[25] The Regulars

"Akai!"

A senior passed the ball to Akai which the young man effortlessly received and instantly passed it to another one in quick succession.

And for the entire 30 minutes or so, players kept delivering quick passes to one another while calling out their respective names at the same time.

Indeed, the team was training their reflexes, ball control, and quick passes simultaneously through this method.

Furthermore, it allows the freshmen to get used to working together with the seniors.

However, there was someone who was an exception to it...

"Ho..."

Izumo was sidestepping and maneuvering himself through a line of cones while dribbling the ball and not letting it touch the ground.

He had been doing this since the start of the practice with no rest or break whatsoever.

Even though the others were already used to his routine, they still couldn't help but be astonished by his stamina and endurance to keep going.

Such an intense workout was something they wouldn't even dare.

In fact, the first time they had seen Izumo's training...

Some players joined in, whether it be because of their curiosity, boredom, or feeling challenged.

And oh boy, was it their mistake as the next day, they all missed practice because of the soreness all over their body.

It was on that day that they decided to just leave him be.

Furthermore, Izumo didn't need much training regarding teamwork since they all knew he was already great at it if he wanted to be, much to their frustration.

"Chop, chop! gather around, everyone!"

Kousuke stepped inside the field and clapped his hands, getting the attention of everyone.

Shortly after, every player gathered in front of Kousuke and stood in silence, waiting for him to speak.

"Next week will be the start of the preliminary rounds for the Inter-High..."

"..."

"Which begs the question... who will play and who will not?"

Upon hearing his words, most of the players felt nervous, afraid that they might not be chosen as regulars.

For one, it was already guaranteed that Izumo was gonna be one which only left 10 main and 11 back-ups, totaling 21 open slots.

And with how many members there were in the soccer club, there was no way everyone would get to play.

"First up... Izumo and Yamamoto, you two will be the forwards"

Both Izumo and Yamamoto gave a glance at each other before nodding in acknowledgment upon hearing his words.

"Ren, Minato, Akai, and Botan... midfielders"

The other three senior players nodded and looked calm, though deep inside, they felt a slight relief.

Meanwhile, Akai felt exhilarated at being chosen despite being a first-year and clenched his fist in the air out of celebration.

On the other hand, the rest of the first years stared at Akai and felt envious of him.

"Hinata, Fuji, Kaito, and Jiro... centrebacks"

The moment Kousuke uttered those names, the first years had their faces crunched up as none of them had been called at all, and now...

The goalkeeper was the only open slot.

And they knew there were only two individuals qualified for the position...

Kouji, the first-year student and...

Hatsu, the third-year student and the one who played last time during the first mock battle.

With these in mind, the both of them were calm but deep inside, they were nervous since even Kouji, the ever-silent boy was muttering incomprehensible words.

"Now for the last spot..."

Kousuke spoke, glancing at the two players with a listless look before he soon opened his mouth and uttered a name.

"Kouji"

"...!!"

Upon not hearing his name called, Hatsu had his eyes wide open as a dejected look soon appeared on his face before sighing defeatedly.

Meanwhile, Kouji stopped muttering and let out a satisfied grunt.

On the other hand, the rest who weren't called groaned in frustration, especially the first years, they were the most dejected ones.

"Hatsu, Genkei, Kota, Mako, Okimi, Haru, Suzume, Seijun, Hisashi, Tadashi, and Yoshi..."

"..."

"You 11 will be the bench players"

Haru hearing his name called, almost let out a yell of joy but managed to compose himself as he could feel the deep gazes of the other first years.

Even though it was just as a bench player, it was still nice to be called upon.

"Of course, this could change depending on your performance"

"..."

"That's all... you can get back to whatever you were doing before"

Kousuke yawned and shrugged his hand toward the players before turning around and was about to leave when someone yelled out toward him.

"Wait!!"

"...?"

"Shouldn't you brief us about our upcoming opponents in the tournament?"

"Tsk, right..."

Kousuke clicked his tongue and looked annoyed at being reminded as he contemplated on what to do before deciding to just walk away.

"Wait!? What about-"

"Ask the Suzuki twins, they have all the deets"

Kousuke didn't give time for the other players to interrupt him again as he instantly left the field with hurried steps.

With him gone, the atmosphere turned awkward as none of them didn't know what to say.

"Who... who wants to look for the Suzuki twins?"

"Not me"

"Nope"

"Ain't me"

The players huddled up and started conversing, planning to decide on their plan while some split up and went to do their things.

Meanwhile, Akai was feeling joyful and wanted to celebrate which was why he called Kouji and Haru together as well as Izumo.

But as he turned his head to look for him, Akai found out that Izumo had vanished.

"Eh? Where did he go?"

Akai scratched the back of his head, looking utterly baffled while Kouji was still silent as ever and Haru was immersed in the delight of being called up.

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"Yawn~"

Kousuke yawned and stretched his arms up in the air as he sat on a chair with a desk in front of him that was full of documents.

Knock! Knock!

A sudden knocking on the door alerted him, making him arch his right eyebrow and look toward the door in curiosity.

"Come in"

Shortly after Kousuke allowed whoever it was outside the room, the door opened and Izumo appeared, stepping inside the room.

"Need something, baby boy?"

"..."

Izumo rolled his eyes in response and decided to ignore the quip as he sat down on a chair at the other side of the desk.

"I would like to skip the first match"

Izumo immediately went straight to the point, taking Kousuke by surprise but the man managed to compose himself instantly in a split second.

"Explain"

"I have plans next week"

"..."

Hearing his words, Kousuke sat in silence for a few minutes and brushed his chin in contemplation.

"Okay"

"I knew it was impossi-"

Izumo was about to attempt to convince Kousuke but paused when he realized that he got the permission.

"Wait... you serious?"

"Hm"

"Aren't you going to ask?"

"Don't care"

Kousuke shrugged his shoulders as he took the documents on the desk and went back to work.

Meanwhile, Izumo was just dumbfounded by the unexpected answer and didn't know how to react to his nonchalant attitude.

Even though he had already spent months with this man...

His character still alludes to him from time to time to this day.