When Ryo finally awoke shortly before their stop, he lazily stretched out his limbs and lifted his head, which had been resting against Ren's. It didn't take long for Ren to wake up as well, and soon they stepped off the train and began the walk home. Fortunately for them, the rain had finally let up by the time they reached Nagano, allowing them to walk back without getting soaked.
After a nice, long bath and some warm food, Ryo didn't wait long before going to bed that night. Within minutes of hitting his pillow, he fell fast asleep.
When he woke up the next day, Ryo allowed himself the luxury of sleeping in a bit. As a first-year student, homework was rare, so he didn't have any to do over the weekend, and it felt nice to laze around at home following a game. In the end, their Sunday passed by rather uneventfully.
The following morning, Ryo and Ren headed out of their house much like any other Monday.
"Bye, Mom! See you later!" Ren called out as they stepped through the door.
Without even waiting for an answer, he was already running out onto the street. Ryo rarely saw his brother this excited to go to school, but it definitely wasn't because of his classes today.
To be fair, Ryo was also looking forward to the day a little. Whether it was one of Kazuki's inquisitions about the game or the club practice waiting for him after school, there definitely wasn't going to be a shortage of enthusiasm today.
When they eventually reached the school, some of Ren's classmates spotted him and immediately came over.
"Congratulations on winning the game, Ren-kun"
"The match was so exciting, I can't believe you won!"
As these comments came spilling out of the mouths of his friends without end, Ryo gave a quick wave and left Ren behind to make his way to class. He would soon have his own interrogation to sit through, so he at least wanted to make it to his classroom first.
Ryo liked arriving early since it gave him time to settle into his desk and relax before classes started. Because of that, he was usually one of the first students in the classroom. Kazuki, on the other hand, was almost always one of the last ones in the room.
However, when Ryo stepped into the classroom, Kazuki was already jumping out of his seat and running toward him. It was one of the few times Kazuki had actually come to class before Ryo.
Why do I feel like he's been here for an hour already?
"Ryo! Ryo! You won Regionals! It was so exciting that I was ready to run onto the field the moment the match ended. You scored a goal and almost got an assist with that header. You were definitely the MVP of that game," Kazuki rattled off in a single breath.
Ryo could do little more than listen to Kazuki's enthusiastic ramblings. He was such a spirited kid that interrupting him felt almost as bad as accidentally stepping on a cat's tail.
Throughout the day, Kazuki always found something new to say about the finals game, and even a few older students stopped by to congratulate Ryo on the win.
When the last class finally ended, and they made their way to the football pitch, Ryo and Kazuki saw all of the club members gathering on the main field. Along the sidelines, the coaches stood near a set of coolers and a foldable table on top of which rested the champion's plaque.
"Wow! Ryo, the trophy is here! I didn't think I'd actually get to see it," Kazuki said, excitedly pointing toward it.
Ryo scrutinized the plaque a bit more from afar.
Is this really the same one as Saturday? For some reason, it seems a lot shinier. Then again, I guess it does look a lot more impressive in the sun than it did in the rain.
"Ryo," Kazuki added. "What do you think is in those coolers?"
"Probably some food and drinks? Coach mentioned that we'd be celebrating today, so he probably brought some snacks," he answered.
"That makes sense! It can't be a proper celebration if there's nothing to eat or drink."
A few minutes later, around the time practice would usually begin, Coach Matsumoto called out to everyone on the pitch.
"Alright, everyone, listen up. To celebrate the first team's victory on Saturday, we won't be having our usual practice today. Instead, feel free to have fun on the pitches."
Many players immediately began whispering excitedly at the prospect of being allowed to do whatever they wanted during practice.
"My wife kindly prepared some onigiri for everyone, and we also have a few choice drinks, so eat and drink as you please."
Following his announcement, many of the students quickly approached the coolers. Fortunately, the coaches had anticipated the rush and were already standing nearby to maintain order.
Ryo, wanting some onigiri for himself, stepped into the makeshift line alongside Kazuki.
Matsumoto's wife is a goddess. It takes an insane amount of dedication to make hundreds of portions of onigiri for an elementary school's football club.
When Ryo finally reached the front, he was even more shocked to learn that there were four different types of onigiri to choose from. Naturally, he chose the traditional grilled salmon and salmon skin filling, while Kazuki grabbed one with tuna mayonnaise filling.
For a while, they both sat on the grass, enjoying their chosen flavors and the unusually relaxed atmosphere of the club practice. Some players played casual football among themselves, while others competed with their precious onigiri on the line.
Ren spent most of his time hanging out with friends he usually didn't interact with since they played on the second team. Ryo wasn't bothered too much, much to his delight, and he was able to properly relax what would normally have been the club's practice time. Although he wanted to test out his newly acquired skills, he didn't have a problem waiting an extra day.
When the end of practice finally neared, Matsumoto called the players over once more.
"I hope all of you had a relaxing practice today and enjoyed the food, but tomorrow, the club's practices will resume as usual," he announced to the club. "However, there is one last order of business to get through today."
Matsumoto looked around expectantly.
"Pictures," he said clearly, "Or more specifically, in order to properly celebrate the first team's victory at Regionals, they'll be taking both group and individual photos with the plaque. Afterwards, anyone from the club may come up for a closer look at the trophy that our first team has worked really hard to win for our school."
A wave of excitement propagated through the students. It's only natural that young players would be interested in seeing a real trophy up close.
Over the next twenty minutes, the first team took a group photo together with the coaches and the plaque, and each player got an individual picture, too. On top of that, Ryo and Ren successfully convinced Matsumoto to let the two of them take a photo together with the plaque.
Following one final announcement from Coach Matsumoto, practice officially concluded, and the rest of the club members were finally able to approach the plaque. By the time Ryo and Ren left the pitch to head to the restaurant, the sun was already beginning to sink behind the countless buildings on the horizon.
—————————————————————————————————
Nationals, huh?
Ryo slowly brought another piece of katsu to his mouth as he mulled over what Matsumoto had said.
It's already only three weeks away. And it's in Fukuoka too…
Although the city was mostly known for its food and shrines, Fukuoka had been chosen as the host primarily because it was warm enough that the players wouldn't freeze while playing in December.
When it was finally time for the tournament, the team would have a bus take them to Fukuoka, and the entire team would be staying together for the entire week during which the national tournament is held.
However, before any of that happened, there was one important thing Ryo still needed to do.
He needed to practice using his two new skills.
If he could get used to them before Nationals began, then his opponents might not stand much of a chance.