Guidelines ~ IE: GO One Shot



'''Guidelines – An Inazuma Eleven: GO One Shot '''

Just when you think you’ve settled, your life changes once again. In my life, I’ve moved several times, not being able to stay in the same spot for more than two years at a time. You get settled in a school and all, make new friends, and then you move away from them. I tried to keep contact with my new friends. I really tried, but it was almost impossible. I traded phone numbers, email addresses, home addresses to send them actual mail, but nothing really worked out. And then, I moved again. This time to Tokyo. One of my greatest interests has always been music. I play violin and I hope to someday become real famous. I might even head for actual music school after I finish high school. It’s most definitely my passion, together with basketball. At least, basketball was. About a half a year ago I tried to make a shot at the opponent’s team when I was blocked by the defence and I fell. For some strange reason, one of the other team members had taken a hold of my arm, and my elbow got twisted enough to dislocate the elbow joint. The healing process was a pain and I wanted to continue basketball again, but…I couldn’t. It wasn’t because my arm hadn’t healed or anything. More because I was afraid that something that painful happened again. I soon was placed out of the team and replaced with someone who was stronger than I was, better than I was. I never tried to get back in; they put me out for quite the apparent reason. My ex-team soon made it to the regional championships and won. Without me. Not that they needed me. So, I moved to Tokyo and entered Raimon Jr. High. Not for the soccer, not even for the basketball. For the music club. Raimon’s music club was said to have high points next to their soccer club, which is why I decided to join Raimon. For the music, not for the soccer club. Or the basketball club.

So, I entered in Raimon and had the normal, everyday lesson, introducing myself to my new class and trying to fit in a little. Everyone was kind to me, just like all my other classes were. It took away quite a lot of my nerves for the day. I tried finding my way to the music club to ask if I could join. I secretly brought my violin along in my bag, hiding it from everyone in my class until the current break. I pulled it out of my bag, after all. Chances were slim I’d be able to hide it from someone if they came across me in the hallway. Finally finding the music club’s room  in the Raimon Jr. High building, I peeked through the door. No one seemed to be there at first, but I could hear piano music being played. A tune I knew very well. I curiously opened the door. The creaky sounds of the door didn’t seem to mind the pianist; he just kept on playing. I finally got a better look at the piano player. Someone with long, wavy, greyish brown hair with the Raimon uniform. I recognised him from something or somewhere, but was unable to put a direct name to just the back of his head. I walked towards him, surprised that he didn’t look up from either the creaky door or my footsteps. He was either very focused on his playing or simply ignored me. I tiptoed over to him and stood on my toes to see what notes he was hitting. I couldn’t tell; his head was still in the way. I huffed silently and stood next to him. He still didn’t seem to notice. Closed eyes with a slight frown on his face, his long fingers moving over the white and black piano keys, bending over slightly as he increased certain notes he was playing, then moving back ever so slightly, creating softer tunes. Crescendos and decrescendos, changing how the piece was originally written. Changing it in a way I liked it. Adding his own melody to it instead of waiting for the solo instrument. Vocalise, Op. 34 No. 14 by Rachmaninoff. Originally a soprano or tenor with piano accompaniment, though often performed with several other solo instruments like clarinets, cellos, even violins. I learned how to play it quite a while ago, always having had it in the back of my head in case I’d want to play it, together with quite a lot of my other music. The boy was close to hitting his last few notes, or so it seemed, when he went back to the start of the piece, hitting the small chords in the start of the song. I quietly put down my violin case on the ground and opened it soundlessly, gently grabbing my violin out of the case, together with the bow and placed the bow on the fingerboard, resting my head on the chinrest of the violin, waiting for the piano accompaniment to end in a point where I could join in. As the boy hit an E minor chord, I hit an E and joined the boy in the song. For just a moment, he looked up from the piano and glanced at me. I gave him a faint smile and continued my playing my notes. I thought I saw a smile coming back, but I wasn’t sure. He focused on his accompaniment while I focused on the melody, letting the boy use both his hands for the piano instead of letting one play the melody. I smiled softly and calmly played the notes I remembered. We played the song until the very end, where the boy struck some final chords before letting go of the keys. “You’re quite the skilled violinist,” he suddenly said, turning to face me. I blinked, then looked away and gave him a half smile. “You’re quite the skilled pianist,” I said, using almost the same words. He smiled back, stood up and reached his hand out for me to shake it. I held my bow in the same hand as my violin and shook his hand with my right one. “Shindou Takuto,” he introduced himself. “Ninth grader, as far as I know, one of your new classmates, hobbyist pianist.” “Emma Russell, ninth grader, your new classmate,” I said, waving my hands in quite the weird way, still holding my violin and bow in the same hand. Shindou frowned slightly, then laughed. “Oh, and not to forget that I’m a so-called ‘skilled’ violinist. Same as you: I’m just a hobbyist.” “You’ve got quite the talent over there though,” he complimented. “I guess you’re here for a  reason?” “Uh, yeah, like…er, I’d like to join,” I said, smiling right after, feeling a little awkward. Shindou smiled friendly. “The club was said to be great, next to the soccer club, of course. So…I figured I might want to join.” “Great to have a new member, then,” Shindou smiled. “Welcome to the club. No one’s here, though. I sort of sneaked in and started practicing. Everyone else still is in class or in the cafeteria.” “I probably should get some lunch as well, now that we’re at it…” I said, rubbing the back of my head. I bent down to grab my violin’s case and placed my violin and the bow back in, closing the lid carefully and grabbing the case by its handle and picking it up from the ground. “Um…where’s the cafeteria again?”

“You play soccer?” I asked, not believing Shindou when he mentioned his upcoming match. “You…play soccer..?” “What’s that supposed to mean?” He laughed. I chuckled, taking a bite from my sandwich. “Never really thought of you playing soccer, to be honest,” I said truthfully between two bites. “Guess it’s that musical side that may not really fit in with it, or so I’d think…” “You don’t think music can work together with soccer?” It was Shindou’s turn to blink at me. I frowned slightly. “Music works together with soccer in a lot of ways, Emma.” “Whatcha mean?” I asked. Shindou smiled and got up from his table seat. I followed him with my eyes. He gestured me to follow him, and so I did.

The area Shindou lead me to in the so-called big lunch break was something I’d seen once or twice before: the soccer field where Raimon’s soccer team always trained. “You took me all the way down here to show me your training field?” I asked, slightly annoyed. “Wrong,” Shindou said, heading over to some small shed. He opened the door with a key and disappeared in the small shed for a few seconds, then returned with a regular soccer ball. “I’m going to show you that music and soccer can indeed cooperate and work together with each other.” “How?” “Both soccer and music needs something that leads it, don’t they?” I nodded. “In soccer’s case, it’s the captain that leads everything. In music’s case, it usually is the melody.” “And…you’re telling me this because..?” “Because it might be good to know,” Shindou said friendly. Some other people from not only our classes, but others as well appeared from the place we entered. I saw Kirino, Hamano, Sangoku and several others of which I recognised their faces but didn’t know their names yet. There were also some new faces I’d never seen before. I assumed that this was Raimon’s soccer team. “I also thought  you might want to get to know the rest of the team a bit.” “Y-you mean, the Raimon team..?” “Alright, you guys!” Shindou called. “C’mon over here.” The entire team walked over the field to surround Shindou and I. I started to feel a little uncomfortable for no apparent reason. “Shindou, who’s this?” A really short  boy asked. “I’m Emma,” I introduced myself, more to the short guy than to the team. “I’m…going to look around a little, I guess and…well, watch.” Several people gave me a slight frown. I couldn’t quite  blame them. There was this one kid, though, brown, curly hair like a tornado had passed through it a few moments ago. “Awesome!” He said excitedly. “It’ll be loads of fun! Would you like to play too?” “Eh, well, I never really played soccer before, you see..?” “Whaaat?!” I was quite astounded by the way he reacted. “You should totally play it then! Soccer’s a lot of fun!” Well, one thing’s for sure, I thought before I sighed. ''He gets full points for enthusiasm for playing soccer… ''“I’ll watch first, then I just might…kick the ball around a little,” I finally said. ''And hopefully not break anything while doing so… ''“Nice to see you again, Emma,” Sangoku said. I smiled softly, realising that I didn’t really know quite a lot of faces. I could tell by their size that they were in some of the lower classes, first year or second year of Middle School. I got introduced to them. Kageyama, Kurumada, Nishizono, Matsukaze – the overly excited  boy –, Tsurugi, Aoyama, Ichino, Nishiki, Hamano and Kariya. I almost instantly forgot their names and instead tried to remember their faces more than their names. I remembered Hamano purely because of his laid back appearance, Kurumada for his posture and Nishizono for his…well, size. “So… We’re going to have a practice match without the coach?” The boy with icy blue hair asked. I recognised him as one of my new classmates. He seemed quite grouchy to me, if I’d have to be fully honest. “Because you want to watch?” He turned to me. I felt stung by his eyes for a moment. Black. Almost pitch black. I swallowed and opened my mouth to reply when the short boy replied. “Sure looks like it…” The short guy, Nishizono, said. “Not that it matters, right? There’s no need for the negativity, Kuruma.” “Nope!” Tenma said excitedly. “Let’s just have fun playing soccer! Maybe we’ll get Emma to like it too!”

And after two small teams were made, the soccer match started. Shindou’s team versus the excited kid’s team. I simply sat at the side of the field, watching the match. All the players passed the ball to their teammates quite flawlessly, some high passes every now and then, reaching all the way to the opposite side of the field. I already enjoyed the match, and it had only just started. The excited kid was probably the fastest of both teams, dashing over the field like it was nothing. He used a certain move that blew wind around his opponent, spinning them around and tossing them away, out of the boy’s way. He continued kicking the ball, no one but one player standing close to him. He seemed to get a little careless. The kid was quite close to getting to the goal when that other player, someone with teal hair, blocked the kid using a pretty awesome looking move. I couldn’t hear what they were saying; they were quite far away. I heard a name though. “Don’t become careless, Matsukaze!” Shindou shouted loudly. “Watch it!” “R-right!” The boy shouted back. The ball was now in hands of the teal-haired guy, dribbling over the field and then passing over to Hamano, who directly passed it to Kurumada. He, too, made some sort of move and dashed over the field, knocking over everyone who stood on his path. Dash Train is what he called it. I honestly didn’t understand why they had to shout it out so often. It just seemed unnecessary to me to shout the name of that move every single time. But that might’ve just been me. The ball was soon taken from Kurumada by the junior with dark blue hair, who was extremely fast and offensive, passing everyone and soon enough scoring the first goal. I smiled as the team he was in cheered for him. The soccer match continued and I watched with fascination. The two captains indeed led their teams the way Shindou said, being their guide. I was especially fascinated when something apparently called a Keshin got summoned by Shindou. My eyes widened when I saw some sort of a ghost appear from his back, first in a cloud, consisting of several blue colours, then transforming into a torso with four arms, light blue hair covering the eyes, two gloved hands and two bare hands, the right one holding a baton. Shindou’s opponent, who seemed to not have the ghost called a Keshin, was defenceless against Shindou, and the ball was stolen within seconds. Shindou dribbled towards the goal, shot gracefully using a move called Harmonics. The ball got surrounded in some sort of blue aura, levitating for a moment before Shindou shot the ball away. The goalkeeper, Sangoku, tried to stop the ball using a move of his own, making some sort of fiery hand appear, but was unable to stop the shot. 1-0 for Shindou’s team. During this, I swear I heard slight music somewhere, coming from Shindou.

''RINGGG! ''

The small practice match was interrupted by the school bell. Everyone looked up for a moment, then headed over to the school building. Sangoku, who had grabbed the ball, headed towards the small shed where the ball originally came from. Meanwhile, I still stood there with an open jaw. Shindou walked towards me and I quickly shut my mouth, still slightly astounded. He smiled and asked, “So, whatcha think of soccer now?” “That was so cool!” I exclaimed with a bright smile. “The way you summoned that Keshin thing and shot the ball away like that, it was so awesome!” Shindou chuckled. I suspected it to be at the use of words. I’m pretty sure that ‘Keshin thing’, as I called it, has an actual name. “Seems like you’re enthusiastic,” he said calmly. “I take it you enjoyed the match then?” “To watch, definitely,” I confirmed. “I think it’s a whole lot harder to do all of that, though.” “It takes some time,” he said simply, walking towards the school. I followed him closely. OI was about to continue talking when he asked, “Did you hear it?” “…Hear what?” I asked. “The music,” he said quietly, not looking back. I was silent for a moment before I nodded. “That’s what I meant.” “…What-” “Whenever I play soccer, I hear music,” he said. “And I imagine it to be based on what the match is like. I mentioned something about the captain leading the team before, and the melody usually leading the music. Tenma and I led our teams, but I wasn’t quite the one leading my team. At least, not in my eyes. “I let the music guide me; it’s my guidelines, just like the captain is the guideline for the team. I don’t have a real reason for it, but the music changes along with the match, and so should the captain. Which…basically is the reason I follow along with the melody,” he said. “…I’m pretty sure that sounded quite stupid.” “Not at all,” I replied. Shindou glanced over to me. “It seems to make perfect sense to me, if I’m honest. I think I’d do the same.” “Good to know that I’m not insane,” he joked. I laughed. “Either way, the music – more specifically, the melody, is what pulls me through most matches as a Captain. I can trust it, or so I think. It’s never failed me, that is. I think…I think it may be connected to each other. Like a slur in music.” Like a slur… The small bow that connects two music notes to one another… “I think it sounds interesting,” I said after a small pause, still heading towards the school building. “To have said the least, actually. But…it’s your, er…Keshin, right? How could I hear it?” “There are a lot of things we don’t know, Emma,” Shindou said, opening the school door and letting me in first. “There are a lot of things we might not ever know. But we might just find out sooner or later.” “Maybe… Maybe someday, we will…”

I never experienced soccer as something really interesting. After that match, I decided to join Raimon and play soccer, together with the rest of the team. Joining the music club and the soccer club was an amazing experience and loads of fun, for sure. When the end of the year came, my dad announced that he finally didn’t have to move around for his job anymore, and that we could stay in Tokyo for at least three more years. Meaning I could finally keep the new friends I made. I was especially glad I met Shindou that day. Without him, I wouldn’t have been able to be what I am now. A Raimon soccer player.

Author's Notes
So... This basically was my entry for the Fan Fiction Contest on the Inazuma Eleven Wiki, and...I won. xD And now I've got this epic star next to my name on my IE profile, so...yeah. I'm happy. :D

I hope you enjoyed reading it. Feedback is requested and very much appreciated! ^.^

~Alex

Pokémon Ranger Alex: Everyone wants their dreams to come true. Just remember that nightmares are dreams too... 21:42, May 23, 2013 (UTC)

''Please do not steal, copy or modify in any way! I worked hard for this little piece of writing. If I spot it anywhere without my written permission, you're done for.''