Whistle! © Higuchi Daisuke


(xvi.)

To others, there was little common between the three.

Tatsuya was exceptionally bad with children, Shige not-so-secretly liked romantic comedies, and Yuki had a low tolerance for idiocy.

But if there was one thing they knew they could always agree on, it was an undeniable, obsessive love of soccer.

(xvii.)

Shige had been the first.

It had been hard running away from home, leaving behind everything: his friends, family, and soccer.

But he had been abandoned.

And so, he learned not to care too much but to love from afar.

(xviii.)

Yuki was next.

She loved soccer: had grown up with it, playing every day with her older brother.

But there was no future for her, a girl.

No team for her, no matter how desperately she wanted to play.

And so, she lived in the shadows and learned to love from afar.

(xix.)

Tatsuya was last.

He had loved soccer, too.

But what was playing, if not winning?

Pressured by his father: to succeed, to become number one. He was nothing if he wasn't the best.

And when he began enjoying the game, loving to just play, he was abandoned.

And so, he learned to win but to love from afar.

(xx.)

It had been hard.

Hating something they loved so much had been much too hard.

Giving up on the one thing they loved so much had been much too hard.

But they fell, tasted the bitter feeling of disappointment, endured false hope, cried in despair, and had to learn how to get back up again.

It was painful.

But they loved it too much.

So they endured, they learned, they got back up and never stopped loving.

Soccer.