Due to the nice weather, me and Yukina went outside to walk around a bit. I felt like a full-fledged riajuu for the first time in my life. I was outside, socialising with a bijin, and was having a good time. This must be the peak of my youth.
The school's field was massive. I felt tiny in comparison to the sheer size of it. All sorts of people congregated here, and a strong sense of cliques began to form.
"I have to admit, this is nice."
I sat on one of the slopes of the hills. Yukina sat down next to me, and brushed some hair out of her face. Laying down, I sighed.
"You should go outside more often. In middle school you always stayed inside playing on your phone." Yukina nudged me.
"I'm changing my ways, slowly."
"This school is extremely generous, isn't it?"
"Yeah. The cruise ship, the new phones, the 100,000 point allowances... I feel so free here."
"Even though there's some strict rules, this school is treating us very well. Though..."
"Though?"
"I can't help but feel like... there's a catch to all of this."
As Yukina said those words, I couldn't help but feel the same way. After all, we were still new to this school, and a lot of it was shrouded in mystery.
This much preferential treatment was a little frightening, and I could understand the doubts Yukina had. I also had them too, but I dispelled them quickly as my brain trying to rationalise what had happened to us. Regardless, I gave my answer.
"I agree. It feels like there has to be a risk to it all, right?"
I sat up and took out of my phone. Unlocking it, I opened the school app and downloaded a digital version of our booklets. Skimming through it, I tried to find any rules that might restrict us somehow.
Yukina watched me curiously, eyes following each page I looked through. I came to the swift conclusion that there was nothing stated in the booklet that held us back.
"I'll read through it more later."
"It's going to be interesting to see how everyone spends their points and time here." Yukina said.
"Yeah. I'm not gonna waste my points so easily, since I have bad money sense."
"It's okay to splurge a little, you know. Though, such a boring person like you wouldn't have anything to buy in the first place."
Ow, that stung a bit. Yukina, you're giving some seriously mixed signals here.
Panicked, I came up with a response on the spot.
"And... a girl like you would blow through half of those points buying cute clothes that you'll never wear."
"You never go outside to see me in those cute clothes, Yuu-kun. That's why you think I never wear them."
An instant, snappy reply came back like that. It doubled as a hidden attack by calling me a shut-in. Well played.
"Ah, I concede. You win."
"I wasn't even aware there was a battle going on. Was it all in your head?"
Despite her cold words, I didn't feel hurt by it. Instead, I felt more like an idiot, being strangely satisfied by it all despite the fact I was being mercilessly teased by my own friend.
Yukina giggled, and laid down beside me. I closed my eyes and let the gentle breeze of the wind take me away...
After a couple minutes indulging in peacefulness, I opened my eyes. From where I was laying down, I could see in the distance a game of football being played by some of the boys. From the crowd of mixed students, I recognised one of them.
It was Yukimura from our class.
Even though he looked like a real delinquent earlier, while playing football, he looked a lot more upstanding. His face had a lot less rage written on it, and he looked extremely refreshed. He had calmed down a lot and even smiled at certain points.
The moment the ball was passed to him, he absolutely destroyed the defence standing in his way. His control with the ball was beautiful. The way he dribbled and the running figure he adopted all resembled a pro-football player.
Yukimura zipped past the midfielder, snaked past the defenders, and shot a beautiful cross into the back of the net.
The goalkeeper stood no chance against that curved ball. It seemed like Yukimura's strength was sports.
His team began cheering and Yukimura shouted in happiness. The other team looked extremely discouraged, like this wasn't the first time that happened to them.
"Yuu-kun. Let's go to the gymnasium now." Yukina pinched my sleeve to get my attention. I nodded and stood up.
Sliding down the hill, I began walking back to inside the school building. On my way there, I paid a quick visit to the current football game. Yukina followed me, despite looking unsure at what I was about to do.
Yukimura was commanding his team with instructions, and they followed him. The ball got passed to Yukimura, and he slipped past the defence and shot another brilliant goal inside. As he cheered, our eyes met, and his expression hardened.
The anger I saw in him while on the cruise ship resurfaced on his face. Snarling, he gave me a dirty glare. I simply put my hand up and waved.
"Your control on the ball was amazing." I said. Yukimura's expression softened, and his eyebrows arched.
"You like football?"
"Kind of. I liked watching it when I was in middle school. I wasn't any good at it though."
"You should come join us on the pitch. It's more fun when you're actually playing."
Yukimura sounded very sincere. Even his tone of voice had softened since the cruise ship. What had happened to him to make him mellow out so much?
"I'll consider it, but I'm fine just watching."
"Heh. Fair enough, man. I'm Yukimura by the way." He stretched his hand out to me. It was a bit dirty with mud. I shook it regardless.
Damn, he has a hard grip...
"Takanori Yuuto. We're both in the same class." I said.
"Yeah, I recognise your face from the cruise ship. Sorry about that." Yukimura said.
Wow, he was apologising too? Is this really the same person who grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and shoved me to the floor?
"It's... fine."
My tone was shaky. I didn't know whether to be scared or impressed. Yukimura being nice to me was something I didn't expect.
"Who's the cutie?" Yukimura whispered in my ear.
"She's..." I glanced at Yukina who was waiting for me. As if reading the situation, she stepped forward.
"I'm Kazuraba Yukina. Nice to meet you, Yukimura-kun."
Yukimura broke into a smile. "Kazuraba, huh? Heh, just watch me play." He rubbed his nose and went back on the pitch.
"Ah, you realise we have to go in now, right?" Yukina said.
Yukimura didn't listen as he received the ball. Once more, his football prowess shone brightly when he scored another goal for his team in minutes.
Goal-scoring is incredibly different. Especially when you're on a team you're mostly unfamiliar with. So for Yukimura to score three at least by himself... he had both raw talent and incredible skill. What's a guy like him doing here in GEN? Don't they have special football schools just for people like him? He'd surely benefit from that more than here.
Perhaps the promise of freedom and other aspects are what drew him in. Plus, I don't think a special football school would indulge their students in this much luxury. Yukimura might have chose this school for that reason, yet... no, it couldn't be. Even on the cruise ship, he looked unhappy.
I wonder what had happened to make him so il-tempered.
Yukimura came running back to us, grinning. Pointing at himself, he appealed to Yukina. "How was that, huh? Impressive, right?"
"Oi, Yukimura, stop trying to impress the lady and get on the pitch! You can't go on and off whenever you want to, you know!"
One of the boys on the opposing team shouted at him like that.
"Shut up Shibata! My team is clearly winning anyways, what's it matter, huh?!"
The angry Yukimura I was more acquainted with came out. He turned around and stomped towards the boy named Shibata, and got in his face.
"Don't act like you're King or something. We're here to play football, not flirt with girls. Have some sportsmanship and follow the rules, or I'm kicking you off."
"Huh? You kick me off? You realise I'm the best player here, right?!"
"Your attitude stinks."
"Why you little..."
Just as Yukimura was about to raise his fist, Yukina called out.
"Wait, Yukimura-kun! We have to go inside now for the entrance ceremony. If we don't leave now, we'll be late."
Shibata sighed, picking up the football.
"She's right guys. Game's over. Yukimura's team won." Shibata said with an annoyed tone. The other boys looked disappointed, like they didn't enjoy their time.
Yukimura turned around and huffed. He picked his blazer from the ground and slipped it on. When he walked away, he flipped Shibata off, like he did with Matsushita.
Shibata clicked his tongue, flipping Yukimura off back, and began walking towards the gymnasium with his friends.
Yukina breathed a heavy sigh of relief, and I pat her on the back.
"Good work." I said.
"Thanks. I'd rather not see my classmate get off on such a bad start." Yukina said. Her eyes were downcast when she said that, strangely.
We walked to the gymnasium afterwards.