Most of the players couldn't even bring themselves to lift their heads. They wanted to savor the resting period fully and they didn't want to be disturbed.
Yet still, when they heard the noise around them, they couldn't sit idly.
Intrigued by the commotion, they lifted their head to look at the arriving coach. Behind him, they could see three new faces.
Squinching their eyes, they tried to get a better look at the appearance of those people.
Imdiately upon realizing the identity of those new people, their eyes opened wide. They were perplexed to find those people in their training ground.
Two of them weren't special but the third one, they couldn't believe.
"Junya Ito!"
They exclaid in shock.
Junya Ito was a well-known footballer in Japan. Having capped the national team more than 60 tis, he was one of the most famous personalities.
Aside from his achievents with the national team, his achievents on the club level were equally impressive. Previously, he played for Kashiwa Reysol, scoring a total of 22 goals in 124 appearances.
Then he went on to Genk on a one-year loan where he won the Belgian First Division League title, Belgian Cup, and Belgian Super Cup.
After that brilliant performance, he was signed by Red Bull Salzburg where he made his Champions League debut. But since he couldn't perform well in Salzburg, he was sold to Genk again.
After spending three years in Genk, he signed for Reims.
In more than 400 appearances, he had scored more than eighty goals, leaving a mark in the pages of history.
They couldn't believe their eyes when they saw him on the field. That person was like a legend to many youngsters.
There hadn't been any news regarding his transfer. So, they couldn't be sure if he had transferred to their club. Nonetheless, they were excited to see him.
Hiro, however, didn't seem surprised. Well, before heading to the training ground, he had already t Ono. So, he wasn't surprised to see him here.
But the visit of Ito, even he hadn't expected it.
At this ti, while everybody's gaze was fixated on Ito, an athletically built individual waved his hand enthusiastically at him.
Hiro cast a deep gaze at the individual.
He had short spiky black hair, obsidian eyes, and a rather handso and youthful appearance. Hiro recognized the individual almost imdiately.
The person waving his hand to him at that mont was Ichijou Ryu, one of his juniors.
'Read the atmosphere, idiot.' Hiro thought looking at him.
While everybody looked serious, Ryu was the only one who appeared as if he was present in a different world. He wasn't even bothered to be around a famous superstar, his gaze fixated on Hiro, his face displaying a welcoming smile.
Then again, he recalled that he had always been like that. So, he didn't even feel surprised by his attitude anymore.
Around Hiro, the players were expressing their disbelief. Most of them hadn't even noticed the presence of Ono or Ryu.
Sighing, Hiro shifted his attention to the man in the spotlight― Junya Ito.
He had fairly long hair which he had dyed blond. His eyes were the color of the night sky and there was sothing mysterious hidden beneath it.
He had a rather average-looking appearance with patches of mustache finalizing his looks.
But despite his average-looking appearance, there was sothing ethereal in him that garnered the attention of the onlookers.
'Don't tell he's here to sign for the club?'
Hiro hadn't heard anything related to this transfer before. So, he couldn't help but feel skeptical about the sudden visit of Ito.
"Everybody, focus here for a second."
Nagai asked the players to focus their attention on Haruki.
Standing before the players, Haruki cast a stern look at the players before bringing himself to speak, "I'd like to introduce you to your new teammates."
Hearing the words of the coach, their eyes perked up, excitent and curiosity evident in their gaze. So even looked as if they'd spring into action the mont the coach finishes the announcent.
They couldn't be more obvious about their intention.
Hiro, however, was different than the rest. He was already aware of the promotion of Ichijou and the signing of Ono.
With an indifferent expression, he stood.
Just as Haruki finished, Takeshi and Ryu stepped forward. Ichijou stood with a proud expression facing the other players. As for Ono, he didn't look confident. He couldn't even bring himself to introduce himself.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Ichijou Ryu. I'm sixteen-years old. I'm a striker. Please take care of ."
Ryu introduced himself loudly, his tone full of confidence and excitent. From the mont he had entered, he had been smiling.
Compared to Hiro, he was entirely different. From the mont, he was promoted to the senior team, hardly anyone had seen him smiling.
Just from the glee on his face, other players could tell that Ryu was excited about the
promotion.
But at the sa ti, they were equally puzzled.
They couldn't help but wonder why Ito didn't step forward like the other two. Was he here for
a simple visit? Were they thinking too much?
After Ryu stepped back, Ono stepped forward albeit with a nervous step.
Even though he had been preparing for the mont, he couldn't bring himself to shake this feeling of nervousness.
He had already faced such a scenario before. So, why was he feeling like that? He couldn't be sure about the uneasy feeling that had been running rampant inside him, making him unable to confront the people before him.
It might be due to his recent deteriorating form that he had started becoming timid.
But he couldn't entirely bla his injuries either. After all, he was equally to be blad. If he hadn't holed himself inside his comfort shell, he wouldn't be like this.
If only he had mustered the courage to face those critics. Perhaps, it would have been
different.
But now that he already co so far, he couldn't bla his actions either.
Rather than blaming the actions of his past, he had to break out of this shell. So, he inhaled
deeply then straightened his head to look at the people before him.
'That's right. These are my future teammates. I can't be afraid of them.'
He steeled his mind and swept his gaze with unwavering focus.
There in the crowd, he t eyes with Hiro who was silently cheering for him or so he thought.
But in actuality, Hiro was only looking at him like the rest.
But Takeshi who was searching for hope misinterpreted Hiro's ordinary gesture.
Then he confidently introduced himself.
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