A Moment of Hesitation

His eyes had only focused on the ball and the fact, he had to defend their goal. And score a goal. All the overwhelming thoughts were gone at this very moment. Nevan's feet were set in motion as he ran towards the guy who was about to kick the ball to score a goal himself.

He moved fast, leaving all the players behind. He had a tunnel vision at this very moment. Everything other than the ball, the player and the goal were blurred out. His leg extended to steal the ball away. It was something unexpected as Nevan had kept himself out of the play until now.

It was the worst thing, he could have done during this selection. He regretted it. And one thing was certain. If he made it through this, it would be a miracle.

He dribbled the ball between his feet, trying to avoid any 1v1 for now. The sudden tunnel vision was helping him concentrate on the ball. It seemed perfect, blurring everthing out. Including his thoughts.

All of the sudden, a pair of shoes shoved itself into his sight, making him finally look away from the ball. Ryota.

His mind was telling him to avoid playing the ball in his direction and pass it to someone who was free. His body refused to listen. A goal must come from him. That was the only thought in his mind.

"Man. I was wondering why you didn't stir up until now!" Ryota commented as he started to jog in his direction.

He stumbled and stopped. The ball right in the middle of his feet. There was something missing about Nevan. He had been wondering throughout the whole game until now, what it had been.

As his eyes met with Ryota, he understood it. The missing part. His gaze landed on the ball and he started to direct it away from Ryota, looking for a free player who could take his pass.

"Too late." Ryota spoke right behind him. How had he gotten this close this fast? Nevan let out a subtle gasp. "Another lesson, Nevan. Never hesitate."

The ball was stolen from him. He looked slightly discouraged as it was dribbled back towards his team's goal. Ryota was fast.

The last minutes of this selection were ticking at the timer as Nevan fell back into a relaxed play.

"At minute 85, Team Purple scores once more! It is 2-1 for Team Purple!" It was announced as soon as Ryota scored a goal.

It should be the other way around. Nevan should have scored this goal. He shouldn't have hesitated. He could only watch as the opposing team finally started falling into a defensive formation at the last five minutes.

He had seen the missing piece. The same thing, Nevan saw in Keisuke's eyes whenever they played soccer. Ryota had a similar gleam in his eyes. Determination. And the knowledge of what you really want.

Suddenly a shrill bell sounded. It was the end of the match. Nevan gave a high-five to Minato who held up his hand. "We played good, man!" He really said this to all of his teammates. Despite having lost, he didn't seem shattered. Nevan saw the same thing in his eyes as he had done in others'.

"Whenever you play soccer, ask yourself about the purpose of it. Why do you keep running behind a sphere?"

These words echoed in his mind. That was what Eiran had asked him when they had met the last time. What was the purpose? The truth was, he wasn't sure anymore. He felt lost. Was going home the only thing he wanted? If not, what was it that he actually desired?

"Attention, please!" The man spoke over the speakers again. "Once again, thank you for showing interest in our program. I would like to let you know that in two hours, the results will be handed out. Even if you weren't chosen for SPC, our evaluators will provide you with their advice."

The numbers on the timer changed. Now it showed a countdown, telling everyone how much spare time they had until they would have to be back at Athlete Zone.

Nevan had bid his farewells with the players, he had on this team today. He had just returned his jersey. That was when he saw Keisuke walk up to him.

"How was it?" That was how he was greeted by his friend.

Nevan gave him a small smile. "Just fine. Would be a miracle if I actually make it."

This seemed to confuse the red-haired guy. He walked beside Nevan as they made their way out of the gymnasium. "That bad?"

He nodded. His eyes moved around until he saw Dax who seemed to look for both, Nevan and Keisuke. "Dax! Here!" Nevan raised his arm and waved it slightly to get Dax's attention.

"Here you are. How was it?" Dax asked the same question. He had a smile on his face which was a rare occasion. Dax didn't often show his emotions.

"It was great. I scored a goal and showed off as many of my skills as possible." Keisuke chirped in his regular good mood.

Dax chuckled. "Oh, me too! I never thought, it would be this easy. My brother was much harder on me."

Nevan didn't say much. So, he had been the only one to bee overwhelmed? He had no idea, what he was doing at this very moment.

They had talked about the match and all the thoughts that came to their mind. The weather was perfect. The temperature had sunken a bit, the sky was cloudless and the air was fresh despite them being in the middle of the city. All the while, Nevan felt like there was a storm going on inside of him.

The two hours had passed quickly. They had gone to their regular restaurant to have lunch. And yet, it did nothing to change Nevan's mood.

"Hm?" He looked up from the food, he had lazily played with. He had been somewhat lost in his own thoughts to notice, he was being talked to right now. "Sorry, what did you say?"

Dax and Keisuke looked at their friend for a long time. He was about to speak up and ask what was going on but Keisuke began talking in a rather serious voice. "Even if you aren't accepted, it is fine. I am not sure about myself either but thinking too much wouldn't change anything, right?"

He blinked a few times, registering the words Keisuke had spoken. Then he slowly nodded. "Right. I am sorry. Maybe, I am just tired."

"I am tired too. I think, we all gave a lot of ourselves in these two weeks." Dax shoved a spoonful in his mouth.

There was a silence for a while. "Let's take a break after we get our result. Maybe for a few days? Who knows, if even any of us is chosen?" Keisuke thought out loud.

All of them seemed to agree. It hadn't been long until they had finished their meal and gone back to Athlete Zone. They had arrived just in time. The announcements were given through the speaker once more.

"－ said two hours earlier, you will have a chance to know whether you made it or not in the following minutes or hours. If you made it, congratulations! You will be given all of the informations right now. If you didn't? You will handed down your report, made by our professional evaluators and get a detailed explanation about why you didn't make it. This way, you will have a better chance at an improvement.

Now, how do you know in which room you have to go? Or which floor? Check your bracelets. You will see a floor and a room there."

Nevan held up his arm to see what the bracelet showed him. Floor 6, Room 22. He looked at his friends, questioningly.

"Floor 3. " Dax said. He showed his bracelet so that the others could see.

Keisuke laughed slightly. "Well, how about we see each other later? We will just wait for each other at one of the benches outside. I got Floor 5."

They established a meeting point while entering the elevator. They parted ways when they got out at their floor. Nevan exited as the last. He made his way through the halls, past a gym area which was filled with a few bodybuilders. Come to think of it, floor six was for them.

He arrived at a waiting area where some other players were waiting too. The evaluators must have at least four to five players to watch, he thought.

Nevan took a seat at one of the chairs as he waited patiently for his turn. He was barely registered by those who were already waiting. He leaned back, his eyes scanning the screen of the system in front of him.

He had been too engrossed in his thoughts to notice the change of the display. It showed a countdown now.

[Penalty available in [2] Hours [21] Minutes.]

Penalty? Right. He had completely forgotten about it. It was about a week ago that he had been unable to finish a task. This just seemed too weird to him that he had to face the penalty now instead of right away.

At least, he had time to prepare himself. Though it was hard since he didn't know, what was awaiting him.

Nevan looked around. The room was well-lit with plants that made this place look welcoming. It was quite a cozy place to be in, he noticed. The door to room 22 opened up. A boy came out. He looked a bit discouraged and was holding onto a file.

Right behind him, a middle-aged woman looked around the waiting room. "Nevan Kimura?"

He stood up and started walking towards the woman. He entered the room and closed the door behid himself.