[I got lazy at Ego's long speech, I really didn't wanna type allat.]
.
It was now the day, the day Y/n had so patiently waited for. Today was the day she'd officially stepped into the program.
Y/n informed her parents about where her whereabouts would be for the next few months or so, and surprisingly, they agreed to drive her there.
Although they didn't seem as sad as they should be, Y/n didn't care. They never knew about her racer life, so they shouldn't be that aware of her new soccer path.
But the person who was too sad for their own good was Y/n's sister, Mikoto.
Mikoto had been crying ever since the whole family took a step out of the house. Y/n's mother frantically tried to calm her while her dad drove.
Y/n didn't do anything. Her mind was occupied. The whole new appearance had honestly made her feel better of herself. In other words, she felt hot as hell.
A very familiar, blinding smile was on her– I mean his face. L/n Y/n decided to take the name L/n Keiji as his fake name.
-
Y/n thought she was early since no one was outside the building, but as soon as she stepped inside, the building seemed suffocating.
Holding in her breath, Y/n stood by the corner, not bothering to make any social circle. That's when she realized, what the fuck is a forward anyways..
She only started soccer three weeks ago and she played by herself most of the time, so she wasnt really familiar with the positions... What if she doesn't want to be a forward? What are the other positions in soccer?
Her thinking stopped once she saw a familiar face, Isagi Yoichi. For some reason, Y/n's heart raced. She looked at him as he observed the other players.
Her heart didn't race cause of love or anything, it was rather more determination.
'Isagi Yoichi, the boy who pushed me to this path, I will destroy you.' She thought, and when she puts her mind onto something, she will do it.
Her thoughts ended when she heard loud footsteps come from the very 'end' of the building. "And testing.." A voice came through, and the lights shut off.
"Congratulations and welcome, diamonds in the rough." The very same voice greets as a spotlight focused on a guy standing at the 'end' of the building.
The guy had an awkward bowl cut, "You're the three hundred eighteen, and under, strikers that have been chosen according to my arbitrary and biased decision-making." Sir bowl cut spoke into his mic.
Y/n tried focusing on his words but with the big word "arbitray" threw her off.
"I am Ego Jinpachi," the man finally introduces himself, "the man hired to make sure Japan wins the world cup."
He started to flail his lanky arms around as murmurs surrounded the room. 'The world cup?' Y/n thought.
"Simply put, there is one thing Japanese soccer needs to be the best in the world:" The backdrop behind him turnd white while the spotlight turns red, making the Japan flag. "The birth of a revolutionary striker."
Y/n wasn't all so familiar with the term "striker." she only picked up the game three weeks ago. She only assumed it was the same thing as a forward, just a different term.
Ego threw his arms up, "I'll be performing here an experiment to turn one of you three hundred into the world's greatest striker."
This moment made Y/n realize this was no ordinary program.
"That's what's this facility's for." Ego continued as the backdrop changed once again into the Blue Lock logo. "Blue Lock" Ego reads outloud.
"Starting today, you will live here together and undergo the special top training I've devised." Ego shoves up one finger to the roof as the logo turns into a holographic tour of the building everyone would live in.
"You won't be able to go home, and you'll say goodbye to whatever soccer life you've been living up to. But I promise you this:" Does Ego ever stop talking? I'm not sure, "if you manage to survive and beat out the other two-hundred ninety-nine other guys here to become the last man standing, you will become the world's greatest striker."
This made Y/n perk up. She liked the idea of being the world's greatest.
"That is all, it's nice to meet you." Ego finished his speech. Another round of murmurs and whispers surrounded the room.
All the whispers died down once a specific blonde-haired guy spoke up, "Excuse me, but I won't agree to the conditions you laid out." Y/n recognized this guy as Kira, the boy who destroyed Ichinan's soccer dream. "Each of us has a team that's important to us. Some of us have nationals coming up."
'This dude, is he trying to brag?' Y/n thought, giving the blonde a judging gaze.
"I can't abandon my team to participate in some nonsensical program." Kira continued. That's when other people in the room spoke up about their thoughts and upcoming games.
In response, Ego only said, "I see. You're all seriously ill, then." Which made no sense when some of the people in the room haven't spoken.
Ego then raised his hands up in front of him in a shooing motion, "Lock off." He said in English, "If anyone wants to leave, they can go." He says that in Japanese.
A few gasps were heard, "Is becoming the number one high school team in this backwards country more important to you than being the world's best striker? Hm?" Ego questions.
"Just thinking that the future of Japan is in your hands makes me lose hope." Ouch, that was harsh, Ego. "Listen up."
The whole building went silent as Ego continued his rant, "The power of Japanese soccer organizations is first-rate." The background turned into one of Japan's soccer teams, "You could call it the result of Japan's thoughtfulness. But in all other respects, it is undeniably second-rate." Ego went on, slandering his own country.
"Let me ask you this: what is soccer?" He asks no one in particular, "Is it about eleven guys working together? Valuing your ties with others? Self-sacrifice? Playing for your teammates?" Ego shoots a barrage of rhetorical questions.
Y/n breath became rigid. She never knew the sport was this serious. She never knew any sport could be this serious.
Ego went on as Y/n tried to calm her breath, "This is why this country's soccer has remained weak." The backdrop suddenly glitches, and then both the backdrop and spotlight disappears.
"I'll tell you the answer. Soccer is about scoring more goals than your opponent." The actual lights come back on, shining on the maniac expression on Ego's face.
A few of the people in the building flinched, "Whoever scores the most goals is the greatest. If you want to play friendly games with your buddies, then lock off."
Almost everyone had a face of disturbance, not Y/n, though. She was confused.
Once again, the very same blonde spoke up with his fist clenched, "That's a terrible thing to say. Take it back." Kira had this look on his face, "There are many athletes on the Japanese team that I respect. We grew up watching them fight together as eleven." Whatever Kira had said did not apply to Y/n, she grew up watching cars and an animated film of a snail racing.
"They are my superstars!" He, Kira, shouted for the whole room to hear. "You're wrong." He finally finished.
Ego scratched his dandruff-filled hair, "Hm? The Japanese team?" He asked as he let our an exaggerated hum, "But they never won the world cup, have they?" He smiled. It was a scary smile.
Once again, Ego had opened his damn stinky mouth, "I'm talking about becoming the best in the world."
The backdrop changes suddenly once again to a popular soccer player, Noel Noa, which once again Y/n is clueless. She'll pretend to know what's happening, though.
Ego quotes the player, "Instead of assisting my teammates to win one to zero, it feels better to pull off a hat-trick and lose three to four."
Swallowing a pit of saliva in the back of her throat, Y/n starts to smile a little. If this was part of the world of soccer, what else would there be? She was heading into this blindfolded, and she was loving it.
Taking the audience's silence as a sign to continue, Ego proceeded, "Those are the words of the greatest striker, Noel Noa. Who beats Messi and Christiano Robaldo to win the Ballon d'Or."
The background changes, "Eric Cantona said, "I don't care about my team, I just wanna stand out." "
The background, once more, changes to another player, "Pelé said, "The world's best forward, midfielder, defender, and goalkeeper. Whichever you ask about the answer, still me." "
Learning a thing or two, Y/n mentally takes notes. First of all, be selfish. Second of all, there's four positions in soccer. Third of all, I'm hungry.
Ego bends backward, yelling, "Well? Awful, right? But they're all top, top players! And they're all extraordinary egoists!" The same creepy grin om his face. The feedback and sudden action caused the players in the room to flinch.
He takes a fat breath in and dives his head forward, "That's what Japanese soccer lacks." Ego lifts his head up, adjusting his glasses, "You can't become the world's best striker unless you're the world's biggest egoist." He says seriously.
This dude gave everyone the heebie-jeebies, "I want to create that person."
Y/n, not giving a fuck anymore, starts to reflect his eerie smile. It was as if she was screaming to Ego that the person he wanted was right there. Her being pumped was a clear understatement.
"A person who will stand on top of two hundred ninety-nine corpses. A solitary hero."
(Guess who's speaking. Damm Ego, he speaks too much.)
"Just imagine it." Y/n takes her time to envision the picture.
"You're in the World Cup final. Eightyt-housand people in the stands, you're standing on the field. The score is zero to zero, and it's the second half extra time. It's the last play."
Y/n doesn't even know half of the bullshit he's yammering about.
"With a pass from your teammate, you're past the defense. It's you against the goalkeeper. Six meters to your right is your teammate. If you pass, it's a guaranteed goal. In a moment, the entire nation's hope and the championships are riding on you. Only an insane egoist can take that shot without hesitation."
All of a sudden, a cold breeze flew through the room, and the backdrop suddenly opened. "Pass through these doors. Abandon all common sense. On the field, you're the star."
Y/n felt her heart race. Like the moment she first learned about racing, like how she won her first race, and like how she heard the word egoist.
Ego, with his non-stop words, "No one should bring you more joy than your own goals." Y/n never liked seeing others succeed. She hated the feeling of being overtaken by another car. Ego was right. The only joy Y/n felt was when she was successful.
"Live only for that moment. Isn't that what it means to be a striker?" Her heart pounded. It was as loud as her thoughts, but it wasn't louder than the footsteps behind her.
Isagi Yoichi, the boy who pushed her to this future, was running straight to the open gates catching the attention of everyone in that room.
Y/n L/n– I mean Keiji L/n didn't want to fall behind, no way in hell was he gonna fall behind. At least not behind Isagi Yoichi. So with all his strength, Keiji had ran to surpass Isagi.