breaking through my defenses

chapter 1

A few minutes was all there was left for the referee's whistle to blow the match to an end, only for a strong goal scent to similarly blow his senses. He had seen it; the perfect opportunity that would exquisitely serve the greed he had been cursed with, the greed to snatch victory by scoring his own goals, and he would seize it, and without fail.

He's been positioning himself in his opponent's blind spots for a while, then, moving on pure instinct, he robs the pass that was meant for the young prodigy, earning a disapproving remark from a certain dark green haired toddler, the one that initially made the pass. He made his way through the field, crushing players as he bypassed them with a blinding glint radiating from his hunger-filled eyes, to finally use his last weapon, having the ball hugging the net as it spun.

His goal hadn't made a prominent impact since they were far ahead from their opponents when it came to scoring. But Yoichi knew better, the opposite team wasn't his only opponent, therefore his little goal had thrilled him, drawing a proud grin on his lips.

"As annoying as ever aren't you, Yoichi" Sae's voice trailed off from behind him, the match having had reached its end, his hand aggressively tousling the blue locks, making the striker slightly wince. Rin joined the two, a scowl all over his face, at the sight of the smug face Yoichi had been wearing seconds ago, after performing his least favorite habit of his; of cutting through the sibling's passes.

Exiting the field, they perform their usual post practice ritual; consisting of Sae buying the three of them ice cream, as they walk their way to the beach.

It used to be only the itoshi siblings, until leech Yoichi had forced itself between them, being that annoying neighbor who kept interfering in their play, asking the same 'can I play with you' question like a broken record only to be faced by rejection, until they finally gave in. He truly was a nuisance. Only that he actually had something up his sleeves, which didn't make him less unbearable as Rin believed, managing to barely keep up with the siblings.

Although he wasn't as good as Sae or even Rin, his presence in the field can't be ignored, he was eye-catching despite not having an outstanding weapon, his birds eye view of the field, capturing the little fatal mistakes to make a great comeback.

And so, he was gradually getting included in the two's lives, until he was part of all their daily routine, from their trips to school, to practice, and sleepovers.

Upon seeing the familiar 'you lose' carved it the wooden stick of the ice cream, Sae went off about the idiocy of wasting luck over such things, after Isagi's declaration of winning the prize. Rin having had lost too, agreed with his older brother this time. Yoichi just huffed and muttered something about them being sore losers.

The salty ocean breeze ruffled their hair as they sat in silence, quietly enjoying each other's company, until Sae broke the silence.

"what goes on your mind while playing Rin?" he asked, his teal eyes never leaving the sea, the wooden stick still sticking out of his mouth.

"nothing much, I guess I just think about scoring, since if I dash to somewhere where it looks critical, you'll pass to me." Rin replies.

"define critical."

Rin thought about it for a bit, then spoke. "Like where the enemy'd panic and fall apart."

Moments later, he'd asked Yoichi to answer the same question. although he's taken his time to elaborate a proper answer, and organize his thoughts, it came off messy; "i don't know how to word it out.. I kind of receive so much information from the field, even useless ones, it gives me headache sometimes, and it just happens that I, uh.. smell the goal, does that make sense?" he finished, turning around to read Sae's face, who had reflected his gesture, staring at him with a confused look in his face, one couldn't distinguish from its usual blank state, but not yoichi.