너는 최고야 ! [ You Are The Best ! ]

23. if at once you fail, get up and try again

"Kidou! I knew you weren't the kind to give up so easily!" Endou was ecstatic to have Kidou on the team. Of course he believed in his team as is, but Kidou would definitely help a lot on the field. . . Although he didn't seem to realize that a new addition to the team would require a lot of changes. Everyone would have to get used to the new player, it wasn't going to be easy.

Not everyone was happy with Kidou joining Raimon. Shishido had to be benched, which didn't sit well with Kabeyama, Kurimatsu, Shourin and Handa. 

Park didn't know what to think. She didn't mind Kidou joining the team to beat Zeus for the sake of Teikoku, at least he cared that much about his team. Although she didn't get a chance to talk about Sakuma and Genda about this - she didn't know Kidou made this decision. Hopefully they didn't feel betrayed.

The start of the match was rough. Everyone was of their game and far from in sync. This was never a problem before, but now passes were too wide, too strong or too weak. Afraid to leave the goal, Park stayed put in her place in case she was needed to help stop any shoots.

"Shine Drive!" A forward from Senbayama shot the ball towards the goal, a blinding light catching Endou off guard.

"I got this," Park slid in front of the goal, "Daebak!" The whitette used her signature block. She drove a foot against the ball, and then drove her heel against it, the sound of glass shattering both times. The ball flicked backwards, and Endou managed to safely catch it.

Kidou watched everyone carefully, and finally came to a conclusion. Ten minutes was all he needed to analyze everyone's stats.

He gave advice to Kurimatsu to take a few steps forward, and to Matsuno to make a few counts before passing to certain people.

"Park." Kidou walked over to the white haired girl, who quickly straightened up.

"Yes?" Park raised her brows a little.

"Why are you hesitating?" His question caught her off guard. The boy crossed his arms, giving her a stern look.

"I-I. . . I don't know. I didn't realize I was hesitating." The whitette trailed off, her eyes averting to the side. As far as Park knew, she was giving it her all.

"Your passes always connect, and yet you're staying back here in the defense line. You're a libero aren't you? Raimon's only libero." Kidou tried to figure out what her issue was, and it soon hit him. "Place some more trust in the rest of the defenders. . . And in Endou. They can handle the goal, so start attacking some more."

"I will." Park felt as if she was being scolded, even if that wasn't the case. "Thank you." At that, she went back to her place on the field.

Park didn't think she had trust issues, she believed in Endou - and yet Kidou said she wasn't trusting him enough. Perhaps it was subconsciously. It weighed heavily on her mind, but she wouldn't allow it to affect her plays.

While everyone was playing, Kidou barked orders that always ended up to work. Whenever a shot was made towards Endou, he would pass the ball out to Park, and she'd carry it up the field. The whitette was nimble enough to slip past any slide tackles, and she'd pass the ball over to Matsuno or Handa. If they were in a pinch, they'd pass right back to her and without blinking an eye, Park would volley the ball over to someone else. After helping carry the ball down the field, she'd slowly make her way back to the defense line.

Dragon Crash and Dragon Tornado weren't enough to get past Senbayama's defense.

The whistle was blown for halftime, and Raimon all went to the bench.

Kidou gave out some more orders to Someoka, but Handa immediately protested.

"Wait a second! Are you sure we should be pushing Gouenji back? That's not our soccer! Someoka and Gouenji are our two-top! That's our soccer!" Handa balled his hands into fists, staring Kidou down.

"You don't understand, do you?" Kidou responded bluntly. "This is the Football Frontier. This is no time for happy-go-lucky soccer. This is serious."

"Handa, it won't be like this forever. Let's just listen to Kidou for now." Park gently held onto Handa's upper arm. "I know you're upset, and I'm a little upset too but. . . We have to win this. We've come so far. Let's keep giving it our all." Her gentle voice was enough to calm the brunet down a little bit.

"Let's try it, Handa." Endou gave the boy a bright smile.

". . . Fine." Handa wouldn't argue with his friends over this.

The whistle blew for the second half.

The Inazuma Otoshi, and Hoono no Kazamidori didn't work. Neither did Mira Strike or Inazuma Ichigo. It was thought that Raimon tried everything. Everyone's morale was fading, the whole team looked gloomy.

"What's the matter, everyone!?" Endou piped up. "Why are you all looking so depressed? The match isn't over yet!"

"But we can't get past the Infinite Wall. . ." Kabeyama muttered.

"We really do need a stronger hissatsu." Domon added.

"We have a hissatsu!" Endou always had that look of determination on his face. "Our hissatsu isn't Hoono no Kazamidori, or Inazuma Ichigo. It's our passion to never give up! If we give up, that's the end. . . I won't give up!"

As always, Endou's pep talks got to the whole team.

"We have five minutes left. Let's do this!" Kidou shouted, and everyone agreed.

In the end, Gouenji, Kidou and Endou came up with a new hissatsu - the Inazuma Break. The shot broke past Infinite Wall, and made it into the goal. After that, Someoka scored with his Dragon Crash, and Raimon reigned victorious.

"Here." Kazemaru handed a can of diet Pepsi to Park, who gratefully accepted it. Kazemaru and Handa had paid for their own soda, but Kazemaru wanted to be a gentleman and buy one for Park. She always bought soda for him and her, so he wanted to stay repaying the favor.

"Thank you!" Park smiled at the boy, a contagious one that made him smile as well. The three teens went ahead and took a seat under the shade of a tree.

"Today's game was crazy." Kazemaru took Park's soda and opened it for her, even though he full well knew that she could open it on her own.

"When I first saw Kidou, I was honestly a little mad." Handa admitted, only because he knew his friends wouldn't judge him. "I knew he changed, but still."

"It's okay, I know what you mean." Park sympathized with him. "I just hope he talked to his Teikoku friends about this. I mean, I wouldn't want them to be angry."

"I'm sure they're okay with it. Otherwise, Kidou wouldn't have done this." Kazemaru pitched in.

"I guess you're right." Handa took a sip of his soda.

"Are you alright now? I'm worried about you." Park inched a little closer to Handa, her brows furrowed a little. The brown haired boy blinked his eyes in confusion, before smiling at her.

"I'm alright. Thank you, Park-chan." Handa chirped, reaching a hand out and patting the girl on her head.

"That's good. I'm glad." Park chimed.