|| A Rare Recurrence ||

"I'd say I was upset, but I'm not—later." Otoya smiled, thinking about the road ahead. "Hey, wait up for me."

He jogged in Sho's direction, entering the winner's gate, leaving his fallen comrades to think for themselves.

"Fuck, I would've slaughtered them if you've just passed me the ball." Baro angrily yelled while grabbing the collar of Bachira's shirt, "You're just a shit underling that doesn't know when to bow before greatness."

He looked into Bachira's now devastated eyes and sighed.

"You really are hopeless," said Baro, easing the grip off his collar.

He stomped off the field towards the loser's gate and aimlessly said, "Join me when you're ready to win."

But just before entering the loser's gate, he peeked over his shoulder and watched as Bachira stood unmoving in the same position, immediately pitying him.

'Why do I feel like I'm missing something important.' Thought Bachira, as a tear threatened to fall from his eyes. 'I couldn't even create a chemical reaction... like Sho and Yukimiya did. If I lose the next one—that'll be it for me.' Bachira surveyed the area, confirming no one was in earshot before a spine-chilling scream left his body.

Bachira erratically breathed in after that scream, then began gathering himself while he wiped a stray tear from his cheek.

After his episode, he got up and loosened the laces to his cleats.

A sigh of relief escaped as Bachra followed Baro's footsteps leading him to the loser's gates. A sensor detected his presence as the gates automatically opened, revealing a medium-sized room in the shape of a pentagon, with a big black star painted on the floor. Robust, uncomfortable chairs also littered the room as Baro remained in one silently, closing his eyes, thinking to himself. Bachira sat in a chair and, without delay, the gates to the second stage opened, revealing a tall player with pitch-black hair. His long hair matched both his painted nails and his piercing eyes.

"This isn't very stylish, is it?"

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"You think he made the right decision?" Asked Yukimiya.

"... Yeah, I don't think he'd be the one that would play favorites."

Karasu closed his eyes before leaning back into the cold concrete walls. Silence filled the air until both Karasu and Yukimiya heard faint footsteps from across the narrow hallway.

"So Sho, you've been in there for a while," it had been a few minutes, "Who'd you get."

Yukimiya's voice echoed through the narrow hallway as Sho entered his view. Sho gestured the ok sign as Otoya peeked over his shoulder. After he caught Karasu's gaze, Otoya walked ahead of Sho and waved in Karasu's direction. As they approached the end of the hallway, Otoya reintroduced himself to Yukimiya, while Sho noticed the sign above the steel gate they were about to enter.

'Second Selection, Fourth Stage, Entrance.'

Sho pushed the steel gate ahead of him and held it open for everyone else as they set foot in the slightly bigger room from the previous one. As they entered, one of the many ninety-inch monitors in the room turned on, revealing Jinpachi Ego.

Everybody gave Ego a staredown before they wordlessly sat in the many comfortable chairs littering the large pentagon-shaped room, giving Jinpachi their undivided attention.

"As you can see, no one has yet to join you in this stage of the selection so. You'll follow the arrows towards your living quarters from the 'Breakroom Gate,' then return here in exactly eighteen hours from now."

With that swift statement, the monitor hastily turned off before anyone could let off any questions.

"Well, that was short, sweet, and to the point." Said Yukimiya.

Everyone got up from their seats and followed Jinpachi's orders, following the painted arrows on the floor, towards the 'Breakroom Gate.'

The group passed the steel gate and walked down the hallway until the hallway broke into three different sections.

"It looks like we're a little ahead Sho, you wanna get some practice in," Yukimiya said, looking towards the sign titled 'Practice Fields,' "you guys can join too."

"I don't mind—I've got a few hours to kill," Karasu chuckled in response.

"You can count me out— I'm going to get something to eat, then hit the hay," Sho interjected in their conversation as they began to make their way towards the practice field.

He took a sharp left towards the dining hall, as everyone else wore confused expressions.

"Are you sure, Sho?" Shouted Otoya, sounding a bit worried.

Sho kept on walking down the narrow hallway and only waved his hand, gesturing goodbye. He kept walking until the sensors on the dining hall door sensed him and automatically opened up for him. Sho looked at the open space filled with steel stools and tables and kept walking towards the inviting smell of fresh tonkatsu near the kitchen.

"Excuse me, ma'am, could I get tonkatsu and miso soup?" He asked, noticing her in the kitchen.

"Of course, young man, I'll have it out in three minutes." Said an old lady with a laugh.

Sho kindly laughed with the old lady before sitting near the closest empty seat. He rhythmically tapped the steel table with his fingers while thinking of the previous match.

'I managed to score twice that game and assist Yukimiya and Karasu. I even formed a chemical reaction with Yukimiya. ' Sho thought, 'Now I need to form a chemical reaction with Karasu and Otoya.'

"Young man, I need to grab a few more ingredients in the back, so give me one more minute. " Shouted the old lady, rushing through a nearby door.

'Only a minute.' Sho thought.

Getting up from his sitting position, he swiftly made his way towards the kitchen and leaned up against the window, admiring the near-infinite utensils spread throughout the kitchen.

"Well, if it isn't Kamagasaki's own!" An odd but familiar voice said from behind Sho.

He frighteningly didn't move as that voice made his blood run cold. Before he could turn around to greet his old friend, the old chef opened the doors from the back of the kitchen, bringing the rest of the ingredients. She quickly finished preparing the rest of his tray and brought it up to the counter.

"Are you alright honey, your skin looks pretty pale?" She asked, noticing the frightened looks in his eyes.

"Yea Sho, are you alright? It looks as if you've met a ghost," remarked an unknown player from behind Sho.

"I'm fine." Sho said, grabbing the tray of food, then turning around to meet his long-forgotten friend, "yea Ryuu, it seems I have met a ghost."

"Oh, don't say that. How can you forget about little ol' me?" Muttered Ryuu.

"Well, it has been nearly a decade. What do you expect?"

Ryuu looked at Sho from top-down and spoke in an unconvinced tone, "Not much to be honest."

The tall spiky brown-haired player ushered Sho towards an empty table and brought up the reminiscent past as they took their seats.

- (Flashback) -

A short brown-haired kid rushed away from his home, running towards the one spot he could be himself, the slums.

After ten grueling minutes, from running through the hidden alleys, cutting corners, hiding from the townsfolk, he made it; his little safe haven in the slums, his concrete playground.

In a well-kept corner of his concrete playground rested Sho, laying under some newspapers, sleeping the day away. Ryuu happily walked over to his sleeping figure, bent over, and lightly nudged him awake, introducing him to the day.

"Good morning Sho. Luckily last night's rain didn't last long; you ready to practice." He smiled, holding a ball up to his cheek.

- (Flashback End) -

"Then we practiced all day long. I miss those days so much." Ryuu sighed, reminiscing about the old days.

"Yea, we had so much fun," said Sho, " I'm honestly pretty surprised to see you. I visited Kamagasaki for a day a few years back but didn't run into you. I checked the usual spots and thought you forgot about them. Where were you?"

"I remember that day like it was yesterday. I hid from you," said Ryuu in a low, deep, and spooky voice. The smiling expression on his face, though, didn't match his tone.

"What do you mean?" Sho asked, bewildered by the comment.

"I hid from you. I remember watching as you got off the train and entered your dad's apartment, then left there with this horrible look on your face. I heard he borrowed money from some shady people and wasted it all gambling. No wonder they killed his sorry ass," he paused, "Well, besides, the point, I came here to reminisce and strengthen my resolve. I'll meet you on the field tomorrow," Ryuu smiled, leaning forward.

"This time, I'll leave you behind, just like you did me."

With those departing words, Ryuu turned his back on Sho, leaving him to himself. Sho robotically threw away his now cold, untouched food and spent the rest of the night in his room. Thoughts of the spiky brown-haired player flashed through his mind, thinking back on his time with him—even thinking about long-forgotten memories of the time he spent with his dad. All that thinking drained him faster than he expected as sleep overtook him.