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"You would!" Usami said, grinning.
"Wow, a whole day. A new record" Logan said, with a sweat drop.
"Don't understate my abilities of persuasion!" Usami said, while Raphael and everyone else sweat dropped.
"Isn't this good?" Kaiden said, "We now have an unknown player on our team. We have the element of surprise in our next match, our next opponent may have analysed our previous match but they don't know about…." trailing off, once he realised he didn't know the guy name.
"Raphael. Raphael Sanders" Raphael said.
"Well Raphael, welcome to the team!" Usami said, grinning.
Raphael wondered why he felt his mental age, again.
Ch 4: First contact: The Parents
Mamoru Aizawa, age 73 was in shock.
No, he wasn't in shock because of how pricey it was to buy a simple tea bag these days.
No he was in shock at seeing a boy who looked very much like his dead older son riding passed his house, one morning.
The boy had blond hair and had unusual shade of purple eyes but he was willing to bet, that the boy had contacts in his eyes and maybe even dyed his hair blond.
That combination just couldn't be natural.
Suguru was not only a caring and kind child who put his siblings first but he was child that the married couple was proud to have made, his death had hit the whole family hard, especially Kakeru who was the closest one to hi when it came to family.
It took so long to move on.
Even now, it was hard to see Suguru not sitting at the dining table with them, that he would never walk the halls of their old home, that his soccer uniform would never be put on again, that they would never spend a birthday, the same way ever again.
That the world around them had moved on without a second thought.
It was so hard, seeing their eldest son who had a bright future ahead of him suddenly have his future ripped out from under him and for a time, time seemed to stop for the Aizawa family before they could shaped up.
Suguru wouldn't have wanted them to live in the past and would tell them to keep moving forward no matter how much they missed him.
His wife only allowed herself to cry when the kids were out of the house the night after the incident while he spent many sleepless nights on the bed, silently crying on the inside.
They didn't even try to imagine what Kakeru must be feeling knowing Suguru had given his heart to him so that he could live.
So that they wouldn't be saying goodbye to two boys instead of one.
But they all slowly began to pick themselves up.
Now they only had two children remaining, who were now fully grown adults with their own families of their own, it had become a tradition to visit Suguru grave every year to talk to him about their year, hoping that wherever he was that he was happy and watching over them with a smile and maybe give them some guidance along the way.
Five years ago, his wife and himself had decided to move since there was nothing to keep them tied their neighbourhood, although they were sad by how many memories the small house held once they realised when they were leaving it all behind.
They moved to a lovely neighbourhood, their two children were nice enough to help them unload all their stuff, the neighbourhood had a reputation for being peaceful and calm, it was perfect for retirees like himself and his wife.
Their grandchildren and their children, would sometimes come and visit them whenever they were in the country.
Life was very calm and uneventful after they moved in.
Until one day, early in the morning as Mamoru went out to read his morning newspaper, he saw his eldest son cycle passed his property.
It was understandable that Mamoru at first thought he was hallucinating and had decided to cut down on the morning coffee.
However the next day, he saw the same thing and the day after that.
His old age hadn't caught up with him.
It was real!
Mamoru quickly hurried to tell his wife Eiko about the boy who looked too much like Suguru to be comfortable that passed by their house every day.
Eiko obviously had not believed him and thought his old age had finally caught up with him until the next morning, he had all but dragged her outside early in the morning, around the time where the boy passed the house.
As expected, the Boy rode passed the house again and all Eiko could do was gap dumbly at the boy who disappeared from view.
Had someone revived their son? Mamoru wondered if god had given them the chance that they had missed all those years ago.
But it left questions.
If Suguru was alive then why was he in such a disguise, why was he wearing a school a different school uniform? Where did he go every morning and why hasn't he contacted any of them!?
It was time to get some answers.
# Falcon Drive#
The whole club was in shock.
Raphael didn't just keep up with them.
He was amazing!
"Holy..." Usami said, he had no idea that he would pick up such a player.
"Forget keep up with us" Logan said, "I think we need to try our best to keep up with him"
"Usami, are you sure, the guy has never been in an official match before?" Kaiden said, watching with shock.
"…that's what he said" Usami said, "And I checked even amongst the England soccer players, there was never a mention of him once. There is no way a guy with him skill wouldn't be known" that and talent scouts would have flocked to him like a bear attracted to honey.
"So we're his first team then" Logan said, "If I were our next opponent, I would have a heart attack right now. How can that guy move not only that fast but why is he so flexible!? Shouldn't a guy that big be slower than average height people!?"
"Apparently, his mother used to be gold medallist gymnastics" Usami said, having read up on James background, years ago.
"Serious!?" Logan said, "It's not all that surprising that he's so flexible than, his mother must have trained him from an early age"
"Either way" Kaiden said, "We've just gained an amazing player to the team, good work. Usami"
"No, problem, captain" Usami said, not believing his luck.
Raphael was in front of the goal where Cole was waiting for him to shoot, he picked up the ball beside him and throw it in the air while doing a front flip going into an overhead kick.
The ball was too fast for the eye to see and passed Cole without him even realising it.
Some of the other players gave Raphael a look of awe as he landed back on his feet.
"To think that such a monster, would fall into our laps" Katsumi said, one of the defenders and a third year.
"As expected of James Sander's little brother" Usami said, getting looks of confusion from those who didn't know who James Sanders was and resisted the urge to tell everyone exact who the man is.
"EVERYONE GATHER IN!" The coach yelled, the coach was a woman, with ginger tied hair and chocolate brown eyes, Raphael was surprised at this which goes to show you how things had changed in the last 17 years since in Suguru time, there wasn't any female coach in Japan and they were all male.
They all stopped what they were doing and obeyed her, gather in all in one place in front of her.
"Now, I just received word of who our next opponents are" The woman said, she had brown curly hair and was wearing a suit, clearly she was well educated as she looked at her clip board and said. "Our next opponent is Tsujido High"
"Hey, isn't that the team with that coach that was famous for that cannon like kick a decade back?" Katsumi said, while Raphael heart skipped a beat at the mention of his old friend.
"I heard, he took a student and taught him how to kick like that" Usami said.
"Lucky" Katsumi said.
"Raphael" The coach said, turning to him.
"Yes, Coach" Raphael replied.
"I want you to be on the bench for the first half" She instructed, as everyone caught on quickly to what she was saying, they shouldn't use their best player right off the bat because it would give the other team time to think up a strategy to isolate him.
"Okay, coach" He said.
"Good, now you can all go home" The woman said, "I've got you all day passes, to be out of class to practise but don't slack off on your studies when you're at home"
"Yes, Coach" They all said.
"You're all dismissed" She said and everyone headed back to the changing rooms to pack their bags before making their way out of the school gates.
Raphael had just gotten his bike out of its rack when he heard the sound of a car beeping, he turned around and he was stunned to see his big brother in nothing but a tank top and swimming trunks.
He wasn't even wearing shoes!
"RAPHY!" James yelled, waving frantically and Raphael pretended not to know him and tried cycling passed him when James hand latched out to stop his escape.
"Let's drive home together" James said, in English with puppy dog eyes.
Raphael tried to look anywhere but his eyes but they were huge.
"Fine" He said, in English, trying not to kiss his teeth and James gave out a whoop in victory as he put the bike at the back of the rented car while Raphael had already gotten in.
James got into the car and strapped in, checking the mirrors before starting the engine and driving off.
#Car#
"..So Raphy, how was school?" James said, attempting to make small talk while he drove.
"Okay" Raphael said, "I joined the soccer club" knowing he had taken his brother's word to heart.
James couldn't stop himself from expressing how happy he was and went to hug him, taking his hands off the steering wheel.
"NII-SAN!" Raphael yelled, as the car drove off course and almost into a tree if it wasn't for James saving them in time.
For a second, Raphael had a flashback of him and Kakeru in front of the car about to get run over.
"Sorry" James said, sheepishly, he know what he did was reckless and quickly got the car back on track, plus he didn't have insurance on this car.
They reached the house, almost an hour later and Raphael just wanted into get to his room and relax.
The car drove past the house.
"….Where going swimming aren't we?" Raphael said, having pieced together James attire.
"Yep" James said, "What better way to relax after a busy day than to go swimming?"
"Nii-san, that only works for you, besides you swim for a living" Raphael said.
"Come on, it would be fun" James said as Raphael slumped like a moody teenager.
#An hour later#
The car parked in a driving space that said 'James Sander's' on a little sign, night had fallen.
"This is my training ground" James said, as he got out and so did Raphael. "I've been wanting to show you this place"
Raphael followed his brother to the front of the building, through the double automatic doors.
"Mr Sanders" A woman said, approaching his brother automatically. "Are you swimming again?" before she noticed him and asked. "And who is this behind you?"
"This is my little brother, he came with me to Japan so for the time being. I'm acting as his guardian" James said.
"And does your little brother have a swim suit?" She asked while Raphael slowly processed what she just said, as she eyed with a certain gleam.
"No, I need him in something flexible" James said, as Raphael was taken by the woman before he could escape.
# 20 minutes later#
Raphael was out of his school uniform and into blue and orange stripped swimming trunks that went to his knees, he ignored the feeling of feeling violated.
"To think, Japan has a place like this…." Raphael said, in amazement as he looked at the large pool that shined with a really nice hue.
"Athletes all over the world, come here to swim" James said, taking off his tank top to reveal the hard muscle underneath before jumping in.
He made a big splash.
"Dive in" James said, as Raphael walked to the edge of the water.
He touched the water to feel it was cold.
James grabbed his leg and pulled him inside before he realised what was happening.
"NII-SAN!" Raphael yelled, coming up while James laughed, he was splashed.
"What?" James said, "You would have come in slowly or not at all, if I didn't do that"
Raphael didn't say anything, knowing James was right and just continued splashing him and James splashed back.
Through the evening, James had been right when he said, going swim would make the stress of the day melt away and he felt himself relax and crack a smile as he want with whatever crazy thing his brother suggested they do.
Boy, was his brother fast.
Raphael would never say it out loud but he was glad that James was his big brother.
#the next day#
Raphael wanted to roll his eyes, his brother really did take after their father.
His brother thought it was a great idea that he should introduce himself to the neighbours to get on semi friendly terms with them.
He wanted to protest but he couldn't think of a good enough reason not to do so and James had him go from house to house, introducing himself while the Neighbours already know James.
After all, who wouldn't want know someone that loud?
Raphael finally reached the last house on his street, he had heard that an old couple lived here and know that where there was an old couple, biscuits and milk were sure to follow.
He knocked on the door, not knowing whose door he knock on.
He waited before he heard footsteps coming towards the door and the door clicked before it opened slowly to reveal.
A 72 year old Eiko Aizawa.
His past life mother.
She stared, as soon as she saw who was at the door.
"HONEY, WHO IS IT?" A male voice yelled and Raphael got a good look at Mamoru Aizawa coming down the narrow hallway.
Raphael inwardly cursed.
He know this wasn't going to be a quick stop.
And scene!
Finally done! Next chapter, Raphael is made to come into his past life parents retirement home, both of his old parents are very interested in him while he tries to dodge their questions as best as he can. Review/Fav and follow!