3.35. Only Better

The days leading up to the final game of the NEL only got better.

Ego still hadn't revealed his plan for what was going to happen after the league finished, leaving many of the Bluelockers anxious on what was to come next. For some of the players in Ubers, Manshine, and Barcha, with all matches for their team finished, they were slumped with despair, knowing that they didn't have a chance at getting onto the final U-20 World Cup team.

And for others, whose value was teetering on the edge, they were in a constant state of anxiety. For a lot of people, it all rested on what happened in the last game of the NEL. PXG against Bastard Munchen.

Y/N had asked around. Some people weren't scared, others pretended not to be, some were in the clear. The vast majority were desperate, pleading with Y/N to try and find a way to still get into the final team. Maybe someone else would've enjoyed the attention, but Y/N was annoyed. Every single time he left his room, it felt like there were at least three people trying to ask him for help.

"P-please! We'll do anything!"

Y/N glanced down at the pair of boys, who knelt on the floor at his feet. He grimaced, shaking his head. Why can't I just get food in peace... "Dude, I told you. I can't do anything." He was in the queue for food in the cafeteria. Around the room, the majority of the teams were seated at their own tables, eating.

"You're the Mercenary! Ego Jinpachi gave you special power and extra games! Surely you have more influence?"

"I don't, okay?" Y/N sighed. "I can't help you. Sorry."

"W-well..." One of them stuttered. "Ego's making a load of money off you, isn't he? Ads and merch and stuff!"

"Yeah...?"

"So he owes you, right? You don't get any extra pay or anything!"

"Yeah...?" Y/N slowly said.

"So you can help us out! Put in a good word for us, please! Call in the favour Ego knows he owes you!"

"No...?"

"Why not?! He owes you, you can help us with it!"

Y/N blinked innocently. He tilted his head to one side, staring down at them with a cool gaze. "I know he owes me." Y/N hummed. His eyes sharpened. "But what makes you think that I'll waste that favour on you?"

Both of the boys' eyes widened. "What...?"

Y/N shrugged. "You heard me."

The two boys froze up. Y/N shuffled forwards in the queue. "Y-you..! How could you...!"

"I have my own people to look after." Y/N muttered. "It's your own fault for not buying fully into Ego's stuff."

Their faces went from shock to confusion to disgust to anger. Y/N turned his head back to the lunch robot, selecting his food (yes, he got to select for himself). As the two went through four out of the five stages of grief in the space of a few seconds, he clicked his tongue. "Oh, they have duck today?"

"We did!" Y/N glanced down at one of them, confused as the boy spoke. "We bought into everything, we trained, so what did we do wrong?!"

"Hell if I know." Y/N shrugged. "I had... a little different path compared to everyone else."

The boy's eyes widened with what could've been hope. "Really? How did you do it?! We'll do the same!"

Y/N's throat tightened with disgust. They're so... willing to throw everything away, aren't they...? They're only desperate to give everything up after they've already lost. He shook his head. "I... don't recommend it."

Alongside that disgust, there was also the sense of unease. For two reasons. The first, was that there were probably thousands of people this desperate around the country. Desperate for money, for skills, for strength, for housing. Kuroi offered all of that. It would be trivially easy for him to grow - and Y/N just... he needed to find a way to show the world what kind of sicko he truly was.

The second, was that Y/N himself had been like that. He'd made the worst choice possible, throwing away everything just to feel a little better. It was only through sheer luck that he was still alive. And his father. Sae. Ego.

"But tell us anyway! We'll do it! Whatever you had to go through, we'll go through it as well!" So desperate. So naive.

Y/N shook his head again. "I can't tell you." If I did, you wouldn't believe me. At least, not until you're the one strapped to that operating table, or being experimented on. "Sorry."

Before they could respond, he walked off with his tray of food. Looking around the room, he didn't spot many people he recognised. So Y/N took a place at a table by himself, picking his cutlery up. He didn't notice the expressions on their faces morphing from desperation to anger, uncontrolled rage at the idea that their soccer careers would be completely over. They couldn't even do anything about it anymore, just wait for the final values to be announced and listen as their name wasn't called out.

Footsteps thumped behind him. Y/N frowned. He held his chopsticks a little tighter.

Two pairs of feet ran towards him at top speed. Y/N could hear it, echoing off the concrete walls of the cafeteria. With it came pants of exertion.

He threw a glance over his shoulder.

One of the boys who had just been begging him was now lunging for him, yelling. The other was trying to hold him back... unsuccessfully. "Tell us what you did! Tell us how you improved, or we'll beat it the fuck out of you!" Y/N blinked with disbelief. They're so willing to die? They're so willing to have their entire life ruined, whether they live or not? Ascension would break them in half.

Desperation does bad things to people.

In a flash, he flung himself out of his chair, backing away from them with both hands up. His cutlery was left discarded on the tray. "I don't want any trouble."

"Then tell us! Please!" The boy advanced. His friend tried to intervene, but was roughly pushed aside. Y/N gulped, and shook his head.

"I can't. It's better for you if I don't, trust me-"

Sharp pain flared in his jaw. Y/N staggered backwards, hand flying upwards to his chin. Eyes wide, he backed away more. The fuck?! He punched me! The boy shook out his hand, red hot fury in his eyes. "Tell me."

I'm trying to save you, fuckhead!

The boy went for another swing. Y/N hopped backwards again. But he didn't need to. A blur of motion, and a virtual giant ploughed in from the side. He collided with both of the deranged players, knocking them to the floor like they were nothing but bowling pins.

Y/N gaped.

"Barou?!"

The boy scowled at Y/N. His red-striped hair shone in the cafeteria light. Chest heaving with exertion, hands tensed into fists, he scoffed. "Defend yourself, donkey. Can't you even do that?"

He stood there, glowering at Y/N, at the two boys picking themselves off the floor, and at everyone else who was staring. He raised his voice. "And nobody else decided to step in? Nobody decided to stop these two lowlives?" His prerogative as king truly shone here - not a single person decided to challenge him. They simply hung their heads in shame.

Barou flicked his hand at Y/N. "Idiot. Go back to your food."

The doors swished open on the edge of the cafeteria. Ego Jinpachi strolled leisurely in, followed by an Anri that looked like she'd sprinted the entire length of Bluelock. He shook his head, more disappointed than angry.

"Thank you, Barou Shoei. Seems like the remote riot control signal is a little weak here." The boys rose to their feet. One of them pointed at Ego, spitting as he yelled.

"This is all your fault! If I just stayed in my school team, I would've become the best! This Bluelock project ruined my career!" He staggered towards Ego. The man just calmly fished in his pocket for a remote, pointed it at the boy, and pressed a button.

Immediately, he froze up. A loud buzzing sound filled the room, and the boy collapsed into a slightly steaming pile on the ground. Ego sighed. "And I thought Shidou Ryusei was the only one who would need that treatment."

The other boy shook his head. He hadn't swung for Y/N, nor had he been... as angry as the other. A strangled noise came from his throat. "I-I'm sorry..."

He shook his head. Y/N heard a soft noise. "I... just don't want it to be over like this. I didn't even play a game in this league."

"Hm." Ego beckoned the boy forwards. "Pick up your friend. Come with me."

The boy nodded shakily. He scooped up his semi-conscious friend, and followed Ego as the man led him out of the room. Anri, across a small gap, mouthed to Y/N. "Are you okay?"

Y/N nodded, giving her a small, reassuring smile. Anri's face brightened a little. She gave him two thumbs up, before hurrying after Ego out of the cafeteria.

Needless to say, the rest of lunchtime wasn't very talkative.

🥕🥕🥕

"And yeah, I don't know what Ego did to them after, but I don't think it was anything good." Y/N shivered a little, head against the train window.

He wore a simple outfit - casual clothing, suitable for the outdoors, and warm enough for the February weather. A black cap was pulled low over his head, and a black face mask ensured that nobody would recognise him.

Next to Y/N, Julian sat with pretty much the same clothing. After Y/N's meteoric rise in popularity during the U-20 game and NEL, and news that France's superstar remained in Japan, they couldn't walk a single street without being recognised. Hence, the masks.

"Sounds like they deserved it, though." Loki shrugged. "Ego probably had something planned for the people who didn't make it in, but they ruined their chances of taking part in it. Kind of like the Wild Card."

Y/N frowned. He kept looking out the window, watching as the city rushed past. "Wild Card?"

"Just another side thing he did." Julian dismissed. "But yeah... you did the right thing, not telling them about Ascension."

"I know." Y/N quietly said. "It just doesn't feel good."

Between them, late into yesterday night, they'd planned the trip. Afternoon train to Chichibu, a little visit to the shrine Y/N had met his parents at, then some exploration around the city area. The next day, they would take a full guided bus tour of the area, going on a boat ride, fruit-picking, and sightseeing.

The train slowed. Julian nudged Y/N gently in the side, rising from his seat. "We gotta switch trains here."

"Yeah. Okay." Y/N nodded. He followed the taller man, both of them stepping off the train alongside a few other passengers. A sign, hanging from the ceiling, read Ikebukuro Station. "But we're still in the city..."

Loki nodded, eyes scanning a map of the station on his phone. "From here, the train is an hour and a half to Chichibu." Nodding once to himself, he slid the phone into his pocket. "We have a few minutes."

"Mkay."

Over the rest of the journey, the incident from that day's lunchtime gradually faded from Y/N's mind. With Julian, Y/N found that he talked a lot less. A lot, lot less. But it wasn't because of awkwardness, or because of a lack of topics, it was just that both of them were perfectly comfortable with silence.

Y/N slumped onto Julian's shoulder. "Can I nap?"

"It's only an hour and a bit."

"But can I?"

"Do you want to?"

"I mean, yeah."

"Sure, then."

Y/N smiled, pulling his knees up to his chest and leaning his full weight on Julian's side. "Thank you."

Julian raised an eyebrow. "Welcome...?"

When they finally arrived at Chichibu Shrine, it was late afternoon. Y/N ran right across the road in front of the shrine, getting himself multiple honks for his trouble. Loki was a little more... normal, waiting at the traffic lights for all the cars to stop.

As soon as he got to the other side, he shook his head lightly. "You have a death wish?"

"Saves time." Y/N shrugged.

He stared up at the shrine's gate. It looked exactly the same as it had when Y/N had met his parents. A red painted Torii gate, awash with the oncoming sunset. And yet, it looked so different. It looked more welcoming, more natural, less scary with the knowledge that his parents weren't waiting for him inside the shrine.

"I can wait out here." Julian said.

Y/N glanced towards him. "Can you...? Are you sure?"

"Yup." He nodded, and pressed fingertips to Y/N's back. Y/N felt every single one of them, another shiver racing down his spine. "You can go in alone." Julian encouraged.

"Yeah." Y/N slowly said. "Yeah, I can."

Unlike last time, he didn't hesitate so long. He simply stepped through the gate.

The sensation of isolation was familiar to him. The trees surrounding the shrine cut off all outside noise, all sign that Y/N was in the modern era. He could've gone back in time - nothing but wilderness and traditional architecture surrounded him.

Y/N walked up the same path as last time. He headed up to the courtyard where he'd met his parents. And he walked beyond that, climbing the steps to the final building right in the centre of the shrine.

It was beautiful. A tall, wooden building, with curving roofs and traditional styled pillars raising it a metre off the ground. The walls were covered in decorations, painted carvings of monkeys and dragons, flowers, clouds, and water standing out to Y/N amongst the rest.

He slipped off his shoes, and climbed the stone steps to the entrance.

Inside, it was dark.

Y/N clasped his hands together, and bowed his head.

I... sorry, I didn't pray to you for advice last time. I probably should've, considering the situation, but I ended up making the wrong choice. But... uh, I'm back now, and I don't really want to ask for any more advance. I just wanted to say thanks, I guess. For trying to help me out last time.

He cautiously raised his head. Nothing had changed on the inside of the building.

Then he turned, and left with a small smile on his face.

Throughout the shrine, a warm wind blew.