Chapter Text
From the night of March 31 to April 1, a long-awaited event happened in the Isagi family.
That night two little boys joined their family. Later these boys will be called Yoichi, the older, and Yuichiro, the younger.
The birth of two boys made Iyo and Issei very happy, soon their house would be filled with children's laughter and the sound of little feets running.
The twins were completely identical, they could only be distinguished by their eyes. In younger’s eyes one could only see innocence and childish curiosity, while the older one had a calmer and a little apathetic look.
In general, the behavior of an older boy sometimes made young parents worry. The child rarely cried and showed little interest in almost anything. By almost everything, it meant that he only actively reacted to his younger brother, Yuichiro.
If he started playing with some kind of toy, then soon Yoichi would sit next to him and play with him in the younger one’s invented game. The parents were only glad that there was such a connection between the children, especially since it made their souls easier because although the eldest was calm and there was no need to worry about him so much, the younger one was his complete opposite.
Little Yuichiro cried a lot, thereby worrying his parents. While Iyo and Issei did not understand the reason for the boy’s tears, it seemed that Yoichi understood perfectly well and always tried to calm his brother down and tell his parents what the problem was.
One example was when the twins were 3 years old. Issei was at work and the mother of the family and her sons were at home.
The mother of the family was preparing dinner and the boys were in the living room. Little Yoichi was reading a book and his brother Yuichiro was sitting next to him and playing with his plush shrimp.
How abruptly Yuichiro stopped paying attention to the toy and fixed his gaze on the wall. A few seconds later, tears flowed from his eyes and Iyo flew out of the kitchen out of fear that something had happened.
Seeing her crying son, she ran up to him and started asking questions. "What is it, Yuu-chan? Did you hit yourself somewhere?" In response to his mother's questions, Yuichiro only pointed his finger at the wall.
The mother immediately turned her head in the direction indicated by the finger, but could not see anything. She already had thoughts that perhaps her son was a psychic or something similar, when a voice was suddenly heard: “Mosquito!”
It was Yoichi’s voice, he had already thrown away the book he was reading and was already hugging his brother, hiding his head in his shoulder.
Iyo had to take a few seconds to realize what her eldest son had said. Then she stood up and approached that same wall. And lo and behold, a mosquito actually flew near this wall. The mother was a little perplexed how the children were able to see it from that distance, if even now the woman, standing much closer, could barely track its movements.
Iyo was brought out of her trance by a sob behind her. She turned around and still could see how the younger twin was almost glued to the older one. While tears were still rolling down Yuichiro's face, the elder had a serious expression on his face. And with that face he said, "Take it away."
Iyo didn’t need to be repeated, she quickly dealt with the mosquito and finally Yuichiro calmed down. Having made sure that everything was fine now, the mother of the family returned to the kitchen to continue cooking, and the children were left alone again.
Everyone returned to do their business that they were doing before the incident, but now Yoichi looked more closely at the area around him and his brother and if he noticed another mosquito, then he quietly got up and repeated the actions of his mother and then returned to his brother saying that he went to get a toy.
The second incident happened probably 1 month later. Then the whole Isagi family went for a walk in the park. Iyo and Issei still hoped that the boys would be able to make friends, but unfortunately every attempt failed.
Yuichiro was too shy and cried a lot, so almost none of the children wanted to play with him, when Yoichi didn’t seem to care about other children, he always played only with his brother and it seemed that this was enough for him.
Then the parents sat on the bench and watched the twins play in the sandbox, when suddenly Yuichiro began to cry and, throwing the shovel and bucket away, began to cover the top of his head with his hands.
It seemed that Yoichi also felt something that his younger brother did, so he quickly collected their shovels and buckets, stood up, taking his brother’s hand, and headed to his parents.
The parents did not understand what had happened because they had only a few seconds ago watched the children build a sand castle, and now one of them was crying and the second looked slightly alarmed.
Iyo and Issei didn’t have time to ask anything when Yoichi said: “Home. Rain.” The parents did not understand what their son wanted to convey. Will it rain soon? But there are no clouds in the sky. But because of Yuichiro's crying and Yoichi's serious look, they decided not to ask and head home. It’s unlikely that the children will continue playing anyway, and they didn’t want to inconvenience other park visitors.
When they arrived home, Yuichiro had already calmed down and Yoichi’s face returned his indifferent expression, the whole family heard the sound of thunder outside the window and soon there was a heavy downpour.
These two incidents were enough for parents to make an appointment with a children's doctor to find out what was happening to their children. But everything turned out to be quite simple.
Both twins had increased sensitivity and spatial awareness. They could hear the sound of a mosquito's wings and then see it at a distance far away for normal people, they could also feel the change in air humidity before the rain.
In simple words, these are not some kind of supernatural abilities, but simply two boys had a stronger sensitivity than ordinary human. But each of the twins experienced it differently. Obviously it was difficult for the younger one to get used to this, so he was always scared and cried when the older one easily and quickly adapted and was even the one who calmed his brother down.
In general, Yoichi seemed more mature and maybe more intelligent than Yuichiro. Not to say that Yuichiro is a retarded child. It’s just that Yoichi, compared to him, seemed already very mature, even though he was only 5 minutes older.
When, at that appointment, the doctor heard the parents’ worry about this, he suggested, “Maybe Yoichi is a child prodigy?” After the doctor's words, Iyo and Issei began to observe their eldest son's actions more.
Indeed, already at the age of 4, Yoichi could write well and his handwriting was quite legible, he also read quickly for his age, thereby confirming the theory about his intellectual development.
After what they saw, the parents began to try to help Yoichi continue to develop at a rapid pace, for example, enroll in some courses. The parents did not want to cash in on their child’s characteristics, but were worried that Yoichi would have a boring childhood and would not have the opportunity to show himself. But to surprise and a little joy, Yoichi refused additional classes and said that he would study the same way as Yuichiro. That is why in the future the twins will go to the same school together in the same class. And while some subjects will be difficult for Yuichiro, everything will be very easy for Yoichi and he will always be ready to help his younger brother.
Probably the most important event in the lives of the twins happened when they were 4 years old. Then their father was sitting on the couch and out of boredom, he changed the channel and decided to stop at the football channel. The boys were laying on the floor in front of the TV and drawing coloring pages, not paying attention to the TV.
Until Yuichiro heard the loud sound of screams coming from the TV. The boy turned his attention away from his drawing and began to watch the game on TV.
Yuichiro just wanted to see what was there and that’s all, but after a few seconds he couldn’t take his eyes off the screen. Or rather, from the player with the number “9” on his jersey.
When the match was coming to the end there were only a few seconds left on the clock. And number nine continued to run towards the goal, bypassing the players of the opposite team. Yuichiro called out to his brother "Yoichi..."
"Mm?" The brother immediately drew attention to the younger one and, noticing how he was constantly looking at the TV, also turned his head in its direction.
It was then that in Yuichiro’s eyes it seemed that time had slowed down. He saw how number nine raised his leg to strike and so beautifully kicked the ball into the net with the sound of the bell indicating the end of the match. When people from the stadium started shouting, Yuichiro stood up and also shouted “Goal!”
At the reaction of the youngest child, the father and mother, who came out to see what the screams were, could only giggle. When the commercial started, Yuichiro turned to his parents and asked, “Mom! Dad! Buy me and Yo-chan a soccer ball!”
The stars were shining in the eyes of the younger one and it is not surprising, he just saw the most beautiful goal in his opinion. The parents answered their son, “Well, if Yuu-chan and Yo-chan want it, then why not,” to which the younger turned to his brother and asked, “Nii-chan! Do we want a soccer ball?”
At his brother’s voice, Yoichi removed his attention from the TV and answered his brother, “Yes, we want it,” after Yoichi’s words Yuichiro began to rejoice again and went to hug his brother.
While the stars that had not yet faded from the game were shining in the younger brother's eyes, in the eyes of the other twin there was... emptiness.
The blue of his eyes had not changed and remained the same as always, indifferent and bored. When he looked at the final goal, it didn’t stir anything up inside him, didn’t make his heart ache, didn’t even make him let out a gasp.
He was generally more interested in his brother’s desire to start playing football than in the game itself. And as always, he immediately agreed to all his brother’s wishes. Does he want to play football? No problem.
Therefore, after that he went to search the Internet for information about football, rules, techniques and popular players.
The very next day, when their parents came home from the store with a new, clean soccer ball.
Yuichiro grabbed onto this ball and did not want to let it go. Yo and Issei were worried that Yoichi would be offended by his brother because he wouldn’t even let him hold the ball, but their worries were in vain since it seemed that Yoichi didn’t care about this ball, instead of it, Yoichi took the tablet in one hand and his brother’s hand in other hand and went to their backyard behind the house.
Yuichiro was beaming from the fact that he could simply hold the ball in his hands and this amused the elder. Having seated his brother in front of him, Yoichi began to tell the most basic knowledge about football. To prevent Yuichiro from getting bored, he specifically mentioned the same player with the number “9” on his T-shirt from yesterday’s match. And as expected, Yuichiro began to listen even more attentively to his older brother.
After a small lecture, Yuichiro happily said, “I will become the best striker in the world like Noel Noah!”
“You don’t have to become like him, but you have to surpass him,” Yoichi corrected his brother. But Yoichi was glad that Yuichiro had finally found something to do that might last not a maximum of 2 weeks, but maybe several years. Removing the smile from his face, Yoichi began talking about the training they needed to do and how they needed to change their diet. Yuichiro obediently listened to his brother and absorbed the information like a sponge.
That's how the training to become the best striker began. Every morning the boys got up, washed, had breakfast and went out to the backyard.
There they warmed up, did exercises and practiced scoring goals, ball control, etc. After an intense training session, the boys rested and spent the rest of the day as they wished.
Well, more precisely, only Yuichiro did this. Yoichi had been secretly training in the evening. The reason was not that he suddenly became interested in football or wanted to become better than his brother in his already favorite sport to show off. In fact, he had done the same thing before.
From the age of three, their parents tried to enroll them in some clubs, and since Yuichiro was very shy, the parents sent both sons to the same club and if possible to the same group.
The first thing they had was tennis, but Yuichiro was afraid to approach the coach and ask questions about the game and therefore spent almost the entire first training session at a loss and with tears in his eyes that still had a little time left to begin to flow down the little boy’s cheeks.
The older brother immediately noticed the younger brother’s discomfort, so he himself approached the coach and asked questions and then went to his brother and told him what he had learned.
With Yoichi's help, Yuichiro's first training session ended not in complete failure, but simply unsuccessful, so to speak.
After the first training session, Yoichi came home and immediately went on the Internet to look for information about tennis. It’s better that all the knowledge is in his head, so he won’t have to run to the coach and he can immediately help his brother.
The fact that Yuichiro, instead of approaching the coach, ran up to his brother and asked him questions was very soon noticed by the coach but they were more amazed by Yoichi’s answers. Yoichi answered his younger brother’s questions as if he were a professional, thereby confirming his title as a young prodigy in the eyes of strangers.
And for this reason, the coaches persuaded the boy to stay and continue to play their sport when Yuichiro got tired of the sport and Yoichi abandoned it too. Despite promises of a bright future, Yoichi still left. He was already bored and uninterested, and if his brother was getting bored, then that was even more of a compelling reason to give up.
Partly Yoichi expected the same thing to happen with football. Yuichiro will play with the ball for several days and will forget about it. But to his surprise, even after 3 weeks, Yuichiro was still burning with the idea of becoming the best striker in the world.
Of course, Yoichi saw how his brother's eyes lit up differently than when he started going to previous clubs. Those eyes shone brighter. But since the boys didn’t go to the club but studied on their own, Yoichi thought that because there were only two of them, his younger brother would get bored, but it seemed that every day he became more and more interested.
One day, Yoichi decided to indirectly ask why he still liked to play and to this Yuichiro replied, “How can I get bored if I play with Yo-chan?” Yoichi was surprised at his brother’s words and asked what he meant. “Nii-chan plays so beautifully that it seems to me that I can watch him play forever. And of course I want to play like that too! That’s why I have to work harder and harder!” Having learned the details, Yoichi just sighed and patted his brother on the top of his head.
He thought that there was a good reason, but this was just childish. Yes, perhaps Yoichi has better ball control and good at passing than his brother, but this is because he trained extra so that he could show live examples for Yuichiro. And what does he mean by ‘watch forever’? Yuichiro should want to surpass his brother and not just stand on the sidelines and watch.
This is one of the main rules, so to speak, that Yoichi was able to figure out after more detailed study of football. For example, a few main things:
1. Even though you are in a team with 10 more people, but there can only be one main character.
2. Football is not about a team victory but about who will score the most goals. An example is the Noel Noah's phrase. In a brief retelling, he said that it would be better for his team to lose, but he will do a hat trick. With the help of these words, even a fool should understand that whoever scored the most goals won even if his team lost in the end.
3. Japan is terrible at football. The reason? Because they don't follow those top two points. They build a team on teamwork and that's why they always lose.
Yoichi didn't care if the team that represented Japan on big games loses, whether they disgrace their country, etc.
But now, unfortunately, it has changed.
Yoichi understood that only one person would not be able to change by themselves Japanese football. All people will simply call them crazy and make them an outcast. Therefore Yoichi was thinking about how Yuichiro could rise to the top in such a country.
And the only way out was to get to the nationals, attract attention to yourself of foreign clubs and leave Japan as soon as possible. Yes, it may seem too harsh. But only in Europe will a person have a chance to start playing the right football and become the best player. There will be no such phrases as “working for the team”, “all for one”, etc. and then you can move to other clubs if you wish.
Having formed a plan, Yoichi began to prepare Yuichiro.
And so the boys finally went to elementary school. Yuichiro was more happy not about going to school to gain knowledge or find friends, but he was more happy when his brother said that there should be a football club there and the two of them would sign up there.
Therefore, on the very first day, when the teacher handed out blankets and asked them to write what they would like to do, Yuichiro confidently wrote “football”.
That's how the boys officially entered the path to becoming the best striker in the world (Let's not say that it was one of the boys who stepped up on it and the other one is just walking next to it). After two years of training with Yoichi and his guidance, both boys immediately earned spots on the team.
Only Yuichiro was given the role of central striker and Yoichi was given the role of central midfielder.
The sun was setting below the horizon, but it was almost invisible anyway because of the houses in the area. Two boys were walking along the same road. The most interesting detail was that they were identical. Both were holding hands, but while one was telling something with a joyful smile, the other was looking at the road with empty expression.
While walking home, Yuichiro decided to ask if Yoichi was upset that he was not given the role of striker and tried to suggest to sometimes switch the roles between them. At this, Yoichi stopped walking and because he was still holding his younger brother's hand he stopped too, Yoichi looked at his brother for a few seconds and then said with a smile, “But it seems to me that there is no need to switch. If I'm a midfielder, I can give you passes and you can score. I like it better this way.”
After his older brother’s finished he resumed walking towards their home, Yuichiro fell silent and they continued to walk in silence.
Yuichiro wanted to say something more but decided against it. Of course his older brother noticed it but he too decided to not talk about it.
Just like Yoichi had planned. First, Yuichiro needs to show up at the nationals and then it will become easier. Therefore, he persistently told his brother not to care about teamwork and try to score more goals. Yoichi at those moments said: “You have me. No one else is needed. I pass to you and you score, that’s all.” And as usual, the younger one obediently obeyed the older one and gave his all during matches against other schools.
Of course, their team has never won. This was expected in Yoichi's opinion, the team consisted of weaklings and only he and Yuichiro were pulling it on their backs. But the match score always ended with at least one goal in their favor. And this goal was as expected, made by Yuichiro.
But the only thing Yoichi didn’t take into account was his own presence. While Yuichiro played, as Yoichi told him, almost by himself and almost did not pass to anyone except his brother. Yoichi, as a midfielder, passed the ball to others, stole the ball and, at first glance, played for the team.
But this is only at first glance. In reality, he simply used players from the opposing team and from his own team to divert attention from Yuichiro and give him the opportunity to score a goal. In short, Yoichi played this way only for Yuichiro and he always made sure that only Yuichiro could score. If, for example, the younger twin missed, then the older one was already right there and picked up the ball and passed it again to his brother so that he could try to score again. And his heightened sensitivity and spatial awareness helped him in this.
The elder brother tried to teach the younger one to use them too, but still Yuichiro was 6 years old and he could not absorb information as quickly as Yoichi. So for now, most of the work and planning for the goal was done by Yoichi. But he didn’t worry as long as Yuichiro got used to running with the ball on the field with 20 other people and then when he grew up, he would quickly learn from his brother.
But the ideal plan shattered into pieces when for one of the matches Yuichiro was put on the bench and Yoichi was left in the game. This surprised the boy, but he very quickly found the reason for what happened.
As previously said, he seemed to be playing for the team and some might have thought that he was only passing to Yuichiro just because he was his brother. Thus, in the eyes of the coach, Yoichi is an ideal player who follows their philosophy, but Yuichiro is the rebellious one who goes against the system.
After realizing, Yoichi refused to play and took his brother’s hand and left. That's how their journey in the football club in their elementary school ended. Upon arriving home, Yoichi apologized to Yuichiro for the fact that he could no longer play on their school team. But Yuichiro didn’t understand why his brother apologized, but since he didn’t want to upset his brother more, said that he accepted the apology. So for another two years in elementary school, a coach ran after Yoichi and was telling him to return to the team, but young Yoichi refused.
Yoichi now changed Yuichiro's training and went more into strategy. He explained to Yuichiro how to predict the opponents' actions and how to plan a goal.
Already in middle school, only one of the twins signed up for a football club. The second one didn’t sign up anywhere, and when the younger one had training, he would come and say "I still have to wait for Yuichiro,” and would sit on the bench and look how the training went. As long as he was allowed to do this, Yoichi was happy. Yoichi always put his brother's things next to him and whenever his brother came up to drink water, Yoichi gave advice for his play or pointing out the mistakes that he made.
This is how their life went in middle school. Of course, Yuichiro's game noticeably deteriorated at the beginning since Yoichi was no longer around and there was no one to correct all his mistakes on the field. But soon Yuichiro could play more confidently on the field by himself. Unfortunately, only unfortunately for Yoichi, his parents and then his brother began to worry about him. For the parents, it seemed that Yoichi had lost interest in football and was still helping his brother only out of pity, and over time, Yuichiro also noticed this and began to feel guilty for taking up his older brother’s time.
That's how Yoichi had to join the debate club in his first year of high school. It wasn’t that he was interested in them, there were just a lot of people there and it would be easier for him to hide in the crowd.
Now Yuichiro persuaded his brother not to follow his training, but to play with him 1 on 1 once a week to see if he has become better or not.
This is how the first year of high school passed. Yoichi did not have the opportunity to go to his brother’s matches since some important debates were supposed to take place at that time and he could not sneak away. But to say that he missed many matches is not true.
They couldn't get to the nationals so the number of matches was small.
Having learned the news about the loss, Yoichi wanted to talk and perhaps console his brother. As Yuichiro proudly said that next year he would definitely lead the team to victory, Yoichi, who waiting for his brother's face to be stained with tears, seeing the impudent grin with burning eyes, could only flick his brother on the forehead and say, “Then try harder, striker.” After this conversation, Yoichi seemed to be convinced that now his younger brother can fend for himself and does not need his overprotection.
Therefore, in the second year, he calmly allowed Yuichiro to build his own future. But Yoichi would never have guessed that his brother had good acting skills. While Yuichiro showed excellent results in their 1 on 1, on the field against a team from another school, all his skills seemed to decline.
And this is because the coach pressed Yuichiro with their school motto “One for all and all for one” and therefore Yuichiro, instead of shining himself, adjusted to his teammates. And since these teammates are no better than small children in football, of course they could only lose.
The finals of the qualifiers in Saitama Prefecture.
When the counter was 0 - 1 not in favor of Yuichiro's team, and only a few minutes remained on the clock, Yuichiro bypassed each defense and, already standing in front of the goal, was ready to score a goal, when he heard the coach's voice.
He shouted at him and asked what he was doing. Yuichiro was ready to obey the coach and give a pass to his teammate who had already run up and was ready to receive his pass, when a picture of a familiar back appeared before his eyes.
Familiar because it was exactly the same as his. But he remembered that it was not his back. Yoichi turned to him and said, “You have me. No one else is needed. I pass to you and you score, that's all. Therefore, when you are standing in front of a goal, just score and don’t think about anything.”
Remembering his brother’s words, Yuichiro decided to go against the coach’s words. But it seemed like the goddess of fate was not on his side at that moment. While he was thinking for a few seconds what to do, the player from the opposite team managed to run up, so when Yuichiro kicked the ball, it did not fly into the net but hit the crossbar.
Seeing that he didn't make it, Yuichiro was halfway thinking of giving up but once again his brother's silhouette emerged before his eyes. Yuichiro remembered every smile that his brother gave him when he made a goal. Newfound determination found itself in Yuichiro's chest, instead of dropping on his knees and crying Yuichiro turned his body to the direction where the ball flew and began running for the ball.
Yuichiro was following with his eyes the flying ball while running but the next sight made him falter. The ball luckily fell right in front of Kira Ryosuke.
Kira didn't waste time and started to run to the goal. Yuichiro was still surprised by the sheer luck, but his body automatically started to ran after Kira. As expected from the Japan's treasure, he easily made a short work of their team's defense and scored the final goal of the match. The score changed to 0 - 2 and after this the bell rang signaling the end of the match.
The stadium erupted in cheers for the winning team.
Soon people with cameras and microphones surrounded Kira and he answered their questions with a smile while in the background his fan girls were screaming his name.
While Kira was saying with a smile that he wouldn't make it without his team Yuichiro had no time to smile. He disobeyed the coach and failed to score and now all the blame for the loss will fall on him. In the past he wouldn't think twice about what others about him but now Yuichiro felt a shiver run through his entire body, his head kept projecting the faces of his coach and teammates.
You could say that Yuichiro’s instinct of self-preservation kicked in and when the coach entered the field and his teammates began to gather around him, Yuichiro, having caught his breath, quickly ran to his things. He quickly picked them up and ran to the exit of stadium.
He tried to escape as unnoticed as possible and he succeeded because during his escape the coach was giving a speech, about their team being the best in his eyes, to his team while trying to hold back his own tears. But Yuichiro knew that if he approached them from the start then soon the crying faces would turn into faces filled with anger. And perhaps soon fists would fly.
After finishing with changing back to his school uniform, Yuichiro left the building and near the entrance picked up his bike. After he walked 10 meters from the stadium Yuichiro wrapped himself tighter in his light green scarf.
Wearing this scarf and burrowing his face in it always made him at peace. By doing this, the happy memories would resurface in his head.
For others this scarf was an element with which one can determine which of the twins is standing in front of them. Yuichiro had light green scarf while Yoichi had light blue one.
Yuichiro heard from their parents that in their childhood the only difference between him and his older brother was the look in their eyes. As parents described it: Yuichiro had eyes similar to the ocean and the sparkle in the eyes reminiscent of how the sun reflects from the waves of this ocean. Yoichi’s eyes also looked like the ocean, only there was no light in them and therefore it seemed that his eyes showed the deepest places of the ocean.
And like that, the relatives of the brothers' labeled them: 'The first one with the eyes of ocean's surface and the second one with the eyes of ocean's bottom'. Of course none of them meant any insults behind this label. By 'naming' the twins like this they wanted to show their appreciation to the boys' eyes.
Even though they were not the first blue-eyes children, none of the relatives had this intense and saturated color. So to say, the family felt proud when the strangers would notice and compliment Yuichiro's and Yoichi's eyes. To add, by looks Yuichiro's eyes were more popular then Yoichi's.
When Yuichiro first time heard the description, the two boys were supposed to start their first year in middle school, he joked how his dad should've become a writer with how poetic it was.
Iyo and Issei laughed but then Iyo said "Well, that was in the past. Now it's impossible to guess who is who just by appearance". Yuichiro perked on his mother's remark so he asked what does she mean by that.
"Oh, I mean now Yo-chan's eyes filled with the same light as yours, Yuu-chan" The son was surprised. In reality Yuichiro didn't notice the difference in his eyes and Yoichi's neither now and neither in childhood even when he everyday while washing his teeth saw his reflection in the mirror and almost all day was seeing his older brother.
At that time Yuichiro decided for fun to ask if one of the parents remembered when that "light" firstly appeared. And the information shocked him. His parents said that they first noticed it when he and Yoichi started to play in football club in elementary school.
That time Yuichiro foolishly thought that football brought sparkle in Yoichi's eyes. After this realization more like a dream immeasurable joy filled Yuichiro. He was happy that his brother also fell in love with football like him. And then the dreamy boy thought that he and his brother would be able to play together even more matches in high school.
We won't say that the new "light" in Yoichi's eyes was not real, but a mask that Yoichi created so that rumors that the joyful Yuichiro has a twin brother with “dead” eyes don't start to appear.
'Playing together' the sentence appeared in Yuichiro's head. One phase alone was able to bring up the sour memory.
It was when both boys were going home from their very first practice in football club in elementary school. Then Yoichi, wearing light blue scarf, said that he was satisfied with his position on the field.But for some reason, his brother’s words made him feel uncomfortable. He didn’t understand what else he was feeling and therefore was afraid to say anything in response to his brother, fearing that he would get angry.
So that's way he kept silence in the end.
After the memory stopped playing in his head Yuichiro stopped on his track. He walked half of the way while flying in his thoughts. Yuichiro could hear at least three children's voices in front of him.
Yuichiro stood with his head down, holding handlebars of his bike to the right side of his body.
He thought about it many times. If only that time he had said something...anything...Then...Would Yoichi still play football with him?
Yuichiro remembers how in middle school he would practice with his teammates and Yoichi would sit on the bench and watch them. During practices Yuichiro's eyes would sometimes drift to the bench and almost as soon as his and Yoichi's eyes would meet the older one from the twins would give the younger a 'look' and Yuichiro would go back paying attention to the coach and his instructions.
When the coach would ask to divide in pairs Yuichiro didn't care with who he'll be. Because with whoever it'll be the only thought that would circulate in Yuichiro's head would be that how he wished that it would be Yoichi and not this person.
By the end of middle school when Yuichiro heard how their parents were talking with their grandmother and sharing their worry about Yoichi and how he lost interest in football, but was still helping Yuichiro train. Yuichiro felt like his world crumbled. He felt disgusted. But not by someone else but by himself. He thought how terrible he was and how he forced his brother to play football even when he lost interest in it. But maybe the most hurtful thing was: 'When exactly he lost interest?'
'Is it after we left football club in elementary school?' 'If yes then isn't it my fault!?' 'Am I the reason why Nii-chan doesn't like football anymore..?' 'Did I crush his dream unknowingly?'
After this Yuichiro tried to persuade Yoichi to try other hobbies, while hoping that they'll sparkle the interest in Yoichi's heart.
And he finally did. At the beginning of the high school Yoichi signed up for the debate club. Yuichiro thinks that it is a perfect club for him. Yoichi consumes information very fast and and can quickly come up with ideas on the go. And probably most importantly, Yoichi has such an aura around himself that makes people back out of having arguments with him. Of course Yoichi never used it on him but maybe should have when he destroyed his dream of playing footba—.
After standing for who knows how long, Yuichiro got on his bike and resumed to riding home.
He imagined how embarrassed he would be to tell Yoichi that he had lost again. And even more so, Yuichiro hoped that his brother would not want to watch the recording of this match. Not only did he not play to his full potential because of his teammates and the coach, but he also lost to Kira.
He still remembers when he walked up to his brother to talk about Japan's treasure. That time Yoichi asked to watch one of his games and halfway into it Yoichi paused the video and said "Yuichiro, don't ever become like him if you still want to became number 1 striker". Yuichiro would have thought that Yoichi was being mean to other bad players as always if he didn't see the seriousness in his eyes.
"Don't worry, Yo-chan, I won't. I'll even beat him if we'll have a chance to play against each other".
While Yuichiro was crossing the road, he still couldn’t get the final goal out of his head.
How lucky for Kira was that the ball fell right in front of him. But he remembered what Yoichi once said. "The football is like a puzzle so of courses there can be a puzzle piece labeled 'luck'".
At that time Yuichiro didn't understand at all what Yoichi meant and the same can be said even now. 'Is luck somethings like a skill? Then how do I turn it on?' after spending a lot of time pondering, Yuichiro gave up and to this day never thought about it again. Now the thought came into Yuichiro’s head: “Looks like i still can't turn on this 'skill'” and with this thought he heard the sound of a car.
The sound of the car was close. Too close.
Screams. Sirens. Cars. Tears.
When he tried to open his eyes his vision was blurry and maybe even doubled, he couldn't tell because all he saw was white.
Yuichiro woke up in a white room with a white ceiling, soon, with more cleared consciousness, he started to hear the beeping of some devices nearby.
He already understood everything that happened. Several times he regained consciousness and lost consciousness just as quickly, but still, by the loud sounds and the last moment that he remembered clearly, he was able to determine what had happened.
By looking around he was able to take in a lot of information.
Now Yuichiro can be 100% sure that he's in the hospital ward and what he wished thought was a dream actually is a reality. The room had the lights on but it was probably muffled as some corners of the room were filled with shadows.
The room is actually not very big so it's probably a ward for a single patient.
After being done with looking around Yuichiro turned his head towards the window and there he saw himself. Or rather his brother. He sat by his bed and was looking at his feet and there was clear sadness in his eyes.
Yuichiro spent a few seconds just looking at the familiar eyes. Finally, Yoichi turned his attention to the already awakened Yuichiro.
Yoichi pulled himself together and asked, “Do you understand what happened to you?” To his brother’s question, Yuichiro calmly answered “Yes.”
After his brother's answer the older one didn't continue to speak immediately. Yoichi thought a little about his words, which should he use and which not, and said, “The doctor...said that during the accident, your lower part body was very badly damaged...and said it would take at least a year for treatment...”
At first, Yoichi didn't dare look at his brother's face after his words. He was afraid to see what he knows and understands would be there. But after some minutes of silence from the both sides, he mustered up the courage to look at his brother’s face.
His mask of composure cracked and then shattered. It seemed as if a thousand knives had stabbed into him and he was bleeding on the floor and screaming in pain. In the eyes opposite there was such sadness and pain that they almost looked like Yoichi’s real eyes.
After continuing to look into those blue eyes, now very similar to his, Yoichi also noticed another emotion in them. Before he could ask why it was there, Yuichiro had already started to speaking, “As I thought... luck was definitely not on my side that day...”
Yoichi couldn't listen to his voice, couldn't look at him. Therefore, he quickly lowered his head and clutched his pants on his legs with his hands.
“Why do you look like it’s all over?” Yoichi asked with a slightly angred voice.
At his older brother's words, Yuichiro returned his attention from his legs to his brother.
“The doctor said that you need a year and you will be able to walk and play football again.”
Yoichi slowly raised his head and looked into his brother's eyes again.
“Then why are you already giving up on your dream?”
Yuichiro's eyes widened at the tone of his brother's voice. Now. Only now could he get a better look at his older brother. His eyes were red, probably from tears. The clothes seemed to have been put on hastily and Yoichi’s simple appearance was as if he was doing something and then suddenly left whatever he was doing and started to change clothes to go somewhere.
Oh. Yuichiro knows why his brother looks like this.
There was a pause in the single ward. The only sound that could be picked up was the sound of the cars behind the window.
Soon a gentle and familiar smile appeared on Yuichiro's face and his usual light came back and shone brightly in his eyes.
"Yes, you are right. I don’t think Noel Noah would give up his dream so quickly. That’s why I won’t too”
A small joy shone in the eyes opposite him from his words. The tense shoulders became more relaxed and the hands that were squeezing the the fabric of the pants, so strong that wrinkles appeared, let go of it.
“But... Nii-chan, you said that for me to become a number one I need to get to the nationals at least once in order for foreign clubs to notice me. But I'm already in my second year of high school. And for the third year I will be being treated in the hospital, and then perhaps for another year I will need to learn and practice to play football again from the scratch.”
Yoichi reacted to Yuichiro’s words as if he had been waiting for this.
Yoichi straightened up and began to say, “Well, actually, not quite from the scratch. You still have the memories and also muscle memory. And secondly. It’s true that you should have made it to nationals at least once because now it will be difficult to get into a good team and take the position of the main striker.”
After his brother’s words, Yuichiro’s face was noticeably filled with guilt for not being able to get to the nationals even once. "But! It doesn't matter anymore because we have this.” In Yoichi's hand was a blue envelope. There was no address from where or who it was from or even a signature on it.
Without even asking what it was, Yuichiro simply nodded, indicating that he was ready to listen. At this Yoichi a small smiled appeared on his face and he continued.
Yoichi moved his fingers to open the envelope and took out a piece of paper from it. “The letter came from the Japan Football Union. And it says: “Isagi Yuichiro, you have been selected for a special player training program”, All other words have minor value.” Yuichiro was shocked by what he heard. He? It was he, Isagi Yuichiro, who was chosen for this project!?! And the project that was directed by JFU!?!
Yuichiro didn't have time to lose himself in his thoughts because Yoichi continued. “To add a little more info from what is written below, you can find out that if you agree, you need to come to the building of the union for a briefing of the project itself. Further, if you are interested, then be prepared because during the project you will live with other participants in the building, which was specifically builded for this project, you will not have the right to use the telephone and all other devices.
In short, they force you to completely focus on football and nothing else.” There was a moment of silence after Yoichi's words.
After this moment Yoichi continued.
“That’s all that was in the letter, and in plain sight for everyone who read it. Now I will tell you my theories and the reason why I think this project is the key for you to become the number one striker.” The last part piqued Yuichiro’s interest. How can Yuichiro himself not know how good Yoichi is at analysis?
"Let's start with this. Is there a reason for this project to appear right now?
Yes there is. Soon there will be U-20. And perhaps with the help of this project they want to increase their chance of winning.
If so, there's another question. What does a team needs to win a match?” This time Yoichi was waiting for Yuichiro to answer the last question.
“A good striker... no... a selfish striker who is only interested in scoring goals. And with his goals the team'll win” Yuichiro said with more confidence at the end.
“Well done, 10 points. And look how everything turned out now. You played as the main striker on the team and you were invited.”
Now the silence did not have time to last long when “This is a program to create the best striker...” Yuichiro said with delight.
At first, he was not very interested in the program. Rather, he was simply surprised that he was invited, but now Yuichiro felt with his whole body how he wanted to get there.
“Another 10 points. But what is important for us is not so much that there is an opportunity to get into the U-20 team, but the attention that this project will turn around itself” immediately after the words of his older brother, Yuichiro understood what he meant by it.
Well, and what if he'll make it to the team. So, what's next? There will still be 10 mid-level players. They, Yuichiro and Yoichi, were interested in how much noise this project could make and how much people will turn their attention to it. ‘In the Japan's U-20 team, the main striker is a player who has gone through a program to create the best striker’ . This will definitely attract the attention of other clubs and they will become interested in this very player.
“We can also add that according to this theory, strikers under the age of 18 will probably be selected from all over Japan. And since the title of best striker can be held by one person only...” “Then the program will be in the form of a competition...” Yuichiro continued.
Yoichi smiled, pleased with his little brother's answer and leaned back in his chair.
Yuichiro's hands were shaking with excitement. Finally, A program that is ideal for him. There will be no teammates, coaches with their phrases “One for all”...
“This program is perfect. Only... Isagi Yuichiro cannot participate in it,” Yuichiro said with a little sadness in his voice.
Yes, the program was the very pod that Yuichiro had, no, needed, to climb to get closer to his dream. But unfortunately the timing of the start of the project and this situation in which Yuichiro's right now is very bad and unlucky.
“Why can't he?”
After Yoichi's words, Yuichiro looked at him like he was an idiot. And then he threw his arms around, showing around, thereby answering the question.
Yuichiro began to worry that his brother, from crying too much, lost several IQ points with tears, but soon Yoichi explained everything.
“Oh, sorry, sorry, I should have rephrased it differently. How will they know that it is Isagi Yuichiro who is participating?”
For the second time after waking up, Yuichiro's eyes widened in surprise from understanding. Noticing his brother's face, Yoichi continued.
"Listen…"
Only a few days had passed since receiving the invitation and a boy with dark blue hair and a light blue scarf was already standing in front of the JFU’s building.
The boy felt a presence of someone walking towards him so the indifference in his eyes he quickly disguised with the already familiar sparkle, which resembled light that was distorted by the waves of the sea.
"Oh, Isagi-kun? Is it you, Isagi Yuichiro from Ichinan?" The familiar boy with light blond hair came up to the dark haired one and asked.
The dark haired boy showed that he heard the question and turned his head towards the newcomer. “Yes, it’s me” Isagi answered calmly.