Later that night, Haruma's car slowly pulled to a stop outside a house at the corner of a quiet, dimly lit street.
Inside the car, Haruma sat in the driver's seat while Shiori remained beside him, silently looking ahead at the empty road through the windshield.
Haruma's eyes lingered on her for a mont.
Sensing his gaze, Shiori slowly turned toward him, their eyes eting in the soft silence. A gentle smile ford on her lips.
Haruma smiled back warmly. "Thank you for inviting ."
Keeping her gentle smile, Shiori nodded. "I thought it'll help you relax before the big stage."
Haruma's expression softened even more. "It really helped, thank you."
Shiori let out a quiet breath. "Best of luck. When are you leaving?"
"After two weeks," Haruma replied, his eyes never leaving hers.
Their gazes remained locked in the quiet car.
"So…" Shiori spoke softly, "Does that an this was our last eting?"
For a brief mont, Haruma's smile faltered. But he quickly composed himself, forcing a small smile back onto his face.
"Yeah" he said.
Keeping her faint smile and soft eyes on him, Shiori quietly asked, "How long will you be gone?"
Haruma leaned back slightly before answering, "We'll reach Saudi about a week before everything starts," he said with a small laugh. "And honestly, it depends on how long we survive in the tournant, but it'll probably be over a month."
Shiori nodded slowly. "I see, best of luck. I'll be rooting for you in every shot you play."
Haruma's smile widened at her words. "Thank you."
Then after a brief pause, he added warmly,
"And when I co back, we'll visit that sa place again, except next ti, I'll be the one hosting."
Shiori let out a soft giggle and nodded, her sparkling eyes slowly beginning to well with tears.
Quickly wiping them away, she laughed lightly. "Alright… I'll wait," she said between quiet giggles.
Haruma watched her with gentle eyes, completely silent.
Gradually, Shiori's laughter faded as she looked back into his eyes once more.
Neither of them moved. They simply stayed there, holding onto the mont for as long as they could.
Finally, in a low, soft voice, Shiori spoke.
"I should go now."
Haruma looked at her for another long mont before slowly nodding.
Shiori slowly reached for the car door, beginning to open it.
At the sa mont, Haruma lowered his gaze slightly, his thoughts racing as if searching for any excuse to stop her, even for just a few more minutes.
Then suddenly, an idea crossed his mind. He quickly looked up, only to freeze completely.
Shiori was already close to him, her soft lips gently pressed against his forehead.
Haruma was frozen, eyes were wide in shock, his breath caught still as the mont lingered for a second longer.
Then slowly, Shiori pulled back, flashing a nervous smile with a faint redness spread across her cheeks.
"Play with all your heart," she whispered softly. "Best of luck."
Without waiting for Haruma's response, she quickly stepped out of the car, clearly flustered, and hurried toward her house.
Haruma remained frozen in place behind the steering wheel, still stunned by what had just happened.
Slowly, a faint smile spread across his face.
He touched his forehead for a brief mont, letting out a quiet breath before gripping the steering wheel again.
And with that lingering warmth still in his heart, Haruma drove off into the quiet night…
The next morning, bright sunlight poured across the training grounds of the Japan Football Federation headquarters.
Kento stood near the touchline with his arms folded, dressed in the dark training tracksuit of Japan U-19, silently overseeing the players on the field.
Jiho, Nagisa, Raya, and Kurogami were stretching near the sidelines, loosening their legs and shoulders before the session intensified.
anwhile, Izaya and Kabuto were fully imrsed in explosive shuttle drills, sprinting through cones, dribbling at pace, sharply changing direction before bursting forward again with relentless intensity.
Kento stepped onto the field and walked over toward Kabuto, calmly discussing a few adjustnts.
Nearby, Jiho finished a long stretch before turning sharply toward Kurogami.
"Where the hell is Haruma?" he asked irritably.
Kurogami looked up at him. "No clue." he said casually, "He probably ca ho late last night and is still asleep."
"I actually went to check on him earlier," Raya added while adjusting his socks, "but he didn't answer the door."
Jiho let out an irritated sigh. "If Haruma's losing focus now, then I'll beat the focus back into him myself."
Still stretching nearby, Nagisa spoke up calmly, "Right now, we just need to get him here. If Kento-sensei notices he's missing from training…" He paused briefly. "It's going to be bad for him."
At those words, silence settled over the group.
Each of them started thinking of a way to drag Haruma here without abandoning training themselves.
Not far away, Kento finally shifted his attention away from Kabuto to the group standing distracted instead of training.
Kento, with a calm but firm expression, walked to them. "Co on. Why are you all just standing around? Back to training."
The group imdiately nodded and started dispersing to their positions.
But Kento's voice cut through again, as he called out, "Kurogami." The tone was sharper this ti.
Kurogami froze mid-step and slowly looked up.
Raya, Nagisa, and Jiho also stopped, sensing the shift in atmosphere as their attention locked onto the silent exchange between Kento and Kurogami.
Keeping his steady gaze on Kurogami, Kento asked in a calm but firm tone, "Where is Haruma?"
The question hung heavily in the air.
Kurogami hesitated, visibly unsure how to answer, while the others silently watched the exchange unfold.
"Umm… he," Kurogami began, still searching for words.
But, before he could finish, Kabuto called out loudly.
"Here he cos!"
Instantly, every head turned toward the entrance of the training ground.
And from the entrance, Haruma walked toward them in his training jersey, his damp hair still slightly wet, evidence of a rushed bath.
Kento turned fully to face him, arms folded, his expression unreadable but firm.
Haruma stopped in front of the coach and stood straight.
"You're late," Kento said sharply. "What took you so long?"
Haruma lowered his gaze respectfully. "I'm sorry, coach. I just overslept a little."
Kento kept his gaze fixed on Haruma for a mont longer before slowly shaking his head in clear disappointnt. Behind him, Kurogami was also firing Haruma a firm, silent stare.
"This better be the first and last ti," Kento said firmly, his tone leaving no room for argunt.
Still keeping his eyes lowered, Haruma gave a quick, respectful nod.
"Pressing drills now!" Kento commanded, turning away and walking back toward the field.
Haruma let out a quiet breath and jogged toward his position, slipping back into training. Along the way, he exchanged quick dabs and nods with his teammates, the tension easing slightly as they returned to rhythm…
Kento blows the whistle loudly, starting the pressing drill.
Izaya imdiately sprints toward Haruma, who was advancing with the ball, while Nagisa moves up beside him to block the passing option through the middle.
Pressured from both sides, Haruma releases a pass toward Kabuto, but Kabuto reacts too slowly and completely misses the interception.
Kento instantly shouts guidance at him from the sideline, loudly correcting his positioning while clapping his hands to keep the drill continuing.
The drill continues imdiately. As Raya was charging forward when Haruma suddenly steps in to intercept but Raya quickly turns and releases a sharp pass behind.
From behind, Jiho rushes in, perfectly controlling the possession with a clean first touch to set himself. He then unleashes a powerful shot from outside the box, but the ball flies wide of the net instead of hitting the target.
Frustrated by the miss, Jiho kicks the grass in irritation.
Seeing that, Kento steps onto the field and calls Jiho over. He puts an arm around his shoulder and calmly advises him to stay composed after winning possession, before sending him back into the drill with another sharp whistle.
Day passed, and the squad remained fully focused on the training ground, dedicating themselves to hard work day and night with unwavering discipline and intensity.
The next day, Haruma and Raya train together near the box, practicing quick one-touch passes before bursting into finishing runs and firing shots past the keeper.
Kabuto works alone with defensive drills, shuffling through cones before stepping forward to intercept passes and quickly resetting his positioning.
Izaya and Nagisa were moving through midfield passing patterns together, constantly rotating positions while exchanging sharp first-touch passes around mannequins.
Jiho trains near the edge of the penalty area, receiving the ball with his back to goal before turning quickly and striking shots toward the corners.
Kurogami stays inside the goal, diving across the grass to stop low shots before imdiately recovering for the next save.
On the sidelines, Kento stands with sharp, focused eyes, carefully observing every movent of the players as the drill continues.
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