[29] Yoichi Isagi (2)

'This is fun'

Izumo thought, chuckling internally as he found playing a villain amusing and enjoyable.

Obviously, he was the stranger in the mask.

He initially wanted to just meet with Isagi and make friends with him...

But he changed his mind after seeing an ownerless soccer ball which prompted him to think up this plan instead.

And so far, it was going splendidly.

'Yes, drown more in the dark side, Isagi'

Izumo grinned as he watched Isagi feel pressured by his intimidating aura.

Although, speaking about him...

Izumo never expected to see Isagi's advanced move, the 2 stages lefty direct shot. Though rather than his left, it was replaced by his right instead.

Still, it was truly surprising to see it happen so early on.

And Izumo theorized that it must have been a subconscious act cause there was no way Isagi did that on purpose with his current skill level.

'It makes sense...'

Izumo nodded at himself since he had been having this feeling that Isagi himself was starting to get into the flow.

This explains why the young man's movement suddenly changed and he was able to perform moves beyond his level.

'Good, good, good...'

Izumo smiled widely beneath the mask, feeling more excited and anticipation as he wanted to rile up Isagi even more.

He wanted to see the limit of the current Isagi as well as what sort of amazing moves he might display next.

Although it was proving to be quite difficult to lower his skill level to match with Isagi.

After all, Izumo didn't want a one-sided match since it would be extremely boring.

'Oh, well... I suppose I can treat it as a form of challenge'

In the next moment, Izumo stepped on the ball and charged toward Isagi before performing a roulette thereby switching positions with each other.

For the second time, it was Isagi's turn to defend yet again.

"Defend well, Isagi-kun~"

Izumo cheekily warned before a chuckle let out his mouth after seeing Isagi scowl on his face.

Charging ahead, Izumo didn't stop sprinting, making Isagi tense his body and prepare for a face-off.

And as Izumo came face to face with Isagi...

He immediately halted before taking a quick step back after Isagi attempted to intercept the ball.

Shortly after the back step...

Izumo pushed and rolled the ball to his left foot, rebounding it up in the air before he received it with his right foot and dragged it to the right, intending to break past to the side.

And Isagi followed his movement closely and leaned to his left to block.

But sadly for him, it was a feint as Izumo immediately flicked the ball in mid-air to the other side and broke past to the left instead, leaving him dumbfounded.

"Mid-air elastico!?"

Isagi exclaimed before regaining his composure and pushing himself to catch up.

It was too bad that Izumo was too fast and had already kicked the ball as it soon cut the air before slamming itself into the post.

"That's two"

Izumo smugly commented, raising two fingers toward Isagi, showing he was 2 points in the lead now.

And as Isagi expected, the ball was soon passed to him afterward which he reluctantly received.

"..."

Isagi kept quiet as the ball stayed on his feet, feeling uneasy and unsure as more thoughts swirled inside his mind.

"Oh, have you given up already?"

"..."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk... that's disappointing, truly disappointi-"

"Shut the fuck up, windbag. I'm thinking"

"???"

Izumo flinched for a moment, utterly baffled by the sudden insult before laughter came out of his mouth.

"Hahaha! Right, my apologies"

Izumo scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as he slightly bowed his head to express his apology.

Frankly, he didn't mind the hostility and was carefree about it...

In fact, he finds it delightful since it shows that he is truly in Blue Lock.

After all, it wouldn't be the loveable and intense manga without the bickering and insults.

Meanwhile, Isagi was still unmovable with his right hand on his chin, seemingly cooking up with a strategy.

After a while, his eyes regained focus as he raised his head with his attention now back to Izumo.

"You done?"

Izumo asked which Isagi responded with a nod.

"Great! Then let's start round three"

The moment Izumo finished uttering those words...

Isagi immediately charged ahead with the ball as he began to move erratically, running in a zig-zag motion.

It seems Isagi wanted to confuse Izumo with his unpredictable movement which elicited an amused smile from him.

'Interesting play'

Izumo thought as he slightly crouched and prepared himself.

On the other hand, Isagi had his eyes locked on Izumo's every action, focusing even on the minuscule and tiniest movement from him.

And as Isagi reached a close distance toward Izumo...

Isagi instantly performed a step-over but Izumo had already predicted and leaned to the side where he was preparing to break through.

But in a surprising turn of events, the step-over was actually a fake as Isagi instantly regained his posture and then pushed the ball to his right foot, rebounding it up in the air.

"Hm?"

Seeing this, Izumo glinted in his eyes and slowed down his movement as he wanted to see what was about to happen next.

And as expected, Isagi received the ball in mid-air with his left foot before dragging it to the left.

'Did he devour my move?'

Izumo thought as he couldn't help but laugh after seeing Isagi manage to reproduce the mid-air elastico.

Naturally, Izumo still had his attention on the game as he used his talent [Parallel Thought] to both focus and monologue.

Meanwhile, Isagi had already flicked the ball to the right with the intention to break through and used the moment when Izumo was distracted...

Is what he thought happened.

Too bad he never accounted for Izumo's superb reflexes as he instantly sidestepped and blocked Isagi's path.

"...?!"

Although surprised, Isagi didn't stop as he felt something inside of him telling him that he could still do more.

With that in mind, he let his body control himself as Isagi halted his steps immediately and spun himself to the other side, performing a roulette.

But Izumo's eyes followed Isagi's quick move and reacted instantly by taking a step back before spinning himself toward him.

And the two spun simultaneously as Isagi successfully performed a roulette when Izumo's back abruptly appeared in front of him and blocked his momentum.

This causes Isagi to jerk slightly after Izumo's back softly tacked his chest thereby loosening his grasp of the ball.

Obviously, Izumo took the chance and stole the ball away as he then spun himself again, switching position.

"Sh*t!"

Isagi cursed and gritted his teeth as he immediately positioned himself to block the post.

But when he did so, Isagi suddenly shuddered as he saw Izumo's eyes sharpen like an eagle.

He stood there stupified in place and was distracted for a moment.

And before he knew it, Izumo had already kicked the ball toward the post.

"...!?"

Isagi merely realized it too late and tried to lunge himself to intercept the ball.

But sadly for him, the ball suddenly curved and changed its trajectory in mid-air, surprising him.

"Ah..."

After failing to block the ball, Isagi plunged to the ground and slid off.

He could only watch while lying down as the ball closed in toward the post and left a trail of wind.

Seeing this, the world seemed to slow down as Isagi felt entranced and couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of the shot.

Clang!

Soon, the ball rammed itself into the lamppost and produced a sound that echoed in the area before it quieted down afterward.

For a moment the atmosphere was silent with both Isagi and Izumo not moving an inch from their position.

It was not long after that Izumo moved first and strolled toward Isagi who was still sprawled on the ground.

"Good game"

Izumo commented as he stretched his right arm toward Isagi, asking him to take his hand which he did.

And as Izumo helped Isagi up...

The young man stared at Izumo with conflicted thoughts before his mouth opened.

"Who..."

Isagi wanted to ask who he was but before he could finish the question, Izumo interrupted him.

"I'm just your friendly neighborhood fan, that's all"

Izumo jokingly said as he carefreely shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't forget what you felt today, Isagi"

"..."

Upon hearing him, Isagi couldn't help but recall the strange feeling he had during the duel as well as that beautiful shot from earlier.

"...I will"

Isagi responded and nodded thankfully at Izumo.

At first, he found Izumo to be unlikable but after playing against him...

He became grateful since he let him remind himself how fun soccer was and showed him what a striker should be like.

And while Isagi was lost in his thoughts, Izumo had already turned around and left, leaving the young protagonist to his devices.