Monday, April 4, 2022
Just as the sound of the school bell chimed for lunch break, Hiro who was in his 2nd year of middle school began to pack his bag.
Alongside Rin who was still somewhat chubby, Masao who had lost considerable amount of weight, approached Hiro while he was packing his bag.
And unlike before, Masao’s face looked quite cheerful. He no longer seemed like that meek looking guy whom he met during his first day at school.
Masato and his underlings had also been separated. And now only two of Masato’s previous underlings were studying together with them in the same classroom.
Placing his hands atop Hiro’s desk, Rin leaned his body against Hiro’s desk and spoke, “So the day has come, huh?”
Hiro who was still packing his bag, nodded his head and replied, “It’s the day of my debut.”
“Sometimes I feel quite envious of you. Like you’ve got good looks, you’re good at sports and now you’re even playing in the premier league despite being only 13 years old.” Rin mumbled while staring at him, sounding quite envious.
“Hahaha… Thanks for the compliment. And as much as I want to converse with you two, I’d have to leave for now. The match will be starting soon.” Hiro giggled and thanked Rin for his compliments.
Hiro then rose from his seat and grabbed his bag. And as he was about to leave, he turned around to say something, “Aren’t you guys gonna wish me luck?”
Hearing his words, both Rin and Masao smiled and spoke in unison, “Best of luck for your match.”
And as Hiro was about to thank the two of them, the other students present in the class suddenly wished him luck as well, “‘Best of luck for your match Hiro”‘
Their well wishes totally caught him off-guard and left him flabbergasted. Nevertheless, he was still happy to receive such warm well wishes from his classmates.
Thus, he immediately bowed his head down and thanked them all, “Thank you everyone.”
After thanking his classmates for their well wishes, Hiro then hurriedly left the class.
And since he was the only player from middle school who was going to play in the premier league from his team, the team bus had to make a trip to his school to pick him up.
Hurriedly making his way outside the main building, Hiro was running towards the main gate. But as he reached the main gate, he was stopped by the guard.
“Where are you going student? The school hasn’t ended yet.” Spoke the old man dressed in guard uniform while standing infront of the school gate.
“I’m Takahashi Hiro. Hasn’t the principal already informed you about my departure?” Hiro questioned in a state of hurry.
“The principal has indeed informed me about the departure of one of the players. Wait let me check who it was.” Saying such, the guard began to rummage through his pocket.
And after few seconds, he took out a slip from his pocket and began to read, “Takahashi Hiro.”
“Yup that’s me. So can I leave now?” Hiro nodded his head and started to walk towards the gate.
But he was once again stopped by the guard, “Show me your ID first?”
The guard then asked for his identification to prove that he was indeed the student mentioned by the principal.
“Fine!” Hiro gabbled and then began to rummage through his bag for his student ID. But he couldn’t find it.
Unable to find his ID card he started to panic, “It’s not here!!”
He poured all his books and stationaries out of his bag, onto the floor to look for his ID card.
And while he was searching for his ID card, looking all panicked, the guard spoke in his husky voice, “No ID, no gate pass.”
Since he believed that Hiro would start to make some excuses by saying that he forgot his ID and plead to let him go, he made it clear to Hiro that he wouldn’t let him pass unless either the principal asks him to or he could prove his identity.
Honk!! Honk!!
While Hiro was searching for his ID card, honking sound of a vehicle came from outside the gate.
“Now who is it?” Mumbling such in an irritated manner, the old guard began to make his way towards the main gate.
And just as he opened the main gate, a fat old man dressed in black suit with silvery white hair and round face, appeared infront of his sight. That man was manager Makoto.
“Yes!! Who are you looking for?” Answered the guard while looking at the man infront.
And even though he had never seen Makoto before, he was still polite to Makoto because of his job as a guard and because of Makoto’s appearance. 𝙡𝙞𝒃𝒆𝓪.𝓬𝒐𝒎
“I’m here to pick one of our player. His name is Takahashi Hiro. Would you please call him as fast as possible. I’ve already informed the principal about his leave.” Makoto hurriedly replied.
“Is he the player you’ve been looking for?” The guard asked while pointing at Hiro who was still searching for his ID card, letting Makoto to take a peak at Hiro from outside the gate.
Witnessing the sight of Hiro infront of him, Makoto immediately answered, “Yes. He’s the one I’m talking about.”
But still the manager’s words wasn’t enough to convince him to let Hiro go, “Sorry sir. But I still can’t let him go unless I could see his ID card or I get the green light from our principal.”
Witnessing the guards stubbornness despite him confirming about Hiro’s identity, Makoto’s face started to turn red from anger.
Since the match was going to start from 2 PM sharp, they had about an hour and half left to reach the stadium. Thus, the gatekeepers stubbornness was getting on his nerves.
However he still suppressed his anger and went back to get his phone to call the principal.
And just as manager Makoto left towards the bus to get his phone, Masao came running towards Hiro.
Hiro who was still searching for his ID card was too focused on finding his ID that he didn’t even notice Masao nor manager Makoto.
Finally upon reaching Hiro, Masao paused and began to gasp for breath. While gasping for breath, Masao took out Hiro’s ID card from his pocket and handed it to Hiro, “You dropped… Your…. ID”
Looking at the hand stretched infront of him, Hiro slowly raised his head and found Masao panting heavily.
Taking off the ID card from Masao’s hand, Hiro rose up and hugged Masao, “Thank you Masao. Thank you very much.”