The locker room still smelled like rain and sweat
The echo of defeat hadn't faded
But Reiji didn't rest
He stayed behind when everyone left
Watching the game footage frame by frame
Not searching for what went wrong
But what wasn't there
In the silence of the recording
He saw them again
The way Kurogane's players would shift together like shadows stretching under moonlight
No signals
No looks
It was like they all shared one mind
Reiji smirked
"They're not unbeatable
They're just a system too afraid to evolve"
---
The next morning
A sleek black car parked outside the academy gate
Two men in suits waited
Coach Hiroshi raised an eyebrow
"You expecting the FBI?"
Reiji shook his head
But something inside twisted
One of the men stepped forward
"Reiji Sakamoto
We've come on behalf of Galacticos Tokyo
The most elite youth division in Asia
We'd like you to join
As the new architect of our rebuild"
Everyone froze
Galacticos Tokyo?
The very club that rejected Reiji years ago
That labeled him "uncoachable"
And now they wanted him?
---
Reiji didn't respond right away
He stared at the man
Then simply said
"Why me?"
The agent handed him a file
Inside were match reports
Diagrams
A full breakdown of Vortex's transformation
"We've never seen a player redesign an entire team's identity in a month
You don't just play football
You rewire it
That's the kind of madness we want"
---
Coach Hiroshi pulled Reiji aside after they left
"You know if you join them
This team loses its mind
Its soul
They'll crumble without you"
Reiji didn't speak for a long time
Then
"I know
But if I don't go
We won't evolve fast enough to beat Kanade's monster"
---
Later that day
Reiji called an emergency team meeting
No coaches
Just players
He laid out everything
The offer
The stakes
The decision
"I'm not leaving Vortex
I'm infiltrating Galacticos
To learn
To steal
To upgrade us all
From the inside"
Leo was the first to react
"So you'll be like a spy?"
Reiji nodded
"More like a virus
I'll infect their perfection with unpredictability
Then bring it back to us"
The room exploded in noise
But deep down
They trusted him
Because Reiji never played for fame
Only for revolution
---
That night
Reiji sat alone on the rooftop of the dorms
Looking over the city lights
His phone buzzed
A message from Galacticos:
"Training begins in two days. Don't be late."
He typed back:
"I'm never early
I arrive when change is necessary"
---
From the shadows
A figure watched him from across the street
Another Kurogane scout
Reporting back to Kanade
"He took the bait
He's joining Galacticos"
Kanade smiled through the call
"Good
Let him climb higher
The fall will hurt more"