Chapter 15: Seniors vs Newbies

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nChatter!! Chatter!!

nJust as he walked inside the auditorium where the orientation for the new students was being held, he noticed a huge crowd of students.

nMost of the students were gathered in groups while only few were standing alone. The students who were gathered in groups were cheerfully conversing with each other while the students who were all alone looked really anxious.

nHe shook his head from left to right but there wasn’t even a single person whom he was familiar with. Every faces were new to him. Even in his previous life, he didn’t have many friends.

n“Sigh!!! Guess I’ll be alone this time as well.”

nHe murmured.

nJust then one of the student made her way towards the stage and announced;

n“All of the students are requested to stand in queue of their respective classes.”

nAfter the announcement, everybody started to form a queue. However he looked absolutely clueless. He didn’t have any idea about which of the queues infront of him belonged to his class.

n“May be I missed the earlier announcement because I arrived late.”

nHe wondered if he had missed some earlier announcement because of his delay. To save himself from embarrassment, he quickly joined the queue which was close to him.

nAs everybody lined up in a queue, the principal made his way towards the stage.

n“Good morning students. I’m Miyamoto Takumi, the principal of Ookami elementary school.”

nAfter introducing himself, the principal began to talk about the history of the school. And for a while the lecture continued.

nHiro started to get bored by the boring lecture of principal. Out of boredom, he started to wander his eyes. As he wandered his eyes, he noticed that he wasn’t the only one who was getting bored by the principal’s lecture. But even so, nobody dared to make a single noise.

nWhile wandering his eyes, he caught a glimpse of a familiar face. Far in the left corner, a student with a ridiculously tall height caught his attention.

n“Wasn’t he the keeper of the school’s football team? But what was his name again??”

nDespite remembering his face, he forgot his name.

n“Our school focuses both on the academics and extra curricular activities. And our school offers a wide range of clubs. So students are encouraged to join one within a week’s time. And before we end the orientation, I’d like to add one more thing.”

n“Welcome to Ookami elementary school.”

nFinally after 15-20 minutes, the principal ended his lecture and dismissed the students.

nNothing much happened during the school hours. Neither did he interact with anybody nor did anybody approached him. It was a peaceful day.

nDing!! Dong!!

nAt exactly 3 PM, the school ended.

n“Before you go, make sure to visit your respective clubs.”

nThe teacher exclaimed while collecting his books.

nAs soon as the teacher left the classroom, he dashed outside. He was the first student to leave his classroom.

nSince it was his first day of school, he didn’t pack his books. Instead, his bag contained his cleats and Jersey. He might have not remembered most of the things regarding the school.

nBut he didn’t forget where the ground was located and where he needed to change his clothes.

n“Why’s nobody here yet??”

nHe mumbled as he stood infront of the pitch, all alone.

n“Oh you’re here quite early.”

nThe same guy from the time of his trial who helped the coach with the trial appeared behind him.

n“Hello I’m Takahashi Hiro.”

nHe bowed his head as he introduced himself.

n“I know about your identity. By the way I’m Aomine Honda. The assistant coach of Ookami elementary school. It’ll take a while for them to show up on the pitch. So why don’t you warm up for a while.”

nHonda suggested.

nAs suggested by Honda, he began to stretch his body. After stretching, he started to run around the pitch.

n“Aomine Honda!! Where have I heard that name??”

nWhile jogging, he wondered why that name felt so familiar.

n“Right!! Isn’t he the future coach of U-21 team of Japan?”

nHe finally remembered about Honda’s identity.

nEven though he never made it to national team in his previous life, he kept tab of everyone who made significant impact in the national team. And Aomine Honda was one of the person who brought a change in Japanese football.

nAt just 37 years of age, he’d coach the under 21 team of japan. Even though he wouldn’t lead the under 21 team of the nation to a major international trophy, they would still finish at high ranking positions regardless, everytime under his guidance.

n“Come over here Hiro”

nWhile he was reminiscing about the identity of coach honda, he heard the voice of coach Miura calling out his name.

nHe was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t even realise that he had been running for more than 20 minutes all alone. But finally after hearing the voice of coach Miura, he returned back to his senses.

n“Huff!! Huff!!”

n“Who’s that guy??”

n“A newbie??”

n“Isn’t he that guy who demolished our keeper completely?”

nOther players had already arrived in the pitch. They were all dressed in schools jersey and were chattering among themselves.

n“Okay!! Everyone gather up.”

nThe coach ordered everyone to gather around him. The senior players started to gather in a circle around the coach. However they didn’t leave any space for the newbies.

n“Today I’d like to introduce the newbies who’ll be joining our team. Hiro, Sasaki, Gen, Akashi and Ken come forward.”

nAlong with him, the coach called out for four other players. Gen looked quite familiar among others.

n“Nice to meet you. I’m Gen from class 1-B. I like to play as a striker. Please take care of me.”

n“I’m Akashi from class 1-C. I play as a defensive midfielder. Please take care of me.”

n“I’m Ken from class 1-A. My position is goalkeeper. Please take care of me.”

n“I’m Sasaki, also from class 1-A. I can play any role aside from the goalkeeper. Please take care of me.”

nAll four of them introduced themselves, but every single one of them looked extremely anxious and only Hiro was left. After they finished their introduction, Hiro stepped forward and began to introduce himself. Unlike the previous four, he wasn’t nervous even a bit. After all to him, they were all bunch of kids.

n“Nice to meet you. I’m Takahashi Hiro from class 1-B. I like to play as a playmaker. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. Please look after me.”

nHe bowed his head while introducing himself.

n“Hehe!! Haha!!” 𝒃𝙚𝙤𝙫𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝙢

nAs they finished their introduction, Hiro could vividly hear the faint laughs of the other senior players.

n“Okay that’s all for the introduction. As our tradition, we’ll now play a welcome match between the newcomers and the seniors. Since there are only 5 newcomer’s, we’ll play a mini game of 5v5.”

nThe coach announced.

n“Huh!! It’s not fair. How can he make us face against the senior squad on our first day??”

nThe other four newbies started to whine.

nFear was vivid in their eyes. And by no means, he thought that they could stand a chance against the senior squads.

nWhen the player’s admit defeat even before the start of the game, they’re more than likely to lose the game. However unlike them, he was determined to win against the senior team even if he had to do it all by himself.

nBeep!!

nThe game started with Ken as the goalkeeper, Sasaki and Akashi as defenders, finally Hiro and Gen as the forwards.

nSince the game was played 5v5, it was played only in one half of the pitch with mini posts.

n“Huh what’s this? Why isn’t the coach playing that tall goalkeeper?”

nHiro mumbled as he witnessed Mark standing in the sidelines.

nAs Gen was charging the ball forward, the ball got stolen from him and he quickly lost position. The senior players didn’t even give them a chance to defend as they smoothly passed through Sasaki and Akashi. Ken proved to be useless against the senior players as well. He conceded the goal from between his legs in less than a minute of the starting.

n“Don’t mind!! Don’t mind!! We can still do it.”

nHiro tried to encourage his teammates.

nHowever they continued to make mistakes. Gen was extremely overconfident. Even though he got his ball stolen many times, he didn’t stop charging the ball forward all by himself.

n“Pass!! Pass!!”

nHiro shouted.

nHowever Gen ignored his calls and continued to attack all by himself. The senior players rushed at him and quickly cornered him.

n“Pass!! Pass!!”

nHiro kept on shouting.

nBut Gen kept on ignoring him. Gen was playing extremely selfish and only wanted to score all by himself. He didn’t pass and tried to dribble pass the opponent defenders.

nBut this time as well, the ball got stolen from him. He couldn’t retain the ball.

n“What is he doing?? Don’t he know how to pass the ball??”

nAkashi exclaimed in frustration.

nGen’s selfish play costed them another goal.

n“Why don’t you pass the ball??”

nAkashi walked towards Gen and grabbed his collar.

nBeep!!

nHonda san blew the whistle to warn Akashi of his behaviour.

n“Tch!!”

nAkashi clicked his tongue as he let go of Gen’s collar. It hadn’t even been 10 minutes and they were already down by two goals.

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