Chapter 66: Things Getting Serious!

Haruma, seated on the couch, kept his eyes locked on the screen with a serious look on his face. Izaya smiles cheerfully, "It’s U17 Kashiwa Tyrants vs Kobe U17 Fangs FC, here we go!" Raya smiles, "Yeah who knows maybe we’ll be facing the winner of the match later in the tournament." Haruma kept his eyes locked on Kazutora taking the field with U17 Kashiwa Tyrants badge adorned on his chest. The ball moved forward with a striker of Kobe having the possession dribbling past players carefully before nearing the nets sliding the ball more to the left, making space before swinging his leg for a shot. But before he could make contact, Kazutora with terrifying speed came rushing, tackling the ball away perfectly, causing that striker to lose his balance and crash on the ground. "Wooo! What a tackle!" Izaya said with a smile, clearly impressed. "That was surely an amazing save!" Haru said with a slight smile. Haruma and Kurogami both kept his eyes locked on the play, their faces etched with seriousness knowing what he’s actually capable of. A Kashiwa player now had the ball moving near the nets from the left, seeing himself trapped with few defenders, he launched the ball back the the center from where another player came running, leaping up heading the ball flying towards the right side of nets from where that striker with a smirk came running, jumping forward tapping the ball Inside the nets for a beautiful goal. "Wooo! first one!" Jiho said out loud, clearly thrilled. Raya with a calm smile was clapping, "They made it look very easy!" That striker ran around the field before coming to a halt, covering his eyes with one hand and shooting a bullet forward with the other in a cold celebration... "Dude, what’s his name?" Izaya asked, eyes shining with admiration. "It says Yohan Eunseong." Itsuki said looking at the squad on his phone, "And the one who made that incredible save was Kazutora Inzuka, the captain." "Hmm, they are good." Raya said, keeping his eyes on the game. The winger from Kobe shot the ball, launching it from distance sending it curving through the air when Kazutora came running, leaping up high, kicking the ball away in mid air, denying an absolute goal... All the players from Tokyo Wolves U17 watched the brilliant save in complete awe, their eyes wide, jaw slightly dropped. A defender from Kobe slides his foot in for a tackle but Yohan dribbles it to his left creating room before shooting the ball towards the nets which flew like a rocket and finds the back of the nets, scoring a stunning second goal. A striker from Kobe was sprinting hard towards the nets, dribbling past a few opposing defenders on his way, just when he neared the nets preparing himself to shoot but before he could connect, Kazutora from behind chased him down in mere seconds sliding his eyes foot in performing a perfect tackle interrupting the shoot... Watching the brilliance, Haru and Makoto’s hands went to their heads in complete awe, eyes wide, mouth slightly ajar. Raya, Itsuki and Nagisa watched in silence, eyes widened in awe. Haruma and Kurogami kept their faces straight, staring at him through the screen, knowing what actually he is capable of... A Winger from Kashiwa sent the ball flying towards the penalty area from where Yohan came running leaping up high, meeting the ball with his head, directing it right inside the nets, scoring a brilliant hattrick. Standing up, Yohan ran across the field kicking the grass just as Haruma did... All eyes turned to Haruma, who sat with a straight face, keeping his eyes locked on the screen. As Yohan was celebrating enthusiastically, his teammates came rushing, joining him in the celebrations. ’What a goal, what a player and what a way to start the tournament, we have two hat tricks in three games, first we had Haruma Kusaka and now we have Yohan Eunseong!’ ’Absolutely, the young talent has taken the tournament by storm, all eager to make their presence felt!’ The game continued with Kazutora dominating the entire game until the final whistle blew, with U17 Kashiwa Tyrants winning by 3-0... All the Tokyo Wolves U17 erupted in applause, exchanging impressed looks, murmuring praises among each other. Kurogami, initially seeming frozen, slowly brought his hands in low, steady claps. Haruma took a sigh, joined the applause with not much excitement, his eyes kept locked on the screen. "What an absolutely brilliant game!" Raya said, visibly impressed by the performance. Nagisa, clapping with a straight face, spoke up, "They’ll be a team to keep an eye on." "Surely man!" Jiho spoke up with his usual energy, "It will be fun facing that defender, what was his name again... Kazuaa-" "Kazutora Inzuka" Kurogami completed the sentence with firm eyes, locked on the screen. "Well, he’s good!" Izaya chimed in with a confident smirk, "But our boys Raya and Haruma will demolish him!" Jiho smirked and joined in, "Yeah we ain’t no scared of some defender who seems to have potential!" "No doubt!" Kabuto spoke up with a grin, "That striker whatever his name is, he’s about to get embarrassed by me! and that defender, well Haruma has beaten me one on one so, he will surely break the walls of that defender as well." All the players slightly erupted into low cheers, displaying their unity and faith on each others. Kurogami slowly turned to Haruma, who was still in silence clapping with his blank eyes remaining on the screen. Itsuki just then stood up yawning, "I’m tired, see you all tomorrow." He sleepily began to walk to his room, followed by some other players. Eventually all the players began to walk towards their room, yet Haruma kept sitting on the couch with a slight furrow in his brow appearing to be lost in thoughts... The next morning, with the sun barely risen, casting first few rays on the football field of Tokyo Wolves Academy. On the field Haruma was juggling the ball, covered in sweats, wearing his sleeveless training jerseys and shorts. With his focus laser sharp on the ball, Haruma slightly nudged it upwards taking a few steps back, positioning himself before boom, striking it hard, sending a rocket hitting the a target on the top right corner of the nets. Haruma closed his eyes, let out a big sigh to compose his breathing before taking another new ball juggling it again, before again tapping it high and striking it again but this time it slightly missed, went passing over the target and goalpost. Haruma let out a low growl of frustration, before walking to have another ball. "Looks like someone is early!" A voice echoed from Haruma’s back, who swiftly turned to find Kurogami approaching him holding his training bag. Kurogami came and stood near Haruma, dropping his bag, "What are you doing here so early?" he asked, pulling his stuff out of the bag. "Umm... I was just training." Haruma said in an hesitant tone. "Training so early? feeling pressure?" Kurogami asked, keeping his focus on pulling out his stuff. Haruma sighed, composing himself before speaking in a steady tone, "Didn’t you see how well Yohan and Kazutora played?" Kurogami kept his focus on his task, wearing his gloves, not responding. "I know you remember Kazutora, and Yohan, who was your own teammate." Haruma said in a steady tone. Kurogami slightly smirked, adjusting his gloves, "Yep, and one thing is for sure, Yohan has improved, his game is now more balanced and sensible and maybe he is better than you! and about Kazutora, I don’t have to say anything about him, he’s as good as he was when he destroyed Hanaka High." Haruma clenched his fists, "Well, they must’ve improved or maybe have gotten better than me! but... It’s not over... The path of mine has just begun, and if any of them dare to step between, I’m gonna rumble them all!" Kurogami turned to Haruma to find his fist clenched teeth gritted, the intensity around him changing as the golden aura began to emanate from his body. "Better than me?" Haruma repeated, through gritted teeths, "Maybe they are, but it’s my time, I’ll stomp over everyone who’s better than me!" Kurogami kept his eyes on Haruma, his expression observing, eyes narrowed. "JFC U17, and Japan’s rising star 2042, all to me!" Haruma declared with a low tone, his face shadowed with intense darkness. A slight smirk appeared on Kurogami’s face watching the intensity and passion of Haruma. Kurogami stood up with a smirk causally stretching his arms, "Hmm, run ten laps of the field." He declared in a firm tone, "Then come to me for a penalty shootout, I’ll give you a little preview of how hard you have to push your limits! if you want to achieve what you are aiming for!" Haruma clenching his teeths, stared at Kurogami who was staring back at him with a slight smirk.