Foreigner

"Alright. Enough of what you are doing," Nakahara shouted.

He finished assimilating what Kaga had said and was now feeling a bit assured about what was about to happen.

"Gather before me." 

Instantly, the football players arrived before him. Aoi and Oka were at the back. Nakahara was not sure why Aoi liked to stand at the back and not at the front when he was clearly an egoistic type of person.

Nonetheless, he stopped focusing on him and calmly swept his eyes to other football players.

He said, "Today, I was planning for bouts of training before a practice match like yesterday again. However, I have just received a challenging practice match against Moriko High School."

***

"Moriko High School?" Oka was surprised.

Aoi asked, "What about them? Why are you surprised?"

"Well, Moriko High School finished in the semi-final just like us last year. However, I heard a foreign football player came to that school this year. I don't know how good he is, but based on the rumor… exaggerated or not, he should be good."

Aoi shrugged. He was not concerned about the rumor. He felt it would be better to find out the truth by playing against him.

He glanced at Nakahara, and his expression was sour.

Despite the other football players having a smile on their faces, for they were excited to have a practice match against another school to prove their skills, Nakahara seemed to be so serious.

"Based on Nakahara-Sensei's expression, it seems the rumor is true," said Oka.

"What about it?" Another voice joined their conversation.

Oka and Aoi turned towards him and discovered it was the bald player.

Oka asked him, "Who are you?"

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Kuduo."

Oka nodded and asked, "Why are you not concerned?"

"Well, he is just a single player. I can stop him." He turned to Ogata and cast a glance of pity on him. "I can still make use of his skills. However, I hope he will not receive another mental shock against that foreigner like what Aoi did to him."

"I did not do anything to him."

"Well, unintentionally."

Oka guffawed at their interaction. Once he was satisfied, he turned to Kuduo and asked, "How exactly are you going to stop him? Let's say he is much better than Aoi-"

"I am better than him."

[Ding! You have shown Egoistic Behavior. 

You have been rewarded with 2 Ego Points.]

Oka stared at him dazedly and sighed.

He continued, "How will you be able to stop Aoi?"

"He can't stop me."

[Ding! You have shown Egoistic Behavior! 

You have been rewarded with 3 Ego Points!]

"Pipe down your ego, will you?" Oka was irritated.

Aoi did not reply, just staring at the air as though he did not hear Oka.

Kuduo, on the other hand, giggled at their interaction and then stared at Aoi for a while.

He said, his tone was filled with confidence, "I have many means. Well, we will find out."

Aoi glanced at him and gazed at his eyes for a long while as though they were having a staring competition.

Oka was sliding his eyes between them multiple times, standing in the middle of them.

He pushed them back away with his hands and said, "Alright. Your ego is getting on your head. Calm down, the two of you, will you not?"

Aoi did not back down, while Kuduo just calmly smiled and turned towards Nakahara, who was glaring daggers at them.

Aoi shrugged and stared back at Nakahara, to which he gave a nonchalant expression.

Nakahara was helpless against them, really admitting he must have to focus on his team's coordination.

True, they each possess amazing individual skills, but when it came to team coordination, with their egoistic mindset… he did not want to talk about it.

He thought, 'I hope this practice match will enlighten them that their enemy is not their teammate, but rather, the opposing team.'

He suddenly recalled a young figure and sighed.

'That guy can bring his teammates closer to perfect harmony because he is a great leader.'

Sweeping his eyes to his players – Aoi, Kaga, Kuduo, Oka – it was impossible to choose which were suited to be the leader of the team.

Of course, the highest chance to bestow that position was Aoi, but then again, he was afraid he would be too egoistic to even work as a team.

He sighed once again.

He did not know how many times he sighed today – though one that lasted longer was when he received a call from the coach of the Moriko highschool football team, asking for a practice match.

Before he could even provide his response, they were updating him that they were already on the way.

Of course, he could have accepted it already and gotten the chance to get to know more about the foreigner, but when he asked, he was informed the foreigner would be late since he did not attend the classes today and was busy with something.

He instantly perceived that the Moriko High School football team's coach was inquiring about his players through the practice match, and it vexed him.

But then again, he realized it would benefit his players as well – to get rid of their ego and motivate them to train better for the next few days once and for all.

Of course, he acknowledged the fact that his idea might go awry, but he still wanted to try.

He sighed once again.

He gazed at his players and said, "Alright. They will be coming here in five minutes, probably. So, the following eleven players that will be called must prepare and warm up. Ah, wait…"

Nakahara counted his players again and sighed.

"The five players are not here… so, does that mean they quit?"

Thankfully though, the five players really did not leave a good impression of him. It was even better that he had fewer players to manage anyway.

Hence, he was not instantly disheartened.

The players looked at each other and were silent.

Nakahara interpreted their silence as a yes and nodded.

"Well, forget about it. The earlier you all quit, the better you stop wasting my time."