2.14. Nine-Buddies

"Please get into teams of five. We will now be playing - the Rivalry Battle. Every stage your team moves up, you will gain points, to be used on luxuries and benefits. If you lose on the first stage, you will receive negative points, and be subject to punishment." The message was repeated once in Japanese, then in English.

Julian Loki stood alone in the huge room. Hundreds of kids filled the place, the majority of them larger than him. After all, he was only nine. Most of the others were ten or eleven. Yet again, he wished he was anywhere but there.

He wasn't allowed to go back yet. That was what they'd said. 'It can't be that bad', they'd told him. Well, it was that bad, and Julian didn't know how much longer he could last in this hell and come out in one piece.

And he was tired. And he was hungry. And he was upset. And because of that, he'd missed the entire explanation behind what was going to happen, and was now left to guess, standing amongst the crowds.

"Hey!" A lighthearted voice behind him chirped. Julian froze. He cautiously turned around, not knowing at all what to expect. After all, nobody normal would sound so happy in this place.

"Hey...?"

He came face to face with another boy, around his height. He looked oddly calm, not as scared nor as worried as the rest of the kids. Two boys stood by him, and one girl. None of them looked too happy to talk to him, except the one in the middle.

Placing his hands together, and ducking his head slightly, the boy smiled. "Wanna join our team? We're pretty good, I promise."

To him, the voice was fast, speaking in such rapid Japanese he had no clue what he was saying. Julian chewed on his lip, waiting for the boy to stop talking and staring at him with a clueless look. Eventually, it worked, and both of them just awkwardly stood there. The rest of the people in the boy's group exchanged confused looks.

Holding up a hand, Julian gave a small, shy wave, and tried speaking in English. His Japanese was horrible, English slightly better. "You know English?"

More confused glances.

"Eng-lish?" Julian was ready to just walk away and hope that some random group of kids would pick him up. Then there was a voice.

"You speak English?"

His eyes instantly went to the boy in the middle, much shorter than the rest. "Yes."

"That's alright!" The boy nodded reassuringly. "I was just asking, do you want to join our group? We're pretty good." His accent was a little different to the French one Julian was used to, but he spoke it extremely well.

Julian hesitantly glanced around the rest of the group. "How old are you?"

"They're all eleven, and I'm nine and two months." The boy sounded a little annoyed, emphasising the two months part. "But I'm really fast, and I'm good at soccer! So you should join us!"

"You're nine too...?"

"You as well?!" The boy grinned. "Well, you have to join us now. We can be nine buddies."

One of the boy's teammates tapped him on the shoulder, eyes wide and lost. He leant forwards, speaking in quiet Japanese while he cast an apprehensive look at Julian. Julian swallowed as they had a short conversation, the middle boy shaking his head.

Right after, he turned back to Julian, smiling. "So, how about it?"

"Sure..." If he was honest, he didn't know what to think of this new boy. He was much too happy, keeping a cheerful, relaxed atmosphere that put all the other kids in the area at ease.

"Great!" He laughed. "I'm Y/N, by the way. That's Hana, Haru, and Akira. They're all really good too!"

"I'm Julian."

"Jool-ian?"

Julian choked back a sudden laugh. "That's about right, yeah."

"I've never heard that name before..." Y/N pursed his lips. "Pretty cool."

"Cool...?"

A dull ring echoed through the room. Everyone had been quietly conversing amongst themselves, trying to grab the people they thought were the best, and trying to get in a team. Faces twisted in sudden nervousness as the electronic voice echoed from the ceiling. "Anyone who has not got a team, sit on the floor. You will be assigned a team. Teams, please exit the room to the cafeteria."

"They're gonna finally feed us?!" Y/N exclaimed, eyes lighting up. "I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse." He was talking in English purely to make the newcomer feel more relaxed, but repeated everything he said in Japanese. His teammates laughed, one of them slapping his shoulder.

They were pretty much the only source of laughter in the entire room. Most of the other kids were hesitant, nervous, or trying to keep their heads down. A few of them were talking quietly, but nobody seemed to be as animated as Y/N in front of him.

Julian followed the team, watching as Y/N in front of him nodded his head to an imaginary tune. His entire body moved, swaying slightly as they walked forwards in a tight group. They'd accepted him, it seemed. The girl stood on his side, smiling at him even though there was no way they could communicate.

"I wanna kiss you like Prince..." Julian froze, hearing the soft lyrics come from the boy in front of him. The rest of the team was talking together in Japanese, only Y/N in English.

"Let's get it on like Marvin Gaye, like Hathaway, write a song for you like this!" Y/N laughed, bopping his head as they walked amongst a sea of disheartened kids.

"You're over my head, out of my mind, thinkin' I was born in the wrong time." Y/N did a little spin, moving his head side to side. "It's love on rewind, everything is so throwback-ish... I kinda like it how ya—"

After that, he broke into humming, still nodding his head to a beat. He drew many looks from the kids around, but didn't seem to care as he led his team at a slightly faster pace through the crowds.

Julian flushed with embarrassment as Y/N looked back, catching him watching. "What kind of food do you like? Do you eat Japanese food?"

"Huh?" Caught off guard by the question, Julian stammered for a second. Y/N slowed down, walking with him at the back of the group as the other three continued their conversation.

"What food do you want?"

Julian was... very confused. The food came every single day, sometimes thrice, often twice. It was bland, filling, and purely for nutrition. Sure, he wanted nicer food, but he didn't have a choice. "Don't we get the same food as everyone else?"

"Yeah, but I buy extra with my points." Y/N continued to bop, unaware of the incredulous look Julian was giving him. Points were really precious to him. First thing, he wanted to save up for a nicer bed.

"Don't you want other stuff first?"

"Like?"

"A bed?"

"Oh, we have beds." Y/N gestured to one of his teammates. "Hana bought two beds with her points, and we share them. But we'll have to probably get another for you. And you still haven't told me what food you want?"

Was Julian even qualified to 'want' things in a place like this? It sounded unreal, hearing someone ask for what he wanted. And all of this sharing was completely new to him. Since when did people share points? "I'll just have the normal stuff."

"Aw, come on?" Y/N coaxed. "I always buy everyone food before a big important game. It makes us all happy, and gives us lots of energy to run fast!"

"But isn't food a waste of points?"

"Nah, it isn't!" Y/N replied. "We eat nice food, get energy, win the games, and then we get more points to spend on more food! I've been doing it from the start, and it works!"

The start had been a whole month and a half ago. Yet, he'd managed to accumulate so many points, while spending it on all this random stuff? Julian couldn't get his head around it.

"But I don't have any points to afford food right now."

"That's why I'm buying it for you." Y/N said in a childish, sarcastic voice. "Remember, you're a part of the team now! And I look after my buddies."

Julian Loki sat in the VIP box, looking out over the stadium. The casters were having an amazing day, voices filled to the brim with energy. He was murmuring a song under his breath, watching the camera feed from right next to the field on a phone. "Out of my league, old school chic... Like a movie star from a silver screen..."

"In just a few minutes, it looks like Bluelock is rethinking its strategy again! They're substituting out more players!"

"They were looking unstoppable in the first half! But with the addition of this young player, Y/N L/N, they're clueless!"

"I don't know how much longer this can go on! Bluelock need to find a way to counter this rejuvenated U-20 team, and fast!"

Julian glanced at his phone. Substitutions were happening as he watched, the player positions swapping on the online feed. He hummed under his breath, eyes on his phone. "You're one of a kind, living in a world gone plastic..."

"Baby, you're so classic."

Reaching across to take a bottle of water from a mini-fridge, he unscrewed the cap. The game was restarting in just a few seconds.

Boy, was he proud. To see Y/N finally get out there onto the big stage, finally manage to score goals in front of a crowd and build a name for himself... it was amazing. Though, he kept seeing a certain man walking on the sidelines, speaking to Y/N, and every time he did, it made his stomach churn.

He sighed, taking a sip of the cold, refreshing water, and watched as several infographics came up on screen. They meant nothing to him. It looked like the players were having a short break as they switched out players, sorting out their new positions.

The cameras cut to a shot of Y/N, walking back to his own half. Even though he had just scored, he looked... off. And he kept glancing over the camera, looking at something standing just on the sidelines.

Or someone.

Julian took another sip of his water, silently rose from his chair, and left the room.