Chapter 602: Inevitable
After the end of the montage, a host stepped up on the stage. Then he started to entertain the guests. All of the guests listened to him, their gaze fixated on him.
Then after a brief moment, they began to announce the nominees for various awards.
"Now, for the next award, I'd like to call Mr. Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi to announce the name of the winner of the Best Goalkeeper Award."
At that moment, a rather charming man with greying temples and a charismatic look walked to the stage. Even though he was old, he still looked charismatic.
Everyone turned to look at the old man in blue walking his way to the stage.
They watched him with awe and reverence.
Then Kawaguchi stood at the rostrum. To add suspense, he intentionally delayed the announcement, "And the winner is...."
With him pausing, a hush silence fell upon the hall. Even the lights had been dimmed, adding a flair to the suspense.
Kim Seung-Gyu from Kashiwa Reysol, Masaaki Higashiguchi from Gamba Osaka, and Naoto from Kawasaki Frontale were the main contenders for the award.
Even though Naoto had been nominated before, he had yet to win the award. So, he looked rather anxious at the moment.
If you sat close to him, you could even hear his heart pounding.
Usually, he wasn't the anxious type and leaned more toward the calm type. But even that person looked extremely anxious at the moment.
"Naoto Miyashiro!"
Clap! Clap! Clap!
What followed after the announcement was a thunderous round of applause.
Naoto jumped out of excitement.
He stared dazedly at the stage, finding it hard to believe that he had won the award. He was named the Best Goalkeeper of the previous season.
The front screen showed the key montage of the season he had with the club. All the crucial saves he had made the previous season and the composure he had displayed.
All the people were waiting for him to get on the stage.
Hiro who was seated beside him, nudged him slightly, awakening him from his reverie.
Naoto then hurried his way to the stage to receive the award. The award was presented to him and he graciously accepted the award.
"Congratulation, Naoto!"
Both the host and Kawaguchi congratulated him for winning the award.
Naoto after receiving the award walked to the rostrum and began to speak, "First up all, I'd like to thank all the coaching staff and my teammates who had made this moment possible."
Naoto wasn't the type to stammer when speaking in front of the crowd. So, he didn't find the thank you speech much difficult.
After delivering a short speech, and thanking the staff and teammates, he returned to his seat.
His teammates congratulated him again. They were genuinely happy for him. But at the same time, some of them were anxious.
More and more awards were being handed out with each passing moment, celebrating the excellence of the players.
Next, the host invited another famous personality to hand out the award for the Best Young Player award. Unlike the previous times, people weren't curious about the winner this time.
When the names of the nominees were called out, they turned to look at Hiro.
Unless the judging committee had been bitten by a rabid dog, the result wouldn't be changed. Most of the people thought that way.
Even Hiro's teammates had already begun to congratulate him even before the announcement was made. Well, there wasn't any better candidate than him.
His winning the Best Young Player Award was inevitable.
But even so, the host had to keep up the act. He couldn't disrespect the other contenders. So, for that reason, he kept a cool.
"The winner of the Best Young Player Award is Takahashi Hiro," announced the special guest invited to unveil the name of the winner.
Clap!! Clap!! Clap!!
Again, a thunderous round of applause reverberated in the hall. People looked at Hiro with eyes full of awe. Even the other contenders couldn't help but look at him with reverence. Most of them had already accepted defeat. Even though they had a magnificent season with the club they played, they weren't foolish enough to entertain the thought of winning the award against Hiro.
Even so, one youth looked unhappy about the decision.
While everybody was cheering on Hiro, he sat with his arms folded. Let alone applaud him, he didn't even want to look at him.
That individual was Tominaga Nijichi.
Furrowing his brows, he remained seated at his spot while Hiro went up to the stage to receive the award. Since he had been expecting to win the award, Hiro had already prepared the speech he wanted to deliver.
So, he delivered the prepared speech without any difficulties.
As the event progressed further, the best eleven of the previous season was unveiled. Among eleven, seven players were nominated from Kawasaki.
Well, given how well they had performed the previous season, it wasn't anything surprising.
Ken who was watching from behind the scenes could only look at them and dream about reaching such heights.
He was one of those many people who were nothing but mere spectators to the brilliance of those people on the stage.
Even so, he couldn't help but feel envious of them.
Even though quite a lot of them were his age, it felt as if they lived in an entirely different world. They were dressed finely while he looked like somebody from a construction site.
They were like brilliant stars flickering in the night sky while he was like the dimming flames
of a candle.
Even though they lived in the same world, it felt entirely different.
Finally, after all those awards were handed out, the time came for the main event- to
announce the winner of the MVP award.
The tension and the curiosity in the air were even heavier than before. And while the host was talking about the main event, the entire hall was thick with anticipation.
The nominees sat at the edge of their seats, masking their nerves with smiles while the audience remained captivated, hanging on every word from the presenters.
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