[Blue Lock] >
"THE CHOICES WE MADE IN THE PAST ARE WHAT GAVE US THE CHANCES WE HAVE TODAY."
The only thing Jin Saito has ever wanted was to become the best female striker in Japan. So when she's given a special opportunity to attend the elite new c...
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Rin was adamant about getting the 4v4 match over with quickly so he could move onto the final stage, making it quite clear he didn't give a rat's ass about the rest of us. But unfortunately for him, luck didn't seem to be on his side.
After the match with Isagi we remained in the waiting room for a good few hours. But towards the end of the day, even after other teams started to trickle through, we couldn't find anyone willing to match up against us. Having Blue Lock's number one, two and three didn't seem to help much either. No one wanted to risk playing Rin if they could avoid it. Not that I could blame them.
So one day of waiting turned into two, and then three, until finally five days had passed with still no sign of a match. We'd taken to spending a few minutes at varying times during the day to scout out the waiting room, but with all other teams avoiding us like the plague, we ended up spending most of our time in the weight room or training on the pitch.
It was weird at first, getting to know completely new players after having been with the same people for the last few weeks. And my new team certainly seemed to be an odd bunch, though undeniably skillful as they were. I found that Tokimitsu seemed to be a nervous, insecure wreck a majority of the time, which was a complete juxtaposition to Aryu who was as conceited as they come. Rin mostly kept to himself outside of practice, which was perfectly fine by the rest of us, as he never seemed to be content with anything we did.
When Aryu wasn't ranting about his flawlessness or critiquing our uniforms, I found that he was the easiest to talk to. Underneath all the layers of snooty comments and narcissism, he could actually hold a conversation pretty well. And it wasn't all just football with him either, which was a refreshing change, though oftentimes it did turn towards style, and as he put it, some "minor necessary changes in decor" around the facility.
We'd all just returned from the showers after our evening training session. I was feeling a little worn out and was in desperate need of a good night's rest, but I knew it would be a few hours before I'd be able to catch up on my sleep. With a team like ours, there was hardly any chance I'd be able to rest peacefully before the lights shut off for the night.
I resorted to flopping down onto the lower bunk which I'd claimed as my own a few days prior, legs dangling off the side and staring blankly up at the frame of the bunk above me. Aryu came to sit next to me, towel draped over his shoulders to keep his damp hair from touching his neck, although I'm not sure how much good that did him. Rin and Tokimitsu came in behind us, each going to their respective beds without a word.
There was blissful silence for a bit before Tokimitsu let out a shaky whine.
Here we go again... I couldn't help but sigh deeply. A sniff of disapproval came from beside me, signaling Aryu's similar feelings.
It wasn't uncommon for Tokimitsu to have mental breakdowns every other night, leaving not only him, but everyone else exhausted as well.
"What if we're stuck at this stage forever," Tokimitsu worried, chewing incessantly at his fingernails. I was mildly surprised he had any left to chew at all. "What if no one wants to play us ever?" He groaned quietly. "We're never going to move on! We'll all have to go home!"
