2.13. Substitutions

"Looks like they're going for a substitution!"

Ego's face was set in stone as he made adjustments to his game plan. He'd expected some sort of trick by Kuroi, but nothing like this. If he let the game continue, Y/N would take over.

A centre-back with skills in vision... against his unpredictability, it's useless. A winger who is out of stamina... He thought. We need to focus on stopping Y/N. The rest of the U-20 team won't be able to do anything.

Ego beckoned over three players. "Raichi Jingo. Reo Mikage. Hiori Yo." They immediately stood up, hurrying over. Signalling for a substitution, Ego beckoned the three players close.

"Reo, you're replacing Niko. Hiori, you're replacing Chigiri. Tell Otoya he's now in defence, and you're playing upfield. And Raichi, you're replacing Nagi. However, you're in Karasu's position, and Karasu will move up to Nagi's spot." He hurriedly said. "Clear?"

"Clear."

"Raichi. You know why you're on, correct?"

The boy's face scrunched up. "To score goals?"

"No." Ego leant forwards. "Man-mark Y/N L/N at all times. Your one goal is to slow him down."

He looked like he was about to protest, mouth opening and a scowl forming. But Raichi shut his mouth a second after, and just nodded. "Yes, coach."

The three players jogged onto the pitch to the cheers of the crowd, slapping hands with their companions as they swapped positions. This was a planned out formation by Ego, specifically designed to defend against Y/N. Sure, it weakened their offence, but the main priority was to shut Y/N out of the game.

The boy himself stood close to Sae, the midfielder being the only person he wanted to talk to at that moment. His teammates avoided him, shooting him annoyed, worried glances. It did nothing but make Y/N feel more guilty, more conflicted.

"You don't have to follow him, you know." Sae murmured quietly. He didn't touch Y/N, but just his presence was comforting enough. "You're not in that place anymore."

"I know." Y/N mumbled. "I just- he scares me so much. I don't wanna make him angry. Feels... wrong."

"Hm." Sae nodded. Head angled to the floor, Y/N didn't see anything as Sendou and Darai shot him especially nasty looks. He also didn't see Sae, meeting each of their eyes with an unimpressed glare. "Don't think about the consequences. He can't do anything to you."

Y/N swallowed hard, edging even closer, seeking more comfort. "Yeah."

"So, do you want to score more in this game?" Sae asked softly. "What do you want to do? Don't even think about anyone else."

What do I want to do?

Instead of facing that terrifyingly deep question, Y/N decided to go for a much easier option - the only thing he'd been taught for years. Yeah, I'm not facing those thoughts now. He knew he was being a coward, running from his own emotions, but hey.

He'd always been a good runner.

"I want to score. More." Sae nodded once as Y/N exhaled, calming himself down.

"There we go." He turned on his heel, glancing at the Bluelock players moving on and off the pitch. "They're making changes."

"It won't matter." Y/N stated. "I'm going to score again."

He turned to face the enemy team, spreading his fingers to stretch his hands before idly running them down his sides. They didn't look that scared, actually. The substitutes were mixing with the starting lineup, spreading something amongst their ranks.

To Y/N, it looked like they'd been given a breath of fresh air. Karasu moved forwards, and Otoya moved back. Their offensive group of players had changed drastically, and their defenders looked ever more ready.

The whistle blew, and they kicked off.

Karasu's narrowed eyes scanned the field. As Sendou ran straight at him, attempting to steal the ball away, he passed it without looking to one side. From the left side of the field, Isagi immediately began moving forwards.

His winger was tracking him at a distance, moving along with him at the same speed. Y/N recognised Hiori's bright cyan hair and eyes, slightly frowning. Was Hiori a winger? He didn't look like one to Y/N...

In any case, Y/N was seeing a major change in their attacking pattern. They'd shifted it up a lot, most of them slowing down their movements, and playing more in the centre than before. As Y/N tracked their moves, he quickly spotted the player they were all gravitating around.

Before, they were just using their individual strengths like Bluelock had taught them... but now, it's like they're all waiting for someone else to make a move. Even Rin is holding back. They passed between each other, as the U-20 forwards and midfielders applied pressure.

And it all starts with Hiori, doesn't it?! Y/N sped up, feet pounding on the grass as he neared Hiori. Just half a second too late, though. Hiori received the ball from Isagi, and before Y/N could tackle, he pitched a perfectly straight pass right past him.

Caught off guard by the sheer speed, Y/N twisted his body, just about kicking the ball aside as it came past him. He didn't manage to steal it, just deflect it to the side. "Hella good passer, huh?"

The ball bounced, going to Karasu. He laughed, scooping up the ball and continuing to push forwards. "You bet he is. That left leg makes me feel things I really shouldn't."

Y/N stayed by Hiori, cutting off any opportunity to pass to him. Sure, he was terrible in defence, but by taking advantage of his speed, he could track and prevent passes to a decent extent.

Karasu had no intention of passing to Hiori, though. He sprinted for the goal box, trailed by one of the U-20 midfielders. They fought hard against each other, Karasu slowly being overpowered by the midfielder's slightly larger body. "Yukimiya!"

As a last resort, he passed it on. Y/N stuck by Hiori. Stopping Hiori breaks down their entire plan. As long as they don't have him as a coordinator, they can't launch any big attacks.

He looked to be right. Yukimiya could only pass it on as Niou, the power-type defender, barreled straight towards him. The ball went just behind Rin, being snatched up by Isagi before Rin could do anything.

Y/N grimaced as Isagi attempted a reckless, slightly overconfident shot. The boy didn't even notice Aiku off to his side, and as soon as he drew his leg back, Aiku slammed into his shoulder. The ball went flying yet again, to Hayate.

"Nice one, Aiku!" Hayate easily scooped up the stray ball.

"Watch out for the counter!" Isagi's voice rose above everyone else's, as the Bluelock attack completely crumbled. Hayate passed it to Sae, and Sae began forging upfield with a terrifyingly powerful counter dribble.

Otoya and Yukimiya came at him from either side. The Ninja, and the Duelist Emperor. Both of them were specialised in fighting one-on-one, yet neither of them could stop Sae as he moved fluidly through them.

Y/N had learnt a decent amount about Sae Itoshi's counter dribble before. He'd manage to use it as well, but in the end, it was nothing more than a poor copy. Sae absolutely shredded through the two players, movements as fluid as water. His head jerked up for a split second, taking in the field.

A fresh rush of adrenaline flooding his veins, Y/N shot off, leaving Hiori's side to begin his run down the pitch. He quickly drew ahead of Sae, staying in clear view to make sure Sae saw him.

He shouldn't have worried. As soon as Sae looked up, he'd barely taken two more steps before the ball was already flying towards him. Nobody was anywhere near him - he'd managed to get into the pocket between the enemy players, between their offensive line and their defensive line.

There were only three people defending. A familiar angry Raichi, a strangely guilty Reo, and a solemn Aryu. Reo and Aryu held back, but Raichi launched himself right for Y/N. He ran straight at him, grinning madly. Y/N sped up, both of them in a game of chicken as they converged.

Both of them being the mad lads they were, neither of them broke. Y/N collided headfirst with Raichi, the ball somehow staying in his possession as he nearly tripped over the other's flailing feet. Before he could try to move faster, Raichi was already trying to slow him down, leaping in front of him.

This guy... Y/N exhaled with annoyance, trying to run around Raichi. He was way faster, but Raichi didn't actually try to tackle him. He just kept him at bay, chasing after him like a video game mob, mindlessly following him.

Even though he was much slower, he didn't seem to care as he did his best to tick Y/N off.

Y/N went right, Raichi went right as well, blocking off the most direct path to the goal. Y/N went left, Raichi followed him left, the entire time shoving against his chest in an attempt to slow him down. Y/N went forwards, the blond simply took slow steps back, keeping him in front of him and being an annoying little shit.

Just as Y/N was beginning to get frustrated, two blurs of white flew past on his right side. Sendou and Chou ran past, yelling for the ball. Y/N passed it for the first time this game. Let them deal with Raichi's harassment.

He was mightily annoyed when Raichi didn't actually follow them, and just kept following him around. Though, it was easier to move without having to keep the ball safe, and Y/N flat out sprinted away from Raichi, towards the goal.

His teammates were making good progress. From their side of the field, he heard them. "Chou, now!"

"Nice, Sendou!"

"Go left!"

One of the defenders peeled off to stop them. Aryu, assisted by some of the Bluelock midfielders, headed towards Sendou. That left Y/N with huge amounts of space, with Raichi behind him, and Reo standing in front of him.

Why does he look so upset?

The thought popped into Y/N's head as he ran forwards, casting a curious look at Reo's downcast face. He met his eyes. Gulping hard, Reo immediately looked away. Huh. Whatever.

On the other side of the pitch, Sendou had passed backwards, out of the huge group of Bluelock players trying to slow down their attack. And behind the pack, Sae Itoshi was ready, receiving the ball easily with nobody guarding him.

His pass was instantaneous. Before anyone had time to react, or even think, he was already moving his foot. Nobody had time to think - in one swift motion, he'd sent the ball flying straight up the field, perfectly on target to Y/N.

The crowd erupted with noise, rising to their feet. Not for Y/N, but instead for the Bluelock defender that had just leapt up, body arching snake-like to header the ball off course.

"Whoa! With an amazing jump and header, Bluelock's Reo Mikage clears the ball!"

"Mikage...? Like that huge corporation?!"

"Looks like we've got a celebrity with us today!"

"W-whaaat?!"

"What?"

"Look! The ball isn't clear, not clear at all! Y/N L/N, what crazy speed!"

As Reo had leapt up into the air, Y/N hadn't gone for the pass at all. Instead, he'd run sideways, to the edge of the field. If Reo truly was trying to copy Aiku, the ball would land around Y/N's area.

And it did. The ball bounced once, nearly going right past his legs, but he shot forwards to stop it just a few inches from the touchline. Y/N sprinted right down the edge of the field, barely keeping the ball from going out.

There was only Reo in his path. He completely outpaced everyone else trying to get back and defend, running all the way to the corner post before even looking at the goal. The purple-haired boy stood in his path, blocking him from scoring.

Y/N heard it again. A sinister, chilling voice that immediately drew all of Y/N's attention. Even amongst the crowd, who were cheering as the U-20 had a chance at scoring a third and taking back the lead, he could register it. Kuroi.

"Score a third for me, little godling?"

His head whipped around, instantly spotting the man on the sidelines. So did Reo's, and Y/N was caught off guard by the look of pure shock on his face.

"That's why you missed...?" Reo attempted to lunge forwards, to steal the ball. It was unusually sloppy, and incredibly careless. With his entire body off balance, it was no problem for Y/N to get around him.

Y/N flicked the ball right, then left, rolling it between his legs, and took two steps closer to the goal. I have to score. He'd intended to score when he got a hold of the ball, but with Kuroi's words, it didn't feel good anymore.

It didn't feel like him wanting to score anymore. Instead, it felt like he was forced to score. And he wasn't doing it for himself anymore, but for Kuroi.

Y/N gritted his teeth. He was at a tight angle to the goal, pretty much on the edge of the pitch. But he still needed to shoot.

I hate him. Why... why did he have to say that?

Is it even my goal now?

Do I really want this?

Slamming his foot into the ball, Y/N watched with zero satisfaction as it spun through the air. It was a low curve, fast and tight, rotating sideways. Gagamaru jumped to save it, the ball flying to the far bottom corner.

Though, when it bounced, it looked magical. The ball's rotation carried it off in a completely different direction. Gagamaru kicked with his legs, but came just short as the ball rolled over the line.

"The U-20 take the lead, 3-2 against Bluelock!"