Chapter 99: Penalty Area Monster
After Karasu spoke, his feet started moving in a blur.
Step-overs!
Left or right?
Kira locked his gaze on Karasu's shoulders.
Left!
Sure enough, Karasu's rhythm shifted abruptly. His entire body launched a breakthrough attempt from Kira's left side.
Kira's footsteps shadowed him, moving left instantly.
Karasu extended his arm flawlessly, ready to shield and push forward.
Seeing this, Kira immediately raised his own arm.
Karasu's forward momentum stalled.
'Kira... that guy timed it perfectly to raise his arm and block mine?'
'He broke my shielding distance with that method?'
Karasu was deeply impressed by Kira's adaptability.
Karasu was a player who knew how to judge the situation. Seeing that the breakthrough had failed, he immediately took a step back, shielding the ball.
At the same time, he crossed the ball with his other foot.
The ball was sent away from their duel.
'That's it?' Kira had assumed Karasu would keep trying to find a way past him. He hadn't expected him to give up so directly.
Kira looked at him in confusion.
Karasu, however, gave a carefree smile. "I never do anything I'm not confident in."
That was the football of Tabito Karasu.
Kira couldn't judge whether that was right or wrong.
On the other side, Rin, who had been following up, trapped Karasu's pass perfectly.
Shidou was sticking to him like glue.
Rin glanced at Chigiri, who was sprinting down the wing, out of the corner of his eye.
Shidou immediately shifted his center of gravity, thinking Rin was about to pass, and extended his leg to intercept.
Kira covered his face on the sideline.
'That's just second-rate defending.'
'Shidou plays entirely on intuition. He's so easy to fool!'
Kira rushed to peel off and cover the defense.
But at that moment, Karasu extended his arm and shook his head at Kira.
"I can't let you pass."
'This guy.' Kira clicked his tongue. It didn't look like he'd be getting through anytime soon.
Rin, seeing Shidou fall for the bait, immediately cut horizontally and accelerated.
He broke through cleanly!
Following that, he faced the goal one-on-one and calmly slotted the ball home.
The ball rolled securely into the net.
3-3.
Team B equalized again.
"Tch. Dammit."
Shidou was annoyed that he had been so simple-minded just now.
Actually, Shidou's reaction wasn't unreasonable. If he hadn't reacted at all, Rin really would have passed to Chigiri on the wing. And once Chigiri got the ball and started his run, Team A's goal would have been in just as much danger.
Ultimately, in this match between Team A and Team B, Chigiri's integration into Team B had turned what should have been a straightforward win for Team A into a dangerous contest.
"Nice, Rin." Chigiri ran over excitedly to Rin.
Rin nodded at Chigiri. He knew this goal wouldn't have been possible without him.
Isagi stood to the side, lost in thought.
A situation that should have been an assured victory had become confusing because of Chigiri.
Isagi believed that even if he did nothing, Kira would find a way to win this match. But if that happened, Isagi would have zero value.
'I have to find a way to integrate into this match!!!'
***
Monitoring Room.
Anri watched the screen intently. "It's really an evenly matched contest."
"But Kira's performance... compared to the last match, doesn't it seem a bit less dazzling?"
Anri hit the nail on the head.
Ego also had some doubts in his mind. 'Could it be that his performance against the World Five was an outlier? A spike far above his usual level?'
Actually, Kira had already scored two goals in this match.
"The last game may have been exceptional," Ego continued. "But there's no need to worry."
"It proves he has the potential to reach that level. He just needs time to stabilize."
Having settled on that explanation, Ego fell silent.
Anri nodded, her gaze returning to the match on the screen.
***
Team A kickoff.
"This match is intense! Back and forth action! I need to shoot hard a few more times."
After making that explosive statement, Shidou passed the ball to Kira.
Kira received the ball and immediately passed it back to Hiori.
"Kira-chan, are you disgusted by the ball I touched?" Shidou noticed Kira passed it away instantly, not holding it for a second.
'I don't want whatever brand of crazy you've got,' Kira thought.
But outwardly, Kira just said, "No."
Shidou started his run, half-believing him.
Hiori received the ball, observing Kira and Shidou's movements, ready to pass to either of them at any moment.
As soon as Shidou started running, Rin locked onto him.
Saramadara and Shiguma finally appeared.
"I'll crash over you like a tidal wave!"
"Grandma told me boys should stand tall and strong!"
Shouting their slogans, the two of them surrounded Kira tightly.
'Huh? You two are on the field?'
Kira finally noticed two background players from Team B.
"The waves tell me, as long as we stop you, we have a chance." Saramadara looked determined.
"Grandma told me not to let you touch the ball right now." Shiguma looked equally determined.
'So your Grandma is watching us play right now?'
'She can tell you that?'
Kira felt too weak to roast these two idiots.
However, their double-team effectively blocked Hiori's passing angle to Kira.
"Hiori, here!" Isagi was suffering internally. 'How many minutes had passed? He had barely touched the ball.'
'Thinking about this, thinking about that.'
'Useless!'
'Just give me the damn ball!' Isagi clenched his teeth, frustration boiling over.
"Not a chance." Karasu appeared again.
"Seriously?! You stalker moron!" Isagi couldn't stop himself from swearing. Hiori finally had a chance to pass to him, and this damn crow was still staring at him.
"I won't let you pass." Karasu looked at Isagi with a mocking expression.
'If I can't get past this moron, I still can't do anything.'
Moron or not, Isagi really couldn't do anything about him.
Just as Isagi was despairing...
"Then pass it over here!!"
Nijiro Nanase appeared like a ray of light on the other side.
'Nanase?' Isagi looked blankly at the Bandana Guy.
"Honestly, Kira and Shidou's plays are too deep, I don't get 'em..."
"But your plays, I understand! You and I are about the same level. I'll help you!"
Nanase shouted to Isagi as he started running.
Uh...
Isagi's initial gratitude suddenly dampened.
'But this guy... he saw me trying to support Kira, so he consciously moved off the ball near me to support me?'
'I can use him!'
Hiori's eyes darted, and he kicked the ball over.
"Tch..." Karasu's peripheral vision was involuntarily drawn to Nanase.
Now!
Isagi moved. He had to seize the split second Karasu's attention wavered.
'Circle around to his blind spot diagonally behind him!'
"Crap, Isagi! He's reaching out! Dodge!"
Nanase saw Karasu's movement and shouted in panic.
"Cheap tricks." Karasu had also guessed Isagi's thought process.
But a second later…
Karasu's hand grabbed nothing but air.
His face showed a hint of anger!
'This guy went the other way!'
'I was fooled!'
Isagi disrupted Karasu's rhythm and firmly caught Hiori's pass. Accelerating away from Karasu, the open field finally appeared in Isagi's vision.
'Direct shot from here?'
'Isagi shook his head. Too far. Not confident.'
'Pass to Kira?'
Eh?
Kira poked his head out from under the armpits of Saramadara and Shiguma, who were double-teaming him.
'Looks like that's a no-go.'
Suddenly, Shidou, who was tangled with Rin, leaned his back against Rin and pointed to his feet.
'That guy is back to goal right now!'
Isagi realized instantly. Shidou wanted to play a short pass give-and-go with him.
Isagi was almost moved to tears. Shidou was a good person.
Isagi didn't hesitate and slotted a through ball to Shidou.
'Time to show our chemical reaction!!'
Isagi confidently started his run, waiting for Shidou's return pass.
"Nice assist."
Huh?
Shidou kept his back to Rin. The moment the ball arrived...
He spun around on the spot!
A rapidly curving shot with reverse spin!
"Ta-da!"
With Shidou's strange cry, the ball flew smoothly into the net.
Team A took the lead again.
4-3.
Kira's jaw dropped. Shidou was truly exaggerating.
Receiving the ball, turning, and shooting in one motion, the ball skimming the ground before rising!
'This guy really is a monster in the penalty area.'
"I am the strongest creature in the penalty area!!" Shidou screamed with manic joy.
Even Rin hadn't expected the guy to be able to shoot from that angle.
He was simply a monster.
In an unnoticed corner.
Isagi silently shed tears.
'Shidou, that pink-haired creep. No honor. Taking the shot himself.' Isagi felt bitter.
'What happened to the give and go?'
'That was supposed to be our chemical reaction!!'
'I was really too naive.'
--------
--------
(First Goal: 200 Stones = +1 extra Chapter)
So... Hand over all of your Power Stones!!
For advanced chapters (20+): patre o n. com/Demonic_Fiction