BLUE LOCK - a place where soccer is more than just a sport and a future of worldwide glory is within grasp. Desperate to prove her worth and break barriers, Keiko Iteya fights to hold her own in a rigorous competition against 299 young men in Japan...
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ONE YEAR AND THREE MONTHS LATER
Driving through the parking lot and to a spot reserved for me at the front, I let out a small exhausted sigh. When I pulled the keys out of the ignition, I gently rested my head on the steering wheel before looking up at the clock on the dashboard. 8:00 am.
Man, am I tired.....
College classes had been a lot recently, but I only had five weeks left until I was finished with my business program. The hard work would pay off, but it was too early for me to rest. After all, now that school was over for the day, I had my actual job to do now.
Lifting my head from the steering wheel, I grabbed my laptop bag and got out of the car. I locked it behind me and then straightened my blazer and my long brown hair before beginning to walk towards the front doors of the looming building ahead of me.
BLUE LOCK
The big sign above the front door had been added not long after I and the other 299 players had gone through the first installment of the program. I passed under it and stepped through wide double doors into the lobby. The front of Blue Lock had been renovated as a small visitor center for guests, recently opened for the public to visit. It was still early in the morning though, so it wasn't very busy yet.
"Iteya-san," greeted the young woman working up here with a large smile and blushed cheeks. "Good morning! You look great today! It is good to see you up here!"
"Good morning! And thank you," I replied and pulled some forms from my bag. I place them on the counter for her. "Here are the forms Anri-san promised you. Sorry that I wasn't able to get them to you until just now. I had class this morning." My curious eyes moved to the hall on my left that was vacant of tape and barriers to keep people out. "Wait? They finished it?"
"Yes and it looks great," she told me with an excited nod. "You should go check it out! Anri-san did such a good job with it. I think you'll really like it."
I nodded and gave her a grin. "Yeah, thanks! Let me know if you need anything." She waved me goodbye as I moved to the newly completed hall and stepped inside.
Instantly I was surrounded by pictures of players from my time at Blue Lock, printed and mounted on the wall along with several jerseys and plaques full of stats and infographics. I smiled to myself and walked further in, the smell of fresh paint filling my nostrils. Several pictures where I was either in the background or in the main frame were spotted along with the Blue Lock jersey I had worn as a player of the Blue Lock Eleven (that I had donated back to Anri) in a row with the other's jerseys. There were also pictures and newer jerseys of my former teammates and mentions of where they played now. There were a lot of Nagi and Bachira. I spotted a few of Chigiri and Kunigami too along with everyone else I had gotten to know well at Blue Lock. There was a big picture of Rin wearing his national jersey that I admired for several long moments.
