My system allows me to copy talents

?”Shoot”

Shouted one of the player from the backline. However Yuya who had been recently promoted to the U-18 team hesitated despite being right in front of the post.

Because of his excellent performance in the U-15 team, he had been promoted to the U-18 team because of the vacant spot left behind by Hiro and Shun.

It’s not like that there weren’t other players in the reserve team of U-18 but noticing his notable improvement on the field and also to experiment some new strategies, Yuya had been promoted to the U-18 team.

However although his performance hadn’t been bad but it hadn’t been particularly good either. Specially considering his position as left winger, he should have been getting involved with goals but till now after playing more than four matches, he still hadn’t recorded any assist or goals.

Which is why even the coaches were starting to reconsider their decision of promoting him.

What should I do? Should I shoot or should I pass? If I miss they’re probably gonna lecture me…

Several thoughts run amuck on his mind as he came close to the penalty box of the opposing team. His breathing a little hurried while his heart pounding rather fast than normal times, without even needing to check his surrounding he could very well feel the gazes concentrated at him.

Right now he was cutting from the flanks and although he had already beaten their right back, still there were more defenders of the opposing team left to beat. Albeit a little far from the post, his pathway to the post wasn’t completely blocked.

However that path was shrinking at rapid pace with every second because of the movement of the opposing players. And if he waited for even more, anything could happen.

He might get tackled or he might even dribble past the defenders. There was also a possibility of Renji freeing his mark and coming to his aid. If he could do that, he wouldn’t have to worry about the backlashes from his coaches and teammates.

Thus, he was desperately hoping for Renji to come to his aid.

Just then his eyes became frantic as he started to panic. Because of his hesitation the opposing defender had already closed on to him.

And now he had only two options left; either to shoot or to get past this defender who was charging towards him. ℴ𝘮

In a state of panic, he chose the first option. He finally decided to shoot the ball when he still had the chance.

Bam!!

“Awhhh!!”

Both his teammates and the small number of supporter present in the ground cried out as they witnessed the opposing keeper saving the shot, shot by Yuya.

Bam!! Bam!! Bam!!

Perspiration fell down his face as Yuya made consecutive shots at an empty post— venting his anger. Right now his whole face was covered with sweet while he was heaving with great difficulty. Layer of dirt had accumulated in his boot; making it seem extremely mucky.

And even in this hot weather, steam could be seen oozing out of his body.

Sure enough just by looking at his exhausted state, one could presume that it wasn’t his first shots.

Huff! Huff!

Heaving heavily, he paused as he slightly limped his upper body and rested his arms atop his legs. Slowly, he then raised his head to look at the post.

Off the five balls he had shot, only three had managed to find its way inside the post. The remaining two had gone astray.

That scene caused his expression to turn sour as he bitterly clicked his tongue. Those balls which were lying out of the post, triggered his memories of the moment where he had blown his chances away.

Sure, the coaches hadn’t been strict to him despite blowing those opportunities away. But he didn’t need his coaches to tell that his performance wasn’t satisfactory. Just by experiencing the tension on the locker room, he could vividly feel that the people around him were disappointed and displeased.

If Hiro was present there at that moment, the atmosphere of the locker room wouldn’t have been like that. Even when losing, he would have uplifted the gloomy and tensed atmosphere of the locker room.

He could confidently say so because he had heard from his teammates about his feats.

But now with arrival of Hiro, he was surely going to get demoted to U-15 team, once again. Even so, he wasn’t upset about the arrival of Hiro or angry because he was going to get demoted. Rather, right now he was angry at himself for blowing his opportunity away.

If only he had capitalized the opportunity he had in his hands, he wouldn’t be getting demoted. If only he had played well, he could have kept playing with the U-18 team.

“Oh.. here you are…”

While Yuya was fighting a battle of his own, suddenly he was startlingly brought back to the reality by a familiar voice he had heard countless times.

“Strange, but why didn’t I see you while entering the building? I’m sure that at that time when passing through the training grounds, I didn’t find you here”

Hiro while walking towards the exhausted Yuya, mumbled absentmindedly.

Upon noticing Hiro, immediately Yuya faked a smile on his face as he tried to hide his original state of grumpiness from Hiro. It’s not that he didn’t know that Hiro and Shun were arriving today. In fact he being their friend very well knew about their arrival.

Yet he didn’t have the courage to face them when just a day before their arrival, he had blown a match and costed his team 3 precious points. In those five matches he had played, he had only managed to win one, draw one and lose three times; causing his team to slip down from their rankings.

When Hiro was still playing, they were ranked first but right now they were ranked third— two points behind the team in second position and five points behind the team in first position which happened to be Aomori Yamada HS.

With all this matter in hands, how could he muster his courage to face his teammates who had returned victorious; achieving a great feat for the country.

“Sorry, I didn’t think that you’d arrive this soon”Yuya while faking a smile on his face, nervously apologized.

Obviously he was lying. He very well knew about their arrival time. He just didn’t have the courage to face them.

Although he was trying hard to maintain the smile on his face and although he seemed extremely cheerful from the outside, however Hiro could vividly see through his facade.

Yuya might not have shared about his experiences honestly with them but just because he didn’t share everything with them wouldn’t mean that others wouldn’t as well.

Shunta who was one of the closest with Yuya, despite not playing for the U-18 team had already caught the whiff of his distressful state and had shared the information with Hiro and Shun.

Thus despite Yuya’s attempt on hiding the pain he was suffering through, Hiro knew well about his condition and the torment he was going through.

Yet, Hiro didn’t feel like telling it to him directly. He knew that would only result in an outburst. Just like a dam that’s barely holding onto large reserve of water, by breaking the news directly to him, he would only destroy the dam and cause it to flood.

Thus, right now he needed to be extremely careful. Carefully by allowing small potion of water to flow out, he had draw out the water without hampering the dam.

“Don’t fuss about it. It’s no big deal”

Hiro spoke in a goofy casual tone and tried to lower the guard of Yuya.

“I saw you make those shots earlier. And although your form is good but while making those shots, you seem a bit distracted. It’s like somethings weighing heavily on your heart”

In the pretense of providing a feedback as an observer, Hiro tried to dig deep within the hearts of Yuya. However he was careful about the words he was speaking, thus while speaking he didn’t mention about the issue directly.

Those words of Hiro struck directly to his heart. And he felt a subtle heartache after hearing those words. He couldn’t even bring himself to deny those claims. Afterall it was all true.

Experiencing Yuya’s unresponsiveness, Hiro could tell that he had struck the nail. But he still had absolutely no idea on how to soothe Yuya. He wasn’t good with words.

Thus, instead of speaking, he decided to show him. Afterall it would be easier to show than to speak. Also who knows, doing something he wasn’t accustomed with, might lead to an error and he might accidently reveal his real intention.

It was rather easier for him to show than to explain.

“Now how do I explain it to you…”

Muttering such, he walked towards the ball lying on the field and grabbed one of the ball.

‘Is he going to demonstrate a shot now?’ Noticing the stance Hiro was taking, a thought permeated inside the mind of Yuya.

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