Chapter 3

  The Weird Kid Becomes Captain

  There was one universal truth I had forgotten.

  Sports speak every language.

  Gym class.

  The word alone sent a wave of anxiety through me.

  Not because I hated sports.

  No.

  Because I had lived and died by sports.

  And now I was trapped in the body of a Japanese middle schooler.

  With short legs.

  And a completely different sense of balance.

  The teacher blew the whistle.

  He shouted something.

  I read the board.

  Soccer Practice

  …Football.

  Finally, something I understood.

  Teams were divided.

  I was placed with a group of energetic boys who looked way too excited for running.

  One of them grinned at me.

  “Hey, Rainbow Love. Can you even play?”

  I didn’t understand the sentence.

  But I understood the tone.

  Challenge accepted.

  The ball rolled toward me.

  My body moved before my brain could catch up.

  One touch.

  Two touches.

  A clean pass.

  The field went quiet.

  Another ball came.

  I trapped it.

  Turned.

  Kicked.

  Perfect trajectory.

  The class froze.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  The teacher stared.

  The boys stared.

  Someone whispered:

  “Wait… he’s good.”

  The next play started.

  I ran.

  Not fast.

  Not yet.

  But my positioning was perfect.

  I intercepted passes.

  Set up shots.

  Directed teammates with hand signals.

  They didn’t understand my English.

  But they understood my movement.

  Ten minutes later.

  “Hey… follow Rainbow Love.”

  “Do what he does.”

  “He knows what he’s doing.”

  The ball came again.

  I raised my hand.

  Pointed.

  They passed.

  I nodded.

  They moved.

  We scored.

  The whistle blew.

  Class ended.

  The teacher walked over.

  Said something.

  Then smiled.

  He patted my shoulder.

  And said one word in English.

  “Captain.”

  The boys gathered around me.

  Eyes shining.

  “You’re amazing!”

  “When did you learn soccer?”

  “You’re seriously cool!”

  Someone shouted:

  “From today on, you’re Captain Rainbow!”

  Captain Rainbow.

  I buried my face in my hands.

  So now I was:

  A transfer student

  A foreign-sounding Japanese kid

  Named Rainbow Love

  Who couldn’t speak Japanese

  And was somehow the team captain

  Japan was terrifying.

  But…

  For the first time since waking up here,

  I felt something familiar.

  The joy of the field.

  The rhythm of the game.

  The language of movement.

  Maybe…

  Just maybe…

  I could survive this place after all.