Ascension│Bluelock x male reader

3.1. Pretty Boy

"So, this is the kid?"

A few hours before the players would finish choosing their teams, Y/N shifted shyly on his chair, feeling the entire room's stares on him. Usually, he wasn't so quiet. But faced with five of the strongest strikers in the world, he felt he had to give them at least a little respect.

They sat around a round table. Noel Noa sat opposite him. On either of the man's sides sat Marc Snuffy, and Chris Prince. Y/N hadn't realised who Snuffy was until Julian Loki had subtly told him, causing him to break out into a bright red and a laugh to circulate around the table. Lavinho sat at the table as well, next to Ego Jinpachi.

Ego nodded. "He'll take part as the Mercenary. Feel free to ask him questions. Also, I believe he wanted to say something?"

Y/N nodded mutely. Gesturing to the five players in front of them, Ego stared at him. "Go on."

"Ah..." Y/N hesitated, smiling nervously. "I'm Y/N. I'm... pretty good at running. I like scoring goals. And I'm somewhat fast."

His eyes drifted to Julian, who was intently watching him. The prodigy gave a small nod of encouragement. Y/N moistened his lips. "And uh. I want to play against you."

He felt Ego's scolding glare on his face, but tried to ignore it. "I know, I'm supposed to play for you and stuff. But I also want to test myself against you all. In a one on one scenario, or in a big game, I don't care. I want to win, and learn from you while doing so."

The room was silent. Noa was the first one to speak, leaning forward. Y/N had seen pictures of him before, but there was just something about him that made him look so much more imposing than a normal person. A pair of cold yellow eyes narrowed slightly. He spoke in English. "It wouldn't be much of a test. You're much better going up against Kaiser."

"Why not?" Y/N replied in English. "And who is Kaiser?"

"You don't know Michael Kaiser?" Noa looked surprised. Y/N didn't know why. Am I supposed to...?

"He's one of the New Gen Eleven." With a tone of controlled disbelief, Noa spoke slowly. "The one with the Kaiser Impact as a weapon?"

"Never heard of him."

"He's a monster... a fiend of a striker. He's about your level, maybe a little higher, maybe a little lower. And also, he really wants to play against you."

Y/N sighed, puffing his cheeks. "Why can't I just play with you?"

"Do you want the truth, or the sugared version."

"Truth."

"You're weak. I watched your recordings. Too emotional. Too wasteful." Noa didn't waste a second before he was listing things off. "And you don't use your teammates enough. I don't play with irrational idiots."

Y/N opened his mouth to return, but before he could, Lavinho laughed loudly. He clapped his hands together, glancing over the top of his sunglasses. "If he doesn't need them, why is that an issue? He scored plenty of goals himself." Again, it was spoken in English.

"He'll never even come close to the top level without them."

"I've done plenty well, thank you."

"Well? Where did you rank again, and where did I rank?"

Instead of being insulted, Lavinho just threw his head back and laughed. He gestured at Y/N, grinning. "Don't limit the kid's creativity, cyborg." The man nodded at Y/N. "I'll play with you, man. And you can come train with my players. But don't go crying to your mama when the world's best striker sends you packing."