2. farewell to you (the me of the past)

Changing the past is sometimes easy, sometimes tough. Little incidents causes rifts, but actual effort makes no changes. It's all quite a pain, really.

Kirino wants to make a solid difference, and step one is to forget about your own physical constitution. It's do or die-- and he's already done it all once before. What's once more?

-

"You're really fine now? You look really pale."

"Kirino-kun, if you're not feeling well, you should--"

"Go sit down, Kirino. If Shindou sees you like that he's going to knock you out and march your ass to the infirmary."

"For some reason, I can really see that happening."

Kirino sighs. What exactly did Shindou tell the team, that they're fussing over him already? Shindou's never been the one to stretch boundaries or breach sensitive moments to the team, so he doubts Shindou has told them about the nightmare... maybe he told them Kirino was sick?

"I'm fine," he manages an awkward chuckle, trying not to make it too obvious how his eyes land a little longer on Kosaka, Mizumori and Minamisawa-- they're still here? The first two were supposed to leave the team effectively today, if history goes right-- and Minamisawa, a little further down the road.

Yikes, he really travelled back in time, eh?

"I just overslept a little today so I had to run over," Kirino explains, though they don't look convinced at all. "I'm perfectly fine today, no big deal. Sorry to worry you guys."

Immediately, Kurama declares, "I call bullshit!"

And everyone effectively ignores Sangoku's immediate retort of 'language!!' as they march forward, collectively agreeing with the dark-skinned striker. They all but pounce on him, and even cowardly Hayami (when did he--??) stands at the door to block his escape.

In moments, Kirino is trapped on the couch, trapped between Kurumada and Amagi with a sea of bags around him to impede his route if he dares step out.

Geez, give him a break!

Instead of feeling resigned, Kirino laughs. He rolls to his side and just giggles, because what better feeling is there in the world than this?

"Are you laughing because you're dead tired or are you laughing because you're going crazy?" Hamano asks him, leaning over the couch and pulling at the boy's cheek.

"I'm laughing because we're going to be late and I can just already see Coach facepalming the moment he walks in," Kirino responds easily. He leans back, and just-- just for a moment, he doesn't want to think of anything.

For now, he just wants to be Raimon again, because everyone is here, no one is gone-- except Tenma and Shinsuke who haven't joined-- but they're together and it's so, so warm. So comfortable, it's a good kind of stifling.

"C'mon, Kirino-kun," someone taps him on the head, and Kirino cranes his head upward to find it's Hayami with a comb in his hands. "Get up a bit so I can do your hair."

There's a stunned pause across the room.

Then finally, Hamano breaks out of his stupor first with an unholy yelp. "Hayami's offering?!" he shrieks, shooting away.

The others take it as their cue to add on. Kurumada just jumps out of his spot, staring down at the redhead like he'd grown another head. "Hayami is volunteering?!" Kuramada's mouth drops right open.

"The world is ending!" Amagi wails to the world.

Hayami looks entirely unamused when he responds, "I hate you guys."

Kirino isn't one to be obsessed with whatever state his hair is in, but fair enough. His miximax practice took off the hair ties and he hadn't had the time to tie it back up yet. He could do it himself, but if Hayami is offering, why not?

Like an expert in this field, Hayami only needs one attempt, in a few seconds and incredibly trained movements, and ends up with a perfect pair of pigtails.

He almost looks proud when everyone leans over with exaggerated woahhs at it.

(Just like it is in the future, huh.)

(Hayami and Kirino were always the only ones to put their hair up in anything. The girls had field days with their hair if they let them, and after his Miximax with Jeanne, Akane just... had an album full of pictures of his hair for some reason. He's not going to talk about the whole photoshoot featuring Miximax Jeanne and Nobunaga...)

"Hey, what do you think Kirino would look like if he tied his hair like yours, Hayami?" Kurama suddenly suggested, "like, super high."

"Mine are like this because it's too short, Kurama-senpai..." Hayami murmured a little, but he picked up the comb and reached for Kirino's hair anyways, "wanna try?"

Then everyone just blows up. Someone suggests a braid, someone else suggests a bun, and then everyone was fighting over attention. When did Akane come in? Why is she holding her camera? Someone stop her!

Then Shindou walks in, and everyone freezes.

Needless to say, everyone gets thrown out (yes, you too, Akane, you're not supposed to be in here when we're changing anyways,) and Shindou has a nice, long talk to Kirino about letting his teammates treat him like a doll without stopping them.

And it's not as if Kirino couldn't stop them. If this was the future, he'd have The Misted away from them the moment his hair was tied again, because they don't have time for this and he has better things to do than be snuggled by a bunch of boys who just discovered Barbie.

But now, he just wants to indulge in it.

He wants to enjoy these times, the peaceful times with the team, where they did nothing but mess around and had fun and do dumb things for what little attention each other had-- he just wants these days to never end. Not again.

Because now, he knows that these days are fleeting.

-

"Heck-- when did you get so good at this, Kirino?"

Kurama scratches his head, whirling back as Kirino steals the ball from him again. Kirino simply smiles, sending the ball to Shindou before waving off the tanned striker.

"I've been practicing."

It's an easy excuse, because it's not as if it's a lie-- his physical abilities aren't up to par, but he's got enough experience in his head to know the striker's tells. All it takes is a little getting used to the pace, and the balls are easy to dig from there. His eyes are more accustomed to faster things, after all.

Each time someone steals a ball, or misses a pass, Kirino really mourns.

Raimon wasn't a strong team-- never was, after the golden age of Endou. There just weren't good enough people to practice with, or a worthy enough competitor to serve as a motivation for it. Soccer was either for their future, or for the fun of it. Scores were set beforehand and considerate coaches count the amount of Hissatsu used so it was fair-- so why practice?

Even after three years, soccer still wasn't as glorified as it once was. Standards for soccer fell through the roof, and Japan stood little chance in the internationals, especially once they got into High school.

That's why the soccer he sees now in them is weak. Pitted against an average team three years from now and they'd crumble in seconds. It made sense that Tsurugi's Black Knights (or whatever they were called) crushed them so easily.

"Kirino!"

And the ball is sent in his direction. Kirino flinches first, then takes a short leap back before lunging forward, snagging the ball at his calf. He regains control in two more steps, and he sends it to the nearest midfielder he finds.

Shindou takes a moment before he remembers to call the boy out, surprised by the boy's easy handling of what was almost a missed pass. Then he says, "keep your head in the game!" in hopes it sounds sharp enough as a reprimand.

"Yes," Kirino responds-- and the world is moving again.

Kirino mixes into the crowd, and just for the next thirty to forty minutes, he lets himself be Kirino Ranmaru, Second Year Defender in Raimon Junior High's Soccer Club.

-

Maybe Tenma was right to worry.

In forty minutes, a break is called, and Kirino just collapses in a heavily breathing heap, ready to just sleep right there on the fake grass because it's comfortable, the light is bright and warm, though a little sweltering, but it just feels toasty.

"Are you okay, Kirino?" Kurumada crouches down near him, "Kurama and Minamisawa kinda double teamed you at the end, didn't they?"

"M'fine," Kirino mutters into his arm, "just-- gotta catch... catch my breath. Yeah."

"What's going on?" Hayami leans over, and for a moment Kirino is grateful the boy is blocking off one of the lights directly overhead.

Then Kurumada says, "Kirino's dead."

And Hayami freaks. "Shindou-kun! We lost Kirino-kun!"

Kirino bolts upright hands reaching out to Hayami, "no, I'm alive!" And he glares at Kurumada, who just grins back like the asshole he kind of is. "Hayami, calm down-- oh god, Shindou's coming this way. Why are you guys like this."

Shindou looks like a god with the way he's staring down at Kirino, full of authority (that he lost along with his captain band but unlike the captain band, never got passed on to Tenma) and he's observing every inch of the boy.

Kirino is very uncomfortable under that gaze, but Kurumada quietly leaves the boy to his fate instead of helping. Oh, so that's how he's gonna play this? Get Kirino in trouble and then just leave? He makes a mental note for revenge and then, turning to Shindou, faces the waves.

"You know better than to overexert yourself, Kirino," Shindou is already in the middle of his lecture, and it's now that Kirino realizes he hasn't been listening at all. "Look-- how about you take a longer break. You're done for this morning."

Kirino stiffens, "you're kicking me out of practice?"

"You've had enough exercise this morning," Shindou returns, unfazed, "in fact, Kazunari-san conveniently told me you were at the riverbank this morning to, apparently, practice on your own. You're going to hurt yourself, so as a captain," and when Shindou pulls the captain card with a deep emphasis on the word, it's probably serious. "I'm giving you a break."

Kirino doesn't even know what to say. The next thing he knows is that he's on his feet, Shindou is shoving him forward-- Sangoku hands them a water bottle, because stay hydrated, please-- and the door is closed behind him.

Yeah, Kirino Ranmaru, for the first time in both timelines, just got kicked out of practice.

He sighs. He can't even be mad.

"This didn't happen the first time around, too," he mumbles, popping the lid of the bottle and taking a grateful gulp of the slightly salty, ice-crusted sports drink. "I just hope nothing too important changes... or should I just let it run its course and see if it turns out fine? Hmm..."

There's an explosion, and a girl screams.

Kirino swirls toward the noise-- and his heart just stops. That came from the second ground, where the Second Team was practicing-- so that could only mean one thing.

When he gets there-- he's a little too late.

"Ichino!" he calls first, because the white-haired captain of the second team is the only one left standing at this point.

It doesn't last. He gives in to the pain, and crumbles to his knees.

"Kirino-kun!" the manager calls out to him when they spot him-- but evidently, they're a little fearful when they find out Kirino's alone, rather than with the rest of the first team.

And Kirino is a little regretful, too. Maybe he should've called the others...

The dust recedes, and standing in the midst of collapsed soccer players-- was Tsurugi Kyousuke. Ichino is so close to him-- and knowing the old Kyousuke, Kirino wouldn't put it past him to finish him off right there.

So Kirino skids down the cliff, makes his way before the Seed-- and his fists tighten.

"What are you doing?" he demands, speaking as lowly as he can-- but he could never be truly angry with Tsurugi. Not after everything they've been through together-- but this... Kirino's never seen what Tsurugi did here. They came halfway, after all.

Tsurugi is a little surprised at the new entrance.

"And who are you?" Tsurugi asks-- "that uniform... you're from the first team. Great, you saved me some time trying to figure out where you guys were."

Kirino keeps himself calm.

"The first team practices in the soccer building," he says, "anyone could've known that if you bothered to ask around. You just wanted to cause a scene, didn't you?"

And Tsurugi shrugs, a smirk curling at his lips. "Maybe," easily, he agrees, "this may be the second team, but I can't believe the standards are so low. Raimon used to be known as a powerhouse. Oh, how the mighty have fallen."

It takes a lot of self control to not slap him, but Kirino takes a deep breath and lets it out.

He looks at the managers-- and they get the message. The girls rush around to help the boys get up, and whoever else could move quickly helped each other get off the field.

"You speak big words for a delinquent," Kirino says, poison on his tongue. "If you're done with your bullying, I would like to ask you to leave."

Great timing. The dust from his Death Sword is still here. Kirino's eyes sharpen-- and he calls upon the fog.

"The Mist."

Tsurugi reacts a second too late when the mist begins to cloud around him, far too thick to have been natural. The next thing he knows, he's tripped off his feet, and the ball is stolen from him.

Which is ridiculous-- because, off guard or not, stealing a ball from Tsurugi is not an easy feat.

Kirino breaks out of the cloud, ball under his feet. And Tsurugi stands up.

"So this is the power of Raimon's first team?" Tsurugi muses, entirely unaffected. "Interesting."

Kirino stares him down. Just stealing the ball won't be enough for what Tsurugi's planning on doing-- replacing the team, taking over the club, destroying their soccer-- what exactly was Kirino planning on doing, barging in like this?

Kirino sighs.

"You're strong. Strong enough to take down the whole second team with one shot," Kirino observes, and yeah, it makes sense to assume "you're a Seed from Fifth Sector, aren't you?"

Apparently, it's some incredible revelation. Everyone just gasps in the distance, disbelief clear in their tones. Seriously, Kirino wonders if he was ever like that-- who else in the current soccer world uses force to ensure things go right? Let's take a wild guess, the Seeds? Who else... Aliens. Time travellers. Robots? Oh.

"If you can guess that much," Tsurugi just grins wider, "then you should know what I'm here for. Don't you?"

You're just here to be a little shit, seriously.

Kirino's temper rises just a little more-- and when he looks at Tsurugi again, he must have been glowering, because for just a second, Tsurugi actually flinches.

"You're here to have a soccer battle against the current Raimon members," Kirino rolls the ball around the balls of his feet to prove his point, "then if you win, you're going to kick Coach Kudou out, replace us... that kinda thing, right?"

"That kinda--" Tsurugi takes an incredulous moment, then composes himself, "you sound unexpectedly carefree for someone that has no chance of winning."

So it's just as easy to bristle him as it is in the future. Good to know.

"What's going on here?!"

Their attention is turned.

So now Coach Kudou shows up?

-

-

"I'm Tsurugi Kyousuke."

Coach Kudou was here, with the principal and the teacher advisor, confronting Tsurugi. They've barely gotten around to his name and what he did before a familiar voice interrupted the situation.

"Kirino, what are you doing down there?!"

He jolts. No way-- he turns around, and there's Shindou, along with the rest of the first team.

Unlike the first time, Shindou is breathing hard from a run, and he doesn't look composed at all. Oh... maybe because this time around, the frantic news wasn't that the second team was being beaten up, but that Kirino was there confronting said assailant. Made sense... they ran here, like, ten minutes too soon.

What are they doing here? It's too early! Tenma hasn't even shown up yet... oh, he's there beside Otonashi-sensei. Wait, Tenma, this is your glory moment! Why are you over there?!

It's in this distracted moment when Tsurugi charges into Kirino, snatching the ball back as he shoves the defender to the ground.

"Kirino!" there's more than one voice this time.

Kirino fails to suppress a yelp as the elbow digs sharply into his arm. His knees crumble, and he skids, blown back a few paces before he drops, hissing sharply at the remnant pain. That was definitely a bruise...

"What's the meaning of this?" Shindou stands before Kirino, a depth in his tone that made it evident he was furious, "first you mess up the soccer club's sacred grounds... and then you lay a hand on our teammate?"

"Are you okay, Kirino-senpai?"

Tenma reaches Kirino first, crouching down quickly to inspect the wound-- and yikes, it's already a purple bruise. Looks a lot more serious than he initially thought... maybe Tsurugi hit a bad vein...

"Tenma..." Kirino addresses him, "I'm fine, it's nothing." Nope, it hurts like a bitch, but this has got to be true with the other second team members too...

"Here, Kirino-kun," Hayami slides into his view, gently removing his hand and setting an ice pack on the most of the discolouration. Looking positively frantic, he chides, "you're too reckless!"

Minamisawa cuffs him on the head. "Shindou told you to take a break from practice. Not go out and declare war with some maniac."

"I didn't declare war--"

"Yeah, right," Hamano stares at him with eyes that just screamed who the hell would believe you, "you just stole the ball from right under him, probably. You know in soccer language, that's slang for 'in your face, idiot!', right?"

"What even is soccer language?!"

This isn't the time to play slapstick comedy... so Kirino turns away from them, and faces the Seed. Tsurugi is joined by a crowd of his own, wearing black and yellow jerseys with the Raimon mark across the front.

"You guys are getting tossed with the rest of the trash," Tsurugi explains very simply, "Raimon soccer club has been deemed a sore point for Fifth Sector, so we have decided to replace you all with a bunch that would be more compliant herein."

Of course, that doesn't pass through well.

"That's ridiculous," Shindou sneers, and that's a tone Kirino's never heard out of Shindou's worst moods, "you're just a first year, you have no authority to be making such claims-- what makes you think the school administration will permit such--"

"I allow it."

All heads whirl to the Chairman. The man holds up a document-- and though there was no way to read all the contents of it now, all that mattered was the logo of Fifth Sector at the top, and the signature at the bottom.

"I've received the advanced notice from Fifth Sector, and I do not find any problems with the proposition," Chairman Kinzan shared the news, "I would rather much listen to the Fifth's requests than continue to lay myself in positional danger with how stubborn Couch Kudou has been acting recently."

At that, Shindou clicks his tongue, fists balling.

"And that's that," Tsurugi grins smugly, "this is not a request-- it's an order, from the top. This soccer battle will give you a sliver of a chance, not that it's that high of a rate either. You can take it, or you can just leave and save us all the time."

Shindou knows a threat when he hears one-- and it's not often that he's this mad.

Tsurugi didn't need to destroy the old soccer building to rile the captain up this time, and a little part of Kirino is slightly relieved at that.

-

"You want Matsukaze to play?"

Coach Kudou is rarely surprised by anything. This is one of those very moments. All eyes turn to the first year in question, looking various degrees of unimpressed.

"Wait... me?!" even Tenma is flabbergasted by this, though he takes a moment to really register it, "Kirino-senpai, I can't possibly--"

"He's right, Kirino," Minamisawa interrupts, "we barely know this guy to begin with," Tenma winces, "so, skills and all that aside, we're not going to be able to optimize good teamwork with him around."

"Is he even good? He's a first year, right?" Hayami eyes him skeptically, "I think we'll need our strongest members for this..."

"What position, even, does he play?" Sangoku isn't in agreement either, "we can't..."

"We can't half-ass this shit," Kurama supplies the swear words, and Shindou shoots him a look. "We need our starters."

Kirino holds back a sigh. He can't exactly say that it's all going to be useless and they're going to bet on a lousy midfielder whose only great skill is dribbling to scrape out of this barely alive with his pep talk.

Come to think of it, since the formation they're going for is a Shindou-Minamisawa two-top, evidently their focus this round is on balance and passes, rather than offense. Tenma wouldn't contribute anything but mistakes in this case.

So instead, Kirino admits it.

"We're not going to be able to defeat Tsurugi, even with all of us," the moment he said it, a few quipped up sharply in protest. He ignores it and continues, in a softer tone, "he's got a Keshin."

All goes shock silent.

Because if it were anyone else, everyone's reactions would be disbelief.

"You mean it's not just a myth?"

"I've never seen one, even in videos."

There was never a reason to use a Keshin in a match before now. Only Seeds had the capability and training to master them, and with the scores being set beforehand, there was no real need to go all out. Everyone was obedient before Raimon's rebellion.

There were doubtful looks from Hayami and Mizumori-- but the rest just looked taken aback. This was Kirino, Kirino who never told a distasteful joke, Kirino who cared for the club, and who never made an unfounded assumption to the whole team without reason.

"How sure are you?" Shindou asks instead.

"Completely," and there's no hesitation in his tone. "He's mastered it."

There's a moment of silence again, then Coach Kudou steps forward, and sets a hand on Kirino's shoulders.

"How do you know that?" he asks, and there's nothing spiteful in his tone. Just warmth, fatherly and filled with confused concern-- it's nostalgic. It reminds him of Coach Endou.

I can't say I know because I felt that Lost Angel right in the stomach before...

"I have one too," Kirino admits, and everyone except the Coach collectively shoots back. "It's like a resonance... Tsurugi isn't exactly hiding his, so it's easy to tell."

"Uh, what a Keshin?" Tenma asks, very confused.

"It's an... energy projection," Hamano tries to explain, then gives up and finishes lamely, "it's very strong."

"Well, we've never seen one either, so I'm honestly not sure..." Shindou crosses his arms, looking very uncomfortable-- maybe it's because his best friend has apparently been hiding such a grand secret from him, "I don't think Kirino is lying-- but it's just... Kirino, why have you never told us about this?"

And now it's Kirino's turn to be very uncomfortable.

"Uhhh," he looks away, "my Keshin, she's, uh, still too strong for me to handle, so I've never tried to call her yet--"

"It's a her? They have genders?" Hayami blurts, "you know-- how do you even--"

That's a very valid concern, but is this the time, Hayami?

Everyone stares at the redhead for a while longer, varying degrees of judgemental, then they turn back to the Defender with questions needing to be answered.

Kirino has a feeling he's just made things unnecessarily complicated right now.

"Enough about that," Kirino says, turning the overall attention back to Tenma, "he should play-- because," he swallows his words-- because what?

Okay, screw everything then.

"Because in this field, other than Tsurugi," Kirino says, "Tenma and Shindou are the closest to being able to control their Keshin right now."

This time, there's an additional yell of 'huh?!'. Shindou and Tenma both point at themselves, looking as though they've suddenly found out some lifelong secret they've never known about themselves.

"Wait, I get Shindou, but why this kid?!" Kurama bursts, apparently he believes in Keshin now, he just hates Tenma. "He's a soccer amateur!"

"What about me?" Hamano asks playfully, grinning mischievously, "who else has epic astral stands they can summon, that we should know of?"

Kirino side-eyes him for a while. Yeah, he's not gonna tell him that everyone except Kurumada manages to utilize theirs by the time they get into high school. He's not about to toot this guy's horns yet.

But since they're up against Lancelot, an Earth Keshin like Gigantes or Titanias might really have come in handy... to bad Amagi's still too weak now to summon it, and Shinsuke is nowhere to be seen.

"I don't want to doubt you, Kirino, but--" Shindou stumbles, holding Kirino by the shoulders. Now he's looking into the boy's eyes, evidently knowing something-- something is just off. "I don't... think you should put that much faith in me."

And Tenma flusters, responding quickly too, "me too!" he says, then panics because what kind of awful interruption is that? Is he stupid?? But he holds himself up and continues, "I... I'm just an amateur at everything except dribbling! I can't possibly..."

I can't possibly live up to whatever you apparently expect of me.

"I think it's better if the Raimon starters play, Kirino-senpai," he says, because he knows that's what everyone wants and if possible, that's what he feels most assured doing, "I'm grateful enough that you think I can do it."

And that was that.

Kirino loses the discussion, just like that, and they start their match against the Black Knights just as they did the last time around.

With a one-sided beatdown, and a first half ending at ten to zero not in their favour.

-

Time is a strange thing.

It's fickle, and sometimes stubborn. If you try to change the course of history, little things that don't matter will spiral out of control, but the main issue will remain, denying any form of difference coming its way.

It made strange sense that they had to travel to the future to change the past, because changing it in the present was out of their hands.

Honestly? Kirino's trying very hard to be patient.

He breathes out heavily. The pain in his arm had numbed out, but now there was a throbbing in his head from the lack of oxygen. He lost focus for a sheer moment, and the ball whizzed through the air, headed right for him.

He ducks quickly, but it grazes his face, and burns with friction. He hisses.

Geez, if he was in his three-years later self, he'd snatch the ball right out of Tsurugi's feet in his sleep! And then he'd probably trap him in Deep Mist for something like ten, twenty minutes-- actually, make that an hour-- as punishment for being a cocky junior.

"What was all that talk about asking me to leave, huh, senpai?"

Tsurugi is beside him down, talking him down with a tone that exudes smugness. Really, Kirino would literally ground him.

And Kirino chuckles. Everyone else is down, too injured to play-- really, you call this soccer? Maybe the soccer ban wasn't all that illogical after all. Soccer isn't supposed to be-- isn't supposed to be this.

"I guess I'm too weak to win against you, Tsurugi," Kirino tells him, and Shindou swirls on them. Maybe in another situation, the captain would be reprimanding him, because this isn't the time to have a leisurely conversation. But this time, they just listen as the Defender smiles. "You're an excellent player."

And that irks Tsurugi, who clicks his tongue at the words.

Something about being complimented by people he's putting down just feels so insulting. You're supposed to hate me, curse me. You're supposed to be ridden with anger, not smiling at me! Kirino could only imagine.

If Tenma isn't playing, then Shindou's going to need another scapegoat as a motivator.

Kirino stands up. Guess it'll have to be him, then. He raises a hand before him, slightly extended in Tsurugi's direction.

"But are you really happy like this, Tsurugi?" Kirino asks him, "using soccer for something like this? I can tell, you know... there's anger in your plays, reluctance in your dribbling... you don't actually want to do this, do you?"

Tsurugi tuts.

"What utter bullshit," he spits. He kicks the ball right into the Kirino's stomach, sending the Defender blowing back a couple paces.

Kirino catches himself, just barely. Then he lunges forward-- a black and purple wisp bursts from his back, but fades immediately-- and steals the ball from right under Tsurugi's feet.

Kirino turns around and looks Tsurugi dead in the eye.

"Since I'm a defender, that's one point for me, isn't it?" he challenges.

The infuriated look on Tsurugi's face was so maddening, Kirino would've taken a picture and had it framed in the clubroom.

This time around, Kirino's going to put up more of a fight. He knows the pain of a shoot in his stomach, and it's nothing compared to the agony of losing everything.

So Kirino can handle this, even if he has to do it alone.

Power isn't all that wins in a fight, and Matsukaze Tenma has already taught him that very fact in a past life.