Chapter 38: Backyard Football

“And why should we listen to you?” Izuru asked. They all glared at Ishi, who wasn’t viewed at with the most positivity after the girls’ cheer. “We bet you want to throw so you don’t have to keep getting dirty.”

“Believe me, if I wanted to throw, I would’ve done it way before I ruined my uniform.” He might not seem to care about the game as much as the others. Certainly not because of the inane tradition that he never viewed with much earned prestige. However, if there was one thing Ishi hated, it was losing. So he was trying just like everyone else.

“Ishi’s always got great plans.” Otoya had his back. “Our backs are against the walls, so what’s there to lose?” So they all huddled around Ishi to hear his grand plan on turning this game around.

“Shimao, switch with Izuru. He rushes and you play safety.”

“What, but you’re the one who…” Shimao was going to argue, but the boy quickly grabbed him and whispered something private to him. “Oh, I see… Let’s do this!” The group had no clue what trick was up his sleeves, but without any other options. They chose to trust him on this crucial moment.

The teams set up on the line, the ball was hiked and now the three precious second for the opposing quarterback began. Time ticked down as Izuru counted, wanting to look good in front of his girlfriend who was cheering along with the rest of the girls. When the second years believed they had an opening, the ball was thrown.

“Now!” Ishi yelled, which was the cue that Shimao needed to perform their maneuver. Instead of fighting one-on-one in coverage, the large boy picked him up giving them a massive height advantage. He intercepted the ball from the air, but their play wasn’t over yet.

“And... Throw!” Shimao yelled out as he effortlessly tossed Ishi out of the end zone to prevent a touch back and pass the players of the other team. With the opening and the momentum from the toss, he rushed all the way down the field to convert the turnover to the first score for the team.

“Nice job, Shimao.” The girls cheered them on now that they were on the board. Things were looking up for them, especially since now it was their turn on offense. And yes, despite returning that interception for a touchdown, their team were also up for the next possession. To speed up games, the rules meant that each team switch playing offense and defense regardless of the results of the drive.

“Okay, what’s the next play?” Izuru asked Ishi. Now the boys had gained some trust in him.

“Oh, so now we’re looking at me for the plans.” Ishi responded in a snippy manner. However, they didn’t have many options to work with on offense. So far, their trips had been pitiful since no one knew how to throw the football. It’s odd shape confused most of them, but he believed that he was gaining an understanding of it from their opponents quarterback.

However, they’d have to save throwing for now. With little room for error, he needed to rely on something that would prove to be very powerful. “Otoya, you up for a little bit of a run? Maybe all the way to the end zone?”

“Me?” While he had all the faith in the world for his friend. He never considered himself to be a part of the path to victory. “What makes you think I can pull something like that off?” The boy was already the one who was running the ball for the team. As evident by the scoreboard before the interception, it hadn’t been working so far.

“If we win, I’ll get you a date with Rinse.” That suggestion upset the rest of the of the boys, but it fired up Otoya.

“Give me the ball.” He spoke and got lined up far before any of them had moved from their huddle. “Come on everybody, let’s go!”

“Hirose, that’s totally not fair.” Someone complained as they set themselves up.

“Look, I got an idol living next door. I’m going to take advantage of it.” He replied, not caring how that would be received by the rest of the group. The boy didn’t even care about how Rinse would take the news when he told her. She was just cheering so hard for them that he hoped she’d be willing to accept with little resistance. “Hike!” He said as the ball was tossed back to him. Then the boy handed it off to their running back, Otoya. The second that ball touched his skin, he went off like a rocket.

It was a beautiful display of speed and agility as he juked, dodged, and spun around each of the defenders. They didn’t have a chance to even get near his flag as he ran the entire distance of the field. That promise of a date really lit a fire in his soul as he pushed well beyond his physical limits to deliver the football to the end zone.

“You did it Otoya, let’s go!” The crowd cheered as he passed the line and tied up the game.

“I did, whoo…” He would’ve celebrated, but that burst of speed took out all of his energy. Fortunately, the boys were there to catch him as he fell. They laid him down on the soft grass where the girls were situated at while they took a replacement player.

“Nice job, Matsubayashi.” Rinse spoke to him along with some of the girls as they squatted by him.

“Hehe… Thank you Hattori…” He spoke with an airiness as he had yet to regain his mind. The sight of being surrounded by pretty girls wearing those gym uniforms. Those red shorts and white shirts had a special charm to them, especially when an idol was wearing one of them.

“While Otoya’s in heaven, we need to come up with something.” Ishi brought the team back to focus as they huddled up for defense. “And when I say we, I mean you guys. I can’t come up with everything, and we’re still hanging on by a thread.” There was no way their opponents would fall for the same trick as before. They’d need something new to gain an edge once more.

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“I got something, Shimao, swap back to our old positions.” Izuru was the one to suggest something.

“It’s not something that’s supposed to make you look cool in front of everyone, is it?”

“Oh, it will. But don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll get us back the ball...” Ishi rolled his eyes in response to the plan as they got into positions. This boy better not screw them over. They got into places and the ball was placed into play. The corners played tight defense to prevent the quarterback from throwing to an open receiver. All of this was to buy time.

Specifically the time which was ticking down before Shimao was allowed to rush the ball. Their opponents weren’t worried though, since they had usually been able to take advantage of his kind spirit to avoid him. However, that wasn’t what happened the moment that the count landed to three.

Out of nowhere, Izuru appeared and ran past Shimao. This was his plan, to play back as safety, but in reality run down the moment the ball was hiked. That allowed him the timing to gain running speed. Plus, he used the large boy’s frame to cover himself so that they wouldn’t see until it was too late. His running start allowed him to close the gap, but the flag wasn’t his target. Instead, he punched right at the ball and forced a fumble that the quarterback wasn’t prepared for.

“Turnover!” Shimao landed on it, giving no one else a chance to even touch it as the refs called it.

“Nice job Izuru!” Fuma cheered out. Now that the ball was back in their grasp, the game was also within reach. They just needed a way to score once more to end this once and for all. “You’re doing great out there.”

“Now what?” Someone asked as they huddled around the ball. All of the boys were breathing heavily, their stamina almost depleted. “Does anyone have any other ideas?”

“Sorry, but I don’t know all that much about American football.” Ishi responded. None of them did, so they were in the same boat. If they couldn’t come up with anything, then was this game already over for them? “We’ll have to wing it, just follow my lead.” Whatever they had left, he knew that he needed to take responsibility for it.

As he stood behind center, he scanned the field. What could they do? None of them could throw, their star runner had run himself to exhaustion, what offense could they perform? They only had one forward pass… But infinite back tosses and handoffs.

“Hike!” Ishi called for the play to begin. This would be the only one they’d need, and that was because it was time to condense an entire drive into this one play. He stepped back and threw a short pass to the large target of Shimao. The boy caught it and moved up field, Ishi chased right behind and commanded him to toss it back.

These boys didn’t know it, but they were running some old school backyard football as he ran off the opposite direction of the bigger boy who drew a lot of attention. Then, when someone else came near, he handed it off to Izuru who went to other way from the defenders.

They zoomed around the field, running a lot further than the distance the game said they would at 40 meters would indicate. Each time someone got near, they’d dump it back to send the football elsewhere to move the ball forward. Soon, the goal line was right in front of them. Ishi took the ball and made a dive for it between two defenders and…

“Touchdown!” The referee called it and the audience went insane. They rushed onto the field to give the boys their congratulations for a job well done. Well before this sports day was even over, the third year’s streak would be kept alive for another year.

“That was so cool the way you just picked up Hirose like that.” Someone complimented Shimao.

“Izuru, your sneak attack on the quarterback was so amazing.” The girls had plenty of praise heaped onto the boys of his team. Meanwhile, Ishi continued to lay on the ground from his game winning score. He was too exhausted to pick himself up off the ground to celebrate with the others. Not that he cared about enjoying the victory.

“Ishi, are you okay?” Youna was one of the only two people to come up to him. The other being Rinse.

“I’m fine.” He answered, not moving from his spot. “Just let me lay here for the rest of the day.”

“Well, I doubt they’d let you do that.” Rinse said uneasily while looking at his worn down body. Their sports days wasn’t over just yet. “But, you did great out there.”

“And I-I’m sure that no one meant it when they called you a loser!” Youna shouted out as if she was a part of that cheer. Well, she was, but the girl didn’t insult him while doing it.

“It’s no problem.” He chuckled, slowly working his way up to a sitting position. “That ended up working out perfectly.”

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