Release

Walking along the road, Sho admired the forest surrounding him. Before this he saw a sign saying that he was 28 miles (45 kilometers) away from Suruga Ward.

Sho unknowingly felt rather calm jogging down the unfamiliar road. He put earbuds in his ears and began his 6 hour jog back to Suruga. Halfway through the jog Sho found a bus stop and decided to catch his breath there.

Pulling the earbuds from his ears he immediately heard the numerous birds in the trees. As he caught his breath, he saw a white sedan driving closer and closer towards him. Sho got up and frantically began waving his arms up and down in hopes of stopping the car.

The car slowly came to a halt a few feet in front of him. The passenger window slowly rolled down as Sho subsequently approached the car. A girly voice came from the driver side of the car and said

???: "You need a ride?"

As Sho came into view from the window, he inaudibly said something, unfortunately the driver didn't bother listening to what he had to say. Instead she took more interest in Sho's blood red hair and deep heterochromatic eyes.

Sho: "Did you hear what I said?"

???: "Sorry, I must've not heard you. What did you say?"

Sho: "I appreciate your offer but I'm heading to Suruga, Shizuoka."

???: "Funny enough, I'm heading in that direction as well."

With a smile, the driver invited Sho into her car, to which Sho reluctantly agreed too. He put his backpack in the back of the car and sat in the passenger seat.

Before she drove off, she introduced herself and said

???: "Oh I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Teieri Anri just call me Anri, and you are?

Sho: "Shihoin Sho."

For most of the ride both Sho and Anri talked a little about themselves, their likes, dislikes and as fate would have it, the pair came upon the topic of football.

Both of them went on a tangent, it started with Anri talking about the ways to make Japan win the world cup, then Sho about how he will become the best player in japan which caught Anri's attention almost immediately.

Anri pulled into the nearest parking lot she could find which happened to be near a bookstore and was about to ask Sho why he wanted to be the best in japan but Sho interrupted her and said

Sho:"You can drop me off right here. If you want you can come to the bookstore with me, I want to grab some manga.

Anri unbuckled her seatbelt and kindly agreed to accompany Sho into the bookstore. In the store both Sho and Anri went in separate directions. Sho went straight to the Manga Section and grabbed the first volume of Choujin X, while Anri went to the light novel section and grabbed the first 3 volumes of Monogatari. At the checkout Anri insisted on paying for everything.

Anri: "You can go out to the parking lot and wait for me, I'll be there in 2 seconds."

While Sho was leaving the bookstore, Anri took out a pen and scribbled something on Sho's manga and stuffed it back into a plastic bag. After she did that, she went out of the store and said

Anri: "I had a lot of fun today. Thanks."

Sho: "You got my mind off of a lot of things, so I should really be thanking you."

Sho took one last look at Anri's neck-length brown hair, chocolate-brown eyes, and cute smile. He took the plastic bag from her hands and slowly walked off out of her view.

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For the rest of the weekend Sho was unusually quiet around the ryokan.

In the blaze of a Monday afternoon both Yushiro and Yoruichi have concerned looks on their faces as they watch Sho walk down the street with all of his football gear on. Sho spent most of the weekend reading Choujin X, and sleeping which was out of the ordinary, especially for Sho.

Yourichi knew something was wrong as soon as he returned home from Kamagasaki. He had this look of contempt in his eyes. She asked if he was alright but Sho never spoke about what happened, she could only hope he'd overcome whatever he experienced.

Sho walked onto the filled Shizuoka Gakuen bus, with blank thoughts as he took the closest seat from the bus driver. Sho ignored every other distraction on the bus and for the first time in 3 days he only thought about football. For the rest of the bus ride, Sho's teammates conversed with one another till they landed at Akikawa Stadium.

Every player from Shizuoka got off the bus and made their way into the stadium to their locker room. In the stadium you could hear the sound of bands reverberating through the walls, even the occasional scream from the 2,569 fans.

In there own room, Coach Kataoka yelled out each students name that was going to start and their position

Coach Kataoka: "Abari Jin you'll take the usual goalkeeper position. Ren Hayato you'll take the fullback position."

As the coach began calling out each starter, Matsudora Kenji, the star player with blond long hair and golden eyes, began preparing.

Coach Kataoka: "Shihoin Sho, you'll take Kenji's spot at the striker position."

The third year starter almost immediately began protesting, complaining, and asking why he wasn't starting the first game of the year, to which the coach said

Coach Kataoka: "Kenji if I put you in there it'd be overkill. Akikawa Academy's a good team but I need you next game."

Kenji's quietly accepted defeat as he walked out of the tunnel, towards the bench. As the coach began telling every player the strategy, Sho closed his eyes, and suddenly was thrusted in front of a dilapidated door with countless chains holding it shut. Each chain from big to small carried an eerie, almost unnatural aura about them. A key instantaneously spawned into his left hand, as he gravitated towards a hazy lock. As soon as he unlocked the lock, he returned back in the locker room, nearly breathless.

Coach Kataoka: "Alright let's go out there and show 'em who's boss."

Sho's calm and calculated eyes slowly turned more and more demented with each step towards the field. With a maniacal grin he entered the stadium, ready to finally let loose.

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Please read author notes if you're confused at all, and if you still are please ask me.

Next chapter: || Kiri ||