In truth, what he had said to Hazel was only about half true.
Rather than thinking he should repay Declan, the thought of somehow creating a situation where Declan would be grateful to him and couldn’t treat him carelessly was much bigger.
Though he had half-listened to it, Joseph’s words made him worry that Declan might still have bad feelings toward him.
Excluding Henry, whose foot was injured—22 male 11th graders from the football club. Similarly, 22 female 11th graders from the cheerleading club.
This morning, Henry had organized the positions for the cheerleading club girls based on information he heard from Hazel. And after consulting with the coach, he had grouped together those who could teach them into teams.
Henry called out their names one by one.
Finally.
“Declan Russell and Hazel Miller.”
He called out those two names together. The field was dyed in silence.
Their relationship became known to the entire school the moment it started. So their breakup was the same.
At this place, a couple who had broken up less than a month ago—whom everyone knew about—had become partners.
After the breakup, there weren’t rumors that they had become particularly hostile, but still, the fact that they had recently dated and broken up also meant “they’re not as close or comfortable as before.”
In the football club and cheerleading club, there were quite a few who were former lovers. Besides Declan and Hazel, that is.
To what extent? Enough that it was common to come to the football club to meet a current boyfriend and run into an ex-boyfriend and an ex-ex-boyfriend at the same time.
However, among all those numerous cases of couples or former couples, the only ones who were former lovers yet grouped into the same team were Declan and Hazel.
Perhaps Henry was pulling this stunt to mess with Declan again? Such an atmosphere was circulating among the students.
Henry had anticipated from the start of organizing teams that everyone would think that way. He had thought up all the excuses to prevent that as well.
Those who didn’t know him exchanged anxious glances with each other, perhaps thinking they should prevent conflict between Henry and Declan.
Finally, one of the bravest male students carefully asked.
“Hey, Henry. Is Hazel the center? Isn’t Hazel too short to be a center?”
It was as he said. Hazel was only very slightly taller than average. Not noticeably so.
Yet the reason Henry could succeed in making her and Declan a team was—
“Hazel is the quarterback.”
She had good balance. Height, strength, athletic ability.
Therefore, Henry could easily get the coach’s permission to place her as quarterback.
Moreover, excluding himself who was injured, among the remaining 11th graders, Declan was the only one with experience in the quarterback position.
Thus, Henry succeeded in packaging this situation plausibly.
Even the one who had asked the question showed signs of understanding with his head that it couldn’t be helped. The others were the same.
“Any problems?”
Henry asked the students with a face that didn’t understand the reason. Breaking the silence, the first thing heard was—
“How much do you know about the rules?”
It was Declan’s voice, asking Hazel a question while adjusting his shoes.
“Um… I know the basic regulations and foul standards.”
Similarly, Hazel answered Declan and stood up from her spot.
“Have you played before?”
“Um, I don’t think so.”
The two casually conversed and went out to the field. Only then could he feel the atmosphere loosening up. Following suit, one or two at a time took their assigned person and went out to the field.
Among them, Hazel turned to look at Henry while avoiding Declan’s gaze. She squinted her eyes and moved only her lips silently to say “thank you.”
Henry responded by nodding his head slightly in a way that wasn’t noticeable.
***
“Do you know what the quarterback mainly handles as a position?”
“Uh… that the offense revolves mainly around the quarterback?”
Hazel answered with an awkward smile.
“Right. So all attacks will start based on your play call.”
“Ah! Wait!”
At Declan’s explanation, Hazel ran to her bag and hurriedly grabbed her notebook. Then she wrote down Declan’s explanation.
“Tell me the rest.”
“…When the call ends, the person corresponding to the center will immediately snap the ball to you first. After that, you’ll start clashing with the opposing team in earnest.”
“Center—that’s your position, right?”
Declan nodded his head in place of an answer.
Hazel’s hand moved busily, writing down the explanation in her notebook. Perhaps out of consideration for her, Declan explained at a much slower pace than usual.
“Right after receiving the ball there, you have two choices: pass to the running back or wide receiver, or run yourself. Of course, even if you pass, there’s always a possibility that the person who receives the ball from you will be blocked by the opponent. Don’t forget that you must always watch the ball and be ready to receive it.”
She diligently wrote down the explanation in her notebook, then lifted her head toward Declan and nodded to indicate she had finished writing.
“Lastly, passing sideways or backward is fine, but you only have one chance per down to pass forward.”
“Then if there’s a chance, the farther I throw, the better?”
“That’s not it.”
“When I watch Henry, he does that though…”
When Declan shook his head, Hazel muttered softly as if finding it strange.
“Lowell doesn’t always do that either. Sometimes he throws long distance, sometimes short distance. Short distance has less risk of being intercepted, but more importantly, are you confident you can throw the ball far in long distance and accurately send it to a teammate?”
“…I’m not, right? Probably?”
“Then rather than sending it long distance to advance many yards at once, focus on carrying the ball well. Short distance is fine. You have four chances, after all.”
“B-but! I might not be able to do it, but I want to learn. So I can throw as well as possible.”
Hazel said with reddened ears, glancing at the ball held in one of Declan’s hands.
Declan looked down at the ball for a moment, then handed it to her.
“I will teach you. I just meant there’s no need to obsess over long-distance passes specifically.”
At his words, Hazel smiled brightly and received the ball. Declan created distance and gestured for her to try passing the ball to him.
***
Henry sat on one side of the field, trying to watch his classmates practice.
He tried to look around at everything, but in the end, Henry’s gaze always stopped on Declan and Hazel.
Like that for an hour.
At some point, Declan was directly holding Hazel’s arm to correct her posture.
Somehow, his stomach didn’t feel good.
Did I get indigestion? Henry frowned slightly and rubbed his chest.
Looking at the situation, there didn’t seem to be anyone who particularly needed help. There was no one who needed a partner or position change either.
Then there was no need to be here. Just as Henry was thinking of returning to the dormitory and stood up, a familiar voice was heard.
“What? You leaving?”
“My stomach doesn’t feel good.”
“What? Your stomach? Don’t tell me you have indigestion?”
Joseph, who had been drinking water, climbed the stairs in an instant as he spoke. Henry nodded weakly.
“Your face is pale. Stop by the nurse’s office, take medicine before you go. Don’t hole up in your room saying you don’t want another call to your mother.”
“I’ll handle it.”
“Handle it my ass! You’re not going to go again, right! Hey!”
Ignoring the shouting from behind, Henry walked. Behind him, he could hear Joseph’s voice sighing and complaining. At the nagging that continued for quite a while, Henry chuckled and waved his hand.
As he was getting farther away, his attention must have quickly scattered elsewhere, as completely different talk was also heard.
“By the way, those two really suit each other well. Why did they break up?”
Henry, who had stopped in his tracks, slowly looked back. He turned his head following Joseph’s gaze.
Sure enough, at the end of it were Declan and Hazel.
Thick curly hair tied up high in one ponytail, unlike usual. A petite physique that looked like it could fit snugly in one embrace. Cheeks flushed with excitement from playing ball for the first time. A face concentrating while wiping away beaded sweat.
Standing beside her, the face of a man talking about something and smiling gently. He must have sweated too, as he lightly brushed through his hair with his hand. Light blonde hair that sparkled under the sunlight scattered messily.
…Ah. His stomach churned. It seemed the lunch he ate earlier was indeed causing indigestion.
