Inazuma Eleven 3, Book 1 : Morning Twilight

Chapter 6 : Holy Road Begins! Vs Seidouzan!

Two Weeks Before Holy Road Begins

Mika began to run a few small laps to warm herself up in the Raimon stadium before practice began. Despite two weeks passing since she had first rejoined the team, their teamwork had not improved so she didn't have high hopes for the match, considering Seidouzan's excellent match history during the pre-season. Despite not making it to the Holy Road finals last year they could still be considered a strong contender for the Block C top two.

"Um– Mika. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for last year, when Akuma-senpai and the others were giving you a hard time. I should've...."

Mika turned to look at the golden-haired boy who was babbling about something to do with Akuma-senpai or whatnot. As usual, he looked like a pitiful puppy who had just been kicked to the side of the road and Mika just sighed. Galahad always was a strange one spouting whatever he pleased but she did owe him for everything he did for her last year.

She was quite troubled by the conversation she had heard two weeks ago while eating at an upper-class British restaurant the other day with one of her tutors.

"People are always looking for ways to bring down others and the instant you show weakness is when they'll pounce...

"Who are you to judge my life anyway! I've always done my best to make the decisions that I believe are right..."

Mika was surprised at first to see Galahad enter the restaurant with the renowned Edgar Valtinas and hadn't intended to eavesdrop but it was physically impossible to not pick up some fragments of their conversation while she got up and walked past them to use the bathroom. Judging by his poor performance at practice today and the fragments that she had heard, Mika quickly came to the conclusion that there was something that he wasn't telling her. Moreso, because he looked uncharacteristically agitated at the restaurant and had almost never raised his voice in front of her before.

After practice, as she laid on her bed at home, a troubled expression took over her face. His words kept bouncing around in her head.

9 Months Ago, Holy Road Preliminaries

"Mika, you should bring this up with the coach! Akuma-senpai and the others are deliberately not passing to you! You were the only one unmarked and they still insisted on passing it to Akuma-senpai instead. If you hadn't taken the ball yourself and scored we might not have–"

"And what would that accomplish Galahad?" interjected Mika with her usual unbothered expression.

"......"

"Despite their vulgar language and crude behavior, Akuma-senpai is still one of the top forwards in the nation and his group also consists of members who are much more skilled than any of the second string players we have currently. In the end, the final decision is up to them whether or not to pass to me and even the coach can't force them to act otherwise.

"But..."

"Do you think that Coach Kudou hasn't noticed? Coach Kudou is one of the most sought after coaches in the world. His silence means that he expects us to work it out amongst ourselves, not whine to him about inconsequential problems. As long as I can score, it doesn't matter what the rest of the team does. Soccer is just a means to improve our standing in society and winning is just a means to an end."

Mika turned to look at Galahad who had a clear look of distress on his face, seemingly not content with her answer.

"Why do you care anyway? You should be focusing on your own problems, I'll deal with mine."

"......"

"I can't do that...because we're..."

Galahad hesitated a bit before going on, with a flustered expression arising on his face.