World Cup Final
France vs Japan
88:50
2 – 2
The roar of the stadium shook the air.
Kojiro Arashi stood at the edge of the box, the ball glued to his feet.
One step.
A feint.
A French defender lunged, Another came crashing in, Kojiro slipped past in between them as if the they weren't even there.
The space opened.
The goal was right in front of him.
Shooot.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
His eyes opened and in his foggy vision was not green pitch and dazzling stadium lights but all that remained was a dark ceiling and the irritating sound of an alarm clock.
"Tch… A dream"
"Still scored it, though."
Kojiro slapped the alarm clock silent.
Six a.m.
He rolled out of bed and moved through his routine without hesitation. Water on his face. Teeth brushed. Muscles stretched loose.
Minutes later, he stepped outside.
Jersey on.
Cleats laced.
The ball dropped to the ground.
Kojiro took off.
The morning streets were quiet, but his feet never were. The ball stayed glued to him as he ran left, right, inside, outside, each touch precise even as his breathing became uneven.
Ten kilometers.
Never once did the ball leave his control.
First day of high school, he thought.
By the time he returned home, sweat soaked through his jersey.
A quick shower washed it away. Breakfast followed, eggs, avocado, greek yogurt.
Kojiro locked the door behind him and stepped out into the morning sun.
Today was his high school debut.
Aki High School Football Ground.
7:25 a.m.
When kojiro arrived at the school, Classroom were still dark, corridors silent.
Only people present were school staff and people from sports clubs.
Football Ground was filled with noise compared to classroom.
Kojiro stopped at the fence hands in his pockets looking at the practice ongoing.
Practice was light as it was early morning, There was a group doing rondo's with five people each in a group. Practice aimed at reflex, decision making ability and ball sense.
Groups were seperated among first string and second string players.
They were all doing different types of drills, One touch pass and shoot, Crossing and heading.
Kojiro was observing every member with decent skills, He also noticed quiet a few people missing from the match he had witness.
"They were probably third year's, That bean pole striker, Captain in the midfield, One of the full backs, Two center backs and goalkeeper all seemed to have graduated."
"Only few noticable from that match are remaining, The short striker and full back that intercepted for the second goal."
Among the players he did not see at the match he found some have decent skills, among the second years watching the drills.
While he was observing, Coach was giving instruction to players one by one.
"Again."
"Faster."
"Don't stop."
"Shinozaki faster, pass faster, Ryo use your left foot, Miyajima head it downwards."
The coach finally blew a long whistle.
"Water, Five minutes rest."
Players collapsed where they stood. Some lay flat on their backs, staring at the sky. Others bent over, hands on knees, gasping for air.
Kojiro watched for about twenty minutes and left to find his classroom.
It was still early and empty and didn't take long for him to find it.
Class 1-B.
He scanned the room and picked an empty seat near the window.
There was no one in the room as it was barely 8 a.m.
The view outside overlooked part of the school grounds. From here, he could
just barely see the football field in the distance.
Not bad.
He sat down and leaned back, arms crossed.
Time passed students started to fill the class and mostly were familiar with each other after all aki city itself was a small city with population of just twenty thousand. Schools were limited most of them grew up together in middle school.
A moment later, someone dropped into the seat beside him.
Kojiro glanced sideways.
The boy was shorter than him, with messy black hair.
The boy grinned and introduced himself while waving his hand.
"Yo,I am Minato Yoshida."
"Kojiro. Kojiro Arashi."
"Arashi… like the storm?"
"Cool name."
More students entered the class, The noise level rose.
Minato then looked Kojiro up and down again.
"So, where'd you come from?"
Kojiro was confused "Huh?"
"Middle school," Minato said. "I don't recognize you."
Kojiro leaned back in his chair.
"England."
"…England?" Minato not expecting such a answer was visible stunned.
Kojiro nodded like it was nothing.
As they were about to continue their chat, Three boys came towards them
"Yo, Minato as usual you are early."
"ohh, you are all in the same class, Lucky."
Kojiro watched them three, All were average looking but vibrant.
Minato dramaticaly coughed and said, "Let me introduce you to my new friend all the way from england, kojiro Arashi."
Kojiro nodded towards them and similarly all three introduced themselves.
"Tanaka Ryuuhei, Nice to meet you."
"Fuji kyosuke, yoroshiku, Shimada yuuto, yoroshiku kojiro-kun."
The boys began to communicate, Teenage boys have lot in common and chatter continued about games, girls in the class. clubs."
The classroom door slid open.
"Take your seats."
The homeroom teacher entered, and the room quieted quickly. Students rushed
back to their desks.
Teacher wrote her name in kanji on the board.
"Hello, I am Fujimine yuzuki, you're homeroom teacher for this year."
"Let's begin the roll call."
Azuki nanmi.
Hai, a petite girl answered.
Yukimura Takako.
Hai, A chestnut hair beauty answered the call.
After the roll call yuzuki sensei made some announcements of schedule and asked everyone to choose two class monitors one boy and one girl by tommorow through ballot.
There will be seat arrangement after a week.
As things were on the way, Class bell rang and homeroom was over, yuzuki sensei made her way out of the class.
The half day went by with ease as teacher came and went till lunch break bell rang
The classroom instantly became noisy as kojiro packed his books.
Minato sitting beside him asked.
"Hey, Arashi," Minato said. "You eating in the cafeteria?"
"Sure."
"Nice. Let's go."
Tanaka, shimada, Fuji tagged along with both of them.
They joined the flow of students heading down the corridor. The cafeteria was already buzzing by the time they arrived, filled with voices and the smell of food.
They each joined the fray and took the food they liked and sat down on empty seats.
"So," Minato said between bites, "England, huh."
Kojiro glanced at him. "You're still stuck on that?"
"Of course I am," Minato replied. "That's not exactly normal around here."
"It's weird, Mostly people go to tokyo." Tanaka said joining in the conversation.
"So what made you come back?" Shimada asked.
Kojiro very nonchalantly said, "Watched a match."
"A match?"
"Here, Last year." Kojiro said while eating.
Minato stared at him, surprised. "You chose a high school because of one game?"
"Yeah."
Minato shook his head, then laughed. "Man… you really are something else."
He finished his lunch and set his chopsticks down. "So. Clubs."
"There are basically four big ones here," Minato continued, counting on his fingers.
Volleyball's the pride of the school. They went to nationals last year."
"Baseball's always strong, Top four in the region pretty much every season."
"Basketball and football usually make top eight."
"And then there's the go-home club"
Kojiro looking at his smug face instantly said "Not interested."
Minato looked at him sideways. "So which one?"
Kojiro stood up with his empty tray and said, "Football club."
Minato and others also stood up finishing their lunch.
"Football huh, Are you joining after school today ?"
Kojiro nodded and they left back towards their class.
Classes resumed after lunch, passing faster than the morning. By the time the final bell rang.
Students poured out of classrooms, voices echoing through the corridors.
They were seniors recruting first years for their respective clubs.
It was noisy and vibrant.
Minato caught up to Kojiro at the entrance.
"Mind if I come with you?"
Kojiro glanced toward the football ground in the distance.
"…Sure."
They stepped outside together.
The afternoon sun hung lower now, casting long shadows across the school grounds.
At the entrance of the football ground was table set up with two girls sitting and board with sign of applications.
Girl was shouting,"Applications to join football club are here."
Kojiro and Minato went straight towards them. Girl sitting calmly asked.
"New applicant to join football club, Please fill this form."
Kojiro walked up without hesitation.
Minato lingered a few steps back, watching.
Kojiro picked up a pen.
Name: Arashi Kojiro.
Year: First.
Position: Central Attacking Midfielder.
Experience: Ten years.
Jersey Size: XL
He finished writing and handed the form over.
The manager glanced down at it.
"…Attacking midfielder, Experience TEN YEARS."
Kojiro met her eyes. "Yes."
She studied him briefly, Then nodded and placed the form onto the stack.
"Training starts early, be here tomorrow morning. Six-thirty."
Minato's eyes widened. "That early?"
Kojiro didn't react.
"I'll be here," he said.
The manager gave a small nod. "Good."