Guns & Blue Roses - Part 9
Chapter 9: The King of Europe
“Alright... I want all of you to stretch after the match then take a shower and there's something special for you in the cafeteria” said Noa to his players, they nodded and started to do it.
“Wow... Yoichi you did great today, never saw you so concentrate” said Bachman.
“Well except for that big match against Real,” complemented Ness, remembering that day.
“Yoichi Isagi is playing against his former team, Real de Madrid and he’s on fire!” said the narrator as Yoichi was dribbling players.
Sae stood in front of him trying to stop him “Sorry Ichi but your solo play will stop here” Luna was coming for Bastard Munchen area.
“That’s the thing Sae... It’s not a solo play” he said, sending a pass to Kaiser who ran close to him and continued the play.
“Were you playing as a false nine?” said Sae watching as the area was empty as all the defenders were going for Yoichi and Kaiser scored without even using his predator eye.
“That’s right oni-chan” said Yoichi with a smirk in Japanese.
The Real ran out of time and the Bastard won the final.
“It's nothing really, guys. I'm always focused on the field” he was blushing a little embarrassed.
“You always enjoy playing against tough opponents, so it's not surprising that you were so fired up, Ichi,” said Kaiser, speaking for the first time since the match ended.
The Bastard München players nodded in agreement. They know Yoichi would give 200 percent when the opponent is strong.
The Blue Lockers smiled, realizing how this team who looked so cold at first, was truly a family. When they were done they went to the showers chatting happily about various themes. When Koman approached Yoichi.
‘Yoichi” said the assistant master, the Japanese player looked at him “after dinner, go to the Spanish block. Leonardo Luna wants to talk to you”
He just nodded “does it have to be tonight? I wanted to go to sleep early”
“It said and I quote ‘yes idiot, it has to be tonight, you dumbass... It's important’ so yeah you have to”
Isagi sighed “ok, thank you master” he smiled and left.
“It's still surreal that you are friends with Leonardo Luna, that guy, alongside with Loki, Pablo, Dada and Adam destroyed us” said Karasu “I was part of the top 6 but only Shidou and Rin were able to score”
Isagi smiled kindly “they are very strong, Leo and Sae taught me a lot of things even a weapon I haven't use here but most of the team already know about it”
“Yeah, we saw the clips, you are ambidextrous, right?” asked Hiori “I watched lots of youtube videos of you after the U-20 match”
“Yes, they suggested that I develop it since Kaiser has the Kaiser Impact and Luna has a signature shoot too so I needed my own” They reached the locker rooms and after their shower they headed to have dinner.
They ate and chatted happily then Isagi left for the Spanish area.
When he reached the cafeteria there were Sae, Leonando and Jose Maria. Isagi smiled and ran straight to Jose Maria, a guy with brown hair, olive skin and green eyes.
“My dear captain,” said Isagi, smiling.
“Yoichi!!!” he smiled back and hugged him “congratulations on your victory today”
“Yeah congratulations Ichi-boo” said Leo with a smirk and Sae rolled his eyes.
“It’s been years since you called me Leo,” said Yoichi, punching him softly but smiling, “so… why am I here?”
Sae wrapped his arm around Yoichi’s shoulders “Yoichi, we brought you here because we wanted to celebrate your victory with your favorite Spanish dessert and second, because we wanted to talk about Barcha” he said, pointing at the table where a bunch of churros with chocolate.
Isagi jumped on the plate and started to stuff them in his mouth, with an expression of pure glee.
Leo, Sae and Jose laughed and sat around him, they had hot chocolate in front of them as they waited for him to finish them.
Once Yoichi was done they looked at him “ok now about Barcha…”
They showed him the video. Bachira dribbling defenders like they were cones, Nagi was reviving impossible passes, Otoya using his stealth ability to steal passes, plays starting from Carlos and he even dribble attackers like nothing, and then Rin Itoshi, shooting from outside the area, from the corner, and with a trivela.
“This is your next opponent…” the dark blue-haired sighed, looking at the screen “and there’s something more”
“I saw him Leo, he returned to Barcha and never contacted us again…” Isagi said, watching Josep sending passes “that fucking idiot…”
“You and the blue lockers boys have to play to win” said Leo “and I know Noa wanted to try two teams…” Isagi looked at him, surprised he could read his master’s idea “…but those boys knows these ones and will be able to stop them”
“I wish it was that easy… I will try but Noa is stubborn”
“He will realize his mistakes and fix them on the run” added Sae, he didn’t like Noel Noa but he knew he will try to win even if he has to change his plans “talk to him and maybe build a team mixing both teams, maybe the next match he can do his experiments”
“We will see…” said Isagi standing up “got to go now and you need to rest” he said looking at Sae and Jose “have fun tomorrow” he smiled at them and left.
“Ichi is a Noa fan, I doubt he will fight his decisions” said Leo, looking at their friend leaving “I hope I’m wrong though…”
“Your reading isn’t wrong but if Yoichi sees something weird he will speak up” said Sae, standing up “you know he’s stubborn but also intelligent” the other two nodded “good night guys” then he left.
Meanwhile Isagi was walking back to his block, thinking about what Sae and Leo said. The team needs the blue lock players to face Rin, Bachira, Nagi and Otoya but how can he convince Noa?
He sighed and reached his block then headed right to the dorms. When he reached it, Kaiser was in his bed, watching a tablet. When he approached him and checked what he was watching he found out Kaiser was watching My Neighbor Totoro, Isagi smirked and took one of his pods and whispered “since when are you watching that kind of movie?”
Kaiser jumped a little “since I needed something to distract me while waiting for you” he whispered back, then moved in bed to let him lay down and when he did, Kaiser paused the movie “how was it?”
“They wanted to celebrate my victory and show me clips from the Barcha match”
“They think I should play with the blue lock players and with you and Lex”
“For the first time… well no… it’s not the first time but… whatever… I agree with them” Isagi should be surprised but he wasn’t “According to the records Reo knows Nagi, Karasu knows Otoya, Gagamaru knows Bachira and all of them know Rin Itoshi so… it’s just perfect and you needs to be there to make connections with them”
“Yeah I know but I don’t want to ruin Noa’s plan, he built two teams to give the others a rest but…”
“Yoichi… who gives a fuck about it? Tomorrow all of you can rest just fine and play the following day, that’s how it is with short tournaments… you have 2 or three days to rest. And in our case we will have an extra day before final games so we will find” Kaiser put his hand on his cheek “I know he’s your idol but shake those feelings off and focus on logical decisions… ok?” He nodded “now let me finish my movie”
Isagi chuckled and laid his head on his shoulder as they watched the final part of the movie and fell asleep.
Early the next day, Isagi did his morning routine and headed to the cafeteria. Inside there he saw Reo, Gagamaru, Karasu, Hiori and Yukimiya.
Yoichi had a weird habit that all the players got used to by the week. If he had Japanese breakfast then his lunch would be German and vice versa.
Today was German breakfast so he was at the Japanese table with white sausages, sweet mustard, pretzels and a nonalcoholic Weißbier (Wheat beer).
Karasu raised an eyebrow “the heck is that?”
“It's a typical Bavarian breakfast” he smiled “I remember my first day at school and I watched Mikael, a classmate, eating this. It seemed weird but when I tried, it became one of my favorites” he smiled “this drink is a beer but without alcohol”
“Guys... Yochan was raised in Europe so he has weird customs” said Reo, smiling.
“Since when are you using nicknames?” Said Yukimiya.
“I allowed him to do so. I lost the use of Japanese customs so I don't mind nicknames. My friends in Europe call me Ichi so if you want to call me Yochan, you can”
“Then call me Yuki” said Yukimiya with a smile and Isagi smiled back.
“Guys I was wondering... How much do you know about Otoya, Bachira, Kunigami, Nagi and Rin?
Each one told him and Isagi took mental notes “so Karasu and Otoya know each other; Reo knows Kunigami and Nagi; Gagamaru knows Bachira and Kunigami; all of you met Rin at the U-20 Match right?” They nodded.
“I want to clarify that I know Kunigami pre Wild Card, I don't know what happened to him there” said Reo and Gagamaru nodded in agreement with Reo “he was motivated to be a hero, I don't know what happened to him there but his dead eyes tell me he wasn't himself”
“I see...” Said isagi, looking down and rubbing his chin “would you think I'm an egoist if I ask you to play again tomorrow?”
“Idiot... We had been surrounded by egoists for almost five months, we know strikers are egoists so... What's on your mind, Yochan” said Karasu, smirking.
“Good because I want to...” Said Yoichi.
“... Create a mixed team?” Asked Noa an hour later “elaborate, please”
“So as you guys can see these team has a new gen 11, 5 top tier blue lock players and a dangerous offensive midfielder”
“Who is he?” Asked Koman.
“Josep Ramirez...” said Yoichi with a sad look on his face. And began to explain what happened.
Yoichi, Leonardo and Carlos were practicing Yoichi was 10 and Leo and Carlos were 12.
Yoichi was sending passes to Leo and Carlos was stopping them when a new kid arrived. He had olive skin and green eyes, his hair was short and black. Josep was also 10
“Ichi, Leo and Carlos, this is Josep Ramirez, he's from Barcelona and will be training here, I trust you will give him a warm welcome” said their coach, smiling. They nodded and they approached him.
“Hello, I'm Yoichi” he smiled “I'm from Japan, nice to meet you”
“Nice to meet you too” he said, a little nervous but smiled when he saw Yoichi's bright smile.
Them Leo and Carlos introduced themselves and the four of them started to practice
Josep was a great playmaker, he knew where he should send the pass and one time he just kicked the ball to a free spot just to be kicked by Isagi and score. They were unstoppable.
But Josep didn't have fun with football, he was playing it because his father ordered it for him. His name was Carles Ramirez, when he was young he was a great promise in football but an injury put an end to his bright future career.
So he put this weight on his son but Josep didn't want to, however he was an amazing player so he couldn't do anything to let go of football and his father's dream.
Sae arrived late that year and Josep played less and less when Sae became their offensive midfielder.
Yoichi left three years later and he approached Josep and told him “I know it sucks to live another person's dreams but try to build your own dream. Find what you want and live up to it. Ok?” The boy nodded and hugged him tightly.
“I'm going to miss you Ichi” said the boy and smiles softly at his friend “we will see each other again”
“...but that didn't happen. I found out he left shortly after I did and moved back to Barcelona. I thought he stopped playing football but here he is” Yoichi pointed at the screen and played the video, the boy sent a precise pass to Rin.
“Wait... It looks like Sae’s pass” Reo noticed.
“That's right, he also can copy others abilities but putting a twist on it. As you can see, that pass was a perfect copy of Sae but look closely, it's different, he added a top spin so the ball can't be stopped by the defenders and reached Rin’s foot with precision”
Reo looked at the video again and noticed that little detail.
“Then there's Carlos, a new gen 11. He's the best goalkeeper in the world right now. He only received 20 goals since he became a semi professional player. 6 from me and Kaiser, 4 from Leonardo and 1 from Sae, the rest from other teams” they were shocked by this “and do you remember Manuel Neuer from Bastard and Germany in the 2014 world cup?” they nodded “well, he can do that because his father sent him to a summer camp in München to learn how to be a goalkeeper libero, he can dribble and retain the ball even under pressure”
“So in Barcha they have: a genius passer, a genius goalkeeper, an expert in stealth, a control genius, a monster like Rin, a bulky man like Kunigami and a dribble genius” said Ali, shaking already.
Noa rolled his eyes “after hearing all this information, I agree with Isagi. The most logical thing to do is that we have to build a different team, putting the best of each team. Today we are going to practice combinations so let's go”
They spent the rest of the day practicing. Noa made sure that the players from yesterday's match don't train too hard because they will play tomorrow too.
At night they had a light dinner and Isagi went to watch the Real de Madrid match with Kaiser and the blue lock guys.
“What's your expectations for this match?” Asked Reo.
“Even though Berserk did a great match two days ago. I think Real will win 3-2”
“I think the same. Real will win 3-1” said Kaiser.
The others threw their predictions, all in favor of Real, and it was understandable, they were the best team right now.
“Real de Madrid will be playing with Franz; Hayate, Gutierrez, Ferran, Darai; Hernández; Sae, Jovetić; Sakura, Torres” said the narrator
“And Berserk will repeat team”
“As they said… if it wins, why change it?”
The match began, Berserk was using the same starting 11 while Madrid was playing with Sae as their offensive midfielder, the blue lock players were some in attack and others in the midfield. The defense was led by Jose Maria as the central back.
Just like in the U-20 match, Sae scored but this time it was a fault on him. He shot to goal. Berserk attacked and scored the tie and a second goal a few minutes later.
So Leonardo Luna asked to do the star exchange, Mario also got in. This is when the massacre happened.
“Sae Itoshi sent a pass to Leonardo Luna, who is forty meters from the goal.” Luna received the pass so elegantly that left everyone at home to be in awe of it.
Luna shot from there and Yoichi jumped, thinking “he increased the range of his shots and the angle is sharper”
“OH MY GOD!! IT’S A MOON VOLLEY!!” The ball went up high enough to not touch the ceiling and when it reached the highest point, the ball fell at max speed to the ground, hit the ground rotated on it and got in the goal “GOOOOOAAAALLL!!!! REAL, THE KING OF EUROPE, TIES THE MATCH WITH AN AMAZING GOAL BY THEIR MASTER LEONARDO LUNA!!” Isagi could fell Kaiser holding his hand tightly all the sudden.
“Leonardo Luna is scary...” Said Hiori, shocked by him.
“He is... It's hard to play against him, especially when Sae got his back” commented Yoichi, looking at Leo. Normally his green eyes are kind and full of teasing energy but, on the field, he became a monster.
“But he's not undefeatable. We won't be against him and their main team so if we have to face them in the end, we will win” said Kaiser, putting an arm on Yoichi's shoulders, and Yoichi could tell that behind that smile, Kaiser was both terrified and excited.
The rest of the back was Luna’s show, passing Ress like he was a cone, and not a professional player.
Luna got himself an assist to Sakura who scored the third goal.
As expected, Real de Madrid won and Kaiser just stood up and said “ok, let's go rest” they nodded and stood up.
Kaiser was next to Yoichi and Reo. “Can you follow me?” He asked both of them.
“Hm... S...sure?” Said Reo.
“Lead the Micha” said Yoichi a bit confused.
They went to the field and Kaiser took the ball and placed it on the grass “I had been working on something but I still can't do it with a moving ball” he explained “I need your bright minds”
Then he kicked the ball, it was a Kaiser Impact but the angle was wider. It curved almost at the end and scored.
Both, Reo and Yoichi, were amazed by it “I called it, Kaiser Impact Magnus, because of the effect I put on the ball but I can do it without it being stopped on the ground”
“I think if we add an effect on the ball it will stop but it must be perfect or it will get too short or too long” said Reo looking at the possibilities “I will come up with something” Kaiser smiled.
“Thank you Reo, I asked Ness but he didn't think about this. Let's see what you come up with”
Then the three of them left for their dorms. Unaware that Alexis was listening and was feeling hurt because Kaiser trusted Reo more than him to find a solution for that shoot.
They learned by Noa, the following day, that Ubers won again and Monarchs lost again. It was 3-0 with the three goals scored by Barou.
Hope you liked this one. I had a busy week and the ideas for this particular chapter didn’t come clear to me.
Next chapter will be Barcha vs Bastard.
