A little into their second year of high school, the Raimon Soccer Club were on their way to the Holy Road finals. Then the car veers off the path, and they dive into the valley, where the car rolls off the cliff into the verge, and no one survives.
...
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El Dorado comes back online, and the effects of that is visible rather quickly across the mainland. But the clearest is how patience is wearing thin among most.
The kids will have to truly figure out the damage done to their strikers later.
For now, Endou has had enough.
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"Ichino, I'm going to die."
"Hayami, calm down, take a breath."
"No seriously I'm going to die."
"Will you stop dying if I give you candy?"
They had to get Hayami out of there with bribes of salt candy, a hot towel, and the promise that the bench might be more comfortable than the grass. Probably.
Akane got there first to inspect his injuries, but she couldn't be bothered to lift him away so she just got on her knees, put a towel over Hayami's face, clapped twice, and prayed.
Ichino would have to go back in to take his place.
"Let's stop breaking the sound barriers next time," Trainer Zaizen chuckles, lifting Hayami like a princess and depositing him by the managers. "Last time someone did that, they broke their eardrums."
"I thought we promised not to bring that up again," Coach Endou sounded offended. "Kazemaru and Midorikawa got a whole week walking around Liocott with the signs of shame for that stunt they pulled."
"It was the funniest thing," Trainer Zaizen emphasized.
Ichino did not look assured. With one glance and nod to Kirino, he took a breath, and braced himself to step on the field as the referee signaled the player substitution.
"Ichino," Kirino calls. "Just do what you do best, alright?"
Ichino falters at that, "how I am supposed to know what that means—" but the whistle blows and his feet jerk forward, and he runs toward his position.
Shindou greets him as Hamano raises a thumbs up and Tenma waves, and Ichino tries not to be nervous all over again. He may never get over the jitters of being on the field.
It's hard not to be. He's inarguably the weakest player on the field at the moment.
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Meanwhile on the mainland, in Rairaiken which has been reserved for the day— Tobitaka is out, which means El Dorado has taken over.
"You should've come to us immediately," Hiroto sighs. "Planning to mindfuck the country and not asking me to join? I'm offended."
