I was sent on as a substitute, taking the field in a two-top formation alongside Victor-senpai.
By the time I stepped onto the pitch, there were twenty minutes left, plus stoppage time.
The match was entering its final phase, and Odawara United, holding a one-goal lead, gradually shifted to a defensive strategy, pulling back into their own half instead of forcing attacks.
Even Azaki Seiichi was struggling against an opponent focused entirely on defending, and even after I came on, passes just wouldn’t make it through to the forwards.
On top of that, the opposing players began going down from the slightest contact, staying on the ground to waste time.
This is bad… if things keep going like this, we won’t even get a single chance.
As I wiped cold sweat from my face, Azaki came over to me during a stoppage in play.
“Those guys are pros, and they’re seriously planning to protect that precious one-goal lead.”
I thought he’d come to say something important, but it was just a complaint.
“Of course they don’t want to lose to college kids.”
“That’s got nothing to do with it! Holding the ball and not attacking is just dirty!”
“Would you still say that if we were the ones leading by a goal?”
“…………”
“You wouldn’t, right?”
Unable to argue back, Azaki picked up a plastic bottle from near the touchline, poured water over his shaved head, and returned to a serious expression.
“Makishima… I’ll dribble as far as I can. You keep a fixed distance and position yourself between the final defenders. I’ll send a lob pass at the right moment, so you make your usual run in behind.”
“…O-okay.”
If it goes well… maybe.
The opponent’s time-wasting ended, and play resumed.
Odawara’s players continued circulating the ball in their own half, clearly aiming to steal a single chance.
Victor-senpai and I pressed from the front, but they calmly evaded the pressure and sent the ball to Kanekawa, who had come to receive it.
This pattern again.
Kanekawa would probably try to break through with his dribbling.
The seniors seemed to think the same, bracing themselves—
But Kanekawa, receiving the ball outside the penalty area, suddenly swung his right leg and unleashed a powerful mid-range shot.
A mid-range shot—from there?!
A bullet-like strike fired from nearly thirty meters out.
The distance dulled the accuracy just slightly, and Chan-senpai dove sideways, parrying the ball and handing possession to a teammate.
The stadium erupted at Kanekawa’s shot, the noise gradually turning into cheers.
What an atmosphere… even the Koutou fans were staring at Kanekawa in awe.
The mood of the match had completely tilted in Odawara United’s favor.
Even so, Azaki alone stayed calm.
Receiving the ball from Chan-senpai, he immediately looked my way, surged forward while directing the other seniors to open passing lanes.
The ball went to Victor-senpai up front, and after a strong hold-up play, it came back to Azaki on the right side of the center circle.
From there, he used a dribble with sharp changes of pace to slip past one defender after another, then lifted his head toward me waiting in the center.
This timing works—now all I have to do is run into the space behind the line—!
I prepared to break through at the very edge of offside timing—
But with the match nearing its end, Azaki finally hit his limit.
“Eh…?”
The long feed from Azaki’s right foot—meant to go ahead of me—kept drifting farther and farther to the right.
Azaki… he pushed himself too hard after all…
“——Makishima! Don’t let it go, even if it kills you!”
A shout that sounded more like a roar than his usual voice reached my ears, and my body reacted on instinct.
I stretched my leg toward the ball about to cross the touchline, barely keeping it in with the inside of my boot, then recovered it about five meters outside the penalty area.
Now I just need to dribble toward the center—
“Wait, number 16—”
A massive shadow, built like an American football player, lunged at me from behind.
K-Kanekawa…?!
Kanekawa appeared behind me and knocked the ball away from my feet with the outside of his right foot.
Being good at defense too, not just offense… that’s just unfair.
The ball I’d barely kept in play rolled back toward the touchline.
Strong body, fast legs, and natural soccer talent…
Maybe I’d always wanted to become a player overflowing with talent like Kanekawa.
I had nothing, so I kept training until it became overtraining… and in the end, I still gained nothing.
So in front of absolute talent like Kanekawa… am I just going to lose like this—
“Don’t get weak! In soccer or anything else, people without the drive to improve just get weeded out!”
Sasaki Ayane’s words suddenly flashed through my mind.
The words she said to me that night by the river, when I first opened up about my doubts.
“Heh.”
Even in such a hopeless situation, I found myself smiling.
Losing confidence just because I was facing the real Kanekawa Ryuushin… if Sasaki heard that, she’d definitely get mad.
That’s right… I don’t need talent.
I don’t need to be the best at soccer.
I don’t need the power to prove myself to others, or the ability to be praised.
I just want to be a man who can make one person—Sasaki Ayane—happy.
“That’s why… this promise…!”
I turned my eyes to the ball Kanekawa had knocked away.
It still hadn’t gone out.
“Number 16, you—”
As Kanekawa tried to kick it out, I spread my legs as far as my hips would allow and recovered the ball right on the edge of the touchline.
Leaving the off-balance Kanekawa behind, I cut in from the right side toward the center.
“Take him down! Even if it’s a foul!”
Kanekawa barked orders from behind, and Odawara’s players moved in to cover.
There’s no way someone as bad at dribbling as me can get past pros.
So all I can do… is trust him, and send the ball back to the center without even looking.
“Come on…! Azaki!”
“…You pass, Makishima!”
Charging forward at full speed with his teeth bared, Azaki met my pass with one touch and sent it behind the final defensive line.
At the very edge of offside—no, maybe even off if VAR existed—I cut in from the right side behind the defensive line and received Azaki’s lob pass completely unmarked.
I went straight into a shooting motion and swung my left foot through the ball.
“……”
Whenever I score, my vision slows down.
The sound of the ball brushing the net, the cheers around me—I remember everything clearly.
I’ll never forget today’s sound.
【Odawara 1 — 1 Koutou】
✳︎✳︎
The roar of the crowd and thunderous applause converged on a single point on the pitch.
“Yes! Ayane-cha—!”
I was crying at that goal.
Even as tears ran down my cheeks, I never once closed my eyes, staring only at Makishima Yuutaro.
Words like “happy” weren’t enough.
This was the moment when everything from the past month I’d spent alongside Makishima was rewarded.
“That’s not fair, Ayane-chan… I’m so happy I feel like crying too.”
As Makishima was jumped on and roughly celebrated by the other players, he hugged the ball and walked closer to the stands.
Just like I was looking only at him, Makishima was looking only at me.
Bathed in deafening cheers from the supporters right in front of him, Makishima shyly formed something with his hands and pointed it toward me.
That was…
“Ah—Ayane-chan, that’s a heart!”
“Woo! Maki’s got some moves, huh.”
…Honestly, Makishima, doing something so unlike you.
I was so happy I couldn’t stop the tears.
After that… Koutou University, energized by Makishima’s equalizer, managed to win after extra time and a penalty shootout.
Makishima, who took the first penalty, missed spectacularly and almost became the scapegoat, but Koutou’s goalkeeper saved three in a row and saved the day.
After the match, while waiting for Makishima to contact me and trying to calm my nerves, I ate just two pancakes at a nearby café.
Then, a Lime message from Makishima came in.
…After this, Makishima is going to tell me something important.
With eyes red from crying so much at the stadium, I paid the bill with a tense expression and headed toward our meeting place.
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