[ a/n: I haven't updated this in so long!! ]

The match against Teikoku started off with Gouenji and Someoka preforming their signature Dragon Tornado. Although, against Genda's Power Shield it was rendered useless. Everyone was shocked by this. Dragon Tornado was probably Raimon's strongest hissatsu, and yet they couldn't manage to get a goal with it.

Raimon's attack was quickly followed by a counter attack from Teikoku. Everyone slipped past the Raimon members with their fancy footwork. Back at the goal, Endou was still taken over by his worries for Kidou and Haruna. How could be keep siblings away from one another? He had no right to take away their chance at living together again, but. . . How could he possibly feel good about giving Teikoku a half-assed match?

While Endou was caught up in his thoughts, Jimon had used his Hyakuretsu Shot. He kicked at the ball a multitude of times, before sending it flying towards the goal. Before the shot could reach Endou, Park stepped in front of it. She faced her back towards the rest of the field, and once the ball was in close enough proximity, the girl whipped herself around.

"Daebak!" She drove a foot into the ball, held it in place for a while - draining the hissatsu of it's power - before bringing her foot down and quickly spinning. She then drove the back of he heel from her other foot against the ball. A glass barrier formed around the ball, and then shattered upon the impact of the back of her heel. The ball then flicked back towards the goal - but Endou wasn't paying attention.

"Endou!" Park called out to him, snapping the boy out of his trance.

"Huh-?" The brunet raised his head, finally noticing the ball in the air. He managed to catch it in the nick of time.

Everyone paused.

"Don't let it get to you, Endou." Kazemaru made his way over to Endou and Park. "Good work, you saved us there." He smiled towards the girl, who just nodded sadly. 

Park was thinking about Kidou and Haruna as well, she didn't want to ruin their lives, but at the same time, she believed that winning this match wouldn't ruin their lives. They may want to live together again, but Park could easily see how happy Haruna was in her current family. Besides, nothing was keeping Kidou from visiting his sister and spending time with her. Nevertheless, she understood Endou's hesitance.

Endou passed the ball to Park, who began dribbling forward. She then make a very clean pass over to Shourin, who lost it to Sakuma rather quickly. The Teikoku forward made a normal shot towards the goal, which Endou seemed to be confident that he could catch. Although, as he tried to grasp the ball, it fell from his hands. Before anyone could try and get it, Endou dropped to his knees and hugged onto the ball just to be safe.

Gouenji was not having any of this.

The ball was thrown out again, but Teikoku had stolen it again. Kidou reeled his foot back and was about to make a strong shoot towards the goal. Park and Kazemaru stood in the way of the goal, given Endou wasn't playing at his best - but this wasn't needed. Kidou was met with a sliding tackle from Gouenji. Due to this, Kidou ended with a rather mild injury. It would heal, but still hurt quite a bit at the moment.

Doumen cleared the ball so Kidou could be looked after. Without missing a beat or wasting any time, Haruna hopped out of her seat and went over to care for her brother. 

Gouenji and Someoka continued to try making shoots into the goal, but Genda always managed to deflect the hissatsu.

Kidou, Sakuma and Jimon then used their signature hissatsu: Emperor Penguin Number Two.

Park knew she had to do something. She stepped in the way yet again, and used her hissatsu Daebak (which means Jackpot). Normally her hissatsu would stop a shoot on it's own, but if not, it drained enough energy for it to always be caught by the goalkeeper. She relied on Endou to make the final save, but right now. . . She couldn't depend on him.

Park held the ball off for a good few seconds, before it knocked her against the ground as she let out a small yelp.

Endou used his God Hand, but it was shattered by the power of the shoot - and knocked him in the gut, straight into the goal.

Half time consisted of everyone picking on Endou, but all his answers were flat and dull. Kazemaru looked at the rest of the defenders, including Park - who was starting to tire herself out. She'd been working rather hard to make up for Endou's slip ups.

The game continued with Teikoku making non-stop attacks, but all were stopped by Park, Kazemaru, Kabeyama and Domon. That was until Domon was hit in the side of his face, and was unable to play any longer.

Out of frustration and disappointment, Gouenji used his Fire Tornado, and shot it straight at Endou, knocking the poor kid into the grass.

"Whatever happens off the field doesn't matter once you're on it.  Look at everyone around you trying so hard." Gouenji grit his teeth. "Shape up!"

His words hit like a brick. Endou knew he was hesitating, but he wasn't happy about it. At this point. . . This was where he would change. No more worries, no more hesitation. Endou wanted to play this game to it's fullest. His teammates and opponents deserved at least that.

The game continued. Both Gouenji and Someoka managed to get a goal into the net by starting with Dragon Crash, and following up with Fire Tornado once the ball hit the Power Shield.

Teikoku used Emperor Penguin yet again, but with Park's Daebak, Endou managed to catch it with his God Hand.

In the end, Raimon were the victors.

To celebrate, Hibiki allowed everyone to eat their fill at his little noodle shop. Everyone was in such high spirits, all asides from the white haired girl who didn't contribute to any conversations. She was silent the entire time, staring at the steam rise from her ramen noodles. Miso ramen was her favourite food, and yet she wasn't happily eating away. For what reason?

"Hey, you've barely touched your ramen." Kazemaru gently spoke to the girl, who only frowned a slight bit more. This only concerned the teal haired boy even more. "Are you okay? Park-chan?"

"I'm okay. . ." Park muttered, before finally picking up some noodles with her chopsticks and eating. She didn't seem to want to talk about whatever was bothering her. This was common for the girl, but Kazemaru didn't know her as well as he wanted to - so he had no idea she kept her problems to herself. The girl didn't want to be a nuisance to anyone, so she always decided to keep her mouth shut.

Rather early, Park left the noodle shop. She took a ball with her and went straight to the riverbank all on her own. It was empty, thank goodness for that. The last thing she wanted was to have people watching her practice.

Park wanted to be more useful to the team. She refused to fall behind. Regarding her skill level, she was about where Someoka and Kazemaru were. She was good at the game, but not as good as Endou or Gouenji - which wasn't fine to her. She wanted to be stronger. . . Stronger. . . Stronger.

She dribbled with the ball for a while. Her defense was very strong, but her dribbling was lacking. Sometimes she'd have to bring the ball up herself, and losing it right after receiving it from Endou was just be straight up pathetic. So, she'd continue training her dribbling. When she was done with that, the girl would repeatedly shoot the ball into the goal. Her aim was wonky, but it was slowly, slowly getting better.

"There you are!" A familiar voice called out. One that started Park.

The girl looked over to where the voice came from. She was almost upset to see that it was Kazemaru. . . She'd rather it be her grandparents. 

"You left early, I was worried." Kazemaru made his way over to the girl, hands in his pockets.

"Oh. . . Sorry about that." Park nervously looked down. 

"You don't have to apologize." Kazemaru shook his head, a gentle smile on his face. "So, you're training all on your own? Why?" He looked towards the net, where the ball was sitting in the dirt.

"I want to get better." Park responded simply. "I feel a bit useless on the field sometimes. It's hard to watch everyone play while I stay on the defense line, waiting. . ."

"You are the furthest thing from useless," Kazemaru exhaled. He felt bad for the girl, but it wasn't pity at all. "You helped so much today! If it weren't for you, we'd have lost at least two points. So don't feel useless."

Park didn't respond, so there was a moment of silence between the two, but hardly awkward.

"Let me help you train." Kazemaru slowly made his way over to the ball, picked it up, and brought it back to the girl. Park wanted to refuse, but that would be awfully mean. 

"Okay." Park obediently nodded, earning a smile from the boy. 

The two kicked the ball around together for quite a while. Kazemaru was clearly enjoying himself, but he couldn't tell if the feeling was mutual. Park excelled in teamwork, so her ability to fight for the ball wasn't as polished if she was on her own. Although, she did well at stealing the ball, not so much keeping it. Her dribbling was a little sloppy, but. . . Kazemaru noticed she had a very strong shoot - albeit lacking in certain areas. Her aim was precise, her strength was on point, but she was inconsistent and unconfident.

Unfortunately, Endou wasn't around - so she couldn't practice shooting to the full extent. Although, Kazemaru watched as she shot the ball into the goal. Each time she would stomp on the side of the ball to bring it into the air, and then she'd shoot it towards the net. There was some sort of delay after she'd kick the ball, but that made the shoot all the more stronger.

"Park-chan," Kazemaru suddenly called out to the girl, catching her off guard.

"Yes?" She paused to look over at him. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I was just curious. . . You're a defender right?" He asked, and she nodded. "Your shoot is really. . . It's as if you play as a forward. Have you noticed that?"

"Uhm. . . Not really." 

"I wonder why that is." Kazemaru stopped to think about it, but no dice.

"My grandfather taught me taekwondo, if you're wondering." Park muttered. To make up for all the free time she had due to not joining any school clubs or making any friends - her grandfather taught her taekwondo. Her grandmother taught her to cook, and she took violin classes - but Park would leave out all the details. She didn't feel they were important enough to share. Maybe one day, but not right now.

"Y-you know how to fight?" Kazemaru was a little shocked. Park looked so small and frail, the fact that she could fight was surprising to him.

"A little," Park trailed off, suddenly nervous from all the attention. "I can show you a small demonstration if you want."

"Yeah, I'd love to see!" The boy perked up.

"Alright, one moment then." Park placed the ball in front of her foot, and began dribbling forward at a jogging pace. Once she was in a comfortable distance from the goal, she stomped on the side of the ball to give it some height, much higher than her usual normal shoots. The white haired girl then jumped and made a clean corkscrew kick towards the ball, sending it careening towards the goal at a rapid pace. When she kicked the ball, the sound of shattering glass could be heard, and there was a blinding light. A glass coat covered the ball, and shattered upon impact. The ball made it cleanly into the net, and nearly broke through it as well.

Both Park and Kazemaru stood in silence for a while, until the boy spoke up. . .

"Was that a hissatsu?"