Hey guys! Surprise surprise, the chapter is a few days early, but I have my reasons for that.

~'0'~

Accidental Reverse Arc 2

  ~'0'~ 

Tenma waves his fingers together as he starts his explanation, Aki listening attentively. ''I... know that my wording from yesterday sounds pretty bad,'' is the first thing he says. ''And when I said 'war', I meant a... media or political war, I guess you could call it.''

This certainly grabs her attention and the young woman raises her eyebrows, slightly surprised. Tenma shoots her a dry look. ''Aki-nee, you should know me well enough to realize that I don't want an armed war.'' She has the decency to look sheepish. ''But, as I was saying, I want to start a war. A war to stop Fifth Sector and the Resistance.''

His temporary guardian frowns at that, but she keeps quiet so that he can finish. ''Fifth Sector is... horrible. They need to be stopped, and as I told the Resistance before, not only through soccer. There are many more ways of attacking them. Publically or legally, for example.

''That's also where my second point comes in. I'm not happy with the Resistance. They take things too lightly.'' The time traveler sighs, his whole posture only portraying seriousness. ''I know they can't act easily, but so far, the only things they've done were installing Kidou-san as Teikoku's coach and coach Endou as Raimon's. They're doing their research, but not much is coming from them.''

Tenma looks at his sister-figure with grave grey eyes. ''You know them better than I do, Aki-nee. Tell me, what will they do once Hibiki-san becomes Holy Emperor?''

''Free soccer,'' she answers immediately. When the brunet raises an unimpressed eyebrow, she frowns as she tries to think of a complete answer. ''I'm... not sure, but they'll take care of all Fifth Sector personal and most likely the Seeds as well.''

The brunet nods. ''As I thought.''

(As he knows.)

''But is that really right?''

Aki responds with a look of confusion. ''What do you mean?''

Her relative smiles unhappily. ''Is that really right, Aki-nee? Don't you think those Seeds – those kids – deserve to play soccer as well? Who knows what they've gone through under Fifth Sector's regime? Maybe they were forced to work for them. And what about the teams? The Resistance will get rid of Fifth's coaches – which is good – but what then? Are they just going to leave the teams in chaos, without a coach to take charge, and most likely with at least two players gone?''

The brunet shakes his head, answering his own question. ''That's not right. I want to free soccer, too, but I don't want to abandon the other teams once Fifth Sector is beaten. I want to help them too, but the Resistance won't listen to a child.'' His eyes glow blue with his resolve. ''So I'll have to take charge myself.''

He pauses there, allowing Aki to take in everything he just told her. ''But, as I said, I'm barely a teenager. I'm not stupid, I know I can't take on both the Resistance and Fifth Sector like this.'' His lips quirk upwards in a small smile. ''So I'm not going to reveal my identity while I attack them.''

At this, his relative frowns in confusion. ''Then what are you planning?''

Tenma smiles mysteriously and grabs his reverse notebook from the desk behind him. He flips through it until he reaches the right page-

(Wouldn't do for Aki to see some of the... other things he's written down.)

-and holds it out to his sister-figure.

The green-haired woman gingerly takes it, throwing a look at Tenma, and then start scanning the words written down. The more she reads, the more she pales. The time traveler watches calmly as she closes the notebook with shaking hands.

''This- this is amazing,'' she brings out, looking up at her supposedly thirteen-year-old relative with wide eyes. He simply smiles knowingly at her. ''How did you...''

Raimon's future captain grins and takes the reverse notebook when Aki gives it back. ''I just used this wondrous thing called common sense, applied a bit of logic, with a dash of reckless ingeniousness – or stupidity, if that's what you want to call it – and ta-da, you end up with plans for a war!'' then his grin melts off his face, replaced by a serious look. ''So? What do you think?''

Aki is silent for a long while, her brow crunched up in thought. After what could be either a few seconds or a few years, she looks up. Green eyes meet her relative's greyish blue ones, searching for something-

(He's not entirely sure what.)

-and apparently she finds it, for she gives a slow nod.

''I... at first, I thought you were ignoring reality, but this-'' she swallows nervously. ''This could actually be pulled off. These plans... they're insane, but so detailed.'' She sighs and plays with the hem of her skirt. ''You have that look in your eyes. The one that says you're going to go through with whatever you've said your mind to, and no matter what I do, I can't convince you otherwise.''

Well, that's oddly... specific.

The doubt and hesitance in Aki's eyes slowly drains away, and instead trust takes their place. ''I have no idea how you're planning to do this, but... I'll help you to the best of my ability – if only to make sure you don't do something reckless. Whatever you do, I'll support you.''

A weight he didn't know was there is lifted from his chest, and Tenma's smile is bright and genuine. He quickly closes the distance between them and throws his arms around his relative. ''Thank you. Thank you so much.''

Aki, a little taken aback, wraps her own arms around him and smiles.

Now, if only he can find someone who can set it all off.

  ~'0'~  

It's only a few hours later that he finds that person.

He and Aki are walking with Sasuke, talking about their plans, when a voice calls his name. ''Matsukaze-kun!''

The two relatives turn around to see who the voice belongs to. A girl of about seventeen, with curly brown locks hold together in a high ponytail by a black ribbon, waves at them. It takes him a moment, but then Tenma recognizes her. ''Shinohara-san? From the swimming pool?''

The girl catches up to them, followed by two other teenagers. She smiles brightly at the two. ''Yep! What a surprise, to see you somewhere non-water related!'' she jokes.

After their first meeting, the two brown-haired teenagers have encountered each other several times at the pool and Tenma would even call them friends now. ''A surprise, indeed,'' he laughs, and then gestures to the woman next to him. ''This is my relative, Kino Aki. Aki-nee, this is a friend from the swimming pool, Shinohara Maiko-san.''

''It's nice to meet you, Kino-san,'' smiles Shinohara, and then gestures to the two teenagers accompanying her. One of them is a girl with dark blue hair, chopped short and straight, and sharp blue eyes, wearing a torn red short over black pants with a black leather jacket. ''This is my friend Kishi Jiro.''

The short-haired girl grins and chews on what appears to be bubblegum. '''Sup.''

Shinohara then gestures to the last of the three, a boy of about the same age as the other two. His hair is dark copper and messy and his eyes are a challenging, fiery caramel. His dark grey jeans are ripped and he wears a short-sleeved, dark orange shirt with some kind of band logo on it. ''And this is Tengan Seiji.''

''What, I'm no friend of yours or something?'' he fake glares at her.

Shinohara rolls her eyes. ''Ignore him.'' She then gestures to the younger boy. ''And this is one of the regulars of the pool, Matsukaze Tenma.''

Kishi proceeds to choke on air.

The brunette next to her quickly thumps on her back. Once the dark-haired girl is not in danger of dying anymore, she stares at Tenma with wide eyes. ''Matsukaze Tenma, as in, the first-year Raimon midfielder? With this new form of energy manipulation? Who was taken to the Holy Emperor himself for questioning? That Matsukaze Tenma?''

The brunet blinks, taken aback. ''Uh... yes?'' he half-answers, half-asks.

Kishi, for all her cool aloofness only a minute prior, seems to be fangirling right now. Raimon's time traveler shoots a look at Shinohara. The brunette chuckles sheepishly. ''Ah... you see, Jiro is an aspiring reporter, who loves sports...''

Before she can explain further, Kishi manages to find her voice again. ''Say, would you care for an interview with me? I need a good story if I'm ever going to move on from neighborhood scandals and I've been dying to find a reliable source about Fifth Sector! I understand if you don't have time but I'd really appreciate it and-''

Tenma cuts her off, a sharp look in his now narrowed grey orbs. ''Wait a moment,'' he says and something in his voice makes her stop talking. ''You know about Fifth Sector?''

Kishi's excitement dies down, replaced by a grimace, and she nods. ''Yeah. As a kid I loved soccer, but as the years passed I started to notice that something was off. I started researching a few years ago and I've figured out the basic things, but I still want to know more. Even so, I have to be careful. A friend of mine investigated them too, and, well, I haven't heard from him in two years.''

''But you're willing to do something to stop them?''

Something in his tone catches the girl's attention and she levels him with a hard stare. The brunet returns the look without hesitation, grey boring into sharp blue eyes.

Apparently, she likes what she sees, because Kishi gives him a small, predatory smile. ''If I get the chance, I'd take it,'' she says vaguely. ''Why so interested?''

Tenma shrugs, putting on an innocent mask, and says, ''Oh, I might be willing to tell you some interesting stories... if you accept my conditions, of course.'' The girl's eyes narrow in interest and her lips curl up into a cunning smirk. The brunet's sweet smile turns wicked at her look. ''Not here, though.''

''Of course not,'' agrees Kishi immediately. ''Maiko, your place is closest. Would you mind?''

Shinohara blinks and then shakes her head. ''No problem. Do you have time now?'' she directs the last question to Aki and Tenma.

The two relatives share a long look, silently communicating for a few moments, and then the woman sighs. ''I suppose now is fine.'' She then gestures to Sasuke. ''As long as you don't mind him, of course.''

''I have a dog too, so I'm sure my uncle won't mind,'' says the brunette with a smile. ''Let's go, then!''

  ~'0'~  

Twenty minutes later they find themselves in the Shinohara household lounge, spread over the various chairs and couches. The Shinohara residence is connected to the swimming pool by a door that leads to the pool's reception.

Shinohara's aunt has brought them snacks and now the five of them are alone. Kishi has placed a laptop and a notebook and pen on the coffee table, to take notes if need be, and Tenma has grabbed his reverse notebook.

To make sure everyone knows enough about Fifth Sector to follow the conversation – specifically, Shinohara and Tengan – both Tenma and Kishi take turns explaining. The two teenagers are horrified once they're finished, and the five of them fall into silence.

''The truth is,'' the soccer player starts eventually, no sign of the usual mischievous glint in his eyes, ''that I'm trying to stop Fifth Sector as well.'' There's not much of a reaction, except for Aki's worried expression and the narrowing of Kishi's eyes. Both Shinohara and Tengan don't really know what that means, but they're horrified enough after the stories they heard about the current soccer world.

''Go on,'' encourages Kishi slowly, trying to read into his expressions.

Tenma meets her gaze head-on. ''As you may understand, I can't do it alone,'' he tells her, carefully weighing his words. ''Neither can I just come right out and start rebelling. I am still part of Raimon's soccer team and therefore vulnerable, if Fifth Sector decides to use harsher means against me.''

The dark blue-haired girl nods. ''Understandable.'' She seems to think for a moment, her sharp blue eyes locked onto the time traveler's silver ones. ''You want my help.''

Now it's the brunet's turn to nod. ''I do,'' he answers truthfully. ''I don't want to endanger anyone more than I have to, and without an actual support group, it's basically suicide to outright challenge Fifth Sector. That's why I need to build up a support group – and I know exactly where to start.'' Here, his lips curl upwards in a tiny, devilish smile.

Kishi returns the small smirk with one of her own. ''I think I'm going to like you,'' she tells him, and the younger teen grins. ''So, you said something about conditions. Care to explain?''

Tenma turns serious again. ''Yes, but to do so, I must first explain my plan,'' he tells her. She gestures for him to go on and, after shooting a cautious look at both Tengan and Shinohara, he does. ''You see, Fifth Sector is a major organization with a lot of sponsors in the higher class. That's where most of their money and influence comes from.

''Then you have a second, secret group, called the Resistance.'' Aki next to him tenses but doesn't interrupt. ''It's members are famous and influential figures in the soccer world and Raimon's history – Hibiki Seigou, Raimon Souichirou, Hirai Shinzou, Kudou Michiya, and quite a few others. They're trying to bring down Fifth Sector, but,'' he says when Kishi opens her mouth to say something, ''the way they're doing it is not good.

''We're currently not on good terms and they're not doing enough, in my opinion,'' continues the brunet. ''That's why I don't and can't rely on them. I don't trust that they'll handle this situation the right way. That's why I want to do it myself, but I'm just a thirteen-year-old kid. No one's gonna listen to me, right?''

At this, a devious smile tils his lips upwards and blue sparks glow in his eyes. ''That's where they're wrong.''

Kishi frowns, trying to discern a hidden meaning behind his words. ''...what do you mean?'' she asks eventually.

Tenma's smirk turns into a wild grin. ''This isn't public knowledge, but I outright challenged the Holy Emperor and walked away unharmed.'' At this, the girl's blue eyes widen and her mouth falls open. The brunet, however, isn't done yet. ''Fifth Sector relies on their sponsors and the Resistance on their connections. However, they both ignored one very important group-''

''-the public,'' gasps the aspiring reporter, her eyes wide in realization. ''That's- that's genius! If you can get the media and the normal people on your side, you can drive Fifth Sector into a corner,'' she whispers.

The time traveler nods, satisfied that she managed to figure it out. ''Exactly. And if I reveal enough of Fifth Sector's secrets, we could even get the authorities involved,'' he adds and Kishi grins predatorily. Tenma smiles and continues, ''the best way to reach the public is through interviews, obviously. That's where you come in.'' She nods in agreement.

''Now that that's out of the way, the conditions.'' The brunet holds up three fingers. ''One. In the interviews, my identity will remain secret. I'll create a fake persona, but my real name must stay hidden, otherwise Fifth Sector will come after me.

''Two. I will only talk to one reporter – if you accept, you – because the less people know, the better. This reporter will be my link to the media. That means you must take care of other papers, journalists and things like that. The story has to spread without endangering either of us, and that's what you'll be in charge of.

''Three. You have to accept the risks, because I cannot guarantee your safety,'' warns the time traveler. Better to make it as clear as possible. ''You could end up like that friend of yours if Fifth Sector find out about you. Therefore, you need protection – I'll try to help with that, but, like I said before, I'm only thirteen and I can't promise anything.''

Kishi stays silent for a long while, her eyes clouded over as she thinks everything over. Tenma leans back against the couch he's sitting on, knowing he's played all his cards for now. He's made everything as clear as possible without giving anything too important away, and now the only thing left to do is wait.

Eventually, the dark blue-haired teenager gives a slow, careful nod. ''I understand,'' she says finally, icy blue meeting blueish grey in a battle of wills. Neither of them look away, both aware that this moment is the peak of this meeting. ''If you're willing to have me, then I'll gladly help you.''

Tenma breathes out slowly, relief flooding his posture despite his attempts at holding it back. ''Thank you. But what about you? How are you going to protect yourself?''

The girl chews on her lip and frowns, clearly not having an answer. Shinohara next to her, however, suddenly smiles. ''My aunt is a lawyer,'' she says and all eyes turn to her. ''She often tells me about her work and, if I'm right, this Fifth Sector group can't legally do anything to Jiro as long as they don't have any proof that she did something criminal to them.'' Now her eyes turn to Tenma. ''An unknown source is not considered criminal until proven otherwise. Fifth Sector could investigate, but as long as you stay hidden and don't do anything like hacking or breaking in, they won't find any traces of you and thus won't have any real charges against Jiro.''

Tenma grins. ''That's the legal side covered. That leaves the illegal part – once Kishi-san has caught the media's attention, it'll be a lot harder for Fifth Sector to do something to her without people finding it suspicious, but it's not impossible and I don't want to rely on something like that with a case like this.''

Everyone seems to be in agreement with that and they fall into silence as they think over the issue, trying to find a solution. ''You could hire a bodyguard?'' suggests Tengan eventually.

His blue-haired friends bites her lip. ''Yeah, but who? I can't have a thug follow me around every minute of the day. What about school?'' she asks.

For the first time since arriving at the Shinohara residence, Aki joins the conversation. ''I might have a solution,'' she offers and Kishi eagerly turns to her, hoping for something to solve the problem. ''I have a friend who really loves technology,'' says the young woman. ''He still owes me a favor. I could get him to make some equipment for your protection. A chip, so that we can track you, and maybe a hidden camera?''

That idea causes Kishi to frown thoughtfully. Before she can say anything, however, Tengan gives her a friendly punch against her arm. ''And besides! You're completely forgetting about your favorite roommate who also happens to be a black band in karate and a master of boxing and hand-to-hand combat!'' his enthusiasm smothers a little and he gives his apparent roommate a smile. ''If we can get some sort of communicating device, I can help you whenever needed. You'll also be safe a lot, because I'm with you for most of the day and if you want, I can teach you self-defense.''

Kishi gapes at him. ''Seiji, you- you'd do that for me?''

''Of course! You're my favorite roomie, after all!''

Aki claps her hands together, as if in prayer, and gives the four teenagers a smile. ''Alright, I think that solves everything. I'll try to get my friend to make four sets of chips and communicating devices, because you, young man,'' her voice turns strict as she looks at Tenma, ''can't go on doing whatever you feel like without safe protection and I certainly want to know what's happening if you're in danger.''

''Make- make that five,'' says Shinohara suddenly and all eyes turn to the brunette. ''I want to help too!''

From that moment on, the five of them – and how nice is that, not being alone anymore in the fight against both the Resistance and Fifth Sector – start planning. They go over all of Tenma's ideas and work through them. About two hours later, there is only one issue left.

''We need some kind of representation,'' says Jiro (''don't call me Kishi, makes me sound like my old man'') and bites on her thumb as she thinks it through. ''To do all of this, we need money, preferably donations. But the people need a place to donate it to, a place where they can ask questions and interact with us. They need to see us as people – that's how we'll get them to trust us,'' she adds.

Seiji (''if you call Jiro by her first name, I don't mind if you do so with me, too'') nods in agreement. ''Not to mention, if we really do get donations, we need a bank account, so we need to find someone willing to maintain it and also deal with the people who are donating it. Someone who can deal with it 24/7, so basically, we need more people to help us. Any ideas?''

No one answers for a moment, all trying to think of people. Aki is out of the question since she has other tasks to do, and even if she didn't she couldn't do it alone. That's when Maiko (''if you call these two idiots by their first names then just call me Maiko'') suddenly snaps her fingers. ''I think I have an idea, but you'll have to give me a while to figure it out,'' she tells the other four. ''We should meet up again in a few days.''

They all agree with that. ''My next match is in three days,'' says Tenma. ''Maybe after that? Would that be enough time for you?'' he directs the last question at Maiko, who nods.

''Alright then,'' Jiro grins, ''after Tenma's match, we'll see each other here again.''

  ~'0'~  

The next day at school, Tenma is making his way to the soccer field when he finds Kariya and Shinsuke talking. The brunet raises an eyebrow and leans against the wall a few feet away from them. It's not a great hiding place, but the two other first-years are not paying attention to him, so it's good enough.

''So Kirino-senpai is still suspecting you?'' he hears Shinsuke ask.

Kariya nods in response. ''Yeah... I don't know why, but he really seems to dislike me, for some reason... I mean, what happened at practice, too.''

''When he injured you,'' says the small keeper, his voice clearly stating his doubt and displeasure at the situation. ''I don't know why he'd act like this. I mean, even if you were a Seed, I never thought he'd deliberately try to injure you...''

The tealhead shrugs, a sad expression on his face. ''I don't know either, but... whatever I've done, I hope we can work it out before the match on Sunday...'' he sighs.

The two first-years continue walking to the soccer building to get changed for practice, not having noticed the brunet behind them at all. Tenma frowns, a thoughtful expression on his face. 'This is bad. The situation between Kariya and Kirino-senpai is getting out of hand.' He throws a look at Shinsuke's retreating back. 'It seems Kariya managed to turn Shinsuke to his side while I was stuck with the Holy Emperor...'

He slowly starts to make his way to the soccer building as well, still thinking about the problem at hand.

If nothing is done, this could get real bad, real fast.

  ~'0'~  

A day later, Tenma finds himself in the Raimon bus. They're on their way to the official opening of the Holy Road tournament and the brunet is content with just listening to the conversations of his teammates. Aoyama and Ichino about the fact that they're not in the starting line-up, while Kidou quickly encourages them again. Shinsuke, who has decided to sit next to Kariya, both talking excitedly about the match.

Tenma himself is sitting next to Tsurugi. The Seedling tried to sit on his own, but the brunet ignored his wants and instead dragged his future best friend to sit next to him.

''Guys, look!'' comes a shout from Shinsuke. ''It's the stadium!''

Everyone presses themselves against the window to get a better look at the strange building. ''So that's the Russian roulette stadium where we'll be holding the games!'' says Hamano, excitement in his voice while everyone expresses their awe.

Tenma glances at the by now familiar stadium – in the future, he's played in the Holy Road tournament enough times to know it like he knows his own house – but doesn't react any other way.

Tsurugi next to him notices it, and after a moment of silence, decides to question him. ''I thought you'd be more excited about seeing the stadium,'' says the navy-haired striker, a little awkwardly. ''Everything okay?''

The brunet is slightly surprised. He hadn't expected Tsurugi to start a conversation, much less about his well-being. The time traveler shrugs and looks out of the window. ''I'm fine, I just have a lot on my mind right now.''

Between worrying about the meeting later today, the current situation with his team, the revolution in general and missing his friends from the future, he didn't get much rest and he can certainly feel it.

Hopefully he'll feel better by tomorrow – can't mess up the match because he didn't get enough sleep.

  ~'0'~  

''The Holy Road that decides who's number one in Jr. High soccer finally opens its Nationals tournament! This tournament also bears a heavy weight on deciding the next Holy Emperor of Fifth Sector.'' The commentator's voice echoes through the middle stadium of the Russian roulette stadium, which is completely packed. Bright lights cast the sky in different colors and two huge holograms of the Holy Emperor candidates light up in the middle of the stadium. ''Who will ascend to the Holy Emperor's throne, current Holy Emperor Ishido Shuuji, or Hibiki Seigou?''

Below on the field, Fifth Sector players, dressed in the colorless grey uniform, march in practiced patterns, like an army showing of its soldiers. ''Now, the strong players who have won the preliminaries are gathering here at Amano Mikado Stadium in droves!'' the Fifth Sector agents can't be more than teenagers, yet despite that they move in perfect sync while marching over the field. ''I, Kakuma Oushou, will bring you the commentary!''

The agents on the field have lined up and are now shouting as one, ''Fifth! Fifth! Fifth! Fifth!'' while the teams participating in the tournament are lining up in front of them. The holograms of the two Holy Emperor candidates disappear, replaced by the words HOLY ROAD.

''It's like they want to impress Fifth Sector's dominance over us,'' says Hayami to the rest of his team. The agents' shouting continues steadily.

After a long while, in which each team is introduced, the 'Fifth' shouting stops and is replaced by a woman's voice. ''Now an opening statement from the tournament committee chairman, Ishido Shuuji.''

The man himself appears on the balcony overlooking the field, all the teams looking up at him. A huge hologram of the Emperor appears above him, between the words HOLY and ROAD, so that everyone can see him, and his voice is amplified to be heard through the entire stadium.

He spreads his arms and smiles welcomingly. ''Players who have won their way to fight the Nationals...'' he starts, nothing like the threatening Emperor that threatened Tenma and every bit the charismatic leader the public thinks he is. ''I officially proclaim the opening of the Holy Road competition.'' He clenches his fist, the smile not leaving his face. ''The Holy Road is the epitome of soccer.'' He spreads his arm out, unclenching his fist while doing so. ''The real fight begins now! I look forward to seeing how you fare the challenges!'' with that he drops his arm and the hologram disappears, while eardrum-shattering cheering rises from the public.

''Now, at last, the fierce fight begins!'' calls the commentator, Kakuma. ''This year features a Russian roulette stadium, divided into five separate areas,'' he explains for the public. ''Each team will hold their games on a ground chosen at random! And the two who remain standing at the end will fight the finals here at Amano Mikado Stadium! The first of these don't-miss games will begin tomorrow, each at their own Russian roulette stadium!'' more cheers rise up as he finishes speaking.

Tenma simply keeps his eyes focused on where he can still see the small form of Ishido Shuuji. The loud cheering echoes in his ears and it feels as if someone's trying to split his skull open from the inside. Black dots swim in and out of his vision, and the bright, moving lights are not helping.

The time traveler tries to shake it off. Now is not the time to fall ill.

Tomorrow starts the real fight.

  ~'0'~  

Later that day, Tenma looks up the closest ice rink to his house and spends almost four hours in the frozen halls. It's been too long since he last skated, but years of training don't disappear that easily and after a few rounds, he's found his rhythm again.

The Hakuren match is not far away anymore, and he'd be damned if he didn't prepare for it.

Actually skating while wearing soccer shoes is something else, but he'll just have to figure that out when he reaches Snowland Stadium. For now, catching up on his training is enough.

~'0'~

The next morning, Raimon finds itself at one of the Russian roulette train stations, where they'll meet their opponents – Gassan Kunimitsu. The gold and black train is already waiting for them as they arrive.

''This Holy Liner will take us to the ground where we'll be playing,'' explains Haruna as everyone stands in awe of the train-like vehicle.

The older players talk amongst themselves about their unknown destination. Endou, overhearing their conversation, grins. ''Who knows what sort of field we'll be fighting in.''

''It most certainly is a roulette,'' agrees Kidou, only the slightest change in his voice giving his excitement away.

The doors slide open and the Raimon team enters. As they move down the long, purple bench, they watch as the Gassan Kunimitsu team enters from the other side, a glass wall separating them.

''Minamisawa!'' Sangoku's shout draws all of their attention to the purple-haired ex-Raimon forward. Tenma takes one look at the small smirk he wears and drops down on the bench, intending to ignore everything and everyone.

The ride to the stadium is tense, Raimon still shocked about Minamisawa's sudden appearance. The time traveler keeps an eye on his team, the tight expression on Sangoku's face, the anger swimming in Kurumada's eyes, Shindou's clenched fists, and knows, without a doubt, that this is not going to end well.

'This happened the first time 'round too. However, now the situation with Kariya is worse than before. Three years ago, Kariya confronted both Shinsuke and I, but because I said I wouldn't care if he was a Seed or not, Shinsuke didn't care either. Now, however, due to my little detour to Fifth Sector's headquarters, Kariya managed to convince Shinsuke and I couldn't stop it. Coupled with the stress on the senpai with Minamisawa-san's return, basically the only ones really unaffected would be me and Tsurugi.' His eyes narrow and he chews on his lower lip. 'We're going to fall apart at this rate.'

Suddenly he feels Minamisawa's gaze upon him, and their eyes meet. The older teen's lips curl upwards once he notices Tenma's concerned expression and suddenly it's like a switch has flipped inside the brunet's mind.

He tears his eyes away from the forward and instead stares up at the ceiling. Now, where to start?

To say Raimon expects the sudden voice to break the tense silence is false. To say they're surprised to find that it's Tenma? Definitely not.

''I just realized,'' starts the brunet, keeping his voice low enough to not be heard by the Gassan team through the window, yet loud enough that Raimon can hear it, and his team looks at him, ''orange juice is not orange.''

That, obviously, gets him some strange looks from his teammates. ''May I ask why you decided to have this genius revelation now?'' asks Shindou dryly, raising one unimpressed eyebrow.

Tenma shrugs. ''Hey, I don't know! I just suddenly realized. Orange juice is not orange, it's dark yellow, so why is it called orange juice?'' he asks again. ''It doesn't make sense. It's called orange juice while it's not even orange!''

The answer comes from a surprising source. ''It's because the combination of chemicals in orange juice reflects certain wavelengths that create yellow with a slight reddish glow,'' says Kidou, not breaking his composure despite the strange question.

Raimon's resident time traveler nods slowly. ''That explains the color,'' he agrees, ''but not the name. I get that it's called orange juice because it comes from oranges, but that doesn't change the fact that the name is misleading because the drink itself is, in fact, not orange,'' he points out.

Shinsuke tilts his head. ''You have a point. Why do people call it orange juice?''

The captain, seemingly accepting the fact that they're holding this conversation before an important match, is the one to answer. ''It's named after the fruit, not the color,'' he states. ''Also, the color itself was named after the fruit, not the other way around.''

Tenma frowns, still not satisfied. ''Why name a color after a fruit when the fruit itself cannot be classified as an object of that color, at least not fully?''

''The original name for the orange is something that we would call 'yellowred' in our modern language,'' explains Kidou. ''Then they found a fruit which had the same color – at least on the outside – as described by 'yellowred', which, in the language of the natives, was called an 'orange'. That name was then adapted to the name of both the fruit and the color.''

''But why call it orange juice?'' asks Hamano, confusion clear in his expression. ''Like Tenma said, it's misleading. The name 'orange' makes sense, but the name of the drink doesn't.''

''Well,'' starts Shindou, thinking over his words to make sure they're accurate, ''the name describes the origin of the juice, which is much more informative, rather than describing the juice itself.''

Kirino next to him nods in agreement. ''Exactly, we don't go around calling strawberry juice 'red juice' either,'' he supports Shindou's words. ''We call it strawberry juice because the name tells us that it's made of strawberries. Same goes with orange juice. It's called orange juice because it tells us it's made of oranges.''

''It's still misleading,'' mutters Hamano.

Shindou nods. ''It is, but what would be more misleading? Describing the color of the juice, or describing the origins? You can gather much more nutritional information from 'strawberry juice' than from 'red juice','' he explains. ''Which is why we don't call it 'darkyellow juice', because that doesn't give us any important information, like the origins.''

Tenma tilts his head in thought. ''I never said we should rename it or something,'' he tells the captain, ''I just felt like pointing out that quite often, orange juice is not orange, which is misleading because 'orange' makes it sound like the drink is orange while, as stated before, it's not always orange.''

''We should call it lemonapple juice and be done with it,'' mutters Kurama.

Kirino, however, is already shaking his head before he can even finish his sentence. ''No, that's even more misleading. That would make it sound like it originates from lemons and apples, which it doesn't.'' Kurama 'tch'es' and looks away. ''Even though orange juice does make it sound misleading.''

This time it's Shindou's turn to shake his head. ''No, if you keep other juices in mind, plus the fact that you can observe it not being orange, it's more logical to deduce that it refers to the fruit rather than the color. Anyone with enough brains can figure it out.''

More than one voice starts responding to the captain's words, all with their own opinion, creating a mass of noise. It soon becomes so loud that it's more a shouting match than anything else.

The resident time traveler allows himself a look at Gassan Kunimitsu. Their opponents are staring at the Raimon team, uncomprehending of the sudden mood switch. Instead of tense and serious, like five minutes before, they're now bickering like little kids fighting for the last candy.

Tsurugi, who is sitting next to the brunet, gives him a look. ''When you started this. You knew this would happen,'' he says, gesturing to the chaos around them. ''So why did you do it?''

Tenma is already opening his mouth to respond, when another voice interrupts him. ''Guys!'' calls Ichino, exasperated. ''You do realize that you're discussing the color of orange juice while we have an important match in less than thirty minutes, right?''

Unfortunately, his shout was loud enough to be heard on the other side of the glass.

''What the hell is wrong with you?'' asks Gassan Kunimitsu's captain with wide eyes.

Everyone freezes, as if only just remembering that the other team is on the other side of the glass and can therefore see everything they do.

The silence that has fallen is broken by the cackling of the resident time traveler.

The first one to break out of their stupor is Raimon's captain, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. ''Matsukaze Tenma,'' he hisses, making sure that the other team can't hear him this time, turning his glare onto the first-year, ''you just had to make us embarrass ourselves in front of our opponents, didn't you?''

The brunet stops cackling just long enough to cheerfully say, ''I call upon my right of silence!'' before breaking down laughing again.

'Mission accomplished!'

Shindou groans.

  ~'0'~  

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!

One thing: I'm putting up an Author's Note immediately after uploading this, instead of the next chapter. You don't have to read it, but, well, I think you might want to know what it is about.

- Yara Meijer