Best joke in Orion, hands down

Kirino must have visited Shindou in the hospital, so here’s a missing scene. :)

-

‘Yes,’

There it was again.

‘I do think Tenma is the best choice as captain.’

A slight quivering of the bottom lip. A tremble in his vowels. Above all, he kept looking away. At the sheets, out the window, at the wall, anywhere but Kirino’s eyes.

‘I agree.’ If Shindou didn’t want to do it, Kirino wouldn’t push it. He only had to avoid saying anything that would incite any further-

‘Don’t lie.’ Shindou still didn’t look at Kirino, which wasn’t helpful in trying to place this comment.

‘What are you talking about? I do agree with you.’

Shindou shifted gaze from the wall to the window again. The breeze was playing with the leaves of perfectly trimmed trees, lining the hospital garden. Then he sighed. A shaky sigh, that hovered dangerously on the edge of being a sob. Or was Kirino hearing things?

‘Kirino, you have all qualities of a captain.’ Those unstable vowels were definitely no imagination. ‘The way you lead the defence, it’s...’

Kirino shifted in his seat, trying to think of what to say. It would be a lie if he said there hadn’t been a moment, however small, insignificant and ridiculous, he thought the coach would name him. Kirino, leader of the defence, master of the mist and Shindou’s right hand man. Only, then it would have been Kirino, leader of Raimon. When Tenma’s name was called instead, that moment had passed. Rightfully so. Because that was it, wasn’t it? Kirino put his hands on the side of the bed and leaned forward.

‘You’re wrong. I don’t have all the qualities of a captain. You know what I miss? I miss his spirit. And so do you.’

A twitch of the muscles in Shindou’s neck was the only response.

‘That’s why we fell prey to Fifth sector, you and me. We don’t have it, that fire inside of him that sets all hearts ablaze on the field. That’s what’ll lead us to victory. That’s why he’s best fit to be captain.’ Kirino then looked outside too. Some kids were playing with a ball. The weather was nice out, so he lifted himself up from the chair he sat in. His hands buried themselves in the mattress and the bed creaked.

‘Not that I wouldn’t have rather played with you.’ he added, though a little late, while opening the window to let some fresh air in. The kids down below held a match of who could keep the ball high the longest. Their giggles were audible now, as both a solemn reminder of the stakes for Raimon and a reflection of the very soccer they wanted to play. Kirino held the windowsill while trying to make sense of that thought, until he heard an actual sob behind him. Quickly, he spinned around.

‘Shindou.’

‘No...’ The captain shook his head, tears in his eyes. He looked at the kids again from the bed where he sat. His voice was high with emotion.

‘I can’t cry. Not now-’ But his objections were stifled by another sob. He shut his eyes and the tears finally rolled down his cheeks. Kirino shot back to the bed and simply sat on his knees beside it. Meanwhile Shindou still tried to stop crying and wiped his eyes feverishly.

‘I’m sorry.’ he whispered, but Kirino would have none of it.

‘Just let it go,’ he softly pushed, ‘I know you’ve been keeping this in. For coach Endou, for Tenma.’

‘I was quite successful.’ Shindou smiled weakly. His voice broke awfully easily.

‘But you don’t have to. Certainly not with me.’ And that was the last thing Kirino said for a long while. Shindou cried. First he buried his face in his hands and his shoulders shook. Then he looked at the ceiling and murmured, between jaded breaths ‘I want to play. I do. If only I hadn’t- If only, but-’

When Kirino put a hand on his shoulder, his breathing got irregular and his lungs desperately fought for air as his tears fell again, tears of frustration and desperation and all pent up things he couldn’t get rid of. His collar became damp and droplets hung from his nose and chin. Finally, after an eternity, he just blankly stared at his legs and let his red eyes dry up. That was when Kirino pulled his hand back.

‘Thank you.’ Shindou’s smile was no longer weak. It was the smile of a player that had just finished a particularly difficult training. ‘I needed that.’ His eyes shone not only from reflecting the sunlight, but also from a happiness that surely laid in the trust he put in Raimon and its current captain. Kirino returned his smile with equal trust.

‘We’ll fight with you, Shindou. You’ll be with us on the field.’

Shindou nodded. ‘And, Kirino?’

‘Yes?’

‘Send the captain my regards.’

Still waiting for Ninjago to make a switched powers episode.

A small story for Jaya day

-

‘Zane!’ Jay slammed the refrigerator shut. ‘Didn’t we have strawberries?’ His yelling was heard halfway around the monastery, as Zane promptly responded from his bedroom.

‘Lloyd took them!’

Jay let a sigh escape his lips. Nya chuckled behind him. She opened the cookie jar on the table, but closed the lid with as much force as Jay had closed the refrigerator with before.

‘No cookies left either. Also, I think I heard Sensei complain about our lack of honey?’

‘Well, honey,’ said Jay, ‘I think we should do the groceries.’

‘Good idea.’ Nya narrowed her eyes and smirked. ‘sugar.’ Giggling, they went to get a bag and money.

Cole stopped them in the hallway. ‘Hey, you’re going to the supermarket? Any chance you could grab some juice and some sunflower seeds?’

‘Sunflower seeds?’ Jay asked, clearly puzzled.

‘Not for me, for Pixal. Although I’m not sure she means for eating or planting?’

Jay and Nya exchanged a look. ‘We’ll, uh, get the edible ones,’ Nya promised. She pulled Jay with her and they slipped past Cole to the door.

Before long they were on the road. ‘Jay, could you make a list of what we need to get?’ Nya queried, without taking her eyes off traffic.

Jay scoffed. ‘Only if you let me drive on the way back.’

‘I guess we’ll make do without a list, then.’

‘Hey! I can drive perfectly fine, flour.’

Nya almost steered into another car. ‘Flour?’

‘Yeah,’ Jay grinned, ‘like honey and sugar. Flour!’

Nya only shook her head. ‘Whatever, sparky. We’re here.’ She parked the car and took out the keys, putting them in her own pocket while looking Jay dead in the eye. He begged her.

‘Please! Let me drive on the way back. I haven’t in forever, no one lets me.’

‘And that’s for good reason.’ Nya took his hand and started to the entrance of the supermarket, a large, bulky building with neon letters above the doorway. Even in broad daylight, Nya could see those letters flicker. ‘Jay.’ She tried to sound authoritative. He chuckled. ‘Jay, you can’t do that!’ Her tone revealed she wasn’t all that serious.

‘Let me drive!’ he pleaded again.

‘That’s a ridiculous offer. Those aren’t my letters. I don’t care whether they light up or not.’

‘Allright, I’ll make you a better offer.’ With that, Jay went inside. The letters stopped their flickering. Nya followed him, but when she entered the store, Jay was out of sight. She walked past the vegetables and grabbed some strawberries in the fruit aisle. As she put the box in the bag she was carrying, she caught sight of a blue-clad figure in the corner of her eye. He disappeared behind a rack of soda.

It looked like he was planning something, so she decided then and there to plan a prank on him as well. There weren’t many customers around, so she pretended to study the different kinds of pasta while she summoned some water from a tap behind the cheese counter. Carefully she moved the water past the counter and kept it close to the ceiling. Never did she stop looking at the spaghetti. The blob of water came closer and closer, until she lowered it into her bag. She kept her grip on it and let it hover above the strawberries. Then, she went from aisle to aisle until she found Jay, who was clearly wondering what kind of honey to buy.

‘Nya, do you have any idea what honey we usually have? I know it’s just honey, but there’s so many kinds...’

‘I think it’s this one.’ She took the jar she pointed at off the rack and carefully put it in the bag, without touching the water that she still kept hovering.

‘Thanks, egg.’

‘Egg? I’m an egg now?’ Jay pressed a quick, playful kiss to her cheek.

‘Yup. Next you’ll maybe be butter.’ Then he jumped off again. ‘I’ll find Cole’s juice, you find some sunflower seeds!’

The seeds were easy enough. There was only one kind. Nya just hoped she wouldn’t find Pixal trying to sow them anytime soon. Nothing would grow out of roasted sunflower seeds. The water was still hidden by the bag.

She found Jay again, who’d gotten juice from apples, berries and oranges. ‘Do we need that much?’ Nya said, skeptically.

‘Better have enough. Here, let me put that in the bag.’ She pulled it away from him, startled.

‘No! Um, I better put it in. I have a system!’

‘A system? Isn’t it just heavy things below, light things on top?’

‘It’s exact science! Now give me the juice.’ Instead of putting the bag down and putting the juice cartons in one by one, thus risking Jay seeing the water, she took the cartons with her powers, moving the water inside the beverages. Carefully, she put them in the bag. Jay was now the skeptical one. He didn’t say anything, but Nya could see he suspected something. He studied her from top to bottom, before suggesting to get the cookies. ‘My dear half a tablespoon of olive oil.’

‘Your what now?’ Too late. He’d walked off again. Sure, he was onto her, but he was planning something too. Shaking her head, she followed him to the chocolate chip cookies. After taking three packages and Jay adding one more because, ‘You never have enough cookies,’ they finally went to the cashier and payed.

‘But, mix for five minutes to a fluffy batter, won’t you really let me drive?’ Jay begged again. Nya was focusing on handing the cashier the right amount of money, so she didn’t respond. ‘C’mon, pour into baking mold and distribute evenly!’ He was getting ridiculous, but now she was putting everything back into the bag, still avoiding the water bubble she hid in it.

‘No, I won’t let you drive, Jay. And calling me names won’t help!’ She couldn’t help the smile that played around her lips and the light she was sure was visible in her eyes. They left the store. Jay had finally stopped asking to drive.

Nya pulled the car door. ‘It won’t open.’ She put the bag on the street and pulled the door again. ‘I did unlock the car, right?’ She used the keys again and tried to open the door with both her hands. ‘It’s stuck. Is it opening on your side?’ Jay was smirking. He didn’t try to open the door on his side.

‘I think the car wants me to drive it.’ He walked over to her. She eyed him as he opened the driver’s door without a problem. Then it dawned on Nya.

‘You were obstructing the electric signal! You, you,’

‘Say it.’ Jay encouraged, while he stepped in the car, in the driver’s seat. Instead of speaking, Nya took the water out of the bag. He’d pay. Jay’s eyes went big, but before he could escape, she’d soaked his shirt and pants, carefully distributed so nothing spilled on his seat.

‘Very well,’ she laughed, ‘you can drive.’ He didn’t object, he only sulked in his wet clothes. Still silent, he started the car.

It was only on the way back he chuckled again, when Nya laid her hand on the still moist fabric of his pants as he drove and said ‘I love you, bake for 25 minutes.’

‘I love you too.’

A little something between Shindou and his mother.

-

Shindou played what felt right. It wasn’t instinct per se: he’d practiced this piece many times before. It was very volatile. Occasionally he’d all but smash the piano keys when he was in a particularly frustrated mood. Sometimes the notes were soft and quiet, like the peace that would settle inside him. Either way, the music followed his will.

His heart jumped when his mother picked up on the notes and began playing on her violin. She tried a few ways to play, and finally settled on something that wasn’t exactly like Shindou did it, but that resembled it in such a way it became more than the sum of its parts.

His mother had insisted he’d choose the piece.

‘We haven’t played together in forever,’ she’d said, ‘in fact, I haven’t played for an eternity.’ This was proven when she’d taken out her violin and had to wipe away gathering dust. His mother had acted surprised, but behind that she seemed ashamed of the off-key strings.

Shindou didn’t blame his mother for rarely playing with him. She was a busy woman. Besides, playing in solitude was a lovely way to end the day. Still, there was something about the duet that touched him.

Maybe the slight screech in his mother’s melody, more proof she had abandoned the instrument for too long. Perhaps the odd way he was leading her like he lead the soccer team on the field. His mother followed him, as long as they played, not the other way around.

All too soon came the end of the piece and with it the end of the music. The note his mother held was slightly too lengthy and wobbly. When at last it was quiet in the room, she shot him an apologetic smile.

‘I must practice some more. Oh, I can see it in your eyes and you’re right. I will, you know. Your playing is different. More free than the last time I heard it. More lighthearted and spirited. Almost like a wind...’

She kept smiling as if she knew, but she couldn’t. He hadn’t told her anything about Fifth Sector, about the revolution, about Tenma. He’d kept quiet about the wind blowing from Raimon, stirring inside his heart. He watched as his mother put away her violin and got up to leave.

‘Let’s play again, shall we? Next time I’ll choose the music. I’ll make sure it’s something, well, revolutionary.’

His heart skipped a beat.

The runaways kids having the same age is hilarious to me, it’s like their parents simultaneously had a few months off of killing people and were like ‘Let’s PROCREATE is what I’m saying’

It’s Ichino and Aoyama! Our favourite benchwarmers.

-

Aoyama had only been walking home from school, already imagining the wonderful dinner his mother would have ready as he arrived. The sun had been setting, the suburbs silent with a long, content sigh. Orange and purple painted the sky bright.

He was soaking in all this beauty, when a single sight ruined it all. The soccer field by the water. It stung his heart and seemed to reprimand him. Why, Aoyama, did you abandon me? Soccer of all things. But when he remembered Tsurugi Kyousuke, his fearsome shoot as he wiped everyone clear off the field, he shivered and balled his fists. He was afraid to play, and angry at himself for his fear. It seemed as if soccer were chasing him, determined to make him feel guilty about it.

It was then he noticed a silhouet by the water. Covered in the broad shadow of a viaduct he sat, his face turned to the water, his arms wrapped around his legs as if to defend himself from a great evil by sitting very, very still. Aoyama approached carefully, with the futile wish to not be heard until he was close. His footsteps on the concrete path gave him away, however, so he called out anyway.

‘Ichino.’ His friend barely moved. Only a slight twitch of the shoulder revealed any notice at all. So, Aoyama sat down beside him, and tried again. ‘Ichino.’ It wasn’t a question per se, more an acknowledgement that indeed, they were both there, and indeed, Aoyama would not leave again until he knew why his friend was sulking by the water. Ichino didn’t respond. Maybe he just liked the silence, so Aoyama remained silent too. He marveled at the orange and purple reflecting on the watersurface. Refused to think of the soccer field behind them. Wondered what his mother would be making for dinner right at that moment.

‘I was captain.’ Ichino suddenly said.

‘Yes,’ was the only thing Aoyama could say. The statement was true, after all.

‘But now I’m not.’ In the corner of his eye, Aoyama swore he could see Ichino lower his eyebrows.

‘No, you’re not.’ Again, this was the truth.

‘Is that why you’re here?’ Ichino shrugged, a minuscule movement, again only of the shoulders. His arms remained tight around his legs.

‘I suppose I just felt a little worthless.’ The shadow of the viaduct seemed to cause a chilly cold that ran up Aoyama’s back and down to his very toes. He kept quiet, knowing full well that would spark more of a confession than questions ever did.

‘I was captain, I was supposed to protect my team. But I failed you. Now, I can’t even see a soccer ball without my guts twisting-’ Ichino’s sudden break in his sentence and the shudder that went through him made Aoyama almost think he was crying. But there were no tears; only the cold of the viaduct’s shadows and the orange and purple of the sky. ‘So you see, I’m worthless.’

Then how come you’re not? Aoyama wished to say. But that didn’t exactly cover it. ‘Ichino,’ he began instead, ‘failing once doesn’t make you worthless. It doesn’t even make you a failure.’

‘I did fail pretty spectacularly.’ It had not slipped past Aoyama that Ichino hadn’t looked him in the eye yet. So he crawled in front of Ichino, who kept looking away. He took his hands from his legs. Now Ichino looked at him.

‘You’re not worthless, silly. Because you didn’t-’ Give up. The words got stuck in his throat. They did give up. They quit soccer. They were both guilty of that. The soccer field behind them seemed to swell with judgement. Aoyama rephrased his statement a little. ‘You’re not worthless, because you faced it head on! You could have run, the moment Tsurugi stepped onto the field. You didn’t, though.’

Ichino smiled wearily at him. ‘I suppose so.’ For the both of them to admit they turned their backs on soccer would take some longer. Wounds need time to heal. One day, they promised themselves, one day they would kick the ball again, surely.

Aoyama pulled Ichino to his feet. ‘Why don’t you come have dinner at my place tonight? I’m sure my mother doesn’t mind.’ Ichino nodded. They left the shadowy fields beside the viaduct and went away, as did too the orange and purple of the sunset.

Have some Inazuma doodles

Inazuma eleven go headcanons

(The more lighthearted version)

- Nishiki and Midori are crazy competitive around each other. They will fight one another with almost every game in existence. Once, Midori lost to Nishiki in arm wrestling and spent the next few weeks training diligently. She then challenged him again and beat him. Nishiki’s still being teased about it.

- Aoyama loves writing, but he rarely lets anyone read his stories. Ichino has to beg Aoyama to show him things he has written. It’s all kinds of writing too: journal entries, short plays, the occasional horror story or poem. One day, Aoyama hopes to write a book.

- Hayami knows a lot about code. Kariya asked him to teach him some things about coding websites, claiming it was for ‘a school project’. Of course it wasn’t, and soon enough Kariya had made a website solely for posting embarrassing pictures of the Raimon eleven, including Kurumada mid-sneeze and Kirino being hit in the face by a soccer ball. Needless to say, Hayami stopped teaching Kariya how to code, but the website wasn’t taken down.

- Which by the way led to Akane asking Hayami how to code a website as well. Akane made the exact same website as Kariya, but with her best pictures of the team instead of embarrassing ones. Everyone was very grateful for this.

- Shinsuke for some reason likes crossing his eyes. He finds it hilarious, but several people have warned him it can cause a permanent squint in the long run. Shinsuke ignores this completely.

- Hamano tries to Rickroll everyone all the time. Only Tenma and Hikaru still fall for it.

- Tsurugi refuses to use public transport. He walks absolutely everywhere. Nobody dares ask why, though there are assumptions.

- There’s an ongoing discussion in the team about the right way to put toilet paper. The most recent part of it was Midori yelling ‘the unused space between the wall and the paper is ridiculous, put it against the wall!’ and Sangoku hollering back, exasperated, ‘but it will get stuck and be harder to pull! Don’t put it against the wall, it’s wrong!’. Important to note: this was during training. Sangoku was in the goal, stopping shoots while arguing with Midori, who stood at the sidelines. No one batted an eye.

- Did Shindou and Kirino do a ballet class together? Shindou and Kirino did a ballet class together.

- For learning better balance and gracefulness to use while playing soccer, of course. Why else?

Inazuma eleven go headcanons

- Kurama’s parents divorced during his first year at Raimon. He didn’t take it well, and the only thing keeping him from breaking down were Hamano and Hayami. They got him out of the house and distracted him, often by playing soccer.

- Hamano’s family has five children, one being a baby. His mother has a hard time taking care of all his siblings at once, while his father works fulltime, so sometimes Hamano takes over night shifts for his youngest sibling so his mother and father can sleep. That does result in a very tired Hamano the next day. The team usually notices and cuts him some slack at training.

- Hayami would never admit it, but he secretly loves being at Hamano’s house. Hayami doesn’t have any siblings and being at Hamano’s always makes him feel like he does.

- We all know and agree Kurama has a pet snake, but Ichino has a pet lizard. Actually, Ichino and Aoyama have a pet lizard. Once, they had to do a project for school on reptiles. They went to multiple experts on the subject, one of which owned a few little lizards and offered them one. They immediately fell in love with the little thing. Its terrarium is in Ichino’s room, but Aoyama takes his responsibility and regularly comes over to clean said terrarium.

- Hikaru’s parents forbade him to look at their keepsakes in the attic. He suspects it’s because they’re from his uncle.

- Tenma’s grades started dropping when he spent more and more time training. And Tenma is nothing if not honest, so he told his teachers exactly why he wasn’t doing his work so well. As a solution, his teachers decided to team him up with an older student, who turned out to be none other than Akane. She is a very gentle teacher, of course, and with her help Tenma finally did better in school. Akane took photo’s of Tenma during their study sessions, which she showed the team once. Everyone agreed it was hilarious to see Tenma finally understand a math problem.

- Shindou’s mother plays the violin. He loves playing with her, though sadly she doesn’t have much time for that. With how rarely it happens, Kirino only witnessed it once. He told Shindou it was truly magical.

My exchange fic for @forelsketparadise. I hope you like it! I certainly enjoyed writing this.

-

The match against Tengawara was supposed to be lost. Aoi knew that. They weren’t supposed to score any goals at all, so no one had bothered even practicing for today. Except Tenma and Shinsuke, of course, who she knew would fight ‘till the end.

Shindou promised to fight, but he wasn’t doing anything. She looked on as Kurama missed a pass and found herself writhing at the thought of losing, already, so early in the tournament. Like Tenma, like Shinsuke, she wanted desperately to win.

Something shifted beside her, visible in the corner of her eye. It was Tsurugi who crossed his legs the other way. She turned her head towards him a little, pretending to be looking at the corner of the field, but in reality she was studying him. Ever since the match started, he’d been looking on almost stoically, as if he didn’t really care. She knew better; every time Tenma made a move on the Tengawara team, Tsurugi’s cloaked shoulders twitched slightly and when Tenma actually stole the ball, he crossed his legs the other way.

She wished to know what hid behind his stiff physique and studded attire, but until she’d get the chance, she would keep counting how many times he crossed his legs again.

-

They won. They actually won. For a moment, Tsurugi had thought he felt soccer itself course through his veins. A ridiculous thought, but he couldn’t deny the euphoria in his tired limbs as they walked off the field, their team, Raimon, winners of the holy road.

Beside the field they were congratulated by their coach and their managers. He kept his face in line as his eyes crossed those of Aoi. He knew she had felt their every emotion. She was like that. She could feel the waves of exhaustion and sparks of hope that went through the players during the match. Her heart beat as much for the team as any other’s.

So, in her eyes now gleamed the same euphoric joy he felt, but unlike him she showed it. She laughed and cried and hugged Tenma and told everyone how proud she was.

Their victory was briefly banned to the back of his mind while another thought took hold of him: I wish I were the first she’d hug.

Wait, what? He went over that again. Did he really want that? Yes, he wanted Aoi to look through the sea of faces just to catch and keep his eyes, to smile at him and tell him how proud she was. It frightened him. He’d never thought such a thing before. Aoi was nice, more than that, she was sincere but not someone he’d have such feelings for, right?

He decided to discard the entire idea out of panic and to never feel such a thing again. He pulled himself together and his focus went back to their victory as Tenma pushed the trophy into his hands.

-

How strange life can be. Only a while ago, Aoi lived the life of a relatively normal teenager, may it be as the manager of a rather impressive soccer team. Now, she was a princess in the world of King Arthur, hiking through the mountains in a dress, with the knights of the round table, to fight a dragon. At least the knights were the same soccer team she managed.

It was hot and they had been walking for hours. She was starting to get tired, debating whether she should address it, when Tsurugi came to walk beside her. ‘Hey, did you see how Tenma has been?’ he began. She had noticed. Tenma looked permanently as if some heavy boulder was put upon his shoulders. And she knew why. Tenma didn’t think he was a good captain.

‘Yes, I have noticed.’ She looked Tsurugi in the eye and saw his plea. Don’t make me say it, understand without words. He gave her that look more often. Tsurugi preferred to use less words over more. Most people couldn’t see what he meant by just making eyecontact, but she could. Something told her he liked that.

And now, he wanted her to go talk to Tenma, which she had been planning on doing already, so that was no matter. However, she spotted something else. An expression that shot over his face just one second and disappeared right thereafter. Had she seen it right? Was it adoration?

The path became steeper and she had to look away to prevent stumbling, but she was now hyperaware of his presence beside her. Was that another message? The, how to describe it, love she read on his face? Or was it accidental? And even so, had she interpreted it wrong? What concerned her the most was that a bubbling in her chest started to rise. Involuntarily the idea of feeling love, of all things, for Tsurugi surfaced and she wasn’t even repulsed by it.

She made a decision then and there: if Tsurugi showed any more signs of interest, she’d move as well. If not, she’d surpress her feelings and remain perfectly fine friends. She looked beside her, but Tsurugi had fallen back.

-

‘Soccer, I love you!’ Tenma yelled at the ceiling. Everyone at the extraterrestrial ceremony turned their heads. A very Tenma thing to say, that much was true.

But his cry had awoken something inside Tsurugi: the word love stirred a familiar sensation. Suddenly he felt Aoi stand beside him, Tenma’s flower crown on her head, smiling softly at their captain. Why hadn’t I thought to give her my crown? Tsurugi thought. Or would that have been weird? The mere thought of Aoi’s thankful smile made him want to fiddle with the hem of his shirt.

I love you. The phrase had been on the tip of his tongue for a while, but he’d restrained himself. Why ruin a wonderful friendship?

‘Tsurugi?’ Aoi’s voice startled him, and it took all of him to not flinch. ‘Yes?’ ‘You look a little distant. Not... regular distant, more troubled. I hope everything’s allright? We’ve just saved the universe after all!’ A soft voice and even softer eyes that scanned his face. She read him like a book, she always did and usually he appreciated that, but if now she’d see what he wanted to say, everything would tumble down. Their whole friendship. So he froze his features, inwardly torn.

For what if he did say it? What if he did tell her? Even if she turned him down, he wouldn’t have to lie to her. That did it: no lies between friends. Aoi was still looking at him, slightly worried now, and he swallowed. Then, as an echo of Tenma’s words, he said: ‘Aoi, I love you.’

Thoughts on Inazuma eleven Galaxy

I love Inazuma eleven, let that be known. So imagine my excitement when I found out go exists. I watched the first season, loved it and wow the characters were awesome.

Chrono stone and galaxy, however, didn’t really do it for me. What I liked about the original series was that very few supernatural things happened. (Ignoring the superpower soccer, of course) There were some sideplots with spirits, angels and demons and such, but they were easily interpreted as just people dressing up and making soccer more dramatic than it had to be for the fun of it. Aliea Gakuen was revealed to not be aliens after all, and all was well.

Chrono stone already messed with me a little. The timetravel plot was interesting, I’ll say that, but it did spark some questions. If in the future time travel is possible, wouldn’t there be time travellers from era’s beyond Fei’s? People who would try to evacuate countries before earthquakes and avoid other disasters. The fact that timetravel is possible makes Inazuma eleven’s reality a whole lot different than it was.

I did accept Chrono stone, however. Like I said, the time travel plot was interesting, though confusing. Galaxy was a different story. I initially didn’t want to finish it, because of all the characters I knew and loved, only Tsurugi, Tenma and Shindou were chosen (that salt is a whole other thing) and because suddenly Inazuma eleven’s reality confirmed aliens. A lot of them. And, like all franchises that include alien civilizations, that gets weird. Because every planet with creatures intelligent enough to play soccer, would also have cultures and technology and languages quite as different and vast as on earth. That is difficult to juggle. Galaxy did a decent job, but it still bugged me.

Then, my major complaint: Inazuma eleven’s reality is, again, a whole lot different than it was. Because there’s aliens, and now the earth knows about it. That would likely start a whole new era in humanity’s timeline. That goes so, so far beyond soccer. That is worldview-shaking, a breakthrough in all sciences and would change the earth forever.

Inazuma eleven has driven itself into a corner. Galaxy is the last thing we see in the Inazuma timeline, because it can’t move on anymore. We’d end up with a reality so different from our own, it wouldn’t really be ‘earth’ anymore. Instead, the timeline jumps back to the past of an alternate timeline in Ares.

Galaxy remains frustrating to me, to the point where I told myself Kageyama must have used the simulation technology, the stuff he uses for training, to build everything we see in Galaxy. I desperately wanted to keep Inazuma eleven what it was before: a story about soccer. Nothing supernatural or reality-bending. Obviously the story goes where it goes and I’ll just have to accept it. But I’ll never see Galaxy as ‘real’, no matter how much I liked the characters.