Rain soaked the alley but Amano didn't flinch
He stood with his hands in his pockets staring at a man in a suit way too clean for a place this dirty
The man smiled like he owned the entire block
"You've been making waves ghost boy"
Amano blinked
"You've been playing in matches that aren't supposed to exist. Winning games that were meant to end in draws. Making kids believe in football again. That's dangerous"
He handed Amano a card
No name just a single logo
A chess piece with a crown cracked in half
"What is this"
"A warning. Or an invitation. Depends how dumb or brave you are"
The man vanished around the corner before Amano could reply
---
At the cafe Hibiki sipped from a cup that definitely wasn't clean
"Looks like they finally noticed you"
Amano flipped the card on the table
"Who are they"
"The ones who control the rankings. The fake contracts. The youth tournaments. The miracle headlines. Every broken-legged prodigy you've never heard of again? Yeah that's them"
Hibiki leaned closer
"And you just stepped into their territory without permission"
---
That night Amano was scheduled to play against a team full of academy stars
They arrived in polished kits with sponsored boots and matching headphones
The other side wore hoodies and hand-me-downs
But when the whistle blew something strange happened
The academy players stopped playing real football
They started playing something else
Delays
Injuries
Long boring passes to the goalkeeper
No forward pressure
No real risk
Amano tried to press once
But the ref blew the whistle
"Too aggressive"
Twice
"Dangerous play"
The crowd booed
Not because the football was bad
But because they knew it was fake
Amano stood in the middle of the field silent
Hibiki shouted from the sideline
"They're not trying to win! They're trying to bore you out!"
Amano smiled for the first time in the match
"Then let's make them play our game"