"Xavier." Alan called looking up.
"Yes?" Xavier asked.
Alan gestured him to come closer, "I wanted to ask something."
Xavier smiled, supporting his back with the shelf, he caressed Will's fur, "Go on."
"Feng's defensive play style, when did he start using it?" Alan inquired.
Isa joining the conversation, sat on the shelf beside Alan. "Sorry." he apologized for bumping on his shoulder. Alan shook his head.
Xavier narrowed his gaze, "After we lost Second year nationals against Roots Millennium Higher College in the quarter finals. Feng seemed to change after that. At first, he resigned from the cricket society but I still insisted for his comeback. Hugo had complaints too, but I just couldn't leave him. It felt as if he was deliberately letting go of something he treasured. It felt…"
"Sigh~ you are way too kind." Kenzo exhaled.
"He is my teammate. Even before he started playing defensive cricket. He would always dab my back and say 'Leave it all to me' Batting side and wicket keeping. He'll cover them all." Xavier smiled.
"But seeing him so confused like this now. Even I don't know what's going on. Whenever I try to ask him, he assures me or tells me to ignore it for he is a little under the weather." he looked below concerned.
"He won't tell it you so easily since he admires you a lot. He would always want you to see him strong rather than powerless. It's a natural reaction for a junior to a senior who took care of him." Isa told.
"Roots Millennium… is Gabriel's academy right." Alan pondered, his eyes immediately widening, "No wonder, it all makes sense now." he realized. Keeping the dishes aside, in abrupt hurry, he called, "Aigou would you pass me your jacket?"
"My jacket…?" Aigou searched around instantly tossing it over, "Catch!"
Alan sprinting like cheetah grabbed the jacket.
"Easy there." Zachariah warned.
"Xavier, please take care of Will and…" Alan turned to the balcony, "Gabriel, are you coming?" he asked with a smile.
Gabriel unaware of his actions followed nevertheless.
"Be careful, and return before mid-night. We have to practice tomorrow morn…" Nagi warned as Heber and Azazel interrupted, "Yeah, yeah, we know, we know please… now don't get started."
"Haha…" Haruf chuckled alongside Aaron.
"Tch, he's like a sprinter." Kenzo uttered, seeing Alan leave like a morning bus.
"I bet he's got his answer." Isa assumed.
"Really?" Xavier asked, "Did he get what's wrong with Feng?"
"Of course, Alan is always like that. Any one of ours problem is like his problem. Even if he doesn't know the entire situation. He will find out and help them." Isa said.
"In simpler words he is a meddlesome brat." Kenzo mocked.
"You can put it any way you like but you'll thank him in the end." Kazuna came out of the room removing his glasses.
"Done studying?" Isa asked.
"Of course but Senri is still 3 classes behind and he even skipped this one." Kazuna complained.
"That makes it four." Orion added.
"Sigh, just leave him be. You know the moment he will sit to cover it all up. He'll leave both of you behind." Zachariah said.
"Anyway, so… Omar is their ace batsman and wicket keeper as well. He is not weak against anything that's the reason he's standing up until now…" Azazel yawned, lying half on the floor and half on the couch, "So how the hell will we beat him?!"
"Direct bold!" Noah winked.
"Right…" Mikael rolled his eyes unamused.
"If it were that easy, Lahore highschooler bowlers wouldn't be seeing him on the batting crease." Cassiel said.
"As a spin returning specialist. His weakness is the off stump, as right handed batsman, once you start giving him pace deliveries that give outside edge catches he'll be out in no time. In other words a slip catch." Helios detailed.
"You realized that?" Aaron asked surprised.
"Yup, he concealed it well, but as a fast bowler. I can sense his weakness after playing against many players. I also know every single one of my teammates weaknesses as well including Kenzo's." he smiled at Xavier, Kenzo and Ryan.
"Haha, just like Nagi. How cunning!" Ren remarked.
"As for their highschoolers, we've already updated you about them and their play styles. We have been practicing through odds within our minds as well and we'll improve ourselves tomorrow too. But one thing is for sure that no data is accurate. Every single one of them is progressing, improving and evolving." Elias told.
Seraph narrowed his gaze wondering, "As expected, highschoolers are not easy to be messed with. One wrong move and we can easily hand them the entire match's momentum. That's now strong they are."
Kenzo exhaled grabbing the file from Xavier's hand, "Our batting line is in much more threat than the balling and fielding side right?"
"Hm, because Peshawar is entering their best leg spinner and pacers next, mostly 3 of them are from the balling side." Ren recalled.
"The other two are middle order batsman, that means only all-rounders and ballers are included in their team selection list." Zachariah added.
"But one thing was clear, Since Nagi was chosen Zhangli is definitely added in Peshawar's team list as well." Aaron teased, "It's crystal clear that he has a beef with you, haha."
Nagi rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, I don't quite get it but what happened between you two to make things this worse?" Isa asked.
Orion, inquisitive, stole a glance from behind his gaming console.
"Who knows? He just has too much free time on his hands to pester me." Nagi responded annoyed.
Cassiel watching the former match clips on his iPad wondered, "Xian Zhangli, (A right handed off spinner and a right handed spin/pace countering batsman) Mael Orhan (A left handed swinger), Zaki Armad (A left handed off spinner), Abaan Miraz (Right handed leg spinner) and Ishaq Russ (A left handed seamer and a right handed pace countering batsman)…"
"They surely took top class spinners from their highschoolers while head coach Nidou without even glancing at their order took spin countering batsman to tackle them, Senior Senri, Kenzo, Feng, Senior Elias, Xavier and Senior Ren too… as cautious as we are, will we face such difficulty against them?" he thought apprehensive, "What if we face problem against pacers? Except for Kenzo, Seraph and Xavier we can't rely on anyone."
"THERE IT GOES…!" The commentary suddenly bellowed, "INSIDE THE PITCHING LINE. THE UMPIRES REVIEWS OUT! BALL MAKING NO CONTACT WITH THE BAT AND IMPACT HITTING THE LEG SIDE BAIL WITH JUST A SCRATCH!"
"Tch, just lower the volume already!" Haris clicked his tongue annoyed.
"Oh no… it was just a centimeter distance close!" Aaron gasped.
"They lost…" Adam uttered baffled.
"Lahore Qalandars won this match by 9 runs, taking Peshawar's entire team out on 152…!" the commentary continued as, Lou Wang pushed the LED' switch off. A peaceful intermission...
"Finally…" Nagi exhaled relived, "My ears were about to burst."
"Yesterday, Islamabad won against Multan too." Ren recalled.
"Right, we didn't even talk to them after that." Seraph realized.
"We congratulated and heartened them both." Kazuna told.
"That's good." Seraph smiled relived.
"I bet things would have been different if Omar was on strike. He didn't even get a chance thanks to over changes and singles." Heber said.
"Oh dear, Peshawar should've won this. Don't tell me we'll beat them tomorrow too? That would definitely be painful." Noah empathized.
"And what makes you think that…?" Rauf entered through the main door.
The highschoolers pivoted their attention towards him, "Oh, you're here."
"Finally." Elias added.
The middleschoolers half of them uninterested and some going on with the mood's flow remained silent. Rauf keeping his shoes aside walked in. The entire room becoming still he continued, "Don't forget, Peshawar did not play with their highschoolers in this match. For middleschoolers to take on even this much pressure from five of their highschoolers in which three were bowlers is a challenge that they went through successfully today. Only 9 runs needed from 10 remaining balls, it's no joke. Tomorrow nonetheless, we are going to face and entirely different situation. So no matter what, don't let your guard down."he warned heading to his room.
"And go to sleep now. We have to practice early morning tomorrow." he clicked the door open shutting it behind.
A moment of quietness enveloping the room. "He sure has that intimidating aura, no one could even utter a single word." Cassiel dropped a bead of sweat.
Isa shrugged his shoulders, clapping, "Alright, let's sleep."
"What about Feng?" Mikael asked.
"And Senri?" Ibrahim added.
"Don't worry. They'll come back." Haruf assured with a beaming smile. The boys nodding wrapped up there tasks.
_____
Feng practicing within nets placed around the pitch wiped the sweat under his chin. Tapping his bat on the crease, he looked ahead at the bowling machine. As soon as the ball came out, he squinted his gaze concentrating. The moment the ball came closer to the pitch. He bended low countering it with a sweep shot along the ground. Once again standing up he looked ahead.
"And~ here you are." interrupted a playful voice.