3.1. Pretty Boy

"So, this is the kid?"

A few hours before the players would finish choosing their teams, Y/N shifted shyly on his chair, feeling the entire room's stares on him. Usually, he wasn't so quiet. But faced with five of the strongest strikers in the world, he felt he had to give them at least a little respect.

They sat around a round table. Noel Noa sat opposite him. On either of the man's sides sat Marc Snuffy, and Chris Prince. Y/N hadn't realised who Snuffy was until Julian Loki had subtly told him, causing him to break out into a bright red and a laugh to circulate around the table. Lavinho sat at the table as well, next to Ego Jinpachi.

Ego nodded. "He'll take part as the Mercenary. Feel free to ask him questions. Also, I believe he wanted to say something?"

Y/N nodded mutely. Gesturing to the five players in front of them, Ego stared at him. "Go on."

"Ah..." Y/N hesitated, smiling nervously. "I'm Y/N. I'm... pretty good at running. I like scoring goals. And I'm somewhat fast."

His eyes drifted to Julian, who was intently watching him. The prodigy gave a small nod of encouragement. Y/N moistened his lips. "And uh. I want to play against you."

He felt Ego's scolding glare on his face, but tried to ignore it. "I know, I'm supposed to play for you and stuff. But I also want to test myself against you all. In a one on one scenario, or in a big game, I don't care. I want to win, and learn from you while doing so."

The room was silent. Noa was the first one to speak, leaning forward. Y/N had seen pictures of him before, but there was just something about him that made him look so much more imposing than a normal person. A pair of cold yellow eyes narrowed slightly. He spoke in English. "It wouldn't be much of a test. You're much better going up against Kaiser."

"Why not?" Y/N replied in English. "And who is Kaiser?"

"You don't know Michael Kaiser?" Noa looked surprised. Y/N didn't know why. Am I supposed to...?

"He's one of the New Gen Eleven." With a tone of controlled disbelief, Noa spoke slowly. "The one with the Kaiser Impact as a weapon?"

"Never heard of him."

"He's a monster... a fiend of a striker. He's about your level, maybe a little higher, maybe a little lower. And also, he really wants to play against you."

Y/N sighed, puffing his cheeks. "Why can't I just play with you?"

"Do you want the truth, or the sugared version."

"Truth."

"You're weak. I watched your recordings. Too emotional. Too wasteful." Noa didn't waste a second before he was listing things off. "And you don't use your teammates enough. I don't play with irrational idiots."

Y/N opened his mouth to return, but before he could, Lavinho laughed loudly. He clapped his hands together, glancing over the top of his sunglasses. "If he doesn't need them, why is that an issue? He scored plenty of goals himself." Again, it was spoken in English.

"He'll never even come close to the top level without them."

"I've done plenty well, thank you."

"Well? Where did you rank again, and where did I rank?"

Instead of being insulted, Lavinho just threw his head back and laughed. He gestured at Y/N, grinning. "Don't limit the kid's creativity, cyborg." The man nodded at Y/N. "I'll play with you, man. And you can come train with my players. But don't go crying to your mama when the world's best striker sends you packing."

"Best?" Y/N glanced over at Chris Prince. The man was lounging back in his chair, grinning. "Keep dreaming, buddy."

"I don't need to dream."

"Oh yeah?"

Before the two men could begin arguing, Loki broke them apart with a quiet, amused chuckle. "Can we talk about this like adults?"

"Not likely." Noa sighed. "They're insufferable."

Prince spluttered. "I'll show you insufferable!" He rose from his seat, but Snuffy grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him back down into the chair.

"Anyways." Loki smiled. "I'd be willing to play against you as well, Y/N. And you're welcome to train with PXG anytime you want. Don't expect me to go easy on you like I did before."

"Easy? I scored three." Y/N cockily replied.

"I'd be surprised if you could score two if we train." Y/N flushed with indigence, and Loki just shrugged. "We'll see how it goes."

"Nah." Y/N met his eyes. "I'd win."

"Whatever you say."

It looked like Prince had finished struggling against Snuffy. The man looked towards Y/N, inspecting him. "Hey, kid. Come here."

"Why?"

"If you do, I'll consider playing against you."

Y/N's eyes uncertainly drifted to Ego. Ego just nodded once, prompting Y/N to rise from his chair. Wait, why did I even feel the need to ask permission? He sulked, wandering over to Prince.

The man eyed him up and down. Y/N shifted slightly on the spot. Prince made a small noise of thought, standing up to walk a full circle around the smaller boy. "Not bad. Ego, did you give him makeup?"

"I don't know." Ego flatly said. "Anri sorted all the beauty products."

"Hmm..." At Prince's gaze, Y/N cringed slightly. He folded his arms over his chest. What...? I have to wear makeup? Prince noticed his expression, and laughed. "They didn't tell you?"

"Not really." Y/N looked towards Ego. "I have to wear makeup?"

"Ask Anri. We just need to get you camera ready, because we're broadcasting to such a large audience now."

"Makeup?"

"Her choice, not mine."

"Fine."

Suddenly, Y/N felt a large hand on his calf. He blinked, staring down at Prince. The man was crouched, lips pursed and eyes narrowed with concentration as he squeezed Y/N's leg. Uh.

The man moved higher, feeling around Y/N's knees. His hands worked fast, running over bone and testing behind the knee itself. Stunned into silence, Y/N stood stiffly, hoping that Prince wouldn't notice the uncomfortable look on his face.

"You've got something here..." Prince took hold of Y/N's trouser leg. "Can I see?"

"Yeah. Sure." Everyone else in the room was watching them curiously. Prince lifted up Y/N's trouser slightly, exposing the pinkish, tight skin that covered the side of one leg.

"Ah, skin graft. That makes sense."

"What?"

"You don't ever trap the ball with that part of your leg." Prince poked at it, slightly. "No pain, yes?"

"No pain. Just a little uncomfortable."

"Right." He let the material fall, and continued up Y/N's legs. When he reached his hips, Prince sped up, patting him all over but not with nearly as much concentration. "I see."

"See...?"

"You're pretty special, kid." Prince nodded with something Y/N thought was approval. "I don't know if it's just genetics, but your muscles are perfectly suited for your playstyle of football. Developed extremely well, no wasteful mass at all. It's amazing... like that guy over there." He jerked a finger at Loki, who blinked once dumbly.

"To any other player, I would recommend working your upper body so you can engage in physical duels, but since you don't intend to get into any of those, I'll put together an exercise and meal plan for you." Prince nodded more. "And you should come train with the Manshine guys. It'll do wonders for your body."

"Ah..." Y/N laughed nervously. "Why all of this?"

"I help you, you help me!"

"What exactly am I helping you with...?"

"Oh, modelling, of course!" Prince grinned widely. "A soccer superstar, and a pretty boy? The fans are gonna love you."

"Pretty boy?"

"Even prettier when Anri gives you that makeup." Prince glanced over to Ego, looking like an excited kid as he pinched Y/N's cheeks. Y/N stared wide-eyed at the black-shirted man, looking more akin to a hamster than a striker at that moment. Save me please...?

"Right." Ego coughed. "Four of you have given answers to Y/N's request. Last, Marc Snuffy."

The man in question shrugged. "Sure, whatever." Despite his relaxed appearance, Y/N felt his sharp eyes bore into his own. "I wanted to talk to Y/N anyway at some point."

"About what?" Ego asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about." Waving it off, Snuffy smiled. He gave everyone a few seconds to think, before redirecting their attention.

"Do we not have places to be? I remember something about interviews..."

"Yes." Ego turned to Y/N first. "I take it you know where your room is?"

"Yup." Y/N managed out, Prince still squishing and poking at his cheeks.

"Take your leave now. You're pretty much free to do what you want until called for a game. The notifications will appear on your tablet."

"I have a tablet?"

"You do now." Ego reached under the table. He brought out a tablet, signed in to an account labelled 'Mercenary', and tossed it to Y/N. "Now you should go, before Prince tries to feed you plant steroids."

"That was one guy!" Prince dropped Y/N's face immediately. "And how was I supposed to know plant muscles were different to human ones?"

"Plants don't have muscles." Ego rubbed at his forehead. "Y/N, just go."

"Yeah..." The boy in question edged towards the door, before ducking out of it in one swift motion.

"See ya! Looking forward to playing with you all!"

🥕🥕🥕

"Kaiser... Kaiser... Kaiser?" Y/N scrolled through the tablet. Michael Kaiser was a German soccer superstar, and one of the eleven young prodigies that the world called the New Gen XI. And apparently, he was a good match up for him?

The man was nineteen, just a few years older than himself. Tall... blond... and talented. The Bastard Munchen team was centred around him, all of them working together to pass to him. And the reason why...

His shot power was unlike any other. Kaiser was right-footed, and the speed of that leg was unmatched worldwide. People called it the 'Kaiser Impact', a shot that was even faster than people could react. Y/N watched a few clips. Holy shit...

As Noa had described, Kaiser was a fiend of a striker. The weapon was perfect - something Y/N had always wanted. But it's unique to him... so I'll just have to develop my own shots.

A knock at his door drew Y/N's attention off the tablet.

His room was pretty big, especially considering it was inside Bluelock. A wide bed with heavy blankets was pressed up against one wall. A small door led to his own bathroom, and there was a table, chair and cupboard all already filled with the stuff he needed.

"Come in!" Y/N yelled. He placed the tablet on the desk, rising from the chair. He expected one of his friends... or Ego... or even one of the master strikers.

Definitely not the man that flung the door open.

Y/N's mouth fell open. He frowned. Then he looked down at the tablet. Then back up at the striker.

He was wearing the Bastard Munchen uniform. One pale forearm held the door handle, decorated with a swirl of thorned vines that crawled up his arm. They went under his shirt, appearing again up the side of his neck, and ending with a rose tattoo. Y/N's eyes were immediately drawn to the detailed image.

Apart from that, he was tall - much taller than Y/N himself. He had a lean, toned body, and long blond hair that spread out down the back of his neck. The ends were dyed a bright blue, reaching down just past his shoulders.

"Uh..." Y/N glanced back down at the tablet, at the frozen video of Kaiser. He looked back up, comparing the two. "Who are you?"

"You know who I am." The man shut the door behind him, walking into the room. He peered at Y/N's tablet, a proud grin breaking out across his face. "You're so infatuated with me, I'd bet. Looking up my clips? You must be happy to see me."

"Infatuated?"

"Yes, just that." Kaiser chuckled. "Do they not teach you English in this country?"

"I know what it means." Y/N rolled his eyes sassily. "But I'm far from it."

"It's okay to look up to people better than you."

"Better, my ass."

Walking further into the room, Kaiser took a position right next to Y/N's desk. Y/N sat back down in the chair, staring up at the taller man. "So. You have some explaining to do."

"What?"

"Don't play dumb."

"Dumb with what?"

"You know what I mean."

"I really don't."

They locked eyes. Kaiser's were mildly frustrated, but dancing with amusement at the same time. Y/N's were confused, and very much annoyed.

"You copied my ability."

"What?"

"The Kaiser Impact. Don't play dumb, you know what it is. You were watching videos of it right as I came in."

"Cause I didn't have a clue who you were." Y/N retorted. "Now I do. You're an annoying, egotistical pri-"

He found himself cut off, as Kaiser leant down. One hand covered Y/N's mouth, fingers long enough to wrap across his cheek as well. "Shh... I didn't come to annoy you. Nor to pick a fight."

Y/N's eyes widened at the contact, and he raised both hands to his face, trying to get the hand off. This bitch!

Kaiser removed his hand - but only for a second. As Y/N's hand came up, he grasped both wrists, yanking his arms upwards and over his head. Y/N gasped with surprise. In one smooth motion, Kaiser took hold of both of his wrists with one hand, holding them over the back of the chair.

Y/N flushed, face reddening. "L-let me go!"

"Listen to me like a good boy." Kaiser hushed, a gleam in his blue eyes. "You're an interesting player, you know? Appearing out of nowhere with that sort of talent. It's amazing, to see that Japan has someone other than Sae Itoshi."

"Yet..." He leant closer, hot breath tickling Y/N's lips. The boy stilled, wide eyes staring at Kaiser's face. He swallowed hard. "You're never going to beat me. You're inferior. But you're going to be fun to play with."

He released Y/N's hands, standing up straight. Y/N immediately went to shove him away. Kaiser caught his arms, winking at Y/N. "Feisty. I like it."

"You're on Bastard, yeah?" Y/N forced his heart to calm down. "I might play against you."

"You will play against me." Kaiser's teasing expression dropped off his face for a split-second, replaced with a glare of such malice Y/N's heart skipped a beat. Voice filled with venom, Kaiser hissed. "You have to. I am going to prove that I am better than you, and for that, you need to play me."

"Jeez." Y/N waved him off. "Of course I'll play you. But I'm going to win."

"Delusion is comfort for some, liebling." Darling. Kaiser grinned at him, the relaxed tone back in his voice. "See you around."

"Sleep with one eye open."

"No need." Kaiser chuckled. "You're welcome in my room any night you want."