Knock, knock, knock.
"Come in,", a man in his forties said.
Through the door came a tall high school boy. After a quick greeting, he sat down on the opposite side of the desk where the man was sitting.
"I think I found someone promising!", the boy said.
"Someone who could help the team?", the man replied.
"Yes, I played against him. I couldn't see his full potential due to the other players being, well, not good. But I believe you should invite him for a trial."
"Maybe. Who is this guy you are talking about?", the man asked.
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When Ju woke up, he instantly checked his phone.
There were no messages from Keisuke or his coach.
Only his friend Felix, a former teammate in Europe, had sent him a text.
[Well, I don't even know if Keisuke has already talked to his coach yet.]
He quickly replied to his old friend and got ready for the day.
On his way to school, he saw Kyoko, but after he thought it would seem weird if he chased her, he decided not to run after her.
In the classroom, Masao told Atsushi about yesterday's match. He made himself sound a lot better than he actually was, but Ju decided to let it slide.
When it was break time, the three boys went to the cafeteria to eat. Kyoko didn't join them today since she was eating with the girls basketball club. Other than Kyoko, Ju hoped to see Keisuke to ask him if he had already talked to his coach. But the tall boy was nowhere to be seen.
The rest of the schoolday ended uneventfully. Masao offered Ju to join the football club. But the striker had to go to his additional Japanese lessons. While his Japanese was fairly good, he was still worse than his peers. And he had to catch up if he wanted to have any hope of passing his tests.
The lessons were extremely boring, but his mother insisted that Ju attends them at least once a week. Afterwards, Ju returned home. And he still hadn't received any messages.
When Ju walked to school the next day, he was pleasandly surprised when Kyoko suddenly appeared beside him.
"How are you adapting?", she asked.
"Fine, I guess. There's still a lot of things that are weird, but I'll manage,", Ju responded.
"You seem to get close to Kamoi-kun and Iwatani-kun,", Kyoko noticed.
"Yeah, it just happened,", Ju replied.
"My condolences,", Kyoko said jokingly.
Ju laughed.
"You were with the basketball club yesterday. Are you part of the team?", he asked his classmate.
"Jup. We have a few good first years, so I think we might have a successful year. That reminds me, have you decided to join the football club?", Kyoko said confidently.
"I don't know. I might have another offer, but I don't know if it will work out. But if it doesn't, I might join the football club,", Ju explained.
"I'm sure you will make the right decision for yourself,", the girl said, smiling.
Nothing of interest happened during the lessons.
At noon, Masao continued praising Ju for his football skills. This time, Kyoko was there, which is why Ju didn't mind Masao's speech.
In the evening, Ju and his father watched a J1 League game. It was the first time he watched Japanese football. Even though the level was as high as in the big European leagues, he had to admit that the players still had an extreme amount of skill. Much more than Ju currently possesses.
But one thing was bothering him. He still hadn't heard from Kuro Academy, nor had he seen Keisuke.
[It has only been two days. And I don't even know when Keisuke told his coach about me. If he even told him. Maybe he was just joking about the offer.]
Ju was restless. Even though he wasn't even sure if he would even join, it bothered him that he hadn't heard from them yet.
After a short night, he woke up to something he had waited for for days.
A message from an unknown number.