Weakness

The room was overflowed with light. It wasn't a surprise, considering that one of the wall was completely made of glass and served as a large window. He took place at one of the chairs. Nevan could feel his heart pumping blood into his body at full speed, as if he was running a marathon. Of course, he wasn't. He was nervous.

"You didn't have a particularly god day, did you?" The woman asked with a sympathetic expression. Her voice sounded almost worried. Almost.

His breath had hitched at the sudden approach. He just stared blankly at the woman before he finally uttered a few words that sounded like "It was just fine. Why are you asking?"

The woman looked serious. She paused for a while before she finally opened her mouth to speak. "Well, you didn't play that good. I watched your clips from previous plays. You were way better there than now." It seemed like she realized she had forgotten something. She held out her small hand and smiled slightly. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Yuki Takahashi."

Nevan took a look at the hand. Pale skin, rings, smooth skin. He shook her hand. She knew his name, didn't see? Yet, it was more appropriate to introduce himself properly too. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Takahashi. I am Nevan Kimura."

"It is a pleasure to meet you." She smiled politely before leaning back. She took his file and paged through it. Then she glanced back at the boy in front of her. How old was he? Seventeen, right? "What is your feeling about the selection?"

Nevan leaned back as well, his gaze travelling through the room. He was.. "Unsure, to be honest. I know, today was not the best performance I have shown. And you, yourself said, I have played better than today in my past matches." He met her gaze. "I didn't make it. Am I right?"

Ms. Takahashi's eyes widened ever so slightly. Her fingers fiddled with the pages in the file as she looked at the young boy. She always tried to think of a soft way to break the news. Such direct approach was rare. "You didn't make it." She confirmed.

She handed him the file so that Nevan could look through it. His hands touched the smooth pages as he read through the content. It was a list of skills and attributes, he should have shown. Each skill was structured in the same way. There were six levels to each skill and a seventh option which said "N/A".

That option was chosen a lot of times. And those that were assessable were not given a high level either. In short, the report was very disappointing, considering how much he had trained for the past two weeks.

Ms. Takahashi must have noticed his disappointed expression. "Let us talk about it, shall we?" A simple nod from Nevan was enough to make her continue speaking. "You must be wondering, 'why not assessable on most of the skills'. That is simple. You were too passive throughout the entire ninety minutes. There were not many moments when you took the ball and played an active part."

Now that he thought about it, that was right. His legs had refused to move for the most of the time. It irritated him but he could do nothing about it now. It was too late. And he didn't know how to turn back time, coincidentally.

"You were too distracted by your thoughts, I assume. Even your expression was passive." The woman continued. Her tone had turned to a more professional one, leaving the realm of concern behind. "Even the skills you displayed are poorly rated because you simply didn't show the fluency that was required."

He winced ever so slightly. It was like an arrow hit right into his heart. Oh, that hurt. He covered the little wince with a cough. "Sorry. Please, continue."

"Do you need water?" The evaluator spoke, gesturing towards the water bottle and a glass. Nevan gratefully poured himself some water before nipping at the glass. "There was a moment when you took an active part in the game." She remembered.

Her finger rubbed her chin as she thought about the moment, she just remembered. "It was like a switch was turned and you suddenly moved. You got the ball and then you simple started moving to Team Purple's goal." Nevan knew, what Ms. Takahashi was talking about. He tensed up ever so slightly. "Then you hesitated." She stated.

It would be a lie if Nevan said, he wasn't impressed by her observation skills. "Why?" She asked.

Nevan didn't say anything. He chose to look at the clear water in his glass. He didn't want to talk about it to someone he barely knew. It didn't matter that this woman had decided, he wasn't skilled enough to take part in SPC.

"Fine. It is not important to me, anyways." Another arrow was shot into his already wounded heart. "This is one of the reasons, why you are not fit to take part in this club. Your hesitation. You get it?"

Nevan was a little dazed by the sobriety of the fact that Ms. Takahashi stated. He managed to nod. "Got it." He spoke in agreement.

"That is your biggest weakness. Imagine this." The woman leaned forward. "You are a big star. You play for your country －Japan. One goal and your team will get into the finals with a solid perspective of winning the World Cup. You are this close to score a goal." She rested her back against the back of the chair. "Then, you hesitate." Her voice was barely above a whisper as if she was telling a secret.

Silence enveloped them. Ms. Takahashi looked intently at the black-haired boy in front of her. His grey eyes darted away from her. He was uncomfortable.

"Then your opponent steals the ball and scores a goal, allowing his team to get into the finals." She finished her sentence and kept staring at Nevan now. "What I want to say is that hesitation has lost nothing on the field."

He knew. Hesitation meant, he wasn't ready to compete. That he wasn't ready to play when situations got tricky or difficult.

"This is your weakness. Until you get rid of it, you wouldn't be able to compete on national level. You need to be sure about a scoring a goal. Not hesitate, even if your opponent might appear stronger than you are."

Was this a motivational speech? It felt like it was. He let her words go through his mind. Only if he got rid of this hesitation, he would be able to make it big?

He hadn't said much in this meeting. What was he supposed to say? Ms. Takahashi smiled then and spoke up once more. "That is all I had to say about this report."

It was his sign to stand up. The chair slid back as he arose from his seat. "Thank you very much. I will keep your words in mind." He said, a bit stiff. He watched her stand up as well.

"Unfortunately, you didn't make it into SPC. But that doesn't mean, you have no chance, whatsoever. Like I said before, I saw your clips. You have talent. Hone it to perfection and you are unstoppable." Ms. Takahashi encouraged him.

He shook her hand firmly before leaving the office. Another participant was called right after he exited the room by Ms. Takahashi. This seemed like a routine for her.

He used his file as a fan as he made his way out of the air-conditioned building. The place was still lively, the reporters were interviewing all kinds of people about their opinion on the selection, especially those who had been selected.

The Athlete Zone building was surrounded by a garden. Various places were connected with stone paths and shade was provided by massive trees. Right in the middle of the city. There were benches to sit and hang out everywhere. The three friends had chosen a meeting point earlier. Right in the middle of this yard, there was a fountain. The plaza was covered with stone ground too and benches were placed there in a circle.

He took a seat there. The air was cooler here due to the water flowing in the fountain. Tiny water drops sprinkled onto him as he waited for his friends.

He simply leaned back and idlly enjoyed the sunrays casting a warm feeling onto his skin.

[Penalty available in [1] hour [58] minutes.]

He was curious about it. His hand gripped onto the key, he had always kept in his pockets since it had magically appeared. What was its purpose to begin with?

The penalty was something, he was interested in. He knew, this was a punishment but the closer its beginning came, the more he wanted to find out, what it was. He kept his fingers wrapped around that key.

His gaze wandered to the trees. His posture straightened up when he saw Keisuke finally arrive. His crimson red hair was something nobody could mistake. And his expression said everything, Nevan needed to know.

"Dude! I made it!" Keisuke laughed and let his file fall onto the bench. He seemed happy. More than ever before. "My hard work paid off!"

Nevan smiled and looked at him. "Oh, yeah? You must be damn good to make it into it. Congratulations." He was geniuely happy for his friend. Ever since he had known Keisuke, he had trained to become a professional. This was a big step into that direction.

"Wait, did you－" Keisuke started.

"Guys!" Dax's voice sounded. His face was glowing too. He had never seen Dax like this. A hint of happiness from Dax meant a small smile, usually. A glowing face? That was new.