57. WHAT, YOU WANNA FIGHT OR SOMETHING?

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MAKING

your way into the arcade was an experience you're sure you'll not soon forget. Seeing a head of white hair, one that looked all too familiar, playing at an online fighter game, made you twist your head back in shock.

"Wait..." You and the others pause. Kyouka tilts her head and asks what's wrong. "Is that Nagi?"

Immediately, at the sound of his name, Nagi owlishly blinks in your direction—eyes widening by a fraction when you two make eye contact. His big, black eyes gleam with a sense of recognition—and he's about to say something, lips slightly parted—when he's suddenly attacked from behind, forced into an uncomfortable-looking, hunched position when somebody grabs him out of nowhere, into a noogie.

"Yer gonna lose yer friends, ya bastard!" You could recognise that accent in your sleep. Karasu has Nagi in a chokehold, a wicked smirk on his crow face and Aryu has a big hand atop his white tuft of hair.

Reo grins, "Caught you red-handed, you criminal!"

Kyouka gasps, expression reminiscent of that of a fish when she speaks, voice heavy with disbelief, "Reo! Nagi? You guys are all here?"

Like they didn't notice you all before—their unnecessarily large group is met face-to-face with yours—Bachira leans forward with a cute little O-shaped mouth and blushy cheeks, "Woah! I didn't expect to see all of you! What're you guys doing here in Shibuya?"

Merodi stares at the bumblebee boy with a self-confident smirk, hand on her hip, "Duh! We're obviously here to go shopping. Why else would we be in a place like this?"

"Stock market?" Asks Reo.

"Talking about our futures?" Asks Yukimiya.

"How to start a brand of apparel?" Aryu suggests, sparkles flying all around his figure.

Merodi deadpans, and excitement died down significantly. She clutches her black, leather purse, "Wow, you guys are seriously loser nerds."

Aryu ignores the short quip that comes from the punk-rock girl and instead looks towards you and Komi—where you're standing next to each other, "So glam! Your outfits... your makeup..." You think he wipes a tear from his eye, but you're not too sure whether you were imagining it or not. With how dramatic his voice sounds, you're sure he could audition for the lead role in a Shakespeare play, "So glam...! I'm passing away... this is too much glam for me to handle...!"

Tokimitsu catches the flopping Aryu in his arms and shakes him nervously—eyes darting from his friend to you quickly, "U—Um... h... hi!! You..."

You don't see the look of encouragement the pink-haired girl sends her nervous friend. Tokimitsu squeezes his eyes shut and goes so red you think he may burst, "You look... Y—Y—You... look!!!"

I... look?

He eventually grows so embarrassed he simply dives behind the crowd of his friends with a dramatically unconscious Aryu in his arms.

Today just keeps getting stranger and stranger. Like... Stranger Things.

You snort at your own thought. Suddenly, there in front of you, is none other than the ninja himself, and his assassin brethren. He gives you his signature hand pose (you know the one, right?) and with an oddly calm expression, holds out his phone, "Yo. Slide me that number."

Add a shawty to the end, and you'll have gone into full fuckboy mode.

Karasu sends him a look of disdain which Otoya does not notice—he doesn't take his eyes off of you once—but you do, and it makes you chuckle. "Um, yeah, no thanks."

Otoya blinks like a frog. "What??"

Karasu grins at the stupid expression on his ninja friend's face, his wicked crow grin, then spares you a tamer, yet still abnormally cocky, smirk, "How 'bout I text you later? Just to keep track of everythin'. Ya know. Like a manager and a player?"

Sounds fair enough. "Okay." You hand him your phone, missing the expression of absolute horror that falls over Otoya, and the winning smile the crow boy sends him.

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Otoya fiddles with a claw machine, grabbing onto a little stuffie with a soccer ball for a head and saying, "Behold, my flow!"

Tokimitsu, Bachira, and Jenny all have their faces pressed right up against the glass of the claw machine, watching with wonder as Otoya masterfully conquers that scam machine.

"You got it!" Bachira cheers, and from the other side of the machine, you laugh at just how ridiculous he looks.

"You... got this!" Tokimitsu's voice is shaky as the machine wobbles.

"You got this!!" Jenny cheers, eyes twinkling as the little toy drops down into the hole, and Otoya successfully picks it up.

Karasu glares sharply at the, now cheering, trio, "Ya morons, yer shaking it!"

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Yukimiya pokes his tongue into the expanse of his cheek in concentration—a subtle glow emitting from his glasses as they reflect the light—he moves forward with a precise touch, taking one step before letting go of the dart he was holding.

It slams right into the middle of the board and the model looks pleased with himself at his bullseye. You clap your hands and smile, "Amazing!"

"Bullseye!" Reo calls out with laughter.

"Right in the middle," Komi looks at the dartboard in wonder.

"That was stylish, Yukki!" Tokimitsu looks excited for his friend—blushy cheeks and squinted eyes. 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the dartboard, is a public execution. (Not really—Kyouka is just quivering like a soggy wet cat as she hoists up a dart, aiming for Nagi's head.)

Her lips tremble and you surely think she's going to pass out when she manages to squeak, "A...Are you sure... he won't die...?"

"He'll be fine," Chigiri, with a hand on her shoulders and a mean gleam in his eyes grins, "Don't move, Nagi."

"You must accept your punishment!" Bachira giggles, as Nagi woefully pleads for mercy from the small girl. Kyouka's fingers shake as she lets the dart fly—fingers crossed beside her—and it misses his white head of hair by an inch.

Even as Chigiri clicks his tongue in disappointment—Kyouka lets out a big breath of relief and feels the colour slowly creep back to her face.

I didn't kill Nagi-kun!

An excited grin falls flat onto her lips. You smile at her expression.

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"Karaoke!" Merodi cheers with a cute red flush on her face. Beside her, Bachira sings out a song you don't know—but Merodi does, and she takes this cue to sing along with him.

Karasu slaps his hands over his ears as their voices grow progressively louder and louder, face contorted and eyes twitching, "Someone make that ringin' in ma ears stop."

From your place beside Karasu, you crack a cheeky grin and watch your two friends sing along with each other. Reo jots his thumb towards a hall of rooms, "Karaoke sounds good."

You, Reo, Bachira, Isagi and Komi all walk down the hall, looking for a potentially empty room where you and your friends could sing your lungs out. But soon, you stopped in your tracks at the sight in front of you—a woman dashing out of a room with a pissed expression—another following behind her.

"You're the worst!" The first woman shouts—she couldn't be under 27—painted nail pointed accusingly at whoever was inside the room. "How did you dare to even call this a date?!"

A hand reaches out from in the room—you're positioned in a spot where you can't see who that hand belongs to—"Come on, wait..." But that voice sounds oddly familiar. "Can't we just have fun with the three of us?"

The hand tugs on the second woman's sweater sleeve—and with a furious look, doesn't hesitate to swing her hand around and you hear a slap echoing throughout the room, "Don't touch me, you cheating bastard!"

The first woman stomps away, heels clacking against the tiles and she grumbles, "Die! I can't believe this!"

Bachira hisses lowly through his teeth, awkwardly looking to the side, "Oh dear..."

Komi shuffles around in her shoes and from the way she stands and stares at the scene that played out in front of her, it's so very clear she's uncomfortable. You don't blame her.

A couple's fight... You squint and look away.

Reo laughs, breaking you out of your thoughts as he places a large hand on your shoulder, "Don't stare, guys."

You and the group move forward—you take the chance to peer inside. The person who's hand reached out for that angry, older woman, belonged to none other than Oliver Aiku himself. Your lips part in shock at the sight of him, and a red hand print painting his cheek. 

You're about to say something—you're not sure what—however, Isagi beats you to the punch, "Aiku?!"

He blinks, eyes widening in realisation when he takes in the sight of you all. Still, he rubs his red cheek and winces, "Ow... oh? Sup, you guys."

The look Komi sends him is nothing short of derogatory, to put it nicely. She stares at him like he's a pile of shit on the sidewalk and curls her lip up in disgust. "The captain of the U-20 team is a dirty cheater?"

Reo almost snorts, lips formed into a cheeky grin, "Wow, even though you're so reliable on football... you're the type to have a sloppy life."

"Those girls were a lot older than us, huh." Isagi's head tilts to where the two fuming women exited the room—nearly seeming nervous at the thought.

Your face is completely and utterly blank, "I didn't know you were that type."

Bachira giggles, smile as bright and cheery as always, "You couldn't defend against him?" His pun almost made you chuckle—it would've, if Aiku didn't look so smug, even after getting caught two-timing.

"Hehehe, you guys saw that... huh? You guys got a break, too? Our whole team is here." He looks far too happy—considering the heated glare that Komi's burning into his skull, you somehow get a feeling she does not approve of his actions—and the dead look you're boring into his face. 

He suddenly stands up and opens a door to another room. Your ears are suddenly attacked violently with off-tune, nails-against-chalkboard singing, and the face Reo makes would've made you laugh if your ears weren't ringing so hard. There, in the room that was—thank god—soundproof to the others, is the U-20 team singing their heart out to Tamashi Revolution.

The music keeps blasting on—but the players stop singing and look towards where the five of you were all huddled in the entrance. Neru is the first to speak, lips parted in an O shape, "Ah! It's Isagi Yoichi!"

Sendou is quick to follow, face just as surprised, "And the managers!"

"Blue Lock, our despised nemesis!"

"THE FUCK ARE YOU GUYS HERE FOR?!"

At the booming sound of Niou's voice, Issagi visibly jolts back and a sweatdrop forms on his temple—you don't think that sweater is doing much to calm his jittering nerves—"Uh... nothing—we just happened to be around!"

Komi tilts her head back with a snarky look, "Not much of a nemesis if we beat you already."

In the distance, down the hall where you all had originally come from, there's a large—very much familiar—crowd of people starting to gather down. You can hear one of them remark about the presence of Aiku, and Darai calls out that Nagi's here as well.

Nagi, with an exceedingly blank face, leans down, and hides his full 6'2 height, "We fighting?"

Nagi, you're never going to square up. Still, you stifle a laugh at his earnest remark.

Karasu cracks his knuckles—yet, it makes him look more dorky than badass, with his far-too-long trenchcoat (you know, the type of thing used in movies to stack multiple characters into one tall being? That's what you presume Karasu is made up of at the moment), "Well, well, look who's here."

In the middle, Yukimiya looks like the calm ocean in the centre of a raging storm, "Need help, [name]?"

Jenny sends you all a peace sign with her two fingers, a foxish, sneaky smirk on her lips, "Post it and we'll go viral."

Aryu poses glamorously, "Bammo!"

Merodi pumps her fist in the air, "Boom!"

Otoya makes a dynamic pose in front of Aryu, "Shwatch!"

Niou looks just about ready to bust a blood vessel. "YOU WANNA GO?!" Compared to his defender buddy, Aiku looks scarily calm about this whole situation (yes, despite the very obvious red handprint on his cheek).

He jots his thumb behind him, towards you, Komi, Reo, and Isagi (Bachira had left to attach himself to the side of Merodi), "Hey, we might as well make the most out of this meeting. How about we bet dinner on something?"

That... doesn't sound too minor-friendly.

"In a bowling match, that is."

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In a dynamic, cool-looking battleground sequence cover, each side of both the Blue Lockers and the U-20 team pose. You look back at just how stupid they actually look, and snort—Aiku is beside you, calling out to them, "Come on guys, we gotta register first."

At a table, Bachira jumps up and down like an excited child, staring at Karasu, "Put my name in as The Monster!"

Aryu glamorously strikes another pose, hair swaying in the wind (we're still indoors??), "Put me as Stylish Buddha."

Otoya crouches down and holds his two index fingers together like they're a gun, an intensely blank expression on his face when he speaks, "I'll be Ninja Banban."

A tic mark pulses on Karasu's forehead and he snarls when he speaks, "Zip it! I might as well just put in Moron A, B and C!"

You grab a bowling ball once you have registered yourself (you did not catch exactly what Karasu had registered you as, but you caught something to do with gorgeous and blanked out), "Ugh... is that guy serious?"

Kyouka, who grabs the bowling ball after you, follows your gaze to see a guy in a dynamic jacket bowling with perfect form, getting a strike on the first try, "Woah! What kind of guy is he?!"

"He looks awfully familiar," Isagi pipes up, a hand on his chin with a cute thoughtful expression.

"What a beautiful and stylish form!" Aryu remarks, face flushed pink.

"He's good at this!" Chigiri blinks like a frog in shock.

"That spiky head... don't tell me..." Bachira laughs wildly when he realises who exactly the lone, mystery bowler is... "It's Barou!"

Really, what are the chances?

"Really?" Even the expressionless Nagi looks surprised to see the king and to see his perfect bowling form. You're not too surprised, though. 

A meticulous and thorough guy like him could only ever excel in everything he does.

You smile at the thought.

"The scary king...!" Kyouka ducks behind you, shaking like a leaf at the sight of him. "If you tread carefully... you won't anger the beast..." She whispers, like she's on a hunt rather than going bowling. You laugh.

"Dude, what the heck are you doing?" Chigiri bursts into laughter, shoulders shaking when he meets Barou's burning hot gaze.

"Why the hell are you all here?! This is my personal sanctuary!" His voice is strained, angry but clearly surprised. Nagi mindlessly picks up one of the bowling balls in Barou's lane and almost instantly receives a slap on the hand, "Don't touch it with your dirty hands!"

You look up at him, pointing at the bowling ball he's holding in his hand, "Hey, can I throw that one?"

He looks at you like you've shamelessly committed tax fraud in front of his face, "Are you kidding? No."

You're not too sure if you're reading too much into it—but he does not sound all that mad. For a regular person that was normal, but Barou is anything but regular and the farthest thing from normal you can imagine. But you don't think that's a bad thing.

No, not one bit.

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