CHOICES || y. isagi

XVI.

~~~

At last, the long week of harsh training had come to a close. We were told to head down to the base floor of the complex where we would be given further instructions.

It was finally time to begin the Second Selection.

No one spoke as we wound our way through the eerily quiet corridors. Anxiety seemed to sizzle through the air around us like a current of electricity. I walked beside Isagi, glancing up at his face every now and then, becoming increasingly aware of his growing nerves, though he did a good job of hiding it.

Arriving at the base floor, we were greeted by an enormous space, an arching ceiling high above us and multiple large screens lining the walls. Through the crowd of players gathered before us, I could make out what seemed like a large doorway, though it was sealed shut. Enclosed pens filled to the brim with footballs dotted the space.

The crowd swallowed us up the second we set foot into the room. It seemed as though the entirety of Blue Lock's inhabitants had been rounded up.

"Now that you're all here, we can begin," a booming voice proclaimed, drawing the collective attention of the room and directing it towards the screens above. They each mirrored one another, projecting the malicious form of Ego as he spoke.

"However," he continued, eyes seeming to pierce through us. "I would like to first clarify that almost everything you've known about Blue Lock up to this point, has been a lie. Let me explain."

So he did. And every word was a blow to the gut.

Our ranks were a lie. Our teams were a lie. It became a matter of what wasn't a lie.

I was in shock. It all sounded so wildly insane. In that moment, Blue Lock felt more like a fever dream than ever before. One where I was having more and more difficulty distinguishing reality from falsehood.

"If you take a look at your uniforms now, you'll find that your numbers have been changed to reflect your actual ranks," Ego said, smugness lacing his voice with a sugary sweetness like honey.

Almost immediately I glanced down at the sleeve of my uniform along with everyone around me. My eyes widened at the sight of the small illuminated screen on my arm. There, it's black digits gleaming, was the number 17.

I almost couldn't breathe, scrambling to pull myself together as Ego began to explain the details of the Second Selection. Though still in shock from everything that had just been revealed, I did my best to follow along as Ego described the different phases of the selection, of course avoiding any real description of what we would be facing.

"In the end, only those who master the ego will remain." Ego finished dramatically, disappearing as the screens turned black and leaving the room in stunned silence.

For an awful second, no one moved. Then, out of the seemingly frozen players, a figure stepped forward. He was tall with black hair falling into sweeping bangs across his forehead. There was no doubt that he was handsome, but he gave off a cool, deadly aura that blatantly warned people to stay away.

A hushed murmur rippled through the crowd. I was able to scarcely make out what sounded like the repetition of a name.

Rin Itoshi.

The name sounded unbearably familiar and as the boy grabbed two balls from the pen in the center of the room, it was as if a light bulb had gone off in my head.

Sae Itoshi, I recalled, eyes remaining glued to the dark boy. The famous seventeen year old midfielder who plays for Real Madrid's youth team. I knew I'd heard that name before...

Rin had set both of the footballs on the ground. The crowd had backed up a ways, watching him with wary, calculating eyes. Ignoring the attention of the surrounding players, he took a step back and wound up, sending one of the balls high into the air above him. Not even a second later, he'd sent the second ball into the air as well.

I watched along with the crowd as the balls curled towards each other midair, colliding at their highest peak.

But Rin hadn't even been watching the path of the balls. He'd already made his way towards the doors across the room. They opened for him like the gates to heaven, closing with a sharp finality behind him as he stepped beyond.

The balls hit the floor as if they'd been released from a spell.

I couldn't recall if Sae had a brother, but from the trick Rin had just pulled off, I wouldn't have been surprised.

I shook my head, feeling as though I'd just woken up from a trance. Looking around, my eyes landed on my teammates behind me.

A wicked smile spread across my face as I stepped back towards them. "Pretty crazy, huh?" My gaze wandered across each of their faces as they stared back at me.

"Yeah." Isagi grinned fiercely. "But we're pretty crazy too."

"We better be seeing each other at the end of this," Chigiri said with the ghost of a smile.

A twinge of something I couldn't quite place ran through me, but by the next instance it was gone, replaced by the thrumming of adrenaline in my ears. My heart pounded in my chest, frantic with nerves. "It's now or never, gentlemen."

Shaken awake from the shock that Rin Itoshi had induced, the room was alive with movement and noise once again, players at last beginning to make their way one by one through the doors to begin the Second Selection.

This is it, I thought, feeling the excitement building inside of me as I watched each player disappear, eyes alight with a dangerous flame. The next obstacles to becoming the greatest in the world lie just beyond those doors.

Despite myself, I let out a laugh. I looked to Isagi who'd turned at the sound of my manic laughter, unable to contain my reckless grin. "See you on the other side," I said.

And mustering up all the wild, confident, impulsive energy brimming inside of me, I walked through the doors.

~~~

I followed the long corridor all the way to the end where it opened up into a fairly large room. The ground was covered with green turf and my eyes were immediately drawn to the curious figure outlined against the wall to my left. Stepping further into the room, the wall behind the figure sprang to life, the outline of a goal appearing upon it.

Taking a closer look, I noted that the figure before the goal seemed to be the same type of holographic goalkeeper that we sometimes used during training. I watched it cautiously as I stepped into the center of the room where a ball sat stagnant.

As I reached the center, the hologram shuddered to life, lifting it's gloved hands outwards to take up space before the goal.

In a split second decision, I approached the ball with speed, feeling my foot connect perfectly with its center. It was headed straight for the upper ninety, but just as I thought it was going in, the goalie sprang to the left, knocking the ball away with a punch.

I watched, wide eyed, as a scoreboard of sorts materialized above the goal. A clock counted down from ninety and beneath it read "100 goals".

A smirk leapt to my face as understanding flooded through me.

"100 goals, huh?" I spoke aloud, cracking my knuckles. "Bring it on."

~~~

Walking down the exit corridor, I panted with exhaustion, though pride filled my chest. I'd finished with just under eight minutes to spare.

And even though I knew I probably should have been a bit more concerned about what was to come, I couldn't help but feel excitement as the entrance to the second phase loomed in front of me.