Work Text:
Kevin
The video starts, revealing Kevin Day, who appears haggard, the years leaving traces behind. His eyes look weary. He smiles, not the constant smile he always shows the press a genuine one though small and a bit sorrowful.
"So I didn't know how to begin this video, but this could be considered as bit of an exposé. By the time this video might reach you though I might be dead by a convenient "car crash" or "suicide" or maybe the cancer in my body will have appeared to finally kill me off. Now there might be questions as to why the convenient car accident or suicide, if someone could be behind my death the answer would be yes but lets not get into that right away."
Kevin closes his eyes and lets out a sigh.
"I have always loved Exy, I grew up around it. My mother Kayleigh Day co-invented the sport with Tetsuiji Moriyama so I was always surrounded by it. It was my mother's legacy, MY legacy. But on that day when my mother's car drove of a bridge, I lost the only person who then was the only person I relied on- my only family. When I lost my mother, the world had lost the clever Kayleigh who invented a sport in a mostly male-dominated field. By then Exy became my only connection to her, and I was sent off to my mother's best friend Tetsuiji Moriyama. My mother would have been terrified of what she had done if she actually knew Tetsuiji. Back then my father wasn't in the picture, she knew David Wymack was my father but she didn't tell him I was his even when he confronted her because she wanted him to pursue his dreams of becoming a collegiate Exy coach and didn't want him to hold her back. I was happy because I got to play Exy with Riko. We had a plan- Riko and I. We would be the youngest players to go to the Olympics and win gold. For me, it was a way of honoring my mother and for Riko, it was a way for him to gain the respect and acknowledgment of his family."
Kevin grimaced a little and continued. The faint sounds of the television could be heard.
"The Moriyamas are divided into two branches the main branch and the side branch. The main branch consisted of first sons and the side branch consisted of second sons. Now the public knew that Riko was somewhat estranged from his father and lived under Tetsuiji mainly because his father was busy running the Moriyama family trading business in their headquaters at New York, but what you don't know is that the actual Moriyama business is Murder. The Moriyamas is a Yakuza group who immigrated from Japan and set Headquarters in the States. Kengo, Riko's father was the head and his son Ichirou took his place after his death. Since Tetsuji was Kengo's younger brother, he studied around the world and later met up with my mother and came up with the idea of Exy. He presented his idea with his brother to get proper funding with the promise of generating great profits to the family. Kengo invested a good amount of money and earned millions later on, when Exy did take of. Tetsuiji who got his brother's approval for this bastard sport set base at the Edgar Allan University building the first Exy court- Evermore there. He began coaching the Ravens, the initial players handpicked and coached personally by him. Evermore stadium came fully equipped with additional rooms below the court which later the Ravens lived in instead of the actual dorm rooms provided by the University. When Kengo had Riko he sent Riko off to Tetsuiji so Tetsuiji could mold Riko into a star player who could generate income for them."
"Majority of my childhood was spent at that court and the nest. And Riko and I we- we stuck together, I was grieving and he was desperate for the attention of his father so we made Exy our escape. Later Jean joined us except he didn't come there willingly. The Moreaus- Jean's family had a debt to the Moriyamas and paid it off by selling Jean off to the side branch where he to could generate an income for the main branch through Exy. Jean was property to them, especially Riko. See over the years Riko developed a sort of obsession to gain his father's approval and attention and he decided Exy was the way to get it. When Jean came along all defiant and refusing to play Exy, Riko thought to break him and he did. By the time we reached our teenage years Jean was indoctrinated to the team and its hive mindset. The Ravens only have one goal and that is to win, each of their players have a partner system, they go everywhere with their partners. It made the Ravens both very competitive to earn their number and equally co-dependent to their partners. They were required to take their partners everywhere, they usually had the same classes, and usually, all the Ravens did- Sports Science and Physiotherapy. In the Ravens the higher the number, the higher your standing. As you might already know Riko was my partner, we were 1 and 2 the famed Exy duo-Sons of Exy. So when there were rumors and speculations arising on who the better player was, I was nervous. Over the years Riko was growing unhinged he was number 1 and I was number 2 and since Tetsuji took me in and since I was an investment to the Moriyamas I couldn't defy them I had to play my role and be the best but to never outplay Riko. But during the Winter Banquet, the board was feeling that Riko was holding me back and Tetsuji put a scrimmage where we faced off in opposing teams. I played my best while fearing where this is going to land me when it came to the last few minutes in the board and the score was tied. Riko scored a goal in an underhanded method. The match ended and the board now satisfied went back, but Riko who was fuming knowing he cheated told Jean to hold me down. I was terrified, Tetsuji had gone with the other members so the court was empty. He came towards me with a menacing glare and a gleam in his eyes that had a part of me dreading what was about to happen. I knew he was hurting Jean, I knew it because in his eyes Jean was property so he was entitled to him and I was sort of like a pet to him so he never hurted me like he did to Jean never resorting to torture but that night everything changed. He took the racquet and bought it down on my arm- my left hand the dominant hand I use to play, again and again. The pain was the only thing distracting me from my looming despair. Jean who remained back to patch me up had looked at me with so much sorrow in his eyes, he knew then like I did that it would be nearly impossible for me to play again. He whispered apologies in my ears while hastily bandaging my hand. His hands were quick and precise because he used to patch himself up countless times whenever he made a mistake or went out of line. Riko continued this treatment even after Jean knew how to stop resisting because he felt an urge. I looked the other way the entire time, I knew what was happening and I looked away because I was a coward. Jean who was so brave even when he was aware of the consequences coming later helped me escape the Nest that night."
"Jean drove me to the hotel where the foxes were staying for their banquet. He knew Wymack was my father because we found a letter that my mother had wrote to Tetsuiji where she revealed his identity. I stole that letter from Master's- sorry Tetsuji's house, back then it kindled a small hope within me that outside these walls I still had family but I couldn't risk going to Wymack then because it meant bringing the Moriyamas down on him so I never thought more on it, but after Riko broke my hand, I had nowhere to go, I was freaking out, I knew Riko would act out but I never thought he would go for my hand when he knew how important Exy was to me. Jean had propped me up on his shoulder, my jacket hiding my ruined arm when the door opened revealing a very tired Wymack who looked very surprised to see me. Jean who was apprehensive about Riko bade me farewell in French and left quickly. Wymack who now noticed the blood stains on my shirt was growing more concerned by the second. He quickly called for the team nurse-Abby who was appalled when I refused to go to the hospital. I knew if I went to the hospital the Moriyamas would know where I was and besides there would be too many questions involved. She tried patching my hand as much as she could with the supplies on her hand at that time, and Wymack called the team so they could leave quickly. By the time the bus filled up, I was dazed from the pain and the blood loss and slowly growing numb because of the painkillers. Wymack filled them in with the situation and ordered them to keep quiet of it. Later in Abby's house Andrew approaches me when I was doped up on drugs, I couldn't fathom how much potential he was wasting when he had so much natural talent and asked him why he hadn't joined the Ravens and he retorted with a quip back talking about my broken hand. I was already upset about the reminder about my bleak future, I said "You could be everything Andrew" At this point, something I said must have gotten through to him because he offered a deal to me-protection for me and I promised him that I would find something to base his life on, his future on, like Exy did for me. After that, he looked out for me, protected me, and provided the courage I needed to refuse when Riko forced me to go back to Edgar Allan, to him."
"I took the assistant coach position offered to me by Coach and started coaching the Foxes while undergoing physiotherapy for my hand and slowly recovering. Meanwhile unbeknownst to me Jean was back in the Nest suffering for my actions, my defiance. I never truly knew the details of his abuse in the nest not until he transferred out of Edgar Allan. I dove into my job and tried putting all my concentration, my anxiety into whipping the foxes up into a decent team. When the news was released, people were naturally outraged, how Kevin Day the second member of Perfect Court broke his dominant hand in a tragic "skiing trip" and instead of remaining with his team he goes to a rival team and accepts their Assistant coaching position, the outrage of the fans hearing about a Raven at foxhole court. Then the vandalism started, along with the death threats, the police raid that one time when someone falsely tipped off the local department on the foxhole tower being a meth lab. Riko was persistent on voicing the Foxes inadequacies and urging me to come home. I was scared shitless about the repercussions if I didn't obey him but Andrew reined me in. So with the support of Wymack and Andrew's unwavering strength and protection and with copious amounts of vodka, I persevered. Then Janie Smalls the Striker sub we wanted to recruit attempted to take her life and was placed in the psych ward, and Coach and I was scouring through the files for potential recruits and I see the video clip of this scrawny boy who played like he had everything on the line, played with such a desperation that called out to me. He had the potential to become court and he was fast-damn fast and it was like something within me was desperate to get him, recognized the desperation in him which I often had. His stats were despicable due to his inexperience but he had talent, so Coach, Andrew and I flew out that week to Millport Arizona to recruit Neil Josten, But only I had no idea I was meeting someone from my past, the one memory I tried to repress. Little did I know that meeting him would change everything."