"Alright, that's all for today," Ichida-sensei said to the class as the bell rang.
Chairs scraped against the floor as students got up. Some left right away, while others waited for their friends.
"Ryo-kun, are you ready for practice?" Kazuki asked, standing over Ryo's desk.
"Yeah, let's go," Ryo answered, grabbing his bag as he stood up. The past couple of days had been the same had been the same routine: wake up, go to class, play football, go to the restaurant, go home, sleep.
Each day was long, but Ryo still enjoyed it, and at no point was he ever bored. Now, the practice was beginning to ramp up. Coach Matsumoto had been pushing them harder and harder, and today was going to be the most brutal.
Two more days before the game, Ryo thought. Since we need to take it easy tomorrow to be in good shape for the game, Coach won't hesitate to run us dry today.
"Kazuki-kun, how's practice for you?" Ryo asked curiously as they walked.
Kazuki's eyes lit up. "It's great! Yesterday, Coach told me to try being a goalie. I managed to save a few shots—it was super fun."
"Are you going to play goalie today as well?"
"No," Kazuki said, shaking his head. "It was fun, but… I like scoring more than defending."
"Haha," Ryo laughed, "I totally agree. Defending is very important and fun, but nothing is more exciting than scoring a goal."
"Right?" Kazuki nodded enthusiastically.
The two of them kept talking about football as they made their way out of the doors. The football season was ending in Europe, and all their talk revolved around who would take home the trophies in each league.
Ryo couldn't watch the matches himself. Although they had a TV at home, all the foreign football streaming was behind a subscription platform. On top of that, he didn't have a convenient way to access YouTube. However, he did have football knowledge from his previous life.
Ryo smiled as he looked at Kazuki, who barely took any breaths in between his sentences.
I remember PSG won by a close margin, so he'd probably be devastated when he sees the results, Ryo mused silently. Kazuki loves Spanish clubs the most, so he won't be rooting for PSG, but more importantly, he finds their club crest too plain… Sometimes his priorities are a bit backwards.
After barely contributing anything to their conversation, Ryo waved goodbye to Kazuki as he stepped onto the pitch.
He spotted Ren warming up near the sidelines, getting ready for the upcoming practice. The other players already had hardened expressions—they were preparing themselves for the grueling practice that lay ahead.
Sure enough, Matsumoto put them through a full hour of rondos, varying the groups and rules from time to time. The rondos were brutal—most of them consisted of one-touch passing only, and at one point, a second ball was introduced.
As brutal as it was, however, the players could all feel the drill's effect. In just a few days of practice, the team's ability to keep possession improved immensely. They started to get a feel of what constituted a good pass, when to push forward, and when to adjust strategies.
I wonder how good we'll be in a few months when we start to perfect our teamwork. On top of that, the second team is also getting better.
From what Ryo had heard, the second team also went all out during practices, improving their game alongside the first team's. Although they weren't quite as skilled or coordinated as the first team, they weren't being left in the dust either. Every day during scrimmage, they always put up a good fight.
They even managed to score a goal against us today. We slipped up and were not in a good position, leading to a quick break and a nice goal.
Now, Matsumoto stood before them, offering some closing remarks for the team.
"Thank you all for working hard this week. I have seen each of you improve both your technical skills and your teamwork. Tomorrow our practice will be light, so get plenty of rest for this weekend. That's all."
Matsumoto turned around and left, with the rest of the coaches following close behind. As the other players started leaving, Ryo walked over to where Ren stood.
"During the drill, you gave up possession six times, Ren-nii," Ryo teased. "You did worse than yesterday."
"Oh, is that so?" Ren answered, turning around to look at his brother. "Didn't you lose possession eight times today, though?"
"Excuse me, but it was only seven times," Ryo corrected him.
"That's still just as bad as me!"
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Off to the side, Hideki watched Ryo and Ren's interactions. The last players had already left the pitch, but the two of them were simply passing the ball, talking casually.
Hideki didn't understand.
They're not even taking practice seriously.
Every time he'd glance their way, they were smiling and laughing. Even now, the two of them were lazily passing the ball, and Hideki could no longer ignore them.
"It must be nice having it easy."
His words were sharp. He had spoken harsher than he intended, but Hideki wasn't about to back down.
Ryo and Ren silently turned to look at Hideki, letting the ball roll to a stop between them.
"You two are always joking around and laughing," Hideki said, his voice growing louder. "You don't even try to be serious. You're always taking it easy, but everyone still says how good you are. Even Coach always praises you two."
His hands balled into fists at his sides. "You don't even understand how hard I practice. Every day, I practice extra to get even better, but—" He paused, trying to hold back his tongue. "I only seem to be falling further behind. Why are you so talented without needing to work hard? It's not fair!"
He bit down on his lip, holding back the tears hiding behind his anger. "I… I try so hard—every day. Every day I do my best…" His anger rose once again. "But nobody even notices."
Ryo and Ren stayed silent, knowing that saying anything would only make him feel worse. For a moment, only the soft sounds of trees rustling and the insects chirping could be heard.
"But you two just play around all practice, not even trying to do well. You don't deserve to be as good as everyone says."
Hideki looked up and saw the hurt expression on Ren's face. The sight made his chest twist tighter.
"Just… Stay away from me." Hideki said softly, turning to leave the field. He walked slowly with his head down, wiping away tears with the collar of his shirt.
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The two brothers barely moved as they sorted out their thoughts. Ryo looked over at Ren, whose expression was faltering at the sudden confrontation.
I… I didn't know Hideki felt that way.
To Ryo, it seemed like all of their teammates played really well and that they all believed in and supported each other. But maybe there was more to them than he initially thought.
"R-Ryo," Ren said, his voice breaking, "I-Is he… A-Are w-we…" Unable to even form a full thought, Ren was struggling to contain his emotions.
He's always had such a big heart for everyone. I'm glad that hasn't changed.
Ryo wrapped his arms around his brother, hoping to reassure him at least a bit. "You're not a bad person, Ren-nii."
For a while, neither of them said anything while Ren cried silent tears. Ryo just rested his head against Ren's shirt as he looked off to the side.
Mental Fortitude. I didn't expect it to be effective for this.
Ever since he got the D-rank skill, he never really knew whether it truly worked. Nobody attacked him openly enough for him to truly know the extent of his skill.
But I don't even feel angry at Hideki.
In a way, not being able to feel anger was terrifying. If he couldn't be angry, maybe one day he wouldn't be able to empathize with other people's emotions. Would relying on The System cause him to become out of touch with human emotion?
This skill is dangerous.
Ryo could hear his brother's breath calming, and that put him at peace.
A single tear slowly rolled down his cheek.
At least I can still feel this much.
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The next day at practice, Ryo and Ren were unusually calm. They were so quiet that the rest of the team—and even the coaches—noticed their silence. Nobody said anything to them as the two of them just followed their teammates.
Neither Ryo nor Ren tried approaching Hideki. He wasn't antagonizing them in any way, so they silently chose to respect his wish and leave him alone.
When the game ended on Saturday, even though Ryusei won an away game, it felt like something was missing. Ryo and Ren still played well, celebrating when their team scored a goal, and talking with their teammates, yet the atmosphere didn't quite feel the same.
Ryo was back to his normal self, but he could tell that what Hideki said had clearly bothered Ren. He would often glance at Hideki whenever he wasn't looking, seemingly wanting to approach him, but always averting his gaze whenever he turned back around.
So Ryo thought it was better that he didn't interrupt Ren while he sorted out his thoughts.
That Sunday night, while in bed, Ren asked, "What should I do?"
Ryo didn't have a good answer for him. He might not like it, but…
"I think we should leave him alone for now. He told us what he thought. If he ever wants to talk, he'll come to us when he's ready."
Ryo knew that the answer was not satisfying, but in the moment, that was all he could say.
He hoped that either Hideki would come around soon or that Ren would slowly make peace with it himself.
"Ren-nii, wake up," Ryo said the next morning, shaking his brother's shoulder. "We're going to be late if you don't get up soon."