Chapter 63: Super Synergy
Nighttime. Team Isagi's dorm room.
"So, is it officially confirmed? Our opponents are Kira's team?" Chigiri asked, lying on his bed.
"Mhm, that's right." Nagi nodded.
Barou added fiercely, "Crush them."
Isagi took out a strategy board and began sketching and writing.
Chigiri watched, a bit dazed. 'Isn't this the job Kira used to do?'
"Tomorrow, the opposition will probably line up in a formation like this." After Isagi finished drawing, he showed it to the others.
On the board, the opponent's Rin was in the center.
Bachira was at the back.
On the flanks were Aryu and Kira.
"Huh? Just what level is this Rin guy? Kira's not playing center forward for them?" Barou found this odd, even though he knew Rin was currently the number one ranked player.
But since he'd never played against Rin—
Barou subconsciously still believed Kira was their team's greatest threat.
"He's not inferior to Kira. He might even be stronger," Chigiri replied after a moment's thought.
"Is that so..." Barou instantly felt the pressure. Kira alone was going to be more than enough to deal with tomorrow.
Add Rin on top of that...
...the difficulty was looking a little high.
Then again, doesn't that just make it more interesting?
He would devour every last one of them!
Barou steeled his resolve.
"I'll be in the center marking Rin. The right flank goes to Chigiri, who has the speed advantage. The left side goes to Nagi."
"And Barou will be here, free to devour any of the three up front at any time. We'll go with this formation."
Isagi sketched out their team's positions as he spoke.
"Heh. In that case, my opponent tomorrow is that Mushroom Head, Bachira, right?" Barou flexed his wrists.
"Then I guess I'm up against that long-limbed Aryu again." Chigiri's impression of Aryu was still sharp.
That terrifying spatial control from their last match— he was a monster, too.
"So, I get to mark Kira," Nagi said, his eyes filled with excitement.
"Right. As long as we win this match, we all pass the Second Selection!"
"Everyone, let's give it everything we've got!" Isagi snapped his pen shut with a click and shouted excitedly.
"HRAAAGH!"
The others responded instantly.
***
The next day. Match day.
Team Kira was once again in their red jerseys.
"Bachira, you ready?" Kira asked, finishing with his cleats.
"Mhm, all set. Let's go." Bachira tied his own laces.
"Hey, Bachira, remember to pass to me a lot today. I want to defeat them in a truly stylish way~" Aryu said to Bachira.
"Okay, okay, okay!" Bachira agreed cheerfully.
But Kira couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
'Recalling the manga's plot, I remember Rin's team won this match too.'
'And Bachira, it seemed, evolved during this game.'
'So, is this some kind of omen before his evolution?'
Kira shook his head. He'd worry about that later. First, they had to win this match.
"Hey. Hurry up and get moving. Let's go annihilate them."
Rin was standing coolly at the door, hands in his pockets.
"Roger that, Iceberg!" Kira replied, and the four of them walked into the tunnel together.
***
On the other side.
Isagi's four, dressed in white jerseys, were already there.
"They're here!" Chigiri gave the alert as Rin's group of four appeared on the field.
"Do we really need the polite pleasantries, gentlemen?"
Kira observed them silently, then sneakily absorbed the Trial Cards for Barou, Chigiri, Nagi, and Rin.
"No need for that. Let's just start, Kira." Isagi's eyes were brimming with fighting spirit. 'I can't wait to devour you, Ryosuke Kira.'
The match began.
The Red Team had possession.
Rin kicked off. He observed the White Team's positioning.
He realized he couldn't just take a direct shot.
'In front of the goal... is that tall guy intentionally positioned to guard against my shot?'
'They've actually improved a bit.'
Rin tapped the ball to Bachira on the flank.
Kira immediately moved up in support.
He was ready to receive Bachira's pass after he broke through.
But what happened next was somewhat outside of Kira's expectations.
'What's going on?'
Kira saw that Bachira, facing Isagi, had failed to break through.
'Isagi managed to shut him down 1v1?'
Kira observed the White Team's positioning, and Isagi's own position.
Kira understood instantly.
The reason Bachira had been forced to stop his dribble—was Nagi, providing cover right behind Isagi.
If Bachira tried to break past on that side, Nagi was in a perfect position to immediately shut him down.
Therefore, Isagi only needed to focus his defensive efforts on the other side.
This meant that in the instant Bachira received the ball, Isagi had already assessed the state of the field.
...and made the best possible choice.
'It seems Isagi's vision has improved by leaps and bounds.'
"Bachira, pass it back! Watch out for the trap!"
Kira shouted the warning the moment he understood, realizing Bachira was about to be double-teamed.
Bachira understood his predicament as well.
But he didn't immediately follow Kira's order to pass back.
Quite the opposite, he abruptly changed direction. His center of gravity tilted directly toward Nagi's side.
He knew it was a trap, but he charged right into it.
Bachira chose to break through right where Nagi was.
"I knew you'd pick that, Mushroom Head!" A tiger-like figure pressed in on him.
It was the White Team's Barou.
'Dammit!' Kira thought. This was bad. Given Bachira's physique, facing pressure from a power-type player like Barou, he was very likely to lose the ball.
'Pass back?'
'No!'
A light flashed in Kira's eyes. 'I almost fell for it!'
"Kick it forward, Bachira!!!"
'Forward?' Bachira was surprised, but he instinctively trusted Kira and kicked the ball diagonally forward.
Into empty space.
Kira moved, and Nagi moved too.
Nagi reached the ball's landing point first.
Kira was right behind him.
Nagi stared at Kira in surprise. 'Why isn't he closing in to fight me for the ball?'
The distance Kira was keeping was dangerously ambiguous.
If Nagi tried to dribble forward, Kira could use that opening to pounce.
If he stopped the ball now, Kira would block his line of sight and get in front of him.
'We only played against each other once in the last match.'
'And Kira already understands my habits this well.'
'What a monster.'
"Let me see what you're going to do, Nagi!" Kira was also very interested to see what choice he would make.
Nagi's body suddenly leaped high into the air.
'If he tries an aerial trap, I'll...'
Kira suddenly realized— 'No, that's not it!'
He immediately jumped as well, extending his leg to intercept.
But he was too late.
Nagi's best solution was to not trap the ball at all.
A direct pass.
"Catch it, Princess!!!"
Nagi kicked the ball toward Chigiri's position on the far side of the field.
At the same time, he broke out in a cold sweat as he landed.
'Kira saw through my decision just now.'
'If I had been even a little bit slower, that pass would have been broken up.'
'This Kira guy is a real pain to deal with.'
'Tsk. Nagi's gotten stronger, too. He's actually starting to use his brain now.' Kira understood that to win this match, he was actually going to have to break a sweat.
"Wow, what a stylish pass~" Aryu started running toward the landing spot of Nagi's pass.
His body was slender, and his speed was surprising.
Rin moved too, running toward the landing spot with light steps.
Just as the ball drifted back toward the Red Team, a white flash cut across their vision.
Someone was faster than both of them.
Just as both of them extended their legs to intercept, Chigiri flicked the ball up, his body as light as a swallow, leaping over their blockade.
Like a hurdler, he dashed forward with the ball.
Kira watched from a distance and shook his head.
'They won't catch him.'
'We're about to lose the first point.'
'Isagi's team... their progress is too fast.'
'First, Isagi and Barou's linked pressure nearly forced a steal.'
'Even though their steal failed because of my warning...'
'...Nagi's reaction was incredibly fast. He fully utilized his exquisite trapping to make that mid-air pass, creating a breakthrough chance for Chigiri.'
'And Chigiri used his speed to capitalize on all that build-up.'
Boom!
Chigiri fired his shot, and the ball hit the back of the net.
The White Team took the lead, 1-0.
'Is this the super synergy they evolved just to defeat us?'
Kira stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.
'It's making me want to crush you even more.'
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