My system allows me to copy talents

Standing in front of him, Mateo blocked his path. Not thinking much of it, Hiro tried to walk past him. But, no matter where he went, Mateo moved along with him and continued to block his path.

At first, Hiro thought that it was only a coincidence and didn't attribute it to anything. But, after a while as Mateo continued to block him, he realized that he was doing that intentionally.

Was he looking for a fight or was he trying to mock him?

If it were any of those two, he wasn't interested in confronting him. But, if it were not any of those two then what could it be?

Even if he were simply trying to converse with him, they didn't speak the same language. So, he wouldn't know what he was talking about.

"Wh..at? You... ne...ed so...mething?" Hiro asked albeit sounding a bit funny in English, thinking that Mateo would happen to know.

Mateo however upon hearing him, displayed a quizzical look on his face. It appeared he didn't understand English either.

'You don't even understand English, or are you expecting me to speak Spanish?' Hiro thought as he looked at Mateo, appearing rather annoyed.

He had much greater matter to tend to. Yet, Mateo was blocking his way for God knows what reason. And, the more Hiro looked at him, the more he got annoyed.

To the point that he was about to shove him away or yell at him for blocking his path in Japanese.

Then, Mateo began to take his shirt off. Witnessing Mateo's actions, Hiro finally understood why Mateo was blocking his path.

He wanted to swap shirts.

The guy whom he studied for months, right now was offering to swap shirts with him. It meant that he recognized his talents.

Though the player in front of him wasn't anybody great from his past life, he could tell that if he continued to play like this he would make it big in no time. Sure, he wasn't a big-shot but he held his talents in high regard.

But that same player, whom he spent months learning from was offering to swap shirts with him on his own accord.

A feeling of joy pounced on him as his eyes glistened with joy. His team was defeated, and his teammates were in a mess but here he was feeling happy to exchange shirts with an unknown player of the opposing team.

If only it were with great players like Messi or Ronaldo whom he admired the most, it would have felt reasonable to feel so. No, even if it were them, he shouldn't feel happy when his team had just lost the game.

Such an attitude wasn't befitting of a player of the national team.

But, since it wasn't him who approached first, it wouldn't hurt to feel a little happy about it, or would it?

Recomposing himself, he then started to take his shirt off, accepting Mateo's offer. After all, even though his team had lost miserably, he didn't need to turn down Mateo's offer and shun him. If he did, not only would it tarnish his reputation, it would show that he couldn't bear the loss.

Taking off his jersey, he then handed it to Mateo while at the same time, Mateo handed his number 19 jersey to him and concluded their exchange with a friendly handshake.

"You played well today. But next time we meet, I won't lose to you," Mateo spoke while shaking Hiro's hands.

Hiro however didn't get a single thing spoken by him. But, still, he kept a smile on his face as he continued to shake his hand without replying.

The cameramen were quick to capture this scene. Perhaps it might spark some controversies or perhaps it might alleviate their reputation, who knows what kind of reaction this footage would garner? Only time will tell.

☼☼☼☼ ☼☼☼☼

[Japan's humiliating loss]

Written in big letters, Japan's humiliating loss made the headlines of countless newspapers.

"What do you think of yesterday's match Masaki san?" asked a well-dressed middle-aged man while pointing at the headline of the newspaper he was holding in his hand.

"It was utterly disappointing to look at. There was a time when there used to be players from our country who would put their lives on the line to defend the dignity of the nation. But, the way those kids played seemed like they were taking their spot in the national team for granted," spoke an elderly man with well-kempt hair, dressed in a formal suit.

"Indeed, you're right Masaki san. The way those players played, it seemed as if they had already admitted defeat even before the end of the game. But, what do you think of the performance of Hiro and would it be possible to get your view regarding that picture of Hiro with the opposing man of the match after the game?"

"I think we shouldn't burden him with so much hope and expectation. For sure, he's a good player. Given his age, he'll get even better in the days to come. And, someday he might even represent our senior team on the world stage. But, I believe those expectations are starting to affect him. And, we could even see it in yesterday's match."

"Also given his age, I believe it would have been better to reappoint our captain. I'm not saying that he's not fit to be captain. By all means he's an excellent player. But, he simply doesn't speak much. A captain needs to be ferocious, he needs to be someone capable enough to move the hearts of his teammates. But, right now, he can't do those things."

"And regarding that picture with Mateo, I think he should have spent his time consoling his teammates who were spread all around the field"

"What the f*ck is this bastard talking about? My son was the only player on the field who had managed to graze the opposing post. What more do you want you bastard? And what's wrong with swapping shirts, you f*cker?" Appearing rather furious, Hiro's father hauled curses one after the other without any pause at the host who was criticizing his son on the television screen.

Right now, he was seated in his seat watching a show that was talking about the match between Japan u17 and Argentina u17.