Ascension│Bluelock x male reader

3.2. Flexibility

"I figured it out."

Loki stood up straight, panting hard. His face was slick with sweat. Bringing a bottle of water to his lips, he drank in huge gulps. "I know what you need."

"What?" Y/N was in a similar state. He wore shorts and a jersey, leaning against the wall of the training room as he sucked in breaths.

"You need to be more flexible."

"Huh? I'm plenty flexible." By way of example, Y/N put one arm behind his back, and one over his shoulder, connecting his hands behind his back.

Loki laughed. "No, I meant in playstyle."

"How so?"

"Right now, you're like a child. You play whatever you want to, running wherever you want and shooting whenever you want."

"Not really...?" Y/N hummed. "I stop myself shooting sometimes."

"But again, that's only because you want to. Not because it's a good idea. Usually, when you don't shoot, you're giving defenders time to catch up."

"But I still score."

"Not as much as you could be." Loki creased his brow, thinking for a second. "It's... an immature way of playing. If you, for example, only shot when you know the goalkeeper wouldn't be ready for it, then you'd be able to produce goals much faster."

"Well, that kind of goes against the whole 'be as free as possible' thing I like."

"You can't have everything you want, you know." If it were other people saying it, Y/N would probably get defensive. But since it was a friend, he understood it was just because Loki was genuinely trying to help him. "If you want to score, you have to give up playing with your opponents."

"I get that."

"Obviously, you don't need to tryhard all the time." Loki conceded. "But sometimes, you'll need to change your playing style in order to win."

"Like..."

"Like playing off your teammates more. Delaying your runs. Taking slightly more rational shots. And instead of straight up challenging every single person, as badass as it looks, you can just run around them. And try analysing your opponents a little more. Different skills work better against different people."

"Right..." Y/N sighed. "But why do I need to do that to win? The way I play has worked so far."

"Really?" Loki stood up straighter. "What about against me?"

"Jules, I always beat you."

"Before, yeah. Not anymore."

"Huh?!"

"You heard me." Giving Y/N an innocent smile, Julian tossed his water to the floor. "You won't get a goal."

"Let's go, then." Y/N pushed himself off the wall, shaking out his legs and arms. "For real. No more basic training."

Julian jogged over to the centre of the pitch. Y/N followed, grabbing a ball with both hands. Butterflies began to take off in his stomach. A fair one on one... with one of the best strikers in the world. I'll finally know where I stand. "Remember, Jules, go all out."

"I know."

They faced off against each other. The goals in the training room were much smaller, and a lot closer together, making for an essentially scaled down version of a normal field. For a duel, it was perfect. Julian gestured for Y/N to begin with the ball.

He dropped it at his feet, resting one boot on the top of the ball. "Wait, what are you ranked?"

"Huh?"