章節 10: Preparations, And A Trip To The Past

That night, Kazemachi knew he had all the time to prepare himself mentally. With the practice match happening tomorrow, he had no idea whether he'd be able to play properly or not.

"Argh~! Why did I even suggest just playing the quarterback role? Am I mad?" He asked himself, shaking his head.

"What are you talking about, Sota-nii?" Riku, who had been watching his brother eat all this time, grew increasingly worried because he was talking to himself.

"Nothing much." He blurted out, taking in another mouthful of rice before finishing for the day. After excusing himself, he let out another sigh before he headed upstairs to his room.

Once again, he was reminded of his glorious days when he entered the room. All his MVP trophies lined up on one of the bookshelves, and the posters of his favorite football players lined up on his walls, giving him a brief reminder of how he once was.

Another exhale escaped his mouth as he sat on his study desk. "This is going to be more troublesome than I thought.... but it wouldn't hurt to try it once and give up on it altogether," Sota mumbled.

Meanwhile, downstairs, his brother had the same concerned look on his face when his brother got his injury. He couldn't believe that his brother just ate half of the amount he usually eats.

"Should I go check up on him? Sota-nii, I hope you're doing all right." He continued. For now, he didn't want to meddle in his big brother's affairs. Once he knew what was going on, that's when he'd step up.

Back in Sota's room, he pulled up his laptop as he munched on one of the protein bars he had. "For now, let's do what we can."

After much contemplation, Sota decided to look up the basic rules of a flag football game. He knew that it was drastically different compared to the traditional football game. Also, he had seen some matches in the past to know that it's not as physically taxing as football.

"So there are only four main roles: the quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and center. Then the rest are just there to rush and provide support." Sota skimmed through the rules, realizing that flag football is a no-contact game, and there are always five to seven seconds given to the quarterback at the start of the play.

"Wow, is this football for children? Usually, in football, you'll get rushed as soon as the game starts." Sota nodded his head, thinking that he should be able to play the game.

"Now for my preparations..." Subconsciously, Sota opened his closet to look for his K-tape and his shin guards. This time, he wasn't going to wear them for mere decorations or as an injury-preventative measure.

He was going to wear them so that he would avoid re-injuring himself. He knew that one small mistake could lead him to suffer the same injury. While he was already completely recovered, there's no telling when his bones will break once again. The crack was already there, after all.

"Oh, wait, argh~ how could I forget? I gave all of them to my brother."

That's when he remembered that his brother was still downstairs, eating dinner. This was his chance to 'borrow' some things from his room.

Without further ado, he stood up from his chair and stealthily sneaked into his brother's room. While he had no idea where his brother kept his K-tapes and other football paraphernalia, he knew that he just had to check the drawer.

"Found it!" He said as he excitedly pocketed the K-tapes and got his shin guard. For better measure, he also borrowed his brother's shin sleeves and an ankle guard.

"Sota-nii, what are you doing?"

Apparently, Sota got too caught up at the moment, and he forgot he was supposed to get in and out as fast as he could. The excitement got the better of him, and when he faced his brother by the door, he was holding all the stuff in his hand, like a child stealing cookies from the kitchen.

"I... It's nothing." He said, dashing out of there and entering his room, locking the door to it before his brother could interrogate him.

Riku instantly noticed that the K-tapes were gone, as well as two ankle guards and shin guards. Also, his brother got some bandages from his stash as well. "What? Why?" His brother asked.

Despite being in the same school, Riku had no idea what his brother was getting into. Adjusting to his new school life was okay, but there were a lot of things on his plate that he couldn't watch over his brother at school.

"Tomorrow, I should drop everything and observe. My brother might be getting bullied." He said to himself.

—

"I can't believe I just did that." Sota heaved an exhale as he confirmed that the door to his room was locked. A sigh of relief left his mouth as he set everything on his bed.

"Yeah, I can't believe I'm doing this."

Facing the closet for the second time, he finally opened it after mentally preparing himself. Holding his breath, he got the sling bag he had always worn to games, packing everything in there. If he's going to play once and then give up, he should at least give it everything he got.

One by one, as he put all things into his sizeable sling bag, he reminisced the times when he'd play football with everyone. He was overwhelmed with nostalgia when he remembered packing that very day for the finals. It had only been half a year, and yet it felt like it had been years.

And up to this time, it still continued to hunt him. The literal bone-wrenching and soul-crushing memory replayed in his mind countless of times. Still, this was his last game, his last hurrah before he forgets the game altogether.

It may be different now since he's going to play flag football, but the spirit he felt was the same. "Maybe this is what I need to finally push forward and forget everything." He muttered to himself.

Anxious, he plopped on his bed as mixed feelings of despondency and mirth overtook him. "For now, let's get some sleep. It's not like it's a big day tomorrow... no, I guess I can consider it a big day."

"It's just a practice match though."