Chapter Text
“...Now that's what I call egoism, team of Blue Lock. Let us begin your final training camp!”
Ego's face seemed to have been carved from shadow and steel—sharp cheekbones, thin lips, and a gaze that sent chills down one's spine. There was none of the usual disgust or arrogance in his voice that many of them had grown accustomed to.
When most of the guys had left, Jinpachi cleared his throat into his fist, drawing their attention.
“Itoshi Rin and Isagi Yoichi.”
The boys turned around.
“I have a separate conversation for the two of you.”
The participants exchanged glances, but the younger of the two quickly looked away, pretending not to be interested. Although that was definitely not the case. He was desperately curious about what the bespectacled man wanted. This conversation certainly hadn't been part of his plans. The eyelashed boy wanted only one thing: to train until he could barely stand.
There was simply too much at stake...
The older of the two merely gave a surprised hum and jogged over to his mentor, paying no attention to his teammate's usual behavior.
“So,” the bespectacled man began once the rest of the participants had left. “I've prepared a separate training exercise for the two of you, designed to improve communication and team spirit.”
“Why?” Itoshi's face twisted with displeasure as he stared at Ego, waiting for a reasonable explanation.
The blue-haired boy joined the conversation.
“Ego-san, I don't doubt your methods, of course, but... I agree with Rin. And hearing something like that from you”—the boy emphasized the last word—“is a little unusual. Isn't Blue Lock supposed to focus on individual qualities rather than... team spirit?”
“I understand the reason for your displeasure and perhaps your uncertainty,” Jinpachi finally replied, “but this is genuinely necessary. Especially since I haven't explained the entire exercise yet. You need to pretend to be a couple—”
“A couple?” the younger one interrupted. “Like friends? No way. I'm not doing that with this weakling. Pfft...”
The green-haired boy was already about to leave the room, but Isagi's voice stopped him.
“Rin! Wait... You didn't let Ego-san finish. I'm sure he meant something else. I doubt we even need to pretend to be friends. Maybe it's just... a metaphor?”
“You're both wrong,” Ego said.
The boys turned toward him.
“You need to pretend to be a couple.”
The boys' expressions ranged from shock to displeasure—Rin's being especially obvious.
“W-What!? Forgive me, but isn't that kind of stupid?” Isagi blushed slightly. “And I'm... into girls! Besides, I'm pretty sure Rin is too! Probably...”
“What the hell is this!? I came to this project to play football, not... do all this,” the green-haired boy muttered, his voice becoming quieter at the end.
“What exactly is so difficult to understand?” Judging by his tone, Jinpachi genuinely couldn't comprehend the teenagers' outrage. “I'll repeat myself. This will strengthen your mental connection, coordination, teamwork, and overall chemistry. You're going to play against professional-level players, while you're nothing more than a bunch of children who like kicking a ball around and scoring goals. How exactly do you expect to win without complete confidence in your teammate? Besides, the two of you will specifically have to coexist together. You should prepare for that in advance.”
The man let out a long breath.
“If your little act is exposed, you'll be given an intense training session. Refusal means I'll simply put you on the bench, and you can forget about fame and playing at the professional level.”
“Looks like we really don't have a choice...” the blue-haired boy sighed this time. “How long?”
“Three days, starting today. Good luck, my diamonds in the rough...”
...
“What do couples usually do to look... well, in love?” the blue-haired boy interrupted after a fairly long pause.
He and Rin were heading toward the training field. Despite their “special assignment,” preparation for the match had not been canceled.
“Tch. You think I know? You probably watch some sappy romance drama and couldn't remember anything useful,” Itoshi replied in his usual rough manner. If it weren't for that bespectacled idiot, he wouldn't want to spend even a minute around this crybaby.
“Hey! I don't only watch dramas!”
“So you do watch them?” the younger boy interrupted.
“If you're interested in something, at least don't interrupt me...”
Yoichi puffed out his cheeks.
“Fine,” Rin exhaled sharply. “What do you watch?”
“Well... action movies, maybe science fiction. The important thing is that there are lots of plot twists. I like thinking about what might happen next.”
Isagi placed a hand under his chin. He looked as though he were contemplating a problem of global importance.
“I see.”
“My parents often hold hands. Maybe we should do that too?”
The older boy turned toward his teammate, a couple of veins popping out on his forehead.
“Then suggest something! There's no need to burn a hole through me with your questions...”
“To make it look believable, we should sit together in the cafeteria, do exercises next to each other, sometimes practice English together. Or wouldn't it be easier to just tell everyone what that guy is planning and have them play along?”
“I don't think Barou will agree, and Zantetsu will expose us. Fine, we'll figure something out.”
The boys reached the entrance to the training field, from which fairly loud shouting and yelling could be heard.
Apparently Nagi and the self-proclaimed king had once again disagreed about something.
Or Bachira had been practicing a new move and crashed into someone.
“Isagiiii! Save meeeee!” Meguru started shouting the moment he spotted the blue-haired head.
The scene was... absurd.
“Psycho! Get over here!” Tabito shouted, running after the shaggy-haired boy.
“Karasu, wait!” Hiori intervened. “What even happened?”
“This guy...” Karasu sighed. “He's completely insane! Look what he did!”
The brunette showed them his hand. It was badly swollen.
“Yeah... okay, you two deal with it yourselves,” Yo decided that Bachira probably deserved whatever punishment was coming.
“But it was an accident!” Meguru shouted from the other side of the field. “Isagi, tell him!”
“Bachira, it's your own fault. Learn to take responsibility for your actions,” Yoichi said, raising his index finger into the air like a true expert.
“Rin, let's practice a pass.”
The younger boy simply nodded.
...
“Nagi! Eat!” Mikage held a spoon up to the white-haired boy's mouth.
The latter merely hummed something and lay down on the table.
“Chigiri, tie your hair up! Your hair is in my curry!” Otoya complained.
“You're a ninja. You should be accustomed to exotic food,” Hyoma retorted, poking at his rice.
“Otoyaaa, if you don't want it, give it to me!”
Bachira was already reaching for Eita's plate, only to receive a calm:
“Get lost.”
Somewhere in the corner, Barou was trying to teach Gagamaru proper table manners.
But Gin simply continued devouring his lunch with his hands, earning a disapproving look in return.
Shidou and “Igaguri,” as they had started calling the guy, couldn't agree on who should get the last piece of mochi.
Ryusei, losing patience, began threatening to “crack the nut” of the poor monk.
Fortunately, Hiori and Nanase arrived in time to stop him. They led the crying boy away and sat down at a table with Zantetsu.
Four-eyes was calmly drinking water with an intelligent expression on his face.
In his mind, the water would undoubtedly increase his IQ even further.
Karasu stood near the entrance. He was shouting something into a camera while waving his arm around.
It was even more swollen now.
Ego had probably simply muted him so he wouldn't have to listen to the annoying bird chirping.
Itoshi and Yoichi entered the cafeteria, timidly holding hands. The blue-haired boy's face was slightly flushed, but he tried to hide it behind a confident smile. Rin's expression, on the other hand, remained completely impassive. But one thing betrayed his complicated feelings: his ears were red.
Because of his hair, it wasn't particularly obvious, but if you looked closely, it was noticeable enough.
The soft hum that had previously filled the cafeteria died down.
Everyone stared at the “couple” simultaneously, as though they were one organism.
To Isagi, these felt like the longest minutes of his life.
Shidou was the first one to break.
“Well, look at them! Lovebirds being all lovey-dovey!” Ryusei shouted, nearly choking on his mochi.
The boys ignored the thirty pairs of eyes fixed on them and walked toward the food counter.
Isagi decided to take a small steak with tomato sauce and tea.
Rin settled for a small portion of rice and a glass of water.
Afterward, they sat down at an empty table.
The green-haired boy started the conversation.
“Do you think they'll fall for this kindergarten act?”
As Itoshi said this, he began picking at the bandage on his nose.
His desire to knock some sense into the idiot still hadn't disappeared.
Yoichi smacked the younger boy's hand.
“Talk about it more quietly. If we're going to keep this up, we have to commit to it.”
...
“Guys, did you even see that!?” Meguru began the moment he flopped onto the couch.
He, Chigiri, Otoya, Karasu, Reo, and Nagi were spending their free time in the recreation room.
“Rin and Isagi were walking together, they weren't arguing, and they were holding hands! Something weird is going on, but we don't know anything...”
“Bachira is onto something!” Eita joined the conversation.
He sat on the armrest beside Bachira.
“Those two can't possibly have suddenly made up!”
“Oh, come on, guys. Don't make a mountain out of a molehill!” Mikage was sitting on a beanbag, casually running his fingers through his friend's hair.
Seishiro was sitting in a soft armchair beside him.
“Reee-o... I need to go to the bathroom...” the white-haired boy whined.
“Come on, come on, my precious treasure. Alright, guys, see you!”
“If those two don't start dating, I'll stop believing in love.”
That was the first thing Hyoma said as soon as the boys left.
He was working out on an exercise bike.
“As for Monster and Average guy, I think there's a conspiracy going on...” Karasu rested his hand under his chin, considering every possible explanation.
He was lying across the two beanbags that Reo and Nagi had been sitting on earlier.
“Bro, what the hell?” Otoya interrupted the brunette's train of thought. “Hanging around Bachira is messing with you. I think they might have known each other before Blue Lock. Wouldn't it be easier to just ask them?”
“Ask them!? You half-baked ninja, have you completely lost it?” Chigiri was breathing heavily after his workout. “If we're asking anyone, it should be Isagi. Rin will either ignore you at best or yell at you at worst.”
“Relax, Chigirin! I'll handle it!” Bachira shouted excitedly, jumping off the couch.
“Well, good luck, little monster,” Tabito gave him a thumbs-up.
“Just make sure Rin doesn't eat you,” Eita added wisely.
“Go on, then,” Hyoma ushered Meguru out of the room, giving him a push from behind.
.
“Oh, Hiorin! Got a minute?”
While searching for the “couple,” the bowl-cut boy ran into Yo.
“Bachira? Yeah, sure. Do you need something?”
“Don't you think it's weird that Rin and Isagi were holding hands today?”
“Very weird. And they didn't even argue once.”
“That's actually why I was looking for Isagi—to ask him about it. Are you coming?”
“Well, we've got nothing to lose. Let's go.”
...
After half an hour of searching, Hiori and Bachira found themselves in the gym.
Itoshi was doing bench presses while Yoichi helped him. Something strange was happening again. They weren't arguing. They were simply working out together calmly.
“Isagiiii, hi!” Meguru ran up to the boys. “Can we talk?”
“Oh, Bachira? Sure, but wait a couple of minutes. Rin has two more sets.”
When the blue-haired boy has finished, Meguru immediately dragged him into the hallway.
Yo remained alone with the eyelashed boy for a little while longer.
“Bachira, what did you want to talk about?” Isagi asked.
“Can't you guess? I was just a liiiiittle surprised that you and Rin-chan were walking around hand in hand! And you didn't fight even once! That's probably what worries me the most.”
“Relax. We're just... trying to get along. We'll have to play together during the match, so we're trying to start with a clean slate.”
I hope he believes me, the blue-haired boy thought.
“Okay, I got it! Bye!”
A moment later, the shaggy-haired boy had already disappeared around the corner.
He was acting strangely, even for him.
Isagi decided not to pay attention to it and returned to Rin.
He and Hiori had been talking about something, but the moment Yoichi returned, the blue-eyed boy immediately said goodbye and left.
“Rin, looks like we're doing pretty well,” the blue-haired boy began as they headed toward the treadmill. “Bachira already suspects something. And what were you and Hiori talking about?”
“I think it was the same thing you and the shaggy-haired idiot were talking about,” Itoshi said.
He did a few push-ups before sitting down in a lotus position.
“About how we're acting weird today and all that.”
“Great. I really don't want to do any special exercises from Ego-san. I'm scared to imagine what he has prepared...”
...
“Bachira, what did Isagi say?” Hiori asked as soon as they met again.
“Well, basically, he said that he and Rin will be playing together, so they're trying to get along and improve their communication. What about you?”
“Rin said it's none of my business and that I should focus on training instead. Overall, it wasn't surprising.”
“Aw, and I really wanted to find out their secret...”
“The morning is wiser than the evening, so let's go to sleep.”
“Nighty-night, Hiorin!”
“See you!”