Team Z vs Team X | Part 1

Whistle!

The game commenced, and Wataru started by giving the pass to Isagi, who didn't hurry to pass it to someone else. He waited for his teammates to move up as well as his opponents, interested in how they would play. The first three people in the enemy's line were all running at him, smiling like idiots. The moment Isagi turned to pass, Raichi intercepted it and took it from his own teammate.

"I don't care about teams! Who scores the most wins, right? Then I'll do it in my way!" The white-haired boy sprinted all the way from his position to Isagi. No matter the three opponents who were all on him now, Raichi recklessly charged forward, expecting to outplay them.

His previous actions also provoked Kunigami to enter a similar struggle with him: "If this is how you want to play, shithead. Then I will fight as well." He rushed in and took the ball from Raichi, angering him.

"What are you guys doing?! You guys are on the same team, you dumbasses!" "Wait, wait for me! I'm getting there!" Some could only watch from the sidelines as their own teammates fought each other, but it didn't take long for the opposite team to join them, and the fight for the football started.

Dennis sighed, 'Apparently, we aren't the only ones with idiots on the team.' Team X had a similar number of dumbasses on their team. They were arguing with each other too. 'Iemon, even you... and Wataru? I thought you guys were chill…' The German didn't even begin to play because of his extreme disappointment. He didn't try to force his team to play the way they had agreed.

Swoosh!

Someone's figure entered the hustle and alerted everyone of his presence; he moved at such speed that everyone was afraid of colliding with his massive body. He was number 10 for Team X and just regained possession for his team. He broke through that pile of bodies and rushed at Isagi, who stood nearby. "Get out of my face, or I'll kill you!" he told Isagi with a threatening voice.

The latter could do nothing but watch as he was approached by number 10 of Team X. 'I'm going to stop him.' Isagi told himself internally. He took a defensive stand and bent his knees a little, but maybe he focused too much attention on the ball itself as the guy did the unthinkable.

With his heel, he flicked the football overhead, and it landed right at his legs; he didn't even stop at Isagi, and he just moved to score the goal. 'F*ck, he got past me!' When the blue lock's number eleven turned around, he couldn't catch up with the opponent.

Dennis saw the name written behind the number 10's shit, Barou Shoei. He was about to kick the ball to the right top corner of the goal.

Bang!

Instead of going into the usual net, the ball hit something human. Dennis tackled on Barou just in time and took the hit on his legs. 'This guy is quick. He was too far away when I was about to shoot.' Barou thought as the tall boy stood up. He was built even better than him, which was surprising for an animal like Barou

As he watched German get back to the box, he saw the name written on his shirt. 'He is foreigner?'

"Get back in your places now!" Dennis shouted for his teammates, "The score would be 1-0 for Team X if we just let this go off now. Do it now if you don't want to get kicked out of the project!" His team listened to him and got back into defensive positions.

Barou picked up the ball and prepared to throw it from out of bounds; his team was never open enough, though. "These idiots can't even think properly," Barou's teammates wanted to receive the ball, but how could they when they were literally marked by at least one Team Z player? 'But neither can those.'

Barou threw the ball at the feet of Igarashi, and the buzz-cut was perplexed by his actions. "Huh?" Barou was quick to act and took away the ball; he just basically played the football for himself. "My bad guys! Cover him!" Igarashi couldn't say anything because it was already too late.

Barou rolled the football out of the box right after everyone thought he was getting in. Swish! His leg launched the ball on a curved trajectory. Gagamaru realized he was too far away from the goal; he tried to jump as the ball was floating down in an arch. 'I can't reach it!' He tried. He really did, but the ball hit the bar and ricocheted into the net.

Barou scored for Team X on his own, giving them a 1-0 lead. His teammates cheered, not expecting this turn of events. "Let's go! Barou!" They jumped on him and congratulated him. Just a statistic wasn't only thing they gained from this goal, from now on, they would play as a team…

"Igarashi, this one was on you," Dennis slapped Igarahi's shoulder, "You made an idiotic mistake that nobody should. Play defense better." Imagine standing next to him and being terrified by his glare alone.

Dennis turned to the others, "All of you must play defense better! You are acting like kids for god's sake and expect to go into professional football leagues!" Gagamaru threw the ball at Wataru as he completed his sentence.

Isagi agreed with Dennis, 'They are arguing among themselves more than thinking about scoring.' His eyes landed on Bachira, who only nodded at him. They needed to start playing sooner or they would lose this match. 'It's still the first half, but the time passes quickly.'

"Isagi, play the ball when you receive it; if you think you can push forward, then do it." Wataru passed the ball to Isagi as the whistle was blown. "But make sure there is someone to pass all the time!"

'But how when there is this guy all the time!' Raichi was the madlad he was worried about; if this guy wasn't letting his own team play normally, what could he do? Maybe just moving the ball away from him was an option, "Bachira!" Isagi passed the ball to Shorty, who received it with a soft touch.

The dark-blue-haired boy was meanwhile thinking about what Ego meant by rebuilding football from zero… There should be something his words mean, but what could it be? It was related to how they were currently playing, not only them but also their opponents.

Speaking of them, the way they were pressing Bachira right now was different from the past. They weren't as chaotic before; they definitely had a talk about who was going to defend and how… how come they couldn't do the same, even though they agreed. "Bachira, pass to me!" After regaining his composure, Isagi joined the play.

Bachira preferred to make plays with someone who was clear-minded; Isagi was the one. He passed and expected the return as he dashed onto the flank, leaving his opponents behind with his speed. They used the triangle combo, and Isagi returned the pass directly to his leg. 'Nice pass, Isagi!' The opponents were left behind.

The dark-blue-haired player picked up the pace along with Bachira, who just passed another defender who tried to stop his approach. The shorty started moving to the center just as Dennis had told them. When Isagi saw the open space on the right flank, he saw the opportunity. 'Bachira…' He needed him to notice his figure.

Meguru already knew what Isagi would do; his intuition was telling him that someone else would definitely notice the opening on the right. He felt the tingling vibration behind him: 'That's right, Isagi!' He smirked before doing a no-look pass on the right. 'It's your time to do the magic!' Isagi accelerated even more, and the opponent chased him down.

'He is going to cross!' Everyone was thinking at the same time, but just as Isagi was about to cross, he fired a faint shot and moved in a different direction.

"Isagi, I'm open!" Kunigami stood outside the box; nobody was marking him; he was ready to shoot at any given moment; just give him the ball. Isagi thought the same thing, but his intuition told him otherwise, so he took the risk.

As Kunigami shouted once more and opponents started leaving the box to intercept the ginger head, Isagi crossed the ball closer to the goal. 'Huh?!' Everyone was surprised. Chigiri was running into the box, exactly where the ball was about to land. The redhead's quick legs allowed him to get to the ball before others, and quick footwork guaranteed him the goal. The buildup before this moment was great as well!

Bang! Chigiri was already celebrating the goal in his heart when someone's body was put before the ball. Barou jumped in to intercept, and the ball hit him on the ass. "Over my dead body, I would let any of you score the goal…" The goalkeeper picked up the ball, which was still in the box.

"Fuck!" Chigiri exclaimed. He should have anticipated this; he wasted such a good chance to tie their score. "Sorry, Isagi!" He apologized before bursting from the box and joining the defense. After all, Isagi was yelled at by Raichi, who wanted to score the goal himself.

Chigiri had enough of it, and his anger couldn't be contained anymore. "Raichi, shut up before I spit your tongue! We are covering up your job, damn it!" His outburst was directed at the white-haired teammate who had been annoying their entire team for a long time.

"Shut up, you softie! You literally just missed the chance, and we could've gained the point!"

Wataru ran past them, "Stop bickering and at least cover up Barou!" They did as they were told, but they were like sheep running after the wolf, not even realizing what the hell they were doing. The fact that they were chasing Barou in groups left other opponents from team X open; the beast wasn't stupid enough not to take advantage of this opportunity and pass to them.

"Really? You will run after me and leave them open?" Barou kicked his heel on the ball and passed the ball to his teammate.

Their eyes flickered toward the ball. 'Fuck!' Team Z was again tricked. At least their defensive line stood strong; they were just three players. Kunigami, who played the role of deep six, and Iemon and Dennis, who were center backs, were their current defensive linemen who didn't joke around.

"Iemon, press on the left!" Dennis instructed and stood in front of the opponent with the ball. He was some distance from the ball because he wasn't attempting to steal but rather hold the defensive line; if he attempted to steal the ball, the opponent would simply pass before he could.

There were two others that Dennis had to watch out for. There were around four meters between them, not far and not close; the German could easily run to any of them if they shot. Team Z was coming from the center of the field as well. 'I just have to hold-'

The opponent made the pass, 'Got him!' Dennis had predicted the moment well, but his speed was still not enough. Smack! Whoever shot it had the least amount of strength on team X, definitely, but it went into the net. 2-0 in favor of team X. 'Almost got the ball…' "Sorry, Gin, not your fault again. I'll do better next time."

"No, man. You played good." Dennis cannot be blamed by Gagamaru or anyone else. He did better than any of them. "We still have time; we can pull this off somehow. They are just not playing well enough to be out."

Kunigami nodded, "We need to take this seriously, I'm going to do my role as the deep six, but we need everyone to play. The strikers did well in the previous attack, but what we lack is defense. We need more back here.."

"Hah," Dennis laughed, "of course, we are doing better in attack; all of us here are strikers. But you are right. We lack coordination, so Kunigami, directs the play in the Middlefield; you are closer to the center than me. Everyone heard me right?!"

Kuon, Chigiri, Bachira, Isagi, Iemon, and Gagamaru all nodded; they were in agreement on this one. So the rest had to reluctantly agree; this was a football game, not some political debate. Hopefully, they will do better this time.