4-0! Shibuya Diamonds SC wins!

Good game!

Hey, Shota, you looked like you were out of gas in the second half. You gotta work on your conditioning more.

S-Sorry!
I'll make sure to run more from now on.

As long as you understand...

But your goal at the end was so cool, Akito. You really are our team's ace!

Well, duh.
An ace can't be an ace if they don't score, right?

Haha. And we don't expect anything less from you.

But since we've made it this far, we're gonna win it all. That means we're definitely winning our next one too.

Yeah! Oh, but our next opponent is really good too... You sure we can beat them?

What are you saying that for? We've just gotta win no matter who we end up playing against!

S-Sorry!
I'll make sure to run more from now on.

...

Well, whenever you're in trouble, just know that you can pass the ball off to me...

Oh...

(Akito's kinda scary on the outside, but he's really a nice guy that everybody can count on...)

Thanks, Akito...!
Let's win the next tournament too!

That's right, I'll be there to take down whoever comes at us!

Thank you!

(Alright, the tournament's tomorrow. No mistakes from here on out...!)

Hm? Is that...?

Akito? But practice is over...

*Huff*... *Huff*...

Nice work out there, Akito!

Huh? Oh, you're still here?

I could be asking you the same thing. You stayed behind to practice more?

Yup. We're playing against a pretty good team tomorrow.

And it's our last match as sixth graders. We can't leave anything behind on our way out.

Just like a true ace...!
You're the coolest, Akito!

Quit exaggerating, will you?
I just don't want to miss out, you know?

Yeah...

Hey, can I stay and practice with you?

Huh?

I wanna do everything I can too!

Shota...

Alright, but no running out of gas like that other time.

Alright, win this one and we're through to the finals!

The other team's full of kids that were pulled from famous junior clubs, but we made it this far, so we're gonna win this thing...!

Of course we are. There's no way we're gonna lose!

Nice, we're racking up goals left and right. We've got this!

Hey, it's not over yet.

Dammit, they're up three goals already!

(They just keep catching our defenders off guard by slipping behind them...!)

(We're gonna lose at this rate...!)

They're playing like they're the favorites...

They're too good. There's no way we can beat them...

...!

Hey, don't give up yet!
We decided that we're gonna win it all, right?!

Akito...

Get the ball to me the next time you can. I'll get a goal for you guys.

Just don't give up until it's over, alright? Just run! Keep running! Don't let go!

Yeah, we're not losing this...!
It all starts with one goal...!

(B-But...)

(They're defending way too well.
I can't get it by them...)

Hah...! There!

(Oh, Akito, wow...!
He peeled that guy off like it was nothing!)

...!

(Now's my chance to get the ball to him...)

Over here...!!

Akito...!

Yes, that's one!

W-We did it...!

Whoa, they got through all those defenders...!

Hey, we're just getting started.

We're gonna win this match and the whole tournament! We've gotta keep scoring!

Yeah!!

They score a goal...

That kid's good. I lost him for a second there.

But no more...
Let's regroup and get back out there!

Musashino East scores!!

Hey, they scored again!
And they're back up three?!

The Shibuya Diamonds just can't keep up, and they've got less than five minutes... Can they pull this off...?

No, seriously...?!

They're totally in control now...
We can't even get a hold of the ball anymore.

No, we still have time!!
Don't give up until it's over!

R-Right...

(Dammit, dammit...!
Nothing's working...!!)

(We said we'd win...! I said we'd win...! Things can't end like this!)

Dammit...!!

5-1! Musashino East wins!

Good game!!

Good game...!

Man, we got beat...!

We couldn't we win?!
We worked so hard to get here...!

We just never stood a chance...

What...?!

You guys...! Don't say stuff like that! That's when it really becomes impossible to win!

No, we really didn't stand a chance! Musashino East is full of kids that left home and came all the way here to just play soccer, right?

Huh...?

I heard that they practice forever after school too. It's like they're never not kicking around a ball.

I mean, they're all serious about going pro, right? They're sacrificing all their free time just to achieve that goal.

...!

(But I always took soccer seriously and did everything I could...)

(I never even thought about leaving home to practice playing soccer from dawn to dusk.)

(But still, I was being serious... I...)

There's no way we could beat anyone who's that focused on their goals...

...!

That was a rough match. It would've been nice to finish the sixth grade with a win... But we still managed to score a goal against them, so that counts, right...?

...

Hey, Akito, you're gonna keep playing in junior high, right? Let's join the same team!

I'm gonna quit...

What?!
W-Why...?!

Playing against those guys made me realize something today...

They made me doubt how serious I was about playing soccer.

I asked myself if I could do more than they're doing right now, if I could do more in the future...

And I couldn't think of an answer...

Akito...

I'm such a loser...
I talked so big and acted like some kind of bigshot...

But now I don't know what to do. That just means I wasn't really that serious to begin with...

That's why I'm quitting...

But...

But I thought you were the most serious about playing soccer out of all of us! Sure the other team was really good, but you're our ace...

Thanks, Shota.

But that's just not enough.

I'll never be happy with just that...

Akito...

Sorry for being such a useless Ace.
Bye...

W-Wait!
Akito, please don't quit...!

♪ ————! ————!

——♪ ——♪

♪ ————!

Who would've thought that we'd run into each other here...!

Akito and his team might just turn this event on its head...