9. Feohtan (Part Two)

Y/n exhaled slowly. Deeply. The foot he shot with lowered at a steady pace and met the ground with a calm and quiet thumping noise, ruffling the grass. He returned to his place as the striker in a steady saunter, his balance unwavering and his eyes holding their usual shine as he looked at Reo.

He didn't smile, he just nodded to let Reo know he did well, and that the next goal would be Nagi's, just like they had planned. Next time, Y/n would pass.

It wouldn't be rough, but a soft pass with enough speed to reach its intended target.

They restarted.

Y/n stood in the same spot as before, gazing past all of Team Z in what seemed like a trance. His disinterest was far too great as the whistle wasn't even enough to snap him back to reality.

Reo and Nagi were immediately on the move, and yet again Y/n stood still.

"He won't fucking move!" Raichi shouted. "Goddamnit Y/n, you bastard, just budge!!"

Y/n didn't listen. He just bounced on the balls of his feet in an attempt to be at least somewhat active.

Suddenly, the short boy snapped out of it and started calmly walking over to the other side of the pitch.

Reo saw this as an opportunity and passed the ball so it'd roll straight to Y/n's feet.

As soon as that ball bounced off of his feet, all logical thinking was abandoned, but he didn't forget to pass to Nagi when he was just in front of the line of the penalty box.

Iemon's knees locked and his face was drained of all color.

But there was one thing that put him at a slight ease.

No noise. There was absolutely no noise.

With Y/n jogging rather quickly down the field, copious amounts of Team Z members were after him, but not Gagamaru.

He was waiting for something.

With the ceaseless and relentless attacks coming from those on Team Z, Y/n was having a rather difficult time keeping the ball to himself.

So what did he do? He sped up.

It's Y/n. Whenever in a tough situation, he just speeds up and takes longer strides to close the distance between himself and the ball as it rolled closer to the penalty box's line and reeled his leg back, winding it up to make the fake shot seem real.

It scared the shit out of Iemon.

But as Y/n's foot closed in on the ball, he realized that this wasn't...it wasn't a shot?? Even Raichi was absolutely flabbergasted, the blonde's mouth falling agape.

Nagi, to the left of Y/n, prepared himself as the ball whipped through the air and to its target.

But the ball's trajectory was nearly interrupted. Gagamaru's head just barely missed the ball trying to knock it out of bounds.

The tall boy fell face first into the artificial grass and just...laid there while Nagi seamlessly and effortlessly shot the ball.

"Such a hassle," the white-haired male mumbled and walked over to Y/n's side, grabbing the (h/c)-haired male's torso and sinking to the ground.

"Get off, we aren't done," Y/n stated, turning and walking back to his position again.

Nagi stood up quickly and followed.

🥀🥀🥀

After another goal, Team Z realized how badly of a pickle they were in. They didn't understand how their talents were completely nullified like in the game against Team W.

It was understood that Y/n was just bulldozing through and getting the ball to his teammates or to himself.

Unless...

Isagi finally understood what was necessary.

Y/n was a tiger, hiding in the grass amongst its prey. They didn't know when he would attack or when he'd move, so they'd just need to exploit him while he was still as a statue and attached to his place on the field.

First, Team Z would give-and-go down the field to crack Team V's defense and ruin it all while forcing the defenders and midfielders to go full-throttle more than they should to try and force Team Z to slip up.

Second, Isagi realized Y/n only moves when Reo or gives him a pass or a signal to a pass, so they'd just have to block out Reo and keep the ball far away from him as much as possible.

Keep away wasn't so complicated now. At first it was a fuzzy idea, barely capable of being understood; a fickle plan that was clouded behind loads of storms that once cleared, only lead to a few missing pieces that weren't too difficult to understand.

Third, continue with the original intention to wear Y/n out if he won't move.

Isagi couldn't understand how they'd do that, because if the prodigy didn't move, they were surely in deep shit if he decided to tear the field up again and they'd lose...quite badly.

Alternative to step three, get to the ball before Y/n.

As foolish and impossible as it sounds, there was a way. Team Z would just have to get used to speedy passes and nullifying first-touches that killed the ball's momentum upon impact, and dribble as closely to themselves as possible but just barely give themselves enough room to hit speedy low passes.

And that's exactly what they did.

But it was halftime, so they'd have to wait until they could actually try it out. Even so, communication is key, and Isagi intended to share his discovery with his team.

"This is bullshit!" Raichi shouted, putting his head in his hands. "I thought we were gonna grill him in this match! I wanted to see him fall again!"

Naruhaya cocked his head to the side. "It's really not that deep, dude."

"Yes it is!" Raichi retorted angrily. "You don't know him like I know him!"

"Guys," Isagi intervened, "I have a plan. Stop arguing."

"No offense, Yoichi," Bachira cooed, "but no one was arguing."

Isagi's face went a little pink and he waved off Bachira's point. He then turned to sit on a bench and looked around the room.

"Holy shit Bachira," Isagi shouted, covering his mouth.

"Hm?" Meguru hummed, turning to look at Isagi.

"PUT YOUR DICK AWAY!" Isagi covered his eyes with a single hand and craned his neck down.

"So," Kunigami spoke up, "about that plan?"

"Right..." Isagi sighed. "It's more of a revelation. A discovery, if you want it to be like that."

"Ohhh," Bachira hummed, "do tell!"

"So"—Isagi looked back up and averted his eyes from Bachira's direction—"Y/n genuinely will not move if he doesn't receive a pass. Either that or it's a signal from Reo. He's literally just waiting to be fed passes instead of chasing the ball."

Raichi's eyes got a little wide and he grinned. "He was always like that. Watching and waiting to be fed passes. Only then will he take off. On a day where he's feeling good and risky, he'll go and steal the ball from anyone, including his teammates."

"That's good that you remember," Chigiri said, wiping his face with a towel. "I hope you have a plan that'll work, Isagi. Ego's was complete bullshit. Anyone would've been able to figure out what we were gonna do but we still trusted him."

"Yeah," Isagi replied. "So, we just keep the ball from Reo. If any of you ask me about Nagi, I'd just say play it safe around him because he seems relatively lazy."

"Good idea," Naruhaya said, giving a thumbs up.

"Kudos," Gagamaru stated as he saluted to Isagi.

🥀🥀🥀

Three goals plus a red card for Kuon later and as expected, Y/n didn't budge. He didn't move a single muscle.

But he was visibly troubled.

When he saw Reo on the opposite of the field as the ball, he grew weary and antsy in trepidation. When faced with being unable to do what he was told or what he told others to do, he was lost, and he was illogical.

He lifted himself on the balls of his feet and ran.

His desperation was at an all-time high as he watched Isagi close in on the goal, Nagi hot on Yoichi's tail.

"Don't tell me you're still hellbent on trying," Nagi whispered just loud enough for Isagi to hear. "What a waste of time."

He was on the move, but the only thing that indicated Y/n's departure from his position were the screams of Team Z members.

"When did he make a move!?"

"Isagi watch what you do!!"

"What the hell!?"

The one that was most concerned was Gagamaru.

Y/n had never ever looked so stressed during a game. He never looked so mad, so confused, so...desperate and eager.

But wait, he did look like that once.

When he was a solo knight fighting a dragon of eleven people, only to be killed despite his efforts to win the battle and come out on top.

Isagi had heard Nagi's threatening tone and responded, equally as irked. "Shut up, genius. I'm just getting to the good part..."

As soon as Isagi reeled his leg back, Y/n jumped.

His head closest to Isagi and his back straight with his legs making a 'v' shape, bent at a ninety degree angle from his chest (like an L).

Isagi shot.

The ball went right through Y/n's legs.

Megged midair.

Y/n's body spun counter-clockwise as he barely managed to bend his knees and tuck them and he slid across the soft artificial grass, his arms and legs burning as he blacked out for a moment.

He hit the wall.

The sound was absolutely soul-crushing.

When he came to, it took a moment for the pain to sink in and for his body to really register the agony.

Immediately at his side was Gagamaru, on his knees and looking down at Y/n.

Tears dropped before he let out a pained gasp through grit teeth, suppressing a deafening scream as he tried to get up.

The burning and feeling of his skin ripping apart at the seam was a horrifying feeling.

Bleeding through a skin-tight suit?

He tried to toughen it out, but instead, without even realizing it, he clung to Gagamaru.

"It hurts."