"Luna, you'll go with the nice staff lady and you'll be with the other kids. When you finish all that, we'll be in the members' stand area."
"Luna, try not to embarrass yourself too much out there, hehe."
Why, thank you Felix, how thoughtful...
* * *
And like that, Mom and the triplets left me alone with the staff lady.
"What's your name, pretty staff lady?"
If I really want to have an impact on my quests with this speech, it can't hurt to be nice to the staff.
"Luna, you're such a sweet girl and your voice is so angelic. I'm Amanda. Come with me and you can have some fun with the other kids in the play area."
"Ok, pretty staff lady."
"Oh, you adorable lil thing."
There's no way she isn't smitten with me at this point, hehe.
"Amanda, do I really get to praise Daddy to the whole stadium later?"
Ughhh... I wish I could call him ass, but definitely not in public.
"If nothing goes wrong, then yes. Are you nervous? It's a packed-out stadium and from what I can tell, this is the first time you're doing public speaking."
"I've got nerves of steel, Amanda. You don't have to worry about me, you should worry for the US team that's scared of my Dad."
"So brave... Luna, you're so inspiring. Can I pretty please know what you are going to say?"
"No special treatment even for pretty people, Amanda."
"And a woman of principle... wow."
* * *
After wowing the impressionable staffer, I was led to the playroom full of kids.
Apparently it was here as a way to babysit the players and staff's children.
But are there this many who don't have a guardian to watch the game in the stands with them?
Most were between 6 to 10 years old. There were only 4 other girls in the room, all in a corner of the room, playing somewhat secretly.
I walked up to the group and mustered all of my energy to act as shy as possible.
"H-hey, can I play with you guys?"
The girls slowly turned around.
Damn, this is giving off mean girl vibes.
"Hmm, how old are you?"
Uh, why would that matter? On a technical level, I'm way older than her, so I'll play the gentle(wo)man.
"4 years old, I like soccer and chess."
Hush hush, whisper whisper
"..."
"We have decided not to let you play with us. We don't like soccer, we don't know what chess is and we are 8 years old, way older than you. So bye-bye."
What... I got rejected?
By a group of children of all things...
Actually, they are probably the only kind of people who could exclude a child looking for friends.
Well, my thoughts don't matter right now.
I can contemplate life later. I'll just go over to the boys.
But which group should I go over to?
The 'play group', which was the younger boys, were playing with Lego, action figures and some doing soccer. But they are all very loud and look annoying.
The 'intellectual group', the nerds reading books, tryna look smart and stuff. Oh, wait, it's actually comic books.
The... well, I could only really call it the 'bullies group.' There were 4 boys who were making fun of a scrawny boy, or is it a girl?
Hmm, a novel protagonist would generally go up and stop the bullying, but life ain't always so clear cut.
For all I know, the scrawny kid could have eaten a lego brick, insulted one of the boys' mothers or even worse...
"Hey guys, what are you playing here?"
What kind of person could spit on a smiling face?
Without even turning around, one of the more lackey-like bullies said, "Get lost, you little pipsqueak!"
Well, I think I found someone who can, in fact, spit on a smiling face.
"No thank you. What you guys are doing seems interesting. Hey, dude over there, what's up?" I asked the scrawny kid.
"Umm, we were just playing c-cops and robbers. I just got caught so—"
A different lackey interrupted, "Cops and robbers is a game for big boys... well, hehe, maybe not for our robber here, hehe."
"I am a b-big boy just like you guys." The scrawny kid stammered.
Hmm, well it just seems to be simple playground bullying.
Their dads or just their environment conditioned them to believe that being big is all it means to be an ideal male. Well, at their age, growing up healthy is important...
So basically, I walked in on the beginnings of a group of boys fall into toxic masculinity.
What to do, what to do?
Should I encourage this obviously bad path that will disadvantage me in the future, with both the scrawny kids' ire and the bullies' lack of respect toward me due to being a girl?
Should I ignore the conflict altogether and be known as the clueless little girl?
Or do I cause some mayhem that will forever alter the path of these children and maybe even make them followers of femdom?
"Hey, scrawny guy, being a robber sounds boring. Wanna play soccer with me?"
What kind of idiot would try an argue against a bunch of children who believe in might is right?
At least for me, in the body of a 4-year-old girl, it would be madness.
Even with the consistent training of 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups...
Anyway, you can't outsmart someone who can't think.
At least not when the goal is agreement on something contrary to their goals.
Well, actually maybe I could... but that'd be so much effforrrrttt.
No thanks.
"U-uhh, I'm a b-big boy I can't play with a cu-cough l-little girl like you."
"Sure, pal, come with me."
And like that, I grabbed his maybe her I can't tell yet's arm and dragged them away to the 'play group,' specifically the soccer area.
"L-let go of me, you li-li-lil pipsqueak..."
"You know you're like really bad at pretending to be a big boy or whatever you call it, right?"
They seemed aghast at my response, almost as if it were an actual surprise that I said that.
"Uh, do you even know who the tall guy in the group I was with is?"
Of course not, why would I know those snot-nosed brats? This is pretty much my 2nd time outside my own home other than checkups.
"Duh, everyone knows who he is. Why would I care?"
"D-do you mean that you're not scared of Daebel? You know he's only here because he likes Leonidas so much."
Daebel...
Uhhh... am I meant to know Daebel?
Is it a person? A company? A collective of world power players like the supposed Illuminati?
"He likes Leonidas? Really?"
"Girl, it was all over the news, that kid was even in the press conference hall when they announced the sponsorship. His grandpa paid for him to be here... and you just pissed him off, look at him cackling over there."
Uhhhhh???
That Daebel guy seems fine, he's even snickering as his lackeys were prostrating themselves on the ground.
Is this scrawny kid... an idiot?
Or just emotionally stupid?
"People actually like that Leonidas guy? Isn't our goalkeeper, Smith way cooler? He's only let in 2 goals in the last 5 matches. If that ain't the GOAT I don't know what is."
"Tsk tsk, you have much to learn, little one. Smith is first of all such a basic name so no one cares. Second of all, he's let in 13 goals in the last 10 matches. Don't cherry-pick your data unless you want to forever remain an ignoramus."
Did they really just bring out their full brain power to fish out ignoramus from their lexicon... to lecture me? ME?!
"Leonidas is mid, stop denying it. And did the tall guy really come all the way here just to meet him?"
"Y-you..."
The scrawny kid seemed to be trying to calm themself down after I ragebaited their ass with facts.
"..."
But it seems it might take them a while.
I walked away from the scrawny kid and went right up to the tall guy.
"Hey, I heard you like that Leonidas guy, isn't he mid? Smith is way better. Repent now and I'll enlighten you, to the superior path."
The lackey, no, lesser friends that sounds better.
Anyway, the lesser friends of his seemed shook by my factual statement and looked at me as if I had just said something equal parts shocking and equal parts stupid.
Haaa, I'll have to enlighten them too, it seems...
The tall boy came forward close enough to be clearly looking down on me and said, "Just because you're Smith's daughter doesn't mean you should praise a false idol. Leonidas wins out in every convertible metric between striker and goalkeeper. Now, shall I enlight—"
What to do when a child feels like their at a loss in a conversation?
"La la la la, I can't hear you, la la la."
I didn't expect him to be so... calm, it's throwing me off.
While he's confronting me and even intimidating me with his stature, there is no sense of danger emanating from him, like a big huggable bear... kind of.
Is this not an arrogant young master... but one of those false villain young masters?
You know the usual trope; get transmigrated as a child of a villainous family, act as a villain to not arouse suspicion, are so kind they can't even think of actual villainy and when they try to be a villian they end up saving the world and disposing of the real villains.
Is this actually one of those types of protagonists, right in front of me?
"Hehe, here's where you are wrong, tall dude, goalkeepers are simply better. Anyone can just kick a ball toward the net and hope it makes it, it takes real skill and athleticism to be able to see the flight of a curving ball, through the bodies of your own defenders trying to block it and the sheer amount of training needed to be able to get good enough to block those pathetic strikers attempts at kicking a ball and hoping it goes in."
Clap clap clap
"Oh Luna, I didn't realise you thought of me as just a pathetic striker—"