7. always, no matter what (just be yourself)

They say that honesty's the best policy. 

Or in this case, forgiveness is a virtue to be earned and peace is a process everyone tries to revel in. Maybe sometimes, the solution to diplomatic tension is to loosen up and find a way to have fun in other ways. 

Also, learning new hissatsu is hard.

-

-

-

"Please talk to us!"

"Explain yourself!"

"Get down from there! You're not a cat!"

"Even if you are, I'll have you know Endou's a really good climber so that's pointless!"

"Surrender yourself, Kurama Norihito! Your parents would not want you to do this!" Tsunami yells in a monotone, imitating police during a hostage situation.

Rika stamps a foot on the tree like a delinquent, "come down here, ya priss!"

"Come on now, play nice! Kurama, I'll give you some of Kabeyama's potato chips if you come down, okay?" Ichinose tries to barter.

"Can you fly to get him, Aphrodi-kun?" Aki asks.

Aphrodi stares at her in disbelief. "You are asking a god to retrieve a cat stuck in a tree."

"Okay," and Haruna interlaces her fingers before her in a prayer, closing her eyes, "dear god, please get that cat down for us, please. Amen."

"I wasn't saying you have to ask politely!"

Kurama is currently on a tree, curled up, covering his ears. Someone is poking at him with a stick.

He has majorly fucked up somewhat and everyone's all sorts of hung up now, but their primary motive right now is to get Kurama down to the ground so they can continue to hound him for future details that will change their perspective of this dumb alien fight once again.

Coach Hitomiko has kept silent as well, refusing to answer.

"I have my own motives, and for now, there's no point in telling you guys the full truth," she says. "The threat remains. They still desire to destroy the Earth, and those kids... they are genuine in their intentions. They aren't any less dangerous."

"But, Coach—"

"AAAH!" Kabeyama screams, and the rest of the team turn to see a huge snake slithering down from the tree that's just about as wide as it, baring its fangs at the children. "This isn't fair! You can't do that!"

"Hey, Kurama! It's illegal to summon dangerous beast hissatsu out of the field!"

"It's also illegal for the government to make teenagers their main military force against a national threat!" Kurama hollers from somewhere up the tree, "but if I had 50 yen for every time that's happened, I'd have enough to buy a slightly more expensive onigiri!"

"Why was that so specific?!"

"Please call off your snake!"

"Gouenji! Gouenji, help!"

"Can't. I can only summon the phoenix with Kazemaru around."

"Call the Majin, then! The fire one that shows up in Bakunetsu Storm!" Megane wails.

Gouenji frowns. "I can't just summon it without a purpose, it'd get mad at me."

"Obviously," Tachimukai says.

"Obviously," Endou echoes, nodding sagely.

"It's not common sense! Please understand that not everyone can summon a god on command!" Megane yells. "HELP!"

The snake slithers after Kabeyama and Megane as they scramble away. It's incredibly amused by their fearful reactions, and their squeaking only makes it more excited. Notably, it completely ignores Gouenji, Endou, and Tachimukai.

At least, until they find Fubuki and scramble behind him.

"Fubuki, we're sorry! Be the sacrifice to the snake god!"

"Huh? Uh, oh," Fubuki is shoved forward, and he stumbles right into the snake, barely managing to upright himself to look up into the curious smile of the serpentine creature that is much too large to be natural. "...hi Snake god-sama, you're surprisingly nice and cold. Can I hug you?"

Absolute horror spreads through the crowd. Including the snake.

Fubuki doesn't wait for permission, he just wraps his arms around the body of the snake, resting his cheek on the cold scales lining its side. In defeat, the snake bumps its chin against Fubuki's head, and doesn't shrug him off.

And Fubuki blooms with something like happiness. He lifts his head to the others, "you guys wanna try?"

Everyone squeaks and takes this opportunity to run. "NO THANKS!"

"Fubuki! Fubuki that's dangerous! Get away from the murder noodle!"

"It's okay, it's very docile. The bears and snow leopards taught me that if something wants to eat you, it won't maintain eye contact."

"WHY DO YOU KNOW THAT?!"

"Dammit, he tamed my Sidewinder," Kurama curses, "I thought I was fine since the only animals Raimon's tamed so far are penguins and butterflies. I forgot the wolf."

"What are you muttering about up there?!"

"Seriously, why are you so against telling us what's going on?!"

"Because it's just going to confuse you and mess up everyone's motivations!" Kurama yells.

"It's already messing it up, so you might as well come down here and fess up, alien!"

-

In the end, they got Kurama down, and he ends up having to sit down beside Coach Hitomiko.

"Aliea Academy are human," Hitomiko admits.

The entire story comes out.

"I... have to tell my father immediately," Touko realizes, "you can't be serious. This all happened because—"

"You can't," Natsumi says. "Right now, we need to act calmly. There must be a reason why Coach Hitomiko never just said this immediately, right?"

Hitomiko hesitates, but Kidou understands easily.

"It's because we're still not strong enough."

His blunt phrasing sends a spike of annoyance through everyone— but he's right.

"Right now, what we need is a team strong enough to defeat Aliea's teams— we're not there yet. We struggled with Diamond Dust, and we've all seen Gran's team," Kidou says. "Even if we know their base now, we'd lose immediately, and that would throw all negotiations out the water and put the country in danger all over again."

He can't imagine what kind of disaster would have happened if they knew all this from the start. They would never have been able to find the strength and willpower to soldier through it all.

But now— now it was a reachable height.

It was a necessary withholding of information.

"I don't..." Hitomiko doesn't lift her head. "I don't believe any of what I did was right. I'm only using you kids for my own benefit, my own goal... So I understand if none of you want to forgive me, or trust me at all herein."

She stands, and to everyone's surprise— she bows, as long as she can manage.

"But I still beg of you. You guys are my only hope, if I want to save those kids," she says. "If the government gets any further involved, or if the military gets arrayed... the children won't get out of this unscathed. And that is what I fear the most."

So please, she says, more sincere than she's ever been with them.

I just want to save them, and I know I don't deserve this after using literal children as my tools of war, but I still need your help.

It wasn't as if they couldn't understand her perspective. Her genuinity in this moment throws all of them off from the prior impressions she'd given them, and none of them knew how to react from here.

None of them knew if it was right to forgive her, or if it was appropriate.

They just understood that what she did was reprehensible, and they had all the right to walk away and never return. And the only ones to suffer from this, after the prime minister is informed, would be those from Aliea.

But that's fine, isn't it?

Aliea's hurt so many people, caused so much destruction, broken so many dreams, caused so much strife... maybe the military should deal with them, after all.

That would be what they deserve. That would be...

"Coach Hitomiko!" Endou says, loud and clear. "I can't speak for the rest of us, but I'm very grateful for all you've done for us, and I want you to continue being our coach for the rest of this battle."

"Huh? Wait, Endou!" Ichinose takes him by the shoulder, "she's been nothing but unpleasant to us!"

"That's right!" Touko says, "I mean... it's the circumstances, but..." she bites her bottom lip. Her father's partially responsible for all this, so she feels the same amount of guilt, of helplessness, realising that there was nothing she could do as a child. "Think of how many people were hurt. How many schools were destroyed, just for this. We could have prevented so much damage!"

"Even so," Gouenji says, "it's not as if all of her motives were selfish. She did help me, so I'm staying."

The team is split between motivations.

That wasn't a good sign.

"Kurama-kun," Hitomiko's really conflicted, but she turns, resigned, to Kurama. "When we first met... you tried to use Sun Garden as a cover for your origins. Does that mean it still exists in the future?"

Kurama's brows are furrowed. The team's not doing great, and this is, inevitably, his fault. He'll have to find a way to fix it.

"Yeah," he says, "one of my underclassmen are from there." Maybe mentioning that Hiroto took over the Kira Corporation right now would just make things worse. "And Raimon helps out there every other summer."

Hitomiko is hesitant to believe it.

"So we win this war?" Aphrodi asks. "Without getting the military involved?"

Kurama nods.

"Hold on now, so you're saying that in the future, they're just running free?" Kogure asks, "these scary aliens are just among us now?"

"They're not aliens, they're humans," Kurama says, "I'll just say this, but Earth won't be coming into actual contact with aliens for another ten years."

"Excuse me?!"

"Kurama, can you stop dropping worrying information like that on us?!"

"You fought actual aliens?"

"Well, I didn't, but I did fight superpowered football players with magic, or I tried to," Kurama says. "That's pretty much what Aliea is, now."

The group falls silent at that.

Enemies that threaten the fate of the world will always exist, and they tend to use soccer as their vehicle of war.

That's ridiculous to put into words, but alas.

"So it's all just never going to end?" Touko asks, her voice weak. "No matter how hard we work... things just won't get better?"

Kurama freezes at that accusation.

"Of course things do—"

He stops talking.

Things didn't. They fought to get soccer back from Fifth Sector, only for time travel to occur in an attempt to get rid of it all over again. Then it was the universe, where they had to fight for the fate of the world.

And now, this.

Kurama will never be better. He's fated to keep being thrown into these situations— they'll never get their happiness. Even though all he's ever wanted was to play on the same side of the field as Minamisawa again.

He feels the tears burn in his eyes but he blinks them away, His hands whiteknuckle over the bench and words churn in his throat.

"Of course," he says. "They'll get better. They'll get so much worse, but it'll get better again eventually. I'm still alive, aren't I?"

It's because they struggled that they made it this far.

"If I give up now, then I've really lost," Kurama says. "Then all of the effort I've put into surviving will be all for waste."

When he looks up again, Touko's reeling back, regretful of her callous words. Kurama doesn't blame her— once upon a time, Kurama would be the first to throw an accusation like that at other people. He knows exactly how she feels.

"I'm sorry. If only I didn't let it slip, we could've continued fighting, unaware of these things, and like history's supposed to go, we'd win," Kurama says.

"Wha— wait, Kurama, you're not to blame for that!" Haruna tries to assure, but she ends up trailing up, realizing it was empty. "It's... it's okay..."

It really isn't.

He takes a deep breath, turning away.

"Enough," Coach Hitomiko says. "I understand if none of you are willing to follow me again... but I will keep trying. I have to save those kids with this method, no matter what I have to do to achieve it."

She picks up her purse, and turns toward the school gates.

"You have the day off, but practice will proceed as usual tomorrow morning," she says. "I will not hold any of you accountable if you refuse to show up."

-

"Is it really alright? To just go along, pretending we've been tricked, and keep up with this plan? She was never intending on telling us until we found out. I don't see why we should trust her words."

Kogure has issues with trust.

So this hurts. It really does.

Kurama has nothing to say to that. They're all at Endou's house now, with Endou and Tsunami trying their best to cheer everyone up with the barbeque.

"Of course it's not fine," Kurama says. "I don't like looking like an idiot either."

"And yet, you still kept things from us."

Kurama doesn't want to address that either. It's not like any of this was easy to say. But he can't just expect them to understand— they've never been in this situation either. If the positions were reversed, Kurama would most likely be angry, too.

"It's better not to dwell on things that should have happened," Kurama says. "Because then.... Then we'd never get anywhere, and to me, that's worse than just simply humiliating myself."

Things always go wrong. And being stuck in a loop of 'if only' just made things worse.

"None of us are strong enough on our own, and no one's expecting us to be, either," Kurama says. "Everyone just needs to do their part. The team needs every member. And everyone's in the same boat. So we just have to keep going."

At least if they fall, they're falling together.

"I mean, it's not like it doesn't suck," Tsunami says, coming by with a place of skewers. "But everything already sucks, anyways! Might as well keep going the way we came!"

Right now, they had the option to keep fighting, or leave it to the government. The former would mean so much more effort, so much more struggle. And the latter comes at the risk of lives they only barely cared for.

"The choice is obvious!" Endou declares. "Didn't you hear Coach Hitomiko? Kurama, you vouch for it, too, right? Hiroto and the others— they love soccer, just like us! That means they're just like us! There's no reason why we shouldn't work to save them, then!"

His exuberant optimism was really a fresh breeze through the thick atmosphere.

"Well," Kogure says, giggling, "I guess you're right. Who knows, maybe their craziness for soccer is actually less than you. Would that make Endou the alien in the situation?"

"Wow, excuse me?!" Endou is slightly offended.

The barbeque continues into the evening. Meat and potatoes are served, and at some point, the weight of the conversation before this ebbs away into a party.

"I'm sorry," Touko says, coming up to Kurama, "I wasn't really—"

"No, don't apologize," Kurama says. "You weren't wrong."

Those feelings were valid. Close to home, even. Kurama doesn't deny it, because right now, erasing them wasn't the solution. They all had doubts, and no pretty words could fix that. They had to go on, aware of these doubts.

"I hate this situation, too," Rika scoffs. "I still don't get why we have to do this. But there's no one else that's doing it, so I guess it can't be helped. We're such goody-goodies, aren't we?"

Touko chuckles at that. "I suppose!"

It wasn't alright.

But they'll keep pretending it is, because if they didn't, what would they have been working so hard for all this time?

"Speaking of, Kurama-san," Tachimukai steps over, "how were the real aliens you fought like? How would you rate Aliea's performance?"

"Oh them," Kurama says, instantly getting fully invested in wanting to shit-talk them all, "I fought time-travellers trying to hijack history and actual aliens trying to invade our country, and when I tell you Aliea is doing a terrible job—" he raises an arm to facepalm, "actually, I'm starting to have a very uncomfortable revelation. Did El Dorado make their creepy soccer balls black to imitate Aliea Academy? I find the coincidence so unsettling."

"El Dorado?" Kogure asks.

"Black Soccer balls? The ones they're using to destroy schools and teleport, right?" Tachimukai says, "did your future aliens use it too?"

"...at this point, I think I'll just call all of them aliens..." Kurama mutters. Because fair, if he's considered an alien, he'll group El Dorado in with the aliens, "but they did more than just destroy buildings and teleport. They also brainwashed people."

"They what?!"

"That's such an alien thing to do, though! Did they also beam a light at you to suck you into their spacecraft to kidnap people? Like those UFO films?!"

Kurama grimaces, turning briefly toward Endou. "Uhm...yeah..."

'What's with that expression?" Endou spins around, "why are you looking at me like that, Kurama? What did you guys ask??"

"...I apologize in advance on behalf of everyone in the future..."

"What does that even mean?!"

-

Practice goes on.

"...are you all sure?" Hitomiko asks, unsure about it herself. "I..."

"It's okay!" Endou beams. "You're the only coach for the situation, after all! Who else is going to lead us to victory?"

"We're kinda used to your vitriol anyways," Rika says. "We can handle it longer."

"I mean, there's nothing else to do anyways."

"Have you told your father about this yet?" Aki turns to Natsumi and Touko, both who give out hesitant shakes of the head.

"How on earth am I going to explain all of that?" Touko says. "Also, if I explain all of that, he'd sic the SP on us and drag me home. Yeah, no. I'm fighting this revolution."

"It seems a bit much to unpack all at once," Natsumi also relents. "Let's keep this under wraps just a little longer. I'm worried for my father's blood pressure."

"Also is anyone going to call Coach Hibiki?"

"Do you want him to die of a heart attack? Absolutely not."

-

Surprisingly, it's easy to get everyone back on track for practice. Tachimukai tries to figure out how to use his hands, Endou struggles to learn how to not use his hands, and on a separate issue, Aphrodi struggles to blend in with the lesser beings of this world.

"I'm going to be angry if you keep doing that," Aphrodi says, when the meeker ones hesitate to approach. "Treat me like a friend, please."

Kogure isn't too sure how to approach him. "Yes, my lord..."

"I mean, we can try, but your aura is just," Haruna says, "too pretty."

"Pretty," Rika says, with a bite of jealousy.

"You, like, you know, give me the vibes of a river god," Tsunami agrees, "there are daredevils that will challenge it, and I am a daredevil, but I am not that daredevil. Also I don't want to incur the wrath of the local religion."

"I am human," Aphrodi emphasises, "my godhood is a figure of speech."

"Yes, your majesty," everyone echoes.

"....You're all irredeemable," Aphrodi determines.

"Our god has rebuked us! Oh no! Everyone, get on your knees and apologize!" Kogure hollers like an announcer, just to drive the chaos as everyone flusters around him.

Aphrodi briefly wonders if they're actually speaking the same language. Has he actually been speaking in tongues this whole time and hasn't noticed?

"Chill, dude," Kurama pats Aphrodi on the shoulder, "they're just messin' with ya."

Aphrodi looks back at him, surprised. "Is that so," he says, "I was under the impression they were all still wary of me about my time in Zeus. The possibility of some collaborated tomfoolery hadn't occurred to me yet."

Kurama stares at him blankly, also surprised. "Do you... usually speak like that?"

Aphrodi isn't sure what's the problem. "Yes?"

Kurama nods. Well, he's heard weirder. The guys from Kaiou were really into their piracy theme, for example.

Aphrodi relents a polite smile. "I don't believe we've formally met. My name is Afuro Terumi," he says. "Though, it's alright to refer to me as Aphrodi. That seems to be the trend with the others."

Kurama takes the hand offered to him. "I'm Kurama."

They look up to see everyone, including some on the field, gawking at them. Endou gets whacked in the face because he wasn't focusing when Gouenji kicked the ball.

But he recovers and exclaims at Aphrodi, "YOU HAD A NAME?!"

Aphrodi is baffled. "Yes?" Is he not supposed to have one?

"We just learned god's true name," Domon says. "Is that allowed?"

"It's just a name, stop making it sound so dramatic."

"Well yeah, obviously he does have a name," Ichinose says, sounding a little taken aback himself, "it's still... surprisingly trippy to realize that."

"Did you guys seriously think my name was Aphrodi?" he's slack-jawed. "You do know it's short for Aphrodite?"

"Uh, yeah," Kidou says, "not the weirdest name we've come across. Kirakira names are a thing. Have you seen my name? Have you seen Gouenji's?"

"Have you seen Endou's?" Gouenji adds.

"I would like to contribute my own name for this situation," says Megane, fixing his glasses. "You can't get any more straightforward than a 'putting on glasses' pun."

"Do you want me to get the name list for Raimon Eleven's club members?" Aki asks.

"...message received," Aphrodi relents.

Kurama groans. "Please don't tell me you also think 'Desarm' or 'Burn' are real names." Everyone immediately averts their gazes. "For real?! You literally know his name is Nagumo Haruya!"

"...oh, so that was the real name."

"You guys are unbelievable!"

"We got trust issues, okay?!" Endou insists, "also, what's Desarm's real name then?"

"Saginuma-san, of course?"

"Why are you just saying it like it's obvious?!" Megane groans, "do Gazel next!"

"Gazel is... Suzuno-san. What is this, a quiz?" Kurama is so confused by the sudden attention,and somehow everyone's discarded practice to come and interrogate him. Someone yells 'what about Reize, then' and Kurama has to hold up his hands to get a physical barrier between him and the hounding pack of curious owls. "Uhm, you guys know Coach Hitomiko is literally right there? Ask her??"

Coach Hitomiko drinks from her water bottle, sitting nonchalantly at the side.

"They clearly have more fun gaining the information from you," she says. "You're on your own here, unfortunately."

"Coach?!"

-

Endou masters Megaton Head pretty easily. From there, it's a return trip to Teikoku.

Kurama sits with Fubuki by the benches, waiting for the going-home group to pack up and bring their things before they all head out for Teikoku.

"You're good at distracting yourself," Fubuki says. He doesn't mean anything ill, of course. "I think most of us started off the road trip feeling a little homesick, and yet, you seem fine, at least from what we're seeing."

Kurama's smile falls briefly.

He turns toward the school building.

"Well... it hurts, a little," he says. "Still hurts when I think about it. Everything's different. The field's not as pretty, the benches are so empty, it doesn't even have a roof." And of course, Raimon Junior High is currently in reconstruction. "I kinda miss the soccer building, too. But... It's fine. Just gotta keep going, I guess."

Maybe the way it all looks too different makes it much easier to forget about the fact that this is supposed to be his school, too.

He can almost hear Hamano beside him, grinning wide, taking his hand, pulling them along. No sense in being a boor! I don't have enough energy to be miserable for so long, man! Let's use this time to do something stupid instead!

"Back in my Raimon, when things like this happen, we would..."

Kurama hums.

"You would?" Fubuki asks.

Kurama contemplates the pros and cons.

"We're meeting at noon, right?" Kurama asks, and Aki nods. "Then, I'll be right back. Fubuki, come along!"

"Huh?"

"Oh— Kurama, take my phone with you!" Aki calls after him.

-

"...a Game Center?"

"Cool! It's actually open! And it looks new!" Kurama beams at the sight of it.

Fubuki turns to him, flabbergasted. Kurama has the ability to look that excited about something?

"I don't know if we should..."

"We've got an hour, that's fine! Just for a bit!"

Fubuki takes one step through the glass doors and is assaulted by the boom of a thunderous festival within the enclosed arcade building. He squeaks, winding right back out to scramble behind Kurama.

"Is it... is it supposed to sound like that?"

Kurama isn't so sure how to feel about being used as a shield. "Yeah? Oh, right. You're a country bumpkin. Too loud for ya?"

Fubuki hesitates, chewing on his lip, but he wills out a nod.

"Well, that's fine," Kurama says, reaching into his bag and retrieving a pair of ear muffs. In the future they provide ear plugs on demand, but that only happened because Hayami kept pestering them. They probably wouldn't have that service now. "Here, one of the Hakuren guys gave this to me. Maybe you'll be able to make use of it."

Fubuki stares at them with recognition. "These look like Sorano-kun's."

"Yeah, actually, most of my spare clothes are his, too. His name's sewn in the corners," Kurama says, a little sheepish. "Let's go, I might as well reclaim some of my records while I'm here."

"It's very weird to be spending time at an arcade when there's an alien invasion at stake."

"Hmm, is that so," Kurama says, looking around. He knows exactly how to deal with spoilsports and downers, he's had enough experience with Hayami and he's got Hamano's aura in him like a masterclass. "Oh look! A jumbo wolf toy in the crane games!"

-

"...do we want to know what you guys were doing?"

They made it a little late back, but there just wasn't a reprimand Coach Hitomiko could give when Fubuki was bashfully hiding behind Kurama, hugging two wolf plushies to his chest.

It's honestly some kind of miraculous achievement. Fubuki actually looks genuinely delighted, like a child. He'd been so down recently from the Atsuya breakdown, and yet, Kurama has managed to completely flip his mood over.

Honestly, now that they thought about it, when was the last time any of them had the opportunity to be spoiled with childish presents?

"We... are very sorry," Fubuki says, face bright red and deep with regret. "We definitely weren't playing and lost track of time. Promise."

"That is absolutely what we did," Kurama says, returning Aki's phone. "That stupid crane game's a scam."

Kidou and Haruna are staring intently at the amount of plushies sticking out of Kurama's duffel bag.

"You guys are so carefree," Aphrodi remarks.

"Oh, Aphrodi, we got this for you," Fubuki says, reaching into the mountain of cotton and taking out a plushie that looked like an abomination of rings and eyes and wings. "It's okay if you don't want it but..."

Aphrodi instantly grabs it, marvelling, in utter awe.

Kurama snickers.

The rest of the team can't believe their eyes at all.

"If we're done here, let's get on the caravan," Coach Hitomiko sighs, facepalming in defeat. "I'm glad you children are getting along, at least."

And she steps into the vehicle, eager to be away from her duty as the adult in the situation.

It's a moment of baffled silence before Kidou turns to Kurama and very sincerely says, "if you're giving out the extras, I want the penguin."

"Can I have this weird devil-looking thing?!" Tachimukai asks, somehow already holding one of them. Touko, Rika, and Kogure are diving through the pile like inspectors.

"There's a whale! It's so ugly, give it to me!" Tsunami demands.

"Is it just me, or are there a lot of snakes?" Kogure whines. "Don't you have any frogs?" he asks, like a child sifting through the bargain bin at a flea market.

Kurama sighs in resignation, slightly smug about his new popularity. This is clearly not his first experience with this exact situation. "Yeah yeah, line up now, children."

-

"Tachimukai's practicing Mugen the Hand. Kidou, Domon, and Endou are practicing Death Zone," Ichinose says, voice stoical, "the rest of us will be focusing on the new formation. So, whatever could you two be doing, Yuuya Kogure and Norihito Kurama?"

"Why the western name format?" Kogure asks. "And doing handstands, obviously."

They're both doing exactly that, Kogure completely stable while Kurama is swaying, visibly trembling, and he can't say a word. His face is red with effort.

And then Kurama crumbles with a gasp.

"Aren't you just hurting your arms more with that?" Ichinose asks. Forget that it's barely healed, he'll need so much physical rehabilitation to ever get any semblance of function back in it again.

Kogure drops back onto his feet.

"Well, he said he wanted to at least get to the point where could hold it for about ten seconds," he says. "Something about a hissatsu. I'm just here for him to get jealous of because I'm making it look really easy. He says anger motivates him."

"Huh," Ichinose says. "Take it easy, though."

"Hey wait, you do handstand spins too, Ichinose! Wanna join?"

"Will it make him angrier?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then, no."

"How about you stick to the grip machine?" Gouenji says, dropping the grip trainer beside Kurama as he catches his breath, "overtraining your muscles is just going to make an injury worse."

"You're not allowed to tell me that," Kurama gasps, "you made Tenma and Tsurugi train that stupid double tornado until they broke a goal post!"

"The double what?"

"Is breaking a goal post possible?" Kogure asks instead.

"Yes," Aphrodi says. "Your school gets charged with the damages, so I do not recommend it."

"The double what," Gouenji repeats. "Double Tornado?"

Kurama sits up.

Then, like a spark of inspiration, "new plan."

-

"Hey, Sakuma! You made it," Kidou greets his old friends.

"Good to see you, Kidou," Sakuma says. "Before we get into anything, though, what are those two even doing?"

Kidou follows the pointing finger just in time to see the altercation of black and red in mid-air— except, Gouenji magnificently misses the soccer ball and ends up socking Kurama in the chest. They fall unceremoniously into the flop mat below, and Endou screams.

"YOU KILLED KURAMA!" someone yells.

"Kurama, are you okay?!"

"Gouenji, how could you!"

"Coach! Kurama just died!"

"Tell him to wake up. I can't organise a funeral for someone without citizenship papers."

"Coach, did you get a lot crueler? Is it because Kurama revealed your secret?"

Gouenji gets up on the mattress with a groan, leaning over to check on the still unmoving Kurama, "he's not dead, don't be dramatic. I didn't kick that hard."

"You didn't kick that hard?! You're the legendary flame striker, sir!"

"Kurama, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Kurama! Hurry! Tell us your last words before you pass on!"

"Hey. If you die, can I have the octopus plushie?"

Kidou promptly turns back around. "Nothing to worry about," he assures. He pointedly takes a step over to briefly obscure them with his own figure.

Sakuma has very high doubts. "Uhm, are you su—"

"It is nothing to worry about at all."

"...Kidou," Sakuma says.

"You're Injured!" Kidou changes the subject, spinning Sakuma around on his crutch, "let's not stand around, let's get you seated. Everyone else, too! Warm up now, practice match! We're having a practice match!"

"Kidou, I was going to say you look like you're doing very well as a member of Raimon but now I'm worried."

-

"I just don't get it," Tachimukai says, "I have no idea what kind of move Mugen the Hand is... I don't think I'm getting anywhere. It's like I'm trying to drive up a wall and it's frustrating."

Kurama is sentenced to ballboy duty while everyone else practices, and he lends Tachimukai an ear.

"Huh," Kurama stares at the gibberish in the messy notebook. "I... can't read this."

"Apparently, it's 'Shutatata-tan! Do-ba-baba-bam'!" Tachimukai says.

"And in a language comprehensible by human beings?"

"I don't know!"

"Great! We have nowhere to begin!"

"Exactly!" Tachimukai sighs, staring at his own hands. "It'd be so much easier if I had a solid visual to work on..."

"Well, that's what you've been doing thus far," Kurama says, "you don't have any originality, eh?"

"Don't say it like that, you're making me sad!"

"TACHIMUKAI!"

"Huh— oh! Oops! AAHH!" and he misses the timing, charges too fast, and gets socked right in the face.

"Hey c'mon now!" Tsunami chides, "focus on the practice! You okay?"

"I'm sorry!" Tachimukai yells back. "Ow, ow."

Kurama hums. "You okay?"

"With utmost respect, Kurama," Tachimukai says, "please, don't distract me. I need to figure out Mugen the Hand as soon as possible and I can't do it while I'm seeing double and thinking double."

Kurama grimaces. "You know that's called a concussion? You really remind me of Shinsuke when he first changed to goalkeeper."

Tachimukai spins around in surprise. "Shinsuke-kun had trouble at first too? But he had that really cool Keshin thing—"

"TACHIMUKAI!"

And the ball knocks him right over the head once more, earning a sharp yelp.

"Guys, I killed Tachimukai!" Tsunami yells, terrified.

"It's not my fault!" Kurama yells, just for insurance.

"I'm seriously going to ban that phrase from this team, I swear to god," Kidou mutters. "Enough, break time! Everyone, water break!"

Tachimukai whines, getting up. "I wish I could duplicate."

"Maybe you should try not talking with your hands," Kurama says. "You don't have to bodily react to everything I say, you know."

"I can't help it, I'm an expressive person!" Tachimukai complains, "I wish I had like, six hands and three heads. Like an Ashura! Then my problems would be solved."

"...Tachimukai," Kurama says, very seriously. "No."

"Eh? But that would be cool—"

"Tachimukai," Kurama says, "you are the team-designated cinnamon roll. Do not fall into the dark side. That is a very important mission. Please promise me you won't."

Tachimukai is very confused. He has no idea what that even means. "Wouldn't... Endou... do a better job of that...? Uhm?"

-

They manage to complete Death Zone 2 by that day, but Tachimukai isn't any closer to Mugen the Hand than before and he's really miffed about it.

At least, until the middle of night, when Tachimukai bolts upright screaming with the revelation of the gods in his sleep-addled mind.

"I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH HANDS!"

Everyone in the caravan is startled awake by that, mortified. Other than a couple unceremonious collapses, abrupt ear covering, and half-asleep confusion, they all turn to Tachimukai, who's completely frazzled. "What?!"

"Tachimukai, what's wrong?"

"Did you have a nightmare or something?"

"Is the world ending?!?"

"...that was really loud," Fubuki says, "I'm glad I have these earmuffs."

"What happened?!" Endou asks, sticking his head down from the roof to look through the window. "Tachimukai, are you okay?!"

"NO I AM NOT OKAY," Tachimukai yells, throwing his hands up, clawing at his hair, "I just— why did it take me so long to realize this?! I don't have enough hands!"

"Calm down! Take a deep breath!" Endou is trying very hard.

"Look, let's think this over calmly, Tachimukai," Gouenji says.

Ichinose takes Tachimukai's hands, holding them up in a high-ten. "Let's take a deep breath. Look, you have two hands. One, two. You see them? Great! That's enough hands. All's fine and good with the world today—"

"No you don't get it!" Tachimukai is half-awake and completely freaking out, "It was that simple! I don't have enough hands! I need to make more hands!"

"Calm down, Tachimukai, humans only need two hands," Kidou says. "You do not need to make more hands."

"NO YOU DON'T GET IT. I NEED MORE HANDS. IT'S LITERALLY CALLED INFINITY THE HAND. IT TOOK ME THREE DAYS TO REALIZE THIS. I'M SO STUPID."

"WHAT ARE WE EVEN TALKING ABOUT?!"

"WHY ARE WE SCREAMING?! STOP SCREAMING!"

"DON'T SCREAM BACK, THEN!"

"Lower your volume please, it really echoes in this car!"

"...I knew I should have gone home to sleep today..."

"Tachimukai, can you have this revelation about your intelligence sometime not in the middle of the night, and a little quieter??"

"Shut up BOYS, it's two in the assclock A-M!" Rika shouts from outside. "We have a damn match tomorrow with those Chaos buffoons!"