Sato walked down the halls of the school until she caught sight of a boy.
The boy was about 1.83 meters tall, with medium-length dark hair and yellow eyes.
He greeted Sato and approached her.
"Good morning!"
"Good morning, Inoue!"
The two of them began walking down the halls.
"I saw you yesterday afternoon while I was practicing... You set a new personal best, congratulations!"
"Thank you! Every day I feel like I can do even better."
Inoue smiled and then looked ahead.
"Great, that goes for me too. Among the first-years, I had the longest jump of all!"
Sato smiled back at Inoue.
"Good job!"
"Although I think they'll let me compete in the Youth B tournament..."
"I think the same goes for me... Our senpais are really strong."
"Yes, they're practically professional athletes at this point."
"Speaking of senpai, I heard that one of your senpai got seriously hurt..."
Sato looked at him.
"You mean Senpai Ito?"
"Exactly. She had a complete rupture of her Achilles tendon, right?"
"Yes. During a starting drill, she must have pushed herself too hard physically... and then, all of a sudden, she gave out."
Inoue looked worried.
"That must have been incredibly painful..."
Sato's expression turned sad.
"Yes. She screamed for a while in pain... We were all shocked by her screams..."
"Where is she now?"
"I don't know. Probably in one of the school's trusted hospitals, for surgery..."
"It usually takes at least six months to recover, but for sports like ours, it can take up to twelve months."
Sato, with a determined look.
"I know, but senpai is strong. The best 100-meter sprinter this school has had in the last ten years! This injury won't end her career!"
"I hope so..."
Inoue stopped in front of a door.
"I'll stop here... Are you training with us today?"
"Yes, see you later!"
Sato left.
"See you later!"
Inoue entered the classroom.
She slowly lowered her hips into the "set" position. Her fingers dug into the red track, her breathing became labored. Her entire body vibrated, torn between tension and the impending sprint.
Then came the coach's whistle.
Sato ran as fast as she could, reaching the finish line.
She stopped, panting, and looked at a girl in a training uniform holding a stopwatch.
The girl checked the time.
"12.50 seconds!"
The girls from the 100-meter club applauded Sato.
"Good job!"
"Keep it up!"
The coach approached Sato.
"Sato, great run... You almost matched your record from yesterday."
Sato smiled at the coach.
"Thank you, coach!"
"But I noticed that you seemed a little tired on the home straight... Are you getting enough rest? Or are you overdoing your training?"
Sato gave a small shy smile, aware of her mistake.
"I'll be more careful..."
The coach placed a hand on her right shoulder.
"You're doing great... The future in this sport is yours, but don't try to rush things unnecessarily."
"Okay..."
"I'm glad you understand!"
The coach walked away from Sato.
"Next!"
As she walked, she noticed a group of boys entering the track area. They seemed to be looking for someone.
"Can I help you with something?"
The boys were: Riccardo, Kaneko, Noguchi and Aoyama.
Kaneko stepped forward, followed by the others.
"Good afternoon, I'm here on behalf of Coach Ishii... He asked if there's a chance we could borrow two of your resistance sleds and some weights."
The coach looked surprised.
"Coach Ishii..."
All the girls were looking at them as they talked to the coach.
"Who are those guys?"
"I don't know... but that guy," one girl said, pointing to Riccardo, "isn't bad at all!"
"He's not from around here... Could he be that half-Italian guy who got in thanks to a recommendation?"
Sato noticed him.
It's him...
One of the girls joked with another:
"Recommendation or not, he's really handsome... I almost want to ask him out!"
The girls laughed.
"Well, I get it..." the coach sighed.
"They're over there, we used them before."
He pointed to the sleds and weights.
The boys bowed a little in thanks.
"Thank you!"
They headed towards the sleds, the coach watching them.
"Are you sure you can carry them to the field alone?"
Kaneko looked at her calmly.
"Don't worry! We can do it!"
Noguchi and Aoyama loaded the weights evenly onto the sleds.
Then Noguchi and Kaneko lifted one, while Aoyama and Riccardo lifted the other with ease.
All under the perplexed and surprised gaze of the coach and the other girls.
"Thanks again! We'll bring them back as soon as possible!"
The coach, still surprised, thought: How strong are they?!
Sato watched them leave with the equipment, with curiosity in her eyes.
What kind of training are they doing...?
A couple of hours later, on the soccer field, the boys were taking turns doing a drill that was wearing them out.
The drill involved dragging the sled with weights from the three-quarter line of the field to the edge of the penalty area, then sprinting into the penalty area and trying to score on crosses.
The boys took turns giving crosses after they had finished the drill.
Riccardo dragged the sled with difficulty to the edge of the penalty area, then burst into the penalty area where Ueno crossed for him.
Riccardo got to the ball with precision and scored with a header.
Coach Ishii applauded.
"Good! Now go cross!"
Riccardo, breathing heavily, ran toward the ball set up by Coach Suzuki.
What kind of training is this?!
Coach Ishii looked at Tanaka.
"You're the last one!"
Tanaka dragged the sled for a while, then stopped, leaning on his knees.
This must be the tenth... maybe the eleventh time I've done this exercise... I can't do it anymore!
Coach Ishii whistled to call Tanaka, who looked at him in despair.
"Tanaka, keep going like this!"
"I can't do it...!"
Coach Ishii glared at him with an evil look.
"Either you finish the exercise or do ten laps around the field!"
Tanaka miraculously got up and dragged the sled again.
I can't do ten laps!
When he reached the edge of the area, he lunged forward. Riccardo crossed.
Tanaka tried to slide to reach the ball, but missed.
He remained on the ground, breathing heavily.
Riccardo sat down on the grass.
Coach Ishii looked around and saw everyone completely exhausted.
"Well, you all look exhausted... That's it for today! Put everything away!"
Then he turned to Riccardo, Kaneko, Noguchi and Aoyama.
"You four, put the sleds and weights back where you got them!"
The four boys shivered at the coach's words.
Then they headed towards the sleds.
Riccardo and Kaneko both headed towards the same sled, but Kaneko gave them a cold look.
"I'd rather carry it myself."
Riccardo looked back with a fake smile.
"You're welcome..."
Riccardo walked away, pretending not to care, while Kaneko stared at him with a burning gaze.
Noguchi approached Kaneko.
"I'll help you."
Then Kinoshita came over and lifted the weights off the sled.
"I'll carry them."
Riccardo and Aoyama took the other sled, while Aoki took the weights.
The boys crossed the courtyard, the sun had almost completely set by now.