....
Eventually, the night gave way to morning.
The final match of the round of sixteen had been played, and the quarter-final bracket was complete.
France would meet Morocco in the opening quarter-final three days after Spain's victory over Portugal, while Spain's own quarter-final against Belgium waited further down the schedule.
For the Spanish squad, that meant something precious.
Time.
And Izan used some of it exactly as he wanted.
By the next late morning, he was sitting in a large rented space in Los Angeles with Olivia, Hori, Komi, and Miranda, finally getting brunch that had nothing to do with tactics, recovery sessions, or team meetings.
Hori looked at her brother across the table.
"You look like you're glowing."
Izan slowly lifted his eyes, and then scoffed.
"What do you want?"
Hori blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"Whenever you compliment me like that, you want something."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Izan stared at her until Hori eventually cracked.
