Third

"Otonashi-san, should we start calling the boys?" Said the violet-haired cheerfully. The younger navy-haired nodded.

"Hai. They must be tired from training so early in the morning." Both managers hurried on to the field after preparing brunch, "Where is Megane? He should help us with these."

"Oh, he said he had better things to do."

Kino Aki

I was watching over the team when a sudden call was heard.

"Kino-san!" I looked over and saw Haruna and Fuyuka from afar. I already knew the meaning of the gesture on their faces.

"Minna! Time for a short break!" I shouted, but no response. I looked at our captain, who didn't put much of a cheerful smile on his face.

"They must be going too hard on themselves." Haruna was already standing right next to me. I took a glance in her direction to find his brother, the playmaker, who didn't seem any different from the others. At my other side was Fuyuka, who suddenly made a small yelp.

"Do shita no?" I asked. She pointed in a direction

"Nani?!" Haruna was as surprised as I was.

Endou Mamoru

"Kazemaru!" I yelled out his name as he stumbled on the ground after being cut by Fudou. I left the goal and ran to them.

"Fudou, watch your plays!" Kidou was half-yelling at him from afar, also running towards them, only to find Sakuma approaching Kurimatsu.

"Kurimatsu, you had trouble receiving my pass," he stated coldly. That made me stop. When I glanced at Kidou, he also stopped his steps.

"Sumimasen..."

"Kazemaru, keep up the pace, will you? I know you could've dodged that."

"I know, ugh..." He was still holding on to his leg.

"Kazemaru-san!" The others started to come.

"Drop the act and get up already! It's nothing." Sakuma wasn't joking, but that made Someoka step forward.~ I have a bad feeling about this ~.

"Watch your words, Sakuma! He literally got hurt in the previous match! Don't you remember?!"

"He has bad eyesight, you know? How can he tell?" Fudou started to speak up.

"Nani?!" Only, it seems that he accidentally got into Sakuma's nerves.

"Hora! He only uses 1 eye all the time."

"How is that an excuse?!" Someoka's starting to lose his temper.

"Relaxe! All we need to do is get this eyepatch off. Come on, Mr. Pirate!" he tried to reach out to grab it, but before he even got close...

"Yamete!" Sakuma slapped his hand away with his left hand and used his right hand to cover his eye. He seemed a bit...scared...,"I-I'm out of here." He started to walk away. I soon realized Kidou's signal on me. He wanted me to keep an eye on the team while he went after his friend. I nodded in agreement.

"Minna, do shita no?" I finally made it to them, pretending not to know what was going on.

"Kapten!"/"Endou!"/"Endou-san!" they started calling out my name. It's either that they're surprised or glad to see me. But I didn't pay much attention to that. I kneeled down to check on Kazemaru.

"Doijobuka?" I already knew that won't help, but that's all I can think of.

"Hai." He nodded with a short reply. Sounds certain, but not at the looks of it. Hiroto broke the sudden silence.

"That tackle earlier must've made the injury yesterday getting worse." He said with a flat tone. Unfortunately, that made Someoka realize.

"Oi, Fudou!" The boy he mentioned had already walked away to the other side of the field, "Kuzo!" He reflexively kicked the ball into the air. Once it landed, it rolled over to a very familiar figure who was standing next to Megane.

"Fubuki!" I felt so relieved that there's finally something to get us out of this intense situation. Everyone rushed towards him, congratulating him on his return. Tsunami insisted on holding on to Kazemaru for support. But, little did we know...

"Kurimatsu, you're going back to Japan." Our coach just had to bring out the news.

"Nani?!!" None of us agreed on this. Cause Kurimatsu was one of the reasons we managed to score a goal in the previous match. Soon I understood that he had injured his leg yesterday too. It was best for him to head back and rest. Even Someoka encouraged him to return and train hard so he could get back to the team. It's just like what he thought of when he wasn't chosen for the team at first. Kurimatsu nodded in full agreement-it's not over yet!

Kidou Yuuto

Long Story Short...

"Arigatou, Mamoru-kun."

"Un?"

"I couldn't have done it if it weren't for you."

"Heh, don't mention it." I just smiled. Turns out the main purpose was to get all 4 of our minds off soccer for a while. Endou was the first one to realize it. And now, we're finally on our way home, but Sakuma hasn't talked much. He hasn't even said a word to me either.~ Maybe he's still thinking about his eye ~.

- Flashback -

"Sakuma!" I managed to catch up to him, "Sakuma, what happened back there?"

"It's nothing," he held on to his eyepatch.

"I know you never want to talk about that, but you can't hide it forever." I took down his arm that was holding on to it, "You can't do this alone, Sakuma." I could feel his hands trembling, so I tightened my grip on his arm, "You can trust me. I promise I won't tell anyone. I just need to know what's going on." I tried to convince him.

"Kidou, ore wa..." He ducked down and started to talk, "I'm blind..." I didn't say a word and tried to stay calm as if everything was normal, "My right eye's useless. That's why I decided to cover it up. Demo..." He stopped for a moment, "That's it... I don't know what happened. I've worn this ever since, but I don't exactly know why." He lifted his head with a cold expression, "But I'm sure I was able to see clearly before. So, honestly... I've always wondered..." He ducked down again, halfway, touching the eyepatch with his shaking hands, "What happened to my eye?"

- Reality -

"Kidou! Sakuma! You're falling way behind!" Fudou shouted, bringing me back to reality.

"Hai!" I hurried ahead.

"Never knew you could be such a slow pock." I smiled at Endou's joke. I didn't want him to notice I was thinking about something.

"Here it comes!" Fuyuka pointed at the bus heading for us. It seems that we're heading back home.

"Oi, Kidou, aren't you forgetting something?"

"Nani yo, Fudou?" He smirked at me.

"Are you just going to leave your friend standing there?" He pointed behind us. Sakuma was a bit far away from us, looking at the sky.

"Sakuma, the bus is almost here!" Endou called, but he doesn't move an inch, "Are? What's gotten into him? Kidou, should we go back for him?" I didn't answer.~ Why isn't he responding? ~. Endou started looking up at the sky randomly, "It's not about to rain, is it?"

"Sometimes rain's not the only thing falling from the sky, you know?" Fudou's words shocked me. I finally realized that we were standing near the construction site. I looked up and saw some wooden boards attached to a cart with a rope. I heard squeaking noises as the cart pulled up slowly. But, suddenly... Crack!~ Nantekotta?! ~.

"Sakuma!" I rushed over to him.

"Kidou, yamero!" Endou followed me.

"Sakuma, hashire...!" As if I just snapped him out of daydreaming, he looked at me with an unexpected expression. He didn't seem scared. It's as if he wasn't thinking about himself, but was more worried about me. It's as if he wanted me to stay back and let him take the fall.~ Like I'd let you- ~. I reached out my right arm to his neck while my left arm was holding on to his head. Cause I saw Endou make an early jump, grabbing his body under his armpit, so I knew I had to protect his head. With full force, we managed to push him out of the way. I could hear the boards fall behind us.~ Yatta! ~. People started heading to where we were lying. We slowly got up.

"Kidou-kun, Mamoru-kun, daijobu?" We nodded, "Yokatta... Ano, Sakuma-kun?" He was still lying on the ground with his eyes closed, coldly sweating, pale. "Shouldn't we try waking him up?" I didn't want to even try. I knew what was happening, but Endou just had to try.

"Sakuma, daijobuka? Sakuma?" No answers.

"Don't just stare at him! Call an ambulance or something!"

Fudou Akio

Ugh... I just had to step in. Okay, they did save him, but he turned completely frozen afterwards. Seriously?! The coach came pretty long after our cool down, but at least he's just in time to talk with the doctor, a really long talk, before we head back to the dorms. Fuyuka seemed frightened, and Endou kept reassuring her that everything would be fine. I couldn't care less-Kidou hasn't even said a word. Probably starting to blame himself for not realizing the situation sooner. It's a good thing I agreed to tag along.

"Kantoku!" He finally said a word, standing up from his seat. We all did the same thing.

"He just needs to rest here for the night." Well, that's good news. We were worried for nothing. "You can check on him for a short moment. Dozo!" Coach Kudou opened the door he just walked out of. Kidou was the 1st to enter, followed by Endou and Fuyuka, while I'd rather wait by the door.

"Sakuma." He was in a sitting position.

"H-Hai." That's weird. Why did he seem so awkward when Kidou called him?~ It's as if he doesn't know him ~. I shook that sudden thought out of my head. That can't be true, right? Coach tapped Kidou's shoulder, then turned to Sakuma.

"Can you tell me who this is?"~ Nani?! ~

"Ano..." Sakuma held his head with his left hand while his right was clutching the hospital blanket he's using, "O... Gomenasai... I can't think of anything." Why am I always right so far?!

Endou Mamoru

"Post-traumatic amnesia?!" Coach Kudou told us everything after we checked on Sakuma and introduced ourselves. We're already on our way back, leaving Fuyuppe at the hospital. She insisted on watching over him.

"Also known as PTA. It's the episode after a period of unconsciousness when the injured person is awake, but acting in an uncharacteristic manner. Sometimes it causes the person to lose their memories for almost a week. Some even reach a month."

"So, if he doesn't remember us, that means he doesn't remember anything about soccer. Kantoku, does that mean Sakuma can't play soccer anymore?!" Kidou was more surprised by my statement than I was. I understood his feelings-they're best friends.

"It's the sad truth, but we'll have to face it. There's not much we can do." Our ride back became randomly silent. Coach was only watching the road ahead, Fudou was acting like he didn't hear a thing, and Kidou... I decided to smile and pat him on the back.

"Endou." He looked at me, a bit concerned.

"Shinpaishinaidekudasai! I'm sure Sakuma can manage. And we're going to help him, right?" I raised my palm to a fist, "We'll start small, then he'll get all his memories back."

"Endou." It's as if he wasn't listening to me.

"Ne?"

"For now, let's not let the others know about this!" He seemed serious. I took a quick glance at the couch.~ He didn't seem to have a problem with it~. So, I smiled once again at him.

"Wakatta, if that's what you think is best to start with, I trust you. You've known him longer than I have." He finally let out a small chuckle.

Sakuma Jirou

There's nothing to see. Everything's just... dark. I don't even know who I am or where I am. All they told me was just my name and all this team and soccer stuff. I don't remember if I ever played soccer before. Man, this is giving me a headache! By body kept quiet, but my mind was racing all night. I had these strange visions in my head, but I couldn't quite make out their faces. The harder I try, the more my head wants to explode- I decided not to think at all. Don't know how long this has been going on. It's just too complicated.

"Sakuma-kun, are you awake?" I heard a girl's voice, but I didn't answer immediately. As if I've really just woken up. Maybe I actually did have some sleep, so I guess I was dreaming-those visions can't be real. I opened my eyes after she called for the second time. I looked at her, trying to remember her name...

"Kudou-san?" she smiled at me.

"Yokatta... I'm glad you're okay. I got a little worried when you didn't answer me." She stopped for a moment, "My father's the couch, and I'm your manager. You don't have to be so formal. So, just call me Fuyuka."

"Hai, Fuyuka." I stated coldly, but she smiled even brighter, "What will happen after this?"

"We're going back to the dorms so you can meet up with your team," I remembered the 3 boys yesterday, the brown-haired one shouted...

"Sakka yaroze... who was his name again?"

"Endou Mamoru. He's your captain." I thought for a moment.

"So, am I supposed to call him with his first name or his last name? How do I usually call my teammates?" I still tried to remember things, but nothing seemed to pop out.

"I'm sure they won't mind if you call them however you like. They're your friends after all."

"Friends?" I know she’s not lying, but I just don't feel that way anymore.~ I have to get my memories back! ~.

Third

"Endou, what happened yesterday?" Gouenji's question had Endou off guard.

"Oh, yesterday? Not much." Not willing to answer the question as he drank some water.

"If you say so." He started to drink from his water bottle, too.

"Minna, let's get back on training!"

"Hai!!" Kidou wasn't moving from his spot.

"Kidou, we're going to practice. Aren't you coming?" Kazemaru asked, but he just shook.

"I'll just watch." He just frowned, starting to walk away to another bench not far from there. Kazemaru wanted to ask more, but Fubuki called.

"Kazemaru-kun, I came up with a new hissatsu technique, but it's going to need a lot of speed."

"Well, I think I can help with that." They went to one side of the field while the others were at the other side. Endou understood how Kidou was feeling, so he just left him alone, letting him clear his mind. But, not for long...