Whoops, so this was supposed to be a paragraph tops. My bad.

The TL;DR response is:: Andrew gives more of a shit than he chooses to believe, but it takes him a while to realize it.

The “why is this answer so long jfc” response:::

Andrew’s opinion of Exy is a murky back-and-forth mess he still hasn’t figured out. For the first couple years he played, it was just something to do, a way to pass time. Life is just so boring, especially without his medicine giving him that sky-high buzz, and at least Exy broke up the monotony of the day-to-day bullshit like breathing and existing.

Kevin was the first to give that viewpoint a shake, because Kevin was so determined to recruit Andrew for the Ravens. He didn’t care that Andrew had rejected them; he got the master to sign off on a face-to-face for him and Riko because we can’t let anyone else have him, we can’t put him in anyone else’s goal, but then Andrew didn’t live up to expectations and Kevin was so, so angry. Kevin reacted like he’d been betrayed, like he’d honestly expected more from Andrew and couldn’t believe Andrew would purposefully let him down. And that was a little interesting, someone thinking Andrew could be capable of something that wasn’t ruining other people’s lives.

Kevin’s, Neil’s, and Riko’s obsession with Exy did not leave Andrew inclined to view the sport favorably, though. The people who wanted Andrew’s best had already proven that their relationship with Exy was unhealthy, and they had gotten tangled up in some pretty ugly consequences because of it. Why the hell would Andrew want to give Exy a chance when it had wrecked their lives? He didn’t need any help destroying himself, thanks. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t curious as to how something like this can drive so many people to obvious madness.

Exy was also what finally broke Kevin’s chain & set him free from Evermore, and Exy was why Neil started fighting back against his inevitable death. And that’s interesting too, isn’t it, that such a thing can put so much spine and spite in these two people. Andrew doesn’t intend to fall into their same trap, but he should at least understand what makes these people tick, right? Right.

And Andrew is good at this. He could be better, he knows, he could be brilliant according to Kevin and Neil, if he would just commit to it, but he is still good as he is. He is very smart when it comes to Exy, even though he normally doesn’t care enough to share these insights with anyone else on his team. There was a scene in the last draft where Andrew was off the court for a couple weeks ((recovering from his run-in with Riko)) and he was stuck watching matches in the locker room much like Neil had to in this last draft. After practice Wymack asked him for a rundown, and Andrew gave him a flawless analysis from memory that left even Kevin staring at him.

((Have we ever talked about Andrew’s grades, because Andrew’s grades would be perfect if not for class participation and homework assignments. Boy is smart af and doesn’t even care))

Spring is where the changes start to happen, because so much is going on. Andrew’s off his medication and back to being completely bored of existing, Andrew’s falling for a boy who gets so riled up and passionate about a stupid sport, he’s promised Neil he’ll protect Neil until the end of the line and somehow Exy got tangled up in that ((he is fairly certain Neil is cheating but he can’t prove it)), and– perhaps most importantly– Neil survives Nathan.

Neil survives Nathan, and Neil’s sold his future to Ichirou, and that means Neil is not going to die. Neil is going to live, and damn his stupid face but Neil says always, and for the first time Andrew has to consider the fact that the future is coming and he’s got nothing planned. Wake up, breathe, eat, drink, smoke, sleep. And now Neil? Neil and his always and Choose us. Neil who has released Andrew from protective detail but who is a walking murder magnet if Andrew’s ever seen one, who says I don’t want any of this to end. Choosing Neil means choosing Exy, because Andrew can’t have one without the other.

Committing to this means paying attention, means putting in a little more effort, means actually trying, and even Andrew can’t put that much time into something without feeling the aftereffects. His opinion of Exy will still be complicated for a little while, because how stupid, that this sport gets so many people riled up, how ignorant, that a man’s talent at a game can get all of his past crimes and indiscretions so quickly forgiven, how obnoxious, that this is the only thing people are going to care about him when he signs a professional contract.

On the other hand, if this is something people want to get riled up about, and Andrew can piss off thousands of people simply by thwarting a goal, then that is entertaining enough to make up for the rest of it.

It shapes too much of his life in the end, Exy and Neil, Neil and Exy. It is having a place, having a team, a different city every week and cigarettes and drinks in-between. And one day Andrew’s going to realize that perhaps even he is having a bit of fun.