[33] Kesseki High (2)

Standing in front of the goal, Izumo kicked the ball as it whizzed right inside the net with no suspense.

Yet again, it was the second goal for him, making the scoreboard 3 - 0, shutting the Kesseki High with no goals.

Indeed, the first score was earned by him earlier which was soon followed by Yamamoto who scored next with Minato's assist.

Whistle!

Soon after, the referee blew his whistle, signifying the end of the first half as both teams began heading back toward their locker rooms.

The Kesseki High players were especially walking slowly with their heads pointing down, looking quite gloomy and frustrated.

Meanwhile, inside the Kazamizawa High locker room...

Izumo who was hoping to have some "me time" was met with disappointment as his seniors were constantly ruffling his hair, eliciting an annoyed groan out of his mouth.

'Can you not?'

Izumo thought, wanting to stop his teammates from interrupting his peace and quiet...

Was what he wanted to do but in the end, he did not do so since it would ruin the joyful atmosphere in the air.

He was mature enough to let this slide since he had heard that this team lost against Kesseki High in the past which explained their celebratory reactions right now.

"As expected of a superstar, huh..."

Kousuke suddenly strolled toward Izumo and sat down beside him while staring at the players who were celebrating with each other.

"Feels bad for the other team"

"..."

"Not even letting them score a single goal... tsk, tsk, tsk"

Kousuke repeatedly clicked his tongue disappointingly, acting as if Izumo was a bad man.

"Did you want me to let them score?"

"Oh, no... not at all. I want you to keep going"

"..."

"Make sure to show an even bigger bang to the audience. That way, the school would give me a big bonus"

"...how did you even manage to land this job?"

Izumo couldn't help but stare and ask the man, feeling dumbfounded at how such a nasty guy could be hired.

On the other hand, Kousuke merely shrugged his shoulders in response and looked nonchalant.

After a while, the man stood up from his seat and clapped his hands, gaining the attention of everybody.

"Okay, stop celebrating... the break's over. Go out to the field, now"

Upon hearing their coach's words, the team headed out, including Izumo as they soon arrived at the field.

And the moment they did so, they noticed the unusual air around the Kesseki High players.

'Oh? Have they finally started getting serious?'

Izumo thought, seeing the glares from their faces as well as the solemn aura coming out of their bodies.

They were particularly glaring at him with their eyes lasered focus directly on his face.

'Scary~'

Izumo silently chuckled, amused by their glares as he was unbothered by the pressure at all.

Soon after, both teams positioned themselves with Kesseki High having the kickoff.

Whistle!

The moment the whistle blew, two opposing players immediately marked Izumo closely.

"Hm?"

Seeing the two players marking him tightly, Izumo couldn't help but feel impressed at their bold decision.

'To place two marks on me would mean they've given up on defense'

With Yamamoto also having a mark...

That left three players gone from Kesseki High, making the defense in their backline thin and full of holes to exploit.

But judging from their expression, it seems they were prepared to give up on it.

'I commend your spirit'

In light of the situation, Izumo decided to be serious just this once out of his respect for them.

And the moment he resolved upon it, his irises suddenly sharpened as a strange glow appeared in his eyes.

For a while, he just played normally, waiting patiently like a hunter for his time to act.

Meanwhile, the audience was cheering wildly since they never expected such an outcome to happen.

Everyone assumed the game would be in Kesseki High's hands, that is...

Not until Izumo showed up and broke their expectations.

On the other hand, some players from other schools were watching the game fervently while jotting down notes at the same time and recording the match.

And as the game went on, the match became heated as both teams hadn't scored at all for the past 20 minutes or so.

This however made the Kesseki High players act impatiently.

"Huwah!"

The forward of Kesseki High yelled out in the air as he expertly kept the ball in his grasp while contending against both Ren and Botan.

But through a step over, the forward managed to fake them both and left them behind as he instantly headed toward the goal.

Seeing this, the Kesseki High players reacted immediately and started playing offensively, pushing to invade the backline of Kazamizawa High.

On the other hand, the Kesseki forward gritted his teeth and miraculously outmaneuvered his way in, eliciting cheers from the stands.

"I'm open!"

A teammate from Kesseki High shouted toward their forward, trying to convey that he was open for a pass.

But the forward didn't seem to have heard him and still kept charging ahead, not attempting to pass to anyone at all.

In fact, the reason he chose to do so was because of his desire to score a goal after seeing the scoreboard in the corner of his eye.

If they had kept passing, then it would have wasted time thereby squandering the chance to catch up.

Although he was only a transferee...

But he had come to love the school and wanted them to reach the nationals.

That's why he plans to push forward alone and score a goal for the team.

Unfortunately, that decision of his would soon turn out to be a mistake...

The moment he closed in on the goal, Fuji appeared and rammed his shoulders against him while extending his arms in front at the same time, attempting to restrict his movement.

On the other hand, the forward was struggling to get out of the aggressive defense and couldn't move freely.

And Hinata seeing this, took the chance and lunged himself toward the ball before kicking it away.

"Ah?!"

The forward cried out in surprise, witnessing the ball in his grasp be pulled away.

It was only at this moment did he realized that he should have trusted his teammates instead.

"Second ball! Move!"

Kouske stood up from his seat and screamed toward the team, reminding them to move their asses and get the ball.

Meanwhile, Izumo finally saw the moment to act and formed a small smile.

In an instant, he wriggled his body before abruptly bursting out in speed, leaving his two marks in shock.

"...!!?"

Although they were surprised for a moment...

But as aspiring pros, they managed to regain their composure shortly and ran after Izumo.

Sadly, by the time they did so, Izumo had already swiftly reached and swooped in toward the ball first.

'My turn'

Not wasting a single moment, Izumo immediately made a long cross toward Minato which the man expertly received.

Upon obtaining the ball, Minato turned to look at Akai and nodded at him.

Meanwhile, Akai seeing this, nodded back as he understood what he needed to do.

Shortly after, both of them ran at the same time with Minato on the left and Akai on the right.

With countless training in their belt, the two successfully performed multiple one-touch passes with each other thereby slipping their way into their enemy's backline.

It was at this time that the two experienced the pressure of the famed solid defense of Kesseki High.

"Damn..."

Akai couldn't help but mutter under his breath as he was struggling to move around with their opponent's tight pressing.

He desperately looked around, trying to find a way to get out of the situation and that's when his eyes lit up after seeing his senior, Yamamoto.

His senior was rushing toward the enemy's goal with his hand raising in the air, expressing he was open.

Although there was his mark, pressing his shoulder against Yamamoto on his left.

But his senior did look confident enough to outwit the guy.

Sadly, Akai didn't have confidence in him and couldn't risk it...

Not until he saw "something" that changed his mind.

Indeed, he couldn't help but smile as he soon flicked the ball toward Yamamoto's direction.

And the ball flew in the air with Yamamoto preparing to receive it, already planning ways to score.

Unfortunately, the ball landed in front of him before bouncing a few times and rolling toward his right.

Seeing this, Yamamoto thought that his junior fumbled in his pass...

That is until he turned his head to the right and saw Izumo bursting out of his shadow.

Soon after, Izumo stretched his leg forward as he successfully received the ball.

"...?!"

Both Yamamoto and his mark were taken aback by his sudden appearance as they never expected him to show up.

It was only at this moment did Yamamoto realized that Akai didn't make a mistake at all but rather it was planned from the start.

The ball was intended to be passed to Izumo in the first place.

'So, I was used as bait instead'

Yamamoto thought and couldn't help but form a helpless smile as he watched Izumo pull his right leg before kicking the ball toward the goal.

And the ball cut the air as it soon lunged itself into the net despite the goalkeeper's attempts to block it.