You couldn't get rid of the boy when you boarded the blue buses. He clung to you the whole bus ride, his strong arm draped around your neck, pulling you closer to him as he pointed to strangers on the bus and insulated them with a snicker. Now, as you walk through the empty halls of Blue Lock with your jersey in your hands, you can't help but think about the words he had told you.
"There's more to you than you let on, Twiglet. Don't let me down," his eyes grew darker, yet a faint glimmer remained, sending a shiver down your spine.
You shake your head to snap out of your daze and start observing your surroundings more closely. The walls are constructed from cold, unwelcoming metal, giving off a vibe more akin to a horror game than a soccer facility. "Itoshi would find this place perfect for a horror game," you mumble, momentarily forgetting your reason for being here. To become strong enough to beat Itoshi at his own game.
Glancing down at your jersey, you checked out the number '[r/n]z'. Turning your attention to the room ahead of you, which read 'ROOM Z' on the door. You walked in front of it, the door opening up automatically.
It looked like you were one of the first people to arrive, surprisingly from getting on the last bus because of- what was his name again? You paused blanking as you tried to wrap your mind around the blonde boy. That guy never told you his name, didn't he?
Shaking it off you looked up staring at the three others in the room, no one caught your eye except for a boy in the back with red hair who seemed to be moping, and another boy who was somehow sleeping on the hard concrete with a thumb in his mouth.
You noticed the lockers and then the bodysuit in your hands you had absolutely nowhere to change. Gulping you slowly made your way over to the lockers, opened it, and placed your backpack and coat inside. You glanced towards the closest person and came face to face or more like face to chest with a middle-aged man? Quickly, you came up with a plan and ready your voice turning to him.
"Know the best place to take a dump around here?" You asked heart hammering in your chest. The red-headed one only scoffs and rolls up more from the corner of your vision.
The older-looking male only scrunched up his face, "The bathroom?"
"Word," you respond, slapping his arm with a smoldering face. You leave the room and walk down the halls until you find the bathroom. Once you're inside you place your uniform still in its plastic sealing onto the floor, the toilet not having a lid.
You take quick, shallow breaths, slowly trying to calm yourself as you enter a bathroom stall and lock the door. With clammy hands, you strip off the oversized school blazer and begin to unbutton your shirt, revealing your binder. You bite your lip as you fumble with button after button.
You drape your clothes on the top of the bathroom stall, undo your belt, and drop your pants on the cold floor. Shimmying your feet out of the pants you reach down to grab it and place the pants on the stall door again. You mentally slap yourself for not bringing several pairs of women's boxers.
You pick up the jersey from the floor and carefully tear open the plastic wrap. Starting with the pants, you pull them on, giving a slight jump, expecting them to fit like the other boys, but they don't. 'Maybe it automatically tightens? Like vacuum seel or something?' you think to yourself biting your cheek.
Panic quickly kicks in and you grab the top, slipping your arms through, and pop your head through the neck hole. "No, no, no, no-" You turn on your heel with a small burning feeling from your exposed foot and you swiftly slap open the lock and run towards the mirror.
"Shit. It's too big," you mutter, your breath quick and shallow, gasping for air. Your trembling hands slide down your face as anxious thoughts consume you. 'All of them are going to find out!' You attempt to tuck the top of the jersey into the pants, but it bounces back up awkwardly. Your pants start sliding down your legs amidst your rapid breaths, and a sting of tears wells up in your eyes. 'Maybe I can tell them it's too big? No! They'll take my measurements and find out!' You struggle to regain control of your breathing, counting your fingers and gently massaging your palm for several minutes before finally calming down. "All better," you say with a faint attempt at a smile.
Taking deep breaths, you walk back to the stall to retrieve your clothes and the plastic wrap that you throw away. "I look like a child," you mutter, gazing at your reflection. Your eyes were bloodshot and your cheeks were stained with dry tears. Your clothes were the worst offender, looking like flabby stretched-out rubber.
Deciding to try to fix your appearance, you try and tuck the top into your pants again and grab your belt to cinch it around your waist, hoping it won't fall. You looked ridiculous but it worked. After taking a deep breath and exhaling, you adjust your wig and squeeze your clothes in your hand trying to ground yourself before leaving the bathroom, hoping no one will comment on your appearance.
"You good, man?" Your head shoots up as you look at a tall boy with vibrant orange hair walking down the hallway toward the same room as you.
"Yeahh..." you chuckle, trying to brush it off, "just had to take a massive shit, ya' know?"
"Oh..." he clears his throat and studies you for a moment, "alright." He sucks his breath in and enters the room, leaving you alone in the corridor.
'What was that?!' you tremble, knowing you wouldn't get any sleep thinking about the encounter. You swallow hard and step into the room again, noticing there are more people now. You head to your locker, stash away your clothes, and shut it securely.
You move to the back of the room so you don't have to deal with the lingering eyes on you from your "outfit". Looking back you see the hallway boy that asked if you were alright slowly taking off his pants. Biting your lip, you unconsciously traced your tongue along your inner cheek as you observed him.
"Isagi. I'm so glad I'm sharing a room with someone I know." A white-haired boy approached a new bland looking one who just walked in.
'They know each other? Are they from the same team? First twins and now this.' You mentally huff.
"Kira. I'm relieved, too," he smiled back before getting hit in the face by a white school uniform shirt. Your eyes followed the direction of the shirt only to spot the boy from the hallway now shirtless. 'That should be me! I hate you, random boy!' You scream in your head.
Your eyes trail the outline of his muscles, heat rising to your cheeks noticing he was only in boxers now. 'Why does he have so many muscles? Steroids? Did he just come here for the free gym membership? Whatever he's hot.'
"Oh, my bad. Threw my clothes too hard." The carrot head spoke.
"It's totally fine. Here."
"Watch where you're walking."
"Huh?" He looks down making a startled noise dropping the shirt and looking down at the boy who was still sleeping on the floor.
"What's up with your outfit," a snicker left a boy's mouth. You blinked looking up to see a boy with shaggy blonde hair that almost looked like a wig.
"It was too big."
"How was it too big?" He laughed again and you shot him a glare, obviously not wanting to talk about it. "Wow, wow, easy there," he raised his hands up defensively and walked back muttering something under his breath sparing you a glance back from the corner of his eyes.
"Are you the Kira Ryosuke?" A bald one grabs the white-haired guy's hands and bowed. "Wow, it's really you."
"Uh, thanks," he responds awkwardly, seemingly uncomfortable with the attention.
'Who is this guy? Having Baldie bowing to him and everything,' You bite the inside of your cheek letting your thoughts consume you for a second still angry with the clothes. 'He's a high school kid, not a celebrity. I don't even know him. I mean I know of every famous high school football player. There's like Itoshi and that Loki guy even though he's pro and... Itoshi... Ok, maybe I don't know a lot of high school footballers.'
The bald one then turned to look at Isagi. "My name's Igarashi Gurimu."
"Oh, nice to meet you."
"My family runs a temple, but I really don't want to take over the family business." He steps closer to Isagi. "So when I heard all that earlier, I couldn't stop shaking. I felt like this is my chance to change my life."
'No one cares.'
"Have you finished changing, diamonds in the rough?" Ego? Ego comes on the large tv and you move to stand up like everyone else. "Hello, there. The guys you're sharing your rooms with are both your roommates and rivals who will help you improve. "Your abilities have been quantified and ranked by me according to my arbitrary and biased decision-making. That's what the numbers on your uniforms represent. You can tell at a glance what your rank out of 300 is."
You look down at your number, '[r/n], better than 300. Good job [b/n]." A light smile covers your features.
"Your rank can change based on the results of your training or matches. And the top five players will unconditionally get to play in the tournament being held six months from now. They'll be registered as forwards for the U-20 World Cup."
'If I got on that team...' Your eyes narrow and think about Itoshi.
"Additionally, anyone who loses at Blue Lock will never get to play for Japan."
'So I'm not losing anything being here.' You think to yourself. 'If I get found out I'll just get kicked out. [b/n] never wanted to play soccer in the first place so he's not losing anything.'
"What you need to gain here is ego. It's time to play tag. You have 136 seconds. Whoever's stuck by the ball is "it." Whoever's "it" the moment time runs out will be locked off. Also, no using your hands." And just like that he was gone.
'Igarashi Gurimu' and a drawing popped up on the TV with a timer. 'Baldies "it"?'
"I'm "it" first because I'm ranked the lowest?" He stepped forward and put his bare foot on the ball.
'Yeah, there is no way I'm letting that touch me now.'
"Fine, let's do this. No hard feelings."
"Hey, wait." The guy who made fun of your clothes starts. "You actually believe what he said?"
"What if he was for real?" He took a deep breath and looked around, "I'm doing this. If I lose, I'll be a temple monk for the rest of my life." He ran straight toward the corner where Lizard, Wig, Kira, and Isagi were. "Sorry, Isagi! Amen!" He shot the ball and everyone dodged it.
From the opposite corner, you grabbed your belt and pulled it up higher, biting your lip as the situation sank in. He turned around and started running at you. 'As if!'
You dashed to the side and narrowly dodged the ball, sighing as it missed you and hit the wall, rebounding back to Igarashi. He kicked the ball, sending it rocketing toward your leg, barely skimming it.'I'm safe right?' You look up on the screen and your face drops 'nope.' You gulp and look around at everyone who is already backing up.
'Minute thirty.' You thought looking up at the clock.
'What was that shot Itoshi taught me?' You put your foot on the ball and rolled it around, trying to run the clock a bit more. "Yeah, that works," you mumbled. You started juggling the ball and kicked it high before jumping in the air and delivering a roundhouse kick toward Igarashi, hitting him right above his crotch and sending the ball bouncing off somewhere. You smiled while still in the air, but suddenly, pain shot through you.
"Awk-" your belt digs into your stomach making you scrunch up more midair, causing you to fall towards the ground. Your hands shot out instinctively to protect your head, and your cheek hit the hard concrete. Your cheekbone felt warm as liquid started dripping down your face, and you grabbed at it with your hand.
You looked up from the ground at him holding his crotch and shaking from his near-death experience and smiled, "No hard feelings."
He watched as the ball slowly rolled over to the sleeping guy, who you could now see was sucking on his thumb. "He's still asleep. Gotcha!" He smiled and tried to run forward, but the sleeping one got his hands and kicked Baldie right below his eye.
"He got possessed by Jackie Chan or something," you mutter slowly getting up a little shaky.
"Hey, that's a foul," Baldie- Igarashi yelled, pointing at him.
Jackie Chan slowly started to get up, "If this were a game, that'd be a red card. Only handballs are against the rules, right?" You bit your tongue, trying not to laugh. "Morning."
"Hey, I'm not a fan of dirty play." The hallway guy placed a hand on his shoulder. "Play fair."
"Mr. Strait-Laced, huh?"
Igarashi kicked the ball into the hallway guy's face and smiled. "You left yourself open. Amen."
'I'll get you back for that, Baldie! He seems nice!' you mentally yelled, planning your revenge already. Just maybe not right now when your uniform didn't fit and you were still in pain from that jump shot.
"Bastard. I'll destroy you," swinging his foot back, he kicked the ball toward Igarashi, who grabbed Isagi for cover. "Here!" the ball smacked Isagi in the chest. 'that's gotta hurt a lot.' you wince as you look at him.
"Amen." Igarashi smiled innocently.
'BITCH-' You glared at the bald boy from the other side of the room. 'I should have hit your dick.'
"Oh, sorry. Wrong person," the hallway guy apologized.
Isagi couched up spit with labored breath. 'One minute left.' He started chasing people around and you watched as the sleeping one grabbed Mister Hallway.
"You little shit! Get off of me!"
"Here's your chance." The one with highlights smiles, jumping onto him to hook his arms and legs around the orange head.
"Let go of me!"
"Get him! Over there," Igarashi pointed.
"I said play fair!" He yelled, grabbing Highlights and chucking him off of him and towards Igarashi, who he fell on.
"What in the world," you mumbled to yourself as you scooted farther away and found yourself next to the redhead, who only shuffled farther away from you. 'Rude much? Nah, I'd do the same thing.'
Igarashi tried to get up but something was wrong with his leg. "Oh, shit. Wait, timeout."
"Isagi hit him! Before it's too late!" The pretty boy yelled.
'Twenty-five seconds.'
"Hey, wait. Stay back. Stay away from me. I don't want this to end here." You almost felt bad for him until you remembered he had hit you. "Please don't do it."
'Twenty seconds.'
He lined up his foot for a kick but stopped and put his foot back on the ball. "That's not right. If I don't change, I'll be the same person. I came here to change my life. I came here to become the best in the world."
'Fifteen seconds.'
"I like you." Jackie pointed at Isagi who was running towards him. "You're right. If you're going to beat someone," he runs forward, stealing the ball from Isagi. "It should be the strongest one here."
'Ten seconds.'
Running towards Kira he kicked the ball towards the wall which he jumped over only to have Jackie try and kick him. Kira started to run away, but the one with highlights only kicked the ball over him.
"Where are you kicking?" You ask yourself.
"To Isagi," your head jerks over to the redhead who was looking ahead at the scene.
'BAM'
The sound of a soccer ball hitting someone's face makes your head shoot over toward Kira on the ground.
"Isagi? What are you doing?" Kira asked, blood falling down his nose. "Wait, what is this? What just happened?"
"I'm sorry. It's just... The ball came at me out of nowhere and..."
"Don't give me-"
Ego came back on the screen clapping his hands. "Diamonds in the rough, only results matter here."
'Is he gonna say that every time?'
"Losers lock off. Kira Ryosuke, you are disqualified." The room was quiet letting everything sink in.
"This is bullshit." He slowly got up, "How is it possible for my future career to lie in tatters all because of some stupid game? I'm Japanese soccer's jewel in the crown!" He screamed towards the tv making you take a step back. "You telling me Igagauri and Isagi are more talented than me?" Your eyes narrowed at it ready to open your mouth to speak. "Why does this silly game of tag even matter? What does it have to do with soccer?"
Ego scratched his and looked back up, "In Blue Lock, everything has something to do with soccer. Look around you, Mr. Mediocre Elite. The room you are in is the same size as the penalty area. Roughly 75% of all goals are born within these confines. If you can't do your work in this space, you have no talent as a striker."
"S-So... So what? Tag is nothing like soccer!" Kira flailed his hands around like a bratty child.
"If you're the one running away, you need a keen sense of interpersonal space, tactics, and positioning. If you're the one doing the chasing, your dribbling and aim must be precise, and the quality of your kicks must be high. That makes it an excellent soccer training drill, wimp."
"Even so, how can you know anything about me in just two minutes? A soccer match is 90 minutes!"
"On average, the total amount of time any player spends on the ball in a 90-minute game is about 136 seconds. You wasted the chance that was afforded to all of you equally."
"B-But nothing could be done in those last ten seconds-"
"Would you say the same thing if this was a match? When the ball hit you, there was still one second left on the clock. You could've survived if you'd blasted it at the immobile Igaguri. But you didn't see it. In a way, it was the last play right before the final whistle. The moment your teammate's shot hit you, you gave up and accepted defeat. That's why you didn't see it. You missed your chance at victory by not taking that extra step." He monologed.
'This is getting hard to watch.' you think to yourself.
"Whoever is "it" in this game of tag might be the loser if he holds onto the ball for too long. But he might also be the winner, as only he has the power to choose who is next. A striker shoulders that responsibility and fights until the very last second. Isagi Yoichi targeted someone ranked higher than him, not the fallen Igaguri. Bachira Meguru stole the ball off him and went after the strongest guy. That's a selfish obsession with victory that isn't affected by the group's common sense. That's the egoism of the striker that I'm looking for."
'So he just wants us to be the largest ass hole possible?'
"You lost because you ran away from it. Kira Ryosuke, lock off."
"But... B-But he came at me... Bachira came outta nowhere..." He mumbled to himself,, "Bachira came at me outta nowhere!" Spit flailed from his mouth and veins peaked from his skin.
Taking a large step back the red-haired guy looked at you with either concern or confusion.
"Kira," Isagis's breath hitched when he saw Kira's face which you luckily couldn't see from his reaction.
"This isn't right. It... It can't be." He seethed. Isagi took a step back from his friend who finally left the room.
"Why did you pass it to me?" Isagi asked the boy with under highlights but your attention was on the redhead.
"[l/n], right?"
"Uh, yeah, what's up bro?" You ask visibly confused.
"You had the ball," he told you letting your eyes widen and nod. "You should get that checked out," he pointed to his cheek. Remembering the hit you took you reach out to touch your own with a wince.
"I can tough it out," you say in a gravelly voice. His eyes widened and his lips parted but he only sighed and nodded.
"Hyoma Chigiri," he extended a hand, and you paused for a second thinking about Pao. Smirking you grab his hand and try to bump chests with him but he grabs your shoulder and pushes you back as he sidesteps you.
"Ridiculousness?" Ego came on the screen making you look at Chigiri with confusion. "You're right. That's the world of "win or lose." Those world-class strikers you so casually adore put their lives on the line like this every day. How does it feel to fight for your career for the first time? Does it scare you? Does it excite you? This is normal in Blue Lock. Are you shaken up? Did it make you go, "All right! I survived!"? That's what victory feels like. Etch that into your brain. Every time you get a taste of that pleasant sensation, your ego grows. And that will elevate you to the height of the world's greatest striker."
'How long does this guy need to talk for? Use some spark notes or something.'
"Congratulations. You have passed the admission exam for the Blue Lock dorm. There are eleven of you in this room. You eleven will be living together. At times, you'll work together. Other times, you'll betray each other. You will be rivals who wreck each other's dreams. Blue Lock... Team Z"
The TV comes back on for a brief second. "[l/n], come to my office. Immediately." and the TV turned off for the last time.
«────── « Additional Time » ──────»
"Why do you think Ego made [l/n] see him?"
"He's weird."
"What did he ever do to you Naruhaya?"
"He snapped at me, "It's too big," I can see that dunce. " He tried to mock you.
"He looks like a five-year-old. Blue Lock is for high school footballers, not middle schoolers," a boy spat.
"Cut it out Naruhaya, Raichi. He was probably raised differently."
"That middle schooler was born different-"
"Raichi." Kunigami sighed thinking back on his first encounter with you.
"I dunno but I wanna play with him," Bachira smiled sticking out his tongue.
"Chigiri, you were talking to him, right?" Isagi asked.
"He's too friendly."
"What are you talking about? He was rude to me."
Chigiri only continued to eat the dinner they were eating without you.
~
10 pages of writing Ego's monologs
Old man - Lemon
Baldie - Igarashi
Wig - Naruhaya
Bland / random guy - Isagi
Lizard / J. Bazos - Raichi
Pretty Boy / white hair - Kira
Hallway Guy - Kunigami
Sleepy Guy / Jackie Chan - Bachira
You'll start learning names soon don't worry