"Shinichi will be part of the next attack too..."
The harsh truth left the Manshine players in heavy silence. But Agi paid them no mind—instead, he turned to Nagi, who had just jogged back.
Noticing Agi's gaze, Nagi gave a helpless shrug.
"Yeah, I failed. Didn't expect the key moment of that exchange to be there."
"It's fine. It was never something that could succeed in one try anyway. If beating that guy were so easy, he wouldn't have dominated the New-Heroes match like he did." Agi's tone was calm and unaffected by Nagi's failure. "Like I said—you still have another chance. That's your advantage."
After offering a brief reassurance, Agi got straight to the point.
"So, Nagi—what were you thinking during that play?"
"Huh? Oh… I was thinking that I'd block Shinichi's line of sight with my body while trapping the ball, then flick it over him to get past. But before I could even touch the ball, he moved early and cut it off before the pass even got to me."
Nagi gave an honest breakdown of his thought process. Agi nodded silently, then continued,
"Alright—so if you had another shot at that situation, what would you do differently?"
"Uh… I guess I'd confront Shinichi directly first, stop him from getting in front so easily. I'd try to make sure I actually got the pass, then go ahead with the same plan. But since he's really strong, I'd probably lose that battle… so maybe I'd adjust depending on how the first contact goes. I could change position or start running toward the pass early…"
Nagi trailed off, clearly unsure, but Agi nodded with satisfaction.
"Good. Exactly right. You can't always wait for the ball to come to you and then react. That's too slow. Football is a fluid game—you can receive early or late. If you add timing control to your arsenal, you'll open up way more offensive options."
"In any case, the fact that you're thinking is a good sign. As long as you keep trying to improve, I'll keep passing the ball to you. So—keep thinking, Nagi. You've only shown a small part of your potential. Stop relying on others and figure out how to control and decide everything that happens on the pitch using that genius brain of yours."
"Ugh… what a pain."
"Yeah, it's a pain. But it's something you have to do,"
Reo chimed in, walking over to join the conversation.
"If we want to beat Ubers, we need to make Shinichi show a weakness. Otherwise, we're never breaking through their goal."
"Chigiri's speed doesn't work against Shinichi," Reo added. "And we can't just evolve again on command. Right now, the only one with a real shot at breaking through his defense is the version of you that hasn't awakened yet."
"Hmm… then what if I team up with you?"
Nagi sighed again, but a light returned to his eyes.
"I only react to the ball when it comes to my feet, so my performance is limited by how good my partner is. But you're strong, Reo. If we pair my instinctive reactions with your passing ability, wouldn't that give us a better shot at beating Shinichi—rather than relying on some cliché 'last-minute awakening' like in a manga?"
Agi immediately frowned at Nagi's words.
Statistically, yes, it made sense—but pairing a downgraded imitation like Reo with Nagi wouldn't be enough to overcome the original monster that was Shinichi. If Nagi couldn't awaken, their current level of performance wouldn't generate the kind of data Agi was after.
"Nagi… I'll help you."
Just as Agi was about to reject Nagi's suggestion, Reo cut in. Agi's frown deepened—but what Reo said next quickly eased his concern.
"But I'm not going to be your personal babysitter anymore. I've already made my decision. I'm done playing house with you like we used to."
The harsh words hit Nagi like a punch, and he snapped his head up in disbelief. He stared at Reo—but Reo's eyes, firm and unwavering, told him this wasn't a joke.
"First, I want to say sorry. It was my selfishness that pulled you into my dream and dragged you into the world of football. But after playing against Shinichi… I realized something. My dream… is to win the World Cup. Or maybe—no, I think what I really want is to prove that even without my parents' support, even without the Mikage name, I can achieve something on my own. That's my personal ambition."
"Nagi, our past promise wasn't fake. I still want to stand with you on the world's highest podium. I want to win the World Cup together and charge toward becoming number one in the world. But… before I can do that, I have to achieve this selfish dream of mine first. So I refuse to be tied to you anymore—because if I stay tethered to you, how would that be any different from relying on my parents? I refuse to be a parasite clinging to your side. I want the world to know I'm not 'Nagi Seishiro's partner'—I'm Mikage Reo. That's my egoism."
The speech left Nagi dazed, his mind spinning. But Reo wasn't done. He looked straight into Nagi's eyes—and within them, Nagi saw a purple flame burning fiercely.
"So, Nagi… from here on out, I'm living for that ambition. And as long as it helps me reach it, I'll support you—I'll support anyone. But in exchange…"
Reo paused, exhaled, then declared firmly:
"If you can't keep up… or if you're just too lazy to try— Then this time… I won't carry you forward anymore."
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