A freak sporting accident mixed with some divine intervention results in the soul of one being transported into a universe which he considered to be mere fantasy. His mere existence causes ripples that have consequences not even Jinpatchi Ego can pr...
He couldn't remember the last time he had cried, the last time he truly felt sad. The burden of this knowledge, this robbery of his future had allowed the dam to break for James.
There was more than one letter, from more than one club. All of them dated to the start of his middle school days.
All of them tear stained, and now, all of them neatly folded under his pillow. The ceiling looked blankly back at him as the day continued to waste away, the depressive thoughts of what could have been making the time pass.
The trance that he was in seemed inescapable.
Two days passed like this, get up, aimlessly run, eat, watch the ceiling. Stew in depressiveness.
A mature voice cut through his trance-like state like a beacon of light. "Feels like shit huh? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result every time"
The jaded eyes of King cleared as he looked at the older man, who was leaning against the doorframe, a sad smile stitched onto his face as his crossed arms twitched in anticipation for something.
His eyes hardened once more, feeling mocked by the man. "The fuck do you want with me old man?"
The man chuckled as he walked into the room. "Feeling bored yet? Disheartened even?"
James' gaze shifted into a venomous glare as he sat up. "Watch your words, I'm not in the best headspace right now, who knows what I'll do to a cocky old man"
The man put his hands up defensively. "Woah, my bad! Just speaking from experience... well somewhat"
Positioning himself to lean against the wall while he sat on his bed, his gaze shifted from a defensive glare to one of intrigue. "Cut the shit, what do you want?"
James watched as the man pulled out paper. "You missed the deadline for the scouting applicants, but you can make the tryouts for my club"
The man threw the envelope to the side of James. "And before you go on about not wanting to play or tryout for a youth club, let me be plain with you. You don't have another option for Youth development, train with us, become a monster on the field and we'll trade you for a lot of money."
"Everybody gets what they want huh?" James said as he grabbed the letter, reading the stamp.
Tokyo City Esperion FC.
"So you want me to work my way up from the bottom again huh" The blonde stated as he looked back at the man. "You're going to pay for all my needs? I'm an orphan"
"Something like that, skimming over the entire youth allowance policies here, you'd be given an allowance on top of accommodation, education and food as well as gear..." The man began to walk out of the room with a small grin on his face. "
King exhaled as he opened the letter.
"Start again huh?" He clicked his tongue. "Not like I have anything better to do right now"
"Hey James!" Ruka waved to the downtrodden striker, stopping her conversation with other members of the Football club.
Today was their celebration party of sorts, where the school dipped into their funds to give their star athletes something to celebrate with.
The blonde looked up with tired eyes as he saw what he considered to be his sister waving at him. He sighed, he really didn't want to be around anyone right now. "What you want?"
Ruka pouted as she beckoned him over with a gesture. "C'mon over! Kirito was just explaining how he got an offer from a youth club to play midfield"
"Thats...Nice (Shit)" He replied, turning around and walking to the corner of the room, where he could look over the field from the windows of the classroom.
Thoughts of annoyance seeped into him as the rays of the sun started to lower onto the land. His hands twitch and his teeth mashed together. Something was fundamentally wrong with him, so he thought.
His mind replayed the interview he had with the English reporter, stating his dream to the world. Was it really what he wanted. That feeling of being the best? He could find that anywhere he wanted, he was put on this planet for a reason, by some cosmic force to play football. Never thinking about what he wanted.
Was that feeling something he really wanted to pursue?
Instinctively his body stood up suddenly and made its way to the field with a ball in hand.
He punted the ball high into the air as he ran onto the grass, the weight of decision and depression seemingly pausing for a second as he trapped the ball.
"Why do I want to play football? To be the best?" James questioned himself as he began to perform some dribbling maneuvers.
"Why be the best? What's the point?" He questioned himself, juggling the ball on his right foot. "To earn tons of money? For fame? For Glory?"
"To keep winning? To never lose?" He booted the ball up in the air once more, from the dribble. "To find a feeling of peace within the game? Because its fun?"
Allowing the ball to bounce once he wound up for a goal, his body and mind melding together as he ball flew into the back of the net at breaknet speeds. "For a goal? For goals?"
A shiver went down his spine as he remembered the countless goals he scored, the looks of despair he put on people's faces. More importantly the smiles of his teammates and fans. The Heroic deeds of scoring shadowing the evil nature of the act and the consequences brought from it.
"Smiles huh?" He said, oddly finding himself smiling. "I guess that's a good enough reason for now, even if I can only make myself smile right now"
James allowed himself a slight chuckle as he walked over to the now still ball. "It's like I'm doing some serious soul searching right now"
A spark of cringe resounded through him at this discovery, a spark that now seemed insignificant to the young striker.
The feeling of making people smile with his football didn't sit well within.
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