“YOU’RE A WORTHLESS SNOTTY BRAT, YOSHIDA!” An older man shouted.

“YOU’RE AN INCONVENIENCE TO EVERYONE, KEI!” A young woman shouted.

“Shut up…” Kei said weakly.

“NO WONDER YOUR PARENTS ABANDONED YOU!!” Another older man shouted. Suddenly an alarm went off. Kei would be laying on a cheap futon with a small scratchy blanket and no pillow. He’d stand up, putting his school uniform on very messy. He grabbed a cheap smoothie out of his empty fridge. He’d grab his backpack, putting his shoes on. A few minutes later, he’d walk up to the school seeing Yuki, Masaki and Nuguchi practicing on the soccer field behind the school.

“WORTHLESS!!…~” Said the older male voice in his head again. He then walked into the school, walking past the shoe lockers. He walked into his classroom, sitting at his desk at the back of the class. He would lay his head down on the desk, falling asleep. A few hours later, he would be walking down the hall, with his headphones on. Someone would then tap on his shoulder. He took off his headphones, resting them on his neck. He turned around seeing Yuki and Masaki standing there. Yuki’s eyes would widen in shock. In Kei’s point of view, their faces would blur with the japanese word for distant (遠) on their blurred faces.

“It… It can’t be…!” Yuki said. Masaki nodded,

“No way…” Masaki said. Kei looked at the ground sadly,

“Just go away…” Kei internalized.

“No way…?” Kei asked.

“It’s you, you injured me back in middle school!” Yuki said.

ごめんなさい…

(I’m Sorry…)

“I injured a lot of people back then… You aren’t sticking out…” Kei said.

“So, do you still play Soccer?” Yuki asked. Kei looked at Yuki,

“Soccer…?” Kei internalized.

“WORTHLESS… WORTHLESS… WORTHLESS… GARBAGE… WASTE… GARBAGE…!!” The voices shouted in Kei’s head.

“No… Not really…” Kei said. Yuki smirked,

“Well… How about you join our soccer team and play as our new leftback?” Yuki asked.

“Nah, I’m alright.” Kei said, walking away. A few minutes later, Yuki and Masaki would walk into the teacher work room.

“Iwata-Sensei?” Yuki said. Iwata stood up from his desk,

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Yeah?” Iwata asked. Masaki and Yuki walked over to his desk.

“We wanna ask about another student.” Yuki asked. Iwata raised a brow,

“I don’t think thats a good idea…” Iwata said. Yuki looked confused,

“Why not?” Yuki asked. Masaki sighed,

“There’s someone we found who could be our new left back.” Masaki said. Iwata looked surprised,

“Well if you started out with that, what’s his name?” Iwata asked. Yuki looked embarrassed,

“Kei Yoshida.” Yuki said. Iwata typed on his computer for a few seconds.

“So what’d you wanna know about him?” Iwata asked, looking at Yuki.

“Is there anyway I could get in contact with him?” Yuki asked. Iwata looked back at his screen, scanning it for few seconds. He then looked back at Yuki,

“Unfortunately not…” Iwata said. Yuki sighed,

“No address?” Yuki asked.

“Can’t give that out.” Iwata said. Yuki nodded. Yuki and Masaki stood up,

“Thanks for the help Sensei.” Yuki said. Iwata smiled,

“My pleasure.” Iwata said. A few hours later, Yuki and Masaki would be passing the ball with Hiroki (Yokota) at practice.

“So uh…” Hiroki said. He looked down at Yuki and Masaki’s cleats noticing they weren’t tied.

“Why aren’t your boots tied…?” Hiroki asked, raising a brow holding the ball with the bottom of his foot.

“You’ll see…” Masaki said. Hiroki raised a brow,

“What?” Hiroki asked.

“YUKI~!! MASAKI~!!” Kenji shouted. He walked over slowly with crutches and a cast on his right foot.

“Is it time!?” Yuki asked. Kenji nodded,

“Keep an eye on our cleats!!” Yuki shouted. Yuki and Masaki threw their cleats off, running to their bikes. The two got on their bikes. Kei would be walking down the sidewalk with his headphones on. A few minutes later, Kei would walk into his house.

“Why do I feel kind of stalker-ish…?” Yuki asked. Masaki squinted at Yuki,

“Because it is…” Masaki said.

“Alright, I’m trying to help out the team here, lets just go back to practice…” Yuki said. Masaki raised a brow,

“You’re not gonna go talk to him?” Masaki asked.

“Nah, not yet.” Yuki said. Masaki nodded, as the two turned around riding away.

“So, now what?” Masaki asked. Yuki shrugged,

“Go back to practice.” Yuki shrugged. Masaki nodded, looking back at Kei’s house.

“Yo, Masaki, you coming?” Yuki asked. Masaki looked forward, smiling.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m right behind you.” Masaki said. The two then road off toward practice. A few minutes later, Masaki would be walking down the street with Yuki. They would then walk up to Kei’s house and Yuki would knock on the door. Yuki would look at Masaki, smiling.

“So what’re we doing?” Masaki asked.

“You’ll see.” Yuki said. Masaki nodded and after a few seconds of waiting the door would open. Kei stood there in a baggy white t-shirt and black shorts.

“Can I help you…?” Kei asked weakly with sleepy eyes. Yuki smiled, looking around at Kei’s room. There were cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling and no table with only a futon.

“Uhm, I was going around the neighborhood, gathering people to come to support us for the Tohaku prefectural qualifiers…” Yuki said, smiling awkwardly.

“You’re the kid that asked me to join the team…” Kei said. Yuki nodded,

“Y-Yes, that was me…” Yuki said. Kei looked at Yuki’s eyes. Yuki’s face started to sweat profusely. (In nerves, he didn’t sweat).

“Can’t, I’m busy…” Kei said. Yuki smiled,

“That’s alright. It's a big school, and there are many people to choose from,” Yuki said. Kei nodded,

“Bye…” Kei said. Kei closed the door. Yuki and Masaki walked away from his house,

“So, do we go tell coach now?” Masaki asked. Yuki shrugged,

“You think we should, or should we wait until tomorrow?” Yuki asked. Masaki rubbed his chin,

“I say we wait until tomorrow…” Masaki said. The next day, Kei walked through the hallway. He got tapped on the shoulder. Kei removed his headphones turning around. Coach Sawa stood there.

"You're Kei Yoshida, right?" Sawa asked. Kei raised a brow, nodding.

"Yeah, that's me..." Kei said.

"Why don't you come down to the teacher's offices, I want to chat," Sawa said. Kei hesitated for a second before nodding. A few minutes later, Sawa would be sitting in his chair.

"What did you want to talk about?" Kei asked. Sawa stood up, grabbed his backpack, and put it on.

"Come with me," Sawa said. The two walked out of the teacher's lounge right as the bell rang.