"DANIEL VS RAPHAEL"
School Field | Afternoon | Tense yet full of spirit
"SO IT'S 1 VS 1, HUH? SOUNDS FUN."
The sky is cloudy. A light breeze blows, as if giving space for these two young souls to stake their pride.
Daniel grips the ball and places it in the middle of the field. His expression is confident, yet fully focused. I stand across from him, hands in my pockets, looking as lazy as usual.
"First to score, wins."
He nods. He's starting.
The ball is gently tapped forward — and suddenly, BOOM! He bolts. Left foot, right foot, alternating rapidly, the ball seems almost under a magical force. His speed... insane.
"28 km/h. Not bad..." I whisper to myself.
He's no joke. His dribbling is full of style, full of experience. Not only fast, but also slick — constantly changing direction, and his eyes never leave my movements.
I try to intercept from the left, but he quickly switches to the right.
"Too slow, genius!" He yells with a laugh.
He glides towards the goal — only a few meters left before the post. I activate my brain — analyzing all of his movements.
"If I step left, he'll fake right. But if I let him make the first move—"
I try to tackle from the side — BUT—
"GOTCHA!" — he predicted my move.
With a powerful touch, the ball is kicked to the corner of the net. In. Goal.
"GOOOOOALLLLL!!" Mika shouts from the sideline.
Daniel jumps with his hands raised in the air.
"HA! DID YOU SEE THAT, MIKA?! I BEAT THE BOOKWORM!"
I stand frozen.
"Huh… looks like I made you lose… soccer boy."
---
ROUND TWO — REMATCH
I don't speak. But in my head, I replay every formula, data, and movement from before like a video in my mind.
Daniel shakes his head. "Oi, don't get mental now!"
The ball is placed in the center again. This time… I start.
Step one... slow.
Step two... a little faster.
Step three—
"ZOOM!!" — I burst forward with extraordinary speed.
"Should be moving as fast as a cheetah…" I whisper. "The maximum speed for a regular person is around 30 km/h. But me? I've trained myself up to 38."
Daniel tries to stop me. But I'm already past him.
"I CALL THIS MOVE… CHEETAH CLAW!"
My shoes dig into the ground. I veer left, then quickly right. Dust flies. The ball is still with me — tight and fast.
Daniel is shocked. He chases me, but his breath is starting to quicken. His hand tries to grab my shoulder — but I dodge.
"You think I didn't learn anything from you earlier?"
"You're fast, but you're predictable."
I reach the goal. Only the keeper remains — but this is 1v1… and I'm not planning to stop.
I do a step-over. One. Two. Three.
The keeper hesitates — and that's my moment.
I strike the ball hard to the upper left corner of the net.
"BOOOMMMM!"
Goal.
1 – 1.
The crowd goes silent — then erupts into cheers.
Daniel stands stunned. Mika… jumps up excitedly.
"YOU REALLY DID IT, RAPHAEL!! INSANE!!"
Daniel walks slowly toward me. His face serious — but then he smiles.
"Heh. Finally, you're serious about soccer…"
I take a deep breath. Sweat drips from my brow. But a small smile starts to form on my lips.
"Soccer... it's actually pretty fun, huh?"
---
AFTER THE MATCH
Daniel and Mika clap me on the shoulder.
"We were just challenging you. Reff asked us to observe you from afar."
"Reff...?" I raise an eyebrow.
"Your brother knows you're into soccer. But you're shy. He asked us to 'lure' you out."
"So all of this… was a trap?"
"A successful trap!" Mika grins broadly.
Daniel laughs. "From now on, Raphael… the three of us will be a team."
"You can't run anymore, genius!"
---
To be continued...