SOL - A struggle

The match goes back and forth repeatedly before you finally do the needful and smash Maya to the ground so that Aki can score.

You know that you’ll regret it; Maya is tough, and she’ll be wanting ****. You had ****. The attackers, mainly Eliza, become noticeably more aggressive, forcing Elena to help protect Viti.

The game is tied up when the whistle blows. Eliza is on the ground, and Riley put her there. You keep quiet as Tiff and Riley have a heated conversation about tactics. You don’t have a problem with Riley taking Eliza out like that. If she hadn’t, you would have. But it’s hard not to wonder if Riley did this because she thought it was smart or because she’s not herself right now. She’ll have to be careful now if she doesn’t want to get ejected from the game. If that happens, she will be guaranteed to lose her captain’s seat.

Tiff threatened you because she was afraid that jockeying for the top spot would tear the team apart. Now her insistence that Riley should stay captain is causing problems. You don’t know what to do. If you follow your gut, Tiff may bench you and the team will lose. If you do what Tiff says, the team may lose regardless. As though you weren’t under enough pressure already.

In the end, it doesn’t matter. Riley makes her play. She runs in, baiting the other team. She’s done nothing but pass to Aki all game and she’s positioned badly. You’re too far behind to intervene. Maya’s there, and Sona’s going to back her up. Riley has nowhere to go and no eyes in the back of her head; she can’t stall back to you.

It’s nothing big or flashy; she just does an effortless little Ronaldo Chop between them and scores. You are deeply impressed. More than a big flashy play, the nonchalance with which she executes something like that makes it clear just how good she is.

When you first met her it was her pert body and red hair that caught your eye. But the little things like that were what made her truly irresistible. She’s a better player than you are. That’s why it was so important to you back then to… conquer her. It was never about you and her, just your pride.

White Team doesn’t recover from that. Eliza makes a halfhearted attempt to get ****, but Aki thwarts it. For such a softspoken player who never does anything aggressive, Aki is so dangerous. You have just… never paid attention to your teammates like you do now. Everything has changed since your short time in prison.

The game is won, and Riley will stay captain. The fans are cheering, the announcers are chattering, and the MVPs haven’t been named… but the captain can’t score the winning goal in such a slick way and not stay captain.