Blue Lock: 13 Steps

A Jolt Of Excitement

A groan escaped Sho as he lifted himself up from the cold bench in the locker room. Following his teammates, he exited the locker room and closed the door behind him. Each step towards the field produced a clacking sound as his cleats touched the concrete ground below him. In the distance, he saw the well-lit field while his teammates began stretching their arms and legs. Sho followed the painted arrows on the floor and excitingly cracked his knuckles. He momentarily squinted his eyes, getting accustomed to the well-lit field, as he began to walk over to his teammates.

"You anxious?" asked Sho, patting Otoya's back.

"I usually am, but today I'm confident. Strangely, I don't feel scared or anything. Either because I'm with you guys-"

"Or because you became a better striker," interjected Karasu.

Time Until Faceoffs 00:00:25

"We better get into our positions," said Sho, looking up towards the digital clock above them and moving to his position on the field.

Everyone on the field had different reactions as the time for the game approached. Sho closed his eyes and exhaled, calming himself down. Reo grabbed a hair tie from his wrist and tightly wrapped it around the back of his head, leaving no strands of hair in his face. Nagi wiped the crust from his eyes and yawned.

Time Until Faceoffs 00:00:10

Both Ryuu and Isagi shared the same excited expression on their faces, excited for the chance to knock down their opponents and move on to the Final Stage of the Second Selection.

Karasu smiled ear to ear while he walked into the center circle of the field. "Good luck," he chuckled, propelling the ball to the right.

Kickoff!

'It looks like I'll be starting things off, Nagi," thought Otoya obtaining the ball and gazing towards his approaching opponent.

Otoya was quick to glance to the opposite side of the field and dribble the ball between his legs. Even with one eye on Yukimiya running down the field, Otoya was well aware of the critical spot he positioned himself. With a single-leg sweep from Nagi, they could score and ruin their forward charge towards the goal. With that in mind, he stopped glancing towards the opposite side of the field and gave his undivided attention to the approaching opposition running towards him.

"I've caught up," Nagi breathed, not feeling the same excitement from his previous match.

"Because I let you," replied Otoya, glancing towards Karasu, running parallel with him, "I guess I'll let you step on my shadow."

He brought his pace up a notch, leaving Nagi three steps behind him. Continuing down the right side of the field, he watched as Isagi worryingly ignored Karasu and ran towards him, cutting off his sprint down the field.

'He ruined our plan.' thought Isagi, stopping his rush down the field.

"Tsk Tsk Tsk, Isagi. You should no better than anyone, not to leave anyone open." scolded Otoya, passing the ball horizontally from him.

Karasu stopped the ball from running away from him and looked from side to side, noticing no one near him." Like clockwork," he shouted, complimenting the perfect timing of the pass.

Feeling like he got duped, Isagi hastily stopped his pursuit of Otoya and ran after Karasu. Hoping his teammates were near, he peeked over his shoulder, gazing towards both Yukimiya and Ryuu as they both ran down the left side of the field. He was at arm's length from Karasu and the ball when a chuck paused his movements.