01. Outsider's Perspective - Rozenblut Emese
When they first told her she has to coach a football team, she was near fainting and gasping for air from the shock. Especially, when it was revealed, that the team in question was none other than the national selection of her country. This was just... no. She wanted to jump out on the window to run far away, never looking back, and she would've done in the moment they gave her the papers if she had a chance. True, she had an interview about "coaching a team", but Emese would've never dreamt of a job like this, as she was aiming to be a gym teacher at some no-name school in the downtown. She was just a regular trainer from high-school with almost zero experience about football.
A big jump. Way too big for her. What is football anyway? She'd seen her students playing it, but never quite understood the rules as they always fought over positions and missed passes and rarely played it as it was written in the Books of Soccer.
Of course she wanted to speak against her new job, but her friends kindly prevented her from doing so, saying things about great payment and fame what would follow her if she successfully gets in the international round with her team.
She gave it another thought and on the following day accepted the job with a fake smile. After all, in these times she needed a good payment the most and maybe the boys will be easy to control, because they'll now their importance in the nation's life. Coaching a team of high-schoolers can't be that bad for a teacher who had a class of 33 on her hand.
This was her way of thinking before she saw the members of the Hungarian team.
Has she really needed money that badly?
Was she misled by her own class?
It was early morning, the air was still chilly and the boys could easily see the puff of white clouds leaving their mouth, some even tried joking about it making dragon-like movements like they were breathing cold fire at their partner. Emese scanned through the list before her, inspecting the boys' names and their schools. Saint Elisabeth Highschool, Zrinyi Academy... So many names on one page. She wished she could memorize all of them in one morning instead of mixing them up for a few days.
"Good morning, Ms. Rozenblut!" a cheerful voice greeted her. Next to the boys, stood a girl with cloudlike dark brown hair and a purple headband. Havasi Viola, her old student but one of the worst when it came to sports. Emese had to admit the girl had some talent on a few sports and she had no problem when they played tennis, but the teacher never would've thought that she will meet her in a soccer tournament.
"Good morning to you too. How come you're here? I thought you said football was boring." she asked sending a curious glare towards Viola.
"Ah... Hah... Actually I was assigned here as a manager along with Melinda. The one who'll play from our school is Pellegrin." she explained showing her old teacher the names on the list where the rows said "manager" next to them. One name caught her eyes for the first glance:
"Nemessy Melinda?" she raised an eyebrow and signalled for Pellegrin to come closer. It was weird, very weird. "Pellegrin. Could you explain me why you sister is on the list, as a manager on top of that?"
The boy with dirty-blonde hair looked at the coach like it was the most natural thing in the world and shrugged. Emese encountered the boy a few times a week back in her old school, usually when he was hurrying to soccer practice or home after his classes ended. The boy's teachers sung hymns about the young forward since he was a good student, who was really responsible about his position as a captain. Now the only problem was Pellegrin's manners as he was too self-confident and he seemed to have a comeback for everything in his own sarcastic ways. No one really argued with him because as they said he was 'undebatable' once he thought he was right nothing could change his mind until he admitted his errors by himself.
"Permission." Came short reply.
"But... Is it really okay to bring your little sister with us?" Emese asked with a hint of worry in her voice. "If I'm right she is only in elementary school. I'm not saying she can't be a manager, but I'm worrying about her in general. After all, we may be overseas for a few weeks or a month, depending on how good the team will be."
Pellegrin just shook his head with a smile.
"She knows this, but his whole trip -ah - I mean tournament is a great opportunity for her to see the world. I didn't want her to leave this one out and I hope you understand this, Coach. I'm sorry I know I should've told you beforehand, but we didn't know who will be our coach when we got chosen and-"
"Alright, alright, it's okay! But make sure she is never alone. I know Melinda is already a big girl in head and in your eyes, but nevertheless she is only a little girl when it comes to her age. Understood?"
"Yes! Thank you."
Emese let out a sigh then went back to her list. All eleven members were present plus the two managers. It was time to test their strength and choose the captain of "Regiment".
"Team, listen to me!" she tried to shout but since her voice was too soft for gaining the attention of eleven bored boys who were happily talking away their day, Viola had to jump in as the voice of the coach repeating the previous sentence. "Thank you. I would like to introduce myself. My name is Rozenblut Emese and I'll be your coach for this year's Holy Road International. Please I want you to take this tournament seriously, so if I see someone slacking off or not doing his best, I'll kick you out of the team without showing any mercy."
"Coach, can I have a question? Could we keep our existing members instead?" asked a boy from the front row. He had a notebook in his hand scribbling down unknown contents as he tried to balance his glasses, full of scratches on is nose. From the shortness of the rows it must have been a poem or a short note.
"What is your recommendation, um..."
"Marcell. Maurus Marcell. Or Marci. Anything is fine." he said not looking up from his work.
"Okay, so Maurus, tell me your ideas..."
"Well" he finally pushed up his glasses with a serious expression, preventing them from falling down "I think getting new members would be problematic, so why don't you punish the existing ones? I know losing one's position is a punishment, but small punishment could have educational meaning for the whole team. History can prove this. Anywa-"
"Clever! I really like this idea!" she beamed then looked at the other members. "From today then we will do as Marci recommended. For a starter if someone is late from the practice, that person will have to run ten laps around the pitch, if you talk back you will do sit ups or push ups , THEN run another ten laps."
The team let out a yelp and it seemed their mind united in thinking about murdering their new teammate and the coach. Someone even whispered 'Lady Sparta' in the crowd but right know she was too proud of the bedhead kid who gave her this idea.
Emese let them regain some of their attention as she clapped her hands together pointing at the soccer ball near once of the boys.
"Let's get started. Make two team of eight and when you hear the whistle, start playing. There is no definite time for the match, just play until I tell you to stop."
Once again, the boys in her care started fighting among each other about the team variations. It was a common problem at every team in their age, but they should've been aware of the fact that they were chosen to be the team representing the country.
"May I ask a bit more seriousness?!" she blew her whistle and scolded the boys. She looked at Pellegrin for help as she wasn't familiar with the names yet. "What's your problem now? Pellegrin?"
The boy remained silent for a while until he muttered a low "Nothing."
"Seriously, now. You won't play to win or lose. Don't be so picky about your teammates or else I'll have to make your train here for all evening. You'll have to work together in the end so you better start befriending each other."
"What? No way! Are you out of your mind, coach?!" said a boy with long red hair. He had two black strands sticking out on the top of his head, while his messy red hair was white at the end, just like a fox tail. "We can't play with those, obviously!"
He pointed at a group of three. They stood out of the rest as it seemed no one really wanted to team up with them. She could just label them as the 'Black Sheep Trio' or 'team hat' as each of them had different hats on their heads. There was the boy with antlers, who didn't care about this whole drama about choosing teammates, for some unknown reason. Next to him stood a boy with black hat, similar to the one that was the well-known style of the countryside. He seemed to be hurt by the exclusion and she could swear the boy near crying as he hugged his… goose? Yes, it was unmistakably a living goose with a red collar around its neck. The animal and the third boy, the one who wore a green hussar hat, tried to comfort the boy standing next to them somehow.
"Why do you think they worth less than the other members in this team? Answer me."
The fox boy was really surprised at her question and it seemed she hit the nail easier, than an attorney who did days of research on his case.
"Well, easy. They're from weak or far away schools. Who would want to play someone who has goose feathers sticking out of his hair? And the deer-boy? Getting him in the team was the worst choice. Even his school won't let him play in their matches! Don't you think this means something?"
"Yet, they sent him for this team. I'm sure they didn't send them because they wanted to mock the team and the football association."
He was about to open his mouth again, when a boy shorter than him put his hands before the fox boy's mouth. He wore a tattered dark blue cape in the shape, while a big reversed V shape was missing from the middle.
"Shhh. Rudolf, shut up. You've said enough, don't you think? If you keep fighting with your petty intelligence we will be here until tomorrow. Too much work will hurt your brain."
It seemed they were from the same school, because the one called Rudolf seemed to calm down or at least, to concentrate his anger towards something else.
In the end Emese had to make the teams herself, but this time, thanks to the team's bickering she was more watchful about the Black Sheep Trio. The team's play was sloppy and they kept fighting among themselves. She was sure one of them even stepped on his team mate's foot on purpose just to punish him for a bad pass. The boy who had a goose kept on sniffing, but worked hard to keep up with the others, while the other two seemed to be filled with anger. And it seemed the boy with long black hair did everything to win and even started ordering around his teammates.
It was a truly remarkable sight, after their fight even if the others refused to listen to him. But they could work this out among themselves later. The redhead kept angering him to the point where he took complete control over the game and powerful shoots one after another. Unfortunately all was blocked by their goalkeeper, Attila.
This continued until the defender, who silenced Rudolf made his move and summoned a hissatsu called "Impaler's Forest". Bats covered the goal and out of nowhere sharpened poles rose out of the ground stopping the opponent in his attack. He lost his control over the ball, but another player grabbed this opinion and stole it away from him quickly making a pass to their ace. Pellegrin aimed for the corner and successfully scored a goal for his team.
It seemed they either started enjoying the game or just simply decided to work together, but their plays improved in no time and a whistle could be heard, when they finally made it until 3-1.
"Everyone, come here." the coach waved at them with a smile. "I'm really impressed by your plays and after the rough start I have to admit you're better than I expected. The captain will be..."
A/N: First real chapter done. Next Chapter is titled the "The Arena of Rage" and it will focus on Pellegrin and his family.
I hope you liked this rather short chapter of mine. It's not easy working with so many characters at once and I couldn't really let everyone shine yet. Please, let me know what you think about the story if you have a few spare minutes. I really love getting reviews saying that you loved the story and all, but I'm really interested in what you liked exactly :D
*There are some trickier names on the list. Emese is pronounced as "e-me-she" while in "Marcell" the "c" sounds like "ts" in "Tsuki".