A week passed since the Kanzei match
But Reiji's mind wasn't on the score anymore
It was on the feeling he had walking into the tunnel
A gaze
Cold
Calculating
Someone had watched him like a puzzle to be solved
Not a player to be admired
He knew that gaze
He had met it once before
When he was 10
---
Minamino's next training was tight
No more jokes
No more loose energy
Reiji had enforced strict formations
But unlike before
He wasn't trying to make the team unpredictable
He was testing them
He made Kenta play keeper for 10 minutes
He made Yamato switch sides every 3 minutes
He made the defenders go up as strikers mid-scrimmage
The players hated it
"This isn't training
It's torture"
Coach Nakamura pulled Reiji aside
"What are you doing
They need to rest
Not break apart"
Reiji leaned against the fence
"The real threat is coming
We don't have time to relax
We need to be warriors who laugh when the world burns"
Coach shook his head
"You sound like a villain"
Reiji smirked
"Then maybe football needs one"
---
Later that evening
Leo sat on the school roof
Watching the sunset
Reiji joined him
Tossed a can of juice his way
Leo caught it
"You ever get tired of pretending to be human"
Reiji chuckled
"You ever get tired of pretending to be a rival"
They both stayed silent for a while
Then Leo said
"Barcelona's youth scout came to Tokyo
He's not here for me
He's here for you"
Reiji didn't react
Leo continued
"But he's not offering a contract
He wants to test you
Against one of their private academies
Off-record match"
Reiji finally turned
"When"
Leo stood up
"Three days
In a hidden pitch outside the city
No crowd
Just cameras and wolves"
---
Three days later
Reiji stood alone at the edge of the mountain facility
Fog wrapped around the field
Lights flickered weakly above the artificial grass
Across him
Players in unmarked blue kits warmed up
Fast
Precise
Silent
The scout walked up
Tall
Western suit
Silver pin on the chest
"You are Reiji Kurokawa"
Reiji nodded
"You've never played for a real club
Never joined an academy
And yet…you play like a ghost among fools"
The man handed him a jersey
Pure white
"No team
No badge
Just prove you belong in a world that doesn't want you"
---
Match started
And instantly
Reiji felt it
This wasn't football
This was warfare between minds
Every pass from the opponents was a trap
Every press had bait
Every move was designed to force a pattern
They were trying to program him
But Reiji smiled
He didn't play patterns
He broke them
---
15 minutes in
He stopped moving entirely
The Barcelona academy players hesitated
Was it a glitch
A mistake
An act
Then
In one flash
Reiji launched forward
He faked left
Spun right
Nutmegged a midfielder
Then chipped the ball over two defenders
Scored without even looking at the keeper
The scout raised an eyebrow
Not because of the goal
But because of the silence afterward
Reiji didn't celebrate
He just stared at the fog
And whispered
"You're trying to predict me
But I'm not the future
I'm the anomaly"
---
The match ended 3–1
Reiji scored once
Assisted once
And created 8 chances
But no one clapped
No handshakes
No praise
Just quiet awe
---
Back at the station
Leo waited for him
"You passed
Didn't you"
Reiji nodded
"They didn't want to recruit me
They wanted to scan me
Find the bug in the system
Now they'll try to patch it"
Leo looked at him
"What will you do"
Reiji smiled
"Be the virus
And crash the whole damn game"