Not strong enough.
That was going through Seido's mind as he caught a ball with the top of his foot and kicked it back, grunting as the machine was set to its maximum output. Even Endou had to put in the effort to catch these balls.
Not strong enough. The last match against Kidokawa proved that as his techniques proved to be barely strong enough for their Back Tornado and paled in comparison against the monstrous Triangle Z.
Seido blocked another ball, and another ball, so focused on blocking and catching incoming balls that he did not even register the door of the Training center open or Kazemaru enter, silently watching him.
The blue-haired boy watched the team's defender go at it. Seido had been here since early in the morning, it seemed. After the boy stopped one more ball Kazemaru spoke up, "You're going to break your foot if you keep that up."
The machine thankfully turned off after its last shot fired, with Seido looking up at Kazemaru, who was standing next to the door watching him, "I'm not strong enough yet. I have to get stronger. How else can I help Endou out?" He said as he walked over to his bag, grabbing a water bottle and drinking its contents within a few seconds.
Kazemaru was silent for a moment, contemplating how he should answer Seido's grievances. "I think you should stop worrying about carrying that burden all on your shoulders. We're a team; we will carry it with you. Now, come on. The managers made onigiri for everyone, including you." He said and pulled the boy away, ignoring the halfhearted protests of needing to train more.
Once outside, Seido had to block the harsh sunlight from hitting his eyes. How long had he been down there again? He forgot the time entirely. The two boys reached the field and got to watch Endou attempting to stop both the Dragon Tornado and Twin Boost at the same time! He supposed this was training to achieve the fabled Majin the Hand. But before the balls could even connect, a figure fell from the sky, and a bright light flashed across the field.
Seido felt his heart stop when he heard the all too familiar voice of his once best friend, one he hoped he wouldn't hear until the finals.
Aphrodi.
Aphrodi turned towards the Raimon captain, Endou Mamoru, and smiled half-heartedly. "Oh, I'm not the keeper. Our keeper could catch these shots with the tip of his finger." He said, his soft voice so matter of factly that it wasn't even up for debate.
"And that team would be Zeus, isn't it, Aphrodi?" Ah, Yuuto Kidou. He had fun demolishing his team before Kidou could even step on the field. He gave the boy a pointed smirk before ignoring him and turning towards Endou.
"You're Endou Mamoru-kun, right? Allow me to introduce myself. I am Aphrodi of Zeus Jr High. I've heard quite a lot about you from Commander Kageyama."
Behind him, the second and third-rate members of Raimon threw insults at him, but ants that spat at the gods would not live long.
"You're here to declare war, aren't you?!" That would be… someoka? Irrelevant; not even Kageyama had any particular praise for the hot head.
"Declare war? Oh, I didn't come here for that. No, why bother declaring war if this would be anything of a fight at all? No, I'm not here for you. I'm here for him." Aphrodi said as he pointed at Seido, his pleasant look melting into thinly veiled anger. "It's been a while, hasn't it been Seido-kun?"
The entire team was thrown for a loop as Seido and Aphrodi seemed to know each other. Kidou narrowed his eyes at their defender. Not even in his intel did it say anything that they were acquainted with. He would have a word with Shinigai soon.
Seido for his part seemed to freeze up before he set his jaw. "A bit longer than a year." He didn't say anything more about it.
Aphrodi nodded with a wistful smile. "One year since you slunk into the shadows, away from God's wrath." He taunted, wanting to get a rise out of him.
Before Seido could even speak, Endou interrupted. "Wait, you two know each other?" It seems the boy finally connected the dots. But…
Aphrodi cocked his head to the side in confusion before he understood. "You haven't told them yet, haven't you? Well, in that case, it's not my place to tell. I came to deliver a warning; Quit now before the Gods will obliterate you and your soccer." And with a flash and a wave, the boy was gone, leaving an angry Raimon behind.
"Who does that pretty boy think he is?!" Growled Someoka as he gnashed his teeth, desperately wanting to punch the arrogant prick.
"I think we have other things to worry about. Shinigai, I think it's time you told us the truth." Came the cold and calculated voice of Kidou, who had been staring daggers at the boy. Was he a traitor? A spy for Kageyama?
Seido looked around, seeing everyone looking at him with various expressions. Anger, confusion, distrust. He sighed and nodded. "Yes, I guess it's time to explain." With that, he walked over to one of the benches and sat down. This would be a long story. "You are right that Aphrodi and I know each other. Because I used to be the captain of Zeus." There, he just came out with it.
The team all gasped loudly in surprise, did they have a spy? Had he been giving away all their secrets? Kidou wanted to say something, probably interrogate him on everything he knew about Kageyama, but Kazemaru held out his arm and shook his head. "Why don't you start at the beginning?" He offered neutrally. He wasn't sure if the boy who he called a friend was a traitor or not.
Seido nodded and began to tell his story. "Before I was a member of Raimon, I used to be the Captain of Zeus, I was their temple and pillar of support. Back when Zeus was just an ordinary football club, where everyone loved soccer. They were a bit like Raimon actually…" he said in reminiscence and a wistful smile before it vanished into a scowl. "But that changed when that man came."
"Kageyama," Kidou finished with a frown.
Seido nodded, "Yes. After Kageyama came, he took an interest in our soccer club and became our coach. He introduced brutal training regimes and twisted ideologies that slowly broke away the nice people that my teammates used to be. They became cruel and arrogant."
"Seems like they have a god complex too." Muttered Someoka.
"Yeah. Kageyama told us we were supposed to be gods, divine soccer players, better than anyone we would face. Everyone slowly began to accept this twisted view. But I didn't. Kageyama saw that his influence had less effect on me, and probably wanted to eliminate me. But I left on my own, sick of what my team became."
Seido sighed. "I was a coward. With me gone, nothing was stopping Kageyama from twisting everyone into his evil ways. And a few months after I left Zeus, I ran into Coach Hibiki." He smiled and nodded to their silent coach.
Everyone turned to him, but he came out first before they could voice their problems. "Before you ask, I did not know Shinigai was from Zeus, or that he had any connection to Kageyama. I saw a boy with a troubled past and invited him after I saw his skill with the ball." His gruff voice explained before he went silent again. He said his piece, now it was time for the team to come to terms with it.
The team was silent after Seido's story, letting it settle down. They didn't know what to think of it all. But naturally, the first one to break the silence was Endou. "Well, I think it's all right! I'm not too sure about the details, but Seido left because he loved football, and that's more than enough for me!"
Kazemaru chuckled softly and shook his head. Trust their captain to make things so simple. "I think it's fine, too. After all, we have multiple friends here that came from different teams. Some of them even worked with Kageyama before." He said and gave a pointed slide glance to Kidou.
Kidou was silent as everyone stared at him before he let out a sigh. "I would be a hypocrite to turn you away. You left him behind, and that's enough for me." He said with a nod to Shinigai.
One by one, everyone on the team gave their nods of acceptance, and Seido began to share stories about his old team and what they were like before Kageyama dug his claws into them.
After an hour of talking, Coach Hibiki stood up from his place on the bench and clapped his hands. "Very well, now we have resolved this issue, it's time to get back to training. If we want to get ready for Zeus, and Kageyama's devilish tricks, then we must be ready."
Endou perked up at the sound of training. He still hadn't grasped Majin the Hand yet, but he was close! He could feel it! "Alright! You heard him guys! Let's get back to training and win the FFI!" He shouted, and his team shouted in kind, invigorated by their Captain.
Seido smiled brightly as he shouted with his team. Hearing Endou speak so passionately fueled the fire inside of him. "Come on guys, let's train!" He called out to Kazemaru and Kageno. Who nodded, they were hard at work to make a combo hissatsu, and were so close! He just knew they'd complete it.
As everyone filtered out on the field, Seido stopped for a moment, glancing at the sky and frowned. "I will bring you down, no matter what." He swore and left to be with his new family. They would beat Zeus and stop Kageyama. That was his promise.