stepping out of the taxi, shiratori stood outside a building. it was the address given in the letter.
japan football union, it said.
taking the map, he went inside while following the direction it had.
'lots of doors. i hate it already.' he thought to himself.
now, facing the room where the meeting place is located, he pushed the gigantic doors.
it was silent. all eyes are now focused on him.
who wouldn't? when it's shiratori nana, the student athlete who was taking the sports world by a storm.
'wow, there's a lot of us here? can't recognize anyone.'
and soon enough, after he closed the door behind him, whispers erupted.
"t-that's him right?! shi-shiratori!"
"waaah, magazines didn't give him justice at all."
"fuck, now what? we have this hotshot here too?"
"don't say that. maybe he isn't as good as they made him to be. it's the media after all."
"wow, so they invited him too." voiced out ryōsuke akira, the rising japanese football star.
beside him stood isagi yoichi, a middle schooler who recently competed in saitama prefecture's finals.
isagi was admiring shiratori. it was the first time he saw an actual athlete-celeb and to be standing on the same ground as him was beyond amazing.
'shiratori nana... wait, i'll attend a program the same with a guy this great?! what?!' he was panicking.
and it would only escalate more once he realized that shiratori's coming to his direction.
rock solid he stood. not moving an inch as the guy went to stop beside him. body's stiff and breathing hitched.
he was conscious.
does he smell? 'no, i took a really good bath.'
does he look weird? 'no, my clothes are good enough. i'm pretty confident with my style.'
does he look short? 'i can't really do anything about that.'
the tension was broken once the light turned off and a male's voice was heard.
few of his mutterings was heard before he started talking.
"congratulations, you unpolished gems." he greeted. "all you under-18 strikers have been chosen solely based on my criteria and biases to be here today."
"all 300 of you."
'that many huh?' shiratori thought.
when the light was focused on the front stage, it revealed a guy in mid-20s, tall and lanky who wears a pair of rectangular rimmed glasses and a bowl cut.
"i am jinpachi ego." introducing himself, "my job is to make japan a team capable of winning the world cup." he added.
with that, the players gave their reactions.
"who's that guy? you know him?" asked kira towards isagi.
isagi sighed, "no way..."
shiratori, whose standing beside them, can't help but be bored of the current situation.
'another lunatic to add to my list of people i should avoid.'
but really. these are the same big dreams he's already fed up hearing.
the winning the world cup, making it international, rise of the japanese blah blah, changing the world blah blah, he had enough of these.
to shiratori, jinpachi ego is just nother one of those delusional fanatics who can only talk big yet can't do it.
deciding to mute jinpachi in his head, he instead used the time to think of his dinner.
'curry? no, we already had that on tuesday. hmm. yeah, anything with meat and sauce. i'll tell grandma.'
"hey! sorry but... i can't agree with what you said just now." that took shiratori out of his dinner selection.
it was kira who talked, or more precisely, objected.
he continue explaining his side which in turn, made the other players agree with him.
"get lost then." he started. "if you're thinking of leaving, go right ahead." that took everyone by surprise, including shiratori, who is now starting to get interested with this guy's words.
insult after insult, jinpachi ego never stopped hitting everyone where it hurts the most with his words.
'we can't really argue if it's the truth.'
"i want to know something. what is football to all of you?"
being asked that simple question made everyone think the same simple answer.
"football... 'dunno." as shiratori whispered to himself, he failed to notice a certain ravenette who heard him.
'shiratori-san! he...'
jinpachi continues, "football is, at its core. a sport about scoring goals even at the expense of your teammates."
"the best player is the one that scores the most goals..." he said. "if you want to play pretend football instead, then get lost already."
'what's with this guy? he makes no sense.' as isagi thought so.
this, however, made kira more infuriated.
"how insulting. take those words back." kira, who can't accept jinpachi's words won't back down. "players like honda, or kagawa, and many others... all of those who shape the japan national team's lineup. the value of team play instilled in the national team is the same that's a part of us!" he added. "they are our stars! you're wrong."
"he sure is one tough kid."
this time, with that commentary from shiratori, kira heard it and turned to look at him.
confused he asked, "huh?"
now with the attention subjected to them, shiratori spoke. "they have never won world cup though?" he argued.
isagi whipped his head to give shiratori a what-the-hell look.
"kukh... i-" he was cut off when jinpachi once again responded.
"that's right. let's take noel noa for example." noel noa, world's best striker.
noel noa, éric cantona, and pelé who have won 3 world cups. they are all revolutionary strikers.
"their extra ordinary egoism... is the only thing japan's football lacks."
'he truly is one lunatic. god, i'm always right.'
"you will not become the greatest strikers in the world, unless you have the ego to match." without stopping there, he added more. "my purpose here, is to create such player in japan. from the corpses of 299 players... one hero will rise in all his glory!"
shiratori can't help but stare at the kid beside him.
raven hair and blue irises. this kid looks familiar to him, he just can't remember where have he seen him before.
but that wasn't the only reason why he's stating at him. it was because he looks as if he was really taking everything the lunatic was talking about.
'resonating hard with him, i guess.'
while jinpachi kept talking, shiratori is processing and weighing his words.
up until now, all he ever did was to play sports so he could live in the excitement that everyone else's feeling. but not once he did.
he played volleyball, he played basketball and now football-which he is about to let go, and if counting everything, he also played a bit of other sports yet it was still nothing.
what shiratori nana wants, is to lve in the same moment as everyone... the uncertainty and mystery of not knowing what would happen next, he wants that. he desires that.
"your greatest joy is scoring points and nothing else. you live for the excitement of that very moment."
and if really... if really what this lunatic says could-no, can actually happen...
"now that's... a striker, don't you think?"
could staying here... bring me what i want?
he was pulled out of his thoughts when he noticed that the kid beside him is now running to the door behind jinpachi ego.
as is he was running for his life... isagi yoichi was chasing whatever opportunity is behind those doors.
soon enough, everyone else started running to the door. even kira went to follow them.
he was frozen. heart's beating fast and desire's burning.
shiratori nana was the only one who remained standing in the once sea of players.
he was confused... he was doubting.
"shiratori nana." that voice, jinpachi ego.
now sitting on the stairs, jinpachi was staring at him intently. beside him is teieri anri, japan football association's member and blue lock's facility manger.
"was my speech not enough for you? guess, you higher ones requires more push."
shaking his head, he answered.
"no. i don't think i should participate." with that, shiratori turned her back at them and started to walk to the entrance, intending to leave already.
a mocking laugh was heard that made him look back. it was him, jinpachi ego, mocking him.
"so what's your royal ass 'gonna do? run away like you've always did whenever you felt everything was useless? is that so?"
for the first time since that incident, shiratori frowned. with a hint of annoyance he asked, "and? you think this circus of yours can do any better?"
"of course." as quickly as he can, he answered. "won't you want to see how this would unfold? who knows, you might be the missing striker i've been searching for."
"it doesn't matter." shiratori said.
"then... won't you instead want to see for yourself, the creation of the best egoist?"
'the best egoist... and how could that ever help? they would just become like the others. i don't-'
"it's troublesome isn't it? it's tiring. when you're too good at something that no one could keep up, everything just becomes boring. so, shiratori nana, the egoist that i'm looking for... and the excitement and thrill that would break your mediocre world... let's find it. here in blue lock."