Chapter Text
“Nekketsu Punch!”
Endou’s high-pitched voice echoed through Raimon’s football pitch as he dove to his side, his closed fist meeting leather ball as he rebounded it out of the penalty area, sliding across the fake grass before rising off the ground, ready for another shot.
“Nice one, Someoka!” The bandana-wearing brunette yelled with a huge smirk on his face, giving the pink-haired forward a thumbs up as he planted his feet down, awaiting his teammate’s next shot with a face full of determination, and dirt, but mostly determination.
“There’ll be no rebounding this one!” Raimon’s number nine responded with a clenched fist of his own, determined to get this next shot in the back of the net as he raised his foot “DRAGON-” SLAM-! The forward’s foot smashed against the ball, charging it with blue energy as he aimed towards the center of the goal: aiming to pierce right through the goalkeeper “-CRASH!” A draconic roar boomed across the pitch as the shot tore through the air.
Training sessions weren’t supposed to get this intense at Raimon, but those two always did push it far. Both Endou and Someoka hated losing way too much to ever give up on scoring or saving shots respectively “I’ll stop it!” He punched his palm before pulling his hand up, charging his hand with his own golden energy before unleashing- “GOD HAND-!”
It was a struggle of course, Someoka’s shots hit like a truck, but Endou wasn’t Raimon’s brick wall for nothing. And even if it pushed him back enough to dig a trail across the grass, the bandana-wearing goalkeeper still stopped it. With the ball resting firmly in his hand.
“That was great!” Raimon’s captain bellowed, grinning even wider than before as he put the ball under his armpit “You even made my hand all numb! I’m sure whoever’s our next opponent will definitely-”
“THAT WAS AMAZING!” A deeper voice interrupted, bringing both players’ attention towards the interloper: A boy with short messy hair, a whole head and shoulders taller than both Endou and Someoka, with a huge grin on his face standing on the edge of the pitch. His height wasn’t what intrigued Endou though: That guy was wearing a goalkeeper’s uniform! Complete with gloves!
“Hey there!” The brunette waved, “Are you a new student?”
“A new stu- No Nothing like that-” The taller boy scratched the back of his head sheepishly, approaching the two middle schoolers “I’m from Shizuoka! I go to school there!”
“Whaaaaat?” Endou suddenly breached into the taller boy’s personal bubble, grinning up at him with stars in his eyes “A football player? And you’re a goalkeeper!? You must be super good! Can you show me what players from Shizuoka play like? Please!” Ever the football head, the brunette didn’t even wait for the older boy to introduce himself before somehow roping him into doing penalties with Someoka, who was eager to show off his skills against an older player, with said player not even having introduced himself yet. That was fine though, this was how football players act like, right?
“DRAGON-!” Raimon’s number nine raised his leg backwards as the ball charged up once more, with the goalkeeper having a sudden sense of deja vu “Wait- Don’t tell me he’s gonna-” “-CRASH!!”
The shot tore through the air with spin to spare, sending the older goalkeeper in a frenzy: ‘What the hell are they feeding middle schoolers these days? That shot looks like a dragon!’ Was the only thought he could afford before suddenly diving forward, both hands gripping hard on the ball as it spun against the inside of his gloves.
The spin was in fact so much that the ball bursted upwards and out of the goalkeeper’s clutch, with the older boy clumsily scrambling to catch it.
Both middle schoolers were left varying degrees of shocked and… disappointed, they thought an older player would be amazing at football! And- Well it’s impressive that he saved Someoka’s shot with his bare hands but- Endou expected something more…explosive! Like a big special move!
Raimon’s number nine felt equally mixed, was he supposed to be angry his shot was saved or impressed he sent an older kid scrambling like that? He wasn’t really sure to be honest, all he did know was that he wanted “A retry!”
“Huh?” Both Someoka and the older kid were shocked at the bandana-wearing goalkeeper’s sudden shout “Try it again! I’m sure you can get it right this time- Whatever your name is!”
“Hey! Why are you encouraging the enemy!? I’m the underdog here!” Someoka yelled back, fist clenched in anger, to which Endou only responded with a sheepish grin.
“Enemy…?” The messy-haired goalkeeper asked as his back slumped, before sighing “My name’s Yuzo, Yuzo Morisaki-” He introduced himself with a smile, kicking the ball back towards the two middle schoolers “And- I’m from Nankatsu! We won the regional tournament just a year ago!” He puffed up his chest with ill-fitting pride, it felt humiliating to laud over his team’s winnings over a bunch of kids. But it was even more humiliating to be encouraged by a middle schooler!
“Your team won your region’s football frontier?”
“What’s a football fron-”
“Enough!” Someoka interrupted the two, raising his foot once more “I want that retry! This time I’m putting you in the back of the net with the ball ‘champion’!” The pink-haired forward taunted, eyebrows furrowed as he arched his leg even further back “DRAGON-!”
Oh no.
Morisaki quickly got his eyes back on the ball, planting his feet firmly against the ground and lowering his stance. Seriously, this kid’s shot felt just like Hyuga’s all those years back! What the hell were they feeding these kids!?
He tried his best to look at the forward’s legs as he readied up the kick: Where was he going to kick? The center again? The side? Was he gonna try and punt a shot through him or was this a feint!? God Wakabayashi would have already caught this- “-CRASH!”
Damn it- No time for thinking about it!
“Just hit me somewhere- Please!” Morisaki shouted to himself as he closed his eyes, throwing himself forward with his arms spread out, hoping to get in the way of the shot with a desperate hail mary- “GUH-!” Which worked! Someoka’s dragon crash nailing the upperclassman’s chest head on, spinning against his kit before rebounding upwards once more! Hitting the crossbar and sending the older goalkeeper into the net. Without the ball.
“That… was kind of pathetic” “-and cool!” Endou quickly added to what his teammate said, rushing to the aid of the fallen goalkeeper, offering the older player a hand “That was really brave of you, getting in the way of Someoka’s shot like that takes guts!”
Guts, eh? That wasn’t quite as good as being a genius goalkeeper though.
“I guess so-” Morisaki scratched the back of his head sheepishly, helping himself up without the aid of the younger boy - he wasn’t quite that old yet, thank you very much! -and dusted himself off “You can never be scared as a goalkeeper! The ball is your friend!” Morisaki stated with a serious expression, only to then blush when the two kids looked at him like an insane person “...the ball is your friend?” Endou tilted his head like a confused animal “-Well, I should let you two get back to training! this was silly haha- Ow- '' Yuzo clutched his chest, man that boy did a number on him!
With that, the upperclassman turned away from the two, waving them off only for Endou to bellow once more “Let’s play again, mister champion!” The brunette grinned widely, with the other goalkeeper’s face softening. At least he was nice, as embarrassing as having been shown up by two kids was “Remember this one, kid!” - Man, he never even asked him his name! -”The ball is your friend!”
Endou Mamoru has acquired: Desperate Resolve!