"Whoa Whoa, calm down." He said, his hands up as he chuckled.
"I'm sorry." I said, relaxing a bit.
*Just wanted to be sure.*
"I was sure you'd have found out by now." He said.
"Hmm?"
"Don't you remember me?" He asked, smiling at me as I kept staring at him.
*It's him.* I thought, looking away.
"Since you don't, then just forget it. It won't be fun unless you remember."
*I remember. It's all coming to me. He's…*
"How's uncle Shiro?" I asked as he looked at me shocked.
"I thought you didn't remember, how come?"
"Well, although I'm still not sure about it, I had some clues. I didn't want to ask since I might've been wrong."
"Then…"
"Well, I only ever went to an amusement when I was 10 or 11, that was before Uncle Shiro left. Only mom, Uncle Shiro and his kid were there with me. Something you said also sounded familiar." I said.
"Atsushi..." He called.
"Hmm?"
"I'm so glad. I thought you've forgotten me. Thank goodness." He said, smiling at me.
"I'm really sorry for finding out late." I said.
"No, I'm sorry."
"So… how'd you recognise me?"
"Ah, when your hair began growing out I suspected you were the one." He answered.
"Oh, so my hair gave me out." I said as he smiled.
"I was so happy when I found out it was you. We can finally keep the promise we made when we were kids." He said smiling.
"Yeah… I'm happy too. Ah-haha."
*Wait I can't remember any promise.* I thought looking away while smiling.
"Seems like you don't remember."
"No, I do. Um... to play football together forever, right?"
"No, to be the best together." He said.
"Ah..."
"You totally forgot." He said chuckling.
"I was almost there wasn't I?" I asked.
"Almost my ass."
*I'm with a family member in this world. I don't get why but it makes me feel excited.* I thought, looking down and smiling.
"But seriously, is it me or have your play style changed? Are you just faking this or what?"
"Faking my ass. Does it look like I'll run around for hours just to fake anything? Geez…" I said, lying on the floor.
"Haha, sorry. It's just that you were better than me before. I just thought you weren't really into this. How'd you find my playstyle compared to before?" He asked.
"You're better than before. And I've gotta train everyday. The past remains a memory, I'm not the same as I was before." I said.
"Haha, that's right. You used to be quite shy back then, you couldn't even ask Shiori ou…" He started as I threw a punch at him.
"Shut the hell up!" I shouted, my face red from embarrassment.
"Haha, look at you being all shy."
"Leave me alone."
"Haha, Whoa it's already dark. Come on, let's go." He said.
He kept teasing me as we walked around picking up the balls and taking them into the equipment store.
I was really happy. Although he was annoying there was no doubt that he was currently better than I was.
We talked and laughed before walking back into the dormitory.
☆☆☆
"Okay, seems like you guys enjoyed your long break, now let's talk about our first match." The coach said.
"Huh?!"
"Well, I knew you guys would be shocked. The announcement came in yesterday."
"That was too soon."
"You should be happy, the match will be holding next month." He said as we sighed.
"Thank goodness, I was scared." Tamura said.
"For real."
"You guys, this will be the only time they'll tell you about a match that would take place the next month. Thus match won't guarantee you a spot in any other match, it's just for experience."
"So it's not an important match?"
"Don't go thinking of it that way. It gets you points afterall. You lose, you get nothing. You win, the team gets a total of 10,000 points. Goal scorers get 1000 points per goals, assists get 500 points." He said.
"500 points per goal? That's good."
"Yeah, 500 might sound a little but it's actually much."
"What about the 10,000 points?"
"It'll be shared 600 points for each team member, 2800 for the coach." He said with a smug smile.
"Whoa, teammates also get?"
"Mmn."
"I don't quite get this."
"Don't worry about it. We'll see after the first match. Okay! You guys go practice. The game might be tough." The coach said before walking out.
"Okay."
"Guys, I really can't believe this." Akaji said.
"No matter what, we need to do our best in this." Nakamura said.
"Yeah, we all know that." Kimishita said as Koenji got up.
"Guys, why don't we go train a bit now that we know when the match would be starting." He said.
"Jeez, what's the rush? It's still next month." Watabe said.
"That's why we should start now. They gave us lots of time, if we laze around now we might end up playing poorly." Koenji said.
"Suit yourself, I was busy upstairs anyway." He said walking out.
"Hey, wait Ryuto-San." Koenji called.
"Why don't we start when others are ready." Akaji said smiling before going after Watabe.
"Well, later." Tamura said walking up with Hayashi and Yamazake who looked at me.
*Huh?*
When she saw me looking, she looked away immediately before walking up.
"Tchh." Kimishita got up and walked out.
"I'll go see him." Nakamura said, smiling at us before walking up.
"Damn it!" Koenji said, sitting down his head down.
"Don't beat yourself, Koenji-kun, let's go." I said as he looked up at me and smiled.
"You sure you guys wanna do this?" He asked.
"For sure, we told you anytime you feel like practicing we'll be there with you." Akatsuki said giving him a hand.
"Maybe… they'll practice on their own." I said looking up.
"Why does it feel like you were trying to sound coop now?" I heard someone ask.
"Um, we are here too." Sugawara said raising her hand.
"C-cool?! What the hell are you talking about?!"
"Hehe."
"Huh? Sugawara, Ueta, you guys don't want to leave?" I asked.
"So we can't practice with you guys?" Ueta asked looking at me angrily.
"No, I'm just surprised." I said with my hands raised.
"Hmph! You think you're the only hardworker."
*She seems mad about something.* I thought smiling at her.
"Well, we've more got comrades now. Don't fight okay," Akatsuki said, smiling at us.
*We aren't fighting. And why does it feel like he's using me to look cool?* I thought, looking at me.
"Hehe."
*You brat!*
We all left the sitting room and walked into the field.
"Okay! You guys would likely be defenders, since they'll surely put us in as attackers. So let's help with your tackling and defence."
~~~
"I'm really, sorry, seems like we are dragging you guys down." Ueta said as we held our legs while rolling on the floor.
*More like you're destroying our legs.*
"N-no, w-we can keep on doing this." Akatsuki said, forcing a smile.
"Are you sure? You guys look like you're in serious pain." Sugawara said.
"No, we need to help you guys learn how to tackle." I said trying to stand.
*Damn!!!* I thought, falling back on the ground.
Koenji ran towards us to help us stand as the girls kept apologising to us.
"Let's stop for today." Ueta said trying to help me stand.
"We'll take you guys to your rooms, let's go." Sugawara said, trying to help Akatsuki up while Koenji returned the balls.
"You girls, keep it up and you'll be disqualified from all the games." Akatsuki said giving them a thumbs up.
"For real." I said laughing as Ueta punched me in the abdomen. "Argh!" I screamed falling on the floor.
"Ha ha." Akatsuki laughed as she helped me stand again before we walked into the dorm.
"Heh…? Looks like you guys are wounded." Watabe said looking at us and smirking.
He and the others were in the sitting room playing cards.
"Ignore 'em." Akatsuki said as I nodded.
"For reals you guys should be careful, you might send thousands of people to the hospital." Akatsuki continued as they laughed.
"At least it won't be us they'll be sending." I said.
"Tchh, you guys keep wasting your time, okay." Watabe said angrily.
"Let it go Ryuto."
"Guys." Koenji called running towards us.
"You done?" Akatsuki asked.
"Yeah, let's get going, so we can massage those legs." Koenji said smiling.
"Huh? No, that's gonna hurt."
"That's the main purpose of this." He said as he took us to his and Akatsukis' room.
"Argh!!! It hurts, stop it, spare me, please!!"