2.12. I've Already Won.

Why is he here?!

Why...

Why?

Why?!

Y/N ripped his eyes off of Kuroi. He jogged over to the corner, meeting Sae as the midfielder also walked towards the ball. "Can I take it?"

"You already missed once." Sae flatly said. "Do you want to try again?"

Y/N's breath hitched in his throat. His eyes widened with fear. "I-I didn't mean to. I swear. Just..."

"Froze up." Sae finished. Y/N stopped walking, and Sae turned to face him. "Don't worry. I know why it happened." His teal eyes gazed past Y/N, ice-cold as he stared at the man Y/N knew was behind his back. He didn't want to turn around and see him, though.

"I..." Why was he having so much trouble speaking?! Frustrated, Y/N slapped his own chest hard, knocking the breath out of his own lungs. He sucked in a deep breath. "I'm really sorry..."

"For what?"

"Missing the goal..." Y/N hung his head in shame.

Though, when he felt a hand touch his hair a second later, ruffling it almost affectionately, his head jerked up with surprise. Sae met his eyes questioningly. "Why are you apologising?"

"I missed?"

"Who cares?" Sae shrugged. "If you miss once, then you'll just have to score the next two. Take the corner." Stepping a little back, the corner of his lip turning up at Y/N's bewildered face, Sae gestured to the ball.

Y/N hesitated. Then he walked forwards, taking his place next to the ball. Sae nodded once, heading back to the rest of the team, already giving orders. "I want three people in the box. One take back post. One take behind the back post. I'm waiting for a rebound."

"It looks like Y/N L/N is taking the corner! After that atrocious miss, let's hope he manages to do something this time!" The commentators' voices rang out overhead. Y/N scowled, looking up. Yap, yap, yap.

He took in the positions. Most of Bluelock were back to defend, with the exception of Nagi, left all the way upfield. The Iron Wall of the U-20 had moved forwards to just behind the centre line. Everyone else apart from them was near the goal.

Sae was marked by two defenders, with a third hovering near him just in case. Sendou had Karasu marking him, and the other U-20 midfielders and forwards each had their own opponent to deal with.

Sae can still score... even when marked so much. Sendou might be able to do something, 'cause he's literally two metres from the goal. He can't miss that, right? Contemplating his options, Y/N exhaled slowly.

Then he heard it again.

An unpleasantly quiet voice, somehow still audible despite being way quieter than everyone else in the stadium. Y/N's ears picked up Kuroi's voice, low and teasing from the sidelines. "Shoot and score."

The words felt like a blade stuffed into Y/N's ear canal. He clenched his teeth, trying not to focus on that hated voice. Yet every syllable was immediately branded into Y/N's brain, slipping into his mind. Shoot and score.

I don't want to-

Shoot and score. Y/N stepped forwards. To any outsiders, if they looked closely, they would see his entire body shaking, two different thoughts fighting for control in his mind. He hadn't planned to shoot. But he had to. Right? Kuroi said it.

He could already feel it. The pain if he didn't follow orders. The guilt of not doing what he was told. Y/N didn't want to feel that.

And in a way, that helped him make his decision. The whistle blew, signalling the corner. Y/N took three quick steps forwards, and kicked the ball.

The crowd yelled with excitement. Defenders and attackers alike were instantly on the move, rushing to receive the ball or block it off. Sae darted for the near post before Y/N had even connected with the ball, drawing three defenders after him.

It left the back post open. The ball curved midair, practically scraping against the heads of people as they tried to jump and knock it away. Drawing a smooth arc in the air, it looked like it was just off.

But in the end, it hit the back post, bouncing into the goal.

The crowd erupted with noise.

"It's in! From the back post, Y/N L/N! Sensational stuff!"

"What a goal, from the young talent himself! Before this game, I'd never heard of him, but I won't be likely to forget anytime soon! Jeez!"

Y/N clenched his fists. His team ran over to him, cheering, yelling, screaming. Everyone except Sae swarmed him, smiles all around. Even Sendou looked happy for him.

"Y/N! You're amazing!"

"That makes up for the missed goal!"

"We tied?!"

"This is so winnable! Just one more, and we can keep our lead!"

Why?

Why did he say that? Why did I follow him? Y/N could've been made of stone, staring at the ground. I... he doesn't control me anymore. Ascension was years ago. But I still followed him...

Why the fuck is he still influencing me?!

As hands latched onto his shirt, Y/N spun. His hand shot up, punching the nearest person square in the nose. It just so happened to be Sendou. A dull thump sounded, and instantly, everyone was pulling away from him.

"What the fuck?!" Sendou screamed. He brought two hands up to his nose, which was thankfully not bleeding, nor broken. "Bastard!"

"Don't touch me." Y/N hissed. "Get the hell back to your positions. I'm not scoring for you." I didn't even score that for myself. I scored that for Kuroi.

I didn't want that.

Disgust bubbled up inside of him, taking form in the venom that spewed from his mouth. "You idiots. I'm not playing for you, so don't be happy. Be grateful I decided to even try for a useless group of imbeciles like you."

He wasn't angry with his team. He knew it was unfair, to be saying such harsh - and true - words to them. But being mad at them was better than being mad at himself for yet again, managing to get himself manipulated by Kuroi.

Y/N, of course, having the terrible communication skills he did, said none of that. "Fuck off. Do your job and pass to me, and I'll score. If you don't, have fun losing."

His mood wasn't made any better by Kuroi on the sidelines, speaking so quietly that nobody should've heard it. But of course, Y/N had to. "Good boy. You're still such an obedient kid... reminds me of the good old days."

He laughed. Bile rose in Y/N's throat.

🥕🥕🥕

Ego Jinpachi paled, watching Y/N score the goal. He drew in a long breath, calming himself. Then he tapped an earpiece in his right ear, speaking into the built-in microphone. "Kuroi. What are you doing?"

While Ego had trained the Bluelock Eleven to deal with Y/N L/N, and formed tactics purely around beating him, Kuroi had come to him with an offer. At first, Ego had rejected it. The information Kuroi had provided should've been more than enough to beat Y/N.

Y/N has three main weaknesses.

First, his unpredictability. While it's a weapon of his, that helps him, it can also make it easier to play against him. Discard any of your normal thinking when it comes to him. Y/N doesn't think logically. He's driven more with emotion, and if you can get a read on how he feels, you can maybe predict what he'll do.

His second weakness is emotion. Sure, he's a good player, but his emotionally driven playstyle is easy to exploit. If you can inspire certain feelings in him, like frustration or boredom, it's very likely he'll turn on everyone, including his teammates.

And third, Y/N L/N has very poor stamina. From watching the Bluelock games, it's clear that while his skills are better than ever, his stamina and mentality are weak. Try to wear him out, outlast him, and you'll take the victory.

Well, it was clear to him that something was off. Y/N didn't show any signs of slowing down, even playing at max speed. He didn't seem as emotion driven as Kuroi had said. And he'd ripped straight through their defences.

Ego hadn't been too bothered. Because Kuroi and him had sorted a deal.

Ego would get him into the stadium, let him stand and move around on the pitch's sides. Usually, it was reserved for managers, camera crew, and security or stadium staff, but Kuroi had been let in as Ego Jinpachi's assistant coach.

In return, Kuroi would exploit Y/N's most devastating weakness. Ego didn't want to have to use it, but after Y/N had scored his first goal, he'd contacted Kuroi via their headset. "Order him to not score."

I've trained Y/N L/N well. Kuroi had boasted to him. It's ingrained in him to follow my orders. He's such a good little godling... I could probably ask him to kill someone, and he would do it without question. That's just how deep his loyalty to me goes.

So get me into the game, and I'll make sure he doesn't score at all.

Was it loyalty? Or trauma? Ego didn't know, but he had foolishly struck the deal with Kuroi. He let Kuroi in, but the man hadn't kept his end of the bargain. Y/N had scored a second goal.

The response over the headset was low and teasing. "I'm not doing anything?"

"Y/N scored again."

"Oh, that." Kuroi chuckled through the microphone. "I just figured, it really isn't good for me if Bluelock wins."

"What?"

"I changed my mind. I'm not helping you."

"But you stopped him once. Why did you let him score the corner?"

"Oh, I just wanted to test out the control." Kuroi laughed a little louder. "It's as strong as ever."

"Then why are you not stopping him?" Ego clenched his fists, searching the side of the field. He himself sat on the substitute's bench with the rest of Bluelock. Scanning the sidelines, he spotted Kuroi. The man was already looking at him, smirking.

"Remember when I met all of your little players? I offered them a place in a new project I was working on." He sighed dramatically. "Just a shame that none of them accepted."

"What...?"

"Three weeks and three days." Kuroi emphasised. "That was how long ago I spoke to your team. That was when I gave them all the information on how to beat Y/N. And today..."

Ego's blood went cold. "Today?"

Voice slightly crackly through the microphone, Kuroi spoke slowly. "Today is the day that the Ascension Project reopens."

Eyes widening, Ego fought to maintain his composure. "What does that have to do with this game?"

"Well, it's simple. I've been funded by some very nice people already, but if the U-20 team wins this, the government is going to be so incredibly happy, and so incredibly rich. Don't you think they'd invest a little bit more into the soccer market?"

"The market, maybe. But why would they fund a criminal psychopath like you?"

"Because their top scorer, the one who's going to bring in the most money, will be Y/N L/N. And guess who trained him?"

No... Ego inhaled sharply. He hadn't realised just how badly he'd messed up. If only he hadn't been so focused on winning... "Even so, the Bluelock players won't join you."

"Are you sure?" Kuroi was growing more and more excited, Ego could tell. "What was it again? If Bluelock loses... the project gets shut down. Then who'll take all those young talents? Who will continue to cultivate their skill? It's me."

"They won't want to-"

"They won't have a choice." Kuroi cut Ego off. "For such a high and mighty guy, you really are an idiot. Why would I help you? Because I care about your insignificant, pitiful little project?"

"You told us Y/N's weaknesses. We can win."

"I told you his weaknesses, six years ago." Kuroi laughed again. "I never intended for Bluelock to win. I control Y/N. And as soon as this game is over, the Ascension project will rise again. All of your players... the U-20 players... the hundreds of young talents around the country... and Y/N L/N."

Kuroi's eyes bore into Ego across the field. Even though they were a solid few hundred metres apart, he could see the deranged, gloating look in his black pupils. "They're all going to belong to me."

His words rang loud in Ego's ear.

"So enjoy the game while you can, bastard. I've already won."