"You are leaving?" Sumire reminded Nevan of his friend, Keisuke. This place had turned into a quiet shrine after he and Dax had left for Iceland. Apparentally, they weren't allowed to contact their families to be able to focus better. That was why, even after almost two days, they had heard nothing of Nevan's two closest friends.
Nevan was just packing his things now. Honestly, he had never done it on his own. It had always been Zina who packed his things whenever he would go on a vacation. "You are so unorganized." Sumire's voice sounded again, this time reminding him of his own mother.
"Let me do it." His T-shirt was snatched away from him as he had already struggled for almost two minutes to fold it in a proper way. "Look at how I do it, okay?" Sumire went through the steps of folding a shirt which Nevan followed with another shirt of his. "You are such a quick learner, aren't you?"
"Maybe." He muttered. Now, the older woman had taken the lead and started to pack his things. He should be the one doing it but mothers were never the ones to hold back.
It was Saturday which meant Sumire and Hiroshi were at home today. Nevan had thought about the proposal Mr. Sinclair had made. And that was his only option. He had five years to complete the main task but he wanted to achieve this goal before the deadline was even close.
On the other hand, he knew that a proper training as well as guidance were essential to get what he wanted. This was what he lacked, the reason why he had been unable to make it to where Keisuke and Dax were now. From Keisuke, he had found out how Dax had been training hard for a long time too. With his brother who was a coach at a local club.
Nevan had never thought, he would be dreaming of being a professional soccer player, let alone training to achieve it. "Mrs. Sato?" He spoke up then. "Thank you for letting me stay here."
Sumire stopped and turned to look at Nevan. She had her eyebrows raised and looked at the young man to see whether he was joking or not. He wasn't. "Come on－"
"No, let me speak." Nevan interrupted her. "You made me feel at home despite being kicked out of my own. It was all thanks to you that I could live for the past two and a half weeks without any stress about anything. You made me realize, even those who aren't blood-related can be called a family."
Sumire was speechless. She hadn't expected these words for Nevan. He wasn't good at expressing these feelings and yet in this moment, the right words seemed to flow out of his mouth without even a single though of his being wasted on it.
"Now, you are making me feel like a stranger to you. No 'thank you' in family and friendship, Nevan."
He couldn't help but chuckle. Sumire closed the zip and patted the suitcase's hardshell. "You will be having lunch before you leave, am I right?"
That was exactly the case. He had lunch with the Sato Family one last time. Their conversation was filled with a sense of nostalgia and gratitude. He made sure to tell how good he had been treated. How he had been treatdd like family and how he wished to pay them back someday.
After that, he was captured in a group hug. Not only was Sumire hugging him like he had expected but Hiroshi joined in too. His own father had hugged him only a few times in his entire life and it had all been when he was an infant or toddler. He didn't even remember the warmth of Lucien's embrace.
There was a familarity between Sato Family's members which his own family lacked. And oddly enough, Nevan thought this was pitiful. "I will visit you again. Once I am done with what I will be doing."
"You don't plan on telling us now, do you?" Hiroshi looked at Nevan as they broke away from the hug.
His eyes turned away as he nodded. "I am not sure, what I am doing myself. So, I will surprise you once I am at the end of the process."
"Wise choice." He muttered before looking at how Nevan's hand rested at the handle of his suitcase. "Where will you be staying at?"
Nevan paused. He opened his mouth but he didn't know, what he was supposed to reply. "No, don't speak." Keisuke's father spoke before Nevan had thought about it. He was patted at his shoulder just like his friend would do. "Good luck with your plans, Nevan."
After a few moments, he was walking down the streets with his suitcase. The one thing that had been by his side since the beginning of this. Yesterday, Mr. Sinclair had told him where to meet so that they could get him to the Golden Hive base.
It was hard to oversee the only shiny car in this middle-class neighborhood. He approached it and looked at the driver's seat. The window was rolled down.
"What are you waiting for? Get in." Eiran's head cocked to the side, gesturing him to put his suitcase in the trunk of the car. He did exactly that before getting on the passenger seat.
Mr. Sinclair immediately started driving, not letting Nevan get comfortable or admire his car. "Are we late?" His eyebrows furrowed as he noticed how he was driving.
"No. But you don't know how many hours it took me last night to call that guy and convince him to make an expection for you." He spoke. "He have to be there at 3 p.m. sharp." He glanced at Nevan. "How are you feeling? Nervous?"
Nevan smiled slightly and nodded. "Who wouldn't be? And you did all that effort for me? Thank you so much, Mr. Sinclair."
"Eiran." He spoke, abruptly. "You can call me Eiran. It is fine." He established. "We are on buddy-buddy level, even if it is hard to believe, alright?"
That was unbelievable. The legend himself was saying this. It was a privilege. His smile grew wider and he nodded once again. "Alright, －Eiran." He spoke his name after a bit of hesitancy.
"What did we say about hesitating?" There was a playfulness to his tone which indicated he wasn't being serious. He chuckled slightly and shook his head.
For a moment, only the sound of the radio could be heard. Nevan kept glancing over at Eiran from time to time. He wanted to ask something. After a few moments had passed, he finally spoke up. "Golden Hive." He spoke. "What is it about, anyways?"
A hum came from Eiran as he heard these words. "Honestly? I have no idea what they do there. So, I will try to explain, whatever I know."
"Wait, wait, wait." Nevan stopped the man. He tooked at the young man with his eyebrows raised. "You signed me up for something, you don't know about?"
A nervous giggle sounded through the car. Then he tried to justify himself. "It is the best option, though. All I know is that this is a secret project from the Sports Jury of Japan, who are responsible for all the major sports that are played in ths country."
"I see. And Golden Hive is for soccer?" He asked, leaning back into the seat.
"Yes, exactly. The one who is leading the project is an acquaintance of mine." Eiran revealed. "What he does to convince the Jury about you, is none of my concern. He is doing this on his own risk. Thank him."
Nevan made a mental note to do exactly that. "He seems like a nice person."
Immediately after the words had sounded, Eiran laughed loudly. He continued driving but his lips showed a big grin and his eyes glimmered with amusement. "No. You are his test bunny."
He had no idea what to say about this. They had left behind the city. "Yeah? How so?"
"You will find out, Nevan. Like I said, I have no idea. Especially not about what is going on in that man's mind." His voice sounded serious and defeated.
"Where is the base? And what kind of people visit that place?" He asked, anyways. Even a small hint was enough for him. He needed to be prepared for his first encounter with those people. Even if just a little.
"It is in the middle of nowhere." He spoke. "That place is for those who have raw talent and skills but no means to enhance them. Or they are too egoistic to do that. You lack experience. That place will be hell for you." Hell for him? Was it that bad? Eiran continued then. "Those players have discipline, yes. And they are hard-working. But it all depends on how you adapt."
"I guess, you are right. I need to make the best of it, right? I would choose a hidden project rather than playing mindlessly in a club."
They had left the city behind. Tokyo's skyscrapers got smaller and smaller in the rare view mirror. The closer they got, the more his nervosity grew. The fact that even Eiran didn't know much, made him feel uneasy. It bothered him more than he wanted to admit.