A few days after our monumental victory against Team Y, we did the only thing we could do at Bluelock: TRAIN. From 6am, I was in the Training Field running drills to increase Speed and Stamina. And by 9am, I made my way to the Cafeteria to eat, after which I went to freshen up again before hitting the Gym at 12pm. There, I worked on my Core extensively, doing weighted Sit-ups, Pull-ups and Planks. After I was done, what followed was another bath and then I was done for the day.
Currently, I was in a room with a huge screen, showing multiple videos of our previous matches. Slowly, I picked through each piece of footage, every passage of play, every angle shown, etc. Trying to pick out mistakes I and the rest of the team made, where we could have done better, etc. Especially our defending. We were doing well Attacking-wise, but our Defence could use a lot of work. This caused me to start thinking of ways to better organise our Offence and Defence so as to score more goals while conceding less.
Unable to come up with anything yet, I stopped the train of thought and went out for a walk around the facility. I went around, bumped into a few Team Z members, chatted with them for a bit before moving on. As I made my way to the Cafeteria again, I saw Isagi and Igaguri talking animatedly with Kunigami. Curious, I went up to them. "Hey, guys. What's up?". Isagi and Igaguri quickly turned to me and returned my greeting. "Isagi and I are investigating what the rest of our guys get as Side Dishes. I only get Pickled Radishes while Isagi gets freaking Natto.", Igaguri explained with sparkles in his eyes. I have never seen someone come close to the Excitement levels of Mitsuki but so far, his energy levels is the closet I've seen.
"What do you get as a Side Dish, Kaido?", Isagi asked. I thought for a moment and replied with a shrug, "A few pieces of Gyoza. Nothing too much...…what? why are you too looking at me like that?". I asked as they looked at me weird as if I was from another Planet entirely. "Lucky you, man. So damn lucky." they repeated simultaneously which further increased my confusion. A few breaths later, an idea crossed my mind, "If you guys want, I can order a few for you. There's no rule prohibiting sharing food in Bluelock. At least, not that I'm aware of.". This reignited their previously downed spirits and they both grabbed on to my arms, thanking me profusely. I sighed and shook my head, smiling in amusement at their antics. "Seriously, you guys….hehehe". Dragging them along, I ordered a plate of Rice, a few more helpings of the Gyoza and some Water, all in a tray. After which, I carried it to the table where they gathered and slid the Gyoza to them. "Have at it, guys. Oh yeah, Kunigami. Have you eaten yet?", I asked with a mouthful of Rice. He answered that he had so I nodded and focused on eating.
A few minutes later, I perked up again and said, "Guys, I was thinking. We need to come up with a new plan. Since the 9-chambered Russian Roulette was a bust, we need something, some….way to arrange our individual Weapons so that it will give us a higher chance of scoring more goals. So far, I've got nothing. Any ideas?". This brought a silence over our meal and everyone began racking their brains for something. Igaguri then asked, "Isn't this something that the rest of the Team should weigh in on?". "I'm definitely bringing it up on our next Team Talk but I want to get your input now, that's all.", was my immediate answer.
We pondered over this issue for a few more minutes but seeing as we had come up empty, we dropped it for some more light-hearted conversations, mostly going over the last match with Team Y.
That night, I gathered everyone together and began our Team Talk. "Alright, guys. We gotta talk. We need to come up with a new plan that will bring us more goals AND make proper use of our individual Weapons at the same time. Since the 9-chambered Russian Roulette was a bust, I've been thinking about it for a long while but so far, I've got nothing. So I'm putting it to you guys now. If you got anything, anything at all, speak up now.". This brought another wave of silence across the room. As I thought, almost no one even thought about this issue. The ones that did couldn't bring up any ideas.
Imamura spoke up, "What exactly was the problem with your initial formation anyway?". That was actually a good question. "That's...….well, if there was any problem I could find with the formation, I'd say it was predictable and easy to counter. For example, we each spend 10 minutes up front, right? if we use it against defensively solid teams or teams that play possession-based Football like Team Y, just like we saw in the game, we would basically be helpless and we can't defend forever. Sooner or later, we'll slip up and concede. If there was a smart or very observant person on the enemy team, someone who can read the Field of Play very quickly and accurately, they'll pick up on our strategy immediately and shut us down.". "So, someone like Isagi?" Kunigami asked, looking pointedly at Isagi. I was a bit confused and asked, "Why do you say that, Kunigami?". He only smiled and said, "That's Isagi's Weapon. He has the ability to read the Field of Play in an instant and make those split-second decision that can affect the game tremendously. His Weapon is his Spatial Awareness.". That revelation froze me instantly. "Isagi, is this true?" I asked and he sheepishly nodded, saying, "Well...I just do it, you know? It's no big deal really. It's not really a Striker's Weapon. Not like your Curve shots or Bachira's Dribbling and Kunigami's Powershot." This idiot doesn't know how dangerous his Weapon truly is if wielded effectively. If used to maximum effect, it will prove to be more dangerous than every single Weapon out there. This guy...this guy is, as Ego would say, a Diamond in the rough.
"Well, back to the topic at hand, we need a new plan that can incorporate our Weapons, allowing them to be used effectively so we can score more and win more.", I brought us back on track. Picking up the Marker and the small Whiteboard, I drew out the 4-2-1-2-1 formation we were initially using and looked over it over and over again, as did the rest of the team.
Isagi finally got to his feet and spoke up, "Maybe the plan doesn't need to be thrown away after all.". seeing as he had everyone's attention, I held the Marker out to him and he collected it, moving to the Whiteboard. "What I mean is, maybe instead of having only one weapon up front that the opposition can easily shut down, what if we had multiple Weapons working together. That will make it harder for the opponents to shut them down. For example, Bachira, Kaido and Kunigami. Your Weapons are compatible and it works so well too. Especially Bachira and Kaido"s Dribbling which will definitely open up space for Kunigami to take his Mid-range Powershots. There is also the fact that Kunigami can use his Strength and Bachira's Dribbling to work a chance for Kaido to use his Curve Shots too."
I got up to my feet and grabbed him by the shoulder, shaking him excitedly, "ISAGI, YOU"RE A GENIUS!!! THIS CAN TOTALLY WORK!!! I've already got a few ideas. Question now is, How do we go about setting it up?", I asked after sitting down to think. "If we use Isagi's idea, we might have to go 4-3-3, that is if we account for Iemon and Chigiri remaining in their original positions.", I managed to come to a conclusion. "I don't mind staying in goal.", Iemon responded quickly. Chigiri stayed quiet so we took that as a 'Yes'.
"Alright then, we're going with 4-3-3 so instead of one Weapon up front, we have a trio instead. We already established that Bachira's, Kunigami's and my Weapons are highly compatible so we're already one trio. The remaining two....we'll figure that one out during training, I guess. For now, at least, we have something to work with." With that, I concluded our Team Talk and we left the room to finally go to bed.
The next day, we headed out to the Training Field to put into practice our plans we laid out yesterday. We played 5-on-6 with Kunigami, Bachira, Isagi, Naruhaya and I playing against the rest of the guys. We had Kunigami up front, Bachira and I playing on the Wings and Naruhaya and Isagi falling in behind us.
We also managed to create another trio of Weapons with Isagi, Naruhaya and Gagamaru. Isagi would play in the middle, slightly behind with his Spatial Awareness, he will be the pivot and is very compatible with Naruhaya's Weapon, sneaking in behind Opposition Defence and Gagamaru with his incredible Agility. Bachira and I will play on the Sides behind the three of them, supporting them with precise and accurate passes when needed and Kunigami in the middle will play as a CDM.
With this as our new routine, we trained the effectiveness of our combined Weapons until, during training, Ego appeared on the big Screen again, dressed in a black shit, black slacks and black crocs. 'SERIOUSLY, ALL HE WEARS IS BLACK!!! WHO ARE YOU MOURNING, THIS GUY?!!! Also, is that Yakisoba he's eating? Damn it, now I'm hungry. It looks so delicious too', I ranted in my head but I quickly put that aside. If there's one thing I've learned from my stay in Bluelock, whenever Ego's face appears on the big Screen, we're about to be imparted with a new view of Football that will either solidify or destroy everything we ever thought we knew about Football.
With his usual flippant demeanour, he greeted, "Hello there, Diamonds in the rough. Doing your best, I see?". I looked around and caught Gagamaru and Naruhaya drooling at the Yakisoba and who could blame them? This guy did it on purpose, I bet my big Sis's entire anime collection. Unaware of my internal criticism of his Fashion sense, or lack thereof, he continued, "Oh yeah, just in case you're wondering, the 6th Round just ended so these are the results and the updated table. And BOOM!!". Beside his face on the screen, the Table materiaised as well as the Scoreline of the Matches that just concluded. In those concluded matches, Team V demolished Team W 5 - 1 while Team Y barely managed to steal the win from Team X in a 4 - 3 thriller. At the top of the Table was, as expected, Team V with 6 points and a Goal Difference of +12 (A/N: In case you're wondering, the Goal Difference is the result of the Total amount of Goals scored subtracted by the Total amount of Goals conceded.). Right behind them was Team W with 3 points and a Goal Difference of -1 and behind them was us, Team Z with 3 points and a Goal Difference of -1 also. 'Winning our next match against them will move us up to 2nd place. If this doesn't light a fire under our bellies, I'm not sure what will.', I thought to myself.
Behind us in 4th place was Team X also with 3 points and a Goal Difference of -1 and behind them in last place was Team Y with 3 points but a worse Goal Difference of -8.
Ego continued with, "Also, I've decided to add a tiny little twist to your Player Rankings. You see, as a Striker, there's only one definite way to measure your value - The Goals you score. The more you influence the balance of Play, especially by your Goals, the more valuable you are as a Striker. With that in mind, I have decided to tailor your Player Rankings according to that metric and here are the updated value table for Team Z. PAN-PA-PAPAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!"
Beside his form on the screen appeared a table of our names and the updated Player Rankings.
275 - Igaguri Gurimu
274 - Imamura Yuda
273 - Iemon Okuhito
272 - Chigiri Hyoma
271 - Naruhaya Asahi
270 - Raichi Jingo
269 - Gagamaru Gin
268 - Isagi Yoichi
267 - Bachira Meguru
266 - Kunigami Rensuke
And in the lead, the top player of Bluelock's Team Z is
265 - Kaido Takumi.
Everyone checked their right sleeves to confirm and there it was, Our updated Rankings were actually correct according to the table.
Ego continued talking, "Every one of you understand what it means to recognise and use your weapons. But that, my Diamonds in the rough, is just the first step. What happens when a Soldier goes into Battle with an inferior or a defective weapon? Simple. He get absolutely obliterated upon first contact with Enemy forces. Yes, the next step is to polish that Weapon and make it shine.", he concluded and slurped up the rest of the noodles and placed the Chopsticks and the plates down beside him. After which, he continued with, "Let us take the diminutive Argentine Maestro, Lionel Messi, as an example. His first Weapon is his uniquely graceful and agile Dribbling style. Combined with his ability to fire a pin-point accurate left-footed shot and Decades of experience and you get one of the greatest Strikers in the history of Football. How about the Portuguese Goal-machine himself, Cristiano Ronaldo? His Weapons are his near-superhuman Athleticism, his unique and powerful Dribbling style as well as his right-footed shot which he can fire from over 45 meters out. And that's not mentioning his insane Jumping ability as well as his ability to score with literally any part of his body. Now, with all those weapons, if he didn't spend Decades polishing them, day after day, do you think we would be talking about him as we do so? Do you think he would be idolised by hundreds of millions of People from around the World? Do you think he would be classified as one of the greatest Strikers in the world, my Diamonds in the rough? Absolutely not. But you're neither Ronaldo nor Messi. So, just as you're different from them, it stands to reason that your Weapons will also be different. It's up to you how you polish that Weapon to make it shine as bright as possible. Simply copying Messi and Ronaldo will do you no good. Because try as you might, you are not them. Turning 0 into 1 requires your one of a kind Weapon. But after finding that Weapon, how do you enhance it? Its quite simple, really. Find your own style of Play. Find out how your Weapon works and how to make it produce more and better results for you. Diamonds in the rough, your talent is an uncut, unpolished gem. Currently, you're all like freshly mined Gold. Its up to you to supply your Heat and Refining to turn it into what its meant to be. Goodluck.". his face immediately disappeared from the Screen, replaced by a 24-hr countdown to our Match against Team W.
"Well, I guess we can call it a day today, guys. Lets head to the meeting room and discuss plans for our upcoming Match. Good work, guys.". I said as we all filed out of the Training Field. "OI!! Who died and made you our leader, Kaido?!!", Raichi's grating voice rang out as we just started to leave the field. "Raichi, for Christ's sale, give me a damn break. If you still have that much energy to scream at me, use that same energy to train harder to beat me. See, Isagi has the right idea.". When I said that, everyone turned to the field and saw Isagi running around the field, probably training his Stamina so he can use his Spatial Awareness more effectively. 'Smart guy. He knows his Weapon isn't obvious like Dribbling or Shooting. So he works on his body so he doesn't gas out when his ability to smell a Goal somehow kicks in during the match. Especially if its on a fast-breaking counterattack. We're supposed to be resting for our next match but...…eh, might as well.', I thought to myself before moving to join him.
I ran up to him and said, "Hey, bro. Speed training to get the jump on me, huh? Can't let you do that, Isagi. I quite like my top spot and if you think I'm giving it to you or anyone else, you're dead wrong.". Kunigami, out of nowhere, ran past us, "Is that so, Kaido? Alright then. I'll take that top spot from you, fair and square. That way, you'll have no excuses when you inevitably lose to me. Later, slowpoke!!". Those words, a clear challenge from him, roused a competitive fire in me and I accelerated, blowing past him almost instantly. "DON'T YOU EVER CALL ME SLOW, MUSCLE BOY!!!", I shouted back at him from the front. "OH, IT'S ON, KAIDO!!", he pushed himself faster, aiming to catch up to me but I wasn't having it. Without our knowledge, the entirety of Team Z were chasing after us, screaming out their goals of becoming the Best Striker in the World. 'Well, Team Z, if we can keep doing what we're doing, we're definitely on our way to making that dream a reality. If you slowpokes can keep up, that is', I mused in my heart as I looked back at their determined faces, pure Resolve burning hot and hard in their eyes and I smiled. 'Yep, Bluelock is the place to be. We're gonna win and survive this 1st Selection. That's a guarantee. Just you watch.'. I smiled wider at that thought.