Before soccer practice even finished, Shirase and the others saw Hayama Hayato say something to Miura Yumiko, and then that blonde girl reluctantly pulled Ebina Hina away.
"What did you two talk about?"
When Hayama Hayato returned, Shirase paused the [Fixed Hosting] and asked casually.
"Nothing much. I just suddenly remembered what the captain said earlier," Hayama smiled naturally. "Yumiko clearly isn't interested in our training. She probably would've left a long time ago if she wasn't here to keep me company."
"So you just sent her home?"
"Yeah. I figured she wouldn't have fun staying here anyway, and we're preparing for some tough opponents, training late every week. I didn't want her wasting her time here."
"But she looked pretty reluctant when leaving."
"Well, there's nothing I can really do about that. It's been a long time since I've gone shopping with her—or with any of my other friends. They probably all have complaints about me by now... Mm, saying it like this, I'll have to find a chance to apologize to them later."
Watching Hayama Hayato fall into thought, Shirase withdrew his gaze and calmly said, "You're running away."
Hayama's expression froze briefly, quickly recovering into his usual smile. "What do you mean?"
Without looking at him again, Shirase twisted open the cap of a mineral water bottle, slowly replying, "Everyone can see Miura-san's feelings. Even Kirisu-sensei, who's only visited our soccer club a few times, has probably long seen through that girl's thoughts."
Hayama still wore his smile. "Ah, honestly, I don't really like talking about awkward topics like this, after all—"
Shirase continued quietly, as if he hadn't heard him: "I know you're not the kind of person who enjoys 'PUA-ing' girls. But since you've always acted like this, does that mean you don't want—or don't dare—to change the relationships around you?"
Hayama's pupils sharply contracted; his wrist holding the bottle trembled slightly.
He forced himself to steady: "'PUA'?"
"If you don't like that term, we could use 'CPU' or 'CXK' instead."
"No, no, please continue."
Shirase went on, "I don't want to lecture you, but there are some things that, if left unsaid now, might be too late. Among our classmates, I'm relatively more familiar with you. So your relationships, your way of handling things—I have some understanding of them."
Hayama scratched his head, smiling to ease the awkwardness. "So you already see me as a friend? That's good news, you know. I was actually stuck wondering for a long time whether we counted as friends or not. Now I can finally rest easy."
"What do you plan to do about Miura-san?" Shirase drank some water, then asked.
Hayama lowered his head, gazing at the bottle in silence for a long while. When he spoke again, his voice was much softer. "I still haven't figured it out yet."
"As expected." Shirase nodded. This response was exactly what he'd anticipated.
"Wait." Hayama suddenly raised his head, eyes uncertainly flickering toward Shirase. "Hold on. Why'd you suddenly start caring about things like this? Knowing your personality, it doesn't seem like you'd—"
Shirase knew what he wanted to ask, so he straightforwardly interrupted: "Back when the captain gave us that pep talk, everyone was so fired up, as if they'd been injected with chicken blood. Their competitive spirit was ignited by his words…"
He paused briefly, tone shifting abruptly: "Everyone except you."
Hayama smiled slightly. "Weren't you pretty calm yourself at that moment?"
"You really think so?" Shirase asked back.
Hayama didn't reply. His smile now felt forced.
He'd clearly seen Shirase's efforts—whether in daily practice or during the last friendly match.
On the day the captain tried to boost the team's morale, Shirase indeed hadn't responded with words. But once the friendly match began, from almost the very first second, Hayama had clearly felt Shirase's fierce competitiveness.
And he himself didn't possess such an intense competitive desire.
Shirase's voice broke through again: "Although I know soccer matches sometimes depend on a player's individual condition, at the start of that friendly match, you didn't have any real desire to win. Instead, it was more like, 'The soccer club's already lost for so many years—one more loss wouldn't bring the sky crashing down.'"
Hayama stayed silent.
"You know xiangqi?" Shirase suddenly changed the topic.
"I do," Hayama affirmed. He excelled in many areas and often studied other cultures online.
Shirase slowly continued, "When watching games before, I'd always thought soccer was like a giant arena of fame, power, and gladiatorial combat. Most people struggle desperately in this arena because they know if they don't step on others to climb up, they'll sink to the bottom and become stepping stones."
As he spoke, Shirase's eyes settled onto Hayama's calm face. "In a chaotic, intensely competitive field like that, everyone can be a chess player. The advisors and elephants are always the minority. Far more common are knights who mutually restrain each other, cannons who can only succeed by leveraging others—and most common of all, the pawns, swept along helplessly by the current and becoming mere cannon fodder."
Hayama quietly spoke, "Right now, our team's strength isn't at the national level—we're exactly like pawns, always treading thin ice."
"Yeah. The upcoming matches will be tough. There are so many incredible geniuses, so many high schoolers already heading for professional leagues. That's why I told the newcomers, 'We have nothing,'" Shirase responded.
His tone then deepened: "Maybe you realized early on that, as amateur players facing 'semi-pros,' losing wouldn't really be embarrassing. Perhaps that's why you've always seemed so calm. I can actually understand your mindset, since matches, no matter how turbulent, will always end peacefully."
Hayama took a deep breath. "I see what you're trying to say."
Shirase's voice didn't sound so calm anymore: "It's not just me who needs your help—everyone else does, too. Stop always thinking of compromising. You're afraid once your relationships drastically change, you won't be able to manage things calmly. That's why you've compromised so many times—but…"
"There are some things that, once you compromise—even just once—you might end up not even believing in yourself anymore."
Having finished, Shirase didn't resume [Hosting]. He greeted the captain and the others, then left the school grounds.
He had a date waiting, after all.
As for how Hayama Hayato would react—whether he'd grit his teeth and start fighting desperately, like the soccer club's newcomers—Shirase couldn't yet be sure.
After all, the Hayama Hayato he knew was someone who appeared strong but was actually so weak he didn't dare accept even small changes in his friendships.
Besides, some of Hayama's usual way of doing things always made Shirase think of that one woman—the one the damned system constantly wanted to beat up.
Yeah, that woman was Yukinoshita Haruno.