Chapter Text
TIME PERIOD: PRE-BLUELOCK
The café hummed with quiet conversation, the occasional clink of silverware against ceramic filling the space. At their usual corner table, Yoichi scrolled through their group chat, still labeled plainly as Julian, Lorenzo, Michael, Yoichi. He frowned, tapping his phone thoughtfully.
“We need a better name for this,” he announced, breaking the comfortable silence.
Michael barely looked up from his espresso. “For what?”
“The group chat. And, y'know, us —our whole thing. When we finally make this official.” Yoichi held up his phone. “This is just our names. It’s boring.”
Julian smirked, setting down his cup. “Oh? And what do you suggest, mon chou?”
Yoichi’s eyes lit up. “Something cool. Something fun. Like… The Ragamuffins .”
Lorenzo, mid-sip of his cappuccino, nearly choked. “The what ?”
“The Ragamuffins! It’s got character! It perfectly describes us.”
Michael set his cup down with deliberate slowness. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“What’s wrong with it?” Yoichi frowned. “It means scrappy kids who came from nothing and made something of themselves. Us ! We were running around Europe together with nothing, and now look where we are.”
Lorenzo huffed a laugh. “Yeah, you were a scrappy little thing, pulcino. Me? I’m more of a street zombie, no?”
Yoichi’s expression immediately soured. “Ren-nii, don’t call yourself that.”
Michael smirked. “He’s not wrong.”
“Shut up, Mihya.” Yoichi shot him a glare before turning back to Lorenzo. “You know I hate when you say that..even if it is a joke”
Lorenzo just grinned, ruffling Yoichi’s hair. “Relax, pulcino, we're messin ‘round. I told ya, I'm fine with those.”
Michael exhaled sharply. “Either way, we’re not calling ourselves something that makes us sound like a pack of cuddly lost orphans.”
“Technically, we were a pack of lost orphans, minus the cuddly part” Julian pointed out, amusement lacing his voice.
“Yeah, yeah, Mr. I have parents now..”, Michael said and ignored him. “If we’re picking a name, it should have presence . Something like The Kings of the New World —”
“Oh my god,” Lorenzo groaned.
Michael continued unfazed. “—Rising from nothing, taking over football itself—”
Julian snorted. “Chel, that sounds like a rejected Netflix series.”
“I was not finished.” Michael shot him a look. “It needs to be strong. Not ridiculous.”
Julian leaned back in his chair, amused. “is The Vandals strong enough for you?”
Michael gave him a flat look. “That’s a gang name, Frenchie.”
Julian grinned. “ The Rebels , then.”
Lorenzo nodded. “Not bad. What about The Street Rats ? It’s honest.”
Michael looked physically pained. “We are not naming ourselves after rodents.”
“Okay, okay.” Yoichi held up his hands. “What about The Underdogs ?”
Julian hummed. “Too generic.”
“We’re not really underdogs in any sense, Luce, not anymore atleast” Lorenzo added, stretching.
“Fine. The Wanderers? ”
Michael shook his head. “Too poetic.”
“The Scraps?”
“The fuck? Too depressing, Yoichi.”
“The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?”
Julian smirked. “Now that’s dramatic.”
Michael sighed. “We’ll be here all day at this rate.”
Julian suddenly snapped his fingers. “Actually, I have one.”
Yoichi perked up. “Yeah?”
Julian gestured toward the group chat still displayed on Yoichi’s phone. “ Lokaisaki. ” he typed in.
The table fell quiet for a moment.
Michael tilted his head slightly. “It does roll off the tongue.”
Julian grinned, pleased. “See? Even der Kaiser likes it, and he hates everything.”
“I did not say that,” Michael muttered, sipping his espresso.
Yoichi frowned, tapping the name on his screen. “Wait—how’d you even come up with that?”
Julian leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand. “ Lo for Lorenzo, Kai for Kaiser, Isa for Isagi—you share the ‘I’—and Ki for Loki.” His smile turned smug. “Efficient, isn’t it?”
Lorenzo chuckled. “Not bad, Julz. Simple, but it works.”
Michael gave a small, approving nod. “As long as it doesn’t make us sound like a traveling circus.”
Yoichi pouted. “I still think The Ragamuffins had charm.”
“It had something, Luce” Lorenzo muttered.
“Yeah. Tragedy ,” Michael snickered, Yoichi shot him a glare.
Julian smirked. “Then it’s settled. Lokaisaki .”
Michael clinked his cup against Julian’s. “To not being called The Ragamuffins.”
Lorenzo chuckled, raising his glass. “To Lokaisaki, then.”
Yoichi huffed, but he was smiling as he lifted his own cup. “Fine. But in my heart , we’re still The Ragamuffins.”
Michael rolled his eyes. “Do whatever you want, mein liebling .”
Julian smirked. “To Lokaisaki. And to our world domination.”
They clinked their glasses together.
Their laughter and teasing filled the air once again.
And just like that, the name that football would soon know, fear, and stand in awe of was born one warm afternoon at a cafe, out of the blue.
Lokaisaki .