Kicked Out of the Bottom Soccer Team, I Found My Strength Thanks to My Beautiful Junior Manager. What Began as a Simple Act of Kindness Turned into Her Coming Over Every Day.

Chapter 12: The Beautiful Junior Manager Tried to Show Me Her Panties.

“Is Isaka fine with you?”

“Yeah, totally.”

“It pairs amazingly with kinako, right?”

“I’m more of a nori-wrapped sugar-soy sauce type.”

“That one’s hard to dismiss too…”

Isaka was a world-famous soccer game.

There was a smartphone app version as well, and they had battled each other countless times on it, but this was their first time playing against each other on the PlayStation.

“Do you play on the PlayStation often too, Shirayuki?”

“Only occasionally for online matches. Face-to-face is way more fun, after all.”

“I get that. You’re an only child too, right, Shirayuki?”

“Yes. Both my parents usually come home late… Ah, but I did warm up earlier.”

“So you were planning to play with me from the start.”

“Of course.”

Kana flashed a bright white smile and gave a thumbs-up.

Girls who loved soccer weren’t exactly rare, but one who was also into games was a rare breed indeed.

“I was actually planning to do my homework originally.”

“Then I was thinking I’d show you my panties as thanks.”

“Uh… that’s also sexual harassment, you know?”

“Eh? Takumi-senpai, you don’t want to see my panties?”

Takumi was, after all, a healthy high school boy.

If he claimed he had zero interest in seeing the panties of a girl with Kana’s looks and figure, it would be a blatant lie.

However—

“I don’t think about looking.”

“…Does that mean you find me unattractive?”

Kana’s tone dropped noticeably.

Takumi hurriedly shook his head.

“That’s not what I meant. But… Shirayuki, you’re an important junior. I shouldn’t want to see my junior’s panties, right?”

“Muu…”

When Takumi carefully chose his words, Kana pouted, puffing out her lips in clear dissatisfaction.

Still, she didn’t press the issue further, so Takumi turned his attention back to the television.

“Senpai—”

Suddenly, Kana called his name.

He turned around casually—and—

“Whoa—”

He quickly averted his gaze.

Kana had lifted the hem of her miniskirt. She had probably only raised it to the absolute limit of what wouldn’t be visible, but that didn’t give him any reason to keep staring.

“Hmm? Senpai, so you are interested after all~?”

Kana poked his cheek playfully.

Takumi let out a sigh.

Being teased was one thing, but—

(I need to give her a proper warning about this.)

“—Shirayuki.”

Without brushing away her finger, Takumi called her name in a sharper tone than usual.

“Ah… yes.”

Kana quickly withdrew her hand, her ruby-like eyes shimmering with unease.

“I’m happy that you trust me, but this is really not okay. There will definitely be guys who misunderstand and think you’re seducing them. It’s dangerous for you, Shirayuki.”

“…Yes.”

After a brief pause, Kana nodded.

(Was she thinking of it as just skinship? I’m glad she feels comfortable enough to act spoiled with me, but her sense of distance is kind of… broken…)

While Takumi was feeling slightly bewildered by her more disappointed reaction than expected, Kana looked up at him hesitantly.

“Um… Senpai, you wouldn’t misunderstand, right?”

“If I did, I wouldn’t be warning you like this.”

“—Then it’s fine, isn’t it?”

There was a slightly sulky edge to Kana’s voice.

“What is?”

“I know how my actions look to other people. But you won’t misunderstand, right, Senpai?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“Besides, I have zero intention of doing something like that with any guy other than you, Senpai.”

“…”

(…That’s exactly the problem, Shirayuki.)

Normally, Kana was bright and friendly with everyone, yet she never let people get too close.

For some reason, though, she seemed to have completely dropped that wall when it came to him.

“Senpai?”

“No, it’s nothing. Anyway, just be careful when you do that kind of thing with other people, okay?”

“Yeees.”

“Also, even with me, what you did earlier was going too far.”

“Yes, I’m sorry… You always accept everything I do, Senpai, so I got a little carried away.”

This time Kana apologized obediently. It seemed she had accepted his words.

However, Takumi himself was the one who couldn’t quite accept the situation.

(“I got carried away”… is that really enough to brush it off? To Shirayuki, I’m probably just a harmless, easy-to-talk-to senior…)

Honestly, Takumi found himself at a loss for how to handle this.

No matter how important a junior she was, having her show him such a defenseless sight made it impossible to remain completely calm.

At the same time, remembering the lonely expression on her face when she mentioned that her parents would also be home late, he hesitated to push her away too harshly.

Perhaps because she couldn’t act spoiled with her parents or anyone else, all the feelings she usually suppressed came spilling out in front of him, the one person she trusted.

(In that case… I just need to make sure I don’t misunderstand her intentions…)

Shaking his head to dispel those thoughts, Takumi picked up the controller.

“Alright, let’s play. Nice to compete with you, Shirayuki!”

“Onega-shasu!”

As if to clear the slightly heavy atmosphere, Takumi playfully extended his hand.

Kana smiled brightly and shook it.

***

“Senpai, you’re too strong—!”

After suffering two straight losses, Kana flailed about on the floor, dramatically expressing her frustration.

Her miniskirt threatened to reveal her panties at any moment, so Takumi gently looked away.

“Seriously, what was that pass earlier!? You couldn’t even see that spot, right? How can you have such wide vision even in a game and not just in real life? Are you cheating?”

“Just look at the mini-map at the bottom.”

Because the movements of all players were displayed as a radar on the lower part of the screen, you could see the actions of players who weren’t even visible on the main pitch view.

“I don’t have time to look at that! Geez… You won’t be popular if you don’t go easy on girls and let them win sometimes, you know?”

“But if I went easy on you, you’d get angry, right, Shirayuki?”

“Yes!”

“That’s difficult…”

When Takumi showed a wry smile, Kana burst out laughing cheerfully.

He absolutely did not mention that he had actually been holding back quite a bit already.

Since Kana begged for “just one more match,” Takumi reluctantly agreed to a third game.

He won it without much trouble.

“Guhhh~!”

Once again, Kana thrashed about on the floor.

“Why can’t I win!? I’m confident my passion for soccer is second to none, even compared to yours, Senpai…!”

“I agree with that. I don’t think there’s any girl who loves soccer as much as you do, Shirayuki.”

“Then why can’t I win~”

“…Probably because it’s not just about passion for the game?”

“…Senpai. Didn’t you think about wrapping that a little more gently?”

“I considered it.”

“Then why did you choose the direct route?”

Kana gave a bitter smile.

“Geez… You really need a lecture, Senpai.”

“Go ahead.”

Takumi folded his arms.

“Why is the person getting lectured acting so arrogant? Your first impression is scary, but you’re actually really approachable—like a PE teacher who listens carefully to his students.”

“That’s a long setup.”

Meaning the joke was dragged out.

“Please don’t use ‘jugemu’ as an adjective…”

Just as Kana let out an exasperated sigh, a comfortable silence suddenly settled over the room.

Both of them fell quiet, letting the wordless moment flow between them. Yet it wasn’t an awkward silence.

(I never imagined I’d end up spending time like this with Shirayuki…)

For a little while, Takumi simply soaked in the faint mixture of fatigue and gentle comfort.