CH 1.6

One week later. I and Touya were in the finals of the Tokyo Metropolitan Tournament.

If we won this game, we would advance to the national tournament. And I might get into “Teijo High School” with a special recommendation.

Incidentally, Touya and I had both been to the Tokyo tournament before, including elementary school, but had never been to the national tournament. So it was only natural that I wanted to win, but I was sure that Touya wanted to win too, no matter what it takes.

“Kenji!”

“Nice pass, Takanashi!”

I carefully received the pass from Takanashi.

Like in the previous game, Takanashi was usually so-so to me, but he still gave me passes. I guess it meant that he acknowledged me in some ways.

“Kinu~! Do it! Go for it!”

I heard Ruri’s energetic cheering, as usual. I’m a passer, so I can’t go for it… but her cheering still gave me strength.

This was the most important match, but my mind was surprisingly calm.

“Kinu! This way!”

Touya called from the front. The score was tied 0-0. It was overtime again.

It was almost the same as the previous game.

“Don’t let their forwards get the ball!”

And the opposing team tried to surround me with multiple players, just like in the previous game.

But if I pass the ball to Touya, he will always score. That was how we always had won.

If our soccer team made it to the national tournament, there was a chance that I could get into the special recommendation slot of Teijo High School.

With that thought in mind, I calmly assessed my opponent’s moves. Then, I found one of the enemy players surrounding me with a wide open crotch and an opening.

I don’t always go for the between the leg pass…But if that was the best option…

“Touya!”

I called out my best friend’s name and kicked the ball out to pass under the crotch of the player with the gap.

But the enemy player quickly closed his legs and stopped the ball.

“! No way!”

“You’re looking too much at my crotch. It’s so obvious.”

The player who stopped the ball said to me, who was surprised.

I’ve done it. I thought I was calm… but I was in a hurry to win in the end.

“All right! We’re going to go all out from here!”

The captain of the opposing team gave the order, and all the other players ran to the front, leaving a few defenders behind.

“H-Hey! Hold on!”

I chased after them, but I couldn’t catch up with them at all because I’m tired from the overtime.

But I was sure they were just as tired as I was… how much stamina do they have?

“Everyone hurry back! We must defend our goal!”

Takanashi instructed, and all our teammates tried to get back on the defensive.

However, the enemy team’s players were too fast on the offensive, and one by one they were overtaken.

And then — in the end — the opposing team’s forward even got past our goalkeeper and took a shot.

The final game of the Tokyo Metropolitan Tournament. The last game of the middle school tournament was lost because of my mistake.