"Next event!" the announcer called. "Friendly football match: Red Team vs. Blue Team!"
Only it wasn't going to be friendly. Not even remotely.
---
Rei stretched beside me, his red jersey catching the sunlight just enough to make every girl in a 10-meter radius sigh.
"You gonna cheer for me, Yuki?" he asked with a wink.
"I mean… I guess?" I shrugged.
"You guess?" he teased. "My fragile athlete heart."
Hinata poked her head in. "Don't cheer too loud. My team's about to crush you."
Behind her, Shinbou adjusted his headband and jogged across the field with a calm, unreadable face until three girls from Class 2-C waved and yelled:
> "SHINBOU-KUN! GANBAREEEEE!"
One even held a handmade banner with sparkly stickers that said: "Team Shinbou"
I choked on my juice.
"Wait. What?" I blinked. "Why are they cheering for him like he's in a boy band?"
Hinata grinned. "He's got a fanbase now. Didn't you hear? Quiet, mysterious, emotionally repressed girls eat it up."
My eye twitched.
"They made merch," she added. "There's a badge."
---
As the whistle blew, I forced myself to focus.
I was supposed to cheer for Rei.
He ran fast, played clean, and passed the ball like a pro. I clapped, shouted, and tried to smile but every time Shinbou got the ball, the crowd exploded.
"SHINBOU! GO GO GO!"
"SHINBOU-KUN, SHOOT!"
"SHINBOU, NOTICE MEEEEE!"
My jaw tightened.
"Do they have to be that loud?"
Hinata gave me a knowing look. "You okay, Yuki?"
"I'm fine," I snapped, louder than intended.
The girl next to us looked slightly scared. "She really likes football."
---
Back on the field, Rei and Shinbou clashed near midfield shoulder to shoulder, intense, and silent.
You could feel the rivalry, thick as storm clouds.
And when Rei accidentally (maybe not so accidentally) tripped Shinbou during a sprint…
The crowd gasped.
I stood up. "Hey!"
But not sure who I was yelling at.
Rei turned back and gave me a thumbs-up.
Shinbou got up, brushed grass off his knees, and muttered something under his breath then scored a clean goal two minutes later that made his fan club lose their minds.
---
My stomach twisted weirdly.
Why did I feel like this?
Why did I want to tell those girls to go cheer for someone else?
Why was I mad at a football?
---
After the game Blue Team won by one goal, thanks to Shinbou the two boys walked past each other without a word.
Just… a long stare.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Rei beat me to it.
"You cheered for me today," he said softly.
"I… yeah."
"But you were watching him."
I froze.
"I'm not mad," he added quickly. "Just noticing."
Then he smiled soft, almost sad and walked off to rejoin his team.
---
I turned to Hinata.
She raised a brow. "So. Are we finally admitting you're emotionally doomed?"
I sighed and dropped onto the bench.
"…Maybe."