Nidou casted a look behind. A middle aged man (his age coinciding Nidou's) wearing ragged trousers, an unbuttoned, unkempt and beige colored; round necked shirt with dark brown tousled wavy hairs and slippers, stepped down to the coach's sitting area scratching his hairs.
The highschoolers looked at him speechless.
Romeo recognizing the figure gasped wide eyed, "Its… you?"
Rauf too observed the man from the corner of his eye stern.
The man glancing at them yawned."Huh? What is it? Why did all of your eyeballs pop out?" he asked sardonically.
Damian turned to Christopher who shrugged his shoulders clueless. Mikael and Feng however beamed waving their arms, "Ryan's old man!"
"It's me Feng!" "And Mikael! Little Ryan's seniors." they recalled.
"Huh?! Phoenix Spinner Musa?!" Haris got it, bewildered, upon hearing 'Ryan's old man'.
"Ah…" Musa remembered waving back, "Feng and Mikael hun…" he settled in beside Nidou exhaling heavily as if drained. Seles pleased upon his arrival offered him a bottle of water.
"Did you see that, old man? Ryan just bolded him out! It felt as if your live version just came out!" Feng praised overjoyed.
Musa still and unmoved in the least, directed his gaze to Nidou. "Seriously, didn't I tell you to train them a bit more, old man? For a month more at least, especially that brat of mine. Just look how they are performing right now?" he complained.
Feng and Lou Wang stood with their mouths agape. Isa, Elias, Haitam, Aaron and Kazuna too blinked.
"What does that mean…?" Aigou furrowed his gaze slightly offended.
Nidou twitched his brow, "First of all, who are you calling an old man, you old fart? If you had the guts to ask the board to extend the PSL date. Then show yourself first rather than here complaining before me after everything is under progress. I am just the head coach and supervisor of a base not the board leader."
Musa exhaled. "Right~ right~ how can I forget that. This sluggish sports drink freak is still stuck on the same designation even after 12 years." he teased.
Mir shook his head speechless while Pedro hid his laughter beside Seles. Nidou annoyed showed his fist to Musa who grinned provoking him in return.
"I heard you both were best friends in the past? Is that how your friendship looked like back then?" Haitam interrupted curious.
Musa clicked his tongue, "Our friendship? Forget it rascal, you can't even imagine how it looked like." Looking aside he studied the highschoolers amused, "So they are the champions from 2 years ago…?" he chanted.
"Hm, not bad. They are quite the good lookers." he commented out of the blue.
Noah turned to Nagi unamused. "Has he lost it or something? Or is he an imposter?" Orion asked blatant. Senri shrugged his shoulders clueless.
"Rauf Victor Gondior…" Musa called. Rauf looked aside, his gaze sharp. "Best of luck this year. I look forward to your golden age." Musa added. His expression reading as if everything about him with just a mere glance Rauf nodded wordless, once again shifting his concentration to the ground.
"So…" Nidou asked, "Why are you here?"
"Why am I here? Earnestly speaking, my wife kicked me out to do something good for this ever revolving world. She says I slack off a lot after my retirement. Haiz, how unlucky am I, I had nowhere to go so I came here. All just to save your buts." Musa summarized his tragic story.
"Pfft!" Senri, Rovan, Isa, Haruf, Ren and Haris blurted hiding their laughter.
"Seriously?" Nagi clarified.
"There's nothing to laugh brats, you'll someday stand in my place too. Then I'll ask." Musa turned to them feeling slightly offended upon their laughter.
Nidou scoffed, "Save us ? Go find something else to do. Your brat is already a lot to babysit, I don't want to babysit another one."
"Hehe…" Aaron chuckled beside the highschoolers who were having quite the comedic stretch beside Seles and Pedro.
"Ah, right your brat…" Musa realized, looking around only to find an unfamiliar figure sitting inside the restricted area before the field. His long blue hairs a prominent clue, Musa turned to Nidou, providing clarity, yet rendered speechless simultaneously.
Nidou exhaled, "Yeah, that's him. And, don't ask me why he's there. I don't know what his mind is up too."
Musa resting his back against the seat rest called, "Alan."
Alan turned around. Musa's call loud, unfamiliar and throaty, he stood up walking over. Jumping over the chain queue stand and back to the pavilion, he stood before Musa.
Musa stared at Alan for a while. His expression showing surprise and disbelief at the same time. Alan cluelessly glanced at Nidou, Mir and back to Musa again. A usual gentle smile enveloping his face he asked, "It seems you called me, sir? Though you seem unfamiliar how may I help you?"
Musa hearing him, instantly laughed, "Haha!"
Alan blinked glancing at the highschoolers who gestured him as a madman. He raised his brow confused.
Grabbing his forehead, Musa looked low, "Oh my god…"
"She is that child…?" he thought speechless, "I… don't believe it. She went through all that? She is the one under all that burden? Is this one of god's marvels?"
Looking up he exhaled, "Oh, little 'Galaxy of Pakistan' how can you help me? I don't need that but if you still want too… then tell me when will you play?"
Alan squinted his gaze alerted, "You seem to know me quite well it seems. 'Phoenix spinner of Pakistan'. I apologize for recognizing you so late. I bet this is the first time we've met."
Feng and Azazel looked at each other perplexed. A strange tension encompassing the two, the highschoolers too glanced at each other tipped off over the conversation.
"As for when I'll play…" Alan looked at Nidou, "It depends on him. I'll perform when I'll be given my chance."
Musa smirked, "Are you sure about that? Chances can be futile. You might get hurt, if you don't become a champion this year. Do you have the heart to accept this defeat?"
"No I don't. My patience is off limits now. That's why, I won't lose and neither will my Kings!" Alan declared grave. His eyes glinting red as if a fire had burned inside them offended over his words.
Musa blinked stunned, soon giving his hand forward he offered, "Very well then, I leave my little king to you and whenever you need me, I am always there to help."
Alan smiled, "You're welcome…" "As sketchy and sly his smile looks. I bet he's gonna cause me trouble big time even if he's my old man's friend. Moreover, that gaze which portrays as if he knows everything, I reckon he even knows about my identity. I better be careful around him…" he thought.
OUT!! Instantly chatters surrounded the ground. Alan immediately turned around. "Out! Out!" cheers went beside loud hoots and whistles. Inside the ground, the 11 boys had surrounded each other full of smiles and thrilling laughter.
"Another one is gone!" Azazel exclaimed.
"It's Poseidon Agiel again! He takes another big wicket! A swift Googly aimed right on the inside edge. Karachi asking for a DRS review. Ultra edge giving a faint resonation by the ball. The DRS review goes against Lahore! Lbw declared! Just Wow!!" Maaz summarized.
"Last ball of the 14th over, only 5 more overs left (30 balls) from the death overs. Lahore however needs 77 runs on 30 more balls. Will this even be possible? Lahore under insurmountable pressure, the kings raise their flag of victory. Charles Ross heading back to the pavilion on 47…" Jones continued.
"Karachi! Karachi! Karachi!!" the stadium cheered.
"No way, Lahore was playing so great before. How did this happen?" the fans gossiped.
"Who knows, after Beruni and Nour left not a single all-rounder stayed at the pitch for more than 10 balls except for Andre who is still maintaining his ground. What are they doing?" another one uttered irritated.
"Tch, I was really hoping for them to win though." complained another one.
"But, they did their best. If you are criticizing so much why don't you go inside there and play instead?" another snapped.
"But Karachi really did it hun… I thought they might not even pass the qualifiers like last year. However, this team is wild, to think they are middleschoolers on top of it?!" one amongst them shrugged.
Stormy fury on the media and inside the stadium the highschoolers exhaled. "Oh boy… time to switch off our phones." Ren turned his phone to silent while Zach, Nagi, Kazuna and Isa instantly shut them off.
"Silent mode on~" Aigou and Noah chanted unamused.
Elias chuckled on their sight.
Alan, Romeo, Evan and Rauf staring at the pitch remained silent.
The 16th over in Helios's hands, Poseidon walked over, "Helios…" "Hm?" Helios smiled gently.
"Why don't you go for it now?" Poseidon handed him the ball.
Helios nodded.
"I already played my part, why don't you play yours?" Poseidon suggested. Waving his hand he headed back, "I know you just like you know me. So, let's do it together."
A weird energy surrounding the two, for a split moment, it instantly vanished.
A contented smile escaped Helios's lips, "Yeah… let's do it."
Alan gasped. Rushing back to the restricted area, he grasped the rails tight.
Musa narrowed his gaze with an obvious grin, "Oh~"
"Was that…?" Alan thought amazed. A proud chortle escaping his lips, he looked at the grass below, "Haha! Seriously?! When in the world will they not surprise me?!" he asked himself.
Isa too wondered, "For a moment I think I saw…"
"Yeah, you noticed it right?" Haruf concurred.
"Those two… are interesting." Senri whispered. Kazuna silently agreed staring at Poseidon and Helios.