Chapter 22: The Excitement Soccer Brings

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Kiyotaka sent a pass over to Shido who immediately returned it over to Kiyotaka. They were going to build up an attack from scratch instead of their usual approach of a quick, two-hit counter. 

Now, he was head-to-head against Loki who accelerated right up to Kiyotaka's potential passing lanes. 

Kiyotaka: (Already starting off strong?)

He didn't care. Kiyotaka sent over the ball towards Shido once again but Loki changed directions and was about to cleanly intercept the pass. 

Instead, Aryu, with his long feet, came in between Loki and Shido, sending it over once again to Kiyotaka. 

Aryu: You can't have all the glam!

Kiyotaka: You can be useful. Not bad, slender man. 

Shido attempts again to rush forward but is stopped after strong pressure from Dada Silva. 

Shido: Bastard, get out of my way! I need my explosion!

But instead of pressing the ball forward, Kiyotaka sent a back heel pass to Aryu and he changed his route to peel off Loki from the middle. This gave Aryu some free space but was about to be covered up by the Scion of Real Madrid, Leonardo Luna. 

Leonardo Luna: You're finally involving someone else other than Shido? I'll give you credit for shock value, but it just means you gave the ball away to an insignificant scrub. 

Kiyotaka didn't seem to mind his words and began to work on Loki, using his acceleration and shoulder strength to break through and get an opening for a quick pass. 

However, an unexpected player arose. Dada Silva charged forward and left Shido alone and was instead defended by Adam Blake. 

Dada Silva: I'm not just gonna wait until you take the ball away from these kids, Loki. I'm going straight for the money!

Loki sighed. Kiyotaka's eyes widened. 

Kiyotaka: Thank you. Now I can finally put that large frame of yours to use.

Peeling off Loki slightly, Kiyotaka rolled right around Dada Silva's body like slime. And because he was in front of Loki, Kiyotaka gained almost two free seconds of time to run forward. 

Aryu finally released a pass that was tipped by Leonardo Luna but it didn't matter much. Kiyotaka was still able to trap the ball perfectly in stride. 

Shido, now anticipating the pass, performed an in-and-out cut while stopping and starting at top speeds to battle around Adam Blake's overwhelming presence. He now had a chance to respond to Kiyotaka's incoming pass. 

Without even batting an eye, and before anyone else attempted to steal the ball from him, Kiyotaka struck the ball perfectly through the middle and it landed in Shido's range. 

Shido: It's here!

Adam Blake: Who said I'd let you experience your 'so-called' explosion?

But Shido didn't care. He used his left leg and hit it with effect so it would curve with power in the top uprights. 

Adam Blake: Well, I'll be damned. 

The ball was now seconds away from tying the game.

Pablo: Not a bad shot but it needed to be a direct shot. You lost the moment you trapped it, tan demon. 

Right before his very eyes, Pablo had perfectly controlled the shot and started their counterattack. 

Now infuriated, Shido ran back and took on Pablo on his own.

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