Serika Afuro stretched her arms outward behind her as the first rays of the rising sun cast a long shadow in front of her. Despite the crisp air around her and the morning mist on the grass brushing lightly against her shoes she found herself in a rather unpleasant mood staring at the lean boy in front of her, his magenta hair appearing almost a light purple in the light.
As if mimicking her, though his back was facing her, the boy continued to stretch unbothered while Serika rolled her eyes in exasperation. Then looking down, she checked her watch.
Sure enough.
It was five in the morning.
Serika had been at the New York FC Football Academy for a little over a week now, and with rekindled determination she had begun waking up early in the morning so as to be the first to rise with the sun and yet on the first day she had been greeted by the annoying sight of the other U15 player who had been invited to New York.
Maahes Beketaten.
Though he was the same age as her, not only had he made it to the FFI Finals on Liocott Island last year but he had also been the main goalkeeper for the 'Sun Warriors' when they had won Egypt's first victory in FFI history.
While Serika was of the personal opinion that he had been carried by his better teammates, training alongside him she had realised he was frustratingly capable. By far the most skilled goalkeeper she had ever met, despite playing amongst players much older than him, his blank facade didn't budge as he blocked shoot after shoot and it seemed he was only getting better by the day.
What was with this place anyway?!
While it was painful to admit, after Raimon's defeat in the Holy Road Finals, Serika was well aware that she needed to overcome her shortcomings but coming to New York, she felt completely outclassed not only by the U20 players but even the players who were the same age as her were leagues above her...
Pulling herself together, Serika thought she needed to hone her resolution further and so each day had gotten up earlier and earlier until finally it was five in the morning, and yet still that absolute pain in the rear was ahead of her?
How did that even make sense?
Did he even get any sleep at all?
Was he actually an android in disguise?
Serika had heard that technology was advancing quite rapidly these days so even that conclusion didn't seem too outlandish to her.
Tsk.
Tying her long strands of platinum blonde hair behind her into a ponytail, she clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction and began to run alongside the lake that was near the camp to try and clear her thoughts, paying no attention to the boy who had begun running closely behind her.
"Serika, stabilise your core! Minimise the motion of your upper body!"
"Yes Coach!" panted Serika, attempting to maintain her focus while simultaneously taking notes when the Coach or one of the Assistant Coaches inevitability came by to nitpick at her form, technique, or whatever else she was doing wrong...which seemed to be everything judging by how often they came over to critique her.
Serika grit her teeth together and put up with it, but a deep course of humiliation struck her as she looked ahead to where a girl with voluminous, multicoloured hair was participating in a match practice, unlike her who was stuck repeating monotonous drills from sunrise to sundown.
While she knew it was rather awful of her, she seriously didn't expect to be outdone by someone who wasn't even able to see the ball–
"Serika! Focus!"
"Sorry, Coach!"
Eyes quickly wandering back to the cones that were randomly distributed in the area in front of her, Serika had no time to worry about Talia or Maahes and she fell into a sullen silence once more.
"If you're not going to pay attention, you can go home now. No one's forcing you to stay and you won't be missed if you leave."
Doing her utmost not to send the ball flying into the cold face of the man watching her with an expression that revealed all of his thoughts blatantly, Serika kept her ears pricked for the Coach's whistle that indicated when she needed to speed up or slow down. However, she had only looked away for two seconds when she felt the ball no longer in between her feet and she looked up into the dismissive reddish-brown eyes of the current captain of the New York FC U20 : Shindou Takuto. Before she could ask him what he was doing however, he instead spoke up first.
"New Drill"
Knocking the cones back swiftly from their disarray and into an orderly box around them, he put his foot on the ball confidently.
"One on One. Controlled Dribble Drill. Start."
Hmph.
Flicking her hair ponytail confidently, Serika's light pink eyes flashed dangerously in anticipation. She had been wanting a chance to shut up the acclaimed 'Instrumentalist Maestro' and now he was serving her an opportunity to do just that on a silver platter.
Serika raised her right hand slowly into the air while giving him a faint smirk of victory.
Heaven's Time!
"The three of you will be starting in the next match." the Head Coach Ron, stated simply while tapping his tablet lightly to show the formation for the upcoming match.
"Maahes, keeper. Talia, left centre-back. Serika, defensive midfielder." finished Coach Ron, but not before Shindou who was standing to the side could speak up in protest.
"But Coach! Maahes and Talia maybe...but Serika clearly isn't ready for this. She's still stuck on the simplest drills after two weeks! I've seen worms with more talent than her and they don't even have legs!"
Serika bit her tongue when she heard this in order to prevent herself from speaking up reflexively. While it was true that she had failed to beat Shindou in a single one on one yet, to say that she hadn't made any progress was the understatement of the century! Not only was she competitive with some of the second string members now she had even managed to get past U20 Vice-Captain Jonah Salk...albeit only once...and only because she caught him by surprise with 'Heaven's Time'...but that still counted!
Despite her improvements though, while it was a bitter pill to swallow, she had yet to break past Shindou, even once and he wasn't even particularly well known for his dribbling in comparison to his playmaking abilities...
Fortunately for Serika, Coach Ron simply ignored Shindou's gaze of obvious consternation and gave him only a brief reply of acknowledgement.
"It's just a scrimmage anyway Shindou so relax a lil'. They'll only be playing for the first half anyway, so do your best. I don't want to hear any more complaints from you, okay?"
Giving a gruff nod of ascension, Shindou looked to a tall, white-haired man who was lying in a carefree position on the field while adjusting his black headband nonchalantly. Narrowing his eyes at the relaxed attitude of the current keeper for the New York FC, Ibuki Munemasa, Shindou commented with a trace of exasperation in his voice, "I'm surprised you haven't said anything yet, I thought you of all people would be rioting by now."
Ibuki shrugged his shoulders before taking a particularly long sip of water which he knew would grate on Shindou's nerves.
"Coach has already made up his mind so what do you want me to do about it? Besides, that kid isn't too shabby so what's the harm in giving him a chance to play in the big leagues? It'll only make them tougher rivals later hahaha" cackled Ibuki as he cracked his knuckles in anticipation at the thought of facing Maahes in the Pro League in the future.
Hearing this, Shindou fell silent as he realised he was the only one on the team who opposed the decision, but for some reason Serika couldn't feel happy seeing this.
She still remembered Aphrodi's words when he had sent her to America...
"Serika, the JYSA will be carefully monitoring your growth and more importantly your 'impact' so make sure to do your best out there, okay?"
"Impact..." Serika mumbled under her breath with a slight hint of disgruntlement that she didn't bother hiding from her uncle.
She could surmise that by 'impact' he was implying that whoever was assigned to her by the leaders of the World Awakening Project would be looking at her ability to influence a match but what would be the best way to quantify such a vague concept?
Statistics?
Assists? Passes? Possession time? Goals?
Unfortunately for her however, Aphrodi kept his lips sealed and so Serika was left musing how she could best make use of her abilities to yield a visible 'impact' that would get her recognised by the World Awakening Committee. And while she was still a bit unclear, why exactly she needed to prove herself to them, Serika felt a strange inkling that if she could succeed in that, she would be able to evolve her abilities many times over.
With these grand plans for her evolution and rebirth as the greatest playmaker of all time in mind, Serika hadn't expected to now be standing on the field facing the members of the Los Angeles FC U20 like a stone statue.
Legs moving awkwardly like a mechanical puppet and brain two steps behind, she felt like a newborn fawn that was learning how to stand up for the first time. She knew the U20 games would be much more fast paced compared to the U15 matches she was accustomed to but this was completely different from her theoretical projections and calculations.
Even the teammates she thought she could keep up with in practice, were completely different now that the scrimmage had started, such that they were almost unrecognisable compared to practice. She twisted her head, left eye following the ball and right eye attempting to capture the opposing team's movements but she was unable to retrieve the necessary information to even think about what she needed to do next.
Where she needed to be, where the ball would be next, who the ball was going to be passed to, the optimal next play...
There were simply too many variables to consider and just when she thought she had determined the 'correct future' the variables changed and her calculations fell through leaving her with nothing. Serika couldn't see how it would be possible for anyone to–
"Serika!"
Serika turned upon hearing the urgent cry from Jonah who was signalling to her with his eyes to block the incoming players and panicking she ran forward blindly towards the ball, which was currently in the possession of an agile looking woman with red-braided hair. Seeing Serika running towards her like an ungraceful boar, the woman smirked and ran agilely to her other side to use her as cover to evade Shindou, who was running in from the right.
"Serika Afuro!" growled Shindou, running past her with a hardened expression as she ran back closely behind to reinforce the defence.
"..."
Unable to defend herself, Serika kept her eyes facing downwards instead as she saw the coordinated Los Angeles players passing cautiously in the penalty box, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Unconsciously Serika sucked in a breath of cool air as the girl with perfectly clear eyes, smooth as mirrors, made her move for the first time in the match. Dashing forward in slippery, snake-like movements, Talia Nightingale circled the current possessor of the ball, blocking each of their attempts to pass until finally, sensing an opening, the LA player evaded the agile defender and sent the ball coursing through the sky towards the awaiting striker, who propelled themselves into the air to receive it lightly with their chest. Sensing the close movements of two New York defenders however, the brown-haired striker spun quickly upon trapping the ball and sent it back to the red-haired midfielder from earlier who received it easily only to find herself in the shadow of the New York U20's largest member : Jonah Salk.
"Sorry! I'll be taking that!"
Vibranium Shock!
Pulling a circular shield with a metallic, reflective surface out with his right arm, Jonah spun it into the air before grabbing it with his left and smashing it into the ground sending the girl flying backwards.
"Talia! Nice work as usual!"
"Mmhmm." acknowledged Talia with only the same, faint and cryptic smile that she always bore on her face.
Meanwhile, Serika rubbed her eyes as Talia clapped her hands together, causing nigh translucent strings to disappear from the bodies of the players in the defensive half of the field. Then accepting the ball from Jonah gracefully she sent it up fluidly to Shindou who had already moved ahead and begun sending out gold beams of light with his hands.
Hissatsu Tactics : God's Baton - Incalzando!
Not knowing where she was needed, Serika stopped moving as Shindou effortlessly led the offensive charge on the LA defence and scored quickly with 'Lebhaft' giving the New York team the first point of the match.
Tweet Tweet Tweet
Huff Huff Huff
Somehow exhausted despite doing nothing but running around futilely for the entire rest of the first half, Serika buried her face into her towel to hide her shame and frustration.
She was supposed to be The Serika Afuro!
'Captain of the Raimon '
'Raimon's Guardian Angel'
Well...
Those were pretty much delusions at this point and instead Serika would be lucky if she ever stepped onto the field again.
Feeling angry tears beginning to well up, she refused to come out from underneath her towel the entire rest of the match and was the first to return to her dorms so she could be alone with her thoughts.
Scrolling through her phone half-heartedly, Serika felt herself begin to dive progressively deeper into a pool of self-pity.
Mika had basically dropped off the face of the Earth after being led away from the Holy Road Stadium by some men in black suits...
It was...
Serika's eyes swivelled to the corner of her phone...
Four in the morning in England right now...not that she would've wanted to talk to that idiotic servant boy anyway.
Leonidas...
Too young...no way was she going to call a barely eleven year old baby for support.
Then, beginning to scroll faster and faster with her middle finger through her contacts she read the names aloud softly at the desk in her room.
"Daiguji...useless...Rikitake...useless...Aihara...ugh...Yamashiro-san?!"
Where had everything gone wrong?
Surely, she must have more friends than this right?
...
The silence in her room felt particularly heavy at this moment and Serika slumped in her chair while her towel hung sadly over her shoulders.
No!
Serika Afuro was many things but a self-pitying loser was not one of them!
After taking a long bath, where she may or may not have continued to cry with a rubber Gudetama toy in her hands, Serika marched herself straight down the stairs and walked to the building across from hers, to the quiet and poorly lit field and began setting up cones haphazardly in the centre.
No sooner had she finished, did the hairs on the nape of her neck rise and sensing a presence she spun in place and was immediately greeted by a pair of crystal-clear, tranquil eyes staring directly at her. Opening her mouth to speak, the sing-song voice of the famous U15 defender rang out harmoniously in the empty indoor stadium.
"A little late for practice, one might say Afuro-san?"
Having minimal interactions with the captain of the United States' national team, Unicorn, besides the first day, Serika had mixed feelings regarding the blind girl who was now standing in front of her. Talia was a famous seer and clairvoyant and Serika was unable to discern the intentions of the girl with mirror-like eyes.
Why had she begun playing soccer?
Was she truly able to see the future?
Was that why she was able to play the way she did in the match today?
Whenever Serika found herself thinking about the American U15 defender she was always left with more questions than she found pleasant and so she had decided to ignore Talia Nightingale for the time. But now, with only the two of them in the cavernous stadium, that was no longer an option.
Hearing no response from her, Talia tilted her head gently and asked softly, "Would you care for a training partner then? I'm quite confident in my skills."
Serika considered the proposition for a few short moments before answering while twisting her platinum-blonde hair into a loop with her right hand.
"Hmph, well I suppose I could let you join me if you're begging me like that."
"It's an honour to be able to play with the captain of Raimon then."
Serika's pink eyes narrowed into slits, unsure if Talia was mocking her considering her subpar performance today, but ultimately decided to ignore the other girl's response and began setting up the cones in a large, imperfect square so they could begin the one on one drill she had been doing with Shindou.
Standing silently under the meagre light of the stadium. Serika watched Talia carefully until she saw the defender give Serika an almost imperceptible nod and then race forward with the ball while Serika bent her knees in preparation.
"Bring it!"