As mentioned by Yuya, most of the players in the youth team were academy players who had been playing for the club since they were 5 or 6 years old. Meaning most of the players in the club were local players from around the same region as the club.
And the reason why none of the players in the club knew of him was because they were academy players as well. Since the players of the youth club could only compete against players from other school’s from middle school onward, non of the players in the youth club had participated in the nationals.
During elementary school level, the academy players could only compete against other youth academies and occasionally some elementary and middle schools from their region.
“What!!! You have participated in the nationals?” Yuya intoned with his eyes wide open and mouth agape.
“Yeah!! I’ve participated in five of it.” Hiro replied casually.
Hearing such, Yuya leaned his body a bit closer towards him and incredulously stared at him with his eyes wide open.
He continued to stare at him for a while. After a bit of thinking, as he remembered something he finally opened his mouth to speak;
“Five times huh?? From Tokushima all I can remember is the recent winners Ookami elementary school. Did you play for Ookami elementary school?”
“Yeah that’s where I played.” He replied casually without any change in his facial expressions.
“Hmmm…. You played for Ookami elementary school. And you’re name is similar to that of the star player of Ookami elementary school. But you look nothing like him. Was there two Takahashi Hiro in your school?” Yuya questioned him while striking his chin, trying to remember the face of Hiro from three years ago.
“No there wasn’t. I’m that star player that you are mentioning about.” Hiro replied while pointing his finger towards him.
“My freaking lord!!! You look nothing like him. How can a person change so much in less than 3 years??” Yuya freaked out when he found out that he was the star player of the Ookami elementary school who had helped them lift the trophy in 2019.
‘Ah!! That must be because of the muscle enhancing elixir. After consuming it, my body changed a bit too much. I gained few kilos and my height also increased by few inches. And since the elixir affected my overall muscle, it also affected my facial muscles too afterall.’ Hiro thought after listening to Yuya’s claims.
Since Yuya only watched the finals of the nationals, he wasn’t aware that Ookami elementary school which won the 2019 nationals had participated in five of the nationals.
“The last time when I saw you on TV, you still looked like a kid with baby face. Did puberty hit you even before you entered your teenage?” Yuya questioned while staring at him.
“Hahaha that’s funny. But you don’t have to act too dramatic now.” Hiro mumbled after giving away a sarcastic laugh.
Not to make the situation too much awkward, Yuya cracked a joke while revealing a sarcastic laugh.
“Hahaha… Yeah I feel honoured to play with such a huge star. May be in distant future, I can brag about this huge achievement with others as well. Hahahah”
“Everybody gather around.”
While they were cheerfully chatting with each other sharing their past experiences, they heard voice of manager Nozomi commanding everybody to gather around.
“Let’s continue our talk later.”
Saying such both of them dismissed their conversation and began to walk towards manager Nozomi who was standing at the sidelines just infront of the reserve seat.
And as everybody gathered around him, he began to stare at the players.
“I don’t have much to complaint about the starting team. But I’ve a lot to complain about the performance of the reserves.” He intoned while staring at the faces of the reserve players.
With there head bowed down, nobody from the reserve team dared to look manager Nozomi in the eyes. Since all of them were also aware of their mistakes except Koto Yui, they simply couldn’t bring themselves to lift their chin up.
“Ryuma step forward!!” He yelled after staring at them for a while.
“Yes sir!!” Ryuma answered and stepped forward without lifting his head up.
“Tell me honestly. Where were you wrong?” Nozomi questioned.
Ryuma hesitated to open his mouth. And he just kept on standing without saying anything.
“I asked you. Where were you wrong? Reply me Ryuma Takeuchi.” Nozomi yelled.
“I shouldn’t have touched that ball.” He replied meekly with his gaze pointed at the ground.
“What ball?” Nozomi inquired.
“The ball which costed our team the most precious goal. I shouldn’t have been selfish.” Ryuma replied.
“Was that your only mistake?” Nozomi kept on questioning him. 𝘰𝑣𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
“No sir. I was sloppy with the attack. I couldn’t position myself better. And most importantly I kept avoiding Hiro even when he was free sir.” Ryuma replied without holding back anything.
“Then will you repeat this same mistake again?” Nozomi asked while stepping towards him.
“No sir. From now on I’m gonna behave like professional player.” Ryuma replied.
“Good!! But since you’ve already made the mistake. You ought to get punished as well. Apologise to Hiro and run around the field 20 laps while saying sorry to Hiro. Do you agree with my punishment?”
“Yes sir. I deserve to be punished. I won’t repeat such actions again.” Saying such he walked towards Hiro.
“Please forgive me my friend. I was unreasonably selfish.” Ryuma bowed his head down low and apologized to Hiro.
“It’s okay.” Hiro replied without holding back any grudges.
After hearing his reply, Ryuma stormed away to complete his punishment.
Since they were already exhausted because of the match, even a simple punishment like that was a painful torture for them.
“And all of you as well. Apologise to him and complete your punishment. If I find you doing such deeds again then I swear that I’ll send all of you to your home. And I’ll also blacklist you so that no clubs in Japan would ever accept you. Do you hear me??” Manager Nozomi yelled while warning the reserve team players.
“This warning is meant for everybody. So don’t think that it doesn’t apply to you.” He continued while staring at the starting players.
After listening to manager Nozomi’s warnings, all of his teammates except Shunta and Yuya apologized to him with their head bowed down and stormed away to complete the punishment.
Since he believed that holding grudges among teammates would only disrupt the harmony of the team and affect the performance of the team, he forgave everybody who apologized to him.
Koto Yui was the last one to approach him. Because of the coach’s warning, he reluctantly apologized to him. However even when apologising to him, Hiro couldn’t feel any sort of sincerity in his apologies.
Even so, he forgave him as well without complaining anything.
“Koto Yui, come to my office after you finish your punishment.” Just as Koto Yui was about to run after making his apology, manager Nozomi stopped him and commanded him to go to his office later.