Blue lock And first stage
Hours after the game, Isagi could be seen crying while thinking that his football career and dream were over.
But then he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned around to find that it was Yami who was looking at him with reassuring eyes.
"Isagi…." Yami started.
"What?" Isagi tried to calm himself and asked Yami.
"Don't worry, you'll get another chance to prove yourself," Yami said mysteriously while smiling and then tried to leave before a shout from Isagi stopped him.
"Hey, stop! What do you mean by that?"
Yami turned around smiled and said: "You'll see."
Later that week Isagi was lying on his bed trying to decipher the meaning of Yami's words.
He had been trying to do that for nearly a week and even asked his parents for help on that task, but they couldn't discover the meaning.
Isagi picked up his phone and messaged Yami begging him to tell him the meaning but Yami turned a blind eye to him.
Isagi was frustrated to the point that he was about to throw his phone until his mom called out to him.
"Isagi come here there is a letter for you!"
Isagi stepped out of his room and took the letter from his mother.
The family gathered around Isagi as he opened the letter and read the contents out loud.
"It's a letter from the Japanese football union!" Isagi said in surprise.
After he finished reading the letter he summarized it out loud.
"So, I've been invited to a special training program to train strikers called 'Blue Lock'"
The family of three discussed between themselves and decided to take the opportunity and sent Isagi there.
Meanwhile, Yami grinned looking at the letter from the JFU (Japanese Football Union).
He had expected to get the invitation to 'Blue Lock' but seeing it in his hands was still a relief.
Yami looked at the time on his phone and thought: 'he should be here anytime now'
And as if on cue the black-haired Isagi stepped out of his house.
"Yo Isagi, hurry up or we'll be late!" Yami urged.
"Yami? What are you doing here? And what do you mean we'll be late?" Isagi questioned confused of what he was talking about.
"The letter, you also got it right?" Yami returned the question with another already knowing the answer.
"Wait, you also got 'that' letter too?"
Yami nodded and the two started walking chatting casually together.
"So that's what you meant that day!" Isagi said in realization.
Yami smiled and nodded.
"But how did you know that I'd get that letter?" Isagi questioned desperately wanting the answer.
"That's a secret." Yami replied mysteriously while chuckling to himself.
Isagi was going to keep asking until Yami pointed out that they had arrived.
Isagi sighed but shrugged in his mind after all knowing how Yami knew that wasn't important at all.
The duo noticed a white-haired boy walking in front of them to the gate.
After taking a closer look Isagi found that it was Kira walking in front of them!
"Yo Kira!" Yami called.
Kira stopped and turned around to see the duo walking near him.
"Oh, it's you two!" Kira said surprise clearly in his voice.
The three chatted as they walked through the door, noticing the huge crowd of boys around the same age as them.
Before they could say anything a thin figure standing on a podium started talking.
"Congratulations you unpolished lump of talent." The man called Ego started.
The place quickly quieted down to hear the man's words.
"You are the three hundred best strikers under the age of eighteen." Ego continued.
"My name is Jinpachi Ego. I was hired to win Japan a world cup trophy."
Murrmers of doubt and disbelief spread between the crowd.
"Do you know that guy?" Kira asked.
Isagi replied negatively while Yami stayed quiet.
"I'll say this boldly. Only one thing is necessary for Japanese football to become the best in the world."
"And that is?!" a random boy shouted loudly.
Ego smiled slightly and replied: "The birth of a revolutionary striker, with all of you here I will conduct an experiment to create the best striker in the world."
"This is the facility created for that purpose."
"Blue Lock"
A hologram appeared showing the blue lock facility.
"Starting today all of you will live here together while undergoing the special training that I've devised. You can't return to your homes, and this marks the end of your previous football career. But I promise you this whoever survives this 'Blue Lock' and outlasts the other two hundred and ninety-nine WILL become the world's best striker."
"That concludes my explanation. Thank you."
Doubt spread through the crowd and Kira said: "Excuse me, I can't consent to your explanation."
"Each of us have our own teams and some of us are preparing for nationals."
"I can't abandon my team to participate."
Then the crowd ignited in roars: "Yeah I've got nationals too!"
"And what's that stuff about living together?!"
"Yeah!"
"Who are you anyways?!"
"Bring out somebody legit!"
'Yeah gathering us like this out of the blue…' Isagi thought.
Ego scratched his head and said: "I see. You're all sick huh."
Then he shouted: "Then piss off."
"If you want to leave I won't stop you."
"Humph, instead of becoming the world's best instead you'd rather become the best high schooler in our country's football backwater?"
"I get depressed when I think of people like you carrying the future of Japanese football. Listen Japanese football's teamwork is the best in the world, you can say it's a gift of our country. But besides that everything else is second-rate."
"Let me ask you, just what is football?"
"A sport in which eleven people combine their power? Wrong. Football is a sport in which you score more points than your opponents."
"Whoever scores the most points is the best. If you want to play as getting along then piss off." (A/N: points = goals)
Most of the crowd including Isagi had one thought in their minds: 'he's crazy!'
The crowd started refuting his words even giving examples of players like Honda or Kagawa.
"Honda? Kagawa? None of them won the world cup, right? Then they're trash I'm talking about the best in the world got it?"
"Take Noel Noa, for example, he beat out Messi and Ronaldo for the Ballon D'or. Do you know what he said? 'Instead of assisting my teammates to win 1-0 it feels better to pull off a hat trick and lose 3-4' you see? Eric Cantona even said: 'I don't care about my team I just want to stand out.' And three-time world cup winner Pele said: 'The world's best forward, midfielder, defender, goalkeeper. Whichever you ask about the answer is still me.' How about it awful right? But these guys are number one! They were all revolutionary strikers! All of them are peerless egotists. What Japanese football lacks is Ego."
"If you're not the world's top egoist…..you can never become the world's best striker."
"Now you lumps of talent…"
'No way…..I don't have any achievements to speak of…. I'm just a nameless striker' Isagi thought
"Let me ask you one final question…..imagine…you're at the last match of the world cup….eighty thousand spectators…you're on that field…..the score is 0-0 the game has gone into overtime….the last play...you've broken through and received a pass from your teammate….it's a one-on-one showdown with the keeper…there's a teammate twenty feet to your right…if you can pass you can almost certainly get a goal…but….you can gamble your nation's hopes and the assurance of victory…to shoot without hesitation…only those….sorts of crazy egotists….may proceed ahead….I'll say this once again….football is a sport that exists for you strikers. Think of everyone besides yourself as supporting actors."
'Why….. Can't I stop shaking?' Isagi thought.
"Discard your common sense. On the field, YOU'RE the leading actor."
'Nobody ever told me any of this'
"Rejoice in your own goals over all else…..and live for nothing but that moment. That'…..what it means to be a striker!"
'I'M A STRIKER!' Isagi thought as he ran forward, but in front of him he saw someone running faster than him and it seemed like he started running before him it was…..Yami!
It seemed like the duo running forward opened the floodgate for the rest to start running with them.
Ego smiled as he stepped off the podium and the lumps of talent rushed past him.
'First-class strikers will suddenly appear in the place where the game is hottest'
"All three hundred are participating, huh," Ego said.
"There's no going back now. I'll act in accordance with what you say…..I'm trusting you with the future of Japanese football and these three hundred boys." a feminine voice said.
"It might mean ruining two hundred and ninety-nine lives…but one great striker will be born that's what 'Blue Lock' is."
"Shall we start Anri-Chan?"
"Yes….." the female now known as Anri replied.
The boys were loaded onto buses and driven to their dorms, after getting off the bus their phones and wallets were confiscated each of them received a uniform.
'300…..Z….what do those mean' Isagi thought trying and failing to figure out their purpose.
Yami looked at his number and found that it was: '294…Z…not bad.'
'But if I exist shouldn't someone be eliminated?' Yami thought confused.
"Now then please head into the room indicated by your uniform's letter, change into your uniform, and then standby." Anri said.
After finding his way Isagi opened the door to see that ten other people were there before him.
'Is this our dorm?' Isagi questioned in his mind.
"Isagi-Kun!" Kira called out.
"Thank goodness I'm in the same room as someone I know!" Kira said smiling.
"I'm relieved too…but where is Yami?"
At that moment Yami walked through the door and greeted: "Yo Isagi, I'm right here!"
Isagi turned around.
"Speak of the devil."
Yami nodded at Kira and looked around noticing that there were twelve people.
But to Yami's surprise, he didn't find the monk boy among them.
'So because I'm here monk boy wasn't picked?'
Yami sighed in relief: 'I didn't like him anyways…but then that means…'
"Isagi dress up quick," Yami said as he himself started wearing the uniform that they were given.
Isagi nodded and dressed up too.
Yami looked at Isagi's number: '300…'
"Hey watch your step!" Yami called out to Isagi before he was going to bump into someone.
Isagi caught himself and looked down to see someone…sleeping?
"Hey…zico….pass to me….zico…pass…" the boy said in his sleep.
'What's with him? What is he dreaming about?' Isagi stared at the sleeping form of Bachira.
Suddenly on a TV high up in the room Ego's face appeared and he said: "Are you done changing you lumps of talent."
"The others in your room are your roommates and rivals who will push each other high."
"I've used my judgment and ranked you."
"That's the number displayed on your uniforms. Now anyone can tell with a glance where they stand amongst the three hundred."
''I'm 300…..Damn it damn it all turns out I'm last placed!' Isagi thought disappointed and his spirit was crushed.
"That ranking will change depending on your performance going up…or down…..and finally those in the top five will unconditionally be registered for the U-20 world Cup happening in six months from now." (A/N: U-20 world cup consists of players under 20 years old.
"By the way, those of you who fail blue lock will forever lose the right to represent Japan. What you need to succeed here is Ego. And now we'll hold a little entrance test to eliminate the weak links. Now time for some tag."
"The time limit is one hundred thirty-six seconds. If you get hit with the ball you're 'it' whoever's 'it' when the time runs out….is eliminated and has to lock off."
"Also you can't use your hands." The TV screen flickered off as a ball dropped from the ceiling in front of Isagi.
"Prepare yourselves for battle this is no ordinary game of tag."
A timer showed up on the screen showing '2:15'
'#300 I'm ranked lowest so I'm it first…..' Isagi panicked a little.
'But I'll do it' he cheered himself up.
Someone expressed doubts about the representing Japan part.
But it didn't matter.
'I'll risk my entire career on this game of tag' the twelve thought.
Kickoff!"
Chapter en- SIKE.
"Hey don't come here!"
"Spread out don't pack in here!"
Isagi looked around and shot the ball toward the yellow-haired Raichi.
Raichi barely dodged in time and Isagi collected the Ball again.
"Come on!"
"This is ridiculous I can't see how this is 'top training'. I'm only participating to prove him wrong." Kira said in doubt.
"Having our career decided by a game of tag is definitely wrong!"
'Kira is thinking about this but whatever I need to hit someone or else…' Isagi thought as his eyes roamed over the room and saw a sleeping figure….
'Sorry!' Isagi thought as he kicked the ball toward the sleeping Bachira.
But unexpectedly the sleeping Bachira suddenly woke up and touched the ball.
"Hey that was a cheap trick," Bachira said while yawning.
Looking around himself Bachira saw that Kunigami was closest to him so he shot the ball toward him and it connected.
"Damn it!" Kunigami cursed as the ball hit him in his side.
Kunigami shot the ball with all his power toward Bachira but he dodged and the ball hit Isagi.
"My bad I wasn't aiming for you." Kunigami said.
"Isagi-Kun!" Kira shouted.
'Damn it I've gotta hit someone or it's all over! Only one minute to go'
'To let it end here…..!' Isagi shot the ball but the ones he aimed for dodged.
Isagi cursed in his mind.
'If I'm going to hit someone he has to be just above me' Isagi thought and looked around to see who was directly above him in rankings.
Finding the tall Black-Haired Okuhito to be his target.
After noticing that Isagi's eyes were on him Okuhito started running away from him.
'Damn, only fifty seconds left!' Isagi thought.
'What's even being tested? What does this have to do with ego?'
'Damn it damn it time is running out!'
'No, I don't wanna lose I don't want it to end here!'
'I want to keep playing! I don't want my dream to end!'
"Hey! Get off me!" Kunigami shouted to Bachira.
"Here's your chance~" Bachira said catching Isagi's attention.
Kunigami caught Bachira by his arm and threw him on the ground.
Bachira fell on Okuhito making both of them fall to the ground and also injuring Okuhito.
Bachira moved away while Okuhito begged Isagi not to shoot the ball.
Isagi was in an internal conflict because if he shot the ball he'd end Okuhito's career but he would survive.
Isagi swung his leg back intending to hit the ball but just as he was about to he stopped at the last second.
'No…..at this rate, I'll be the same as I was before...'
"I came here to change my life…..to become the world's best….I'm here!"
"I like you!" Bachira said as he stepped closer to Isagi.
"You get it, if you're gonna crush someone go for the strongest guy!" Bachira said as he stole the ball from Isagi.
[Meguru Bachira #290]
0:10
Bachira ran wildly towards a certain white-haired Kira.
"Me?!" Kira shouted in surprise.
Bachira shot the ball towards him but Kira dodged however Bachira jumped in the air and tried to hit Kira with his leg, but Kira dodged again.
The ball rebounded to Bachira using his heel he flicked the ball past Kira.
'Did he mess up?!' Kira thought.
0:3
The ball fell towards Isagi.
"Isagi-Kun."
"The strongest guy…."
"Bon!"
Isagi's eyes spun and a weird aura appeared around him.
He shot the ball with all his might toward Kira.
BAM!
The ball collided with Kira's face making a loud sound.
0!
Kira LOCK OFF!
Chapter end.
That was a long one.
2600+ words wow just wow.
Anyways I saw someone say that they wanted Yami's backstory honestly I forgot so It will be in the next chapter…probably.
So uh don't forget to leave a review.
And goodbye!