The next round was Tsurugi's throw-in. He sent it to Tenma, who passed it to Matatagi. At first, they thought he kicked the ball too hard as he dribbled, sending it a bit too close to their enemy. However, he was able to get to it with his speed, and he kept up that sort of dribble before passing it back to their captain, who got it back to him. The three of them advanced to the goal together.

And soon enough, the rest of the team joined in. They were doing fairly well, able to at least keep the ball away from their opponent, but with Manabe suddenly giving orders, none of the newer bunch would send the ball Matatagi's way.

Suddenly, the ball was back in Korea's possession, and it was given to Lee Chun-Yoon, who used Rapid Fire.

"MOVE!!!"

Surprised, Shindou did and the ball passed him, heading straight for Ibuki. The white haired keeper held his hands out to stop it, only to be pushed into the goal.

The first half ended there.

The second half didn't start out any better. They all still refused to send the ball Matatagi's way. None of them would come to his aid when he's the one in a pinch either. It didn't help that their ace and captain were constantly marked, and their playmaker kept to his self-assigned role of defending the goal.

"What are you guys doing?!" The navy haired boy nearly felt a chill run up his spine. This was the first time he heard Tenma get this pissed. "We won't win by playing this kind of soccer! Why won't you help Matatagi out?! As long as you're standing on the same field, you're friends! What's the point if you can't even trust your own teammates?! Matatagi is fighting with everything he has, even when he's being treated this way! Take a closer look at what's happening on this field!"

And finally, things started to change.

When Matatagi was blocked, he was able to pass to Tetsukado, and the rest of the team followed. Even Manabe. And then, the ex-track club member was able to outrun the enemy's key player. He passed the ball to Tenma, who made a goal with God Wind.

And now, we're tied. Tsurugi's eyes narrowed as Lee Chun-Yoon tried to score another goal with his hissatsu from before, but Shindou was able to stop it with his new hissatsu, Einsatz. He passed it to Tenma, who got through with Z Slash.

"Tsurugi!"

His turn. "Leave it to me! Devil Burst!"

His shot went into the goal, right as the whistle blew.

"The match is over! Inazuma Japan turns the score around!"

For a moment, they stood in silence. The audience's applause rang loudly in their ears, but none of them could really believe it.

"We actually won with this team..." Even though he was the one to score their winning goal, Tsurugi still had his eyes wide on the scoreboard.

Still, they won.

A smile made its way to his lips as he turned to where Raimon was sitting. The blonde man had a similar expression on, giving him a thumbs up.

He and Tenma high fived and Shindou complimented their goals, though a little stiffly. One thing's for sure, this team was showing promise. He's definitely siding with Tenma now.

~~~~~

He didn't expect to be let down immediately after. The day after their break for winning the first round, when he went out to the harbor's grounds, he found that only two of the newer members were there. The rest didn't even bother to show up.

"I think it has to do with the terms of our contract." The pink haired girl stated as she stretched.

"Terms?"

Matatagi, who stood beside him, nodded. "Yeah. Attending practice until we won the first match was mandatory. But after that, we're free to do whatever we want until the next game."

"What?"

"Oh no..."

"Who made that decision?"

"Me." As they expected, and also feared, Shindou's question was answered by their coach.

"Why? Why would you make an agreement like that?"

As usual, the man ignored the more important questions. "Captain, begin practice."

"Eh? But not everyone is here yet."

"There is no need to wait for them."

"Y-Yes, sir... What is the practice menu?"

"That is for you to decide." And with that, he left.

They couldn't help but stare after him.

"He lets a situation like this happen freely? Is this what a coach should be doing?" Shindou muttered, his patience already at its limit.

"He really is hard to understand."

"Nozaki-san."

"Call me Sakura." The pink haired girl smiled before she turned to the distance. "Now that I think about it, some people didn't show up either back when I was in rhythmic gymnastics."

Tenma's eyes widened at that. "I'll go get the others!"

But before he could leave, Sakura grabbed him by the arm. "Hey, let's just start on our own."

"But..."

"Even Coach Kuriowa said he was okay with that."

"But still..."

"I'll go." Their manager offered. "I'll go get the others. You guys start practicing first!" She said as she ran off.

"Thanks, Aoi!"

"We should be training with people who actually want to be here." Sakura continued. "Right, Shindou-san?" He looked away. "You too, Tsurugi!"

Why me? Though, she did have a point. "Sure..."

So they did... More or less.

Right as they started, Sakura showed off her flexibility when she received a pass. From there, Shindou was able to tell she was an athlete who won medals even in a world-class tournament. Asia's genius, Nozaki Sakura.

"You've heard of me? I'm so happy! Coach said that if I play in Inazuma Japan, I'll be able to study abroad in the world's best rhythmic gymnastics team."

...That was not what they wanted to hear.

"But from our last game, I guess I find soccer a bit fun. Hehe."

But that sure was. Tenma especially.

"Alright! Hearing you guys say that makes me really happy! Maybe you can use rhythmic gymnastic moves to come up with a hissatsu technique!"

"That would be wonderful! Then, maybe something like this?" She picked up the ball and rolled it along her arms.

Yeah... no.

"It's pretty amazing how you can keep the ball stuck to you like that, but..."

"It's a total foul." Tsurugi deadpanned.

"O-Oh, I see." She smiled sheepishly. "You can't use your hands in soccer."

"Goalkeepers can, though." Tenma reminded.

"Then I want to try being goalkeeper!"

"Huh? Uh, I guess we can try it out a little!"

Immediately she grabbed a spare pair of gloves and got in front of the goal. Tsurugi went to the penalty arc and placed a ball right on the line. He briefly wondered if this really was a good idea, but seeing how much she was willing to try... Well, who was he to crush that spirit?

"Here I go." He kicked it with a mild amount of power, just to test the waters.

And sadly, as he expected...

"I can't do it!" She ducked down with a split, letting the ball get into the goal. "That shot came so fast! It's too scary..."

So it's a good thing I held back after all...

"No goalkeeper position for you." Shindou stated.

"I'm sorry..."

"But you'll definitely be able to make use of that flexibility of yours in soccer, Sakura!" Tenma said, lifting the mood up once again.

"Really? Then, I'll do my best at soccer!"

"Okay! Let's work hard!"

"I want to learn how to dribble without getting the ball stolen." Matatagi suddenly said.

Tsurugi smiled, pointing at the brunette behind him. "Tenma's the dribble expert."

Their captain turned his smile at him. "If you learn how to make short stepwork, it'll make you stronger against tackling."

And this was where the real training starts. Both novices started doing the zig-zag training Tenma came up with to help them get better at dribbling, and they were doing rather well.

"It's true that Nozaki's flexibility and Matatagi's speed will be helpful to Inazuma Japan." Shindou suddenly said. "But the problem is whether or not they'll make it in time for the next match."

"I'll be constantly available to help them with practice!" Tenma replied.

Well, if he's going that far... "I'll help too."

They can't be hand holding them during the match, but for all the time they have before then, he'll go through with what he'd decided and support their captain.

Just then, Aoi came back. None of the other members were with her.

~~~~~

After practice ended that afternoon, Tenma went to call a meeting while Shindou pulled him to the side.

"Hey, Tsurugi."

"Yes?"

"Matatagi and Nozaki do possess high physical ability... But why is it them specifically?"

"...Perhaps they have something that sets them apart from other players with the same abilities as they do. Something that made them eligible to be chosen as representatives."

It wasn't so much that he believed it. It was simply that there was no other reason he could think of. And by the look his senior gave him after his reply, it seemed he had the same conclusion.

After that, they changed into their tracksuits and headed for the meeting room.

"Please!" Immediately, they were greeted by Tenma bowing to the other novices. "I want you to come to practice! You don't have to practice! You can just watch! Anyway, just come, okay?"

None of them said anything. They all left when their caretaker called them for dinner. And even then, none of them ate at the foodcourt area. They simply took their food and left for their dorms or other parts of the garden.

Tenma didn't let any of it discourage him. He called it a night and headed back to his room, probably planning on how to handle things if they didn't show up. Their manager left soon after, having errands to run to prepare for the next day. Then, Matatagi, and then, Sakura.

Shindou was the last to keep him company. "It's getting late. I'm going to turn in too."

"Alright."

"You're not coming, Tsurugi?"

"I still have something to do after this."

"Don't stay up too late."

"Right."

One he was gone, he grabbed his bag and headed back into the changing room. Changing back into his uniform, he headed for the front grounds again taking as many balls as he could carry with him.

"Okay... Here I go!"

This time, he did put his everything into his kicks.

In order to win the prelims, I'll need to level up myself too.

"For myself... For nii-san... And..."

"You're the coolest striker in the world! You're much, much, much cooler than even Gouenji Shuuya! So, don't ever lose, alright?! If you do, I'll never forgive you...!"

For that idiot's sake―

"Tsurugi!"

He looked back in near panic, not expecting to be caught this quickly. If his senior or manager caught him then― Oh. Nevermind.

"Ibuki."

The white haired boy had a serious expression on. Though then again, when was he ever not serious? "We need to talk."

He already knew where this was going. Immediately, his head was listing excuses he could use to skip the next day's practice.

Well, I never said how I'll help, so... This should be fine, right?