By the time, the three of them finished their solo training, the sun had already settled down.
Stars visible in the dark night sky above, floodlights of the pitch had been turned on for better visibility.
And even though it was spring time, the surrounding air had gotten somewhat chilly as compared to daytime.
Their jerseys completely drenched in sweat, Tatsuki and Shun, both of them looked completely exhausted and out of breath.
Shun who had dived for more than 60, 70 times was moaning in pain while pressing his sore wings and joints while resting on the ground, “Ow… Ow… Ow… Coach will kill me if he finds out that I overtrained myself today.”
Changing his gaze towards the direction of Hiro and Tatsuki, Shun sneered, “And it’s all because of you two.”
Hearing Shun’s complaints, Tatsuki who was unlacing his cleats lifted his head and looked at the direction of Hiro who was still juggling the ball while sitting on the ground. Smiling, Tatsuki answered, “Perhaps you should say it to him.”
Turning his gaze towards Hiro, Shun exhaled a deep breath and sighed, “Huff….”
“Oi Hiro? How long are you planning on staying on the pitch? Don’t you want to head back?” Questioned Shun while looking at the direction of Hiro.
Bounce!! Bounce!! Bounce!!
“You two… Head… Back… First” Answered Hiro while juggling the ball. “I’ll… Come… After…. I finish…. 200 more… Juggles.”
Hearing Hiro’s response, Tatsuki chuckled, “Hahaha… Leave him be.”
Saying such, Tatsuki stood up and continued, “Let’s head back first. He’ll come back after he finishes his drill.”
Hearing Tatsuki’s suggestion, Shun nodded his head and submissively replied, “Yeah, let’s head back first.”
Replying such, Shun tried to stand up. But just as he tried to stand up, he felt a sharp pain in his ankle. And because of the pain, he wobbled and nearly fell down.
Reacting quickly, Tatsuki grabbed Shun before he fell down. And if not for Tatsuki’s quick reaction, Shun would have fallen on the ground.
Witnessing Shun’s pitiful sight, Hiro too stopped his actions.
Grabbing Shun, Tatsuki asked while making a worried expression, “Careful!! Did you injure yourself?”
Locking his hand atop Tatsuki’s shoulder to support his stature, Shun replied, “No. It’s just my muscles are sore from the earlier dives.”
Shun then looked at the direction of Hiro. Noticing the worry in Hiro’s eyes, Shun assured him before Hiro made a fuss about his situation, “It’s nothing serious. So complete your drill and head inside.”
Worriedly staring at Shun, Hiro replied, “You should still get it checked once.”
Giving Hiro no chance to speak back, Shun nodded his head and agreed to his suggestion, “I’ll get it checked.” 𝑖𝘳𝘢.𝒸ℴ𝑚
Standing up, Hiro spoke, “Then let me support you.”
Stretching his palm infront, Shun gestured Hiro to stop, “You complete your drill. I don’t need two people to carry me.”
While denying Hiro’s help, Shun added a joke, “I’m not that heavy”
After that Tatsuki and Shun both of them headed out of the pitch.
Watching the sight of two of them leaving the pitch, Hiro began to think about his earlier shortcomings.
“Although the skill worked perfectly fine. It’s still too reckless to use it in real match with my messed up shot accuracy.” Mumbled Hiro while thinking about his mistake.
After finding about his shortcomings in the training with Tatsuki and Shun, Hiro was now troubled by his lack of knowledge on how to solve his problem.
Since he wasn’t well versed in football training, he had absolutely no idea on how to improve his technique.
Letting out a sigh, Hiro mumbled looking completely disappointed, “Damn!! I wish I had read about training drills in my past life.”
Sulking his head, Hiro sighed as he began to think about articles he read in his past life, ‘Stretching exercises to fix ankle injuries, balancing exercise for a better balance, different forms of yoga for healing your injured leg, and so on’
Thinking about the articles, he read in his past life, he realised that most of the articles were all related to leg injury.
Desperate for a cure to fix his legs, he had read many articles on how to cure his once injured legs.
“Well those exercises could increase my flexibility and reduce the chances of injury. But will it even work for improving my technique?” Mumbled Hiro while thinking of implementing those exercises he did in his previous life.
Although he could have still tried few things which he had seen or read in his past life. He was still unsure whether those things he saw or read in his past life would actually work for him.
Unable to find a good training drill to improve his technique, Hiro sighed in disappointment.
Unable to find anything useful, he now had only two options. Either he’d have to rely on newtube tutorials or else consult his coaches. The former option was almost an impossible thing to pull out, since he’d get his phone only in the weekends and holidays. Thus, consulting his coach was the best option to him for now in his current situation.
“I guess I’ll ask manager Makoto and Nozomi for their guidance.”
Mumbling such, Hiro began to walk towards the spot where he had tossed his clothes earlier.
“Let’s call it a end for today.” Saying such, he grabbed his clothes.
Carrying his clothes, he then headed out of the pitch. While leaving the pitch, he looked at the direction of U-15 pitch where the players of U-15 were still practicing.
Looking at their direction, Hiro felt rather curious about their late night training, “Yuya did mention that their next opponent was quite tough. But I wonder how tough the opposing team would be for manager Nozomi to grind them till this time.”
Just like how U-18’s tournament had started, U-15’s tournament had also started. And the players of U-15 were all busting their ass at that time around, preparing for their match.
“I wonder if Akashi and my other teammates from Ookami elementary school are doing well in the Takamado Cup. Individually they’re all good players.” Mumbling such, Hiro looked away and began to walk towards the hostel building.