Chapter Text
The champions league trophy.
He had dreamed of this moment ever since he was a child still learning how to kick a ball. He lifted the trophy alongside Alexis Ness his teammate on Bastard Munchen after Kaiser left for Re Al years before.
The victory felt empty.
He had come all this way to achieve his dream but on the way he had left everything behind.
What would Ego think now if he saw what had become of his top egoist. He would probably feel the same shame that was now burning itself deeply into Isagi’s heart and bubbling in his stomach threatening to force his breakfast up all over the pristine field.
All throughout out the blue lock project he had spoken a big game about how he would become the best striker in the world. He truly believed that he would defy the odds even if he was better suited as a midfielder just like Hugo had said.
In the end he’d been a child when he said that unaware of the truth of the wider world. In the end though he swore he never would he gave up chasing the net and became a playmaker instead.
In the most recent World Cup he didn’t even join his old teammates, he couldn’t bare to face them after laying his ego down at his feet.
In the end Japan still wasn’t capable of winning a single World Cup. Now whenever he faced his former teammates they met with resentment instead of rivalry. It hurt, it hurt knowing that he’d left them behind.
He turned his brain off and let the thrum and sway of the crowd pull him along. Ness shook his shoulders and grinned pulling him into his arms, it was their joint work that had led their team to victory. He couldn’t bare to look into Kaisers eyes as they made their way past the loosing team to leave the field.
He was proud of Ness for how far he’d come as a player since their nel days but he still couldn’t bring himself to be truly happy, not when he was living a lie.
At the end of the day he chose not to join the team for their celebrations instead retreating to his apartment alone. He lay in bed staring at the ceiling feeling empty.
He screwed his eyes tightly shut reaching into the depths of his heart the only place e his former ego still existed.
If only there was a way, a way that things could go back to simpler times. A time where his biggest worry was how he was going to overcome his next biggest rival. Maybe if things went differently then maybe, just maybe things wouldn’t have ended how they did.
Maybe he could still alongside his friends.
Maybe he could still be a striker.
———————————————
He snapped awake with a gasp. His ceiling was a different colour. Instead of its usual stark white it looked a deep blue in the soft morning light. It was the same colour of his childhood bedroom a place he hadn’t been back to in years.
He started to his feet nearly tripping over his duvet covers in his rush to get in front of the mirror. The person looking back at him was definitely Isagi Yoichi yet some things were different. He was slimmer with less muscle definition. He was still pretty much the same height, he was never able to grow much after his teenage years.
It was almost as if, maybe…
He heard a familiar voice call to him from outside his room. His mothers voice. He stumbled out of his bedroom door nearly falling into her arms. She regarded him with a warm smile. “Oh hunny your awake, you’ll have to get ready quickly if you want to be ready for that new training project with the JFU.
Isagi nodded dumbly and made his way back into his bedroom mechanically getting dressed. It must all be some crazy dream born from his desires, even if it was he wasn’t ready to wake up quite yet he wanted to see it through so he could see his friends again, even if they were just figments of his imagination.
His parents drove him to the meet up point singing his praises the whole time. They always were so proud of him even if they never really understood the sport their son loved so much.
The whole start of the project seemed exactly how he remembered it. Kira greeted him at the door and they walked together into the building. The large hall was full of 300 young hopeful strikers ready to make their mark on the world.
He saw some familiar faces in the crowd. Bachira, Hiori, Rin and even Nagi who had worked so hard to come back to the project after being locked off. Seeing their faces filled him with an enormous sense of guilt. Before he could think more on it the lights turned dim and ego walked out onto the stage.
He told them the same speech he had the first time about ego and his plan to make one of them the best striker in the world to lead Japan to victory in the World Cup. He remembered how he’d felt the first time he was here so pumped up and full of determination.
This time he wasn’t the first person to run through that door. Instead he simply waited and followed along after everybody else. He walked with Kira as Anri gave them each a consent form and sent them along to their designated rooms.
Like last time Kunigami’s shirt flew into his face and he saw Bachira sleeping on the floor as everybody finished getting changed. He’d been friends for some of these people for years while others he had last seen at the start of the second selection their journées destined to end prematurely. He even saw the traitor Kuon chatting with one of the other team Z members.
Ego quickly explained the rules of tag and the ball dropped down at Igaguris feet. The other teen instantly began to freak out kicking the ball aimlessly at different people in the room becoming more and more frustrated when his attacks were easy dodged.
The first time around Isagi had been hit with the ball but this time he skilfully managed to dodge it. Eventually he set his sights on a still sleeping Bachira getting himself kicked in the face for his efforts. Bachira took the ball and began to dribble it around d the room looking for a target.
Suddenly Isagi got the urge to move to a particular part of the room just in time to receive Bachira’s pass sending it right into Kira’s face. Isagi stood in shock hardly listening as Kira argued his elimination with Ego.
He hadn’t meant to do what he did, his chemical reaction with Bachira had been completely subconscious. Even after years he still knew the perfect place to catch his old friends passes.
Ego explained the rest of the first selection and team Z decided to get to know each better before their first match. Kuon quickly cemented himself as a leader with his kind and charming personality. Isagi wasn’t so fooled as he had been the first time. He had very little respect for Kuon as a player. The boy who worked so hard to move on alone ended up never even making it past the first selection.
He saw Iamon too the boy who allowed himself to be pushed into the goal keeper position every match. In the end he too went out in the second selection and he was replaced by Gagamaru as the main goal keeper of blue lock.
Maybe this time round if he could convince Gagamaru to play as goalie they wouldn’t concede as many goals so they could get through the first selection easier than last time.
He saw Bachira, Kunigami and Chigiri near him as they made their way to their first match against team X. He wanted to speak to him but they didn’t even know him yet, it would be weird to go up to them now like he’d known them for years.
This was the match that Isagi first met Barou. It was before his awakening but if he remembered correctly the king was just as annoying as ever. They had lost 5-1 the first time around since they couldn’t kick themselves into gear as a team fast enough. Isagi didn’t know if he could bare watching them fall apart like that again.
Isagi scanned the other team of 11 as they prepared for the match. The other players were all nobodies out in the very first selection. Only Barou, Niki and one of the Wanima brothers made it through from the loosing team the first time around.
They argued for a long time over who should take each position on the pitch. Isagi already knew that Raichi would one day become a defender but he didn’t want to bring it up at that moment as the other boy still had a frightful attitude.
He decided to Siraj up when the topic of goalie came up. “Hey after the physical tests wouldn’t you all say that Gagamaru has the best stats as a goal keeper” he felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment when the entire team turned to him in silence.
After a moment of deliberation all eyes flicked to Gagamaru. The taller boy just shrugged and nodded “sure as long as you win” Isagi nodded in relief glad that he didn’t get any push ba j for his suggestion, if that happened he wouldn’t know what to say.
Isagi started the match in possession of the ball. He hoped that maybe if team Z could start the match with a goal they would be more likely to work as a team and not panic over goals.
He was thankful that Bachira seemed willing to work with him when he sent him a pass across the field. The pass was for more precise than what any of these players were currently capable of and it shocked them all. Passing had never been his strongest stat and it seemed even worse against the world class players he routinely played against so he didn’t realise that even his lower stats were professional level compared to all these players. His passing ability had also improved after so long as a midfielder.
Isagi didn’t think he really needed metavision for this match after all Barou was the only player he needed to worry about. Isagi and Bachira played with the ball moving it up the field as they waited for their other team members to move into the box.
When he saw Barou charging at him from his peripheral vision he took the opportunity to send the ball to Kunigami who sent it flying into the net with a fast strike. Bachira cheered and jumped at him spouting something about Isagi and his monster being one and the same.
Barou started with the ball for next kick off and he easily managed to strong arm his way through team Z to equalise the score. Isagi wasn’t too worried about that team Z was already beginning to build up from zero far before they did the first time. It was only a matter of time before they could start to use their weapons in matches too.
Raichi came and shouted in his face annoyed that he chose to pass to Kunigami instead of him. Isagi just waved him off and promised him the next shot. The next opportunity came quickly when Isagi saw an opening in the defence allowing him to pass to Raichi who was able to score setting the points at 2-1.
It was good and all that they were winning but Isagi wanted to score a goal too. He hasn’t come all the way back here just to be a midfielder again. This was his chance to prove that he could someday be a true striker even with his playmaking skills. He would prove Hugo wrong this time around.
As the match continued Barou was able to score another goal with his ability to shoot far away from the net. Isagi wasn’t too excited to watch him evolve into the player he would one day be.
As the minutes on the clocked ticked to the end Isagi finally saw his own opportunity to shoot when he caught a pass from Bachira inside the blind spot of a team X player. He chose not to use his old signature direct shot instead trapping the ball before making his shot. It wasn’t like anyone on the pitch was in the position to stop him.
It was almost laughably easy to send his ball into the net causing his team to erupt with cheers. He smiled softly as Bachira and Kunigami crowded around him praising him for his skills. His eyes wandered across the pitch to look sadly at Chigiri who had relegated himself to défense. He hasn’t yet been told about his knee injury but he hoped that he would still be able to awaken his ego this time around. If not the other boy might just go home unaware of what he could be.
Celebrations followed the team back to their dorm room. They felt slightly less on top of the world when they saw that team V had won their match 8-0. It was unfair how skilled Nagi was as a player even when he wasn’t even trying in the first selection. He really was a true genius. A genius Isagi had once been proud to play alongside.
Once night fell Isagi found himself staring at the ceiling unable to sleep. He made his way to the pitch to do some late night solo training. He spent a while practicing his power and speed when he sent ball after ball into the goal. After an hour or so he heard the door slide open and he turned to see Bachira balancing a ball on his foot.
Isagi grinned as the other boy made his way to him. Bachira had been his first ever friend at blue lock and Isagi was eager to foster their relationship once again.
“Hey Isagi, up for some training” Isagi grinned “Sure… 1vs1?” Bachira replied by dropping the ball at his feet to dribble past Isagi. In the future Bachira would be one of the best dribblers in the world but at this point if his development Isagi was able to to read his moves relatively easily.
Instead of being annoyed when Isagi stole the ball Bachira seemed to become even more exited. “You know Isagi your a real monster” he smiled warmly “thankyou Bachira” The other boy tilted his head in surprise “You don’t think it’s weird” Isagi just shrugged “why should I we all have our egos, whatever works, works I’m not one to judge”
Isagi had spent enough time with Bachira the first time around that he didn’t even bat an eye at his antics already long used to them. When he crouched to retrieve the ball he didn’t notice the warm blush that suddenly overtook the other boys face at hearing Isagi’s acceptance of him. He might have been the person Bachira had been searching for to play with all along.
They continued training together for the next few hours swapping tips until they became too exhausted to even kick the ball. They made their way back to the dorm room side by side laughing and chatting the whole way there. Isagi was glad that he could finally have his friend back after years of having very little contact. Isagi had almost forgotten how much fun he was.
They were already doing far better in this tournament than they had the first time. If things continued like this they would hardly even need to worry about the team V match since both of their teams would already be through to the second selection.
Isagi was overcome with happiness at being back in blue lock. Though it had been very stressful they had been the best few months of his entire life. He had met a whole cast of unique personalities and egos that he would never forget as long as he lived.
The next morning Isagi sat at a table with Bachira, Kunigami and Chigiri. He was once again ranked second to last so he only had a side dish of natto to enjoy but that didn’t bother him all that much. Isagi found that Kunigami was much easier to talk to at this point in the selection before he was changed by the wild card.
It reminded him how tragic it was to loose the hero of soccer only to have him come back as a resentful copy of Noel Noa. “Isagi I have to thank you for your pass earlier, I wouldn’t have scored without your help” Isagi just shrugged and grinned “It’s was nothing really, you were just in the best spot to secure if the goal nothing more”
Chigiri nodded “even so you showed some serious skill, maybe Ego made a mistake ranking you so lowly” Isagi laughed at that “awe don’t say that you’ll give me a big head”. He found amusement in the thought that maybe Ego was going through all his data right now trying to figure out where Isagi’s mysterious skills had emerged from.
It was probably driving him mad right about now. The only thing Ego hated more than being wrong was being misinformed about something.
When the team once again came together in the dorm the subject of using individual skills or weapons to turn zero into one came up. Isagi listened excitedly even though he had heard it all before, he always enjoyed hearing about different weapons and the players who used them.
The sharing started with Bachira who unsurprisingly cited his dribbling skills as his weapon. Kuon went next mentioning his jumping power. Isagi nearly rolled his eyes at that. Isagi knew countless players who could jump higher without it even being their main weapon like Agi on the old England team.
Chigiri was meant to go next but just like last time he refused to answer. Naruhaya then talked about his off the ball movements and ability to move into blind spots. Isagi had to admit that without Naruhaya he never would have become the player he was today.
Afterall copying and devouring the other boys ability had been the kickstarter to his own development as a player and awakening. Though he never saw Naruhaya again after he was locked off Isagi was forever grateful for what he had been able to learn from him.
Eventually the circle got back round to Isagi who shrunk a little under all the new attention. “Oh I would say that my weapon is my spacial awareness” Kunigami tilted his head “really, not your passing skills?” Isagi nodded “definitely, I’m good at getting in the best position to receive the ball”
Bachira giggled “I second that, Isagi always goes exactly where my monster in on the field” Isagi smiled and let his friend learn on his arm not nothing the odd look that Kunigami sent their way.
After the success of the first match they were exited to make a new strategy fit the match against Niko’s team. Kuon once again suggested the strategy of having them revolve around the pitch every few minutes so everyone would get a chance to use their weapons.
He told Isagi to stay as a midfielder the entire match since he was the one most able to make shot winning passes. While Isagi was annoyed with the turn of events unwilling to get stuck as a midfielder he decided not to argue when everybody else agreed to it. He would get chances later on to prove himself as a striker and even if he couldn’t in the first selection no body could stop him from scoring when the second selection started.
With their brand new plan ready to be put into action the next day team Z went to bed that night bursting with excitement and nervous energy. They had won the first time around and this time Isagi was stronger and he knew the tactics that Niko would use to catch them by surprise.
In his opinion the team Y match was going to be an easy win.