Chapter 6

The following day Kat was in the park with Akin and Alicia, wearing nike sports apparel, Akin was wearing his training kit at her request, stood opposite her holding the ball,

"What I plan to do today is very simple; you are going to hold the ball while I try to get it from you."

Hearing this caused Akin to raise his eyebrows; he looked at her with his head tilted,

"Are you serious?"

His question caused her to smile as she grinned mischievously at him,

"Why? don't you think you can handle one old lady?"

Akin shook his head slowly as he stared wonderingly at the redhead,

"First off, you aren't that old, secondly are you good at football? because I don't see how this helps me at all?"

With a sigh the Irish woman shrugs, her eyes patient as she regards him,

"Well aren't you sweet, and to answer your question while I haven't played professionally, I don't need to, afterall I am not training you to play better, but to overcome your fear of confrontation on the pitch."

Of course the response only served to confuse the young traverser more and it must have showed because she continued on,

"Although I can't say I have a lot of experience in helping athletes, I have some experience of phobias, which from what you described to me yourself you are on the path to developing."

Hearing this caused Alicia inhale harshly as she turned to her best friend,

"Is it that serious?"

Kat gravely nodded as she turned to meet the young mother's concerned gaze before turning to meet the confused eyes of the young player,

"Traumaphobia, this is the fear of injury; you go through great lengths to ensure you are not injured; everything from your diet to your exercises has been carefully developed to ensure that you never get injured."

She moved closer, and she put her hands on his shoulders.

Their eyes connected as she informed him,

"For a professional athlete, it is customary to go to great lengths to protect yourself from injuries; this is not out of enjoyment but necessity.

However, you are not a professional athlete; you are a child. You have no history of injuries, so there is no reason you should be in so much anxiety over potential harm."

The words were shocking and eye-opening for Akin because he realised they were right. Maybe in his later life,e he suffered a lot due to his injury, but he began a whole new life; he had a second chance.

Since travelling into his new body from the age of 4, he has gone to extreme lengths to develop his ideal body, and even Billy often joked that maybe he was the person who has brittle bones disease.

The lengths he took to protect himself have almost reached the level of paranoia.

Seeing that her words seemed to be sinking in, she nodded and smiled reassuring at him,

"Now, the way I see i,t there are two routes we can take. The first one is that we can stay cooped up in my boring office for years about why you are acting as if you would rather spend your entire life living in bubble wrap."

Her light-hearted teasing caused the concerned duo of mother and son to chuckle,

"Or we can come outside, enjoy the rare British sun and tackle the issue head-on; what do you think? Stay out here? Or back to my office?"

Akin realised that if he wanted to improve, he could only tackle this if it was head-on.

He took the ball at his feet, kicking it between her legs and running past her; he stopped the ball behind her and grinned with a challenge as she stared wide-eyed,

"I just have to keep you from getting the ball, right?"

Alicia burst out in laughter as her friend stared in wide-eyed astonishment at the fast action,

"Are you sure you want this, Kat? You might regret it later, you know?"

The psychologist wearily shook her head with a small smile,

"Do I have a choice? What else can I do when my godson is such a head case?"

The godson, as mentioned above,e then squawked in indignation,

"Oi! How can you call me a head case when I am right in front of you? Are you sure you're able to help me with that attitude?"

The two older women shared a chuckle, the red-haired woman waving away his protest,

"Oh hush, anyway, the point of this is not just that you have to keep me from getting the ball; this is exposure therapy. You are afraid of being rough plays, so first, I want you to close your eyes,"

She watched him as he followed her instruction before continuing,

"Take deep, steady breaths, and imagine you are in a game and have just used the move you just used on one of the older boys; as you run past him, he drops down, sliding in and landing a heavy kick on your ankle, now you have torn you Achilles tendon."

Just the image conjured in his mind causes visible distress as Akin begins to breathe rapidly.

His arms wrapped around himself; he was suddenly brought back to his previous life, crying out in pain as tears streamed from his eyes; the pain seemed to spread through his whole body.

When he feels an arm touch him, he jumps violently, eyes snapping open he meets his mother's worried eyes, staring at him tenderly.

Her gaze and presence reassured him, allowing him to exit the painful memory and regain his bearing. His eyes soon met his Aunt Kat's; her look was clinical and assessing.

A look he had never seen before, but strangely enough, was also comforting on its own.

He took deep breaths and realised that he had dropped onto the floor, so he rushed to his feet, face heating up as he apologised.

Alicia wrapped an arm around him comfortingly, bringing him to her side, still concerned,

"Are you alright?"

Akin nodded quickly, Kat who had been silent, suddenly spoke,

"Are you sure? We can stop right now. Nobody would blame you."

However, he quickly rejected her offer; after that, she nodded,

"If you are sure, like before, close your eyes and take deep breaths, the same play, but imagine you are successful this time. The older buy is too slow to turn, and you are one on one with the keeper; the keeper challenges you, and suddenly you shoot, and you score."

However, this brings Akin back to the Arsenal U15 trials; his solo run into the box after beating the defender, the excitement he felt as he scored, causing a feeling of warmth to envelope him, and he begins to feel a lot lighter.

Seeing his expression ease, both Alicia and Kat share a glance; Kat smiled reassuringly,

"Now, I want you to forget the first scenario, delete it from your mind, and think only of what you thought of just now."

Suddenly he is back in the memory of the day he was injured, however, rather than being tackled.

As he remembered the way he performed in his trials at Hale End, he succeeded in scoring a beautiful goal one on one with the keeper.

Then suddenly, the scene changes; he is in talks with the club, signing his contract, buying a car for his mum, moving into a big house, playing his first league game, and playing for England.

Akin suddenly realised this was his original dream, why he originally wanted to play football before discovering his talent and becoming arrogant, before the parties, drugs, alcohol, and fights.

He opened his eyes, but something felt different, much more vivid and bright; Kat nodded as their eyes met,

"Now I am coming for the ball, and you can't evade; use your body to stop me from getting the ball."

She ran forward, and he met her, putting his body between her and the ball.

Kat was not a professional, but she was an adult, so he felt pressure as he blocked her from getting the ball, shifting his body while moving the ball at his feet; this continued until he began sweating and breathing heavily.

Then he felt her push into him, causing him to stumble forward; with a yelp, he watched helplessly as Kat got the ball, his body exhausted.

Alicia let out a cheer, and Kat also applauded him; the red-headed woman smiled at him,

"As long as you play like that, face your opponent head-on no matter how much bigger than you they are, then win or lose, you have done your best; how about it, are you still scared?"

As he looked at his godmother, the woman's redhead under the light of the sun created a halo effect, the features of the older woman were highlighted her beauty, tired he unconsciously voices his thoughts,

"An Angel…"

The comment took both women by surprise as they stared blankly at the boy on the floor before they let out peals of laughter that caused other people in the park to glance at them.

Akin, however, was unaware of his gaff as he was too tired to notice them.