3.14. A Choice

"The score is two-two! Bastard Munchen, against Manshine City!"

"So far, we've had such a good game! Starting off with the Kaiser Impact, then a run from Chigiri Hyoma to equalise! After, we've had a world-class goal from Noel Noa, and maybe a goal to rival it from Nagi Seishiro!"

"Honestly, I'm still blown away by that last goal. Four consecutive fake shots? It has to be some sort of record!"

"Most likely it is! But because of that goal, Bastard Munchen start with the ball! Everyone in this game is looking fired up, Tereasa. Will Isagi Yoichi finally get the goal he's been looking for all league? Will Y/N L/N show us the superstar talent we've all been looking forward to? Or will it be a dark horse to take the final point?!"

"If I was a betting man, I'd place my bets on Isagi. He's been getting closer and closer to his goal, and even though he hasn't gotten it yet, he's just one step away. Yet, the amazing thing about this game is you can't count anyone out."

"That's right! There is simply so much potential on this pitch. All the Bluelock players have incredible offensive skills, and who knows? Maybe it'll be one of them to take another goal."

Y/N stood near the centre of the pitch, as opposite him, Bastard Munchen got into formation. From their goal, Isagi walked towards the middle. He held the ball in his hands, both eyes looking somewhat dazed as he approached.

Y/N sighed, a deep, draining noise that eased some of the tension from his shoulders. He raised a hand. "Hey."

Isagi blinked. Then, transferring the ball to one hand, he held up the other. "Hey."

"You gonna go for your goal?" Y/N knew it was a stupid question. Of course he was. But he just needed to say something, just needed to hear something from someone else.

"Yeah..." Isagi gave him a small smile. "You okay?"

Y/N swallowed. He forced his lips to move, smiling brightly back. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Isagi reached the centre of the pitch. He placed the ball down, and Y/N began to backpedal to his own half. "Wait."

Y/N paused. Raising an eyebrow, Isagi gestured to his outstretched hand, fingers curled into a fist. "You gonna leave me hanging like that?"

It was a relief, for Y/N to smile. He closed the gap, bumping his own fist into Isagi's. "May the best player win."

"May the best player win." Isagi repeated. The two broke apart, Isagi facing towards his own team, Y/N retreating a few metres away. He glanced at the ceiling as the commentators sprang to life again.

"Heartfelt moments here on the pitch, everyone! Y/N and Isagi share some words of encouragement! Maybe not in this match, but in another, we might see the two strikers working together! That would be a sight to see!"

Y/N rolled his eyes.

"But now, let's restart the match! Bastard Munchen against Manshine City! The next goal. Takes. All!"

Isagi passed the ball. The field exploded with motion.

Y/N was off like a rocket. He sprinted forwards right off the bat, chasing down the ball with incredible speed as Isagi passed backwards to Kurona. His team immediately caught on to what he wanted to do, surging forwards alongside him.

Reo made a break for Yukimiya. Chigiri took as much space as he could down the flank. Nagi just kind of stood there, but Y/N hadn't expected him to do much anyway. Alongside them, the entire Manshine City formation moved up. The defenders moved forwards, and the midfielders took offensive positions.

Y/N hadn't realised it, but they'd formed up around his movements. His team trusted in him to steal the ball - and when he did, they would all be in perfect positions to begin their own attack.

"What a coordinated press by Manshine City! It looks like Bastard Munchen are struggling under the pressure!"

He'd caught onto something. While Bastard Munchen's multiple-pronged system allowed it to be incredibly strong on the offence, it made their team much less coordinated.

Kurona and Isagi didn't want to pass to any of their team. Kaiser, Ness and Grim didn't either. And both Kunigami and Yukimiya were both solo players, only functioning as part of the team when it benefited them. If each small group could win their individual duels, the attack could flourish. But if they didn't, Bastard Munchen would completely collapse.

The coordinated Manshine City attack showed results immediately. Kurona, lacking anyone to pass to, hesitated. With Y/N barrelling towards him, he had no choice but to send the ball away. He didn't choose the other forwards, but instead, one of the Bastard Munchen defenders.

Y/N didn't slow. He kept running, right for the ball. Reo and Chigiri cut off passing lanes. The defender, caught off guard by the sheer aggression, passed back further.

Y/N chased again. Despite not even having the ball, Manshine City was playing the most offensive they'd had all game. The Bastard Munchen defence were in a panic, passing the ball between them as Y/N followed like some kind of wild animal.

I just need the ball. Please.

Bastard Munchen's offensive players were forced to fall back to help out their defence. Y/N's gaze flickered around the pitch. Kaiser's waiting for the ball. Ness is dropping back... Grim is too. Isagi is watching Kaiser. Where's the defence looking?

He drew back a bit, slowing down to give the Bastard defenders some space. Space meant time, so each of the players could gather their thoughts, and think about what they needed to do.

That defender is looking at Grim. Another one at Kaiser. They're not even focusing on defending... they have to be thinking of a counterattack using those players!

He flung out a hand. "Chigiri!" When wide, pink eyes met his, he gestured wildly towards Grim. "Mark him!"

"Okay!" Chigiri gave him a thumbs-up, moving towards Grim. Y/N returned his attention to the players in front of him. Everything went exactly as he predicted.

A little more passing, and eventually, one of the defenders made a move. He faked a pass, causing Reo to momentarily hesitate. Then, he ducked to one side, slamming his foot as hard as possible into the ball.

Y/N tracked the ball. Up, up, up. It arced high above the field, far above most of the Manshine players. Then when it began to fall, it headed straight for Grim.

From there, to Ness, right? And Ness will hit a long pass all the way upfield, to Kaiser.

Y/N began to move. He ran back down the pitch, completely ignoring his team's shouts of surprise as he craned his head to see the rest of the field. Grim tapped the ball twice in fast succession, getting around one of the Manshine players, and booted the ball towards Ness.

Ness scooped up the ball.

Y/N glanced towards Kaiser. The man's eyes widened, seeing Y/N already running towards him. He opened his mouth, yelling out a command. "Ness, wai-"

The ball was already flying towards them. Kaiser gritted his teeth. Both of them raced for where the ball would land, Kaiser with a head start. It didn't matter though.

Y/N snatched the ball from the air with all the ease of a gymnast. He landed lightly on both feet. Turning to face him, Kaiser instantly attempted a tackle. Y/N didn't let him.

The outside of his right foot knocked the ball wide. As Kaiser's body turned, stretching out his left leg to block Y/N's path, Y/N stepped his own left foot over his right. Kaiser blinked with confusion. So did virtually everyone else watching.

It was one of the strangest moves ever performed in such a high level game. Y/N's legs were crossed, effectively rendering himself immobile with the ball just to one side of him. Yet, it didn't look like a mistake. Y/N miraculously kept his balance, freezing in place for a split second. Kaiser hesitated.

Then Y/N was moving.

A blindingly fast burst of movement. Two touches on the ball, one faking towards the left, the other going right. Kaiser didn't even have time to react before Y/N was past him, accelerating from absolutely nothing to top speed in a second.

Y/N knew what he needed to do. He couldn't care about this goal. Emotion would just muddy his thinking, make him mess up. And if he ended up not scoring, the emotion would quickly turn from excitement into anger.

So he took a deep breath, calmed himself, and forced himself to view the pitch from a different perspective.

It was a strange feeling, and an unpleasant one. To think that he wasn't the centre of the world. The path he took to the goal didn't matter. His feelings didn't matter. What mattered was scoring his goal.

Y/N exhaled, and sped up.

The field blurred around him. Bastard Munchen was already wary of him. They knew what the focused shine of his eyes meant - he was going to try something.

The entire enemy team except Kaiser was in front of him. He made mental notes of all their positions. Isagi close to him on the wing. Kurona hovering around him. Grim, Ness, and Yukimiya on the other wing. Kunigami right in front of him. Four defenders in the back. Gagamaru waiting on the goal line.

Easy. His team was already waiting for him, arranged in attacking positions high up the field. It was on Y/N to start the attack.

He brushed past Kunigami. There was no slowing, no hesitating, no break in his stride. It was like the boy wasn't even there with how effortless it was for him. A simple kick sent the ball way past him, and Y/N caught up to the ball on the other side.

One down.

Y/N began to wheel towards Isagi and Kurona. He wanted to play them. He wanted to get past them, to confirm that yes, he was better than them. Who cared what Noa said? He was the best player on the pitch, and he wanted to make sure nobody could doubt that.

But it was a choice, wasn't it? Loki had mentioned it, during one of their first training sessions. "You can't have everything you want, you know. If you want to score, you have to give up playing with your opponents."

It would so nice if he could have everything. He wanted to become a player that could have everything. Like Lavinho, doing literally whatever he wanted and still having his goal. Like Prince, laughing, enjoying the game, relaxing, and still being the second best player in the world.

But he had to accept that right now, he wasn't anywhere near that.

So did he want his goal? Or did he want to toy with his food?

The answer was obvious.

Y/N ignored Isagi. He ignored Kurona. He ignored Ness and Grim. All of them were on the sides of the pitch - if he made a beeline down the centre, they wouldn't be able to stop him.

Does that count as five down?

In fact, if he only focused on the goal, there was a clear path. A straight line down the pitch, at a slight angle that would end up with him standing at a diagonal to the goal. That was the path with the least players.

He took it.

Usually, he was alone. His team couldn't keep up with the sheer pace he used on his attacks. But this time, they were ahead of him, waiting for him to bring the ball up. It was both refreshing, and surprising.

Scanning the area where he wanted to run, Y/N saw only three players. Two defenders he'd never spoken to before, and Yukimiya. All of them were pretty far back, defending the area just in front of Bastard Munchen's goal.

As he approached, they coordinated something. All three of them surged forwards in one huge press. One to the left, one to the right, Yukimiya right in front of him. A trap, designed to steal the ball from even the world's best players.

There's gaps in their trap... I could maybe squeeze through? They'll be expecting that, won't they? But that brings me one on one with the goalie...!

Y/N sped up. He was locked on the small gap between two of the players, foot swinging forwards to slam the ball through. All three of the defenders readied.

Then he passed.

Without looking, he smashed his heel into the ball with more brute force than he'd ever displayed before. Instead of trying to get it past all the defenders himself, he let his team help him.

Reo was on the ball. He didn't stop, receiving and passing on the ball in one fluid motion. Y/N didn't stop either, continuing to run towards the goal. He was counting that his team would get him the ball.

They did.

Reo sent it to Nagi. Nagi didn't really pass it on - he just tapped it, adjusting the course towards Agi. Agi flicked the ball into the air.

When Y/N entered the goal box, just a few metres from the line, Agi passed to him. A clean one, fast and low across the ground. Y/N glanced once backwards. He didn't need to look a second time. Him, against Gagamaru.

The caveman was just as focused as him. Planted directly in the middle of the goal, slightly crouched, arms wide. It was the worst nightmare of all goalkeepers. The enemy striker, free of defenders, directly in front of the goal.

Would he shoot left? Would he shoot right? High? Low? With what speed? The ball was behind him. He wasn't even facing it. So that meant his shot might be a lot slower? But it was Y/N. Every shot he did was fast.

But surely it had to be simple, right? A simple shot, to one of the corners. Y/N wanted to look cool, so he'd probably shoot for one of the top corners. Right? Left? It was a fifty-fifty, and Gagamaru took one of the options.

The ball reached Y/N's foot. Gagamaru jumped to the left.

Y/N didn't shoot to the right.

Nor did he shoot to the left.

Instead, using his heel, he lifted the ball into the air with a flourish. It drew a small arch over his head, no power behind it at all. A rainbow flick towards the middle?! Gagamaru scrambled across the floor, trying to reach it.

The ball bounced once. Then it lazily rolled into the goal.