The excitement was palpable. Keisuke had often been on bootcamps but none was like this. SPC was a long-term project. The estimated length was about a year. Normal bootcamps went for a few weeks. One special thing was that this one was abroad. They would be staying in Iceland.
Dax had quitted his job and his apartment. Now he was couchcrashing at Keisuke's too. More like, Nevan and Dax were sharing the room that had belonged to Keisuke's sister. Sato residence had become quite crowded these days.
The days were filled with shopping sprees and playful comments. And Nevan truly fevered with them. It was absolutely amazing that they had made it. It was Keisuke's dream and now Nevan and Dax shared it.
After the selection they had decided to take a break as they had done more than enough in the past two weeks. It was a day before Dax and Keisuke would depart. They were all sitting in the living room, watching a series on the TV while being in comfortable position on the couch.
Suddenly Keisuke paused the video, gaining both of his friends' attention. "Maybe, we should spend this day in a better way than binge-watch a random series." He suggested.
Dax sighed and finally sat upright. "You serious? We probably won't even have a TV there to binge-watch anything!"
"Binge-watching isn't good for health." Nevan muttered and stretched. He was tired and had been lazing around just like his friends. Not that the system let him do even that properly. Daily tasks were a menace.
That was how they all ended up standing up and walking out of the residence with no goal on their mind. Nevan had a similar life before he had been kicked out from his home. He would be lying if he said he didn't miss his old life.
A life where he had everything at his disposal. His whole life had been easy and he had taken it all for granted. Staying at a middle-class family's residence had been a good lesson for him. Living at Dax's place for more than an hour even more.
"I wish, there was some water here. Like a canal or a river. Anything that cools off. Even a fountain like the one at Athlete Zone's compound." Keisuke complained with a pained expression.
Nevan looked at his friend with an annoyed expression. Keisuke noticed it, let his eyes drift to his friend and asked in an irritated tone. "What?"
Dax finally looked at his friends. He had been soaked into his own little world. He tilted his head slightly. "What, what?" He asked.
Nevan let out another display of annoyance, his eyebrow-twitching. "You guys are going to get to Iceland in like a day. So, stop complaining."
They settled down in a park. It wasn't the prominent park which tourists visited but one that was popular among the locals since it was clean and quiet. "Jealous, aren't you?"
He scoffed and shrugged. "So? Can you blame me?"
Keisuke smiled and shook his head. "No. Anyone would kill to be in our position. Forty seats and we were chosen."
He rolled his eyes. Of course. Keisuke and Dax had been bragging about this since day one. "Yeah, yeah. I am not going to slack off here, you know." He muttered.
"Of course, you aren't going to. We know you, Nevan." Dax was the one who spoke out these words in a serious tone. "What are you planning to do?"
He hadn't spoken about it. He had to take an initiative but he had no option at this moment. He was careful with what he wanted to say. "First, I have to find a place to stay. I can't stay at Keisuke's place forever. Then, I will have to think about something."
"What?" Keisuke spitted out these words. "No, no. You can stay at my place. It is not a big problem. My parents don't mind that either!"
Nevan simply shook his head. His decision was firm. It was not good if he burdened anyone any further.
"I can understand him." Dax spoke before Keisuke could protest more. "Let him do whatever he wants, Kei."
Their crimson-haired friend looked anything but happy. He looked like a puppy who had been abandoned by his owner. "Fine."
"And you got no plans at the moment? Didn't even think about anything?" Dax looked at Nevan with a surprised expression. It was as if he couldn't believe that his friend had no plans.
Nevan denied. He leaned back and spoke up. "I did inform myself. Maybe, I will join a club like Kei did or join a bootcamp. But it is really just a floating idea and it's hard to say whether I will put this thought into action or not."
As the day progressed, they simply fooled around as they wanted to enjoy their last hours together. The airport was not too far away and that was also the meeting point for all of the qualified ones.
He couldn't sleep either. The mood was too heightened to just sleep and let the hours pass. Just like the days before, Keisuke's parents tended to all the wishes. It had taken hours till they had managed to pack every thing that had been bought in the past days.
Nevan had helped too. He had decided to do his own packing later since he wanted this moment to be his friends' through and through.
The flight was in three hours. That was barely enough time for the security and all the procedure. Keisuke was as loud as ever, Dax matching his energy for the first time. Surprisingly, the friends had nothing to talk about now. The car ride was rather silent.
"Kids, you got nothing to say now?" It was Keisuke's father who broke the silence. He was also the one driving.
His mother's voice sounded. She laughed a little before playfully punching her husband's shoulder. "Come on. They talked so much these days, it is no surprise they are finally at a loss of words."
"Mom! Dad!" Keisuke exclaimed in a voice that held a certain edge, making it clear, he was annoyed. Both adults just chuckled. The car had been parked and all of them got out.
The luggage was taken out. Nevan helped Hiroshi. It had become a habit to help the Sato Family around. As if he wanted to show his gratitude. For an unknown reason, he found himself enjoying the feeling he got when he was able to do things for himself.
"Let's go. I hope, we are not late." Hiroshi spoke to Nevan. They were not late. They had three hours. He was instructed to take one of the suitcases and followed the man inside the building. The instruction had been to only take one suitcase with themselves. Otherwise, Nevan would be rolling three suitcases, or even more.
The small group could hardly be overlooked by anyone. The SPC candidates had found each other somewhere at the entrance where they would have to tell their name and confirm their identity by showing an ID card. This was also the time to say goodbye for Keisuke and his family as well as Nevan.
"Well, see you in six months?" Dax spoke to Nevan as Keisuke was more engrossed with being fussed over by his own mother.
Nevan smiled slightly and nodded. "Six month, it is." He grinned. "Good luck, man. Enjoy this journey. We will see each other again."
"For sure. This isn't a goodbye forever." He patted Nevan's shoulder.
Keisuke finally joined them too. He was more open. He hugged Nevan in a friendly manner and grinned brightly. "See ya, bro. Let's play against each other once we are back, yeah?"
He nodded eagerly in response. "Let's do exactly that."
They made sure to include in almost every sentence that this was not a goodbye forever. Nevan played with the thought of telling about Eiran Sinclair. He hadn't even uttered a word about the legend yet. Just when he opened his mouth to say something, he was interrupted.
"Please. If I can have your attention? It is time for us to leave." A woman spoke.
Dax and Keisuke exchanged a glance. "Well, time to go."
They started to distance themselves and walk towards the group. Keisuke's mother shouted a few things to her son before they joined the crowd.
"Let's chat, if you have your phones!" Nevan shouted too. He only got a laugh from Keisuke in response. That was it.
After lingering there for a few moments, they finally decided to turn around and leave. They had nothing to do here anymore, after all.
There he saw someone. He grinned. It was hard to oversee this man in particular. Ryota.