Blue lock: the true egoist

[3rd POV]

'I don't really understand how, but I made it.'

Jude let out a sigh of relief as he finally took in his surroundings. He laid flat on the ground after his tackle. Karasu stood right over him with a shocked look plastered on his face. 

"You're really going to get in my way until the very end." Karasu's expression suddenly morphed into anger as he looked down at Jude. He was in the middle of his metamorphosis, he finally found a new way to evolve, and yet he failed once again. All because of this unknown player. 

Karasu was accustomed to playing football at a high level, whether it be in middle school or high school, he knew most of the best players in Japan and always kept a close eye on them. 

Yet Jude was a nobody to him.

He wasn't someone he recognized, yet a nobody like him was able to get so far and even stand his ground against him and outplay him a few times. 

"This is really pissing me off." 

Karasu's sudden outburst surprised everyone. Especially Hiori who stood by the halfway line and watched everything in silence. 

'My body moved perfectly. This strange feeling... It's very similar to when I activate my special weapon.' Jude's mind was too filled with thoughts to register the commotion around him. 

"Jude, stop laying down like one of those French girls and stand up for fucks sake." Yanagi was the one who brought him back to reality and helped him up by lending him a hand. 

With barely more than ten minutes left, the ball was still in Team V's possession.

It was a corner kick, and the one who went to play it was none other than Hiori. This is a golden opportunity for Team V, and an extremely dangerous situation for Team X. 

If Jude wasn't focused, then it would be the nail in the coffin for them. Jude needed to guard Karasu closely, he was clearly the most dangerous man in the penalty area. But Himizu and a few other players also stood there.

With Hiori's skills, taking advantage of such a chaotic situation was a piece of cake. Hiori being the one to take the freekick made every single player on the field 10 times as dangerous.

In such a situation it was hard to keep a cold head on your shoulders. Everyone was heated up.

"Jude, get out of the way." A few seconds before Hiori took his shot, Jude suddenly felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned around, only to find Miyata looking at him with a stern gaze.

"What?"

"I asked you to move out of the way. A striker's place isn't in defense, especially not when we absolutely need to score and there's so little time left, you already exhausted yourself a good chunk when trying to tire them out. So now, leave it to us."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Jude asked, unsure of Miyata's intentions. "If I'm not here, then who would stop Karasu? There's also Himizu who's a massive danger because of his height. You know how good Hiori is in those situations, he won't make any mistake."

Jude didn't doubt Miyata's choices, he respected him enough to always take his opinion into consideration, but this time he couldn't accept it so easily. 

'What if we lose because of this?' 

Those thoughts crept up in his mind. 

"We won't lose. I promise you." Miyata reassured. As if reading Jude's mind, he flashed him a warm smile. "Believe in us for once. There's a reason why they only have 4 people staying in the penalty area. They know the potential danger of a counterattack."

With Jude falling back, they won't be allowed to advance too far. One mistake would mean a certain goal for Team X.

It was a double edged sword.

'Akira seems pretty excited to guard Karasu, knowing him he won't let him score so easily. Himizu is also tightly marked by Yanagi and Miyata.'

Taking one last look at his new teammates, Jude ultimately chose to believe in them. 

 He also took this time to organize his thoughts.

'I'm the one who has the most chances to score. If I waste my time and energy on defense then we would just fight for a draw rather than to win.'

With ten minutes on the clock, every second was precious. 

Jude knew that Miyata was right.

Putting his trust in the players he met less than two months ago could be seen as a big gamble, but he knew them better than anyone else. 

His current team is far from weak. Being a part of the Blue Lock program already vouches for their individual skills. 

After spending so much time together, developing some form of trust was a given.

Jude knew that they weren't anywhere near the level of Karasu or Hiori. Yet he trusted their ego. He trusted their wish to win no matter what. After all, everyone here shared the same dream.

A loud whistle signaled the resumption of the game. 

Jude watched from near the halfway line as Hiori sent a sharp curved pass straight into the penalty area. Due to the distance and angle, even Jude was unable to tell where the ball was headed.

Only two people were able to accurately guess the trajectory of the ball. 

"Sweet pass, Hiori." Himizu was the first to react. He weaved his way through the players, effectively leaving Yanagi in the dust before leaping forward, using his height to tower over the defender who was too slow to react.

Himizu was able to perfectly read Hiori's pass — however, he wasn't the only one.

"Sorry to bother you, but I did promise I wouldn't be letting you score." A sudden voice crept up from behind Team X's defender.

It was none other than Miyata, and thanks to his small frame, he was able to use the bigger defender as a wall he used to hide behind, only to appear at the very last moment. 

If he tried to follow Himizu like Yanagi did then he would've also been left in the dust, but Miyata was one step ahead of him.

Although he wasn't as flashy as Himizu, he was able to determine the most dangerous spot in Team X's defense. He could see through his own team's weakness, thus positioning himself perfectly to stop any attempt to score with a header. 

"You won't be letting me score? That's a pretty bold statement from a midget." Himizu snickered, sticking out his snake-like tongue to mock Miyata. 

Even with all his planning being extremely accurate, everything unfolded according to plan, other than the most important part. 

Miyata was too short and weak to effectively stop Himizu.

He was at the right spot, but lacked the skills to manifest his vision into reality.

 ..

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[IMAGE] 

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