𝗘𝗚𝗢𝗜𝗦𝗧 | blue lock

I. Chapter One | New Beginnings

Waves of thick, chopped hair falls into her pearly white sink, a reverberating voice coming from her phone which sat propped up against the mirror. She was watching a tutorial, the slight buzzing noise coming from the electric razor she stole from her parents bathroom. Red box dye sat on the sidelines, having already opened it to peek into the contents and read the directions.

It wasn't as if she were never brave enough to cut off her long black hair, or even to dye it for that matter. She just never had the drive or reason to, and besides, it wasn't very accepted in the line of work she pushed herself to achieve.

But her eyes were much more vibrant. She was somewhat of a miracle baby, and the pure coincidence of deviating from her family's long line of dominant genes surely wasn't helpful in the long-run. However, they dug as deep as they could, and found good use of her talents.

Her cousin thought it was useless. He stated his opinion blankly all the time when they were younger, yet shut down any arguments. He didn't care that much, and she herself wasn't even sure of what he meant, especially for such a football ego-maniac like him. Why did he even bother?

"Keep your mouth shut." He'd say, a wide outstretched, toothy grin on his lips. She sat on the piano seat, back turned so she could face him properly. She learned a lot from him growing up, both the black sheep of the family. He happened to bring success however, and earned support overtime.

Parents are so useless. Give birth to your ideal child, huh?

Yeah, right.

"I don't like you." She'd state, making his grin widen. "No matter how much praise you get, Ego-san, I will never like you." 

It wasn't even for his success. Wasn't about his fame, nor the fact that he never stood up for her when he himself knew how she felt suffocated in that family. Play the piano and violin, attend fencing class. Become a doctor when you're older, make good money. A pristine role model.

No, it was because every time he was around, she felt like a guinea pig running in a maze full of much taller obstacles. She was just a kid at the time, and she knew of when to back out of a battle of wits. But he was so incredibly infuriating, and quite honestly, Ego might've seen a slimmer of potential in her, but she would always think of him as dirt beneath her polished shoes. That is where she will always triumph him. So for now, she'll take this victory in stride, turning to face the piano once again and play.

Ignoring Jinpachi Ego.

She stood still in front of the mirror, plastic gloves still on her hands from handling the dye. She had feminine features, but as she looked at herself, the small changes that had been made will suffice. Her hair had a black undercut and tufts of crimson laying flat on her head nicely. She had bind her chest prior, the discomfort bearable, but will no doubt be an issue if she works herself too hard.

Everything became a blur as the day passed by. Her parents didn't take too kindly to such a change, but what could they do? Reverse it? Shave her bald? As if. So she sat in peace amidst their yells, and ate her dinner without any issues, not even sparing them a glance. She'd look past them, but never connected that gap, knowing she was too far gone for any convincing.

For any of their guilt-tripping or verbal bullets, that is.

"Test, one, two."

All eyes effectively diverted to the center stage, a tall, lanky man stood in the midst of the spotlight. "Congratulations, you unpolished gems."

Eyes of arrogance and disbelief. However, by far, the most shocked expression stood in the very back, almost blinded by people who were heads taller than her. She recognized that voice, and even the glimpse she had gotten, while standing on her tippy-toes, of his blunt bowl cut.

The letter had never mentioned anything of Jinpachi Ego, she thought to herself, sight a bit shielded from the sweatshirt hood over her head.

"All you under-18 strikers have been chosen solely based on my criteria and biases to be here today." Everyone exchanged looks of confusion. "All 300 of you."

"I am Jinpachi Ego. My job is to make Japan a team capable of winning the World Cup."

He was crazy. He had to be.

But that didn't stop her. Not even at the end of his lengthy righteous, motivational, yet cynical speech. Not even when the masses disagreed, she pushes her body past the crowd of people with uptight aggression, and even if she were above average height for girls her age, her lack of muscle and stature made it difficult. Small shouts of "watch it!" or other construed utterances could be heard, trailing from the back of the room until she pushed her way up to the front.

And as those heavy doors opened, she didn't even notice the gasp of breath she had been holding, fists clenched into a tight ball, shoulders tensed. She storms her way forward, smacking into someone else, shoulder-to-shoulder. She couldn't see his face from her peripheral due to the hood over her head, and honestly she wouldn't have tried. Both of them only wanted one thing in this very moment, so internally, they reached a familial consensus, ears blocking out the stampede of shouts and heavy steps from behind. All she could hear, all that clouded her senses was the accelerated beating of her heart.

With a silent prayer in her head as she signed the letter of consent not even minutes later, she writes her classmates name, hoping he hadn't entered after all, or made a fuss. Smart enough to figure out that they probably had records of each name that passes these gates, she knew there was a gamble she had to take.

She looked nothing like her classmate, and that this was her official surrender to her longtime egoist war with her cousin, Jinpachi Ego. He ran things here now, it was out of her control.

But she knew him, she had already familiarized herself with the way his selfish brain thinks.

After all, she isn't any different. It takes one to know one. None of the people who were going to be around her would be aware of the circumstances. He called the shots, so ultimately, it was up to him whether to call her out or see how it all unfolds.

She lays back in her bus seat, the rowdy boy seated beside her using his spare time to converse with the people around him. Turning her head to the window beside her, she lays her eyes on the facility. A small smirk dusts over her lips.

Well played, Ego.

AUTHORS NOTE.

I haven't proof read this one bit, but I'm super eager to post it so I will. I'll probably go over it a few times later and correct any mistakes. I have so many ideas for this, so expect more in literally like a few hours or something. I'm deeply sorry if the grammar isn't that good!!! I am trying to be more relaxed with my writing so it doesn't stress me out as much. Makes it a lot more enjoyable.