Am I the only one who finds it such a perfect coincidence that the chapter Death Bringer is the 13th chapter? I didn't plan it ahead of time to be like this, but somehow the timing just lined it up. Updates will slow to one or two chapters a week now.

        I had left the stadium with Kidou in Nikaidou-kantoku's car. He had been nice and volunteered to drive us to Teikoku without us even asking, the same good old coach I had always known. The only other one who used to know my true identity.

        A silence passed between us in the car. It wasn't exactly awkward, but Nikaidou-kantoku kept glancing at us in the mirror to check if we were alright. Me and Kidou sat far from each other, both of us hunched over with elbows on knees. We were both grieving and replaying the previous events in our head, except he was probably thinking of his teammates while I was dreading what was to become of me after my public reveal.

        When we got to Teikoku, we thanked Nikaidou-kantoku and he drove away. We then wordlessly walked into the empty school and down the hall. We both knew where we were heading, and somehow upon some unsaid agreement, we went to the indoor soccer field where Teikoku practiced after school each day. 

        He was the first to break the silence. "Shizumi-chan," he said but his voice cracked. I didn't reply, only kept my gaze on the ground and let my bangs hang over so that they would cover my eyes. "How could we have lost?" the captain of Teikoku asked. He sounded so hollow and broken.

        "I'm sorry I wasn't of any help," I replied quietly. He looked at me as if shocked, then grasped my shoulders and shook me as he shouted in my face, "Don't you get it?! We lost! Teikoku lost! And my teammates are all injured so much worst than my own leg that they all had to be sent to the emergency room!"

        I was silent for a while. This was a new side of Kidou I had never seen before, hysterial, chaotic, and not in control. Finally, I raised my head to look up at him through my bangs. "I'll repeat what I said. I'm sorry I wasn't of any help. Now get a hold of yourself."

        He pulled me closer. "How can I get a hold of myself when my best friends are not okay?!" he shouted. I could tell that some tears probably came out, but I couldn't be sure since I couldn't see past the goggles.

        "Look, you can't change what happened! So stop grieving and pull yourself together!" I finally shout back and slapped his hand away, exhasperated. I instantly regretted it after seeing his hurt expression. My face softened, and I said, "Sorry, Kidou-san."

        Just then, we heard footsteps echo in the large hall, meaning that someone was coming to the field. We both turned out heads just in time to see a confused Endou run in. "Kidou!" the Raimon goalie shouted. Then he drew a breath back when he noticed I was there too.

        "Yo, Endou," Kidou finally replied, his voice bittersweet, "Have you come to laugh at me?" Endou started trembling at the response he got, then quickly shook out of it. "Of course not!" his voice shouted powerful in this gigantic room. The boy then dropped the soccer ball he was holding and kicked it at Kidou. Instead of stepping aside or kicking it back, Kidou just let it knock him backward pitifully. The ball rolled to my feet, and I picked it up. I stared at the shiny surface of the familiar black and white ball. Can I play soccer again? After all the shame of the Death Bringer losing by forfeit and bad publicity that will sure make me infamous in Japan, soccer seemed almost distant.

        On the side, Kidou stood up slowly. "Today we brought the legend of Teikoku to an end. The match was over before we could even touch the ball. When we went on the field, my other team members were already down. The only point we got was from Shizumi-chan."

        Endou turned his attention to me. "You played?" he asked. I couldn't nod, couldn't open my mouth to say yes, and that I also lost the title Death Bringer by not bringing my team victory. All I could do was stare at the ground.

        "My soccer is over," Kidou answered in my place. "That's not true," Endou told him, "As long as you don't abandon soccer it will always be yours." My ears perked up when I heard those words. I had thought my soccer was over too, yet Endou's words shone hope over me. Finally, I dared to raise my head. He met my eye. "That's right," he said to me with a smile, "As long as you don't abandon soccer it will always be yours. My grandfather always said that, and I think it's true!" I smiled faintly at his words.

Time Skip to Tomorrow

        I stood next to Kidou, the pole blocking us from view. Yes, I was spying on Raimon practice like Kidou always did. After all, what else could I do than follow Kidou around town? Teikoku Gakuen had been shut down because of the leave of the Commander, so we could spend our days any way we wanted until the board decided what to do with us. Some students transfered, while others roamed the streets like us. I had on a slate gray hoodie with a checkerboard design and the hood pulled over to hide my face leaving only bits of my black hair peeking out in case of news reporters. Paired with black jeans and dark gray Converse, I could almost be mistaken for a boy.

        All of a sudden, a girl with blue hair wearing a green tracksuit ran up to us. Crap, we've been found by one of those girls I saw during the Raimon versus Teikoku practice match whose name I forgot. "Onii-chan, what are you hiding behind there for?" she scolded.  Ah, wait what? Kidou had a sister? I thought he was an only child! Wait, I think I can just faintly remember Sakuma or Genda telling me something about this after the preliminary finals. Her name was....Ha...Haru...Haru... something. I forgot. I really need to get rid of this bad habit of drowning everything out as white noise.

        Kidou started walking down the street and this "Haru-something" girl followed. Having nothing else to do, I walked behind them a few steps, for I didn't want to disturb their "brother-sister time". Oh how I miss Yuuka-chan, I wonder how she's been doing...

        We ended up at the river bank. I sat on the slope while Kidou and his sister conversed about Teikoku's match against Zeus. It was a sad topic, but it felt peaceful listening to them talk as the wind blew across my face. Then a ball of fire which I at first thought was the Sun coming for us shot towards Kidou. When it got nearer and made impact with Kidou's foot as he reflected it back, I realized that it was a soccer ball. Or more precisely, the one and only Fire Tornado. My head jerked up and I looked around, then finally, my eyes landed on that familiar figure standing on the bridge. Gouenji.

        He came down to us, and led Kidou down to the soccer field below. Unknowing what to do, I followed the boys even though Kidou had told the blue haired girl to stay behind. Wow, he doesn't even bother to care about me. Actually, since when did I care? He never gave a shit about me before either. So why do I feel so sore in my heart?

        "Kidou, are you really that angry!" Gouenji shouted as he kicked the ball toward us. I was about to kick it back when Kidou jumped in front of me and kicked it before I could. "Of course!" the boy with dreadlocks screamed hysterically like yesterday. "Inoue, I saw a replay of the match. You're pathetic. Since when did the Death Bringer ever forfeit?!" Gouenji shouted again and picked the ball to us. I ran in front of Kidou and shot it back at the platinum haired boy. "Don't call me the Death Bringer ever again. I didn't bring death, I don't deserve the title anymore," I replied in that calm, steely manner, but anger was creeping dangerously at the edge of my voice. You don't want to be on the Death Bringer, no Inoue's, bad side. Gouenji knew that.

        "So you admit your defeat!" Gouenji screamed. His accusation drilled directly into my heart. I knew it was true, and he knew that I knew too. My eyes widened as he jumped up and spun, fire building up around him. Then he shot his signature move at me, directly at me. My instincts from long ago sprang back out and I immediately stepped up and used mine. I felt that familiar feeling of Fire Tornado clashing with Kuroi Hane Taifuu on my toe before exploding off and shooting out in a flaming fire ball with feathers burning in flames trailing behind it.

       There was that moment of glory as this fire ball streamed across the field, all the way into the empty goal. Finally after a few seconds, Kidou gaped and breathed in a tremebling voice, "Phoenix Feather? The strongest and fastest combination hissatsu move recorded in the Football Frontier, it's speed only second to Kuroi Hane Taifuu?"

        "Hai. Don't you remember what you said Phoenix Feather represented?" Gouenji asked me with a grin. "Strength and rebirth," I replied. "That's right. If you can still use Phoenix Feather, than you can still play soccer. If the phoenix can find a new life, so can you," he said.