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550 Press Conference

As the flight landed, Hiro was met by a spectacular sight—hundreds of people had shown up at the airport to receive the players. Many of them held banners wishing him a speedy recovery. If you scan the crowd, you could even find some overwhelmed by emotion. They were shouting his name. Some revered him as a hero while some as their messiah. The number of people grieving for him was equally large. At this moment, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he was at the center of attention despite being in the presence of Japan’s biggest superstars. The camera shutters flashed continuously with blinding lights, capturing his every movement in detail. However, unlike before, the reporters appeared more cautious than ever. It might be due to the cast on his arm. Hiro could palpably feel the love and support of those fans. As he stood there with a dumbfounded expression, overwhelmed by emotion, the doubts that he had been having seemed to vanish away. “What do you want to do Hiro? Should we proceed to the bus directly?” Coach Nanami who was right by his side asked him. Hearing those words, he returned to his senses. Until a moment ago, he was overwhelmed by the massive support shown by the fans. Then he looked at the crowd before him before deeply responding, “No, I should at least address the support of these people who have come to support me.”

For some reason, he didn’t feel like avoiding the reporters. Also, he felt if he avoided the interviews and proceeded straight to the bus, he’d be betraying the support those fans had shown for him. “Then let’s proceed to the exclusive press conference,” Nanami responded in a gentle tone. Due to the massive success of the team, there was already a press conference scheduled at the airport. Even if Hiro had refused to participate, other players would have attended the conference. However, since Hiro was the hot topic and the person the reporters desperately wanted to interview, Nanami had to pull some tricks to refuse the conference. But now as he heard Hiro’s response, he couldn’t help but feel relief. Nanami was well aware that Hiro disliked getting interviewed. Also, considering his present state, he had refused the request from the higher-ups to have him attend the interview before. In doing so, he had created a rift between their relationship. But if he couldn’t even protect his players, what’s the use of being a coach?

Slowly, Hiro was led to the location where the press conference was being held. Meandering a few corners and walking a few hallways, they arrived at the location. A booth was set up with a table full of microphones. In front, the reporters were seated, talking idly and preparing the interview materials. They appeared to be quite high-spirited. Then a representative entered the set to announce the beginning of the interview, asking the reporters to ready themselves. All of a sudden, as the representative announced the commencement of the conference, it got eerily silent. Even the previous bustling atmosphere became heavy with tension. Immediately, countless blinding shutter lights flashed continuously as he walked in. At that instant, Nanami appeared slightly different than what he used to appear. It almost felt like looking at a different person. He wasn’t pressured by the people before him who stared at him as if he were some sort of prey. Hiro had attended quite a lot of press conferences before as well but this one felt slightly different somehow. It might be due to the presence of the international reporters. There weren’t only domestic reporters on the scene but there were also some international reporters present on the scene. They appeared equally eager and serious. Also, the aura with which they carried themselves completely set them apart from the reporters present outside. They weren’t like those bunch of reporters who’d make a fuss over everything. As Nanami got seated, he greeted the people present there, “Good afternoon everybody. I hope that you all are doing well. But I’m sure you’re not here to ask about the well-being of each other. So, without further wasting any time, shall we proceed directly to the questions?”

“So, who wants to go first?” he added as he completed his sentence. No sooner had he finished his sentence than a lot of people raised their hands. Scanning through those raised arms, Nanami randomly pointed at someone, “Yes, you there with the glasses.”

A man dressed eloquently in a suit with a rather handsome-looking appearance stood, “Hello. I’m Nishida from NJK, thank you for allowing me to speak.”

“11-0. That’s the most we have scored in the last decade. There’s no doubt that it was a marvelous display of attacking football. But it also cost us a rising superstar.”

Just from the nature of the question, one could tell where it was headed. It seemed that the man wanted to put Nanami in a difficult situation. A cold glint flashed past his specs as he slightly adjusted it while continuing with his question, “There are a lot of people who say that you could have taken him out of the game. That way, you would have prevented this unwanted risk. However, you didn’t. So, what do you think about your decision?”

The man was oozing confidence. When he asked that question, Hiro couldn’t help but overlap the image of the reporter with a bloodthirsty lunatic charging at Nanami with a dagger. ‘It has only started yet the conference has already started to get heated. Just what’s with this intensity? Isn’t that person wholly blaming the coach?’

Hiro who was at the backstage thought. He even got a sudden chill. He felt that the question was a bit too intense. So, he couldn’t help but cast a concerned look at Nanami. However, when he turned to look at Nanami, he found him with an eerie calmness on his face. There wasn’t even a slight hint of panic on his face.