Ascension│Bluelock x male reader

3.22. Nothing To Lose

For the players, the game went on, as the stakes behind it, and the energy grew on both sides. And for Y/N, the feeling of hopelessness grew too.

Nobody had stopped him. He'd locked the door to his room, flopped to the floor, and now lay there with nothing but the harsh reflection of the tablet in his eyes.

He didn't know how long he lay there. Long enough to see the end of the game.

Hiori was going by himself, making a solo play right down the centre of the pitch. Aiku faced off against him, but Hiori was in the zone. Faking to the right, before swapping the ball to the left, he made it into clear space.

He didn't look for teammates. He went to shoot. And as defenders attempted to block him, he faked it.

Again, he didn't look for Isagi. Neither did Isagi look for him, using some quick footwork to sneak past the remaining defenders in front of the goal. Hiori sent a pass, an incredible ball straight across the entire pitch. Perfect height, perfect backspin, perfect distance. It went to Isagi.

And of course, the boy scored.

Y/N hadn't shown any reaction to that. Even though he was alone, he still bit back any possible hint of anger, of frustration, of sadness. Even when the stream turned to post-match discussions, the vast majority of the talking being about Isagi, he didn't show anything.

There was a small segment about him too.

"Right. So, I have a question. For the next game, after the break. Are we still believers in the Mercenary, Y/N L/N?"

"I honestly don't know, after today's atrocious performance. He was already showing signs of slowing down in the game of Bastard Munchen against Manshine City, and even more in the Barcha against Ubers game. But three in a row is too much."

"I'm thinking the same. Every player has a sort of honeymoon period when they join the scene, where they play amazingly at the start, and I'm pretty sure that was the case with Y/N L/N. Now, though, it looks like he just isn't good enough for the world stage."

"Yeah, exactly. Isagi Yoichi is showing much more right now, looking like a real contender for the best player in Bluelock. Also, take into account Rin Itoshi, Nagi Seishiro, Barou Shoei, and Bachira Meguru alongside them."

"So Y/N isn't the best player in Bluelock. Can we still think of him as a Japanese prodigy?"

"Of course we can. It's just that he's outshined by other prodigies, such as Isagi. Don't get me wrong, I think Y/N will be a great winger for the Japanese U-20 team, but a striker? Maybe not - and it seems like the club owners bidding for him agree. Here's a message from one of them."

"While Y/N L/N is indeed a good player, we will be lowering our bid by four million, bringing it down to 41 million. We ask other clubs to think a little bit more about their own bids for this player, as while Y/N L/N's goal count in the Neo Egoist League is high, people have to remember that he has played many, many more games than the other players."

"I agree. Y/N has had so many more games played compared to everyone else, and he still hasn't shown us anything special. We're going to run a poll in chat now - is Y/N L/N overrated as a player?"

Y/N didn't stick around for the poll. He shut down the tablet, leaving himself in complete darkness. Again, he didn't show anything.

Maybe he would be able to keep in control for the rest of the day. That would be a nice thought.

With superhuman effort, he picked himself up off the floor, and began stumbling through the darkness of his room for the light switch. He left the tablet on the floor, feeling his way forwards. And somehow, he managed to miss the table.