A Jolt Of Excitement

A groan escaped Sho as he lifted himself up from the cold bench in the locker room. Following his teammates, he exited the locker room and closed the door behind him. Each step towards the field produced a clacking sound as his cleats touched the concrete ground below him. In the distance, he saw the well-lit field while his teammates began stretching their arms and legs. Sho followed the painted arrows on the floor and excitingly cracked his knuckles. He momentarily squinted his eyes, getting accustomed to the well-lit field, as he began to walk over to his teammates.

"You anxious?" asked Sho, patting Otoya's back.

"I usually am, but today I'm confident. Strangely, I don't feel scared or anything. Either because I'm with you guys-"

"Or because you became a better striker," interjected Karasu.

Time Until Faceoffs 00:00:25

"We better get into our positions," said Sho, looking up towards the digital clock above them and moving to his position on the field.

Everyone on the field had different reactions as the time for the game approached. Sho closed his eyes and exhaled, calming himself down. Reo grabbed a hair tie from his wrist and tightly wrapped it around the back of his head, leaving no strands of hair in his face. Nagi wiped the crust from his eyes and yawned.

Time Until Faceoffs 00:00:10

Both Ryuu and Isagi shared the same excited expression on their faces, excited for the chance to knock down their opponents and move on to the Final Stage of the Second Selection.

Karasu smiled ear to ear while he walked into the center circle of the field. "Good luck," he chuckled, propelling the ball to the right.

Kickoff!

'It looks like I'll be starting things off, Nagi," thought Otoya obtaining the ball and gazing towards his approaching opponent.

Otoya was quick to glance to the opposite side of the field and dribble the ball between his legs. Even with one eye on Yukimiya running down the field, Otoya was well aware of the critical spot he positioned himself. With a single-leg sweep from Nagi, they could score and ruin their forward charge towards the goal. With that in mind, he stopped glancing towards the opposite side of the field and gave his undivided attention to the approaching opposition running towards him.

"I've caught up," Nagi breathed, not feeling the same excitement from his previous match.

"Because I let you," replied Otoya, glancing towards Karasu, running parallel with him, "I guess I'll let you step on my shadow."

He brought his pace up a notch, leaving Nagi three steps behind him. Continuing down the right side of the field, he watched as Isagi worryingly ignored Karasu and ran towards him, cutting off his sprint down the field.

'He ruined our plan.' thought Isagi, stopping his rush down the field.

"Tsk Tsk Tsk, Isagi. You should no better than anyone, not to leave anyone open." scolded Otoya, passing the ball horizontally from him.

Karasu stopped the ball from running away from him and looked from side to side, noticing no one near him." Like clockwork," he shouted, complimenting the perfect timing of the pass.

Feeling like he got duped, Isagi hastily stopped his pursuit of Otoya and ran after Karasu. Hoping his teammates were near, he peeked over his shoulder, gazing towards both Yukimiya and Ryuu as they both ran down the left side of the field. He was at arm's length from Karasu and the ball when a chuck paused his movements.

"You're like a moth to a flame, huh. Where ever the ball goes, you go." Karasu chucked before breaking into laughter. He waited a second longer, letting Isagi get a foot closer before passing the ball back to Otoya.

With all their backs turned from Otoya, he used his "Stealthy Steps" and ran past Nagi and Isagi, avoiding both of their fields of vision.

'Otoya? When the hell did he get here.' thought Isagi, looking behind him.

With everyone staring at his back, he smiled and kicked the ball past the goalie's head — into the goal.

Otoya, Karasu, Yukimiya, Sho 1 - 0 Nagi, Isagi, Ryuu, Reo

"It looks like we're getting somewhere," smirked Otoya, high-fiving Karasu. Yukimiya, who was in the distance, settled with a gratifying smile before walking back to his starting position. While Sho followed his smirking teammate and repositioned himself for the next kickoff.

"Karasu distracts everyone while Otoya comes from the shadows and steals the goal — won't happen twice," Reo explained, adjusting his jersey.

Ryuu clapped while regaining his breath. "That's impressive," said Ryuu, impressed by the speed they both executed that play.

'God damn it. It's a near-perfect one-two combo with no flaws. . . They're strong.' thought Isagi, walking back to his starting position.

With relatively everyone back in their starting positions, Ryuu entered the center circle and waited for the strategically placed megaphones in the corners of the field to sound.

He flexed the fingers in both of his hands before looking down at the stationary ball below him. Only a few seconds passed before he looked back at the crowd in front of him. Surveying the field, Ryuu quickly realized a change in their formation. With that tiny hint, the megaphones sounded.

Restart!!

In one swift motion, he kicked the ball out of the center circle, in Isagi's direction, and ran back to their side of the field.

"Back!" Ryuu shouted, pointing towards his feet.

Isagi surveyed the field, finding both Sho and Karasu towards their goal, acting as defenders. He knew better than anyone that this would be the best time to attack. So without a shadow of a doubt, he kicked the ball back towards Ryuu.

With the ball now rolling towards him and Yukimiya closing the gap between them, he chose to trust in the one thing that got him this far — his impulses. In his mind, there was no need to problem-solve every situation or even resort to using brute force for his goals.

Isagi must've not added enough power behind his kick as the ball fell a few feet short ahead of Ryuu. Yukimiya noticed this and didn't let the opportunity pass by him, so he propelled himself forward and was an arm's length from both the ball and Ryuu. Yukimiya stretched his dominant leg forwards in hopes of stealing the ball. While Ryuu simply let his instinct take over.

A lightning-quick shock ran from his thigh down to the tips of his toes as he abruptly kicked the ball to the side.

"Ha, nice try," laughed Ryuu, dribbling the ball down the left side of the field.

One failed attempt wasn't enough to make Yukimiya stop as he got back up with an invigorated expression on his face and chased after Ryuu's receding figure.

Ryuu kept trodding down the field while he kept a watchful eye on both Yukimiya behind him and Otoya quickly approaching him. Unfortunately for Ryuu, Sho stayed by the corner of the goalpost while Karasu stayed between both Isagi and Nagi, waiting for him to pass the ball.

Only a few seconds passed before Ryuu made up his mind on the play he'd need to score a goal.

'Yukimiya's no speed demon, so I'll just have to beat you, Otoya!! The road to Nagi. . . I'll open it with a 1-on-1.' thought Ryuu, dragging his feet, inviting Otoya closer.

Otoya paused. Not taking the bait. Instead, he followed his every movement as Ryuu began to dash to the right.

'That's fine if you won't take the bait. If I can just open a path, that'll be enough. Just a moment of hesitation is enough!' thought Ryuu, stopping for just a second, then sprinting again.

"Perfect. That's all I need," grimly spoke Ryuu, kicking the ball down the field.

"Turn around!" shouted Ryuu.

"Did you know? Humans aren't able — to suddenly go backwards," said Nagi, jumping up and bizarrely contorting his body.

With the front of his face, looking at Karasu and the back facing the goal, Nagi popped the ball up and over his shoulder.

"Really?" said Karasu, surprised by the show of flexibility.

The ball fell two steps ahead of Nagi as he ran next to it and kicked the ball into the corner of the goal.

Nagi, Isagi, Ryuu, Reo 1 - 1 Otoya, Karasu, Yukimiya, Sho

"Got one." halfheartedly spoke Nagi, high-fiving the approaching Isagi.

Reo watched from the sidelines as Ryuu and Nagi's chemical reaction produced results. "Nice play," he shouted from across the field, excited to have the game tied.

"Is that some type of innate ability or something?" asked Karasu, walking back to his side of the field.

"For real. . . N- Nagi must've gotten better than before," panted Yukimiya, a little tired from running up and down the field.

The only bored person on the field was Sho, who kept an unimpressed expression on his face. "Everything's been recorded and noted," He involuntarily yawned, lining up next to the center circle.

Restart!!

++++

Didn't have time to reread so if there are any mistakes, please lemme know.

<3