BLUE LOCK - a place where soccer is more than just a sport and a future of worldwide glory is within grasp. Desperate to prove her worth and break barriers, Keiko Iteya fights to hold her own in a rigorous competition against 299 young men in Japan...
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The next day we were sitting in the TV room, watching some recent footage posted of Team Y and Team W. I was sitting at the table, Isagi on my left and Bachira on my right as we watched a clip of Niko scoring a goal.
Iemon paused the video from where he was standing and facing the rest of us. "Match 9 ended with a draw, with Team Y's Niko scoring the equalizer against Team W. As a result, Team Z is in third place. And the only match left in Building 5 is our final game. If we draw, we won't advance, due to our worse goal difference. So, in short, we need to win to survive. That's all there is to it."
"Hey Kuon's listening to this," Raichi spoked up and everyone turned to see where Kuon was sitting against the back wall alone. "Should I kill him?"
"I don't think anyone would make deals with him now, anyway," Naruhaya replied.
"But man, it's a miracle Team Y came away with a draw," Igauari added as everyone turned back to the screen.
"Come to think of it, was Niko even the type to take on shots himself?" Chigiri asked.
Bachira smiled and lean around my front to gaze at Isagi. "He got inspired by a certain someone." Isagi only smiled proudly, which warmed my heart a little and caused me to copy his expression as I looked at the blue eyed boy next to me.
"Anyway, let's move on to the key players of our final opponent, Team V," Iemon said. The screen changed to show Nagi, Reo, and the guy with glasses. "This trio has scored 18 goals in three games thanks to their stupidly good attacking skills." The screen changed to show the boy in glasses sprinting. "Tsurugi Zantetsu: five goals." Then it displayed Reo. "Mikage Reo: six goals." Finally it stopped on a still frame of Nagi. "And their team's top scorer, Nagi Seishiro: seven goals. If we don't stop them scoring, we can't win." Iemon then turned to me and I straightened up. "Iteya-chan, you've talked to Reo and Nagi a few times right? Any other information we should know?"
Everyone looked at me expectantly and I answered, "When we met, Reo told me that Nagi was the best player on their team. But, based off how I've seen Reo interact with others, Reo seems to be in charge of everything. If we can disrupt Reo's plans of attack then maybe Nagi's attacks won't be as effective. Reo also told me that he and Nagi played together at school. They probably have a chemistry when it comes to soccer. Interrupt that chemistry and we will destroy their chain reaction of scoring."
"Reo seems to have taken a liking to you, Iteya-chan," Bachira said to me, putting his left arm over my shoulders. "He basically challenged you in front of everyone in the cafeteria. That probably means you'll be his focus in this game."
"I think Reo admires my brother...." I said bashfully and shook my head. "I-I'm nowhere as talented as Hikaru. Whatever Reo thinks I can do is probably just in his head."
"I'm sure that's not true, Iteya-chan...." Kunigami told me firmly. "I think you underestimate yourself."
"Well then let's use that to our advantage," Iemon suddenly spoke up and gestured to me. "Let's have you play forward midfield in the game, Iteya-chan. If Reo will be watching you, you could distract him by holding the ball while forwards move into offensive strategies. That is what you are good at anyways. As long as you keep it away from Tsurugi, Reo, and Nagi we might have a chance to set up some good plays."
