On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Key to Victory

"What's the matter?" Manabe suddenly asked.

Minaho had an unsure look on his face. "I'm a little worried about our fight for the second half."

"You too, huh?"

"Yeah. It's just a feeling, but..."

"Even though, by adding Morimura's defense into our calculations, we have the advantage..."

The coach suddenly stood up. "Manabe. Minaho. You two must find it together. The answer key to victory."

"The answer key..."

"... To victory?"

~~~~~

"Everyone! Don't back down from the other team!" Tenma called. "Keep those spirits high! Let's win this match no matter what!"

"Yeah!"

And the whistle blew.

Matatagi passed the ball to Tsurugi, who immediately lost it to a cut. He managed to jump over Tenma before passing to their striker. It was clear that they would be playing much more aggressively for the rest of the match.

He advanced with two people on his tail. Their strategy was meant to open all chances to them. Manabe and Minaho kept on observing as they made their pass. Konoha was there to stop them with her hissatsu, Konoha Roll.

The ball was passed up to Tenma, who got it to Tsurugi, but before he could get too far up the field, he was sent flying by Death Scythe Middle.

Mach Tiger used the same attack pattern as before. Manabe and Minaho continued to observe. Tetsukado stopped them with a cut.

Before they could try again, Shindou stole the ball from them and used his Kami no Takuto Fire Illusion again. He tried to send it Sakura's way, but it was stolen right before it could reach her. They got past Kusaka and right before reaching Shindou, they jumped.

He passed to the left, and right as they thought they were going to make another straight pass, the ball curved back. Another three jumped, turning all their focus to them. That was their mistake.

Their main striker had managed to slip past their defense right as the ball was passed down to him. He used Ivory Crush and it scored before Ibuki could call out his own hissatsu.

2-1. They were once again behind.

"What was with that attack...?"

"I couldn't tell how the ball would move at all."

"Guys! Don't give up yet!" Tenma called out to them with his usual smile. "Let's refocus ourselves! We can get back a second point easily! Don't feel rushed!"

Right. There's still plenty of time on the clock. Making two goals before then is fine... Tsurugi kept himself from sighing. But only if it's two goals.

It didn't help that they had both their opponent's defense and their own to worry about. Manabe and Minaho seemed pretty determined to continue analyzing their movements, which was all well and good if it meant they'll eventually be able to read the opponents moves. But that ended up stretching their defense rather thin, so he hoped they'll be able to get it quickly.

"How can I attack the opponent when they're able to make crazy moves like that?" Matatagi muttered from beside him.

Hm... Guess it's about time he started feeling this way. With how fast he was progressing, it was rather easy to forget he's only started soccer over a month before. And with how well he was doing, of course he'd feel stumped when faced with a tough opponent like they currently were. But still...