To Be Honest, It's Comfortable -3
Matches between Fiorentina and Juventus tended to be heated affairs.
It was because the two teams were locked in a derby relationship.
But if you asked whether they actually considered each other derby rivals, that might be a different story.
It was clear, at least, that Fiorentina viewed Juventus as a rival.
They didn't share the same hometown, nor had they consistently competed at similar standings.
But there was a lot of strangely tangled history between them.
First, there was a history of having trophies snatched away by dubious refereeing decisions—not just once, but twice—and they had also lost many of the team's star players and promising prospects.
It was for these reasons that Fiorentina fans called Juventus the Ladri (Thieves), treating them as a target to be overthrown.
Thus, Juventus was an opponent that Fiorentina absolutely could not afford to lose to.
─On the eve of their first away trip to Juventus in the 2021/22 season, the Viola reveal training photos... maintaining peak condition!
└Let's go aaaaaaaah!
└Northward march, ready.
└I've been waiting for this very moment. The Viola is ready to fight!
└Perfect weather for beating up some thieves.
└Jian looks to be in good shape, doesn't he? Nothing to worry about.
└I trust only Jian!
└This time we'll win. It'll be different from the last matches.
└Guys! I couldn't get away section tickets; can I just buy a home-side scalper ticket at the stadium and sit there?
└Do you want to be a prime example of why men die young?
└It's my first away trip this time—what should I bring? I only have an iron pipe at home, is that okay?
└An iron pipe? You crazy bastard. You'll get caught right away carrying something like that. I recommend tools like a screwdriver.
└Ah, right! Thanks!
With Round 14 of the league against Juventus approaching, Fiorentina fans were reacting as though they had been waiting for this day alone.
That had always been the case, but this time the reactions were especially heated.
Because the team's recent momentum was sky-high.
Four wins and one draw in the last five league matches.
And they hadn't even faced easy opponents.
They drew away against AS Roma, and brought both Lazio and Inter to their knees.
Thanks to victories in head-to-heads against upper-table teams, they had climbed to 5th place in the league.
And it wasn't just the results. Their performance was good too.
They weren't playing the frustrating, stagnant football they had at the start of the season, somehow scraping by on luck for points.
It was the best performance in recent years, and as a result, the fans' expectations were at an all-time high.
The feeling was that the time had finally come to properly arrest those thieving bastards.
As the Fiorentina fans burned with the will to win this rival derby match—
On the other hand, the reaction on the Juventus side was rather bland.
This was because Juventus didn't consider Fiorentina a rival to begin with, nor did they call matches against them a derby.
Perhaps that was only natural.
Juventus was the club that represented both Serie A and Italy in name and reality.
They were a team that got criticized if they didn't win the Scudetto, and challenged for the Champions League title every season.
Fiorentina, at best rated as a mid-table team in the league, was simply not in the same weight class.
The only teams worthy of being called Juventus's rivals were the two Milans, with whom they had fought for the Scudetto.
No one else could dare call themselves Juventus's rival.
However.
That didn't mean Juventus fans weren't paying attention to this match.
They too were very interested in this game.
Just not because it was a derby match, but rather because of interest in a specific player.
─Fiorentina riding high on a winning streak, predicting certain victory over Juventus
└Certain victory? These guys are funny these days.
└We're not going to lose anyway, so I don't care about the result. Is Vlahović playing?
└Of course he is. He's the only one on that team who can actually play.
└Vlahović, take it easy. Otherwise we won't sign you.
└Vlahović has to prove in this match that he deserves to come to our team.
└I heard his transfer fee is 80 million euros. Isn't that too expensive, honestly?
└We'll find out this time. If he can score even one goal against us, I'd say he's worth that much.
└Fiorentina just needs to stop him.
└He probably can't do anything on his own either.
Most Juventus fans were, as expected, talking about Vlahović.
Vlahović, whose move this winter was almost certain. And Juventus was the team most strongly linked with him.
Although there was still quite some time before the winter transfer window opened, Juventus fans were already thinking of Vlahović as their player.
Therefore, the Juventus fans were treating this match as a sort of "interview."
Oh, so you're the guy who's coming to Serie A's best team? Then let's see what you've got—that was the gist of it.
Regardless of Fiorentina's recent momentum, most Juventus fans didn't think they'd lose anyway, so they only talked about Vlahović.
However, there were some fans who mentioned another player.
└You guys really don't watch anything but our team's games, do you? Fiorentina's ace these days isn't Vlahović.
└Then who is?
└Number 20. There's a guy called Jian Yi. He's the real ace.
└What bullshit. Then we should sign him instead of Vlahović.
└Yeah. We should.
└I looked him up and he's 16 and debuted recently? Six goals in five league matches. Seems like he's good.
└He's good. We should sign him as Dybala's successor.
In fact, they weren't few in number.
The fans who mentioned Yi Jian.
But because the number of ignorant fans was far greater, they only seemed like a minority.
Surprisingly, European football fans have no interest in matters outside their own team.
Most Juventus fans were the same.
They liked Juventus; they didn't like football.
That was why they argued with one another.
└I searched and he was in our youth academy? He got kicked out after two years. Just a prospect who fits Fiorentina's level, right?
└No. That just shows how incompetent our youth academy is. A rookie who debuted at 16 is putting up attacking points every match. We let a player like that go. The whole community is laughing at us. You're the only ones who don't know.
└Stop fussing. So can he even play in this match?
└Of course he'll play. We have to be careful. He might become a more threatening player to us than Vlahović.
└You think you're some kind of expert just because you're giving a different opinion from everyone else?
└Hey, hey. Don't feed the troll. That bastard is obviously a Fiorentina fan in disguise.
└Sorry, but I've supported Juve much longer than you guys. I'm being sincere. We'll regret letting him go. We need to reflect on that.
└Get lost back to Florence.
└Regret? Reflection? Over a brat who couldn't even last three years and got kicked out? Eat shit. You're not even a fan.
└Let's see after this match. Who's a fan that really wants Juve to do well. We made a really big mistake.
└Ah, just fuck off!
Comments mentioning Yi Jian, especially ones pointing out that he had been in Juventus's youth academy, got hit with a downvote bombing.
They were even treated as Fiorentina fans disguised as Juventus fans.
Most just thought they were making a fuss over nothing.
Novelty rookies who briefly became a hot topic came out several times a year. That's why most fans scoffed at the idea of being careful of Yi Jian.
They were Juventus—who did they need to be careful of?
└I told you clearly. Jian Yi. You need to remember this name.
Still, only time would tell whose words were right.
· · ·
"Take care. Stay safe."
"Yeah. See you later—"
After saying goodbye to Dad, I grabbed my bag and stepped out the front door.
It was the day we left for Turin.
Pitter-patter.
As soon as I left the house, something tapped against the top of my head, and when I looked up, the sky was overcast.
It seemed rain had started falling since morning. I wondered if I should go back for an umbrella, but I just pulled up my hood and started walking.
It was a hassle. Better to walk fast than to bother with an umbrella.
"Hey—good luck! Make sure you win and come back!"
"Go kill them all!"
"You absolutely can't lose!"
Today's commute was louder than usual.
As I walked with my head down in quick steps, every person I passed threw a word my way.
I gave them perfunctory replies and picked up my pace even more.
The reason everyone was like that today was probably because this week's opponent was Juventus.
I'd heard that all our team's fans hated Juventus to the extreme. So of course they'd want to see us win.
Suddenly, I felt relieved that I hated Juventus just as much as they did.
If I hadn't, all that cheering would have been incredibly burdensome.
Right now, since I felt the same way anyway, it wasn't as heavy.
I didn't know about other teams, but at least against Juventus, I didn't want to lose either.
No, perhaps I wanted it more than anyone.
"..."
Feeling the rain gradually grow heavier, I pulled my hood down deeper. Doing this made me feel like some lone assassin walking the path of revenge.
I thought I'd graduated from my chuunibyou the year before last.
Guess not.
I don't know.
Vrrrrr.
Then, as I was walking, I felt a vibration in my pocket. It kept ringing; seemed like a call.
I thought about checking later because it was raining, but something told me I should pick it up, so I took out my phone.
Good thing I checked.
It was Jiu.
I quickly answered.
"...Hello?"
"Hey, Jian! Where are you right now?"
"I'm on my way to the training ground. Why?"
"Did you arrive? Already?"
"No, not yet. I'm on my way, like I said."
"Then wait a second!"
"Why?"
"Ah, I see you! I see you! Stay right there, just a moment!"
...What was that all about?
I was about to ask what she meant, but the call cut off abruptly.
Jiu's voice through the phone had sounded extremely urgent.
So I just stood there, then turned my head on a whim... and saw Jiu running toward me from afar.
Jiu was running to me through the rain.
"Hey, hey...!"
With wet hair clinging to her, Jiu arrived in front of me, put her hands on her knees, and gasped for breath.
She must have run here in a real hurry.
"Th...thank goodness... you haven't left yet...!"
"Wh...what is it? Why? Did something happen?"
"No... it's not that...!"
What could have happened to make her run here without even using an umbrella?
When I asked urgently, Jiu caught her breath and spoke.
"I just wanted to tell you to make sure you win and come back."
"...What?"
I looked at Jiu with a dumbfounded face.
She ran here in the rain just to say that?
I stared at her, unable to comprehend, but Jiu just smiled brightly.
"I wanted to say it to your face. I thought it would cheer you up more."
"No..."
"You have to win. Really. Okay?"
"No, wait. First..."
Leaving aside how absurd it was, I opened my bag and took out a waterproof training jacket.
And I put it on her for her.
She must have been in such a hurry that she wore thin clothes, and getting rained on made her look very cold.
It was my clothes so it was quite big on Jiu, but I figured it was better than nothing.
After putting the jacket on her, I asked with a dumbfounded face.
"You really came all this way just to say that?"
"Yeah."
"No, you could've just called or texted."
"Well, yeah, but doesn't saying it face-to-face like this give you more strength?"
"No... still..."
Jiu spoke with a bright smile, but I was still just speechless.
This didn't seem like something worth running through the rain for... Suddenly, an ominous premonition struck me, and I asked.
"Did you... see something online?"
"Huh? See something? I didn't see anything?"
"Then why..."
I trailed off, trying to ask why she came all this way to cheer me on, but Jiu seemed to understand perfectly and nodded.
"I'm a Fiorentina fan too, you know. I don't know about other teams, but we have to beat them! So! Since I went this far, make sure you win and come back, Yi Jian."
...A sigh suddenly escaped me.
It was a sigh containing many meanings.
"...Got it."
I had a lot more I wanted to ask, but I let out a sigh and nodded.
As I looked at Jiu, she looked very cold.
She looked incredibly cold.
So, I hugged her lightly.
"...Since you know now, hurry up and go. Don't catch a cold."
"..."
For just a brief moment, I shared my body heat with her, then I held Jiu's shoulders and turned her around.
I told her to go quickly, but Jiu didn't leave, only turning her head to look at me.
"I said we'll win, so hurry up and go..."
"...Y-Yeah. I'm going. Sorry! I'm off!"
Jiu mumbled something, then finally started back the way she came.
Pitter-patter.
-I stood in the rain, unable to do anything but blankly watch Jiu's retreating figure for a moment.
I felt a fire ignite in my chest.
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