Chapter 69: The Oriole Behind
The match continued.
The Red Team's Rin possessed the ball.
Everyone on the field focused their attention intently on the movement of the soccer ball.
"Chigiri, can you press him tight?" On the White Team, Isagi leaned in close to Chigiri and asked.
Chigiri pondered briefly upon hearing this, then nodded. "OK. I'll use my speed to make him panic."
"I'm leaving it to you, Chigiri. This is the first step of my plan." Based on the situation on the field, Isagi had deduced a way to solve their current predicament.
Whoosh!
A bolt of white lightning arrived instantly in front of Itoshi Rin.
"Hey? Come and get past me if you can, Iceberg!"
Itoshi Rin looked up, realizing the opponents had switched defensive assignments.
Facing Chigiri's pressing, Rin didn't panic. He simply played a lateral pass.
The ball arrived at the feet of Bachira on the wing.
"Hehe, the ball is at my feet. Now, I'm going to start dancing!" Bachira voiced his inner thoughts excitedly.
Just as he was about to use his dribbling to break past his opponent, Isagi, who had come over to cover, stood frozen in place, not moving.
Bachira was momentarily confused. What was the intention behind Isagi's operation?
Choosing to maintain distance instead of stepping up to defend... did it seem like he was guarding against my breakthrough?
No!
Bachira suddenly felt a sense of danger.
In an instant, a gust of wind blew past Bachira's side.
The White Cheetah struck again.
Fortunately, Bachira had a premonition. He used his right foot to hook the ball and drag it behind him.
He dodged the Cheetah's raid.
"Ohoho, Chigiri-chan, you almost snatched it."
Bachira's expression was teasing, but inside, his heart was pounding like a stormy sea. If he hadn't anticipated it beforehand, Chigiri's steal would have definitely succeeded.
Putting Chigiri on tight pressing duty... was the plan to use a 2-v-1 pincer?
Bachira scanned his surroundings and found that both Kira and Rin were being followed closely by their opponents.
Passing back to Aryu would mean reorganizing the attack from scratch.
In that case, let me be the one to break this deadlock.
Bachira made up his mind.
He began to face Chigiri, ready to break through.
Bachira carried the ball forward, then suddenly changed direction, shifting his center of gravity.
He immediately cut inside from the right.
Chigiri didn't react in the first instant, but his speed allowed him to keep up even if he was half a beat slower than Bachira.
The two engaged in a continuous offensive and defensive struggle.
'So amazing. Even if I shake him off a little with my dribbling, he can catch up immediately.' Bachira praised Chigiri's speed internally.
However, he wouldn't give up just yet.
Bachira suddenly stopped the ball with the outside of his foot and flicked it into the air.
With his right foot, he dragged the ball toward Chigiri's left side.
Left!
Chigiri's center of gravity immediately shifted to the left.
But Bachira suddenly changed direction again, breaking through directly from Chigiri's other side.
An aerial Elastico!
Chigiri was beaten!
"That was close. I'm half a body length past him. Now, locate Kira and Rin's positions, pass to them..."
Just as Bachira decided on his next step, a figure suddenly drilled into his view.
It was Isagi!
"Wasn't this guy marking Rin the whole time? Does that mean he was actually paying attention to my movements all along?"
Bachira was puzzled, and behind him, Chigiri had caught up as well.
Bachira instantly fell into a 2-v-1 pincer situation.
Was the ball going to be stolen?
No!
Bachira still found a gap between the two.
I can get past on the left!
Bachira hurriedly dribbled to break through on the left side.
Roar!
A roar rang out.
Barou had arrived.
"Right now! Barou!" Isagi shouted.
Barou's towering figure suddenly charged out from the flank, intercepting Bachira's ball with a single kick.
Immediately, he accelerated and dribbled past.
Bachira stood dumbfounded in place.
'I fell for it. Isagi was guarding against my pass to Rin while simultaneously luring Barou over. Barou was the real main act!'
Isagi used himself as bait to provide Barou with a route to steal the ball!
"Stop right there, dammit~"
Aryu arrived in position to cover.
"Go! Get past him and you can score!" Chigiri shouted.
"Get out of my way, you preening long-haired freak..."
"What did you say?" Aryu's body trembled with anger.
Just when Aryu was getting angry, Barou back-heeled the ball and moved laterally.
He shook off Aryu.
"Playing little tricks on me... that's not stylish at all~"
Aryu was speechless. He had actually been controlled by the opponent's trash talk for a second, allowing the guy to get past him.
Aryu felt an unprecedented humiliation. Losing control of one's emotions on the field was a major taboo in soccer.
Watching this moment from afar, Bachira couldn't help but marvel internally. Was this the soccer of the 'anomaly,' Barou?
"I say, you seem to have gotten a little carried away, Your Majesty!"
Just as Barou was about to catch up to his own soccer ball.
A figure appeared. It was Kira, who had vanished from the play for a while.
'Kira?'
Surprise flashed in Bachira's eyes. 'When did he get there?'
Kira threw his entire body onto the grass.
A precise sliding tackle.
He swept Barou's ball out over the touchline.
"Out of bounds. White Team throw-in!"
The large speaker in the room announced the referee's decision.
'No way?'
'Kira?'
'Neither Rin nor I could predict Barou's actions, yet Kira appeared in that position at the most critical moment. That definitely wasn't something achieved by improvised reaction.'
'Does that mean, on this field...'
'Kira can control Barou's movements?'
***
On the other side, Kira slowly stood up.
Barou stared at Kira with veins popping on his forehead. "How? How could you see my position?"
A look of hunger was revealed in Kira's eyes. "It's simple. As long as I stay as hungry as you are, I can smell the scent of a goal."
"Just like how you are devouring Isagi."
"I only need to devour you, and that's enough."
'Devour me?'
Barou's eyes were filled with fury. There was only ever him devouring others; how could there be someone coming to devour him?
"Then try it and see. Be careful not to get a stomach ache..."
"Heh."
Kira let out a cold laugh. 'Some things never change…'
'While you're hunting someone else… there's always someone already hunting you.'
"Hey. Can you stand there and not move? I was just getting into the swing of things battling that brat on the other side, and you keep interfering..." Itoshi Rin walked up to Kira, expressing his dissatisfaction.
"Cough, cough. I wiped your ass for you, at least. Speaking like that chills a man's heart, you know?" Kira acted aggrieved.
"Tch. I didn't need you. I could have stopped that ball just now, too." Rin replied arrogantly.
"Like you said, I'm on your side right now. Of course I'm going to act." Kira shrugged.
Kira understood that Itoshi Rin was telling the truth. Even if he hadn't gone for the clearance just now, with Rin's reaction speed and positioning, Rin could have cleared that ball based on reflexes alone.
Hearing Kira's reply, Itoshi Rin blinked, and the chill on his long eyelashes seemed to dissipate a little. "Whatever."
"I think I've figured it out. Neither Rin nor I can predict Barou's actions."
"Whoever grasps Barou's movements controls this battlefield."
"But we have to watch out for Kira. Kira is the only player who can predict Barou's movements..."
"Then as long as we deal with Kira, we still have a game to play!"
A raging fire ignited in Isagi's eyes. Kira was the key that would decide the outcome of this match.
"So amazing. The contest between Rin and Isagi, and Kira's disruption."
Bachira stood where he was, savoring everything that had just happened in his mind. They were all predicting each other deeply, sparks flying from their clash.
Right now on the battlefield, there were three 'Monsters.'
Who among them was stronger didn't matter anymore. 'I want to fulfill my wish.'
'To play soccer with Monsters.'
'I'm finally about to achieve my dream.'
'But why?'
'Why can't I feel happy?'
'Huh?'
'Why is it that even though I'm standing right here, even though I'm finally not playing soccer alone...'
'...there is no "me" in the world of the Monsters?'
Bachira finally knew the reason for his unhappiness.
Monsters only competed with Monsters.
And Meguru Bachira.
Right now, he was just too ordinary.
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