58. BACK, ONE MORE TIME

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"Hup!" Chigiri rolls the bowling ball down the aisle with a strangely elegant form, knocking down a few bowling pins and evening out the scores between you all and the U-20.

"Hell yeah! Nice, princess!" Karasu cheers, ridding himself of that awful trench coat (now, you're sure your theory of him being made out of three mice stacked upon each other has been disproven).

Tokimitsu jumps up in joy, "It's neck and neck!"

"It'll come down to both team's last throw!" Reo announces, and you feel the anticipation creeping through your veins. 

One last try and everything will be over...! It's almost as exciting as a soccer match but without the lingering fear of getting fired if you're mediocre.

Your grin nearly splits your face in two. You don't think you've ever felt so happy. You can tell the managers beside you feel the same if their expressions are anything to go by.

"I'm counting on you, Darai!" You hear Niou shout in his signature angry voice. Some other player tells him to muster his focus, so he complies.

Under his breath, you can hear him mutter something about Buddha and granting him power—the face Jenny makes is one when you're in the middle of a lecture from your teacher and your friend tells you a funny joke, so you have to hold in your laugh as if your life depends on it.

"El Golazo!" The tatted Buddha shouts before rolling the bowling ball and getting a perfect strike. His teammates cheer in joy at the strike, while the guys on your side as growing nervous. Nobody wants to pay for dinner, after all.

They'd just make Reo treat them all, anyway.

For the last thrower on your side... it happens to be—

"You're kidding me," Himara deadpans and pushes herself off the railing she was previously leaning on. "Nope, I'm gone. See ya."

—it happens to be Nagi Seishiro. You can't say you blame Himara for her lack of faith in the man. He's practically half asleep from where he's standing—hunched over like he's homeless and he's not even holding the damned ball right.

Still, Bachira, Isagi, and Merodi all cheer him on as if he'll actually put in any effort if they do—he doesn't, but you can't say you didn't appreciate the charm—and he even trips and falls flat on the face when rolling the ball.

You see out of the corner of your eye that Komi slaps the heel of her palm onto her forehead—but you can't pull your eyes away from where the bowling ball rolls.

With a ridiculously lucky shot—the bowling ball knocks down all the pins and earns your entire team a strike. Your jaw positively drops and Nagi looks up from where he's half-laying on the ground, "Hmwhaaa???"

The room is suddenly filled with cheers as you and the U-20 tie, and nobody ends up buying anybody's dinner after all. 

You let out a deep sigh of relief.

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You hear whispers surrounding you. Apparently, the loud jeers of your "teammates" had attracted attention—something you expected, but you didn't foresee the attention to be positive and female (towards them, anyway).

"No way, is it really them?!"

"It is the players from the U-20 team!"

"Oh, that's their manager! They sure gave her a lot of camera time!"

"Who doesn't want to see eye candy during a boring soccer match?"

"I think their backup one is so much cuter, though."

"Oh my gosh, he's so handsome!"

"Should I try and get an autograph?"

"The manager girls are even prettier up close!"

Suddenly, a crowd of (mostly) girls starts to surround your bowling alley, and suddenly, it's like girls have trampled over you. You're swerving left and right to try and dodge them—you see Komi and Kyouka aren't faring too well in this aspect, and you think Merodi is getting hit on by a short blonde girl.

One pushes past you to make her way towards Otoya—you stumble, face contorted in complete shock.

Until, you're safely caught in the arms of another. You look up, meeting vibrant purple eyes and a kind smile.

"Reo." You breathe out, possibly in relief, as you catch yourself and stand upright. He lets go of you when he's sure you're not going to tumble down, and he looks down at you, still smiling. "Thanks."

He sends you a charming grin, but you can't help but think back to when he had first met you, and the sneer that accompanied his face. You wonder—when had this all changed?

When had Reo Mikage changed?

That was exceedingly easy to answer.

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Reo Mikage is a plethora of things—mentally ill, possibly, possessive of his treasures, totally, but being in love with you is one thing he had never accounted for. You never talked much. Really, you two never got along. Maybe it was due to your unfortunate first impression of him, or maybe his obsession over Nagi—Reo could never tell.

That was a new feeling—being disliked by somebody who had nothing to do with his soccer career, but it wasn't like it affected him, in fact, he had never learnt your name.

But one thing was for sure, he fell, and he fell hard, just like always. One thing Reo has never learned is how to fall in love. When he falls, he plummets into a deep, endless cavern of bursting thoughts and feelings that he could never once put into words. He could never tell Nagi what he wanted to say, so why should he tell you now?

The day you looked down on his pathetically miserable self and told him to get it together, he felt upset. Who are you to talk to him like that? You aren't Nagi, you aren't his parents, you sure aren't all he's ever known. You're merely an outsider in the heir's perfect world, and he surely did not plan to make you the centre of it.

He thought about your words, even when Kunigami walked out the door. When he fruitlessly tried to dribble his way around the World 5 professionals, when Shidou acted ridiculously feral and beat up a boy across the room—all Reo thought about was your words. Night and day, each minute before he drifted to sleep, they circled his brain like a taunting melody.

He has never felt such a deep connection to advice before—not that coming from his school friends or his parents, and Nagi never gave Reo advice (not that the purple-haired boy would take it, anyway). Your words rang deep within his mind and heart and he began thinking back on everything. Reo already knew he was acting out of line. All the things he wanted to tell Nagi, he didn't because he was so afraid of losing the one thing, the one person, he cared about so dearly.

But maybe Reo had never seen the second person, standing right there over him with furrowed brows, and such a pretty face that he had never seemed to notice nor properly appreciate before. You stood with so much certainty in yourself that it almost made it hard to believe you were his age, and your calm, even tone made your words feel like soothing aloe Vera on burning skin.

One simple interaction, and you had him smitten like a damsel in love. What are the chances? Reo Mikage is a fool—but he is a fool for you.

A mind to be on his own... Reo had never really thought about it before. The thought was foreign, he was always surrounded by people, people who liked him and talked to him, but maybe he was always lonely because, in the end, that's all they were. Just people, not anything important. Nobody who truly knew Reo Mikage—just brainless white noise to occupy his deteriorating thoughts.

He remembered the first time he had seen Nagi, and then the first time he had seen you. He wasn't sure when he had started subconsciously associating you with Nagi, maybe it was the burning image of you crashing into the genius' arms, or you rubbing your hands on his snow-white head with a sense of deja vu. Whatever the reason was, it doesn't matter.

Reo Mikage, from the moment he saw you, dismissed you as another insignificant bug. A girl manager—Team Z's very own. Still, despite this, you proved yourself to be such a fiery person that burned so bright it threatened to scald Reo Mikage.

The nagging feeling that thought gave him made him feel strange, so at first, he tried to ignore it. But after his game against you and your team, losing, hearing your words, and getting picked by Shidou—with suddenly so much alone time on his hands, he had no choice but to think, and eventually, his thoughts led here.

You touched his hand so softly that day, with such a gentle smile he was sure you couldn't possibly be human. He had never received such a smile like that from anybody before.

It made him feel a way that made his cheeks feel hot and his stomach twist, but in such a different way than before. It wasn't from an angsty feeling of sorrow after being left alone, victim to his thoughts, but rather a light, airy feeling like he was standing upon a cloud. In such an instance, does this happen, so many years ago, Reo had planned it out. What would he do if he happened to fall in love? Well, his answer was...

That he wouldn't, he had no desire for love, even as a 15-year-old, when he first gave it thought. Reo planned out everything with perfect precision, mostly for his own benefit. Reo was ready, for almost everything.

Reo Mikage did not plan to fall in love with you, but god, you made it feel so easy.

And now, here he was, standing here looking all stupid in a bowling alley (though, Karasu or something would reply, but don't you always?) and feeling like this was his first time ever being looked at by a girl.

You made Reo feel all sorts of new, strange emotions that he did not plan to feel, and strangely, he did not seem to mind that. Reo hates change and everything about it...

But maybe, this wouldn't be too bad, not when he's looking at you and smiling with such a bright grin. Not when you're standing right there, beside him where it felt so natural. If such a fate really does exist within this world, then maybe Nagi leaving him, Isagi defeating him, or even meeting a snow-haired boy on the staircase was fate.

And maybe, just maybe, this was fate too.

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Your phone buzzes. With a curious glance over your shoulder, Karasu pokes at it. "Yer phone is freakin' out. Loverboy textin' ya?"

By loveboy, you're sure he means Isagi, who had left not too long ago. Jenny also left when he did, saying she needed to meet up with her boyfriend, and Himara decided she had about enough of you all and needed to quote, recharge her social battery before she punched Merodi in the face. You decided it would be best to let her go without complaint.

Still, here you are now—still with your group of friends, walking through a large crowd and you hadn't even noticed your phone vibrating in your pocket until the crow had pointed it out. You roll your eyes, slipping your hand around your phone and tugging it out of your pants, "It's probably just Shidou sending weird crap to me again—"

You were right. You see a notification from him, and make the mistake of clicking on it in everybody's presence.

GROUP CHAT - [name]ryusae

saetoshi
Why is this group named [name]ryusae?

ryuryuchan
because i want to be in the middle of you two 🥺

saetoshi
...

ryuryuchan
no pls dont be mad sae i love you more

[name]pookie
oh

ryuryuchan
WAIT NO [NAME] I LOVE YOU MORE I SWEAR
UR SO HOT I WANT TO SUCK YOUR TITSFSGSHSB

saetoshi
Gross.

[name]pookie
right?

saetoshi
How have you been, [name]?

[name]pookie
oh, I've been doing good. We've got a break. How are you?

saetoshi
I've been fine. I'm just preparing to go back to Spain.

[name]pookie
that sounds fun. Do you travel a lot?

saetoshi
Not really. I'm just going to my team. The only reason I stayed in Japan was for this game.

[name]pookie
i heard spain has nice sights. I'd like to go one day.

saetoshi
I wouldn't mind taking you. You make nice company.

[name]pookie
that's kind of you to say. You're nice to talk to as well.

ryuryuchan
omg sorry i fell down the balcony and my neighbour screamed bc i was naked LMAOSOAO
wtf why r u guys so dry omg
ur acting like ur on an awkward first date

saetoshi
You just don't care for social etiquette.

ryuryuchan
you got that right LOL
anyways guys lets have a threesome

saetoshi
Yeah, no.

ryuryuchan
🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
all i want is u two snadwichhing me is that too much to ask....

[name]pookie
i'm done here

ryuryuchan
WAIT NO PLEASE
u two r too fine to be acting like this...
PLEASE

saetoshi
You're so brass.

ryuryuchan
I literally jerked off to u yesterday and sent u a recording 

saetoshi
Bye

ryuryuchan
DONT FEEL LEFT OUT [NAME] ILL SEND U ONE TOMMROOW I LOVE U !!!
I WOULD KILL A MAN FOR YOU

You close the chat with a blank expression. You're sure Karasu is staring at the screen in the same manner. Your phone suddenly buzzes again, and you sigh inwardly (at the prospect of it being Shidou's eventual recording, more than anything) before opening it.

You blink at the notification. From... 

"Tereri Anri?" Otoya peeks his head over your own, brows furrowed as he stares at your screen with confusion. "That hot babe that's always with Ego?"

You ignore Otoya's comment and press on the notification. By now, your entire group would have stopped, and they're all either looking over at your device or checking their own in fascination.

BLUE LOCK PROJECT : NOTE OF RESTART OF ACTIVITIES

Your face immediately brightens. "Blue Lock is back...!"

Merodi cheers loudly, wrapping her arms around your neck and jumping onto your back with pure joy in her voice, "Aw hell yeah! We're back, baby!"

"There it is," Karasu grins.

"Once more, huh?" Chigiri smiles playfully.

"One more time!" Kyouka slaps her palms over her red-tinted cheeks. "This is so exciting...!"

"Back to Blue Lock again," Komi shakes her head and almost looks weary. "I didn't think it would be so soon."

"More soccer!" Bachira cheers, high-fiving Merodi with full force—she repays that force in kind.

You stare at your phone screen and look over the details. Reading through each and every thin line of text detailing what you should do, bring, need, or want within Blue Lock—something in particular catches your eye.

And for the managers—meet within the monitoring rooms. You will await your next instructions there. Please welcome our guests with kindness.

You pause, staring incredulously at the words.

Our... guests?

What does she mean by that?

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note: EEEK EEEK EEEK NEL NEL NEL EEK AHAHSBAJSHUASJBDAJBHD

also iddk if u noticed but uh. reos confession thingy used the word love a lot and that is because drum roll please

reo is a hopeless romantic is this not obvious. have you seen his wet cat of a man. this soggy pathetic cat. cmon. guys.... it is so clear