Chapter 1: Recruitment
"Not him... Not her... No, no, no!" A tanned man with semi-long blond hair slammed his fists onto the table. Papers flew in various directions and the neat stacks fell over, making a mess as a result. The man showed no signs of caring, however.
"Is there not anyone that can lead the team?" He questioned aloud, voice rough with irritation. The stress of trying to choose this leader was beginning to get to him. He wasn't getting anywhere whatsoever.
"I can."
The man looked up to see that someone had entered the room. His eyes widened upon noticing that this was someone he knew. "H-How...? You should be dead!"
"Yes, I have died once... Gouenji Shuuya..." The man sneered, "The team, I shall take the position as its coach," he stated, almost as if it were a threat.
Hearing the news of the Football Frontier International filled the Raimon Soccer Club captain, Matsukaze Tenma, with excitement. Their coach, Endou Mamoru, had made the announcement at the end of today's practice, and Tenma was more than ready to begin practicing harder than ever in order to be selected as one of the players of Japan's Representative team. Tenma was on his way home, and his apartment building had just come into view when he noticed an expensive looking black car in front of it. A tall, gray haired man in sunglasses was talking to the owner of the building, Kino Aki.
Upon noticing Tenma, Aki quietly muttered his name. The captain then knew that they were talking about him. Aki then showed the man inside the building, telling Tenma to come along as well.
Once they were all seated in the kitchen and Aki had offered the man some tea, he began to introduce himself, "I am called Kuroiwa Ryuusei," He stated, "and I am the coach for the soccer team which will participate in the FFI V2."
Tenma's eyes widened at the mention of the tournament. He'd never imagined that the news would come this quickly, nor that he'd be spoken to without any need of trying out for the international team.
"However…" Kuroiwa continued with the explanation, "It is not the tournament you may think I am talking about, its consequences are greater than that."
"Consequences…?" Aki echoed with a visible frown on her face. Her concern for her cousin was evident immediately, "This is soccer we're talking about, right?"
"Indeed, it is soccer, but it isn't at the same time." Kuroiwa answered, his voice deep and mysterious, only adding to Tenma and Aki's confusion and anxiety. Regardless, as if he had explained this numerous times already, the man continued with a warning, "Whatever I am about to say cannot be heard by the general public; I will require your signatures as a vow to keep quiet about the matter until the end whether Matsukaze Tenma will play on the team or not."
"Huh?" The two questioned in unison, blinking in surprise.
The bearded man did not seem to care about their questions, ignoring them entirely. He instead took out several papers for them to sign. "I will not explain further until you give me your signatures," he said sternly, eyeing them both icily through his dark frames.
The cousins flinched at the man's sudden change of tone, and Aki picked up one of the papers, proceeding to read the information it contained. She inwardly began to question whether this man was trustworthy or not.
Tenma then looked up at the man, asking, "I can...I can still play soccer though, correct?"
Aki paused, eyes widening with disbelief at the boy. She remembered how much of a soccer lover he was; just like Endou. However, Aki knew she couldn't let Tenma join the team like that. "Tenma! Now isn't the time to ask that!"
"Yes, you will be able to play soccer, against opponents like no other," Kuroiwa answered almost immediately.
With a short nod, Tenma took out a pen, writing his name down at the bottom of the page.
Aki wanted to stop her cousin, but when she saw how excited he was about this, she paused. "Well, we can just listen at least…" She sighed before signing the paper as well.
After collecting the documents, Kuroiwa finally continued his explanations, "As I mentioned previously, you will be part of a team I will be coaching, however, your opponents will not be from this planet." Without giving time for his two listeners to ask questions, the man further stated, "This tournament is not truly the Football Frontier International, but an entirely different one; The Grand Celesta Galaxy. The outcomes of the matches will determine the fate of the Earth."
Even Tenma was speechless at this absurd declaration.
Following a moment of silence, Kuroiwa "Matsukaze Tenma, you have a power, the power to save Earth from its destruction."
"Power? I have one?" Tenma repeated, unable to hide his curiosity. "Does everyone on the team have one?"
Kuroiwa nodded in response. "This power is necessary in order to achieve victory. The choice is ultimately yours, Matsukaze. In addition to playing for the team, there will be a reward for you upon winning all the matches. Anything you want."
"Anything…" Tenma sat there, deep in thought. What this man, Kuroiwa, was saying sounded so unbelievable, but Tenma couldn't think that it was a lie. What would he gain out of lying to him?
Kuroiwa slowly stood, placing his card down onto the table, "You will have until tomorrow to give your answer. If no answer is given, it'll be taken as a 'no'. I look forward to your response." The man left the building as if the conversation they had just had was absolutely normal.
Tenma did not dare say anything to Aki, only reaching out to examine the card Kuroiwa had left. Only a phone number was written on the otherwise white paper. If misplaced, the meaning of these numbers would be easily forgotten.
"Aki-ne, I don't need anything for dinner tonight…" Tenma mumbled, not raising his head to look at her as he picked up a nearby soccer ball before running outside. He needed to think, and soccer was the only thing that could help clear his mind.
It was getting darker already, so there was no one on the field. Luckily for Tenma, the lights of the field turned on, enabling the teen to see without problem. Without a second thought, he began to dribble the ball up and down the large empty plain.
Aliens. Power. Grand Celesta Galaxy. Kuroiwa Ryuusei. The boy tried to wrap his head around what the man had just explained. Tenma kicked the ball towards the net, however missed it despite the lack of a goalkeeper or defenders. He was excited to join the team, that he was sure of. But Tenma also was aware of what that meant; everyone in Raimon, or even other schools who were all practicing to be part of the FFI V2, their efforts were meaningless. If what Kuroiwa said was true, it would mean all the members were selected. Tenma did not have any guarantee that anyone else he knew was chosen either. On top of that, the teen was not allowed to tell anyone about this either. His teammates who trusted him as captain; his friends who he vowed to play against once again, he couldn't tell a single one.
This was what troubled the midfielder the most.
"Shinsuke...Tsurugi...Shindou-san, and everyone…" He whispered.
Suddenly, the soccer ball Tenma had previously kicked, rocketed right past him, just barely missing the player's face. He quickly searched for the person who was responsible for the ball's return.
"Hey, kid! What kind of a kick was that?" A male voice laughed loudly, not caring about the fact that it was late. A boy, perhaps a couple years older than Tenma, approached him. He had brilliant blond hair and blue eyes, a clear sign that he was a foreigner. What made things confusing was the near-perfect Japanese the older boy spoke with.
"A-Ah, thanks for getting the ball for me," Tenma thanked, bowing politely.
The boy just grinned. "One-v-One me."
"...Huh?"
Without waiting for an answer, the foreigner ran to retrieve the ball, dribbling it back to Tenma. He briefly explained the rules, "First to score in the far net wins." He pointed back at the net on the other side of the field.
"Um...okay…?"
"Great!" The blond haired boy kicked the ball as hard as he could, sending it upwards.
The two players then began to dash towards it, racing to gain possession of the soccer ball. Tenma, being the faster of the two, was able to leap ahead.
His opponent had circled around already and was blocking his path by the time he reached the ball's destination. Keeping control of the ball, Tenma swiftly dodged him.
"Nice…" A grin formed on the foreigner's face as he ran after. "Tenma, you're better than I thought."
Perhaps it was because he was so focused on the little game they were playing, but Tenma didn't realize that he'd been called by his name, which the foreigner shouldn't have known. His opponent didn't leave much time for the Raimon captain to think. This was the part of soccer Tenma found most enjoyable. Once the game began, it didn't matter who he was playing, he needed to win.
The blond haired boy managed to push back ahead of Tenma, taking possession of the ball. Before Tenma could react, a ring of fire energy enveloped his opponent.
"Zestorug!" The foreigner stood with the ball for moment before spinning upward with the ball as the fire accompanied him. While in the air, the ball burst into flames. The boy performed a flip and kicked the ball towards the goal with his heel.
A smile immediately showed up on Tenma's face. He had never seen such a hissatsu before, and it was amazing. The captain did not care that he had just lost the game, instead, he was excited to learn more about this new soccer player. "That was a cool hissatsu! It was called 'Zestorug!', right? What does it mean?"
A bit surprised from the sudden shower of questions, the boy chuckled nervously in response, "You liked it that much? Coming from you, it makes me happy." The boy winked.
Tenma seemed not to notice and continued with the questions, "So, you're name is?"
"Ah, sorry, it's Jan. Jan Schimdt. I'm just visiting Japan for a while."
Tenma introduced himself as well.
"So...what are you even doing out here at this time?" Jan asked.
The captain then finally remembered why he was at the soccer field. The invitation to join the team. However, now Tenma knew his answer. "Just a little bit of thinking, but I'm good now." The boy smiled as he went to retrieve the ball. Giving one last wave at Jan, the boy abruptly headed back home, leaving Jan behind at the soccer field, and basking in his satisfaction with his choice.
Thank you for reading the first chapter of our True Earth Eleven Re-boot. This story is written collaboratively by myself and MizoreShun. So far we have 12 players, and will be accepting up to 2 more. If you are interested in having an OC in our story, please PM either myself or MizoreShun. The form will be sent to you after you've messaged us stating your interest.
Please keep in mind that we are very picky when it comes to the OCs and will not choose just anyone. This isn't one of those first come first serve stories and we also don't allow reservations. We will look over forms critically, rating them on their diversity and also whether or not they will contribute to the story as a whole. We also expect you to show your support for the series by contributing to our DeviantArt Group, TrueEarthEleven. It does not have to be art that you're contributing, it could be short stories and even headcanon lists if you'd like to do so. Please understand.
The members of the new team will be announced on the next chapter.
Questions are encouraged.
Thank you,
AlMi team