18. with fanfare at the rapture (welcome)

Inazuma Japan has a fair few unique experiences in their resume, and it only makes sense that Raimon of this generation inherits some of that field experience. 

If there's one thing that never changes, it's the fact that Aki unfortunately does not have enough hands to reel in all of the dumbasses around her. 

Also known as: An involuntary field trip occurs.

-

-

-

"And this is Tsurugi Kyousuke. He's scary and grumpy, but he's pretty tolerant once you get to the point where he realizes you won't be chased away by glares."

Tsurugi looks up from tying his shoes, confused.

"What are you doing, Akane-senpai?"

"Live streaming into Meme-dorado," Akane says, "they opened this function last night and I wanted to live stream something, so someone suggested I do a day-in-the-life of Raimon's morning practice—"

"Wait, this is live?" Tsurugi raises his hand to block the lens, "don't you know it's rude to film someone without permission?!"

"Yes. We've got like, ten thousand watching now."

"HEY."

"Come on, Akane-san..." Shinsuke speaks up, when Tsurugi pulls him over to sit on his shoulders as a camera shield, "you know he's shy!"

"I'm the exact opposite of shy," Tsurugi says, his tone flat.

"I'll be broadcasting morning practice," Akane says.

"Why? You're kinda just exposing all our strategies?"

"I mean, Holy Road's on hold," Akane says, "it's peak soccer season and the official games are halted. It's a bit of a shame for casual soccer fans, right? So this is better than nothing, at least I think."

She hums, looking through the phone for a moment to adjust the stream settings, only to look up and notice everyone staring at him.

"Akane..." Shindou says, "you say some really insightful things once in a while, huh?"

Akane blinks. "I am a very insightful person, yes?"

"No, not really," Midori says. "But I agree! Gotta get that sports fill somehow even in these times, yeah? You really know the audience!"

"I mean..." Akane says, "I am in the newspaper club. It's kind of my expertise."

"So we're basically on TV now?" Midori asks, blushing slightly, "that's... embarrassing."

"It's hardly that impressive," Minamisawa says, warming up beside them.

"I'll be sitting here providing colour commentary, I guess," Hayami says, "since I can't actually practice yet."

"That sounds fun," Ichino says, "can I stay here too?"

"Hey, practice," Shindou chides.

"It's fine, Shindou. I mean, it's hard to get motivated when Coach Endou isn't here," Kirino chuckles, "they're still at Kaiou."

"Oh! Coach Endou just showed up on the livestream," Akane says, holding up the recorder to see the way the comments flood through the screen. There's someone with the placeholder name 'COACHENDOU' telling them to get to practice.

"See," Shinsuke holds up his phone with an image from Aoi, where Tenma, Kurumada, and Hamano are apparently swimming across the ocean with rocks on their backs.

The Kaiou members are hollering like a crowd at a horse race while Aoi sits by a blackboard that had bets charted on it, holding a whistle. Sangoku is beside her, just looking utterly defeated.

"That's a safety hazard. Tell them to stop," Kirino says.

"Aoi says that Coach Endou lost the debate of reasonable safety standards with Coach Kuki," Shinsuke says, "so they ended up doing it."

"Poor Sangoku."

"What is Amagi doing?"

"Probably encouraging them."

"Enough, let's ignore those guys. We'll get scolded when Trainer Kidou shows up if we waste time like this," Shindou says, clapping his hands loudly for attention. "Everyone assemble! We need to start warming up!"

-

"And on the left! Shindou passes the ball to Tsurugi!"

"What a magnificent receive! As expected from a former Seed, the pass fumbled a little, but Tsurugi more than makes up for it with unbreakable form!"

"Oh, but Shinsuke's coming toward him! And that run-up is Full Throttle Jump— argh! Foiled! Tsurugi magnificently maneuvers past it!"

"Shinsuke's not being careless either— agh! Tsurugi's plays are always so perfect! I'm very jealous!"

Trainer Kidou stares at Ichino and Ms Otonashi in utter exasperation.

Akane is happily recording practice.

Kirino slides by in a cloud of mist, stealing the ball immediately. Unfortunately Shindou predicts that, and a bit of back and forth between them ends with Shindou retrieving possession of the ball once more. It goes back to Tsurugi.

"...You want to ask, right?" Hayami says, very dryly. "It's okay, you can ask."

Gratified that he's not the only one bewildered by this, Kidou relents, "so Hayami, if you may enlighten me anyhow... what on earth are they doing?"

"Play-by-play commentary," Hayami points at Ms Otonashi, then at Ichino, "and colour commentary. I tried but they were better than me at it so I just left it up to them."

Kidou had been asking for why now and what's the purpose, but honestly, he knows the answer is going to be stupid, so he doesn't pursue it.

They don't have enough players for a full game, so they're focusing on offense against defense, with a Shindou-Tsurugi combination and Minamisawa-Kurama combination trying to get through Shinsuke and Kirino.

"And Kirino defends again!" Otonashi exclaims, loud and upset as Tsurugi loses the ball in there, "can nothing get through Raimon's Ace defender?!"

"It is quite difficult," Ichino sagely observes. "The Mist has been impenetrable for ages. And even within it, Kirino never uses the same pattern twice, so it's like a mind game in that cloudy vision. Now Kirino's even got Shinsuke, who has the advantage of mobility and jumping strength, into the fray..."

Otonashi juts forward very animatedly as she moves right on with the commentary, a professional through and through, "oh! Shindou's giving Kirino a run for his money though! The ball's back on the offense!"

"They have been childhood friends," Ichino says, "I suppose if there's anyone that's got the most practice with Kirino, it would be Shindou."

"And GOAL! Shindou-Tsurugi team scores!"

Kidou wants to tell them they're being incredibly distracting, but honestly, when the actual matches come up, they're going to have to play with this distraction over their heads, so there's no point in telling them to stop that.

"Player switch. Kurama and Minamisawa, on offense," Kidou commands, "Kirino and Shinsuke, you can go on, right?"

"...and here we have the devil himself, Trainer Kidou!" Otonashi just continues that unnecessary commentary, "it's a rough match for the defense team, but he's making them continue! Surely, the devil!"

"I'm terrified," Ichino says.

"Don't forget you're technically a player as well, Ichino," Kidou says.

"AAaand, moving into the next round we have Kurama and Minamisawa!" Ichino corrects himself immediately, "will the defensive team fare well against this duo?! Stay tuned, folks!"

Meme-dorado wasn't part of the plan, at least not in the form it's in now. And it's certainly devolved into satire that doesn't really help El Dorado's cause anymore... but at the very least, it's still doing its best to display the joys of the sport in its rawest and most chaotic form.

El Dorado's currently a mess, but their efforts were not for naught. They made a platform where all soccer lovers in the country would turn to at any given time. Credibility's tough to prove, of course, but it's something. It's something significant.

And that's enough for everyone right now, honestly.

-

"Don't you think you're going too hard on them?"

Ms Otonashi frowns at her older brother as they make their way back into the soccer building.

"No, I don't think so at all," Kidou says. "We need to be prepared. It'll be the Nationals soon, and that's where Fifth Sector's main force will be going all out. Raimon needs to get even stronger from here on a fundamental level if we want to be able to take the brunt of the risks."

Ms Otonashi huffs. "Cryptid asshole."

"Watch your mouth, young lady," Kidou grumbles.

She argues, "I am allowed to call you whatever I want."

"You are right. And I am allowed to retaliate."

"I have the power of being a woman and the youngest sibling on my side."

"Please tell me you are not threatening me with crying in this day and age."

"Come on now, Journalists thrive on being shameless. Try harder, big brother."

"What the hell do you want from me," Kidou finally gives in, exhausted by a mere conversation.

Otonashi grins. "Nothing~"

Alas, one must not underestimate a youngest sibling's greatest tool in their arsenal, the ability to annoy the fuck out of her big brother.

Kidou marches onward, frustrated.

Otonashi follows, giggling. "It's just so nostalgic! Remember when we used to get really mad at Coach Hitomiko and Coach Kudou, because they're always like this too?"

Kidou huffs. "Of course we were. They never explained what they were thinking, made us do things that we didn't understand, and put us through hell just to keep things under the water a little longer. It was frustrating as a member of the team, especially as the strategist. I fully understand if the team bears hostile sentiments toward me."

Otonashi nods. "But you're still doing it because you think they'll come around, like we all did eventually?"

"I learn from those I respect," Kidou says.

Otonashi hums. "See? You are a cryptid asshole."

Kidou proceeds to grab her by the ear, earning a yelp. "I said I was going to retaliate, you brat. Last warning, watch your language."

"It's not a 'last' warning if you're already doing it! Ow ow, let me go!"

Kidou abruptly lets go. Otonashi stumbles, only to gather herself in confusion. Have they already arrived at the clubroom? That couldn't be—

"Who are you all?"

An agent wearing a suit. They trail through the hallway quickly, one after another, surrounding them in seconds. And in the front of the group— a very familiar face.

"Kidou Yuuto. Otonashi Haruna," says Utsunomiya Toramaru. "The Holy Emperor requests your presence. You are to come with us."

Kidou holds up an arm, and Otonashi tucks herself behind him. "I might have to refuse," he says, scoffing.

"Well... that's rather troubling," Toramaru says.

"And what are you going to do about it?" Kidou asks.

"Well..."

Toramaru beams.

Kidou flinches back.

And then, the crafty feline brat immediately crumbles his serious expression into a pleading one, hands held together in genuine desperation. He runs up and takes Kidou's shoulders, "please don't do this to me, Kidou-san!" he wails, tears in his eyes and everything, "you understand, right, I'd get in so much trouble! The Holy Emperor will get so mad at me! You know money's my master so I really need this job! Please, I won't ask for anything else ever again!"

Otonashi facepalms.

"Talk about shameless," she sighs, then she looks at her brother. Then back at Toramaru, and then back at her brother. "Nii-san? Nii-san! Commander Kidou Yuuto! Please tell me you're stronger than this!"

Kidou is at a very tough crossroad.

Toramaru is very close to him, and he's seriously still gazing at him with the face of a troubled junior that's pleading for his senpai's help and—

—and Otonashi also crumbles. She knows she's used that against her brother a ton of times before, too. God knows Kidou Yuuto is a pushover for the team's youngests.

Kidou's always had a soft spot for his sister and his juniors, no matter how hard he tries to deny it, and honestly, if someone's smart enough to weaponize that, it's going to be the dumbass that's sitting on the throne for some reason.

Kidou clicks his tongue. "Cryptid asshole."

"Hey!" Otonashi yelps, turning to him, "watch your language, hypocrite!"

-

"I'm tired too, geez," Midori groans. Somehow she's ended up with Shinsuke on her shoulders and Kirino carried in her arms. "What even is this situation?! You're making the girl do this?!"

"You consider yourself a girl?" Kurama asks.

"Kurama! Suicide is not wise!" Hayami yelps.

"You lost rock paper scissors," Minamisawa explains. "I mean, you are a manager. It's in your job description to care for the members."

"I don't believe this job description involves princess-carrying my boys to safety."

"You're hilariously strong for no reason," Akane says. "It's kinda funny. Can I take a picture? Also, can I be princess-carried next?"

"Wouldn't you rather Shindou do the carrying?" Midori raises a brow.

Akane shakes her head. "In regards to Shin-sama, I'd rather do the carrying."

"Huh?" Shindou balks. "I– Huh?!"

"Please put me down," Kirino pleads, his face bright red as he has his hands held in a prayer at his chest, "this is weird."

"Maybe if you can walk, we'll let you down," Shindou says.

"Is it... uhm, you know," Ichino is very worried about the snoozing Shinsuke on her head, "...safe for him to be there? Is he going to fall?"

Kirino sighs. He has his own leg problem to be concerned about, but it's clear from his own past experiences that Kidou was testing his ability to command the defense over long periods, and both of their ability to persist over a long time.

"Seriously, Trainer Kidou's so mean to you two," Hayami says.

That's how he is. Teikoku works on the concept of a strict military discipline, and Kidou brings some of it over to the lackadaisical nature in Raimon. He finds your hard limit and works from there, and honestly, it's something Raimon's always needed to make a breakthrough into greater progress.

But Kidou being extra hard on the defenders also proves one more thing— that Kidou has determined them to be Raimon's current weakest points. Their defensive lineup is lacking, and he's searching for a way to develop it.

Kirino sighs. He really isn't holding his own, is he? It's not hard to understand why— he wasn't exactly holding it up even last time around, so he can't really help that... but it does depress him a little.

"I want to say you two have it really hard, but then I see this," Minamisawa's sifting through his phone with a grimace.

There's a video on Meme-dorado. Sangoku and Tenma are on surfboards, trying their best to maneuver the violent waves. Occasionally a soccer ball would come shooting right across them, and Sangoku, with a literal anchor tied to his back like a backpack for some reason, just leaps to try and grab it. Tenma tries to chase after one to kick it. They both fall unceremoniously into the waters.

Kurumada runs vertically across the length of a mast. Amagi is dragging literal ships up the shore with the portmen, competing in the show of strength with Kaiou's goalkeeper.

"...what kind of insane training camp is that?" Kurama is genuinely baffled.

"I don't know, and I don't want to," Shindou says.

Tsurugi scrolls through the same feed and somehow, in one of them, Hamano is riding a dolphin. In another, he's fishing up a kraken. And in the final one, he's fighting off a shark with a lance.

(Aoi is with Hamano in every one of those instances, and Tsurugi doesn't know if that's worrying or terrifying.)

Kirino sighs.

"Don't move," Midori warns, and Kirino meeps, holding his pose very still, "just stay there and look pretty. If I drop you or Shinsuke, I'm not picking either of you back up."

"That's fair," Kirino relents. He tries to relax. .

Kirino's been a damsel in distress for very long. Jeanne's often been stuck in this position, too, and they're both very well aware of how pathetic and sad it is to constantly be found in this position of helplessness.

Of course, he needs to step up, to move onward, and become strong... but on the other hand, the right to be protected and saved is a human right, too. It's a privilege that deserves to be enjoyed, no matter by who. Everyone deserves the luxury of being princess-carried to safety sometimes in their life, and that's not a bad thing at all.

Kirino can rest for now.

This gap in the political war is a moment of rest bestowed upon everyone by the grace of the Holy Emperor. There's nothing to do but take it easy for now.

"Huh? Kidou-san?" Shindou opens the door, looking rather confused. Midori makes a beeline for the couches, but Ichino and Shindou are confused. Sure, no one's changed out of sports clothes yet, but Trainer Kidou said he'd be here.

"That's weird. The lights aren't on," Kurama flicks the switch.

"Maybe he's in another meeting room?" Tsurugi asks.

"I don't see Miss Otonashi anywhere either," Akane says, wary at this point. She steps back from the door, looking around the hallways.

Minamisawa approaches the table, lifting a pair of red glasses.

"Guys," he calls for their attention, holding it up anxiously. "Aren't these—"

"Hey, Hayami, what's wrong?"

Ichino's crouches down over Hayami's wheelchair, looking at Hayami— and for some reason, he's nodded off, completely unconscious.

Tsurugi's stomach fills with dread.

"We need to go! Right now!" he exclaims, flustered. He grabs Shinsuke from Midori's side immediately, taking Shindou by the sleeve, earning a startled yelp.

"No, you're not."

Akane screams when someone grabs her by the arm, snatching away her camera before restraining her by the shoulders.

"Wha— what are you doing?!" Midori yells, winding back in alarm.

A group of men stand by the door, blocking off their escape. And in the center, Kuroki Zenzou's eyes meet Tsurugi's.

"None of you are going anywhere."

And Kirino is afraid. He can't walk now, and with their members as they are, they can't do anything. There was probably no point in doing anything.

He can only reach for his phone and hopes he makes it in time.

-

"We're on the way back now!" Endou reports cheerfully.

They're on a bus now, Kaiou's team bus, with Coach Kuki driving them back. The rest of Kaiou's members have gone home, to be ready for whenever Fifth Sector picks them up.

"It's such a shame they have to go," Tenma says, "I wish we could bring all of them back with us to Aki-nee's place."

"That's impossible," Sangoku says, "it's not like the guys at the Kogarashi Manor are completely safe either. Fifth probably realizes they're there, it's just a matter of how many we can protect at a time."

"Plus, they're the ones that decided to stay," Kurumada says. "Can't be helped. Some of them's got family here, like Tsurugi."

"I feel like a tourist," Hamano chuckles, "we got so many souvenirs, too. Kinda a shame we can't bring back any food since it'll go bad."

"The kraken was yummy!" Aoi beams.

"I don't get it," Amagi says, "we can't bring back any food but somehow Hamano's snuck a harpoon onboard."

"It is my comrade in defeating da' kraken!" Hamano declares, somehow having gained the local Kaiou speech tick while he was here. "I will never abandon my great partner!"

"It's a murder weapon?!"

"I can't wait to get back and tell Shinsuke about everything!" Tenma chuckles, looking at his phone. "But that's weird. Morning practice should be over, but Shinsuke hasn't replied to me yet."

Aoi hums, leaning over to look. "He probably got sick of you sending him so many at once."

"No... huh?" Sangoku is on his phone too. "Shindou's not texting me either. Aren't we about to have a video call for post-morning practice debriefing?"

And this is when the holiday blues whiles away for confusion to set in.

"Hayami's not online either," Hamano says. "He didn't even read my messages? Wait, neither's Kurama, or even Ichino."

"Minamisawa... nothing, too," Amagi says.

"Nothing from Akane-senpai and Midori-senpai," Aoi says, "or Miss Otonashi either."

"No one's replying on the soccer club chat either," Kurumada says, "isn't this weird? Are they all off somewhere else?"

"Has anyone checked Meme-Dorado?"

Meanwhile, Endou has a laptop out front, trying to connect to Kidou, to no avail. Something was really off. There's no way hyper-punctual Kidou wouldn't be ten minutes early to everything. He decides to call.

Coach Kuki glances over with a sigh.

"Hold on a second, I'll try something," Hamano rings up a phone call, showing his phone to the rest of the car that he's calling Aoyama, "hey, this is Hamano. Have you seen Ichino around?"

Hamano shakes his head when Aoyama tells him a negative.

"They're not on the field, either?"

And that's when everyone realizes something is terribly, terribly wrong.

"Hey," Sangoku says, his voice a near whisper, "look."

On the Meme-dorado channel, there are a few nonsensical live streams going on. One of them is clearly a phone hidden in a jacket pocket. Someone's struggling, arguing— and they can't quite make out the words.

"These are Raimon's jersey colours," Amagi whispers.

The poster's anonymous.

Endou's phone fails to connect to Kidou, and he turns to Coach Kuki with a dry tone to his voice. "So. Mind telling us what's going on? You know, don't you?"

Their driver nods in defeat.

"I'm really sorry," he says, "but you guys are aware that, in the end... I am at the mercy of Fifth Sector, too."

They jerk up in alarm.

"Wait— where are you taking us, then?!"

"Where's everyone else?"

"Guys! Calm down, he's driving, so we can't fight him!"

"Coach Endou, can you drive?!"

"I can but that's not the point!"

"What did you do to everyone at Raimon?!"

"Don't worry for now," Coach Kuki says. "I don't have any orders to hurt any of you. I just have to bring all of you somewhere... I have no authority to know what else from there."

Endou holds up a hand to ease them. "Kidou and the rest. They'll be there too?"

Coach Kuki nods.

"You'll all be there at God Eden."

-

Namikawa rushes to Kogarashi Manor, breathing heavily.

Wanda rushes out, Aki barely catching him in time. "Wait, it's not like I don't understand you, but don't be reckless and stay inside!"

"We can't just stay here!" Wanda argues, "it should have been us!"

"He's right!" Namikawa insists, arriving with heavy breaths, and everyone turns to him surprised by his arrival. "We need to go!"

"I—" Ide steps out of the manor, hesitant, "I mean, I get it, but... we went through the effort to hide. If we dive right back in, then what was even the point?"

"I'm not going back there!" Kaizu insists.

"Well, I don't particularly mind going along," Yoshimine says, "but there's no sense in it. What are we even going to do, we're just handing ourselves over."

"We can figure it out from there!"

"I'm saying none of you are going!" Aki insists loudly, grabbing Wanda by the ear, earning a yelp. "You kids don't understand the concept of 'being too reckless', do you?"

"Now now, it's fine."

Aki turns around, surprised.

"Fudou-kun?!"

Fudou Akio sighs, closing his phone. "That Kidou's really not picking up his phone, is he?" he sighs, waving a casual greeting. "Is Kogure around?"

"...no?" Aki says, "what brings you?"

Wanda leans closer to a devastated Namikawa. "Who's that?"

"Fudou Akio. Inazuma Japan. Currently plays for Italy," Namikawa mutters. "Do not attempt to offend him. You will regret it."

"That an order, a warning, or a suggestion?" Yoshimine asks.

"Destiny."

"Woah. He bullied the language out of Namikawa," Wanda says, "never seen that happen before."

Fudou drops a hand on Namikawa's head with a flop, earning a soft squeak. "What a shame, Kogure's not here. Guess he'll just have to miss out, then," he says.

"On what?" Aki says, a little afraid now. She lifts her head to a strong gust of wind, confused by a sudden cluttering noise overhead.

And then her jaw drops.

The members of Kaiou gawk at the sight of a helicopter descending on the biggest available space at the moment— Kogarashi manor's yard, which isn't much space at all—

"Hold on! This is an industrial area?!?" Aki screeches, barely heard through the loud helicopter wings.

The door opens.

"LOOK WHO'S HOME, YA SCALLYWAGS!" Zaizen Touko screams to the heavens. "Where's the road to the Dorado' metropolis and HOW DO I SIGN UP?!"

"TOUKO?!" Aki is positively freaking out.

"Well, she did say she was coming back for the rebellion," Fudou says. "Took her a while, honestly, I was starting to think she wouldn't show up."

"Why are rich people like this?! You just flew in from America, just like this?"

"Hey Fudou, Aki!" Touko grins, waving enthusiastically. She waits for the heli to get close enough to land before jumping down to the ground. "So, where's El-d'rado? You guys are behind it, right? Sign me up as an official sponsor!"

"Please don't plunder the national funds," Aki pleads, hands held in a prayer.

"And we didn't start it," Fudou says, "but good timing. Here's your first mission, we've got a super secret dangerous experimentation training island to find. Your passengers are me and these terrified children."

Touko beams. "Hi, terrified children! Consider yourselves hostages!"

Kaizu, Wanda, and Ide have their backs pulled straight, "mercy, sir!" running behind Namikawa and Yoshimine, who are both holding poses prepared for battle.

"Don't they look so bully-able?" Fudou says.

"They totally do!" Touko cheers.

Instantly, all of them turn and run straight back into the manor, prompting Sasuke to sigh and slowly trudge in after them to see if there's a kid in there that needs consoling.

Fudou raises a thumbs up. "Great. You chased the children off. Good going."

Touko snickers. "I was under the telepathic impression that you wanted me to do that."

"And you were right. Now, we need to go save our stupid Captain—"

"I've had enough!" Aki snaps, and the next thing Fudou and Touko knows is that they're getting smacked unceremoniously across the head with a paper fan of doom. "Sit down! You and you, you're not allowed to be taller than me! Both of you, right now! SIT!"

"OW! Ow, ow!"

"Sorry, Aki! We're sorry! Stop that!"

Touko whines, nursing the bump on her head as she gets on her knees.

"You're explaining this to me! Who else in the Inazuma Menace Legion is coming to perpetuate the madness in the soccer world and you better warn me immediately!" Aki scolds loudly, ignoring the fact that some of the neighbors and other occupants of the Kogarashi Manor are staring. She's holding the paper fan close to her chest like it's a knife that she is not afraid to use.

"Uhm..."

Ichinose peeks out of the helicopter.

"...Is this a good time to suddenly announce that I'm here?"

-

Deep inside, Kirino understood that one day, 'it'll work out somehow' would just stop working. It's always been a placebo, after all.

Deep inside, he knew it'd come biting back one day.

(In a way, it's already come true. Kirino still can't find a way back to his time, it probably can't happen... and now, he's messed up this one, too.)

The team was moved onto a bus. And from there, Kirino remembers nothing.

Now he's in grasslands, clouds overhead baked red with the glow of the evening sun. His head is numb, his knees weak and a hollow ringing noise reverberating through his spine.

He doesn't need to look around any more than that.

They're in God Eden, he's very sure of this.

And this is the worst case scenario. This is much too early— let's hope Fifth Sector is kind enough to bring the rest of the team back to them, but even then, they don't have Kariya or Hikaru on the team.

There's no way Raimon at this point of time can win against Zero.

"Ah— Kirino-senpai!" Shinsuke exclaims overhead, from the top of a large rock. He leaps down and crouches immediately. "Guys, I found him!"

"Great," Midori says, coming right by. "We gotta go!"

Huh? Kirino yelps when Midori scoops him right back up into her arms, breaking into a sprint.

"No, not that way!" Kurama says. His eyes are closed, Akane hooking an arm around his elbow as he focuses. He must be using Sidewinder to track down their surroundings, then. "Something's coming! Cars!"

Kirino take's Midori's shoulders and pushes himself up. Ichino is right behind them, rushing to come together. Hayami's on his back.

"They're definitely coming for us! This must be the hellsite they warned us about!" Hayami wails. "I wanna go home! I'm the designated first to die in a survival scenario!"

Shindou, Tsurugi, and Minamisawa are nowhere to be seen.

Any time now, the Fifth Sector trainers are going to show up and lead them into God Eden's Stadium. They're missing their strongest members. And this time, they won't be able to escape with the adults' help, because none of them are here.

"What should we do?" Kurama curses, "they have us surrounded!"

Midori curses, and Akane clings closer to Kurama. Ichino hurries to transfer Hayami over to Midori's back, and Shinsuke stands protectively over one side.

Kirino sighs as the cars pull up around them. He holds his hands together in a prayer.

Ichino catches the movement, and nods at Kirino.

"Listen. Head to the forest in teams of two," he commands, as all eyes turn to him. Fifth Sector can listen in from this distance, so they can't say everything out loud. "Everyone takes a different path. As for how we'll regroup..."

Ichino lifts his head. They don't have their phones with them, so instead, Ichino reaches up to his head, swiping his bangs back briefly.

They barely have time to call out a 'yes sir!' before they have to turn back toward the rapidly approaching crowd.

"Now, Raimon," the trainer says. "I suggest you don't resist."

Kirino's breath comes in a cloud of white fog.

"The Mist."

"Wha—" the Fifth Sector agents alight from their cars in a hurry, but it's too late. Their field of vision is flooded right through, and no amount of swiping at the air can help them.

"Cheap tricks! You can't escape from us!"

"OH YES WE CAN!" Midori yells, dashing forward, bursting right through the mist with Kirino in her arms and Hayami on her back. Most of the crowd follows them.

Right behind, Shinsuke leaps up the rock, holding out a hand for Ichino to grab onto. They scale the stone, before leaping onto the tops of cars, unseen in the mist, only heard too late.

Kurama lifts a single finger up to his lips, and Akane nods. In the mist, they're obscured. Fifth Sector panics, scouring the cloud for any signs of them, and these two stand right where they are, not moving a single muscle.

"They've run off. Into the forest."

"Squad One goes after them immediately! Squad Three, follow the jumping ones!"

"Remember, seven runners!"

"The other half will be arriving soon. Squad Four are to be on standby at the portside. We can't let the other group get away, either."

Kurama and Akane hold their breath, tucking themselves close between the rocks and the tall grass. "Seven," Kurama whispers. "That means they already got the other three in custody. This is awful."

Akane frowns.

"But why those three? Tsurugi I understand. Shindou, they've had their eyes on him. But why would they take Minamisawa-senpai instead of Kirino, who has a Keshin?"

-

Let's get straight to the point.

"Kondou-san really works quickly," Minamisawa chuckles, dry and sarcastic. "Prompt and responsible. I cuss my parents out day one and day two they're shipping me off."

Minamisawa would have honestly preferred expulsion to this.

Tsurugi curses, kicking at the bars of the cell he's trapped in.

"Minamisawa doesn't even have a Keshin!" Shindou yells, from the other cell. "Why do you have to get him involved?! Aren't we enough?"

"It doesn't matter if they're talented or not," Coach Kibayama states, his voice low. "The Seed training system is made to fix that."

God Eden is laden with hallways and training rooms. And here, cells were separated by walls of bars, each training room a different set of equipment to break in every new Seed.

They could always see each other.

Minamisawa raises a hand. "I'm a bit offended when you put it like that, captain," he chuckles. "I do have my pride as Raimon's Number ten. So you trying to throw me under the bus here really hurts."

"You know that's not what I mean!"

"Worry about yourselves, dumbass," Minamisawa chuckles. "Don't forget I'm technically the oldest of the three of us."

The others will come save them soon.

It's all about survival from here.