He used to like his speed.

Used to love the feeling of the wind as it went through his long hair, playing its soft music just for him. The feeling of his tired legs after he completed a run. The burning he had started to relate to a job well-done.

Now? He loathed it.

To him, it just wasn't enough anymore.

He had always thought that he was the fastest person on the team, that it somehow made him special. Maybe because he could steal the ball, or because he could be everywhere on the field at the same time, there when his teammates needed him.

I'll join you, and that spirit of yours

Everything started to change when more people joined the team.

Slowly but surely, stealing the ball and being fast had become Domon's work.

Even when they had found out that he used to spy for Teikoku, everyone had forgiven him-including himself. He didn't have it in himself to hate someone just because of their abilities or their past, that wasn't him.

But ever since then, he had started to notice something else- he wasn't as important to the team as he used to be.

Call him selfish, but he felt as if his teammates were shutting him out. Sure, he still got to play on their matches and hang out with them after practice, but often he caught himself staring at Goenji and Endou talking with Domon, and then he realized that he used to be the one that always hung out with them.

He had decided to not give it that much importance- Domon was new to the team after all, and he knew that he was a good player, and that he needed the team just as much as it needed him. He liked to think that it was true.

Everything had worsened when Ichinose joined the team.

Don't get him wrong, he admired the American- he was a good player, and also a good person that could get along with anyone. He liked to be around him, and learn things about him, America, and their soccer.

However, he also noticed that Endou's little group had let in Ichinose, and he felt the reminder of emptiness and resentment when he came to the conclusion that they could have done the same with him. So he started to train harder every day, staying after practice to run around and improve his techniques and his control over the ball. Some days he saw Someoka glaring at him before scoffing and going home. He tried to not let it get to him, he knew that Someoka always wanted to better himself and that he felt the same as him- that he was being left behind.

But it did hurt him. The cold stare he always gave him when he tried his best to improve- as if only the pink-haired player had the right to try.

He always ignored him though, focusing instead on his legs and not tripping over the ball. The pain didn't go away.

Then they had gotten into Football Frontier. He had never seen Endou happier- the goal keeper kept jumping around the room, waving his hands around and almost slapping him once or twice.

On the other hand, he could feel the pressure on his shoulders, the need to improve even more during the tournament.

But he had other problems. The athletics team wanted him back.

He was torn between the two things he loved to do the most, and to top it all off, he had a deadline.

He knew that both Miyasaka and Endou wanted him to go with them, and he loved them both. He felt as if he would fail Endou if he went with Miyasaka, and vice versa, and he couldn't bear to fail them. He just couldn't.

Their first match made him open his eyes.

What he wanted, was to be in a team.

He relished on the feeling of having people to count on. The feeling of being able to pass the ball to another person knowing that they could get it. The sheer knowledge of belonging. Athletics didn't have that. You were on your own the whole time, and everyone was counting on you.

So he chose soccer.

And he felt invincible.