43. The Big Game

"Will the first team to clear please enter?"

The door in front of them swished open. Without missing a beat, Rin strode into the room. Y/N followed happily behind, Bachira skipping along next to him. Isagi and Aryu brought up the back, the latter looking around the room.

"I'm a bit nervous." Bachira commented, a wide smile on his face. "Who do you think the others will be?"

"They won't be weak." Aryu replied. "That's certain."

"'Course." Y/N added. "They've been through the same fights we have. Maybe even harder - the last few people would be running off desperation."

They grouped up in the centre of the room. Overhead, the electronic voice rang out. "Will the second team to clear please enter?" All heads swivelled to face a different door as it slowly opened.

The faces of Nagi, Chigiri, and Barou had barely been revealed before Y/N was running forwards. A high laugh rang out as he just about collided with Nagi and Chigiri. They staggered backwards as Y/N attempted to wrap his arms around both of them at the same time.

"You made it!"

Chigiri smiled, rubbing the top of Y/N's head. Y/N unconsciously moved into the palm of his hand. "Of course we did. What else would we do?"

Nagi's dull eyes immediately fixed on Y/N. He slumped forwards, all his body weight resting on Y/N's shoulder. "Tired." Y/N managed a laugh, suddenly under the weight of the much taller boy.

Next to them, Barou stared down at the small boy. "Tch."

"Are we queuing for something?" Behind them, Zantetsu piped up. "Is it food?"

"Huh?"

"You're blocking the entrance."

The four boys' faces dawned with understanding. Y/N grabbed Chigiri's wrist, dragging him out into the centre of the room while Nagi was forced to follow. He revealed Zantetsu, who Bachira somehow knew but Y/N had no memory of meeting, and a new boy. Must be irrelevant...

"Wait." Chigiri stopped. "Let me talk to Isagi. I have a bone to pick with him."

"Yeah." Barou had followed Y/N to the centre. His eyes lasered in on Isagi, whose face was turning red under all the attention. "Stupid brat. Looking down on us."

"Will the third team to clear please enter?" Y/N decided it was best to leave them to bully Isagi. Ignoring the blue-haired boy's cries for help, he grinned, looking at the next door.

He didn't recognise a single one of the boys that came through. A tall guy with round glasses, and shiny styled hair. A boy with mostly white hair, except for a streak of green down the front. One boy that looked like a crocodile, and another who looked like a mushroom. The player leading them was hunched over, his spiky purple hair matching his sharp gaze.

Bachira and Aryu headed to meet them, exchanging greetings as the glasses guy bowed. "Pleasure to meet you!"

While Y/N watched them, another team entered. He knew none of them yet again. But they all looked decently strong. The second selection had definitely weeded out the weak. Three teams left.

"Will the fifth team to clear please enter?"

Y/N's head snapped to the door, nearly giving him whiplash. The door grinded open painfully slowly. But when it revealed the players, Y/N was dashing across the room for a second time. He nearly knocked over a player that stood in his way, apologising quickly before running towards the door.

Niko led the group. His lips parted with surprise to see Y/N running straight for him, and he barely had time to get out a 'hello' before Y/N barrelled into him. Y/N laughed, taking hold of Niko's shoulders. "You made it!"

He gave a quiet, shy laugh. "That I did. You made it too."

"I mean, I didn't doubt you in the slightest." Y/N said. "In my opinion, your eyes and brain are the best here. If you couldn't do it, nobody could."

Niko flushed bright red. He avoided Y/N's gaze, looking at the ground. "Thank you for the training..."

"I'm just sorry we only got to do it a few times." Y/N smiled. "But it's fine, I'll do more now that we can see each other again. If you want, of course?"

"Yeah..." Niko smiled. "That would be nice."

Y/N's eyes drifted to the boy next to him. They widened, seeing the cyan hair and wide turquoise eyes. Niko followed his gaze, glancing back at a confused Hiori. "That's Hiori Yo. He's amazing at passing and dribbling."

"No, but I know him!" Y/N skipped past Niko, holding out a hand in front of a now very confused Hiori. "Hey!"

"Hello?" Hiori blushed a little, accepting Y/N's handshake. "What's your name?"

"I'm Y/N, but it doesn't really matter." Y/N brushed it off. "I know you."

"From where?"

"You stream, right? On a bunch of different platforms, Niconico, Tenki, and Twitch, right?"

"Y-yes...?"

Y/N's face was so bright it could've lit up a street. "I knew it! I watch you from time to time. You're amazing at video games. 'Specially the NieR series..."

Hiori was saved by the voice, ringing out above. "Will the sixth team to clear please enter?"

Their door slowly opened. Everyone in the room turned to look at the team. The conversations died out as a frustrated snarl came from the room. "I'm telling you, I'm going in the middle!"

"Stop pushing! I'm going in the middle!"

"I wanna be cool!"

"I'll be in the middle, is what I'm saying!"

"Dimwits! Listen to me!"

The door rolled open. The players watched with a mix of confusion and amusement as three boys tripped over each other to get out, hitting the floor hard. Raichi and one of the Wanima brothers fell out, squished against the ground by Gagamaru.

Niko looked over at Y/N, who had shifted to stand next to him. His lips were pressed together, shaking as he tried to contain his laughter. His eyes weren't watching Niko at all, so the fifteen year old reached out and poked his cheek.

Y/N spluttered with surprise. His lips parted, and he immediately broke out into a laughing fit, doubling over. Raichi glared at him, struggling to get off the floor as Y/N clutched his stomach. "I'm gonna kill you!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Y/N wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye, trying to hold his laughter back. "But can you even get up?"

Raichi pressed his fists to the floor, trying to push Gagamaru off him. "I would if this imbecile would just get off!"

"Big word for a guy like you." Niko quietly muttered.

"Huh?!"

The electronic voice rang out for one last time. "To end, can the seventh team to clear please enter?" It broke the conversation up thankfully, before Raichi could punch Niko and Y/N could punch him right back.

That team was probably the most surprising. Y/N's eyes went wide with shock. "What the fucK!" His voice cracked with surprise at the end, and Niko nudged him playfully.

Guess I was wrong about the weak being weeded out. Y/N blinked. Igaguri was standing in the middle of the team, his shaved head shining in the bright light and his face covered with bandages. How?!

Three of them, Y/N didn't know. One short boy with pink hair, another with long blue hair in a plait. The last one stood in the very back, blonde hair sticking straight up and spiked. Pink tinged the tips of each strand, and two bits of hair hung in front of his face. Like antennae...

Standing next to him was a familiar boy, purple hair up in a bun. Y/N grinned at the sight of Reo. He patted Niko on the shoulder before running forwards, grabbing Nagi and practically dragging him over. The white-haired boy let himself get pulled, as the seventh team walked into the room.

"Reo!" Y/N yelled. Most of the other boys were looking at him, but he didn't care one bit. "C'mere, he's tired!"

Reo glanced from him to Nagi. Something flashed in his eyes, and Y/N's smile dropped as he noted the way he wasn't moving. Nagi wasn't meeting either of their eyes, staring at the floor with his head bowed. Y/N hesitated. "Reo...?"

"Is it supposed to be my problem that he's tired?" Reo quietly said. "Let him take care of himself."

Y/N was stunned. He hadn't spoken to the pair for a long time, but they'd gone to the same school. He knew what they were like. "But..."

"But what?" Reo's voice was carefully neutral. "There's nothing up. It's nice to see you, Y/N." He gave Y/N a small, plastic smile.

Near Y/N, Isagi's jaw tightened. "Reo. Where's Kunigami?" He spread his hands. "Where?"

Y/N started to move to defend him. Reo looked absolutely destroyed, and he would help until he figured out what was wrong. "Hey, Isagi, chil-"

"We lost." Reo replied. "I got chosen. That's it."

"You have to be lying, right?" Isagi's voice raised a notch. "There's no way Kunigami would let it end in a place like this!"

The room fell silent.

The guy with blond and pink hair stepped forwards, hands in his pockets. He stood tall above most other players, a defined physique showing even through the white vest he wore.

"Well, he did."

🥕🥕🥕

The boy placed his hand on his chest, bowing mockingly. "My name is Shidou Ryusei." His voice was light, playful, and sent an unpleasant shiver down Y/N's arms. "And I'm the one that sent him sliding all the way down... to hell."

Everyone was watching. The nearest people around Y/N and Isagi backed off as Shidou got into Isagi's face. Isagi stared him directly in the eyes. Y/N gave them space as Shidou smiled. "Sure, he had a great physique, and his honest heart was pure and fair. But on the field, no one gives a shit whether you're a nice guy.

Isagi's eyes, as well as everyone else in the room, tracked Shidou as he walked past. His footsteps were loud in the silence. "He didn't live for the true joy of soccer, so he was trash. Like a slime in a video game that didn't even help me level up."

Y/N hadn't known Kunigami very well. They didn't talk much, but it was obvious that his former teammates felt differently. Chigiri gritted his teeth. Bachira's eyes narrowed. And Isagi stared down Shidou. "Shut the hell up. You don't know a thing about him."

"Like I said." Shidou's pink eyes, outlined with his blonde eyelashes narrowed. Y/N immediately picked up on the motion, body tensing. "Nobody gives a shit... about your story."

The man crouched, leaping up into the air. The moment he moved, Y/N was on the move too. He grabbed Isagi's vest, yanking him backwards as Shidou spun midair. He lashed out with a foot, barely missing Isagi's face.

Chigiri was by their side in an instant. Bachira wandered over, and the room filled with noises of surprise. Y/N stared up at the larger striker. "What's your problem, hmm?"

"Fuckin' antennae idiot." Raichi was there with them. Gagamaru stood right behind him.

"Yeah, you wanna go?" Bachira cracked his knuckles. "We can take this outside if you want, Mr Fake Tan."

Y/N was about to add to that, but quietly, from the watching audience, he heard a soft voice. "You're not allowed to go outside anyways..." He fought the growing smile at Niko's voice.

Shidou didn't take the bait. He glanced down at Y/N. His eyes widened, a smile curling at the corners of his mouth. "Well, well, well! You're interesting, aren't you?"

The room gaped. Here he was, literally surrounded by people who wanted to beat him up, and he wasn't the very least bothered. Y/N frowned. "Interesting how?"

"If that Kunigami guy was a slime... then you'd be a legendary mount."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Y/N tilted his head, more confused than angry now.

"You look perfect to ride..." Shidou stepped forwards. Suddenly, he was in Y/N's face, hot breath touching Y/N's lips. The smaller boy flushed bright red, taking a few steps back.

Shidou walked him all the way back to the wall, placing a hand next to Y/N's head. He leant in close. "Play soccer with me?"

"You don't just say something like that then immediately switch to soccer!" Y/N protested. His back was pressed to the wall, looking up at Shidou with wide eyes. He shot a pleading look over Shidou's shoulder. Help? Anyone? This guy is strange...

"Would you rather I ask you to play, or ask if I can hit?" Shidou's tongue ran along his bottom lip. "You're old enough."

"What the fuck." Y/N ducked away under his arm. He retreated to safety, which in his opinion was directly next to a furious Chigiri, Isagi, Bachira, Rin, Niko, Reo, and Nagi. Even though the last two didn't stand next to each other. Oh wait, Barou's angry too?

He's always angry, I'm sure it's nothing.

"Okay..." On the overhead screens, Ego Jinpachi appeared. His voice came from hidden speakers, same as it had in every other room. "Settle down, diamonds in the rough. We're here to play soccer, not to speed date."

All eyes turned to the screen. Shidou gave Y/N one more teasing look before turning away as Ego talked. "Soon, it's possible your entire soccer career will go up in flames, alongside Bluelock itself."

What? What does he mean? Y/N's eyes widened with realisation. Sae Itoshi had told him everything before. "Before that, well done." Ego nodded once. "The defeat at the hands of the World Five was an invaluable experience, I'm sure. Though it did cost us a few hundred million."

"I'll say a bit more about that later, but for now... let's just say, things have happened, and my plans have changed. The Japanese Football Union is doubting Bluelock. They want to shut it down, so instead, I challenged them to a game."

He raised a finger. Above it, a hologram of the Bluelock compound sprang to life. "In three weeks, we're having a big game. Bluelock, against the U-20 Japanese team. And if you win, we get to hijack the national team."

A murmur arose. Y/N stared up at Ego. But he's not talking to me, is he. I'm not playing for Bluelock.

"Hijack...?"

"So we'll be the national team?"

"Is he serious?"

"We're that good?"

Ego pushed his glasses up. "They laughed, and agreed. After all, you're all a bunch of high school strikers. They don't care. Their aim is to use this match to represent Japan to rake in as much money as possible. If we lose, our names will go down in Japanese soccer history, as a second failed attempt to train up talent."

Another murmur. A boy Y/N didn't know next to him raised his hand. "Second?"

"I'll tell you about that in just a few minutes." Ego waved it aside. "So, how does what you've heard make you feel? Frustrated? Angry? Excited? Well, I can say this quite calmly, and purely based on logic... right now, you're good enough to overthrow Japanese soccer."

He spread his arms, looking down on them like some kind of god. "That said, they're not going easy on you. To ensure their victory, they've added a new member to their team. Itoshi Sae, the eighteen year old Japanese genius of soccer. One of the best midfielders in the entire world."

Y/N didn't fail to notice how Rin's jaw tightened, and his eyes narrowed at the floor. "Now, it's time to put everything on the line. You 35 strikers have all mastered your weapons, discovered egos, and seen the world's best players firsthand."

"Getting a spot on the Japanese U-20 team is no longer a dream." Ego's eyes shone with excitement.

"So, let's go, diamonds in the rough. A new era begins here, with Bluelock."