Chapter 215: Bound To Lose No Matter How You Look At It
Chapter 215: Bound To Lose No Matter How You Look At It
They couldn’t lose!
Though the letter used a bunch of strange and confusing phrases, after sorting through it all, the message was just that simple.
The request was issued under a private name.
The requester chose to be anonymous— “Jet-Black Wings.”
Himekoji had no interest in finding out who this “Jet-Black Wings” was. Anyway, it definitely wasn’t Hayama.
“Meiwa High School is an annihilation squad sent by Dark Reunion! If we lose the match, Earth will be destroyed!”
Yuigahama craned her neck, glanced at the request, and suddenly declared with exaggerated seriousness, reading the letter word for word with dramatic flair.
“I don’t need you to read it out loud! Especially not the parts in brackets!”
His head aching from listening, Himekoji threw up his hands and complained to Yuigahama.
Sigh!
Seemed like another severe case of Chuunibyou…
Himekoji rolled his eyes in frustration.
Anyway, did he really have to accept such an idiotic request?
He really didn’t want to!
…
“You do understand the difficulty level of ‘cannot lose’, right?”
Yukinoshita calmly turned her gaze towards him.
“Of course. Meiwa High School emerged from over four thousand high schools this year and successfully made it to the finals of the Japan High School Soccer Tournament. They passed the brutal prefectural and regional qualifiers without a single loss.”
Himekoji was very familiar with Meiwa High School. No, more than just familiar; he knew its famously strong soccer club in great detail.
Because Himekoji’s junior high school days were spent at Meiwa!
Compared to Toyosaki’s soccer club, which had suffered an embarrassing first-round exit after signing up, Meiwa was like the difference between children and adults, amateurs and professionals.
To put it this way: Japanese high school teams are eligible to compete in the Emperor’s Cup.
One of the most talked-about feats was in the 2003 Emperor’s Cup, when the high school league champions, Ichihara Chiba High School, faced Yokohama F. Marinos, a J-League powerhouse led by Takeshi Okada and featuring seven Japanese national team players.
They fought to a 120-minute draw. Near the end of the second half, their captain even picked up a second yellow card and got sent off. Playing with ten men against eleven in extra time, the high schoolers ultimately only lost in a penalty shootout.
In other words, strong high school teams could even have the ability to take on professional squads!
Therefore, during the Japan High School Soccer Tournament, scouts from major professional clubs often appeared at matches. Many outstanding players get recruited by pro teams right after graduating high school. Among active Japanese national team players, almost half come from school soccer programs and half from club youth systems.
Thinking about all that, then thinking about his own country’s national team…
“Sigh!”
Himekoji couldn’t help but sigh.
No, no, he was getting off track!
Anyway, the point he wanted to make after all that talk was simple—
The Meiwa High School soccer club, which fought its way undefeated into the tournament finals, was amazing! Seriously, ridiculously amazing!
The difficulty of “cannot lose” was obvious.
…
Himekoji walked to the window and looked out at the field.
The Toyosaki soccer club, led by Hayama as usual, was enthusiastically pouring out their youthful energy and sweat today.
Half the members were shirtless…
But that wasn’t the important part!
The important part was—
These shirtless perverts playing… no, saying “playing” was generous; they just ran around red-eyed, chasing the ball single-mindedly!
If these rookies lost the friendly match to Meiwa High School, not only would they be humiliated, but Himekoji would also get dragged down with them!
Yukinoshita might very well ride roughshod over him!
No, not “might very well”—
She definitely would!
Just imagining that scene made Himekoji shiver involuntarily.
If Yukinoshita really ended up riding on his head, would she be wearing safety shorts under her skirt?
For a moment, nonsensical thoughts like this flashed through Himekoji’s mind…
What on earth was he thinking?!
He quickly shook his head, snapping himself out of it.
After some self-reflection, Himekoji focused his attention back on the field.
Looking down from above and watching for over ten minutes, Himekoji’s frown deepened.
Toyosaki’s soccer club… their skills and tactics were worrying…
“Um… Yukinoshita… just hypothetically, what if… what if we fail this request? What was that punishment you mentioned earlier?”
The ever-thoughtful Himekoji was already considering his… demise.
It was all this stupid System’s fault, forcing him to accept this utterly meaningless, childish challenge!
Yukinoshita gently tucked a stray hair behind her ear. The Ice Queen didn’t choose to speak. She merely offered a signature smile. Thin. Cold.
It chilled Himekoji to the bone, making him shiver.
…
Next day, after school—
The friendly match was about to begin!
Wait, that was way too fast!
Himekoji didn’t even have time to take the Meiwa High players out for some distraction tactics…
Were they doomed?
The Toyosaki students were supportive, though. Quite a crowd had gathered at the soccer field to cheer them on.
Likely, over half were Hayama’s personal fans.
They probably never imagined they were about to witness a lopsided massacre.
As soon as the players from both teams stepped onto the field, Himekoji could see the difference.
The Meiwa High players were energetic and fierce. His own team, on the other hand, were joking around, undisciplined. These guys clearly didn’t take the upcoming match seriously at all!
Well, it was only a friendly match, after all.
Friendship first, competition second.
Comparing the two sides made it painfully obvious that Meiwa High’s soccer team was simply on another level compared to the ragtag group Hayama led.
The Toyosaki side barely had any desire to win. After entering the field and before the kick-off, they didn’t even finish warming up properly. They all eagerly ran over to Meiwa High’s half, scrambling to shake hands with them, saying things like “go easy on us” or “we’re here to learn from you” – basically admitting defeat before the match even began.
Knowing those Meiwa guys might graduate straight into professional clubs with bright futures, quite a few members of Toyosaki’s soccer club harbored hopes of getting close to them.
For them, as soccer lovers, could that even be considered human nature?
In any case, the only ones on his team showing any seriousness, besides Hayama, were… um… who was the other one?
Ah, what was his name?
Shun Kaito, wasn’t it?
But a weirdo who had bandages wrapped around his arms, wore a tattered shirt, and possessed near-zero athletic ability… even if he gave 200% effort, it would be completely useless…
Time was almost up. Hayama, as the captain and representative, won the coin toss and chose to take the kick-off first.
A good omen!
But utterly pointless.
Hayama knew this very well. While his individual skill might not be inferior to the Meiwa players’, soccer is ultimately an eleven-a-side game. His main goal for this match was simply not to lose too badly.
Toyosaki took their positions for the kick-off. Hayama and Tobe stood on the center line.
Hayama placed one foot on the ball, hands on his hips.
Just this seemingly casual pose instantly won him a wave of screams from their own cheer squad.
However, Hayama, long accustomed to such attention, remained unfazed. He merely knitted his brows slightly, focusing intently on the opposing team’s formation, considering the best tactics for the upcoming match.
After a moment’s thought, he made up his mind.
His hand, hidden behind his back, made a “C” shape!
Decided!
Plan C!
They had specifically practiced it yesterday!
“OK!”
“Alright, let’s use that one!”
“As expected of Hayama! I also think Plan C is the best for facing a strong team like Meiwa!”
“Hmph, exactly what I thought!”
“By the way… what was Plan C again?”
“Oh, no idea!”
Right!
Actually, no one remembered what Plan C even was!