Game Changer | Petalz 🌸🍃

Chapter III

The next morning, when Sakura returns from her morning jog, she opens the door to the apartment and finds almost the entire corridor blocked by cardboard boxes of varying sizes.

Nagisa is moving out already?

Careful not to topple over the boxes, Sakura makes her way through the corridor and to the kitchen, where she stumbles upon Daisuke as he carries another box, his lanky frame sagging under its weight.

"Oh, hello Sakura," the man greets her, tilting his head to the side so that he can see.

The thin glasses on his nose slipped to the very tip of it, and he keeps his head up so that they won't completely fall off.

"Hi..." Sakura observes him with a pained expression as he waddles ahead. Poor guy has absolutely zero strength. She guesses that's a trade off for wanting to become a neurosurgeon. "Do you need help?"

"No, no, I'm fine," he tries to sound cheerful, but it just comes out strained. Heaving a sigh, he stacks the box on another one that's lying in the corridor then pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Sorry for the mess, but we're waiting for the moving company to help us carry these boxes downstairs."

"I thought Nagisa was moving out next week." Sakura pours a glass of water and hands it to him as he joins her in the kitchen.

"Thanks." He gulps the water down and returns the glass. "That was the plan, but Nagisa told me you've already found a roommate, so she thought we could do it today. Especially since I have a day off."

"Oh, I see." Sakura leans back against the kitchen counter, arms crossed at her chest as she digests what Daisuke has just said.

This means she can ask Kazuha to move in sooner, or just spend that one week alone. But she can think about this later.

"By the way, how's your new teammate?" Daisuke's eyes lit up with interest. When it comes to soccer, he is a total opposite of Nagisa; he absolutely loves it and is a big fan of F.C. Tokyo. "Is she as good as everyone is saying?"

"Well, she's quite good, but I guess we have to wait for the season to begin to truly find out," Sakura gives what she believes is an honest, unbiased answer.

She only had one practice with Kazuha, and she doesn't want to oversell her.

"Good point." Daisuke nods wisely. "But gosh, I hope you'll kick Frontale's butt this season and win the title." He clenches his fist, a fiery look behind his glasses.

Sakura smiles. "I hope so too."

Although getting on the national team is her number one priority, taking the title from Kawasaki and bringing it to Tokyo is almost equally as important. Last time, she wasn't able to fight for it till the end due to her injury, so this season she wants to make up for that. Fans are counting on them, especially since the last time their team won a title was ten years ago.

Another achievement added to Nakamura's golden CV

She cringes at the bitter thought that wriggles its way into her head. She knows she shouldn't be thinking like that, but sometimes, certain emotions can be harder to control than others. Yet, as she imagines Kaname's face twisted in frustration at the sight of them winning, the envy dissipates in an instant being replaced by a wicked satisfaction.

And even if the victory were to be achieved thanks to Kazuha, Sakura would still gladly take it. She could even write on that CV herself — successfully wiped Kenjou Kaname's smirk off her stupid face, because that's a noteworthy achievement in itself.

"Soo..." Daisuke clears his throat, catching Sakura's attention. A bashful look on his pale face as he casts his eyes down. "Would you be able to get me her autograph?"