The Loner's Game

Chapter 2

Okay… so, playing a semi-serious soccer match suddenly without preparation is a big no for me.

Why did I butt in that match again?

Rustling my hair while grumbling about my stupid decision the other day, I tried to not aggravate my aching legs when walking down the stairs.

Fortunately, today was Saturday, a sacred day for a loner like me.

That means, it's time to be lazy, baby!

"Ahh…"

I sighed in delight as I rest my butt on the couch and massaging my legs lightly to relieve the pain.

Better take it easy today.

I decided to turn on the TV.

Maybe, there would be something interesting airing today.

Usually, I'd just spent my day playing games, but, I forgot to charge Vita-chan last night. I had fallen asleep as soon as I hit the bed right after taking a bath.

Oh yeah, maybe I should have done a cool down before sleeping.

"Oh… Wesley Sneijder [1] is retiring, huh." I muttered as the TV was showing a sport news.

The TV displayed a video highlight of said player. There were his goals from both clubs and national team, assists, and also several skills. Then, the screen changed into a list of his achievements, both personal and as a team.

Sneijder… I couldn't say I follow him quite well, the only thing I remember of him was his 2010 career.

Won a treble and became the top assists provider, finished second in the world cup, and also joint top scorers in said tournament.

Not something many can do.

"Onii-chan!"

My eyes tracked a sudden movement from my left and saw my favorite little sister beaming at me, she was leaning forward with her hands behind her backs, her expression looked brighter than usual.

Hmm… suspicious.

She was grinning.

Then, she turned around and disappear into the dining room and came back again.

This time, she had a plate of toasted bread in her hand.

"Here, breakfast. Mom asked me to make a simple breakfast since she was tired from overtime." She put the plate on the table and took a seat beside me.

I pray for your health, mom.

I clasped my hand as I whispered my little prayer.

Such is the fate of a corporate slave.

Good thing that her company pay her handsomely.

Komachi tucked my shirt while giving me the biggest grin.

"So, so, Onii-chan! Why didn't you tell me that you played again?"

I ignored her in favor on grabbing a slice of bread.

A little burned, but still I preferred it this way.

I munched on my bread as I pondered on the question, she must have seen the jersey in the clothes bucket.

"Well," I swallowed, "Yesterday wasn't intentional, I got carried away and played the second half. I figured, I don't want to give you false hope."

Her eyes gleamed in delight.

It reminded me of Kamakura when he saw his bowl full of food.

"So, how was the result? Did you score a goal?"

"We lost 2 – 4, yes I scored a goal, and before you ask, the opponent was Seiseki."

She blinked at the name, "Wait, you mean that Seiseki? The school that you targeted before moving here? Aren't they like national level already?"

I hummed in response and took another bite.

I turned my attention back to the TV.

The presenter now was talking about La Liga recap or something. Even though, I didn't really follow Spanish league, I still watched it attentively. I'd be lying if I said I was not interested in their league, I meant, you-know-who [2] played there.

And I was not talking about that magical Orochimaru [3].

Then again, I only knew Barcelona, the Madrid duo, the Bats, and Sevilla.

"Bruh!"

I almost choked when Komachi suddenly hugged me and squealing into my arm.

What the heck, Komachi!?

"I'm so proud of you, Onii-chan!"

"Yeah, yeah."

I just grumbled and patted her head while slowly pushing her away so that I could enjoy my peace.

"Now, can you stop bothering your brother, my dear little sister?"

"Does that mean you'll play again? You know that I like it when you play on the field, it was like watching an orchestra with you as the conductor."

I grimaced at her enthusiasm.

Her question made me remember the time when I played regularly.

Oh yeah, that time was memorable.

One of the few things that I didn't hate from my past.

"Komachi, to live the dream is something that people wanted. But, not many realize that in order to live that dream, you can't do it half-heartedly. You need to put all your efforts, if not, that is no different than playing around. God knows how many people do that, those who dilly-dally like that can just go blow—

I stopped myself before I could go all depressing in front of Komachi.

"Ehm," I coughed, hiding my embarrassment, "What I want to say is, if I were to play again, I would go all-out. Unfortunately, soccer is a team sport."

"And?"

Sigh…

"Komachi, you need to know that there is one fundamental difference between there and now. Soubu doesn't have a strong team to play in national. Heck, I don't even know if they play in Prince Takamado Cup [4] or not."

"It's okay, Onii-chan. I don't care what level you are playing in, I just want to watch you again! You know I'll always support you, right?"

I stared at her before grunting.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Kyaah! That must score high on Komachi point!"

Well, like I said before, I was kinda hardcore when it came to soccer.

Especially if I take part in it.

Therefore, I need to know Soubu's objective in soccer if I ever want to join their soccer club.

My school was known for its high score in academic.

But, in sport? Not really.

Just look at their athletic field. It was a large dirt field, yes, but it was not enough to accommodate the school's sport clubs. That dirt field was shared between four clubs; soccer, baseball, rugby, and field and track.

The only sport team that had their own field was tennis, I think.

And martial art clubs just used the gymnasium.

Kind of surprising if you consider the fact that Soubu high's building is quite large with several floors. Naturally, you would question where did all the money go? Can't they accommodate some to their athletic field?

Honestly, I think that the school had given up on their athletic aspects and just pour all their focuses on academic.

I had never heard anything about our sport achievement in my two years of high school.

I was hoping to attend Seiseki before, since their soccer team was strong enough to challenge the national.

But then I had to move to Chiba.

So, here I am now, a Soubu student.

Reality sometimes is disappointing.

On the bright side, I met Yukinoshita.

So there is that.

Anyway, the thing is, Soubu's soccer team was and still is weak and underprepared if they even wanted to aim for national.

"Honestly, I don't know, the prospect is mouthwatering, I admit. I'm open on joining, but… I still need to talk to their coach, and also Hayama maybe, he is the captain after all. I may be lazy, but you know I never half-arsing something."

"…"

Komachi, your look hurts me.

"What? You can ask Yukinoshita if you want proofs. I completed all the requests with everything I've got. Anyway, if they want to play in national, I'll join, but if not… well, I guess, I can always use another practice besides futsal."

Komachi stared at me for quite a long time, maybe trying to read my emotion.

She might be not as smart as me, but she was as perceptive in her own way.

Then, she let out a small smile and nodded.

"You know that I'll always support you, Onii-chan."

"Yeah, I know, you've said that before."

I felt a slight weight on my shoulder and noticed that Komachi had rested her head on me, my arm in her grasp.

She was humming the entire time as we watched the TV.

Looks like she is in quite a good mood.

As I watched the TV absentmindedly, my mind wandered reminiscing about a certain scene again and again.

When we conceded the free kick.

I didn't realize there was someone beside me, waiting for the ball. I was too focused on the opposition that I didn't even know he was there. When he got the ball, I got a little too careless and made a mistake.

I was going to tackle the ball, but I hit his foot instead and got him down.

Of course, the referee rewarded Seiseki with a free kick.

And Kimishita just had to put the ball in.

That bastard.

What was his jersey number again?

Right, it was number 17 if my memory serves me right.

After that, I decided to observe him in the last minute remaining.

He was short, his face had that baby fat and a reddish color on his cheeks, his body looked fragile, and he oozed nervousness.

In just under one minute, I can grasp all his weaknesses.

He was slow, his anticipation was off, he couldn't control the ball properly, his passing needed work, he always lost a challenge, his aim was terrible.

In other word, an amateur.

A newbie.

But, there was no way in hell they'd keep a player like that in Seiseki. If he were that weak, the captain would have kicked him long ago. But after the preliminaries, he was still in Seiseki's team and even played in yesterday match.

So, he must have some sort of weapon, a special skill perhaps.

It took me a little longer to realize what made him… special.

His positioning and timing were alarming.

And, he had that one skill similar to one of my 108 loner skills.

He could erase his presence.

Just like my Stealth Hikki.

But, I'm certain there is a clear difference between his and mine.

That ability made him stupidly dangerous in a chaotic situation in front of the goal. If he could make himself invisible, he could suddenly kick the ball and score.

To score a goal from that situation, you don't really need a high skill, just a little bit of luck and pray that the ball will get in.

Or he could just pass the ball to his teammate.

I see… so that was why Seiseki still kept him in the team.

Seiseki's forwards were stacked with famous players with big presence. Using that, he can go undetected, since his presence was weak in the first place.

Pretty shrewd tactic if you ask me.

Then again, I'd instruct the same if I were the coach.

"Hey, Onii-chan. You've got a call."

Hm?

My phone was vibrating. It moved little by little as the shaking going on.

There was no ringtone coming out.

I always put my phone on silent, mind you.

It's not like I have a lot of people who want to call or message me.

I'm not Yuigahama.

The screen kept on flickering, displaying an unknown number. I hesitated for a second before deciding to answer the call, I could just close the connection if it was a prank or a scam.

Besides, the caller number is somewhat familiar.

I disengaged myself from Komachi's grasp and reached out to my phone.

"Hello, who is it?"

It was silent.

I almost turned it off because no one answer back before hearing a sigh from the other end.

"Don't tell me you didn't save my number."

Ah, this voice.

"Is this Atsushi?"

I could feel Komachi's eyes on me and gave her a silencing look with a finger on my lips.

"Onii-chan?"

Komachi looked at me strangely as I just shushed her, a questioning look on her eyes.

"Yeah, it's me. I should have known that you'll not keep my number, Hachiman. Good thing you didn't change your number. Did that girl really made you want to forget your middle school life that bad? Even going as far as not saving my number?"

My eyes narrowed as a certain memories popped out, of a girl's face shadowed behind her bangs.

I had forgotten of her.

"Atsushi, if you call me just to remind me of her…"

I didn't finish my sentence, letting him imagine the rest from my most antagonistic voice that I could muster.

"Ah, my bad. That was insensitive of me. Sorry, but that's not why I call you."

"Fine… I forgive you," I exhaled, "So, what do you want, make it quick."

"Just wanna talk, you free today?"

"No."

"I see. Well, I'm currently in Chiba, meet me at Saize near Parco, you know where it is."

"Wait! I said I'm not free!" I half shouted at my phone.

I have a plan, today!

Sort of.

I mean, watching TV can be considered as a plan, right? Right?!

Oh, and spending time with the cutest little sister in the world!

Pfft, sis-con.

I'm not!

Wait, why did my consciousness mock me, anyway!?

"Nah, I know you, Hachiman. You're probably lazing around right now."

He got that right.

Weekend is the time to enjoy your time! By lazing around! It is the time to charge your energy after exhausting weekdays.

Without it, people would probably walk around like apathy syndrome [5] victims.

"Then, I'll be waiting for an hour max, if you didn't come, I'll come to your house and beat you myself then we'll talk there."

"Bah!" I scoffed at his threat, "You don't even know where my house is."

He went silent before chuckling, "Heh, in case you forgot, you gave me your address after graduation."

Ah, damn you Past-Hachiman!

"Fine, I'll be there."

I groaned as I put my phone away, not before giving it my meanest glare.

There goes my Saturday plan…

"Who was that, Onii-chan?"

"My friend from middle school."

She gasped, "You… you have friends? But, you were never close with your schoolmates back then."

"What is with that condescending tone?" I flicked her forehead and got a yelp in return, "But, you are correct that I wasn't close to anyone. I don't have friends; but I do have a friend."

"Just because I'm a loner doesn't mean I don't interact with people. My case is not that severe, I simply can't stand fake people such as riajuu. Unfortunately, Soubu is infected with a lot of riajuus."

She glared at me with teary eyes, rubbing her forehead.

"Oh, come on. If I were that hopeless, I would not be able to speak to Yukinoshita."

"Oooh, that's right. I believe you now, Onii-chan!"

Sigh… this girl.

"So, who is it?"

"You have met him once or twice before. His name is Atsushi, remember him?"

She furrowed her eyebrows trying to remember his face.

"Atsushi…?"

"He has a 'meany' face as you called him before, long hair—somewhat messy, always glaring, menacing, the one from my class in 2nd and 3rd year? His family own a sport shop. Sounds familiar?"

Her eyes lit up, a flash of remembrance passed in them, "Oh! Him! Yes, I remember him, now."

Then, before I could doze off any further, Komachi pulled me out of the couch.

"Now, don't let him wait any longer, Onii-chan. It's not every day you socialize with someone, let alone a friend."


I was in my room now, looking in my closet for a casual outfit and decided on a jean and simple shirt.

Before I shut my closet, my eyes fell on an old jersey—my middle school's jersey—hanging innocently in the back, rather concealed between other clothes.

"…"

That brought back memories.

When I was standing on the field, circling with my teammates as my captain gave us a pep talk just before the game started.

I closed my eyes in reminiscence.

The most memorable was when I scored the winning goal in Tokyo Prefectural Cup in my third year.

I remembered how I celebrated, grinning and shouting like a madman.

That was our last trophy before graduation.

Though, that also brought back bad memories from my third year.

"Right, forget about that."


It took me more than 30 minutes to get to Saize.

Mostly because I took my sweet time just to annoy him.

No one disturbs Hikigaya Hachiman from his Saturday without getting a payback.

Looking for Kimishita was surprisingly easy, you just needed to look for someone who sat alone with annoyed expression on their face.

He raised his face from whatever he was doing and noticed me walking towards him, then he raised his hand.

Not to wave at me, of course.

He was waving to get the waitress' attention.

"Is that how you greet your friend, Atsushi?"

I pointed at him as I took my seat in front of him.

The waitress was already standing beside the table, note ready in hand.

"Lunch set 2. Oh, and a Max coffee, please"

Kimishita just scoffed at me.

"I'll have a number 5 with a small ice tea, please."

The waitress smiled and bowed before going to the back to process our orders.

"For someone who take pride in his speed, you sure are slow."

"Not slow, I enjoyed the scenery. The least I can do to relish my ruined day is to enjoy the beautiful sight of Chiba. There is always a silver lining in a misfortune, I guess."

"I can't believe I heard that from you of all people."

I just shrugged in response.

My eyes wandered around taking note of the restaurant. I had been here several times before, mainly with Komachi or my parents when they got their infrequent day off.

Today was quite crowded with a lot of people—mostly families and groups of riajuus, though I could see odd couples here and there.

That was somewhat surprising, someone was brave enough bring their date here.

I actually didn't care choosing Saize as a destination, their foods were cheap and fulfilling, but Komachi would slap me if I dare to bring a girl here.

Not like I have someone to get out with.

Huh, maybe I have?

"So, what are you doing here in Chiba?"

I started the conversation, addressing the elephant in the room.

He waved his hand lazily, "I'm staying at my relative's place. Been a while since I last visited them."

I raised my eyebrow at his dismissive tone, "Uh-uh. And why did you call me here instead of spending time with your family."

"What? The last time we speak was a year ago, just before you moved here. Then, we suddenly met again yesterday. I figured this was a perfect opportunity to talk, catching-up, you know."

"You could just talk to me yesterday after the match."

At this, he grinned at me, "Well, I just didn't want to interrupt your time with your girlfriend. Who knows that you'll get a girlfriend before me?"

"And what is that supposed to mean? You know that my chance of a romantic youth ended after that disaster. Besides, if we are talking about the reason why I'm unpopular, that is only because of my eyes, my face is quite attractive I assure you."

Source: Yukinoshita.

"Yeah, and don't forget about your great view on life as well."

"And you'd never get a girlfriend with that snarky attitude of yours." I jabbed a finger at his face, "I didn't know you are that desperate to get a girlfriend."

He sneered but didn't pursue anymore.

"Besides, she's not exactly my girlfriend… not yet at least."

Well, I'm not sure what to call our relationship?

I did "Confess" to her, but I was not sure that can be called a confession.

More like a rant if you asked me.

Hearing my unsure respond, that damned smirk came back again.

Before he could open his mouth to spout some nonsenses that I didn't want to deal with right now, I waved my hand dismissively.

"Back to the topic, why did you call me? You know pretty well that I hate it when someone disturbs my weekend."

Kimishita just shrugged, didn't particularly care about my irritation.

You may be my one and only friend, but even I have my patience.

Wait, that rhymes…

"Like I said, catching-up."

I was about to respond back but held back when the waitress came with our orders.

She gave us a business smile as she put the food on the table and bowed lightly, she said something along the line 'enjoy your food' before going to another table to take order.

I took my Max and opened it, peering slightly at the inside, checking the content even though I knew I wouldn't tell if there was something amiss with it before I tasted it.

Just something that I did without a reason.

Some sort of a habit perhaps.

I chugged down the coffee, relieving me from the dryness in my throat. The overly sweet taste lingering in my mouth.

Perfect.

"So, how are you?"

Kimishita took a little sip of his orange-colored drink, probably mango juice, it looked thicker than orange juice after all.

And like me, he chose one of the cheapest lunch set.

"Not bad, I'm still mad at our loss, though."

Loss? Didn't they win yesterday?

Ah…

"Inter-High?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. A good game, but we were unfortunate… if only his shot went in…"

I didn't say anything and just observed him.

His expression turned sour.

"No, relying on him alone is unreasonable… that was unbecoming of us the seniors, it should be our jobs to carry the newbie in the team."

That took my interest.

"What do you mean him?"

He blinked as if he didn't realize he just monologuing in front of me.

"Oh right, you were not there."

Well, of course I was not there.

Just like the National Championship, the Inter-High only got media attention for the semifinals and final.

So, the spectators probably were their school supporter or journalists during that game.

"Well, the result was a 1 – 2 lost. We almost leveled the score if Tsukamoto's last shot went in." He sipped his juice again, gulping down his bitterness, "Bah, there's no use crying over spilt milk. We got something to look forward to."

Noticing that the foods were untouched, we picked our spoon—a fork in my case—and dug in.

"That reminds me, what will you guys do after this? And, why Soubu especially?"

I was surprised Seiseki asked Soubu for a practice match, they could have gone to Bousou, you know. The one with more prestige.

"We're going after the national obviously."

Kimishita took a bite of his meal, chewed it slowly to savor its taste before gulping down with a pleased expression.

"As for why your school…"

He pondered slightly, choosing his words carefully.

"…Originally, we were planning to play Bousou. But, the coach changed his mind suddenly and chose Soubu instead. No clear reason, probably because he wanted to pit us against a team that we have never faced before. Besides, we have beaten Bousou in summer camp."

"Even though we are weak?"

"You do know not to underestimate smaller team; they have their own playstyle or tactics on how to beat the top dogs. I assumed coach wanted us to experience different styles. To broaden our mindset or something like that. Depending on players like captain alone is not enough, we need to be more versatile if we want to play in national and win the trophy."

Hmm… National Championship, eh?

The preliminaries will be held in December and the main event itself will be in January.

If I'm not wrong, Tokyo gets two slots.

Looking at Inter-High result, Seiseki will be a favorite in it.

I have no doubt that Seiseki can go into preliminary final without much trouble, and if nothing unexpected happens, they'll face either one of Sakuragi, Tennouzo, or Touin.

In Inter-High preliminary, they lost their ticket to Sakuragi.

Personally, I couldn't say if they were even, but if Kimishita's words were true….

Then, they've got a chance.

Besides, their team is pretty solid with several big names.

And don't forget about that guy.

"Say, Atsushi. There's a player that caught my attention, his shirt number is 17, who is he?"

His spoon stopped in mid-air as he stared at me, his mouth agape. His normally indifferent expression turned somewhat serious.

He lowered his spoon into the plate and regarded my question.

"You're talking about Tsukamoto."

Tsukamoto? Oh, the one he mentioned earlier.

"Why? You never really care about your opponent before."

I just shrugged.

He is right, I don't give a damn to my opponents.

"Well," I sipped of my Max, "He is intriguing."

"Intriguing? What about him?"

"Just wanna know why he is still in Seiseki, I have my hunch, but just to confirm it."

Kimishita narrowed his eyes, "I see, a hunch, huh? You really know how to read people, analyze their characters, and perhaps use it to your advantages."

"What? Can't talk about it? You want to keep your team's secret?"

"Not really," He started, "He is just a first year, a newbie."

Ah, that explains why he was so bad compared to his teammates.

"He may be… inexperienced, but he is probably the most hard working player in our team, sans the captain. Hard to believe, huh?"

Not really.

I meant, I was there too before.

Weak, unskilled, inexperienced.

But, full of drive and dream.

I motioned him to continue.

"His progress is quite something. I was not there when it happened, but apparently, Captain believed he can be Seiseki's captain in the future. Personally, I think that may not be as far-fetched, he has the quality to be a captain, and I'm not talking about skill here."

Oh, I knew what he meant.

Seiseki's mood changed when he got subbed in.

The change was small, but it was there.

A dangerous player indeed.

Next time we meet; I'll make sure he can't do his magic.

…next time, huh?

Suddenly, Kimishita froze, "I see, so that was why you were interested."

I cocked my eyebrow at his statement.

"You probably notice him because you didn't notice him in the first place."

Weird phrasing, but that was not wrong.

I just glanced at him before turning my attention to my plate.

It was already half-empty.

"…"

I didn't bother to answer back since I found myself… not interested in talking again.

My mind was busy on something else.

We spent the next 15 or so minutes just talking about school.


Weekend is the time to rest, to spend your day lazing around doing absolutely nothing. Relaxing, perhaps doing your hobbies such as reading, playing game, or just sleeping if the weekdays are particularly exhausting. In conclusion, I prefer spending my time at home.

But today, I found myself standing in front of an expensive-looking apartment complex, with my bike parked beside me.

I was having a stare-down with the security dude that kept on giving me a suspicious glare while tapping the baton at his side.

How, persistent.

What? Never saw this particular species of Hikigaya before, Security-kun?

Surprisingly, several minutes had passed but he didn't seem to back off anytime soon.

Even, I had to applause him.

Not many people can stare at my eyes without flinching for so long.

Not even Yukinoshita.

She always averted her eyes whenever I found her staring at me.

We traded glare for a while before I caught sight of Yukinoshita coming from the front entrance, she was clad in her track suit with her hair tied in a ponytail while keeping several strands of hair framing the side of her face.

Cute.

"Good morning, Hikigaya-kun."

She smiled at me.

Something that the old Yukinoshita would never do openly.

Honestly, she looked out of character, but, it was fitting.

She looked more radiant. More beautiful. Like a flower bud that just sprouted from underneath the remaining snow in an early spring.

"Aa, morning." I raised my hand lazily.

"What brought this today?"

Ah, she probably meant why I asked her to accompany me on my morning jog.

I had texted her last night on a whim.

The conversation I had with Kimishita yesterday made me… agitated?

It brought out my buried desire.

Not to mention that that familiar sensation that I felt again when I stood on the field wearing my school jersey.

That was… enthralling.

"I feel like exercising again. You know, keeping my body fit."

She nodded, "That was surprising, I'm quite sure someone like you prefer to sleep through the entire Sunday, Hikigaya-kun."

"You are right, exercising is just an excuse. I just want to spend my day with you."

That caught her unexpected.

Her eyes widened slightly accompanied with an almost unnoticeable blush creeping on her cheeks.

She was surprisingly easy to tease.

Her flustered expression was so cute that I wished I had Sharingan [6]to burn the image deep into my mind.

Unfortunately, Sharingan is not Hikigaya clan's bloodline limit.

"So, you ready?"

I let her have my bike as I started to stretch lightly to warm up my legs.

I glanced at her and signaled for her to start pedaling.

"Let's go then."


A few kilometers later, I looked back to check on her.

She looked like she could faint anytime soon.

"You okay?"

Well, asking a girl to accompany me jogging for this long is really… I don't know, rude?

Her stamina is low too, maybe I should have taken it easy.

Biking for 4 or 5 km is tiring, I guess.

"I'm… a little rest would be appreciated." She whimpered as she crossed her arms on the handlebar and rested her forehead on them.

I chuckled at her weak response, "Sure, we are already at the park, might as well take a rest."

She nodded softly and let me lead her to the nearest bench.

I parked the bike beside the bench.

She plopped down on it instantly, she was breathing heavily that her chest went up and down noticeably.

I assure you, I didn't stare.

I still wish I had Sharingan, though.

"Take it easy," I gave her a bottle of mineral water that I got from my bike, "Here, drink it. Don't drink too much though."

"Thank you."

She took it and opened the cap, drinking the content hastily.

"Why didn't you tell me that you are tired?"

"I want to… challenge myself."

She turned her face away embarrassed while I just raised my eyebrow.

"The first thing to challenge yourself is to know your limit. It takes process, you can't just try to break it in one day. You of all people should have known it, Yukinoshita."

"You didn't tell me you'll jog this far…"

"Eh? I did not?"

She pouted.

"My bad. I kinda forget that you're not that confident in your stamina, sorry."

She ignored me, concentrating on her breathing.

I wiped my sweat off of my face with a little towel, the sun had risen up and the temperature had gotten warmer.

Taking my place beside her on the bench, I leaned and rested my back on the backrest.

From my position, I observed the park.

People started to come here.

I could see couples, parents with their children, or just kids playing around.

The situation was peaceful.

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the occasional breeze and the calming sound of rustling leaves.

Suddenly, I heard a rustle of clothes and opened one of my eyes and found Yukinoshita scooting closer, she glanced at me before resting her head on my shoulder.

"Hey, I'm all sweaty you know."

I looked at her serene expression, her eyes were closed, with a slight smile on her face.

Somehow, I got extra conscious of her features, her eyelashes, her cute nose, her moist lips.

Damn.

I could probably proclaim myself as the Ultimate Luckster [7] just for having this moment.

"Don't care." She answered curtly, "Besides, didn't you say you'll be my pillar if I ever need a support? Well, I need it now."

Geez, woman.

Let's just enjoy this moment for now.

"Say, Hikigaya-kun. How long have you been playing soccer?"

I blinked.

…When exactly did I start soccer, by the way?

"Hmm… it was in sixth grade; I think?"

Honestly, I didn't have a remarkable childhood.

I was shunned in elementary school. Those damned kids invented something called Hikigerma or something. Then, created a game about it.

They were going to be a bunch of scientist in the future, I'm sure because of their talent to suddenly find a new germ without lab testing.

Har-har.

Notice the sarcasm, please.

Anyway, that meant I didn't have anyone to partner up during P.E., I just run around the field or watch ants until the class ended. But one day, I found a soccer ball that someone forgot to put back in the storage. I was bored and had nothing to do, so I picked the ball and play with it.

I still remember that scene vividly, the first time I ever kicked a soccer ball.

I kicked it and chasing it and kicked it again awkwardly. It was a weird experience for me. I couldn't help myself but smiling as I kicked the ball back and forth.

That was probably the happiest memories I had from my elementary days.

Oh, who am I kidding, that was my only remarkable memory from back then.

After that, I usually played with soccer ball during P.E.

A while later, I decided to try something new.

I picked up practice cones and arranged it in a line, and trying to hit it with the ball.

At first, it was 5 meters away, then 10 meters, 15 and so on until I can't hit it again.

Before I knew it, I graduated. Spending my last year of P.E. aiming at the cones.

"…And, that was how I got my accuracy."

"…that was unexpectedly depressing."

"Yeah."

I agreed wholeheartedly.

She reached for my hand and grasped it tightly within her small and delicate hand.

A cute gesture.

I appreciated it, really.

"Ehm," I coughed to get her attention, "Then, I went to Tokyo and started my new middle school life. At first, I didn't join the soccer club, me being a loner and all. But, one afternoon, I was practicing my aim in an empty field near my house, minding my own business."

Yukinoshita was listening attentively, still holding my hand.

"That was when the soccer club's coach saw me. He said that he was impressed with my skill and roped me into joining the club."

"Then, everything went good?"

"Nope," I chuckled, remembering how my first day went, "I was bad, like really bad. If you saw me back then, you'd think a grandma could kick better than me. I knew nothing about passing, I knew nothing about teamwork, about tactics, positioning, and so on. The other club members started to mock me about it, I was really close to quit, you know? But, then I realized that I actually like soccer, and thought that, 'Screw this, I'll not let them take away something that I actually like' so I practiced it again and again, ignoring theirs jeers and mockeries."

Yukinoshita clenched my hand, reassuring me again.

"Turn out, practicing alone is not going to help. That was when I met Atsushi. He was interested in me after seeing my accuracy. So, we made a deal, he taught me the necessary skills, and I taught him how to kick long pass. We hit it off pretty quickly. We made quite the duo, we became a friend, something that even I didn't predict at all, probably because we respected each other.

"So, then we got our places in the first team in our second years, and won several local championships, it didn't take long until we got called to play in Tokyo selection.

"I developed my own skills by watching highlights, tutorials, matches, everything that I could get my hands on, while Atsushi decided to be a set-piece specialist.

"Spending hours watching videos about soccer also helps me sharpen my analytical mind. If we didn't have practices, we'd spend our days talking about tactics. Apparently, we have the knack for this kind of thing, heck I'm confident that I'm even better than him in this area."

"Oho, confident are we?"

"Of course, I take pride in it."

Yukinoshita chuckled at my answer.

"Indeed, you always have that unusual pride for a loner."

I just smiled at her.

I turned my hand and intertwined my fingers with hers.

…wait, can I call it a date? And based her actions as well, can I officially call her as my girlfriend?

Well, whatever.

Let's put that aside for another day and just enjoyed this moment.

Today was a good day.

-tbc-

[1] A Dutch footballer that had just retired this summer. Played for Ajax, Real Madrid, Internazionale Milano, Galatasaray, Nice, and Al-Gharafa. Pretty much famous for winning treble with Inter and runner up in World Cup. Just wanna pay my tribute.

[2] Lionel Messi. Duh.

[3] Voldemort.

[4] Prince Takamado Cup is a short-term championship which after 2011 changed into a football league for U-18 (both high school & youth pro club). It has three tier: Premier League (East & West), Prince League, and Prefectural League. The league winners will then play a championship match.

[5] A fictional syndrome in Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, in which the victims suffer from apathy, unable to move, feed, or care for themselves.

[6] A bloodline limit from Naruto series. It has the ability to copy techniques and see in slow motion in its basic form. In other word, a hax.

[7] A title in Danganronpa series given to someone who got accepted into Hope Peak Academy by lottery. In this case, Hachiman refers to himself that he is lucky to get Yukino.

A/N

I had rewritten the first chapter.

Apparently I made some mistake regarding the timeline since it was written as a one-shot, so I didn't bother to think thoroughly before.

Now, the story happened in September several days after the cultural festival in Oregairu and after the Inter-High in Days.

Also, Hachiman and Yukino's relationship trigger is the culture festival instead of the infirmary scene.

Anyway, Hachiman's playstyle is not modeled after real players, well, not exactly. While, the inspiration is indeed from Andrea Pirlo, Hachiman will develop his own style as the story progress.

More like an excuse for me to write thing freely.

And, I'm not exactly a football expert, so I can't really pinpoint real life player's characteristics accurately if I want to model Hachiman after said player.

Again, do tell me if I made some mistakes.

See you next time.