Comeback

Aizaki walked into the dressing room feeling frustrated. He had tried everything he could in the first half to put the team ahead, but nothing worked. He looked around and could tell his teammates felt the same way.

"All right settle down everybody," Coach Sakumo said as he walked into the room

The tension was so palatable you could literally taste it. The players sat sweat beaded on their foreheads, mirroring the tension hanging heavy in the air as fifteen pairs of eyes glued to the coach, their jaws clenched tight with focus.

Coach sakumo was not a happy camper. His team was currently losing the Interhigh Finals. And what made it more painful was the fact that the coach of Goshogawara High was his bitter rival. While he always favored a free flowing attacking football, Coach Takehiko of Goshogawara High loved a deep defensive formation. And now that they had the lead, he was sure his rival would literarily park the bus.

"Eh-hem" Sakumo cleared his throat as he got ready to address his team.

"You all played very well out there. Although we are behind am proud to say you all have lived up to my expectations. But is that really enough? We have gone through to much to fail now. All the blood, sweat, and tears put into training was just for this moment. The question is are you ready?

Sakumo took a pause waiting for an answer but recieved no reply. Hearing nothing he said louder " I said are you READY?"

"Yeah!!!" The players replied.

"I SAID ARE YOU READY?"

"YES!!!"

Nodding his head in satisfaction he continued "For the second half were going to be changing formations. We'll be using a 3-2-3-2 formation.

Bou Muroya will come on for Amu Banguchi, and play as the Right Midfielder, Hidefumi will join yoo Etsudou up front as strikers, Aizaki will will play as the attacking Midfielder, while Amatski will take on the role of the Left Midfielder. And finally Kesu komito will come on for Yuzuhi in central Midfield.

Hidefumi, yoo, the two of you guys will be playing as our strikers. Yoo use your height and strength to win any long balls and headers, Hidefumi use your pace to run at the defense and try and win as many fouls as you can.

Amatski, Bou try to beat their defender down the flanks and get as many crosses as possible into the box. But if you can't find any space, pass the ball to Aizaki.

Aizaki, you are our Link between offense and defense. Make sure to feed our forwards enough passes, and test the keeper from far. Also try to drop back and help the defense when needed.

Ketsu you'll play as a defensive Midfielder just behind sotaharu. When we have the ball you play besides sotaharu, but during defense join our center backs completing a back four.

The rest of you guys play as usual and we'll turn this game around.

Back on the pitch both teams had finished taking up their positions and where waiting for the whistle. The referee didn't delay and blew his whistle indicating the start of the second half.

The second half started, exactly the same way the first ended. Ryuunsuke High unleashed a barrage of shots on their opponents goal, but the Goshogawara high's goalie was having the game of his life.

This trend continued to until the 59th minute when they finally got their first clear chance.

Ryuunsuke High were passing the ball around as usual when a change occured.

Ketsu got the ball and released a pass towards his fellow substitute Bou Muroya. Bou recieved the ball, and immediately ran into the opposition half. He beat Hiruga at the wing before passing to Aizaki in the middle of the field.

Aizaki trapped the ball and looked up. His eyes briefly met Yoo and Hidefumi and he immediately knew what to do.

He sent a high lobbed pass into the oppositions half towards Yoo. Yoo on his part showcased his excellent strength as he held back the two opposing center backs while controlling the ball with his chest.

As soon as Yoo brought the ball under control, Hidefumi dashed towards Goshogawara high's goal. Yoo raised his right leg intending to send a pass towards his right to Hidefumi. Ozumi Goshogawara high's center back noticed this and moved to intercept the pass.

Unfortunately, Yoo anticipated this as he faked the pass. Ozumi had already moved in to intercept the pass leaving only a single defender on Yoo. Yoo then spun to his left hand side and sprinted towards the opposition goal.

The Ryuunsuke High supporters cheered on as Yoo beared down the goal. He ran into the penalty box drawing the defense towards him, before releasing a cut back pass to Hidefumi who just arrived in the box.

The Number 22 didn't even bother controlling the ball as he let a ferocious shot aiming for the top left corner.

The whole stadium went silent as the ball soared through the air. Ryuunsuke supporters praying the ball goes in, while Goshogawara High supporters hoping it doesn't.

Aizaki who was a little distance away from the 18 yard box as also praying it goes in, when something strange happened.

Time seemed to slow down, as the world suddenly turned black and white while the ball turned blue. He could see a strange blue starry trail following behind the ball indicating the path it had followed, and red one in front of the ball indicating where it would go.

"What the..."

He suddenly stopped moving wondering what was going on, before sprinting with a burst of speed toward left side of the penalty box.

Somewhere in the stands, a man in his early thirties was watching the match. With unkept black hair reaching just past his eyes, he looked like he hadn't slept for days. He looked visible bored like he was forced to come here.

"Oh, he can see it huh"

As soon as Aizaki stopped running and changed directions, he sat up and looked at him with intrigue his previous bored expression replaced with a feral grin.

As the ball travelled towards goal, it looked like it would enter into the back of the net, but in a fit of brilliance, Kihou pulled off an impossible save by pushing the ball slightly upward with his fingertips.

The ball deviated from it's part and hit the crossbar before flying out of the 18 yard box towards the left side where Aizaki was waiting.

The top of Aizaki's boot met the ball just as it was about to touch the ground. Suddenly time continued and Aizaki released a powerful volley shot into the top right corner from where the keeper had just dived from.

Kihou who had just pulled off an impossible save was still struggling to get up when the ball swooshed past him and into the back of the net.

SAKUMO POV

Coach Sakumo on the sitting at the sidelines was feeling nervous. His team had completely dominated both the first and second half but were still losing. He observed the match with anxious eyes as his team launched another attack.

Aizaki the first-year forward now playing as the attacking Midfielder received the ball just after the halfway line. He looked forward and sent a lofted ball towards the Yoo the tall center forward.

Yoo brought the ball down while holding back the two opponents center backs. Using the run of his striking partner as a decoy, he got past the defense creating their first clear chance of the game.

"Come on, let's go" sakumo muttered under his breath.

He shifted in his seat as he watched the striker charge towards goal with the ball at his feet. Yoo ran into the penalty box dragging all the defenders with him. He then released a simple cut back pass to Hidefumi who was just arriving in the 18 yard box.

"Shoot!!"

Sakumo shouted from the sidelines, encouraging the player. At this point he was up on his feet watching the game with outstretched arms.

Hidefumi released a near perfect shot towards the top left corner, catching the keeper off guard. The whole stadium went silent as they watched the ball inch closer and closer to the back of the net.

Sakumo mirrored the balls flight with his eyes as it flew through the air. He felt his heart beat intensely in his chest as if threatening to escape.

"Goa.."

Just when he was sure that the ball was going in, the keeper produced a moment of magic. He pushed the ball upward slightly with his middle finger. The ball then hit the crossbar and flew out of the penalty box.

"Ah..."

Sakumo felt his excitement turn into frustration. Just when he was about to give up on the attack, he saw were the ball was heading, or rather who it was heading to.

There at the edge of the 18 yard box stood Aizaki his eyes fixed on the flight of the ball.

"When did he get there?" Sakumo Wondered in confusion, but immediately put those thoughts behind him and watched as the number 11 hit a powerful volley shot that rattled the back of the net.

"Gooaaaaal!! What a fabulous run from Yoo Etsudou, he cut through Goshogawara High school defense with skill before releasing a simple cut back pass that took the defenders out of the equation. Hidefumi had his shot saved by the ever present Kihou who produced a gravity gravity defing save. Unfortunately his luck was out as the ball fell kindly to Aizaki Kawada who struck to score the equalizer for Ryuunsuke High school.

"Ryuunsuke High -1 Goshogawara High -1."