He Has Amnesia?

‘HUH?!?!?!?!?!’ exclaimed Daniel to himself. ‘What did he mean that it didn’t count? What the hell is a non-magic violation? How did we lose? I don’t understand this at all!!!’

Back at the locker room, the girl from before were giving Daniel quite an earful. However, he didn’t pay any attention to her words at all. He was too focused on his own thoughts to realize that she was getting peeved at his inattention to her.

“Hey, Max! Are you listening to me?!” she yelled right into Daniel’s ear.

“Hah! Yes!” yelped Daniel with a jump.

“Sheesh, what’s wrong with you today?” she groaned with a scowl. “You’re so out of it today that I can’t help but wonder if you’re actually serious about playing.”

“O-Of course I’m serious!” objected Daniel.

“Then what happened right at the end of the last game?” asked the girl with a raised eyebrow.

“Um, er, that was, well, um…,” stuttered Daniel with quivering lips.

“Enough, Lira,” came the voice of the coach. The man, an older gentleman with glistening silver hair and sparkling green eyes behind a pair of golden-framed spectacles, approached Daniel and Lira with a serious expression on his face that frightened the two. “Max, what happened today?” asked the coach.

“C-Coach, I-I-I,” stuttered Daniel.

The coach held up a hand to stop Daniel from speaking further. “I think I know what’s going on,” said the coach. He tilted his glasses down with his eyes focused intently on Daniel’s. Beads of sweat began to form on Daniel’s forehead and his body shook anxiously. “You have amnesia, don’t you?” said the coach.

“Eh? Amnesia?” said Daniel, confused and surprised at the same time. ‘Wait a minute, isn’t this the out I need?’ he realized. “Yes, that’s it! I’ve got aphasia!”

“You mean amnesia?” corrected Lira.

“That’s right!” quickly agreed Daniel.

The coach leaned forward until his eyes were level with Daniel’s. “How much do you remember?” drawled the coach.

“Um, who am I again?” asked Daniel, pointing to himself.

“From there?!” exclaimed Lira in exasperation.

The coach sighed. “Well, he did take a strong attack to the head,” he said with a shake of his head, “I guess this is to be expected.” He then turned to Lira. “Can I count on you to help him regain his memories?”

“Eh?! Me?!” objected Lira.

“We need him to be in tip-top shape in time for the next season,” said the coach. Before Lira could object even further, he turned around to leave. With a wave, he said, “Good luck.” The coach disappeared from the locker room, leaving Lira and Daniel alone together once again.

Lira threw a glare at Daniel. She blatantly wore her displeasure on her face. “We’ve lost the chance to proceed to the playoffs and now I got to deal with this mess,” she spoke loudly to herself. “Let’s go,” she sharply told Daniel.

Back on the team carriage, which was actually a group of three separate horse-drawn carriages that fit up to five people each, Daniel was being given yet another unneeded lecture by Lira about “selfishly ruining the team’s chances of winning a championship”. Sitting right across from the two were three other members of the Siraco Stars—Daniel’s current sports team. Lira informed them of Daniel’s condition and forced onto them the job that was given to her by the coach.

The first teammate was Kody Pepper, who introduced himself as Max Power’s childhood friend. Sadly, Daniel couldn’t remember any details of his/Max’s childhood days with him. Kody had light tanned skin and fluffy brown hair like a duck's down. His lips were on the small side while his eyes were large like eggs. The most defining feature of his had to be his blue-grey eyes that reminded Daniel of dangerous thunderclouds.

The second teammate was Erin Donton. He’s a very laidback individual and wore a very chill smile that seem to make anyone he looks at forget all of their worries. Erin’s greyish hair that was parted in the middle reminded Daniel of a surfer dude he met once in LA on a family trip. Unlike Kody, Erin’s eyes were on the thin side, and his constant half-lidded look make him look like he was constantly asleep. Out of all the guys in the carriage, Erin possessed the most toned body.

The third teammate was Jack Pine, also known by others as Jackal. With short, rough-looking black hair and a body the size of a bear, Jack was an imposing figure who looks like he was capable of snapping anyone in half with a clench of his fist. His thick eyebrows, almost menacing large pupil eyes, and thick lips only added to his monstrous physical appearance, which had given rise to many unfounded rumors about his reputation as a savage player, much to his dismay. However, as Daniel quickly learned, Jack was a gentle person with the heart of a maiden.

“It can’t be helped,” sighed Kody. The team could do nothing but accept Daniel’s condition. “When we get back home, we’ll have to start from scratch.”

“Thanks,” said Daniel with a small apologetic laugh.

“I guess it’ll be fine as long as you remember by the time the next season starts,” said Kody.

“And when will that be?” asked Daniel.

“Three months from now,” answered Lira aggressively. She let out a deep sigh. “I know I shouldn’t be angry at you for having this condition. But we were just so close!”

“But that hit to the head was pretty bad,” recalled Erin.

Apparently, Daniel, or Max Power as he was known then, had jumped up to intercept a shot rather impulsively and was dealt a blow by the powerful magic that was placed on the ball. He then hit head on the floor after falling to the ground. The sound from the impact was enough for the referees to call a timeout. A few seconds later, Max came to but had lost his memories due to amnesia—well, at least that’s the story they’re rolling with; Daniel couldn’t really tell them that he had instead commandeered their teammate’s body due to the intervention of a god just so he can get another chance at his dream of becoming a professional athlete.

“Well, starting tomorrow, we will be practicing to prepare for the new season,” said Kody. “We’ll take that time to help you recover your memories. Even if all of them haven’t come back by then, hopefully we can recover the ones necessary for us to win games.”

Daniel woke up the next day with a start. “Was it all a dream?” he asked himself. Sunlight from outside crept between the curtains of his window. He opened the curtains and sighed—it wasn’t a dream after all. Outside his window was a cobblestone road buzzing with people clad in medieval clothing. Horses pulled carriages carrying food and supplies to their respective destinations. Children hopped and skipped as they chased each other under the morning sun. There were none of the familiar modern-day city sights that once dominated his world. He missed the large billboards and neon signs; the sight of students travelling in pairs or groups to school; the sound of cars on the busy road or the running subway trains…. ‘No, this is my new life,’ he told himself, shaking his head to clear away the past. ‘This is a chance that was given to me so I can achieve my dream. I need to focus on the now and do everything I can to make my dream come true!’ With that being said, he remembered that he was scheduled to meet up with the team for their off-season practice. After grabbing a quick cup of…coffee?…he followed the map that was given to him by Kody for the town's main gymnasium.

He made it to the gymnasium and met up with the others in the changing rooms. As soon as they finished changing, each player reported to the court. Before leaving the changing room, Daniel took one last look at himself in the mirror. This was the very first time he got a look at his new face: reddish-brown hair like burning wood, fierce orange eyes like the glowing midday sun, a small faded scar hiding on the right side of his cheek, a sharp cut at the top of his left ear, and a pair of large but thin eyebrows. The only thing that was similar to his previous appearance was the golden-tan skin tone that reminded him of freshly risen bread.

Finally, Daniel joined up with the others on the court. What he saw next almost made him faint in fear and awe. Although the game they were practicing was no doubt basketball, Daniel was at a loss to see the game being played in a way that he would never have imagined in his wildest dreams! Dribbling, passing, shooting—these actions were not just being performed; they were being supplemented with fire, water, lightning, wind, rocks—a whole host of superhuman abilities utilizing the elements as if it was the natural thing to do!

“Ah, Max!” called Kody from one end of the court.

Daniel, who was now almost on the verge of passing out from over-stimulation and anxiety, jumped at Kody’s voice. “I-I’m here,” he finally responded with an awkward chuckle.

“Being on the court right now, are you starting to remember some things?” Kody asked him with an eager look in his eyes.

“Um, well…,” Daniel turned to Kody and asked with a gulp, “Is it mandatory for us to shoot fireballs to score? I would need a lighter if that’s the case, and a pair of fire-resistant gloves.”

“What are you talking about?” scoffed Kody jokingly. “You always did love your jokes.”

“Jokes?… Oh yeah! Haha! Got you!” quickly said Daniel with a laugh. His laughter fell off and he said the next line in all seriousness: “So was that a yes? Or a no?”

“Don’t tell me that you forgot the rules of the game,” said Kody in a more solemn voice.

“Tee-hee! I do have amnesia,” said Daniel with a light knock to his head.

Kody sighed. “I really did wish that you would regain your memories after a good night’s sleep,” he admitted glumly. “But your situation must be more serious than I thought. Well then, we’ll just have to start at the beginning.” He placed a hand on Daniel’s shoulder and wore a very wide grin. “Just leave it to your best friend! I’ll make sure that you remember the game we both love and help you become the super-rookie you were meant to be!”

Kody’s beaming smile brought tears to Daniel's eyes. His words brought back Daniel’s own memories of his friends from his previous life. ‘Kei.... Hinata...,’ he tearfully remembered. He then broke down into sobs, surprising Kody.

“A-Are you alright?!” asked an alarmed Kody.

“I’m fine,” replied Daniel with a sniffle, drying his eyes. “Kody, you’re the best friend a guy could ever ask for! Thank you!”