Chapter 111: Own Goal!
"Counter attack!"
Raichi wasn't about to let Kira's showboating shut him down. He was vibrating with a need to hit back.
"Time to press our advantage!"
Zantetsu adjusted his glasses, looking serious. Raichi just rolled his eyes, too focused to waste breath roasting his idiot teammate.
On the other side of the pitch, even Tetsu Sokura felt a surge of energy. Playing with a guy like Raichi made it impossible to quit. The word surrender just wasn't in the man's vocabulary.
"And I thought you guys were already broken..."
Karasu nodded to himself, a cold smirk playing on his lips. His teammates were actually stepping up.
"Fine. Let's challenge the Number One."
Challenge?
Karasu's words acted like a spark in Rin's mind. 'That is right. Right now, I am the challenger.'
He shoved thoughts of Itoshi Sae to the back of his mind. Right now, the only obstacle that mattered was the monster standing in front of him: Ryosuke Kira.
Rin's eyes sharpened, filled with a primal hunger to tear Kira off his throne.
Team B kicked off.
Immediately, they launched a blistering offensive. Rin, Karasu, and Zantetsu linked up, their movements a synchronized blur of clinical efficiency. Team B's trident was beginning to hum.
Kira and Shidou were suddenly on their heels. Bachira tried to drop back to help, but in a defensive scrap against those three, even he was outmatched. Bachira was a specialist, but defense was a dirty job he wasn't built for.
Unexpectedly, Kurona, the one with the 'shark-like teeth,' stepped up. He began ghosting into passing lanes, disrupting Team B's flow just enough to kill their momentum.
Kira went into a hard slide, his studs catching the ball and sending it spinning out of bounds. Rin, caught in the follow-through, lost his footing and slammed into the turf. It was a violent, perfectly timed challenge. No foul.
Rin didn't complain. He just pushed himself up, swatting the dirt and grass off his jersey. Kira stood up as well, his eyes locked on Rin. Both of them were covered in grime, a testament to the absolute war unfolding on the pitch.
Team B corner kick.
Rin stepped up to the position.
Team A packed the box, their focus entirely on Zantetsu and Karasu. Kira was glued to Karasu, a mirror image of the other man's hounding style. Karasu felt the pressure; Kira was using his own tricks against him, making it impossible to find a pocket of space or a clean jumping lane.
Shidou was busy snarling at Zantetsu, acting like a manic guard dog.
Rin's eyes scanned the chaos. He didn't look at his primary targets. Instead, he whipped the ball toward the near post.
'It's not for Karasu?'
Kira realized the trap a second too late. He tried to leap for the interception, but Karasu was already shoving him, pinning him down. Neither of them got more than an inch off the ground. The ball whistled over their heads.
The box was a mosh pit. In the middle of the scramble, a figure burst through the crowd, shoving Bachira and Kurona aside.
It was Raichi, his face contorted, veins bulging in his neck. He launched himself into the air, meeting the cross with a savage header.
The ball took a sharp deflection toward the net.
The robot goalkeeper, who usually had a zero percent save rate, suddenly morphed into prime Neuer.
It actually parried the ball away!
Raichi's jaw dropped. 'Motherfucker! You choose now to actually be a goalie? Just against me?!'
The ball rebounded into the heart of the box.
The penalty area turned into a battlefield. Players from both teams converged on the loose ball, a mess of kicking legs and shoving shoulders. Shidou and Zantetsu got tangled up and went down together. For Team A, it was a code-red disaster.
Someone's boot connected with the ball, squirting it out of the pile and right into Rin's path.
Rin didn't hesitate. He swung his leg, aiming a point-blank blast at the net.
Just as the shot left his foot, the fallen Shidou instinctively lashed out a leg to block. The ball clipped his heel, taking a wicked, erratic deflection.
'God dammit, Shidou!'
Kira had already moved to the goal line, his brain calculating the original flight path perfectly. He was ready to clear it. But because of the deflection, the ball changed direction in mid-air.
Kira's foot missed by a hair. The Blue Lock Man was already diving the wrong way.
The ball hit the net.
Tie game. 1-1.
The pitch went dead silent for a second as the reality of the messy goal sank in. Then, Team B erupted.
"RAAAAAAAAH!"
Raichi let out a primal scream, punching the air as he ran across the field. His voice echoed through the pitch, a raw explosion of relief and excitement.
He had been beating himself up over the previous goal, but now he felt like he had personally dragged them back into the fight. Even if it was ugly, it was a goal.
'Whew...' Rin let out a long, controlled breath. 1-1. His tactical gamble had paid off.
Shidou sat on the grass, looking completely baffled. He had tried to help, but he'd only succeeded in sabotaging the defense.
Great news: He scored another goal.
Bad news: It was his own net.
The ball had ricocheted off him so perfectly that Kira couldn't react. Kira walked over and patted Shidou on the shoulder.
"Nice hustle, Shidou. Just bad luck on the bounce."
Kira wasn't about to play the blame game. Shidou's defensive intensity was exactly what they needed; the result was just a freak accident of physics.
***
Audiovisual Room.
"Talk about a lucky break," Igaguri muttered, shaking his head. "An own goal? Is that the first one in Blue Lock? Leave it to Shidou to set that record."
Niko, sitting next to him, shook his head. "The finish was luck, sure. But Team B's setup was intentional."
"What do you mean?"
"A's defense was so obsessed with Zantetsu and Karasu that they completely forgot about Raichi. Rin saw the hole and exploited it perfectly with that corner. He forced the chaos."
Igaguri blinked, finally getting it. "So Kira actually lost that exchange?"
"Not necessarily," Niko countered. "Kira knew the risks. He gambled that Raichi wouldn't have the technical skill to finish it, and he was right—the header was saved. But that's the beauty of the game. Anything can happen in the scramble. Lady Luck smiled on Team B."
***
On the pitch.
Kira wiped the sweat from his eyes.
He noticed something. Rin was starting to look like Isagi—he was actually starting to think like him.
***
Meanwhile, the so-called God of Field, Isagi: Snore! Snore!
Sleeping soundly, completely missing this match.
***
Match restart.
Team A kickoff.
Kira tapped the ball to Shidou and surveyed the field. Team B had changed. Under Karasu's barked orders, they had pulled back into a compact, low-block defense. They were all sitting in their own half, refusing to bite on the press.
'The Crow...'
Kira realized the strategy. Karasu wanted to use Raichi's tenacity and Zantetsu's breakaway speed to play for the counter. It was a smart, cynical way to handle a superior opponent.
Rin, however, looked disgusted. He hated this. He didn't want a "tactical" win; he wanted to dominate.
"Accept it, Rin. Acknowledge that we're the underdogs and play the game that wins," Karasu shouted, trying to keep Rin in the line.
Rin froze. He turned his head, his eyes burning with a cold, terrifying rage.
"I will never acknowledge that."
Leaving his teammates behind, Rin charged alone toward the five players of Team A.
"What the hell is he doing?!" Raichi shouted, panicked.
"Tch..." Karasu's face darkened. Rin was going rogue. "Forget him. The four of us stay put and hold the line. Let him do whatever he wants."
"Oho? Look at the hero," Shidou cackled as he drove the ball toward the incoming Rin. "I love tearing down people who think they're special."
"Then come and try it."
Rin's voice was like ice, his rage flaring to life.
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(First Goal: 300 Stones = +1 extra Chapter)
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