22. Racing Against Time

The game restarted, for yet another time. Team V held the ball, with Reo receiving it off a teammate. The prideful, playful expression he wore at the start of the game had disappeared, replaced by desperation as he moved forwards.

Nagi watched, patiently waiting for the ball as always. If he was being honest, he didn't particularly like soccer. But at the same time... watching Y/N play, watching his small body move in such impossible ways, and watching his joyful expression as he fired off a shot...

It was so cool.

But Y/N worked hard for that skill. What have I done, besides hanging around waiting for Reo to do everything for me? Nagi sighed to himself, standing in the middle of Team Z's defence. They weren't scared of him anymore - in fact, there was a little bald boy trying to square up to him, even though he only came up to Nagi's chest.

I want to score... His grey eyes focused on Reo, mentally pleading to receive a pass. It didn't seem like one was coming, though, as yet again that weird blond boy was blocking off all of Reo's movements.

Reo, can't you just shake him off? You're amazing. Why aren't you giving me passes? Nagi knew that was unfair. Reo had been trying his hardest all game to give him shots on goal, but he couldn't help but feel annoyed at Reo's desperate look.

And concerned.

Nagi ran forwards, straining his voice to call loudly across the field. "Reo, pass me the ball. Now!"

He placed himself in a good spot, watching Reo's eyes widen with surprise. The purple-haired boy dodged to the side, barely getting off a pass as Nagi received it easily.

Then, turning on his heel, Nagi sprinted down the middle of the field. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Y/N. The other boy wasn't doing anything, just watching him closely as he waited in defence. If he doesn't get involved, this goal is as good as mine.

Zantetsu was on the wing. Nagi held onto the ball a bit longer, lobbing the ball up as a distraction before he kicked it through the tiny bald boy's legs. After he was past, he sent the ball out.

"Zantetsu! Hit me a pass into the box!" Nagi sped up, feeling his muscles beginning to strain and his breathing get heavier. He barely ever needed to push himself.

Why am I trying so hard? Is it because Reo thinks we'll lose? Because I'm worried about him? He received the ball from Zantetsu after a few seconds, now being a lot closer to the goal. Almost too close, right next to the goalpost.

Almost. He leapt up, pushing off on one foot like a ballerina. Swinging his leg up and around, he twirled midair, slamming the ball with the inside of his foot into the opposite corner.

Then he fell to the floor, momentum carrying him into the artificial grass. Panting heavily, he let out a sigh of pleasure as the whistle blew loudly above. "Hey. Soccer is kind of fun."

He pushed himself up on one arm as Reo approached, wiping a bit of sweat off his face. "How many more goals do we want?"

Y/N had watched the entire goal, start to finish. If he was being honest, that wasn't really Team Z's fault, but rather, Nagi's. The white-haired boy had finally awakened his ego, and had been rewarded handsomely for it.

He grinned, humming as he watched Team Z restart the game. "Now what will you do?"

Isagi kicked the ball out to Bachira, who as usual began working the field by himself. He attempted to push forwards, but his movements were beginning to slow, and he was quickly surrounded by Team V members.

"Here, Bachira!" The blue-haired boy managed to find a gap, and received the pass. He kicked it out to the wing, where Chigiri was there to receive.

Same as before, Chigiri squared off against Zantetsu. Both of them were tired, worn out by the constant sprinting, but they were going to race again. He kicked the ball far, using the same tactic as before to try and get past him.

Once he'd kicked it, and began running, Nagi appeared.

His grey eyes were narrowed slightly, and his words came out forced between breaths. "I'll be taking this now, missy."

Before he could touch it, Isagi flung himself in front of the ball. Y/N blinked with surprise, all the way across the field as Isagi passed the ball back to Chigiri.

"Isagi...?" Y/N noticed Isagi's pass. It was perfectly timed, in Chigiri's path so the pink-haired boy could continue running without any loss of momentum. "You're like Niko. You have good eyes..."

Chigiri attempted a shot. He aimed for the top right corner, and it was incredibly close. The keep lunged across the goal, barely able to stop it as the ball glanced off the post.

It bounced twice, and suddenly Gagamaru was there, booting the ball right back again for a second shot. It was dead centre on goal - the goalkeeper was trying to get up after the first block.

The second shot was deflected by Reo, who had ran all the way from midfield to use his foot to stop the ball. It yet again bounced out of goal, and finally, it landed at the feet of Kunigami.

He'd put himself in the perfect position, directly inside his range with a clear shot on goal. And of course, he blasted it straight into the back of the net, tying up the score 4-4.

Y/N was... excited. This game was by far the most intense of any of the games Team Z had played. It was fair, or as fair as it could be with only 10 players. And everyone was trying their hardest to win.

He headed over to the midfield, walking slowly as Team V returned the ball to the centre. They shied away from him, two players with their eyes on him at all times even though he didn't plan to do a single thing.

Reo passed it backwards to Zantetsu, as far as possible from Y/N. Chigiri immediately applied pressure, trying to steal the ball, and with that, Zantetsu hit a beautiful long ball all the way across the field.

It was obviously a play to stop Y/N from taking the ball. Now that he moved out of defence, they played it over his head to try to capitalise on the space that had opened up.

He didn't care, really. He didn't want to score another goal, so he was just supporting the team by forcing Team V to play around him.

The ball headed towards Nagi. Everyone on Team Z was for some reason, miles away from the white-haired boy, paying no attention to the enemy's top player. The only person anywhere near was Isagi.

Isagi placed himself in Nagi's path, a good tactic if it was against anybody else. In his defence, Y/N supposed, there were limitless routes Nagi could take, one against one. He deflected the ball off of his back, darting around Isagi to have a clear shot on goal.

There was no time for Isagi to react.

Wait, time? Y/N glanced at the clock. There were only three minutes left. He would take only a minute and a bit to score a goal, but adding on the time it would take to restart the play, it might take two.

And if Team V scored now, there wasn't any way Y/N could score two, and keep Team Z in this.

He panicked. He wasn't the top scorer, so he wouldn't be able to move on. And if this project was going to put him directly into the Japanese U-20 team, he wasn't going to waste this chance.

He might lose.

Y/N ran.

He ran fast, accelerating across the field as Nagi approached the goal. The other boy might've been moving in slow motion, with how fast Y/N streaked across the grass.

He pushed himself hard for once, breathing hard and fast as he chased down the ball. If only he'd started a few seconds earlier... if only he'd realised what was going to happen sooner...

Y/N cursed himself out as he sped up even more, legs blurring as he bolted across the grass. I wasn't focusing at all... What is wrong with me?

It was a fatal mistake. The skill he was teaching Niko - The Eye of Providence - he hadn't used at all during this game. He hadn't focused at all on what he was seeing, and he'd been blind to not realise the ticking clock.

He was only a few metres behind as Nagi raised a leg, drawing back and preparing to shoot.

In a blur of movement, and a risky play, Y/N dove. He pushed off with one of his legs, going in for a two-footed slide block. Hopefully Nagi doesn't go for a high ball...

Warmth ran through his legs, then pain as he slid against the floor at breakneck speeds. His legs barely clipped the ball, knocking it to the side and away from the goal.

Y/N watched long enough to see the ball fly out of the field, just missing the post. He'd denied the goal...

"Thank god..." He mumbled.

He let out a huge breath, gasping for air as he slid another two metres on his legs. When he stopped, he let his head fall, leaning back so he could feel the artificial grass tickling his hair.

Then agony ripped up his leg, and he screamed.

🥕🥕🥕

It was utter agony.

Y/N lay there on the ground, a ragged, desperate noise ripping itself from his lungs as he writhed. It was harsh, an animalistic noise of pain that reached all corners of the room.

Everyone stopped playing, stunned silent by the noises coming from the fallen boy.

They'd just watched him run across half the field in literally just a few seconds. They'd watched him go faster than they'd ever seen someone run, and manage to make it all the way to stop Nagi's shot before Isagi could run ten metres.

And now he was on the ground, holding onto his leg with both hands as he howled with agony.

"Y/N L/N, please come off the field for medical assistance." The automated voice rang coolly from the speakers, and a few seconds later, a door opened on the side of the room. It had looked like part of the wall, but swung out, revealing a brightly-lit corridor

A pink-haired woman ran out, carrying a huge bag.

Nagi knelt by Y/N, who was crying with anguish. The small boy was curled into a ball, his screams still coming even through strained vocal cords.

White-hot knives dug into his leg, ripping into flesh and burning so hot it felt like his muscles were being torn to shreds. He opened his mouth to scream again, but instead of a loud noise, all that came out was a soft whimper as he clutched at his legs.

Nagi tried to tap Y/N's shoulder, retracting his hand as the boy rolled over. "What happened?"

The pink-haired woman threw the bag on the floor, kneeling by Y/N's fallen body. She seemed oddly familiar, and Nagi realised he did know her. She was the person that had registered them at the very start of Bluelock.

She hurriedly took out a few things from the bag, waving an arm to force most of the boys to move back. They'd all gathered in a small crowd around Y/N, who was now sobbing quietly into his knees.

"I'm Anri, you already know me." She rushed out, trying to touch Y/N's shoulder. "Y/N slid for a large distance, at extremely high speed on a rough pitch. He's currently experiencing a friction burn, but I need to see how bad it is."

Anri touched Y/N's shoulder, moving around so she was closer to the boy. "Hey, Y/N? Can you hear me?"

The small boy nodded, just a little bit. He was trying to stay silent now, but tears still rolled down his face, and he hadn't let go of his leg yet.

"I need you to let go of the leg, please?"

It took a few seconds. But Y/N nodded a second time, letting go of the leg with shaking hands as he laid back against the grass. Anri moved closer to the leg, and Nagi sat by Y/N's head.

He moved both palms under the injured boy's hair, supporting his head in a small way. It was the only thing he knew how to do.

Anri studied the wound. The Bluelock sport uniform had completely ripped away down the calf, not designed to withstand much friction. The skin there was horribly scratched up, inflamed and angry red. In the centre, it looked like some of the skin had completely come off, leaking blood.

"Can I get some help carrying Y/N off the field?" Anri glanced at Nagi. "He'll sit the rest of the game out. Friction burns don't take a very long time to heal as they're mostly skin, but it is excruciating pain."

Nagi instantly nodded, grateful to have something to do. He lifted Y/N's head, placing one arm around the back of his neck as he slid the other under Y/N's knees.

"Fuck..." Y/N groaned out as Nagi lifted him into the air. He was surprisingly heavy, and as Nagi walked with him, he did his best to not touch his leg.

"I'm fucked for real..."

Nagi shook his head, repeating what Anri had said in his soft voice. The pink-haired woman was walking in front, gesturing Nagi towards the door she had come from. "It should heal fast, it's mostly skin."

He carried Y/N in through the door, into what looked like a small medical ward. There were only three beds there, covered in white sheets and with expensive looking equipment surrounding them, and he gently placed Y/N on one of them.

The room was very white. White walls, white ceilings, bright lights. Even the two people in there were dressed in white, wearing bright scrubs and medical masks.

"Thank you, young sir." Anri placed her bag on the floor, smiling at Nagi. "Don't worry, he'll be ready for the second selection. It isn't a long lasting injury, so he won't be removed from Bluelock."

Nagi nodded silently, once. Then he walked out of the room, emerging back onto the soccer field.

Time to win this.