7. About His Highness and a Strategy

"As you all know, L/n Y/n is a force to be reckoned with. He is a tenacious person with a heart of ice on the field. He runs purely on instinct and acts as fast as his eyes register a threat to his win." Ego pulled up a diagram. "He's maxed out all his stats in everything except intelligence. He's about ninety percent out of a hundred in that corner."

"What's his weakness, though?" Naruhaya inquired.

Raichi sat still, his hands balled up in fists in his lap.

"His weakness"—Ego took a finger and pointed at his head—"is that he doesn't think half the time. His body reacts purely on what it sees and he only reads about half into the future, so he doesn't know what your final move is. He's like a slave to instinct, his legs moving before he can put in the final puzzle piece."

"What do we do, though?" Iemon sighed. "We don't—"

"You need to exploit it," Ego interrupted.

"How do we do that?" Igarashi deadpanned, dropping his head.

"Make him think he knows what you'll do, and then change it last second. Fake him out."

"Okay, got it, but," Kunigami started, "how do we battle his strengths? He's got Chigiri beat in speed and Bachira in dribbling, and from what I've seen, his technique is supernatural."

(Forgot to mention that the matches had already happened, I just refused to write them, because I'm sure Z vs. V will be long.)

"He chases the ball as if it's his very life source. Play a game of keep away is what I'd usually say, but since this is Team V, it's difficult. There are three top scorers. One is L/n Y/n, currently with eight goals from the previous four matches, two is Nagi Seishiro with six, and three is Mikage Reo with five. These three are the monsters you'll be facing, but I'd worry more about Y/n."

"Well if we pay too much attention to that goddamn ballhog, he'll wipe the floor with us!" Raichi shouted.

"Nagi Seishiro and Mikage Reo work together, and L/n Y/n works alone. That's the difference."

"Don't a lot of people work alone in Blue Lock?" Imamura pointed out.

"Y/n doesn't need teammates to create a chemical reaction. He creates it himself. He's driven by a supernatural force that won't let him rest until the match is over, and gives him the greed you see on videos, and that some of you have experienced firsthand."

Isagi, Raichi, and Gagamaru stiffened.

"Isagi."

"Yes, Ego?" Isagi sweat dropped.

"When he fought to win that match, when everyone abandoned him, what did you see?"

Isagi gulped. "He was clearly stiff, and his movements were sloppy and he was heaving."

"It wasn't because his teammates abandoned him, though," Ego said. "Fighting for a ball on your own takes a lot. It wears you out. He was tired and he made mistakes."

Kuon put a hand on his chin. "So you're saying we should—"

"Wear him out," Ego interrupted. "Force him to chase that ball until he can't move anymore, and only then will you be able to deal with Team V more tamely and efficiently. Moreover, if you wear him out, he'll succumb to his state and have no choice but to give up, and he'll lose."

Gagamaru raised a hand. "I'd appreciate if you didn't talk about hurting my cousin mentally and physically draining my him like this. You make it sound like he's a god, when he's still in school like all of us are. He's got limits on how much we can possibly push him, and trust me I want to win, but crushing him so severely will surely make his future plays significantly more challenging for us and everyone else, but it'll deject him and make him miserable as well."

Ego sighed. "I understand you care about your cousin, but you underestimate how much stamina he's gained since that loss against Isagi's team. There's a before and after in his attitude when that match ended."

Chigiri now had his own question. "Sorry, off topic, but what's his top speed?"

"Twenty-five miles per hour (or forty kilometers per hour)," Ego answered.

Chigiri froze. "You're shitting me.."

"Afraid not," Ego replied. "L/n Y/n rivals even Jamaica's Usain Bolt in his prime."

"That makes this ten times more difficult!!" Igarashi protested. "I say we kick him out!"

"Say such words about a precious gem again and I'll make sure you lock off," Ego chided, his voice breathy and leaving no room for argument.

The monk shut his mouth, but couldn't help but whisper, "This is blatant favoritism."

"So what you're saying is..." Iemon contemplated.

"With enough perseverance, you can run him ragged." Ego pushed his glasses up. "But mark my words, it won't be easy with all of Team V hot on your trail, and they could be coming up with a way to combat anyone wearing Y/n down. All of them have a lot of steam, so I hope you find a way to—"

"Like that dumbass would listen to anyone but himself!!" Raichi griped. "He's selfish and won't listen to anybody!! And he'll never change! I know who he truly is and the L/n I know wouldn't—!"

"Be quiet," Ego demanded, "you're hurting my ears."

"But he's a selfish brat! If Team V thinks they can control such a monster they're dead wrong!"

"That's funny coming from someone who wished my cousin would die," Gagamaru muttered, glaring daggers at Raichi. His wide eyes were eerily intimidating and the blonde stood down, crossing his arms in the process and pouting like a child.

Ego sighed. "If you're that incompetent, you might as well just succumb to loss and leave this instant. Y/n's a beast none of you could hope to defeat alone, so I'm afraid you'll have to work together for this one."

🥀🥀🥀

"They're most likely going to wear you out," Reo sighed. "You can't just chase the ball the whole time, because you'll be playing right into their hands."

Y/n crossed his arms.

Since their first meeting, Reo and Y/n have become more tolerant of each other. They've started to work together more, and Y/n started to... listen to others' ideas.

Y/n frowned. "But not chasing the ball would mean that I can't do anything."

The purple-haired boy nodded. "It may feel that way, but you can make it seem like you're going to start chasing the ball; like you haven't changed. Don't go too fast, but don't go too slow."

The monster in Y/n told him to obey.

"I'll feed you passes, Y/n."

The (h/c)-haired male's eyes widened, shine filling them as he grinned ear-to-ear. "I hear you, Reo. I'm actually listening."

"Good, I hope you are, because I want to score as well, and I'm sure that Nagi's aching for a goal, too," Reo stated. "Also, do you remember how that one guy, the kid with the bangs, read your movements with almost pinpoint accuracy?"

Y/n nodded.

"Well, I'm gonna need you to be more sporadic, just so they can't read you in case there's someone of that nature on Team Z. If you get read, then it's game over for us, treasure."

Y/n stiffened at the nickname. "I-I got it."

"To combat you getting read too much, the other members of Team V will chase after the ball like you used to, but they'll do it poorly and it'll only be one at a time. I got you?"

"Yeah, you got me."

"And you got me back."