29. The Top Three (Part 1)

Y/N pulled a red vest over his Bluelock uniform, catching a whiff of some strong detergent. He grimaced, trying to ignore it as he sat on the floor, reaching for shin guards and a pair of red socks.

Across the field, Isagi, Nagi, and Bachira were all putting on white coloured gear. They didn't look nervous to Y/N at all as he strapped on the shin guards, pulling the socks over them. In fact, they seemed oddly excited, a powerful light shining in all of their eyes as they talked amongst themselves.

"Hey." Y/N looked up as Rin stepped in front of him, green eyes colder than jade. "Don't get in my way. Or I'll destroy you."

"Fine by me~" He cheerfully replied. "As long as we win the game, I don't care how we do it."

Y/N finished tying off his laces, and stood up. Rin was incredibly tall, still standing a good amount above him, and he had to crane his head to look him in the eyes. "So, what's your plan?"

"Crush them." With that hell of a one liner, Rin strode off to the centre of their half. Y/N walked off to his own position, mirroring Bachira on the other side of the field.

The field was quite small, with little space for manoeuvring. The goals looked to have been downsized as well, making shots much harder especially with the Bluelock Man involved.

But the first stage of the second selection had trained Y/N. He'd probably improved a bit, being able to focus on shooting faster than before.

Rin matched up against Isagi in the middle of the field, and on the opposite side, Aryu faced off against Nagi. It was going to be an easy game for them, probably. None of the opponents' weapons were anywhere near strong enough to overwhelm them.

"Kickoff!" A whistle blew, and like that, everyone on Team White sprung into action. Y/N and Rin remained still, just watching them, and Aryu simply began to walk slowly forwards.

Isagi crossed his feet, sending a sneaky pass directly to Bachira. As one, they began moving up the field, Bachira dribbling in short, quick steps as he approached Y/N. As for the small boy, he did nothing. He just stood there, slowly extending a leg as Bachira spun around him, easily moving past.

"The rankings simply reflect the order we cleared the first stage, right?" Bachira crowed as he zipped past. "I levelled up from that training with Bluelock Man, you see!"

Y/N let his shoulders slump, and tilted his head to mutter back at Rin. "I'm not in your way, so show me what you can do..."

"Shut up." Rin harshly replied.

Bachira and Isagi ran for Rin, who hadn't moved an inch. "Next up is Rin-chan! Are you ready, Isagi?"

"Yeah!" Isagi ran into a position to receive the ball, dodging around Rin's left side while Bachira struck out the right.

He didn't receive it, though. Instead, Bachira hummed with satisfaction, lobbing a pass over Rin's head towards Nagi. The white haired boy had cut in way behind, and even though Aryu had been there, Y/N's team had no chance of getting the ball.

Y/N just stood there, eyes flickering between the other team as he heaved a sigh of disappointment. And here I was thinking they'd improved... I guess no matter how good the facilities, they only had 90 minutes.

Nagi leapt back, extending a leg to toe-poke the ball back to Isagi and Bachira. Rin was in a good position to steal, but he didn't, standing there as Team White moved past him.

Isagi was there. Instead of trapping it like a normal person before he shot, he jumped forwards. While both he and the ball were midair, he hit home a powerful shot, spinning like some ninja as he drove it into the back of the goal.

The whistle blew. "1-0, Team White."

Isagi pumped his fist, both Bachira and Nagi running over to congratulate him. Y/N glanced over at Rin. "You said to not get in your way?"

"I meant it." Rin didn't seem bothered by the goal. He scooped up the ball from the back of the net, and wandered back to the centre of the field. "I see now."

"What?" Isagi turned to Rin, Bachira and Nagi looking over.

"You're all operating at such a low level, I might just die of boredom." Rin growled.

Y/N nodded, blinking innocently. "Oh, finally someone that feels the same way!"

"Your opinion doesn't count."

"Meanie."

Rin ignored him, walking forwards to the centre line. He put the ball down, each of his movements slow, measured, and controlled. Then, he rested his foot on top. "I bet you still think of this act of combat using a ball as a sport."

Y/N raised an eyebrow. This guy...? Was he neglected as a child or something, cause jeez. The angsty teen vibe works well with him.

"Seriously, I don't need your sort." A sort of chill settled in the air, brought by Rin's low, venomous words. "This is a battlefield. What you're doing right now is turning your back on a soldier with a gun. And that's why you aren't good enough."

Rin took a shot.

Directly from the kickoff, he used the outside of his foot to kick the ball, sending it in a huge spin across the pitch and over all of Team White's heads. None of them could react in time, completely caught off guard by the attack.

The ball spiralled, just about landing in the top corner of the net. Even though Bluelock Man had reacted much faster than the players, the hologram jumping far across the goal, it wasn't enough to stop it from going in.

"Straight from the kickoff?!" Isagi exclaimed, spinning around. That shot was incredible. The spin, the speed, the distance...

He hummed with thought, coming to a realisation. But wait. I've seen better. Compared to Y/N's goals... that was nothing. Both blue eyes drifted over to Y/N, who was standing at the other end of the pitch just watching. Why is he not playing?

Nagi turned to Bachira, confusion in his eyes. "Is that legal?"

"Definitely." The bumblebee boy just grinned, wiping some sweat from his cheek. "But usually it never works."

Isagi's mind was whirring, eyes wide open with shock. "Rin's amazing..." I can't wait to beat him.

Near Y/N, who had his lips pressed together in a childish pout, Aryu sighed. "Hey, that goal was too glam." The tall boy placed a hand on his forehead, posing. "Don't go making plays like that without letting me know."

Rin didn't listen, walking straight forwards to take the ball from Team White's goal. He tossed it to Isagi, returning to the centre. "Like I said, I don't care. I'm going to finish this quickly. This entire game is a waste of time."

Isagi caught the ball, placing it back on the ground. "Hey, one sec. We're risking our lives to be here. Like us, you play soccer to achieve your dream, right?"

Rin paused. His next step planted him into the ground as he shot a dark look over his shoulder. The hostility was palpable, making Isagi shiver ever so slightly. "Dream?"

Sudden silence fell. "It's nothing as dull or complacent as that." Rin hissed. "Losing in soccer means losing your reason to exist. Losing is a fate worse than death. So to me, soccer is a fight to the end."

Y/N tilted his head. What would happen to me if I lost? Would I be... upset? Would I be angry? It'd been such a long time since he'd lost, at anything really. Ascension had been tougher on him than literally everything else in the world - for him, the struggles of life and Bluelock were nothing.

Would I feel like dying?

He shook off the thoughts. He wasn't going to lose. Nobody in Bluelock could challenge him. Nobody in Japan could challenge him. And when he reached the world stage - not if, when - going up against the best players in the world would be the only thing that would challenge him.

Y/N walked back to his starting position as Team White and Rin exchanged more words, a thoughtful expression playing on his face. The score was 1-1, tied.

For a second time, the whistle blew. Isagi launched another pass to Bachira, and like that, they were all off.

They strung together a good amount of passes, working their way up the field. Isagi acted as a central point, face hardened with determination.

Only Aryu really tried to stop them, darting between each player with impressive speed. His long limbs allowed him to jab and prod at the ball, nearly stealing it as Bachira ran down the wing.

"Rin-chan, I'm not gonna let you get it!" Bachira sang cheerfully. For a second time, Nagi had slipped in behind both Y/N and Rin, who had barely moved. He strung a long pass, way above Y/N's head.

Before Nagi could receive it, Aryu leapt into the air. Nagi was tall, so much taller than the average Japanese boy, but Aryu dwarfed him, knocking the ball away with a simple header.

He hit the ground with an elegant crouch, and took off. "Once again, I have descended."

The ball went to Y/N, who just stood there idly. He glanced down at the ball, looking a bit like a lost child. "Aryuuuu..." Y/N drew out. "Where do you want it?"

Aryu took a second to respond, sprinting down the pitch. At that moment, Bachira was on Y/N, attempting to slide tackle.

With lightning reflexes, Y/N took two steps back, rolling the ball behind him and letting Bachira slide past. He didn't wait for his teammate to give him a proper answer, firing off a pass down the centre of the pitch.

"Let's see your limbs, then!" He yelled. Y/N'd made the pass impossible for a normal person to receive. It was way overhit, and was actually closer to Isagi than it was to Aryu. But of course, it was on purpose. Aryu stretched out a long leg, whipping the ball past a completely stunned Isagi and into the back of the goal.

The whistle blew again, signalling a second goal. On the screen, the score changed. Now, it was 2-1, in favour of Y/N's team.

🥕🥕🥕

"If passes aren't getting through to Nagicchi..." Bachira hummed, slowly moving the ball forwards. "I'll cut through them myself!"

The bumblebee boy sped up, Isagi and Nagi running with him to his side as he dribbled the ball forwards. Opposite him was Y/N, who stood there with a small smile on his face. He looked completely relaxed - something that Bachira would make him sorry for.

"You're amazing, Y/N!" Bachira laughed, running forwards. "Thanks for helping us in the first selection, but you're about to lose this game!"

Y/N's main weapon is his speed... He thought, facing off. I just need to watch his feet, and try to exploit that speed. He'll probably run past me and overshoot.

"Just come at me, bee boy." The thing was, Y/N didn't move at all. He was just a statue, with only his eyes tracking Bachira's erratic, side-to-side movements.

When Y/N finally took a step, Bachira was already up in his face. He reacted fast, using his toe to flick the ball up and past him. Bachira's smile grew as he rocketed past Y/N.

He was home free. The goal was practically empty in front of him, with only Rin being far away. Y/N was behind him, there was no chance anyone could stop Bachira.

He heard a voice in his ear.

"Nice flick."

Before he knew it, the ball disappeared from between his legs, and Y/N had possession. Somehow, he'd managed to catch up to Bachira, from a still position with no momentum at all.

"See ya!" With a teasing salute, Y/N left Bachira in the dust.

He sprinted down the pitch, drawing surprised gasps from everyone on the field. Aryu's eyes widened with shock, and Rin's mouth opened just slightly as he watched Y/N run.

Isagi was in his way, feet planted. Y/N's movements were completely unreadable, and from the way his body shifted from side to side, it was clear he was playing with his food. He simply ran directly at Isagi's centre.

When Isagi made a move, one foot shooting out in an attempt to block off some of Y/N's options, he moved in the complete opposite direction, countering Isagi. The blue-haired boy's centre of balance was off from the block, and Y/N chuckled lowly as he went past.

"That's called passive dribbling. Look it up or something."

He shot, trying out the same outside foot shot that Rin had done. His rose much higher into the air, before its vertical spin brought it tumbling back to the goal. Bluelock Man had leapt up to block the initial shot, and so couldn't prevent the spinning ball from going into the back of the goal.