"Start!"
The referee gave the signal and the ball was in the hands of Jim's team. Jim refrained from giving them any speech at the moment as he knew anything he would say wouldn't be useful.
He lived his entire life under the suppression of others, cornered in a place where no one ever cared about him.
Despite entering this academy with many events, he was deeply appreciative of his friends. At least they weren't like the others and believed in him.
And that was why he didn't want to see them dejected, as this was something he never wanted anyone he cared about to experience.
"Spread up," he suddenly whispered to Rick while adding, "leave me behind."
Rick was first busy with his own feelings like everyone else so he didn't notice Jim's strange presence back here despite them having the ball.
And now he was asking him to move forward, leaving the entire back empty.
"Are you sure?" he had to ask.
