The hours counted down until it was down to the minutes and which each passing, tension built, nerves frayed and excitement spiked. Despite that, Team Z felt refreshed, ready and resolute. Whatever happens, happens. We were ready to die on the Field if need be. Any result except a victory was unacceptable to us so when it finally came time for the Team Talk, the whole Break room was silent so I stood up and led. "This is it, guys. The last match in Bluelock 1st Selection is our own. The other match ended in a 1 - 1 draw so we HAVE to win to guarantee our survival in Bluelock. I want every single one of you to give 110% on that Field. Our future is in our hands. ITS WIN OR DIE, TEAM Z!!! NOW LET'S GO TEAR TEAM V APART!!!!" My shout elevated the Fighting Spirits of everyone and with that energy, we made our way to the Field, our battlefield. We got on the Field at the same time as Team V but this time, there was a qualitative shift in our energy as we entered our formation. Every single Team Z member were staring daggers at Team V, like a pack of Hyenas sighting an injured and weakened Prey. All that was needed was the Whistle and the hunt would begin.
Reo, noticing the collective death stares of the entire Team Z, felt a harsh chill run down his Spine causing him to involuntarily shiver. This little detail didn't escape my eyes and that's when I knew Team V wasn't ready for us. That brought a massive smile to my face as we awaited the opening Whistle.
5...…4…..3…..2...1…..
The Whistle sounded loud and clear. The Hunt is on.
Immediately, the front 3 of me on the left, Bachira on the right and Kunigami up front rushed forward ready to tear into Team V.
Reo, the one who kicked us off, moved forward to greet our charge but the collective dark, menacing aura of the entire Team Z froze him in his tracks forcing him to hurriedly pass to a Team V midfielder who was immediately charged down by me so he quickly passed the ball to another teammate but Kunigami and his intimidating physique was already chasing him down so the panicking player fired a long ball towards Zantetsu, the stupidly fast Speedster (emphasis on 'stupid' because this guy is dumb as hell). Chigiri stood ready to react to his movements but he never got to touch the ball because Isagi had read it and headed the ball out of play. Throw in to Team V.
Team V took their time throwing the ball back into play and they passed around for a few minutes before getting the ball to Reo. Isagi appeared in front of him with Gagamaru in support. Seeing he was trapped, he sent a long ground pass to Zantetsu again down on the left wing and he received it and took off running but just behind him was me, hawking him down from the inside and forcing him out towards the touchline. I knew outrunning him was impossible so I kited him towards a position where he wouldn't have a good chance to shoot and would either have to cross into our box or pass back.
Clicking his teeth in frustration, he sent an out-swinging cross past my outstretched leg towards Nagi in the middle but Raichi jumped the highest and, with an enraged shout of "Not on my watch!!!", headed it out of our Box and up towards Igaguri who barely managed to control it and pass it to Kunigami. Seeing that, I was already running back up the Field after I had chased down Zantetsu and joined the counterattack. Team Z immediately pushed up and Kunigami passed the ball to Bachira who had a look in his eyes I had never seen before and instead of moving down the right wing as he usually does, he sprinted down the middle and began tearing apart the entire Team V Midfield and Defence all on his own. Just in case, I took a position running alongside him on the Left and Kunigami thought the same, taking Bachira's position on the right as he moved down the middle with the ball.
Zantetsu managed to get in front of Bachira to stop him and Bachira did with the ball under his feet. "You've gone far enough, Bangs", Zantetsu said with as much seriousness as he could muster. Bachira just smiled and pushed the ball forward followed by a series of super-fast Stepovers, confusing the spectacled simpleton. In an instant, Bachira pushed the ball with the outside of his left foot to the left and in the same motion flicked it back to the right. Zantetsu followed the movements, quickly stretching a foot to stop Bachira's movement but he was nowhere near done. Seeing Zantetsu's foot coming, he dragged the ball behind him with his right leg and boosted to the left where he initially pushed the ball to, leaving Zantetsu stuck on the right. Resuming his charge down the middle, Bachira was besieged by two more Defenders from Team V and he welcomed their challenge by charging at them, nutmegging one of them, leaving him looking stupid and raising the ball with a Rainbow Flick while simultaneously vaulting over the second defender that came sliding in. Another one came rushing in again, desperate to stop him but Bachira was in another place entirely. Easily feinting left and right and left again in quick succession, the bamboozled defender was left on spaghetti legs and, with a twist, fell on his face, leaving Bachira in a One-on-One with the on-rushing Goalkeeper. With a wide smile, Bachira lifted his Right leg, crossed it behind his standing Left leg and connected perfectly with the ball. A picture perfect Rabona shot that sent the ball looping over the Goalkeeper's desperately flailing arms in the air and slid down the back of the net with the greatest of ease and just like that, in the 3rd minute, Team Z was ahead.
Team Z 1 - 0 Team V
This incredible goal fired up Team Z and raised our competitive spirits once again. We were more than ready to get more. Quickly collecting myself, I rushed in and grabbed the ball from the net and strolled towards the Center Circle. On the way, I deliberately bumped my shoulder into Reo and said, "We're just getting started. Prepare for the worst day of your Life. The Hunt continues." before walking past him and placing the ball on the Center Circle, waiting for them to resume the game. The rest of Team Z went back to our own half and waited patiently for them.
Team V on the other hand were absolutely shook. They were still reeling from that dazzling display of Skill. Shaky and concerned murmurs were breaking out everywhere but ultimately, they shelved their thoughts and got ready to resume the game.
At the sound of the Whistle, Reo kicked off again and Team Z pushed up to greet their charge. I rushed in and charged down Reo but Zantetsu moved to block my charge, leaving a space behind him that Reo passed into and the ball was received by a midfielder and he moved down the line on the left. Gagamaru broke off and went after him but he passed inside to what looked like nobody but the ball was getting charged down by me and Zantetsu who had stolen a march on me and was slowly pulling away from me. Luckily, Isagi appeared out of nowhere and slid for the ball, getting it away from him and towards the touchline where a red-headed blur took it and started flying at maximum speed. This absolutely stunned Zantetsu as he thought I was the only person capable of keeping up with him, albeit barely. Now there was another Speed Demon on Team Z, Team Z's No. 4, Chigiri Hyoma.
"Look at him go. Welcome back, Red Lightning." I muttered watching him finally come alive. Step by step, stride by stride, ball in front of him, the rest of the world blurring into nothingness, the Field, the enemy team, his own teammates, nothing mattered anymore. Everything in him was focused on this one very moment, driving towards Goal with every ounce of energy in his body. This development absolutely stunned Team V, Reo could only stand there, mouth agape, completely frozen and muttering "Wh….wha...what is going on here? Who is this guy? What's with that insane speed? Has Team Z been hiding a monster like this all this time?" as he watched Chigiri blow past player after player until he was on the left hand side of the 18-yard Box and with a decisive BOOM!!, his Right Leg connected with the ball and sent it flying at high speeds, past the Goalkeeper's hands and into the Top right-hand corner of the net. In the 5th minute, Team Z had doubled their lead. This just went from bad to worse for Team V.
Team Z 2 - 0 Team V
With very little celebration, Kunigami collected the ball from the Net and brought it to the center circle, placed it down and stepped into our own Half saying, "Bring it, Team V. We're not done with you yet."
Reo stood at the Center Circle absolutely dumbfounded and with a look of Fear and growing Despair. An expression which forced a sneer from my face and I intently taunted him, "Oi, Oi, what's with that look? Is that...…is that Fear I'm sensing from you? Pathetic. Utterly pathetic. And you had the nerve to underestimate us back then but look at you now. Barely 5 minutes in and you already look like you're ready to give up.". This caused him to flare up with rage and he fired back with a sudden defiant look, "Don't get ahead of yourself, you bastard. We're just getting started.". I just scoffed and replied, "So are we, rich boy. Don't worry, you're about to taste the sweetest, absolutely nourishing Cuisine no 5, 6, 7 or 100-star restaurant could ever hope to cook up. Defeat. And guess what, its on the house, courtesy of Team Z. aren't we so nice?". This caused a round of laughter to ring out from all of Team Z and, just as quickly as we started laughing, our focus snapped back onto the match and our faces showed an intense look of concentration, 11 pairs of deadly looking eyes drilling into one person is enough to weaken the resolve of the victim and that victim happened to be Reo Mikage.
Hesitantly, he kicked off the game and passed to Zantetsu who received the ball and paused as I stepped in front of him. "Try and get past me, you spectacled simpleton. I know how to handle your Speed.", I taunted. He just scoffed and said, "Your taunts have no offence on me." and passed back to Reo. I was befuddled and muttered, "Don't you mean 'Your taunts have no EFFECT on me'? Jesus Christ, how did you get into Highschool in the first place?". Quickly shaking off the psychic damage of his incredible Stupidity, I focused on marking him while Team V passed around with the intention of not letting any of us get the ball because it would most likely result in another goal for Team Z.
In the 12th minute, Nagi of all people shouted at Reo from our own half, saying "Hey, Reo!! Just send it long!! I'll do the rest!!" and complying, Reo sent a high flying, long pass from inside his own half, over everybody's head and in Nagi's direction which Nagi chased after.
As the ball came down in front of the 18-yard Box, with Raichi and Igaguri coming from the left and right respectively to box him in, Nagi, with a sudden sharp glint in his eyes, jumped into the air, stretched his leg out and intercepted the dropping ball that had a lot of power behind it. What was supposed to happen was the ball, with its incredible power and crazy topspin, would bounce off his leg, fall to anyone, most likely a Team Z member and we would counter. But as fate would have it, that future didn't come to pass. What happened instead was the Ball connected with Nagi's outstretched leg and stopped cold as Nagi brought his leg down, set himself and blasted an accurate shot from outside the Box into the top Left-hand corner of the Net.
Team Z 2 - 1 Team V
Silence. Absolute, mouth-agape, pin-drop Silence. No breathing, just complete shock. What kind of monster is this? Where the hell did he come from? "What incredible control. So this is Team V's secret Weapon. Nagi Seishiro, you are a true monster.", I acknowledged with a stunned mutter. Although this goal stung and swung the pendulum of Momentum in Team V's favour, we weren't shaken. Instead, we were excited. If we lock down this new ace, Team V will certainly crumble and we will mercilessly pounce.
Iemon, our Goalkeeper, was just as stunned as everyone else, so much so that he didn't react to Nagi's shot. He, enraged at his distraction, grabbed the ball and kicked it away from his Goal towards the Center Circle in frustration and stomped hard on the turf with both legs, muttering to himself, "That's it. That's the last time anyone scores here. I'll die before I concede another goal". So with a burning Determination, he smashed his gloved fists together and breathed out hard, blowing out a wisp of white smoke like an enraged Bull. Seeing his face, I nodded and caught the ball from the air, walked up to the Center Circle and placed the ball down before stepping away to let Kunigami take over.
At the sound of the Whistle, Kunigami kicked us off by passing the Ball to me and I immediately passed it back to Chigiri who controlled it and passed to Isagi in the middle. At this point, Team V, who had regained a bit of their confidence after Nagi's wonder goal, came rushing at us, determined to equalise and possibly take the lead. Isagi left the ball for Gagamaru who sent a low pass to Bachira but somehow, Nagi read it and intercepted, immediately running forward. Alarmed, Isagi and Raichi immediately ran back while Gagamaru, quickly apologising, ran in to stop him. Nagi lobbed the ball up in front of Gagamaru and as he stepped forward to intercept the mid-air ball, Nagi bounced it hard against the ground with the bottom of his foot and as a result, the ball flew over Gagamaru's head but instead of panicking, Gagamaru, using his incredible agility, kicked his leg up behind him and, executing a standing Scorpion kick, smashed the Ball up and away from the both of them, thwarting Nagi's plan before it even started. Kungami quickly recovered the ball and sent it upfield towards me as I was the furthest player forward.
I carefully controlled the ball and Zantetsu was already ready to stop me. I pushed off towards the middle of the Field and he was right in front of me yet again. 'I see. So that's his weapon. His extraordinary Acceleration. But I'm sure in a normal long Sprint, I can beat him for Pace. Barely. He's basically Su Bingtian but as a Footballer. Alright then, let's see how he fares against the Red Lightning', I thought to myself and continued pushing towards the middle but quickly using my Right foot to drag the ball behind me and sent a Chop pass to the open space I created after I pushed down the middle for Chigiri who came bursting down the Left that I left for him. Reacting quickly, Zantetsu chased after Chigiri and initially was matching him stride for stride but 3 seconds later, he was eating dust and flailing to catch up but he just couldn't as Chigiri was just too fast. As Chigiri had to boost the ball forward to chase after, Reo appeared to intercept the lone ball and the incoming Chigiri. "That's far enough, redhead. This ball is mine.", said Reo as he prepared to receive the ball but a voice interrupted him saying, "Not quite. If you wanted the ball, you should have been here." Isagi from nowhere took position between Reo and the incoming ball and with a slight tap, laid it in front of Chigiri to continue his run which he gladly obliged. Blitzing past the two of them, Chigiri suddenly cut inside, leaving one defender stranded on the floor and fired a bending shot to the top Right-hand corner but his shot smashed against the post and deflected to the right where Gagamaru came rushing in, eager to score his first Goal in Bluelock. He fired off his shot but a Defender got in the way, blocking it with his back and sending the ball away from the box, out to a certain muscle-bound, orange-haired No.9, Kunigami Rensuke. He set himself up, right in his ideal range and, with full force, blasted a Left-footed thunderbolt straight down the middle, past the Defenders, past the Goalkeeper and almost through the back of the Net. Team Z had increased their lead yet again.
Team Z 3 - 1 Team V
In the 15th minute of the game, it was Team V's turn to resume the game yet again. What little confidence they managed to gather was immediately hammered as they conceded another goal. Again, we didn't celebrate. Instead, Kunigami went and picked up the ball from the Net and we all walked back to our own Half. He placed the ball down on the Center Circle and we waited for them to resume the game.