May It Never Change
"What's with that face? Excited? Thinking you'll get to meet new friends?"
"That's always something to look forward to."
Yohan and Haley were setting foot in high school for the first time.
Along the way they ran into middle-school classmates and exchanged greetings — quite a number of them had ended up at the same ordinary high school as Yohan.
Originally Yohan had planned to attend a Catholic international school. But it was quite far, and a lot of his friends were going to the regular high school. The bonds formed through school ties were nothing to dismiss in everyday life. So without much deliberation, he chose the place where familiar friends would be.
And thanks to Caroline, who wanted Haley to attend school alongside Yohan, Haley was part of that group as well.
"I never thought I'd end up stuck in this backwater any longer… It's annoying. I'm gonna start reeking of country."
Haley's grumbling as they walked the grounds of their new high school. Yohan asked with his usual mild, gentle face.
"You've been here five years. Isn't that enough to have soaked it in already?"
"You looking to die?"
"Sorry. But do you still want to go back to America?"
"I do, but not as much as before."
"Didn't you just move recently? Was it just that you liked New York?"
"That's not it, okay? I've just adapted to reality. I'm still going back eventually, though."
Haley was complaining, but Yohan was simply happy. Because the time of parting had been delayed.
"You're sitting in the seat in front of me. You're bigger now so you can block me completely — you have to."
"Already planning ahead? What if there's no seat?"
"What's there to worry about? I'll just take one."
"That's a bit…"
"You help too."
"Absolutely not."
"No, you can do it."
"How's the new house in California?"
"Don't change the subject."
"I'm genuinely curious. How was it?"
Haley's chin lifted slightly. She was thinking. After a moment she shrugged and answered.
"It's okay, I guess. Usually quiet, but when relatives come over it feels busier than before? Summers are cooler than New York, which is nice, but overall it's warm, so that sucks."
"Isn't overall warmth a good thing?"
"No, it's not. I like summers hot like summers and winters cold like winters."
"Is that why you hate it here?"
"Maybe. Emma! Over here!"
Mid-conversation, Haley spotted Emma and waved. The two who had been practically enemies five years ago were nowhere to be found — they acted like lifelong best friends, and Yohan found the sight genuinely pleasant.
Thud.
"I told you to wait at the school gate. Why'd you go inside already?"
When Ciro tapped his back and scolded him, Yohan offered an apologetic smile.
"Sorry. I thought it was the main building entrance. You just get here?"
"Yeah. Overslept and had to run. Didn't even shower."
"I can tell. Your hair's all greasy."
"Is it that bad?"
"So-so."
Ciro casually threw an arm around Yohan's shoulders. Haley pinched his sleeve between thumb and forefinger like she was handling filthy garbage, lifted it slightly, and glared.
"Can't you see I'm standing next to Turtle? You stink — walk farther away."
"I didn't even stick to you, why—"
"I said get away."
"…"
Ciro muttered something under his breath about her being crazy again, Haley swung her backpack at him, and Emma tried to break them up… Watching them, Yohan grinned and thought he'd made the right choice coming here, then stepped between the three to help Emma.
Several months had already passed since high school life began.
Yohan made new friends, kept pace well with Primavera, and spent his days much as he always had. Fortunately he adapted so thoroughly that the club could breathe a sigh of relief regarding him.
Meanwhile, a major event shook Serie A.
Francesco Grasso.
The elite prospect AC Milan had carefully cultivated made his debut as the youngest player in Serie A history, writing a new record. Not only that — he scored a brilliant debut goal in the roughly ten minutes he played as a substitute, making headlines across all of Italy.
Anyone in Italy who watched football already knew him. Grasso's youth record alone stood at eighty-five matches and four hundred fifty goals. Even by youth standards, more than five goals per game was an unprecedented mark — fame was inevitable.
Soon after, Lazio's prospect Tomaso Vitale debuted in Serie A just two months after Francesco Grasso and made a name for himself. Both were young at debut — fifteen and sixteen respectively. With two prospects appearing in such rapid succession, Serie A — which had been carrying the stigma of developing youth well only to sell them to other clubs — could finally hold its head a little higher.
Both were also players Yohan had faced before. He had lost to Grasso and drawn with Vitale. Having two players he'd considered far superior move up to the first team might have been enough to set his competitive fire ablaze, but Yohan had no interest in who had debuted. He simply focused on his own training, pouring his passion into reaching the goal of a first-team debut.
And Yohan himself was gaining fame. A fourteen-year-old promoted straight into Primavera, where the average age was eighteen. It would have been stranger if word hadn't spread. Not just in Italy — overseas as well. Clubs were taking considerable interest, and foreign fans who truly supported Roma had burned Yohan's name into their minds.
Of course, Yohan remained as oblivious to that attention as ever. Training with teammates, playing matches. And when it was time to rest, he was busy resting properly. With no computer at home and only a flip phone, he had no way of knowing about outside interest in the first place.
"Did our party fall apart when you moved?"
It was early winter now, and he was deep in conversation with Aiden, who had just come to visit Italy.
"No. We can still play campaigns remotely, so it's fine. The others are running different campaigns while waiting for Human Paladin Vittorio to show up. The Dungeon Master said to tell you he'll give you a proper fight when you get there. He's preparing a terrifying, despair-inducing scenario."
"Oh… now I'm looking forward to it."
"The day Black Dragon–slayer Vittorio, who retired with honor, makes his return isn't far off."
Haley, half-lying on the sofa and listening to the two somewhat nerdy boys, twitched the corner of her mouth in disgust.
"Nerds."
Aiden's head snapped toward her.
"I may be a nerd, but I have friends. You don't, though, sis."
"Have you lost your mind?"
"It's true."
"Why are you getting so cocky lately? I have plenty of friends in Italy. I just don't have any in America because I don't go to school there."
"When we lived in America you fought with people every day. Lots of people hated you for your rotten personality."
"You're dead. I'm actually going to kill you."
"Mom! Sis is using bad words!"
Aiden immediately snitched to Caroline. Haley vaulted over the sofa and closed in on him in an instant, but Aiden — who'd gotten quicker lately — dodged his sister's attack with ease. Watching him scramble off toward the kitchen where Caroline was, Haley let out a sigh.
"Haa… I've been under way too much stress lately."
"…"
"What's with that face?"
"Nothing… I just can't understand why you're stressed."
"Why can't you understand?"
"If you hadn't called us nerds first, none of this would have happened…"
"You are nerds."
"That's not what I mean. I'm saying if you hadn't picked a fight first, it would have passed quietly."
"Do you want me to go bald from stress?"
"No."
"Then do you want to die like him?"
"No."
"Then why are you talking back? You had a match yesterday, right?"
"Yeah. We won."
"So your body must be sore?"
"Not really… I've adapted by now."
Haley poked Yohan in the side, apparently not believing him. When he didn't react, she sighed again.
"Everything's just so annoying, here and there."
Haley wasn't actually angry. She had always talked like that when she was bored. It was what she did when she had nothing else to do.
"Want the three of us to go to the movies today?"
"Aiden's a little kid so we'd have to watch a children's movie. And I don't want to take him. He's got no manners."
"Or we could play a game together. The one we used to play."
"Which one. That elf archer?"
"Yeah. So you do remember."
"It was pretty fun."
"That nerd game you're talking about is just the thing we used to play together, moved into real life."
"…Really?"
Haley's eyes rolled. She sensed some vague unease. And when she heard Yohan's next words, her face turned red at an astonishing speed.
"Yeah. So that makes you a nerd too. And if you had fun with it, that says everything."
That was usually the reaction she had when she couldn't refute Yohan — and this was exactly one of those times.
"Hey…! I just got a little interested because I'd never tried it before, what kind of nonsense are you spouting…!"
"As I recall, you were the one most immersed in that game…"
"Don't be ridiculous. You're dead, for real?"
"Okay. Sorry."
"You say everything and then just apologize and that's it? Get over here, you too…!"
Haley ground her teeth and charged at Yohan, but he dodged her rush with the same quick movements Aiden had used. Then he spoke in his usual calm tone.
"Dinner seems ready. Let's go eat."
"Haa… There are way too many kids with no manners these days…"
"I think Aiden and I are nice."
"So that makes me a total brat, is that it?"
"I never said that? That's the conclusion you came to yourself, so it must be right."
"I was just being sarcastic, why do you have to… Haa… You're really hopeless. You think I'm joking?"
"Sorry. I bought the cup ice cream you like and put it in the freezer. Eat that and cool off."
"Do you think I'm like you?"
Haley was the same now as she had been as a child. Still a childish tomboy. Soft-hearted underneath.
And among all the many people in the world, Yohan liked that Haley treated him so freely, without any walls. Others might see it differently, but to him she was a truly good friend.
He hoped that attitude of hers would never change. That was what Yohan thought.