That might have been it... that would be my first and simplest thought, if I wanted to find a correlation between the tennis racquets on our palms.

[Even when he speaks, it sounds like he's honoring his own particular steadfast language quirk. An error in French, a reminder of humanity's imperfection.]

If... you ate dirt I'm sure it was playing volleyball? An extra-aggressive dig?

[He has to examine in more detail why he cares so much about protecting this man's feelings. There's a reason, he's sure, that he does not want Shōyō to feel embarrassed of self-conscious.

For most people, he wouldn't care, so this is in fact notable.]