Ascension│Bluelock x male reader

28. The Rivalry Battle

For the next few minutes, Y/N, Rin, and Aryu sat on low stools, a good few metres separating each of them as they awkwardly stared at the floor.

Well, it was awkward for Y/N, just sitting there in silence. He was pretty sure that neither of the other two felt the same. Rin was just brooding, staring down at the floor like he was reading something there, and- was Aryu trying to see his reflection in the floor?!

Groaning with boredom, Y/N slipped off his stool, lying with his back down while he placed both hands on the floor. Kicking off with his feet, he transitioned into a handstand, blood suddenly rushing to his head as he grinned.

More or less perfectly balanced, Y/N walked on the palms of his hands across the room, legs stuck up into the air and hair brushing along the floor.

That was how Isagi, Nagi, and Bachira found him as they walked through the door.

The three boys emerged into the room with matching smiles of anticipation, eyes widening as they spotted Y/N.

Ignoring the other two of Y/N's team, Bachira grinned widely, taking a few steps closer to Y/N and leaning so his head was also upside down. "Hi, Y/N! You passed the last stage!"

Smiling back, Y/N shifted his weight onto one hand, lifting the other one off the floor to wave at the three boys. Bachira's mouth fell open. "One handed handstand?"

"Hi!" Y/N dropped back to the floor, feet hitting the ground as he flipped back upright. "Yeah, cool right?"

"How much core strength do you have?!" Isagi exclaimed, looking Y/N up and down.

"It isn't that hard." Y/N assured. "Just a lot of balance, and I'm sure you could do it too."

"Uh..." Isagi grinned, a tad nervously. "Not sure about that."

Y/N's smile faltered as he got past the excitement of seeing his friends again. "Wait, Nagi?"

The white-haired boy hummed, slouching but still towering over most people in the room. "Y/N...?"

"Where's Reo?"

The room fell silent. Rin and Aryu looked up, paying a little bit of attention to the other boys at the mention of this Reo person. Isagi and Bachira's faces went a little sour, and Nagi blinked with dulled surprise.

"We formed a team of three, without Reo." Isagi mentioned. "He's back in the first room."

Y/N's head was a little jumbled. The idea of Reo not being beside Nagi was simply something that wasn't right. In the last few months at school, and the time spent in Bluelock, Reo and Nagi had been literally inseparable. And Reo didn't seem like the type of person to leave Nagi alone...

"Why?" He simply said.

"What do you mean, why?" Bachira seemed a little confused himself. "We just made a team, like you did with these two people."

"But you left Reo?"

"Yes?"

"Huh." Biting his own lip to keep himself from saying more, Y/N stepped back, rejoining his own team on the chairs. How did Nagi manage to leave Reo? I thought he was only here because of him...

Above their heads, a screen flickered on, and like always, Ego Jinpachi sprung into view. He was wearing the same black shirt as usual, rectangle glasses sitting high on his nose.

"The third stage is a mini-game between two teams of three, called the Rivalry Battle. Bluelock Man, the hologram from the first stage, will be goalie for both teams, and the first team to get five goals wins."

A visual representation of his words appeared as he talked, showing a small pitch maybe a third the size of a normal pitch. "The winning team gets to take a player from the losing team to make a four man team."

"Oh, it's like that game..." Bachira placed a hand on his chin, watching the screen. Everyone in the room had their eyes on the screen, even Aryu who had paused looking at his own reflection.

"Red Rover." Nagi supplied.

"Yeah, that's right."

"As a team progresses through the stages, they gain more players. And whoever can form a team of five will pass the second selection. Losing teams go back down the stages, and if you lose the two-on-two game and don't get picked, you'll be locked off."

"Both teams must agree to play a match, and you are free to play whoever you want." Ego raised a finger. "To help you decide your opponents, I will now introduce the new Bluelock rankings."

Y/N sat next to Aryu, the silence from before returning as Nagi, Bachira, and Isagi grouped up on the other side of the room. They seemed to be discussing something, and Y/N tilted his head with mild interest as he watched them.

"You are all here because you are strikers that can turn zero into one. Now, you'll need to hurl your 'one' against each other, battle, and enhance each other in order to survive. Only strikers that can use these chemical reactions will progress to the next stage."

The screen switched off. Y/N glanced at the side of his Bluelock uniform as his profile changed, the number 295 changing rapidly. A small ticking noise came from everyone else's uniforms as well as their rankings changed.

Rin was ranked number 2, Aryu ranked number 3. Bachira ranked number 16, Isagi at 15, and surprisingly, Nagi was at number 7.

Y/N felt a small smile grow on his face as he realised that he was number one.

A few steps away from him, Rin's face soured even more, and with gritted teeth he shot Y/N a death glare. Y/N just stuck out his tongue childishly, eyes dancing with amusement at the other boy's annoyance.

"Hey, shorty." Aryu intoned. "That isn't a glam thing to do."

"Glam?" Y/N raised an eyebrow.

"Glam."

"Glam?"

"Glam."

"Gla-" Y/N was cut off as Rin stepped over, kicking his leg. It didn't seem like he meant it to hurt, but just his luck, it had landed directly on the skin graft he'd been given. Unpleasant tingles raced up his leg, and Y/N's eyes tightened momentarily. "What was that for?"

"Shut up." Placing a hand on his hip, Rin gave him a dark stare. "I don't know how you ranked higher than me, but I don't care. You both are just here to make up the numbers."

"No need to be like that." Y/N pouted. "I'm somewhat competent, you know."

"We're only a team because you two passed that last stage fast. To me, you're nothing but stepping stones." Rin may have sounded scary to other people, but to Y/N, he was just an edgy teenager. "I can join the U-20 national team if I win this thing. I'm only here to exploit that system. Everything I do is to get on that team and crush my brother."

Y/N nodded, intently listening to Rin's villain monologue. "Cool, cool. I make a very good stepping stone."

The boy hadn't heard him. "Crushing Itoshi Sae is everything to me in soccer."

"Who is that?" Y/N hummed with thought, and Aryu poked him in the side.

"He's probably the best player Japan has ever made. A genius, world class midfielder."

"Ah, ok."

A few footsteps rang through the hall, drawing Y/N's attention as Isagi walked over to them. He had his head lowered as he mumbled a small apology to both Bachira and Nagi.

"So, you don't care who you play?" Isagi completely ignored Y/N and Aryu, speaking only to Rin.

Don't tell me Isagi's going to challenge us... Y/N kept his mouth shut. He really thinks he can win...? That's an ego and a half if I've ever seen one.

Rin looked over at Isagi, momentarily taken off guard. "What?"

"My ego is telling me... to challenge you."