“Alright, I’ll be waiting,” Icarus raised his brows and smiled, “Don’t come crying to me if you lose the match.”
Watching the rare expression on Icarus’s face, Chigiri Hyoma felt dazed for a moment. He clutched the clothes over his chest with his right hand. At this moment, his heart felt as if it were about to leap out of his chest.
“Chigiri, the match is about to start; you should head back too.”
Chigiri Hyoma snapped back to reality, and walked back slowly, facing the varied expressions of his teammates.
Itoshi Rin cast a sideways glance at Shidou Ryusei. “You know him.”
“That’s right,” Shidou Ryusei hummed with a laugh, “Someone who suddenly appeared on a certain night and then suddenly vanished. He refused to even tell his name; what a cruel heart he has~”
Itoshi Rin, who also didn’t know that person’s name, withdrew his gaze.
In that person’s eyes, there was no difference between the two of them.
The match whistle sounded. Itoshi Rin passed the ball. After Shidou Ryusei received it, he broke through rapidly. After being blocked, he passed the ball to Isagi Yoichi, who was in a perfect position.
Isagi Yoichi and Itoshi Rin performed a one-two pass to bypass several people, but their rapid offensive was ended by Chigiri Hyoma’s speed.
Before Team B could be happy for more than a few seconds, the ball intercepted by Chigiri Hyoma was swiftly snatched away by Shidou Ryusei. Immediately afterward, beyond everyone’s expectations, the latter used an exquisite ball sense to kick a ball backward with his back facing the goal
“Goal!!”
A cheerful mechanical sound popped out on the field.
“Hm?” Icarus opened his eyes slightly, “That shot is very interesting.”
Shidou Ryusei, who had just scored a goal, felt completely refreshed. The pleasure of the shot caused a rosy flush to bloom on his dark-toned skin, and his pink pupils rolled slightly upward. Catching a glimpse of Icarus looking at him from his peripheral vision, his pupils locked onto the target in an instant.
“First goal.”
Across half the field, Icarus clearly read the shape of his lips.
He raised his brows, “Not enough.”
Perhaps understanding his lip-reading, Shidou Ryusei burst into laughter. “Very well, very well. Let me score a few more.”
The next ball kicked off. Karasu Tabito intentionally lured Isagi Yoichi into pressing the attack, then bypassed him rapidly, only to be intercepted by Shidou Ryusei, who was in high spirits.
Despite facing a double-team, Karasu Tabito remained calm. When his opponent’s center of gravity became unstable, he steadily protected the ball, squeezed through the gap between Shidou Ryusei and Isagi Yoichi, and scored a point.
Karasu Tabito’s gaze swept past Shidou Ryusei, who was still in high spirits despite losing the ball, and Isagi Yoichi, who wore a grave expression, before slowly shifting to the spectator stand on the side of the field, locking eyes with that pair of black pupils watching him.
The two pairs of pupils one black, one blue met for a moment before Icarus was the first to look away.
Karasu Tabito smiled slightly.
He had seen what he wanted. What was written in those black pupils was the interest generated because of him. He was no longer a so-called “good person” who would help others in the cafeteria; he was a striker capable of scoring goals.
In that person’s eyes, he was no longer a “mortal.”
Subsequent goals were still taken through the cooperation of Karasu Tabito and Otoya Eita. Then, another point was pulled back by Itoshi Rin.
The following goals proceeded very quickly; the match ended with Isagi Yoichi’s final shot.
The final whistle sounded, and the Blue Lock members collapsed on the field, gasping for air.
Clearly, it was a match of only 5 points, yet the energy, mental power, and physical strength they had expended were far beyond what an ordinary 90-minute match could compare to. Is this the strength of world-class strikers!
And this was even before the world-class strikers had achieved any tacit understanding. Their 1-on-1 personal physical quality alone was enough to keep them from scoring!
Isagi Yoichi hammered the turf angrily.
With the 5:3 final score, Shidou Ryusei stood condescendingly in front of Itoshi Rin, who was sitting on the grass, his pink pupils very deep.
“If Blue Lock is only at this level, then I would advise Icarus not to waste any more time on you guys.”
Icarus, Icarus—what on earth is this Spaniard talking about?!
“I think your brother is truly very smart to choose to be a midfielder,” hearing the name he cared about, Itoshi Rin’s breath hitched.
“You should also learn from your brother and be a smart person, how about that?” Shidou Ryusei left behind a light sentence and turned to leave.
Itoshi Rin gritted his teeth watching the five of them leave the field, and then heard the voice of that Spaniard coming from the player tunnel—
“Icarus? Are you here to fulfill your promise?”
Hearing the familiar name, Itoshi Rin turned his head in complete indifference, and then his gaze froze.
Green pupils and black pupils stared at each other for a moment.
So it was him. The person who played soccer with me that night.
“That’s right,” Icarus withdrew his gaze and looked toward Shidou Ryusei.
“Then can you play a 1v1 with me?” Loki asked first.
“Sure.”
“How cunning, I want to too~” Cavazos pouted discontentedly from the side.
“I will be at Blue Lock for this period, I’ll be happy to accompany you at any time. How about you others?”
“I want money,” Silva said.
“Then I will also increase the reward a bit more,” Blake said.
“Okay~” Icarus asked Luna, the last one who hadn’t spoken, “And you?”
Luna raised a smile without a single cloud, his tall striker’s frame leaning slightly closer to the black-haired youth. From Itoshi Rin’s perspective, the two seemed intimate and inseparable.
Luna whispered softly in Icarus’s ear, “I want to save it for later.”
“Save it if you want, but speak properly and don’t lean so close,” Icarus stepped back half a step, rubbing his ear, which was itchy from the hot breath.
“Alright~ Alright~” the blond-haired Spaniard raised his hands in surrender and stepped back one step.
“Then you guys go rest first; I’m going to go have a word with them,” Icarus passed them sideways, dropped a sentence, and walked away with a big stride without looking back.
Watching the black-haired youth’s figure walk further away, in the dark member tunnel, someone suddenly said in a low voice.
“Clearly, whether it is talent or ability, that group in Blue Lock is not the top-tier.”
“But they happen to be able to gain the favor of the Cecil family.” Which was tantamount to obtaining an initial admission ticket to the world ahead of time.
“They are truly lucky ones.”
Since you want to cultivate the world’s number one striker, then why not put more focus on them?
…
Icarus lowered his head and looked toward Itoshi Rin, who was sitting on the field with his head bowed, wondering what he was thinking.
“Ah, you are that doctor!” Isagi Yoichi, who was on the side, recognized him and said in surprise.
Aryu Jyubei: “Is that the doctor who people say looks very good? As expected, very stylish.”
“Meet again, Doctor~” Bachira Meguru waved happily.
Icarus responded to them one by one. As he lowered his head, he happened to lock eyes with a pair of gloomy green pupils.
“What did Shidou say?”
Icarus had watched the second half of the game from the sidelines, so naturally, he hadn’t missed the blond Spaniard approaching Itoshi Rin several times during the match.
The noble son of RE.AL wasn’t as cheerful as he appeared on the surface; he had to keep an eye on things so Itoshi Rin wouldn’t be affected.
Itoshi Rin didn’t reply, bringing up another matter instead, “What did you mean by fulfilling your promise?”
Icarus didn’t want his identity discovered just yet, so he spoke vaguely, “Nothing. I am just an ordinary doctor.”
A doctor who can make deals with the famous noble son of RE.AL, Shidou.
Itoshi Rin silently added in his heart.
Ego Jinpachi’s sudden appearance on the projection diverted everyone’s attention.
“Talent’s raw stones, after competing against world-class strikers, you have profoundly realized the gap between yourselves.”
“Now is not the time to be sitting foolishly; Blue Lock is about to enter the next phase—”
“Adaptability Selection.”