| Meguru | Phew, we're finally here. |
| Tsuzuru | It took less than a hour, but that was still long enough. |
| Meguru | It was a nice warm up though. |
| Tsuzuru | True that. |
| Meguru | It's been a while since we last came here. |
| Tsuzuru | Right. |
| --here. |
| *kicks* |
| Meguru | --oops. |
| *kicks* |
| Tsuzuru | --. |
| *kicks* |
| Meguru | --. |
| *kicks* |
| You improved, Tsuzuru. |
| Tsuzuru | 's that so? |
| Meguru | When you just started playing, I couldn't know where the ball would fly, you made me run around. |
| Tsuzuru | Can't say I remember. |
| Meguru | One time, you kicked it into the river, it was a pain getting it out, right. |
| Tsuzuru | Now that you're saying that, it might've happened. |
| Meguru | It was the middle of winter, but we got into the river. |
| Tsuzuru | The river was surprisingly deep, we desperately tried to reach the ball with a stick. |
| Meguru | And then, the ball kept drifting down the river, and we chased after it. |
| Tsuzuru | Haha, I remember. |
| Meguru | So nostalgic. But now, we can play without worrying about the ball flying to the river. |
| Tsuzuru | Well, you taught me lots. |
| Meguru | Sure did. |
| Tsuzuru | …listen, I'm sorry. |
| Meguru | Same here, sorry. I wasn't thinking about your feelings Tsuzuru. |
| Tsuzuru | You shouldn't apologize. |
| …you know, there was a time I thought that it was my beloved family's fault I couldn't get into the theater club in high school. |
| You two left home, and did the things you loved, and I was the only one who had to carry it all… I couldn't stop these kinda thoughts. |
| Meguru | …yeah. |
| Tsuzuru | But after joining the company, I understood that time wasn't a waste. |
| I realized that because I went through all of that, there're many scripts I can write now. |
| Because you two worked and earned money for us, the situation in home got better and we could live with ease. |
| Thanks to you two, our brothers and me didn't have to hold back anymore. |
| And yet, do you remember I said some nasty stuff when you said you're going to play in the countryside? |
| Meguru | Did you? |
| Tsuzuru | I told you to think about how much it would cost to go to a private school. |
| Meguru | Ah… well you weren’t wrong. |
| Tsuzuru | To be honest I've just felt genuinely lonely. Because for me, you were my brother I'm so proud of. |
| When I heard you were leaving home, I felt like you were so far away. |
| Meguru | …I see. |
| Tsuzuru | And also when you said you were switching to a DF, my attitude was pretty bad. |
| Meguru | Well that was because I broke our promise right. |
| Tsuzuru | No. You chose to become a DF so you can hurry up and earn money for us right. |
| Thanks to that I was able to enroll to university, but somewhere inside I've always thought you gave up on becoming a FW for me. |
| That's why I couldn't cheer for you openly. I'm sorry about that. |
| Meguru | … |
| Tsuzuru | It feels weird saying that now but--. |
| Meguru | It's my turn now. |
| When I realized that I might have what it takes to become a DF, the first thing to pop in my mind was your face, Tsuzuru. |
| Because you were the only one I declared to that I would become the best FW in Japan. |
| Tsuzuru | You told it only to me? |
| Meguru | Out of all the people in the world, you're the only one I want to look good in front of, Tsuzuru. More than with our brothers and parents, more than anyone else. |
| Tsuzuru | Why… |
| Meguru | A long time ago, in my birthday party, you performed a play, you remember? |
| Tsuzuru | Oh yeah, with our brothers and Mizuno right. |
| Meguru | After the party, you told me you want to write stories for a living in the future. |
| At that time, I thought that you'll surely become a scriptwriter. |
| Tsuzuru | Eh… |
| Meguru | When I saw that performance, I knew without doubt you'll succeed in becoming a scriptwriter. |
| I mean, a regular grade school brat can't come up with such a story. I couldn't do that for one, so it was a bit of a shock. |
| But, precisely because of that, I wanted to work my hardest at soccer so I won't lose as your older brother. |
| With that, any doubts I had about my future disappeared. |
| Tsuzuru | (It's the same for me…) |
| (I was able to pursue my dream of becoming a scriptwriter because I was looking at Meguru's back) |
| Meguru | That's why when I had to change positions to DF, I didn't want to break our promise, I was at a loss. |
| The truth is that I did want to become the best in Japan as a FW. |
| But I did feel I can achieve results as a DF too… |
| The coach said that if I switch positions he will surely get me into a professional team. |
| I lost sleep thinking it over, and somewhere inside, I blamed my precious family for my choice, and decided to become a DF. |
| Because this way I could earn money for you, and let you go to university. |
| I ended up choosing reliability, choosing the safer path. |
| Tsuzuru | (He blamed our family… just like I did). |
| Meguru | In the end, I ended up being so lame. I didn't even make it as a DF… |
| Tsuzuru | You're cool. |
| How in just one year after becoming a trainee you earned a pro contract, and how you carried out your words and actually worked hard to earn money for your family. |
| And how you were so good you were chosen as MVP on your first year as a professional player, and helped your team from league B to league A. |
| And how you decided you will protect your wife forever and married her straight after, all of those are so cool. |
| Meguru | You're being too generous. |
| Tsuzuru | It's the truth. Because we're brothers, I know the real you. |
| More than anyone I know, you're just like the protagonist of a story. |
| Meguru | …hearing it from you is the greatest compliment I can get. |
| A protagonist huh-. I might even be a character in one of your scripts! |
| Tsuzuru | --. |
| |
| Mizuno | "Tsuzuru-kun, how about you give your brother a story you wrote as a present?" |
| |
| Tasuku | … |
| Tsuzuru | Takato-san. |
| Tasuku | Yeah? |
| Tsuzuru | Thank you for the ball. |
| Tasuku | Was it helpful? |
| Tsuzuru | It sure was. |
| Thanks to it I was able to speak with my brother. |
| Tasuku | That's good. |
| Tsuzuru | Takato-san, do you remember our promise? |
| Tasuku | Promise? |
| Tsuzuru | To write a story about soccer. |
| Tasuku | I do… |
| Tsuzuru | For the upcoming mixed play, I want to write a story about soccer, without any glossing over. |
| Something that will give my brother the will to chase his dream again… |
| Though it's too much for my own self-satisfaction. |
| Tasuku | Being able to write whatever you want, is the privilege of a scriptwriter. |
| Not to mention, a story with the purpose of cheering your brother definitely has the power to help someone else too. |
| Tsuzuru | --thank you very much. |
| …somehow, you are very strange Takato-san. |
| Tasuku | How so? |
| Tsuzuru | Maybe it's because you're close in age to my eldest brother, I sometimes think you're like an older brother. |
| Tasuku | If it's for a responsible little brother like you I don't mind at all. Truth is, there was a time I wanted a little brother. |
| Come visit my place sometime. Though there's one more annoying older brother there. |
| Tsuzuru | Sure. |
| Tasuku | I'm looking forward to read the script. I'm sure it's a theme only you can write. |
| Tsuzuru | I'll give it my best shot. |
