3 Days Before the Match with Teikoku Gakuen, After Practice
“Servant boy! Servant boy!”
Snapping her fingers, Serika made a ‘Come Hither’ motion with her hands while she beckoned Galahad.
Trying not to groan Galahad said goodbye to Hyun-Ki who headed to the changing room first while he begrudgingly began to walk over to Serika.
“Afuro-san….you do know that I have a name right?”
“Do you?”
“Afuro-san, I know you know my name…I heard you complaining about me to Mika just the other day.”
Rolling her eyes, Serika decided to ignore that before haughtily telling him
“Congratulations, I have graciously decided to allow you to be my first official servant. Feel free to celebrate on your own time.”
“...”
“Thanks, but I’m going to have to pass on that. Besides I saw you telling everyone the same thing during practice today so I know I’m your last choice for this anyway”
“WHAT?!”
Grabbing his stuff and throwing it over his shoulder, Galahad turned around to head back into the changing room so he could get back to his dorm room when he heard a loud
“WAIIIT!”
Before he could make his way to leave Galahd saw a yellow blur as Serika dashed in front of him and held her arms out to force him to stop. With her hair flying around everywhere and a fire in her eyes Galahad backed away with a bit of fear in his step. He knew she was crazy but she wasn’t usually this crazy.
“YOU CAN’T LEAVE!”
Trying not to sigh, Galahad tried to walk around the skinny girl but was met with a repeat of before with her dashing in front of him to stop him.
“Afuro-san…”
“Please…I don’t want to lose again Galahad…”
Watching big angry tears begin to well up in her eyes, Galahad put down his stuff before patting down on the grass next to him.
Sniff Sniff Sniff
Watching Serika bawling beside him, Galahad felt a bit awkward and decided to wait patiently for the girl to stop crying.
“You want to talk about it? Maybe talking it out would help”
“What sniff sniff would a servant boy sniff sniff know about anything?”
“Nothing unless you tell me, so how about this. You can just treat me like a wall, I’ll be completely silent and just sit here”. He paused, waiting for her to stop crying and calm down enough to speak.
“I know you like Mika so if you’re being nice just to score points with her or in order to get help getting her to notice you, you better give up now because there’s no way I’m letting someone as elegant and graceful as Mika date a leech like you.”
Processing what he had just heard, Galahad’s brain began to overheat and everything from his neck upwards began to turn a scarlet red.
“W-What the heck are you saying right now Afuro? I don’t like Mika, I mean I like Mika, just not that way. It’s just respect you know, mutual respect as friends so don’t get the wrong idea. We’re friends!! I’m not thinking about anything like… ughhhhh”
Groaning, Galahad decided to give up knowing she probably wouldn’t believe him and buried his face in his hands.
Looking at him like he was pitiful, Serika was merciless.
“Unlike Mika, I’m not blind…You’re lucky she hasn’t noticed considering how you follow her around like an abandoned puppy all the time.”
“It’s not of your business Afuro-san…Besides I thought you hated Mika, I didn’t know you thought of her so highly”.
Letting out a laugh of disbelief Serika took a look at him before replying
“Ha! You think someone as perfect as me picks just anyone to be their rival? Of course I have to pick someone who can almost match my grace, beauty and intelligence! Anyway, you don’t know the first thing about Mika…”
Face turning solemn, the air quickly became grave again as the two youths went silent so only the chilly wind could be heard.
“You know Mika’s last name is Kuroha right? That’s actually her mother’s last name…Her father’s last name is…Takinami. Mika Takinami,” she continued.
“Takinami like the Takinami?! Takinami Corporation?? They’re one of the biggest conglomerates in the world right now!”
“Yeah. I guess they wanted to avoid media attention so she took on her mother’s maiden name while growing up but she’s pretty much the definition of a modern princess. The Kurohas are descendants of Japanese royalty while the Takinamis are one of the Big 3 conglomerates in Japan.”
“How do you know all this Afuro-san?”
“My family is pretty wealthy too you know, so growing up I was neighbors with Mika.”
Sighing, a gloomy twinge appeared briefly in Serika’s eyes before recalling the first time she had met Mika when she was 5 years old.
8 Years Ago, Afuro Estate
Peering from the large third-floor window, a small girl with a pink bowtie and platinum blond hair watched as a prim doll-like girl with hair as black as night exited from the limo while escorted by a butler.
“Mom, who’s that?”
Flipping through some papers on a mahogany desk, a woman with striking features and warm chestnut brown hair pushed up her glasses before replying softly
“Oh, have the new neighbors moved in already? Try not to talk with them too much, Serika.”
Turning around and stumbling a bit because she had spun around too quickly, the girl tottered over to her mother before pushing her face upwards towards the sitting woman.
“Why?”
“It’s complicated, anyway just stay away from that house okay?”
Twirling a stand of hair around her finger in thought, Serika thought about it before getting distracted by her stomach rumbling. Forgetting quickly about the other girl, Serika decided to find Lena, her nanny, to make her something to eat.
“I’m hungry. I’m going to find Lena, Mom!”
“Alright sweetie, have fun.”
6 Months Later
“Why she’s so boring? She never goes anywhere!”
Hanging upside down on a couch, Serika looked through a window where she saw her neighbor kicking a weird ball around some cones while some scary man yelled at her as usual. Her neighbor seemed to be popular considering how many weird strangers she saw entering their house everyday.
Whenever she walked past their house in the morning to school, the girl was there in the first floor study room, at a desk, reading books. When she came home, she was still there reading. Then when she was playing in the evening in the garden, she was outside kicking the same ball as usual!
“What a weirdo!”
Coming to the conclusion that the girl living across from her was a complete alien, Serika was satisfied with her logic and hopped down from the couch to go find her dad.
2 Months Later, Winter Holiday
“Serika, come help your mother down the stairs”
“Sure dad!”
Skipping down from the second floor, Serika was in a particularly lively mood because it was rare for them to have a family outing all together considering her parents' work schedules. Holding out her hand, her mother smiled at her before struggling down the entrance stairway due to her burgeoning stomach. Meanwhile, Serika’s dad had prepared everything for their Hatsumode to the Meiji Shrine for Shogatsu.[1][2]
“You sure you’re fine taking the trip to Tokyo this year Hana?”
“I told you I’m fine Hiro, just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I can’t usher in the New Year with you guys! Gosh I swear, you weren’t even this much of a worrywort when I was pregnant with Serika.”
“If you start to feel sick, just tell me, and I’ll drive straight to the hospital ‘kay?”
Ignoring her parents' boring conversation, Serika pressed her face up against the car window as their car began to drive away from the house, before opening her eyes widely looking at the stunning sight in front of her.
As usual, she saw a little girl with black hair and purple eyes sitting diligently with perfect posture at a plain desk with a stack of books on either side while she appeared to be taking notes of some kind, by herself, in a room so large it made the tiny girl appear even smaller than usual.
“Mom, aren’t they going to go to the shrine too?”
“Who? Our neighbors? Err– well not all families end up going, Serika, and maybe they’ll end up going later? I wouldn’t worry about them sweetie.”
Pushing down her curiosity about the girl, Serika began to count how many birds she could see on the way to the shrine. If she counted more than 6 she was bound to have good luck next year!
Later That Day, Afuro Estate Shogatsu Celebration
“Is this my niece Serika? You get prettier every year.”
Feeling herself get picked up, Serika gave an annoyed look at the tall man with long blond hair and red eyes that had just interrupted her while she was dominating her cousins in Super Mario Party.
Oh well, she would put up with it today so she could get some good Otoshidama from her uncle. Uncle Aphrodi always got her the best stuff from abroad instead of boring money like the rest of her relatives.[3]
“Hmph. I already know I’m pretty Uncle Aphrodi. My mom and dad say so every day.”
Flicking her in the forehead lightly, Aphrodi laughed as he watched Serika begin to tear up angrily at the injustice. Putting her down, Aphrodi took a glance outside the window and widened them in surprise.
“Serika, when did you get a new neighbor?”
Trying to fix her dress that had just gotten wrinkled from being carried, Serika nonchalantly answered back.
“Oh that weird alien across the street? She’s been here foreverrrr!”
Watching the small girl with black hair kicking the ball by herself, despite the sun beginning to set, Aphrodi turned to Serika who had somehow gotten a mochi from somewhere and was munching on it leisurely.
“Why don’t you invite her in to play games with you?”
“Why?”
“She looks lonely and besides it's the New Year, don’t you want to do some good deeds?”
“But she’s always playing with that weird ball of hers Uncle, and if not that, she’s always just inside by herself like a complete weirdo!”
Sweatdropping Aphrodi kindly continued, “Serika, you do know that’s a soccer ball right? I play soccer so am I a weirdo?”
“Yup!”
Eyebrows twitching at how confidently his niece replied back, Aphrodi trying not to get annoyed and decided to send her out as he watched the black-haired girl across the street head back inside the house with her soccer ball.
“Well if you want this weirdo to give you your Otoshidama this year you better go out and ask that girl if she wants to play, Serika.”
“Fineeee.”
Completely forgetting her mother’s orders and completely focused on what the Otoshidama Aphrodi brought could be, Serika headed to the door to follow through with her uncle’s orders.
Knock Knock Knock
“.......”
Knock Knock Knock
“.......”
Knock Knock Kn—
Starting to get annoyed at how long she had to wait when she knew that girl was home, Serika was startled as the door finally opened and her bright pink eyes were met by the apathetic purple eyes of her neighbor.
“Hi”
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
“Hello,” the other girl responded cordially.
“You wanna come over to my house?”
“No thank you”
Finished with everything she had to say, the girl began to close the door on Serika who was stunned by her blunt reply.
“WAAAAAAAIIIIIIITTTTT”
Pushing her body forwards, Serika managed to squeeze inside before the other girl could finish closing the door.
“You’re intruding in my house. That’s a crime you know… though I’m not sure if you even know what a crime is…Crimes are bad, B-A-D, bad. You know what bad means right?”
“Hmph! Well you were the one who started it! Besides it’s not a slime if you say I can enter”
Sighing, Mika began to wonder how this kid could mix up crime and slime before replying, “I already told you No.Thank.You. meaning I have no interest in coming over to your house so please leave.”
“Why not? We’re playing a bunch of games and they’re fun! Studying is boring! Or are you so stupid so you have to study all the time?”
Suppressing the urge to push the girl out of the doorway, Mika calmed herself down while the other girl continued to innocently ramble.
“Or do you need to ask your parents first? My mom says to always ask her before doing something. I can wait! Besides your parents can come over too if they want, my parents let me do whatever I want”
“My parents aren’t home”[4]
“Why? It’s Shogatsu.”
“It’s a waste of time and energy to celebrate another day of the year with silly games that are meant for children.”
“You talk funny, you know? You’re a kid too. I know because all my relatives call me a kid and we’re the same age. How old are you? I’m 5, almost 6.”
Watching the girl holding her hands out with 6 fingers held up Mika smirked feeling a bit of superiority.
“Well I’m 6 now so that means I’m older.”
“Really? You’re lying! All the other kids I know go to school when they’re 6 but you just stay at home all day!”
“I don’t need to go to Kindergarten, I have tutors to educate me”
“Weirdo... Anyway, are you coming or not? I need to hurry before all the mochi is gone”
“......I’m not going, so hurry up and go eat your mochi. Goodbye.”
Slightly disappointed that she had put in all this work only to get rejected, Serika ran back across the street to get back home. Huffing, she gave a dirty look at Aphrodi who was helping her take off her shoes after she had entered the mansion.
“I told you she’s a weirdo! She doesn’t even want to play games with us!”
“Well why don’t you go play soccer with her the next time you see her outside then?”
“Why? Soccer is so dirty and the kids who play it at school don’t look as cool as you do Uncle”
Sighing, Aphrodi just patted the girl’s head warmly while carrying her over to the rest of the children so he could give out the Otoshidama he promised his niece earlier.
~4 Months Later, Day Before Spring Holiday
“Angel-sama!”
“Angel-sama!”
“Angel-sama!!”
Hearing her fanclub members calling out to her in the hallway, Serika turned around to see the 3 representative members who had started her fan-club earlier that year after entering primary school.
“Hi guys!”
Greeting them with a friendly smile, the 3 tried not to faint seeing their idol so close up and even gracing them with a smile. This was after all why they had been selected as the representative members of their large club with over one hundred members. They had trained quite diligently for many nights in order to be able to talk to Serika from a 5m distance.
Watching Serika try to approach them, the three quickly backed away in order to maintain a respectful distance while holding out 3 decorated bags.
Trying not to be disappointed as she saw the three back up quickly as she tried to get closer to talk to them, Serika sighed internally. Despite telling them they could get closer to her at the start of the school year, they had quickly refused saying something like ‘how dare mortals talk to an angel’ or something weird like that.
‘So, what’s up?”
“Please accept these Angel-sama!
Placing the bags they were holding out down in front of her the three giggled excitedly as they motioned to her to accept the gifts they had prepared together as a club.
“Is it really for me? Thanks.”
Fidgeting around nervously with the strings of the bags, Serika looked up with a bit of trepidation in her eyes. Despite interacting with her fanclub members for a few months now and them expressing their adoration for her, she still didn’t even know their names because it ‘went against club rules’ much to her frustration.
“Would you guys like to come over to my house after school? We can–”
“Oh, no no no no Angel-sama!”
Waving their hands and shaking their heads in rejection, the three bowed their heads, unable to look her in the eyes.
“We could never dare to step into the house of the Young Lady!”
“How dare dirty humans like us dare dream of visiting your house!”
“Yeah, if someone tries to go to your house just let us know and we’ll make sure to get rid of them!”
Watching them yell amongst themselves at the thought of someone daring to step into the house of their idol, Serika let out a sigh of disappointment and waved to them as they said their goodbyes after they had settled down.
It was always like this…
“Hi! Do you guys want to play?”
Serika would ask the other kids to play together…
“Oh Serika-chan! Sure that sounds–”
And if someone who didn’t know her reputation yet said yes…
THWACK!
“How dare you look Afuro-sama in the eye!
“Get that dirty kid away from our Angel!”
“Let’s beat him up!”
And after watching the poor kid be dragged away despite her saying it was fine, Serika was left alone again…
*******************************************************************************************************
Later that day, Afuro Estate
Lounging around on a couch on the first floor, Serika couldn’t even bother to take a look at all of her toys that were scattered around in the living room. She wasn’t even interested in watching TV or playing video games anymore.
“Ughhhhh”
Groaning Serika couldn’t believe that she was going to have to spend another two weeks by herself during the Spring Holiday like this. Well, she wasn’t completely by herself. Takeo was around but he was just a baby and babies were a lot more boring than she thought they would be and Serika’s mom was spending most of her free time with Takeo these days while her dad had gone back to work.
She could spend her time with her mom and Takeo but…that’s so boring!!
Feeling completely defeated, Serika began to roll around on the couch thinking about how horrible her life was and feeling quite bad for herself.
Looking outside the window she was met by a familiar image of a girl her age practicing by herself in the large yard with a soccer ball. What was so fun about playing with that dumb ball anyway? Well, she could do that girl a favor and generously allow her to play with someone as amazing as herself.
Putting on her shoes she gave a shout
“Lena! Tell my mom I’m going outside for a bit!”
Without waiting to hear a response, Serika ran out with her heart in her mouth.
Finally!
Despite pretending otherwise, Serika was in fact quite excited at the thought of playing with someone her age for once, only to be shocked when she heard this come out of the other girl’s mouth.
“I’m good playing by myself thank you”
“What?”
“Do you have hearing issues at this age already? I said I’m good by myself, meaning you can leave now.”
“B-B-But why?”
“You don’t even know how to play soccer so it would be more efficient to train by myself than with someone like you.”
“I can learn! My teacher said I’m really smart so you can just teach me!”
“I’ve only been learning for 3 years, I’m not qualified to teach someone soccer to someone else”
“Please, please, please, please, please, please, please—”
“Alright! Just be quiet!”
Mika couldn’t believe her luck. She would just have to teach her quickly and get rid of this girl before her tutors heard about this. Looking at the blonde girl who was blushing with excitement Mika gave her 2 weeks max before she got bored and moved on to something else…
4 Months Later, Takinami Estate
“You don’t like mint ice cream? Why not, that seems illogical if you like mint candy.”
“Mint ice cream is green! Vegetables are green and I hate them so mint ice cream sucks too.”
Mika looked to her side where Serika was lying alongside her under the tree after their daily soccer practice after school, trying to understand what was going on inside the girl’s head. Even after 4 months, she still had a hard time trying to follow the girl’s randomness and spontaneity but overall the time they had spent together wasn’t as bad as she had thought it would be. Despite Serika being slightly stupid in her opinion, with her around it was’t as quiet as before.
“Hey Mika! When are we gonna get our own hissatsus? What do you think they’ll look like?”
“Hissatsus generally take upon the characteristics of the person who makes them so I guess someone like you will probably make a hissatsu related to food since that’s the only thing on your mind all day?
Blushing at the older girl’s teasing, Serika turned to face Mika before replying
“I want to have something cool…like my Uncle! He’s weird…but awesome when he plays soccer.”
“Are you talking about Afuro Terumi? I heard he recently changed pro teams and is doing quite well on his new team. He’s certainly a good role model for any soccer player, I’m surprised you actually made a logical decision for once.”
“His wings are pretty when he plays!”
Mika was a bit regretful that she had actually put faith in the other girl to use her brain for once only to be reminded that this was Serika she was talking about.
“I’ll show you! Just watch me, it’ll be super pretty when I do it!”
Mika got up as she watched Serika energetically hop around pretending to fly around with the ball. However, watching the girl’s blond hair flutter behind her as she lifted her leg up to kick the ball fiercely Mika’s eyes widened in horror.
“God Knows!”
“No Serika, stop!”
Crash
Mika could only watch with dread in her eyes as she watched the stray ball arc in the sky before hitting an expensive looking vase being carried into the house by one of the house workers.
“What is going on here Mika?”
Hearing the clamor that was going on, a tall woman with hair as dark as Mika’s and piercing blue eyes emerged from inside the house in high heels and a vibrant red pantsuit.
“Mother?! What are you doing here, our quarterly annual meeting isn’t for another 2 weeks!”
“Don’t be arrogant Mika, not everything is about you. I’m here for some other business…and what exactly is this thing ?”
Holding her arms together tightly in front of her, Mika’s mother took a scornful glance at Serika who had sat down on the lawn in surprise when she had seen the vase shatter into pieces.
Mika quickly ran in front Serika who was still speechless in fear before bowing her head slightly.
“This is Serika Afuro, mother. She currently lives across the street from us…She was curious about my soccer skills so I wanted to show her and made a mistake. My apologies mother”
Not interested in her excuses, Mika’s mother quickly lost interest before motioning to her assistant to give her the tablet.
“Arrange a new gift for the meeting, Kurosaki-san. I’ll reschedule it for tomorrow”
“Yes Director.”
Mika watched as her mother’s assistant calmly called for someone to clean up the broken vase while picking up his phone to make a call while patiently waiting for her mother to say something to her.
“What am I paying your soccer tutor for Mika? And what did I tell you about hanging out with rabble like this? I’ve told you before there’s no need to associate yourself with people of no use to you”
Mika tried to block her mother’s gaze, but she was still too small and Serika couldn’t miss the harsh, cold glare that was staring at her as if she was nothing . Having been spoiled by her family growing up, this was the first time Serika had encountered someone who didn’t express their immediate adoration for her and of all people, it was Sumino Kuroha.
A woman who had graduated from the University of Tokyo Summa Cum Laude in Law and Economics, gone on to finish top of her class at Kyushu University’s Graduate School of Law before becoming an executive director at Takinami Financial Group and marrying Reiji Takinami, heir to Takinami Corporation. To her, Serika was in fact nothing and her existence barely even registered in her mind besides being a nuisance to her daughter.
Taking another look at her daughter, who was standing in front of the sniveling waste of space behind her, Mika’s mother didn’t really care whether or not she was lying to her. That only showed that she still lacked sufficient training to become the Kuroha and Takinami heir.
Tsk.
She had told Reiji that Mika should have stayed with them in Tokyo but he had insisted on sending her to Raimon due to his obsession with soccer and tapped her tablet a few times. If she had to stay in Raimon at least she could send Mika off to somewhere more exclusive that would be conducive for her training.
“Mika, you’ll be moving tomorrow. Everything should be prepared for you there so don’t waste your time packing”
Finished with all of her business, Sumino didn’t even take a glance behind her as she got in the car to head back to Tokyo. Somehow visiting her daughter always gave her more of a headache than she predicted it would.
“Bothersome”
Sumino could hardly believe that girl was her daughter sometimes, if it wasn’t for the physical resemblance it would be hard to believe that they were mother and daughter.
As Mika watched her mother’s car get smaller and smaller in the distance she touched her lips nervously before starting to make her way into the house with complicated thoughts racing through her mind.
“WAIIIITTT”
Finally recovering from the shock, Serika managed to pick herself up before dashing up to Mika and grabbing the tail of her shirt.
“Why’d you lie? Now you’re moving away!”
Sighing, Mika wiped the tears that were flowing like waterfalls from Serika’s eyes.
“I’ve told you before that crying is a waste of energy, Serika. Now go home, it was simply more efficient for me to take responsibility for this… if my mother knew you were the one who had kicked the ball today it would have made things more complicated so don’t think too much of it.”
Turning around again, Mika tried to go back inside again before pausing as an innocent voice rang out behind her.
“I’ll still see you at school then?”
“.....”
Mika didn’t turn around knowing that Serika lightly had a very pitiful expression on her face…If her mother knew they were hanging out together and wasting time playing she would likely take more drastic measures to prevent them from seeing each other.
“You heard my mother. There’s no need for me to associate myself with people of no use to me. So go home Serika. Goodbye”
Ignoring the protests coming from the girl crying pitifully behind her, Mika entered the house for good and ran up to her room. Mika was used to sleeping by herself without her family since she was born, but today she fell asleep with a heart that felt a bit heavier than usual…
“This is fine, I’m fine,” she repeated over and over, trying to convince herself that everything was alright.
Meanwhile, across the street Serika was still crying into her pillow with her door locked as her parents stood outside in worry. As soon as she had come running into the house she had slammed opened the door to her parents’ room demanding they get her private tutors for school and declaring she didn’t want to have anything to do with a “horrible, dirty sport like soccer” despite their daughter seeming to have enjoyed playing the sport recently with the girl across the street.
“rabble like this”
“rabble like this”
“There’s no need for me to associate myself with people of no use to me”
“Go home Serika”
Remembering the harsh words she had heard earlier in the day, Serika swore to herself she would show them all.
“I’ll show that mean old lady! And Mika too!”
“I’m…not…useless…”
Continuing to sob, Serika finally cried herself to sleep, already missing her friend desperately.
********************************************************************************************
Present, Raimon Outdoor Soccer Field
Galahad was silent after listening to Serika’s lengthy story and the two sat together in a melancholic silence as Galahad took everything he had heard in and Serika recalled the traumatic memories that continue to plague her to this day.
With the way Serika acted all the time, Galahad had never imagined that she had such a complicated history with Mika, though he guessed that would explain why she was so obsessed with proving herself to Mika and everyone else around her.
Breaking the silence, Serika finally opened her mouth to speak
“So you get it now right? Soccer is just a disgusting sport that takes everything away from people and if we want to get Mika to stop playing we have to show her I'm the best! So you’re going to help me right Galahad?”
“I don’t think I can help you with that Afuro-san, sorry…”
“What? Are you deaf? Didn’t you just hear everything I had just said?”
“Mmm, well I feel a bit bad for you, but I think you’re going about this the wrong way, and besides your plan doesn’t really make a lot of sense. Why would Mika quit soccer just because you’re better than her? It sounds like she started playing because of her parents so I don’t think she’ll change her mind about playing soccer just because you show off how cool you are in a match or not.”
Hugging her arms around her knees, Serika listened to Galahad’s logic and wanted to refute it but couldn’t come up with anything to say. She knew that her plan was illogical from the beginning but…
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“Don’t you think soccer is the reason you’re able to hang out with Mika again after all this time in the first place?”
Contemplating Galahad’s advice, Serika begrudgingly began to acknowledge his words.
“I suppose so…”
“Listen up Afuro-san, maybe rather than trying to make Mika quit soccer, maybe you should think about how much fun it is to be able to play with her on the same field.”
“Fun?”
“Yeah! That’s the great thing about soccer! When we’re all on the same field, the ball is what connects us all together. When we pass the ball to each other, we’re entrusting all our feelings into the ball and sending it to the other person meaning that soccer allows us to communicate without even needing to speak or write!”
Hesitating a bit to see whether or not Serika was paying attention to what he was saying Galahad coughed a bit before going on
“Besides, when we play soccer everyone on the field is equal and it doesn’t matter who’s better than who or whatever. The only thing that matters is you, your team and the ball, so don’t you think that’s fun?”
“.......”
Serika mused over Galahad’s words in thought
“Passing the ball means entrusting our feelings into the ball…”
“Excellent shoot Afuro-san. The timing and trajectory were calculated most precisely”
“ “Was I incorrect in my timing or was the delivery of the joke incorrect?”
“Usually in situations like this, it is common practice for players to ‘high-five’ as a form of celebration in order to—”
Clap
Purple eyes flashed in Serika’s head as she recalled all of the events that had taken place up to now. That awkward way of speaking, her cold demeanor, and a face that was always frozen uncomfortably. Everything about Mika radiated a “touch, look or speak to me and die” attitude which is why she had been given the epithet “Raimon’s Demon Queen” but to Serika….
All she could see was the little girl sitting by herself in that large, dark and quiet house on Shogatsu, studying until her nose would bleed and practicing soccer until the moon rose up in the sky everyday…
Had she really had the wrong idea this whole time? She…just wanted to…to be friends with Mika again…
Standing up with determination in her eyes, Serika looked down at Galahad.
“I suppose you’re useful sometimes, Servant boy, so let's… let’s play soccer!”