Chapter 36: The Track Record To Date And The Long-awaited--
TL: Akabane
***
The first game of the Golden Week training camp was against a team of working people in Chiba.
Before the game, a meeting began under blue skies, and Azaki and I were selected to start.
The team played a 4-3-3 formation, with Azaki in the midfield and me in the CF (center forward) position.
I was relieved to be in the starting lineup.
If I couldn't even make the starting lineup, they wouldn't recommend me for the A team.
"Makishima. Today, I want you to refrain from playing dangerous like before. Understood?"
"...... Yes."
The coach nailed me and I nodded reluctantly.
"The next time you develop symptoms similar to concussion, you will be changed at that point. Understand that, too."
Concussions are a frequent occurrence in soccer, but they can also be fatal if they are not handled properly. The coach is probably very cautious.
But the fact that he would start me after such an illness is a sure sign that he has gained a lot of trust in me after the last game.
The meeting is over, and the players head out onto the pitch.
"Makishima."
Aihara, the manager, stops me with the whiteboard he just used in his hand.
"Don't be in a hurry. If you get hurt again, you'll have a hard time."
Aihara understood my feelings well, perhaps because she used to be a player too.
Just imagining the time I would spend resting due to injury, and the time I would spend around me getting better, made me cringe and restless. The frustration and loneliness of being left behind.
It was really a hard week behind the fun feelings.
"But I really want to go up to the first team, make the A team, and play in the Emperor's Cup."
"Emperor's Cup ......?"
"So today I'm going to ...... appeal!"
"No. If you want to go up, don't push yourself too hard. Understood?
"Aihara ......"
"Now that I'm the manager, I can't overlook it."
"But..."
"Would you rather get slapped now or have your back pushed?"
"Hii?!"
"I'm that serious. If this continues, Makishima will ...... definitely overreach."
Aihara's eyes were not her usual mellow and gentle ones, but rather forceful and stern.
I was the one who thought it was inevitable to take it easy just a few minutes ago ...... but there is no way a man who can't even protect his own body can protect a single woman.
"A soccer player's body is his capital. You need to take better care of yourself."
Every time I get impatient, Aihara corrects my course.
If I got injured here, everything would go up in smoke.
I have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to play Odawara United, but I won't even be able to beat Kanagawa.
"......I understand. No pressure, I promise."
"Yeah, that's great, Makishima."
Aihara pushes me back and sends me off to the pitch.
My shoulders relax a little. Thanks, Aihara.
"More elevation on the right side is fine! CBs, adjust to my positioning. I'll join the build-up in the middle."
Azaki is giving instructions to the players before the game.
This guy is really serious when it comes to soccer. (He should just play soccer for the rest of his life.)
The game starts with a kickoff from the B team, and I give the kickoff ball to Azaki to run to the front line.
Come on, anytime, Azaki!
While his teammates are pushing the whole line up at once, Azaki stays alone behind the center circle, rolling the ball around with his toes and playing with it.
"Are you just standing there and screwing around, college student! You're licking working people!"
I can hear the exasperated voices of the adults around me.
It is customary to kick the ball forward after the kickoff, but Azaki kept checking the sensitivity of the ball with the soles of his feet, which seemed provocative to those around him.
But Azaki remained calm and moved forward, ducking one player after another who tried to steal the ball.
It was like a 100-man team.
He was able to pass through one after another with one touch, two touches, and with the force of a reave.
And then,
"Makishimaaaaahhhh!"
A voice calls me from behind.
Azaki's long feed is swept away by the wind, heading in the direction of the penalty area.
"No. 18, eh......he's not here⁈"
I've taken many of Azaki's feeds in my own training.
The speed of the pass, the timing, everything, my body remember it.
I reacted faster than anyone else to Azaki's long pass to the left corner of the penalty area, just in front of the offside, and the ball landed on my foot.
It was only the third minute of the first half.
It was a surprise attack, a sneak attack, and I was completely free.
All the players on the opponents' final line raised their right hands like schoolchildren crossing a green light to indicate that they were offside, but the assistant referee's flag never went up.
One-on-one with the keeper.
This is--
"My favorite form of soccer."
When I was in elementary school, I kept scoring "gobbledygook goals" in soccer games with my friends, and before I knew it, my friends called me a "goal thief."
When I entered junior high school, I was treated like a goal thief even after I entered the Jr. youth team at Tokyo Frontier on the recommendation of a friend, and I wasn't evaluated highly enough to be promoted to the youth team.
Still, I could not give up on soccer and entered the prestigious Seishin Gakuen High School.
Even if I mass-produced the same kind of gobbledygook goals there, I thought I would eventually be denied ...... but there was only one person who believed in me.
--- "Maki, you carry the number 9."
--- "--!"
I put all the momentum I had gained running this far onto my right foot and swung as hard as I could.
--- "Maki. Do you know what the keeper hates the most?"
--- "The course he hates? Like the inseam?"
--- "That's one thing, but the correct answer is--"
"Side of the face!"
The ball went right through the keeper's face and into the goal net.
***
[Sasaki's POV]
"Hey, girl! Maki's scored!"
"Soooo, great ......."
Makishima slipped through the opponent's defenders and completely escaped, finishing the ball with a dynamic shot as it was thrown to the head.
It was truly an electrifying strike.
Too cool!
I pressed and held the camera on my phone without realizing it.
"Hey, girl. You're taking too many pictures."
"Why don't you take a picture too, uncle?"
"I don't think it's a good idea for a man to take pictures of a man. I'm a married man."
"What do you mean ......? Do you have a family to support?"
"Of course! I have a daughter in elementary school!"
I thought he was unemployed because he was watching the game in the middle of the day even though he quit as a coach.
"Well, Maki's here."
"What?"
Makishima, who was being congratulated for his goal on the bench, looked over toward the bleachers before returning to his own team, and when he spotted me, he stopped in his tracks.
I couldn't take my eyes off him.
It was as if time had stopped.
Even though I wasn't talking to him, I could feel how serious he was.
"......Good luck, Makishima."
Makishima smiled and went back to the pitch.
"That was nice, missy. Maki gave you some fan service, didn't he?"
"Yes, he did, haha."
The game then turned around in the first half with only one goal by Makishima.
At the same time the first half ended, Kishihara-san was on the phone with someone.
"Nah, you take the footage! What? No batteries?"
Something seems to be struggling, but I'm not sure if it's okay.
"Damn it ....... Miss, I'm going to take a break from my seat for a minute, can I ask you to help me with my luggage?"
"No problem."
As Kishihara-san got up from his seat, a picture fell out of his pocket.
A family photo? It looked like a family photo.
It looked like the picture of his daughter's entrance ceremony.
Kishihara-san in a suit, his wife, who is quite beautiful, and an elementary school girl between them .......
"Hmm? This girl looks familiar to me from somewhere ......!"
This girl, the one who spotted me as Ayane Kiraboshi and talked to me the other day ...... was it Shizuku?
The eyes are wide open and the face is still round and childish.
I see......... Shizuku-chan, you had that father's keen eye.
I'm convinced, but it's like I don't want to be convinced.
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