When they reached the field, it was Akagi's territory—the moment he met up with the soccer club members, he quickly started training with them.
Meanwhile, Shin and Yukinoshita stood by the sidelines, watching Akagi's lively figure on the field as they set about completing Akagi's request.
"Shin, do you think Akagi is good at soccer?"
Yukinoshita Yukino stood by the field, watching the back-and-forth action, and voiced her curiosity.
"I'm not very familiar with soccer, and I don't really understand the rules."
Indeed, Yukinoshita Yukino didn't seem like someone who would be interested in soccer. She looked more like the typical talented girl, the kind who would be better suited to discussing academics than sports.
"He's pretty good, I guess. After all, he's the star player of the soccer club."
Shin stroked his chin while watching Akagi on the field.
From his current perspective, everyone on the soccer field seemed to be moving in slow motion—but then, he wasn't an ordinary person anymore.
From a high schooler's point of view, Akagi's skills were indeed worthy of the star player title; his performance was quite outstanding.
However, Shin couldn't help but wonder if Akagi's teammates were showing off because Yukinoshita was present at the sidelines.
It was as if they were trying to impress the usually hard-to-see "Snow Girl."
Unfortunately, their efforts didn't catch Yukino's attention; she was fully focused on the service club's task, carefully scanning the crowd around the field.
According to Akagi, the girl he was interested in was someone who had been coming to watch the soccer team's practice every day lately.
"I remember Akagi said the girl has short pink hair..."
Yukino's eyes roamed around the field's perimeter. Given the large area, she couldn't immediately identify the target.
"There, over there."
Shin quickly spotted the girl in question, patted Yukino on the shoulder, and pointed in her direction.
Yukino was momentarily stunned but followed Shin's finger. Sure enough, she saw a short-haired pink girl standing in a corner of the field, watching the soccer players.
"You've got sharp eyes, Shin."
Yukino glanced at Shin, surprised that he had found the target so quickly.
"My perception is quite good."
Shin didn't deny it. With his ability to sense "ki," he could instantly identify the aura of everyone around the field, allowing him to pinpoint their target swiftly.
"Hmph, is that so?"
Yukino gave a noncommittal reply and walked toward the girl, gesturing to Shin as she did.
"Leave talking to that girl to me."
Indeed, it was better for Yukino, as a fellow girl, to gather information from her. If Shin were to approach her out of the blue, rumors would probably start circulating the next day.
After all, Shin's appearance was quite remarkable, and he had quite the reputation among the girls; there would certainly be many who'd enjoy discussing gossip about him.
"But now that I think about it, wouldn't the fact that I'm standing here with Yukinoshita lead to some rumors of its own?"
It suddenly occurred to Shin that his presence with Yukino at the sidelines could easily be misinterpreted.
Don't underestimate the curiosity of high school students in Japan—seeing a boy and girl together often meant they were just one step away from dating in many people's eyes.
Yukino didn't seem to realize the implications of appearing together with Shin either—or, if rumors did emerge, she probably wouldn't care.
Shin watched as Yukino approached the pink-haired girl and began conversing. He stayed in place, waiting for her to return.
Before Yukino came back, Akagi walked over—he had taken a break in the middle of practice and seized the opportunity to check in on their progress.
"Yukino is asking the girl for information right now. Let's wait until she comes back."
Shin pointed in the direction of Yukino and the pink-haired girl, then spoke to Akagi.
"That's the right girl, right? It'd be embarrassing if you questioned the wrong person."
"Yes, it's her. She's been coming to watch the soccer team's practice every day."
Akagi nodded hurriedly, confirming that Shin and Yukino hadn't approached the wrong person.
"Hey, Shin, do you think... she likes me?"
"...Akagi, there are a lot of people on the soccer team. How can you be sure she's coming here just for you?"
Though Shin didn't want to discourage his friend, Akagi's confidence was a bit over the top; Shin felt he had to temper it a little.
If the girl wasn't actually interested in Akagi, he'd be in for a huge letdown later—better to prepare him now than to have him face a major blow.
"...I'm not that bad, am I?"
Akagi looked back at the other soccer players on the field, most of whom were big and burly. To be fair, compared to them, Akagi's looks were indeed quite attractive.
No wonder Akagi had such confidence; his teammates made him look better by comparison.
"More importantly, Yukinoshita coming to the field seems to have really fired up those guys."
After comparing himself to the other players and finding his confidence, Akagi shifted the topic to Yukino.
Clearly, Shin's earlier suspicion was correct: the soccer players were indeed trying harder because of Yukino's presence.
Shin commented on their behavior with a touch of amusement:
"Displaying themselves in front of a female to perform mating behavior... how foolish of these male animals."
"Are you not a male too!?"
Akagi looked at Shin in disbelief, wondering why he was even berating himself.
"And actually, a few of the players have asked me if there's anything going on between you and Yukinoshita."
Akagi's face showed genuine curiosity, as if he also wanted to know the answer.
"Those soccer players might not know, but shouldn't you?"
Shin glared at Akagi.
"This is the first time I've even met Yukinoshita, and it's because you dragged me here. How could there be anything between us?"
"Well... feels good though, right?"
Akagi poked Shin with his elbow, parroting a line straight out of a Chen Peisi skit, with an expression that said, "I totally get it."
"Earlier, didn't you pat Yukinoshita on the shoulder?"
"What are you, a grade-schooler? Just a shoulder pat and you're already thinking nonsense?"
Shin gave Akagi a light kick on the butt. Though it wasn't forceful, it was enough to send him stumbling back onto the field.
"Your teammates are calling you. Get back to training. Once you're done, we'll share the information Yukinoshita gathers."
To be continued…