Chapter 18

“You wanna win, then get your shit together!“

“T-That’s right!! Don’t give up!! Namu Amida butsu! Nebba Gibu Appu! Namu Amida AAAPPU!” Igaguri yells out, still trying to rally Team Z. “We still have a few weapons left in our arsenal.” Isagi tells the rest of Team Z, hoping to motivate them to continue fighting.

    Game Restart! – Team V 2:1 Team Z

With the game reset Isagi sends the ball high up the field, right after kick-off. “Go, Chigiri!!” At the mention of his name, Chigiri began sprinting towards the goal, blasting past a couple of Team V’s defenders. “GO, Chigiri! Come on, Team Z!” Igaguri yells from his position back on defence.

‘We’re at a disadvantage but my speed will turn this around!!’ Team Z’s speedster thought to himself rapidly approaching the ball, ‘Now I’ll go even faster-‘ however his thoughts get interrupted by the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps coming from his left.

Tilting his head slightly he spots Zantetsu already right beside him ‘He caught up to me?!’ with the black haired striker pushing past him, he intercepts Isagi’s pass and fires a long range pass of his own high up the field.

Back in midfield Gento was looking at the scene stunned ‘Huh? He got there before Chigiri?’ the ball continues its flight right above his head right to the waiting Reo’s foot who upon receiving the ball yells out a quick “Nice one, Zantetsu!”.

Seeing this Gento doesn’t even bother turning around mumbling to himself “Our defense is scattered, Zantetsu is speeding up the field and Nagi’s somewhat free… That’s a goal if I’ve ever seen one…”

“I’ll cover Reo! He’s passing to Nagi!” Isagi yells out. “Dammit! I’ll cover Nagi!” “Me too!” some of their defenders yell out, not realizing that they’re leaving a completely open path for Zantetsu.

Gento continues to watch as most of Team Z’s defense scrambles to guard Nagi, expecting another pass towards the white-haired genius. Turning away from Team V’s attack he looks around the field trying to gauge how Team Z’s going to react. ‘That’s gonna crush their spirits… We’ve already managed to pass this selection so I could care less but…’ a wide grin makes its way onto his face ‘I really wanna crush them right now.‘

“In that case, go ahead to your ‘territory’ Zantetsu.” Reo speaks up, sending the ball to his right, passing it perfectly into Zantetsu’s path. With a determined expression on his face Zantetsu responds “Yep, this is my territory.” before pulling his foot back and kicking the ball with all of his might, sending the ball right in between Team Z’s disoriented defense right towards the goal. Iemon tries to stop the shot but even at full stretch doesn’t manage to touch the ball, leaving it to hit the back of the net without obstruction.

Goal! – Scorer: Zantetsu Tsurugi

TEAM V 3:1 Team Z

With his back turned towards the goal Zantetsu looks at his teammate and opens his ever-intelligent-mouth “Sorry, Reo but what does ‘Territory’ mean?”.

‘This dumbass!’ Gento thought to himself, staring at Team V’s goalscorer before hearing Reo respond with a laugh “Ha Ha! Guess fake glasses don’t make you smart, huh?” Even Nagi speaks up with a quick “Stupid Zantet-stupid…”

Gento turns to his left spotting Bachira who was leisurely making his way towards their goal, seemingly without a care in the world. “Oi Bachira.” Hearing his name the bumblebee turns towards Gento who was looking back at him “Score the next one, ‘kay? Show them those fuckers aren’t all that.”

Hearing this Bachira straightens himself and mockingly salutes Gento with a huge smile on his face “You got it, Gen-chan!” tilting his body forwards and slightly poking his tongue out of his mouth “I needed to get my own goal some time soon anyways!”

Gento walks past the distraught members of Team Z heading straight for the ball and flicking it up into his hands before turning back around to the halfway line. During this Gento walks past Team V’s main trio when Reo decides to speak up, “Hey Gento, didn’t you say that you’d win?” looking over his shoulder Gento stares at the rich-boy who continues his taunt “Doesn’t really look that way, does it?”.

Not caring about the taunt Gento continues on his way past the three, “Game’s not done yet rich-kid. I wonder what you’ll look like when we ruin that streak of yours” Not having expected this response Reo’s grin flickers for a second, watching as Gento sets the ball down at the kick-off spot staring back at him with a cold expression.

“Let’s just get this over with, I wanna see what the next selection has to offer.”

Game Restart! – Team V 3:1 Team Z

The demoralized Team Z members stare at Gento resting his foot calmly atop the ball while seemingly not caring about Team V’s dominance so far. “Come on weirdo, do your thing.” he says, rolling the ball towards his waiting teammate and calmly stepping aside with his hands resting at his hips.

Receiving the ball Bachira cracks his neck with a large smile on his face, “All right! All right!! This is getting fun! Right Gen-chan?!” he begins moving towards Team V. “Couldn’t care less to be honest, although this probably makes for a better story-arc when they inevitably fall.” Gento responds with a deadpan expression on his face.

Back in their own half Team Z startles at the sudden restart of the match “HUH?! Don’t just start on your own, you two!”, watching as Bachira makes his way towards the waiting members of Team V Isagi shouts “Huh? They already know our strategy!”

Whilst flicking the ball over the first member of Team V, trying to stop his attack Bachira responds “So? Who cares?! Weapons, formulas… If using those to the max still isn’t enough then the only way we’ll score against the guys is if we can surpass our own limits, right?” At this he passes the ball to his right, right at Gento who immediately gains an annoyed expression “Dude? Isn’t this supposed to be your goal?”. With a defender nearing him, Gento nutmegs the boy and passes the ball back to Bachira in the process.

“I just wanted to give you an assist, Ghosty!” Bachira responds upon receiving the ball and rushing at Reo, “Isagi, the monster inside me is saying ‘When things look dire, don’t get scared, get excited!!'”

“Interesting… Bring it on, Meguru Bachira!”

Meguru Bachira vs Reo Mikage

“I’m gonna break past you!!”

Now standing right in front of Reo, Bachira begins to rapidly move his legs over and across the ball, leaving it to roll forward undisturbed and keep Reo guessing where he’s going next. ‘He’s using high-speed scissors!!!’ Bachira continues his movements, ‘Left? No, he’s going right… You’re not getting away!’ Reo thinks to himself, moving forwards, hoping to intercept Bachira’s attack.

At the same time Bachira pulls the ball back using his left foot and quickly turns his body, passing Reo on the left, ‘It’s a feint spin roulette?!’. Bachira continues moving up the field, “Zantetsu!” Reo yells, getting his teammate to defend Bachira.

“No way I’m letting you past, Bangs!” Zantetsu exclaims, appearing to Bachira’s left. “Speedy four-eyes… I can’t beat you in speed!” At this Bachira halts his movements stopping face to face with his black haired opponent, “But what about a head-on attack?” he says before flicking the ball at his opponent.

‘He bounced it. Is he planning to get by with a loop? I’d catch him in a run-off.’ Zantetsu thought to himself, watching as the ball was still moving towards him. When suddenly Bachira’s right left shoots forward, resting the ball atop it. ‘An outside trap?! Is he going left or right?!!’

During this Bachira quickly maneuvers the ball to his left, right past Zantetsu and easily passes through the striker’s attempted defence. ‘A mid-air elastico?!’ Zantetsu’s eyes widened as he realized what just happened, whilst Bachira was continuing his run, “Oh! I did it! It just popped into my head!”

Gento, still resting near the halfway line, smiles at his friend’s display of skill, “Come on Bachira, only three more, get your goal!” At the same time Reo, realizing the danger Bachira poses, shouts commands at the last remaining members of Team V’s defense, “You can’t stop him one-on-one! All of you take him at once!”. ‘Like that’s gonna help.’ Gento thought to himself watching as the remaining defenders scramble towards Bachira.

Seeing the defenders assemble right before him Bachira’s smile only widens “Now we’re talking! All of us are here to become the world’s best strikers right?! If we can’t even beat Team V then that’ll mean that’s all we were worth!” Stopping in front of the defenders, Bachira yet again begins performing high speed scissors.

Turning to the gobsmacked Isagi by his side Gento slightly tilts his head, “What, you surprised?” hearing his younger teammates voice Isagi turns towards the white-haired boy, “The fucker’s crazy of course he’s having fun.”. During this Bachira pierces right through the center of the three defenders nearing the goal, as the goalkeeper begins rushing out towards him.

“Let’s show those losers why they should be scared, Isagi.” Gento says, a cold smirk spread across his face and his yellow eyes burn with determination, whilst Bachira at the same time flicks the ball right over the goalkeeper currently rushing towards him.

Goal!!! – Scorer: Meguru Bachira!!

Team V 3:2 TEAM Z

“Did you see my super special goal?” Bachira says whilst pointing at his teammates, “See? Aren’t things getting fun?”

After finishing he immediately gets tackled by a variety of Team Z members, who rushed over to celebrate Bachira’s goal. “Whoa!! That was amazing, Bachira!!” Naruhaya yells out whilst he throws himself atop Bachira. Catching the two of them, Igaguri exclaims, “He made a super special goal that surpassed his own limits! Now I’m feeling like I could do it, too!!”

“Don’t get too cocky Igaguri, you’re still the worst here buddy.” Gento teases the monk whilst walking towards the huddle of strikers, with his hands still resting at his hips “Hey!!”. Ignoring the monks’ shout of protest Gento kicks Bachira lightly in the shin, “Nice goal Bachira, real cinematic that one.” Hearing this, Bachira again gains a huge smile on his face “Thanks Gen-chan!”.

Gento kicks the ball at the trio of Reo, Nagi and Zantetsu “Come on losers, restart the game quickly,” with the ball at their feet the three look into Gento’s eyes

“or are you too scared?”

With an annoyed expression on his face, Reo picks up the ball and makes his way back to the kickoff spot, closely followed by an aloof Nagi and slightly confused Zantetsu.

Game Restart! – Team V 3:2 Team Z

“Don’t get so worked up Team Z, you were on the brink of losing a second ago. What a joke.” Reo says, putting the ball down and walking slightly to the left, as Zantetsu steps up to the kickoff spot. “Hm?” Are you mad, Reo?” Team V’s speedster asks as he passes the ball back to Reo. “Not really. It’s just that Nagi and I have only been playing football for about half a year and I’d hate to stain our perfect record!”

Receiving the ball, Reo begins moving towards Team Z’s goal whilst being flanked by Nagi on his left and Zantetsu on his right. Watching this Gento falls back, moving towards Raichi, “Hey, Bulldog wanna swap for the rest of the half?” not expecting this Raichi immediately perks up “Fuck Yea-“, before instantly being interrupted by Gento again, “Cool, go harass the purple-haired fucker, you should be able to do that, no?”

Raichi and Gento swap places whilst the two lock eyes, Raichi with an enraged expression on his face and Gento’s face being decorated with a cocky smirk. ‘This fucking-‘ Raichi thought to himself before rushing right at Reo, “I’LL KILL YOU AFTER THIS!”. ‘You can try buddy.’

“Isagi, help him out! Your eyes and his physique should cripple the extra!” Gento yells from his spot in defense. “On it!” Isagi responds before moving over to pressure Reo. “Bachira, Kunigami, you two come back!” Turning to his left, Gento locks eyes with Chigiri “Princess, run wild.”.

“Yeah!” “Got it!” “Yes, sir!” The three of them respond before moving to follow Gento’s orders. ‘We most likely gotta restructure for next half, so let’s test this out for now.’

Team Z Formation –Temporary-

With both Raichi and Isagi in front of him, Reo pulls the ball back, hoping to create some distance. Raichi, still royally pissed off from Gento’s comment, sticks close to Reo, not leaving any space for the rich-kid to advance towards Team Z’s goal “There’s no way, I’m letting you fucker get away from me!!”.

Seeing no way to free himself from the raging Raichi, Reo passes the ball wide right towards, “Zantetsu!”. The aforementioned striker receives the ball with his chest, “Leave it to me. I’ll slice through to the goal once more.” with the ball now landing in front of his foot he prepares to run forward before a voice from his left interrupts his thought process, “As if.” Chigiri says, hoping to catch up to the number 10, “I’ll crush you this time! I’m the speed king stupid four-eyes!”.

At this Zantetsu becomes annoyed, whilst preparing for his sprint “We’re not friends so don’t call me stupid slowpoke.” As he finishes his sentence he speeds forward leaving a stunned Chigiri in the dust ‘What was that explosive acceleration?!’.

After having created some distance between Chigiri and himself, Zantetsu slightly flicks the ball upward, “Heads up, Nagi!” whilst finishing his sentence he shoots his leg forward aiming to send a high cross towards their white-haired prodigy. However his foot only passes harmlessly through the air, “Huh?!” looking down Zantetsu can’t spot the ball anywhere, “Where did the-?”.

“Damn, you really are stupid four-eyes.”

Hearing the new voice behind him Zantetsu’s eyes widen behind his glasses, rapidly turning around he sees Gento sprinting away from him with the ball at his feet, looking over his shoulder taunting the speedster, “Wanna invest in some real glasses next time?”.

‘He’s fast’ looking behind himself, spotting Zantetsu turning around, preparing to run after him, ‘Let’s test your turn radius idiot.’

Zantetsu, now in a full sprint, quickly catches up to Gento however before he could steal the ball, Gento halts his movement causing the speedster to speed past him, stopping a couple meters in front. “Are you just a speed merchant, or can you actually play this game, dummy?”

At the younger’s taunts Zantetsu quickly gets irritated rushing at straight Gento, who begins feinting to the left and right using his upper body, “Come on, where am I going, shouldn’t someone actually smart know my plan?” With Zantetsu now right in front of him Gento performs a roulette similar to the one Bachira used against Reo. “Wrong choice, stupid Zantetsu!”

Still running up the field Gento now gets intercepted by Reo,

“Where do you think you’re going, Gento?”

Gento Hirako vs Reo Mikage

“Straight to your goal, why? You wanna come with?”

Reo’s leg shoots forward, trying to steal the ball away from Gento who, upon seeing this, quickly pulls the ball back and backs away from Reo by a couple of steps. “That was just a fluke earlier. Besides, do you think your dribbling is as good as your number 8’s?” With a cocky smirk on his face Gento responds, “Nah, but I’m smarter.”

Before quickly dashing to the right, Reo’s eyes widen as he locks eyes with Zantetsu who was sprinting at Gento from behind. Zantetsu immediately tries to break and Reo dodges to his right, avoiding the collision with his over zealous teammate.

Looking up Reo finds the spot, where Gento was standing seconds earlier, completely empty, with Zantetsu also not being able to spot Team Z’s spectre.

“See ya at the climax, loser.”

Quickly turning Reo spots, can only see a blur of motion as Gento uses both his teammates and members of Team V as a buffer between himself and the watchful eyes of Reo. Still running towards Team V’s goal Gento’s path gets intercepted by four members of Team V.

Turning to his right he quickly locks eyes with Kunigami and gives the ginger a quick nod, before stopping his movement and putting his foot atop the ball, roughly 30 to 40 meters away from goal.

“Come on, save me from this danger, hero.” Gento says as he removes his foot from the ball a second before Kunigami hits it full power. The ball rapidly blasts right past Team V’s defenders and towards their goalkeeper. ‘A long shot from 30… no 40 meters?! It’s so fast! But it’s predictable, I can easily block it with a punch!’ the keeper thought to himself punching right in front of the ball’s expected path, however mere centimeters away from his gloves the ball dips slightly causing to rocket past him with ease.

Goal! – Scorer: Rensuke Kunigami!!

Team V 3:3 TEAM Z

“YESSS!” Kunigami yells out pumping his fists, “Damn, a knuckleball didn’t think you could do that hero.” Gento says, putting his arm on Kunigami’s shoulder, slightly leaning on the bigger striker.

Blue Lock Fifth Stratum Last Game – Half Time

Team V 3:3 Team Z

Looking behind himself at the stunned Reo who was standing next to his treasure, Gento gains a cold glint in his eyes and taunts the duo with a cruel smirk on his face,

“Scared to lose yet?”

– End of Chapter 15 –