Practice Game

An hour and a half into training, the Coach rounded up the members with a quick blow of his whistle. After a brief moment, the players were delegated color-coded neon yellow or blue, which was worn over their usual black uniform.

The coach cleared his throat and spoke:

"I've separated you bunch in to 2 teams, which should be obvious. 3rd years VS 2nd and 1st years.

Best performing players will get a spot in the upcoming Inter-School competition. Do you understand?" His sense of respect was like an aura that spread each and every member.

"Yes!"

Yuuto laced up his shoe, a took a look at the nostalgic field. He standing behind his brother, his brother leading the charge as the whistle blew. But that was then, and now is now. 'Showtime' was all he thought as he walked up.

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And the game was underway: the third years played with great fluidity, which could only be built through years of teamwork. The 4-3-1-2 formation worked well against the inexperienced 1st years, though the second years managed to create good chances.

15:00

The second year, Hayama, receives a through ball. He was a starter, during the golden age, but now more wise. He used his speed and technical prowess to dribble through the midfield. But there stood the defensive wall of the Toyama brothers, and the Left-Back and Right-Back hard stoppers Gonda and Takeyama. A hard yet clean tackle cut the offensive movement and began a counterattack.

Fluid passes from the midfielders created space for Yuuto to receive the ball, he could shoot or assist. He looked straight at his captain, and all he could see was a reassuring smile. He goes for it. It's slightly curved and a good stop by the keeper ended the attack.

27:00

It's getting close to 30 minutes and the realisation of this being a practice match kicks in. There are only 30 minutes. It was a do-or-die moment. The 3rd years mildfeild fires a bullet up long. And it's received by Kazuki, a striker with blistering pace. The offensive trio is moving. The strikers up front and Yuuto, the Attacking-Midfielder behind them. The 1st year defense is tight, gearing up to tackle the ball.

Overlapped pass. To Yuuto. He had no realisation of what happened, all he knew was that he had the ball and he had to score. In the same way though, the defense no idea what to do either. In a mess of confusion, Yuuto is brought down in the box. The whistle blows for a penalty.

The team gets in a huddle. Opinions fly everywhere:

"Get the captain to shoot!"

"Give me a chance."

Jun didn't care about these opinions. He simply put a finger to his mouth and shushed the loud crowd. And slowly spoke: "Why not Yuuto?"

He said this with a face one would see in a horror manga. It could send chills down peoples spine. And it did. And soon all the different opinions pointed towards Yuuto.

"Yeah why not Yuuto?"

"I know, he's he's the best, hahaha- ha"

All Yuuto could say was "Eh?"

But he didn't. He couldn't get words out of his mouth infront of his ice-cold captain.

And now he's up on the penalty spot. A weird series of events led him here, and he needs to end it.

29:37

Everything went silent. And then came into his mind a trick that his brother told him once.

He took 1- 2- 3- steps back and ran up. The keeper jumped and he shot, a rabona. A trickshot that managed to send the keeper the other side. It hit the net with ferocious velocity, and the game was won.

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And that's all. Yuuto, was being patted on the back, maybe a bit too much, while the other team, understandably walk back dejected.

As he walked back, Kawasaki asked him: " Did you ever think about why you were the one with all the scoring chances?"

"Well yes but actually no."

"Whats with that response? Well, I asked the strikers to keep proving you chances, and see if you could score. You're a bit rusty but, welcome to the squad."

He looked over, Hayama was not interested, but you could see he hated the idea. Jun on the other hand, acted like a fool, to embarass Yuuto in front of the coach.

He sighed and walked over to Jun and the rest of the squad, happily joking around.

The coach sat on his bench and looked up to the sky, reciting the words "Are you watching?"