Chapter 35: The First Day Of Training Camp - Mizuki's Trap And Sasaki's Photo
TL: Akabane
***
Golden Week has begun, and it's the first day of training camp.
The players were gathered at 4:00 a.m. and headed for Chiba because of the congestion on the roads during the Golden Week training camp, which seems to be an annual event.
In contrast to me, who had gone to bed early in anticipation of this, Azaki, whose hair was a bit more mussed than usual, was rubbing his eyes sleepily.
"Are you sure you're okay like that, Azaki?"
"Because, you know~. Huh~. I was having fun with a girl just a few minutes ago, so it can't be helped, right?"
"Hey! Don't you know how important these three days are?"
"Ah! Shut up. Are you jealous, cherry boy?"
"I'm not jealous!"
The coach arrived and the players got on the bus one after another and left for Chiba.
Me, Azaki, and Aihara were seated in the last row, a five-seater.
I had given Aihara the window seat on the left, and I was sure that Azaki would want to sit next to Aihara.
"Makishima, sit down."
For some reason, he gave me the seat next to Aihara.
"What's wrong, it's not like you."
"Because ...... it's embarrassing for the girl you like to see your sleeping face, isn't it?"
Azaki said shyly as he stroked his fuzzy hair.
He's a playboy, but he's only a damsel in distress at times like this.
"If you feel that way, you should have slept with me properly."
"I didn't think I'd ever get to sit with Aihara-san! If this was going to happen, I should have stopped after the fourth round."
Oh no, this guy. I want to break up with him right now.
Azaki stretched his legs out on the three extra seats on the right and began sleeping gracefully.
"Aihara, can I sit next to you?"
"Uh-huh."
I sat down like a partition between Azaki and Aihara.
"Aren't you sleepy, Aihara?"
"Yeah. I often wake up early to watch foreign soccer, so I'm used to it."
"That's great. I'm not good in the morning or at night, so I always watch foreign soccer games after they're over.
"Actually, I'm not very good at night either. I watch it after I wake up and sometimes I just leave the TV on and go straight to sleep."
"I totally understand. When I wake up, I keep seeing the logo of the streaming site and the black background."
"Oh yeah! I know, I fall asleep and it doesn't go away on its own. And the lights are on, so I feel twice as guilty."
"Yeah, right."
While we're having a good time talking, Azaki, who was sleeping next to me with my arm as a pillow, bumps the back of my head.
Then, in a whisper, he says, "You bedraggled son of a b*tch."
Nothing, we were just talking about soccer.
"Makishima, you've been training mysteriously with Azaki all these days, right? Like the free kick option."
"Oh, yeah, that's ...... not such a great option. I thought it might work."
I looked sideways at Azaki, who was already asleep with his eye mask on.
Azaki's underling was telling me to keep that free kick a secret from the others.
"Anyway, Aihara, did you go to the Frontier's game the other day?"
"Yeah. It looked like we were going to lose in the first half, but I'm glad we won with Kuruta's direct volley in the second half loss time."
I watched the second half on the text bulletin because of Sasaki, but it was such a great shot.
"I guess it was all thanks to Mizuki coming to the halftime show as the goddess of victory?"
"M-Mizuki......."
Just hearing the name is kind of awkward.
"Makishima, do you like Mizuki?"
"Well, about normal."
"Really? Then, have you heard the new song Mizuki uploaded to a video site yesterday?"
"A new song?"
"Yes! If you haven't yet, do you want to listen to it with me at ......?"
Aihara holds out one of the earphones attached to his phone to me.
I'm not interested in Mizuki, but it would be rude to refuse ...... and .......
I took the other half of the earphone and decided to listen to Mizuki's song with Aihara.
--- "You were the brightest star in the sky that everyone recognized, and I was just another empty can that fell around."
You're a good singer, Mizuki.
--- "I'll meet you at the station, waiting for you to come..."
Wait a minute, what's that lyric?
--- "You came in shyly, hiding your face..."
Hey, hey, hey. ...... This is probably the song about my date with Sasaki!
Did she write that song based on that date, knowing that Sasaki is a beautiful star......?
She's got a great mentality, even though she's the one who broke up with her.
--- "I'm such a useless and a scum, but--"
I've been hearing people who seem to be me described as "empty cans," "useless people," and "scum" since a while ago. ...... I could tell that Mizuki was pissed at me over that one incident.
--- "She grabbed my pinky finger like she always does, and I turned red and--."
We didn't always do that, and I didn't blush!
"What's wrong, Makishima? Your face is red."
"You're blushing! Ah ......."
"?"
What kind of a punishment game is this in front of Aihara? Is there a surprise camera here?
Huh……. Listening to a song based on a date with Sasaki with another girl in the same class, if you think about it normally, it's like I'm doing something crazy like Azaki, right?
"I'm sorry, Aihara!"
I take off my earphones and give them back to Aihara.
"Oh, I'm actually not good at love songs."
"...... Heh. Makishima is surprisingly pure, isn't he? Cute."
Aihara laughs at me, and my face heats up even more.
I don't want Sasaki to hear this song.
***
[Sasaki's POV]
Today, in order to watch Makishima's game, I took the green car of the local train to Chiba and took a cab from the station to the sports stadium, which is located 20 minutes away.
I sat down in the bleachers, which were probably not well maintained and deserted, and looked around the pitch.
I can't wait to see Makishima in uniform.
I open my phone and look at the photo of Makishima that I have kept since 3 years ago.
I have to take a new one today.
"Hey ...... you have a nostalgic picture of Makishima."
"Kyah!"
I hear a reluctant voice from next door and close my phone.
A moment ago, there was no one next to me, but when I ......!
"Hey, don't peek at me! Ah, uncle... have you seen it somewhere?"
"Hmm? Ah, you're the girl from that time, aren't you?"
"Eh?"
"See, I met you at the hospital the other day. It's been a long time, oshiruko black mask girl."
Black mask is one thing, but oshiruko......?
"What do you mean? Who?"
"Hey, hey, you forgot the old man wearing such lame sunglasses and a tattered neck warmer!"
The uncle snaps on his own accord, then wipes off his fogged sunglasses while regulating his labored breathing.
The uncle's eyes I saw at that moment.
Ah, this person .......
"Uncle, Kishi--"
"Hm?"
"Uh, no! It's nothing!"
Well, there's no doubt about it, this person is .......
When I went to Seishin Gakuen High School three years ago, he was the great general of the high school soccer world, holding a one-cup komusubi in one hand and yelling at us all the time even though we're only practicing. ...... (I remember thinking that such a person was a great general or that high school soccer was in trouble.)
The once great general now wears black sunglasses and hides his face from the nose down with a tattered neck warmer.
Why is he hiding his face ......? I'm sure there must be a reason.
"I don't think so, judging from the picture you just showed me."
Kishibara-san, did he know that I'm Kiraboshi?
"Are you a fan of Yutaro Makishima?"
"...... Well, yeah, I'm kind of a fan."
"Haha, so he finally has a fan. Well, he's cool, isn't he?"
"Uh-huh."
Kishihara-san pulls down his neck warmer, pulls out a Skittles from his pocket, and sips it.
"Hey uncle! No alcohol here."
"Don't worry, it's barley tea."
"Barley tea?"
"I got fired from my last job because I drank too much and collapsed. I've been sober ever since."
"Is it true?"
"Ha? What is that knowing mouth?"
"It's nothing, sir."
Oh, no. I almost slipped up.
"I see, Maki has a new fan ....... Well then, I'm glad I recommended Takato."
"Oh, Uncle, are you an acquaintance of Makishima?"
Knowing that he was Makishima's mentor, I asked him about it, and Kishihara-san made a difficult face and gulped down another skittles of barley tea.
"No. I'm just an uncle who likes ...... minor players."
That's a good uncle's tearful voice.
And it can't be meaningless.
I don't know what Director Kishihara is doing right now, but he must have come to watch Makishima's game.
"Look, miss, Maki is coming."
"Eh."
A strong wind blows.
The crimson No. 18 appears in the center of the pitch riding that wind.
Just like three years ago, I pointed my phone camera at Makishima.
0 Comments