Chapter 11

Axel’s POV~

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“W-what?!” practically the whole team screamed.

“You heard me. For the next two days before our match against Australia, you will all be forbidden to leave the training camp hall.” Coach Travis said sternly.

Coach and Alexi managed to arrive late last night after Opening Ceremony for the FFI ended. After breakfast this morning when we were all ready to head out to the field, Coach Travis stopped us and told us that there would be no practicing for the next two days.

In front of us, Alexi was standing beside Coach Travis wearing her usual training attire with a notebook in hand. I just noticed that the bandage on her left hand was still there, I hoped that it would heal soon.

“But we don’t understand.” Jude stated, “How do you expect us to play our very best if we couldn’t practice? Besides, we’re not familiar with each others abili-“

He was cut off by Alexi who looked as if she was blaming herself for this whole thing, “Look, we’re sorry for the sudden decision. But you have to trust us.”

“Alexi, we’re not ready as a team yet. Our combination techniques should be polished, not to mention we have to work on our coordination.”

“Jude,” the coach answered, “Do I need to remind you that I am the coach. And for now, I need you to obey my orders for the upcoming match. You are free to do as you will during the allotted time, so make the most of it. That is all, dismissed.”

Everyone hesitated to leave. We all looked at each other, wondering if we could do anything about this unfair and illogical verdict. No one seemed to move, they were all waiting for either Marc or Jude to say something to make Coach change his mind.

I then saw Xavier looking quietly at Austin and Caleb. When I turned to them, I realized they were looking at Alexi. They seem to have a mental conversation with each other.

I have to admit though, I was surprised at how close Alexi and Caleb seemed. I would sometimes see them glancing at each other or exchange a smile or two. But I doubt those two were going out. Somehow the thought of it made me worry.

It’s hard enough now that Xavier evidently likes her, but approaching her would be even harder if she was going out with Caleb.

I realized what I was thinking and immediately felt my cheeks go warm. Recently, I’ve been thinking about her more and more. When I look at her from afar, I’ve always imagined how it would be like if I got to know her some more.

It must be really nice.

My thread of thoughts was interrupted when Coach asked Caleb and Alexi to come to his office.

Before they left, they both gave Austin a look that said ‘I’m sorry’. Obviously they both didn’t want to make him feel alone. He on the other hand gave them a little smile and an encouraging nod in return.

Coach, Caleb and Alexi then headed inside the building. Ultimately, everyone gave up and followed them inside, they realized that there was nothing they can do to change his mind.

“Axel.” Xavier called from behind.

“Yeah? Is there a problem?” I asked, trying to sound as calm as I could.

“Besides the fact that we can’t practice? Yeah, I’d say we got a problem.” He answered as we made our way to the second floor of the building where our rooms were located.

“So what’s bothering you?” I asked as I shoved my hands in my pockets.

“The Coach is hiding something from us. I’m not sure what it is but I feel like it has something to do with Alexi and Caleb.” He answered.

“What about Austin? Do you think he’s in it too? I mean, he is Alexi’s brother and all.”

“No. If he was, then he shouldn’t have looked the way he did a while ago. But I’m sure he knows that they’re hiding something from him too.” He reasoned.

In a way, it made sense. But Austin was Alexi’s brother, she couldn’t keep any secrets from him right? Unless, it’s about something big…

“So if the Coach is hiding something from us, what could it be?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. But I don’t like the idea of Alexi being dragged into something bad. I’m sure the whole team knows that there’s something weird going on about Coach Travis. Plus, when he ordered us not to practice on the field, I knew the team’s suspicions about him grew.”

I nodded in agreement. “Your right. But for now, all we could do is to follow this Coach.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” He then scratched the back of his head and stopped walking. “B-by the way, you don’t think there’s anything going on between Caleb and Alexi, do you?”

I stopped but didn’t look at him, “No…I don’t. If there was though, I wouldn’t like it.”

With that, I headed to my room and laid on my bed and thought about what I said back there.

Why…did I just say that?

~~~~

Xavier’s POV~

“No…I don’t. If there was though, I wouldn’t like it.”

There it is. A solid proof that Axel also has a thing going on for Alexi.

But something bothered me. The way he said it seemed…unsure. It was like he was still figuring out himself what his feelings are for her. Either that or he’s denying the fact that he likes her, even though he clearly does.

I sighed. This was getting more and more complicated…but still, it’s all worth it.

I sat on the chair by the table and looked out my window. I hate not doing anything, I want to play soccer! I mean, what’s a soccer player without soccer? I don’t think I can manage staying in one place doing nothing, I might go crazy.

Still, the coach gave his orders and I have nothing to do but to follow them... then again, he is busy talking to Alexi and Caleb…

Maybe I could sneak out. I might get lucky and he might not notice!

 I quickly made my way to the door. To my surprise, Marc, Nathan, Jude, Hurly and Jordan were all thinking the same thing. We quietly tiptoed down the hall and then down the stairs together, hoping nobody would see us. Unfortunately though, someone did.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Coach Travis asked. He sat on a chair reading a book and didn’t even bother to look up at us.

“Coach, please let us play soccer!” Jude said, “Our match with Australia will be the team’s first official match.”

“We want to level up our individual skills too.” Jordan added.

“Yeah, and if we lose this match, we won’t have any chance to compete in the finals. Please Coach, let us play.” Jude insisted.

The Coach said nothing and turned the page on his book.

“Coach-“

“I will not allow anyone to disobey my decisions.” He finally spoke, “If you won’t listen to me, then I’ll remove you from the team. Being a playmaker, you should know the importance of coordination, Jude.”

Feeling defeated, we all went back up upstairs and started to sulk, “Damn, I want to practice so bad.” Marc said.

“Why would a Coach want his team to lose by not letting them practice?” I asked, “I swear this is totally fucked up.”

“There’s something suspicious going on with our Coach.” Jude commented, “His actions on the field could prove that to be true, don’t you think?”

We all stopped, “You mean the time he praised Caleb for playing rough?” Hurley asked.

“Yeah.”

Marc scratched the back of his head. “Your right, that is somewhat suspicious; and then there’s not letting us practice, which made him even more doubtful. But then again, he’s our coach. We have to do what he says not because he might take us out the team, but because he’s our coach.”

We all fell silent after what Mark said. He was right as always, but that still couldn’t help us get rid of the small shred of doubt that we all have.

We then heard a pair of footsteps behind us. We turned around and saw Alexi trying to lift a basket of soccer balls up the stairs. It looked like she was having a hard time and winced a little, that’s when I remembered that her left hand was injured.

“Alexi, let me help you with that.” I quickly sped down and took the basket out of her hands. She looked relieved and shot me a grateful smile making me blush beat red.

The others started to come down so I had to hide my face behind the basket so that they won’t see me blush. “What’s this for?” Jude asked Alexi.

I saw Alexi look at the basket and nervously smiled. “Nothing really, I just thought you might need these later on.” We didn’t get what she was saying and kept climbing.

We arrived at the second floor where Alexi asked me to place the balls by the wall near the stairs. “Thanks a lot Xavier. I couldn’t have managed bringing this up alone.” She said with a smile.

“It was nothing.” I answered smiling back, “How’s your hand doing by the way?”

“It’s healing up pretty well. Although, I guess I still can’t lift heavy objects with it.” she said gripping her left wrist. She looked down and her smile loosened a little. “I-I heard what you were saying a while ago.”

Her smile disappeared completely and was replaced by a sad expression. “I-if you’re mad about not being to practice, please don’t let it out on the Coach. If t-there’s anyone to blame…it’s me.”

Everyone let out a short gasp. What was she talking about?

“What do you mean?” Marc asked. He was clearly confused like the rest of us, but he tried not to show it much.

“It wasn’t the Coach’s idea to not let you practice, it was mine.” She said with a scared tone. “I-I told Coach not to let you practice on the field for two days. He trusted me and supported my notion. S-so please, don’t get mad at the Coach. He’s just doing what he thinks is best for the team.”

Everyone was speechless. We had no idea what to say or how to react. I could see the fear in her eyes, she was scared that we might do or say something that can hurt her. But despite that, she swallowed the fear and confessed that it was her fault that we couldn’t play on the field today. If that isn’t courage, I don’t know what is.

I could tell the others felt the same, they were amazed at her resolution and how she took responsibility for her decisions. Honestly, I think they’re more impressed at her than mad.

“Why would you ask the Coach to not let us practice?” Jude asked. I could see he was nervous because he didn’t want to offend her. “I didn’t think you of all people would even consider something as risky as that. I mean, this is Inazuma Japan’s first game after all.”

We watched as she tucked some of her hair behind her ear and avoided eye contact with us. “I have my reasons.”

“But-“

“Jude,” I quickly cut him off. Alexi was feeling uncomfortable right now. “I think we should just trust Alexi.”

Marc patted Jude behind the back, “Xavier’s right. If the Coach trusts her judgment, then we should too.”

Jude started to lighten up a little and eventually sighed, “I guess you’re right.” He turned to Alexi, “I’m sorry for what I said. Its just…I’m really aiming to win this match and go to the finals.”

Alexi smiled, “Don’t worry; I’ll make sure you win.” Suddenly, her blue eyes turned silver then back to blue so fast, I only had a few moments to register it.  The other’s must’ve seen it too because they all turned as pale as me.

“W-What was that?” Jordan asked. Nathan, Marc and Hurley began to rub their eyes while I stood there staring at her.

“What was what?” she asked. It’s like she didn’t know that her eyes could change color like that.

“I swear I saw your-“ Jordan saw Alexi’s expression turned from a confuse one to a worried one. Jordan seemed to blush a little and looked away as he scratched his head, “N-never mind.”

“Oh, alright.” She answered; she then started to head down again. But before that, she turned to us again and smiled, “I really am sorry for not letting you guys play today, but thank you for trying to understand.”

Once she was out of sight, we heard a voice coming from the left side of the hall. “Her eyes… they just turned silver for a moment back there.”

We all turned and saw Axel standing a few steps from us. By that distance, he could’ve easily heard and saw what we all saw, so it wasn’t surprising that he noticed her eyes changed color.

“That wasn’t the first time I’ve seen it.” Jude suddenly spoke. “I saw her eyes turn red for a moment while we were playing on the first day of training.”

“Really?” Nathan asked and Jude nodded.

“Even the Coach saw it. But at that time he looked like he was trying to get used to it. I swear, he’s definitely hiding something from us.”

“Right,” Axel said as he looked longingly to where Alexi was headed, “and for all we know, it has something to do with Alexi.”

A little bubble of jealousy boiled inside me, but I can’t help but to agree.

Suddenly, we all heard footsteps coming from the stairs. We all looked and saw Caleb with his hands in his pockets, looking distracted, worried and a bit mad at the same time. When he saw us, he sighed and stopped.

“If you’re trying to sneak out, I suggest you forget about it. Coach Travis is still there guarding his post.” He said lazily.

“We know,” Jude said, “he’s making sure that none of us gets to use the grounds today for reasons only him and Alexi know.”

The sound of her name made Caleb click his tongue, “If you lose confidence just because you can’t practice for two days, then give up being a Representative. Don’t blame Alexi for her decisions, she know what’s best for the team.”

He then walked up and headed to his room, then closed his door shut.

Jude looked so pissed off that I was afraid that he was going to barge in his room and beat Caleb to death. Instead he said, “Caleb knows that it was Alexi who requested for us not to practice on the field. It only proves that whatever secret the Coach is hiding from us, Caleb is part of it too.”

Everybody nodded and started to head to their own rooms until it was only me and Axel.

“How much did you heard?” I asked Axel.

“Not much.” He answered, “I was just on my way to get something to drink when I noticed you guys talking to Alexi. I didn’t want to make things awkward, so I just waited until you guys finished talking. But then I heard her say that she was the reason we couldn’t practice outside. And then after a while, when she told you guys that she’ll make sure we win, I noticed her eyes change its color. It was pretty much hard to believe that it did.”

I nodded, “Tell me about it. Then one thing led to another and now, we’re stuck in between trusting or suspecting Coach Travis. But either way, I’ll stand on my ground and keep on trusting Alexi.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“By the way, did you notice the way Caleb was standing up for Alexi?” I asked out of the blue.

Axel raised his brow, “Yeah, so?”

“Do you still think there’s nothing going on between them?”

He paused and looked at Caleb’s door for a moment, “I-I’m not sure…but if there really was, I still wouldn’t like it.” he answered plainly and then headed down.

I couldn’t help but smirk.

Yeah, me too.

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And that is chapter 10 for you!!!

How’d you liked it so far?

I feel so sad, I didn’t get to write anything about Austin *sniff* *sniff*

Anyways, I hope you liked it. I felt like I should add in more mystery here so… yeah. I’m really sorry if I made any mistakes like the in grammar, punctuation uses and such. Or if the story suddenly became boring and hard to comprehend. I am really really really reeeaalllyyy sssooorrryyy if my writing style sucks. Like I said, I am a completely hopeless amateur that has no talent in writing whatsoever.

But I still try…*sniff* *sniff*

Anyway, please tell me what you think of the story progression and give me some tips for improvement. I love reading your comments, it’s what makes me want to continue writing stories despite my lack of talent! And for those who kept on supporting this story, a very big “THANK YOU”!!! even though I’m slow on updates, I still make the effort to squeeze in some time in my very hectic(hellish) schedule to write my beloved story, and it’s all because of your support! I seriously love you guys soooooo much ^-^!!!!!

You know the drill: READ, COMMENT, VOTE AND SHARE THE INAZUMA LOVE!!!

Ps. Check out my new story!!! Its entitled “So Many Possibilities (Inazuma Eleven characters X Reader)”

Yeah, you heard it right! Its my very first Various Character X Reader Fic~!!! I’m still starting on it, but I hope you’ll enjoy that one too!!!

Thank you guys so freaking MUCH!!! 515 reads!!!!