TKM Timeline
ok so, @flowerparrish gained legend status by giving us the timelines for TFC and TRK (you can find them HERE), but we were still missing TKM, and for the meta I’m preparing I needed all three laid out, so I wrote the one that was left. I tried being as careful as possible, but mistakes are 100% still there, so bear with me xD Also, the timeline matched 2007 precisely, if not for a single point where I don’t know if it’s a matter of mistake during the rewriting of the book, or if I’m actually reading wrong. Also, I’ll try to keep the formatting similar to the other timelines to keep things neat. Without further ado:
Tuesday, January 2: Neil has his looks back, and is waiting for the team to come back after christmas break. it’s been 7 weeks since he last saw the foxes. matt punches kevin for letting neil go to the nest. neil gets a careful hug from nicky, aaron doesn’t give a shit, neil and kevin argue about what to do. nicky gives neil his christmas gift, a coat. kevin gives him his binder back. “I know what he’s like,” Kevin said … “Riko. If you want to talk.”— Kevin breaking my heart. Neil outs to kevin that he knows coach is his father. they go pick up andrew. once parked back at fox tower, neil goes to take his binder from under the driving seat and andrew shifts closer, prompting another poem on how steady andrew is. rooftop confrontation. iconic lines follow “You spend all this time watching our backs,” … “who’s watching yours?" "the next time someone comes for you, stand down and let me deal with it. do you understand?” “if it means losing you, then no,” “I hate you,” “you were supposed to be a side effect of the drugs.” “i’m not a hallucination,” “you’re a pipe dream”. then kids kerfuffle ensue: andrew tosses the keys off the roof. neil goes down, picks up andrew’s cigarette and throws his signature salute back at him. neil goes back in and goes to bed early after a short exchange with matt.
Wednesday, January 3: Neil goes to the library looking for news about his father and riko, but falls asleep. andrew has a hair kink and wakes him up. “Fingers clenched into a fist in his hair and Neil didn’t resist as Andrew forcibly tilted his head back.” other iconic lines follow “Is your learning curve a horizontal line?” they reach the car, the seating arrangement has already changed; Kevin is now in the backseat with Aaron and Nicky. Andrew finds an Extra™ way to give Neil the key of his car, by fastening it to the phone charger. (did he already know that neil would need to charge his phone in the car? did he plan the entire dialogue out? what?) abby decides to keep neill off the court for a week and is the usual angel that she is “All I can do is patch you up afterward and hope for the best. I’m sorry, Neil. We should have been there for you.” THEN SHE HUGS HIM . the girls see neil, andrew punches matt for kevin. “Andrew dug a fingernail into the hollow of Neil’s throat until he had Neil’s undivided attention. "Sit down and be still.” UNNECESSARY. neil stares at a new knife andrew is playing with. “i’ve never understood why he likes knives.” neil sees the glimpse of the past!renee. wymack gives the calendar for the next matches and gives his motivational speech du jour. kevin smacks Neil’s head because he doesn’t understand the meaning of recovery time. neil argues, andrew proves everyone’s point by pinching neil’s wrist and KO'ing him. follows makeup party with the girls as Allison fixes neil to be presentable
Thursday, January 4: neil studies matches, then rides in Allison’s pink convertible, thanking her for the silence (what an underappreciated friendship honestly). second round he rides with aaron, and what a fucking petty thing Neil is “Neil drove, and somehow he resisted asking how long it’d been since anyone let Aaron ride passenger. There was nothing yet to gain from antagonizing Aaron.” (funny thing is that aaron is most likely thinking the same thing). neil checks his messages from christmas and then narrates about jean. “Neil wondered what it cost him to watch them both leave.” shhhhh DON’T “katelyn and aaron had sneaked around most of fall semester, avoiding each other at games and meeting up at the library between classes” (convenient that andrew hates libraries). neil has a session with bee, and then rides back with aaron, where they have a civil talk that still has me shook. then neil asks renee about her reaction at the knife comment, then a bit of her backstory, and then my heart swells “If you need them, he will give them to you, and I will teach you how to use them.” “Neil was starting to understand why Andrew liked her.” also andrew is a petty cat “Instead of clearing the balls back down the court like usual, he was firing them at Kevin. More specifically, right at Kevin’s feet. […] Andrew did the same to Dan” wymack has the brilliant idea to use andrew’s bf. “I don’t think he’ll listen to me” “you and I both know he will.” andreil make another exchange: andrew will stop antagonizing the team, and neil will show him his scars. wymack KNOWS “just promise me this sin’t going to be a problem" then there’s andreil scene with andrew mapping with his hands neil’s scars. eden’s twilight. roland thinks andrew ties neil up and throws his pal and his secret crush under the bus. tragic. then this happens "that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t blow you.” "Neil jumped like he’d been shot and jerked his attention to Kevin. Whatever Kevin saw on Neil’s face, it was enough to kill his curiosity. Kevin slowly closed his mouth, withdrew his hand, and went back to drinking" #awkward. On Monday the night practices resume.
Tuesday, January 11: neil gets his clearance and can play. dan/matt + neil talk about gettin the team back together. they settle on talking with katelyn first, then aaron. “He catches on at last,” Andrew mused. “it only took him a year. ” “what are you afraid of?” “heights.” (andrew unnecessarily spilling truths in a casual back&forth with neil)
Friday, January 12: matt reports what dan has found out from katelyn about the twinyards agreement. neil plots about involving bee. neil shows his tattoo to allison and dan. neil texts with katelyn to fix an appointment for the next day, then calls bee to confirm that she can work with andrew and aaron together.
Saturday, January 13: neil meets with katelyn at the library. [[HERE THERE’S A MASH BECAUSE NARRATION TALKS LIKE EVERYTHING HAPPENS ON THE 11TH, BUT THE NIGHT OF TUESDAY NEIL IS AT NIGHT PRACTICE AND THEN GOES TO SLEEP AND THEN TALKS TO MATT. ALSO KATELYN TOO MAKES THE APPOINTMENT THE NEXT DAY SO THERE ARE ACTUALLY 2 DAYS SMASHED IN 1. BECAUSE I’M IGNORANT AND I DON’T KNOW HOW TO PUT THIS STRAIGHT I’LL WRITE AGAIN FRIDAY]]
Friday, January 12: it’s raining and on matt’s words allison is a “hot mess”. matt tells neil that he’s the main star in 2 of their 16 bets. they reach the airport. iconic lines. “andrew, you can’t be. what were you doing on the roof?” “feeling” neil gives andrew his first name. someone takes their picture while they’re cute with the matching coat. andrew buys bee a figurine. riko and jean are there, watching the game. matt is the first to react with a furious “what are they doing here?” “I’ll ask,” andrew said, and started that way. LMAO also andrew shows that he has every single detail of the enemy’s team printed in his head and they’re going to win because he’s a genius. also wymack “anyway, imagine I actually got through everything important I needed to say, because it’s too late to finish it now. the court’s open.” thanks xD
MATCH vs Texas: the first part of the game is “an even back-and-forth, with a couple collisions, near-misses, and more than a few rude words exchanged.” Dan resisted 10 minutes before flipping the starter that was marking her off her feet, then made the kind gesture of offering a hand, then provoked until the starter punched her, earning them both a yellow card. the rest of the first half was brutal, and andrew let only 2 goals in, as it was agreed with wymack. the foxes have 4 goals. at the second half the Longhorns got 2 players red-carded and 5 yellowed. the final score was 7-6, foxes’ favour.
renee goes to greet the ravens, and “Riko didn’t take the hand Renee offered, but Jean did. The handshake lasted a little too long, but Neil didn’t know which one of them was slower to let go.” and it goes on with “Renee was the first bright thing to catch his eye.” a reporter asks about neil’s tattoo, and neil decides to humiliate riko in front of the press again. “Look, I’m going to be honest,” *proceeds to drag him* “I said I’d be honest, but that was a little too transparent. Let’s say this instead–” then neil and kevin have a kerfuffle because kevin is horrified, and then neil warns wymack “Oh, and sorry in advance about the press. In my defense, they started it.” “Christ alive,” Wymack said. RIP
Saturday, January 13: fans start to retaliate after Neil’s brilliant press interview, they trash the cars. aaron accuses neil using seth, allison hits aaron, andrew attacks allison. neil manages to calm andrew down, aaron realises just how far andrew would go for him. aaron and neil argue over the twinyards agreement (and aaron says that it took andrew 5 months to make the accident happen; that’s a thing to remember because nora had left it very vague in the extra content). rooftop date to flirt a bit. neil comes back down and aaron attacks him because of katelyn. “Cool it,” Ricky warned them. WHO THE FUCK IS RICKY. his whole point in the story is to tell them to chill. who’s this unsung hero. renee tells neil that she tried taking him from andrew, and andrew refused (extra content: til death do us part)
Sunday, January 14: more retaliation, campus is defaced. tetsuji is forced to release a statement over it, which was creepily supportive until he ended with the equivalent to “yo the retaliation happened too late, you need to punish them right when they fuck up, not later or you won’t train them” fuck this asshole in particular
Monday, January 15: no disasters. at practice kevin is having a breakdown because everyone is distracted, neil pisses him off even more and then runs away leaving it to dan and matt to calm kevin down. neil jogs with andrew and renee, he hears them talk about exy and then what would cause WWIII
Tuesday, January 16: things are going slightly better, and neil runs again with renee and andrew. zombie AU talk. jean messages and then calls renee.
Wednesday, January 17: neil offers andrew to buy the car with him. “make a new deal with me.” “what would you take for it?” “what would you give me?” “don’t ask questions you already know the answer to.” the new deal is making andrew stop taking cracker dust
Friday, January 19: nathaniel turns 19 yo. the blood bomb in the locker, then the “happy 19th birthday, jr” on the far wall.
HOME GAME vs Belmonte: neil is pissed off and gets a yellow card before the half time break, and then the foxes play second half like they have everything to lose. neil uses the passing and shooting skills kevin taught him + some footwork he got from the ravens in december, the others are going strong too. too strong; with eight minutes on the clock the foxes started to slow down, though they have a two-point lead. neil and kevin are up to fresh backliners, but two minutes later a striker gets around matt and races for the goal, andrew gets out of his box and checks him hard. when the ball gets back on neil’s side, he scores. foxes win eight-five.
aaron guesses that neil is running away from someone (uuuuuuhhhhh no shit), twinyards+neil kerfuffle ensues, andrew confesses murder right then and there, much to wymack’s joy. neil tells more truths to the team. wymack decides to install cameras. they think riko is to blame for this stunt. neil receives a “49” on his phone
Saturday, January 20: neil sees the photo of andrew and him at the airport, “staring each other down barely a breath apart.” neil breaks my heart apart by deciding not to tear the picture down because it will be something the foxes will have to remember him after he’s dead. neil and wymack go through potential new players for the next year, and he tells neil that he’ll be making him vice-captain next year. “don’t you notice? they’re uniting around and behind you. that’s something special. you’re something special.” neil goes out distressed, calls andrew and andrew goes back to pick him up. car shopping time. once back neil goes to the rooftop, andrew follows him and gives him the second key of the new car. “you gave me a key and called it home.” “don’t look at me like that. I am not your answer, and you sure as fuck aren’t mine.” THEY KISS “TELL ME NO” “I WON’T BE LIKE THEM I WON’T LET YOU LET ME BE.” “THE NEXT TIME ONE OF THEM SAYS YOU’RE SOULLESS I MIGHT HAVE TO FIGHT THEM.” “Hey,” he said, but Andrew didn’t look at him. “Thank you.”
Sunday, January 21: "48" "47" (given Neil fucked up sleep schedule, he gets two messages in his waking times) it is revealed that the very short call andrew got in the car and to which he responded simply with “don’t” was renee asking him if they should throw neil a bday party
Monday, January 22: "46". the foxes fangirl over andrew’s new car. also “his thoughts kept derailing without warning. whenever andrew crossed the room, neil’s gaze followed."
Wednesday, January 24: kengo collapses and gets admitted into hospital. Neil gets his new gear on Thursday
Friday, January 26:
AWAY GAME vs SUA: very talkative team, put up a fight but weren’t awful about it. by half time the results from the other night’s match are in: UT has slaughtered Belmonte. this motivates the foxes and they dominates the second half. they win by a comfortable margin.
"42”
Tuesday, January 30: kengo is released from the hospital
Wednesday, January 31: andrew and aaron go to bee together *sobs*
Friday, February 2: ERC gives out the matches for the month. andrew and aaron are pouty with each other so they don’t move to columbia. aaron is off with katelyn, and nicky invites neil to their room. nicky confesses that he doesn’t have the key to andrew’s new car, neil is shook. “35" neil and nicky go buy ice cream for everyone. once back, kevin is still watching exy streams, and nicky goes to matt’s to get a decent DVD, leaving neil and andrew alone in the room. "neil locked the door behind him” YOU GO WITH INTENT MY DUDE iconic lines follow like “I’m open to drawing a map on you if you want to loan me a marker. that’s not a bad idea.” “everything about you is a bad idea.” “andrew’s expression didn’t change but there was a subtle shift in his body’s tension that told neil he’d gotten andrew’s attention” (yes I know what kind of tension andrew is having *wink wink nudge nudge*) ALSO “thinking that andrew needed space and time to regroup the same way neil did almost wrecked neil’s attempts to get his neutral facade back together.” SAME FUCKING SAME JESUS
Wednesday, February 7: everyone is panicking for the incoming match and renee is sad because her conversation with jean isn’t going well. neil then tries to be practical and says to kevin that they should have brought andrew so they could train on a guarded goal but kevin goes philosophical instead “your target is not the goalkeeper: it is the goal itself.” feel the ball be the ball neil
Thursday, February 8: he legit asks renee and andrew about kevin’s philosophical stance I’m crying. renee is supportive and kind, andrew straight out goes for the throat and says to neil to stop copying kevin.
Friday, February 9:
HOME GAME vs the Catamounts: 45 minutes into the game the score is 6-3 foxes favour. the team is shook because the sportscasters are saying nice things about them. second half starts hard with catamounts trying to close the gap, but 20 minutes later the score is still the same. tempers are flaring and a fight is going to snap somewhere; unsurprisingly, it will be started by andrew when he calls for nicky because something needs to be done since neil and kevin can’t get past the backliners. nicky will knock his marker off his feet, and he’ll come back for nicky. andrew will be faster and push him away. the marker won’t try to go at andrew because matt and his mark will intervene. nicky is red carded. aaron substitutes for him, and there’s a penalty shot. andrew will of course stop it and rebound it where neil can get it; he will make a goal but still crash on the wall behind because he was running too fast. neil and andrew flirts shamelessly on court. kevin will score 10 minutes later, andrew rebounds balls off the catamounts’ strikers’ helmets just to be a shit (can’t believe it’s canon). foxes win on 8-3.
“renee snagged Kevin for a quick hug” cAN’T BELIEVE THIS HAPPENED EITHER. follows domestic party at abby’s. neil goes for andrew who’s on the hood of the car. “would it kill you to let something in?” “It almost did the last time” “28”
Thursday, February 15: neil gets a microphone again, which means that he shits on the ravens once again, saying that they’ll beat them this time for sure, and that Coach Moriyama should resign. andrew is clearly getting off on neil dragging them through the dirt, because he goes to him while everyone is out and kevin is too drunk, and it’s handjob time + finding out that andrew’s neck is very sensitive!
Friday, February 16: game night with nicky and then he sleeps over <3
Saturday, February 17: kengo is hospitalized again. andrew decides to sleep in front of neil because why the fuck not, neil asks him to break their first agreement. also “andrew was still curled up in the other chair, but the noise had woken him as well. he met neil’s bleary-eyed stare a moment before going back to sleep.” I’m weak. – the next week is described as neil training and rooftop makeouts
Thursday, February 22: upperclassmen are going out of town for the weekend, and neil asks andrew about his plans for the future, then shares about his past and running through 22 cities in 16 countries. andrew says that he went through 12 houses before cass, all in california. neil invites him to go someplace at spring break. “this isn’t worthless.” “there is no this. this is nothing.” “and I am nothing. […] and as you’ve always said, you want nothing.”
Friday, February 23:
HOME GAME vs Nevada: it ends in a six-up tie, and draws are settled by shootouts. foxes will win by one point.
Thursday, March 1: foxes watch the game that will decide which one of the Big Three will be eliminated. everyone is in awe at how awesome the teams are, kevin is being a downer and neil smacks the back of his head. “if you hit me again,” Kevin started. Andrew cut in with a casual, “you’ll what?” <3 trojans win.
Friday, March 9: neil and andrew share confidences on the bus, andrew agrees to break the promise. andrew slips up and indirectly agrees that they have something by telling neil that wymack “he sees what is, not what people want him to see.” “0”
AWAY GAME vs the Bearcats: at half-time the foxes are 2 points behind, and neil is treading the line to a red card. neil asks andrew to shut down the goal, andrew says “not for free” neil says “anything.” andrew will deliver, defending the goal as if his life depended on it, and for the first time ever started talking to the defense line (matt is delighted). the foxes manage to close the gap and right at the last minute Kevin scores, giving them the lead. bearcats don’t take it well and start a fight.
neil gets a call from lola, who informs him that nathan is in baltimore and then kindly invites him for a family reunion. “thank you, you were amazing.” I refuse to sum up in detail, so: they get to nathan, torture ensues, then uncle Stuart comes to save the day and our protagonist. (but “They only let us come here unchallenged because we promised we would take him alive.” “the moriyamas?” “no. […] we are giving you to the FBI as a distraction.” who is this third player in game that controls baltimore and can get in the middle of this mess??? the hatfords??? also “we cannot yet take you where we need to go. […] we will come back for you when we can. I promise.” listen this was the perfect set up for a 4th book I’m so mad.) neil gets taken by the FBI
Saturday, March 10: neil and assholes from the FBI go back and forth until it is agreed that neil can see his teammates. andrew bulldozes in the room, iconic lines ensue “if you can’t stow that attitude and behave–” “you’ll what, asshole?” "Get away from us" the team insist to have neil back, and andrew goes with him for the final interrogation.
Sunday, March 11: the interrogation goes on. neil becomes Neil officially under the law. they go back to the hotel where the foxes and wymack+abby are. abby checks neil’s injuries. they decide to leave baltimore immediately, then this iconic line: “coach made us promise to leave you alone, but are you okay?” “no, but I think I will be” CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. they get all close and tight on the bus, go back to fox tower, andrew is silently taking care of neil and I’m dying, neil tells the team the rest of his story. they discuss press problems, and neil suggests in french to kevin that wymack being his dad would be a bigger scoop. then they make an adorable pajama party and I ascend to heaven.
Monday, March 12: neil says to kevin that it would be nice if he got rid of his tattoo as well, but kevin doesn’t take it well. also, neil refuses to exclude matt using other languages and makes kevin switch back from french to english. then SHOWER SCENE. iconic scene where they all invent excuses for neil’s wounds to the waitress. iconic moment when mat asks “did you have any plans to do anything? Besides the obvious, I mean.” iconic moment when kevin tries to say no to neil’s holiday plan and andrew threatens to kill him. iconic moment with wymack. “You saved my life. three times.” leave me here to cry. kevin tells wymack that they’re kinda blood related. just kinda. also “she taught coach exy.” ’“and what, he didn’t notice that he knocked her up?” aaron asked’. lmao aaron. cabin holiday with the team, neil drinks and nicky loses his shit over it. aaron calls neil on the side and very kindly and gently and with the tact he’s famous for, checks that neil really cares for andrew and is not just taking advantage of him/won’t hurt him. andreil shares a room.
Tuesday, March 13: kengo is dead, renee takes jean from the nest.
Wednesday, March 14: neil convinces kevin to talk jean out of going back to the ravens. neil explains to the higher-ups his situation and they debate whether to keep him in the exy world. wymack convinces them, and then warns that kevin day is his son.
Sunday, March 18: renee comes back and tells them how she asked her mom for help to blackmail evermore into releasing jean to her. neil convinces kevin to talk to jean. they pack and drive back, and on the way they stop so kevin can visit him. neil and wymack go to the president of PSU to have a zoom call with the board. wymack tells them that kevin is his son, they keep neil with them.
Monday, March 19: ichirou pops up and makes the deal with neil. also neil drags riko and basically tells him to get rid of him before he does something damaging to ichirou. he then goes to kevin and jean to tell them that he kinda made the agreement for them too. neil asks andrew to choose them and the life neil is about to start, andrew gives him matching arm-bands. kevin demands to be taken to court and then snaps, andrew intervenes, they have a kerfuffle on court.
Wednesday, March 21: press comes for interviews. neil confirms that he will be out for friday’s game, but will be back on court for the semifinals.
Thursday, March 22: andrew confronts katelyn, and shares details of his past with neil, and the heartbreaking reason why neil is acceptable for him.
Friday, March 23:
HOME GAME vs Bearcats: Kevin plays right-handed. game is vicious and yellow cards are popping up everywhere, the bearcats are trying to eliminate players. but the foxes don’t retaliate, and 2 bearcats players go out red carded. game ends with 7-5 fox win.
aaron and katelyn kiss in public. kevin drops the line of the century “Did you know I’ve never been skiing? I’d like to try it one day, though.” wymack’s reaction is also incredible “Great, he’s turning into another you. That’s just what I needed.” party after the match with the vixens, aaron reveals that andrew has chosen to keep neil over sending katelyn away, also he’s trading rooms with neil the next day. andrew puts neil’s hand on his chest, making my heart (and neil’s, probably) explode.
Saturday, March 24: thea shows up to confront kevin on what a shitty boyfriend he’s been, and kevin calmly explains to her that life&death situations + trauma sometimes changes your priorities, go figure.
Friday, March 30:
AWAY GAME vs Trojans: before the match, kevin asks jeremy if he wants to take jean, and then reveals that they’re going to play foxes style, with only 9 people instead of 28, thus giving up the game since they aren’t used to play a full match. first half will have the trojans dragging them, but they don’t know how to pace themselves, and in the second half foxes will close the gap. foxes will win 13-9.
Friday, April 6: Ravens-USC match. jeremy then tells the press that jean won’t be back in black <33 the group goes to eden’s, but first andrew announces that they are stopping with crackerdust. nicky guesses that roland and andrew used to hooked up and is OffendedTM that he didn’t know. they will get a week off before the finals.
Monday, April 9: wymack tells them that the final game will be played at castle evermore, and that they’ll have to fill seats with parents and friends, 2 reserved seats for each fox. but they can’t fill all the seats, dan will reserve the remaining ones for her stage sisters. at the practice night, nicky and aaron will show up too. wednesday the rest of the upperclassmen will tag along as well. kevin is keeping a secret that he can play with both hands. in the meantime andreil can’t get a proper alone time, but nicky drags kevin out every time he can, and spends himself as little time in their room as possible. andrew only occasionally lets this happen.
Wednesday, April 18: aaron and andrew cancel with betsy to train.
Thursday, April 19: kevin doesn’t go to night’s practice because he has “something to take care of” and left neil in charge. neil didn’t like to tell others what to do, but at the end dan says “nicely done, captain.” kevin comes back drunk as hell, and with a new tattoo on his face. iconic line time “I’m going to be the deadliest piece on the board”. andrew smiles for the first time since he got sober. andreil decides that kevin’s stunt is a good jerk off material so they go to bed at like dawn.
Friday, April 20: people don’t take kevin’s new tattoo well, but a few in between shout “queen”. erik shows up, then 4 of dan’s sisters, renee’s mother, matt’s parents, + matt’s dad gf (book says mistress, but I don’t know if it’s an illicit thing turned official in the family or what), then bee. kevin can’t stop won’t be stopped from spilling iconic gems “and my father comes to all of my games. that is enough.” but someone has come for neil too, and he goes to meet with stuart, who tells him that ichirou is cutting off anyone that’s a liability, and that neil can’t be protected anymore. wymack gives the speech of a lifetime “fight because you don’t know how to die quietly. win because you don’t know how to lose.”
AWAY GAME vs Ravens: the game gets violent fast, and the foxes’ defence can’t hold up against the ravens. at half time, they’re 7-3 ravens favour. turns out that andrew and wymack made renee goalie in the first half even though she didn’t want to be there at all, because “andrew said he could control the score if she showed him how they played.” second half starts, and kevin switches hand. he will score twice in the first 8 minutes. at 16 minutes, the score is 8-6, and the ravens finally lost their temper. one of the ravens will jump on kevin at his third goal, and it will take 6 referees to break up the fight, and he’ll get red carded. kevin will score on the foul shot. they’ll focus on the backliners and goalie instead. one will intentionally crush andrew against the wall. neil is ready to punch the life out of him, but matt will stop him. that raven will get red carded, but tetsuji is using that to sub them. andrew will remember neil that he’s the fastest player on court, and then change the formation to: dan playing striker for neil, and neil going back to backliner in matt’s place, since he’s limping. “trust me. I can keep him away from andrew while you rest.” (backliner!neil gives me a lot of feelings tbh.) neil is marking riko to hell and back, and minutes go by without a clear shot on goal. neil will pop his shoulder but boy doesn’t care. score is 8-8. andrew won’t stop a goal, and allison+aaron are substituted for nicky+matt. kevin will score on a rebound, and they’re 9-9 at the last 5 minutes of game. neil is completely out of energy and when the buzzer goes off at the last minute, neil falls to his knees. the buzzer goes off again, this time for kevin’s goal at the last 2 seconds of the game. 10-9 foxes win.
neil should be dead but somehow has enough oxygen to drag riko again, and riko takes a shot at his head. andrew runs up to them and breaks riko’s arm. the celebration and passing of the trophy is postponed to the next morning. riko is brought away in an ambulance. hours go by and they’re still there, until a guard calls for neil. he’s brought in front of tetsuji, riko, stuart, and ichirou (plus another 1 or 2 faceless dudes). ichirou kills riko, and then makes it pass as suicide by putting the gun in his hand. neil goes back to the locker room smiling, and with wymack threatening to leave them there if they don’t get to the bus in 2 minutes, and andrew for the first time not denying that he and neil definitely have something going on, TKM ends.
the book goes for 357 pages, covering 4 months, and more or less 45-47 specific days.
