On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Her Knight and His Brother

A girl was staring down two boys in the middle of the park.

"Just looking at you makes me irritated!"

"E-Eh?"

"You can't even kick the ball properly! You missed so far it hit my head! And I was behind you!"

"S-Sorry...?" One of the boys apologized awkwardly. The other was chuckling behind him.

She huffed before her attention was caught by someone by the entrance. "When you're going to pass it to someone, you should pay attention to that person. You can't aim if you keep looking at the ball." With that note, she passed the ball to the boy as an example before leaving, ignoring the boy's thanks.

~~~~~

"Was that...?"

Yuuichi gave a slow nod. "How we first met Kimiko, yeah."

"Why are we seeing this?" Yuuka asked.

Zanark, who hadn't relinquished control of the machine, much to Rei Rukh's annoyance (His expression remained the same so no one could really tell, but they all assume he is), was the one to reply. "I can see it in your faces after what we saw before. You want to know why she chose him over you, right? What makes him better than her own family? And just how much have they done and are willing to do for each other? This is the fastest way to see it all."

"Is it... really okay for us to see all this?"

"Tsurugi himself said to do whatever we want."

"Well, yeah, but... Yuuichi-san?"

The older boy gave a single shoulder shrug. "I don't mind. And if we're going by chronological order for all the important things that happened, I assume next would be the accident?"

"Yup."

"That day was an important one for all of us. If there's any memory that'll help make anyone understand, it's that. So go right ahead."

"I thought you'd say that."

And the next memory played.

~~~~~

From the park, to the hospital, to his home. Each scene lasted for only a moment, but a lot of them felt at least a little of the pain the three did. The next week came, and the girl sat for a long while at the park before going to his home.

Entering his room, she reached out, patting his shoulder. "Kyousuke?"

"I don't feel like going to the park anymore..."

"Okay... Then, what about the riverbank? No one uses it on the weekends."

"I... I don't want to play anymore..."

"W-What?! But what about your dreams? Don't you want to be like Gouenji-san? You can't just give up on them! You've improved a lot since I first met you!"

"I want to make them come true with nii-chan! If anyone deserves to be playing in the world tournament, it's nii-chan!"

~~~~~

"Ah..."

"I..."

"..."

"Yuuichi-san...?"

"Continue to the next one, Zanark."

The green haired boy didn't need to be told twice.

~~~~~