Omake Crossover - Our Gracest Comeback

What the hell is this feeling?

Sweat bubbled from Haru’s brow and slid down his cheek. He barely gave it a notice as his eyes remained trained on the player charging before him. The way he ducked and weaved past the defenders merited special attention.

Eyes looking straight at his own told him that his opponent was going to strike. Something about this matchup told Haru that he had to remain vigilant. Aside from the packed stands at the Japan National Stadium. Aside from the tension in the air of a still 0-0 match. Aside from the fact that there was less than five minutes left on the clock of overtime.

There it is again!

A swift swipe at the ball came. Blades of grass made way like they bowed before a charge. The instant before a foot made contact, it was like a sudden wind had erupted across the field. A rocket of a shot came towards Haru before veering toward the corner of the goal. It was almost magic how it curved.

Haru didn’t hesitate. He had seen meteors and comets fly at him faster, courtesy of a certain dream fairy. Unless the strike was blessed by a deity, it wouldn’t make it past his post. That had been the case for the entire tournament. Keeping his enemies scoreless was his sense of pride.

A tingle of excitement struck Haru as he smacked away the shot with barely an inch to spare. The familiar pressure against his fingertips made him beam, despite the ball landing out of bounds. He had been knocking away these ‘special’ shots all through the match. And after so many, he felt the urge to do it.

“No, no, no. Not in my house!” Haru wagged a finger at the player, distraught and scratching his head.

“You’ll get him next time, Takashi.” Another player came up and patted him on the back in reassurance.

“Screw that, I want someone to whip that smug ass grin off his face!”

“Jun, Takashi! Head in the game, ball coming in!”

“Right, Hiro!”

The ball flew inbounds from a corner kick, and once again, the tension was on thick. It bounced off someone’s chest, struck a knee, and quickly landed right back to Tsuno’s two main attackers. They criss-crossed in front of the penalty box, dodging the defense before passing back and forth between the gaps.

“GET HIM, TAKASHI!!!”

A girl’s cry ripped through the stands, and as if it was a trigger, the aura of the player named Takashi shifted.

“Oh, heeeeeellll no! Not the freaking supportive girlfriend trope! Quick, where’s my own power up?!”

Haru’s gaze darted up to the stands, where his own girlfriend, Kasumi, was sitting. She took notice and merely gave him a thumbs up. So much for enthusiastic moral support…

Shrugging that disappointment off, Haru turned back to see the skies darken before him. The clouds looked angry, like they were going to storm. But somehow, only behind the back of Takashi. It certainly looked like things had gotten even more serious.

“Shit, I’m caught in a shounen moment. Come on, stop that, brain! This isn’t Bl*e L*ck!”

The ball coiled in midair, and for a moment, Haru swore he heard someone breathing deep. Perhaps, it was just his imagination, led on by the pressure of the situation. In the next moment, a foot sank deep, emitting a thunderous clap that shook Haru. He watched as the sea of grass parted again where the ball traveled. There was definitely something magical that he couldn’t understand in the works.

Dread crept down Haru’s back as his nerves fired to respond to the challenge. He knew from the very air that shrieked that normal defending wasn’t going to cut it. He had to fly! Screw gauging trajectory. He just had to throw himself out and pray!

With a giant leap, Haru barreled toward the other end of the goal, reaching and gritting his teeth as the ball curved more and more.

Come on! Reach!

The ball twisted in its approach, unpredictable like a drunkard driving a bus. For a moment, Haru wished he was an isekai protagonist, if only so he could be hit by it. By then, a slight contact on his fingertips caused his eyes to widen. He watched as the ball veered up, all as he fell flat on the ground. The sudden clang of the goal post rejecting the attempt caused time to run normal again.

I blocked the shot! Hell yeah!

Haru got up and celebrated.

“No, no, no. Not in my-”

And was promptly cut off by a follow-up shot straight into his face. With no goalkeeper conscious to do his duty, the ball ricocheted off someone’s foot and haphazardly into the goal.

“TSUNO! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!”

An eruption of cheers blanketed one side of the arena. Tsuno had scored with under five minutes left to play. And Haru was left staring bitterly at the sky. The clouds - they had snickered at him. Surely, the fairy dancing upon them giggled at his lingering callousness.

But then, spiky white hair and a square face looked down at him. A jolt of hope arose in Haru’s mind as he puffed a bit of annoyance at himself.

“Got a backup plan, Ace?”

“Always one in the chamber, Harucchi. Just hang tight and don’t let any others loose.”

Daichi had a fire in his eyes - two parts revenge for seeing his friend floored, one part underdog spirit. He let out a hearty roar to psyche up the rest of the team as he hoisted Haru back to his feet.

The back of Daichi felt intimidating, much more so than normal. Haru could swear he saw wings as well, but when he rubbed his eyes, they were gone.

The ball fell back into play. Half the stadium now was chanting “Defense!”, the other side trying to drown it out with mixed words of encouragement. Being behind had its limits. But that didn’t bother Daichi. The noise was no worse than missiles exploding, dramatic cannon fire, and abrupt foreign phrases that forced him to think twice about what they meant.

That was what it was like to be trained by Portuguese Grace.

It was quite comical at first, a cartoony kind of setting that bordered on war but with soccer balls. He laughed off the occasions where Haru said that he ‘trained by intercepting meteors and comets’, but that had been no lie. Not when the mysterious dream fairy that was now part of his life could pull off the same. The very first one knocked him right out of his dream.

But after some time to adapt, Daichi was trading shot after shot with her.

“TAKE DEEZ BALLS!!!”

“Não, você pega DEEZ!” Grace replied, having finally learned the phrase.

Why the Portugeuse one might ask? It was because Daichi was learning about some of the GOATs and wanted to align. And when Grace appeared in his dreams, she came with G**gle Translate installed.

Before long, a volley of flaming shots danced between them, each kick adding heat until the meteor crashing against their feet went from orange to red to blue. Daichi let out a hearty roar as he slammed the next kick with a roundhouse, sending it too fast for Grace to respond. It shot right past the goal and exploded in the distance, a mushroom cloud forming a shockwave that knocked both of them off their feet.

Certainly, Daichi could handle a little bit of heat in a tough situation. A defender approached, but Daichi slid right past him. Another tried to go low, but the ball popped up, before landing comfortably on Daichi’s shin to continue forward.

They were slow. Far too slow compared to Grace when Daichi became serious. But like any moment of catching fire, he knew it wouldn’t last. It was ‘strike while it was hot or be burned’.

Sensing a potential act of desperation, Tsuno’s team rallied the remaining defensive line. They hovered around the goal, hellbent on delaying the inevitable shot. Watching the seconds wind down to under a minute. If the ball was deflected here, they would be heading to the championship match.

But even with such a strong incentive, the roar of a madman charging through their teammates unnerved them. They had all seen him. The ace of the other team, Daisuke Kurabe. Who hadn’t noticed? The replays of the tournament showed how deft he was at slipping past his opponents. How easily he could shoot holes through their defense.

Tsuno had been lucky. The ball had stayed in their possession for over three-quarters of the match, wasting the clock to minimize possession. Muting the powerhouse of a player they worried about.

What was even luckier was managing to slip one goal on the ‘Impassable’, their goalie, Haru Higashi. It had taken 24 attempts, but one finally slipped by and earned Tsuno a critical point. But now, they had to defend that lead to the bitter end.

“TAKE DEEZ BALLS!”

A cry from the white devil pinched the defenders’ nerves. They seized up, before jumping toward the incoming shot with stiff legs. One defender felt a dizzying blow to the head, but he smiled despite that. Because that meant that grace had bestowed him the chance to block it. He tumbled to the ground, out cold.

“RALLY!”

A cry immediately called for everyone to scramble for the loose ball. But before they could, it idly bounced right back to Daichi. He lifted his leg for another shot, arms tucked back, eyes forward and chest heaving a deep breath. The first shot had been a feint, and the real one was coming.

The surroundings grew hushed in preparation for the slam that echoed throughout the stadium. It tore through the hole that was left in the defenders. It pierced its way right toward the goal. Tsuno’s goalie wasn’t anyone special, not like Haru Higashi. It looked ready to spin into the net in the corner.

But then, a wind blew.

CLANG!

The ball crashed into the post, mere centimeters where it should have ended up. Daichi couldn’t believe it; he had lined it up perfectly. Tsuno couldn’t believe it as well, their players gawking as the ball bounced away from the goal.

Stunned for a moment, the goalie was slow to retrieve it. And in that time, the white devil had appeared right before him.

“BAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

A shrill cry like a goat made the goalie flinch right at that moment. He watched as Daichi propelled himself like a missile right into the bouncing soccer ball, smacking it with his head before taking a dive into the grass. It was just enough to tip the ball past the goalie, and with a slow set of bounces, the ball skidded into the net.

Daichi smirked as he watched those critical moments before it did. He had to thank Grace for such a stupid tactic. When he told her that he wanted to train with the GOATs of soccer, she had completely misunderstood.

“BAAAAAAAAAAA!!!” Grace cried out as her body lurched toward Daichi, transforming into a giant pink goat. Daichi could only stare dumbly as she headbutted the meteor past him. A strange misunderstanding leading to a stupefying last ditch move.

“YOKOHAMA SUIRAN! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!”

For a moment, there was a dead silence.

Tsuno looked at the other team. The audience did as well. Even the players themselves looked at each other.

“Wait, was that where we’re from?”

“Apparently, so.”

“Since when?”

“Since someone bothered to check G**gle Maps.”

Regardless, the final whistle was blown. The match had ended in overtime at 1-1, which meant that penalty kicks would decide who was moving on. Tsuno won the flip and went first.

Haru smirked. This was where he could really shine. But as he waltzed up to the goal, he felt a sudden chill. Something was wrong with the air, and it wasn’t just his nerves. In fact, this whole game felt off from the beginning. It made him guarded constantly, like protecting a candle flame from sudden gusts.

The first to shoot from Tsuno lined up. He made a quick feint to the right before aiming for the left. Haru picked up the change from the way his eyes shifted. With ample time to spare, he caught the ball squarely in his hands.

The second shooter hardly did any better. He played it completely straight. Haru didn’t have to move at all as he stopped it with one hand, mockingly.

With Tsuno already down two, the boy that he overheard named Takashi was up. He made Haru crouch low and dig deep. Of all the shots that he blocked, Takashi’s were the most dangerous. For whatever reason, a wind blew whenever he approached. And there was no reason to suspect it wouldn’t happen again.

Haru watched. As the grass rippled around him. As another cheer from his likely girlfriend straightened his back and made his strides twice as purposeful. And as the ball went thunk among a sudden-held breath of silence throughout the stadium, Haru watched the ball curve left before sharply spinning right.

It drilled through the air, daring Haru to touch it. It spun with such force that he wondered how much it would hurt to get in its way. But instincts made him reach anyways, regardless of what fate any divine being had placed upon it.

Haru dove. He flew. He stretched. He put everything he had into a swing of his hand, feeling a sharp sting as he slapped the ball away in midair.

And seeing the ball go out of bounds, Haru celebrated.

But then, Haru swore he heard a sneeze.

A gust of wind followed, pushing him further than he expected. He looked over just in time to see the goal post.

The entire stadium flinched as they watched Yokohama Suiran’s goalie knock himself cold from slamming into the post.

Some time later, Haru felt someone slapping his cheeks. He opened an eye to see Daichi sighing as he groggily woke up.

“What happened after I blacked out?” Haru asked.

Daichi sheepishly scratched his chin.

“Had to replace you. No other choice.”

“And?”

“The next two to shoot, Jun and Hiroshi, made their goals.”

“And what about us?”

Haru didn’t need to know the answer as he could see Tsuno celebrating in the background. Daichi simply pointed his thumb at his chest.

“I was the only one that scored.”

“Well, that’s a shame.”

Daichi just shrugged. He pointed to the sky.

“Can’t help it when someone didn’t get around to naming the other players.”