Chapter 52: Sasaki And Makishima, Their Pasts And Time To Settle
TL: Scaramochi
***
The day after the photo shoot, Azaki and I were heading to the A team field.
Walking next to me, I felt nothing but discomfort at the sight of Azaki's shaved head.
"Why don't you round your head too, Makishima? It's cooler and more comfortable, you know?"
"No thanks."
"You too, roll your head back and get pulled in by the girls around you!"
"You're the one who's going to get pulled in by the girls around you, not your head, right?"
"Wow, you good looking guys are gross and creepy. Sasaki should hate you."
Azaki swears at me while making fussen with the gum he was chewing.
"You said you had a broken heart yesterday ...... maybe you gave up on Aihara?"
"Well, yeah."
"What happened to you all of a sudden when you said you wouldn't give up on her?"
"I'm...... tired of it. Aihara was more stubborn and single-minded than I expected. I realized that no matter how hard I tried, she would never turn her back on a sloppy guy like me, even if it killed her."
Azaki stroked his own shaved head with a fake smile.
"But I thought she was funny in that way, too. I don't really want to give up, but I don't want to get in the way either."
"Azaki......"
I'm sorry to interrupt your serious conversation, but my eyes were drawn to the shaved head and I couldn't follow what you were saying.
"What about Makishima? Did you and Sasaki go as far as you could go?"
"Go."
Of course not, I try to deny it, but then I get a flashback to the kiss the other day.
"Hey, no, no......."
"I see, so you've already kissed."
"No, we didn't!"
"You're so lovey-dovey. Don't forget that I'm the love cupid that brought you two together."
I hate this annoying Cupid.
Meanwhile, the two of us arrive at the A team's field.
In front of the entrance, there was a coach wearing a deep hat.
""Good morning, sir.""
"Good morning. I'm Coach Tamura. I'm going to show you around now."
After Coach Tamura explained about the A team, I quickly joined the team and joined them for practice.
"You press slow!"
"Sorry!"
"Hey, one year old! Get down and join in the assembly for a minute!"
"I'm sorry, sir!"
Once practice began, it was a day full of apologies.
The worldly wise Azaki seems to have already integrated himself into the team, but I still haven't been accepted by the seniors around me.
Practice continues even after the sun goes down, and night practice begins with the lights on.
The A team is incomparably better than the B team in terms of ball speed, physicality, and tactical...... qualities.
"Yutaro Makishima, get detention."
"Yes...... yes."
I was just trying to keep up with practice, and after practice was over, the coach told me by name to do detention practice.
Of course it's.......
On the field as the night deepened, I repeatedly hit the net in time with the centering that the coach would raise.
"Let's go for another one."
"Yes!"
I don't have the ball control or the dribbling skills like Azaki.
I want to have the ability to be recognized by others like Azaki.......
The first time I saw him, I thought he was a good player, but he was a bit of a daredevil.
"Yutaro Makishima."
Manager Murazaki walks up to me, my hands on my knees.
"Yesterday, I said that I have higher expectations for Yutaro Makishima than for Seiichi Azaki, do you know why?"
"I don't know, but..."
I wipe the sweat from my hands as I turn to face the director.
"Yutaro Makishima...... you're not a good trapper, and your dribbling is mediocre. On top of that, your only weapon is your go-to goal. You're not the kind of person we would normally get on a sports recommendation."
The coach lays out my practical problems in a matter-of-fact manner.
The manager rubs salt in the wound with an argument that is so righteous that I can't even hear it.
"But that's the way it is."
"Huh?"
"Because there's nothing else, you've come this far by believing in one talent. You've sent 28 out of 30 of your current centering attempts into the frame, and even in the Golden Week game, you were involved in scoring whenever you came on."
The coach kicked the ball up at his feet and placed it in his hands.
"Don't try to do it all by yourself, just do a complete division of labor and show the "difference" in front of the goal--Yutaro Makishima."
As soon as the coach handed me the ball, the haze in my head cleared away.
"Stick to one weapon. Don't be halfway."
Come to think of it, when I was in high school, I was told the same thing by coach Kishihara when I was struggling with the same thing.
You only need one weapon.......
"What's wrong?"
"No, no. I've had a mentor say the same thing to me before."
"You mean Kishihara?"
"You know him?
"Of course I do. Kishihara was my junior in college."
Well, come to think of it, Kishihara also went to Koto from Hoshin Gakuen, right?
"Me, I want to repay Director Kishihara. I couldn't take Director Kishihara to the nationals for three years because of my inadequacy. So."
"If you want to repay Kishihara, maybe it will happen soon."
"Eh......?"
That's the guy...
Manager Murazaki's eyebrows suddenly furrowed as he said that much.
"You'll find out sooner or later."
"Huh?"
I'm gonna start practicing again.
The detention practice continued at the director's behest.
What is it that we will eventually find out?
***
[Sasaki's POV]
Tomorrow, I have to see Makishima's game...... and tell him how I feel.
I need to tell him how I feel about him.......
"Sasaki, your lecture is over, okay?"
"Eh."
I was idly listening to the second period lecture, and before I knew it, it was over.
Aihara, sitting next to me, looks at me with concern.
"You were in a state of absentmindedness the whole lecture, are you okay?"
"I'm sorry, Aihara. I haven't been sleeping well lately."
"Heh ....... So, does that mean that you and Makishima are, you know, doing a lot of things?"
"Makishima?"
"Sorry. It's nothing!"
Aihara was shaking her head while turning red like an apple.
"Sasaki, you're in the next 301 classroom class, right?"
"Yeah. Let's go."
I went out into the hallway connected to Building 3 to move to the next building, Building 3, with Aihara - that was the moment.
"Oh!"
Aihara bumped into someone at the encounter and the class file fell.
"Oh, I'm sorry!"
Aihara apologizes to the person in front of her as she gathers up the resumes scattered from the file.
"No ..... it's me too, I'm having trouble seeing because of my sunglasses."
A woman with straight black hair wearing light brown sunglasses, a menswear-like hoodie and dowdy pants.
With a quick hand, the woman picks up Aihara's prints, files them, and returns them to Aihara.
"Here you go."
"Thank you."
As they stand up, I feel a mysterious sense of déjà vu at how tall they are.
Wait, this person......
The woman and I stare at each other in silence, so silent that it seems as if time has stopped.
"............"
"............"
No doubt. This is - Mizuki.
But why is Mizuki here......?
I swallowed with fresh spit and adjusted my breath, which had become raspy with agitation.
"Aihara, go to class first. I'll be a little late."
"Sasaki?"
I need to talk to this woman.
I motioned with my hand for the woman in the sunglasses to follow me, and when I started to walk away, she pulled my hand from behind me.
"No, no!"
Aihara said and grabbed my right hand.
"Aihara, let go of me!"
"I won't let go!"
"Why not?"
"How can my precious friends go away when they're told to talk to someone with these sunglasses they don't understand!"
"Aihara......"
"......Huh, you have good friends. Ayane."
Mizuki tosses down the light brown sunglasses she was wearing after making sure no one was around.
Her powerful gaze, which attracts everyone, turns to me and Aihara.
"He......? MIZUKI⁈"
Aihara's eyes widen as she waves her hands.
"What are you doing, Mizuki!"
"You're the one who's hiding things from your precious schoolmate....... Isn't it disrespectful to that girl?"
"Damn......."
Mizuki has always been a smooth talker.
Shee was the kind of person who would definitely make you pay her back if she owed you a favor, and she became the leader of Genesistars because of her quick thinking for nothing.
"Now, now, Sasaki, what on earth is your relationship with MIZUKI......⁈"
I slowly remove my glasses and mask.
Facing Aihara, I finally revealed my face.
"Sorry, Aihara......."
"Oh, awww......."
It's Ayane Kiraboshi!
Aihara, too surprised to speak, was so confused that she was about to burst into bubbles and pass out.
"Shall we change places? Now that you've seen us, have your schoolmate come with us."
I gave a small nod, put my mask and glasses back on, and pulled Aihara by the hand.
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