Chapter 7

Rin was changed and out on the field long before the boys or even Nana was. She slowly dribbled around the edge of the field, bored. She hadn't had a serious chance to play since she came to Japan nearly three weeks ago. She was starting to fear that she was losing her touch. She missed the competitive environment that a game had. She missed the feeling of putting everything on the line to win, the feeling of exhilaration she felt when her team won a hard earned game. She sighed again and absent-mindedly kicked the ball against the crossbar of the goal. She missed her friends, their arguing, their pranks and their tendency to get into trouble.

She envied Nana who got the chance to keep up on her skills with Nadeshiko Japan. She wondered if she could join a club team because she had already rejected Nadeshiko Japan's offer to play for them. Even though she was eligible to play for both the USA and Japan, she preferred the USA. However, a lot of USA players joined leagues in other countries. Honestly, she didn't care if she joined a club or national team, she just wanted to play!

She kicked the ball harder than she meant to and it hit the crossbar and sailed over her head. She slowly walked to retrieve it and saw that Nana and Coach Iwaki were talking near the sidelines, waiting for the rest of their club to join them. She jogged over to them. Maybe they knew of a good club team she could join.

The two turned to her as she approached and she saw that they had big smiles on their faces. "What happened?" She asked as she stopped.

Nana's smile grew wider. "We have arranged a practice match with KamakuraCollege today! They'll be here in half an hour."

Rin brightened up when she head the news. A well-known college team! Maybe she could play! They would be a challenge, maybe not international level, but close enough. "Can I play? PLEASE?!" She pleaded with Coach Iwaki.

The coach hesitated. "I'm not sure…" he trailed off. Even though she was a formidable international player, much on the same level (if not higher) than Nana, he had his doubts about her playing against a male college team.

Rin saw him hesitated and pressed forward. "Please? I haven't played seriously in three entire weeks! If I don't, I'll die! I have seriously almost never gone this long without playing in a serious game!" She suddenly dropped to her knees and held her hands up pleadingly as she petitioned Iwaki with big-doe eyes.

He sighed and scratched his head. "We'll see," he said.

She let out a relieved sigh. It wasn't a 'no', but it wasn't exactly a 'yes.' "Thanks, coach!" She jumped up and went back to her ball and began dribbling around the field again. She hoped that he would let her play. If he didn't, she considered just running onto the field anyway.

…

Rin watched her team from her position of sitting on top of the crossbar of the goal while Akitoshi Li was beneath her, blocking shots from his teammates. She paid them no attention and they eventually got used to having a person sitting on the crossbar while they were trying to shoot.

She was the first one to see the crowd of players walking towards the fields and she shouted to the others, "They're here!" Iwaki called his players to him and he swiftly told them to start their warm-up, even though they had already been running around for close to fifteen minutes. The ones who were playing started to jog around the field in two orderly lines while the others made sure the field was clear of all obstacles. Rin stayed sitting on the crossbar and watched the college team walk closer.

A few of the older players gave the girl sitting on the crossbar some curious looks, but didn't say anything. She didn't offer a greeting either, there would be time for introductions later. The team greeted Coach Iwaki and then they got to warming up. Rin couldn't hear anything they said from her position and merely watched the older team during their warm ups.

They were experienced and built heavier than the high school team. If she played (which she was determined to) she would have to be more crafty with her playing style. She watched their movements as they warmed up and she couldn't help but be reminded of the U-17 Men's National Team back in her country. The women and men's youth national teams sometimes scrimmaged each other. It mostly ended with the boys winning, since they were bigger, stronger and faster, but that didn't take any of the fun out of the game. There were those precious few times when the girl's team would beat the boy's. They made sure to never let them forget it either.

Rin jumped down from the crossbar and ran to Iwaki. "Can I play? PLEASE?" She was going to ask him until he said yes.

The coach sighed and closed his eyes in thought. Rin stood impatiently, trying not to fidget. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked seriously at the striker in front of him. "Yes, BUT-" he tried to continue, but his lungs were crushed as she swept him into a rib-crunching, bear hug.

"Thank you so much, Coach! I will love you for the rest of my life! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She released him and ran off to tell the rest of her teammates the exciting news; leaving Iwaki trying to catch his breath and make sure no ribs had actually cracked.

She bounced over to Araki and started swinging him around by the arms. "Guess what! I get to play! In a real game! A REAL GAME!" She gave the stunned midfielder a hug as well and then pranced away to find-I mean, tell-her next victim-sorry-teammate.

"I guess she was happy about that," Nana quipped from next to Iwaki.

"Huh, I'd say so," the man grumbled, one arm wrapped around his abdomen.

…

Rin shifted her weight from foot to foot as she stood on the field, near the ball, waiting for the ref to give the signal to begin. Kakeru was next to her, ready to play. She scanned the opposing players and gave a mental smirk. When the other team heard about a girl playing them, they had snickered, while a few kind souls were actually concerned for her. She'd leave them in her dust trail.

The ref blew his whistle, finally, and Kakeru started the game with a back pass. Rin was already maneuvering herself through the opposite team's defense, trying to get into a good position. A defender picked her up and she rolled her eyes.

The game started with Enoshima controlling the flow of the game and making some excellent passes and runs, but the college team adjusted quickly and came back twice as strong.

A striker and a midfielder managed to make it past Enoshima's two-man defense and headed for the goal. Kakeru and Rin, having pre-sensed the danger, were already after the two.

Both high school strikers only came up to the other players' shoulders. The difference in size and weight didn't stop Rin from slid-tackling the ball away from one player to the sideline. She sprinted after it, the other player, on her heels and managed to save the ball from rolling across the line. Now she was trapped between the line with the college player on her back.

She shielded the ball with her body as she tried to find a way around him. She spotted Araki out of the corner of her eyes and yelled. "Araki!" Without waiting, she made a blind back pass, through the other player's legs to her teammate. She ran around the player and up the field, to help in the attack.

Three well-timed passes later, Rin was at the mouth of the other goal, preparing to take the shot. It was only her and the goalie. She took a step to prepare and then began to swing her foot. She heard her teammates' screams of warning, but it all a jumbled blurb. They were saying something like "Look out!" But for what?

Her never-wrong sixth sense told her to jump and she did, holding the ball between her ankles. Just as her feet left the ground, a pair of legs slid into the spot where they had been a not even a second before. She did a back flip in the air, with the ball still secured between her ankles and landed. With a quick flick of her left foot, the ball rolled into the bottom right corner of the goal.

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding as she turned away from the goal and to her teammates who were all staring at her in amazement. She flashed them a grin and flicked her pony tail over her shoulder. "Why so speechless, boys?"

Mako and Araki were the first to react and they clapped her on the shoulder. "That was quite spectacular!" Mako cheered.

"You were almost as good as I am," Araki teased. She shot him a look and stomped on his foot. "Ow, ow, ow, ow," the midfielder grumbled as he hopped on one foot.

Rin's goal came in the first twenty minutes of the first half. The rest of the half, the college team stepped up their game considerably. Rin let a relaxed grin spread across her face as she welcomed the intensity of the game. She felt the familiar rush of adrenaline and excitement.

The rest of the half ended in a tie, with KamakuraCollege scoring a point soon after Rin's goal. Both teams agreed to play only half a game, so as to avoid injury. It was only a practice game after all.

Rin stretched her arms above her head as the game ended and the teams congratulated each other. She had wanted to play a full game. Now what was she supposed to do?

Coach Iwaki thanked KamakuraCollege as they left and then spoke to his team for a bit. "Next week, we will be going to another training camp. Have your parents sign these permission slips and return them to me by Friday." Nana helped pass out the papers and then he dismissed the members.

"What should I do?" She asked Nana as the trio walked to their homes. She didn't have any parental figures in Japan.

"Well, I can ask my parents to sign it for you. The school just wants to make sure that you're accounted for and whatnot so if you get hurt, then they can figure out who contact." Nana explained.

Her friend looked at her with large, wondering eyes. "You would really do that for me? I love you!" She pounced on the unsuspecting girl and wrapped her in a tight hug.

"Uh, y-you're welcome," Nana stuttered out as her ribs were crushed under her friend. Rin let go and then handed her the paper. "I'll give it to you tomorrow."

"So, will there be haunted houses or adventures into the unknown? Or will it be very strict? Like the whole, "This is what you're doing, no if, ands or buts about it!"" She gave a lame impression of a manly voice, but she ended up cracking up since she couldn't keep a straight face.

Nana smiled. "The last time we had a training camp, the boys got to do a haunted hunt, thing. It was fun."

Rin sighed. "To be completely honest, I hate scary stuff. Can I opt out?" She hated that she was scared of fake things. She knew full well that they weren't real and never would be, but the whole concept creeped her out.

Both of her companions looked at her in surprise. "You don't like scary stuff?" Kakeru asked, incredulous. He had assumed that the other striker would be all for that stuff.

Rin shook her head and looked around apprehensively. "I hate watching scary movies and whatnot. I even hide out in my room for Halloween. It is awful how bad I am with scary stuff." She rubbed the goosebumps that had made themselves comfortable on her arms. Just the thought of ghosts and ghouls made her not want to sleep.

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Most of it is just fake and obvious," Nana said, trying to sooth her fears.

"I know, but still..." Rin whined. "It's freaky."

"We'll be with you," Nana said. Kakeru nodded in agreement.

Rin smiled at them, "You guys are the best. Liz and Kat would have thrown be head first into a haunted house. Actually, they already have." She shuddered at the memory of her best friend's attempt to cure her of her fear. Instead of curing it, their attempts had only reinforced it.

"We'll be good." Nana said.

"Good. I would have lost my sanity at the sight of the first spirit...thing..."

"Well, you don't have to worry about it for a while now. Don't worry about it right now," Nana said as they stopped at Rin's street.

She sighed and nodded. "I'll try. Have a good night, you two." She waved to the pair before walking to her apartment.

I have no excuse for my procrastination.