[21] Mock Battle (4)

"I knew it!"

A young man shouted abruptly in the benches, scaring the young girl and the middle-aged man beside him.

If Izumo were here, he would have recognized these two instantly since they were the very same people from earlier that morning.

"Shut up"

The young girl reprimanded him before ruthlessly elbowing his stomach, eliciting a groan from the young man.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You're too loud"

"Why can't I? Shouldn't you be excited as well?

"..."

"That's Izumo Kizashi right there on the flesh"

The young man pointed at a white cloudy-haired young man on the field with an excited look.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged man as well as the bench players nearby heard him and had their heads tilted to the sides in confusion.

"Izumo...?"

The middle-aged man muttered, questioning himself whether he recognized the name or not.

And the young man seemed to have heard his muttering as shortly after, he turned his head toward him with sparkling eyes.

"It's the tempest of the south!"

The young man responded jovially, clearly a fan of Izumo while the young girl beside him also nodded enthusiastically, expressing she was a fan as well.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged man became even more confused as he still didn't recognize the name.

"Wait... is it that person from Aoba?"

On the other hand, a bench player seemed to finally recognize Izumo and had his eyes lit up at the realization.

"Aoba, aoba...? Aoba!"

The middle-aged man pondered for a minute, muttering the name over and over again before a thought crossed his mind, and finally remembered who it was.

"So, it's him..."

"..."

"But hold on, this is strange..."

"Strange?"

"I recall hearing a rumor that Tokyo Conquest invited him. Could it have been false?"

Hearing the middle-aged man mutter and question, the young man merely shakes his head disappointingly in response.

"Sensei, no... Mr. Aizawa!"

"Yes?"

"That's not important right now"

"...?"

"What's important is that we have a superstar in our team... a SUPERSTAR!"

The young man stood up from his seat as a fiery passion seemed to light up inside of him.

"Maybe... just maybe, we can finally qualify for the nationals"

"Sit down!"

The young girl sternly glared at him, making the young man fearful as he hurriedly sat down.

"Suzuki, I haven't seen the club forms of the first years. Where are they?"

Aizawa suddenly asked, staring at the young girl who was scolding the young man beside her.

"Ah... the new coach asked for them earlier, so I gave them to him"

Aizawa nodded in response as he quietly turned his head and stared toward Kousuke in the distance with a contemplated look.

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"Was that... what I think it was?"

A senior player asked as he lent his hand toward the goalkeeper who was on the floor, helping him up.

Hearing his words, the goalkeeper kept quiet before he shook his head.

"A coincidence"

"...yeah, must be"

Both of them denied the thought that it was done deliberately.

However, deep down, they felt doubtful and suspicious but kept it to themselves.

Whistle!

A whistle echoed in the air, reminding everyone to get back to the game which they did.

And with a kick of the ball, the game restarted.

"Change!"

A senior player yelled out as he twirled his finger in the air, gesturing some sort of signal to his team.

Seeing this, the old-timers responded, switching their formation to a defensive one shortly after.

With the familiar quick passes, the old-timers won yet again at the midfield battle and started dominating the field with their possession plays.

However, it seems, they didn't have any intentions to score and assumed a time-wasted strategy.

With a lead of 1 point...

As long as they could hold on long enough for the game to end, they would win.

Although they could attack, but the risks outweighed the benefits. it just wasn't worth it.

This was evidently influenced by Izumo.

Although they believe that his shot earlier was a mere fluke...

They still can't help but accept his skills and technique.

For as long as he is on the field, they would dread the risks of failing to score and the potential counterattack afterward.

Their pride was on the line after all.

If they were to lose this match to the first-years then they wouldn't have the face to appear in front of others.

"Hm"

Izumo watching all of this unfold, merely shook his head in disappointment.

Though he wanted to rush in and steal the ball, he was currently marked by two players, restricting his movements.

Usually, he would have already broken past them but this time, it was a bit different since these two were really sticking to him, literally.

If he had tried to outmaneuver them somehow, there was a chance that he would foul whether by accident or not.

Of course, it was merely a chance...

But considering this was just a mock battle, Izumo decided not to play seriously.

Furthermore, their technique and skills were at a passable level, making it a bit enjoyable for him.

After all, they aren't middle schoolers and are actual bonafide high school players with tons of experience.

So if Izumo needed to break through the safe way then he needed to be patient like a hunter and wait for a chance.

However, it seems he didn't need to wait as not long after, Osaki, their right-wing surprisingly managed to intercept and kick the ball away.

This was undoubtedly influenced by Izumo again.

It seems that his last shot from earlier has awoken the determination of the first years as they began to have thoughts of winning which led to bold plays from them.

And by the grace of Lady Luck, the ball's trajectory happened to be where his position was.

"How lucky"

Izumo muttered and formed a small smile, seeing his two markers getting preoccupied by the ball that was flying toward them.

Sidestepping to his left, Izumo managed to time it when their attention was away from him and broke through their tight mark before immediately chasing after the ball.

"...?!"

With a burst of speed, he stretched his leg forward and managed to receive the loose ball before instantly performing a long cross toward the midfield.

Seeing the ball fly toward the center of the field, both the seniors and freshies midfielders started moving, attempting to get it first.

But out of luck or coincidence, the ball happened to land close to Taichi as he hurriedly rushed and acquired it.

Afraid of the ball being stolen again, Taichi immediately passed the ball to Akai who received it and evaded a senior before passing it back again to him.

"???"

Receiving the ball back, Taichi flashed a look of bafflement to him which Akai merely shrugged his shoulders in response, unbothered by his reaction.

He didn't want the ball on him at all since after what happened during the first half, he became somewhat timid.

Sadly for him, he saw a senior charge toward him.

Leaving him no choice, he had to focus and dribble the ball, safeguarding it before he found the chance and immediately passed it toward Osaki.

With the ball on his feet, Osaki sped up and flanked the right side, taking away his marker in a flash.

But as he closed in toward the penalty area, two defenders blocked and surrounded him, leaving him no choice but to perform a cross toward Akai.

Unfortunately, the trajectory of that cross was off by a lot as the ball landed beside a senior player instead who smirked amusingly and received it.

"Ah..."

Osaki couldn't help but crunch up his face at his lousy pass and felt a sudden chill as a certain coach on the sidelines bore his gaze deep into his back.

Meanwhile, the seniors were dominating the midfield yet again due to the overwhelming difference in their skills and experience.

But this time, it seems they decided to come out of their shells and adopted an offensive formation, planning to widen the score.

Considering their time-wasted strategy was proving to be fruitless and watched as the first years started becoming a threat due to Izumo's influence.

They decided to just screw it and take the risks before it was too late.

With a kick of the ball, the seniors charged in and invaded the freshie's side.

Naturally, the first years didn't just watch and retaliate, even going so far as to foul to stop them.

And this unfortunately brought disharmony on the field, making the match a slugfest.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

Kousuke who was watching on the sidelines, shook his head at the chaos brought about by their hot-headedness as he stared at the old-timers with a hint of pity.

He understood exactly what was coming since he knew a certain player who strived in a chaotic field.