There were players blocking his path. Standing infront of him like a huge sturdy mountain, they were the players whom Kein had put his trust to stop Hiro.
One of them being U-23 team’s defensive midfielder with bulky body.
He was one of those few guys whose face and body greatly contrasted with each other. Flawlessly sculpted cheekbones, captivating dark hazel eyes and a perfectly straight nose, his face was similar to that of magazine models.
However his body which was rather muscular and big made him look like a giant with small head.
Already 22 years old, if one tried to guess his real age based on his looks then they’d greatly mistaken him as somebody who’s still 16 or 17 years old.
He was Mao Suzuki, National U-23 teams defensive midfielder and also a reserve player for Celtic.
Transferring to the club only recently, his playing minutes were numbered. And because of the intense competition, he hadn’t had many chances to play for the club. But even so, he had already made his debut for the team.
And although his debut wasn’t as impactful as what was expected of him, his performance wasn’t terrible either.
Now, that same player who had made his debut in Scottish Premiership was blocking his path.
Exuding an intimidating aura around him, he was giving the vibe of a minotaur which was guarding the gate of a labyrinth.
Even so, Hiro wasn’t a bit intimidated by his presence. On the contrary, he was more than prepared to take on that guy all by himself. He wasn’t afraid of challenges.
Still sprinting the ball at his top speed, he approached Mao Suzuki who seemed very calm and unbothered. 𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝑚
Dribbling being his greatest arsenal, he tried to dribble past the imposing defensive midfielder infront of him.
However Mao Suzuki gave him no opening to dribble the ball past him. Not only did he keep Hiro occupied, he also prevented Hiro from moving the ball further deep inside their territory.
Intentionally stalling for time, he kept Hiro occupied while waiting for his teammates to catch up.
By that time, Hiro’s acceleration had already slowed down. He tried to look for his teammates to pass the ball but all of them were occupied.
Even the players behind him were being tightly marked. Despite that Hiro was still able to keep the hold of the ball against such an impressive player.
Being able to keep hold of the ball against a professional player was already considered an impressive feat for most of the U-17 players. But not for Hiro, since he was the best U-17 player in all over Japan, he couldn’t afford to be normal.
Even without anybody’s support, he had to get out of that predicament. Such was a burden placed upon Hiro.
‘Now what will you do? You’re like a bird trapped inside a cage.’ Kazan thought while focusing his attention on Hiro.
But little did he knew, Hiro wasn’t a bird trapped inside a cage. Rather he was a ferocious tiger trapped inside the cage who was constantly trying to look for an opportunity to break free from the cage.
Hiro continued to struggle for a while. And just when Kein was about to catch up to him from behind, Hiro pretended to fall back.
But then again instead of actually falling back, he made use of his fancy footworks and tried to dribble the ball past Mao Suzuki.
And he successfully managed to get the ball past Mao Suzuki. However just as he was about to chase after the ball, Mao Suzuki swayed his body inturn knocking Hiro on the ground.
Thud!!
Hiro fell down hard on the ground. He fell his side first. And instantly a stinging sharp pain circulated all over his body as he clashed against the ground.
Beep!!!
“Ahhhhh!!” Holding his right arm, Hiro cried out while writhing in pain.
Mao Suzuki who was involved in that accident dumbfoundedly looked at the direction of Hiro. He was sure that he hadn’t pushed Hiro that hard. Infact he had only swayed his body a little to slow down Hiro.
And as Hiro’s shrill cries resounded all over the pitch, the pitch got chaotic all of a sudden.
While most players from Hiro’s team avoided the commotion, Shun, Yutaka, Tatsuki and Naoto came rushing towards the scene.
Referee too, immediately rushed towards the scene of collision. Without even hearing anyone’s pleadings, he immediately took out a yellow card from his pocket and pointed it towards Mao Suzuki.
“What?? I didn’t even push him that hard!” Upon getting booked for no reason, Suzuki tried to plead against referee’s decision.
But the referee wasn’t willing to listen to him. He was adamant about his decision.
And while some players of U-23 team were swarming the referee to convince him to rethink his decision, Shun, Yutaro, Naoto and Tatsuki were gathered around Hiro.
“You alright buddy?” Naoto spoke while supporting Hiro to stand, giving Hiro a concerned look.
Acting like he was in pain, Hiro pretended that he was hurt, “Argh!! It just pains a little. I’m… alright”
While he spoke those words he wasn’t lying. It did hurt him a little bit more than what he had expected.
But apart from the light pain, he actually was pretending. Infact he had intentionally bumped against Mao Suzuki.
Bumping against Mao Suzuki right when Kein was about to catch up to him. Letting out shrill cries even though he wasn’t hurt badly.
Everything was staged by him.
Completely aware that Mao Suzuki would use his massive body to block him if he tried to escape from him, Hiro had actually planned that collision.
And since he rarely fell down and faked such fouls, nobody even became suspicious of Hiro. Afterall who could be suspicious of him if he could even deceive his own teammates.
“I told them to play hard but I didn’t tell them to play this roughly.” Tatsuki exasperated while looking at the direction of Kein and others.
Tatsuki then strode towards the direction where Kein and few other players pf U-23 were gathered.
Follow current novels on 𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝑚