Caught in the Sun
A 2002 World Cup / Anime Fanfic Series
By Roehl Sybing (indef@infinitedeferral.com)

Episode Three: Tama o nazukeru hansoku
Group G: Croatia v Mexico @ Niigata
A Love Hina Fanfic

"A goalless draw in the works at the Big Swan in Niigata, where Croatia
and Mexico are playing rather uninspiring soccer in their opening World
Cup match.  Shots have been hard to come by after seventy-one minutes of
play, each team has taken it to the net only twice before a capacity crowd
that is looking for any reason to celebrate.  But as the story has been,
not much has gotten in the way of what is shaping up to be an awful
display of soccer at the World Cup level."
---
They all slumped down into their seats, finding the game rather hard to
watch.  Naturally, Mutsumi was the first to go, but Motoko and Kitsune
became thoroughly uninterested as the match progressed.  Shinobu and
Kaolla looked at the others, trying to speculate how much a waste of time
they were having.
"Why is everyone so down?" Shinobu asked innocently.
"The game is terrible," Kitsune replied, yawning through her words, "Why
did we ever grab those tickets?"
"Agreed," Motoko said, her head resting on her hand, "This is not a
thrilling performance."
Suddenly, Kaolla stood up. "Leave that to me!" she cried emphatically,
"I'll put a stop to this!" And so, with everyone's attention focused on
her, Kaolla grabbed a remote out of her pocket and activated it.  Sure
enough, another of her inventions drew near, this time from the sky.
"Wait!" Shinobu said, "Where are you going?"
"Gotta go pick up some things!" Kaolla said, as what looked like a glider
firmly latched on to her to take her away, "I'll be right baaaaaack!"
They, and several hundred others in the stands around them, watched
Su-chan take off into the sky, almost certain to be heard from again.  Her
jet-powered glider lit up the afternoon sky and provided some shade of
entertainment for the fans in the seats, creating some applause that had
nothing to do with the actions on the field.
"Well," Kitsune said, stretching her arms, "That's three walkouts."
---
Naru and Keitaro walked the oval-shaped concession area underneath the
stands at the Big Swan, one insisting to the other that they were not on a
date, and that absolutely no close contact or lecherous looks would be
tolerated.  They simply wanted to get away from the sight of the game
being played on the field, and that excuse was alright with Keitaro, so
long as he was with Naru.  And he had some extra money to spare, so they
made a lunch break out of a nearby food stand and a bench.
"All things considered," Naru said, "I'm having a good time, how about
you?"
Keitaro looked up, "Me?  Absolutely."
"Oh, you have something...on your lip there," she said, pointing to a
crumb of food.
"Oh!" he cried, covering his mouth.  They both laughed it off as she drew
closer to have a better look.  He stopped laughing as he surmised her
intention was to share a playful kiss.  It was a foolish fantasy for him
to have, but his heartbeat grew faster as she inexplicably went eye to eye
with him.
Then, all of a sudden, she stopped.
"There you go!" Naru said, picking off the food from his mouth, then
having more amusement about it.  Keitaro tensed up, disappointed though he
hid it from her.
"I'll go grab us some tissues, OK?" she said before running off.
He watched her leave him temporarily, and huffed.  Keitaro wanted so much
to move in on her, but he always wondered if the rewards justified the
risks.  He was the expert on it; he bore the scars without even trying to
find out.  But today was different.  Today he was on such a hot streak.
He snagged those tickets for the game, managed to sneak away with Naru and
succeeded in not doing anything that had the faintest look of being
perverted.  He was feeling good, and it even had nothing to do with not
being sent clear into the air lately.
In any case, Keitaro was on a happy step.  For once, he had a chance with
Naru!  He felt like dancing, and did it ever so clumsily in the crowded
concession area, replete with obstacles of passersby.
"Keitaro, I--Keitaro!" Naru said.  She had returned with some extra
tissues for the food, only to find him flat on his face, atop a pile of
teenage girls with the colors of the Mexican flag painted on their faces.
Oddly enough, his hand landed on one girl's chest, while his foot rested
on another girl's rear.  He would've recoiled at the horror of being
caught in another compromising position if he weren't still seeing stars
from a few untimely missteps.
Eventually, he tried to get up, but the girls that were victimized by
Keitaro's dancing kept kicking him and yelling curses while he was down.
When they finally walked away, his head hit the cement, and he held both
of his legs to gauge which muscles were sore.  Keitaro clenched his teeth
and looked up.  He heard Naru's voice when he hit the deck the first
time...perhaps...?
On the floor were the set of tissues that she had gotten for him, and in
the distance a figure that looked very much like Naru was running away.
"Narusegawa!" he cried, "I can explain!" But it was no use as the noise of
the crowds going here and there drowned out his plea.  The best he could
do was chase after her, hoping for yet another second chance.
---
"Both Croatia and Mexico look like they're destined to share the spoils of
this opening match.  A midfield game all the way, neither side able to
confidently push the ball forward, and as we approach the ninetieth
minute, that's where we stand: no score.  Hold on a second...everyone in
the stands is looking up into the sky...what is that?"

"Tama-missiles, away!"
Kaolla, sure enough, returned the same way she left, but this time she
brought along some goodies.  Shinobu and the others looked on as she
dropped unmarked objects onto the field in a methodical fashion.  She took
care not to actually hit the players on the field, but the diminutive
turtle-shaped cluster bombs exploded near enough and just powerful enough
to cause them to fall to the ground with almost injury-inducing force.  Th
e midfielders looked on and had more of a reaction time, and simply ran
for their lives.  The missiles exploded near them anyways, as one of them
went flying over the head of a TV cameraman who had caught it all for the
world to see.
The goalkeeper on the other end of the field watched as his fellow
teammates went down, one by one.  He watched as Kaolla flew through the
air on her glider, and was aiming for him.  Or at least the ball that was
drifting in his direction, kicked his way by the opponent's striker before
he himself was knocked onto the edge of the penalty box by another of
Kaolla's missiles.

"Croatia's keeper breaks off his line and makes the diving save for the
ball, keeping it away from the...uh...extra player, who has just been
ripping through the defense of everyone involved!"
"Take a look at the replay.  Those small bombs look like they're turtles!
Whatever they are, the one that Mexico's midfielder got a piece of sent
him flying out of bounds.  Very effective strategy in stopping the Mexican
offense."
"Not that they had any to begin with, and this crowd is just going wild!
No card shown, either; the referee got caught in a blast and he's out,
too!  This is certain disaster for both sides, no doubt about it.  Some of
them look like they may not be participating in their respective second
matches.  What a price to pay for what seemed to be a goalless draw!"

The last of Kaolla's missiles hit the crossbar and bounced onto the
penalty area.  She found her last target, and the goalkeeper didn't see it
coming as the blast pushed him forward, dropping the ball onto the field
for no one left to take it.
Kaolla gave her wide-eyed friends a thumbs up as she came around for
another pass to grab the ball.  But when she dropped down towards the
ground too fast, she had no choice but to pull up, losing something very
important as it dove to the ground.
"Tama!" she said as the turtle landed onto the pitch.  It smiled
innocently at the crowds in the stands, and as the only moving object left
on the field, Tama slowly crawled towards the gold-colored match ball not
twenty yards away, while the entire stadium fell silent, save for the
commentators in the booth.

"It's onsides!  It's onsides!"
---
"Narusegawa!" Keitaro cried.  He ran as far as Naru would go, and
eventually she would run out of breath and would have to stop.  The chase
took two laps around the oval underneath all the seats before she did.
"Narusegawa..."
"Get away from me, you jerk!" Naru exclaimed.  Keitaro was taken aback,
despite his determination to offer an explanation.  She had her back
turned to him as she knelt down for air, almost choking up on the buildup
of the stress on her system.
"I-I'm sorry," Keitaro said after waiting for her to calm down, "I made a
mistake!"
Naru turned around, still huffing and reaching for air as her whole body
tightened and contracted in a perpetual motion.  She walked up to him,
saying, "Just...try to understand, OK?"
Keitaro looked at her, puzzled, "Understand what?"
"This," she said.  And then the fire in her eyes.
"AAIIIIIIEEEEEE" was the sound Keitaro made as he was sent up into the air
by a blast from Naru.  Since he was indoors, though, he was quickly sent
back down to Earth by the force of the ceiling.  He went into the
pavement, head first, almost putting a crack in the cement, before finally
falling flat onto the ground.
"Ahh," she said, breathing a sigh of relief, "I haven't done that in a
while."
"N-Narusegawa..." Keitaro mumbled, still motionless on the floor.
"I was waiting for the right moment.  I haven't done that in a while.
You've been on your best behaviour lately, haven't you?" Naru said,
smiling, "I feel a lot better now."
"Glad...I could help," he said.
Naru happily scraped him off the floor, a bruised and battered figure that
had more punishment than any mere mortal could endure.
"I'm having a good time, Keitaro," she said, unconcerned with his
appearance, "What about you?"
---
Tama gave the ball a slight push, and seemed to giggle as it moved the
ball along, over the arm of the fallen keeper and quite slowly towards the
uprights.  The crowd of tens of thousands held their collective breaths as
the small creature moved ever so steadily towards the net.  Kaolla dropped
into her seat right next to everybody else, just in time to see the only
goal of the game.  Not a whisper was made before Tama gave one last push
with its nose and navigated the ball over the chalked line in the field.
Only then did the fans erupt with a roaring celebration.

"Goal!  The turtle beat the keeper to cap a thrilling score!  One-nil,
Mexico!"

The turtle looked about the stadium, as columns of fans offered a standing
ovation attached with jubilant applause.  In return, it lifted its hand to
wave, mostly to wave at Kaolla and the others, who also cheered it on from
their seats.
The raucous crowd was just loud enough for Mutsumi to wake up.  She weakly
gathered her bearings and looked up.
"Did I miss anything?"

END.

Next match:
Episode Four: Japan v Belgium @ Saitama
A Maison Ikkoku Fanfic
---
Roehl Sybing
"The past is gone but something might be found to take its place" - Gin
Blossoms, Hey Jealousy

Infinite Deferral - http://www.infinitedeferral.com/
 - stories, fanfic, politics, j-pop, and some curling
every-now-and-then-when-it's-in-season


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