Chapter 168 Kawasaki vs Aomori VII
While the crowd and his teammates were ecstatically celebrating his goal, Minato was staring at the ball with his eyes wide open. In a state of daze, Minato who was staring at the post infront looked like he was having trouble discerning between reality and dream.
However he was soon brought back to his senses by the sudden touch of Tatsuki. Running towards Minato, Tatsuki jumped atop Minato's back while ecstatically shouting, "Why aren't you celebrating your goal, you bastard?"
Minato who was completely lost in his own world tumbled and fell down as he failed to support Tatsuki's weight. Along with Minato, Tatsuki too fell down.
But even so, the smile on Tatsuki's face didn't fade away. Infact as he fell down, Tatsuki let out a cheerful laughter, "Hahahaha"
And instead of helping Minato to stand up, other players joined the two of them and jumped atop Minato one after other to celebrate Minato's goal.
[Seems like players of Kawasaki are very happy with that goal. Just by looking at them celebrate the goal with such joyous expression on their faces, we could tell what this goal means to them. Afterall with only 30 minutes remaining, this goal could very well be a game changer]
While almost every player except Shun was jumping atop Minato, Hiro was clapping his hands with a smile on his face while standing beside the piles of fallen bodies. But even so, his eyes were showing signs of worries.
And even though Hiro was genuinely happy for Minato, Hiro was a little fearful as well. Fear of failing the quest was preventing him from fully expressing his happiness.
Afterall he hadn't performed as well as he had performed in the previous two matches that day.
Making it's way out of the dark cloud, few drops of rain started pouring down freely on the surface below.
Feeling a drop of rain on his temple, Hiro lifted his head up. And as he lifted his head, those dark clouds reminded him of his worries and those fresh droplet of rain which was falling from the sky reminded him that everything was going to be okay.
Finally the gloomy sky which was showing signs of rainfall since the beginning of the match finally burst forth while Hiro and his other teammates were still celebrating Minato's goal.
"It's gonna be okay." Murmuring such, Hiro closed his eyes while trying to feel the drop of rain which was making contact with his face.
And as more and more rain droplets started falling from the sky, Hiro's worries washed away along with the rain.
Rejuvenated by the fresh rain and wind, Hiro was now once again full of energy.
His teammates who were still celebrating Minato's goal weren't even aware of the light rainfall happening at that moment until they left each others embrace.
After celebrating for a while, all of them left towards their position to continue the match.
And after that goal from Minato, their eyes were now glowing with determination. Staring at the ball with their sharp eyes, they looked completely focused.
Beep!!
With referee's whistle, the game resumed once again with Aomori's kickoff.
Determined to get the goal back, Aomori's player started playing aggressively from the get go.
Having seen through their plays, Hiro could now somewhat guess their playstyle. Thus without wasting any time, Hiro directly rushed towards Yushi who was the person responsible for creating goalscoring opportunities for Aomori high school.
Their roles reversed. The hunter was now being hunted.
His movements restrainted, Yushi found it very hard to break free from Hiro's mark. And although Hiro wasn't particularly good at defending, he was still preventing Yushi from making his move.
Positioning himself in a position where he could easily intercept the ball before the ball could even find it's way to Yushi, Hiro was circling around Yushi like an eagle circling around it's prey.
'You might be stronger than me physically. But I'm faster than you.' Thought Hiro while rolling his eyes towards Yushi who was trying to find spaces.
'Your vision and passing won't amount to anything, if you can't get the ball.'
Takuto, the man who was responsible to mark Hiro was also finding it difficult to mark Hiro after that second goal.
As if he was facing a completely new opponent, he was having trouble following Hiro because of Hiro's weird off the ball movement.
And to make matter worst, everytime when he tried to provoke Hiro, Hiro always replied his provocation with a smile.
Just like a mirror reflecting the light, Takuto's provocation was actually working against himself instead.
At 94th minute of the game, Aomori earned a corner kick.
And even during that moment, Takuto's eyes was still looking at Hiro who's body was slightly bent.
Gasping for breath, Hiro was trying to recover even a bit of his strength while the ball was still out of play.
'As expected, you are indeed tired. It would have been a miracle if you were okay even after running that much for the entire game.' Arrogantly thought Takuto while looking at Hiro.
By thinking such, he was being self-centred. As if his condition was any better, he was judging Hiro while he himself was gasping for breath. With his legs wobbling like jelley, Takuto was even having problem standing straight.
Afterall tailing Hiro was an exhausting job, since most of the time Hiro never stayed still and always kept on moving.
Takuto too was forced to move all the time. Since it was his job to mark Hiro, Takuto was denied of any moment to rest in the entire match.
Even his coach was surprised by Takuto's perseverance.
'May be I should use perseverance. Although it's a pity that I didn't think of using this skill 15 minutes ago, since it's duration is 15 minutes. I should still use that skill. afterall it get's reacharged every 24 hours. And I also don't have any match tomorrow.'
Completely exhausted, Hiro was thinking about using one of his skill called "Perseverance" to recover his stamina.
And just as he was thinking about using the skill "perseverance", a sudden inspiration hit him.
'What if I use perseverance and use lightning steps? Won't I be able to use lightning steps twice a day?'
Accidentally, Hiro discovered a loophole in the system.
'System can I do that?' Asked Hiro inside his head.
[...]
The system however remained silent. As if it was unwilling to accept Hiro's idea, the system was refusing to speak.
'Since the system is refusing to answer. That must mean I'm right.' Smiling inwardly, Hiro felt satisfied by the reaction shown by system.
After that Hiro activated the skill perseverance. And just as he activated the skill, the cramps and soreness in his muscles quickly faded away.
His heartbeat and breath, both stabilised. And the piercing pain in his ankles, disappeared instantly.
As if his whole body was being healed, he felt an unknown sensation of warmth all over his body. The spark in his eyes returned as he straightened his back.
Takuto who was staring at Hiro was left flabbergasted. Although he couldn't tell what happened, Takuto could feel that something was happening to Hiro. Instinctively he could feel something off.
The once tired Hiro, looked completely fresh and full of energy all of a sudden.
'Am I hallucinating or has he really recovered from his fatigue?' Thought Takuto while dumbfoundedly staring at Hiro.
Takuto then shook his head and laughed awkwardly, "Haha... I must be tired. Afterall it's completely impossible for someone to recover from such grave fatigue in such short amount of time."
Tailing Kawasaki by a goal, Aomori was losing the game till that moment. Thus, they were desperate to get a goal back from that last set-piece.
Desperate to get a goal back, even their keeper Masanaga had came forward for that last set-piece.
[I'm not sure what happened to Kawasaki after the first half. But since the beginning of the second half, they have completely dominated the game. Be it in terms of possession or shoots, they are way ahead of Aomori Yamada High School.]
[But this last set-piece could very well change the outcome of the game. With only few seconds remaining, this set-piece might very well be the last opportunity for Aomori Yamada High School to tie the game. On the other hand, Kawasaki must do anything and everything to defend this corner kick, if they want to keep staying on the top.]
While the commentator was speaking such, Yushi who was going to take the corner kick rushed towards the ball.
Kicking the ball high inside the penalty box, he supplied a marvelous cross.
And to everyone's surprise, Masanaga was the one who reached the ball.
In that final moment, even the dull fans of Aomori were full of excitement. Their heart pumping faster and faster with every passing seconds, they were anxiously looking at the ball while holding on to their seats.
Rising high above everyone else, Masanaga headed the ball.
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