Enchanted || Blue Lock

Prologue

A small hum filled the quiet club room as [Name] finished cleaning himself off after a bit of practice. A sense of tiredness stepped deep within his bones but it was a feeling he's gotten used to by now.

Closing his locker, the teen then proceeded to grab his bag before heading out of the room. The moment he did so, a small shiver immediately went down his spine as the chilly autumn wind hit him straight in the face.

Honestly, after-school practices were such a pain. While he didn't mind the training and matches, the fact that he had to go home even later than he needed to brought him a heavy load of inconvenience.

The sun would already be setting by the time they finished and it'll be completely dark by the time he actually got home. It was a pain, really.

Now, you might be wondering, why did he even join if he was so annoyed by the sport? Well, have you ever been dragged into doing something you didn't really want? Yeah, well that's how it was for [Name] when his friend decided to drag him into the world of soccer at the ripe age of 7.

Honestly, he didn't really hate the sport but that doesn't mean he loved it either. He was pretty neutral about it as he had his fair share of ups and downs while playing. 

The only reason he went along with it was because he thought it wouldn't last long. He thought he could go back to his usual lazy days before soccer if he went along with his friend's whims for a while.

Clearly, that was a mistake seeing as how he's already in Highschool but still stuck with this sport like it was an itch on the inside of his palms. And to add salt to his wounds, he wasn't even playing with the friend that got him into this godforsaken sport.

While he could technically quit anytime he wanted, something held him back from doing so. Whether it be a hidden regret, some sort of resentment, or even an unwilling attachment he formed along the way.

"Quitting for the day already?"

Speaking of attachments, here's one right now!

"And I see you're still going." [Name] let out a blank response as he looked towards the person talking to him.

"Of course, I'm still going. I need to keep training to become stronger." Rin Itoshi spoke sternly as he looked down at him with a scowl looks foreign on his face. "Strong enough to beat him..."

Just the implication of the man Rin was talking about brought a grimace to [Name]'s face. Sae Itoshi, Rin's brother and his childhood friend that forced him to play soccer when they were young and close.

"I know you want him to come back too," Rin spoke those words as if it were a fact known by all. A stubborn sense of confidence displayed on his face as he crossed his arms and towered over him with a height he got from a sudden growth spurt. "And the only way to do that is by beating him. That's why..."

Rin walked closer in his direction and gave his head a gentle flick. "You need to train even more. Be stronger with me so we can beat him and bring him back together."

A small irked smile formed on [Name]'s lips as he looked at the technically younger boy in front of him. "You insolent little..." He started before he pushed the hand away from his face and met Rin's teal eyes.

For a moment, he staggered at the shade of blue that reminded him so much of Sae before he eventually composed himself to give back a grin. "Fine, I'll train more with you."

A small victorious smile appeared on Rin's face and for a moment, [Name] wanted to take his words back out of pettiness. But seeing as how he had to be the mature one, he decided to push those thoughts beneath him.

"As compensation though, you need to start treating me with more respect!" [Name] gave a small annoyed huff as he crossed his arms and turned around. "I'm older than you by a year!"

"I would but there's nothing to respect about you," Rin spoke back naturally as his face went back into a neutral expression.

"You brat!" [Name] screeched in offense as he turned around to give the younger Itoshi a look of disbelief. He sticks around for years just for him and this is what he gets? The audacity. Just as he was about to hit him, a calm laugh echoed within the halls.

[Name] froze from where he stood as he immediately dropped his hand. Rin hasn't laughed like that ever since that day Sae came back from Spain and for a moment, he could imagine that nothing bad ever happened and that they were all still happy.

Once Rin got over his amusement, he finally realized [Name]'s sudden quietness. 

"You good?" He asked with a small tilt of his head.

"I'm fine." [Name] grumbled as he turned around to hide his sorrowful expression. "Let's just go train more so we can finish before it turns too dark."

Without saying another word, Rin immediately rushed back outside. A small sigh escaped [Name]'s lips at the childishness but he didn't mind, it was honestly a sight to see after how Rin became so serious and closed off after...yeah.

Gripping his bag strap just a bit tighter, he eventually started moving to catch up with one of the attachments that was preventing him from quitting soccer just yet.

-Enchanted,
prologue fin~