Become A Football Legend

They shared a few slices of pepperoni pizza, talking and laughing between bites. After dinner, they decided to take a slow walk home to let the meal digest.

On the walk, they talked about life —Joanna's plans after school, and Lukas's plans for his career. As they talked, it became clear Joanna was still figuring out life — like any teenager would. On the walk, they talked about life — Joanna's plans after school, and Lukas's plans for his career.

One thing was certain, though, football would be his career in this life. How far it would take him was something he was completely unaware of at the time.

* * *

"That was all? You had pizza and you walked her home?" João asked, refusing to believe that was how the night ended.

"What else are you expecting, bro?"

"I can't exactly tell him she kissed me in front of their home, can I? Not yet at least."

"Nothing... Make sure it stays that way. I don't want you spoiling my sister. Is that the only date you went on?"

"Uhm... Technically, yes. That was the only one."

"What do you mean, technically?"

"We met a few other times at your place throughout that first week of the year," Lukas thought, but didn't say anything.

* * *

After the dinner on that first date, as they got to Joanna's house, it was a few minutes before 10pm. They were so deep in conversation that they slowed their pace as they approached the building.

"You have to go... Your parents would be getting worried," Lukas said as he handed Joanna her handbag which he had been carrying from the pizzeria.

"Okay..." Joanna replied as she reluctantly took the bag from him while trying to hide her disappointment.

"Don't worry, I'll come see João tomorrow," Lukas said as he picked up on her mood.

"Yeah? What time? I'm sure he'd be glad to see you."

"Hmm... Maybe later in the day. Around 4 to 5pm."

"Okay, I'll be exp— I mean he will be expecting you. I'll let him know."

They just approached the front of the building and the motion-activated light in front of the building turned on.

"I had a great time tonight."

"Me too..." Lukas responded.

"Goodnight, Luke..."

"Goodnight, Jo..."

She turned to enter the building, but then turned back around and gave Lukas a peck on the lips and quickly tried to leave.

Lukas grabbed her left hand, turned her towards himself, and dragged her closer.

He could hear his heartbeat through his chest, and he was sure she could hear it too, as her head was resting on him.

He looked downwards to see her face, and she was looking up at him, her arms wrapped around his waist.

"You're supposed to kiss me now," she said breaking the silence after a few seconds of Lukas just staring at her.

"You're just so beauti—" her lips were glued to Lukas's before he could complete his sentence.

He had both hands on her waist while she had hers on his neck bringing his head to her level.

They must have kissed for a minute or more because Lukas was starting to run out of breath.

"You taste..."

"Like pizza?"

"Even better," Lukas responded.

"I have to go back in now, someone might see us."

They had been standing still in front of the building, kissing, that even the motion-activated light turned off. It just came back on when they started talking.

"Alright, have a good night, Jo. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Luke," Joanna said waving her hands before she walked into the apartment building.

Lukas stood outside still in front of the building looking up at the floor where the Gimenezes' apartment was located and thinking about what just happened. He had just gotten his first kiss in both lives! "Does this mean she's agreed to be my girlfriend? TT, what do you think?"

[LTC Update... 99%] The system screened just reappeared in front of him.

"Oh that's right... You're still updating... I miss it sometimes on days like these."

Lukas turned around and walked home.

* * *

"Yo! What are you thinking about? You didn't do anything crazy that day, did you?" Javi asked, snapping Lukas back to reality.

"Of course not. She just gave me a light peck on the cheek to thank me for the date.

"I see... That's not bad. No wonder you started coming to see me almost every day for the first week of the new year. I should have noticed that it's something you'd never do."

"C'mon. Don't be like that. I come to see you, right?"

"Yeah, right. I only noticed something fishy was going on when you played your debut game for the first team and I caught her sneakily recording you and getting mad at a female fan screaming when you made that second assist."

"She did? That's so sweet of her," Lukas said, visibly touched.

"Ugh! I'm getting shivers. Why do I even bother? You both deserve each other."

"Does that mean I have your blessing?"

João looked at his best friend for a few minutes. "Are you really serious about her?" He asked.

Lukas felt the mood change from playful, to a more serious one. "Yes. I am," he responded, without batting an eye.

"Then you have my support, man." João raised his right hand for a handshake. But Lukas hugged him.

"Thanks, man. That means a lot to me."

"Just don't break her heart."

"Even if I was born with balls of steel, I wouldn't do that still."

"You better not." Javi responded as they broke the hug Lukas had forced on him. "Also, I know what you did there: 'steel', 'still'... Maybe you would have a better career in rap."

"You think? You know you might have a point."

"Hahaha... I don't blame you, I'm going to bed."

"I'll be going to bed too," Lukas replied, yawning. The adrenaline from the match had now mostly worn off with the tiredness settling in. It was way past midnight at this point when they decided to go to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Lukas woke up to an empty room. There were no birds chirping nor sunlight coming through the curtains blinding him — the glass was tinted and the curtains were thick enough to block the sunlight and also tightly shut. Just the sound of the clock ticking slowly.

He opened his eyes, and closed them back immediately. He opened them again about 100 seconds later — another grueling LTC session had just been completed. He was there for 96 hours but it had been barely two minutes in real time.

"Oofff..." Lukas grunted as he sat up from the bed. His calves, thighs, abdomen, and back were aching from his session.

"TT you damn liar. You said you were reducing the effectiveness of the passive skill just a bit. Why do I feel like someone used a hammer on me while I was asleep?"

[*Oh please. You're just exaggerating. Like I said before, it has been reduced to a level you can handle.*]

"Tell that to my back."

[*Well, good thing you have a recovery session at the club today, right? Also, aren't you running late?*]

This was when Lukas turned around to where João should have been staying, "Wait a second, where's João?" He asked as he immediately reached for his phone.

10:45AM — that was the time on his lock screen.

"Oh my God. I missed my meeting with Joanna!" he screamed as he immediately opened his phone and listened to a voice message his father had sent.

"Lukas. We left already. You looked so tired from the match and we didn't want to disturb you. Have a nice day."

He listened to João's message next: "How did you sleep through all of that, bro? Even though I was trying to be quiet, there were sometimes it got loud af. You must've been tired. Later, man."

Finally, Joanna. She didn't leave a voice message, she left a text: "I waited." He called her immediately he read the message, but the call ended as the number was unreachable.

"She might be in class now." He thought to himself.

[*Aren't you also supposed to be in class?*]

"Well I played in the match yesterday, so I'm allowed to come later as long as I am able to get all my school work for the week done by the end of the week. The school is very accomodating."

[*If you say so.*]

* * *

The next day, January 16th, 2025.

It was about 3:50pm and the Eintracht Frankfurt players were now training for their match against Dortmund. It was set to be a huge match.

They were currently playing a full-pitch 30-minute practice match as coach Topmöller experimented with different ideas for his attack now that Marmoush was gone — his transfer to Manchester City hadn't been confirmed to the public yet, but it had already been completed.

He watched intensely at one man — one young man — who just volleyed the ball into the back of the net from the edge of the penalty arc.

"Is it inevitable?" He thought to himself as he watched Lukas jog back to the halfway line

* * *

A/N: In case you haven't noticed so far, our boy was a turbo loser in his previous life... But we're gonna change that this time.

Have a wonderful day.

The GTs just keep coming and I haven't released any GT chapter yet. It might be later today, tomorrow, or the day after. I'll see how the day goes... Keep sending em.

Thanks for the love and support as always... There's been a huge influx of new readers this week since the recommendation on the home page. Welcome to you all (whenever you get to this chapter).

Love y'all

-Writ