Until They Met

Inside Team Z's monitoring room, the squad reviews the road ahead and takes in the Team W versus Team Y clash, which finished level thanks to Niko and the Wanima brothers. Guiding the talk, Iemon lays out the updated standings: Team Z now sits third, behind Team V in first and Team W in second, with Team X and Team Y further down. Their next opponent will be the still-undefeated Team V. Chigiri raises the question of Niko's transformation, noting how the old Niko deferred to teammates rather than finishing himself; Bachira guesses someone must have lit a spark in him, and Isagi grins at the change. Iemon then presents Team V's core, crediting three men, Zantetsu, Reo, and Nagi, for the unbeaten record and their combined eighteen goals, with Nagi's seven making him the top scorer. Stopping that trio, Iemon warns, is the only way to win, and recalling Nagi's earlier words leaves Isagi uneasy.

Over in Team V's room, Nagi lazes with a video game while Zantetsu scolds him for ducking practice. Reo waves it off, insisting Nagi will be fine regardless, and when Zantetsu accuses him of coddling the boy, Reo simply calls Nagi his own treasure.

A look back reveals Reo as heir to the Mikage empire, his fortune valued at roughly seven hundred billion yen. Raised to take over the family business, he was given whatever he desired and grew jaded with a life that offered no challenge. Handsome, quick-witted, and gifted at sport as a teenager, he drew crowds yet longed for something genuinely hard to obtain, his own rare gem. A televised football match set him on a new course, and he resolved to win the World Cup. His father dismissed the idea outright, reminding him of the business he was born to run and implying he lacked the talent to make a living in the game, which only fueled Reo's drive to prove him wrong.

At his elite school, Reo assumed the football club would be lackluster and mulled his options while pacing the halls. Lost in thought, he clipped Nagi's shoulder and knocked the phone from his hand; Nagi flicked out a foot and cushioned it before it could shatter. Stunned by the reflexes, Reo asked whether Nagi played for the club and got a flat no. Amazed by such raw, untrained ability, he invited Nagi to play together, and Nagi accepted, but only on the condition that he be paid. Reo agreed, and the tedium that had defined his days finally lifted; he had located his gem.

Niko begins finishing chances on his own rather than passing them off. To topple Team V, Team Z must contain Zantetsu, Nagi, and Reo. The chapter establishes that Reo was the one who first pulled Nagi into football, that Nagi's talent is innate and needs no drilling, and that Reo regards Nagi as a personal treasure while Nagi finds hard work in the sport tiresome.

Until They Met opens Volume 4 as its first chapter and stands as the twenty-third overall, belonging to the First Selection Arc. Its events are adapted in Episode 8 of the anime. Muneyuki Kaneshiro is the writer and Yusuke Nomura the artist.