Axel’s POV~

Marc came in scratching the back of his head, “Sorry I’m late.” he said with a sheepish smile. He’s eyes then scanned the room and a smile made its way to his face. Seeing the familiar faces of our old team mates, he quickly went around and exchanging smiles and greetings to everyone.

Behind him, a kid with black hair and teal eyes, wearing a dark blue and white patterned tracksuit was moving rigidly by the sidelines and was a bit shaky, as if he was nervous to be there.

From my far left I could hear Marc laugh and joke around with everyone. He even managed to know the name of the purple haired guy, which turned out to be Archer Hawkins. He then turned to the kid that came with him and introduced him as Austin Knight.

“M-my name is Austin K-knight. It’s a pleasure to m-meet you and a h-honor to be in your presence.” He said in a shaky voice.

“He said Coach Hillman asked him to come too.” Marc butted in.

“What position do you play?” Jude asked.

Typical Jude, gathering information from the new kid.

“I-I’m ok with anything except goal keeping. I still haven’t got the form right, but I’m practicing real hard.” He answered.

“Oh really?” Jude said sounding interesting. “So you shift a lot huh? That’s pretty neat.”

Before he could even answer, the door suddenly swung open revealing Coach Hillman along with our managers, Nelly Raimon, Sylvia Woods and Celia Hills.

We all gathered around them as Coach scanned the room. “is everybody here yet?”

Just then, a ball was kicked and was headed straight to Jude. Luckily he was able to see it and kicked it back to…

“Caleb Stonewall!”

I saw the Coach grin and said, “That’s everyone.”

~~~~

Before all hell could break loose between Caleb, Jude and David, the Coach asked us to listen.

“I called you hear today not for you to get to each other’s throats but to tell you that, all of you here were chosen as candidates to be Japan’s representative for the upcoming FFI.”

“FFI? What’s that?” Marc asked.

“It’s the Football Frontier International. It’s the tournament that determines the best soccer team in the world, and you are the chosen nominees to be Japan’s representatives. Anyway a match will be held here after two days. You will be divided into two groups of eleven members here. There, 16 of you will be chosen out of the 22 standing before me today. To make sure that you show off your full potential, use of combination techniques are prohibited. Now for the teams.”

We all tensed as he announced the following:

“Team A: Marc, David, Thor, Kevin, Hurley, Shawn, Adonis, Max, Jordan, Xavier and Archer.”

“Team B: Jude, Axel, Austin, Scotty, Nathan, Caleb, Darren, Jordan, Shadow, Todd, and Kyle.”

“Wait Coach!” Marc said aloud, “There’s no Kyle here!”

“I’m right here!” Willy Glass said annoyed. “I’m Kyle Glass, William’s twin brother. Unlike him, I’m actually a good player.”

It took a while for us to accept the fact, but we got over it nonetheless. After that, Coach dismissed us and warned us that the next time we meet, we’ll all be competitors for the chance to be Japan’s representative.

~~~~

Austin’s POV~

This is the greatest day of my life!

I thought today was just like any other  regular Sunday when I came down the stairs and in to the kitchen where my sister was cooking breakfast and my grandpa was drinking his coffee.

The smell of homemade waffles and buttery bread filled the air as I sat down and greeted them both “Good morning.”

“Good morning kiddo.” Grandpa said giving me a warm smile. He was wearing his business suit today so I guess he’ll be going to the museum later on.

“Good morning.” My sister said handing me a huge stack of waffles. I gave her a smile and she smiled back. I took a whiff of the hot waffles in front of me and the smell was enough to make me swallow hard. I was about to dig in when I realized something was wrong.

“Where’s grandma and Caleb?” I asked them.

“Caleb went out early for practice and grandma is out in the garden.” Grandpa said as he took a bite on his stack of waffles.

“Oh.” I started to take a bite myself when my sister stopped me and poured some of her homemade chocolate sauce on my plate. I smiled and thanked her and she kissed my forehead then went back to doing the dishes. She’s the best sister in the world.

“Which reminds me young man, you should help your grandma today since you don’t have anything else to do.” Grandpa said.

“I’m sorry grandpa,” nee-san said while continuing to do the dishes, “I believe Austin has somewhere to go today. I got a call last night from some Coach Hillman saying he’s supposed to be at Raimon Junior High.”

Hearing that almost made me choke on my waffles, “The Seymour Hillman wants to see me?” I asked hysterically while looking at my sister for an answer.

“Yeah.” She said with a smile, I know she’s just as excited as I am.

“What did he wanted to see me for?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t get the chance to ask.” She said putting away the dishes, “Anyway, he said you have to be there by 8,so if I were you, I’d finish breakfast and get myself ready.”

“Ok.” I said while basically stuffing the whole plate in my mouth. “There, all done! Oh wait, nee-san, do you want to come with me to Raimon today?” I asked, putting on my most innocent face.

She looked at me and smiled sadly, “I’m sorry Austin, I have somewhere I have to be today.”

“Oh,” I said looking disappointed, “It’s ok, I understand.” Then I perked up a bit, “I’ll just tell you everything that happened when I get back.”

“Alright. Go get ‘em tiger!”

~~~~

After breakfast, I took a shower got dressed in my tracksuit then said good bye to my family and started to head out to Raimon. On my way there, I got myself lost and was about to give up when I saw a familiar figure running pass me.

“Wow! It’s Marc Evans!!! I can’t believe it!!!” then a thought occurred to me, if I follow him maybe I can make it to Raimon on time. So I did.

Unfortunately, I was discovered and was forced to tell him the reason I was following. To my surprise, he actually ok with it and since he was summoned by Coach Hillman, he said I should tag along with him. And then this day just gets better and better.

When we arrived at Raimon, I was surprised to see some, if not all, the legendary players like Shawn Frost, Jude Sharp and Axel Blaze!!! I couldn’t even talk right when Marc introduced me to them! To be in the midst of such amazing players is so amazing… Gods, I wish one-san could be here with me.

After chatting for a couple of minutes, we heard the door open and reveal Coach Hillman and three other girls, who, if I had to guess, were the managers.

After gathering around him, he told us that we are the chosen few to become candidates as Japan’s representative in the FFI. I was surprised beyond comprehension, I seriously didn’t think that I would be called for something this grand and to play with the players I look up to on the field.

He also said that there would be a game held here in two days, and as if this day isn’t lucky enough, I got to be in the same team as Axel Blaze!

It was getting late and the Coach already dismissed us. I had a chance to chat with Marc and the others for a while before deciding to go home.

I arrived a few minutes after six since the trains were delayed. As I opened the door, the aroma of a mouthwatering meal greeted me. No doubt, my sister’s cooking tonight.

“I’m home.”

“Welcome Back.” Onee-san called from the kitchen. I put my bag down the counter and headed to the kitchen. There, the smell of food got stronger and stronger.

“I’ll be there in a second.” She said putting something in the oven. I sat at the table observing my sister gracefully move from one work space to another. Then she stopped and sat right next to me.

“Where’s grandma and grandpa?”

“They’re out for a week or so. They said they’ll be attending an art show in Milan. So, tell me, how was your day Austin?”

I excitedly told her what happened to me that day and she listened intently. Once I was done she smiled at me and said, “I’m so proud of you Austin!And I’m sure grandma and grandpa is too.”

“I’m home.” Caleb said walking in the kitchen.

“Welcome back.” My sister greeted. “I heard the good news, seems like you and Austin will be battling it out in two days huh?”

“Got that right.” He said and then turned to me, “I won’t make it easy for you, so you better prepare alright? Show’em what your made of.”

“Of course I will!”

“Alright sit down you two, time for dinner. I’ve made something special for the occasion.” Nee-san smiled. She then served up glazed chicken and mash potatoes, served with gravy on the side. “Eat up, I’ve also made some brownies for dessert.”

“Yes!” I cheered, if there’s anything I love more than my sister’s cooking, it’s her desserts!

While eating, I turned to Caleb and asked him about something that bothered me during our meeting, “Hey Caleb, why did the others seem, I don’t know, a bit strange when you showed up this morning? Did something happen? Why didn’t you tell them that we’re related?”

Instead of getting mad at me for bombarding him with so many questions, he just smiled and said, “You don’t need to worry about that, all you need to worry about are your play. Make sure you show’em how great of a soccer player you are?”

“You bet!” I turned to my sister, “You’ll come to our game too right?”

She looked at me and said in a sad tone, “I’m sorry Austin but I have to somewhere I need to be on that day.” she then smiled and held my hand knowing that I was disappointed, “But I’ll be sure to train you before the match, starting tomorrow. Will that be ok?”

I felt bad about her not going but I returned her smile and nodded. I glanced at her hand and when she held mine tighter and realized that her wrist was all bandaged up. I panicked and asked, “What happened to your wrist?!”

“Why? What’s wrong?” Caleb asked in a worried tone. He then saw her wrist and asked the same question as mine.

She smiled and said not to worry. She said that while she was out, she saw a girl crying because her cat got stuck on a tree, so she decided to help. When she did though, she lost her balance and fell. Good thing the girl’s brother was there to catch her, if he didn’t, she would’ve been seriously hurt.

We left it to that and I did the dishes for her that night then went to bed early.

Tomorrow, training starts…

~~~~

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