2.17. IMPACT

Sae began with the ball.

"Take it up." He passed it right to Y/N. The crowd was still buzzing with excitement from Shidou's goal, but it didn't matter to Y/N. In fact, it only served to fuel his anger. I can do better. "I'm right behind you."

Y/N advanced up the field. Sendou drew behind him, ready to receive passes on his left. Chou was far to the right, also ready for passes. Sae tracked him from behind, following him as the four main attackers moved up the field.

Shidou ran straight for Y/N. He completely threw away any formation they might have had going, choosing instead to rush at him in a pure 1v1.

What is Shidou good at? Y/N hummed to himself, momentarily suppressing his anger to think rationally. He can fight physically. And he can shoot.

But that's fucking it.

The instance before they collided, Y/N flicked the ball up to his chest. He stepped to Shidou's right side, spinning. His leg came up to hook the ball up and over Shidou's head. With that flashy, completely unnecessary move, he took off down the field.

The rest of the players were just as hungry for the ball. Three more rushed him from all sides. Y/N didn't slow down, staring each of them in the eyes. Karasu, Bachira, and Isagi. Three of their midfielders.

Y/N passed.

As they committed so many players to try and stop him, it left huge gaps in the rest of their formation. Without looking, Y/N slamming his heel into the ball, rolling the ball back down the field towards the man who he knew would be there to receive.

"Isagi intercepted your last pass." He murmured. "You owe me a goal."

Sae placed a foot on the ball, calmly stopping it in its tracks. Shidou yet again ran straight for him, but without even blinking, Sae flicked the ball past him. He nodded, smoothly speeding up into a sprint forwards. "I'm raising the game level."

Y/N sprinted forwards as well, through the middle of the Bluelock players. Sae's voice rang in his ears. "Only the idiots that can keep up will understand what comes next."

It was the first time Y/N had seen Sae even mildly frustrated playing soccer. Was it because he owes me...? So he's trying for real?

Whatever the reason, it was amazing. All the players that had been going towards Y/N now went straight for Sae, but it didn't matter to him. He feinted a pass, causing Isagi to hesitate, and bounced the ball between his legs.

Before Isagi could even turn around, Sae flew by his side. Y/N sped up down the field, trying to keep an eye on his midfielder the entire time. He was unstoppable - and Y/N didn't even know how he was doing it.

Sae caught the ball on the side of his foot. As both Barou and Karasu tried to tackle him, he moved right between them, exploiting the tiniest gap in their defences. He flowed like water, placing a hand on Karasu's shoulder.

Using Karasu as a wall between himself and more Bluelock players, he broke straight through Bluelock's line. Rin came flying in from the side, but Sae literally jumped.

Y/N gaped as Sae perfectly leapt over Rin's slide tackle, not even looking at his brother. He powered down the field, and even more players ran to stop him.

On his own team, all the midfielders and forwards were on the attack. Everyone formed up around Sae, some of them running in front to draw attention and create passing opportunities, and others stuck behind to receive a back-pass if needed. Y/N didn't go with them.

Sae turned his back to Yukimiya, keeping the ball in front of him as he blocked him using his body. The instant Yukimiya moved his legs to try to stop Sae, the ball was flicked through them and Sae was running past.

A second time, directly after he'd got past Yukimiya, he leapt over a slide tackle. Hiori flew underneath him. Y/N's eyes widened. He's surrounded by everyone... how is he doing that?! He momentarily forgot that he'd done similar stuff hundreds of times before. That was just how impressive Sae was.

The Bluelock players had pretty much forgotten about him. The nearest players were Raichi and Reo, their two centre-backs. Thankfully, Raichi had stopped following him now, too busy focusing on Sae as the man tore apart the field by himself. I'm free...!

Sae must've realised that. As soon as the thought ran through Y/N's head, the ball was spiralling over everyone's heads, heading for a spot right in front of him. Raichi twisted, tracking the ball, and broke into a sprint for where the ball would land.

Kuroi hadn't even spoken this time. At least, Y/N didn't know if the voice he heard was a real one, or him remembering the words from before. Shoot and score.

If he trapped it, the defenders would likely be on him in an instant. So he wouldn't be able to shoot immediately. Shoot. And score.

The pass was insane, though. It was just the right distance away from Y/N... he could get just enough momentum forwards to shoot. It was already moving forwards. If he could just change its direction... he just needed to be fast. Incredibly fast. Do I want this?

I guess so?

Y/N threw himself forwards. He took three quick steps, then jumped. His heart was pounding, eyes locked in on where the ball would be. Before anyone could get anywhere near to him, he swung his leg forwards, faster than he ever had before.

The shot itself was lightning fast. His leg was nothing but a blur as he swung, a pretty much instantaneous motion. A devastating impact of a shot.

He was still midair. As was the ball. The noise was incredible. The crowd cheered. Y/N's blood pumped. And the connection with the ball was solid. He thudded to the ground right after, not even feeling the pain as he shoved himself upwards with his hands to watch the ball fly.

With that incredible volley shot, the ball rocketed forwards, faster than Y/N had ever fired. Right past Raichi's head, right past Reo, and right past Gagamaru's fingertips. In the blink of an eye, it was in the back of the net.

🥕🥕🥕

"Have you seen this?"

It was a bare-bones room. Nothing but monitors covering three walls, most of them turned on to security feeds, or live videos of training rooms, where a full team of players were hard at work training. Only two people stood inside the room, under the bright lights.

They wore the same uniform, but there was nothing in between them. The air was charged with tension, one of them sitting down in a spinning chair, the other one standing at the doorway to the room.

The chair turned around. The muscled, well-built man sitting in it was one that most people would give their right arm to meet. Someone that the whole world knew, for both his incredible, mechanical skill, and his god given right of being ambidextrous.

His white hair was cropped close to his head, and his yellow eyes were piercing, staring right through the other man in front of him. Leaning forwards, the world's best striker Noel Noa spoke in a calm, serious voice. "You know what I'm talking about, don't you? Kaiser."

The other man shrugged. He was just as tall, but in place of Noel Noa's bodybuilder physique, he was lean, and toned. Playful blue eyes gazed back at Noa. Raising a hand, he brushed a few stray strands of blond hair back from the side of his neck to reveal blue rose stained into his pale skin.

"I do. And I don't see why you need to talk to me about this." Michael Kaiser leant against the doorframe, a teasing smile curling at the edge of his lips.

"Is it not a big deal to you?"

"Not really." Kaiser waved it off, folding his arms across his chest. "Why, is it a big deal to you?"

"Not really as well." Noa's cold eyes bore into Kaiser. "It's just intriguing. Here I thought you were unique, but if your greatest skill is being used all the way across the world, perhaps you're not as special as you thought."

"I never thought you one to insult people, Noa." Kaiser laughed, but there was a hint of venom in his voice, and danger in his grin. "Besides, it doesn't even matter. I'm the better player."

"Oh, but it does." Noa steepled his fingers. "This boy... Y/N L/N. He's two years younger than you."

"So what? He used the Kaiser Impact once, by accident? In a national game that doesn't matter at all?" Kaiser's voice dripped with barely concealed resentment. "I looked at it. It was a poor copy anyway, barely 70% of the real thing."

"By accident." Noa stated flatly. "That's the problem. This boy managed to copy your best talent, even only to 70 percent, by accident. Is that not a reason to be concerned?"

"He's not going to get into the Japanese U-20 team anyway." Kaiser rolled his eyes. "I'm never going to play against him." One hand behind his back clenched tightly, knuckles going white. But he just kept smiling.

"Did you know he is ambidextrous?"

"No..."

"Do you think you can do the Kaiser Impact on your left foot?"

Kaiser's teeth clacked together, his jaw tightening subtly. "No."

"Do you think this boy could?"

"No."

Noa rose from his chair. He flexed his shoulders once, rolling his neck. "The only reason you're special is because of that Impact. If this boy can use it on both feet, you're just going to become the inferior version of him."

"I am not inferior." Kaiser's eyes went hard. He stopped leaning on the doorframe, standing up properly to match Noa.

"Want to bet?"

"Of course."

"Come with me to Japan, then." Despite his emotionless tone, Kaiser could hear the challenge in Noa's voice. "I plan to participate in this Bluelock project, alongside the rest of Bastard Munchen. You weren't planning on going, I know, but Y/N L/N will be there."

"You want me to play against him?"

"I want you to show me that you are not inferior, as you say." Noa walked closer to Kaiser. He placed a hand on the other man's shoulder, leaning in close. "Show me you deserve to be called a king."

"I'm not going to lose." Kaiser levelly stared into his eyes. "You know it."

Noa just shrugged. "We'll see. And just remember, Kaiser. There's only room for one ace in the Bastard Munchen team. If you lose... I won't hesitate to pick up this boy instead."

He left the room.

It was silent.

Kaiser slammed his fist into the wall. A dull thunk echoed through the room, and his mouth twisted into a half grimace, half smile. Across the room, the central monitor played Y/N's Kaiser Impact again, and again, on repeat. Kaiser's eyes narrowed.

You've got some skills, huh?

Just going to make it more fun to destroy you.