A family thing

Chapter 52 Everything lies in the execution

Rin restarted the game with a quick pass to Yoichi. 
'Now then, let's see how I can use Shitoshi.', the raven haired thought as he immediately nutmegged Sendou the second he touched the ball. Yoichi looked around. 
'What's the best way to fool those defenders?', Yoichi thought and passed it back to Rin for double passing to get past Sae. 'Let's just focus on building plays with Rin right now.'
The green haired Blue Lock captain was then met with the U20 number 6, Wakatsuiki Itsuki. 
"Yep. Just trading passes in the middle isn't gonna cut it", the opposing players with huge eyebags said. "Yep. You're lost with nowhere to pass to." 
"Am I?", Rin replied. Just then, Yoichi cut in behind Rin and rushed past Itsuki. Rin rolled the ball out into the run way of Yoichi who then tapped it back to Rin with the outside of his foot just as Hayate has positioned himself in front of him. Their two defenders quickly turned around to follow them. Rin however, trapped the ball quickly and then heeled it back to Bachira. 
"Nya Na!!!", Blue Lock's number 8 hummed. "Their coordination's making me kinda jealous." 
He trapped the ball. Hayate continued following Rin and Kageyama whilst Itsuki ran back to cover Bachira. 
'Well then, with that, those two will be open in front of the goal.', he thought to himself while Yoichi and Rin were sprinting to the box like leopards chasing their preys. 
'Now that we've got the advantage in numbers, scoring a goal should be easy.', Yoichi thought and went to the right. 
"They're splitting up here to do their own thing?!", Niou, the second U20 center back muttered confused. "The hell's up with those two?" 
Nagi, who stood right in front of him, anticipated the plan of Rin and Yoichi and moved towards the goal. Niou saw it and immediately bodied him, preventing him from moving further. 
"They're coming, Aiku!!!", he shouted like a Samurai. "The two of us'll take them!!!"
Aiku ignored the battlecry of his teammate and focused on Yoichi, who has now entered the penalty zone. 
"Now, here.", Nagi muttered. 
"Nope, it's gotta be there.", Bachira denied his request and sent a long cross to the one and only. Rin Itoshi. 
"He got past...!", Anri shouted surprised. Ego wasn't moved by it and just observed the movements of the younger Itoshi. 
"Itoshi Rin, your awakening will pave the road to victory."

Natsu looked at the pitch. She saw Yoichi run towards the goal while the green haired with the number 10 on it 
"Itoshi Rin has broken through to the front of the goal.", could be heard from the commentators inside the stadium. 
"That's the brother of that Sae guy.", Tobio muttered behind her. 
"What about him?", her brother asked his high school teammate. 
"Well... I don't know if I should tell you this, but anyway... Some weeks ago, that Sae guy went to my appartment in Rome.", Kageyama explained. 
"Really? What did he do?", Atsumu asked curiously, but also confused because he couldn't understand why a football star would try to find Tobio. 
"Apparently, he intercepted me in the lounge just to tell me, that his oh so great little sugerbrother is better than Yoichi.", Tobio answered. Right after those words left his mouth, confusion spread across the stands. 
"So... Let me get this right...", Atsumu concluded for everyone. "Itoshi Sae, the Japanese football superstar, who is playing for Real Madrid..."
"Yes."
"Came all the way from Madrid... to Rome..." 
"Yes." 
"... just to tell you, that his brother is better than yours." 
"Yes." 
"Why would he do that?", Hoshiumi asked. At this point Natsu stopped listening to the senseless conversation of his brother and his national teammates and concentrated on the match in front of her. The green haired could be seen taking the ball almost to the baseline. 
'What is he doing?', Natsu thought as he saw the play unfold itself. 'Isn't that an out line too?' 
Just as he almost reached it, Rin swung his left leg and shot it at an almost impossible angle. The ball curved over the goalkeeper and into the direction of the net. Just as Natsu thought it would go in, it bounced off the sidebar. 
"NICE SAVE!!!! SECOND BALL!!!!", one of the U20 players shouted down there. 

Yukimiya rushed in and grabbed the ball. One last obstacle severed him from the metal gate, he needed the ball to be shot into. Neru Teppei. Yoichi loosened himself from Aiku and rushed back, just to run in from Neru's right side, while Yukimiya scissored in front of the defender to open up a possible pass route for Yukimiya. 
'Shit...', Neru cursed inside his mind as he glanced at Yoichi. But Yukimiya had no intention on passing the ball, "Thank you, Kageyama, I owe you one."
He used that one second, Yoichi created for him, tapped the ball to the side, swung his leg and shot it. U20's goalkeeper jumped to the side, to try to save it, but it was obvious that he was too late. However, it wasn't over just yet. Aiku rushed to his aid and deflected the ball with his foot by performing a defensive bicycle kick. 
"Shit!", Yukimiya cursed. 
"Go clear it, Darai!!!", Niou ordered his teammate. 
"I know...", the said one replied and rushed for the ball. However, that brief second of loss of concentration was punished by the one person, Darai has so far locked down. Otoya Eita. The ninja overtook his marker and got to the ball first. Just as he reached it, he has already taken in his shooting form, in which he pulled the trigger and attempted to score. Niou jumped in between to block it like Aiku did with Yukimiya's shot, but unlike his captain, he didn't reach his objective. The ball curved past him and hit the bar. The aluminium deflected it into the direction of the sideline. Neru was about to get it, but Yoichi has already sprinted there. The lines appeared again. His crosshair marked the one striker he wanted to set up the most. 
"Yesterday, you were trying to be almost as good as your brother.", Yoichi monologued. Rin broke into the defense zone of the U20. Yoichi trapped the ball, preventing it from going out. Neru bodied him and tried to stop him from whatever he was up to. Yoichi span around his annoying defender and rushed in. His eyes shone. The upside view came in. 
"So..."
Aiku got up and ran into his direction. 
"What..." 
Yoichi moved away from the incoming defender and locked eyes with Rin. 
"Give it.", the striker seemed to say. 
"Are..." 
Neru sprinted back to support his team. 
"We..." 
Yoichi dodged Aiku, but the U20 captain staid persistent and switched from a frontal defense position to a physical body contact one. Yoichi feinted to spin around. 
"Gonna..." 
Aiku stretched out his leg, to lock Yoichi into that place where he stood. Yoichi however, stopped in his movements and swung his leg up front. 
"Do..." 
Yoichi shot the ball backwards with his heel, almost as if he wanted to attempt a goal himself. Just in that second, Rin, on the other side, came in and prepared his shooting form. The ball flew between Aiku's legs to the point, where Rin's leg would meet the ball. 
"Today." 

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL", Tereasa Atsuto shouted into his mic. His Euphoria enlightened the whole stadium. 
"3:1 for Blue Lock. What a glamorous goal, prepared by Kageyama Yoichi and executed by Rin Itoshi.", his colleague joined with his own enthusiastic voice, while the moment was shown again on the huge screens on top of the stadium's roof. Everyone beside her broke out into enthusiastic chants for both the scorer of the goal, but also the player, who set it all up. Natsu looked at the replay closely. Sure it was very difficult to hit that ball like that, so that it could wreck itself through the so called wall of a goalkeeper, but, making that pass, on the other hand, was a piece of work itself. 
"That pass... was beautiful...", she murmered, astonished by Yoichi's ball control. The only calm people beside her nodded their heads. Her brother, his girlfriend and Tobio. 
"Shoyo...", Yachi said. "That looked like a football version of your minus-tempo-attack." 
"It sure did...", Shoyo answered and nodded in agreement. "The speed... the precision... It's almost frightening..." 
Unlike Natsu's brother, Yoichi's brother staid silent. 
'Was this really the game for him?', Kageyama thought as he watched his little brother celebrate. 'Was this the match, where he will sign his name in the history books? Was this the game of his life?'
It was much more. 

"YESSSSSSSSSS", Rin shouted and punched the air with his fist. 
"Rin, ya fucking goat!!!!", Yoichi shouted and jumped on him. Rin tried to dodge, but his efforts were left in vain. Yoichi was now lying on top of him whilst his face was kissing the grass. 
"Thought, you could dodge me there, didn't you, Bitchtoshi.", his teammate taunted him playfully. "Don't be such a grumpy asshole, celebrate your moments in life, man." 
"I am celebrating my moments in life, man.", Rin muttered bellow him and tried to get up, still with Yoichi on his back. "But there is no fucking need for you to jump on me the way you'd jump for a belly flop, BAKAYAMA!!!!!" 
Then, Rin did it, he got Yoichi off of him. 
"Oh my, no need to get grumpy all of the sudden.", the raven haired smiled and stood up. He then looked up at the clock. 3-1. The last goal has already been counted on the scoreboard. 25 minutes were played. 20 minutes left until half time. Sae watched from afar. The rare moment of joy on Yoichi's face was still a mistery to him. The two goals before that one weren't celebrated by him at all, so why would he want to celebrate now, even though he hasn't even scored that goal? 
"I'm sorry, guys, I let him through with that last pass.", Aiku's sincere apology ripped him out of his thoughts on Yoichi. Sae turned around to face his team. 
"Aiku...", Niou muttered. "We really can't complain if even you couldn't stop them. It was just luck. Let it be..." 
"When are you lot gonna stop making excuses for your pathetic performance?", Sae butted in, annoyed by the fact that his team was not catching up to the danger comming from not only the two strikers, but the whole midfield system layout of Blue Lock. "It turned out this way because this team was focusing on defense so that eventually, the poor goal scoring ability of their forwards can be compensated, but what are you guys going to do, if the main focus of the other team was offense? How are you going to compensate the mistakes of your forwards in such a situation?" 
"Are you trying to pin the blame on me?", Sendou grumbled. 
"This isn't about pinning the blame on anyone.", Sae staid cold. "You said, as a team, you were able to compensate for every mistake, one of you could make. That's the job of the defenders, which has been lacking so far in the first half. However, once such opportunity has been created for you by the efforts of all of your teammates, you didn't score, even though, their gesture is saying, 'Score a goal.'"
"Tch.", Sendou snapped, unable to counter Sae's sharp words. 
"If we lose this match, the members of the U20 will have their positions hijacked by Blue Lock, right?", Sae made sure to end his speech. "Well... Not that I care..." 
"We won't let it end like this.", Chou said and cracked his knuckles to look a bit more intimidating. 
"Use me more.", Teru said whilst reorganizing his hair to a new bum. 
"Does that mean that I can move more forward then?", Hayate asked. 
"Yeah, let's catch up before half-time.", his teammate Wakatsuki agreed with him. 
"Hmph.", Sae sighed. "So you're finally feeling the pressure, you damn pushovers."
Aiku on the other end of the small group circle just smiled, "Let's go guys. Think of these last minutes in the first half as though they're all we've got left."