Chapter Text
The atmosphere was tense, to say the least.
Lavinho knew nothing about Noel’s history with Ego, but the way they stared at each other was making Lavinho feel extremely uncomfortable. It felt as if they were in their own universe, exchanging insults with increasing amounts of bite at the end of each sentence. How Ego had managed to even get Noel to come here was a mystery. After all, he was the most paid football player in the world, and not one to endorse in luxuries that his money could definitely buy him.
So why was he here? Did they have a history, as friends or rivals or, possibly, lovers? Lavinho cursed himself silently for not doing more research before he came here. He wasn’t one to sit in front of his computer and look up other people’s shit. That wasn’t fun, and why live if you aren’t having fun?
Lavinho glanced around the room, filtering out whatever scathing insult Ego was now flinging at Noel. Marc’s attention seemed to have completely diverted, not a thought behind his eyes. Chris, as always, was caught up in himself. He had an easy, lop-sided grin on his face as he inspected his reflection in the floor tiles. In the fucking FLOOR TILES. Lavinho knew what people said about his own ego, but at least he wasn’t THAT bad. Julian seemed to be the only one as disturbed as Lavinho. He was staring at the space between Noel and Ego, cringing slightly at every insult. His foot tapped absentmindedly against the floor.
“You really, really thought that I came here for the money?” Noel was saying. “What happened to you? Did all that filthy yakisoba finally pull apart the last pathetic binding in your brain?”
Ego’s eye twitched slightly. A slight snort escaped from Julian’s mouth, which was quickly covered by Marc’s hand. So he was listening. It was impressive how good of an actor Marc was.
Both Noel and Ego turned simultaneously. Julian let out another noise, kind of a half whimper, half laugh. At that, Chris finally raised his head to look, grin wider. Everything about him screamed, “I’m here, enjoy basking in the light I bring to this world.”
Marc rolled his eyes, seemingly unperturbed by their glares. “Can you both just like shut the fuck up? Respectfully. We’re here to discuss the players, not watch you eye-fuck each other.”
Julian snorted again. He waved a hand at them. “No no, continue, it was a good show.”
Noel’s glare intensified, to which everyone simply grinned back. Lavinho found his face effortlessly stretching into a matching smile. Noel took a step closer to Marc. “You shut your pathetic little mouth. If you want to run around, spewing every thought that comes to your mind, fuck off. Nobody-”
“He is on the same level as you, Noa.” Ego interrupted. Lavinho and Julian exchanged a glance. Lavinho could practically taste the alleviating tension. “If anybody is going to tell anybody to fuck off, it’s me, and me only. You’re in Blue Lock now, and in Blue Lock, I make the rules. No, don’t you dare start talking again. Snuffy’s right; we are here to discuss your roles as mentors for my boys. Now, listen up;
“You all know how this works. You will be presented, the kids will choose, they will train under you, and they will play each other. After the games, their offers and points will be tallied. Eliminations do not apply to you.
“Loki, expect our two competing aces, Itoshi Rin and Ryusei Shido. Out of all our players here, those two are by far the most talented technically. You will be expected to focus all of your attention on them, as the rest of those you will receive will no doubt be over-achieving, selfish brats with gold-plated versions of themselves painted in their minds. If you can somehow get Rin and Shido to not only work together, but also work with you, you will have succeeded. Everything else is for you to decide; drown yourself in our money.
“Snuffy, you should expect Oliver Aiku, from the pathetics otherwise known as Japan’s U-20, and Shouei Barou. They both have an overwhelming desire to win, though not in the same way. You will find that Barou, in particular, will do anything to just get the ball in the net. If he is to become the world’s best, he will introduce a new era of soccer into the world. Do not stamp out that attitude; polish him into a new, never before seen type of beast. And Aiku is a defender, so what you do with him doesn’t really matter to me. He’s just here for fanservice.
“Chris, expect Seishiro Nagi, whose ability to trap the ball surpasses even you all, -- shut your fucking mouth, Noa -- Hyouma Chigiri, who, well, he has good legs, and Reo Mikage, an all-rounder. Other potentials include Aoshi Tokimitsu and Jyubei Aryu. While I understand that your intention here is simply to train their physiques and technical abilities, I also want you to focus on gameplay details. Teach them the art and the math behind every pass, every touch, every step. Teach them to use their natural abilities efficiently and ruthlessly. And sponsor some stuff while you’re at it, I’m sure you’re good with girls. Yukki and you will be a good pair.
“Lavinho, watch out for Meguru Bachira. You will find that he has the same…energy…as you -- shut your fucking mouth, Noa. Like I was saying with Barou, if Bachira becomes the world’s best, he will introduce a new era of soccer to the world. However, I am quite sure that he simply came to Blue Lock to find a friend. Help him find his own egotism, to stop helping others and start helping himself. His technical abilities know no end. Other than him, Eita Otoya and Kenyu Yukimiya are both superb dribblers that could potentially join you.
“...Oh, and Noa, expect Isagi. Help him overtake your pretty little pet. Saiser, was it? Goddammit, shut your mouth, you look like a fish.
“Okay, final details; do not tell the kids about the TV show until after the first match. Do not exploit any of my money, no matter for how large or how little of a reason, without my permission. Do not leave your sector other than in periods where you’re allowed to, or unless you have explicit permission from me. Hmmm…oh, and keep yourselves, and your children, from having sex. The CCTV cameras stay on all day and all night. I don’t need to see any writhing naked bodies. Thank you. If I think of more to tell you, I will call you back here.”
From his back pocket, Ego pulled out maps of the building, labeled in each person’s respective language. Lavinho opened his, groaning inwardly when he saw how fucking symmetrical it was. Who the fuck decided to make it pentagonal? Well, Ego, obviously, but WHY? The passageways hurt his eyes to look at. While Ego might have to worry about Marc or Julian leaving their sector, he sure wouldn’t be worrying about Lavinho. If he could even make it to a bathroom, it would be considered a miracle.
Before Lavinho had any time to ask questions, though, Ego bowed very slightly and then walked out of the room. Lavinho rubbed his temple, half heartedly examining the map. Directions were so difficult. Where was his chauffeur when he needed him?
“Having trouble?” Noel asked, starting Lavinho.
Shit. Everyone else had left the room, leaving just Noa and him. If only he were as perceptive as his manager, or even just Marc. How does one get so invested in something they can’t read that they fail to hear a literal door shutting? Stupid, stupid.
Lavinho plastered a grin on his face. “Does it look like it?”
Heavens knows how stupid he looked.
Noel raised an eyebrow. “That is a subjective question.”
Lavinho’s grin dropped. Noel confused him. “Yeah, so? I was asking for your opinion.”
“You look like you can’t read.”
“Okay, ouch,” Lavinho clutched his chest, very much deeply offended. “I can read, I’m not stupid.”
“You have the mind and energy of a child.”
“Damn, I thought you just had beef with Ego. Are you like this with everyone? How do you live?”
“Quite easily. I simply speak what I think. Would you like me to help you find your sector?”
Lavinho was now even more confused. So first Noel spits insults, and then he offers help? Who does this man think he is?
The world’s best football player, Lavinho reminded himself.
Still, Noel pissed him off, so, “No thanks, man, I got this down. Though, if you need help finding a real emotion, you know who to call.”
Ha, there it was. Lavinho grinned as Noel’s eyes widened slightly. The rest of his face didn’t change at all, but still, a start was a start, right? Lavinho loved nothing more than getting other people’s walls to crumble, though mainly on the pitch because he wasn’t an asshole like Noel. As he walked out of the room, stupid Blue Lock map clutched in his hand, he swore to himself that in his time here, he would break Noel Noa.
--
Lavinho was just about ready to take back his vow.
Was that even allowed? Well, no matter, because at this point HE was the one about to break, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. He had been wandering the halls for an eternity, and yet, every time he thought he’d got to the right turn, he’d end up at the opposite end of the building, or at least just in some spot that didn’t look like where he was supposed to be. Curse stupid fucking Ego and his stupid fucking sectors and the way everything looked the exactly the same. And curse his own stupid fucking brain.
What was he thinking, not accepting Noel’s help? In that room, he’d known exactly what would happen if he was left to these halls unattended. So WHY had he been so STUPID? Why had he chosen to see Noel’s eyes widen literally not even at all instead of getting some very much needed help? Now, he was in what he thought was the cafeteria, which had so many exits it looked like the backrooms, and all of them were labeled in JAPANESE. FUCK.
After a final useless walk around the cafeteria, he collapsed into a seat, sighing. Maybe Ego would see him through the cameras and feel enough pity to help him find his sector. Maybe one of his kids would come here and bring him to where he needed to be. He didn’t remind himself that they had no idea he was even in the building. Maybe Noel would materialize and, without that judgy look on his face, bring him to the right sector. Or maybe he was in the cafeteria that was never used, and he’d be left to starve to death. He put his head on the table.
“Now will you consider help?”
Lavinho jumped. He was about to turn around, then deflated and put his head back on the table when he realized who it was. Curse his stupid, stupid luck. Of course it had to be HIM that showed up. And right after Lavinho had torn his map to shreds, too.
“Fuck off,” Lavinho managed, throwing the pile of map confetti at where he thought Noel was standing. “Let me rot to death here in peace.”
For a few seconds it was silent. Lavinho wondered if he had looked so pathetic that Noel had simply walked out of the room. But then he heard a seat moving next to him, and a sigh.
“I’m not cleaning up the remnants of your map,” Noel said. “Ripping it apart in the first place was possibly the stupidest decision you’ve ever made, and that is saying a lot, considering you have the IQ of a 7 year old.” -- At that, Lavinho turned his head to look at Noel. How rude, he thought. But unfortunately, it was probably true. -- “After you get yourself together, I’ll take you to your sector.”
Surprisingly, Noel’s voice held no judgment. Even the insult hadn’t been delivered like one. In fact, it seemed like Noel pitied him, which was, in its own way, much, much worse. However, Lavinho was tired, and if this was all there was to Noel’s soft side, he would exploit it as much as possible.
Slowly (okay, not slowly, because Lavinho was Lavinho, and that was impossible), he pulled himself up out of the chair and started cleaning up the map confetti. He could feel Noel’s eyes trained on his back, which was very unsettling. A lot of things about Noel were unsettling. He was the epitome of unsettling.
After a very long period of time, or better known as two minutes, Lavinho had finished trashing his map and looked up at Noel expectantly. To his surprise, Noel’s eyes were still trained directly onto him. Weird, and unsettling. But what else was new?
Lavinho automatically grinned. “So, we gonna go?”
Something flashed over Noel’s face, just for a second. Surprise, or…embarrassment? EMBARRASSMENT? Lavinho’s grin widened, only a miniscule sliver of pride stopping him from retrieving his confetti from the trash can and cheering for himself. HE made The NOEL NOA EMBARRASSED. How he had didn’t matter. Maybe breaking Noa would be easier than he expected.
“You smile too much,” Noel said, face devoid of emotion again. “Doesn’t your face hurt? But yes, I will take you to your sector. And pick you up tomorrow morning.”
Lavinho drew to his full height, clasping his hands behind his back mockingly. “That will not be necessary. I am no man-child. The only reason I am here is-”
“Be quiet or I’m leaving.”
Lavinho gasped, clutching onto Noel’s arm dramatically. “No! You can’t leave me! How dare you suggest such a thing!”
Noel’s expression didn’t change at all, which made Lavinho pull back quizzically. Maybe he was only capable of expressing negative emotions? This was strange, and something that Lavinho made a mental note to tackle.
Without another word, Noel turned and walked towards one of the many exits. Lavinho trailed behind, grin back on his face. Perhaps his face did hurt; he put his hands on his cheeks, unsure. Smiling was his mask, he’d realized that a long time ago. He wished he could stop when his face started to hurt, or when it just wasn’t appropriate. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d cried. It seemed that the more he was hurting the bigger his smile became. Like he had somehow reversed all of his emotions.
This mask was one of the reasons the paparazzi were such hell for him. They wanted to see him cry, scream, glower, so they provoked him, screamed slurs and insults, mobbed him every time he stepped onto the street. And yet all he did in return was smile, gently easing his way through them as if he didn’t have a fucking place to be. The news was always covering it, too; “Lavinho, the player of all smiles until he steps onto the field,” “Barcha’s ace and his iconic smile.” His face didn’t hurt, but he did. Life was hard sometimes.
No matter. Right now, he had to memorize these halls, which turned out was very easy with the security of Noel guiding him. He could now see the little differences, memorize the shapes of the foreign characters on all the signs. How he hated his brain. He could memorize long passageways, the squiggles of languages he didn’t know, and yet he couldn’t read a simple map. Stupid.
When they reached Barcha’s sector, Noel whipped around to face him. He had a theory he wanted to test, and turns out he was right; Lavinho’s face was in a very neutral state, his eyebrows scrunched ever so slightly as if he was thinking about something, but the second he registered Noel’s eyes on him, his grin came back. Noel wanted to know what went on inside of Lavinho’s head if he wasn’t as happy as he let on.
“Here you are,” Noel said, deciding not to press. “Don’t go wandering the halls at night, I won’t be there to save your sorry ass.”
Lavinho stuck his tongue out. “Did you come out of the womb with your middle fingers up? But anyways, thanks.”
He brushed past Noel, giving him one last grin and a thumbs up before going through the door.
Then, his smile, along with his happiness, dissolved into nothing.