Sato was walking through the school corridors when her eyes met those of a boy.
His unusual dark yellow eyes stood out beneath his medium-length brown hair. Tall and slender, he raised a hand in greeting and approached her.
"Good morning!"
"Good morning, Inoue!"
The two started walking together.
"I saw you training yesterday afternoon. You set a new personal record. Congratulations!"
"Thanks! Every day, I feel like I can do a little better."
Inoue smiled, looking ahead.
"Same goes for me. I'm the first-year student with the best long jump distance."
Sato returned his smile.
"Well done!"
"Although I doubt it'll be enough to get me through the selection trials..."
"I think so too. Our senpai are really strong."
"Yeah... they're practically professional athletes by now."
Inoue fell silent for a few moments before speaking again.
"Speaking of senpai... I heard one of yours got seriously injured."
Sato turned towards him.
"You mean senpai Ito?"
"Exactly. She suffered a complete Achilles tendon rupture, right?"
"Yeah. She must have pushed herself too hard during a starting drill... and at some point, her tendon gave out."
Inoue's expression grew concerned.
"That must have been terrible..."
Sato's expression darkened as well.
"Yeah... she cried for several minutes from the pain and the shock. We were all devastated."
"Where is she now?"
"I don't know. Probably at one of the hospitals affiliated with the school, where she'll undergo surgery."
"It usually takes at least six months to recover... but in sports like ours, it can easily take up to twelve."
Sato nodded firmly.
"I know. But senpai is strong. She's the best 100-metre sprinter this school has had in recent years. I'm sure this injury won't put an end to her career."
"I really hope so..."
The two reached a classroom door.
"This is my classroom. Are you sharing the track with us today?"
"Yeah, see you later!"
"See you!"
Inoue entered the classroom while Sato continued down the corridor.
[After lessons]
Sato was in the middle of her training session.
She slowly lowered her hips into the starting position.
Her fingers dug into the red track as her breathing grew shorter.
Her entire body was tense, ready to explode into motion.
Then came the coach's whistle.
Sato burst out of the blocks and ran as fast as she could, crossing the finish line moments later.
She stopped, bent forward and gasping for breath, before looking up.
A short distance away, a girl in training clothes lowered the stopwatch in her hand, checking the time she had just recorded.
"12.50 seconds!"
The girls from the club applauded.
"Great job!"
"Keep it up!"
The coach approached Sato.
"Excellent run. You almost beat yesterday's record again."
Sato smiled at her.
"Thank you, Coach!"
"Just one thing... I noticed you were a little tired during the final metres. Are you getting enough rest? Or are you pushing yourself too hard in training?"
Sato gave a shy smile, aware that she had been overdoing it.
"I'll be more careful..."
The coach placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You're really talented. You have a bright future ahead of you, but don't try to rush things unnecessarily."
"Okay..."
"I'm glad you understand."
She then walked away.
"Next!"
As she headed back towards the group, she noticed four boys entering the athletics area, looking around as if they were searching for someone.
"Can I help you?"
They were Riccardo, Kaneko, Noguchi, and Aoyama.
Kaneko approached her, followed by the others.
"Good morning. We're here on behalf of Coach Ishii. He asked us to borrow two of your weighted sleds, if that's possible."
The coach looked at them in confusion.
"Coach Ishii..."
The four boys exchanged puzzled glances.
She doesn't even know who he is...
Kaneko ran a hand through his hair, looking slightly embarrassed.
"He's the coach of our boys' football club."
The coach tilted her head slightly.
"Wasn't Mr Suzuki your coach?"
Noguchi chuckled.
"It's a long story..."
Meanwhile, the girls from the club had also turned to look at the group.
"Who are those boys?"
"I don't know, but that one..."
One of them pointed at Riccardo.
"He's pretty handsome!"
"But he's not from around here... Could he be that Italian-Japanese boy who got in through a recommendation?"
Sato recognised him immediately.
It's him...
"Recommendation or not, he's really cute... I might even ask him out!"
The others burst into laughter.
Noguchi and Aoyama noticed the scene and shot Riccardo rather displeased looks.
He noticed and simply shrugged, as if to say there was nothing he could do about it.
The coach sighed.
"All right, I understand. The sleds are over there. We used them a little while ago."
She pointed towards the equipment.
The four boys gave her a slight bow.
"Thank you!"
They approached the sleds.
The coach watched them with some concern.
"Are you sure you can carry them all the way to the pitch by yourselves?"
Kaneko gave her a confident smile.
"Don't worry. We've got this."
Noguchi and Aoyama distributed the weights evenly between the two sleds.
Then Noguchi and Kaneko lifted the first one, while Aoyama and Riccardo did the same with the second, as though the weight were completely insignificant.
The coach and the girls stood there, mouths agape.
Just how strong are these guys!?
"Thanks again! We'll bring them back as soon as possible!"
Sato watched them walk away with the equipment.
I wonder what kind of training they're going to do...
[A little later]
The four boys arrived at the pitch and placed the sleds and weights near the centre.
Coach Ishii approached them.
"Excellent. Now I'll explain the drill. Come closer!"
All the boys gathered around him.
"Our style of play requires you to be constantly on the move. I want you to press the opposition, win the ball back, and attack the spaces throughout the entire match. It doesn't matter how many times you've already run. When an opportunity presents itself, you must be ready to get into the box and finish."
Coach Ishii pointed towards the weighted sleds.
"That's why today we'll be working on your ability to maintain intensity and composure even after prolonged physical exertion. I'm not just interested in how quickly you can drag that sled. I want to see how you perform when you get in front of goal and how you handle the finish."
He then pointed towards the edge of the penalty area.
"Once you reach that point, you'll immediately sprint into the box and try to finish a teammate's cross. Whoever has just taken the shot will then cross for the next player, while the player who delivered the cross can recover until their next turn."
The coach turned towards the boys, who still looked slightly puzzled.
"Everything clear?"
Tamura timidly raised his hand.
"Coach, we understand the drill... but how many times do we have to repeat it?"
"Since you've already had a fair amount of training, we'll keep it to just ten repetitions."
The players looked shocked.
Tanaka scoffed.
"Ten times doesn't sound like much!"
[A couple of hours later]
On the football pitch, the boys were taking turns performing the drill, which was putting them through their paces.
Riccardo dragged the sled towards the edge of the penalty area with enormous effort. Immediately afterwards, he sprinted into the box as Ueno delivered a precise cross.
He jumped and headed the ball into the net.
But with his energy completely spent, he collapsed heavily onto the ground instead of landing on his feet.
Coach Ishii applauded approvingly.
"Good! Now go and deliver the next cross!"
Riccardo struggled back to his feet and made his way towards the ball prepared by Coach Suzuki.
What kind of training is this supposed to be?
Coach Ishii turned his attention to Tanaka.
"You're next!"
Tanaka began dragging the sled, but after just a few metres, he stopped, bending over with his hands on his knees.
I take back everything I said earlier!
Coach Ishii's whistle rang through the air.
"Tanaka, keep going!"
"I can't do it!"
The coach glared at him.
"Either you finish the drill or you run ten laps around the pitch!"
Tanaka miraculously found some strength.
Fuck!
He resumed dragging the sled until he reached the edge of the penalty area, then launched himself forward as Riccardo prepared to cross.
He tried to reach the ball with a sliding finish, but missed it by just a few centimetres.
He remained sprawled on the ground, breathing heavily.
A short distance away, Riccardo also dropped onto the grass, sitting down.
Coach Ishii looked at his players, who were now completely exhausted.
"Good. You all look tired enough. That's enough for today. Put everything away!"
He then pointed at Riccardo, Kaneko, Noguchi, and Aoyama.
"You four, take the sleds and weights back to the athletics club."
The four boys shuddered.
They approached the sleds.
Riccardo and Kaneko simultaneously reached for the same one.
Kaneko glared at him.
"I'd rather carry it by myself."
Riccardo gave him a provocative smile.
"Suit yourself."
He walked away without another word, while Kaneko continued glaring at him irritably.
Noguchi approached him.
"I'll give you a hand."
Kinoshita arrived shortly afterwards and began lifting the weights off the sled.
"We'll help too."
On the other side, Riccardo and Aoyama lifted the second sled, while Aoki took care of the weights.
With the sun now close to setting, the group slowly made their way across the school grounds.
Nishimura was drinking some water, still out of breath, while watching his teammates.
Ono approached him, taking a drink himself.
"So, what do you think about what Coach Ishii told us regarding the way we should play?"
Nishimura looked at him in surprise.
"Why are you asking me, senpai?"
Ono lowered his bottle.
"Because everyone knows how good you are at reading the game."
Nishimura lowered his gaze.
"The coach is asking us to implement a really difficult style of play, especially considering how hard it is to maintain the right balance between defence and attack."
Ono nodded.
"I thought so too... but I believe the coach has figured out what could make this style possible. Don't you think?"
Nishimura looked at Ono, a knowing expression on his face.
"I think so... But have you figured it out too?"
Ono began walking away.
"I have my own theory. We'll see if our ideas match in a couple of days, when he announces the starting line-up for the match against Maebashi Ikuei."
Nishimura watched his teammate walk away.
Meanwhile, Shimizu approached him.
"Nishimura! Do you want to go somewhere later?"
Nishimura put down his water bottle and headed towards the changing rooms.
"Sure, if you're paying."
Shimizu looked at him, puzzled.
"Do I have to pay to be your friend?"