The sky over Tokyo Academy darkened as Reiji stared at the photo again
Arata
Number 10
Face bright
Aura calm
But those eyes…
He'd seen them before
In the Kurogane match
For just a moment
When their false nine turned and delivered a no-look pass
Cold
Calculated
Same shape
Same focus
And now this
A picture slipped into his dorm
No sender
No warning
Reiji knew what it meant
A warning or a dare
Either way
He accepted
---
Next morning
Training resumed
But Reiji's approach shifted
He began mirroring Arata's movement
Subtle at first
Shadowing his passes
Matching his decision tempo
Arata noticed
Said nothing
But adjusted
They began to dance without words
Each move a test
Each shift a question
At lunch
Arata sat next to Reiji without invitation
"You're not here to play with Galacticos
You're here for something else
What is it?"
Reiji kept eating
Didn't answer right away
Then
"I'm here to find the truth behind perfection
And why it always breaks when chaos arrives"
Arata smiled again
This time sharper
"I'll show you then
But don't blink
Or you'll miss the real game"
---
Later that week
A surprise scrimmage was announced
A-team vs B-team
Reiji's first time facing Arata directly on the pitch
The stadium was empty
But the atmosphere was tight
As if even the grass knew something was off
From the start
Arata moved like smoke
Not flashy
But every touch mattered
Reiji was placed at defensive mid
But he drifted
Controlled tempo
Then began disrupting Arata's rhythm in tiny ways
A half-step forward
A body feint with no follow-through
He wasn't trying to win
He was trying to read
Minute 17
Arata misstepped
Only for a moment
But Reiji saw it
A twitch in the heel
The same twitch Kurogane's shadow striker had when baiting counters
Confirmed
He was Kurogane's plant
Inside Galacticos
---
Then it happened
Minute 28
Reiji feigned a long pass
Instead slipped a no-look nutmeg through the defender
Leo—who'd secretly been invited to spectate from the stands—whistled
"That was nasty…"
But Arata didn't react
Instead
He intercepted the second phase
Read it before Reiji even thought it
And sent a chipped assist to his forward
Goal
1–0
Reiji didn't flinch
He smiled
"You just answered everything I needed"
---
After the match
In the hallway
Arata approached
No guards
No fake grin
"Next time you try to expose someone
Make sure you don't enjoy the game too much
Or you might forget who's watching"
Then he leaned in
"Kurogane isn't just a team
It's a philosophy
And you've already been infected"
---
Reiji stood alone after he left
Heart racing
He looked at his reflection in the trophy case glass
Eyes glowing faint blue from the stadium lights
"I'm not infected
I am the virus
And I've just found my favorite host"