Binck pushed through the door to his small apartment, dripping water over the laminated wooden floor. He was completely drenched from the rain, yet he still had a wide smile on his face as he took off his football boots.

It fell off his face in an instant as he noticed a small white envelope, lying on the floor at his feet. Water slowly fell from his hair, staining the paper as he stared in mute surprise.

He hadn't had a letter in ages. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time someone had sent a physical letter. "Do they not know how email works?" Binck sighed, picking up the envelope. He tossed it a bit far away from him, discarding his wet clothes and going in search of a towel and dry clothing.

His house was kind of cold, but he ignored it, grabbing a dry towel and roughly drying himself off before throwing on a hoodie and some shorts. It was still sort of light outside - it'd only been an hour or so since he'd finished playing that match.

Oh yeah, and about that match? Binck had practically begged to stay and keep playing, and put himself in defense with the promise of not scoring another goal. It had still been unfair, with the other team completely unable to get past the teenager, but at least they'd all had fun.

...well, Binck had fun.

After he'd finished changing, Binck brought the envelope over to his desk, unfolding the envelope and peering inside. It wasn't at all what he'd expected.

Congratulations, Binck!

You have been selected via arbitrary and biased decision making to participate in a football training project, held by the Japanese Football Union. This project aims to help young players aged 15-18 to greatly improve their football skills, and eventually aims to put the top performers in the project in the Japanese U-20 Team.

All players are invited to come to [insert a random address here. 221B Baker St.], where more information about the project will be given, as well as how it will work. There are only 300 players who have been chosen, and each of you will be given the spotlight...

Binck frowned, skimming over the rest of the letter. It seemed legit, especially when he searched up the address and it came up with a registered JFU building. Yet, something still bugged him. He hadn't really done anything to receive the attention, had he? He didn't play for any clubs - all he did was join random tournaments and teams, and leave after one game. Nobody should've been able to piece together who he was.

He leant back in his chair. "They wouldn't try another project, right? It's just gonna end up being another huge waste of money.”

Though, it was interesting. Binck was going to become the best striker in the world. There wasn't any doubt in his mind. And if this... he diverted his attention to the letter and read the name of it aloud: "Red Latch Project"...yeah, if that put him directly on the U-20 team, it was worth a shot.

And who knew? Maybe he would find some interesting people there. The only one to challenge him in Exaltation was Julian Loki, even though they would only just mess around together. Binck thought hard. Well, not really.

"Eh, whatever. I'll do it." He spoke to himself, disinterested. "But... at the same time... just destroying everyone would be boring. I wanna watch other people play, give them a chance to improve so I can have a proper match later down the line."

His brown eyes lit up momentarily. "That might be entertaining. Playing mediocre to let everyone else have a chance to score."

And if I do get put on the U-20 Team... that means I'll play internationally, right? And maybe against the best countries in the world? Like France...

Binck's eyes drifted to a picture, pinned by a tack to the wall of his apartment. It showed him as a kid, side by side with four other kids. Three other Japanese boys huddled around him as they looked at the camera, huge grins on their faces. Binck himself stood in the middle, his arm around a younger Julian Loki, standing right by his side.

Another picture showed Binck and Loki mid-practice, the two of them with outstretched legs, the ball halfway between them. Both the boys looked like they were having fun, even while training.

(Author’s note: maybe this is doomed yaoi after all @tchihirios)