ISAGI HAREM

Ch 4 LSS: Peaceful Chaos

Itoshi Sae hears it, is intrigued, and finds another reason to want to steal Isagi Yoichi from Blue Lock.

The invitation arrives from Ego Jinpachi one morning when Sae is legitimately contemplating if he should hop on the next plane back to Spain. His manager enters the room, and hands him a digital invite from the creator of Blue Lock himself.

Normally, Sae wouldn't think twice about rejecting the invitation. He does come back to Japan by accident due to issues with his visa, and he even mentions repeatedly in an interview how there's no way he'll ever want to play Japanese football again. But then, like it's fate, Sae chances upon the press conference about the Blue Lock Project. Because of it, his curiosity forces him to stay long enough to be part of the U-20 match and go up against Ego's self proclaimed best strikers of Japan.

While the first half of the U-20 match ends the way Sae expects it to - which is the U-20 team being nothing special in his eyes, and only reinforcing the reason why Sae is happy to leave the country - the second half with Shidou, Rin and Isagi Yoichi, makes Sae rethink his position regarding Japanese football ever so slightly. Isagi Yoichi's final goal embodies the ego of someone who wants to be among the best of the best, and someone who is willing to do whatever it takes and take advantage of every available avenue to win. He was a striker, through and through. And Itoshi Sae could appreciate that.

He sees no real reason to reject Ego's invitation, since it's giving him a free pass to see with his own eyes how Blue Lock's current selection is going - and maybe chance upon Rin while he's there too. Ego also finds it important to send over a video labeled "Watch this", and upon doing so, it becomes the final nail on the coffin locking in Sae's decision.

So he packs a bag, goes to the specified location and allows a blue bus to take him to the gaudy prison-like building. He arrives inside and meets with Anri, who escorts him to one of the practice fields.

"Right this way!" Anri scans a keycard before handing it to him, along with a pair of earbuds. "This is yours. I know it's only for a few days, but we find it prudent to issue your own ID so you can go about the facility as you please. The earbuds act as translators. We use the best of the best technology to make sure there are no communication barriers between our players."

He takes both, and plugs the translators into his ears before fiddling with them a bit. "What exactly am I supposed to be doing here?" Sae asks, a hand behind his neck.

"Ego-san will explain everything once you're inside." Anri tells him kindly. She pulls out a clipboard, and a pen before continuing. "For the sake of privacy, we'll need you to sign a non-disclosure agreement in regards to any and all things regarding the inner workings of the facility and the players inside."

"You do realize that I already know all about the Neo Egoist League right? It's showing all over television, so it's not exactly a secret." Sae says. He doesn't understand the point of secrecy when the whole world seems to know anything and everything about Blue Lock already.

Anri gives him a small understanding smile. "That's all true. But we only ever show the game matches live. The rest, including their personal lives here and their personal interactions with one another? We want to keep those as private as possible. They may be athletes, but they're still teenagers, and we want to allow them to be teenagers without the eyes of the public looming over them all the time."

Sae nods in understanding. He knows what it's like to have the eyes and expectation of multiple people on you, especially when you begin to make a name for yourself. He can understand wanting to keep other aspects of your life completely private. "Fine, I'll sign."

He picks up the pen, signs the document and hands it back to Anri. She thanks him, before gesturing back to the doors of the training field and shows him again on how to scan the ID to get the doors to open. "All the doors here are automated, and they open so long as you have an ID or the players can scan the numbers of their jerseys. This holds true for getting food and other necessities too."