On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Sazanaara III

No one else on that team objected.

"What the heck..."

"Hilary Flail." Manuuba kept his voice low as he eyed their way. "She's a Faramian, just like Barga Zachs. Rumors say her hair could drain someone's life energy... Sounds like they were right."

She nodded slowly. "Right. Aliens. Of course they all have weird powers."

"You're one to talk."

"Shut up."

~~~~~

"The real fight begins now. I, Hilary Flail, will exterminate you." The Faramian sneered. The air around her was far more menacing than Barga's. Then, she turned to the rest of her team. "You guys! Watch my Azul closely and send me passes!"

They don't seem to like her all that much, but seeing what just happened to their teammate earlier, it didn't look like they had much choice.

Kimiko shook her head slightly. Now's not the time to be thinking of the enemy. She looked down at her hands. They were glowing ever so slightly. This one's going to be tough.

"Don't be slow!" Matatagi suddenly spoke up, smirking. "I don't need anyone who can't keep up with me."

Aoi sweatdropped. "It's great that Matatagi is showing us his honest self now, but..."

Shinsuke nodded from beside her. "He's way into it..."

The next half wasn't any better than before. In fact, it may have gotten worse with Hilary on the pitch. Kusaka charged ahead, thinking that it would be easy with her lack of ability to see his mind, but he was wrong.

"Jack Knife!"

She was a violent one, just like Barga. To top it off, the Sazanaarans seemed to be reading her thoughts as well, going to places she needed them to be and making her the center of their attack.

Just as Minaho failed to stop the enemy, Matatagi ran back and covered for him. "Go ahead and read my thoughts if you can!"

Though even if he could steal the ball back, if the others can't support him, we can't attack. Kimiko frowned as she watched him get stopped by another Waterfall. At this rate...

They could only play defensively.

Whenever one comes to attack, they'd tighten the back and stop them with three people or more. At the very least, this would prevent them from advancing further. A Sazanaaran tried a long shot with his Bubble Boil, but Ibuki stopped it with Rising Slash.

In the next round, Konoha somehow managed to get the ball and passed it to Minaho. But instead of giving it to Matatagi, he turned and made an own goal.

...

What?

She blinked. Once. Twice.

And then she turned to the scoreboard. 1-2, Sazaanara in the lead.

"Everyone, let's go score points!" Minaho suddenly cheerfully declared.

Things only got more and more confusing from there. Minaho kept getting in everyone's way. He'd steal the ball from his teammates, pass to the Sazanaarans, let them through the field... Acting as if he were the enemy.

"So... What do your mind reading abilities tell you about that?" Manuuba asked right next to her ear, making her jump slightly.

She glared at him. "Don't do that again." She rubbed her ear, warming it back up. Apparently, Manuuba's race has cold breaths. Stopping herself from shivering, she answered him with, "Just watch."

He raised an eyebrow at her before leaning back on his seat, complying.

Things got more and more confusing as it progressed, but strangely enough to everyone else, Shindou wasn't complaining. He merely said to ignore the detective's son and advance on their own. The ten of them had to fight against twelve, and no one on the field, aside Minaho himself, had any idea why.

Until...

"I'll stop him!"

Just as their enemy said so, Minaho stopped moving, letting the ball bounce ahead. Suddenly confused, no one saw Matatagi dashing in and taking the ball for himself. They also didn't realize how close he was to the opponent's goal, so all he had to do was run ahead, call out his Soul, and even the score.

2-2.

As everyone stood there, bewildered, Minaho started explaining. "It's spontaneous plays. We've been thinking about all sorts of ways on how to beat them and win, so maybe not thinking at all isn't so bad once in a while. Don't think too much about how you should beat them. Just play with the ball."

And then the field descended into absurdity. The front passed to the back, the back went to the side, the side to the front, and the front to the back again, and then back to the front. No one knew why or how, but Kusaka ended up with the ball twice, so seeing as passing didn't work, he decided to just dribble the ball up the field... Except that he didn't dribble up the field... He went back to who gave him the ball the second time, that being Konoha, and they fought for the ball for a bit before she kicked it away from him. He went over to get it back just as a Sazanaaran went after him.

That Sazanaaran went past him.

Kusaka's so confused at what he's doing that he's not thinking about doing anything at all! Kimiko had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing too loudly. "A-Aoi..."

"Y-Yeah?" The blue haired girl had quite the look on her face. It was clear that she was struggling to understand what was happening.

She hid her smile by holding a certain red tablet up. "D-Do you think it's okay for me to record this whole thing?"

"Eh...? You mean the match?"

"As long as you do not upload it on the internet, I do not believe there would be a problem." Mizukawa replied in her place.

"Thanks!" So she hit the record button.

"The hell are you doing?" Manuuba muttered from beside her again.

Keeping the tablet steady with one hand, she used her other to cup one of his pointy ears and whisper into it. "For the real Kyousuke."

He gave her a look but said nothing more on the matter. She turned back and focused on the circus in front of her.

With how they were just randomly passing, they managed to get the ball further and further up the field. Ichikawa was the one to receive the ball at the other end, but as his thoughts were focused on scoring, the enemy keeper was able to stop him.

Hilary got the ball next and she used Jack Knife to once again get past Kusaka. Minaho ran into to stop her, a bright light surrounding him. The light faded to reveal a giant owl. The area around them suddenly turned dark, and all that they could see were the owl's eyes. It blinked all around Hilary before going through her. When the owl disappeared, Minaho had the ball.

Fukurou, huh? She could see the coach smirking from the corner of her eye.

"Everyone!" Minaho suddenly called. "Close your eyes for three seconds!"

Everyone did and counted down in their hearts.

"Now!" Suddenly, the ball was right in front of Shindou, who kicked it away instinctively. Kusaka was the receiver.

The moment you open your eyes, you respond reflexively to the ball without giving them time to read your thoughts. You can get points without trying to get points. I call it... the "What? I'm Not Ready! Here Goes!" strategy!

Ichikawa was last to receive it, and upon opening his eyes, his Soul roared loud and clear. Taking the enemy by surprise, Earth Eleven won, 3-2.