Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818093087122434729/episodes/16818792436076776880
In the early stages of the game, the Red Team, led by Amagami and Tokai, controlled the pace.
With many beginners on the team, they effectively utilized the areas they couldn’t cover and moved the ball forward.
“Amagami!”
“…Yes.”
Amagami Taito. As expected, his long experience in the junior youth program, a professional training institution, showed.
Dribbling, passing, composure on the field.
All of these were top-notch. And above all.
“Daiki!”
A sharp long pass left a white trail like a thread.
It slipped through the defense and headed toward the goal.
“Yes! Nice pass!”
Tokai, in perfect sync, effortlessly received the high-speed pass and began his shooting motion.
There were two defenders in front of the goal, limiting his options.
His foot swung through, and the shot was released.
Its trajectory…
“Up!?”
A looping ball that completely caught the goalkeeper and defender off guard.
“Ha! How about that! You can’t stop that!”
Amazing technique and creativity. Even professionals rarely see a shot like that.
“Damn it! Go in!”
The goalkeeper reacted a split second too late, but jumped to try to block the ball heading over his head.
However, his fingertips only graze the surface of the ball, and its trajectory slowly extends toward the goal.
“Alright! That’s the first point! How about that, Taito!”
It was clear to everyone that the ball would shake the net.
However, there were only two people on the field who didn’t think so.
“Hey! Don’t let your guard down until the goal is scored!”
One was Taito, the experienced top midfielder.
And the other was…
“—Alright. It’s okay, I’ve got it covered.”
Before Amagami could send a long pass to Tokai, another person had already started sprinting toward the goal.
“What the hell! Why are you there!”
—A presence that had blended into the air, hiding its existence.
“I knew this would happen. I trusted you, Amagami. Your skills and creativity.”
A chest trap. The ball’s momentum vanished in an instant, and it fell at his feet.
“What! It’s a counterattack! He’s coming!”
“No, it’s too late. Already.”
Hayami Ren muttered that.
＊＊＊
When I entered high school and had my first practice, I asked Aota-senpai something.
“Aota-san. I have a question. What kind of person was Hayami-san?”
“Hmm, Ren? What’s on your mind?”
“Well, I don’t really know what he thought of me, but I considered him a rival.”
It was half a lie and half the truth.
“Hmm, let me see. Well, in a word, hmm… ‘Demon King’?”
“Huh?”
I couldn’t believe my ears. It was too different from the image I had imagined.
“Oh, you don’t believe me? Well, you wouldn’t understand unless you were on the same team.”
Aota san made a wry smile.
“Why? Why do you think that?”
“Ren doesn’t realize it, but he always gives it his all.”
“What does that have to do with the Demon King…?”
When I asked, Aota smiled wryly again, but this time with a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.
“When I work with him, I feel like I’ve gotten better. But it’s exhausting. Maybe it’s because he pulls me along.”
Aota seemed unsure of his own words, tilting his head repeatedly.
After a moment, he suddenly seemed to have an epiphany.
“Ah, I get it. He’s talking to me from behind—like, since I’m giving it my all, you guys can still do it too, right?”
Aota laughed dryly and continued.
“Once we’re influenced by that, we’ll be dragged along far beyond our limits.”
＊＊＊
To be honest, I underestimated him.
Not Hayami Ren himself, but the opposing team that Hayami Ren was on.
The decisive counterattack earlier. Although it didn’t result in a goal, it was still a complete defeat.
It was just luck that the ball bounced off the crossbar. In that moment, we had lost completely and utterly.
A sports tournament is, after all, just a gathering of amateurs. With myself and Tokai, who I’ve trained with for so long, there was no way we could lose.
But that arrogance has been completely shattered.
“Damn it! Why all of a sudden!?”
The passes that were supposed to go through easily are now being cut off one after another.
Not only can we not shoot, we can’t even get the ball near the goal.
“Damn it! Enough!”
Frustration. Having completely lost his usual composure, Amagami gradually stopped passing the ball to his teammates.
He decided to carry the ball forward on his own.
“I understand. If the passes aren’t going through, I’ll have to do it myself.”
Standing in his way was the root of all evil, the man who had single-handedly created this situation.
Hasegawa Aota, said to rival even professionals, the man dubbed the “Demon King.”
“—Hayami, Ren.”
“Finally, our eyes meet, Amagami.”
A textbook defensive stance. He raised his heels slightly, keeping an eye on any movement in any direction, applying pressure to steal the ball if there was an opening.
“Get out of the way!! I’m the one who’s going to win!!”
Acceleration. From the first step, a feint at nearly top speed. Then, body movement.
He was confident in his dribbling. He was confident that he could beat any professional.
“Alright!”
He broke through. He completely broke through.
All that was left was to shoot.
It was that moment.
“When I look at you, it feels like I’m looking at myself from the past.”
As those words came from behind, I was sandwiched between defenders on both sides.
There was no foul. The opponent’s feet were completely on the ball.
“Guh!?”
“You’re too tense, clinging to something—you’re always afraid.”
The ball was easily deflected and flew backward.
“So, the moment you stopped passing, this first half was already ours.”
As the frustration seeped in, I finally realized.
“You were reading me!? All of my thoughts!”
Even the choices I would make, and how those choices, after repeated failures, would lead me to stop using my teammates.
He knew it all, read it all, and took the ball not by himself, but through cooperation with others.
“—No matter how skilled you are, as long as our coordination and reading are superior, you can’t beat us.”
With three minutes remaining in the first half, the balance is broken.
—1-0. Finally, Hayami Ren’s mid-range shot shook the net.
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