2.8. Running Away With It

Four U-20 players led the attack, the three forwards alongside Sae Itoshi. Niko watched each of them. Two were running diagonally out to each wing, with the genius midfielder and one other forcing their way straight down the centre. Karasu and Rin were already in the area, slowing them down.

Besides them, it was just him and Aryu. The taller boy went to the right, tracking one of the enemy forwards. He flung a hand out. "Keep vigilant! Niko boy, we must hold the line!"

Niko would've rolled his eyes if it didn't mean taking his gaze off the enemy. What does he think I'm gonna do, let them pass? He yelled a 'yessir' in response nonetheless, backpedalling slightly.

I just need to detect them. Find out who is linking up with Sae, and prevent it. He ignored Sae, who was running straight for Karasu, and turned his eyes to the rest. One player was being marked by Aryu, and any low balls could be intercepted by Rin. A second was also near Rin, the tall boy placing himself in a great position.

So that just left one forward, making a break past him down the left side. Niko instinctively moved to block off the pass. It was high and smooth, going straight to where the forward would be. Just like last time, it was the U-20 ace, Sendou.

Wait... Niko slowed. That pass has a huge backspin. If I run out to try and stop it, there's no way I'm getting there before Sendou, and by drawing me out, our defensive line crumbles. I can't afford to fully commit.

Eyes laser-focused onto the ball, Niko stopped moving just a few metres in front of Sendou. The ace trapped the ball, eyes widening slightly as he realised Niko hadn't fallen for the trap. He attempted to backpedal, losing all his momentum and speed in the process as the ball bounced upwards slightly.

Wait, this guy is... kind of bad. Um. Niko'd seen better traps, much much better. From what he'd seen on video recordings, half the Bluelock players had better stats than that guy. They moved faster, were stronger, and Niko couldn't help but compare Sendou's trap to Nagi's. Obviously, Nagi's was better.

He rushed forwards as the ace tried to slowly move backwards. With the ball still midair, Niko jumped up, booting the ball as hard as he could. He didn't aim - just getting it away from their goal was good enough.

Karasu was already running for the ball, intercepting it before any of the U-20 midfielders could pick it up. His lips pressed into a thin line as he began to move down the right flank.

For the last three weeks, he'd dedicated literally all of his time watching the U-20 team's previous matches. He'd looked at flaws, strengths, and how they worked, and for this match, it seemed that they'd changed absolutely fuck all.

First, they attempted to stop whoever they were playing against, using their Iron Wall Quartet. Each defender watched over their designated zone, with the ninja-like guy on the left, the speedster on the right, and the power-type defender in the middle. Aryu floated around wherever he was needed.

Second, two midfielders pressed the ball, forcing the opponent to either commit more people to the attack, or risk giving up possession. No matter what they did, either through the presses or through their strong defence, the U-20 normally managed to get control of the ball.

And third, their last midfielder would take the ball, launching a lightning fast counter attack against the enemy with their three forwards. This part of their game plan was much stronger than he'd seen before, with Sae Itoshi basically being able to control the entire game right from the centre of the field.

There were no weak spots - so Karasu would just have to make his own.

He kicked the ball straight forwards. "Go, Otoya!"

Hugging the touchline on the side of the pitch, he heard rapid footsteps sprinting up right past him. This works, doesn't it? Karasu headed for Otoya, acting like he was going to play a one-two. "To me!"

Otoya must've heard the footsteps on his side too. With a crazy burst of speed, he received the ball, facing off against the tattooed defender. Karasu was on his left, and as expected, he soon came face to face with Aiku. The captain was staring right at him. "You two make a good duo."

The footsteps on the side of the pitch grew louder. The defenders didn't notice.

"Who said we were a duo?" Instead of passing back to Karasu, Otoya nudged the ball to the right. It rolled slowly towards the touchline. Chigiri came in like a steam train, scooping up the ball without slowing and continuing to sprint right down the flank. "Dumbasses. Do you need hearing aids?"

Aiku was already running to cut Chigiri off, but Karasu didn't bother going to help. The princess didn't need help, at all. Because while Aiku was amazing at defence, and had a near perfect view of the field, the wing was the one place where Chigiri was never beaten.

His ponytail flew behind him, pink hair dancing in the wind as he sped up even faster. Aiku was fast, but Chigiri was miles faster as he slipped through the gap between the captain and the touchline.

"And Bluelock is in!" The crowd exploded with noise as Chigiri sped down the flank. His team was filling the goal box, a huge concentration of players ready to receive the ball. "Chigiri Hyoma breaks the Iron Wall in half!"

"That speed is next level for a Japanese player! He's probably the fastest person on this field, even over Sae Itoshi!" It was all white noise to Karasu, as he moved down the centre of the pitch. He was completely open.

While everyone's fighting for the ball in the goal box, if I just slip in behind them, I can get a shot off! The defenders are all marking my teammates, and it looks like the princess will be forced to pass soon...?

Yep. A defender was running right for him. He locked eyes with Chigiri across the field, narrowed pink irises staring at him with a mix of amusement and determination. "Send it, princess!"

"You owe me one!" Chigiri grinned. With a powerful kick, the ball was sent flying right behind the main pack of people, towards Karasu. He leapt forwards to get it...

And was blocked by Sae.

Son of a bitch! Sae didn't trap the ball, bouncing it off his foot. It went into an uncontrollable arc, flying high into the air. Karasu scowled. That was my goal! I planned it all out as well!

"Nice one!"

"Second ball!"

"I'm going!"

The defence scrambled to receive it, but they were far too late. It went straight to Rin, and Karasu huffed with disappointment as he sprinted into the goal box. I can still get a goal, maybe?

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Aiku blocking Rin's path. That was bad for Rin, but good for him. "Rin! I'm still open!" He dashed past him on one side.

Aiku's eyes flickered to Karasu for a second. And instead of passing, that idiot Rin Itoshi decided to dribble to the side. Isagi ran past Rin on the other side, and Karasu internally sobbed. Don't tell me he passes to Isagi and not me!

Turns out, Rin did neither. He moved even further sideways, Aiku positioning himself in a perfect spot to stop his goal. He blocked off any chance of Rin shooting with his right foot, forcing him to either use his much weaker left foot or give up the goal to someone else.

Karasu already knew what was coming - he'd seen it in their training sessions before. But it was still irritating, to have set up such a good plan and have it ruined by Sae blocking him. His lip turned up at the corner. It is fun, though. Outplaying these national level players is easy for someone like me.

Rin kicked it with the outside of his right foot, curving the ball and forcing it to spin towards the goal. It drew an impressive arc, curving right around Aiku. The crowd screamed. Karasu smiled. And Rin clenched one hand as the ball scraped past the goalkeeper's outstretched hand to embed itself in the back of the net.

"That's the second goal for Bluelock, by none other than Rin Itoshi!"

"The younger brother of Sae Itoshi scores an amazing goal, extending Bluelock's lead by 2 to 0! I would've never predicted this, but here we are!"

"Five minutes left of the first half! Will the U-20 be able to get at least one goal back?! Or will Bluelock run away with this victory?"

🥕🥕🥕

Sae wasn't bothered at all with the commentators. Waiting in the middle of the pitch, the U-20 grouped up near him. Their faces were more than a little concerned, and even confused at their currently losing state. Heavy breathing came from each and every one of them.

If Sae was being honest, he'd expected way more from them, but their sheer incompetence was disappointing. Aside from the defensive line, which was somewhat able to do their job, the rest of them were useless.

His eyes drifted to the side of the pitch, to the substitute's bench. Sae had seen what was going on there. Y/N had promised him he wouldn't get mad at not being chosen for the starting lineup, but his argument with the coach said otherwise.

Currently, the teenage boy was sitting by himself, sulking with his lips pressed together in a pout. He was going to be put on the second half - Sae would make sure of it. Without him, the U-20 was doomed, simply because Sae couldn't be bothered to give the game his all.

"Sorry, everyone." Aiku spread his palms. "I let him shoot."

The other defenders glanced towards him. The strong one (Sae hadn't bothered to learn their names) huffed. "Don't sweat it. It was two against one."

While the defensive line talked amongst themselves, promising to do better the rest of the half, Sae noticed the Japanese 'ace'. Sendou didn't seem that bothered, even though he'd missed three opportunities to score a goal. So he took it upon himself to chastise him.

"So, Sendou." The man immediately looked towards him. "How many times are you gonna keep missing? Piece of shit striker."

"Huh?!"

"The game is like this because you didn't score when you should have."

"The hell?" Sendou had the nerve to appear offended. Sae's eyes narrowed just a fraction. Please don't tell me you think you did nothing wrong. "Yeah, I lost possession, but it's not just my fault!"

"No, but I gave you chances. I gave you perfect passes, exactly what you wanted. And you didn't score."

"Well..."

One of the other team members piped up. "Lay off him, Sae. It's fine."

Another one nodded quickly. "We won't let it end like this."

"I'm moving forwards." One of the midfielders murmured. "Let's at least get one before half time."

"Hm." Sae just nodded once. That's a bit better. Worried is good. Stressed is good. He glanced towards the substitute bench. You'll get your time to shine.

When they restarted, they immediately launched their attack. Five minutes wasn't a long amount of time by any means, but it was more than enough to score one.

Bluelock had changed up their game plan, it seemed. Sae received the ball off Sendou, staring down ten out of the eleven Bluelock players all in defence. They'd left only the white-haired boy in a forwards position, the rest of them falling back to buy time.

They progressed up the field painfully slowly, trading short passes between them. Sae was the focal point for everything. He received passes, gave them out, and tried to find something useful amongst the team for him to take advantage of, but there was nothing.

Eventually, he just sent a long pass to the wing. It probably wasn't going to score, but Sae was out of options. None of the U-20 forwards had any skill.

He sprinted forwards, keeping an eye on the ball in his peripheral vision. One forward was being pressured by two of the Bluelock players. He passed it out to the side, and yet again, another defender was there to stop them.

Sae actually noticed the small boy with bangs. He'd been the one to shut down Sendou every single time, and he'd just shut off another one of the U-20's attacks. The forward was forced to pass back to Sae, barely managing to squeeze it through a gap between two more enemy players.

They were instantly on him, but to him, they were nothing but inconveniences. Do I actually need to shoot? I'm a midfielder.

He spotted Sendou. One more chance. There was only a minute or so left. This was the last play.

Sae passed the ball again. Instead of dribbling past every single defender by himself, which he was more than capable of, he passed to the so-called striker.

It was yet again a perfect pass, right in front of Sendou. But impossibly, Sendou managed to fumble it again, with Sae's little brother managing to completely throw off his shot course. Sae's eyes darkened a tad.

If he can't even beat my shitty little brother, then he's useless. He made a silent promise to himself. I'm not passing to him unless he realises how shit he is, and fucking wakes up.

The ball bounced out, off the pitch.

And the whistle blew, calling half time.

"Bluelock end the half, up 2-0 against the U-20!"