Blue Lock: Fast Lane

Break though the Barriers

"Wasn't that an illegal tackle?" Anri asked Ego as the teams began to set up for the restart of activities. She saw Ryosuke Kira fall onto the ground and a counter-attack that was so fast she mistook the game for a European football match.

"It was borderline. But King made contact with the ball before sweeping up Kira" Ego explained, eyes fixated on James King. That brief explosion of ego had him wanting more, he needed to understand James King some more.

"Well if this pace keeps up King will end up getting a hat-tick like you predicted" Anri commented as the game was restarted, the ball being kicked to a midfielder this time instead of Kira. They both watched as King gravitated to Kira, sticking to him like super glue.

"Head games huh?" Ego mumbled loud enough for Anri to pick up with her ears.

"King's style of defence revolves around the enemy's star player. He cuts off any passes to them to see if the team can function without him" Anri explained, surprising Ego, he thought she had minimal knowledge about football.

"Yeah but usually it isn't this aggressive" Ego added, focusing on where James was looking at, it was not at the ball, but directly at Kira. "It's like he wants to intimidate Kira... no, intimidate is the wrong word and Kira isn't his only target"

"What do you mean by that?" Anri asked, her knowledge about King stopped there.

"Think about it Anri-chan, What does Kira represent?" Ego asked as Kira made a break for it, trying to outspeed James.

James followed him and overtook him, intercepting the ball that was headed towards the National Treasure of Japan. "He's everything the JFA wants in a striker, compared to James King"

Ego sighed in frustration. "Yes yes, very good you can see the base level... look deeper"

Anri paused, Ego was frustrating her with all these questions. She had to think and use more brain power than she had to spare, explaining basic football management to the greedy old men in the board hours before had already sapped her of all her thinking power.

"You must be tired, so let me explain" Ego said, to the relief of Anri, this was meant to be a friendly meetup over a game of somewhat high level football. "King has had to work his way up to get to where he is, even with the absurd amount of talent he has. There has definitely been some backdoor deals to secure him those shiny new boots and literally anything else he wanted aside from the basics."

Anri nodded as King passed the ball backwards to the right midfielder, who passed it to the right back. "Compared to Kira, who's essentially been given everything he has by others, save for his own talent at football. His accolades have been a result of King distorting the balance of power in the middle school scene. The JFA board selected him instead of King because he would be an easy to manage 'prodigy' that would make them money. They then claim that Kira is the better player because they selected him for the team, while he has done nothing worth fawning over compared to the Dark Horse of Japanese Football. This isn't a battle between King and the JFA or King and Kira. Its a battle between King and the entire football society of Japan, that has been holding him back from his true potential"

Anri was confused. "What do you mean holding him back from his true potential?"

Ego snapped out his phone and handed it to Anri. "Because King is an Orphan he is governed by the state until he turns 18. Any offers from foreign clubs have to go through the state system, where things get tricky because the JFA can stick their hands in the proverbial pie."

Anri looked at the pictures that Ego had at the ready and allowed herself to be shocked. They were all pictures, legitimate pictures, of letters of invitation to James King from clubs in Europe. Barcha FC, Manshine United, Royale Madrid and many more expressions of interest into recruiting James King were right in front of her. The next photos were the rejection letters approved by the JFA and the Government.

"Look at the dates on these, they go all the way back to when he just won the Nationals in middle school for the first time" Anri said in shock and horror.

"It's going to be a slugfest to see who can recruit King when he turns eighteen... especially after this game" Ego explained as he snatched back his phone. That was his ace in the hole, in case he compiled an argument that was strong enough to convince the JFA board into paying for his Blue Lock project.

Ego's smile widened as King received the ball, the only thing between him and the goal were four defenders and the keeper. The game in front of him would serve as a momentary distraction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James stood at the spot where he just received the ball. He knew where the rest of his team was, where the rest of the enemy was as well. The only real threat on the field was huffing in frustration, realising that nothing he could do would be able to contain James King, nor would anything he could do would make James not annoy him when he received the ball.

He looked at the approaching defenders eyes spotting multiple paths, all of which he could take to form a shot at goal. But there was another path that he would take, that involved going through the two defenders charging towards him.

He kicked the ball with enough power that it would lift into the air, but soft enough that it wouldn't roll to the keeper. It slipped between the two defenders, all that was left was for him to do the same. A task which was a little bit harder.

Before the two defenders could react he accelerated towards them, the one on the right taking notice of this and seemingly putting two and two together at a pace faster than James expected him to do so.

This complicated things a little, the gap between the two defenders was closing at a rate that would see James being boxed out before he had a chance to get the ball. Instantly his initial trajectory changed from going through the defenders to going around them in the shortest path possible.

His explosive acceleration helped him change his direction, which the left defender noticed once more and moved to block his path. Which opened up a slight gap between the two defenders for James to slip into.

The defender's eyes widened as James managed to make a drastic change in direction while accelerating to top speed. He gritted his teeth, he wouldn't let King score again! The team needed to stop him. He shot out his hand as James slipped through the pair and kicked the ball to open space.

Before he could accelerate even more and take a shot on goal the defender's hand grabbed James' shirt and held on tight. The speed and strength of James King clashed with the defender's grip strength, the latter of which was winning initially.

King grit his teeth in frustration before putting more power into his legs, he needed that ball. A slight ripping sound could be heard as the over-worn fabric of James' kit was torn. He didn't stop even when the pressure around his neck increased. Another hand grabbed his shirt, the other defender had entered the fray.

The shirt ripped even more and relieved some of the pressure from his neck as the main article was torn off. Letting him run without the restrictions of illegal play. King reached the ball and smirked as he wound up for the goal, the keeper making a pre-emptive dive for the right side of the goal, which was the most logical spot to shoot for.

Not all of James' actions were driven by logic. The ball went to the bottom left corner following his strike.

He turned around to the defender that was holding his shirt, eyes focused on the shocked human.

"I-impossible" The defender muttered as James stopped right in front of him. The defender was smaller and the current unfolding of events made that height difference seem all the more intimidating.

The defender started to take some steps back, which prompted James to take steps forward. The defender tripped over his own feet and landed on his ass, James still looking down on him from above.

He stood there, gaze unwavering as his teammates started to pile around him in celebration.