Red Diamonds

Training Camp

"TIME TO GET UP!" Badstuber's shouts rang throughout the hallway. Kyo groaned and tossed in his bed. "GET UP!" he shouted again. Then the light from the hallway flooded the room and Kyo tried to cover his face with his covers, but that didn't last as he felt his covers being torn off the bed. "Get up, Yagami," said Badstuber. "I know you speak English, you can't fool me."

Kyo heard groaning in the other bed. "Did you have to?" said the person in the other bed.

"You too Tendulkar, you're playing for a real team now, no complaints!" said Badstuber.

"I was playing for a real team," Tendulkar muttered. Kyo groaned and sat up, still drowsy and barely awake.

"Breakfast in the hotel dining room in 30 minutes," said Badstuber. "Take your showers and get to the dining room!" he turned the light on and shut the door.

"Do you want to?" said Tendulkar.

"Very well," said Kyo. "You can watch TV if you need to."

"McCarthy! Steiger! Get up!" Budstuber said when he burst into Scott and Tobias's room.

"Five more minutsh coach," Scott groaned.

"JETZT!" he shouted, right in Scott's ear. Scott tumbled out of bed, wearing his New Trier high school soccer shirt and a pair of gym shorts.

"Holy shit, you didn't have to—"

"What did you say?" Badtsuber growled.

"JE SUIS DESOLE, MONSIEUR!" he shouted.

"Steiger!" he turned to his fellow German, "Aus dem Bett mit dir! Jetzt!"

"JAWHOL!" Steiger shouted. Scott snickered at Steiger.

"Breakfast is in 30 minutes," said Badstuber. "Take your showers! Now!"

"YESSIR!" Scott shouted like he was in the army. He wasn't in the army, but he felt like he was. "I think I'll take mine first," he said when Badstuber left. "Just glad we have enough running hot water in this hotel."

At the same time, Steiger opened up the curtains to the seaside view from the Iwasaki Hotel in Ibusuki, Kagoshima. He stepped out onto the balcony while Scott went in the bathroom to take his shower. It was a balmy February morning, what with Ibusuki being right on one of the southern tips of Kyushu. "HEY! WHERE THE FUCK IS MY SHAMPOO!?" Scott shouted, interrupting Steiger's moment.

After the shower debacle, Scott and Steiger were down in the hotel's main dining room with 5 minutes to spare, although Steiger had to hurry and get dressed when he was done. Some of the other players were also in the dining room, waiting for Badstuber to show up so they could get their breakfast. Scott looked out at Kinko Bay, reminded of a time he spent with his dad in Wisconsin.

"Oi, McCarthy," Chapman said, interrupting his thoughts. "Let's get some food."

"... You know what the best part about the shinkansen is?" Scott said when he, Chapman, Steiger and Tendulkar were having breakfast. "Elbow room!"

"If only we had more elbow room on the Tube," said Chapman. "Most of the time I'm riding it, I'm pressed up against some sweaty old pub owner who'd just gone to the Chelsea match."

"Yeah, and just like the Red Line, too!" said Scott. "I was on the Tokyo subway, the first day of practice, and it's like a pack of sardines in there, I got in last, and this guy with gloves on, steps up and starts shoving me in, I'm thinking, 'Take it easy, man!' But he's pushing me in, and I'm almost feeling violated, but then the doors close, right on me, and I can barely breathe! That was borderline traumatic!"