Chapter Text
LUNAR^S: Day 0
Waking up with a headache was, for once in her life, the least of Zhen's worries when she woke up in a completely new environment. The fact that this was the second time in the span of a few days that she's been spontaneously teleported to an unknown location only added to her frustration.
"... astronomers are doing their best to figure out the sudden disappearance of the moon and stars. They report that this night was supposed to be a full moon, therefore the lack of a visible moon was…"
The distant fuzz of the radio circled Zhen's mind as she sat up from the cold floor, her eyes fluttering back and forth as they adjusted to her surroundings. She interpreted her location as a lounge area: it was a spacious room, with one of the walls being a full length window; a large TV was mantled on another wall; navy sofas lined the remaining walls; and a dark wooden coffee table stood in the centre, with the radio and a small red envelope resting on it. Zhen remained seated on the floor as she realised she wasn't the only one in the room.
A girl was lying next to Zhen, a girl who looked a little younger than her. She had light purple hair tied up into two plaits clipped to her head with black bows, and bangs that were dishevelled from sleep (reminding Zhen to fix her own bangs). The girl wore a white blouse and dark purple skirt, and Zhen couldn't help but smile at how cute the girl was, even when asleep.
"... and lastly, it has been advised that everyone remains in safe shelter during the night, as experts continue to find out why there was no visible moon and if there will be…"
After a few silent seconds processing the radio's words, Zhen noticed a teenage boy who was sitting on one sofa, head resting on his hand in thought. He had luscious turquoise hair with lighter tips that reached his shoulders, and pale skin that glowed in the sunlight that filtered through the large windows. His nose was tinted red as if sick, and his furrowed eyebrows made it look like he was lost in thought, preoccupied by something bothersome. At least a good minute passed before something clicked in Zhen's mind.
"Hey, I've seen you before!" Zhen shot up, pointing at the boy. "Nagu … the school. You were with the football club!"
The boy looked up at Zhen after her sudden outburst. Although his eyes studied her intently, his face showed no emotion. When he spoke, his voice was dull. "Do I know you?"
Zhen could feel his monotone words like a slap in the face. She noticed just now how she might've come off as slightly creepy for recognising the boy without ever having talked to him. Not to mention she was sure he was in the grade below her.
"Oh! Haha… I've seen you out of the window with the football team, that’s all…" Zhen looked away, embarrassed. She tried to come up with any excuse possible to not make a bad first impression.
"Yeah, I'm the coach of the Nagumohara football team. Sasanami Unmei." He stood up and reached out his hand to Zhen, which she hesitantly took, trying to not make any more of a fool of herself. She was glad he didn't think of her as a creep, or a stalker even. Or maybe he did, and he just didn't voice it. Zhen shivered at the thought.
"I'm Zhen! Kai Zhen! I'm a-"
"Are you usually this loud?" A soft voice spoke out as Zhen and Unmei sharply turned to face the girl that had woken up amidst their greeting. The young girl glared at them, unimpressed.
Zhen muttered an ancient curse under her breath for continuously failing to make good first impressions. The last thing I need is to be outcast in this place as well. "Nice to meet you! My name-"
"Zhen." The girl interrupted her, which made Zhen cry internally. Despite how cute the girl looked, she gave the intimidating impression she was super serious. "And you're Unmei. I'm Li Youcheng. Now explain, what are we doing here? I don't know any of you."
Zhen bit her lower lip out of habit whenever there was an awkward silence. Glances were exchanged, yet no explanation could be told. It seemed that neither of them expected to be summoned to a foreign location that very day.
"There's an envelope. Maybe it could tell us something." Unmei said quietly, stepping towards the coffee table and picking up the red envelope whilst turning off the radio. Youcheng turned to look out of the window whilst Zhen sat down, watching Unmei rip open the red envelope to read the letter inside.
"The moon has abandoned us and has taken the stars with it. The future will become unexpected - tides will change, nature will go berserk, humanity will not be the same. We will be forced to abandon our old futures for the calamity yet to come - unless you will fight the stars to bring them back. Twenty have been chosen to form a team where, through football, you must bring-"
The silence overwhelmed the room again; Youcheng and Zhen patiently waited for Unmei to finish his sentence, yet no more words were spoken. When the two girls turned to look at him, he just shrugged. "That's it. It's all that I can read, the rest of the paper seems to have been burned off."
"Well that's reassuring." Youcheng muttered as she turned back around whilst Unmei placed the letter on the coffee table, which she picked up shortly after to read for herself.
"Football, hm?" Unmei walked towards the window, Zhen's eyes following him. Finally, she noticed the large football pitch right outside the building they were currently in, green grass glistening in the sun's radiant sunlight. A quick gasp escaped Zhen's mouth before she left the room, carelessly running through unknown hallways until she found a door leading outside.
Immediately a hot flush surrounded her as the summer sunshine engulfed the girl, but she paid no attention to the heat as she ran out onto the football pitch. The sky was a bright blue, with no clouds in sight; seagulls could be heard squawking in the distance, signalling that they were not too far from the sea. A million different emotions filled the girl's heart, a million different thoughts ran through her mind, but one thing was for certain - Zhen was going to play football.
Ummei had followed Zhen out onto the pitch, and not too long afterwards, Youcheng reluctantly joined them also. "We know for certain that we're making a football team." Unmei was the one to begin the discussion. "The letter said there will be 20 of us."
"There's only three of us." Youcheng commented matter-of-factly.
"Maybe more will join later." Zhen chimed in, trying to find reason as to where the remaining 17 were. "Maybe… there's a reason we're the first ones here?"
"What position do you two play?" Unmei asked curiously - an attempt to put the pieces together.
"I'm a manager." Youcheng replied, shrugging.
"Uh… I'm a forward." Zhen said unconvincingly, to which Youcheng and Unmei exchanged a secret glance of concern. "But I can play any position! I've got, uh, versatile skills!" Zhen's attempt at trying not to be awkward had seemingly failed again.
"A coach, a manager and a player…" Youcheng hummed, looking around. "I would assume this means you're chosen to be the Captain, Zhen."
Zhen fluttered her eyelashes, completely taken aback by Youcheng's sentence. The concept of being a captain, and the responsibility that came along with it, made Zhen want to hide in a hole from fear and never face humanity again. When it was obvious that Zhen was too dumbfounded to find the words to speak, Unmei added on to Youcheng's words. "Whoever has done this has definitely planned it with purpose. So it's not unreasonable to think that, yeah."
Zhen looked back and forth between Unmei and Youcheng, trying and failing to reply. Unfortunately for her, it only made the two lose faith in their supposed captain.
"O-Okay! I'll be the Captain then!" The girl eventually spoke up.
"I'm going to go back in the clubroom to explore. Maybe I'll find some more information." Youcheng announced as she turned around and began walking back inside. "It's too hot out here anyway."
"I'll come with you!" Zhen followed along, a little hope in her heart that she will be able to use this opportunity to get to know Youcheng more, to become friends with her despite Zhen's mildly awkward first impression. Without any comment, Unmei decided to also explore the clubroom, silently following the girls. He couldn't help but feel bothered with the fact that they knew so little information. They didn't even know where they were! His thoughts were restless, but he tried to shake it away, knowing he was going to have to prioritise getting used to this new place they were in.
A mysterious mission that had brought strangers together with the unity of football - that was the knowledge the trio had to settle with.