Alright, let's try it once from the top...

Okay.

Oh, I wanna watch!

Sure.

Ready, Toya?

That was so cool!

You guys looked really solid the whole way through!

Thanks, but we still have to hammer out the details for some of these other parts.

Right.

And once our performance comes together, I'm sure your friend will appreciate it very much.

You mean Akito's old classmate from elementary school?

Yes. I believe they also played together on the same soccer team.

Hmm...

Akito in elementary school, huh?

Hey, Akito! What were you like back then? You don't have to stop taking your break, but I'm really curious!

What was I like...?

I doubt you'll find it very interesting.

That's totally fine.

I just wanna learn more about you guys!

I'd like to as well.

I've hardly ever heard you talk about yourself from that far back.

I mean, I don't mind talking about it...

So to put it simply, I guess I was pretty cocky...

Hm? How's that different from now?

Hey, do you want me to talk or not?

Eep! Sorry!

That was meant to be a joke!

I'll stop, I promise. Please, continue...

...

And you say that you were cocky, but I suspect that there's more to this.

Yeah, or maybe... How or why were you like that?

I've liked playing sports for as long as I can remember, and my teachers back then recommended that I play for clubs and stuff. But I kept refusing to for a while...

Really? I would've thought you wanted to play for teams like that.

I tried joining this baseball team once and kept getting into arguments with the team's ace, who was already there and a lot older than me.

The same thing happened for basketball. I'd usually have no problem picking up a new sport.

Looking back, it never felt like I had ever accomplished anything.

But when I was a kid, I'd always say stuff like, That's it? This is easy!

So another way to put it is, you were very athletic...

Yeah. That part of you really hasn't changed at all, huh?

True. And out of all the sports, I did try, I stuck with soccer the longest...

It was rough at first because the pitch was huge. I had to think about where everybody was positioned, and it felt like way too much for me to remember.

But whenever we gelled as a team, it felt like a lot of fun. That was probably why I stuck with it for so long.

And... Somewhere along the way, I'd convinced myself that I was taking it seriously.

Convinced yourself...?

Yeah, I didn't understand what it meant to be good or what losing when it mattered really felt like.

Then, during my last match as a sixth-grader, the favorites, to win this one tournament, clobbered us...

That team was apparently full of kids that left home just to go play soccer and train to become pros.

What?! But they were just elementary schoolers, right...?

Yeah, I froze after I heard that too. I had no idea whatsoever.

I asked myself if I could commit like that too and I just couldn't find an answer.

I felt like an idiot for thinking I was so good and not understanding what it meant to take the sport seriously, so I quit.

I see...

But you're helping the soccer club even now, no? Is that...?

Oh, that? They were talking about doing scrims but just barely didn't have enough for two teams, so I ended up joining them.

I get what it's like to want to practice as much as you can to find ways to win.

So I'd feel like the bad guy if I sort of became the reason they couldn't do that.

I see.

And in the end, you know what?

I guess I just like playing soccer.

I still haven't forgotten how I felt back then, but now, just kicking around a ball helps me push that away...

That makes me pretty lame, huh?

Really? I think that's a good thing.

I mean, it'd be awful not to be able to do something that you really like doing, right?

...

You really know which buttons to press sometimes, don't you?

Hehe!

Oh, hey, Akito!

I kinda feel like playing soccer now. You think we can do it here?

Hm? Maybe...

We can try juggling a ball or something.

Juggling, sure!

Just keep the ball in the air for as long as I can, right?

Yeah! Let's do that!

We still have dance practice, you know?

That's that! This is this!

It can be just during our break, so please, teach me!

Throw him a bone, Akito.

He's already helped us out this much.

Lately, it feels like we've been giving more than receiving...

Okay, fine.

I'll bring a ball next time.

Yay!

Promise, okay? If you don't and forget like KAITO always does, I'm gonna be mad.

Sure.