The locker room felt like a pressure cooker
No one spoke
Not because they didn't want to
But because Keisuke had pinned something to the board before practice
A single line
"I already know what you'll do before you decide to do it"
At first they thought it was a joke
Then the session started
And it stopped being funny real fast
Coach had divided them into two teams
Keisuke would captain one
The other was made up of all the regular starters
Tactics were hidden
No pre-match huddle
Just kick off and chaos
But within five minutes
Everyone on Keisuke's team was exactly where they needed to be
Every run was met with a pass
Every trap triggered like a bomb
And every time the opposing team tried something clever
Keisuke had already shut it down
"You're reading us" the left winger muttered
"No" Keisuke replied
"I'm reading the coach"
Coach Matsuda narrowed his eyes from the sideline
He hadn't even shared tactics with anyone
Yet Keisuke had already flipped his plan inside out
The ball barely touched Keisuke's feet
But he was orchestrating it all
Like a puppet master with invisible strings
A surprise pressing trap on the third ball
A decoy run to bait the centerback out of position
Even a moment where he let the other team score
Just to watch how they celebrated
"That was intentional?" one of his own teammates whispered
Keisuke didn't reply
Just looked up at the ceiling like he was bored
The score didn't matter
The board on the sideline did
Coach walked over to it after the scrimmage
And saw that Keisuke had redrawn the entire team's structure
With names crossed out
New roles suggested
And question marks around the captain's name
"You think you can run this team better than me?" Coach asked
Keisuke finally smiled
"No
I already am"
Silence
Heavy
Uneasy
And for the first time
Someone muttered what everyone else had feared
"He's not just a player
He's becoming the system"
Practice ended early that day
Not because it was bad
But because no one knew if they were still part of the plan
Or just pieces in a blueprint they didn't understand
Keisuke walked out last
Dragging his bag
Looking like a genius who was already ten moves ahead
Except this wasn't chess
This was war
And the board wasn't big enough for everyone