Centre-Forward

"Nevan! Come out of there! We need to leave now." He had just been taking his time to get ready but Keisuke was getting impatient. Dax had come over too so that they could go to the training center together. "Even Dax is earlier than you!"

There was a series of hard knocks at the bathroom door and then Nevan finally opened it. "You look like always! Why did you take so long?!"

Nevan just let out a sigh. "Geez, we still got like forty minutes." It wasn't really a big deal. They would still be on time. He just didn't like to rush when he was getting ready. Why did everyone have a problem with him? "Let's go."

As every work day, his parents were at work. Dax was sitting on the couch while nipping at a drink Keisuke had brought him. He looked at Nevan who arrived after being locked in the bathroom for almost an hour. "You look no different than usual." Dax's cold-hearted remark didn't make anything better for Nevan.

"That's what I have been meaning to say!" Keisuke chimed in once more. He took Dax's now-empty glass and placed it in the dishwasher. "Let's get going now. We don't want to be late."

Nevan used that moment to glance at the display. Since earlier this day, the blue screen had been locked on one display this whole time.

[Penalty available in [6] hours [22] minutes.]

He had no access to the other options. Honestly, Nevan had completely forgotten about the penalty. What had the task been, anyways? Goals, right? It was that day where he had met Mr. Sinclair.

The evening dunked in a golden sunlight, just before the sunset. He had been in a hurry and gotten in a state of slight panic when the task had suddenly appeared. Today, he would see a penalty.

Nevan followed his friends outside. Both him and Dax saw how Keisuke locked the door properly before turning to them and grinning. "Let's show them what we got!"

If Keisuke expected a cheer from each of his friends, he was met with disappointment. "Come on, no need to be so serious. We can do this!" He placed an arm around Dax and Nevan.

"For sure." Nevan finally managed to let a small grin show.

And despite being confident in their skills, they didn't speak much. Even Keisuke was silent which meant he was nervous as well. He was never truly serious. The closest he got to being serious was right now. With a determined look on his face and his arm lazily lingering at Nevan's shoulder.

They walked next to each other. The sun was right above their heads, providing them with heat and light. In this neighborhood, it was silent. People had left to their works as today was just another workday for them.

The contrast was especially palpable when they moved towards the center, where Athlete Zone's magnificent building stood proudly. The hustle and bustle of the city. The cars rolling, the tram's creaching sound on the rail implanted right on the road. The footstep of the people. The conversation between individual that blurred into a big mess of voices. Nevan had been too busy with his training to notice until now just how many things were moving in this city.

Today it was like a solace for him. At least, this wasn't changing. It was the same as always. This selection for the SPC was a big event. It became a reality when they saw the media lingering at the entrance lobby.

"Oh, my nerves." Dax said, his voice trembled with excitement. "There are so many people."

The place wasn't only packed with reporters but also by other participants. Just like Keisuke had anticipated, with the news being spread just a few days ago, there were more people who wanted to go to that camp.

They managed to get through the crowd and to the eleventh floor where the selection would take place. There was a desk at the lobby where you had to register first, it seemed. There were two women who were in charge of it. Despite the large number of the participants, they seemed unaffected by it.

One of them nonchalantly looked at them, not even batting her eyes. She chewed her gum while eyeing all three boys. "Name?" Her gaze was on Dax.

"Daichi Tsuji." Dax said with a plain expression. He looked at how the woman typed in his name and told him to take a coin out of the box. He pulled out a green one.

"This is your team color. You will meet your teammates once you cross the door. You will receive more informations there." The woman pointed at the door at the left where usually the basketball players would be.

After that it was Keisuke's turn. He pulled out a blue coin and was told to go to the door to the right. The exact same words were recited to him. It was as if the woman was growing tired of saying these words. As if she had been saying it for hundreds of time now. Which didn't surprise Nevan.

"Nevan Kimura." He replied as he was asked about his name. He looked at the face of the woman. It betrayed no emotion. She seemed to have no wrinkles. Was this a sign that the woman never smiled.

He pulled out a coin. It was a white coin. "Team White, huh?" He muttered to himself. Before the woman could say anything, he already knew what the words coming out of her mouth would be. He was told to go to the right.

With the coin in his hand, his feet carried him to the gymnasium. From the outside, nobody would have guessed, it would be so loud inside. Everyone was indulged in a conversation with someone else. Teams were meeting and making plans or distributing positions for the upcoming play.

He looked around. Team Blue where he saw Keisuke. Team Yellow. There. He saw his team. Team White. He made his way through the crowd and showed the coin to the unfamiliar faces. Seemed like, there were only four of them yet. "Seems like we are in one team."

Someone grinned and gave him a jersey. "Great. Here you go. May I have the the coin?"

This guy really seemed like a sunshine. He took the coin with a smile and tossed it into a box where the other four rested. It made the five of them while they waited for the other six. As if reading Nevan's mind, sunshine spoke up. "Five more."

"Five?" Nevan asked, confused. He looked at his teammates. They seemed a character of their own. Sunshine was the only approachable though.

"They are providing us with a goalie. Fair enough, right?"

He nodded and wore the jersey over his shirt. He was in his sportswear which had been the right choice.

"Come on! Be nice to him, guys!" The sunshine spoke to others. Two of them just glanced at Nevan while one actually decided to approach the newcomer and shake his head.

One of them turned to look at him and narrowed his eyes. The cold expression didn't waver as he approached Nevan. At first, he thought the guy wanted to shake his hand as well so he extended it. He simply ignored the hand and spoke, his voice like a cold dagger. "I am not here to make friends. We are rivals. Don't get in my way and your safety will be guaranteed."

He hadn't expected this amount of competitiveness. The sense of rivalry that came off like waves from this person was a shock to him, to say the least. Nevan saw how the guy marched back to the place, he had lingered at.

"Don't mind him. He is just a bit cranky." The sunshin spoke, disregarding the behavior completely.

The one who had earlier hesitantly shaken Nevan's hand spoke up. "I don't think, this is just crankiness."

Sunshine's eyes seemed to harden as he was being wronged in his assumption. "Yeah, whatever." He rolled his eyes. "Why don't we choose our positions? First come, first serve, they say."

And so they gathered together despite having a different energy clouding their presence. "So, does everyone know which position you guys want?" Sunshine seemed to have chosen himself as the commander of this little group of theirs.

[For high winning rate, host must choose 'CENTRE FORWARD/STRIKER' as the playing position.]

The words got his attention. Nevan knew, this would be the best option. If he was good at midfield, he was better as a striker.

"Yes. I will be center-forward." Nevan spoke. The attention was at him. They nodded, seemed like their were no objections.

"Me too." The cranky guy spoke up and crossed his arms in front of himself.

"I will be center-midfield." One of the indifferent ones spoke.

"Right-midfield." The other stated.

"Great. I will be centre-back." Sunshine spoke.

The orange-haired guy whose color palette screamed 'sunshine' moved to the display. He started tipping in and looked back at his teammates. "Your names, please?"

Each of them stated the name and saw how the boy tipped in their names and the positions they had chosen. Now the rest of their team seemed to gather up too. They chose their positions, a few's faces falling as they saw the 'good' positions were already taken.

Nevan walked closer to look at the display. He tilted his head as he studied it, trying to remember as many names as possible － just in case.

Sunshine's name was Minato. Minato Kuragawa.