Volume 1 - CH 1.6

The next day, the sky was again covered with the gray clouds of the rainy season. 

The rain that had fallen all day the day before had not yet dried up by morning, and the soil on the ground, which had absorbed water, was black.

I did not sleep well last night. Even though I turned off the light and closed my eyes, the thought of Izumi sleeping nearby made me feel restless. The quietness of the house late at night bothered me, and in the midnight darkness, I felt as if I could feel Izumi's presence on the same floor through the walls.

I was tired from lack of sleep, and my feet were muddy after the rain, so today's club activities were tougher than usual.

During break time, as I was staggering toward the luggage area, wiping sweat from my sleeve, someone bumped into me lightly from behind.

I stumbled down and turned around to see the manager, Mori Yuriko. Her lightly wavy hair was tied up into a ponytail, and she was wearing the same blue pants and soccer socks that were common to all club members, with a white short-sleeved outfit over them.

"What is it, Yuriko? What are you doing?"

Yuriko, who had succeeded in catching me off guard, smiled a deliberate smile, paced me, and said, "You're even less enthusiastic than usual today," with her hands lightly folded behind her back.

"It's not like that."

"In the shooting practice, most of your shots didn't hit the target. Even if the ground was wet, that was terrible."

Yuriko said as she walked beside me. 

"Somehow, I'm not feeling well. I haven't been sleeping well."

"Hmm."

It was nearing noon, the temperature was rising, and the wet field was getting much hotter and humid. A ball was lying at my feet. I exhaled once, focused on my form, and kicked it into the goal about 20 meters away. The ball, aimed at the top corner of the goal, curled gently and fell, then hit the bar, creating a popping sound on the ground.

When I saw the shot that was hated by the goal and moaned lightly while clicking my tongue, Yuriko giggled, saying, "Looks like today you didn't score at all till the end."

"Is something bothering you?"

My heart skipped a beat when I recalled Izumi's tense face after taking a bath on her face as she looked into my face.

"---Why do you think so?"

I replied, trying to look nonchalant. But Yuriko's face turned doubtful.

"Well, because you said you didn't get enough sleep. Normally, you would think something was wrong."

"......Nothing in particular."

I thought for a moment about telling her that a relative of mine had moved in, and then these words came out. Yuriko must have guessed what was going on, because she turned her head toward me and said,

"What's with the pause? Something fishy."

She said again in a teasing tone.

I am not good at hiding things. Yuriko, in particular, has a good instinct and has known me for a long time. If I show even the slightest hint of weakness, she will immediately know that I am hiding something from her.

"Tell me, Onee-san will give you a consultation."

"I'm fine. There's nothing wrong."

"Are you sure?"

Yuriko, perhaps enjoying herself, pursued the matter in a half-joking, insistent manner. Then, she asked.

"Mori-senpai~ I brought this from the club room. What should I do with it?"

Tachibana Akari, the first-year manager, came shouting from the bench at the side of the pitch, carrying a bag of bibs. Tachibana was also wearing blue club pants, a gym uniform with her name on the chest, and her shoulder-length hair tied up in two.

"Thank you, Akari, leave it there. I'll give it out before the match!"

Yuriko gave her instructions, "Okay!" Tachibana replied.

"It can't be helped. I'll let you go for now. It's okay to worry, but don't hurt yourself."

After saying this, Yuriko ran toward the bench where Tachibana was standing.

After seeing her back off, I returned to the luggage area where the other club members were, drank a sweet sports drink from a plastic bottle, and wiped the sweat off my face with a towel.

After all the members had completed the entire practice menu, we all tidied up the field, and the club activities ended when the advisor and English teacher, Nakata-sensei, gathered all the members and gave a dismissal speech.

The twenty or so members of the club were leaving the field in droves. I was heading to the luggage area, chatting with Nagai, who was in the same class as me. Then Yuriko, who was walking a little further away, came up to us.

"Hey, Nagai. Has Kenichi asked you for any advice?"

"Eh? What's that?

Nagai replied with a puzzled look on his face.

"Kenichi seems to be having some trouble. I thought Nagai would be the only person in this club that Kenichi could talk to about something, so I thought you might know something about it."

I said, "What do you mean by that."

Yuriko replied with a twinge, "Because there is no one else in this club that Kenichi gets along with," Nagai laughed at Yuriko's words. 

"No, that's not true."

"You're very kind, Nagai. If you follow up so much, it won't be good for this guy who has a communication problem."

""That's terrible,"" We were so shocked at the way she said it that my voice and Nagai's voice overlapped.

Then Tachibana came from the side and took Yuriko's arm, incidentally taking away the flow of the conversation.

"Senpai, do you have time after this today?"

"Hmm. What is it?"

"Well, it's been a while since we've had tea. Oh, how about you, Nagai-senpai and Sakamoto-senpai? Would you like to have tea with us?"

Tachibana took Yuriko's arm and turned her head to us and asked us a question.

When I shook my head and said, "No, thanks," Nagai continued, "I'll pass, too."

When we both refused, Tachibana mockingly puffed out her cheeks, saying, "Mooo, even though I went to the trouble of asking you out," Yuriko, a realist, stared at such a sweet gesture like an anime character with cold eyes. Yuriko had previously described Tachibana as a calculating girl. However, the relationship between the two is not bad. She works hard as a manager, and Yuriko takes good care of her. Tachibana also seemed to adore Yuriko.

"Okey, let's go by the Irisawa Mall after a while." 

When Yuriko answered her while placing her hand on Tachibana's shoulder, Tachibana loosened her cheeks, which had been puffed up with a "moo", and said cheerfully, "Yeay!"

After that, we returned to the luggage area near the morning assembly table, and Yuriko and Tachibana went back to the classroom. The soccer club members change outside for club activities on their days off, while the girls change in the classroom.

The luggage area was filled with the sticky-sweet smell of antiperspirant spray being sprayed on the bodies of naked men in their upper bodies. We, too, took off our clothes, wiped ourselves off, and changed into our uniforms.

As I walked to the bicycle parking lot, greeting Nagai and the other club members, I saw Yuriko and Tachibana coming out of the entrance. Both of them were dressed in their summer uniforms of navy blue skirts, blouses, and purple ribbons. Yuriko was wearing short sleeves and Tachibana was wearing long sleeves rolled up to her elbows.

Yuriko, who commutes to school by bicycle like me, walked to the bicycle parking lot. As we were unlocking our bicycles under the tin-roofed parking lot, Yuriko called out, "Kenichi."

"What?"

I raised my gaze. Yuriko had inserted a key with a cat keyring into the keyhole of her bicycle. Then she suddenly turned her head toward me and gave me a serious look.

"If you don't want to tell me, I won't force you. But, if you have a problem, you can talk to me about it."

I shook my head vaguely, feeling sorry for making her feel uncomfortable, and at the same time feeling the trouble of telling her about living with Izumi right here and now.

"Really, I'm fine. It's not like I'm in any trouble."

"Hmmm."

Yuriko's bicycle key unlocks with a light thud.

"I hope so. Well, I'll see you tomorrow at school."

Yeah, I replied.

She shoved her bag in the front basket, pushed her bicycle, and walked toward Tachibana, who was waiting for her on the paved road connecting the school gate and the entrance to the school. Her slightly tanned legs, navy blue high socks, and black loafers, which stretched out from her above-the-knee skirt, walked on the fresh asphalt and slowly moved away from me.