My Goalkeeping System

With the match over, Dave soon found himself in the locker room alongside his teammates.

As always, Minino was making a lot of noise in the locker room even though this could be considered mild compared to what he was used to.

Dave walked in with a few other teammates to see that everyone had bright smiles on their faces.

Mateo, on the other hand, was sitting down as he slowly took off his boots.

The goalkeeper found his way to him in no time and sat beside him.

"Way to go," Dave said.

"What?" Mateo asked, his gaze still on his boot.

"You're really going after that golden boot."

Mateo's response to that was a smile as he slowly slipped his left foot out of his boots.

"Not really." He shook his head. "It would be nice to win it though."

Right at that moment, Roland quickly rushed over to the two.

"We might be encountering Lazio if we make it to the finals." The fullback said as he sat beside Mateo.

"Why do you say that?" Mateo asked before bending down to untie his other boot.

"You guys haven't heard?" Roland responded. He looked a bit surprised as he stared at the two.

"No." The two shook their head in synchronization.

Getting that response, the fullback proceeded to explain.

"You know Lazio's match started at the same time as ours. They played against Werder Bremen today. Try guessing the scoreline of that match."

"Two goals to one in favour of Lazio," Mateo said with a bit of a nonchalant attitude.

"Three goals to one in favour of Lazio," Dave commented.

<Hmmm>

Looking at the two, Roland sighed as he shook his head.

"You're not even close." He uttered. "Six goals to nothing, they scored six with no response." He disclosed.

Suddenly feeling a stun, Mateo stopped untying his boot.

Dave, on the other hand, almost caught himself gaping.

"Well, that's something." The goalkeeper said, readjusting himself on his seat.

<That's clearly more than something>

"With that scoreline, they're clearly going to make it through to the semi-final, and with their current momentum, making it to the final is very possible."

"What are you afraid of?"

That voice came from Ferran who was walking toward the three now.

"Don't forget, we beat them twice in the group stage, they couldn't even score a goal against us." The midfielder said as he stopped in front of them. "So, what if we meet them in the final?"

<Well, he's quite confident that you guys are going to make it to the finals>

'I'm also confident.'

With the conversation now completely on the topic of facing Lazio in the finals, Mateo slowly slipped his right foot out of his boots before raising his gaze to look at Ferran.

"If we do meet them in the final. Are you going to face them with this attitude?" He asked.

"Huh?" Ferran responded, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, we did beat them twice in the group stage but that doesn't mean they're a team to be taken lightly. We beat them precisely because we took them very seriously. So, if we do meet them in the final please remember not to look at them with contempt."

With that last part, the winger got up on his feet and turned toward the exit.

"The kind of football played in the final of a tournament can be much more unpredictable than you think." He said as he walked away.

Ferran just stood there, staring at him as he walked away. He felt a bit offended but he couldn't argue that the young winger was right.

________ _______

The team took the flight home later after the match. It was a short journey as always between Spain and Bilbeth.

Dave quickly made his way home as soon as possible.

Emma was getting closer and closer to her due date and he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. That was the most he could do for her now.

He got home to find Emma fast asleep on the bed, tucked in nicely under the sheets.

She looked really peaceful, her breathing soft and pleasant to the eyes.

Dave couldn't help but smile as he stared at her.

After watching her for a while, he walked up to the bed and sat down beside her.

"We won the first leg but I'm sure you must already be aware."

He reached for her face and slowly pushed back the parts of her hair covering it. Afterwards, he kissed her on the nose.

Not wanting to wake her up accidentally, he got up and exited the room.

He made his way downstairs and to the kitchen.

He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before returning to the living room where he soon found himself resting comfortably as he slowly consumed the contents of the bottled water.

He put the empty bottle down on the table afterwards before leaning back on the couch, his gaze now on the ceiling.

"I should be tired, but for some reason, I don't feel sleepy at all."

He was expecting some sort of response from Catherine but there was none at all which he found odd but refrained from commenting on it.

He did, however, make sure Catherine heard his thoughts, but there was still no response from her.

Catherine was not willing to talk to him so he just sat there, staring at the ceiling.

After a while, his eyelids began to feel heavy and he was just about to doze off when that familiar feminine voice called out to him.

<Dave>

"Hm?" He responded as he opened his eyes.

<What do you think of the system so far?>

Dave found the question a bit strange. There was also something about the way she was speaking now that seemed a bit sorrowful. Still, he proceeded to answer.

'I think it's nice.'

<What if it disappears one day?>

'Will it disappear along with everything I've achieved so far?'

<No, those were already a part of you, to be honest. The system just gives you an easier and more direct way to tap into them>

'Hmmm. So, you're saying the key acts more like a key and guide instead of a booster.'

<You can put it that way>

'Doesn't that mean I wasn't normal to begin with?'

<You can say that>

There was a short moment of silence as Dave tried to put into perspective what not being normal actually meant. After a while, he decided not to read too much into it or he would end up making up crazy theories.

'What will happen if the system disappears.'

<I suppose you'll feel like you've lost your bearings for a while but as long as you remember everything you did with it, you'll soon be able to do all those naturally with no need for a key>

'I see. Then, I guess I won't really miss it that much.'

<What about me?>

'Huh?'

<If I disappear. Will you miss me?>

Dave found himself puzzled by that question.

Were they not talking about what-ifs?

Why did she sound so serious?