CHOICES || y. isagi

XVII.

~~~

The entrance opened up into a room not unlike the lobby we'd previously been gathered in. There were very few boys in the room, barely ten of them, and their eyes were all drawn to me as I stepped inside. They watched with contempt as I made my way further into the room, giving each of them a fierce glare of my own when our gazes met.

There were a few mutters from the boys as I passed them and I was just barely able to pick out a few of their words.

"...I don't care how you think she looks, there's no way we're letting a girl on our team."

Anger flared inside of me, white and hot. I'll make them regret that, I thought darkly, clenching my fists in an attempt to hold myself together.

"Saito!"

My eyes widened at the sound of the familiar voice, shaking me from my thoughts. Turning to my right I was met with the smiling face of Isagi as he emerged from another doorway.

"Isagi!" I grinned widely as he reached me. "Thank god there's a familiar face. How did the first phase go?"

"Good. There's not a lot of people here so I assume we're some of the first ones done." His eyes searched the room. "So what's this?"

I followed his gaze to one of the screens above us, scanning over the words. "I guess we need to make teams of three."

Isagi's face turned serious, if not grim. "Which means we need to find ourselves a teammate."

Something twisted in my stomach, my mind straying back to what I'd heard before. Finding a team didn't seem like such an easy task.

"I think Bachira or Chigiri would be great if we can find them," Isagi continued thoughtfully, having not noticed my sudden apprehension. I let out a sigh of relief. If it was someone we knew, making a team wouldn't be too bad.

"Right," I said, gathering myself and shaking off any prior hesitance. "Neither of them are here yet though, so let's team up with whoever comes first."

"Fine with me," he grinned.

Not even a minute had gone by before our attention was drawn elsewhere. "Hey, Isagi."

We both turned in confusion at the sound of the voice as Seishiro Nagi sauntered towards us, followed closely by Reo Mikage.

His face was neutral as he held out a hand towards Isagi, eyes half lidded in a way that made him look both tired and bored, nothing like the wild, burning ferocity I'd seen from him in our last match.

"Come join our team," he said to Isagi, hand still extended into the space between them.

"Hey, wait a second." Mikage stepped forward to stand beside Nagi, giving him a hard look. "You're sure you want this guy?"

Nagi glanced at him before turning his attention back to Isagi and holding his gaze, though continuing to speak to Mikage. "He was the best in our match. I want to try playing with him."

My eyes widened for a split second before I let my features settle, turning to face Isagi. "Well, will you go with them?" I asked, studying the look of surprise on his face.

He sucked in a breath. "No way." He met Nagi's eyes, determination replacing his surprise. "I'm sticking with Saito."

There was a moment of silence as relief flooded through me. I wouldn't have blamed Isagi for jumping at the chance to join the two skilled players, but nevertheless I was glad he'd chosen to stay with me instead.

Nagi nodded slowly and for a brief moment, I could almost swear I'd seen a fire blaze behind his eyes. "I see..." he said softly. "Well then, I'll just join your team, Isagi, if that's alright."

I was reeling with shock, though it seemed I wasn't the only one.

"Wait, Nagi! What does that mean for me?" Mikage jumped in quickly, a frantic look overtaking him.

Nagi watched his previous teammate carefully, though a new energy surrounded him. "You introduced me to football, but I've never felt this way before. I don't want to lose anymore. I want to play football with this guy."

Isagi seemed to stand taller all of a sudden, eyes gleaming. I could see the shift that had taken place inside of him. The same shift that I would so often see from him on the field when something had clicked.

"I want to play with you too, Nagi," he said with a dark smile.

Mikage deflated like a punctured balloon, turning away as Nagi stepped to join us.

"Let's go." Isagi led the way through the double doors towards the third phase, making our way down another hallway. "We're counting on you Nagi."

Nagi stared after him. "Yeah, I'm counting on you too."

Feeling a pair of eyes on me, I glanced over at Nagi who walked beside me. "Who are you? How do you know Isagi?" he asked when my gaze met his, face remaining indifferent though a small bit of curiosity peaked through.

I sent him a smile in an attempt to defuse the tension. Ahead of us, Isagi had tilted his head towards me slightly, listening. "I'm Saito," I replied. "Isagi and I were on the same team before the Second Selection. I hurt my shoulder before our match against your team so I couldn't play, which is probably why you've never seen me before."

Nagi nodded. "Do you play well?" he continued after another moment.

Isagi snorted ahead of us and Nagi's gaze flicked to him briefly before returning to me.

I pretended to ponder his question for a moment, though I couldn't keep the devilish grin from rising to my face. "Yeah," I shrugged nonchalantly. "I'd like to think so."

Emerging into the room of the third phase, only one other team was there and I couldn't help the jolt of excitement that raced through my veins at the sight of them.

There, with his dark, foreboding expression, stood the number one player at Blue Lock. Rin Itoshi.