The warm breeze of the night caressed your cold cheeks. Ahh, the air felt extremely good.
A sweet aroma entered your nostrils, probably from one of the hundred of trees that envolved you.
"Thanks, here's the money." You gave a generous amount of money to the taxist, not even bothering to ask for the change. Jinpachi was in charge of all your spending now during your stay in Japan, anyways.
"Have a good night, miss."
Once the taxist left, you engulfed a big breath, preparing yourself to start such a... cool... journey...
Super... exciting... journey
Uh.
You already missed your bed. Yeah. Japan was pretty and shit, but the country was still way too intimidating for you. Even from the top of the small mountain you were at, you could still admire the vast lighting from the city, a view that made your breath hitch.
It was beautiful. Ethereal, even. Spain was less modern, everything was way more rural, and even the nature of both countries was anything but similar, so to see something like this struck you.
But yet, it was still a painful reminder of how different life was here, and that if you were going to stay, you'll have to adapt soon.
Footsteps made you stop looking at the enormous city, redirecting your attention to the man behind you;
A lanky man, with a bowl cut and dead eyes.
You immediately smiled, "Yo. Long time no see. You look as dead as last time."
"And you still haven't grown at all."
"...Ha. Funny as always!" You rolled your eyes, but couldn't resist looking back at the man. "...I guess it's nice to see you again. I wonder why the hell you called me so suddenly after zero contact, but i hope its not anything too sketchy."
"Ah, Jinpachi-san, have you already found h—? Oh!" A pretty woman appeared from behind, her short hair framing her oval face perfectly. Woahhhh, she was fine. "You must be [l/n] [name], right? It's nice to meet you, Jinpachi-san told me a lot about you!"
You smiled back, gently shaking her hand. "Really? That's weird, coming from him. I'm sure he said bad things, haha."
"Let's get going, there's no time for chit-chat." Ego cut off the nice talking with the pretty woman, and you practically stabbed him with your eyes. How dare he?
Well, the biggest question was, how did he? How did he find such a gorgeous woman? And how did he make this cutie work with him?!
'Ugh, not fair. Woah— WHERE DID THAT BUILDING COME FROM?!'
Yup, life at Japan was going to be wayyy different. In your old country people didn't have big ass buildings that served as football prisons on top of mountains.
.
.
.
The three of you were sitting on the comfortable and expensive looking chairs on the reunion room. Well, you and Jinpachi were the only ones sitting, you didn't know why but Anri seemed to like standing up better. That wasn't your case, since you were lazy as fuck, but oh well she does herselsef.
You spent the following next thirty minutes hearing Jinpachi talk about the super-awesome-cool blue lock project!! You wanted to rip your ears out five minutes after.
You even refrained yourself from telling him to slow down, your japanese was good but you weren't used to hear it that much, because that only meant making the talk even longer.
But finally, he arrived to the end. With a proposal. You were here to act as a helper.
"A helper?"
"You'll assist Anri with assessing the players. First of all, we have to finish recollecting the data of possible players we're going to invite. Then, programming the selections that I explained to you before, and you'll participate as somewhat... similar to a trainer. You'll help the players to discover themselves."
"Lame."
"...?!"
Ego seemed unfazed, but Anri truly didn't expect that reaction.
"Don't worry," you reassured them, "I will be a part of this Blue Lack project."
"It's Blue Lock."
"But I have a request."
"...go ahead."
"I wanna join too!"
Anri coughed, and Ego narrowed his eyes at such an unexpected request. He tilted his head forward, his glasses sliding on his pointy nose with the movement, a faint crease forming between his brows as he processed your words.
"Join?"
"I mean, I know you called me to get a trainer or something like that... buuuut-" You practically threw your back against the chair, dramatically sighing, "what if I don't want to?"
Ego's gaze remained steady, but a flicker of uncertainty passed over his features. He shifted in his seat, adjusting his posture as he considered your words.
Anri was the first one to react, drawing her eyebrows together in a concerned expression. Letting an ex-woman professional football player join the project...? It sounded unexpected.
"[l/n]-san," she respectfully commented, "I-"
"Anri, can you leave us alone for a minute?" Stated Jinpachi, cutting her off.
Anri hesitated at first, her eyes darting between you and Ego.
"Anri."
"Alright, I will."
And with that, she stepped out of the room, leaving behind a tense silence.
"Damn..." you mumbled, observing how the authomatic door closed by itself, "I don't know how you pulled her, but you better start treating her better if you want her to stay."
"Shut up, [name]."
"I could treat her way better. How old is she?" You joked, enjoying the way you were getting under Ego's skin.
Ego's jaw clenched, his fingers tapping impatiently against the table as he struggled to maintain his composure.
"Sit down properly and pay attention. We both know why you're here, and not in Spain."
Your eyes darkened immediately, a surge of resentment bubbling up within you. "Ouch. That's not a very nice thing to say, Ego."
"You know you don't want to get exposed to the public anymore. Two years have already passed since then, and you're still hiding like a scaredy-cat from the eyes of the rest of the nation." He raised his head, looking at you from under his chin, a note of disdain coloring his tone.
You didn't like that; it made you feel small. Smaller than ever. And you hated feeling like that. "You know that you don't have any other option but to do as I'm telling you to do. Because it's either that, or going back to Spain. You at least have a new opportunity here in Japan, but there? You're certainly not as popular as before, but your anxiety will never leave you alone."
"...A-ha," you affirmed, unimpressed but annoyed. "And how do you know that I won't just completely drop out? Just because I'm not staying here to help you doesn't mean I will go back there. I will just end everything football-related, just as I promised I would. As I already did two years ago."
"Well, that's easy. I know you won't... because your ego is way too big to let you back down. Not when you're actually a sucker for attention and power."
You raised an eyebrow, not as unimpressed as before. Your lips curled up in a plastic smile, a mixture of amusement and irritation dancing in your eyes. "Aw, should I feel flattered?"
But Jinpachi knew you way too well to not see right through your act. No matter how good you were at lying, he would always see the truth that lays behind every movement of yours.
"Drop the act."
"I-"
"I accept your offer, you can join.", your mouth formed a small 'o' in surprise, but he didn't stop to comment how dumb you looked with an expression like that, "But what we're going to do is illegal, and it will have consequences. You're not going to be able to back down anymore."
"Oh?" Now, that did truly impress you. "Well, I guess that sounds like fun."
"Alright then, enjoy your new life as [m/n]." He slid a card on the table, and you gazed at it. Your eyes widened in surprise when you saw an ID card with the words [M/N] Jinpachi on it. Was this a...
"...A fake ID?" You coughed, grabbing it. Your fingers traced the edges of the card, the material smooth beneath your touch. "You seriously...?!"
"Planned this in advance? Yes." He stood up, his lanky legs making him appear even taller than he already was. "I'm going to rely on you a lot here. You're going to help me create the best striker, and if that means fulfilling your greedy wishes, so be it."
"I...wow. I don't know what to say." You were dumbfounded but still continued, "However, I have a question."
"..."
"Tell me, Ego." You raised your head, letting it rest on your hands as your elbows were placed against the table. "What will happen if, in the end, the best striker... is me?"
Ego smiled. A real smile, one of those that looked creepy as hell and were almost impossible to see on him. His eyes glinted with a mixture of challenge and anticipation, a silent acknowledgment of the game that was about to unfold.
"I'm glad to see you truly haven't changed. Just know that you're not the only one with potential, and this won't be as easy as you think it will for you."
__________________________________
¡¡today's blue lock secret!!;
[name] was actually more shocked to see that her 'new' last name was going to be Jinpachi, than due to the fact that Ego agreed to illegally give her a new identity.
"what?! am i going to pass as your little brother now or something?! no way!!"
"shut up, brat. there are a lot of people with the same last name, and its not like we share the both height genes anyways. no one is going to think we're related"
"that's worse!! i don't want people joking about me being your child!!!"
"..."
"oh no- OH NO- WHAT IF PEOPLE START THINKING ANRI IS MY MOTHER?! HOW WILL I SIMP FOR HER TH-?!"
Ego then stood up and left the room.