Three days later, Shirase stood beside the soccer field with the other members of the club—some standing, some sitting.
It was club activity time. Most students had already gone home, and what was usually a crowded field now felt wide and open.
In the past three days, he hadn't drawn the lottery again. He didn't have any pressing need, so he hadn't used [Free Hosting].
[Fixed Hosting] alone was already helping him make rapid progress in both studying and training. Without a proper opportunity—and fearing what the system might pull if left unchecked—he simply avoided activating [Free Hosting] again.
During these three days, he saw Hayama Hayato running all over the school, trying to recruit new members for the Soccer Club, and also saw Isshiki Iroha, who was technically in the club but clearly had her attention elsewhere.
He even ran into Hikigaya Hachiman again. After their first, rather odd encounter, Hachiman's expression every time they greeted each other afterward had grown… stranger and stranger.
Well, no surprise there. He had probably left Hachiman with the impression of a "disguised riajuu who's secretly a weirdo," so now every time the guy saw him, the alert bar over his head practically maxed out. Every word and gesture was filled with cautious suspicion.
Clearly, the Great Teacher had no intention of ever again discussing "how inconveniently timed this rain is" with him.
Today was a clear day. Around this hour, the sun was setting, and the air carried that brief, comfortable coolness that only comes at dusk.
Not far away, the club captain was enthusiastically introducing two newcomers—recruits Hayama had managed to bring in.
"This time we really owe it to Hayama-kun," said Isshiki Iroha, holding her little notebook against her chest with a bright, practiced smile. "If you hadn't helped find these new members, the Soccer Club wouldn't even have enough people for substitutes."
Shirase nodded. "That's true."
Hayama, however, gave a rare, faint smile that looked a bit bitter. "Not exactly. They haven't fully agreed yet. No one wants to join a club that's been declining year after year and might be disbanded soon."
Iroha's expression froze. "Eh? You mean… they might quit?"
"It's possible," Hayama admitted helplessly. "Unless we can actually perform well this year, I'd say the Soccer Club will probably fall apart by next spring."
Iroha instinctively looked at Shirase, then back at Hayama. "The group draw for the High School Soccer League will be in November. That means the preliminary knockout rounds will start in August—and I heard there'll be more than 3,000 teams competing this year…"
The more she said, the weaker her tone became.
Shirase simply added, "Among those 3,000 teams are plenty of star players who've already caught the attention of professional youth academies. If we want to fight our way into the group stage in November, like the captain hopes, it's going to be a brutal road full of thorns."
"So Shirase-kun's been following the league too?" Iroha looked genuinely surprised. As the newly appointed team manager, keeping track of such info was her job.
"I've read some of the reports," Shirase replied. "After all, the national high school league gets a lot of media attention. Sure, it's a bit less than baseball—but only a bit."
"So that means… less than four months until the knockouts." Hayama's tone was calm. Even though he was trying to help the club, if they didn't perform well, he wouldn't take it too hard.
Because deep down, he already knew—the Soccer Club's downfall was inevitable from the start.
At that moment, the captain walked over with the two new recruits, introducing them to Shirase's group one by one.
Still, the two rookies didn't look particularly enthusiastic.
Just as Iroha was about to say something encouraging, Shirase suddenly spoke up.
"Do you two know what this school's Soccer Club possesses?"
Not only did the two newcomers glance at each other in confusion, but even Hayama and Iroha looked uncertain.
Shirase said calmly, "We don't have any honors."
"???"
Everyone's face was full of question marks.
Especially the captain—he'd spent so much effort trying to motivate the newcomers, and now here was Shirase, one of his most promising members, killing morale in a single sentence.
But Shirase continued as if nothing was wrong. "We don't have any honors. And that, in fact, is a good thing."
Iroha blinked, confused. Are you sure you understand what 'good thing' means?
The two newcomers shared the same baffled expression.
Shirase met their gazes. "I know you're confused, but I really think it's a good thing. Precisely because our Soccer Club has no past honors, if we can achieve results—if we can win trophies—then our names will be the ones etched into this club's history."
Everyone went quiet.
Shirase turned his gaze toward the wide, green field. "Soccer isn't a one-man fight. Stop thinking about taking shortcuts or looking for easy wins. We're still young. Even if we fail, we can always start again from the beginning."
"Yes!"
The two new members, caught out but suddenly fired up, answered loudly. Their faces flushed with embarrassment, but as young men, their pride and competitiveness kicked in instantly.
Of course, another reason they were so quick to respond was that both of the school's most popular boys—Shirase and Hayama—were standing right there.
One was the aloof, mysterious type.
The other, warm and radiant.
Together, they were the Soccer Club's own version of ice and fire massage therapy.
As the two newly motivated members jogged off to practice, the captain secretly gave Shirase a thumbs-up.
Iroha's eyes sparkled. "I didn't expect Shirase-kun to say something that inspiring! Now I'm starting to look forward to our upcoming matches."
"No, that was just me saying something for the mood," Shirase replied, glancing at her.
The smile on the girl's face froze on the spot.
Walking toward the field, Shirase added casually, "Like I said, the Soccer Club has no honors."
Iroha stood there blankly, staring at his back for a long time before turning to Hayama. "So, um… was that his way of saying he's actually discouraged?"
But Hayama just laughed softly. "You're wrong. Shirase's got a strong sense of competition—really strong. It's just not something most people can see."
"Really?" Iroha blinked, completely lost. Then why didn't I notice anything at all?
Hayama stretched his arms, smiling faintly. "I'd better start training too. If Shirase's taking it seriously, I can't slack off."
Watching him jog off after Shirase, Iroha only grew more confused.
"Why does it feel like Hayama-kun pays more attention to Shirase-kun than to anyone else? I mean, he's really close with Miura-san in their class, but I've never seen him look at a girl with that kind of focus… Are high school boys these days just unwilling to hang out with girls?"
Girl scratching her head in confusion.