Arc1: Chapter5

 

~Team Z’s training room~

 

   “Ready, Isagi-kun?” Leon stood with a ball under his feet. The rest of Team Z huddled around in the side line. This match didn’t involve them. Although, they also would like to compare notes with Leon if they could.

 

   “Yes.” Isagi nodded, nervous. But then again, who wouldn’t be nervous when the Ose Leon was your enemy? The people who thought Ose Leon’s popularity was due to his appearance were nothing more than idiots.

 

   “The one who scores three goals first is the winner!”

 

   Bachira blew the whistle and this signaled the start of the match.

 

   With the ball close to his feet, Leon dashed toward Isagi in a straight line. Isagi was confused at first. But he regained his composure in a matter of seconds and readied himself to receive the moves Leon might make.

 

   With his hands spreaded outward, Isagi kept a close eye on Leon. ‘Woahh… the pressure sure is different!’ Cold sweat slided down his back as Isagi thought.

 

   ‘Right? Left? Or would he kick it between my legs?’

 

   Isgai was honestly a nervous wreck right now and his body was too stiff. And that caused a slight hesitation in his movements and he wasn’t able to react in time when Leon kicked the ball to the top.

 

   Correct, to the top!

 

    Instead of the first, second, or third choices, Leon chose the fourth choice!

 

   When Leon was within five meter range of Isagi, he kicked the ball upward and dashed off; leaving Isagi behind in the dust.

 

   Isagi snapped out of his state and rigidly chased after Leon. Damn it, I’m too pathetic right now!

 

   Piiiiiiiiiiiii–!!!

 

   “The first score went to Ose Leon!” Bachira announced.

 

   Damn it, damn it, damn it!

 

   Isagi gritted his teeth. And ran. This time, the ball was under his control and he maneuvered it away from Leon. 

 

   Of course, Leon wasn’t about to let him get away easily. The presence chasing Isagi from behind was– honestly, intimidating. Almost as if he was out to kill someone.

 

   Goal! Score! Scoring was the only thing in Isagi’s head right now. Isagi’s legs became faster; he was using more of his strength, all unconsciously.

 

   The black mass swirled like a vortex in Isagi’s pupil. Confidence grew in his heart. 

 

   Just as Isagi was about to make a direct shot, Leon came out of nowhere to steal the ball. Damn it, I thought I had him! Where the hell did he come from!?

 

   Being obsessed with art alone wasn’t about to make Leon strong. One of Leon’s weapons was ‘False and Shadow Instant’. In addition, he also had an outstanding ‘Spatial Awareness’.

 

   When using False and Shadow Instant, one had to pair it with the Spatial Awareness. For example, Isagi knew where Leon was previously because of his imperfect Spatial Awareness. That was also why he thought this was his goal and Leon wouldn’t be able to catch up to him.

 

   At that moment, Leon suddenly disappeared. And because it was too sudden, Isagi didn’t manage to notice his absence, making him think that Leon was still in the place he was supposed to be.

 

   All it took was an instant. A moment, just an instant, Leon used almost all the fuel he had to get to his desired place, the perfect position by using Spatial Awareness, making it seem as though he appeared out of nowhere.

 

   The drawback was, Leon would get immensely tired after using this. Leon’s weakness was stamina and strength; whereas, David was a stamina monster and had more than enough physical poweress.

 

   However, Leon was never the type to go down easily. Despite his delicate appearance, Leon was the type to bite his opponent’s throat like a wolf if his limbs were useless.

 

   Viciously and cruelly, Leon took away the hope and the goal was his again.

 

   “Not bad.” Leon had an eerily calm smile on his face despite the miracle he just made.

 

   I want to break his composure.

 

   Isagi’s mind –the monster in him– roared.

 

   “The second goal goes to Ose Leon! It’s 2 : 0 right now!”

 

   If Leon were to score another goal again, this match would be finished. Isagi didn’t want that. He wanted to continue playing. He was unwilling.

 

   Isagi reassessed his opponent. 

 

   Ose Leon was popular for his beautiful plays, and the witnesses had said that it was satisfying to see the beauty of his plays and him destroying his opponents. It was almost as if God was punishing the sinners, they said.

 

   And just now, how did he suddenly appear out of nowhere? How could he, when the place he was last positioned before he emerged all of a sudden was within my sight?

 

   Also, he should have the so-called ‘Spatial Awareness’. And it was certainly better than mine. Mine was still imperfect; I couldn’t control it to my will right now.

 

   Instant. All of it happened in an instant. The most important thing that happened just now was the element of ‘surprise’. 

 

   I was caught off guard, at the suddenness because everything happened too fast. Even Chigiri did not have that speed. Was he hiding that?

 

   No, I don’t think so. Was it like a one time thing? Isagi peeked at Leon and saw no obvious weakness on him. His eyes were revealing nothing except indifference. It appeared as if it was nothing for him to achieve that miracle just now. However… his movements were strained and they were slightly slower than before.

 

   It must have taken him a lot of fuel to do that miracle from just now.

 

   The puzzle pieces were coming together. I got it! What I needed to do was to devour the element of surprise!

 

   This was the formula to conquer Leon!

 

   With renewed vigor, Isagi sped up, and Leon, instead of lagging behind Isagi and wasting more of his fuel, sprinted toward the goal, intending to prevent the ball from scoring, feeling that something inside Isagi changed just now.

 

   Is he… evolving? Davy and now, Isagi. This Blue Lock sure is crazy.

 

   Leon lifted an eyebrow and in his head, the whole map of the field was virtualized and there were countless possible futures. 

 

   Leon’s ability of predicting the future stemmed from his active imagination, soccer I.Q, and instinct. 

 

   Now, there were countless futures in front of him, he positioned himself in a place where it was possible to react in time. Leon felt the dragging of his own body.

 

   After Leon used False and Shadow Instant, it would feel as if his own body was against him. However, in order to get the last goal, he had no choice but to use it.

 

   Leon loathed losing.

 

   Eyes sharpened, Leon recounted possible futures. But never did he predict that Isagi Yoichi would use his own weapon against him. 

 

   His eyes widened. No, it was not the exact same copy of his weapon. But it was similar enough. It was not the ‘instant’ of False and Shadow Instant. It was the ‘surprise element’ of False and Shadow Instant.

 

   Leon was caught off guard.

 

   Piiiiiiiiiiiiiii–!!!

 

   “One goal to Isagi Yoichi! 2 : 1 !”

 

   “HELL YEAHHHHHHHHH!!!” Isagi pumped his fist into the air. There were varying reactions of surprise ranging from Team Z to Anri in the monitor room.

 

   Embarrassingly, it took Leon sometime to come back from his daze. It was not as if Leon had never lost before. In fact, he had lost occasionally to certain people.

 

   But this Isagi Yoichi, he gained victory over him in a way he had never encountered. He devoured me and made my weapon as his own. Granted, it wasn’t the whole of his weapon… But still, he carefully assessed Leon’s weapon and took what would take him to victory.

 

   And he did it easily. He adapted far too easily. He changed himself easily. Most people found it too scary to change even a sliver of themselves. But this Isagi… he would do anything to win; even if it meant changing himself to a person he himself wouldn’t recognize.

 

   “How scary, Isagi-kun.”

 

   Leon closed his eyes for a moment, and breathed in and breathed out slowly. Everything was dark, and it was peaceful. The darkness, the silence was peaceful.

 

   He was using breathing technique and mediation to find peace of mind. He felt comfort in ‘nothingness’.

 

   When Leon opened his eyes again, Isagi found that they were blank, as if there was nothing in them. It was eerie, and creepy. Those vibriant violet eyes were now settled into calmness, with the turbulence from the loss just now gone.

 

   Leon restarted his state of mind.

 

   “I am not the only scary person here, Leon-kun.” 

 

   Leon didn’t say anything, all emotions were wiped out from his face. He, himself, was still. He wasn’t in any stance like curling his leg to kick the ball at any time. His muscles weren’t tense. They were loose, actually. As if he wasn’t in the battle right now.

 

   He silently stood, his hands hung at his side. His long hair rests under his shoulder blades, with some of his bangs sticking to his forehead from the sweat.

 

   He looked like a life size doll.

 

   Looking into his eyes, Isagi felt dread.

 

   Unfortunately, he ignored it. 

 

   This Leon was far scarier than the Leon from just now. Given testimonies by certain players such as Agi, Itoshi Rin, etc.

 

   In the end, with 3 : 1, Isagi lost.

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~~~

Author's note:

Honestly, I'm cringing so hard

I know this is bad but pls be gentler?