Blue Lock: Fast Lane

Dawn

The locker room which held Tokyo Esperion Youth, was tense. All the normal team players were all looking at one boy, all had different opinions on the talent. They observed as their coach handed him a jersey which had the number 9 on it.

Words such as undeserved, unworthy, egotistical, child, all went through the heads of those officially signed with the youth club. Even the coach Tatsuya Fukuda was second guessing his decision to place the ticking time bomb of a human on his side. But he did not want to risk the wrath of the media on anyone, never mind a person he knew well.

James was lost in his own thoughts, thinking of the notable members of the team. The captain Nagisa Akutsu, a member of the Japanese U-20 team, though he was a bench rider. There was a left back, named Aoi Ashito, a talent who had recently started playing football, sporting world-class levels of spatial awareness off the bat, even though it came in patches.

Finally there was the star, someone who even had an entire section of the inter-club scouting report developed to them. Number 10, Haruhisa Kuribayashi. The only person on the team who was constantly playing at a professional level of football in Japan, that was a feat not to scoff at, even if it was only in Japan. He displayed otherworldly vision as well, something that James frothed at having. Something he could use to score goals with.

James King looked up as he finished tying up his worn boots. An aura of supremacy radiating from him as he drummed his fingers on the wooden boards of the bench he was sitting on. "You all look like you have something to say..."

He stood up as he began to stretch. His eyes shadowed as he took a deep breath. "You're all thinking that I don't belong here, that I should be on the sidelines, that it isn't fair that I'm taking a spot that your teammate had worked so hard for."

His tone seemed genuine, some of the team members understanding what he was getting at.

"At the end of the day, I just want to play football, all day everyday. I'm sure you all can empathize. It was luck, bad or good, call it what you will, but luck is what brought me here to play football under this club, even if only for one or two games" James explained as he looked around as he crossed his arms.

"The point I'm trying to make is..." His aura exploded before his words came out. "I don't care what you think. I'm going out there to win, with or without your permission"

He looked down at the fella with the buzz cut, the one who wore the captain's armband. "So hurry up and get me on the field so I can carry you all on my shoulders to victory over the supposed best youth club in the world"

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The two teams walked out onto the field, the overwhelming chants of Barcha filled the area, sure it would be intimidating to those who had never played in a stadium full of more than a thousand people. James had never really played in a foreign place before, sure this was intimidating to him. He was shaking, but not from fear.

But from excitement, sixteen long years on this plane of existence and here he was, out of Japan and playing one of the best teams in the world, at least in the youth division.

The media team as well as the reporters from Japan looked around as a devilish grin broke the facade of emotionlessness on James' face, some of the other team members were chatting to those on the side. His boots clacking on the concrete floor as a camera was shoved in his face.

"James King, what is going through your head? Surely you must be nervous debuting for Esperion in this situation" The reporter asked, a lady probably in her twenties with blonde curly hair.

James stared into the camera as his grin faded, anticipation broken by annoyance. "Fuck off, I'm getting into the zone"

An audible gasp was heard from the media as James walked away, the grin coming back to him as he immersed himself in the sounds once more, envisioning himself crushing everything in his path. A feeling settling in, that he would no longer have to hold back to ensure that the rest of the team could keep up.