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It had not been that long after Kunigami chose the wild card path, though the strenuous training made it feel as if it had been months. In actuality, he had only begun the special training program a month ago, when the second selection ended for good. In all that time he hadn’t seen any of his friends, at least not in person. He was allowed to monitor their games in a viewing room, so he could “keep up” with their progress. Ego made sure that for the sake of the project's completion that he was completely walled off from any other human contact outside of himself and the occasional talk with Noel Noa.
The grandeur of getting to talk with “The best striker in the world” only lasted for a day or two before the training for the Wild Card project completely sapped any enjoyment out of him. To Kunigami, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to truly prove himself in front of one of his idols.
Now that he was back in Blue Lock he was a transformed individual. Ego had successfully dragged the old Kunigami out back and shot him. And he was glad for it, or at least he tried to tell himself that he was happy with how he had changed. This is the only way to get better…I will only become the best striker in the world if I continue on this path. Every time there was some shred of doubt, he stamped it down immediately and ignored it. He abandoned the old “Hero” resolve that he used to have, his goal to become a superhero had completely been left behind in the dust.
When he was first reintroduced to his former teammates of Team Z he made it a point to not look any of them in the eye. Isagi, with his usual welcoming attitude, had greeted him with a pleasant smile. There was obvious relief in all of their faces that Kunigami had “survived” the second selection, even if they didn’t know what he had to do to make it. He didn’t entertain any of the well wishes from his teammates, however. In his eyes, they were all working on separate teams of one. After he brushed Isagi off, he willfully ignored the slightly pained look on his former friend's face.
The old Kunigami would’ve probably said something ignorantly confident and smiled back at Isagi. The old Kunigami would’ve said something lame about heroism and “never giving up”. He steeled himself as he looked past anyone trying to get close to him again. Even Bachira, who was more than happy to push anyone’s buttons if it meant getting to have fun, kept his distance from Kunigami.
For about a week, he believed he had successfully gotten the point across to his old teammates. Though no matter what he did to try and ignore them, to tell them to “piss off”, to even berating them for not focusing on “what really mattered”, he still felt the same familiar set of eyes on his back. When he went to go get his food from the cafeteria he felt them follow behind him as he left to eat alone. When he was on his way to the training room, they were there as well. He even felt them ghost past him as he walked through the halls past the dorm rooms.
And if Kunigami took the time to look behind him even once, he knew he would find Chigiri staring at him expectantly. Chigiri’s staring almost made Kunigami want to hide before he mentally slapped himself for thinking something so silly. He would not let the ghosts from his past in Blue Lock haunt him so easily. Despite his reservations to not hide however, he unknowingly did just that for a long time.
Ego announced that they would have an additional week to train before the regulars were announced for Phase 2 of the Blue Lock program. Everyone was busy training as hard as they could, and staying on top of their mandated schedules the entire time. The familiar invigorating energy he remembered from his first month in Blue Lock was back in full force, though Kunigami was alone this time. Or so he thought.
He was finished using the equipment in the exercise room for the afternoon, as he walked out tired and wanting for a shower. Just as he was about to walk down the hall in the direction of the washrooms, he spotted Chigiri’s lone figure leaning against the wall leisurely.
“Oh there you are.” Chigiri said simply. “I was waiting for you for a while now. What, are you training for war in there, or something?”
Kunigami rolled his eyes at him, “It shouldn’t matter to you. Worry about your own training.” He walked as if to move past Chigiri, but he simply stepped in front of Kunigami, blocking his path. Chigiri placed a hand on Kunigami’s chest, rooting him in place immediately.
Kunigami silently berated himself at how easily his feet stopped moving forward. An old habit that he had yet to kill off when it came to Chigiri. The old Kunigami always listened to every word Chigiri said.
“Oh so this ‘loner edgelord’ persona you're putting on extends even to me, huh?” Chigiri asked him. “You know, you’ve done a pretty good job scaring the hell out of the rest of the team, but this just seems like a strange performance to me.” Chigiri crossed his arms as he looked up at Kunigami, a skeptical brow raised.
“Performance?” he scoffed, “Maybe you just can’t understand that people change when they’ve set their mind on the right path, and aren’t foolish enough to believe making friends will get you anywhere in Blue Lock.”
Chigiri tilted his head at Kunigami, “Oh? So we’re less than friends now, huh?” he asked him. Chigiri stared into Kunigami’s eyes very intensely for a moment, and the latter stared back with a hardened look. Though the longer he stared into Chigiri’s familiar red eyes, the more he began to crack . He couldn’t stop himself from glancing away uncomfortably from Chigiri’s face. “What’s gotten into you? What’s this all about? You disappear for a month, come back a complete asshole, and avoid anyone slightly worried about you, for what? Because you brought into one of Ego’s bullshit philosophy speeches about football?”
Kunigami glared at Chigiri with gritted teeth, “You don’t know anything about what I had to do to get past the second selection, so maybe you should just shut up , and drop it, Chigiri.” He had reached his limit talking with him finally, and shouldered past him down the hall.
“Oh, but don’t I? Look, whatever weird training Ego put you through couldn’t possibly be worse than anything he’s come up with so far.” Chigiri told him.
Kunigami turned to look at him, a scowl on his face. “And? What’s your point?”
Chigiri crossed his arms with a disappointed look. “I’m saying I don’t believe you let something so trivial beat you. You . Out of everyone in this facility.” He shook his head. “What happened to all that heroism you had? Did you let Ego steal that out of your head too?”
“Ego didn’t steal anything…I killed that part of me a long time ago. That kind of childish nonsense won’t make me the best striker in the world.” Kunigami spoke as if he had practiced that line all his life, it was incredibly robotic. Chigiri narrowed his eyes at him, slightly unnerved.
“And you think this kind of thinking will? That by distancing yourself from all the others around you will magically make you better?” He asked Kunigami. “I guess you don’t care about being a superhero anymore. Looks to me like you’ve convinced yourself you can’t be both a hero and a striker at the same time.”
Kunigami rolled his eyes at Chigiri again, “You don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s nobody in Blue Lock who cares about being a striker more than me. Once I become the best, I will have achieved my goal. And that’s all there is to it.” He had to stop himself from saying more, as Kunigami could feel the annoying “Old” version of himself crawling back up from the depths. And staring into Chigiri’s eyes was not helping the situation at all.
“Oh, I see then. You still think you can be a hero somehow if you become a world class striker.” Chigiri commented, ignoring the obvious glare Kunigami leveled at him. “Well I’m not convinced. You’re not a hero. At least not mine. My hero wouldn’t lose to some stupid speech from Ego and a few training sessions.”
Kunigami balked at Chigiri, a look of hurt crossing his features. He looked at Chigiri in disbelief for a moment before Chigiri brushed past him, shaking him from his stupor. Kunigami blinked a few times before turning to chase after him. “Chigiri, wait-”
Chigiri ignored him, not even sparing a glance over his shoulder at Kunigami. “Don’t bother. You’ve clearly made up your mind, or whatever…Come talk to me when you decide to stop losing, Rensuke.”
Kunigami stared at Chigiri’s retreating form as he disappeared around the corner.