A short time later I hear a loud laugh next to me. I look to the left and see Imaro, holding her stomach and half doubling. Furious, I cross my arms and dig my fingers into Heiji's hat. The laughter slowly stops and Imaro looks at me with a smile.
"Oh come on, don't take it so hard.", She then says and unexpectedly grabs Heiji's hat, which she puts on me.
"Hey, what's the point?" I scold and want to take the cap off again, but it prevents me from doing it.
"No, leave it. That looks cool. It really suits you."
I look at her incredulously, but after a while I have to smile and loosen my entanglement again.
"If you want to adapt here, you have to be a lot more relaxed and have more fun. But don't worry, with Heiji as a buddy you will quickly succeed."
Well, I don't know yet if we're 'buddies'. I follow the game again and watch how elegant Heiji balances the ball past 3 defenders.An elderly man stands in front of him so that he has to hand the ball over to Takayoshi, who is waiting on the opposite edge of the field and who immediately scores a goal in the right corner. All the young players throw their arms up and cheer and Imaro and I do the same.
"That was great. Heiji is really good!"
"No wonder. It runs in the family!" Says Imaro, pointing to a man who has now acquired the ball and has won a duel in a grandiose manner. He already has slightly gray hair and a thin mustache.
"That doesn't exist! ... That is ... Heiji's father." I exclaim in astonishment.
"Exactly and he plays at least as well as his son. Look!"
And again Heizo got hold of the ball and tribbles it in front of him, already past 2 players. Heiji calls out a few commands to the others, but they are no match for Heizo. Now Heiji runs to his father himself. With a little distance he slows down his father's pace and is now involved in a difficult duel with him.His father sees no other option than to give up and shoots the ball backwards a bit, but Heiji is faster and brings the ball with the tip of his foot to him with his force. You can see the disappointment in Heizo, but he runs after his son again, who has given up football again.
"Crazy!" I hear Imaro whispering.
I look at her approvingly and she continues:
"And that although Heiji hasn't played for 1 ½ years."
"What ???" I shout out loud and she turns her gaze to me.
"1 ½ years? I don't think so. He's playing like he's been warming up all day," I say, astonished.
"Well, maybe it's like riding a bike for him. He doesn't forget that anymore."
We watch the soccer players for a while and talk about the players and Imaro and I cheer with the players every time the young team scores. After the first half it's 2-3 for the boys, but Imaro says that everything could still change and that I shouldn't have too high hopes.Then Heiji, who was walking towards us, began to prick up his ears.
"Don't talk bullshit. We'll score at least two more goals. The old guys don't stand a chance."
"Oh, just like last year. It was 3-0 and in the end the old guys won 4-3," replied Imaro.
"Well, that wasn't great, but ..."
Heiji stops when he looks at me and I blush again, which makes me a little annoyed. He laughs briefly and comes to me.
"That doesn't look so bad. You just have to ...", he stands behind me and, to my surprise, pulls my ponytail through the back of his cap and continues: "... put your ponytail through the back. Then it suits you good. Why don't you wear hats like that often? "
He comes back and looks at me questioningly. I have to calm down and stutter a little:
"Well ... um ... because ... I don't have any."
He nods slightly and then makes his way to the drinks stand.
"Uhhh, it sparked, didn't it?", says Imaro and nudges me lightly in the side with her elbow.
I turn around indignantly.
"I beg your pardon? You don't have them all anymore!"
"Then why did you blush? Hmm?"
"I'm not bi! I mean ... that ..."
"It's okay. Heiji is a heartbreaker. Fortunately, I'm immune to guys like that," says Imaro proudly.
"I ... don't want anything from Heiji. It can stay stolen from me."
"I was lucky again." Someone suddenly shouts from behind me and the next moment I feel a hand on my left shoulder.
Startled, I turn my gaze to the side and recognize Kenji. Grinning, he looks into my eyes dreamily until I ask confused:
"Why are you lucky there?"
He smiles again and now puts his whole arm around me. I twitch back slightly, but that doesn't seem to bother him any further.
"Well then I have more chances, right?"
I now release myself from his grip and stand by Imaro, who is glaring at Kenji."I beg your pardon? Why you?"
"Oh, don't be so stupid. I just think you're ... nice."
My mouth opens in horror and Imaro crosses his arms. Kenji looks a little nervously behind him for a moment. I try to follow his gaze, but I don't see anyone to look at. After a while he continues:
"Well ... just wanted to ask if you're still here tonight."
I pause for a moment to consider what his intentions might be.
"Sure we're there. It's best in the evening," Imaro replies for me.
I look at her a little disappointed, but she has put on a slight grin and looks stubbornly at Kenji.
"Ok, then we'll see each other. Maybe we can somehow ... hang out together ... See you then." He then says and quickly disappears in the direction from which he had come. When he's far enough away, I tackle Imaro.
"Tell me, are you crazy? I don't want anything from Kenji. The guy is totally stupid."
"So you like Heiji very much."Imaro concluded, which I deny:
"No, that has nothing to do with it. I ..."
"Ok, then prove it to me and spend the evening with Kenji."
Now I'm cornered. I don't want her to think I like Heiji very much, but Kenji is dumb too. What am i doing After some deliberation, however, I agree. It's just one evening with a stupid guy. Otherwise I'll be teased by her every day and I don't want that!
In the evening, the youth team sits together and celebrates their 3-2 victory over the old people. Imaro is with me, but I have to look for Kenji. But I'm not looking closely, but actually taking a short walk through the area. If he's not there, I'm lucky again. But my hope fades when I see him standing 3 meters away from me with a couple of boys. With my eyes lowered, I creep up to her. I briefly cast a furtive glance at Imaro, who nods her head in Kenji's direction, and I walk towards him with a sigh.He sees me right away and breaks away from his group to come to me.
"Hey, nice to have you here. Um ... do you want a drink?"
"Yes ... gladly.", I answer and the two of us go to the drinks stand, where we have to queue up. After a brief, embarrassing silence, Kenji then asks:
"And .. how do you like it here in Osaka so far?"
"Yeah ... it's okay. I'm glad I made some friends. But I still miss my old ones in Nagoya."
"Yes, I can imagine. And ... did you ... have ... in Nagoya ... well ... a ... friend?", He wants to know cautiously.
A little puzzled about the question, I shake my head slightly. Now it's our turn and Kenji orders a beer and a Coke for me. As we are a little further away from the booth, I ask him:
"Can you drink beer already?"
"Well ... actually not really allowed, but the saleswoman is a friend of my mother and so she always gives me one.Also a sip? ", he says and holds the bottle out to me a little. I decline thanks and he leads me close to the others. He sits down 2 benches away from his friends, whom I only know from school. When I come back." I look briefly at Imaro, but she is watching Kenji right now, but when I give her a wink she turns her gaze to me and waves back with a grin.
"Who are you looking at all the time?", Kenji asks me after I have sat down with him and greeted his friends.
"Oh, just Imaro.", I mean indifferently.
"Oh ... Imaro ... yes. I should have ... thought too."
I put on a slightly surprised face and am amazed at this strange reaction from Kenji. For the next half an hour I only listen with half an ear to the guys talking about cars, kendo (where I can have a say ^^) and girls, until suddenly one of the guys says:
"Oh, it's already 10 am. I have to call home and ask if I can stay longer.Are you coming with me? ", and he looks at the boy next to him. He nods and the two of them leave us here alone. After a short silence, Kenji breaks the silence:
"If you want, we can pay Imaro a visit. But only if you want, I mean. So it doesn't have to be because of, I mean ..."
"Yes, I would like that.", I interrupt his stutter and make my way with Kenji to the others.
I sit down across from Imaro and then see that Heiji is sitting next to her and the two are talking animatedly. I let out a small, inconspicuous throat clearing, which draws the two of them attention to me.
"I'll get another drink!", Kenji throws in quickly and hurries back to the drink stand.
"What a gentleman." Imaro says sarcastically.
"Yes, someone who only talks to his friends and hardly takes any notice of me, even though I'm sitting next to him." I add.
Then Heiji gets involved:
"But if it goes on like this, then you've given Kenji a lot of money."I take turns looking at him and then at Imaro, puzzled. A moment later, Heiji answers me, although I haven't asked the question yet. That was on my lips:
"Kenji has such a bet with his buddies. If he can bring you home, he'll get 50 ¥. If he kisses you then 100 ¥. Just say you didn't know anything about it!"
"No, where from? This lousy ..."
"Did you really think he liked you?" Asks Heiji then.
"Well ... actually ... I wasn't sure. I mean ..."
Heiji suddenly starts laughing. Everyone else is now looking at him and trying to calm him down, only I am sitting there, insulted, with my arms crossed, staring at the drinks stand where Kenji should still be. A short time later I decide to have a word with Kenji.
"Excuse me briefly. I have something to clarify."
After taking a few