So the selection process for the Kanagawa Representative Team was bound to be anything but peaceful. And Tiangang Maoyi probably had more on his mind than who would make the cut-he also had to figure out how to give Ryonan's players a dominant role on the team.
After all, the Autumn National Sports Festival was a stage for showcasing the prefecture's strength, as well as an unspoken contest between its schools.
Chi Tong's guess was spot-on. At that very moment, Tiangang Maoyi was indeed agonizing over the Autumn National Sports Festival.
In a quiet corner of an elegantly decorated café somewhere in Kanagawa, Tiangang Maoyi and Takato Riki sat facing each other. Two cups of coffee stood on the table between them, long past steaming and now completely cold.
Neither touched his coffee. They simply stared at each other in an almost unnervingly silent atmosphere.
After a long while, Tiangang Maoyi broke the silence first. He folded his hands on the table, looked at Takato Riki across from him, and let out a long sigh.
"Ah, Takato..." Takato Riki adjusted his glasses, his expression grave.
"What is it?"
"Taoka, what do you plan to do about the National Sports Festival?"
Taoka Moichi got straight to the point.
"To be honest, things have gone a little beyond my expectations this year."
Takato Riki said nothing. He merely picked up his cold coffee and took a sip, frowning at its bitterness.
In previous years, Hainan had essentially fielded the entire Kanagawa Prefecture team for the Autumn National Sports Festival. After all, they had been the prefecture's undisputed kings, dominating Kanagawa for seventeen consecutive years. It had only been natural for them to represent the whole prefecture.
But this year was different. Ryonan had burst onto the scene, not only defeating Hainan in