34. PROFESSIONALS WIN, WHERE'S THE SURPRISE?

note: the blue lock manga is crazy. the way they drew silva's icon is astonishing. jaw dropping. if you haven't seen it, you should search it up. they did him disgustingly dirty lmao but blake's one is pretty bad too he looks like a crackhead

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TAKING

your seat on the silver bench, you notice that this court is not as big as the court from before, and you can hear everything on the field a lot more clearly now. Komi is still in static shock, you assume because her mouth hasn't closed once since you two had gotten here.

Her hands fly atop her head, and she stares at you with this fish-like expression of wonder that strangely reminds you of Kyouka. "Your pen-pal... is a French soccer prodigy... and you didn't even mention it once? I mean... what are even the chances? That... sounds like something straight out of a novel." She shakes her head like she's trying to wrap her head around it.

You place your bag down on the ground next to your feet, and rest your hands in your lap while looking out to the field. "It turns out that being such a prodigy so young isn't the best way to make friends that are your age. I was lonely, and I guess he was too, so we became pen-pals. I actually didn't even know his name until a few months into messaging each other, so we used nicknames. Even when he had come to Japan, I still didn't know who he was."

You snort at the memory, eyes crinkling upwards, "I guess he got lucky I wasn't a huge football fan. And even when he told me about Blue Lock inviting him over to play against us, he told me that his agency didn't want him to come, but since I had joined, he fought a little harder for it. They said it wouldn't be appropriate for somebody so young."

You remember you didn't understand it before, now that you say it aloud. At the ripe age of 16—you didn't understand what was the big deal about his whole agency thing. But now, you think, even in such a short span of two years, you've become a lot more open-minded.

"It's almost hard to imagine. I never would've thought a life like that would get so lonely," she hums thoughtfully and leans her head back. With that look on her face, Komi looks conflicted, and you can tell. Maybe, with your words, and this revelation, you have given her something to think about, long and hard.

Once everyone on the field is in position, the speaker blares out, "Welcome to Blue Lock's third selection. Team Blue versus the World 5. The same rules as the previous selection will apply here."

As usual, the whistle blows loud in your ears and signals the beginning of the match. Blue Lock gets the first kick-off, and Isagi quickly passes over to Bachira. The striker catches it with the side of his foot with ease and dribbles the ball once it's fallen to the grass. 

He quickly dribbles forward, towards Cabasoz, and as the freckled man was basically picking at his hair in boredom, Bachira spins around him not once, but twice, when he reacts. Tokimitsu lets out a fanboy-ish yell of surprise, "Wha... amazing! He overtook Cabasoz!"

Isagi yells out a compliment Bachira's way, running by his side in what looked like the most optimal position for Bachira's stability and comfortability in passing—but this is Bachira we're talking about, and he is anything but comfortable and stable. 

He yells at Isagi that he doesn't push his buttons, and for him to keep dreaming, because he'll never pass to him this way. So selfish, so egotistical... so... Bachira. You let out a sigh, hand falling onto your cheek, but you still send a smile his way.

Isagi seems to take note of Bachira's words and speeds up to get to a point in the field that pushes past Bachira's limits, and an even more optimal spot for a link-up, but is stopped in his tracks by a familiar face, and a gentle smile. Loki appears out of what seems like thin air, and even as Isagi tries to get behind him—it ends up proving worthless because Bachira sends the ball over anyway.

It flies right past Isagi, and with a beautiful curve, falls right in front of Rin's feet, and he sends it into the goal without an ounce of hesitation. Tokimitsu let out another scream, but this time, it sounded more amazed rather than him wanting to cry, "Did we just score... against the World 5 team?!"

You even catch the World 5 complimenting their skills (though, with very backhanded remarks), and you feel a sense of pride rush through you at this revelation. Komi's lips turn upwards, and with a pleasant smile, she says, "To score against the world's best... they really are a cut above the rest. It's almost strange to think that we're the same age."

You nod, still keeping your eyes focused on the field, yet letting Komi know you were paying attention to her words all the same, "You can say that again."

Rin seems to even almost compliment his team (really, a milestone!) and turns to them with his same, slate of an expression, but this time, he looks rather pleased with himself. You can't blame him, you would be pretty self-satisfied if you scored against the world's best players.

Tokimitsu hovers his hand above his face with a nervous look, "Woah, those three are amazing... how did they score a goal against the World 5 so fast?" Aryu twirls a strand of his hair around his finger, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Isagi and Bachira can push each other to greater heights, while Rin devours both of them. that last match let those three combo off each other, and it even works against the world's top players..."

Tokimitsu stares at each of his teammates, that are seeming to emit auras around them, in wonder and awe. "Wow, really? They're so cool..."

Aryu struts over to Isagi, long limbs giving him easy access to stride over the field with stylish movements, "Yeah, they formed a perfect triangle... how fabulously glam!" He places his large hand atop Isagi's head and ruffles his hair, "Add me in, and we'll make it a stylish square!"

Tokimitsu places his hands on Isagi's shoulders, head leaning down so he can look at the jet-black-haired boy, "I—I want in too! We can make it a... pentagon?"

Komi places her hand over her mouth and looks at you with squinted eyes, "Like... the Blue Lock logo, huh?" You realise what she means, and you also smile, teeth appearing behind your lips when you speak.

"I don't think there's a seven-sided shape."

Meanwhile, the World 5 team still look as bored as ever, you note, especially Blake. He places his hands on his hips and he looks rather annoyed as he speaks, "With an opponent that's a developing country when it comes to football, I thought it'd be like taking candy from a baby. But it looks like we're actually gonna have to try a little."

Silva laughs loudly, voice bouncing off the walls of the room, "It's all good as long as we don't lose, right?" But from how he says it, it doesn't sound like he'd ever even consider losing against your team. That is something you note with a frown.

"Yeah," the freckled baby, Cabasoz agrees with the man beside him, head tilted back. "Our contract says we get nothing if we lose."

"Also, don't forget we get ten grand per goal as a bonus. Let's get this started," Luna holds up the ball, then places it down at the centre-point of the field. Loki jumps up, stretching his neck before running forward as soon as the whistle blares.

Immediately, Loki is met face-to-face with Isagi once again, and this time, Isagi looks incredibly determined to stop the French player. Loki's eyes flit around Isagi, "Um... is this okay? At this distance, you've got nothing except weak spots," and within seconds, Loki bolts past Isagi without so much as a glance back.

Komi looks positively taken aback by Loki's explosive acceleration, and he almost seems to leave a trail of smoke from where his foot meets the ground in a split second. You almost miss him moving when you blink, and even though you still continue to watch his official matches, it still jars you how he is able to move so quickly—a feat you have previously only seen in one such as Chigiri.

Isagi wasn't even given a chance to react—but Rin is. Rin comes forward towards Loki, with a small quip that his route is far too obvious, and Loki spares him a compliment and a charming smile, before taking off even faster than before, leaving Rin in his dust when he scores a jaw-dropping point. 

"It's been... 3 minutes since the restart, and he scored a point." Komi pushes her glasses up higher on her nose bridge with shaky fingers, eyes wide as she stares at Loki. "I thought it was strange that he plays for France's national team so young... but seeing this makes it make so much sense. That speed is..."

"Godly," you finish, crossing one leg over the other, and Komi nods at you with an expression of admiration, fists balled up next to her face.

"Right, that's it."

Cabasoz pouts and puffs his cheeks out, making him look even more like a child than he does already, "Come on Loki, don't do it all yourself."

Silva gives Loki a friendly glare, grinning all the same, "Yeah, pass it next time, you jerk!"

Loki stumbles a little as he recovers his balance from his wicked shot, peering over his shoulder at his teammates with a cheeky smile and responding to their jeers, he says, "Okay. I've had enough, anyway. Let's finish this up and hit the showers."

note: i love him so much guys its not even funny. i. cant.function. help

Tokimitsu whimpers as he stares at the fallen ball inside the goal, eyes wide and lips trembling as he practically gives up with just his words, while Bachira makes a sly remark about Chigiri having competition.

After the restart, Rin receives the ball from Bachira with ease but is quickly met face-to-face with Loki. Even somebody like Rin knows that going in a one-on-one with Loki is a bad idea, so he takes a moment to decide his next play—but all somebody like Leonardo Luna needs, is a moment. He swoops up the ball from under Rin's foot before you can even really process what's going on, making a sly insult towards Rin's lack of experience as he does.

Luna calls out to Cabasoz, "Take it away, baby!" And the baby in question receives his pass with ease, even with Bachira and Isagi running straight at him. His honey eyes flitter around, and in less than a second, he slams his foot into the ball and sends it flying forward, its course directed a little bit away from the goal, so it's easily accessible by Silva.

Aryu remarks that he's going to catch it, but just as he jumps up, he's literally thrown out of the way by Silva, who also jumps up with a header. Even if Aryu is unnaturally tall, he can't begin to compare with Silva's huge physique... what a terrible match-up. Aryu's whole thing is how stick-like and slender he is, after all.

The ball lands near Tokimitsu and Blake—and without really giving it much thought, you think that Tokimitsu will be able to snatch the ball from his anxiety-fits and unnatural physique. But low and behold, Blake comes charging in and quite literally slams into Tokimitsu so hard that he tumbles to the ground, and to rub salt into the wound, looks down at him with disdain and says, "I've got no interest in male bodies."

Your jaw positively drops at that, looking at the professional player make another goal without so much as a hitch, and you think that if it had been anyone other than Tokimitsu, they would've surely broken a rib. This was an even worse match-up... Of course, a high schooler couldn't out-muscle a whole adult... What was Ego even thinking?

note: rest in piece nishioka, aomori's messi. another victim taken by a homophobic white British guy.

The next few goals go by in quite literally, less than ten minutes. Not to sound brash, but your team got absolutely smoked by these older professionals, and it was so glaringly obvious that they were barely even trying, that they didn't even crack a single sweat once. 

Luna, for one, even teased Rin about being a loose guy after he nutmegged him, something that shocked you so deeply you sat in silence for a good three minutes after—only being brought back to the world by the loud ringing of the last whistle, indicating the end of the game. The abrupt, sudden end of a game that lasted a good ten minutes at most.

But really, what would you have expected with a game against professional, adult players? It seemed Komi understood this fact more than you because she stood up with an unaffected face and gathered her (and your) things, already up and ready to leave.

You follow after her in silence, onto the field where the World 5 are already walking out the door, and with one last, charming grin Loki spares you, you meet his eyes. Then, he turns around with a small wave, before walking away, the door closing behind him. Your team pants, and are slumped on the ground, exhausted from playing against players like that. 

They all looked tired and defeated, but Rin—Rin looked angry. Your eyes linger a little longer than they should have, you guess because when he removes his hand from his face, he gives you such a heated stare that it burns into your retinas and you have to physically force your head to the other side.

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note: i don't know if i said this before, but i really love the second blue lock opening (judgement). it's such a vibe honestly. i know people get flamed for doing this, but i usually skip anime openings because i just want to watch the show, but i actually watch the blue lock op every time, lol. the first opening is good too, but judgement goes so hard.

the only thing i don't like about it is the aiku smile isagi does at the end lol. that smile only suits aiku. speaking of aiku, i can't wait until the u-20 arc gets animated. i really hope since blue lock has gained so much popularity that the animating team doesn't just use still-frames in the majority of shots.

a question i have for you guys is, who are you most excited to see animated in the u-20 arc? for me, it has to be either shidou (because i want to see how they tackle THAT exploding scene) and aiku, because I'm curious on what his voice will sound like. and sendou, fav girlfailure, because i want to finally see the author let him marry his Hollywood actress. and obviously, my fav yukimiya.

actually, i'm pretty excited to see most of them animated. i cannot wait for the aiku edits. there will be thousands and ill eat them all up. you will not be hearing from me when the anime comes out I'll literally stay up as long as it takes. yukki nation forever!!! you best believe he will be getting a ridiculous amount of scenes with the reader. no what do you mean i'm not choosing favourites. who would do that aha

i wish the other u-20 players were relevant (the only guys i remember other than sendou and aiku is the tatted up buddha, because how unique his design is, and neru, because he is cute. and that niou guy bc he called aiku his owner he's so real 4 that) but you win some you lose some. at least aiku and sendou are cool.