𝙂𝙊𝘼𝙇𝙎 | blue lock

𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗼

"Hi, [Surname]," he beamed.

"This is insane," you shook your head with a disbelieving smile on your face. When Bachira texted you a few weeks ago after one of your press conferences about a 'reunion' and that he'd already booked you a flight back to Japan, you called bullshit. There was no way he could pull something like that together.

Bachira laughed, looking back toward the road to pull out onto the highway. "I might have risk a speeding ticket, Rin won't stop spamming me about being late to my own event. Only lame people show up to parties on time, anyway."

"Oh? Is that why you left me stranded in the cold for twenty minutes?" you asked, unimpressed by his reasoning.

"Yeah, exactly."

After a half-hour in the car filled with excited chatter and catching up on your lives, Bachira pulled into a parking lot, other vehicles could only be spotted sparingly. "We're here," he announced.

It wasn't that you were disappointed, just surprised. A slightly rundown parking lot wasn't quite the venue you imagined.

You all stepped out of the car, fighting back a shiver from entering the biting cold again. "This is it?" you questioned through chattering teeth.

"What? No—follow me." He grabbed both you and Isagi, dragging you both past the thick brush to a fenced gate.

He took his sweet time opening it, trying his best to make the reveal more dramatic than it needed to be. You were finally able to see—after way too long—a simple football field, the faint lines of white spray-paint that marked the pitch and all. But, most importantly, was a group of guys huddled around centerfield, bundled up in their own respective coats.

Your face split out into a smile while the three of you walked up, hearing the quiet chatter from the group. "What the fuck is taking them so long? It's cold as shit," a deep voice spoke, and considering the language, it was probably Rin.

You stopped behind someone's back, fully aware none of the other guys had noticed that your trio had arrived. Long red hair cascaded down past his shoulders, resting on the very obviously designer winter jacket. "Boo!" you shouted into his ear, quickly backing away when he whipped his head back toward you in shock.

Chigiri stared at you with wide eyes for a moment before shaking his head with shut eyes. "Oh, wow. Hi, [Surname]. Great to see you, isn't it," he grumbled lightheartedly.

You ignored the soreness building up in your cheeks from smiling, looking out toward the rest of the group that was awaiting a greeting. They were all there—Nagi, Reo, Tokimitsu, Niko, Kunigami, Shidou, Barou, and some other guys you never really got to know. Igarashi was also there, disappointedly.

You excitedly made your rounds, saying hi and making small talk to everyone individually. It was weird, having your last experience being so long ago. Especially when that time was spent being forced to wear matching clothes and live locked in a pentagonal building controlled by a psychopath.

After a couple of rounds of the pathetic soccer you guys tried to play in tens of layers of clothes, you all sat on the grass that was damp from a light layer of snow, passing around the sandwiches Reo had brought—but probably prepared by his servants. Rich people.

"Why did you decide to do this now, Bachira?" you asked after you swallowed a bite of food, hearing the rest of the guys hum in a shared inquisition of the answer.

"Oh," he chuckled, "Because you have your first world cup soon! We had to do it before then, of course."

"No, I don't. That's in the summer—like seven months from now."

"Look, okay. Flights from America are cheapest right now," he muttered.

You nodded, wiping the excess crumb off the corner of your mouth, "Got it."

"Speaking of your career," Reo chimed in, "Do you know how fucking weird it was after you left? First, a mysterious [Surname][Name] was announced and then we never saw you again until you were plastered all over the news for joining the number one women's football team."

Residual 'yeah' and 'honestly's were rung throughout the group, all of them nodding their heads in agreement.

"That's not my fault, don't blame me."

The subject continued to change, the conversation never managing to die out. Everyone was adding in something new that had happened to them, or a new story to share—Nagi noted the multiple times neighborhood moms asked him to put on a beard that matched his hair to take Santa Claus pictures with their kids. But, even then, you couldn't help but feel that there was one last missing component, a final piece of the puzzle.

"One sec," you excused yourself, fishing your phone out of your pocket as you stepped away.

You exhaled heavily, steeling your resolve. The wind nipped at your bare fingers as soon as you peeled your gloves off, touching the pads of your fingers to your phone to unlock it as fast as you could. You opened your contacts, clicking a message string you never thought would see the light of day again.

| Itoshi Sae |

me|

are you on your way?
[attached: invite.pkg]

________________________

i hope this is a sufficient ending idk this book was so impulsive i didnt have it planned out like my other ones

btw the reason for the huge time skip and it seems vague is bc i didn't want to add to much detail about who won the game or what they did after blue lock since it's not that far in the manga yet 😕