Well the first part must be familiar as it was on my blog for a good while, yet there is something new too! Deer vs Turul!
"And the captain will be you!" she pointed at the boy who wore the hat with gigantic deer antlers. Pure surprise could be seen on his face as he tried to regain his posture after the training.
"Wh-h-a-ha-hat?" he asked still panting.
"That's right, you'll be our new captain, so please introduce yourself to your teammates." she smiled and pulled the boy forward by his shoulders, but felt more like pulling someone to block the bullets at an execution. Half of the team were pretty much enraged by the news, while the others, who had no connection to them, were trying to understand the situation. Why this boy did irritate the others so much? Without knowing their shared history, this was a giant mystery.
"Are you sure? I mean I'm not really ought to be a captain or anything!" he tried escaping then started pointing at random people in the crowd "Can't we choose him? Or him? Look coach, that boy looks like he really wants to be the captain!"
"Seriously Nemecsek, shut up and accept it." shouted someone from the back row, making the boy blush from embarrassment even if the owner of the voice was unknown for the team. "Wimp."
"Ah… But…" he gulped and collected some courage to introduce himself properly "I'm Nemecsek Magor, f-former benched player, but actually I'm a midfielder. Pleased to meet you all…And well- I hope we can win the tournament…Somehow?"
With this amount of confidence the boy will get eaten alive. Emese was sure of this, but she kept playing the role of the happy-go-lucky coach. She surely didn't make a bad decision by using Nemecsek as the captain, but this team was more like a den of man-eating lions, who would eat a deer without hesitation.
҉
Pellegrin was the king of patience. Or that's what he used every time someone kept missing passes on practice, but Nemecsek… It seemed Nemecsek really wanted to test his patience.
He needed to speak with him as soon as possible, since his introduction wasn't really convincing about his skills. Based on the knowledge he managed to collect, Nemecsek was never really a field member of their club and didn't possess any hissatsu techniques, nor an avatar to begin with what seemed to be a future disadvantage if, but if he was a good strategist Pellegrin will have no problem accepting him as a leader.
And now Nemessy Pellegrin, former ace of his own team, was standing next to the door, waiting for the prey to come around. But he didn't come. Even girls didn't take that much time to change, so then what happened?
He'd waited a few more minutes before opening the door. The changing room was in complete darkness, since the lamps were switched on and off from the equipment room when the teachers thought everyone left, but even with the dim light coming from the ceiling windows, it was easy to see two white antlers on the bench what was applied to the wall. It seemed Nemecsek was waiting for something and he even forgot to change into his street clothes.
"Hey." Nemessy greeted him with a suspicious look. "What are you doing here?"
The boy looked at him like a deer who will meet the windshield in a few seconds, but slowly come to his senses as Pellegrin started moving his hands in front of Magor's face.
"Why are you here?" he jumped up, knocking down his bag from the bench.
"I live here, duh." he declared with a shrug. To his surprise Nemecsek started smiling and he was sure he could even hear a suppressed chuckle. "Look, I needed to talk to you about things regarding this team."
"But I hope you do know, that I won't be the captain for too long." a sad look flickered through his face as his face formed a rueful smile. He being a captain was a joke.
"Now that's the problem. You give up too easily! There is no way I will let you gave up on the captain's band one day after you've been chosen, but in the meantime I'm really uncertain about your abilities so I want to challenge you to a one-against-one duel!"
"No way!"
"Change already and get out of this room!"
"B-But—-"
"I won't accept no as an answer. You'll either come with me from your own free will or I will put a leash on you and drag you through the city. The choice is yours. I'll wait for you outside." Pellegrin added then stormed out of the room leaving Nemecsek in the darkness.
The black haired boy gulped, but he made almost zero moves to change into his clothes. He hated being controlled by others. He hated how Pellegrin was always the king of all teams and how he wanted to gain control over Regiment. But at the same time he was really curious about the boy's reasons so he did what he was asked to do and met him outside.
"Are you ready?" asked Pellegrin looking at Magor.
"Perhaps. Where are we going?" he asked curiously as they walked toward the bus stop in silence. The dirty-blond haired boy was too suspicious for him.
"To the local soccer field, where else?"
"Why not the Arena of Rage? It has a better atmosphere."
Pellegrin didn't know that there was a soccer field called arena of rage, nor its location but he couldn't deny the fact; the name of this said soccer field sounded interesting.
"Fine." he huffed. "To the Arena of Rage, then."
҉
After almost an hour of travelling through the most unusual places of the city, the duo finally arrived to their destination. An old playground near the suburbs, which managed to escape the rebuilding efforts of the district's management. Nowadays something like this would be called 'dangerous' as the kids could easily fall down from the climbing frames, and hit themselves on the cold ground or the concrete. But this one managed to stay hidden, along with the two giant soccer pitches, separated away from the playground by a giant iron fence.
"This is it?" asked Pellegrin curiously. For some reason he expected something modern. Not a run-down pitch.
"This is it! The oh-so-infamous Arena of Rage!" Nemecsek announced with a proud smile. "Come on!"
He disappeared in the bushes; Pellegrin followed him without a word, never questioning the other boy's intentions. Even the entrance was pretty old, and rusty. From the look of the old hinges on the side of the iron frame there supposed to be door, but now the entrance was free for everyone.
"I can clearly see the better atmosphere, you mentioned back at the school. Ten out five would recommend this over a proper field." he noted with a smirk.
One of the two soccer pitches was covered in dirt. As no one tended, nor watered the grass anymore, it completely disappeared leaving the black ground visible. Though, it was still stood a few levels higher when it came to quality, than the other pitch right next to them, covered in concrete. The planners seemed to be really lost at the idea of making a soccer field with hoops invented for basketball. Of course none of the goals had nets. they were either stolen long time ago, or got ruined by the iron claws of time.
"I told you there is no better place than the Arena of Rage. It's much harder to play soccer on the field, but at the same time it's a good training spot if you want to raise you endurance and control." Magor explained the details of his favourite training spot. No one asked about it, but he felt he needed an explanation why he wanted to bring Pellegrin here out of every place.
"We will see, Nemecsek. Even if you're on home field, there is no escape for the likes of you." he declared angrily, throwing his bag on the side of the field, along with his orange sweatshirt. The ground field will be their place for the showdown; that's what he had decided.
"I never meant to escape or hide, Nemessy." he said calmly, following the example and standing in front of the blonde.
'Then show me!"
Pellegrin kicked the ball towards him, and then attacked with vicious speed, not leaving a chance for Nemecsek to move he stole the ball back. "Show me why you are better than me! Why the Teach choose you out of everyone!? I want to see why you are so special!"
The ball was back at the black haired boy's feet, but now he avoided Pellegrin's kick with a simple jump, immediately losing possession over the ball when his attacker came back at him from the sides.
"The hell are you talking about?" Magor asked trying to get back what was stolen from him. Did Nemessy seriously expect an answer, even he couldn't understand? If yes, then this mighty eagle might've been more headstrong, than he ever expected.
"I'm talking about the fact you can't play football. There must be a good reason why they never let you near the pitch, am I right, Nemecsek? Some fool you are for accepting the position so easily..."
His insults seemed to hit the spot when Nemecsek finally attacked back. The boy's face still kept the calm expression, but his moves became rather fast, compared to the previous performance.
Every time, when Pellegrin attacked Magor jumped away, soundlessly repeating the process again and again. This fake-captain proved to be a great opponent and this deeply surprised Pellegrin. But the thought of him being wrong just angered him more and more, stimulating him to use stronger techniques, than simple blocking moves.
"King's Cloak" he shouted as a robe weaved from golden light appeared on his back. With a single flickering reflection from the sun, the cloak blinded Magor stopping him in his tracks. A simple blocking hissatsu proved to be enough for Pellegrin to gain possession over the ball.
"Hey, hissatsu techniques are permitted!"
"I never said something like this. This is war. The soccer pitch is your war zone. You're only bound to the rules made by the Association." he said like it was the most natural thing he could do, leaving almost six metres between them.
"Will you catch me already or what? Look, I'll accept you as the leader of this team, if you can get the ball back from me for one last time, if you fail the captain's band is mine, and you have no right to be in this team anymore. Understood, Bambi?"
"Since when did you start making decisions on place of our coach?" he asked angrily. Magor would gladly say goodbye to his title, but leaving the team was a one giant No.
"Since the time you started acting half-heartedly, Bambi." Pellegrin answered with a smirk. It seemed his nickname irritated Magor enough, on top of the deal he recommended. What came after this was something Pellegrin will remember for a while. He was sure of this.
Magor started running towards him, randomly changing directions with quick hops. First, he thought the attack will some from the right but then suddenly the boy was back in the front of him, then when he thought the attack will came from there, Pellegrin slid the ball to the side, right in front of Magor's course, who gladly took the ball.
"Hey! Give it back!" Nemessy jumped after him, his confidence draining from his body with extreme speed. That was it; there goes his new title with that black and white ball! He couldn't let Bambi win, not this easily.
In the meantime they ran around: Magor chasing the ball, Pellegrin chasing Magor; something was in the make. The atmosphere slowly changed and when Pellegrin got close enough, a giant bird strike from the sky, temporary stunning the other boy and opening a chance for Pellegrin to snatch away the ball.
The giant red eagle-like creature, with a small golden crown on its head, flew back to its owner, taking a few laps around him before disappearing into thin air.
The so called new power every football player desired was used by none else, than an ordinary highschooler. The power what was widely used by stronger players who defeated the boundaries of their own psyche.
"Was this... a keshin?" asked Magor. A dumbstruck expression froze onto his face from the shock as he stood there. He never imagined keshins were real, because there was no way humans could summon something like that out of the blue. Giant bears, dragons and other animals. They were not special effects, but real summoned beings who really gave temporary energy boost to players. There was no way coach Rozenblut would choose him, if he knew about Pellegrin's keshin…
He was awaiting for the other boy to announce his defeat, but instead he just chuckled a bit, proudly hitting his chest, raising his head like some kind of romantic soldier out of an old movie.
"Royal Turul Elisabeth, at your service." he walked over to Nemecsek, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But this doesn't mean you can't keep your position."
"What? You can summon a keshin, use the keshin, you're stronger than anyone else and you don't want to take my title? Mind if I remind you that you won the battle?"
"But I guess, missing something your little heart has is a real disadvantage in our team." Nemessy smiled. Determination. He wanted to add, but then he would admit that he found Magor fitting as the captain of Regiment. One shock was enough for the poor boy, and having full support from the prince of the pitch was one of the best things that could happen to Magor.
"My little heart...? I don't seem to follow."
"You don't have to." before Magor could ask any more question he quickly changed topics. "So, how about training with me after practice ends? It seems you have an unfinished hissatsu technique I really want to see for myself."
"The Deer Dash?"
"That, I suppose. The one where you start hopping around." he stopped for a moment "So that was a deer imitation?! You really are Bambi!"
"My ass is Bambi." Nemecsek shot back angrily.
"Indeed, you got a fine deer ass there, BimBambi." he laughed, completely losing the royal atmosphere. The mighty Nemessy Pellegrin transformed into a regular boy, who joked an laughed like any regular boy would do. And the friendship of these two fellows promised to be an interesting one.