2.20. Lightning Bolt

"Jules. Hey, Jules. Juuuuules..."

Julian Loki sighed, turning over to see Y/N perched on the edge of the bed, shaking his shoulders. It was night time - the rest of their team was asleep, and the lights were turned down low so he could barely make out the other boy's outline. "Hmm?"

"I had a question."

Smiling gently, Julian nodded. He lay in bed, watching Y/N as the other boy settled for sitting on the edge. "Yeah?"

"What do you like?"

"What?"

"Like, what kind of stuff do you like to do." Y/N stared off into the darkness of the room.

"I like playing soccer. And I like uh... I like sleeping in. And heavy blankets. And those really really difficult to find pieces of fudge you can only get in the old style sweet shops." Y/N nodded along as Julian spoke, quietly listening. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering."

"Well, what do you like?"

"I like..." He hesitated, sighing. "Um... am I supposed to know?"

"Not really. If you know, you know."

"Then I don't know. I have fun playing with you...? But apart from that, there's nothing I like."

"What about food?"

"I haven't really tried a lot of food. Most of it's too expensive." Y/N laughed quietly. "I want to, though. When I get out of here."

Julian hummed thoughtfully. It was quiet. Just the noise of the two of them talking, and the creak of the bed as Y/N shifted his weight. "What about theme parks? Those are fun."

"Never been."

"Oh. What have you done then?"

Y/N replied dryly, voice a little downcast. "Not much."

"Hmm..." Julian smiled. "What do you want to do, then?"

"Don't really know either." Y/N admitted. "Maybe... I just want to be... free. You know? I wanna be able to do what I want, whenever I want."

"That sounds nice." Loki agreed. "When we get out of here."

"We're not getting out until we win, though."

"We will win. I'll be second, you'll be first."

"No, I'll be second, you'll be first."

"No, you."

"No, you." Y/N laughed, a little brighter. "Whatever happens, one of us will be first, and one of us will be second. You'll stay with me till the end, right?"

"Of course I will. And after we're out, you'll be able to be free. You'll be able to do anything you want."

"Yeah." Y/N paused. "That sounds nice."

Walking through the halls, Loki passed three black-suited men, accompanying an old couple. The two older people for some reason stared at him as he walked past, their faces holding barely controlled expressions of repulsion. Whatever the reason, he didn't have time to think.

I can't just run out there and drag Kuroi away in front of the cameras. Loki swiped through his contacts. He called one of the stadium's organisers, groaning with annoyance as it went to voicemail. Then he tried another.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Julian Loki calling." He hurriedly spoke. "It's about a man called Kuroi? On the sidelines, I saw him last near the Bluelock sub bench?"

A few papers shuffled on the other end. "Ah, yes. He's the assistant coach for Bluelock. What's up with him? You want to bring him to PXG?"

Hell no. Julian coughed, biting back his words. "No... I was concerned about a match fixing issue. I believe Kuroi is acting against Bluelock's interests, for the U-20 team?"

"Hmm... What's the evidence?"

"No evidence, nothing hard at least. It's just a very very strong hunch I had."

The man on the other side sighed. "I'll look into it for you."

"I owe you big time."

Outside, the crowd roared louder than ever. Loki blinked with surprise as the stomping of feet echoed through the tunnel. It was by far the loudest he'd ever heard a Japanese crowd.

What is going on out there?

🥕🥕🥕

"Three minutes left on the clock!"

"That goal... it might just have been the most important goal in Japanese soccer..."

"If the game ends with a Bluelock win, they take over the Japanese U-20 team! We'll see a completely refreshed Japanese roster!"

"Even if it doesn't, though, I don't think you can say anything bad about this Bluelock team! They've far surpassed our expectations, and the project is sure to gather attention no matter whether they win or not!"

Y/N glanced over at Sae.

His entire body was buzzing with adrenaline. His senses returned, hearing back in full force. The sheer risk of what he was going to do hit him as well. Y/N's stomach twisted, with delight or nerves he didn't know.

For the first time in the last half an hour, Y/N smiled. It brought him real joy, his heart lightening just a little as he sighed softly. It was a real smile.

Sae must've noticed it. The midfielder placed a foot on the ball, meeting Y/N's eyes with his own calm ones. "Are you alright?"

Y/N nodded. He was better than alright. He was amazing. His mind was whirring at max speed, his body was tensed and ready to move, and his thoughts were, for once, clear. He knew what he wanted to do.

From the sidelines, he heard Kuroi. "Godling, you're disappointing me. Taking too long to score goals... How about you get one more? Two more? Then I'll be happy."

The man was speaking in his usual tone to Y/N. Calm, taunting, and slow. But Y/N realised something. Under that, Kuroi was angry. And worried. Y/N didn't know why, but hearing the unspoken threat in Kuroi's voice made him smile.

Before, it would've made him terrified beyond belief. Kuroi could hurt him. Kuroi could break him. Kuroi could kill him. But... Y/N didn't care. At that moment, he didn't give a damn about Kuroi.

He knew what he wanted.

And he didn't care what everyone else thought.

So even as Sae's eye twitched with displeasure, looking over at Kuroi, Y/N just smiled reassuringly. "It's okay, Sae. He doesn't matter."

Kuroi was right on the sidelines, by Bluelock's goal. He grabbed the barrier with both hands, an action that should've scared Y/N. But Y/N was overflowing with confidence, overflowing with joy. Nothing would scare him.

Sae somehow understood. He nodded once. "I'll get you the ball. What you do is up to you."

The game restarted.

Y/N darted forwards.

He was smiling again, revelling in it. Playing soccer for himself... not for goals, not for Kuroi, not for Ego, for himself.

Threading the gap between Shidou and Barou, Y/N dashed at even higher speed. His legs blurred, body moving fast as he sped up across the field. The first few Bluelock players were left in the dust.

"Defend!"

"Mark Y/N!"

"He sped up?!"

Isagi tried to stop him. Y/N barrelled right past. A step to the left baited Isagi into also moving left. Impossibly, Y/N sped up more. He flew right past Isagi.

What I want... right now... it isn't to win.

"Shit, he got past me!"

"Form up! Here comes the pass!"

"Stop him!"

They couldn't stop him. Karasu tried to hold Y/N back, keeping him at arm's length. Y/N just stepped forwards, literally ducking under Karasu's outstretched arms like he was playing stuck-in-the-mud. A sweet, high laugh came from his mouth.

"Hold for 90 seconds! That's all we need!"

"Double press him!"

"On it!"

I don't care about Bluelock... I don't care about the U-20.

Y/N continued forwards. The pass came overhead, soaring right over his shoulder. The noise of the crowd was tremendous. He plucked the ball from the air with a perfect trap, sprinting forwards at max speed. Hiori and Bachira both tried to stop him.

Moving ever faster, Y/N didn't even need to slow down as he tore right through them. His dribbling was insane, ball swapping from foot to foot at a speed even Bachira couldn't match. And he didn't even take advantage of that speed.

Instead, he flicked the ball higher, bouncing it off his knee in the tiniest of gaps between the two players. Y/N followed a split-second later, shoving between Bachira and Hiori.

"Fucking stop him!"

"I'm trying!"

"He's going to score!"

Y/N laughed again. He powered forwards. Two defenders, then the goal in front of him. His legs tensed up, ready to shoot the ball. This was the finale. He was going to get what he wanted.

I don't care about scoring. Not right now, at least.

Y/N swerved off course.

Reo was on his left, Raichi on his right. Out of the two, Y/N chose to go for Reo. He locked eyes with the purple-haired boy, sprinting directly for him. The ball rolled ever faster across the field.

As he approached, Reo's eyes narrowed. He saw a timing - well, he probably thought he did. He leapt forwards, trying to slide tackle Y/N as Raichi rushed him from one side.

Y/N leapt over the tackle.

He was at an angle to the goal, pretty much on the corner of the goalbox. It was an easy shot.

What I want...

Drawing back his leg, the entire stadium roared.

"We can't lose!"

"Block it!"

"Gagamaru!"

Y/N's leg was ready. He was more prepared for this one shot than he had ever been in his life. Pure adrenaline - pure energy rushed through his veins, lighting every cell of his body on fire.

I want to be free.

I don't ever want to be manipulated again.

Y/N twisted.

His leg drew back, but his body changed direction. He was no longer looking towards the goal.

Instead, he locked eyes with Kuroi Jigoku, on the sidelines.

Y/N smiled.

And I really, really want to fuck you up.

His foot connected with the ball, an explosion of sound echoing from the collision point. Forget Noel Noa's machine-like goals. Forget Lavinho's stylish goals. Forget Cavasoz's sniper-like goals. Forget Kaiser's lightning fast goals.

This was better.

It was a lightning bolt. A godly shot. Right past Reo's head.

The ball flew in a perfectly straight line. If Y/N had used a ruler, he wouldn't have been able to make it any more perfect.

The blur of black and white sped right past Reo's head. It went nowhere near the goal. Instead, it flew right out of the field's white painted boundaries. It flew right over the barriers marking the field sidelines.

And, with all the force of a cannonball, or a lightning strike-

It smashed right into Kuroi Jigoku's face.