Chapter Text
After finishing his dinner, Isagi went up to his room and tore open the letter.
“Alright, still has the basic information… looks like i’m leaving tomorrow. Better tell mom and dad.” Isagi stood up and went to announce the good news.
“I got invited to join a soccer project by the JFU !” Isagi announced.
“Oh that’s great honey ! What an amazing opportunity. We’ll support you with whatever decision you choose to make.” His mom warmly told him.
“Attaboy Yocchan. Give em hell yeah ?” His dad clapped him on the back.
“I will. I leave tomorrow morning alright ?” Isagi told them.
“Okay ! We'll probably be at work but we’ll make sure to leave breakfast.”
“Yup.” Isagi headed back to his room to get ready for bed.
“Alright. I’m excited to be back at Blue Lock. I’ll see Chigiri, Bachira, and Kunigami in no time !” He thought excitedly. “Well… that’s if I'm still in Team Z.” He frowned slightly at the thought of being placed somewhere else. He sighed before pulling the hair tie out of his hair and shaking his head lightly.
“We’ll see what happens tomorrow.” He yawned before turning off the lights, and heading into bed.
…………….
Meanwhile in Europe….
In Madrid, Spain, Luna was the first to see the message Ego sent him.
“Is he seriously sending me footage of another Japanese player? I thought I had brought the best one to Spain. This guy must be out of his damn mind.” Luna smirked before watching the video.
“This guy… why the hell is he just watching the ball for so long. It’s like he’s not even trying. Or… he’s trying to hide his abilities ? Now why would he do that…” Luna was watching with some interest.
“If Ego is just going to send me a video of some Japanese kid watching people pass the ball around, he’s successfully wasting my time.”
Just as Luna was about to turn off the video, he saw Isagi move. He watched him take the ball right underneath some player’s nose before breaking past the rest of the team and shooting a missile of a shot. As the kid lowered his foot, not a hair was out of place.
“What’s this ? Maybe he does have talent.” Luna smirked.
The video ended with the kid getting subbed out and him yawning into his hand before sitting out.
“Well well well Ego. Quite an interesting kid ya got.” Luna murmured.
He opened the chat with Ego to see he sent him a text.
“Isagi Yoichi sure is interesting isn’t he ? This wasn’t even his full talent. I’m sure you’d love to have him on your team. Well, that would be your plan but I have another idea for him. He’ll be partaking in my project Blue Lock.
“Mierda.” Luna swore. “Seems like Ego got to him first. I’m not surprised though. I might get to see him soon enough, knowing Ego.” A small, knowing grin bloomed on Luna’s face. “I’ll inform Sae about him since he’s going to Japan shortly to renew his passport. If I get lucky, he might find Isagi Yoichi somewhere.”
“ You win this time Ego. But now i’m invested. And when i’m interested, I always get what I want.”
……………..
In England, Chris Prince was working out when he got the message.
“Hm…what’s this? Ego sending me a video about a player ? How interesting.” He had a wolfish grin on his face as he opened the video. “Let’s see what this is about.”
“Is he for real ? 8 minutes of pure nonsense ? The kid is just watching the ball.” He was confused and annoyed at Ego for wasting his time.
“His muscles look interesting though. I can’t tell what his specialties are. From what I can see his calves are strong but not strong enough to be a speedster, his biceps are also strong, but he’s not a gym rat… and I can’t even see his chest since his shirt is covering it !” He exclaimed, frustrated. It’s like he’s purposely holding himself back.”
“This is boring. I don’t know what Ego even wants me to see with this.”
Just like Luna, as Chris Prince was about to close the video, Isagi struck. In a blink of an eye the score was 1-0.
“Wait what the hell did I miss ?? I didn’t think the kid was that fast. And his dribbling skills are on another level !! Those moves look like the ones Sae Itoshi have done. Huh… I guess he was holding back. This just got interesting !” Chris Prince exclaimed with a grin. But as soon as the smile came it evaporated as he saw Isagi get subbed out.
“Wait what ? Why did they do that ?” He said, confused.
“I think it’s because the team has a motto that makes all the players play together and not play solo.” A voice chimed in from behind him.
“Jeez what the hell are you doing there !?” Chris Prince shrieked and fell off the bench.
“My apologies I didn’t mean to scare you Master. I was simply here to train but got entranced by the player you were watching !! Do you have any more clips ? He’s so intriguing!” Agi gushed.
“No this is the first I’ve seen of him…” Chris slowly got up and back onto the bench. “Looks like Ego sent me a message too.”
“Isagi Yoichi sure is interesting isn’t he ? This wasn’t even his full talent. I’m sure you’d love to have him on your team. Well, that would be your plan but I have another idea for him. He’ll be partaking in my project Blue Lock.
“Hah… smug bastard. Blue Lock eh? That’ll be interesting don’t ya think Agi?” Chris Prince asked with a glint in his eyes.
“Yes… I’m a bit bummed he isn’t here in England though… he’s very very interesting.” Agi agreed.
“Maybe we’ll get him here. You never know.” Chris Prince replied before shutting off his phone.
.……………….…
In Barcelona, Spain,
Lavinho was busing himself on the field, practicing his dribbling. When he went to get some water, he saw a new message from his phone.
“Ego Jinpachi ? What in the world could he want ?” He asked with a grin. “Whatever it is, it’s bound to be crazy. That’s all that man is.” He laughed.
He was watching the video, but ended up skipping to the end. “I know Ego well enough to know that he wouldn’t waste my time. Whatever he wants me to see must be here somewhere.” He muttered.
While the video was at its ending point, he saw Isagi dribble past every defender in a move that fooled even him while watching.
“Woah ! That kid has some serious moves. No wonder Ego showed me him. I wonder if he’ll let me bring him to Barcelona. Bunny would be interested in him I bet.” He grinned before forwarding the video to Bunny.
“Looks like Ego sent me a message too.” He said as he clicked off the video.
“Isagi Yoichi sure is interesting isn’t he ? This wasn’t even his full talent. I’m sure you’d love to have him on your team. Well, that would be your plan but I have another idea for him. He’ll be partaking in my project Blue Lock.
“Damn. I guess he isn’t free after all. Honestly, I don’t know how I didn’t guess that Ego would already have him under his training. That bastard is the type to flaunt anything that goes well for him.” He sighed before seeing a message from Bunny.
Bunny :
“¿Quién es este chico? ¿Por qué no está aquí con nosotros en Barcha?”
(Who is this boy ? Why is he not here with us in Barcha ?)
Lavinho :
“Es la primera vez que lo veo. Aunque Luna, Loki, Noa, Snuffy y Prince ya saben de él.”
(This is the first I've seen of him. Although, Luna, Loki, Noa, Snuffy, and Prince already know about him.)
Bunny :
“Mierda. Claro que todos los demás lo saben. ¿Quieres que vuele a Japón y lo traiga?”
(Shit. Of course everyone else knows. Do you want me to fly to Japan and bring him over?)
“I’ve never seen him this interested in someone before… The only person who could rival this interest would be Itoshi Sae. And that didn’t end well…” Lavinho murmured.
Lavinho :
“No puedes, Bunny. Él está participando en un proyecto para un grupo de delanteros menores de 20 años en Japón, junto con otras 299 personas.”
(You can’t Bunny. He is participating in a project for a bunch of under 20 strikers in Japan alongside 299 other people.)
Bunny :
“¿Cuál es ese proyecto del que hablas?”
(What is this project you speak of ?)
Lavinho :
“Es algo privado. Te enterarás junto con el resto del mundo. Ahora, ya casi es hora de almorzar. Ve a la cafetería o a una cafetería. El entrenamiento empieza dentro de una hora.”
(It’s private. You will find out with the rest of the world. Now, it’s almost lunch time. Head to the cafeteria or
go to a cafe. Practice starts in an hour.)
Bunny :
“Sí, sí, vale.”
(Yeah, yeah, okay.)
Lavinho turned off his phone before letting out a breath. “Just what are you planning Ego…”
………………
In France…
“Ramenez la coupe à la maison, allez les bleus allez.” Loki sang along while making breakfast.
He hummed along to the beat before turning up the volume at his favourite part.
“Passement de jambe, crochet à gauche, à droite Julian Loki.”
“Accélération,virgule, petit pont, frappe, Julian Loki.”
“Quelle bonne chanson !”
(What a great song !)
He glanced at the screen when his phone vibrated before doing a double take. “Ego ? What could he possibly want ?” He pondered.
He took the toast out of the toaster before putting avocado on it, and finishing it off with a fried egg on both slices. He turned the stove off, got a cup of coffee before sitting down and checking the message he got sent.
“Is this a video of a player ? Interesting. This has to be something important or else Ego wouldn’t have sent it.” Loki thought.
He grabbed the notebook he usually used when analyzing plays and pressed play on the video. Unlike the others, he didn’t get annoyed at the fact that the kid was just watching, nor did he skip to the end. 30 seconds in he could already tell the kid wasn’t trying.
“He’s not even trying. It’s like he’s holding back… but why would he need to do that ?” Loki murmured. It didn’t make any sense at all. Did the kid not want to draw attention to himself ?
He was analyzing all of Isagi’s body movements and facial expressions. He tried to see patterns in his play but everything was seamless. Well, Isagi wasn’t really doing anything either so there wasn’t much to see.
One thing he noticed is that Isagi’s expression changed the slightest bit before he stole the ball, dribbled past the entire team, and scored.
“Looks like he finally had enough of the bullshit huh.” Loki chuckled before writing down his observations.
“It seems that his skills are on par with some of the best U-20 players around. Like Kaiser, Lorenzo, maybe even Hugo. Well, definitely not me.” Loki smirked before shutting off his phone.
“I don’t even need to check what Ego texted me. It’s probably just him bragging. There’s no way he would let that kid go without asking him to join that little project of his. If he did, that boy would already be in France with me.” Loki stated before getting up and going to train.
…………………
In Italy, Marc Snuffy was devising new training techniques when he got the message.
“Ego huh ? And he’s sent a video ? Let’s see what it’s about.”
He watched the video with full attention before shutting off his phone.
“Honestly, i’m impressed. The kid’s a really good player. Although, I don’t know how he would fit over here in Ubers. That last play ? Full of ego. He wasn’t going to rely on anyone else.” Snuffy said to himself.
“But maybe… if we build a formation around him… that would be a winning technique. Yeah.. that might work..” Snuffy was deep in thought before a new message from Ego came up.
“Isagi Yoichi sure is interesting isn’t he ? This wasn’t even his full talent. I’m sure you’d love to have him on your team. Well, that would be your plan but I have other another idea for him. He’ll be partaking in my project Blue Lock.
“Of course, what was I expecting?” Snuffy laughed. “There’s no way Ego would have let his chance with that kid pass up. Oh well.. I might still have a chance later on.” Snuffy let out a breath while getting up and leaving.
…………………
In Germany, Noa was practicing with his team when the text came in.
“Jin ? Or- Ego ? What does he want..” Noa murmured while checking his messages.
“A video ? I wonder who it is.” Noel Noa clicked the video and began watching. Halfway through he was beginning to think that Ego was just wasting his time until he saw the kid steal the ball and dribble past the whole team before making a shot that could rival one of his players”.
“Huh… Interesting.” Noa murmured before he got called over by one of his players. He left his phone unlocked and playing on the video. Seeing this, Kaiser snuck over to see what he was looking at.
“Kaiser ! We’ll get in big trouble by Noa if he sees us looking at his phone !” Ness whispered, terrified.
“Shut up Ness. All we have to do is not get caught.” Kaiser responded, rolling his eyes.
“Now look at this.” Kaiser ordered.
They both watched halfheartedly before the boy broke through and scored on his own.
“Kaiser, rewind it, rewind it !” Ness spoke, awestruck. “He has magic !” Ness exclaimed.
Kaiser huffed. “No Ness he does not have magic.” Kaiser sneered but he rewinded it nonetheless and paid very close attention to the player’s every move.
“Ness. Kaiser. I would appreciate it if you didn't touch my things.” A very deep and ticked off voice came from above their heads.
“S-sorry Noa !” Ness apologized before practically running off.
“Yeah, yeah old man. Just who was that player you were watching ?” Kaiser asked.
“None of your business Kaiser. He can’t even come to Germany if you and I wanted him to.” Noa replied.
“And why not ?”
“Well look at this text message for yourself.” Noa said before closing the video and entering the chat.
“Isagi Yoichi sure is interesting isn’t he ? This wasn’t even his full talent. I’m sure you’d love to have him on your team. Well, that would be your plan but I have another idea for him. He’ll be partaking in my project Blue Lock.
“Scheiße.” Kaiser swore. He tsked and stalked away.
“Oh and just so you know… Luna, Loki, Prince, Snuffy, and Lavinho all know about him too.” Noa called out as he was leaving.
Kaiser paused at the entrance of the field.
“Course they do. Those bastards always know everything.” He growled before slamming the door shut behind him.
Ness quickly chased after him, calling his name.
Noa sighed and massaged his temples before going back to training.
………………………..
The next morning, Isagi woke up, unknowing to the storm that just started brewing his the best soccer clubs in Europe.