Part18-Goodbye for Now

A blinding light of the morning sunshine peeked through the drapes of a window and clouded Satsuki's mind with confusion as she woke up from a long and restless sleep. She looked around and saw that she was in a room she had never been in before, a hospital room. 
Satsuki suddenly started to panic. "Why am I in here?" 
Pain surged up through her body as she struggled to sit up. She started to remember what had happened the giorno before. That terrible giorno when the aliens attacked.
"So it really did happen." 
Her cuore filled with sadness as she remembered that there was no più Raimon. Satsuki balled up her fists and lightly hit herself in the head. 
"Why was I not fast enough to keep up with them."
As she thought through her failures, a knock came at the door.
Satsuki stopped hitting herself and looked up. "Come in."
The door slid open and in came Kazemaru.
"Ohayo Satsuki."
He came in smiling, but Satsuki knew that he was just trying to cover up the sadness.
"How'd te sleep?" he asked as he came around the letto and sat in a stair successivo to it.
"I slept horribly," she answered,"My whole body aches from... from yesterday..."
Satsuki and Kazemaru sat in silence until, finally, Satsuki broke it.
"How bad is the school?" she asked. Her voice had barely got the domanda out, before she slowly started to cry.
Kazemaru went to go sit on Satsuki's letto and put an arm around her.
"The school's pretty bad," he replied,"but Raimon isn't the only school in Tokyo that was destroyed. Schools everywhere are demolished."
Satsuki nodded, but wondered why those aliens wanted to destroy schools as well as soccer. They must have had some reason.
Kazemaru stood up and went to the window.
"Oh, da the way, Gouenji told me to tell te to come to Yuuka's room when te were ready and Ichinose detto to come talk to him later."
Satsuki's face lit up da the mention of Gouenji. 
"Well, I'm up, so let's go!"
Kazemaru was about to open the drapes when he spun around.
"Wait Satsuki!!!" 
His voice sounded urgent, but it was already too late. Satsuki had hopped off the letto without realizing that she had a cast around her right ankle.
As it came into hard contact with the ground, she nearly screamed. Instead, she gasped and collapsed inoltrare, avanti toward the ground. Luckily, Kazemaru caught her.
"W-Why do I have a cast on my ankle?"
Satsuki was so scared that she started to cry again.
"You were still lying on the ground when the aliens disappeared," Kazemaru explained,"and that's where te passed out. Everyone on the team had to get checked at the hospital just in case. Handa, Shourin, and some others have mass injuries just like you."
"Like me?" she asked.
Kazemaru nodded.
"You were still passed out when the doctors examined you." He laughed as if remembering a funny moment,"Hibiki kantoku had to carry te room after room." 
Satsuki smiled as she thought of what that would look like, but also felt worried da the mention of her having needed to go through many rooms.
Kazemaru then looked straight into Satsuki's eyes. 
"Satsuki, the bone in your ankle nearly snapped yesterday. Who knows if it would have been possible to fix. te can't play calcio for almost a month. No physical activity o you'll never be able to play calcio again."
Satsuki opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Her eyes filled with tears. She was nearly paralyzed. If she couldn't play calcio anymore, she would lose the thing that had brought her friends, happiness, and a reason to live. She couldn't lose that ability.
"It's not that bad, Satsuki," Kazemaru tried to comfort her,"Just rest up awhile. The others have to be in the hospital a lot longer than te do."
She nodded.
"How am I supposed to walk around?"
Kazemaru pointed to a pair of crutches against the wall. 
Satsuki wiped the tears from her eyes and sighed.
"Okay, let's go see Gouenji."
"Hold on, Satsuki," Kazemaru stopped her,"You shouldn't start walking around right after they set your ankle. The doctor detto that if te were to want to go somewhere, te would have to go in a wheelchair, at least for a week."
Satsuki ignored Kazemaru and stood up on her left foot. Once she was balanced, Satsuki used the side of her letto to get to her crutches.
After testing the crutches out, she made her way toward the door, which was blocked da Kazemaru.
"If te want your leg to heal faster, te need to get into a wheelchair."
Satsuki shook her head and opened the door. She made it half way out of the room until Kazemaru stopped her again.
She sighed. "Kazemaru, I can't sit around in a wheelchair. I have to get at least one leg moving."
She was still trying to push through Kazemaru, when someone called her name.
"Satsuki!?"
Both Satsuki and Kazemaru turned to see Endou and Aki walking toward them.
"Aki, te didn't tell me Satsuki was injured too," Endou said.
Aki looked frightened,"I didn't know. I went home in the middle of the examinations. They told me that Satsuki would have to stay overnight if she didn't wake up."
"Aki, Captain," Satsuki said,"Don't worry about me, I'm not the worst one."
Kazemaru finally agreed to let Satsuki go to Yuuka's room without the wheelchair and led Endou and Aki to the rest of the injured teams room. After they left, Satsuki looked at her collana that was outside of her shirt. She looked at it as tears formed in her eyes. "No soccer," she thought,"What kind of world would I live in without soccer."
She sighed and made her way towards Yuuka's room.  

After minuti of hobbling through the hospital halls, Satsuki finally got to the door marked Gouenji Yuuka. She rebalanced herself and knocked on the door.
A few secondi later, Gouenji opened the door. He was smiling happily until he looked down at Satsuki's ankle. Being the last one to be examined, Satsuki figured that most people didn't know about her injury. Gouenji gave her a sympathetic look. Satsuki sighed.
"I'm fine," Which was a lie,"I can't play calcio for a month, but at least it's not permanent!"
She tried to sound optimistic, but Satsuki didn't want to be injured, all she wanted to do was play soccer. 
Gouenji gave Satsuki an encouraging smile.
"Well," Gouenji moved aside for Satsuki to come into the room,"there's one thing that I know will brighten up your day." 
Satsuki hobbled into the room and noticed something different. Everything in the room looked the same since the last time she had visited, except for one thing. 
Sitting up in the hospital letto was Yuuka, her eyes mostrare big and bright against the morning sun.
Satsuki stood still and blinked, then blinked again.
"A-Am I dreaming?" Tears filled her eyes. It was a miracle Yuuka was awake! 
"But when did she wake up?" Satsuki asked. Tears were now flowing down her face. Although she barely knew Yuuka, her bond with Gouenji made her feel connected to her. Satsuki felt as if Yuuka was her little sister.
"She woke up when I got here after the tournament yesterday," Gouenji answered. 
He was grinning from ear to ear. His sister had finally woken up after a whole year. Nothing seemed to ruin his joy. 
Satsuki wiped her tears and hobbled over to Yuuka's side. She sat down and put her hand out.
"Hi Yuuka, my name is Kaminari Satsuki. I've heard a lot about te from your brother."
The little girl blushed and slowly grabbed Satsuki's outstretched hand with her tiny hand.
"Nice to meet te Satsuki san, I've heard lots about te too. I remember hearing Onichan talking about te and the rest of Raimon calcio club while I was in the coma."
Gouenji looked at her, startled. He hadn't known she could hear him. 
Satsuki smiled sweetly at Yuuka. Yuuka smiled back. 
"Thank te for looking after my brother, Satsuki san."
Satsuki looked at Yuuka and shook her head.
"No, it was your brother who looked after me. He's kinda like a brother to me and I think of te as a little sister," Satsuki thought for a minute,"Is it alright if I consider te as my little sister?"
She didn't want to make Yuuka feel uncomfortable. After all, she had just met Satsuki. 
Then, Yuuka pulled Satsuki over to her and gave her a hug. It happened so suddenly that Satsuki was stunned.
"I'll be your little sister," Yuuka said,"Arigato Nechan!"

An ora later, Satsuki and Gouenji left Yuuka's room. Gouenji was telling Yuuka all about the FF tournament and after a long while she had fallen asleep. They went outside to the hospital balcony. 
"Yuuka seemed to really like you," Gouenji said.
Satsuki nodded. She was glad she had two people that were like her real siblings.   
She went over to a bench. As she lowered herself onto it, she winced as her ankle hit the ground.
"That bad huh?" Gouenji asked.
Satsuki didn't reply. She felt worthless. Aliens had come to destroy Earth, they destroyed Raimon and many other schools, and all she could do was sit around and wait for her ankle to heal.
Gouenji seemed to read her mind. 
"You can't do anything right now," he said. 
"I know, but I wish I could," Satsuki replied.
The two sat in silence, until Satsuki stood up. 
"I just remembered, I have to go see Ichinose," She said,"Kazemaru told me that he needed to tell me something."
Gouenji nodded.
"I'll tell Yuuka that you'll visit again later," he paused,"Oh, and Satsuki, don't worry so much right now. te have enough on your plate as it is."
Satsuki gave a hesitate nod, waved goodbye and headed toward the elevator. 
Her plan was to walk, o hobble, all the way back to Raimon, just to exercise, but as she walked out of the hospital, waiting beside the door was Kazemaru.
"I knew te were going to try that," he said, shaking his.
"Do what?" Satsuki asked innocently.
Kazemaru sighed. "Let's go..."

The two took a taxi to Raimon. When they arrived, Satsuki started to cry all over again. It had been dark outside when the school was first destroyed, but now that it was light outside, the damage looked even worse.
They made their way to the smashed club building, where they found Ichinose  and Domon, along with Haruna.
"Ichinose, Domon, Haruna!" Satsuki went over to them as fast as she could.
As the three turned toward her, their faces immediately fell towards her ankle.
"I'm fine," Satsuki replied
"You can still play calcio right?" asked Ichinose.
"She can, if she would let her leg rest," Kazemaru said.
Satsuki sighed. "So, what did te want to tell me?"
Just as the domanda popped out, Ichinose and Domon looked at each other with worry.
"What?" Satsuki asked
"You have to go back," Ichinose finally said. 
She gave a questioning look.
"Back to America," Domon answered.

Satsuki thought back to what Ichinose and Domon had recently told her as the taxi she was riding in drove to Rai Rai Ken, Hibiki kantoku's ramen shop.
("What do te mean I have to go back to America," she had asked Ichinose. 
"Hibiki kantoku called your father," he had said,"Your dad wants te to come home.")
Satsuki shook her head.
"No," she thought,"I am not going back to a person that doesn't even care about me." 
The cab stopped in front of the ramen negozio and let Satsuki out. After she paid the driver and watched him drive away, she made her way toward the shops entrance. 
As she opened the door to the shop, a campana, bell sounded, alerting the owner that a customer had arrived.
Hibiki kantoku sat on the inside of the counter, Leggere a newspaper.
"Welco... Oh, Satsuki, it's you," he detto as he put his paper down.
The whole drive to the shop, Satsuki had thought of a slow and calm approach to confront her coach, but everything seemed to flood from her mouth as began to speak.
"Hibiki kantoku," she replied,"Why did te agree with my father that I had to come home!?"
"Because he is your father," he answered calmly,"You should be living with a legal guardian for your protection."
"But my father doesn't even care about me! The only thing he uses me as is something to mostra off. Intelligence, musical ability, that's all that matters to him! I'm like his puppet!!! He doesn't even mostra a sign of worry about my health! Come to think of it, he let me waste away for nine years!!!"
Satsuki closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. She was getting too heated up.
"Why did te have to tell him about my injury," she asked Hibiki with her eyes still closed.
Hibiki sighed.
"Satsuki, your father called me himself."
Satsuki's eyes popped open. 
"What!?"
"He had heard about the alien attacks and called to make sure te were okay. He sounded very worried and wanted te to come home as soon as possible."
Satsuki couldn't believe her ears. Was this her father that Hibiki kantoku was talking about? Sure, whenever her father seemed to start caring for her, he would immediately try to hide it da not caring about her. She had always found a hint of kindness and Amore from her father, but it disappeared the moment it was shown. It was almost like he was hiding something, but even so, Satsuki did not want to go back to America.
"What about the aliens," she asked Hibiki.
He didn't answer. Satsuki looked down at her collana and started to fidget with it. She was debating in her mind wether she should go back to America. After a while, a bowl of ramen appeared in front of her. She was so busy thinking that she hadn't noticed Hibiki cooking.
"It'll help te clear your mind," he detto as he grabbed his newspaper and started to read it.  
Satsuki looked at the ramen in front of her, then sighed.
"I might as well," she thought.
She got some chopsticks and ate some noodles. After a moment, her eyes grew big. Her mouth seemed to explode with flavor as it entered her mouth. This was truly the best ramen ever made! Soon, Satsuki had cleaned her bowl out completely. 
She gently put down her chopsticks in front of her bowl and put her hands together. 
"Gochisosama!" she said.
Hibiki looked up from his paper.
"Have te thought of what te are going to do?" he asked.
Satsuki looked down and started to fidget again.
"I guess I should go back to America," she detto slowly,"As much as I don't want to, I have no other choice but to go back."
They both sat in silence.
"Satsuki," Hibiki said,"I understand te want to help with the aliens, but there is nothing te can do... yet."
Satsuki looked up with curiosity.
"What do te mean "yet"," she asked.
Hibiki put down his paper and adjusted in his seat.
"I'm going to stop being Raimon's coach."
"What!?" Satsuki replied.
Hibiki held up his hand and continued.
"Because Raimon won the FF tournament, they are ranked the highest calcio team in Japan. We have taken into consideration that we should help all schools of Giappone da tracking down and beating the aliens." He stopped and cleared his throat.
"Natsumi sans father is in charge of tracking down the aliens as well as finding new recruits all over Japan."
Satsuki gave a puzzled look.
"In order to beat the aliens, Raimon will have to level up and have stronger players. Players that did not appear during the FF tournament." 
Satsuki stopped for a moment.
"So, is there a sort of secret facility where these things are planned, she asked,"I mean, Natsumi sans father obviously knew about the aliens before they attacked Raimon."
Hibiki stood up and took Satsuki's empty bowl. 
"My only consigli to you, Satsuki, is to go back to America, heal your ankle, and come back when te are called da the new kantoku."
Satsuki had so many domande to ask, but only one stuck into her mind.
"Hibiki kantoku, what happens if I get called and my father doesn't let me go?"
"Don't worry," he answered,"You'll think of something."
Satsuki slowly stood up and looked her kantoku in the eyes.
"Hibiki kantoku, iroiro to arigato gozai mashita!"
She slightly bowed down in respect and made her way to the door.
Before she exited the shop, Hibiki kantoku stopped her.
"Satsuki san, this conversation is not to be told to anyone."
She looked at him and smiled sweetly. 
"Mochiron!" And she waved goodbye to Hibiki.

A week and a half later, Satsuki was saying her final goodbyes to everyone that was at the hospital. 
After exiting the injured Raimon members room, she made her way to Yuuka's room.
Satsuki got to the door and lightly knocked. 
Gouenji opened the door and let her in. Yuuka was asleep on the bed.
"So, your leaving today right?" he asked as they both sat down in chairs.
Satsuki nodded.
"I still can't tell if this is a good o bad idea," she answered,"I want to help beat the aliens."
Gouenji sighed. "But are we even capable of beating aliens that have already destroyed many schools in Tokyo."
"Of course," Satsuki answered,"Anything is possible if te set te mind to it!"
Yuuka stirred in her letto and woke up.
"When did te get here Onechan?" she asked.
Satsuki went and sat on the bed. 
"I just got here, but just to say goodbye."
Yuuka immediately clenched her arms around Satsuki's waist.
"But I don't want te to leave!" she replied.
Satsuki smiled. "I'll be back before te know it."
She gave Yuuka a hug, detto goodbye, and exited the room with Gouenji.
After Gouenji quietly closed the door behind them, Satsuki jumped up and gave him a hug.
"I'll miss te Neechan"
Gouenji gave her a hug back, then pulled away.
"You'll be back soon, your ankle is healing faster than the doctors expected. This isn't goodbye." 
He smiled and ruffled her hair as a brotherly gesture. 
Satsuki once again detto her goodbyes and started toward Raimon chu.

Going to Raimon had been tough for Satsuki, seeing how destroyed it still wad, but parting with her Friends was harder.
Everybody had encouraged her to keep resting her leg and detto that they would miss her, but Satsuki reached her breaking point when she detto goodbye to Endou. 
"Satsuki, matta isho ne calcio yaroze!!!"
Those words had hit Satsuki with such emotion that she had started to cry.
Ichinose, Domon, and Aki told her to take care of herself and to say hi to her father. Then, she made her way to the airport accompanied da Kazemaru.

Kazemaru helped Satsuki all the way to her terminal. Although it was hard for her to part from a friend, Satsuki was glad to have him with her. 
When the intercom called for Satsuki's plane to board, she turned toward Kazemaru.
"I guess this is goodbye," she said.
"Just for now," he sighed.
Satsuki could tell that he was forcing a smile for her. Kazemaru didn't want her to leave and on superiore, in alto of that the aliens had stressed him out. He seemed to be in a great deal of pain.
Satsuki put her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. It seemed to last a long time, but finally Kazemaru pulled away. 
"Hurry back!" he said.
Satsuki sweetly smiled and nodded. She  waved and turned toward her plane entrance. Just as she started walking toward it, a slight breeze blew Satsuki's hair up. When it died down she stood there, shocked. 
As the wind had passed, something warm and soft had gently pressed onto her cheek. 
Satsuki's face slowly turned bright red. She turned around to see Kazemaru was already gone.
Finally, she robotically made it onto her plane.
As it took off she touched her cheek and looked out her window. She smiled.
"Goodbye for now Japan, I'll be back soon."


So, how was part 18!? Hope everyone enjoys it!!!!!!! Look inoltrare, avanti to the successivo part, Going Back to the Beginning...

5props: Why did Satsuki turn red at the end?

Feel free to ask me what the Japanese means if te don't know!!!