chapter 1 : the possession
you stretched your arms as you prepared for the final match of the prelims against matsukaze. if ichinan wins this, it'll be your team's ticket to the nationals.
"you ready? make sure not to shit your pants, mr. forward." you elbowed isagi who was next to you, warming up as well.
"wouldn't dream of it." isagi laughed, punching your shoulder lightly.
"look at that pretty boy with his dumbass grin acting like he's hot stuff. just looking at him makes me wanna sock him in his face and break his nose" shio glared at kira ryosuke, matsukaze's forward, who was waving at a crowd of girls who came to cheer for him.
"you're just mad he's getting all the girls." isagi snickered.
"don't worry, man. i'm sure there's someone out there who likes you." you comforted him as your teammate grabbed a fistful of his now black hair.
"shut the fuck up. you're the last person i wanna hear that from, asshole. you're basically the same person with your stupid pretty boy face and all your girlfriends."
"jesus, watch your tongue, first year." your classmate reminded lightly, lightly patting his shoulder.
"you tell him, 'sagi! respect your senpai, my puny little kouhai."
"enough chit-chatting, ladies. we're starting in ten" your coach reminded. "oh, and akagi, you're CF this match."
"mhm- wait huH? REALLY?? SO WE'RE GOING WITH PLAN B?"
your coach nodded curtly before walking away to assist the rest of the team.
"NICE" you cheered as you balled your hand up into a tight fist triumphantly. "i guess i'm mr. forward now."
"damn you" isagi grinned.
you grunted, one of matsukaze's defender's arms stretched out firmly in front of you, limiting your movements. you knew it, he was behind you. kira ryosuke was behind you, taking this opportunity to steal the ball. the most rational decision obviously being to pass to your unmarked teammates.
isagi does great shots, but he's pretty marked. tada is on the other side, unmarked. i should pass it to him. that probably has the highest chance of scoring the goal.
you glanced around at your teammates, positioning yourself to pass it to tama just as you invisioned as you glanced to your front.
but the goal.. is right there.. im totally in my range
"AKAGI! I'M OPEN" tada yelled. but his, along with your other teammates' yells seemed to fade away as your ears began to ring.
what do i do? i need to do something. anything.
"AKAGI WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
move, move, move!!! pass it to tada-chan what are yOU DOING?!
"SENPAI"
do i have to?
"COME ON"
"shut the fuck up, extras."
i want to score it. it's my goal. not tada's, not isagi's. not anyone's. mine. score it. ignore all of them. they don't matter. just you. you are in the center of the universe.
just..
𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘁.
you swung your open left leg back. you body seeming to move on it's own. everything else around you was a blur. you could only see the target. the goal.
"could it be? are they gonna shoot from there?!"
"STOP THEM"
it was a clear path. it was as if you knew exactly where the ball was going to go. an acurate target. you kicked with all your strength, shooting the ball into the goal.
the ringing of your ears was at its loudest, like a grenade had just detonated right beside you. it was almost deafening. it hurt. this was nothing like you've ever experienced in your life. it was like watching someone else play as you from a third perspective but at the same time you were still there. like your soul had left your body and was possessed by something. by a demon.
you could feel goosebumps crawling up the back of your neck the light sting from the strength of the kick still lingering on your left foot.
the roars of the crowd slowly faded in as it returned to how it previously was before. you sighed, snapping back to reality as if you woke up from a daze.
"ah-" your face burned hot, the tingly sensation was felt all the way to your teeth. your knees felt like they could give out at any moment. you loved it.
this thrill was like a climax. a euphoric orgasm of pure adrenaline. you wanted more of it. you wanted to score every goal like this. you wanted to score more goals. your play style has always been pass here, pass there, but ignoring all that and shooting straight for the goal on your own felt so fucking good.
"nice takahashi!!"
huh?
"counter! counter!"
you're kidding..
"go kira!!"
you turned around frantically. it can't be true. you scored it. you were sure of it. but the scene that played right in front of your very eyes told you otherwise. kira ryosuke dashing towards the other side of the field as his teammate passed him the ball. you watched in horror as kira shot the ball straight into your team's goal.
you could only stand there, stunned. the shock still settling in. how could you have made such a trivial mess-up. you? miss? when you're known around the prefecture for your clean-cut accurate shots? it had to be a bad dream.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" tada ran up to you and yelled in disbelief, grabbing your shoulders. "IF YOU HAD PASSED IT TO ME WE WOULD'VE GOTTEN THAT!"
"i know that, you piece of shit. you don't have to make me feel worse than i already do." was what you wanted to say but you couldn't bring yourself to say anything. it wasn't his fault. so you just stood there and took in whatever he had to say.
"hey! hey! calm down! we have another half to turn this around! it was just a small slip-up it happens!" shio stepped in, pushing tada back slightly.
a loud whistle from the referee was blown, catching everyone's attention as one of your teammates, mizuki, stood next to him, holding up a card with your uniform number on it.
you walked over to him as he handed you the card which you took.
"coach wants to talk to you." mizuki said flatly, he was never really the expressive type, but the nonchalance in his voice sent a pang of anxiety straight down into your stomach. you knew it was your fault. it was all your fault. it's no wonder you were being subbed.
"hey, that was a good shot, senpai." mizuki patted your shoulder before leaving to join the rest of your team.
you hesitantly walked over to the benches where the non-regulars sat. the club supervisor handed you a towel which you took with a quick 'thank you' before wiping the beads of sweat that were dripping down your temple.
"what the hell was that?" your coach started. you knew how serious he took these tournaments and he sounded pissed.
"i'm sorry, sir." you stared at down at the ground guiltily. to be honest, you weren't really sure if you felt sorry. you felt bad, of course, but if you had passed the ball you wouldn't have felt that feeling.
"do you know what you did?"
"i got carried away and overestimated myself. i shot the ball instead of passing to tada-chan and ended up costing our team a point."
"that's right. soccer is a team sport. there are eleven people in a team and those eleven people all have an equal importance in a match. all for one and one for all. so i need you drill that into your thick head and take this a little more seriously. am i clear?"
"..yes, sir."
"good. remember, teamwork makes the dream work." your coach put a hand on your left shoulder, squeezing sightly.
"i know."
"you should learn from isagi. he understands that-"
"yeah, i think i get it, coach."
you glared, pushing his hand off. you were seething. all this teamwork bullshit was starting to get on your nerves. it's always isagi this isagi that with that old fart. he acts like isagi is leagues ahead of you just because he knows how to work with other people.
fuck you isagi.
chapter 1 : the possession - end