Golden Heart

~~~⚽~~~

'The Special Strike.' Who would have thought that a drunken night would give Shiraito a brilliant idea? Daisuke certainly didn't, and that's why he looked completely skeptical at the team's strategy.

“These boys…”

“I choose to believe,” Shiraito whispered to the air.

With five minutes left in the match and the tournament, Takashi prepared to take the kick off.

"Let's go!"

Upon Kenjiro's shout, all ten outfield players from Tsuno rushed forward, leaving Nobeoka completely bewildered. Sasaki, goalkeeping, received the ball slowly, controlled it, and sent a long pass into the crowded penalty area. The ball soared over the field like a missile towards where Takashi was fighting with his marker.

"This is mine," Takashi thought. He knew he couldn't afford to miss, and perhaps that's why he once again conquered his fears and launched himself into a powerful jump. First, he saw the ball against the backdrop of the partly cloudy sky. Then, he felt the contact of the defender's body on his back. And lastly, how the defender managed to win the aerial battle by a few centimeters and cleared the ball away.

"No!" He had failed once again in the crucial moment.

Or maybe not...

Takashi noticed that the ball was deflected to the right, courtesy of a flawed header. Having gained a clean position, Takashi didn't allow the defender to head the ball properly, causing it to come out weakly and to the side, practically dying near the penalty area.

Jun was the one who went to receive that dead ball. He stood in front of the goal, ready to strike it on the first touch, and had a great chance to score.

"It's mine!"

"No..."

Jun reacted quickly and feigned to the outside, anticipating the desperate lunge of the defender who tried to block the shot and ended up losing his mark on Takashi. On the other side, the right fullback was too far away to cover him, and Jun outran him. There was no one left. It was just Jun, coming from the left, against the goalkeeper. He set himself up for the shot, ready to strike with his weaker foot as planned. The entire stadium fell silent out of nowhere.

And yet...

Jun didn't shoot. Instead, he touched the ball with his left foot into the middle, deceiving the onrushing goalkeeper.

Where Takashi was alone. “He passed it.”

Immediately, a memory flashed in Takashi's mind, a memory of that bus trip. "I trust you." Literally, he had entrusted Jun with the goal of victory.

“Jun...”

He would have had time to get emotional if the chance hadn't lasted a split second. Especially because Jun looked into Takashi's eyes while falling because of the inertia, and returned a fixed gaze of 'You can do it.' It made him imagine Hiroshi's 'You can do it' as well. And Shiraito's. And Kenjiro's. Everyone's. And of course... Nao's, which perhaps resonated the strongest within him.

Takashi didn't hesitate. While the goalkeeper tried to focus between him and the goal, he put all his effort into positioning himself for a powerful strike. Strong and accurate, leaving it all to God. Or rather, leaving it all to Inari, even if she wasn't helping him score.

He felt the solid contact of the ball with his instep, and before he realized it, he had taken the shot. Just as he had intended. So powerful that the goalkeeper, diving in the opposite direction, could only graze it with his fingertips. So precise that the defender who positioned himself on the goal line couldn't clear it with a header. So clever that no other player was close enough to do so.

“So... all this progress... it was worth it,” he thought as the ball crashed into the back of the net.

"GOOOOOOOOOOAL!"

Takashi seemed to go on autopilot as he instinctively ran towards the corner flag on the right, too fast for any of his teammates to catch him. It was only when he was near it that the emotion overwhelmed him. He realized what he had achieved.

"GOOOOOOOOOOAL!" he shouted uncontrollably, so overwhelmed with emotion that he was on the verge of tears right there.

He felt a hug. And another one. And in less than a second, he fell to the ground. The players on the field embraced him. The substitutes embraced him. And amidst the sea of joyful voices, he heard Nao's voice, the last one to arrive and above everyone else. The coach would have been there too if he hadn't thrown himself to slide his chest on the ground in the middle of the pitch as if it was a swimming pool, completely euphoric.

Gradually, they let go of him, and Takashi began to see the light and breathe fresh air. Jun and Hiroshi were the first to reach him, of course. His friends who, despite everything, would be there forever.

"Come here!" Jun lifted him up by the arm and, in one smooth motion, took hold of his waist and lifted him off the ground. Takashi instinctively opened his arms to the roaring crowd.

"Takashi!"

His eyes met Nao's, and Takashi felt his already heated body grow even warmer. His smile widened like never before, and engulfed in emotions, he broke free from Jun's grip and ran towards her.

"Nao!" Takashi buried himself in her chest and hugged her, lifting her off the ground.

"You did it, Takashi! You did it!" she said with a huge smile.

Takashi let go of her hands and locked eyes with Nao. "Come on, there's only..." Her words hung in the air when, without warning, Nao felt Takashi's lips sealing against hers in a sudden kiss, filled with intensity and urgency, but also deep emotions. Taken by surprise to the point that she couldn't even close her eyes, she felt her cheeks blush a deeper red than imaginable.

"Thank you for coming into my life! I want you forever by my side!" He exclaimed with a grin from ear to ear.

"You're such a fool! I'm so embarrassed right now," she replied, trying to appear angry, although her excited face betrayed her statement.

"Don't worry, no one saw us," he said as he walked back to the field.

"Anyway, the match isn't over. Stay focused."

Takashi jogged back onto the field and glanced back at Nao. He felt like he might have genuinely made her uncomfortable with that kiss. But...

Nao returned a warm gaze that could melt a glacier. Her gentle smile conveyed a clear message of 'Thank you for the 'I want you forever by my side.'' Or a message of 'I want you by my side too' as well, or simply 'Don't worry, and enjoy.'

"Of course, we saw it."

Takashi jumped when Jun slapped his back, laughing at the situation.

"Hey!"

"Boy!" Shiraito ran towards him after the excitement and embraced him with his right arm as if he were a professional wrestler. "Don't press the center-backs so much, stay with the midfield line, and mark someone! Let's go!"

In that aggressive frenzy, Shiraito first ruffled his hair frantically and then slapped his back several times with such force that it seemed like he would dislocate it, before leaving. Takashi didn't take it as something bad, quite the opposite; that was the language of love for football coaches. It meant a hug and a 'well done.'

And he cared even less when, after five very tense minutes, the referee signaled the end of the match. Tsuno 2, Nobeoka 1.

"YEAAAAHHHH!"

A highly euphoric collective embrace, with songs and jumps in the center of the field, marked the significance of that victory. For the first time in its history, Tsuno was the champion of the Miyazaki North Intercollegiate Tournament. Tsuno would fight to reach the nationals. Tsuno, which had defeated four formidable rivals and achieved such a great feat... it seemed like a divine miracle.