As soon as the match started, the cheers pouring onto the pitch were on a completely different level compared to the B Team matches I’d watched before.
It was a pro-level match and an A Team game, after all. The atmosphere in the stadium was totally different—just like when I once went to watch a professional match together with Makishima.
“Ayane-chan, look, look! That’s Kanekawa Ryuushin!”
“Kanekawa… Ryuushin?”
When I looked in the direction Yuzu-chan was pointing, I saw a player built like a bodybuilder.
His uniform looked so tight it might rip at any moment…
“Who’s that?”
“Ayane-chan, you interviewed him before! At the championship!”
“Interviewed? Me?”
“What?! You don’t remember?!”
“…N-no.”
Back during the championship, I was so shocked that Makishima’s Seishin Academy didn’t make it that far that I barely remembered anything else.
“Weren’t you a high school soccer fan, Ayane-chan?”
“S-sorry… actually, that was a lie.”
“Huh?”
“I only knew about Makishima’s Seishin Academy… no, more than that, I guess I only knew about Makishima himself.”
“Only Makishima-kun… don’t tell me, Ayane-chan, you’ve liked Makishima-kun since your idol days…?”
I nodded honestly.
“T-that’s heavy, right?! Like a creepy stalker fan! S-sorry, forget I said any—”
“That’s not true at all.”
As she said that, Yuzu-chan gently patted my head.
“Because you cared only about Makishima-kun so sincerely, maybe that’s why Makishima-kun responded to your feelings.”
“…Yuzu-chan.”
“Ayane-chan, you’re amazing.”
Yuzu-chan… h-hey, she’s acting more like the older sister here! Even though I’m the older one!
“I-I want an ‘older sister’ vibe like yours too, Yuzu-chan!”
“W-what’s with you all of a sudden, Ayane-chan?! W-what even is an ‘older sister’ vibe?”
“Please teach me!”
“E-even if you say that—!”
“Sounds like you young ladies are having fun.”
At the gruff voice coming from beside us, I turned my head—and there stood a familiar middle-aged man wearing a worn-out brown coat.
“Ah! It’s Ayane-chan!”
A cute little girl with a red headband popped out from behind the man and plopped herself right onto my lap.
“Ehehe, I got to see Ayane-chan again!”
“Shizuku-chan? And Coach Kishihara…”
“We sure run into each other a lot, miss. Oh? Is the young lady next to you someone I’m meeting for the first time?”
Coach Kishihara removed his sunglasses and looked toward Yuzu-chan.
“Ah, Ayane-chan, this gentleman is—”
“Yeah. The former coach of Seishin Academy.”
“C-Coach Kishihara?!”
Yuzu-chan shook hands with him enthusiastically, saying, “I’m honored to meet you!”
“Oh? So the young lady over there knows who I am?”
“Of course!”
“Well, I’ll be damned. Being recognized by such a young girl makes me happy. Though, the brown-haired miss didn’t seem to notice until Makishima and I started talking.”
H-hey, I noticed right away too, you know.
Coach Kishihara sat down to my right and took a big swig from his usual flask.
“Did you come to watch Makishima’s match again today?”
“Nah, today I’m not scouting—this is purely personal. My demon wife kept nagging me to do some family service for once, so I had no choice but to bring my daughter along.”
“Ayane-chan, let’s play!”
“S-sure.”
If it’s family service, shouldn’t you take her to an amusement park or something?
“Ayane-chan, where’s the big brother bodyguard you were with last time?”
“Um… about him.”
I pointed toward the pitch.
“He’s right there… fighting.”
✳︎✳︎
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