Mateo's Little Sister

Yeah. This wouldn't do.

I coughed and put some distance between myself and Sofia. Until a moment ago, we'd been walking pressed together—practically in an embrace—on the excuse that the street was crowded. That was no longer an option.

"Hold on. You're Mateo's little sister?"

I asked it genuinely thrown, and Conti, standing right beside us, immediately snorted.

"Come on, Theo. You're laying the shock on way too thick. You knew the whole time."

"No I didn't. What are you talking about? I genuinely had no idea."

I said it like I was being accused of a crime I hadn't committed, but Conti and the guys around us weren't buying it for a second.

"You actually went through with it. You're something else."

"This is how you do it?"

"Mateo lost this one. I knew this day would come."

"Hahaha. The guy he always messes with, and now his little sister's all over him?"

The whole pack of them was cackling like they'd just found the best show in town.

And then—

"What the hell!"

A familiar voice rang out from down the street. I turned my head, and there was Mateo, charging toward us at a terrifying clip. His face was already flushed crimson before he'd even had time to take in the situation.

"Theo, you son of a bitch! What the hell were you doing with my sister?!"

"Hey, wait a second!"

Mateo lunged at me like he was going to grab me by the collar. I instinctively took a step back, and the guys beside us caught him, laughing as they held him back.

"Mateo, cool it."

"A guy and a girl walking together around here? You already know what that means."

"Come on, you knew this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was coming."

And of course Conti and the rest of them weren't about to keep their mouths shut.

"Mateo! Your little sister and Theo looked pretty close, though. They were walking through here practically glued to each other. I thought she was Theo's girlfriend. Wait—is she already?"

"Conti! Shut the hell up!"

Mateo's face went even redder than before. If I let this keep going, they were actually going to throw down in the middle of the street, so I jumped in.

"Hold on a second. You took my jersey before, didn't you? So it's not that weird if we ran into each other, right?"

"What?! I was going to give it back! She snatched it—what was I supposed to do!"

Mateo jabbed a finger at Sofia, who just shrugged like none of this was her problem.

"What, I'm allowed to take it. If the deal was introducing me in exchange, I'm fine with that."

Then she glanced at me and added, completely casual:

"Take the jersey, date the guy. Sounds ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠good to me."

"What did you just say?"

Mateo's eyes went completely unhinged.

"Why are you freaking out?"

"What do you mean why am I freaking out?!"

"Just hold on a second!"

In the end, I stepped between them. My mind raced, and then I remembered something important.

"Sofia. You're a Juventus fan, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

Just as I thought. I let out a quiet sigh of relief. That was enough. A perfectly solid excuse.

But then Sofia smiled sweetly and added:

"But I was cheering for Theo at the stadium a few days ago."

"Huh?"

I froze. She came to the stadium?

I glanced at Mateo. His expression was turning ugly again. I snapped myself back together.

"Anyway! Keep the jersey. It's yours."

"Really? I can keep it?"

"Yeah. Keep it. And you're a Juventus fan, right? Chiesa would probably be happier knowing you have that jersey."

"Why is Chiesa coming into this all of a sudden? I don't really care about that."

"Uh... that's not the point."

I cut myself off and turned to Mateo.

"And Mateo. You calm down too. I'm a Torino FC player now, so dating a Juventus fan is... yeah, that's a problem for me."

"..."

"So I'm not going to see her. Trust me. I didn't know she was your sister, and I didn't know she was a Juventus fan. If I had, I never would've been here in the first place. We good?"

Only then did Mateo's eyes start to settle. He was still looking at me like I was a suspect, but at least he no longer looked ready to charge.

I turned to Sofia.

"And Sofia. You came out today to help me, and I'm sorry it turned into this."

"I'm fine. But..."

"Still, no means no. I didn't know you were a Juventus fan. So that's that."

I wrapped it up as cleanly as I could. The second Mateo heard that, he looked at Sofia like he'd been waiting for his cue.

"You heard him? Get inside. No—just come home with me right now."

Sofia's face crumpled, no attempt to hide it.

"Ugh, this is all because of you."

"What's 'this'? Let's go."

"This is so annoying. The best guy in your entire circle finally shows up~"

"What?"

Mateo's feet stopped dead. Then he slowly turned his head and glared at me. I was so incredulous I put both hands up a little.

What was I supposed to do about that.

I hadn't told her to say that. I'd just spent the last several minutes carefully shutting this whole thing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠down and declaring I wouldn't see her.

"What? Why are you looking at me?"

I asked, baffled, and Mateo clenched his teeth.

"It's nothing."

"Then take her and go."

"I was going to anyway."

Mateo started walking off with Sofia in tow. But after a few steps, Sofia glanced back and waved at me.

"Theo! I'll cheer for you next match too!"

"You're a Juventus fan!"

I shouted, still baffled, and Sofia answered with a laugh.

"Sofia! Shut your mouth and let's go."

Mateo's roar echoed down the night street.

"Ugh, fine! I'm going!"

Sofia answered like she was being put upon, but she kept waving at me until the very end. Watching his sister, Mateo turned back one more time and shot me a look that could kill.

I just held both palms out toward him.

Seriously. What did he want me to do.

Back home, I sat on the edge of my bed and slowly replayed the day.

"Today was something else."

Running into Giulia and spending time with her had been nice. The Sofia situation, on the other hand, had been a whole different kind of intense. I'd only gone out because someone told me I should spend a little time with a girl. Who could've guessed the girl in question would turn out to be Mateo's little sister.

At least she was a Juventus fan, which had given me a way to shut the whole thing down. Small mercies.

Then Mateo's face from a few minutes ago drifted back into my mind. One comment from Conti about Sofia walking glued to my side, and his face had gone scarlet. I hadn't even done anything, and he'd looked ready to throw himself at me.

I rubbed my chin, then narrowed my eyes.

Wait a second.

If I brought up family like that during a match... would the opposing forwards lose it the same way?

The more I thought about it, the less terrible it sounded. Playing as a center back meant constantly clashing with the other team's attackers. Physical battles, grabbing jerseys, needling each other with words. Back when I was a striker, opposing center backs hadn't just shoved me around—they'd hit me with racist slurs, too. So maybe I was allowed to dish some of that out myself.

And if the other guy got so worked up that his decision-making went to hell, that was a win for me, wasn't it? Plus, this would fall under trash talk, which meant Devil's Tongue might trigger.

The instant that thought formed, text appeared in front of my eyes, as if it had been waiting.

"Ah."

Figures. But "actively encouraged" was a bit...

So it was telling me to do it...

The "reputation will take a rapid hit" part was the scary one. And even so, going after someone's parents felt a little too far. Parents were off-limits.

I sat with that for a moment, then came at it from a different angle. Then yeah—if the forward I was marking had a little sister or an older one, needling him with that would be easy and fast. Mateo's reaction had already confirmed it worked. And that had been over something that, honestly, wasn't even that big a deal.

Of course I couldn't just go after someone for having a family. If there was an actual connection to me, that would be the time to bring it up. Used well, it could keep an opposing attacker in his own head the entire match. Even so, the more I thought about it, the less I wanted to reach for it casually.

"Hmm... well, it couldn't hurt to look into it, just in case."

While I was at it, I figured I'd check who we were playing next. I picked up my phone, pulled up the schedule, and the next opponent was right there.

Spezia.

"Spezia?"

Where were they in the table again? I checked the standings and it came back to me. They were down at the bottom, fighting relegation alongside Cremonese, Sampdoria, and Verona.

I scanned the table ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up and down, and felt my interest go cold. A team like that wouldn't be that hard. I probably wouldn't even need trash talk. Hell, they might win it without me...

That was the moment I was about to look up Spezia's players.

Ding.

A message arrived on WhatsApp.

"Who's that?"

I checked. Sofia. How long had she even been home? I opened it anyway.

I read the message and sighed. Still, better to be clear about this.

I sent it, cutting it off clean. Mateo was part of it, but that wasn't the only issue. I had no intention of leaving the door half-open on something I'd already shut down.

For a moment, there was no reply. Had she gotten the message?

The thought had barely formed when another message came in.

"Pick what?"

Two photos followed. Two different outfits. Both of them a little revealing.

I stared at the phone screen for a while.

"...?"

Was she seriously trying to honey-trap her way out of this...!

Mateo's little sister had no intention of giving up.

...Damn. Okay, but looking at them like this, they were kind of doing it for me. Should I save these...?