Blue Lock: Fast Lane

Pink?

The proctor looked at his score sheet, a bead of sweat dropped down his face as he looked at the results. Three strikers stood out, all of them posting numbers that outshone all in the U-20 team. Tabito Karasu edging numbers above Shuto Sendou. Which was absurd for a striker two years younger and far less experienced.

Following his brother's footsteps, Itoshi Rin had made the basic testing look elementary. The speed and precision he used when running through the cones and shooting was almost unexpected, if he wasn't the brother of a future megastar.

As expected James King set the pace in terms of physicality, the raw speed and explosiveness of the rogue talent, who was already setting a new standard for Japanese football as a whole, showcased stats that broke records held by current Japanese professional players.

His brows furrowed in confusion when King and Itoshi started to glare at each other, the two hadn't spoken a word to each other since they got onto the field, and from his knowledge the pair had not interacted. All of the conclusions that the proctor had come to lead to the fact that one of the two felt intimidated by the other.

He looked to the side where Tabito Karasu gazed at the pair with beady eyes and a cocky smirk on his face. As if he where a cameraman filming an encounter between two apex predators, giddy with anticipation for the moment where they both bared their fangs and took bites out of each other.

The rest of the potential players made their way over to the pair, as if they were some sort of gravitational force.

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James was honestly disappointed when he saw Itoshi Rin in the drills, while all of his movements were pinpoint, they lacked some sort of emotion in his eyes, though he knew the reason why. In his eyes, football was a sport meant to be played with the whole body, heart and soul.

Showing your desire to crush someone or need for a win, or something. It frustrated him that someone he had hyped up in his own mind was so emotionless, so empty. Like he was nothing but a puppet.

His gaze drifted to the approaching players, it seemed like the defenders and midfielders had finished their assessment section as well, which meant that games were going to get played soon, something which made King salivate. All this talent pooled together gave him hope, that he wouldn't need to slow down his game like he had been doing for most of his life.

He didn't notice Kurona appear next to him, slightly sweaty. He looked up at James with a smile. "I assume that you did well?"

"That I did" James replied as he smiled. "To be honest I picked you as more of a striker"

Kurona blinked, surprised that King had guessed something like that, and the accuracy of the statement. "I usually play as a striker, but they sought to make me a CAM in the last run of our youth league tournament. I guess they recruited me for that role"

"Fuck that, If you want to be a striker be a striker, don't let some coach tell you what to do" James cursed as he crossed his arms, pushing players out of positions they loved always managed to get under his skin, unless he was the one taking the striker spot from another striker.

Kurona stood there silently and nodded. He had never thought of fighting for his position, usually he just did what the coach told him to do.

"The feeling of scoring goals is the ultimate feeling Kurona" James explained as he grasped at the air, making a fist in an act of grabbing something that wasn't there. "It gives you excitement and joy..."

James chuckled as his ego started to flow off him once more, a deep red aura started to engulf his blue eyes, turning to look in the eyes of the shark boy he grinned like a mad man. "Scoring a goal is life itself"

There was nothing Kurona could say, he stood there in awe as if he had just spoken with a god. A few seconds passed as the internal fire of the boy started to spark to life, he looked down as a deep blue aura started to emanate from his eyes. "Scoring is life itself huh..."

He looked up at James with a grin, small beads of sweat dripping down his forehead.His grins started to widen, showing James his shark like teeth. "I like it!"

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The head selector looked over the reports that each of his scouts had given him, as expected there were standouts amongst the elite, but that was just in a drill scenario. It was time to look at the candidates in a game scenario.

"Okay, you all have done well so far. It's time for the part that we have all been waiting for. The match section. The teams that we have selected will be balanced and follow a 4-4-2 formation. Teams will be divided into letters, Team A, B, C and D. You all will play three games to prove to us that you belong on this tour squad"

The scouts began to hand out training singlets, all different colours. "Team A will be the fluro yellow, B will be orange, C will be Pink and D will be black"

James got handed a pink training singlet. As he put it on he chuckled. "Pink looks good on me hey?"

He looked around and saw others wearing pink, the striker he was paired up with was the tall boy from before. He slowly put up his hand and grinned. "All those with a pink singlet come to me!"

As he issued the command some of the more eager members of this makeshift team strode over towards him, Kurona was already beside him, in a pink singlet. Slowly more and more came until the team of eleven with a single sub gathered around him.

Having been a captain before, James let his developed leadership come to the front of his personality. He looked around at the team, wondering if they had what it took to keep up with him. "My name's James King, for those who did not know, and I am the best striker in Japan"

Nobody spoke a word, most were shocked by this statement. The tall boy from before scoffed. "You only played in the high school division"

James pointed his finger at the tall boy with a cocky smirk. "You can back talk to me when you prove that you can be a better striker than me. Until then, shut the fuck up"

James chuckled as he crossed his arms. Analyzing each of his teammates. "You've all been selected for trials here because the JFA thinks that you're just that good. Do you all believe that?"

He looked around his ranks, looking for any signs of disapproval or discontent, yet there was no response, something which pissed him off. "I said. Do. You. Believe. That?"

Kurona nodded with a grin, his ego beginning to flicker off of him. The rest followed with confident nods, ready and eager to show off their talents. King grinned as he unfolded his arms and clapped his hands slowly. "Good, because only the best can keep up with me"