73. THE PERFECT PRINCE
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IN
what feels like a split second—Nagi leaves you stunned in your seat and watching with wide-eyed shock as he slams his foot into the ball (after several fake-outs), past Gagamaru's fingers and scores a wondrously gorgeous goal for his team.
The scream that leaves Nagi's lips when the shot reaches the net is breath-taking. You've never heard anything like it—from someone as lazy and half-witted as Nagi Seishiro.
Such a goal announces Nagi's presence—once more, he is showing himself to the world—as the newly-formed lazy genius. It makes your eyes sparkle.
To see him come so far... It's...
An indescribable feeling blooms inside your chest. It's similar to the way you felt during the U-20 game, where he scored a wonder goal just like this one—yet, in every single way, it is completely different.
You're sure if Mariele was not beside you, you would've run into Nagi's arms just as Reo had.
It just comes naturally to you, with Nagi Seishiro—with him, everything just feels so natural.
You should make a note to see him again.
"What an incredible goal," Mariele looks a lot less pleased than you expected her to appear. With Kunigami, Isagi—even Kaiser, out of all people—their goals made her eyes light up like stars. Now, they were as dull as the day you met her. "That really is impressive. As a manager, even for the opposing team, I really can't deny that it was outstanding."
Yet, with the praise she is spewing—not once did she compliment he himself. You can't help but wonder why—but you should do well to know better than to pry, especially with her. "It was amazing! Nagi is as talented as always—that goal was surely a product of that latent talent."
She doesn't reply. Mariele purses her lips and turns her head to the field, eyes half-lidded and strangely focused. You don't wish to speak to a brick wall—so you stop talking, too. Still—you can't help but think that she knows something that you aren't quite aware of.
You shake your head, hair swishing from side to side before you stare forward. Eyes narrowed and lips pressed tightly together, you stare—What is your next move, Isagi?
You are not able to find out, because a loud, very much British voice booms through your ear before you get to—"Ladiiiies and gentlemen !!! ♪ The score is 2 — 2!! I'm sure everybody can see the climax coming! And now—this era's football superstaaaar ♪—"
Manshine's master striker throws his windbreaker jacket off—it falls behind him as he grins widely and makes his way onto the field, "Chris Prince!! Coming soon ♪!" He winks with starry eyes.
You can hear Noa scoff, clear as day—"Moron."
The moron in reference slips his shirt off and poses in front of the camera with a blinding white grin—announcing his role as the hero and how he is going to score. Even when the digital referee buzzes and scolds him with a yellow card for such indecency, his smile does not falter and he remains as sparkly as always.
It's almost impressive. It would've been, actually, if you would've even seen it. Mariele slapped her palms over your vision as soon as the shirt left the body—"H... hey! Mariele..."
You weakly tug at her milky wrists—surprise, surprise, she does not budge. You can practically envision her face hardening with an unimpressed glare as she speaks, "No way. No matter how freaking built he is. A total self-obsessed idiot, that's what he is."
Beside you is audible laughter and murmuring within your benched teammates—Igaguri cackles and calls him a moron as well, while Raichi seems to admire him for his confidence.
Only when the shirt finally gets slipped back on do you regain your vision—you can see Hiori's uncomfortable, almost disbelieving expression. His voice sounds strangely judgemental, "That's... Manshine's master?"
"Ideals, ideals." Noa flings his jacket behind him and it flutters directly into your lap. You look up at him in surprise and get an eyeful of the back of his white head of hair. "You say all that, but in the end, you're only just thinking about showing off, Chris. You fail as a master."
"Ooh, our's too!" The peanut gallery speaks up again—Igaguri looks hyped up, while Raichi looks more pouty.
"Makes sense... shit, I wanna play, too!"
Chris' brows lower and he glares—the grin on his face feels more strained than before, "My, my if it isn't Mr World's Number One. I haven't forgotten about last year's UEFA Men's Player of the Year award... The votes decided the results... and I ended up right behind you, in second place. if you weren't there, I'd be in first... It was close."
You think if Noa was a normal person, he would've snorted, or chortled, or done something of the sort. He is not normal—but he comes damn near close to it, with a strangled sort of noise that doesn't seem to suit his deadpan expression. "Hm? It was close? You mean where I got 882 votes compared to your measly 201?"
"Don't point that out!"
"Even though the gap between first and second place was the largest in history?"
"Don't point that out either!"
Their petty argument fades into background noise as Mariele audibly scoffs—when you look at her, she rolls her eyes and folds her arms under her chest. "Noa likes to act like he's above these types of stupid catfights, but he's clearly not."
You place your hand over your mouth. "It's kind of funny."
"So immature." Hiori hisses through his teeth.
"That's such a cringy fight." Raichi cackles.
With Noa subbing in as the defensive mid-fielder to quote, "shut down that show-boating narcissist", the field's entire aura has changed exponentially. It's so tense it sends a sleek chill down the bone of your spine.
The whistle churns, and you suddenly do not have any time to think about such a fleeting thought. As always, Kaiser and Ness pass between themselves to start—their motions are only paused when Kaiser is stopped in his tracks by none other than Manshine's perfect prince.
Kaiser does not even try to get around him—at least, not until he is provoked. No matter what the German striker does, he is unable to get past Manshine's master. Their duel is stopped in its tracks when Reo kicks away the loose ball, even beating Noa in a game of reflexes, and it lands back in the clutches of Chigiri.
He rushes past your defenders, down the midfield towards his previous scoring spot—his golden zone—and to your shock, there stands one last line of defence blocking the redhead from his sure-spot goal. Yukimiya.
He was all the way on the other side before... he seriously kept up with Chigiri? You'd almost forgotten how fast Yukki was—it was so easy to get overshadowed by that bright head of pink hair. Yukimiya's presence makes Chigiri pause in his tracks—that momentary pause is more than enough time for the others all to catch up and make their way to your goal.
Chigiri tries to get around the glasses-wearer, and eventually manages to succeed for a mere second—the flicker of hope is diminished by Kaiser, who wraps his arm around his front as soon as he passes, to keep him from moving away.
The ball makes contact with the side of Chris Prince's shoe. Before he has a chance to even step forward, Noa is right in front of him with a stern expression. He's cut off any rational shooting angle, for sure—still, despite this, it seems he does not have a care for rationality.
Prince shoots a speedy knuckleball—it swerves towards the goal in all sorts of strange directions. It's completely strange and even from where you sit, with a clear head and a near-perfect view of the game—you can't even tell where it's going to go.
But somebody does. It's not Gagamaru—it's not even a defender—it is Isagi Yoichi. He is charging towards the goal at full speed and—"Is he seriously going to make it?" The words fall out of your mouth in full-throttle shock. You almost can't believe it. He's seriously impossible.
He leaps up into the goal and screams something to Gagamaru that makes him dive down—and in a state of panic-induced shock, you gasp out loudly when Isagi kicks the ball away from a snug place inside the goal, "He did it!"
"Is this for real?" Mariele's eyes are wide. The ball rebounds off the goalpost and Isagi crashes to the floor—the look of shock on your face could not even begin to compare to that of the master striker, however. Such an expression would've been far more appropriate if you'd just told him his mother died—but it takes less than a second for that shock to translate into full-blown anger.
The ball flies up into the air and thankfully, lands in the clutches of Kurona—it begins your team's counter and despite pressing, the shark-toothed boy manages to secure a sleek pass to Isagi with ease. Isagi is about to run forward to begin a chain of one-two—when he is stopped in his tracks. Not by an opponent, or Kunigami, or even Kaiser—it is Yukimiya.
Your brows raise in shock. What? Now?
He runs off with the ball after saying some words you could not hear towards the striker, dribbling with all his collective speed and blasting through six whole defenders, including that of Reo and Agi—you think your jaw may have unhinged from how wide it's dropped.
What's even happening? Am I seeing it all right??
He's broken into the penalty area. He winds up his foot and slams it into the ball, past two defenders—it is his signature gyro shot. You can hardly tell where it is going—but you were alone on that matter, it seems.
Even the goalkeeper could not have reached it in time, it was only the presence of the world's number two striker that halted the ball in its tracks. Chris Prince kicks it outside the field with full force, landing swiftly on his feet and giving Yukimiya (who is staring at the place where he had shot with a completely distraught expression) an intensely deadpan look.
You think you've forgotten to breathe because your lungs are starting to hurt. You finally manage to regain your consciousness, and your first instinct is to look over at Mariele—"That was... terrible."
She doesn't seem to share the same opinion you do. "Really? Well... it was pretty bad. I do feel bad for him. He seems to be very upset."
For some reason, you get the impression she does not think that block was such a bad thing. You would comment on it—but your thoughts are trailed off in your mind when you see an argument beginning to ensue between Isagi and Yukimiya.
You suddenly feel nervous once more. A white sort of chill zips through your body, through the tips of your toes as you suddenly hear something Yukimiya yells out from the sheer volume and rage in his voice, "You and Kaiser are a pair of shitheads cut from the same cloth! If the world is only gonna reward assholes like you two... Then this world is just fucked up!"
Isagi walks off without another word.
The nervousness you felt before that moment increases tenfold. Your fingers dig into the material of your pants and you grip tightly. I feel like I'm going to throw up. This isn't good. No, not good at all. Gross. Totally gross.
You let out a heavy sigh and slump down with your lips pressed taut together. Mariele looks at you. This is the worst. Why is it so hard to co-exist? Gross.
"I don't know that much about Yoichi, but what Kenyu said doesn't seem to be wrong." Mariele folds one leg over the other, and with the sound of her voice, you raise your head. "I don't think it's a secret that I dislike Kaiser, but it's mostly because of the fact he is the same no matter where he is—field, cafeteria, even in the bathroom. Yoichi is different, but only slightly. I think his plays are smart, but I also think that about Kaiser."
You don't understand, "What... are you saying?"
Mariele doesn't roll her eyes, clear her throat or act like you're stupid—she simply answers, with the full foreboding confidence she's had since you met her, "They're so similar—even if only their styles of play. Everything they do is for themself, no matter if they're passing or scoring goals of their own. It is ridiculous and egotistical, but there is one difference."
"Hm? What's that?"
The comedic timing of her quip would've made you laugh if you weren't feeling so down. "Yoichi is actually likeable."
Your eyes crinkle upwards, and you smile a little. "Huh. I can't say I expected you to say that."
"Well, what other difference is there between them?" With her words, you pause. You can't say. Your lack of an answer seems to prove her point enough to satisfy her. "It's hard to say, no? You do not realise it, but they are scarily similar—and that is why he is the only one who can possibly manage to compete with him. Their influence makes others want to follow them—it's like those old hierarchies during medieval times. Follow the strongest's lead without question, unless you are stronger."
She halts her talking for a second, eyes flitting toward the field, and yours follow. The pause she makes is just long enough for you to focus enough to see Isagi swoop away the ball right from Nagi's shoes from where the snow-haired man stands in front of the goal—running down the mid-field and even gaining Noa as his ally.
"Yoichi is the one who is proving himself. It is that simple. The quote-unquote "stronger ones" are all the same. They can have different faces, maybe different skin colours, or even differing personalities—but in the end, they are all born the same way. There is no future where the weak becomes stronger than the one born with the talent and the ego—there is only a future where somebody who is already strong overcomes such an obstacle. Such is life."
You blink froggishly at her, lips pursed and eyes sunken downwards. It hurts your head to think about it. To believe in somebody like Isagi, is practically the same thing as believing in Kaiser. No way. The thought makes your mind spiral.
You can give it all the time it needs to process later—right now, you should do well to focus on the field. You have to blink a few times to regain clarity—but when you do, you see a triangle passing formation including Isagi, Kurona, and Noa making their way down the mid-field, around every player and it's so glaringly obvious the whole field has become centred around Isagi.
Isagi manages to take possession of the ball, running towards the penalty area even with Kaiser pushing at his side—there are few defenders left when he jukes Chigiri and fakes out Nagi with a sleek pass to Kurona.
You are ridiculous, Yoichi.
I seriously cannot believe you.
Those are the only thoughts going through your head when you see his perfectly calculated moves. Whatever power-up he obtained during this match must have been the missing piece—because you don't think you've ever seen him so in tune with everything.
Misleading the defenders with Yukimiya's presence, making sure Noa was in the perfect position to deal with Prince—it is all seen through by him. It's incredible.
The ball falls right into his clutches, in the perfect spot in front of the open goal—it is so perfect, it would be impossible for somebody like Michael Kaiser to not notice it. He latches himself to Isagi's side and grips his chest, pushing him out of position.
Your jaw practically gapes wide open. It's a blatant display of selfishness to even prevent your own teammate from scoring a perfect goal—and yet, Isagi seems the least bit bothered by it. He doesn't grit his teeth or glare—no, he's far too into the game for that.
He simply stares right into the Kaiser's eyes as he uses the back of his heel to shoot the ball behind him. The confusion doesn't get a chance to settle into your brain before you realise who he is passing to.
Yukimiya Kenyu receives the ball with just as much shock in his expression as you have right now. Despite this—as soon as Yukki shoots the ball, you can't pull your eyes away. It drops down low, rebounding off the ground to swerve around Reo—a completely new shot you'd never seen before, created in this moment to prove his worth to the world.
It slams into the net without a hitch and the whistle churning in your ears lights your heart on fire. Yukimiya has won.
This is Yukimiya Kenyu's worth in living—his proof of existence, and why he will survive.
He screams out in joy, and you smile.
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note: mariele is such a smart cookie guys (i want her)
also chris prince is soooo fine like i want that middle-aged man... hello.... british white and like 30.... cmon now guys that is just yumyumyum
AND ALSO im acc rlly happy with how im developing kaiser and [name]'s relationship bc its slowly going from "i hate him he treats me so weirdly" and him acting like they're still in a theatre play to her realising his plays are beautiful and him GIVING HER A REASON TO BELIEVE IN HIM HELLO???? guys chill this will get better i promise