Shizue-san
“Kinuta-san, I came with something to consult youー”
“Welcome. Thanks for coming”
I went to Kinuta-san’s store with something to consult her, and the one who was inside was not the usual brawny goth lolita outfit Kinuta-san, but a beautiful young man dressed in a suit.
“Are you perhaps the person who is Kinuta-san’s husband?”
“That’s right. My name is Shizue. Kinuta Shizue. Anyway, you knowing about me means you’re Kazunari-kun huh”
“Yes. I am Oohata Kazunari. Nice to meet you”
As I thought huh. I could tell because he looked exactly like the person in the picture that I had shown to me previously. Anyway, Shizue-san really looks nothing but a man huh……
“Nice to meet you. For you to be able to treat us as that naturally, you sure are a good kid huh”
“Even if you say that to me, Kinuta-san, your wife Kinuta-san aside, I think it’s not that difficult with Shizue-san”
“Is that so? That makes me happy”
The smile he says that and makes is one that will make the girls squeal if there were any around……uh-huh, he’s a handsome man even from the perspective of me, a man, huh.
“Whatever it is, there are not that many people who can treat my wife as a woman. I’ll be counting my wife on you from now on as well”
“No, I am the one who is in her care”
“By the way, Kazunari-kun seems to have some business with my wife. Unfortunately, my wife is not around today because of work. If you are fine with me, how about I listen to what you have to say?”
I ponder for a bit when he says that to me. But I immediately thought that it’s fine to talk about it. In the first place, it’s a small worry this time around, or rather, a small trouble.
“There will be a ball games tournament in our high school next time”
“Yeah. If I’m not wrong, Kazunari-kun will be participating in soccer, was it. Which means what you want to talk about is what can you do to not drag the team down in soccer, maybe?”
“It, it is exactly as you said”
I, who had what I wanted to talk about guessed right on the mark, ended up stammering. I’m used to why he knows something like that from dealing with Kinuta-san, but to think that he even knows my objective.
“Aah, sorry, sorry. It’s something like a habit. Kazunari-kun’s personality, characteristics, and also the balls games tournament. I just kinda ended up putting two and two together because I knew these. I am sorry for surprising you”
“Ah, no. It is a good thing that we can get right into it after all. I was indeed slightly surprised though”
Shizue-san lowers his head. Even that sight of him feels theatrical. Of course, I think the person himself doesn’t have that intention though.
“Thanks. So how to not drag the team down huh; but it’s honestly probably going to be tough. You’ll likely drag the team down by either not being able to keep up with the speed of the people around or by running out of stamina”
“Is, that so”
“Well, it’s all too immature if I ended with this. My bare minimum advice is to reduce the duration you possess the ball”
I tilt my head, not quite understanding the meaning of what he’s saying.
“In any case, kick the ball to the opponent’s field with all you’ve got when the ball comes, somewhere without any enemy if possible. Although it’ll be ideal if you do it directly, it’s fine to stop it for once if it’s tough”
“Why do something like that?”
“One of the reasons is because of your role. Kazunari-kun is the left-back, in other words, the defence. You’ll touch the ball on you guys’ side of the field, and furthermore, probably when you’re under attack, or they’re about to attack you from now on. It’ll be the worst if you try to dribble or forcefully pass it to your teammate over there and it gets taken by the opponent. In any case, it’ll buy some time if it heads to the opponent’s field, and if your teammate skilfully picks it up, it can turn into an attack”
I see. It’s indeed exactly as he said. There’s probably nothing good that will come out of it if I, who’s already slow on my feet as it is, dribble.
“The second reason is to preserve Kazunaru-kun’s stamina. If you kick it far away, it’s your teammate’s role to chase after the ball. If you do that, you’ll be able to not run during that time. You have to rest where you can so that you can go all out when the time calls for it”
Everything is exactly as he said, and I have nothing to refute. It feels like he understands me really well. Let’s do as I’m told on the very day.
“There’s still more, do you want to hear them?”
“Yes, please!”
“Well then……”
Like this, I had Shizue-san teach me various strategies that day. I don’t know how much I can do, but I think I got just slightly better. Let’s do my best on the very day!
