The Star

Chapter 1: Blue Lock

"Mr Akihito, may I ask how does it feel to be the centre forward for a powerhouse such as Shinrai High after only playing soccer for one and a half year?" A reporter asked Akihito right after the prefecture finals were finished with Shunrai High's win. Akihito twitched his eyebrows in a slight annoyance as he gave a short answer.

"It's alright."

"Have you ever thought of representing Singapore in the World Cup if they manages to qualify?" Another reporter asked as he shoved a microphone in Akihito's face.

Akihito pulled a face at the thought of representing Singapore in soccer when their soccer standard was worse than Japan. "Not at all. I apologise, but I need to go and rush for work.You can ask Rin should you have any questions regarding the match. Now please excuse me... " Akihito replied coldly before squeezing his way through the crowd of reporters that was surrounding him. What a hassle, he groaned while rushing to catch the bus. His job was more important than some annoying reporters.

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Though the cafe Akihito was working at required him to do longer shifts, they paid him the most for his service compared to the other jobs he was currently doing. He had to work. It could not be help even when it was a weekend as his mother was ill and the rent and bills still needed to be paid.

"Here is your expresso, please enjoy." Akihito said monotonously as he set a cup of expresso on the table. The customer seated at the table was a middle age man with round glasses and he had been sneaking glances at Akihito during his entire shift which made him feel a sense of discomfort.

After giving much thought, he decided to question him.

He sauntered towards the man, catching his attention. "May I ask why you are staring at me, sir?"

Embarrassed that he was caught, the man flinched as a shade of red blossomed his face. He hurriedly stood up and handed Akihito a card.

"Please excuse me for my action, young man. My name is Taka, I am a modelling scout from Strawberry Company and is currently hiring young models for our company's next magazine. You see, our new project is space themed and you have very attractive eyes which match our theme really well. It is very hard to find your type of eyes nowadays so..."

Akihito cut Taka's words off, "how much will you pay me if let's say I decide to join?"

"Er...for you, we are willing to pay you 30,000 yen per shoot."

"Ok, I am in." Akihito replied with zero hesitation and received the name card from Taka whom the later smiled with glee as he thanked Akihito.

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Once Taka left and Akihito had cleaned the table, he turned towards another male customer seated in the dim corner of the cafe. He was dressed in a casual turtle neck with a cap and a black mask to hide his face. Akihito sighed as he took off his apron.

"Its closing time now, Rin. And by the way, your disguise sucks."

"Oh shut up. I am not hiding" Rin snapped back, standing up. " Did you receive a letter sent by the JFA?"

The letter Rin referred to was probably the one regarding some soccer training camp Akihito had received a day ago. However he had thrown it away since he was not interested at all as he had a family to take care of and could not risk being away from home. " I threw it away" he answered while giving a one last check on the register.