Railway Cruisin' 31

Tetsudo.

The second team of the vast island of Nagashima, the biggest patch of land in Shinrin.

Tetsudo, clear from their name (Railway 鉄道),were the second team to be established in the island aftera railway company was set up within it. The same company funded the structure of a new high school, and with it gave the name Tetsudo to its brand new team.

Despite their team being established by a company, as opposed to the other pure-hearted teams in Shinrin made by the blood sweat and tears of their people, its fans weren’t far and few in between. Their stadium, that housed a little less than 15 thousand, and was easily accessible through the only train line, filled to the brim for every single match.

And today was no different. The railway fans, with their claret and blue colors waving in the air welcomed the oncoming whistle, which signaled the start of the match.

The two teams stood opposite of each other, waiting for their queue to start running. In one side was Hinami, wearing their away kits, plain full white shirt, black details, and a prominent design of a gray faded skeleton in the center. On the other side, Testudo donned their colors with the same pride. Similar to a few English clubs, their shirt was dyed a burgundy, with thin white stripes in the torso and light blue sleeves. Amidst the clash of white and claret, stood a circular yellow sponsor ad: “Nagashima railway.” Undoubtedly the name of the company. Light blue shorts, and blue socks complimented their fit, a peculiar combination of colors, but one that stood out nonetheless.

The scene was set, the sun still hanging up in the sky illuminated the bright green grass perfectly and the wind was just right. Cheers from all fans rung out loud and true. Hinami had quite the support today after all, their classmates all present for the game.

The referee placed the whistle between his lips, stretched out his arm, and with one long whistle the game was afoot.

“Go! Gooo!”

Hinami were on the ball from the kick off, and the shouts emanating from the railway team were already as loud as can be. That attacking brand of pressing was on from the first minute just as Gonda had expected.

“Haha!”

One of the pressing players, Tetsudo’s number 9, was smiling while chasing the ball around. He was short and had frizzy brown hair. That had to be Ressha, Reo thought, looking back to Shuna’s opponent analysis.

He did enjoy the game a little too much, though. Laughing while pressing? Come on, what’s fun about running after the opponent?

Another pressing Tetsudo player, who didn’t move around too much, but always seemed to have impeccable positioning was much more intimidating. Maybe it was his tall build, jet black hair or his dark red sharp eyes. Number 10. Serious and scary.

Akinori Kotsuji.

Reo affirmed. It wasn’t that hard to spot the irregularities, or more like, stand outs in a team like Tetsudo. But what mattered, was Hinami actually bypassing all their tricks and strengths with their tactics first, and secondly through their individuality.

Tetsudo’s pressing was definitely one to look out for, and in the early moments of the match, the tension created by the crowd, and the number 10’s footballing vision helped immensely in Hinami giving the ball away close to goal.

“Damn it!”

The one who committed the mistake, Magowski, rushed back, trying to not give away more space in addition to the ball.

“Nori!”

Takuma Ressha, seeing his teammate in an advantageous position, like the constantly mobile 9 that he was, made the run inside the box, carefully trying to stay onside.

But the holder, Akinori Kotsuji had different plans. Using his teammate’s movement to find more space in front of him, he stepped forth with swift short touches. Sensing the crowd was on its feet, one thought crossed his mind at once.

Shoot.

And he did. With force and technique, he curved the ball with his right towards goal.

“AAAH!”

But Kyogo Haneda, Hinami’s great wall, was there. He stretched perfectly, and blocked the ball without leaving any scraps for Ressha to feed off on the rebound.

“Nice one, Kyogo!” Housen patted his teammate on the back, who indicated for everyone to clear their minds.

“Calm down, don’t give it away so easily.” Calmly as ever Kyogo spoke, and the recipient nodded.

“Right.” Magowski turned back and repositioned himself.

“Don’t worry, keep at it!”

“Calmer, don’t force the pass!”

Evidently both coaches had different things they wanted to convey to their players.

“Don’t mind it, Nori! We’ll get them next time!” After Takuma Ressha gave his teammate some words of encouragement of his own, Haneda resumed the game.

But would there be a next time?

When Hinami played the ball along their defense once more, they managed to break through the pressing, as Reo came deep to receive it. Turning so elegantly he made it seem effortless, the number 10 looked on ahead, smiling at the expanse of green. Tetsudo’s pressing gave way more space in the middle of the field when it went wrong for them.

And Reo knew how to exploit space so well it was almost funny. With swift touches and even faster steps, the attacking midfielder sprinted down the opposition’s heart and towards their goal so fast he almost looked like a blur.

“Damn it!”

The Tetsudo defenders had to do something, and that something was hang back and anticipate the pass, dropping deep. But their nature was the exact opposite of a collective move such as that. Instead, the first defender came up to press him, hoping the opposing 10 would be taken aback.

Heh.

Funny, Reo thought, as he simply flicked the ball between his opponent’s legs.

“Yuusaki-kun!”

“Reo!”

With one defender less, and Tetsudo’s formation falling apart, the options before Reo only seemed to rise. Toraichi was making the run dragging a defender with him, while Kaoru was running towards goal from the wing.

With a simple, precise pass, Reo cut the defense in half, choosing the vice-captain of the team as his recipient.

“RAAAAH!”

The opposition goalkeeper rushed out of his goal, hoping Reo’s pass was even a tad bit more powerful than he intended.

But Kaoru Nakatani was fast. Very fast. He didn’t even give the keeper a chance, as he touched the ball first and with valuable seconds to spare.

Simply, Kaoru squared it to his striker, Toraichi, who was awaiting to slot the ball away into the empty net.

And naturally the tiger could not miss that chance.

“GOAAAAAAAAL!”

Toraichi, Kaoru and Reo, the kick-starters of a swift attack all rushed to the side of the pitch to celebrate in front of their travelling fans screaming on the away end.

“Nice counter! Great teamwork everyone!”

After getting ahold of a new pair of glasses from his daughter, Gonda congratulated his team as the game kicked off once more.

Okay, that’s 1.

Reo nodded to himself, as the ball rolled back around Tetsudo’s defense. Evidently the opposition should be dejected considering their number 1 weapon did not only get neutralised, but they conceded because of it.

But judging by their expressions, they didn’t seem baffled at all. Naturally, playing such a risky game of pressing, it wasn’t unnatural to be left vulnerable in defense.

Maybe they were accustomed to it?

Eh, never mind, Reo dismissed those thoughts as he moved in to disrupt a pass. Pressing the defender caused him to hastily thrust it forward and high, something that put his teammate in a disadvantage.

“Damn it!”

Without hesitating, Magowski, clearly over his previous mistake, headed the high ball that came his way before his opponent, beating him in the air.

The recipient was a swift Kaoru, who managed to pass it first time to a locked and loaded Akihiko.

“Hatate!”

Naturally, the maestro had seen the 10’s movement, and his cry came almost a fraction of a second before the ball flew off the midfielder’s foot. When Hinami were given that much space, and their players weren’t hesitating, they were simply unstoppable. And Reo wanted nothing more than to put a stamp on those high quality few minutes they were having.

With a clean receive to bring the ball in front of him as he faced the goal, he looked towards the enemy defense. A clinical Toraichi was making the run inside the box, as well as Mikki Asano on the right wing, opening up the pitch.

How should he go about this?

Reo contemplated, as he touched the ball to drive it upfield.

I know.

Before he could take another step he had made up his mind. Thinking back on the first play of the game, there was something he had to try.

With swift dribbling, the ball rolled forward before him. This time, the defense didn’t press, instead opting to not give Toraichi the space to get away from the tight marking.

And so, Reo used that to his advantage. When he was close enough to goal, the number 10 struck the ball sweetly with his left, and sent a straight high shot to goal.

“…”

Time seemed to stop, as the keeper stretched… the tips of his fingers barely missing.

And that’s 2.

“GOAAAAAAAL!”

The pirates jumped, Reo ran to the corner, arms wide, and the railway fans stood silent, after the ball crushed into the net.

“What a goal son!”

“That was some hit Yurei!”

Reo could hear amongst the roars in the chants, as he was engulfed in his teammate’s embrace.

He had essentially attempted to use the same tactic as Akinori Kotsuji, but his strike had resulted in a goal instead.

Whatever you can do, I can do better.

The opposing 10, Kotsuji, got the message clearly, as he glared at the black and white team. Besides him, Ressha had a wry smile on his face as he scratched his head.

“Oh boy… That’s gonna be a tough one.” He sighed slightly, before slapping his face between his palms, “Yosh! Let’s go!”

Despite his teammate’s clear encouragement, Akinori stood still yet.

I’ll get you back for that.

He thought to himself.

❖ ⚽ ❖

“Great performance out there! But don’t forget, they will come out strong in the second half! They are behind by two goals, they have nothing to lose!”

Gonda gave a speech in the dressing room after the first half whistle went off, that spoke volumes of how much he didn’t want his players to stand back and relax. Sitting on a good result and letting your concentration drop was the worst thing to do if you wanted to hold onto it. The last thing you wanted was to give your opponents the ball and let them play.

“…That’s why we need to keep on with the same intensity come the second half whistle!”

Everybody nodded, they knew what they needed to do.

But was that enough?

Early in the second half, Tetsudo’s pressing worked once more, and this time… Akinori Kotsuji wouldn’t dare miss.

As the ball dropped inside the box from a well weighed pass from his teammate on the wing, Ressha shot it straight at the goal first time.

“AAAAH!”

The crowd gasped, as Kyogo made another brilliant save. Yet this time, he didn’t block it, and Kotsuji was right there for the rebound, shooting straight onto the net with power and precision.

“GOAAAAAAAAL!”

The fans were finally given something to cheer for and so they didn’t spare no expense in shouting their hearts out.

“GOAAAAAAL FOR THE RAILWAYYY! NUMBER 1O, AKIIINORIII KO TSU JI!”

The comeback was on…

Akinori’s eyes seemed to read as he picked up the ball from the net, and eyed all Hinami players as he moved to the middle of the pitch for the restart.

He eyed all, but his gaze locked on one in particular.

Heh.

Silently accepting the challenge, Reo smirked.

The next few minutes of the game were difficult, with Ressha pressing up and down like crazy, and the fervor of the crowd making the tempo rise to suit the Railway.

But Hinami weren’t about to play their game. Instead, they had to score another, and put the rising confidence back down where it was.

While the game was getting heated, Hinami tried to execute a simple, lower tempo attack to help calm the game down. Hatate managed to pirouette his way around several opponents in the middle of the park, and had time to find the best target to pass to. One such was Reo, who had moved in on the empty wing, since Kaoru had already piled into the box.

As always, when the two locked eyes, Reo and Hatate just knew they were the best option to open up the play. Reo received the ball on the wing, where the right back defender was too slow to catch him.

Oh no, you don’t.

A figure emerged from the back, as Reo dashed down the edge of the field. Challenging him with his shoulder, was Akinori Kotsuji, who managed to accost the young 10 against the corner of the field where the two stopped in a silent stare off. The ball was still very much inside the playing area, and with his foot on top of it to prevent any mishaps, Reo stared back at his opponent.

What are you gonna do now? You’re cornered.

It was clear Kotsuji didn’t want to give Reo space to operate. He was far too dangerous to be left alone.

And now that I have you here, there’s no way out!

Kotsuji attacked the ball forcefully, causing Reo to drive closer to the goal line and towards the corner flag.

Tch!

He missed but he went again, and again, like a hungry beast. That was Kotsuji’s true nature. When faced with difficulty, his serious facade broke to reveal the one he dons when challenged like that. An angered, unrelenting mask.

But as he tried time and again to tackle the ball, Reo gripping the corner flag tightly moved the ball around his feet so masterfully Kotsuji could never even touch it. Left, right, up and down and then round and round again, The Hinami 10 moved the ball so fast in such a small space it looked like it was all a blur.

“Where do you think you’re running off to?!”

Kotsuji hissed between his teeth.

Just past you.

Reo replied in a similar manner, and gave him one last look, before he let go of the corner flag, flicked the ball forward and nutmegged Kotsuji, as he ran off the field, around him, and caught the ball back inside the play area to dash forward.

“WHA—!”

The number 10 was finally through, and his teammates that had piled onto the box were waiting. Reo knew what to do next.

A goal was guaranteed.

Dribbling inside the box from the side, Reo took his sweet time picking out the best option, as he stepped onto the line of the box. When he did, he sent a sweet cross inside the danger area of Tetsudo, where Kaoru jumped above everyone else to head it in from point blank range.

“GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!”

It was the third for Hinami in the night. And this time, Tetsudo’s will crumbled completely. This magician and his friends were simply unstoppable.

“How…?”

Who the hell is this guy…?

The opposition report wasn’t even about him… how could Kotsuji and the rest have known? The number 10 wanted to kick himself still in pure disbelief.

With another easy goal from Reo during the dying moments of the game, Hinami were handed the 1-4 win away from home. It was the victory with the largest margin since 3 years, and the away fans were simply elated as they jumped in celebration after the last whistle had sounded.

“Ah, damn it. It was not meant to be I guess…” Ressha murmured sulkily before exchanging a few handshakes with his opponents. “We’ll get you next time! This was a fun match!”

“Next time…” Kotsuji merely repeated after him.

❖ ⚽ ❖

“Hinamiiii!”

“OLE OLEE!”

“Zzzz!”

On the ferry back home, while the majority of Hinami players were up and about celebrating their massive victory over a tough side, some, and mostly the captain Housen, were snoozing off by the side of the lounge.

He really did sleep as soon as the clock ticked midnight huh?

Reo found it amusing as he clutched his carbonated lemon juice on his hand.

“I already told you no.”

“Come on, onii-chan! Don’t be such a cheapstake!”

“Say what you will, no more juice for you.”

“Look at this!”

“Aye!”

“…Lame.”

The Toraichi siblings were bickering, Totori and the Futatsuki twins were trying to balance cups on their noses, and for some reason Akihiko was having fun instead of trying to chat up women. Well maybe that was due to the lack of any ON the ship. He knew better than to eye Maemi, or Shuna for that matter, after all.

Amidst the growing chaos, Reo, caught sight of Shuna, who was just about ready to leave the lounge and head out onto the deck. Not before she passed him a glance that is.

The young player involuntarily smiled, as he caught on and silently followed after her.

❖ ⚽ ❖

“Feels good to be winning again, right?”

“It seems like yesterday when you found me here after the defeat from Mizushima Clovers…”

Reo and Shuna found themselves overlooking the tranquil yet dark sea once more, just like after the opening day of the league.

“Well it’s been what… a month?”

“Around that, yeah.”

The two didn’t say so, but they both felt a lot of things had changed since then. Both within the team, and between the young couple.

It was odd, but Reo felt like there would be more to come. It was like everything was just getting started. He still had insecurities. Troubles. Questions. Many, many questions.

And one such question was still fresh and burning within him.

While Shuna had her gaze downturned and seemed to be thinking, Reo spoke up.

“You know you never did tell me about why Risa is—“

As the young man was talking and trying to maintain his composure, his girlfriend turned around with a glint in her blue eyes, and a burning flushed face.

Time seemed to stand still as she moved closer, her movements so fast Reo’s eyes failed to register them.

“…”

In a matter of a second, their lips were touching and it felt like Shuna’s face heat was transferring onto Reo’s as well. The kiss was short but very sweet. Reo thought she smelt like sweet oranges, probably due to the juice she was drinking.

For a few seconds, nobody moved, nor spoke. Shuna moved away from the kiss, and looked at him hesitantly, her face redder than a ripe tomato.

“Great performance today. That’s your… reward.”

“My… reward?”

“Yeah.”

“I think I wanna be a pro.”

“Eh?”

The two exchanged another glance, and Shuna broke out into an impish, embarrassed, but elated grin. Reo too, couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Shuna! You up there?”

“Dad?!”

Gonda’s voice carried over from the stairs leading to the deck, causing his daughter to almost jump in surprise,

“Ah, you are. Can you indulge me for a bit? I have some data over here.”

“S-S-Sure thing!”

Shuna nodded, although her father couldn’t see her, and with a beaming red face, trotted down towards the lower deck.

“I’ll be off now!”

“Wai—“

Reo stretched out his hand, and paused as his girlfriend’s silhouette disappeared down the stairs. As she left, his outstretched hand found his way to his lips, grazing them.

What just happened?

Was that really how they shared their first kiss?

Reo certainly couldn’t complain.

Matchday 4. Done.

Tetsudo 1 – Hinami Pirates 4

A/N:

Tetsudo player visuals are up! Thanks for reading!