The next day, the whole members of Team C were gathered in the training and sports zone.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go straight for a match!" Kimishita shouted, throwing punches at an invisible opponent.
"Not so fast. We've still got to start from scratch." Akaji corrected, walking towards the equipment/fitness building.
'This must be the equipment building. I hope we can find the stuff we need.' He sighed, standing before the door.
"I think you'll need a verification to access the building." Misaki said, walking towards Akaji.
"Ah... I didn't think of that." Akaji chuckled.
'I wonder how I'll verify...' He thought, his hand under his jaw.
The others waited behind them, chatting and laughing about other things.
"Um..." Atsushi started, raising his hands slowly.
Akaji turned to him.
"Our SW apps are used for verifications. Maybe you should try putting your ID against that box." He said, pointing at a small box near the door.
'And that's what I used to get in when we first arrived.'
Akaji stared at him for a while before nodding and turning back to the door.
He placed his phone on the box, and there was a beep before the door slid open.
"Whoa..." They stared into the building with awe.
The building had two floors. The first for equipments and the second for fitness.
"God! There's a damn gym here!" Kimishita shouted, standing by the staircase.
Aside from the fitness room, which was upstairs, there was lots of equipment on the ground floor. The balls, cones, dummies, poles, small posts, team vests, spray cans, etc.
"Hold up! Are tgose spray cans I see?" Ryuto asked, tapping Shoichi.
"Bro, I see them too!" Shoichi shouted as they grabbed lots of cans.
"Come on, let's go spray the field!"
"Wait a minute, guys... and they're gone." Akaji said, watching them as they left the building.
He sighed, walking to grab the cones.
"Guys, let's set some equipment outside. We've got to start training soon." Akaji said.
"Okay."
Atsushi looked up at the stairs, a light smile crawling up his face.
'A familiar smell. Should I come here later? Should I not come here later?' He thought, turning back to the others.
---
"Wah!! Don't come over!" Aira screamed, immediately kicking the ball wherever her legs could kick.
"Come on, don't be shy!" Kimishita shouted, running towards Haruka.
"E-eek!" She screamed, running with the ball.
Ichiro stood by the post, catching the balls shot at him.
"Oh? You're good at the post." Shoichi praised, flicking a ball above his head.
"I used to play catch with my siblings after all."
"Let's go to him together!" Ryuto said, passing a ball to Shoichi and sprinting forward.
"That's more like it."
Atsushi stood in front of two adjacent poles with a ball on his feet.
"Okay, your time starts now!" Misaki announced, blowing a whistle.
Akaji, Atsushi, and Yusuke began running and dribbling past the poles and cones set up for them.
Atsushi tapped the ball as he sprinted.
They continued training for a long time until they got tired.
"You're really fast, Atsushi-kun." Akaji praised as they bumped fists.
"You're not so bad either." Atsushi smiled.
They all left the field and went to have their baths.
'I wasn't really expecting them to train till evening.' Atsushi thought, stirring the pot.
He looked up from the pot to the others who were sitting in the sitting room.
"Hey, need some help with that?" Aira asked, standing beside him.
"No, thanks." He shook his head and smiled at her.
"Oh..." Her head drooped.
He glanced at her and then back at the pot.
"Well, you could help me taste the food?" He asked.
"Really?" She asked, her eyes glistening.
"Mm-hm..."
He scooped a little for her and handed it over.
"Then..." She started, placing the plate on her lips.
Atsushi stared at her, waiting for her reaction.
"Delish." She muttered, staring at the plate in surprise.
"Hm?"
"It's really good."
"Hehe, thanks." Atsushi grinned, rubbing his neck.
"Hey! Stop acting lovey-dovey and get us some food." Kimishita said.
---
It was already late in the night, and the other dormmates had all gone to rest.
Atsushi walked into the second floor of the equipment/fitness building after jogging around the race track.
Most of the equipment looked new to him, so he wanted to check them out as soon as possible.
'Seems kinda fun.' He thought, mounting the electrical bike.
There was a sound of a door sliding open, followed by footsteps from the stairs.
"Hm…? I didn't expect to see someone here. Looks like you're training hard, especially at night." A voice said, walking upstairs.
"Not really. I just don't like sitting around and doing nothing. I get uncomfortable."
He turned to the door, looking at the coach who stood before him.
The coach stared at him for a while, his face turning serious.
"Is there something on my face? You've been staring."
"Oh, my bad." He said, looking away.
'Just as I suspected. He's always been here.'
'This boy…' The coach thought, staring at him.
"We've been waiting for you. Apparently, we can't do much since you aren't with us."
He laughed, "Was that the excuse you guys came up with?"
"Excuse? I mean, it's to be expected, right? You guys just threw in a bunch of teenagers and left no one to guide em. We don't even know what we're expected to do."
'Oh-ho?'
The coach laughed again, "Oh... that's nice to hear, but it doesn't look like you guys are ready yet."
'Ready? What does he mean?'
"What do you mean?" Atsushi asked.
"It's not time yet. Why don't you have fun for a while. Get to know your teammates more and... maybe make friends for the first time in your life." He winked.
"What do you mean?" Atsushi grimaced as the coach snickered.
"Okay, I'll be off. I actually have really important business."
"So, don't tell them I'm back yet." He said, walking out.
"…"
"And…"
"Hm?"
"You should probably increase the difficulty of that bike." He said before finally walking out.
"Thanks… I guess."
"Ha… just when I thought he was back."
'Not time, my ass. He just doesn't want to train us seriously.'
He tried increasing the difficulty of the bike.
"But it's all good. In fact, it's just perfect."