Project: Bland King

Chapter 30: Impossible to Predict

Isagi looked on as he saw Kiyotaka smiling, surprising him. 

Isagi: (He didn't copy my direct shot. It didn't look like mine. He just took my weapon and... made it better? There's got to be some way he's doing it.) 

Kiyotaka looked on at Isagi, with his eyes looking like he was seeing right through Isagi.

Isagi: (His eyes... it's like they're seeing something beyond me and everyone else on the field... a new vision entirely.)

Kiyotaka was joined by Chigiri, Karasu, and Nagi who celebrated shortly alongside him. Baro looked frustrated and wanted to start the next play all over again. 

Karasu: Scoring from out of the box like that? What are you, Roberto Carlos?

Kiyotaka: It was my only chance. Had I waited a second longer, both Rin and Isagi would have stopped me in my tracks. 

Baro walked past the group and to the other side of the pitch, waiting for play to restart.

Shido started whistling. 

Shido: What an explosion. That might be his farthest distance goal. It's making me really jealous... 

Rin: Shut up antenna fuck, can't you see we're losing again? You're not going to be Kiyotaka's rival if you can never beat him in a match, dumbass. 

Shido pondered and then seemed to have a revelation at that moment, smiling. 

Shido: You know, that's the first thing that's left your mouth that made sense. Not bad, brother-lover. 

Rin, ignoring Shido, walked over to Isagi, Hiori, and Bachira. Isagi was still in a train of thought. 

In Isagi's mind, revolving pieces of a puzzle started slightly connecting. 

Isagi: (How can I reach that level? How can I see what he sees?)

Rin: You three, just play for my sake if you want a chance to share the same field as me. 

Isagi: (Cocky much?)

Hiori: Ok...

Bachira: Only if you can stop Kiyotaka, hehe. 

Hiori was curious what Isagi was contemplating and asked him about it. 

Hiori: Isagi, what are you thinking about?

Isagi: Oh, sorry, it's just that... well, I want to know what Kiyotaka is seeing. 

Hiori: Oh, you're curious about that too, huh? Well, it's really simple: He's seeing everything.

Isagi: But how is he seeing it?

Hiori: Well, honestly, you're thinking about it in the wrong way. Sure his vision is levels ahead of yours, but that isn't the issue. It's how fast he processes this information and his body responding to his vision.

Isagi: I don't get it. 

Hiori: I guess you can think of it like this. I'm a huge gamer myself. You know those tile-matching games like Tetris and Puyo Puyo? In those games, you start out slow, so you have time to plan your moves, right? But by the end, they're way too fast, so you don't have the time to think about it, right? The best gamers can process that information at high speed and are able to press the buttons to the best course of action by reflex. That can also be applied to football. Even if you can see something, if you're too late then it's pointless. The right way to do it is building up your body to handle your vision but there's no time for that.