44. My Property

"So, we're going to have to make a team of eleven? But there's 35 of us. And we're all forwards?" That was Hiori, looking up at Ego.

"We're just going to have to patch a team together." Ego shrugged. "Besides, some of you have surprisingly good skills suited for other positions instead of striker."

He waved his hand. Where it passed, six Bluelock logos sprang to life on the screen. "The formation of the team will centre around these six players. These players are the top six in Bluelock currently, and the rest of the team will be built around them."

Y/N pursed his lips, staring up at Ego. I'm number one, right? I have to be...

"Number one, Rin Itoshi." A picture of Rin shimmered into existence. Heads turned to face him, Shidou with an impressed look on his face.

Y/N clenched his teeth together to stop himself from yelling. There was no way in hell Rin was better than him.

"Number two, Shidou Ryusei." Shidou grinned, clicking his tongue and winking at Y/N simultaneously.

"Number three, Karasu Tabito." The purple haired boy smirked, hands in his pockets.

"Number four, Otoya Eita." The white-haired guy with a green stripe down the front of his hair nodded.

"Number five, Yukimiya Kenyu." The tall boy with glasses smiled, showing off perfectly white teeth as he bowed politely.

"Number six, Nagi Seishiro." Nagi's eyes widened slightly, and he glanced up at the ceiling.

Y/N sucked in a deep breath, then released it through clenched teeth. The glasses guy - Yukimiya - raised a hand. "Excuse me, Ego?"

Ego waved his hand in a 'go on' sort of manner. Y/N's hands came together, thumb rubbing over his knuckles as he stared up at the screen. Yukimiya smiled. "Just wanted to ask, what is the difference between me and first place?"

"It's simple, really." Ego replied. "Out of the thirty-five players here, only three of them were able to score goals against the World Five. Two of those three are Rin Itoshi, and Shidou Ryusei. After that, it was simply a matter of how you've performed throughout the entirety of the project so far. That explain it, Mr Model?"

Y/N looked across. He's a model?! Yukimiya nodded cheerfully. "Yes, thank you! I'm just a little confused though, who was the third person to score against the World Five?"

Y/N could almost feel Isagi, Bachira, and Aryu's gazes burn into the back of his head. He held his breath as Ego spoke. "I'll tell you about that later. For now, here is how the third selection will work."

"First, the top six will be split up into three teams. Everyone else will get a chance to choose between these teams, and three of you will be put with the two top six members to form a team of five."

As Ego spoke, his words were illustrated with more holograms. "These teams of five will all play each other, with the top six playing more than one game each. Everyone else has only one chance."

Someone behind Y/N in the crowd spoke up. "But if you do 35 minus 6, that's only 29 players. That doesn't fit into even teams of three."

"You think I'm stupid?" Ego sighed. "There will be 28 players competing in the tryouts, excepting the top six. Therefore, we'll hold one game with only four people on each side. You don't get to choose if you're in that game or not, and it'll be played on a smaller field."

Ego's eyes met Y/N's. "To the 28 players participating in the tryouts, the key is how you 'assert', and how you 'coexist' with the top six. You must show your skills in aiding, and overcoming them, in order to get a place. You have 24 hours to choose your team."

The screen blinked out. Y/N was left staring at a black wall, wishing he had something heavy to throw at it.

🥕🥕🥕

That night, dinner was loud, joyful, and a much needed break for all the people that had passed the second selection.

Y/N had practically adopted Niko into Team Z, who were grouped up around a table. When Niko had tried to refuse the offer, Y/N had pointed out that if he didn't join them, he would probably end up sitting by himself. "It's not good to be so quiet all the time!"

"You're doing most of the talking then." Niko had replied.

And he was. While Niko ate peacefully on his right, Y/N was busy fussing over Chigiri on his left, making funny faces across the table at Bachira that caused the bumblebee to spit out his food more than once, and copying Gagamaru's wide-eyed, blank expression for as long as he could.

Most people sat in smaller groups of three or two, but Team Z's table had seven including Niko. It was shaped like a horseshoe, with Igaguri on one end, and Raichi sitting in the middle. Igaguri had filled his entire area of the table with plates on plates of food.

"Did you actually get one of every single dish?" Raichi exclaimed. Y/N looked up, across at Igaguri, and whistled.

"Tonight's the only night we can eat all we want...It'd be a waste not to!" Igaguri got out around a mouthful of fried squid. "I may be a monk, but I still have earthly desires!"

Gagamaru, near him, reached forwards with one hand. "I'm taking one of those earthly desires." He stole a piece of beef with one hand, dipped it straight into a saucer of tartar sauce, and shoved it into his mouth.

Bachira burst out laughing. "How does the earthly desire taste?"

"Great with tartar sauce." Gagamaru nodded.

Chigiri shook his head. He sat with legs crossed, using chopsticks to eat his food properly. His hair was up in a long ponytail. "Please, use some chopsticks?" Isagi reached over the table to pass a pair to Gagamaru, who just looked at them with confusion.

"Toss me one?" Across the table, Y/N held out a hand. Both Chigiri and Niko shot him scolding looks. He wiggled his fingers at Gagamaru. "With sauce."

The caveman didn't find that request at all strange. Completely ignoring Igaguri's cries, he yoinked another piece of beef, dunked it straight into the tartar sauce, and threw it over the table.

Y/N shot out of his chair, catching the food in his mouth. He nodded, chewing, completely unbothered that Gagamaru had used his hands. "Good throw!" He got out around the beef.

Next to him, Niko covered his face with his hands. "You're such a child."

"Do you want some too?"

"I'm good, thanks."

Chigiri spluttered with laughter. "Y/N, I think Gagamaru is a bad influence on you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Y/N's eyes widened comically, and he sat there with hunched shoulders and an open mouth, perfectly copying Gagamaru on the other side of the table.

That got smiles all round.

For the rest of the dinner, spirits were high. All the players were chattering over their food for a good hour, discussing what team they would pick. Everyone that wasn't in the top six had a piece of paper with boxes on to tick. Everyone except Y/N.

People kept coming over to Team Z's table, so much so they had to add on new tables to make it bigger. They push them together, forming a weird shape that somehow managed to work as people joined them.

A really tall boy called Ishikari, and Hiori both joined them first, talking to Niko. Y/N slipped to a different part of the table with his food, giving them space.

That was when Reo joined in. He took a seat next to Y/N, giving him a small smile. "Remember what I said the last time?"

"Not really..." Y/N shrugged.

"I said I would feed you again during the second selection. I'm a bit late for that now, though."

"Ah." Y/N's face turned a bright red. "I can eat by myself, really."

"But I want to."

Uh. Uh. Uh. Y/N tried to think of a compromise. If he wanted to eat crab like last time, he could just get it himself. He didn't need Reo's help. "You can just hug me instead...?"

"Works for me." Reo moved their chairs closer together. He leant over, wrapping his arm around Y/N's waist and pulling the smaller boy against his side. "There."

"I-I didn't mean now!" Y/N protested. His face was bright crimson, especially as other people around the table noticed.

"One of the rules of business." Reo's voice was low and teasing in his ear. "Make the details clear." Y/N shivered.

More people joined the table, a few casting curious glances over at Y/N. The small boy was doing his best to appear normal, eating his food carefully and making an effort to not look at Reo. Reo's eyes were locked onto him the entire time.

Yukimiya nodded once in greeting as he pushed a table over, to join them. Otoya winked at Y/N, making him squeak with embarrassment and lower his head. As time went on, more and more people added on to the table, till most of the room was sitting together, talking as a group.

Y/N felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder. He turned, expecting it to be Reo.

"Hey there..." Shidou drawled. He stood behind Y/N, completely unbothered by Reo's dark glare.

"What do you want?" Y/N gingerly brushed his hand off his shoulder.

"You already know what I want." Shidou smirked confidently. His hand dipped lower down his back. Y/N slapped it aside hard enough to leave a red mark before it could touch him. "You."

I'm gonna file a harassment case, so help me. Y/N groaned to himself. "Did you get your pickup lines off Google or something?"

"Maybe..." Shidou's smile didn't change. In fact, it grew.

Reo stood up in his chair. "Go away, please."

"I'll leave if this guy wants me to." Shidou jerked a thumb at Y/N, who sighed.

"I do want you to." He tiredly said. "Just go, man."

"I've never been one to take commands-" He was cut off.

On the other side of the cafeteria, a door opened.

Two people slipped in, just as the lights flickered once.

A few heads turned to look. Most people just continued to talk, not giving them a second glance. One man wearing a brown sweater and glasses, looked around the room anxiously. He held a clipboard and pen.

The other wore a dark suit, at odds with his magenta hair. It was perfectly pressed and flat, and as he approached the main table, more and more people noticed him. His teal eyes were dull and flat.

"Is that...?"

"Sae? The genius?"

"Why is he here?!"

"Aren't we playing him soon?"

Pretty much alone in the cafeteria, Sae still had an imposing presence. He drew respect and attention by just standing there, watching. His lackey? Less so.

"S-sae, you can't just walk in here! How many times do I have to tell you?!" The glasses man flushed bright red, seeing everyone's eyes turn to them.

"Ah, sorry about this..." He pushed up his glasses, fidgeting. Sae just stood there silently. His eyes were fixed on Y/N. "We're here to pick up one of the Bluelock players, I was told they were all in here?"

There was no response. The assembled players just sat next to their food, confused and awed faces all around. It was Sae! Probably the most famous, the best Japanese player in the world!

Why was he here?

At the silence, the man laughed nervously. "So, is..." He looked down at his clipboard. "Do we have a Y/N L/N?"

Reo's grip tightened around Y/N's waist. Y/N raised a hesitant hand, trying to ignore all the eyes on him.

"Ah, great." The man sighed with relief. "If you would come with us, that would be greatly appreciated. I believe Sae has already told you what is going to happen?"

"A little..."

"Good. Come along now?"

Y/N pried Reo's grip off his hip. He grabbed his plate of food, walking towards them with it in hand. There was no way he was gonna let this go to waste.

Sae had other plans. As soon as Y/N reached them, he glanced down at the plate. "Are you hungry?"

Y/N had eaten around half of it, so no. He wasn't hungry, but he wanted to finish dinner before he went. "A little bit..."

Unceremoniously, Sae took the plate out of his hands. He literally scoffed, tossing it to the side. The sound of it smashing echoed in the huge room.

"What was that for?!" Y/N whined. He glanced sorrowfully at the waste. "That was good stuff..."

Loud enough for only him to hear, Sae clicked his tongue. "You're not eating that with me. I'll buy you something better."

Everyone watched on as Sae and Y/N left, walking side by side. Their footsteps were the only sound in the silent room. The glasses man gave a shaky smile, trotting after them out of the door.

It closed behind them.

When they were out, Sae immediately turned to Y/N. "Don't let that purple boy touch you again. Or the antennae freak."

"Why?"

"I don't want other people's hands on my property."