3.36. The Final Day (Part 1)

"To all of the Bluelock TV fans worldwide, thank you for tuning in!"

Bluelock, on the final day of the NEL. The entire compound had been invited into the final game. In the match room, temporary stands had been created, seating the hundred-so players belonging to Ubers, FC Barcha, and Manshine City as an audience.

"Get ready, for the moment you've all been waiting for is upon us! The climax of the Neo Egoist League! The top two performing teams so far, Paris X Gen, and Bastard Munchen!"

"Both of these teams have currently two wins under their belt! Who will snag the third, to become the Neo Egoist League champion?!"

"Only seconds now, as the teams finish their huddles!"

And in an office across Tokyo, the president of the Japanese Football Union, Buratsuta Hirotoshi was on a call to one of the highest ranking World Football Association officials.

"BLTV is nearing two hundred million subscribers worldwide!" He squealed joyously. "At 500 yen per subscription, we've earnt a hundred billion yen already! It is one of the biggest and best sports entertainment programs on the planet!"

He had his camera on. The other man didn't, an anonymous profile shown on screen. "Go on."

"The entire world is tuning in to see the emergence of its latest superstar!" Buratsuta grinned. "Huge popularity... and that's why, I, the person who organised and authorised all of this, humbly ask for you to consider my ideas to increase revenue!"

"Keep talking." A hint of interest in the official's voice, he spoke.

"Well, sir..." Buratsuta's smile got wider. "It involves the genius of a man called Kuroi."

Finally, in one of Bluelock's monitoring rooms, a door swished open. Ego Jinpachi walked in, cup of coffee in hand, ready to settle down and watch the final game. On the monitors, he could see Anri, in the audience alongside the teams not playing. She looked excited, speaking with Snuffy and Lavinho with a sparkle in her eyes.

The Neo Egoist League. Ego had honestly never predicted Bluelock evolving to this level. But it had, and his goal, his plan to create the best striker in the world, was definitely coming to fruition. Just a few more steps. The U-20 World Cup was the next one.

"The stage is set." The casters dramatically intoned. "Let the battle begin!"

But then Ego spotted something else in the room. And he realised something was wrong.

"Kickoff!"

PXG decided to play Rin and Shidou at the same time...! Isagi grinned. An all in, high-risk high-reward tactic to try and take us out... this is so interesting!

He had one plan for this game. So did all his allies. Kurona. Hiori. Raichi. And himself, all ready to crown Isagi the king of the Neo Egoist League. Forget Kaiser. Forget Rin. Forget even Y/N. At the end of the day, it would be Isagi sitting on the throne.

The game started.

Ness passed to Kaiser.

Everyone was moving.

Isagi sprinted up the side of the field. Shidou and Kaiser collided, the latter moving his shoulder low, Shidou being barged away. Kaiser pulled the ball away from Shidou, and passed away to Ness.

Ness received it. He was instantly pressed by a PXG player. But Kaiser was already on the move, dashing around Shidou and beckoning for the ball back. Isagi tracked it, noting everyone's positions... and as Ness passed, he saw the person intercepting it.

Karasu swiped the ball from the air. He barely had time to land before Kunigami was there, extending a foot to knock the ball out of control, far across the pitch.

Tracking, tracking, tracking... Raichi and Zantetsu both ran for the ball, struggling against each other. Hiori was there, but before Hiori could get it, Nanase appeared.

I need to be here...! Isagi threw himself forwards towards Rin. Nanase landed, passed, and Isagi was in the perfect position to stop the ball going to Rin. He was a little slow, but that didn't matter as he used his head to knock it to the side.

The ball bounced out of the pitch. Isagi scoffed, pressing both palms to the floor. "What is it you like to say? Lukewarm, number one."

Rin's jaw tightened. "Keep talking while you still can."

And far above, the casters' voice rang out. They'd been given their own spot, observing the arena from a glass window a few stories up one of the walls. "W-whoa....!"

"Such a fast paced start! Forget feeling each other out, forget trying to slowly build up, these two teams are going straight for the kill right from the very start!"

"Don't look away, guys! The fight to become the champion of the Neo Egoist League has just begun!"

Isagi jogged back to his own team. On the side, one of the PXG players scooped up the ball. He raised it above his head, eyes scanning the pitch.

Hella difficult... We knew they'd use a Shidou based system and a Rin based system, but I never thought they'd try to deploy both at the same time. We just need to hold on until we can understand their game plan, and then work from there!

The ball was tossed in.

Tokimitsu sprinted to where it was going to land, catching it on the outside of his foot. He passed to Karasu, and from there, PXG launched their attack.

Karasu. Rin. Tokimitsu. Then to Nanase, who used his right foot to trap, and left one to pass it on. Bastard Munchen's players went to meet them. Hiori attempted a tackle on Nanase. Ness held Tokimitsu back. Isagi himself waited near Rin, putting himself a bit further back to see all the action unfold.

His gaze lasered in on Charles. The youngest playmaker in the entire NEL. Raichi had been assigned to marking him, completely shutting him off from his team. Because everyone knew, as soon as Charles got the ball, PXG's offensive power would skyrocket.

But Raichi isn't ready for the pass! Isagi began moving towards Charles. As he approached, the boy ducked, doing a half circle around Raichi to get to his other side. And then he leapt forwards, the ball flying towards him.

Isagi shot out a foot, knocking it aside. I can read him! He landed in a crouch, pumping his fist.

"Oh, wow!" Upon hearing the childish, pouty voice, Isagi turned. Charles had stopped running, just looking back at him with a mildly impressed look. He grinned, exposing small fangs on his top teeth. "You're terrific, ahoge-man!"

Isagi blinked. I like this hairstyle, you know? As Bastard Munchen took control of the ball, going from Ness to Grim and back, Charles shrugged. He began jogging back towards his team, crooking a finger cheekily at Isagi.

"I like playing against a tactician instead of a physical brute." He looked Isagi up and down. "So, let's do this, yeah?" Isagi's eye twitched. So arrogant!

On the other side of the pitch, Ness was pressured from two sides. Tokimitsu put himself right in front of Ness, and from the back, Zantetsu sprinted towards them. It didn't deter Ness, though. The boy flicked the ball into the air over Tokimitsu, stepped around, and poked the ball onwards.

Kaiser received it easily. Three defenders stood between him and the goal. Isagi hung back, watching. Two of them are pressing him... and the third hangs back in case he gets past.

Batting aside Karasu's arm, stepping to one side, Kaiser threw both of the defenders off with a single move. He made to shoot-

And like a phantom, Rin materialised behind him.

He hooked the ball from Kaiser's feet, twisting his body so he faced towards Bastard Munchen's goal. A roar came up from some of the audience.

And then he took off.

"Watch out!"

"The counter-attack!"

"Someone go to him!"

Three defenders. Kunigami, Raichi, Ness. They were uncoordinated, rushing at him one behind the other, and Rin took full advantage of that. He blurred between them, changing directions on a dime, ducking around them so fast and with such precision none of them could touch him.

Kunigami and Raichi were completely lost. Rin finished it in style, lifting the ball over Ness's head and nearly making him fall over backwards as he tried to see the ball.

And then he'd broken through. Isagi headed for him. So did Kaiser. So did other defenders. But instead of running the full way by himself, he passed to a boy running on his side. Nanase.

Nanase shot forwards. Rin sped up, as his teammate drew the defenders onto him. Two of them rushed for Nanase at the same time, but he spun, turning his back to them and using both of his arms to hold them at bay. Then, using his left leg, he passed.

A perfect pass to Rin. Yet, Isagi had read it.

Kaiser slid in from Rin's left. Isagi lunged, grabbing hold of Rin's shirt, shoving him backwards. "If you can't shoot... you're nothing." The double press was perfect - nobody would be able to shoot in this situation.

But Rin didn't relinquish control of the ball.

He staggered over Kaiser's slide, carrying the ball with him. Isagi was brought along for the ride too, Rin grabbing the back of his shirt and forcing him to look forwards. "I can still shoot." He ground out. "I've just been waiting for you to arrive... Isagi."

Isagi's blood ran cold in his veins. He froze up, unable to do anything but watch as Rin flawlessly outmanoeuvred both of them. "Here. Your VIP seat to watch me score."

He shot.

A straight shot, direct to the corner of the goal. But before it could reach, Hiori was there, flinging out a leg to bounce the ball away.

It went wild, spinning through the air.

Karasu jumped high, trapping it on his chest. Hiori was already on the move for him, barely a few steps behind. Karasu turned, one long arm extending to keep Hiori away, and made a run for the goal.

PXG swarmed forwards. Four players ran forwards, two on either side of Karasu. The man in the middle kept moving forwards. Isagi narrowed his eyes. Think, think... what are they planning...? Bastard Munchen players moved to mark their counterparts. Isagi himself ran for Zantetsu, trying to mark him.

A huge attack, the biggest so far. Before, it'd just been Rin and Nanase. Now, five players faced the goal.

And in that heated moment, in the single most tense second so far, Karasu didn't move forwards. He stepped over the ball, throwing Hiori off, and passed backwards.

Backwards to Charles Chevalier.

Charles didn't even wait. Even as the ball flew towards him, his leg was already drawn back, swinging forwards. Not a split-second of hesitation, not a moment of rest for Bastard Munchen.

He slammed his foot into the ball. Isagi abandoned Zantetsu, going right for Rin. It's gonna go here...!

It didn't.

A long pass. Further than Rin, flying above both Isagi and his heads. Isagi turned fast. Where... It was probably over thirty metres, perfectly sent to absolutely nobody.

Until he saw Shidou. Sprinting straight for where the ball would land, not even looking at it as it spiralled right over his shoulder.

Did they plan that...?

No.

Shidou wasn't looking at the ball. Charles hadn't spotted Shidou either before hitting that pass. As Shidou glanced over his head, realising that yes, there was a pass to him, his face brightened. Charles' did too, laughing happily. "Someone actually caught up!"

Shidou pushed off the ground. He didn't use his leg to shoot like everyone else, choosing instead to lunge forwards head first. And he made contact perfectly.

He smashed the ball forwards with his forehead. And try as hard as he could, Gagamaru couldn't stop the ball. It flew right past his outstretched fingers, slamming into the back of the net.

Shidou crashed to the ground.

"With a rocket diving header, Shidou Ryusei gets the first goal of this game!"

"So explosive! So coordinated! So unstoppable, with a killer pass from Charles Chevalier, and a perfect follow-up from Shidou! PXG takes the lead!"

On the field, Isagi steeled himself. He exhaled.

Y/N L/N, on Bastard Munchen. The boy had shown himself to be a greater threat than Isagi could've ever expected. As soon as Isagi had pulled ahead, Y/N had made a complete change, becoming a much, much better player in the space of just two weeks. But I've planned for Y/N being on either PXG or Bastard. I can do this. I can outclass him.

"And as usual folks, the Mercenary, Y/N L/N joins the game on Bastard Munchen's side!"

There was a silence from the casters. The microphone turned off for a few seconds, and when it returned in a flash of static, the casters let out a hasty laugh.

"Well... it would be usual, but for this game, we have disabled the Mercenary System!" Isagi looked towards the casting box so fast that he nearly fell over with dizziness. What?

Both of the casters stood by the glass window, looking out over the pitch as they spoke. Yet, there was a third person further back from the window, speaking to them even as they casted. "That's right, folks! With the removal of the Mercenary, we're guaranteed to see the most exciting, closest game yet! The true champion of the Neo Egoist League is decided right here, right now!"

Isagi frowned.

He didn't know how to react. Maybe it was just a surprise, but he had an uneasy feeling in his stomach. It's good, right? Y/N isn't playing... so that's one less rival I have to worry about right now. I'll beat Kaiser and Rin first, and focus on him later.

But if they'd planned Y/N to not play, why was the chair he always sat in still put out there between the two teams' substitute benches?

Why did the casters sound so unsure, speaking fast and overly bright?

Isagi watched as two men dressed in suits ran - sprinted - into the room. Some of the Bluelock workers...? Discreetly as possible, they approached Anri, hurriedly speaking to her. Isagi was far away from her. But he could see the colour drain from her face, and the urgency with which she scrambled to her feet.

The two men stayed. They split up, searching the room as they spoke fast into radios. Anri legged it out of the room at top speed. And all the while, the casters' nervous voices presided over the game.

"Now, Bastard Munchen, restart the game!"

Isagi blinked. His teammates didn't have any qualms, retrieving the ball and moving it to the centre of the pitch. But he couldn't get over the sensation that something was wrong. Very wrong.

But he pushed it to one side, and returned his full focus to the game.

I can't afford to get distracted.

Not now.