Chapter 60: New Member Joins The Team
"Come on, Bachira. Get over here and help me score," Aryu called out to Bachira.
"Stop daydreaming, Mushroom Head. Don't waste everyone's time," Rin's tone was as cold as ever. Having said that, Itoshi Rin turned and walked away.
Aryu flicked his hair and followed Rin's steps towards the next stage.
Kira remained standing, watching Bachira.
Bachira hesitated, his feelings conflicted.
"Sigh. I was the one who wanted to steal you back, Kira," Bachira said.
"Bachira…" Kira couldn't help but speak up.
"I'll come. It's the rules, after all."
"Goodbye, Isagi, Chigiri. Try to catch up."
"I'm following my inner Monster's decision. It's telling me I'll get stronger over there."
With that, Bachira stepped forward. Kira patted Bachira's shoulder in welcome.
Side by side, the two walked towards the gate to the next stage, disappearing from Isagi and Chigiri's sight.
…
In the matching room for the third stage on the other side.
"Who should we pick as opponents, Kunigami?" Raichi kept looking around the room, searching for rivals.
"Wait a bit longer. There's no hurry," Kunigami's gaze swept the room but didn't find the person he was looking for.
"Kira, Isagi, Bachira, and Chigiri… I don't see any of them," Igaguri chimed in.
"Damn it! They must have already teamed up and moved on," Raichi growled.
"Yeah. With their skills, there's no way they failed," Kunigami nodded.
After clearing the first stage, Kunigami couldn't find the people he wanted to team up with. In the end, he, Raichi, and Igaguri were forced to form a team.
Kunigami had his own plan: he wanted to compete against his familiar teammates. He wanted to steal them.
But now, none of them were here. What to do? Kunigami was worried.
…
Meanwhile. Second Stage, 2v2 [Enemy Stealing Decisive Battle] Matching Room.
Isagi and Chigiri sat in the room in silence.
Suddenly, the door opened. A familiar figure walked in.
It was Shoei Barou.
Following behind him was Naruhaya.
"Well, well. Look at you two stragglers. What, your 'leader' Kira abandoned you?" Barou mocked them as soon as he saw them.
"Oh, if it isn't the 'King'. You lose and end up back here? I remember your team didn't win a single match," Chigiri fired back without hesitation.
Hearing this, a vein bulged on Barou's forehead. "What did you say?!"
"I said, aren't you supposed to be so great? You lost, too."
"I scored four goals! My teammates were dead weight!" Barou roared.
"Then how about playing us? We can take you."
"Who's taking who, trash?!"
The two instantly squared off, the tension skyrocketing.
"You're just a one-trick pony with speed. Want me to crush that leg for you?"
"You're the 'King' who's already been dethroned. I'll make you kneel!"
"Uh, hey, Chigiri, stop arguing with him for now," Isagi immediately tried to de-escalate.
Chigiri wasn't normally this confrontational, but the loss to Kira had clearly left him raw.
"Um, you two… It says here we can't start the next match for 24 hours," Naruhaya reminded them from behind.
Hearing Naruhaya's words, both sides in the room calmed down.
Barou tossed out a final line: "I won't avoid you. I'll be waiting whenever you're ready." He turned and stalked off, leaving them with his back.
…
One day later. Fourth Stage Cafeteria.
"Hey, you guys! How about a match with us?" Aryu was frantically searching the cafeteria for their next opponents.
"Huh? Aren't you the TOP 3 team? Who would play you?"
"No thanks, no thanks."
"Let's go, let's go. Playing them is just asking to get destroyed."
Everyone Aryu approached refused.
"Sigh, how many teams is that now? They all run away scared. I didn't even want to play you guys anyway. Beating you wouldn't be stylish," Aryu grumbled.
"Kira, you don't seem worried at all?" Bachira asked between bites of food.
"There's no point in playing against cowards. They'll all be eliminated soon enough, anyway," Kira said leisurely while eating.
"Then who do you think will play us?"
"We'll wait for Isagi and the others to reach the fourth stage. We'll play them."
"Eh? Kira, you really have faith in Isagi. But what if they don't make it?"
"Bachira, you've played with Isagi too. Do you think they can't make it here?"
"Well... now that you mention it, Isagi and Chigiri are pretty strong. They should come." Bachira nodded.
…
After the meal.
Bachira and Kira went to the training room. Rin was already practicing.
"Hey, Iceberg. All alone?" Kira waved first, greeting him.
"Hello, hello, Rin-Rin..." Bachira also greeted him.
Kira gave Bachira a strange look.
"Hehe, I'm trying out new ways to call people," Bachira explained.
Kira was wondering why Bachira's greeting habit had changed.
Itoshi Rin glanced in their direction but didn't respond, continuing his own exercises.
"He really is an iceberg. So, what now, Kira? Train with him?"
"Do you want to?"
"Of course!"
With that, the two walked over without any sense of personal space.
"Hah? What are you doing? You two are in the way. Can you stand further away?" Itoshi Rin stopped his movements, looking displeased.
"Iceberg, we're teammates, after all. Let's practice together," Kira suggested.
"You're acceptable. He's not. Too green," Rin pointed at Bachira beside him.
"Eh? Me?" Bachira looked wounded.
Kira was speechless. This Rin was so direct.
"I remember you play football to defeat your brother, right?" Kira changed the subject to ease the awkwardness.
"So what?"
"Training alone is boring. Let's practice together."
"Then let's have a one-on-one first!" Itoshi Rin seemed very interested in facing Kira alone.
'I knew it.' Kira silently activated the Trial Card. Good thing he hadn't come yesterday. If he had been dragged into a one-on-one then, he would have been exposed.
Bachira stepped aside as the two launched into a fierce one-on-one battle.
The situation on the field was still evenly matched. Both sides scored goals. It was almost neck and neck.
Bachira's eyes narrowed. He noticed that Kira's movements, whether he was intentionally mimicking Rin or not, looked just like another Rin.
Rin had felt the same way during the last match. Now during training, the feeling was even stronger. Was he playing against a mirror?
Itoshi Rin thought this guy called Kira might not be so boring after all.
Time passed quickly. As soon as ten minutes were up, Kira waved his hand to stop.
"I'm not done yet…" Itoshi Rin clearly wasn't satisfied.
"Let Bachira practice with you… I have my own training to do," Kira said, finding a convenient excuse.
"Tch. Fine, I'll accept that," The iceberg actually accepted Kira's proposal.
Bachira ran over, looking surprised. "You don't want me to practice with you, Kira?"
"No need. I'll train by myself for a bit. You practice with Rin for a while. You can learn a lot."
"Oh, okay…" Bachira wasn't one to be shy either.
He put his foot on the football and faced Rin.
"A one-on-one with Itoshi Rin sounds fun too!" Bachira's eyes also burned with fighting spirit.
****
Yo guys, what's up?
Most of you are probably wondering, "Normally this dude wants Power Stones and throws a Patreon ad in our faces, why the hell is he starting like this today?"
You're not wondering?
Well, you should be.
Cuz I'm about to talk to you about some important things, some completely unimportant things, and a few things I just felt like rambling about.
First topic: This fic dropped, fellas.
Thanks for reading, see you in my other fics, bye…
Alright, alright… I'm kidding.
The fic isn't dropped.
I was just trolling you!
Here's the real deal: You guys are actually amazing. Out of all the fanfics I write, this one is still the place I have the most fun—writing it and interacting with you. I've made some other fics, even translated one that I think has a lot of potential, but none of that stopped me from enjoying this series—my first real project—as much as I do.
You probably noticed that in the beginning I was a clumsy newbie—weird punctuation, strange style choices, random experiments… Over time I cleaned things up and found a style that feels right.
And yeah… you probably also noticed that I absolutely fucked up the Japanese name order.
Didn't notice until now?
Don't worry, I didn't either until like a few days ago. 💀
The reason is stupidly funny (well… kind of).
On the manga platform I was reading from, the translation team used reversed name order. For those who don't know: in Japanese, the surname comes first.
So it's not Isagi Yoichi — the correct form is Yoichi Isagi.
My brain was cooked while reading, so I never realized it and ended up with messy name orders.
But thanks—you guys never nitpicked or complained about this tiny stuff. I really appreciate it.
And if you didn't notice… just stay cool and pretend you did.
Anyway, thanks for all the support. As you know, there aren't many Blue Lock fics out here, and the ones that do exist are…
How do I say this…
Weird as hell.
One of them is the most-read and most-commented fic on this site. I checked it out for reference, and suddenly—out of nowhere—China invaded Japan, annexed it, and the Blue Lock players started representing China internationally… 💀
So yeah, thank you for supporting one of the very few actually decent Blue Lock fics on this platform.
Huge thanks to everyone who supported the story, whether your name is listed or not:
@Hehehehe_eheheheh (bro also drop a Power Stone from time to time, come on),
@Skamavea, Aden_smith, @Leo_Rivero, @TsyKaSa_, @Aayush_storms,
@Leon_07, @herald_of_the_gate, @BasthianDS, @TheMadafackingKaka,
@Sebastian17, @Gentlestnut, @Mamat59, @Haruto1028383,
@Tidalfan, @BlueRill and many more…
***
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