Tenma woke suddenly, breathing hard.
Flashes still in his head: a long pass — a sprint — contact — a body falling — a stretcher — crowd noise turning quiet — a medal ribbon shaking in someone's hand — tears he didn't show.
He stared at the ceiling for a moment.
He turned his head toward the shelf against the wall. A few trophies, a golden boot plaque, old strategy notebooks, and his folded jersey sat there under a thin layer of dust.
The medal hung by the window. He looked at it once, without expression.
He stood up, took a towel, and went to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, washed his face, and took a quick shower. No rush. No pause.
He changed into his uniform and left the room without touching anything.
On the way to class, the hallway was busier than usual.
"Did you hear? The new sponsor dumped a ton of money this year."
"Huh. Maybe the sponsor messed up which club they were funding."
Someone laughed quietly.
"Right? It's like they got scammed."
Another voice lowered a little.
"Still… why football? The so-called team hadn't even passed the first qualifying round in the last three years.while track team wins prefectural medals. The basketball guys almost made regionals. Baseball club pulls the biggest crowd. But they're investing in football?"
Another student snorted.
"Football team had like what, 10 people last year and they even need to have some fill ins to make up numbers? Now suddenly a 'big coach'? Makes no sense. Who's he even going to coach?"
"They don't even have a full eleven now. Just three third-years and those two idiots who keep getting detentionfor always making trouble."
"Maybe the sponsor is just a fan of football."
"Or delusional."
Why fund that?"
"Maybe they had leftover budget and didn't know where to dump it."
A short laugh followed.
When he reached class, he took the window seat. The field below looked half-asleep. Gen and Jirō were jogging, more like killing time than training. Tobita was just stretching against the goalpost.
Someone at the back added offhand:
"I heard the school also got them a coach."
"A coach? For that club?"
"Yep. Some 'famous' guy or something."
"Famous? More like some washed-up nobody they're trying to hype."
"If he was actually good, he wouldn't end up here."
A student looked over tenma.
"Oh — class rep. Did you hear? They're bringing in a coach for football team."
"They said his name this morning… what was it—Takeda? Coach Takeda or something."
Tenma's head turned a little.
Not enough to look shocked outright, but enough that both boys noticed.
"Huh? You know the name or something?"
Tenma stayed quiet for a second, then looked back out the window. "...Takeda?"
"Yeah. Weird, right? They're acting like he's some big deal, but nobody's even heard of him."
"Probably just some old guy they're hyping up."
"He'll quit in a month."
Tenma kept his tone flat.
"Why would I know anything about that? I barely even have time for studying."
The others snickered.
"Ohhh, right. I mean, why would you know a coach?"
Laughter.
"Yeah, like we'd ever see you touching a ball."
"You don't even have time to breathe, let alone sports."
Laughter faded into normal morning chatter.
Tenma looked back toward the window.
Takeda…?
The name lingered in his head longer than he wanted.
That Takeda?
No. Doesn't make sense. Someone at his level wouldn't come here.
He got suspended. Retired. Disappeared.
It's probably just another guy with the same name.
He closed his notebook as homeroom was about to start.
On the surface, nothing changed.
But the name didn't leave.