Another 185: The 4 falling stars 3

Gamo... He saw through our lie. He used the press too... We'll have another press conference to...
Don't bother. I'm going to play.

What? You're the one who told me your body was at its limits! You're falling for an obvious trap!
I know. And he mostly said the truth anyway. I agreed to lie to the press, my play is flawed, and my body
may break anytime... But...

... Even someone like me has pride, mister Katagiri. And I won't let him call me a coward.
Pride... I thought you gave up on that 3 years ago. you gained nothing good from it.

Beware, mister Katagiri... I'm your ally now, but don't upset me... If you don't want to see your house of
cards crumble. I may have given up on "the world"... But I wouldn't even consider myself a japanese soccer player if I backed down from a challenge from another japanese...

See you later, mister Katagiri.
......

I wonder what's with him ever since the last winters' nationals... Well, no matter. I'll soon have another
"hero"... Misugi was too perceptive anyway... While I'll be able to keep "the other" in the dark about my intentions...

AND SO THE DAY OF THE MATCH BETWEEN THE URAWA RED DIAMONDS AND FC TOKYO FINALLY CAME...


TODAY IT LOOKS LIKE MISUGI IS PLAYING AS A MIDFIELDER, IN THE CENTER! AHH! AND HE'S IMMEDIATELY GETTING PAST YUMIKURA WITH A BEAUTIFUL FEINT! AFTER YUMIKURA'S DRIVE SHOT AGAINST AVISPA FUKUOKA, IS MISUGI TRYING TO PROVE SOMETHING?

Ah!!

SPEAKING OF THE DRIVE SHOT, BEFORE SUGIMOTO OR SAKAKI CAN GO MARK MISUGI, THE LATTER IS SHOOTING ONE RIGHT OFF THE BAT!!

Ah! Ya... Yamadaaaa!!

AH, BUT MICHEL "SPIDER MAN" YAMADA, USUALLY CATCHING THE BALL WITH ONE HAND LIKE THE BALL IS CAUGHT IN A WEB, IS REPELLING MISUGI'S DRIVE SHOT WITH BOTH HANDS JOINED!!

I won't let you!!

THE REDS ARE MANAGING TO TAKE THE BALL BACK AND ARE IMMEDIATELY ENTRUSTING IT TO THEIR PLAYMAKER YUMIKURA! AHH, BUT HE'S RUSHING TOWARDS MISUGI WITHOUT THINKING TWICE!!


AHHH! IMPRESSIVE! YUMIKURA IS TRYING TO GET PAST MISUGI WITH A FEINT USUALLY USED BY KAZUYOSHI MIURA!

Look at this! Isn't it a perfect copy as well!?

BUT MISUGI ISN'T PUZZLED BY THIS FEINT, HE'S STILL MARKING YUMIKURA, MISUGI IS AN ALL ROUNDER AS GOOD IN ATTACK AS IN DEFENSE!

...!!

Heart bump!!
Wha... Ouch!!

OHH, BUT AFTER A SMALL CONTACT PLAY, YUMIKURA IS SUDDENLY SLOWING DOWN AND SLIPPING, ALLOWING MISUGI TO STEAL THE BALL!!

D... Damn, so that's the heart bump...!!

MISUGI, ACTING AS A PLAYMAKER, IS USING KINA TETSUHIRO, PLAYING ON THE LEFT TODAY! HE'S A MIDFIELDER WHO CAN PLAY ON THE LEFT, RIGHT AND CENTER! IN ADDITION TO MISUGI, FC TOKYO HAS MANY MEMBERS WHO CAN PLAY ON DIFFERENT POSITIONS!


FUJIYAMA RYU, WHO CAN PLAY AS A DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER, CENTER BACK AND RIGHT BACK! SHIMOTAIRA TAKAHIRO WHO CAN PLAY AS AN OFFENSIVE OR DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER IN THE CENTER! FUMITAKE MIURA, WHO CAN PLAY AS A PLAYMAKER OR SECONDARY STRIKER! UMEYAMA OSAMU, A SIDEBACK WHO CAN PLAY ON THE LEFT OR RIGHT! TODA MITSUHIRO, THE RIGHT OFFENSIVE MIDFIELDER, WHO CAN PLAY AS A SIDEBACK ON THE LEFT OR RIGHT!


THEY'RE LIKE A CHAMELEON, AN EVER-CHANGING TEAM DEPENDING ON THE OPPONENT! AND KINA IS SENDING A CROSS FORWARD, IN FRONT OF THE RED DIAMONDS' GOAL! THIS IS FOR...


... MISUGI, WHO'S REALLY ON THE OFFENSE TODAY, KICKING IT WITH AN OVERHEAD... BUT THE TALL SAKAKI IS JUMPING AND BLOCKING IT!! THAT'S...!!

There's no way I'll let you!!!!

... AH, TOO BAD, MISUGI'S OVERHEAD KICK WAS JUDGED RECKLESS AGAINST SAKAKI'S CLEARANCE WITH THE HEAD! HE SURE LOOKS LIKE HE'S FIRED UP TODAY!


Hey, Yumi! Don't forget you aren't on your own, soccer is a team sports!
......