My system allows me to copy talents

While Hiro's father was hauling indignant curses at the host of the show he was watching, Hiro's mother walked in while wiping her wet hands.

"Who are you shouting at hon?" She asked, puzzled by her husband's indignance.

She had rarely seen him acting so worked-up. Yet, today he seemed awfully worked up.

Normally during her presence, no matter how pissed he was, he'd still have recomposed himself. But this time, even her presence didn't stop him from being mad at those hosts on the TV screen, who were criticizing his son.

Though her presence didn't soothe his anger, it still stopped his grumbling as he stopped cussing after she entered the room. With his brows knotted, he remained seated, intently glaring at the screen with his bloodshot eyes.

The way he was glaring at the screen made Momo quite curious as she linked her husband's ill temper to the thing he was looking at the moment.

Then, as she turned to look at the screen, she found several articles criticizing her son and the national u17 team for their poor performance in yesterday's match. Those articles made her shudder as they broke her heart.

Even though she was aware of the dark side of a player's career, she still found those articles aimed at her son quite heartbreaking. Sure, almost everyone present on the team was getting criticized and it wasn't only aimed at Hiro specifically but still, it pained her to see her son getting criticized.

Like, how could they criticize a fourteen-year-old?

Immediately upon seeing those articles, her eyes became frantic as she thought of calling Hiro. If it was doing so much harm to them then what about Hiro? If he were to see this, he'd be devastated.

They had tried calling him after the match to ask about his condition, to console him but he wasn't available at that time. Well considering the time difference and accumulated fatigue after the match, they didn't think much of it.

But now, if he were to see such news, she feared that it'd break his heart. Thus, upon seeing those articles, she immediately rushed to pick up her phone. As she opened the chat with her son, she only found her messages but there was no reply yet. Hiro hadn't come online since the last time they talked.

Despite that, she still tried contacting his other friends. But, none were available.

"Why is nobody answering?"

"Yeah right, I should try contacting his coaches....," sounding extremely desperate, she mumbled absentmindedly as she tried contacting other people close to him.

But no matter whom she tried contacting, none answered which only made her more agitated and anxious.

For some while, Takashi kept his mouth shut as he let her do whatever she wanted. But, seeing her acting so desperate, he couldn't allow himself to sit back any further watching his wife with such an anxious expression.

Walking up to her while she was continuing with her actions, he silently grabbed her hands. Just as he grabbed her, she jolted her eyes towards him as she yelled frantically, "What? I need to contact him. He needs us..."

Takashi however gave her a helpless look as he shook his head and answered in an understanding tone, "Honey, he'll be fine"

She however wasn't convinced by his reasoning as she continued to argue, "How can you say this? Doesn't it pain you to see our son in such a state? We can't let him go through this all alone. He's just a boy"

How could it not pain him? Being a father, he too wasn't fond of seeing his son getting criticized like this. But there was nothing he could do at the moment than to trust his son to overcome this situation by himself.

His wife acting such was completely normal, thus though those words sounded extremely hurtful, he didn't get agitated over it.

Instead, he kept his cool as he tried to calm her down.

"Honey, you know it pains me too to see my son getting criticized like this and you know that as much as you want to be there for him, I too want to be there for him. But, if we act such then it'll only worry him," while saying such, he noticed the moisture building up in her eyes.

She was on the verge of tearing up. Quickly upon noticing those puffy eyes, he pulled her closer as he hugged her.

No sooner had he pulled her close, than she started weeping.

"Sniff!! Sniff!! Wh... Wh... Why are they be... ing so mean to my boy?" grabbing her husband tightly, she mumbled as she wept.

Takashi gently stroked her back as he tried to comfort her, "People are like this, and they are quick to forget. But you know how tough our son is right? So, can't you have faith in him, honey? I'm sure that he won't succumb to such mindless criticism. So, as his parent, let's trust him, okay?"

☼☼☼☼ ☼☼☼☼

While drying his wet hair with a towel, Hiro walked into his room. Then, he walked toward the mirror to take a look at his face.

And, as he stood in front of the mirror, he realized that his hair had grown quite a lot. "It seems like I'll need a haircut soon," he whispered.

Though he didn't use any skin products, nonetheless he still had clear skin. It wouldn't be entirely accurate to state that he didn't use any skin products at all; after all, he did apply sunscreen. And, due to that, he rarely got any tan either.

After the Mizuno advertisement went viral, he was approached for a number of commercials. However, because he needed to focus on the competition, he had to decline most of them. In addition, among those several advertisement offers, he was also asked for a commercial for beauty items on several occasions.

But, surprisingly, he hadn't been approached for any advertisement related to hair products until now.

While caressing his hair, Hiro then opened his drawer to bring out his comb. And, as he opened his drawer, his eyes fell on his phone. After yesterday's match, he had switched off his phone so that he wouldn't have to face others.

"I should probably call mom and dad, " Hiro muttered.