Creepy Smile

When Aoi was changing, a curiosity struck him all of a sudden.

'Why did Izumi not include bringing me a t-shirt?'

He soon realized he wore a white shirt underneath the school's blazer.

He smiled.

He left his school shoes on the bench, bringing the already-worn cleats.

He sat on the toilet, took out the cleats, and took off the black pants.

He hung it on his shoulder and then took off his socks.

The socks were not on the knee level, in contrast with the socks Izumi gave to him.

Hence, he would certainly wear knee socks.

He pulled the shorts, covered his boxer shorts, and put the socks on. 

He donned the cleats and walked out of the cubicle.

He saw the wide mirror reflecting himself.

His hair was long, and his face had become immature – handsome, in fact, compared to the older Aoi, with dark circles on his eyes… wrinkles even forming on some parts of his face.

Now, he did not need to question why Izumi had fallen for him.

He beamed a smile, and it appeared… creepy.

He was even taken aback.

'Is this what Izumi is seeing every time I smile? Why does she appear to be mesmerized, though?'

He giggled and shook his head.

He was then distracted by his long hair, swaying as he moved his head.

He frowned.

He remembered Izumi's pink hair tie on his wrist.

He gazed at it and did not even hesitate to pull it out and casually tidy his hair, locking it with the pink hair tie.

If a boy wore pink-colored accessories, they would think they were feminine and girly and thus hesitate.

However, Aoi was not a boy, he was a man – being concerned with such a petty reason would do more harm than good.

Furthermore, it was Izumi's pink hair tie… wearing it made him feel he was connected to her strangely.

Earlier, he felt it was a pity to wear Izumi's pink hair tie as it would be overshadowed by his own smell.

However, smelling it… it was impactful and seemed to last for ages.

The scent was strongly alluring, a feminine scent that would always remind him of Izumi.

Hence, he did not worry.

Furthermore, his hair does not easily be dampened with sweat since his head appeared to be difficult to perspire.

He glanced at his own reflection again, feeling he had become neater with the pink hair tie compressing his long hair.

Now, he was ready to play…

He could not help but beamed a… creepy smile.

***

He jogged to the bench, taking out his phone to open the screen.

He was just in time… probably.

The bathroom was near anyway, and as a boy, changing was not difficult for them.

Even showering would be doable to finish in a minute.

When he arrived, Izumi was chatting with her friends, acting bashful and shy.

Perhaps she was being teased by them.

He swept his gaze, still jogging, to Nakahara Sensei, who spared him a glance but then indifferently returned to the field.

His actions were ambiguous, giving Aoi a complicated feeling.

He did not know if he offended Nakahara Sensei again, or better, he treated Aoi's presence with nothing but air.

Aoi shook his head and finally arrived at the bench next to where Izumi and friends were sitting.

Since the terror, Nakahara Sensei sat on the same bench with Aoi, and Izumi and her friends did not decide to sit on the same bench as him, he decided to return to his previous seat.

They were apparently terrorized by the Smiling Demon.

In addition, there were five of them – including Izumi – so they would not fit on Nakahara's bench.

So they took the bench next to him.

As a result, Aoi jogged past them, deciding not to distract Izumi since he was busy with her friends.

Izumi lowered her head, feeling so embarrassed for unknown reasons.

Her friends were calling Aoi, but the latter ignored them, sitting two seats away from Nakahara Sensei and concentrating on the field.

The players had grown tired, especially the defenders on both sides, trying to stop Kaga and Oka from scoring a goal.

Even Kaga and Oka showed weariness on their faces, evident by their body movements and their breathing rhythm.

At this moment, Aoi was aware it would be his time soon.

He looked down at himself, wearing sky-blue shorts and cleats.

He smiled lightly.

'Does that mean I would be on the same team with Oka?'

Oka was on the blue team, while Kaga was on the red team.

It would really be better to play with Oka than Kaga, who had a deep grudge against Aoi.

'Should I really not have offended him?'

In the future, they will play together as teammates.

However, since he offended Kaga, it would be obvious their connections, even in the field, would be a struggle.

Aoi shook his head, closing his eyes.

'Nevermind. I, alone, can score. There's no need for help.'

The system's voice echoed inside his head, announcing he received another Ego Point, but he ignored it.

It was only a single Ego Point, anyway.

He then focused on Oka, who was now dribbling the ball again.

His dribbling was top-notch but from Aoi's observation… Oka's vision was comparable to his dribble.

It was on par with Kaga.

However, Aoi was still confident despite not having a total understanding of the level of his vision.

He recalled his vision was a C+ grade, a single upgrade away from reaching B grade.

He wondered how much it would cost him.

If upgrading to a C grade costs him two points, it should only be four points for a B grade, right?

He asked the system.

[It will cost the host 8 points.]

He was stunned, and a bitter smile formed on his face.

He sighed and shrugged.

If he wanted to upgrade it, he would need more Ego Points.

If he wanted Ego Points, then he needed to gain more dissatisfaction from other people.

He sighed helplessly once again.

As he was lost in thoughts, Nakahara's voice echoed again.

"Kid." He turned his head and met the ambiguous gaze of Nakahara. "It's your time. Wear the blue vest and enter the field."