a/n: This is the second collaboration between myself and the lovely envysparkler! It's a much longer project planned for this time, and to celebrate Fudou day (2/10), we're posting the first chapter!

summary: The Inazuma Caravan, facing a severe player shortage, decides to recruit competent past opponents as a last-minute strategy. Enter Fudou Akio.

Redemption

Chapter One

"Where are we heading, coach?" Aki asked as they passed the entrance to Fukouka. "We could've stayed a little longer to practice."

"To recruit another player."

Hitomiko's statement abruptly silenced every conversation in the bus and Kidou turned to look at her, curious. It was true that with the loss of Kazemaru and Kurimatsu, their defense was falling apart, but Kidou couldn't think of anyone strong enough to take their place.

Most football teams across the country were in the hospital, courtesy of Gemini Storm and Epsilon. The few that weren't had fallen prey to Zeus or Teikoku. There were a handful of players still uninjured and Kidou didn't think they could hold up to the assault of Aliea.

"Is it someone we know?" Domon asked as the rest of the team listened, curious.

Hitomiko turned back to look at them. "Yes," she replied after a slight pause. Kidou narrowed his eyes at the hesitation. She was hiding something.

"Who do we know that's good enough to battle Aliea?" Ichinose turned to Megane, who shrugged.

"Maybe it's Gouenji!" Endou said excitedly and the bus erupted into furious conversations.

"Is Gouenji coming back?" Touko asked Kidou, her expression hopeful. But Kidou had been watching Hitomiko the whole time, and he didn't like what he saw.

"No, it's not him," Kidou said firmly and everyone turned towards him, "is it, Coach Hitomiko?" Everyone waited for her answer.

She regarded him with cold blue eyes. "No."

"If not Gouenji, then who is it?" Ichinose asked.

"…Fudou Akio."

The bus went dead silent.

Touko's laugh broke the tension. "You're joking, right? Fudou Akio? Who would play with him?" Her laughter trailed into empty air when she realized that Hitomiko hadn't answered.

"Who's Fudou Akio?" Tachimukai asked timidly.

"He's one of Kageyama's lackeys," Ichinose said, his face twisted in anger. "He helped Kidou's old teammates destroy their bodies to win!"

Kidou hadn't even realized his hands were shaking until Ichinose's words. He curled them into fists and turned towards Hitomiko. She was staring straight ahead, ignoring them.

"After all he's done to us, how dare you give him a place on this team?!" Touko shouted and the others shouted their agreement.

"I will recruit anyone who will help us against Genesis. If you disagree with my decision, you can consider yourself no longer a member of the Inazuma Caravan," Hitomiko said coldly. "And that goes for anyone who agrees with her."

Touko faltered, and the bus again fell silent.

"It's okay, guys." Endou stood up. "If Fudou can help us against Aliea, then he's our teammate!"

No one responded.

It's not that simple, Endou, Kidou closed his eyes, trying to control his shaking fists, and not that easy.

The bus was silent all the way to Ehime.

– 'Tell us to stop? Who do you think you are?…'

'The little brat fancies himself a leader!'

'You're the useless one' –

Fudou jolted upright and gasped, heaving for breath as he stared into empty air, seeing Kageyama's ruthless expression and the corridors filling with water as he sought to escape.

Useless. He was always useless, manipulated and cast aside by those more powerful than him.

Just like his father.

"Akio?" His mom slid open the door, smiling when she saw him. "Oh, good, you're already awake. Breakfast is ready."

He looked at her and blinked, still caught in the aftereffects of his dream.

"Akio?" She stepped inside, looking worried. "Are you alright?"

He snapped out of it. "I'm fine." He smiled weakly at her, noting the dark circles under her eyes. After Shin Teikoku, she was having trouble holding down a job, and took increasingly more exhausting jobs.

Also Fudou's fault.

"If you're sick, I can call the department and –"

"No, I'm fine, kaasan, really." He stood up and began rolling his mattress. "You should get going, you'll be late."

His mom looked at the clock, startled. "Oh, it's getting late." She turned back to Fudou. "I'm getting off early today – maybe we could make dinner together?"

Fudou forced a smile on his face, and said, "Of course. Just like the old days." His mom beamed at him before leaving. Fudou waited until he heard the door close before letting his expression crumple.

His mother had tried so hard to give them a new life in Ehime, and Fudou had thrown that in her face when he went to join Kageyama. Now his name was mud with half the town and they no longer had the money to leave.

And he couldn't even blame Raimon – he started this when he accepted the Aliea stone, when he broke Kageyama out of jail.

A crime he was still getting punished for.

The interference of the grizzled detective tracking Kageyama had helped Fudou avoid juvie, but he wasn't able to avoid the sentence altogether. Six straight months of community service, and with school canceled due to Aliea, that meant ten hours of grueling, humiliating labor. The kids he'd recruited to Shin Teikoku had a lot of relatives on the police force, and not a single officer wasted any time in assuring Fudou that he was the worst thing that had happened to the town.

Fudou wandered down to the kitchen, aware that he had only fifteen minutes to reach the roads he would be cleaning. A part of him – the part that rebelled, that still called out for the thrill of adrenaline in his veins – wanted to defy the deadline, just to see what they'd do. But the more reasonable part of him pointed out that his suffering could get much worse.

His mother's suffering could get much worse.

Fudou listlessly ate breakfast, imagining the long day in front of him. He still had five months and two weeks to go and each would likely be as hellish as the last.

He had just gotten up when the doorbell sounded.

Fudou froze.

He wondered if he'd imagined it, and waited a few seconds to see. The doorbell rung again.

Officially curious, Fudou walked to the main entrance. No one used the doorbell. His neighbors used hard knocks or yells, depending on their level of anger, and Fudou had managed to differentiate between the knocks of random citizens and the parents of the kids he'd recruited to Shin Teikoku.

But no one used the doorbell.

Fudou unlocked the door and slid it open. Kira Hitomiko stood outside, one hand outstretched to the doorbell, as if she was about to ring it again.

Fudou slammed the door in her face.

He backed up, shaking, his eyes wide. It couldn't be. It couldn't be. It couldn't be. There was no way the coach of Inazuma Caravan was here. He was hallucinating. He had to be.

Fudou hurried to the kitchen and peered through the blinds. Hitomiko had closed the gate and was walking back to the large, blue-and-yellow caravan. He could see faces pressed up against the windows.

No.

Fudou slid to the floor and stared into the empty air. Every time he even thought of getting his life back on track, something happened.

Something always happened.

The gang, in Tokyo. Kageyama and the Aliea stone. And now Inazuma Caravan, back for revenge.

He was going to be late. Fudou got up and glanced through the window; the caravan was still there. Well, they could wait as long as they liked. Fudou turned and headed towards the back of the house. Locking the back door behind him, he turned and hoisted himself silently above the fence, careful not to make a sound.

He was sneaking out of his own house.

This was a new low.

"Late?" Officer Taiya stared down at him, his lip curled up in a thuggish sneer. "It's only been two weeks, Fudou-kun. You can't afford to be slipping up like this."

His tone may have been mocking, but Fudou wasn't really registering it. After seeing Kira Hitomiko and the Raimon caravan again, his brain was still in overdrive. He still had the presence of mind to reach for the gloves and rubbish bags with his left hand, though. He'd accidentally scratched his right arm while escaping his house, and he didn't want the officer to see the bright red mark and punish him for presumed fighting or whatever he could think of.

After a mumbled apology, he hurried to his assigned section of road, ready for another day of drudgery. Sometimes, he really felt like the only person assigned to clean Ehime's roads. Ehime wasn't that big, surely?

An hour, a sore back, and a bulging rubbish bag later and he had almost completed his round. In the distance, he could see the police station… and a blue and yellow van, parked outside the precinct. His heart sunk.

They sure were persistent.

Officer Taiya was outside, his head turning here and there, clearly looking for him. When they made contact, his frown deepened; Fudou stared back coolly.

"Ah, Fudou," the officer said when Fudou got close enough. His tone was devoid of its usual antagonism, and he gestured at the bulging trash bag in his arms. "You can get rid of that quickly. There's someone here for you."

Fudou nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Well, the good thing was that Officer Taiya was at least being less of an asshole. He'd have to play nice in the presence of outsiders. Especially these Raimon heroes. What did they even want with him? To point and laugh at what became of him before going on their merry crusading way?

Well, to be honest, if it was just that, he didn't care. Being laughed at didn't make you poorer or increase your sentence. All he had to do was not react. He had the power in this situation.

But no, the Inazuma Caravan was such a disgustingly morally upright bunch that this probably wasn't what they were here for.

A sudden shot of panic coursed through him. He had got off pretty lightly considering what he'd pulled. He'd broken a murderer out of prison, after all, and he knew that Kageyama had done terrible things to many of the people in the van. Were they coming for him to serve some kind of justice since they couldn't exactly get at Kageyama under the sea? But Officer Taiya's bear hand was on his shoulder now, and just the thought of trembling under his grip cut those thoughts off. Fudou would be damned if he showed weakness in front of his parole officer.

As Officer Taiya steered him towards the station waiting room, Fudou had a precious few seconds to wipe his mind blank and regain his composure. Both sides wouldn't be able to try much since it was an easily accessible area of the police station, with CCTV to boot. It was better to get this over with.

He entered the room, meeting Kira Hitomiko's eyes for the second time that day, telling himself that whatever happened next wouldn't matter.

After all, it wasn't like his life could get much worse.

"What?"

Fudou couldn't believe his ears. This was a joke, right? He'd nod, Kira would flick her hair, and both Kira and Officer Taiya would burst into laughter.

"What?" Officer Taiya sounded much surer of what he'd just heard. "Absolutely not. Do you even know what this boy has done?"

"Yes," Kira said coolly. "I was there. We all were," she added, gesturing at the blue and yellow bus and the people watching from inside.

"He was an accomplice to terrorists! His actions led to grievous physical and mental harm for many parties involved. Including your players. People could have died!"

"Ah," Kira said. "I am aware that the court acknowledged he was not entirely culpable. His status as a minor was considered in the sentencing, after all."

How had she even got her hands on the details of his case?

Well, no matter. Her knowing the details of his court case was embarrassing, but ultimately inconsequential.

"Well, Fudou-kun?" Kira said. Her navy blue eyes bore into him. They were so deep that it was unnerving.

He still didn't know what to think. This couldn't be real.

"I see you may need some more convincing." Kira uncrossed her arms, and leaned against the wall. Her gaze flickered around the room.

"I am aware of your circumstances. You can rest assured that your time at the Inazuma Caravan will count towards your community service. We are dealing with terrorists, after all."

"Extraterrorists?" Fudou couldn't keep the quip from slipping out. Did aliens even count as terrorists under Earth laws? This whole situation was crazy.

Kira ignored him, and continued speaking.

"Of course, Fudou-kun, it's your choice. But, if I may say so, we can offer you some very attractive terms. Number 1." She ticked the points off with her fingers. "You will be playing football again. I'm sure a sportsman of your calibre will appreciate the chance to maintain your skills, especially with players of this standard." She gestured at the window, at the players sitting in the caravan. Though they were far away, Fudou could see the clear distaste on some of their faces. One of them was definitely Kidou-kun. Well, what else was new?

"Number 2. While our travel itinerary is necessarily constrained by our scouting reports as well as Aliea's demands, the fact remains that we are conducting a nationwide scouting tour in order to build the best team possible. You will have the chance to travel all over the country. Your food and accommodation will be paid for."

Fudou shrugged.

"Finally." Kira smirked. "You will also be paid."

"What?"

"Of course. Did you think the government was going to make children take on a group of terrorists without adequate compensation?"

Fudou kept his answer to himself.

While recruiting for Shin Teikoku, Fudou had come to learn a lot about psychology.

Some people had been easy to convince to join. Just the thought of playing football had been enough for them.

Others had been a bit harder, but the promise of a full scholarship had made them come around. Fudou thought he understood these people the most; you had to do what kept you moving forward, after all.

Finally, for the last few, he'd had to pull out all the stops. Talk about future glory, power, how much others would come to respect them, how strong they would get. He wasn't sure even now whether he believed in those words or thought they were utter calculated rubbish.

He could see the same feelings, hidden behind steel and cool composure, in Kira's gaze.

Him? Just being paid was enough for him. Sure, the other stuff like the travelling was a good bonus, but to be honest, all Kira had had to do was mention the salary.

Eh.

It could be worse.

And so, knowing that Kira hadn't even needed to try that hard, and knowing that she'd known that, but, in the end, not even caring, Fudou Akio confirmed his choice.

After all, how bad could it be?

"Let's do this."

a/n: Please leave a review and tell us what you think!