On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Medieval France Era II

"Um, please take these." Jeanne said, opening her pouch to show a small mountain of sweets.

She had spotted them playing not too long ago and took enough interest to sit and watch them play along with the managers.

When they decided to take a break, she offered them candy, which they helped themselves to. As they talked, Wondeba tried to use the MixiMax guns, but it failed. Daisuke concluded that her power hasn't awakened yet, and so it was the exact opposite of the case with Nobunaga.

Hearing that, Kinako passed a ball to her. "So, do you like soccer?"

The pale blonde gave a wry smile. "Um... It looks interesting, but I still don't understand it."

"Hmm... To put it simply... Soccer is like war."

Kimiko nearly choked on her candy.

"You move to keep the ball from getting stolen. From there, everyone works together to defend and attack."

I-I mean... I guess that's not wrong...

"Everyone works together..." Jeanne muttered, staring at the ball. "How do you get everyone to work together?"

"Well, there are various ways to do it... But I guess the first step is exchanging passes."

"'Passes'?"

"Want to try it?"

"Huh, uh... Y-Yes!"

And the two began playing together. After a while, she went up to the soldiers by the gate and told them that they no longer had to stay on guard.

"I don't think they are spies."

"Why is that? How can you be so sure?"

"While we were on our way back here, I saw a strange light in the sky. And then, these people showed up. They may be the helping hand we need that God has sent to us."

"These people...?"

"If that is God's will, then it is destiny that they come with me."

As they talked, the rest of them exchanged worried glances. Shindou and Kirino went ahead to break the reality to Jeanne.

"Enlisting children to go to war..." Kimiko muttered. "That's..."

"History."

She shot a look at her friend before sighing. "I don't want to admit it, but yeah... Even in Nobunaga's era, there was the Shiroshika..."

"Children are less likely to resist out of fear of punishment, so that's the easiest way to raise loyal soldiers..." He trailed off, pausing for a moment before quietly adding, "Like Fifth Sector."

She knew that was coming. She knew, but she still felt the weight crushing her heart. It wasn't just the guilt of inviting him in, but memories of her own training too. Her hand clasped around the necklace she wore. Taking a deep breath, she took an unused ball and passed it to him.

"Tag. I'm it."

An invitation to temporarily forget everything.

With a small smile, he kicked the ball up to his knee and began juggling. "Then, come at me!"

The others exchanged glances before pairing up and following along.

~~~~~

That afternoon, once they've cleaned up and changed, they were led to a small tower, where they were allowed to stay in. The lobby had a single large table while the floors above had space for them to sleep in.