Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
"I'm only here for two weeks," Neil said. "Why did he have those printed?"
"Do not play stupid," Jean said. "Kevin would have told you by now that you are transferring this summer."
"He mentioned it. I told him I wouldn't do it. Didn't he pass that along?" Neil tossed the jersey off to one side.
Jean snatched it from the air before it could hit the ground and flicked a livid look at him. "Try not to get us both killed on your first day, you ignorant child."
"Us?" Neil asked.
"Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you," Jean said, thrusting the jersey at him again. Neil refused to take it, so Jean caught hold of his coat with his free hand and yanked Neil close. "You lost the right to be an individual when you stepped into the Nest. The consequences of your actions are no longer yours alone to bear. Ravens operate on a pair-based system, which means from now until you leave I am the only ally you have.
"My success is your success," Jean said. "Your failure is my failure. You are to go nowhere unless I am with you. If you break this rule we will bother suffer greatly for it. Do you understand? They want us to fail. They want to take starting line-up from me. I will not let you jeopardize my rank."
"I have some bad news for you," Neil said. "I can't outscore Raven strikers."
"It is not them you need to outplay," Jean said. "You are not a striker anymore. You never should have been one in the first place. The master is moving you to defense where you belong. He will want to know why you abandoned your position. I hope you have a good explanation for him."
"It wasn't my idea," Neil said. "Coach Hernandez had a full defense line. It was offense or nothing at all and I just wanted to play."
Neil told Hernandez he'd never touched a racquet before because he couldn't give Hernandez the names of his past coaches and teams. When Neil was recruited to the Millport Dingoes, though, it wasn't his eight-year absence from Exy that made him so clumsy on the court. It was that Neil played little leagues as a backliner. He'd had to learn the game all over again from scratch. In the beginning Neil hated it, because he figured strikers were glory-hounds who sought the spotlight. As Neil got more comfortable with the position, though, he fell in love.
"It was a bad idea," Jean said. "Now you have to unlearn all of your bad habits. Now try on your gear so we know it fits."
"Not in front of you," Neil said.
"That modesty will be the first thing we break you of," Jean said. "There is no room for privacy in the Nest."
"I can't believe you put up with this," Neil said. "At least Kevin ran. What's your excuse?"
"I am a Moreau," Jean said, as if Neil was being stupid on purpose. "My family has belonged to the Moriyamas since before they came to the United States. There is nowhere else for me to go, just as there is no place for you but here. Kevin is not like us; he is valuable but he is not property in the same sense. He escaped because he had family to run to."
"Andrew?" Neil guessed.
"I said family, you hard-of-hearing imbecile," Jean said. "His father. Your coach."
It took a moment to sink in. When it clicked Neil recoiled from Jean in shock. "What?"
He knew, logically, that Kevin had to have a father. Kayleigh Day hadn't gotten herself pregnant, after all. But she'd never given up the name of Kevin's father, no matter how hard the press pushed. If the rumors were right that space was blank on Kevin's birth certificate. She'd named Tetsuji her son's godfather, though, which was how Kevin ended up at Evermore after Kayleigh died.
"You're lying," Neil said.
"Why else would Kevin run to such a dreadful team?"
"But he never—and Coach hasn't—"
"Figures he's still too much of a coward to say anything about it." Jean gave a derisive flick of his hand. "If you don't believe me, look for yourself. The last time I saw his mother's letter it was tucked inside one of those boring books of his. He's read it so many times he might have worn the words off the pages by now, but it is worth a shot."
"If he knew, why did he stay?" Neil demanded. "He should have gone to Coach when his mother died."
"We found out only a few years ago," Jean said. "We found the letter in the master's house purely by accident. Kevin stole it, but he never intended to act on the discovery. He knew going meant losing all of this. It wasn't worth it." Jean gestured around at the locker room. "Once he lost this, of course, there was no reason to stay."
"You are all insane," Neil said.
"Says the runaway who joined a Class I team," Jean said. "Says the man who came here today when he should have run. You are no better than the rest of us. Now are you going to try on your gear or am I going to have to force it on you?"
Neil thought about it, then took the jersey. Jean folded his arms over his chest and took a couple steps back. Neil turned the jersey over in his hands to look at his name. The white letters were surrounded by a faint red outline. The number beneath it wasn't his.
"I can't even keep my ten?" Neil asked.
"Unimportant Ravens wear double-digits," Jean said. "Riko's inner circle does not. This number suits you better. Did you know? In Japanese, 'four' and 'death' sound the same. It is appropriate that the Butcher's son should wear this number."
Neil shook his head but gave up arguing. He dropped the jersey in his locker again, steeled his nerves, and undid the buttons on his coat. He yanked the zipper undone next and shrugged out of his coat. He peeled his shirt over his head next and pretended not to notice the intent look Jean raked across his scarred front. Neil toed out of his shoes, pushed them out of his way with a foot, and yanked his jeans off. He put the Raven uniform on piece by piece as fast as he could. It fit him better than he expected it to, but Neil felt choked by it.