A Trip to Japan (Ongoing)

Chapter 32

Wait... What did just happened? Did he really kissed my cheek? Aish, calm down, it was an accident! Or did he really meant to that? Kokotongan ko talaga 'to si Keiji oras na malaman kong sinadya niya 'yon.

Bakit ba kasi ang lapit ng mukha niya sa mukha ko? Kailangan ba talagang ganoon kalapit 'yung mukha niya 'pag tatawagin niya ako? Aish, parang gusto ko tuloy tuluyan 'yung mga daliri niya.

Pero bakit ang bilis na naman ng tibok ng puso ko? Bakit ang lakas-lakas? Bakit ang init din ng paligid, lalo na 'yung mukha ko eh naka-windbreaker naman ako? Hindi ko na talaga maintindihan 'yung sarili ko kapag kasama ko si Keiji. Lagi na lang 'tong nangyayari. Ganoon ba talaga kalalim 'yung pagkagusto ko sa kanya?

Tinignan ko naman si Keiji na nakatayo sa likod ng iba pang players. 'Di ko alam kung bakit hindi ko maipaliwanag 'yung reaksyon ng mukha niya. Para bang hindi siya mapakali at 'di rin siya makatingin sa mga mata ko.

Nang matauhan ako, napatayo naman ako para makinig sa sinasabi ni Coach. All I understand is, they need to strengthen their net and floor defense. Our offense is just fine, but we need to improve our defense.

First technical timeout pa lang naman, in favor of Panasonic, 8-7. That's okay. Isang puntos lang 'yon. Malayo pa kami sa 25. Kaya namin 'tong mabawi.

Bumalik na ang mga players sa court para ituloy ang laro at bumalik na rin kami sa kinauupuan namin. Mamaya ko na lang gagantihan si Keiji, may laro pa kaming kailangang panalunin.

Napaisip ako kung paano namin lalakasan ang net defense namin habang nakabangko pa si Kei. I got to admit, that guy plays a big part in our net defense. Lee and Tomi, our other two middle blockers, play their part well too. But it isn't the same without Keiji.

What if... we let him play? I know that's risky but we need him in this game. But, there's a chance we can gain momentum with Keiji in. But, then again, if we are not careful, his situation can get worse and he won't be able to play for a few months.

Keiji is less efficient with that injury but he can still play. With that said, he only has limited time. That means, we have to find a time to sub him in, in the shortest set possible.

The fifth set.

Alam kong malakas ang kalaban namin ngayon ngunit 'di rin kami pwedeng magpatalo nang gan'on-gan'on lang. They need to buy some time for Keiji to play. At kapag nangyari ito, the tables might turn in the fifth set.

There's a fifty-fifty chance that this will fail but still, we have to try.

Sinabi ko naman kay Coach ang lahat ng nasa isip ko. Nang matapos akong magpaliwanag, bumakas ang pag-aalinlangan sa mukha ni Coach.

"That's an unbelievably good plan, Mayu-san. But, that is risky too." sagot ni Coach at tumango naman ako sa kanya.

"I know but, what if it succeeds? We'll have an advantage in our team's morale. Not only that, we'll be included in the top four as well." sagot ko sa kanya. Napaisip naman nang malalim si Coach.

All we need is just one win, to get to the semi finals.

"Are you sure about this, Mayu-san?" tanong pa muli ni Coach.

"Anything is possible, Coach Ayu. No risk, no reward." I answered and gave him a smile of hope. He nodded to me in agreement to my plan.

Not long after, Coach called a timeout to explain our plan. 12-14 ang score at ilang sandali pa ay mag-tetechnical timeout na uli. We have to do our plan now.

Ipinaliwanag naman ni Coach 'yung plano kina Hiro. Nang matapos siyang magpaliwanag, bumakas din ang pag-aalinlangan sa mga mukha nila habang tinitignan nila ang isa't isa.

"We can still win this game. Like what Mayu-san said, 'Anything is possible. No risk, no reward.'." they looked at me with amusement in their faces.

"Woaaaah!" sabay-sabay nilang sabi habang pumapalakpak. First time ba nila makarinig ng words of wisdom? Parang ewan talaga 'tong team na 'to.

"Well, I guess we have to buy time for you, Keiji. Winning two sets from Panasonic is not easy. You're going to treat us after we win this okay?" natawa naman ako sa sinabi ni Captain kay Keiji at ganoon din naman 'yung iba.

Tama naman siya, mahirap magpanalo nang dalawang set lalo na't malakas ang kalaban namin ngayon.

"Seno-!"

"No risk, no reward!" sasabihin ko sana 'We are arrows' pero sinabayan ko na lang sila sa trip nila. Ginawa pa talaga nilang tagline 'yung sinabi ko.

Nagpatuloy muli ang laro. Nasa amin pa ang momentum kaya maganda ang progress ng plano namin. Kailangan nilang panalunin ang set na ito para magawa namin ang plano at makaabot ang laro sa fifth set.

"What are you doing here?" tanong ko kay Keiji na nakaupo sa tabi ko.

Isinantabi ko muna 'yung nararamdaman ko dahil 'di ako makapag-isip nang maayos tuwing naaalala ko 'yung nangyari kanina. Mamaya na lang ako kikiligin, 'pag napanalo namin 'to. Ay, anong sabi ko?

"Naze? (Why)" saad niya habang hinaharang 'yung isa niya pang jacket sa mukha niya. Is he really hiding his face?

"Didn't you heard Coach? Maglalaro ka sa fifth set. Mag-warm-up ka na doon." saad ko habang nakaturo sa box kung saan nakatayo 'yung iba pang mga players.

Nagsalubong naman ang mga kilay ni Keiji. "You'll let me play?" tanong niya nang may halong pagtataka. Aish, 'di niya ba narinig 'yung sinabi ni Coach kanina?

"Coach will let you play, not me. Kaya mo pa naman 'di ba?" 'di ko alam kung bakit ako nakakita ng mga sparks sa mukha niya nang sabihin ko 'yon. Tumango naman siya.

"Make sure you're in a good form pagdating ng fifth set. We need you out there." sagot ko sa kanya. Nginitian niya naman ako at nginitian ko rin siya.

Aish, 'di ko mapagkakaila na cute talaga siya.

Anyway, the second set ended in our favor, 25-21. Our boys really did a good job. But, that's just one set. We need two more.

"Coach. They need to win this set too. We can't risk playing Panasonic with two sets ahead." sabi ko kay Coach nang magsimula na ang three minute break.

"It will be tiring for our boys. Can they do it?" tumango muli ako kay Coach. I believe that these boys can defeat Panasonic.

"It will be tiring for their boys too, Coach. We'll take this third set and let them take the fourth set. If we are two sets ahead, they'll immediately exert full effort on the fourth set. But, to drain them, we need to extend the fourth set so that in the fifth set, when they're all drained, we'll release our trump card and win this game." tumango-tango naman si Coach habang nagsasalita ako.

"Also, another way to make them move around the court is targeting someone with a sloppy receive or, we can also target their attackers. With a sloppy receive, they won't be able to make a good play, thus will make the setter drain his energy."

Actually, I, myself, can't believe as well that I came up with that plan. I don't know, I just had this urge that I want this team to win. Not just because I'm their manager, but because I'm also part of this team.

"Again, that's a good plan. I'm so glad we hired you." napangiti naman ako sa sinabi ni Coach.

Ipinaliwanag uli ni Coach sa mga players namin 'yung plano at mukhang sang-ayon naman sila doon. Nilapitan ko naman si Hiro dahil may kailangan akong itanong.

"Hiro-chan. Sino sa inyo may pinpoint targeting serve? Pakitawag sila." may tinawag si Hiro na dalawang player namin, specifically Rouzier, our import, and Hoshino, our captain.

"You can target with your serves, yes?" tumango naman silang tatlo.

"Before you serve, look at me first. I'm going to signal a number of someone's jersey on the other team that you'll be targeting. If we only target one person, they'll figure it out. Wakarimashita ka? (Do you understand)" tumango muli sila.

"Mayu-san has conducted a good plan for us, boys. If we follow this, there's a chance that we will win this. Mou ippon (one more). Ganbarimashou (let's do our best)." nang sabihin 'yun ni Coach, pinagsama-sama namin ang mga kamay namin.

"Seno—"

"No risk, no reward!"