Accidental Reverse

Chapter 8

Hey guys! You can count yourselves lucky, for this chappie is 8000 words instead of the usual 5000~! Anyway, enjoy!

~'0'~

The moment the whistle sounds, Tenma races forward. He might not remember every match he played, but it would take a lot to make him forget this.

Mannouzaka's forward, a boy with long, light grey hair whose name is apparently Shirato (Tenma mentally thanks the commentator) moves towards Raimon's half of the field. The brunet grits his teeth as he passes a shocked Shindou, already seeing Tsurugi move.

'If Tsurugi gets the ball it'll be too late!'

Just before Raimon's forward can steal the ball from Shirato and score an own goal, Tenma is there and manages to weave through the two forwards in a mix of speed and grace, stealing the ball from between them.

He turns to Tsurugi. ''I won't let you destroy Raimon,'' he says quietly, so quiet only the navy-haired teen can hear it. Said navy-haired teen grits his teeth.

''You can't stop me,'' he hisses furiously.

Tenma's eyes soften in sadness as he passes to Shindou, his thoughts going a mile a minute. 'Did I do the right thing? Did that own goal of Tsurugi have an effect on Raimon's willingness to fight Fifth Sector?'

He sighs, deciding to let it go for now and focus on the match instead. Shindou is currently running towards Mannouzaka's half, but the captain of the other field is already there, stealing it from him. ''Isozaki steals the ball!''

Tenma moves to interfere, his eyes widening in realization when he sees the look in Isozaki's eyes. ''Not again...!''

Instead of trying to face Mannouzaka's captain, the time traveler scans the field. There. Forward Shirato is running over the right side of the field, making eye contact with his captain.

And between them stands Hamano.

Without a moment to lose, Tenma runs towards the dark blue-haired boy, seeing how Isozaki seemingly makes a pass. 'Just a bit faster!'

He reaches Hamano just in time, seeing the ball curve towards his teammate, who will definitely get hit. That is, if Tenma didn't jump in front just a moment before it reaches Hamano and kicks the ball forcefully, only a few feet from his teammate.

The ball falls on the ground, rolling away a few feet. Tenma glares at Mannouzaka's captain for a moment and then turns around to look at his teammate.

Hamano's eyes are wide open in shock and his mouth opens and closes as if he wants to say something yet not knowing what. The brunet smiles weakly at him. ''You okay?'' he asks, concern clear in his voice.

Something in Hamano's brown orbs shifts as he nods mutely. ''Y-yeah, fine,'' he mutters, frowning slightly as he stares at Tenma's face.

'Okay... if there's one thing I know, it's that he didn't act like that before...' the time traveler frowns slightly at the strange look in Hamano's eyes but then pushes the thought to the back of his mind and instead turns around again to look at the rest of the field. 'As I thought. Even though Tsurugi didn't score that own goal, Mannouzaka is still going to hurt us. Crush us.'

He's shaken from his thoughts by some of Raimon's other members, who are now surrounding them. ''What was that?'' asks Kurumada, obviously shocked.

Tenma crosses his arms and frowns. ''I knew it,'' he whispers softly as he sees Isozaki's annoyed look.

''Knew what?'' asks Shindou, who heard him. The brunet faces his teammates again, hesitating for a moment. ''Tenma, what is it?'' asks the game maker again, a shadow in his eyes.