On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Ratoniik IV

"Welcome to the cosmic soccer world! Today on the planet Ratoniik is Grand Celesta Galaxy's semi-finals! The match between Ratoniik versus Earth Eleven is brought to you live! Don't miss it!"

"Now that we brothers are here, you've already won. You guys can go take it easy and prepare for winter."

"Whoa! That was a good one, Ryugel-nii!"

"Listen closely, Gandales. This is what you call 'taking your hat off'."

"Oh! Ryugel-nii, you sure know complicated stuff! As expected of Ryugel-nii!"

Shindou did his best not to sigh as they watched the two new aliens on the pitch. They were clearly not locals, "You mean 'taking the helm'..." Nor were they bright.

"Those are the helpers this time?" Ibuki muttered, not sounding very impressed.

"There are two this time." Minaho smiled.

"They don't seem very impressive." Tetsukado said in a laid-back tone.

"You can't separate the Baran Brothers. While their speed is off the charts, they're both real' stupid, so fooling them should be easy. I'll just lay low and stay back for the next match."

Kimiko remembered Manuuba's words well, though she thought he was exaggerating about their stupidity. It seems that wasn't the case, which means...

"We shouldn't underestimate them." The words left her lips before she could think, which in turn made everyone turn their heads to her. "Maybe their brains aren't their strong suit, but if they have enough brute force to make up for it, then..."

"You really think they're that strong?" Sakura asked.

"Is it because of your mind-reading powers?" Shinsuke chimed in.

She shrugged. "It's just my experience talking. We've met a ton of crazy strong soccer players who are complete dumbasses in this one school year alone, you know?"

"Language." Shindou cut in sternly. "Really, I could've sworn you didn't use to curse this much. What happened?"

She gave him a wry smile at that. "Have you ever spent a night alone with Zanark Domain?"

"... Can you at least tone it down? You're being a terrible influence."

"Who the heck sees me as a model figure when I'm the youngest of everyone here?"

"Well..." Surprisingly, it was Ichikawa who cut in. "You are our trainer, Kimiko-san. We all do look up to you in some way or other."

"Yeah, but I'm with Kimiko on this one." Ibuki went and slung an arm around her shoulders. "Loosen up, Shindou. Our parents aren't around to tell us what we can and can't say." He then smirked. "Or do you want us to start calling you 'mom'?"

"It'd make us Earthlings look bad in front of the locals of this planet."

"As if they're listening."

We're really having this argument before the semi-finals, huh... She sweatdropped slightly, but it was also a relief. At least no one is panicking anymore. We've come a pretty long way.

"Oh, oops!" Ibuki suddenly jumped, letting her go. "Sorry about that! Got a bit too comfy there!"

She blinked. "What? You mean with you practically chokeholding me? I don't really mind."

"Yeah, you don't. But someone here does."

"Wha...?"

"Sorry, Tsurugi!"

All eyes turned to Manuuba, who immediately looked away. It was clear he was taken by surprise by the sudden dump in attention. "Whatever..."

Ibuki chuckled. "Oh shit, he's mad."