My Goalkeeping System

"Hey, so what's your name?" Dave asked as he walked down the street with the boy.

"Diego." He replied.

"Diego, huh."

"What's your name, mister?" The boy asked.

"It's Dave, Dave Richards you must have heard of me before." The goalkeeper said.

"Um….I don't think so." He said, shaking his head.

"Uh…never mind."

"Okay," Diego said before turning his gaze back to where they were going.

'I guess I'm not that popular, yet.' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.

<Here's a precautionary measure>

'Huh?'

<The boy may not know who you are because you're not that popular yet but that doesn't mean there aren't others who will and it won't be good if a lot of people who know you spot you walking down the street with this boy or at the place you're going>

'So, what are you suggesting?'

<Look for something to cover up your identity even a little bit and make you less recognizable, something like a face cap>

'A face cap?'

<Yeah>

'I think that's a clothing shop up ahead.'

<Yeah, go check it out and put a face cap on>

'Yeah, thanks for the tip, Cat, I guess you haven't gone unreasonably silently after all.' He said subconsciously but there was no reply from her.

It didn't take long for them to get close to the clothing shop where Dave was supposed to go look for a face cap.

"Hey, Wait for me out here." He said before quickly making his way into the shop.

"Hey, wait." Diego tried to stop him but he had already entered the shop.

It took up to seven minutes before the goalkeeper made his way out of the shop putting on a brown face cap to go with his brown coat.

Diego was still standing where he left him.

"What's that on your head?" He asked with his gaze on the face cap.

"A face cap," Dave replied.

"Why are you putting it on? You looked okay without it."

"I know but I just like putting on a face cap whenever I want to go out, I forgot the one I usually wear at home so I decided to get a new one."

"Okay, let's just get going." The boy said before he began to walk down the road toward the area.

Dave stared at him for a while before he slowly began to follow him.

The two walked toward the area without saying a word to each other until they had finally gotten to the area.

"This is the place," Diego said as Dave slowly looked at the skyscraper from down to up. "The tournament is taking place on the highest floor.

"Okay," Dave said.

The two made their way into the building and straight to the elevator.

Diego pushed the button to the highest floor as soon as they entered the elevator and after the elevator closed up, they were on their way there.

"So, Diego," Dave called.

"Yeah." He said before turning his gaze to him.

"The prize money that you told me about, how much is it?" He asked.

'Is he trying to see if he can get a share of the money, I thought he said he didn't need it?' The boy thought as the look on his face suddenly changed.

"It's a million euros." He replied.

'A million euros that's not that much really.' Dave said subconsciously.

"I see, and what do you intend to do with your own share of the money? You said you really needed it right?" The goalkeeper asked.

"Um…my parents aren't that rich so they can't afford to get me most of the things I need for university so I need the money to get some of those things myself which will ease things for them." He explained.

"Wait, University, how old are you?" Dave asked.

"Sixteen, I'll be turning seventeen in a few months."

"And you've been admitted into a university."

"Yeah, is that something to be surprised about?" The boy asked.

'Well, since I never went to a higher institution myself, I guess not.'

"Um…no, not really." He said, shaking his head.

It didn't take them long to arrive at their destination and just as the elevator opened up, Dave could see that the room was filled up with a lot of people surrounding the center area which judging by the net in the middle was the space for the face-off.

"Hey, over here, they have to officially register you as a replacement for Ferran," Diego said after grabbing him by his arm and pulling him along with him to the registration counter.

There were three people there, a female and two males and Dave expected them to speak English just like Diego but he seemed to have forgotten that he was in Barcelona, a Spanish territory.

'Oh boy, I don't even know how to speak Spanish.'

<Is that a problem?>

'What do you mean?'

<The boy you're with is from around here and he can speak English, don't you think he understands what they are saying?>

"She's asking you your name," Diego said to him after realizing that he was finding it hard to interpret what she had just said.

"Oh, it's Dave Richards," Dave replied.

'You were right, Catherine.'

Dave expected some sort of reaction from them after telling them his name but there was nothing, she just went on to ask the other questions that needed to be answered.

'I'm not surprised.'

<I know you're not popular enough for them to know you but I don't think giving them your real last name was a good idea>

'What's the point when they don't even know the last name?'

"Hey, Dave, over here," Diego said before making his way to a room by the side.

He didn't move immediately as he watched him until he entered the room and shut the door.

"That boy." He muttered.

'I never thought about it before, he's a sixteen-year-old Spaniard who was raised with his native language but his English is fluent enough for me to understand him without trying hard to, he's a really smart boy.'

He entered the room to find out that it was just like a locker room meant for two people and Diego who had been in there for a while had already changed into a red and black jersey that's a black shirt and red shorts.

"You need to be in something comfortable." He said.

"Don't worry about that," Dave said before pulling off his coat to reveal his black sports trousers and red shirt which didn't belong to any team in particular. "I'll do just fine in these."

"Okay, let's go then," Diego said before getting up from where he was sitting.

"Hey, aren't you going to remove that cap, you won't be able to see clearly with it?" Diego said as the two made their way to their court.

"Don't worry, I'll see just fine with it."

Stepping onto the court they met their opponents who were standing on the other side of the net wearing matching blue jerseys.

The people around the area were cheering for them but most of them seemed to be cheering for the ones in blue.

"Alright, everyone!" A voice resounded from the speakers around the area. "I believe we all know the players but there has been an adjustment to team Diego and Ferran, Ferran wasn't able to make it so he will be replaced by this new player, Dave Richards."

"Dave Richards, I think I've heard that name before." One of the people around the area said.

"Alright, since everyone's in position, let the game begin."

"Who's your new friend, Diego?" One of the boys putting on blue asked. "He doesn't look like someone who can kick the ball."

The boys seemed to be around eighteen to nineteen years of age but Dave didn't even flinch for a second at every single thing they said and the same could be said for Diego.

"You'll see, he's even better than Ferran."

'I guess there are a lot of other people who can speak English here.'

The ball was thrown to Dave by the umpire and now it was time for the game to begin.

"I remember the last time we played this at Ferran's place." He muttered before he threw the ball up and began to jog it. "I wasn't concentrating because of Emma, but she's not here now."

He kicked the ball high and quickly sent it to the other side with a powerful hit.

Their opponents were only able to catch a glimpse of the ball as it flew past them and bounced behind them before rolling further down.

The people watching let out loud gasps after witnessing that powerful kick from the goalkeeper.

"One point to team Diego and Ferran!" The voice coming from the speakers said enthusiastically.

"Dave." Diego had a stunned look on his face as he stared at the goalkeeper.

****

New year mass release goals.

A magic castle= one extra chapter.

Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

Mass release for goals met last month will still be rewarded on the due dates.