When Asa Haruna wakes up with magic woven into his throat one day - magic that allows him to grip the hearts of others and command their minds, tell them what to do and have them unquestioningly obey - he quickly realises he's in trouble.
Yoru Ohar...
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A/N:
This story has two timelines, so look out for the "then" and "now" in the chapter titles :)
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"Here! Pass it here!" I shriek, bounding alongside Akio and frantically waving my arms in the air so that he will see I'm open. I feel flushed from the sun, the adrenaline pumping hard in my veins, pushing a helpless smile to my face as I run and swerve, keeping one hand outstretched to prevent my opponents from getting ahead of me. "Akio! I'm op—" Abruptly, I trip and fall face-first into the ground. The elation in my chest is momentarily silenced as a collective groan arises from all around, and Sora comes to a stop at my side, hauling me back up to my feet.
Without bothering to dust myself off, I set off after Akio again, determined not to let this chance pass me by.
"Asa! He's not gonna pass to you man; he's got it. Let him score!" Sora yells, but I ignore him. If I ever hope to land a permanent spot on the team, I need to do better! I'm sure Coach is watching right now. What will he think if I let one little setback keep me from going after the ball? The fire in my heart burns brighter, but when Akio gets closer to the goalpost, I fall short, watching in amazement as he goes barreling towards the goal, sending the ball over the goalkeeper's shoulder with a hard and decisive kick.
"Whoa," I whisper, my eyes growing wide, then quickly clap both hands to my cheeks to get myself to snap out of it. "Focus, focus," I tell myself as I set off running again. Coach says that I'm distracted easily, and I've only just started to understand what he means. When he tells us to keep our heads in the game, he basically means that we're supposed to be thinking about how we can help the team win instead of about how cool we'd look if we scored with a spinning kick or wonder if the girls are watching, or think that damn, Akio looks really badass, but ugh, he's gonna steal my thunder again.
"What thunder?" Sora mutters from my left when I voice this, but quickly laughs and apologises when he sees how peeved I look. "Enough about Akio now. Focus on the game." My face heats a little. "I know," I grumble, then lock my gaze on the ball and let myself be swept up in the game again, doing my best to follow everything that's happening without letting my brain wander until Coach blows on his whistle. Then, turning abruptly, I jog up to Akio, a wedge of dissatisfaction in my chest.
"Hey! Why didn't you pass to me?"
Akio moves his water bottle away from his lips and stares at me.
"Did you not notice I was there? Should I have—"
"I had it. I didn't feel the need to pass to you."
"B-But..." How am I supposed to show Coach how good I am if these guys won't even pass the ball to me? When I try to express this, Akio rubs at the back of his neck, looking reluctant. "Asa, you...I'm not sure how to say this, but you tend to...get excited. And it's...it's important to stay grounded, during the match, and I don't know if I can trust you to do that."
