3 Weeks Ago, Zeus Northern Forest Path
Bang Bang Bang
Khronoa dodged the falling leaves from the shaking trees that had just been hit fiercely by the ball that was still zig zagging its way along the path of dark trees. With the forest lit only by the last rays of the setting sun, shadows flickered upon her face as she silently chased after the ball. Khronoa's lungs heaved up and down laboriously as she raced along the steep forest trail while the distance between her and the ball rapidly increasing until a loud 'thwunk' indicated the ball had finally stopped upon hitting an imposing evergreen tree.
"Hah..."
Running her left hand on the cracked and rough bark of the tree, Khronoa's eyes drooped melancholically as the ball rolled along the roots of the tree with the wind.
Was all of their efforts up to this point for naught?
It seemed like no matter how hard they tried, they would never be able to overcome the gap between them and Outei Tsukinomiya, or more specifically, the 'Child of Soccer' Tamaki Takashima...
Khronoa had never felt such...distance from another person before. Even with their upgraded individual hissatsus, they still hadn't been able to stop Tamaki in the slightest from soloing them with his perfect individual plays. And so, Khronoa wasn't able to suppress the doubt inside of her that was telling her the practice she was doing right now was futile.
Giving the ball a half-hearted kick, Khronoa muttered despairingly,
"It's not useless...right?"
Drowning in the waves of helplessness that were washing over her, Khronoa didn't notice the ball flying back in an arc towards her and let out a small 'Oh' as the ball swirled in front of her feet.
Looking upwards, Khronoa found herself staring at a tall, well-built man, possibly in his late twenties or early thirties and stood out due to his clearly foreign features.
"You dropped this, young lady."
Khronoa bowed quickly in apology with one hand over her chest, and let her hair fly over her face while she respectfully replied,
"I'm sorry for troubling you. Thank you for returning it."
Not hearing a response, Khronoa peeked through her strands of hair and was surprised to see the man had sat down along the big tree and begun staring upwards at the pink-orange sunset.
"Japan is very beautiful, isn't it?"
Unsure whether or not the man was simply musing to himself or seeking a reply, Khronoa nodded politely and decided to comment,
"Yes, it's very beautiful..."
Hmm
Letting out a sigh, the man took in a deep breath through his nostrils and stretched his arms like a cat before turning to Khronoa and giving her a kind smile.
"Do I sound too much like an old man?"
The man laughed at himself heartily and continued,
"It sure does bring back memories, being back in Japan..."
Eyes glazing over nostalgically, the man stroked his chin while looking at the ball, now resting at Khronoa's feet.
"I saw your match the other day with Outei Tsukinomiya, it was a great game! It looks like Japan's soccer continues to have a bright future with talented young players like you, young lady...or should I say Ms.No 10."
Feeling her face flush with a strawberry pink tinge, Khronoa closed her eyes tightly and waved her hands in front of her face hurriedly.
"No...no...That's very kind of you sir but I'm really not that good at all...And we still ended up losing in the end so...."
YOU ARE READING
Inazuma Eleven 3, Book 1 : Morning Twilight
Action(Can be read Fandom Blind) 5 Years after Raimon won Holy Road, Tenma has now graduated and a new generation begins their journey at Raimon Jr.High After last year's defeat, one boy is determined to get Raimon back on track and earn the championship...
