Immediately upon seeing their appearance, he hid the phone away. It wouldn't look good checking on the phone at such a moment.

For some reason, upon seeing them he tried to get up.

It might be because he wanted to greet them. But in doing so, he totally forgot that he was injured. Only when he felt the discomfort did he realize that he had been injured.

"What are you doing? You should be resting," Nanami rushed to him with concern laced all over his face. Then he helped him lie down.

After that, he raised the bed a little to make him comfortable with the remote.

Then he stared deeply at Hiro before speaking, "Hiro..., how are you feeling?"

Hiro gave a half-hearted smile, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I've been better, Coach."

"That was some game yesterday," Tatsuki chimed in, trying to lift the mood. "Six goals- double hat-trick! Man, you were on fire!"

Although saddened, he felt the urge to lighten the dampened mood. So while suppressing his initial emotions, he spoke cheerfully.

Hiro chuckled softly, then winced as the movement sent a sharp twinge of pain through his arm. "Yeah, I guess I was. But I wasn't planning on ending it like this."

Well, he had foreseen the tackle but he couldn't imagine that Wei Zen would cling to him with such desperation. Also, it might be due to his desire for the goal that led to this.

If he hadn't been such shortsighted, perhaps he might have avoided the tackle.

And to add to his already dampened mood, he had also failed the quest. So, now he couldn't even buy a recovery potion to recover quickly.

Judging from the circumstances, he'd most likely get sidelined for the rest of the season.

Fortunately, he could still make it to the World Cup if he managed to impress the selectors later. It'd most likely mean that starting next season, he'd have to start from scratch.

Although he was worried a little, he wasn't greatly concerned about it.

After all, once the restriction over the system shop gets lifted, he'd be able to access the system shop to exchange the point he had stacked.

At this moment, Naoto, always the quieter of the group, stood at the foot of the bed, his gaze fixed on Hiro's injured arm. "Does it hurt a lot?"

Hearing him, Hiro turned to look at him.

"It's not fun, I'll tell you that much," Hiro replied, his tone light, but his frustration was palpable. "Doc says it'll take some time before I can even think about getting back on the field."

Coach Nanami's brow furrowed, and he placed a reassuring hand on Hiro's shoulder. "You've done more than enough already, Hiro. Your health comes first. We'll manage, and when you're ready, we'll welcome you back."

Hiro felt slightly reassured when he heard him. But he wasn't delusional enough to blindly trust his words. After all, he was aware of the cruelty in the field.

Even if he had gotten injured while playing for the team he wouldn't get selected if he doesn't perform well. The world discards the player who can't perform.

It doesn't matter if you sacrifice your life for someone.

Once you become a liability, they are quick to toss you away.

So, although he could feel the honesty behind his words, he wasn't willing to put his faith in him.

Hiro turned to look at him and then smiled meekly before responding, "I appreciate the concern coach. But I know I can't be part of this team-"

Before Hiro could even complete his sentence, Naoto exasperated, intervening to him, "You're a big part of this team."

His sudden proclamation left the three present in the room startled and they couldn't help but turn to look at him.

Naoto then slightly lowered his voice before speaking in a gentle tone, "You're a big part of this team. But... you don't have to carry it alone. We'll hold things down while you recover. No one's expecting you to be a hero every time."

Tatsuki nodded. "Exactly. You need to focus on healing. We've got your back."

For a moment, Hiro let their words sink in. He appreciated their support, but the weight of his injury still loomed large over him. The drive to compete, to push himself beyond his limits, was in his nature. And now, his body had betrayed him just when he was at his peak.

Even now, he didn't want to accept the reality.

But even if he wanted to deny the reality, it wouldn't change anything. So, he didn't have any other option than to accept the reality and think about the future.

From the moment he had gained consciousness after the tackle till now, he had been pondering about the matter.

One moment he'd feel that it wasn't that big of a deal and another moment he'd feel that it was a huge deal.

Especially, the timing of the closure of the system shop, just thinking about it, he couldn't help but curse the system. If only the timing hadn't been this bad, he could resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

But since he had to rely on his natural healing factor, there wasn't much he could do.

However, right now, as he heard their concern, he felt at peace. He felt that unlike before when no one was expecting him to get back in shape, right now there were people who appreciated him and loved him.

It was really as the saying, when you've got someone by your side the journey becomes much easier. So, he felt a subtle courage welling up inside him as he was introduced to their

support.

Finally, he revealed a genuine smile on his face and said, "Thank you, guys. I'll return much stronger than before."

Seeing such deep camaraderie, Nanami couldn't help but smile. He could tell that with such players in the team, it wouldn't be a pipe dream to lift the silverware soon.

But he was still a bit skeptical about Hiro.

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