My system allows me to copy talents

Inside a finely decorated room, illuminated by the golden lights of the setting sun creeping in from the window, Shun remained seated on the floor imitating different yogic gestures. Currently, he was in the middle of his conditioning exercises.

Two beds were in front of him, positioned side by side with room between them. One seemed rather unkempt, while the other rather well-kept.

However, this did not imply that only one was occupied while the other remained vacant. The neatly folded garments atop the well-kept bed were a testament to the fact that two individuals shared this room, each bed having its owner.

With nothing besides his breathing echoing in the room, the room appeared rather serene and dreamy.

Knock!! Knock!!

Suddenly, amidst his conditioning drills, he heard a knock on the door. The knock wasn't too shrill or weak.

"The door's open," he said as he continued with his task.

Clack!!

A clacking sound resonated as the handle of the door twisted before the person on the outside gently pushed the door open.

Slowly as the door opened, Takeshi whose brows were knotted into a frown and was carrying a rather dejected expression made his appearance.

"Sorry for the disturbance," he spoke apologetically, pushing the door open.

"No worries, and don't mind me; I'm just doing some conditioning exercises," Shun replied casually, continuing with his activity.

Takeshi then humbly stole glances around the room, hoping to find Hiro. But, aside from Shun, he couldn't find anyone here, which only added to his already damp mood.

The sole purpose of his visit was to talk to Hiro.

Noticing Takeshi's frown, Shun recalled an incident from yesterday's battle against Poland as he realized his purpose of visit, "Looking for Hiro?"

Currently, even with all his efforts to hide his intentions, Takeshi was like an open book. And not only Shun, but almost anyone on the team could tell what he was thinking at the moment.

However, Takeshi himself wasn't aware of that fact. Thus, for a split second when he heard Shun's inquiry, he couldn't help but feel taken aback.

His reaction, however, only confirmed Shun's inquiry. Shun then immediately returned to his normal position and asked while addressing his anxious expression, "Why are you so hung up on that matter? We won the match, right? Plus, Hiro himself has not mentioned anything about that matter. So, why are you troubling yourself?"

In yesterday's match, they could have won the match with a score of 2-0 instead of 1-0. In the 91st minute of the match, after making a brilliant solo run from the half-line, even when he had the opportunity to score by himself, Hiro selflessly passed the ball to Takeshi.

And, all he had to do was to tap the ball inside an empty net and they could have easily doubled their lead. But, he couldn't capitalize on the opportunity created by Hiro and instead shot the ball awry, flying into the stand.

Shun's words were assuring but it wasn't effective enough to lighten his mood. Especially after seeing a devastated expression of Hiro after the match, how could he bring himself to forget about that matter so easily?

After the match, while everybody celebrated their first victory, Hiro appeared rather sad and irritated. It was almost as if he wasn't satisfied with their team's victory.

But that wasn't the first time he had witnessed that expression of Hiro. Just a moment after firing the ball into the stand, failing to capitalize on the opportunity created by Hiro, he had seen that same expression filled with grief and rage.

Although others didn't think much of that matter regarding him missing a possible opportunity that could have doubled their lead, after catching a glimpse of Hiro's expression, he knew for a fact that Hiro cared about that opportunity more than anyone else.

That opportunity he had created truly meant something to him that others weren't aware of.

Sure, he didn't speak anything nor did he blame him for the miss. In fact, after the game, he even consoled him regarding that miss.

But, even so, he could feel the sadness hidden behind that face and voice of his.

Which is why, he had come to apologize to him right now. The guilt of not scoring that goal had even cost him his sleep.

Forcing a smile on his face, he thanked Shun for his kind words, "Yeah, I'll try to forget that. Thanks for worrying about me."

"But, I'd still like to apologize to Hiro. After all, he had worked so hard for that opportunity and I just blew it away. It wouldn't do him justice if I didn't apologize, would it?" He added sounding extremely sincere.

At this moment, he didn't sound like he was blaming himself. It sounded like he truly wanted to apologize to Hiro for missing out on that opportunity as his teammate.

Takeshi's sincerity managed to move his heart. And even Shun was left speechless upon hearing his true feelings. It truly was as mentioned by him, right now he only wanted to apologize to Hiro not because he was trying to get rid of the feeling of guilt he was feeling but to soothe Hiro who had created that opportunity.

It wasn't about him, it was about Hiro.

Shun then pointed outside the window and spoke, "Usually he should be back by now, but maybe it's really as you said; he might be bothered by that miss"

The hotel they were lodging at the moment, though it didn't have any football field still had a huge finely trimmed grassy field. They were also kind enough to permit the players to use it for recreational activities which included playing mini football or simply practicing football.

And right now, Hiro was at that field, expressing his frustration on the ball and his body. Though, it wasn't he who had missed that opportunity still that didn't mean his performance was good in yesterday's match.

For the entire first half, he was rendered basically useless. And, though he improved his performance in the second half, he still couldn't create many chances for his teammates. Which meant the failure of the quest solely lay on him.

It wasn't Takeshi who was responsible for the failure of the quest. It was he who had failed that quest provided by the system in that match against Poland.