(Part 12)

 Soon, Zach, Haruf, Elias, Aigou, Ibrahim, Kazuna, Orion and Nagi too came inside crowding.

"Dear god…" Feng uttered speechless sitting on the corner of the bed which Aigou, Senri and Orion had successfully taken over. Admitting defeat he settled down beside Xavier. 

"I think the floor is the best choice." he cried a single tear (ironically).

Xavier ruffled his hairs as he laid down on his lap. "Now this is much better!" Feng gleamed finally comfy.

"So… what brings you here?" Poseidon asked awkwardly; for he too did not understand the situation.

"To see if you were even alive. For two hours, you all have cramped yourselves within this room. We had to check out if you were even breathing or not." Orion replied sarcastically.

That was one way to put it… all middleschoolers hopelessly glanced at each other.

"Else than that the other reason was to inform you about the meeting. Rauf told us to take you along with us." Lou Wang continued.

"We are not kids." Gabriel replied blatant.

"Yes, you might think so however, you are kids in our eyes." Elias winked.

Azazel twitched his brow acting as if he'll bring up.

"Then without wasting time let's go." Poseidon smiled.

Kazuna nodded.

"Besides… have you gotten over everything that happened?" Nagi asked seriously.

The middleschoolers remained silent.

"Of course." Xavier replied after a short while, "We can't mull over it forever."

"That's good. Don't let it affect it your mood and progress." Aigou encouraged. 

"Did you know about it?" Seraph questioned.

Haruf nodded, "We did and we do."

"We have been with Alan for years. Something like this is impossible not to know." Zach added.

"I see…" Heber whispered, his expression downcast.

"So the ones who weren't aware were us only." Cassiel wondered.

Tracing their confusion and disappointment the highschoolers smiled considerately.

"Do you know why Alan is called as the Sovereign of disguises?" Noah asked altering the mood.

"Because he is good at hiding everything…" Azazel rolled his eyes.

"That's right nevertheless did you know rather than the world, we were the ones who gave him that title." Aigou continued.

"Huh?" Feng and Heber blinked.

"After all nobody would call him sovereign of infinite disguises on the pitch. He has nothing to do with disguises on the ground much less in a match." Ren said.

"We named him that because he never opened himself." Isa smiled, "Ever since a little child he has been through a lot. Through things even we don't know despite being so close to him. From the time we met him up until now he never revealed any of his weaknesses to anyone. We were the ones who found out ultimately."

"And the expressions you all carry right now reminds me of ours that we once held before, after discovering everything." Elias added.

The middleschoolers listened keenly.

"Don't tell me you are trying to cheer us up?" Ezekiel questioned in disbelief.

"Who knows? But do you realize that there are a lot of things that you are still unaware of? The only thing that opened up was about Alan. The rest of us despite sitting here before you, you know nothing about us." Senri smiled.

Xavier narrowed his gaze realizing, "That's right… it was just Alan. Considering from a big picture we are in the dark from knowing about all highschoolers. Isn't Alan one of them then…?"

Unable to retort the middleschoolers remained silent. "So why don't you broaden your horizons and learn a little bit more from everything that has happened and will happen in the future." Ren advised.

Seraph, Helios, Poseidon and Gabriel pondered on their words. Immediately Kenzo stood up wearing his watch, "If you think we have that much time and interest on our hands to study and research on you then you think too highly of yourselves. We better win the PSL on the contrary. Let's go Heber, Azazel." he headed out. 

Helios agreed, "If things to be learned would make sure we learn them. Then I bet there's no need to force ourselves. The same goes for Alan too."

Poseidon agreed as well.

"Listen up all of you, our entire attention is on PSL. Don't you dare, divert our minds on this stupidity." Gabriel glared following Kenzo.

Azazel standing up beside Ryan smirked. "Or blame yourselves if we lose." he waved.

Xavier beamed, "Thank you seniors. We'll work on what you said."

All middleschoolers left the room and highschoolers behind. "Oh dear, oh dear…" Elias gazed at their backs.

"Aren't they leagues ahead of us?" Nagi recalled how they once were too.

"Hm. Leagues ahead of us with that arrogance." Kazuna stated ironically.

"Listen up, little freaks." Isa addressed the middleschoolers who stood before the elevator turning around.

"Try to find about everything by yourself and with your reliance. Whether, us or Alan or anything else in the world." "Because even if Alan won't play a single match in this PSL. A child who grasped a ball from the moment he was born can only be full of experiences." he stated.

"And I bet none of you would want to lose proficiencies. That goes for us too." Orion glared at them pressing the other elevator's button.

Inside the elevator Adam grasping Seraph's hand looked at the ground. Glancing beside him to find Haruf standing he asked curious, "Senior Haruf... If Alan isn't called the sovereign of infinite disguises on the pitch… what he is really called?"

Haruf grinning, ruffled his hairs. "Have you heard of the world 'Galaxy'?"

Adam squinted his gaze pondering, "Galaxy…?"

"Pakistan's Galaxy…" Haruf stated.

As if something clicking their minds Seraph, Heber and Cassiel repeated, "Pakistan's Galaxy…?"

"Why does this name sound so familiar…?" Feng wondered.

Siding metal gates opening on the ground floor. The boys stepped out. Couches and tables organized around the four corners of the huge entrance area. From glass windows fountains and swimming pools accompanied by lush green gardens gave out an exquisite spectacle. A huge LED screen hanging in the middle of the room, all coaches including Rauf, Evan and Haris were settled on a round table discussing matters regarding the upcoming matches.

Beside Seles, Alan sat with his leg a top of another writing consecutively while his little rabbit hopped inside out from the gardens back to the room in a continuous loop. 

Nidou glanced back hearing their approaching nimble footsteps. "Tch, Finally here? Literally what are you all snails? Hurry up and settle down so we can start." he clicked his tongue gesturing them to hurry up.

Some taking the chairs around the round table and some couches settled down. Seles and Pedro gave out a calm and reassuring beam. Mir switching on the LED, turned over to his files.

"Come on, Seles my boy you are ready to go." Nidou yawned, gulping sports water.

"He won't even demonstrate." Poseidon thought speechless.

Seles standing up spoke, "Since all of you have gathered up, let's not waste any more time and proceed. As you all already know tomorrow is officially the start of this year's T-20 PSL. Alongside the opening ceremony, the first match that is between Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators with also take place."

"However, that doesn't mean we let our guards down since we are next in line. Our first match that is against Lahore Qalandars; quiet a formidable team, will take place day after tomorrow 6 PM in the evening." 

"Though this is already in your awareness. What you need to know most importantly are these practice matches that will be conducted as a part of your training every day from on. These specific tasks and skills tests are prepared by all coaches present here and are mandatory to be accomplished. Instructors in charge of these practice matches are Coach Pedro, Coach Seles and Coach Yusuf." Mir stated handing two papers. One to Helios and the other to Elias.

"In case of any query you can take assistance from anyone here. No need to hesitate or hide. The tournament matches this time are a total of Seven (7). 5 matches based on the preliminary round that gain points. These matches are very crucial since they decide the position of your overall ranking. 2 teams who amongst the overall scoring attain least number of points after these matches are disqualified." Mir explained. The middleschoolers heeded attentive.

"2 teams… that is a quite high rate comparing 6 teams participating over all." Helios pondered.

"Since only 4 teams will remain after two disqualified. The last remaining matches will be played amongst the rest 4 in a semifinal and final. I hope you all understood me very clearly." Mir ended.

"Yes." they replied. 

"Sigh, PSL always have high demands." Nagi exhaled. 

"Wow… now that's one tight schedule." Orion gulped at the practice sheets.

"What about touring Islamabad then?" Aigou asked in a hopeless whisper.

"Forget it…" Ren whispered back. "Moreover, we'll be travelling a lot too around entire Pakistan so you better prepare yourself for that too." Yusuf added.

Helios hearing him blinked, "Seriously…?"

Ryan teased from behind, "Well, hello planes~"

The highschoolers on the contrary stared at Senri who smiled naturally. "He is much more hopeless…" Evan thought.

"Alright, listen up. The candidates for the first match are all middle schoolers." Nidou stated.

All of them looked up. "What…?" Feng gasped.

"All middleschoolers?" Adam repeated puzzled.

"Yes all middleschoolers. Not a single highschooler will participate in the first match." Nidou clarified.