The school week began just as normal. For three days into the week, everything was normal.
"Hey, Yu, come play some soccer!", Miyamoto said walking up to me after homeroom was over.
"Soccer?", I asked, puzzled.
"Huh?! Man, you live in the bush or something?!", he exclaimed, seemingly bewildered.
I knew what soccer was obviously.
"Relax, I know what soccer is...and yes, I'll play.", I said standing up from seat.
"Sweet! I'll go tell the rest of the team!", he said running off.
Should I follow him?
I opted to, but just as I was about to move someone grabbed my arm. I turned around to see Sakayanagi.
"Sup, what's up?", I greeted casually.
"Let's walk.", she said moving pass me.
"Ok.", I said as I looked at her petite figure.
So short.
"Did you just think of something rude now?", she said as she glanced back at me.
"No.", I immediately denied it, if there was one thing I came to know, it was how scary Sakayanagi can be if she's angry.
Sakayanagi may appear to be a cute petite girl on the surface but actually she's cold and calculating. Even going as far as to use her classmates as chess pieces to torment her enemies. Physically, I'd clap her but when it came to psychological warfare, I might run into some trouble. Why? Because she's an Observer.
She probably hasn't caught on yet but I have noticed on several occasions that she would take deep breaths when around me, an obvious sign that she's an Observer with her nose as her sensing organ, but that is if she wasn't doing it all on purpose...
"Anyway, I heard that you're going to be playing soccer.". she said breaking the silence.
"Yes."
"Fu fu. I look forward to observing your match.", she said as she looked at me with a grin.
"So, you've caught on huh?"
"Of course. I wouldn't happen to be so foolish."
"So, you're thinking I'll use my powers while playing."
"Yes...will you?", she asked with a wide smile.
"Watch and see.", I said with a grin as I walked out into the field.
It's been a while since I've actually used my powers and this body.
So, let's liven things up.
I walked up to the field and met up with the others, who gave me a jersey.
I went into the changing room to wear it. Apparently, I was the only one in, I stared at a mirror and a figure with a seemingly ripped but lean body stared back at me. Not a single injury nor a single blemish on my skin, it was a result of the many experiments in DedSec.
My body was the one and only success out of the experiments. Others either mutated or died off but mine became a Ballista.
That's right, my body is a Ballista.
I put on the clothes and walked out.
"Oi! Yu!", I heard Miyamoto call out to me, whom I walked over to.
"I can see you're ready.", someone called out from behind.
I turned to see Dex, the captain of the soccer club and a friend of Miyamoto.
I shook his hand, he had a really strong grip, "You're not the football club's captain for show, huh."
"Why of course, I make sure to train rigorously every day.", he said with a smile in response to my flattery.
"Your grip is really lax but...", he paused before narrowing his eyes at me, "that's not true right."
I widen my eyes slightly, "I can tell that you're really strong so don't hold back.", he said with a pat before moving to address the rest of the club.
Dex Shinichi. Ranking S. Hmm...I shouldn't let my guard down around him.
"Ok! Gather around everyone!", a member of the club said.
I followed and they began to assign us our positions. After that, the game started.
Fweet!
The first half of the match started with a kickoff.
I am a Midfielder. A midfielder is a player that can move freely and either assist the defenders or strikers. My team was using a rapid offense formation which had an abundance of strikers while the opposing team... Dex's team was using a heavy defense strategy.
I jogged across the field as I watched Miyamoto and another guy, pincer Dex who now had the ball. With such elegant movement, he got past them and aimed for the goal. His speed was relentless, no one could keep up with him...well except, a certain someone.
He was nearing the shooting area of the goal post but then stopped. I observed his movements, he waited for the last defender to get into his range before dashing past him and entering a shooting motion as he did that he yelled, "Devourer!".
Devourer, a technique invented by Dex. I heard that it's a shot that puts power above accuracy, making it an ideal move for shooting in the goal box. It's achieved by using a movement similar to the one-inch punch but with the right leg. The force created from the shot is so strong that it scares even the goalkeeper to catch the ball.
He kicked the ball with tremendous force causing it to go right into the goal scoring a point for their team. I stared at him, seemingly impressed as the crowd cheered for him.
That was perfect. He had a random player take the ball first causing everyone's attention to divert to the player before having the player pass the ball to him. With everyone at a separate position, he was able to break through the scarce field with his overwhelming speed and charging power. Then in other to reposition himself, he lures in the last defender by dangling the ball in front of him making him to act reflexively. He reacts with his highspeed and doesn't even give time for repositioning before instantly shooting the ball straight into the post. A perfect play befitting him.
Dex walked over to me after meeting his fans, "I thought I told you not to hold back, you could have surely stopped that shot."
"I was at the other side of the field.", I replied nonchalantly.
"That's a blatant lie."
"..."
"Make sure you interfere in the next round."
"Sure."
He turned to walk away.
Interfere...huh?
At the sound of the whistle, the next kickoff started and this time a senior from my team caught the ball and began to charge towards the opposing team as two other seniors backed him up. With a triangular formation, they broke through the front line of defense.
"Yes! We can do this!", one said.
"Yeah, let's keep going!", another one said.
"Let's score a goal", the last one said.
The three kept going, breaking through the other team's defense. Honestly, it's a really good strategy against the average football team but with Dex, I don't think it will go so smoothly.
Just as I had predicted, Dex brought them to a halt.
"Where do you think you're going?", he said in an intimidating tone.
They gulped but one charged ahead, "Am going to defeat you!"
"Cheap talk.", Dex said as he collected the ball at blind speed and broke into a sprint leaving the three behind.
He raced towards our post again but right before reaching three players blocked his shoot course.
"You aren't getting through!"
"Hm... maybe.", he said as he kicked the ball in a curved angle or so I thought. The ball was spinning wildly, it's angle couldn't be projected. The ball shook violently midair as it made its way for the goal, the keeper had already lost the will to catch it, everyone had...except for me. At highspeed, I made my way for the post. Everyone turned to look at me, the only one moving on the field.
I analyzed the ball's course and angle, utilizing my overpowered Spatial Intelligence to visualize the most efficient course the ball would make before coming at the answer. With my overwhelming physical attributes, I intercepted the ball mid-flight, the target of its course being the upper left of the goal post.
The ball dropped as I landed in a Superman style. Everyone's eyes widened in disbelief, I turned to Dex with a look implying, "You said I should interfere right?", he got the message as he smirked at me. The crowd went wild at my play.
Miyamoto dashed towards me and attempted to pounce on me but I dodged him immediately. He yelped as he landed on the grass, "The hell man?! You're supposed to catch me!"
"Why exactly?", I asked confused.
"Ugh...seriously? Don't you know that when you make a wild play like that everyone's supposed to jump you? It's a tradition", he said as he lay on the ground.
Uhh...again, why exactly?
"What a horrendous tradition.", I said as I dusted my shorts.
"Ugh...weirdo.", he said as he got up and dusted his clothes, "Well you may have stopped the president's invincible shot but that doesn't mean it's over yet. We still haven't scored a point yet and Dex...his just getting started in fact...this is just the beginning of the end."
I glanced at Miyamoto's depressed face, he needed motivation, in fact the whole team needs it. That last play of my raised their morale but it still isn't enough. It was a well-known fact that Dex has never lost a match before, not even since he started. He hasn't tasted defeat before and... that's not right. He needs to know the frustration of loss, the pain of failure and the fact that he's no perfect human.
"Hashimoto.", I called out to him causing him to perk up and turn to me.
"I'll score the next point."
"What?"
I need him to believe in me.
"You heard me."
"Are you sure?", he said as he looked at me in confusion.
"Yes.", I said as I turned my back to him and began to walk towards the midfield.
"Hey...wait!"
"The game is about restart."
Soccer is really interesting, huh? And my rival is President Dex.
Holding back would be insulting...I guess I have to pull out that one Killer Move.