22. Safety Precautions

Today was Saturday. Ego and Waru had exchanged emails over the past few days and quite a bit more the the past five or so hours. Ego would be lying if he said this didn't worry him at least a little bit.

The safety of just around two hundred was a flight away from being violated and Y/n's life, which was mainly carefree as of now, would be completely stripped of its curious nature and replaced with unwavering fear of doing wrong. He would be the victim of a predator that should have died. That deserved to die.

Ego sighed slowly, opening his email once again. There was a long paragraph detailing almost everything Waru would be talking about and an apology with significantly improved grammar skills.

"Good evening, Ego.

I have decided to email you before we speak in less than an hour on what I will be talking about. I understand that you may be fearful for the safety of those boys, but I can ensure you that I will not violate their safety in any way shape or form.

First, I would like to mention my initial obsession with an individual by the name of L/n Y/n. He is a very interesting individual and I only mentioned wanting to take him off your hands to understand his biology. I did not intend to scare you into believing that I would take him for personal gain and illegal research. That is immoral, and I would never do such a thing to anyone.

Second, I first heard of Blue Lock from Hirotoshi Buratsuta and thought it was interesting. I wanted to see it for myself, so I contacted you. I understand how my first few messages could convey malicious intent and I apologize sincerely for conveying that tone. I also acknowledge it was rude of me to call you scrawny, when you clearly know what you're doing as you've gained the guts to start this project and bring Japanese soccer to the top. I applaud your handiwork for that.

Lastly, I would like to inform you of my occupation. I am a surgeon. I am always incredibly fascinated by how different humans work from one another, and how many have extremely selfishly wired brains. It is, for lack of a better term, intriguing.

I know this didn't explicitly state what I would be speaking about, but I'm sure you're smart enough to infer.

Best regards, J. Waru."

Ego's eyes scanned over every word. He looked away from the screen and his lips thinned. He was incapable of trusting such a man. Furthermore, he could not trust a man when said man's own son, Jinja Waru's own flesh and blood, was warning him about how Waru was a very dangerous man who wouldn't hesitate to use violence to force his victims into submission.

Ego looked at the clock. Almost seven. Half an hour until he'd have to hear that psychopath's voice for the very first time. He wasn't looking forward to it, but vowed that he'd turn down any deals or bargains the dead man walking would try to strike up. Especially if it was about Y/n.

He tore his eyes away from the now rapidly changing numbers on his digital clock, realizing that while he was lost in thought, time was passing quicker than he really wanted it to. He pressed his index and his middle finger to his temple and leaned to the side a little, sighing.

He looked back at the screen. A meet invite. His eyes went a little wide at that, but he brushed off the early call invite.

Ego clicked the link and looked at his clock again. Twenty minutes. He let his search engine sit on the join tab, not yet entered by Waru whom of which was the host.

He got up from his seat went to a filing cabinet within his room full of paper copies of each player's statistics from before they had entered Blue Lock. He skimmed over each folder meticulously until he found Y/n's. He didn't want Rin's, even if that was the one in front of Y/n's. They had all been reorganized after the players had accomplished the task of ninety goals. He took it out and started reading.

In a whole other part of the world, Waru was staring at his wall. His tall stature and sharp features were cast over by a shadow. His piercing eyes stared at the hole in the wall. The scene replayed so vividly as if he were a spectator witnessing such a disgusting act. He reached a hand up to softly caress his neck as he gulped then sighed. It fell to his side just moments later.

He hadn't fixed that hole ever since the incident. He felt no need to. It served as a reminder of the cruel punishments he justified so persistently. He felt as if his discipline only served as a correction to bad behavior. The crying of his only son. The wailing. The choking. His hand clenched as if the knife was right back in his grasp. He was witnessing the scene over and over again, it was like a scratched CD.

He cleared his throat and turned away from the damage in his wall and the red stain on his floorboards. If that little shit hadn't escaped, then he'd be able to coax him back to his toxic embrace full of false trust. He had expected that Ren would speak of his experiments and the faux security he created to specifically cater to his victims.

He leaned over his counter, fingers interlocked in front of himself as he gazed at the shiny marble. He felt somewhat lonely. His wife was dead. He killed her. She threatened to call the police on him. His son ran away and is now living a somewhat happy life with his boyfriend and was making millions being a professional soccer player.

But he felt empty. Like he needed something to rid his life of this overflowing loneliness. He wanted Y/n. If he couldn't trick his own son into coming back, he'll pose as a coach that hid away from magazines and news articles as well as live broadcasting systems that could completely change Y/n's life. He would take the kid, bring him somewhere with thick walls, and inject some foreign and completely illegal substances into the his body. Rinse and repeat. He would shamelessly test the very limits of this high school superstar's body and document what had changed.

But he wouldn't tell Ego that. He didn't dare. Why would he?

To reveal a gruesome plan was to cheat on your lover. Plus, it'd just make Ego even more disgusted than he already was with Waru.

He stood upright. He hadn't slept at all. Seven at night in Japan was roughly seven in the morning for those New York, and Waru was up doing research about Y/n for his own, very personal, intrigue. He watched Y/n's actions like a hawk even if the quality was grainy and the audio was hurtful to his years. He had gotten so invested in a boy he had just discovered that he wanted him for his own. He needed Y/n. His body craved seeing and hearing an obedient player who did all that their coach had asked. He wanted to see that boy break and shatter like glass. He wanted to be the master behind Y/n's success. He wanted more money.

He looked up to gaze at his empty living room. There were bags under his eyes. For the past year or so, he hadn't gotten much sleep given the fact that his son's success was keeping him up at night. The success that he didn't thank his father for. The success that he didn't even bother sharing. He rubbed his eyes and made his way over to his desk, dragging his feet slightly.

He stared at his open laptop, the screen still portraying the join screen just as it had been before he left it to go and think. The lights in his house were on. All the lights besides the ones in his kitchen. He sat down in the chair that sat a few feet from the desk and moved himself closer to his laptop.

He pressed join.

Ego noticed the slight change on his own screen. He set the files to the side and hesitated joining early. Even if it was only five minutes, he wanted to mentally prepare himself for whatever maniac lay on the other side of the screen. Ego looked at the dark box to the left on the screen and made an "oh" sound before enabling his camera. His cursor hovered over the green "Join Now" button.

He pressed it.

He was now face to face with an abuser who justified his actions in the name of research. His hair was brown and slightly curly. It was put up in a half up half down style, and several locks fell delicately on his face. His lips were thin and his features were sharp. His eyes were a piercing brown, devoid of any joy.

"Hello," Ego started.

"Good evening," Waru replied calmly. His voice was more on the soft side, yet was still decently hoarse and had an air of authority when he spoke.

"You may speak. I will listen as much as I possibly can," Ego stated, now giving Waru room to say whatever he needed. "Speak now or forever hold your peace."

Waru nodded. "I can take Y/n off your hands."

"As if I'd give him to you," Ego retorted.

"Just hear me out," Waru said.

"Fine," Ego replied tastelessly.

"Trying to teach a child and have him learn with people around him that can't even compare to his level will only cause the progress he's made to stop, or even worse, start regressing and force him to start back at square one. Whatever lies you've been fed about me by Ren are, for lack of a better term, lies. You cannot trust that child whatsoever. I could help him get better if you just gave him to me for a few months," Waru reasoned. "Whaddaya say, Ego?"

"Denied," Ego responded, his head in his hand as he leaned on the arm of his chair.

"Why?" Waru inquired immediately.

"Because I don't trust you enough. Your only child has scars to prove your abuse and I will not allow you to hurt anyone else. He warns me about you any time he possibly can. So much so it's frightening. He's scared of the possibility of you still being alive and he's especially scared of you getting your hands on Y/n. He's bound and determined to protect the kid from you, and so is Aoi." Ego's eyes held a sense of determination in them. A warning to Waru. "You will not be allowed near the kid. If I have to spend thousands more to amp up the security of Blue Lock, then so be it. I will."

"You've got to have at least a little doubt in Ren's words," Waru argued. "Come on, you know just how much of a little liar a child can be, so why are you trusting him and not me? I'm the adult and he's the child. Everyone knows adults are ten times more trustworthy than a child is."

"You are about as trustworthy as an AI server eating its own creations and shitting out more nonsense. You're a bad liar, Waru," Ego spat. "The first time we spoke, I had mentioned Ren told me all about what you had done. You told me you didn't have a son."

"And?" Waru asked, gritting his teeth slightly.

Ego's eyes widened. "Imbecile. You have the same last name as he does. Don't go strutting around my direct messages with your legal name on display. You also clearly admitted that you were lying by stating to me directly that Ren was indeed your offspring. Your only offspring."

"So I lied about Ren being my son," Waru admitted again. "What does that even entail about me?"

"That you're a manipulative conniving dictator and that you like to put on a puppet show with children," Ego seethed. "You cannot, in any way shape or form, get me trust you when all you've talked about is wanting to take a child and threatening the safety of well over a hundred boys just a few days ago."

Waru grit his teeth harder. "But-"

"Can it, you yammering idiot," Ego interrupted. "I don't want you anywhere near this facility and if you do happen to find it then it is on sight. The second those cameras see you, the police will be called and you will be taken into custody, or Ren will kill you himself like he meant to just a couple years ago."

Waru was at a loss for words. His mouth was shut tight and his eyes were wide with disbelief.

"I don't want you-" Ego was interrupted by the door opening.

"Ego," Ren's voice came calmly, "is Y/n okay for practicing now or no..." His voice faded. "Sorry, I didn't know you were on a-"

Ren's jaw dropped and his eyes went wide. On the big screen was his father. The man he prayed was dead.

"It's nice to see you again, Ren." Waru composed himself and smiled. "Why don't you come home to daddy and we can have our lives back? Or you could lead your dear old dad to L/n. You choose, my sweet boy."

"Rot in hell," Ren whispered, gulping down the lump in his throat and taking on an angry disposition.

"What was that?" His father asked.

"I said rot in hell!" Ren was breathing heavily, his body shaking.

"That's not very kind now, is it?" Waru grinned.

"Touch Y/n and I'll find you. I'll find you and I'll kill you like I should have all those years ago."