Chapter 162: Aiku's Resolve
After finishing his meal, Kira said his goodbyes to Niko and Aryu and headed to the film room alone. He needed to see exactly what had gone down during the Germany vs. England match. If the Genius of Adaptation, Yoichi Isagi, had actually passed out, the intensity must have been off the charts.
As the footage rolled, Kira found himself staring in disbelief. 'Is this even soccer? It looks more like a high-stakes civil war.'
The team dynamic at Bastard Munchen was a complete disaster. The squad was fractured into two distinct, warring factions: the "Kaiser Faction," led by the German ace Michael Kaiser and his loyal pet, Ness; and the "Isagi Faction," consisting of Isagi, Kurona, and Kunigami.
"No wonder Isagi collapsed. That's exhausting," Kira muttered to himself. "You're not just fighting the eleven guys on the other side; you're playing 4D chess against your own teammates just to get a touch."
He imagined himself in that environment. 'If I were on that team, I wouldn't be picking a side. I'd just make the whole Isagi faction mine. The power struggle between Isagi and Kaiser would quickly turn into a war between me and Kaiser.'
Suddenly, he felt a wave of gratitude for his current situation. 'Ubers is a paradise compared to that.'
Lorenzo and the other academy players weren't interested in petty politics or gatekeeping. He could practically hear Lorenzo's voice in his head: 'We're all just here for the paycheck, man. Why make it hard on each other? Let's just win and get paid.'
While Germany was a mess of internal sabotage, England's Manshine City seemed far more cohesive, yet they lacked the raw firepower to finish. In the end, they'd lost 3-2.
Kira watched the clip of Nagi's goal—the five-stage fake volley—and shook his head. 'His valuation is through the roof because of that world-beater, but it's a miracle goal. You can't replicate that on command. If Nagi and Reo keep relying on "magic" instead of a system, they're going to hit a wall.'
The English academy player, Agi, seemed to be the only one who realized this. He was trying to force Nagi to think for himself, to develop his own soccer brain. Reo, on the other hand, was doing the opposite—coddling Nagi and doing all the heavy lifting for him. It maximized Nagi's immediate threat but killed his long-term potential.
"It's a shame. Another wild blossom that needs pruning before it wilts," a voice said from behind.
Kira turned to see Oliver Aiku leaning against the doorframe, holding two bottles of sports drink. He looked relaxed, yet he radiated that jaded, "seen-it-all" aura that made him feel much older than he actually was.
"How long have you been standing there? I thought you were Niko," Kira said.
"Long enough." Aiku tossed a bottle. Kira caught it with one hand as Aiku took a seat a few feet away. "Nagi... if he doesn't find a way to stand on his own two feet, he's going to be a non-factor in the next match."
"I agree. But I'm curious, what's your logic?" Kira asked.
Aiku took a slow sip of his drink. "No logic. Just intuition."
Kira rolled his eyes. "Right. The 'defender's instinct.' Very mysterious."
"Seriously though, Kira," Aiku said, his tone shifting. "Why did you pick Ubers? I took you for the ultimate egoist—someone who wouldn't want to be tied down by a system. You aren't exactly the 'follow the rules' type on the pitch."
"Would you believe me if I said I actually prefer team-play?" Kira asked.
Aiku paused, looking surprised. "Hah! You're joking, right? Every goal you've scored lately has been a middle finger to Snuffy's playbook. You're winning on raw, individual dominance."
"It's a mix," Kira admitted, staring at the screen. "There's something beautiful about eleven gears clicking together to crush an opponent. But... taking the ball and destroying an entire team by yourself? That feeling is addictive. It's hard to let go of."
The room went quiet. Aiku hadn't expected that level of honesty. He let out a dry, self-deprecating chuckle. "You really are a walking contradiction."
"Humans are full of contradictions. It's what makes us interesting."
"Maybe," Aiku sighed. He leaned back, staring at the ceiling. "You know, once upon a time, I wanted to be the world's best striker, too."
Kira didn't interrupt. He knew the look in Aiku's eyes. This was a confession.
"Coaches, teachers... they all told me the same thing. 'Aiku, you're a physical freak. Use that body to protect the goal. Be the anchor. If you stay in the back, the real scorers can do their jobs.'"
Aiku took a massive gulp of his drink. He wasn't looking for a response; he just needed to say it out loud.
"Everything was always for 'the team,' for 'the coach,' for 'the win.' No one ever asked me what I wanted. I tried to show them my footwork, tried to prove I could score, but they shut me down instantly. They told me soccer was about 'discipline' and 'cooperation.' They said I had to follow the rules if I wanted to play."
Aiku's voice was laced with a lingering bitterness. "Coaches... all they want to do is water the flowers they already recognize. They don't want anything 'irregular' growing in their garden. They decide where the flowers should grow before they even bloom. By the time I looked up, everyone was exactly the same. We were a field of identical, boring flowers."
"I was no different. Somewhere along the line, the kid who believed he could be the world's greatest striker... he just withered away and died. And one day, I decided I wanted to be the world's best defender instead."
"I wanted to become the man who could kill every single one of those cookie-cutter strikers the coaches were so proud of. That was my revenge. That's why I became a defender."
Aiku's gaze suddenly snapped to Kira. His heterochromatic eyes were burning with a fierce, newfound intensity.
"But I made myself a promise. If I ever saw a striker who was actually trying to bloom into something unique—someone who refused to be clipped—I wouldn't cut them down. I'd be the one to reach out and say, 'Keep going. Bloom until the whole world has to look at you.'"
Kira met Aiku's gaze. The silence in the room was heavy, charged with a level of ambition that surpassed mere sport.
"I'm counting on you, Ryosuke Kira. Don't let them turn you into just another flower."
***
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