The first time I met Itoshi Sae was at the hospital. A genius prospect. Japan's treasure. I was the one who witnessed the helplessness of such an extraordinary human being from the closest distance.

A large hospital in Tokyo. The early spring sunlight slanted through the ward window, tinting his reddish hair. Watching the edges glow gold, I thought it looked like a flickering light about to go out. As if he sensed my rude thoughts, he shot a sharp glare at me. I awkwardly looked away, pretending to be busy with something else.

It was the third day since Itoshi Sae had been diagnosed as terminally ill. They said it was a rare disease. Only a few people in the hospital knew. But rumors would surely spread soon enough.

I thought someone with that much fame and career would be wailing and making a scene over a terminal diagnosis, but not Itoshi Sae. He was calmer and colder than anyone, and despite the nurse's protests, he practiced football in the hospital room.

?

Is he insane? Whenever I glared at him with that thought, the ball would strike the wall exactly next to my head. I quietly lowered my eyes, wondering if that man was really someone who was supposed to be dying.

It was the third week. The rhythmic sound of the ball bouncing. The day he would die was two months away.

"Hey."

Itoshi Sae spoke to me for the first time. I dropped the spoon I was using to scoop up the tasteless hospital food. Looking up, I saw him looking down at me with a football tucked under his arm. He twitched an eyebrow at the tray where the spoon had fallen as if it were filthy, then opened his mouth again.

"Why are you here?"

"Rare disease."

"……Terminally ill?"

"Yeah. Three months."

"Tch. Boring."

Whatever, you're going to die sooner than me, you jerk. I couldn't bring myself to say that, so I just narrowed my eyes. What's the point of being harsh to someone in the same boat?

"Why do you keep playing football?"

I asked the question out of pure curiosity.

"To send the best pass to the best striker before I die."

A grand reason came back. I lifted my head and looked at his seriously stiff profile.

"Noel Noa?"

"He's a great player. But no."

"Then who? Leonardo Luna? Aren't you in the same club?"

"I acknowledge his skill, but I don't acknowledge him as the world's best."

"Man, you're really picky."

Itoshi Sae's brow furrowed. I quickly shoved food into my mouth. I'll eat, you keep blabbering.

"…My brother."

That was the answer that came back. I stared up at him blankly, my cheeks puffed out. His dark teal pupils wandered through the air. I couldn't say anything and just quietly handed him a piece of candy I had nearby.

"You don't want to die, do you?"

A question only someone in the same situation could ask. His narrowed eyes relaxed slightly. Instead of answering, he looked out the window. At the world where new life was being born, unlike us who were fading away.

I was the one who broke the silence.

"Give that pass to your brother."

I said to his back. The reason? It might have been an impulse, or a sense of kinship. Still.

"I'll remember it."

Even if my time is only a month longer than yours.