What Pressure?

It was a cold and rainy weather.The rain was falling very fast.Ren was training by running on the football field, not caring about this weather.He was not that good at football yet.But he had a passion for football.His biggest dream was to be like the legendary player "Haru Nishikawa".Ren had watched Haru's videos since he was little, and his passion for football had increased. But he wasn't at a good level yet for Haru.He still didn't give up.He was trying to shoot in the rainy weather.But he couldn't hit the goal.When he was going to hit the ball again, he hesitated for a moment, had a pause, and suddenly shot a perfect placement shot from afar.The ball went right into the goal.Ren, looking at his own goal:

"What the hell was that? Great, I have to keep going."

Ren worked on the pitch all day in the rain. It was morning. Ren got ready and left the house. He was going to enrol in his new school today. He set off for his new school. When he arrived at his new school, he bumped into a teenager. The teenager grabbed Ren by the throat:

"What the fuck are you doing, bitch?"

Ren, modestly:

"Sorry. I didn't see."

Just as the youth was about to hit Ren, someone grabbed his hand. The name of this school was "Arata Hoshino". Arata Hoshino was known as the best striker in the school. He played for the school team.

"Take your hand away, mate."

The boy immediately withdrew his hand and walked away. Arata held out his hand to Ren:

"I apologise for him, I think you're new to this school, am I wrong?"

Ren, holding Arata's hand:

"Yes, sir. I'm Ren Takamura, I'm 16, but I'm almost 17. Nice to meet you. What's your name?"

Arata smiled:

"I'm Arata Hoshino, I'm 18 years old. Nice to meet you, Ren. I guess you haven't registered yet, come on, I'll show you the way."

Arata and Ren went to the registration room. Ren registered to his new school:

"Do you like football, Ren?"

"Yes, sir. I love football."

Arata laughed:

"You don't have to call me sir, Ren. So, how about a practice match?"

Ren gladly agreed. He wanted to see Arata's strength. They faced each other on the football field. The other boys of the school were also looking forward to the match.

"OK, Ren. Here, you go first. The match ends when the score is 5. First one to 5 wins, let's go."

The match started. Ren and Arata started to run. Ren started to do fast step-overs as soon as he came face to face with Arata.

"Ohh, good." Arata thought to himself with a smile.

Ren managed to get past Arata with fast step overs and took a shot, but the shot hit the post, and the ball came towards Arata.

"Damn, I beat him. Why didn't I score?" Ren said to himself.

Arata with the ball at his feet:

"Shall we start, Ren?"

He said and made his move. They faced Arata. Ren, seeing an opening, wanted to take the ball. But Arata skilfully made an elastico and passed him.

"What?! Double Elastico?!" Ren was surprised.

Arata, he's close to the goal, but he doesn't shoot.

"Ren, come here. Let's test your stamina." Arata said to Ren with a terrible aura.

Ren immediately ran towards Arata.But he couldn't get the ball from him.But suddenly Arata released the ball from his foot.Ren used this opportunity to get the ball.And he immediately ran towards Arata.Arata ran towards Ren for defence.They came face to face.And at this time Ren was about to do a move that he would try for the first time:Body Feint.

A body feint is a tackle where you use your body to get past the other person. It's not easy to do. Arata was about to get the ball when Ren used a body feint to get past him.

"Ohh, I've done it!" rejoiced Ren.

Arata watched in amazement as Ren ran towards the goal:

"He can use Body Feint so well at his age? Unbelievable! He can't beat me at this level, but maybe he can after he improves...So, Ren Takamura...Great!!! I LOVE THIS!!!"

Ren scored a goal. The score was 1-0.

Arata approached Ren and said:

"Welcome back, Ren Takamura. The match is over."

Ren, looking at Arata:

"Thank you."

All the spectators were shouting "REN! ARATA! REN! ARATA!" from the side.Ren was very happy.It was the first time he came to a place where he was valued.Ren did not have a bad past, but football was not a common sport in the schools he went to.But this school was different.He thought he would develop here.

"Come on then, let's celebrate your arrival, REN! All the food is on me, ladies and gentlemen, come on!" shouted Arata.

Everyone went to the canteen. They sat down to eat. Arata started asking Ren questions:

"How did you do the Body Feint so well?"

"I try to do it when it rains the most, today I was able to do it faster because it wasn't raining, but I didn't think I could do it at all."

Arata was surprised:

"So, what's your dream?"

"To become a striker like Haru Nishikawa."

Arata said with a serious look:

"You'll never be like him if you stay at this level, but if you want to improve, you can join our football club.There are inter-school tournaments every year.The teams that win this tournament start to fight in the bigger leagues.If you work with us, you will not only improve yourself, but you will also see what a tournament is like."

Ren thought a lot and agreed. After eating, Ren signed up for the football club. He and Arata entered the gymnasium.

"Hey everyone, we have a new player. He just arrived at school today and he beat me by doing a good BODY FEINT!"

Everyone looked at Arata:

"Introduce your friend."

Ren, stepping forward himself:

"Hello, my name is Ren Takamura. I'm 16, but I'm almost 17. I love football. My dream is to become a striker like Haru Nishikawa."

The others suddenly started laughing:

"What?! To be like Haru Nishikawa? You?" They kept laughing, except for 2 people. Those 2 people respected what Ren said and approached Ren.

"Hello Ren, my name is Kiyora Ikeda. I'm the same age as you."

"Hello, my name is Tetsuya Otsuka. I'm 17 years old."

Ren smiled:

"Nice to meet you. You didn't laugh at what I said. Thank you very much. So, what style do you guys play?"

Kiyora immediately picked up a ball and started to make quick step-overs. When he got close to the goal, he used the Rainbow Flick to lift the ball into the air and hit it into the goal. Ren was amazed:

"WHOA! YOU'RE GOOD, KIYORA."

Kiyora picked up the ball. A yellow aura formed around her. Looking at Ren,he said:

"I've always looked up to Neymar. I'm part Brazilian. That's why I'm good at dribbling. I'll share what I know with you, Ren. But it's not easy to do that. You have to work hard."

Ren replied, "Yes, I will." It was Tetsuya's turn.Tetsuya took the ball to his feet.He asked the other players to stand in a formation.Suddenly all the players started coming towards Tetsuya.But Tetsuya managed to pass the ball, even if it was through a very thin gap.And he could choose the place very well.Then he approached Ren.A blue aura appeared around him.

"My dream is to be the best playmaker in the world.Although my speciality is not as good as Kiyora, I will try to be the best in my place.I will share what I know with you.It is good for a striker to have a clear eye."

Ren's jaw dropped at these skills. Then he turned to Arata:

"So, what are your qualities, Arata?"

Arata with a sly look:

"I'll keep that to myself. You'll see in time, Ren."

Ren didn't ask much. It's tomorrow. The whole team went out on the field for training. The coach saw Ren and asked:

"You just signed up, kid?"

Ren said, looking at Coach:

'Yes, sir. I'm Ren Takamura. Nice to meet you.'

'All right, Ren. You can watch our team play from the bench today. If you get some good stats, you can see if you can beat them in person.'

Ren's real journey began now. He would risk everything to achieve his dream. Could he be like Haru Nishikawa?