Chapter 8: Cracks
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It was match day. Team Z was on the field warming up and stretching, waiting for their opponents' team X.
"Guys, team X is here."
Tensions begun to raise.
"They look so scary."
"Alright, everyone, to your positions."
Everyone got to their position, ready for the match.
Toshiro had lost the game of rock, paper, scissors, so he was playing right-back.
Isagi was centre forward along with Meguru Bachira.
Team Z had kick-off.
[Start]
Immediately, Isagi got ready to pass the ball. Before he could, he felt a looming figure from behind. He looked back to find no one but when he kicked on to continue his pass.
The ball was gone. It had been stolen.
He looked around to find culprit. He soon realised the ball had been stolen off him by his own teammate.
Jingo Raichi.
"Jingo, what are you doing we need to work to together." He expressed.
"Shut up, pipsqueak. If we listen to you, you're gonna score the most goals. Why would I allow that?!" Jingo Raichi shouted back.
"That I can get behind." Said an orange haired fella by the name Ryosuke Kunigami.
Right before he tackled Jingo for the ball.
While they were fighting for the ball, it was stolen by a member of the opposing team.
However, they started fighting over the ball. It had become a free for all. Everyone vying for the ball to score for themselves.
It was selfish and illogical but not the mark of an Egoist.
The fight continued until. A member of team X by the name of Shoei Baro got the ball and charged at team Z's goal.
Noticing his momentum, a few players on team Z tried to stop him but were made short work of them.
Because of the earlier struggle for the ball, most players were not in the right position and could not stop Shoei Baro's charge.
Toshiro and one other defender approached him with the intention of stopping him.
However, before they could block him, he pushed the ball forward and slipped through the space in-between after the ball.
Toshiro watched him slip through and made no attempts to steal the ball.
He just watched Baro run at the goalkeeper, and upon reaching the ideal distance, take the shot. The ball was too fast for the keeper to even do anything. The ball went right inside the goal.
[GOAL]
"Yeahh!!!" The members of team X rejoiced and ran up to Baro.
Baro receiving their praise turned to address team Z authoritatively. "Listen up, when I play, the ball isn't my friend or something stupid like that. It is but a servant, a tool to carry out the wish of the king. ME!"
With that, he proudly walked back to his position.
Toshiro watched him leaving so boldly with a bored expression.
Kick off began.
Thanks to Baro's goal, his team had started to coordinate more. They had all non-verbally agreed to make Baro their main attacker.
With an assist from Baro, a fellow teammate slipped to the defence and scored. Toshiro, despite being there, did very little to stop this.
[GOAL]
"Goall!"
"Nice assist King Baro." Team X celebrated again.
Kick-off started again.
Toshiro watched as his team continued to fight each other for the ball while the other got more and more coordinated by the minute.
Watching everyone play, he couldn't help but judge. 'Is this really the best they do? They are so weak. What's the point of all this? It's so boring.'
Again, team X stole the ball and passed to Baro. Using his dribbling skill, Baro managed to get past those at the front, now approaching the goal keeper. All that stood in his way were a team Z's defender and Toshiro.
"STOP HIM." Shouted members of team Z.
The defender charged at Baro with a slide tackle, but Baro just lept over him.
"Damn. He got past. It's up to you, Toshiro. Stop him." Team Z's defender calls out.
They were run back to help, but they wouldn't make it.
Toshiro was all that was left between Baro and the keeper.
Seeing Toshiro ahead, Baro continued to charge but was ready to take countermeasures to get past.
But upon approach, he realised Toshiro wasn't moving or making any attempts to stop him.
He chuckled. "So you do know your place."
As he raced past Toshiro. All his movements fall into the bored eyes of Toshiro, but he did nothing to stop Baro.
Now Baro was one to one with the keeper and he wasn't going to miss.
And he didn't.
[GOAL 3:0]
Under team X's celebration
Jingo charged at Toshiiro and angrily grabbed him by the collar and shouted at him.
"What are you doing?! You just let him past. Were you that scared? I thought you were supposed to be some big shot. How can you let him keep scoring against us like that?!" Jingo shouted angrily at Toshiro.
"Hey, Jingo, let's calm down." Other teammates tried to de-escalate the situation.
But Jingo wasn't having it and continued to shout at Toshiro.
However, all the shouts and screams fell on deaf ear.
'Why should I even try? Can this pathetic uncoordinated mess even be called a match?
Even the jungle has some semblance of order. This is just chaos. This isn't soccer. This isn't even entertaining.' Toshiro listlessly wondered.
The little light in his eyes was dimming, slowly dying out. The joy, the little hope he had in Blue Lock was extinguishing.
But then, he felt something inside him. As though his consciousness was fed up with his constant whining.
'Enough with this nonsense.' It spoke.
'So what if they are mediocre.'
'Is there a ball?'
"Yes?" Toshiro answered in listless confusion.
'Is there a goal??'
"Yes??" Again, he answered, confused.
'Then what more do you need?'
The confusion he had felt slowly cleared from his face. The bored listlessness he felt was vanishing. As though he was finally waking appear. Clarity dawned on him.
He came to Blue Lock for a challenge, for a feast, but so what if the feast was subpar.
It all went down the same. He was committing the biggest crime in the animal kingdom.
He was letting food escape.
'You understand, good.'
'NOW, GO FUCKING SCORE!!' It ordered.
'DEVOUR THEM WHOLE!!'
Toshiro trembled, he stifle his laugh "HehaheHehahHaheha". It sounded like that of a hyena.
The teammate watched Toshiro with concern and unnerve as they had just watched him answer "yes" to no one in particular then start laughing creepily.
It was an image that did not suit one with his godly looks.
"Right. Scoring is all that matter." Toshiro muttered.
Jingo Raichi looked into his eyes and flinched a bit. His usual calm and collected eyes. Had being replaced with the animalistic and fierce eyes of a predator. His iris might aswell have been slits like that of a cat.
He casually knocked Jingo's hands of him than walked back to his position laughing creepily with ecstasy. "Ahahahehhehehhahaheha"
But something was different. And it wasn't just his eyes. His iconic steam was slowly starting to rise from his body. His exhale were also hot white mist.
The air around him was sizzling.
For lack of better words he looked like a caged beast. A demonic beast.
Hell's hound.
And this beast's caged was breaking.
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Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone