The System Won't Work Unless I Have Girlfriends

September 1st, 2008.

It's been three months.

Grandpa successfully convinced Honda to sell the team. Just like in my previous life, the team was bought for a single pound. A new team has been established, and it seems like fate. They decided to keep the name, I just say, why not Brawn GP? I decide I'll keep that name here too. Also, I checked the names inside the team, and they're the same people who made the winning team.

As I mentioned before, Grandpa is now one of the four shareholders of the team, holding about 33%. The Honda team will continue until the end of the season, after which it will transition to the new one. When the news spread. It was shocking when they decided to exit F1 a month ago, but it makes sense now.

Just today, the stock market crashed, and I suspect Lehman Brothers will go bankrupt after this. But thankfully, Honda didn't have to spend too much money before the situation worsened. After all, they seems listen to grandpa.

About the engine we're using is from Mercedes, with a budget of around 100 million USD Honda left. Does that budget make sense? Not really. But thankfully, we managed to secure our first sponsor: Ainsworth Holding. That's right—Rita's grandpa decided to invest 12 million in us.

Now, it's just a waiting game until the new regulations are released next month.

---

September 7th, 2008.

A week has passed. Work is going well, and the summer break has ended as a new academic year begins in autumn. I'm now in the same class as my friends, and I'm glad to see everyone again.

I've gotten to know the newcomer, Charles. He's a gentleman—easy-going and chill—quite different from the other boys at school. I've learned that he's actually a childhood friend of Rita and Mashiro. Their families seem to have strong ties, which makes me think they must be involved in business together. Sigh, such a lucky bastard, while my father has all but erased me from our family tree.

Today, we have P.E. class, and since there are four classes, we're all joining together. The subject is teamwork, so the teacher has decided it's football day.

"Listen up, lads!" the coach shouts at us. "Today we're going to have a good game for our first semester! Before we warm up, make two teams. You can choose your own teammates!"

Everyone rushes off to form teams as the coach finishes his line.

"Masamune, let's be on the same team," Charles says as he approaches me with a friendly tone.

"Let's go."

We gather our team, and after warming up, we start the friendly match. The football pitch is the size of an actual pitch, but the time is only 20 + 20 minutes.

"Alright, guys, let's have a quick brief," Charles says, taking charge as the captain.

"Do we have any strategy for the game?"

Everyone hums in agreement, but then the bastard looks at me. Damn it.

"Masamune?"

I sigh as all eyes turn to me. Glancing at the opposing team, I see they're not focused on the game; they're just trying to impress the girls.

"Let's start with a solid defense and tire them out," I suggest.

Everyone nods in agreement. Charles smiles, "Got it! We'll plan for counter-attacks. As for team roles…"

We quickly decide on a 4-4-2 formation, with me as the sole forward and Charles as the attacking midfielder. The game kicks off as the coach blows the whistle. As I predicted, the opposing team aggressively attacks us in the first five minutes, obviously, driven by the girls' attention. But their pace has been slowing down. This is why we should avoid McRonald in young ages.

Eighteen minutes into the game, I see one of our players intercept the ball. He quickly passes it to Charles, and I start running. Seeing me make a break, Charles sends a long pass my way. The ball lands just past the halfway line.

With my stamina, which I've been working on since December, running like this is a piece of cake.

"Hurry! After him!"

As I run and dribble the ball with my right foot, no one can intercept me as they begin to tire. I notice the goalkeeper is out of position, running back as he thinks we won't attack. I chuckle and decide to take a shot from this distance.

"What?" I mumble.

I shoot with my right foot, sending the ball rocketing toward the goal. It curves slightly to the right and lands in the back of the net. I must have underestimated my cardio routine.

The whistle blows, and suddenly someone smacks me from behind.

"That was awesome, Masamune!" Charles cheers as everyone swarms around me.

"You pulled off a Beckham move there, mate!"

"Alright, alright! Good job, boys." I say as everyone gathers back for the second half.

Before the game resumes, I catch glares from the opposing team, mostly because the girls—especially Rita—are cheering for me. Shouldn't they be mad at Charles, who's getting the most attention from the girls?

In the end, our team completely dominates, 6-0. I scored a hat trick, Charles scored twice, and a guy named David got one.

"Heh~ I guess it's not bad, Masamune. You've been working hard the past few months, and this is your result," Rita said with a smirk.

"Thanks—"

"Here's some Baumkuchen for you, Masamune." 

Before I could finish my sentence, Mashiro shoved a piece of cake into my mouth. 

"Hehe. Be grateful to receive a compliment from me," Rita added with laugh.

"Grateful my ass."

"What was that reaction? 'Thank you' would be decent, you know?"

I hummed in response, "...Then if you score a goal, I'll say it—hm, no. Let's say, I'll do anything."

Rita and Mashiro gasped a little, exchanging glances. 

"Understood," Mashiro replied, nodding earnestly.

"Hmmph, fine. It's not like I'm doing it for that. I'm just scoring because I'm good at sports," Rita insisted, though her expression said the opposite.

Finally, I took a break as the girls turned to play, though they were only using half the pitch. Leaning against the side, I heard someone say, "Good game, Masamune." It was Charles, sitting beside me.

"Yeah, well played. Everyone did a good job too."

"Haha… hm, can I ask you something?" 

"Sure."

"Do you like Rita?"

I turned my head to him, surprised. "You mean, that?"

He nodded, looking a little embarrassed. "Y-yeah… something like, erm… that thing."

I hummed, already guessing his real intention. Charles must like Rita. Do kids this age really get attracted to the opposite sex already? How cute. 

I chuckled. "Of course not. So, what are you going to do about it?"

"Oh, really? That's a relief… I was a little concerned if you did."

I laughed inside. There's no way. Even now, I'm about to turn 11 in October, but I mentally adult. Man inside a child body. Yeah, I am now a literally man-child. Anyway, the reason I get along with Rita and Mashiro is that they're friends. Being mentally older, I also see them like my cute nieces, even though I've never had one before.

"Nah, don't worry about it. Good luck. I'm rooting for you, Charles."

"For real? Man, you're the best buddy!" 

Charles is still a pure boy. He likes Rita because he's innocent. Meanwhile, I have no way of feeling the same when I'm adult on the inside. Sure, I want this boy enjoy his childhood while he can.

"Hold up. I heard you're actually close with another girl, right? What's her name again?"

"Ah… you mean Teresa? Well, she's my childhood friend, but we're not like that." 

This guy has so many childhood friends at the same school that I've lost count.