35. THE U-20, NOW!

note: i love komi. you and her are literally so beabadoobee coded.

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BACHIRA

sticks his tongue out, peeking out the corner of his lips as he scribbles down, in his almost illegibly messy writing, English words. A homework task—something you thought you'd never have to see again, was given to you all by Ego, to learn at least the basics of English. Luckily for you, your penpal past seemed to come in handy at this time.

"Sunday... Then Maunday... Tuwessday... Next up..." He pauses, squinting down at the book in front of him, golden eyes focused on the unfamiliar words, "Weh... wed... wed-ness-day, right?"

He looks over to Rin, who was sitting cross-legged across from Bachira with a vein popping out of his forehead—a dramatic reaction, considering they were just learning English, "It's Wednesday, idiot. I swear, how the hell did you get into high school? The only one you got right was Sunday." Bachira lets out a sound of pleasant surprise as he writes down Rin's words.

You give Rin a deadpan look, perched right beside him on the cool, fabric couch. "Why are you so rude?" You ignore Rin's heated glare, in favour of looking over at Tokimitsu, who meekly calls out your name with his eyes focused on the book in front of him.

"U—Uh... when westerners introduce themselves, is... is it true they'll say I'm instead of My name is?" He fiddles with the pages and refuses to even look at you as he (almost shamefully) asks you a question. You give him a curt nod and reply to answer him, and for a second, you're sure you killed the guy, from how hard he tumbled backwards.

"Hey, Rin," Aryu leans over you, and with his long, lanky build it's easy for him to do so without falling on you. He looks to Rin with his tongue sticking out, "Do I pronounce my th's correctly? Tss. To make it sound right, you have to lightly bite your tongue."

You look over with tired eyes where Komi and Isagi sit together, both silent and peaceful with earplugs in their ears. Komi is writing something down and mouthing the English words without a sound. You almost wished you could join them, but moving with Aryu hanging over you is almost impossible.

"We only have you two! Nobody else knows this! Help us out, please!" Tokimitsu places his hands over his cheeks while looking over at Rin, who, at this point, seemed positively pissed off. You aren't too surprised at that, because he does seem like the type of guy who dislikes being bothered. Or talked to. Or stared at. Or talked about. Or anything that has to do with him.

"Thh. Tuss. Tess." Aryu winces at the last attempt, cradling his tongue gently.

Rin leans forward, crouched over with his hands cradling his head, "I'm not your damn tutor... figure it out yourself...!"

Bachira giggles, face bright as he winds his arm back and throws a paper aeroplane he had carelessly made, "I got it... It's Fly-day!" The pointed tip of the paper ends up hitting Rin square in the head, seeming to be the straw that broke the camel's back.

Rin lunges forward, only being held back by the immovable Tokimitsu and his nervous expression. Rin looks so pissed right now that you think he might burst a blood vessel, so you choose to sit there quietly with your thoughts focusing on anything but this moment.

I'm kind of hungry. I asked for a casserole yesterday, but I don't know why. They don't even taste that good. I'm just tired of having the same thing over and over. I should try and branch out to new tastes. How about a soup with—

An unfamiliar jingle plays in your ears, and even when Rin throwing a hard bottle at the wall didn't break your trance, this did. Suddenly, the room goes silent when the announcer talks, "Your attention, please. The second selection has now concluded. All remaining players advance to the third selection. All players and others must proceed to the central joint room immediately."

Tokimitsu blinked froggishly, wide green eyes staring incredulously at where the voice came from, "It's... over with?" 

You can barely understand what Aryu is saying, because his tongue still lolls out of his mouth, but he seems to say, Onto the next challenge.

Bachira suddenly latches onto your side, arms wrapping soundly around one of yours', with a wide smile, "I was getting tired of studying. Let's go!"

You don't react at all when he tugs you up, bangs still tied up over his head in a pineapple-looking style. You reach your hand up and poke at his bangs, "That looks ridiculous."

He leans his head down and brushes the flat tip of his tied-up bangs against your cheeks like a paintbrush, giggling when he feels you swat his hair away from your face, "Ew—Bachira, yuck!"

With a wide grin and flushed cheeks, Bachira looks at you like you're the only person in this room, and like he hadn't just painted your face gold with his bright yellow bangs. You don't see this look which you turn your head around and brush your cheek off.

The way you frown with your nose scrunched up, Bachira has always been fond of it.

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"A total of thirty-five athletes and six managers from seven teams have advanced to the third selection. You will enter in the order you passed."

You now sport your usual navy-blue tracksuit and white undershirt, now unable to nervously fiddle with anything since you do not need your bag to carry. Your hands felt strangely empty with the absence of your beloved cooler bag, so you flexed your fingers in and out to keep them occupied.

Komi walks beside you, an unreadable expression on her face. You glance over to her, only to meet her dark eyes, and immediately look away, eyes trained to the steel you walk on. She glances down behind the lens of her slim glasses, then, without warning, grabs ahold of your hand and squeezes.

You can feel her long nails dig into your skin, but you don't pay it any mind, and now, you only appreciate the gesture that she is offering you. You squeeze her hand just as tight, and for a second, you wonder how she manages to keep her hands so soft.

"Attention players, will the first team to pass the selection please enter."

You're unsure whether you should strike a cool pose or not—since there's nobody really in the room—so you opt to just grip Komi's hand tighter. You and your team all walk into the room, and Tokimitsu is fiddling with his collar and tugging at his sleeves before you have a chance to say anything.

"So... um, is anybody else nervous? I mean... who do you think the other players will be?!" He looks around the room with wide eyes, and you can see him bite down on the inside of his cheek. Aryu flips his long hair over his shoulder, flowing gently in the wind behind him.

"No idea. But whoever they are, they won't be weak." 

You find yourself mentally agreeing with Aryu. We had to go through so much to get to this point... There's no way anybody made it this far on a whim.

The thought eases your nerves slightly when the announcer rings out for the second team to pass to enter. It takes the door far too long to open, teasingly slowly, and the second team steps forward. Your eyes widen, then shrink back to their regular size in relief at the familiar faces that come into view.

Nagi, Barou, Chigiri, Zantetsu, and an unfamiliar boy with sullen eyes and dark, curly hair. Nagi's eyes look as blank as always, an unchanging fact that about him brings you some sort of relief, as he speaks, "Hey."

Barou snarls, face as contorted with anger as always, "Told you we'd be back, donkey."

Chigiri grins, a coy smirk spreading across his lips as he walks into the room, and his eyes meet with yours before they flutter closed, "Feels like it's been a million years."

Bachira waves his arm around in the air, eyes sparkly and lips curled up. In this way, you can tell he's just as excited to see them as you are, "What's up guys?! Zantetsu's here!"

When Bachira runs over, you take it as your cue to follow, slipping your hand away from Komi and rushing over, fists balled beside your thighs as you look up—finding yourself in front of Barou. "Hey, you made it."

He snorts, tilting his head back with his natural scowl, red eyes bearing down at you, "And you thought I wouldn't? You stupid manager."

With his words, you smile at the familiarity.

After so long of having to adjust to new and strange people, like Rin, Aryu, and even Komi, it felt nice to stand right back with these people.

Nagi cocks his head to the side when he walks up to Isagi, hand on his hip and in an exasperated tone as he talks, "What's with your expression, Isagi? Looks like you didn't expect us to make it through."

"N—No, it's not like that at all—!!" Isagi's words don't seem to register with them, because before he's even finished defending himself, Barou grabs him by the back of his shirt with a vein bulging out of his forehead.

"This bastard... are you lookin' down on us?! Cause if you are..." The silent threat Barou insinuates is enough to make Isagi flail around in his unmoving grasp, hands shaking as he raises them in refutation.

"No!"

Chigiri doesn't react to Isagi's helpless situation, folding his arms over his chest and giving Isagi a deadpan look, one brow raised, "You really do see us as the supporting cast."

"Th—That's not true! I'm happy you made it this far!"

You remove Isagi's shirt from Barou's grasp with a swift motion, patting down the back of his (now slightly bruised up) neck, "Okay, that's enough. I think we can all agree that we're all happy to see each other, right?"

Chigiri steps forward and places a hand on your shoulder, a smirk curled up on his lips, "You're the same as always, too. Was kinda weird without you there, as my manager."

Nagi slings his arm around your shoulder, promptly knocking Chigiri's hand off and ignoring the hard stare he receives from the redhead, black-hole eyes staring into yours with so much as a blink, "You didn't forget about me, right? I'm still waiting for you to do our nightly routine."

You hiss through your teeth at his choice of words, but still, a smile remains on your face, and this time, you believe that it's real, "Sure, you spoiled brat." You rub the top of his head and he bends down so you don't have to get on the tips of your toes. His cheeks grow pink, and not for a second do his eyes leave you.

The only thing that breaks the atmosphere of this moment is the noise of the announcer informing the entry of the next passing team, and it takes no longer than a few seconds for them to all walk through the sliding door. Not a single familiar face, you note, while inspecting them.

A boy with a light green bob cut, one with dark spiked-up hair and a beauty mark under his eye, another guy with an abnormally long tongue, another boy with a dark green streak between his eyes, and one more... woah.

Your train of thought becomes mush when you see the shining light that emits from the last man on the third passing team, a lean, tall figure, perfectly styled, shiny dark brown hair swept to the side, and circular framed glasses that cover his glimmering orange eyes. His face looked so smooth and symmetrical and... 

You have to mentally halt yourself from finishing that sentence, lips pressed tightly together when you realise that you're staring, and you're staring hard. You look away before you have a chance to make eye contact with the admittedly handsome boy, so handsome in fact, it almost made you lose your cool. 

note: no guys, I'm not playing favourites why would you think that ahaha. he is a model so ofc he's hot.... yukimiya kiss me pls

Bachira makes an offhanded comment about never seeing any of them before, but you almost don't hear it—drowned out by your embarrassed thoughts. Komi peers over your shoulder, blinking froggishly at the man you were staring at, "He's cute," she whispers.

You swallow and cover your mouth with your hand, "Right?" You catch a glimpse of what looks like to be their manager—a girl from before, with long wavy green hair, but you can barely see her from where you stand.

The next team is called in to enter, and it's another group of people you don't know. A boy with bright orange eyeshadow and highlights to match, another tan boy with blonde hair, one with paper-like looking hair, another with a scarily blank expression, and then the last one, with a headband and cute features.

Tokimitsu shrieks, holding his face behind his large hands, "AAAAhhh! They all look strong!"

"Now presenting the fifth team to pass, would you please enter?"

Your attention is drawn to the slow-opening doors once more, and there stands... "Niko?" You say aloud, something he doesn't acknowledge or even react to. His team consisted of that one tall player, a boy with feminine features and bright cyan hair, another with platinum locks, their own manager, that chubby girl with royally blue hair, and...

You squint, counting each of them individually once more. That's only four...?  It's like your thoughts get answered when the bright white screens pop up with a photo of that one guy, Aomori's Messi. "Hajime Nishioka is the team's fifth. Unfortunately, he was injured during the World 5 game and is currently recuperating."

The announcer booms out, and you find yourself inspecting his photo closely. For somebody with such a grand nickname, I've never really seen him do anything.

What irony.

So far, almost nobody from Team Z has made it through. The thought, undeniably, makes you feel a little queasy—just when you thought you had gotten over it. It seemed the care for them still lingered, as much as you pushed it down.

The next team slowly enters the room—in a uniquely disorderly manner. When the doors are about halfway open, you can hear screaming and curses from a voice you could recognise a mile away, from how much you had it scream into your ear, "Raichi!"

Three people fall out, and low and behold, you were right. Raichi is trapped underneath Gagamaru and one of the Wanima, with a comfortably irked expression and foaming at the mouth, "Moron! What did I say!? Me first!"

With his hand pushing down Raichi's head into a submission hold, Gagamaru looks plainly uninterested as always, bug eyes bearing down at him, "You screwed up our entrance."

The Wanima groans with his very expressive face, pushing back on Gagamaru's arm with a clenched jaw. The two other players in their team, a guy with a big fro and another with dark skin watch the sight in front of them blankly.

The sight that would usually make you slap your palm against your forehead and groan, makes a smile form on your lips—this familiarity, that you haven't felt in a while now... You missed it. You snort, quiet laughter coming from your lips, something that draws attention to yourself.

Gagamaru looks up at you, still pushing down Raichi's head (and who also is still screaming for him to let go), big bug eyes beading into your soul, "Hi, [name]. I haven't seen you in a long time."

You raise your hand and give him a small wave with a smile, "Hi, Gagamaru. It's been a minute."

But... it's been a lot more than one minute... Zantetsu blinks at you with parted lips, pushing up his glasses. 

Bachira rests his hands behind his head and giggles, eyes closing in contentment, "Aha! They haven't changed one bit."

"Woah, hey, it's like a reunion in here." Gagamaru looks around in awe—something you can only pick up on by the tone of his voice. A perk of being such an attentive manager.

Raichi and Wanima both curse out the jungle boy—but he doesn't listen, per usual. You look to the last door, the last unopened door, and squint your eyes. Still, one team left, you think, so there is still a chance...

After what felt like centuries, the announcer called out for the door to open, and for the final team to enter the room. You tap your finger against your thigh nervously, lips pursed and stomach twisting—you were sure you were going to throw up.

The door slides open painstakingly slowly, and the first thing you see... "Buddha be praised!" Igaguri calls out, arms extended and a cocky smirk on his face.

You deadpan at the sight of him, and behind him, there stands his teammates. You search through them—a boy with pink hair and wonky teeth, another with neon blue curls, and there is... Reo. You don't realise how your eyes soften when you see Reo's distraught expression, fiddling with his hair.

Nagi's eyes widen, and his voice is a low whisper when he speaks, "Reo... you're here."

You can't see the last person standing in the shadows—but you still have hope. Kunigami... You think back to all those times he included you, even back when you distanced yourself, even when nobody else did—he smiled at you. If it all ends now... I'll never forgive you.

And for a second—you really believed it was him. You're a huge idiot, [name].

A man steps through the door, tan skin and an evil grin that seems to taunt you, blonde hair with pink tips spiked up, and bright pink eyes glaring into your soul, "Looks like that's it," he says with a smirk, in a mocking, sing-song voice.

And the door closes behind him, leaving a shadow in his wake. With that shadow, his eyes almost seemed to glow. You stare at him in disbelief, eyes narrowed and brows pointed down... He looks like... a demon.

"Where is he...? Kunigami...?" Isagi mumbles, and you can see from the corner of your eye that he looks just as unpleasantly surprised as you do.

"That is everyone who has advanced to the third selection."

"Hey, Reo... what happened to Kunigami...? Well?!" Isagi asks the violet-haired boy—who looks away, almost shamefully.

"We lost again. I got chosen and he didn't." His purple eyes are focused on a spot on the floor, and you don't think you've ever seen him look like this. Reo looks like he has a lot on his mind, and something tells you it's not just about Kunigami. "The guy didn't have what it takes to become the best striker in the world, that's all there is to it." But still, he shuts his eyes and turns his head away to not see the look on Isagi's face.

Isagi snarls—jaw clenched harshly and eyes wide with rage, "Liar. That's not true! Kunigami would never let it end like this—!!!"

With an evil-looking face, the tan boy from before strolls right up to Isagi with the same taunting expression, back hunched so he can be at eye-level with the striker, "Yet he's not here. Oh, and I'm the one who sent him down to hell, by the way. Sure, even I'll admit, he had a great physique, and a pure heart too. The dude was obsessed with a fair game. Here's the thing—whenever you're on the field, nobody gives two shits whether or not you're a decent guy."

He stands up straight, taking a few steps closer, "If you don't live for the explosive flashes and the intense play, you're trash. You know the most pathetic thing about that hero? The slime was so beneath me, after beating him, it didn't even help me level up."

"Shut the hell up." Isagi seethes, shooting the guy a death glare. Isagi's body was rigid, clearly threatened, but he still kept talking, "You don't know a thing about Kunigami—"

You swallow thickly at his unnaturally calm tone, shoulder tense and body taught. This guy... is so strange. He's acting too calm—

Male Bleach-head cuts off Isagi swiftly with a wide smirk, "I don't give a shit about his story or yours. I just know that it ends here!"

It happens all too suddenly, the way the man jumps up—Isagi doesn't even have time to react when a leg gets swung in his head's direction—but somebody else does. Chigiri runs over and tugs Isagi down moments before a foot would've collided with his skull.

You rush over as well and crouch down beside Isagi, looking up at the tan boy with a scrunched-up nose—clearly disgusted expression. Chigiri glowers, arm wrapped around Isagi's shoulders, "He's pissing me off. Anybody else?"

You spit out at him, hand hovering in front of Isagi's chest protectively, "What's your problem?"

Bachira walks up, rolling his arms back and stretching out his knuckles, "Right there with you. What's your issue? We can take this outside if you'd like," clearly ready to fight, Bachira rolls his head back, crackling his neck. "Mister I spent too long in the tanning bed. You're the real slime."

The tanning bed man in question doesn't seem to take any offence to Bachira's words, only grinning and saying, "So wrong. This is all sun."

You don't think you've ever appreciated Ego's presence more than this moment, his voice booming out across the room and his face showing up on the wide screen, "That's enough, diamonds in the rough. It'd be a shame to kick you out so soon. Anyway, you don't have time to worry about anyone who couldn't make it this far. Don't forget, your own soccer careers might suddenly go up in smoke, and in a second, you could be seen as worthless trash, along with Blue Lock itself, for that matter."

His words make you scrunch your brows and try to decipher what he means, What? What does that mean?

"But before we get into that, good work. The World 5 soundly beat you all, a truly invaluable experience, I'm sure. I'll share the purpose of that match later, for now, though, let's just say a lot has happened, and there's been a change of plans. The big leagues behind Japanese soccer have convinced themselves that Blue Lock poses a threat and must be shut down, so, naturally, I've decided they need to be challenged. Pay attention."

A picture of the five strata of Blue Lock pops up on the screen, digital noises filling your ears, "The next selection takes place three weeks from now, and the future of Blue Lock is riding on it. A special match featuring Japan's under 20 team, who will be going head-to-head with the Blue Lock 11."

Your eyes widen, and your jaw positively drops to the floor. From your previous crouching position, you fall back on your ass, and you can't even feel the pain from your pure shock. What the hell? Is he actually...

Your breathing picks up, and you whisper, "He's lost it. I knew it."

Ego pushes up the lens of his glasses, a shadow casting over his nose, "But it gets even better because if you do win the match, we can successfully hijack Japan's u-20 team. Think—you're high school athletes who happen to all be forwards—as soon as they heard my proposal, they snorted and readily agreed. Their real motive is to can the Blue Lock project and use this showdown for exposure while raking in the money. However, if we lose, we'll be a laughing stock. We'll go down in history! As a failed attempt to reinvent Japanese soccer. Based on what you've heard, how do you feel? Frustrated at being taken so lightly? Burning with fury? Ready to shock them back into reality? What I'm about to tell you, I'll say calmly and pragmatically."

Ego points two fingers to the side of his head like a gun, "You are ready. To overthrow Japanese soccer itself. That being said, they're also gonna go all out for the win, and so they've made a little change of their own. Adding one more player to their team—Sae Itoshi."

Your eyes widen at the sight of the Japanese soccer superstar, and without thinking, you turn your head towards Rin. Seeing the look on his face at this moment—it's hard to decipher whether he's excited or angry about the sight of his older brother.

"Now, it's time to put everything on the line! All 35 of you have discovered your egos, mastered your weapons, created chemical reactions, and seen what the world's top players can do! Landing a spot on Japan's u-20 team—that's no longer a dream! It's a reality you can reach out a grab! You're ready, my diamonds in the rough—together, we are ushering in a new era, here at Blue Lock."

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note: finished with the anime! time to move on to the manga, aha. i probably won;t be describing the characters in as much detail, because it's hard to bring pictures to life, compared to when they're moving and speaking. so excited for u-20, i have lots of plans. my wasian king aiku is here 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️ (im wasian too so we're basically soulmates)