<h4>Chapter 412 Warm reception</h4>


    Walking down the tunnel, he kept thinking about the moments outside. The energy of the crowd, the support of the fans, and the amazing moment on the pitch, it was such a blissful and memorable moment, that he just couldn''t stop smiling.


    Then he approached his locker room. Due to the intervention of the reporters and the moment he shared with the fans, he had to stay upte on the field. Thus, right now he was all alone. There wasn''t a single teammate apanying him.


    They were all inside the locker room.


    Approaching close to the locker room, he could audibly hear the noiseing out of the locker room. He could hear their cheerfulughter and their excited chatters. And the more closer he got to the locker room, the noise only intensified.


    It made his heart pound. And for some inexplicable reason, it got him tense. Tightening his grip on his trophy, he approached the locker room.


    Then just as he was about to enter, he took a deep breath.


    The moment he entered, he was met with a warm reception from his teammates. They sped their hands as he entered the room, apuding him for his marvelous performance. They cheered on him, showered him with praises, and congratted him for his performance.


    Emotions welled inside him as he stood frozen in his ce. His eyes glistened with joy while his heart thumped.


    "Well done, Hiro," Coach Tatsuya said, his voice steady and reassuring. "This is just the start. Keep working hard, and there will be many more nights like this."


    Darting his gaze to Coach Tatsuya, he nodded his head, absorbing the words of the coach. He knew the road ahead would be challenging, but he was ready. The only thing that he wasn''t ready at the moment would be this unusual reception.


    It was such a warm reception but he wasn''t used to it. Well, it wasn''t his first time receiving such a reception but it was his first time receiving such a reception from the yers whom he had admired since his previous life.


    So, he was a little taken aback by their response.


    The final whistle might have blown for this match, but for Hiro, it only marked the beginning of a new journey, one filled with promise and potential. And, he was more than ready to embark on this arduous journey.


    epting everybody''s congrattory words, he then took his seat. Slowly, he ced his trophy in his cab. While the people around him became busy with their own chatters and tasks. All along, he couldn''t take his eyes off the shiny trophy.


    "You deserve it, Hiro," gently sping on his back, Naoto spoke.


    "Yeah, but I won''t hand it over to you in the next game," Tatsuki sounded dead serious when he said those words.


    And, Hiro could vividly feel his resolve. Though it might have sounded like a joke to others, he knew that he wasn''t joking. Rather it was a challenge. After all, Tatsuki had apetitive spirit.


    "Then I''lle for your spot," Hiro replied, his resolve unwavering.


    His response left Tatsuki confused for a while as he tried to figure out what exactly he was talking about when he mentioned that he wasing for his spot. Was he aiming for his spot in the starting eleven? That didn''t feel right to him since he yed as a striker whereas Hiro yed as an attacking midfielder.


    So, what exactly was he talking about? Tatsuki ransacked his mind as he tried to figure out the meaning behind his response.


    While he continued to ransack his mind, Naoto immediately caught on to what he was trying to say. So, he let out a subtle chuckle. But kept the news to himself.


    Then Hiro began to get changed. But while changing his jersey, his eyesnded on his phone. Suddenly, he got an urge to click a photo of him with the trophy. Such urges hadn''t urred to him previously.


    But for some reason, he got this urge to have his picture taken. Sure, he had already gotten his picture taken out there in the pitch. But they were public photos anybody could use it. He wanted some for himself tomemorate this moment.


    So, he asked Naoto to take some pictures of him.


    Posing along with the trophy, he got his pictures taken. But as he continued to take pictures, soon his teammates bombed his photo. It was meant to be a solo picture. But somehow it turned into a group photo.


    Naoto who was taking pictures nonstop too couldn''t resist the urge to be in the frame. So, instead of taking pictures from the rear camera, he started taking selfies.


    Hiro got squeezed as everybody tried to fit in the frame. It became extremely chaotic. With all those sweaty bodies colliding with each other, he felt both suffocated and hot. But still, he kept up with their actions as he continued to click pictures with them.


    Though it felt ufortable, it also felt exciting to take pictures and bond with the team.


    Witnessing all of them taking pictures while making silly poses,ughing, and struggling, the coaching staff was extremely happy about the moment. Until some moment ago, some were fearful of Hiro not being able to bond with all these yers.


    But now, their fear was alleviated as they witnessed Hiro with all the yers. So, they couldn''t stop smiling at the state of their yers. They were genuinely happy about the oue. So, none tried to stop them and instead let them do whatever they wanted.


    Just like this, they spent quite a lot of time in the locker room. Then after themotion died down, they all got dressed and headed outside. Hiro too got changed and joined his teammates to the bus.


    Stepping out of the stadium into the cool night air, Hiro took a deep breath. The city lights shimmered in the distance, and he felt a wave of contentment wash over him. Tonight had been a dreame true, but he knew it was just the beginning.