Nishimura looked up and passed the ball to Shimizu on the right flank, who immediately crossed into the box. Waiting for the ball were Aoki, Ueno, and Ono in red, while Tamura, Kaneko, and Riccardo wore yellow.
There were several clashes in the box, including one between Riccardo and Ono. Riccardo managed to free himself and cut toward the near post, narrowly deflecting the ball toward the far post, where Kaneko easily scored.
Mister Ishii and Suzuki applauded, satisfied with the result.
Kaneko gave Tamura a high five. Then Riccardo approached, also looking for a high five.
"Great job!" Riccardo said sincerely, but after a look from Kaneko, he was ignored.
Mister Suzuki observed them, "Mister Ishii, I think those two could play really well together."
Mr. Ishii glanced briefly at Mr. Suzuki, then returned his gaze to the pitch with a thoughtful expression.
"Do you mean Kaneko and Aliberti?"
"Exactly. We both know that there are two irreplaceable players on our team: Nishimura, our number 10, and Aliberti, our talented starting striker. But since our formation only features one striker, that means a player like Kaneko ends up on the bench every game... He may not have Aliberti's qualities, but he brings other important qualities."
"Mr. Suzuki, I've already thought about that. But changing the formation and using two strikers creates technical problems for this team. I've considered a 3-4-1-2, but in that case the wingers would have to handle both attack and defense. Players like Shimizu and Tanaka wouldn't last long and would lose their best asset: dribbling."
"Then we could use Ueno and Sugimoto. They have more stamina than Shimizu and Tanaka and can deliver solid crosses."
"I thought about that too, but we'd run into another problem... Those two don't have the same technical quality as Shimizu and Tanaka. On the counterattack, they wouldn't be able to support our attackers sufficiently."
"So you're saying there's no way we could play Kaneko and Aliberti together...?"
"Not from the start..." The two coaches watched Kaneko this time head the ball toward Riccardo, who scored. "But as a mid-match option, if needed, it would definitely work."
Riccardo again sought a high five from Kaneko, who hesitated but eventually returned it.
The next day.
Riccardo woke up and immediately checked the time on his phone: April 29, 2025, 8:35 AM.
He put his phone away and rested his head on the pillow with a smile.
"I love holidays!"
After a while, he ate breakfast, walked the dog, and then returned to his room and sat on the bed. A moment later, he groaned in frustration.
"I have no idea what to do..."
He checked the time again: 9:53.
Riccardo glanced at his gym bag, the one he used for club activities.
A little later, Riccardo arrived at school, already feeling the heat.
"I like the heat... but this is too much."
He headed to the boys' soccer team's gym.
He went inside and put on his training gear, then began working out on the equipment, blasting music through his Bluetooth headphones.
Riccardo continued his workouts, but at a certain point he had to stop, both because of the intense heat and the amount of sweat dripping from his body.
"E ch' cazz!" Riccardo shouted in Neapolitan dialect.
He looked around and then peered out the gym window, making sure no one was there.
"The hell... why not?"
Riccardo took off his shirt.
Meanwhile, near the athletics area, a girl in school uniform was emerging from the girls' locker room with a small bag, clearly also suffering from the heat.
"I got it... but at what cost?"
She headed toward the soccer club area and noticed that the gym window was open.
Is someone training on a holiday and in this heat!? — she thought, disconcerted.
She slowly approached the gym, curious.
Just a quick peek... — she thought, leaning toward the open window.
She peeked inside and froze in shock when she saw Riccardo lifting weights, shirtless.
"Wow..." she exclaimed before quickly ducking, convinced she'd been discovered.
Damn!
After a moment, she peeked again and noticed that Riccardo was wearing headphones. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness!
Then she took a closer look at Riccardo and his well-defined body.
I can't believe it... is he the recommended student?
That half-Italian boy? Not bad... — she thought mischievously, then something else caught her attention, startling her again.
Wait, is that a tattoo!?
The girl had just noticed a tattoo on Riccardo's right hip, depicting a rose with thorns protruding from the asphalt, with a soccer ball next to it.
I have to show this to the other girls... — she thought as she secretly took a photo of Riccardo and sent it to her classmates on LINE.
[In a girl's room]
A girl was lying on the bed, resting near a fan.
"It's so hot..."
She received a notification on her phone that Kaho had just sent a photo to the LINE group.
"Kaho sent a photo..."
Curious, she opened it, only to be completely shocked to see Riccardo shirtless.
"Who is this guy!? Wait, that's our school gym!"
Then she read Kaho's message.
"It's Riccardo Yui Aliberti, a first-year. The one who got in on a recommendation!"
"So it's him..."
She looked at the photo again, blushing slightly.
"I have to admit... he's really handsome..."
But as she examined the photo more closely, she noticed the tattoo.
"A tattoo..."
In the group chat, the girls were already gossiping about it. But the girl didn't write anything; she just sat there, lost in thought.
If I'm not mistaken... Miyu wasn't interested in Aliberti...?
After thinking about it for a bit, she forwarded the photo to Miyu.
Eventually, like a chain reaction, the photo spread through various student group chats throughout the day.
The next day.
Riccardo and Nishimura walked around the school, drawing stares as usual, but this time they both sensed something different.
"Um... I don't know, but there's something different," Riccardo said, puzzled.
"Since when are you an expert at reading people's eyes?" Nishimura teased.
The two entered the classroom. As usual, the room fell silent upon their arrival, but they ignored it.
Then the teacher entered and immediately looked at Riccardo.
"Good, he's here."
Riccardo was taken aback. Then he watched the teacher leave the classroom.
"Vice Principal, you may come in."
The Vice Principal entered the classroom shortly after.
"Aliberti, I think you should come with me to the principal's office."
Riccardo and Nishimura exchanged shocked glances. Riccardo sighed and calmly stood up.
"Okay."
The two left the classroom, while the other students began whispering among themselves.
"He asked for it..."
"He must be a delinquent..."
"Having a tattoo at this age? He definitely must be..."
— That last comment immediately set off an alarm in Nishimura's head.
Oh shit...