"You want to know the difference between you and Auster?"

"Someone like you doesn't have what it takes to be a striker. Auster does..."

"You have...no greed."

"Alexia said that?" Tsurugi asked contemplatively, blinking his eyes slowly as he reviewed the other Disaster's assessment of Khronoa.

Well...

Based on what he had seen the past two months while Alexia was blunt as usual, though she wasn't necessarily wrong either...

But that didn't mean Khronoa was a complete failure as a player, she just needed a new direction.

"You know, Yoshizawa-san? A soccer team doesn't need eleven strikers."

"Hmm?"

"Not everyone is suited to be a striker, so...it's important to play to your strengths?" Tsurugi said with less confidence, as he tried his best to sound like Gouenji-san or Endou-san though he didn't feel like he was doing a particularly great job.

"A soccer team doesn't need eleven strikers..." Khronoa repeated under her breath, before smashing her fist in her hand.

It was so obvious!

"I don't need to be the one who scores! That's what you're saying right, Tsurugi-san?! It's okay to rely on my teammates because in the end as long as we win as a team that's what's important!"

"Thank you Tsurugi-san!" Khronao said cheerfully while bowing her head to run off to her room to think about her new playstyle.

Tsurugi however, reached his hand out uselessly to try and stop her but she had already disappeared into the wind.

"That's...not exactly what I was trying to say..." Tsurugi groaned while hiding his face in his palm.

He had thought that being discreet and purposefully vague with his hint would be more useful to her but clearly next time he tried to mentor someone, he should just tell them what he thought directly.

"Another thing, not to tell Tenma and Shindou..." Tsurugi thought regretfully as he stared hopelessly at the dark exit from which Khronoa had just left.

Well, based on her demeanour at least he had succeeded in cheering her up so it could still be considered a success, right?

If Tenma was here, he would probably say everything would work out okay, so Tsurugi nodded satisfactorily to himself as he departed the now empty stadium with a small but substantial feeling of victory.