He woke up with a start.

Off all the stupid things to dream about...!

~~~~~

"Did you find him?"

"No... He wasn't in his room."

When their captain said so, all their heads went down.

"I've checked the other places that he used to spend the most time around. The library, the balcony, the open halls... However..." Minel trailed off.

Lalaya frowned. "He didn't come by the throne room at all either..."

"Running away from the match..." Matatagi clicked his tongue. "...isn't possible, huh?"

"There's no way! Tsurugi isn't like that!" Shinsuke defended.

"Besides, after what happened with Kimiko..."

Aoi didn't need to finish that. They all knew.

Before anyone could say anything else, rapid footsteps approached them. Katora and Potomuri appeared from the other end of the hall, rushing as they called out to them.

"Tenma! Everyone! One of the guards spotted Tsurugi early this morning! He left the castle!"

"They said he was heading in the direction of the station!"

"Then, that means...!"

"He's in the Galaxy Nauts Gou!"

"Let's go!"

"Wait!" Lalaya called out, stopping them just as they were about to run out the lobby. "Take one of our gondolas. It's faster, and that way, you'll have private transportation ready to get you to the stadium too!"

"E-Eh? But... we don't know how to..."

"I'll go with you."

"Potomuri!"

The half-scientist-half-manager turned to the other aliens. "Minel-san, I entrust Princess Katora's safety in your hands."

"Understood. I will protect both our queen and your princess with my life!"

"Thank you." He then nodded at the rest of them. "Everyone, let's go!"

They rushed to the first gondola they found and went back to their train as fast as they could. Landing beside the station, they hopped out and ran straight in. Kamata greeted them in surprise, not expecting the sudden influx of people, but when she heard who they came for, she led them to the Black Room with a wry smile.

"Tsurugi doesn't seem like himself all morning. No, he didn't. What in the galaxy happened?"

"It's... a long story..."

And frankly, none of them were sure on how to start it.

"It must be." Luckily, she didn't press further. "Whatever it is, I hope everything works out in today's match."

"Thank you, Aunty!"

"Of course, of course!" They stopped at the door and she gave them a nod. "Well, I'll leave him to you all."

"Right." Tenma took a deep breath, preparing himself for anything he would find. "Here goes."

He opened the door, everyone else peering over him.

... They did not expect to find their ace striker surrounded by five large cannons. His face was completely devoid of any emotion.

"That's―!"

One fired and he jumped to avoid it. Another followed and shot while he was still in the air.

"Tsurugi!"

He still only had a blank look as he flipped and his leg pushed against the cannonball... and won. The ball was sent back to the cannon it came from, destroying it. But before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, another one missed him by a hair. He landed a bit roughly, but managed to push himself away just as another shot came. He hopped on top of one, making another aim at it and destroying it just as he leapt off the ground again.

"T-That was close..."

"It's not over yet!" Shindou's exclamation made Kusaka's worry return. "Look!"

There were still three cannons left, but a red symbol appeared on screen. Then...

'God Eden, Cannons, Level 4, cleared. Level 5, unlocked.'

"That's never happened before..." Ibuki said.

"Must be a special system lock program for the 'God Eden' training regiments." Manabe pointed out.

'Warning. This is the maximum level of difficulty for this training. Warning. Only a handful of SEEDs have been able to make it out unscratched.'

"Only a handful...?"

"Unscratched...?"

The other four from Raimon exchanged worried glances. No one else understood what that meant, but if those four were this scared about it...

'Warning. System has been locked to ensure the safety of the user. Final Warning. If you wish to continue, please state your name and rank.'

"Tsurugi Kyousuke. Alpha."

'Processing... Voice confirmed. Name: Tsurugi Kyousuke. Rank: Alpha. Trial Record: 49. Success Record: 16.'

"Only 16?!"

"16 out of 49...!"

"Tsurugi!"

No matter how much they called out to him, his eyes were dead set on the challenge ahead.

'Access granted. Proceed.'

Two cannons fired at once this time, but once again, he was able to leap out of the way, both shots destroying the last one that never got to fire. When both shot at him again, he was gone. In his place was a large wolf, heading straight for them, catching one and spinning around it like a buzzsaw. Both him and the ball combined into a single swirl of energy, and when it landed on the ground, it created a shockwave that destroyed both cannons.

As soon as the wreckage was confirmed by the systems, the hologram shut off and the striker... fell onto his back.

"Tsurugi!"

His eyes were wide open though. "Tenma? Everyone?" Confusion overtook his earlier blank expression, and he blinked.

Once.

Twice.

An apologetic look appeared. "Sorry for leaving without saying anything."

"That's not all you should be saying sorry for!" Tetsukado was first to yell out all their thoughts. "Really! I know you said soccer isn't to be taken lightly, but I think you were going overboard right there!"

"That's right! What if you get injured before the match?!" Sakura piped in. "We need all the help we could get, you know!"

To their surprise however, he gave a small snort and sat up easily. "I'm alright. I just needed to blow off some steam beforehand."

"That looked a lot more than just 'some'." Ibuki clicked his tongue. "I know you've got some powerful shots, but... Cannonballs?"

He only shrugged. "It's just―"

"It's standard training for God Eden, isn't it?" Aoi was the one to speak up this time, but no one could ever imagine they'd see the day where her voice was quivering and eyes almost watering. "I... I remember... I saw them that time... With Coach Kidou, Miss Otonashi, Midori-san and Akane-san... All of those kids... How horrible!"

"You mean, the SEEDs...?!" Shinsuke's eyes darted back and forth between her and the navy haired striker. "I know it was rough, and that's why you could keep up with Coach Kidou's training better than most of us, but... is that really what you call standard?"

"No wonder you're so strong." Though it was a compliment, Shindou wasn't happy in the slightest. "If that was the kind of training you've been doing before Raimon, then it's no wonder―"

"Either way..." He pressed his tone to cut them all off. Then, he stood up, and placed hand on Aoi's shoulder, surprising her out of her urge to cry. "Fifth Sector doesn't exist anymore. There's no use getting worked up over what happened."

"But―!"

"Can those from Raimon Junior High please stop ignoring the rest of us?!" Matatagi snapped, surprising the five in question. "Look, I don't really care what the sob story between you all is, but some answers would be fucking nice! We know God Eden is an inhumane training facility from what Tsurugi told us way back then, as well as what a SEED is, but why the fuck were you using the cannon training that you yourself asked Manabe to lock because you, and I'm quoting you on this, 'won't allow even Tenma or Shindou-san to do it'?"

"The thing from yesterday kept bugging me too." Tetsukado muttered. "What the heck do you mean that wasn't your first time fighting Tsurugi as the bad guy?"

"Yeah! And what's with those giants you and Kimiko had on your backs yesterday?" Kusaka asked. "Kimiko brought it out in Ratoniik too, but it went all berserk at that time..."

Amber eyes widened. "Again? But I thought..."

"We all did." Shindou sighed.

Tenma let out an uncomfortable chuckle, the first noise he's made since they confirmed their friend was okay. "It surprised us all... but Zanakurou managed to help her suppress it."

"... Of course he did."

What does that mean? The remaining nine who didnt know what he was implying were left with yet another question. It was getting increasingly frustrating.

"Well, to start off," Tsurugi walked towards the controls, shutting down the systems as a whole and turning the normal lights back on. "The 'giants' are called 'keshins'. No one really has a concrete answer on what they are, but for now, you can think of them as something like Souls. Physical manifestations of your power, but instead of being DNA specific, it's―"

"It's reflective of the strength a person has in their hearts." Ichikawa surprised himself when he cut in. Then, he quickly added, "Coach Endou and Kimiko both told me a little bit about them during my training."

"Did they tell you about the conditions for releasing one too?"

The green haired forward shook his head.

"It's strong feelings towards protecting something!" Shinsuke said, earning nods from Tenma, Shindou and Aoi.

Tsurugi, however, gave a crooked smile. "You're about half right. But no matter how strong your feelings are, if it's not in a situation where you feel pressured, then the raw power needed to awaken one wouldn't be enough."

"Pressure?"

"It's what forces your survival instincts to act up. The most prominent example we have here for that is... Well... Maestro..."

Shindou pressed his lips together, and none of the other three said anything else on the matter.

He took that as cue to turn to the other half-blue haired striker. "Can you now guess why I was using cannons?"

Minaho responded before he could. "I recall Kimiko mentioning that the Level 5 God Eden training is what made you unleash a 'Lancelot'. That is the name you called when the knight came out of you yesterday, which means that it is the name of your keshin. Putting that together with what you've just said, it would mean that this was the most pressure you've ever felt. You mentioned wanting to release stress, so what could be a better place than such a situation?"

"Perfect deduction, as expected. And in any case, I've done that training a bunch of times, I already know all the tricks to get through it easily. I know my limits." Unlike some people. He wanted to say, but he was well aware he wouldn't get the reaction he wanted anymore.

(The pendant weighed heavily from his neck.)

"What was with that 16 success record then?" Manabe asked. "With your current record, it'd be 17 out of 50 successful tries, which means you have a 24% chance of succeeding, no?"

"That's old data from God Eden. It took me at least a couple dozen tries before Lancelot came out. The next ten or so times were a mix of results since I was still getting used to it. But after that, it's just like any other challenge."

"So why didn't you just let us get used to it the same way you did?" Matatagi asked again.

"Just because I can, doesn't mean I want you all to."

"What about Kimiko?" Konoha asked suddenly. "Why did she go out of control back then?"

"That's..." The four turned to the striker, who had a complicated look on his face.

"I wasn't there, so I can't say for sure. And in any case, that's her story to tell."

"She's not here to tell it though."

"All the more reason we need to get her back! Save the universe, and the future that she came from!"

"Yeah!"

With the sudden hype, they all forgot about the remaining question that has yet to be answered. And he preferred to keep it that way for as long as he could. The last thing they needed was for his trustworthiness to actually be questioned.