would anything change?

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/38889462.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: Blue Lock (Manga)
Relationship: Isagi Yoichi/Everyone
Character: Isagi Yoichi, Teieri Anri, Ego Jinpachi, Bachira Meguru, Kunigami
Rensuke, Chigiri Hyouma, Seishirou Nagi, Mikage Reo, Barou Shouei,
Itoshi Rin, Shidou Ryuusei, Itoshi Sae, Karasu Tabito, Yukimiya Kenyu,
Otoya Eita
Additional Tags: everyone's here, when i say isagi is a harem protag i mean it, Slow
Burn, Hurt/Comfort, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence,
somewhat..?, Football | Soccer, Friends to Lovers, Career Ending
Injuries, Serious Injuries, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags Are
Hard, Spoilers, POV Alternating
Language: English
Series: Part 1 of no need for promises
Stats: Published: 2022-05-09 Updated: 2022-06-06 Chapters: 5/? Words:
13511

would anything change?

by yananeru

Summary

Isagi fell in love with football when he was four years old and he continues to love the sport
years later despite tearing his ACL.

Or: becoming a manager in Blue Lock is Isagi’s desperate attempt at staying connected to
the only sport that made him feel alive.

Notes

the manager au we never needed but i made anyway :D

title is from the song us by milet which is super good and kinda a source of inspiration for
this whole thing but not really skksksk
 prologue
Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Teieri Anri is a frequent customer in his mother’s bakery and currently works in the Japan Football
Association. A young woman starting fresh in her career with the tendency to decide too long
whether to choose a bagel or croissant in her usual run ins at the bakery. She comes in the
mornings around seven and occasionally comes again at three-thirty just before the shop closes to
get a cup of caffé latte and a cookie if there’s still some to spare (there always is some to spare
because Yoichi’s mom has grown fond of her).

Here’s a little something about Yoichi’s mother.

Isagi Iyo has the tendency to gush to her son about her customers like a proud grandmother
showing off her grandchild to all her other grandma friends which is funny because Yoichi is sure
that his mother (despite her very friendly demeanour) is a private person and she doesn’t enjoy
talking about her private life to her other mom friends. It comes to the conclusion that Isagi Iyo
likes bragging about the little things in life only to her son and husband; the stray cat in that
intersection finally gave birth to five kitties!; this season’s macaroons are once again a huge hit;
honey, look! Yocchan got 79 on his maths exam! – so on and so forth.

Which goes without saying that when Yoichi’s mother makes a passing comment about how Anri-
chan seems hard at work lately, huh, she hasn’t come to the bakery as much so I hope she’s doing
well – Yoichi is a little curious. He doesn’t know Teieri Anri as well as his mother (she likes
making small talk with her regulars) so Yoichi has half the mind to just hum as a reply and not
think much about the passing commentary.

No, wait.

Teieri Anri-san is a regular in Isagi Iyo’s bakery and Yoichi has only seen her a handful of times
whenever he comes over to help and doesn’t she work for the JFA?

Yoichi pauses because yes she does work for the Japan Football Association and now he’s
invested. “Did she say anything about a project, maybe? I heard the JFA wants to start something,”
he says while scrolling through his old chat with a classmate so as to look busy when his mother
turns to look at him with a tilt of her head.

Yoichi is no good actor and an even worse liar so Iyo hums, takes his phone away smoothly to
inspect the week old messages and Yoichi lets it all happen with a bashful smile on his lips, hand
scratching his cheek lightly.

“If Yocchan wants to know more about Anri-chan’s work then maybe Yocchan should help out
more in the bakery,” she tuts, waving his phone in front of him in a scolding manner before giving
it back with a mischievous smile. “Information these days don’t come cheap, you know?”

He laughs and ducks his head, cheeks growing warm as he tucks his phone away. “Ah, well I’ll see
what I can do next week.”

He’s about to get up from the couch when his mother huffs, gesturing him into the kitchen and
Yoichi follows because he’s a good son like that (not because Isagi Iyo is the one who wears pants
in the household— nope). She gives him three plates stacked together and some utensils on top and
points at the dinner table. “If I remember correctly, I think Anri-chan wanted to talk to you.
Something about understanding the thought process of young kids interested in football or
something along those lines?” Iyo tilts her head with her eyes closed as if in deep thought to recall
the memory but she knows she has her son hook, line and sinker.

“Tomorrow,” she smiles before Yoichi can ask. “Anri-chan said she’d like a muffin to go for
breakfast.” Yoichi really loves his mom.

He places the plates down and starts setting the table with almost uncontained excitement in his
hands. “I’ll be there tomorrow.”

Iyo smiles and rolls her eyes. Truly, what a simple boy she has for a son.

⚘⚘⚘

Anri likes to think that she’s a fairly simple person. She loves tidiness and a professional working
environment and she likes remembering her father’s advice on not taking bullshit from other
people when she believes in something. She really, truly is a simple person because she only wants
to see her country make some sort of effort in the international division when it comes to football.

With all the excitement and high competitivity when it came to baseball that resulted in generations
of rivalry between the Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants (Japan loves baseball and the level of
support for this sport is no joke), Anri doesn’t understand why people can’t invest the same level
of excitement towards football.

Because football is the embodiment of adrenaline and the international league is the definition and
what should be the standard of what every football player should strive to achieve. Japan is
competitive when they want to be so Anri can’t accept that they (the board of directors in JFA) are
content with mediocre plays in their international representative team.

So Anri stays up for a number of days coming up with a concrete proposal and necessary steps
needed to achieve this country’s best team. She contacts Ego Jinpachi, a senior from the same
sports university who she remembers is often invited to give advice to international teams about
football and graduated top of his class. Anri doesn’t know where he went after that except that he’s
no longer in Japan and when she finally gets his contact information after digging up here and
there, Ego rejects her calls seven times before finally listening to her requests.

He comes back to Japan a week later, arriving at the break of dawn and immediately instructs her
to find someone who knows the ins and outs of what football is to young players before taking a
cab to the hotel Anri booked and leaving her at the airport. She doesn’t mind the treatment because
it does not affect or deter her goals and it means she could start the task given to her instantly rather
than wasting time taking Ego-san to the hotel.

Someone who knows what young players are thinking of .

Anri does not know any highschoolers and the ones she does know don’t play football. She
managed to receive financial support for a project unthinkable from stubborn and old directors, get
an adequate person to fill the role of coach, and still get full hours of sleep. If she hadn’t stopped at
the first obstacle of making that proposal then Anri is determined not to let this stop her either.

And if she’s not wrong, Isagi-san from the bakery she frequents has a son who used to play
football, didn’t she? Anri isn’t sure if someone who once played and stopped can still understand
the sport but it’s a start so she gets in her car and drives to her favourite bakery with a growing
sense of excitement. She’s a step closer to seeing Japanese football change, isn’t she? She can’t
wait.

⚘⚘⚘

“ Isagi-kun, would you like to watch Japanese football change forever?”

The way to Yoichi’s heart is simple and it only took Anri-san twelve minutes to see that she
understands Yoichi when it comes to football and Yoichi understands her too because their shared
love and passion for the sport is all it takes for Anri-san to take the leap and offer Yoichi a front
row seat in seeing the sport he loves again. Yoichi has never been more sure of a decision than he
is at that moment.

Which brings him here.

It hasn’t even been thirty minutes since Yoichi arrived and already he wants to throw up his lunch
just to leave a mess before power walking to the nearest train station and going back home. Ego
Jinpachi is a dick and Yoichi doesn’t like that the guy’s ideals are so selfish (isn’t that the point ?)
yet so concrete because it speaks to the inner voice in Yoichi’s heart and he knows Ego does not
spout bullshit when it is literally what he sees every football star he has ever watched do when
they’re playing on the field. It’s selfish yet liberating to touch into that inner dark side everyone
has inside themselves– to play for the sake of yourself yet your team still reaps the benefits.

It’s selfish, arrogant, self-centered and egotistical yet so good because isn’t that the beauty of
football? He remembers the feeling of wet grass under his shoes, ball at his feet as he dribbles
forward and past the defenders on the opposing team and Yoichi remembers his chest bursting
with the thrill and rush of adrenaline in his veins as he runs forward, forward, forward to make that
goal and he remembers his coach and teammates screaming at him to pass the ball– stop being
selfish and let the enemy take away the ball if he passes and Yoichi remembers he did not pass the
ball and someone tackled him from behind– knees buckling under the sudden weight and
something snaps and cracks in his legs and suddenly he’s clutching his knee because it fucking
hurts–

“If you’re gonna be useless then do it somewhere else,” Ego’s voice does not hide his exasperation
and huh , Yoichi never knew he was so good at distinguishing emotions through someone’s voice
because when he snaps his attention to the glasses-clad man in front of him, Ego looks bored,
mindlessly filtering through the files and files of highschoolers with a not so impressive win streak
to their names.

“I, uh,” Yoichi stutters and blinks, mouth gaping like a fish before he shakes his head. “Sorry,” he
says instead, scratching his cheek and feeling sheepish. “I just thought your philosophy was kinda
good.”

Ego scoffs and Yoichi thinks he rolls his eyes a bit before throwing another file in his direction. “I
want three-hundred forwards from these schools to be brought into the project. Have the files
sorted and invitations ready by the end of next week,” Yoichi full on gapes like a fish this time and
Ego loosely gestures to the other piles of boxes behind him on the floor. “From those too. We want
players from all over the country to take part. Make sure you don’t slack off.”
 It hasn’t been a full hour now and Yoichi wants to burn all these files out of spite and take the
fastest train home. He amuses the idea for a moment before nodding at Ego who gets up and heads
towards the door. “Ah, wait, should I look for something specific before deciding if someone
should be invited or not?” Because in all honesty, Yoichi hasn’t fully grasped what the hell he
should do. Wasn’t he supposed to manage a team..? He’s still trying to wrap his head around the
fact that there isn’t even a team yet to manage.

Ego is already half-way out the door before Yoichi even finishes his question. “The point of the
program is to turn at least one of those players into the best striker this country has ever seen. Do
you really think not even one out of three-hundred can meet those expectations?” the older man
gives him a pointed look and Yoichi restrains himself from scratching his cheek again. “If you
need help just call Anri-chan.” With the simple advice, the door closes with a small click and
Yoichi is left alone in the room filled with files of five-hundred highschoolers.

It goes without saying that maybe Yoichi could just choose at random– he doesn’t even have to
filter through half of the files to acquire the amount he needs but…. At least the chair is
comfortable.

He starts with the file closest to him and scans through the piece of paper: student ID, grades, age,
year and amount of wins the school’s club achieved this year. The first file is not so impressive.
Yoichi throws it to the floor and moves on the next; rinse and repeat. He promised his mother he’d
be home by dinner afterall.

Chapter End Notes

i’m so deprived of isagi harem content that i came up with this idea akslakdaskj

isagi if you can hear me, i’m sorry for taking away your dream for plot conveniences
but i promise you’ll get lots of boyfriends in exchange—
 entry log 1: no contact
Chapter Summary

Yoichi’s first order as official (with no team to manage yet) manager is to not manage
his future players yet.

Or: In Ego’s words, don’t contact any of the players. If they want to be the best striker
in the world the least they should do is use their heads. Yoichi thinks that order should
be simple enough.

Chapter Notes

@ blue lock pls give us more background facts about the boys i am on my knees—

also i can't remember where the blue lock facility is at or if it was even mentioned so
i??? learned a bit of geography for the sake of plot

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Oh, you got it too?”

Mikage Reo is the embodiment of the term ‘aged like fine wine’ because Reo is perfect in every
subject, has a good physique with the looks to match and he’s naturally charismatic and he only
gets better as he grows. Mikage Reo has friends gravitating to him and adults praising him in every
turn and the softest looking hair Seishirou has ever seen.

He’s also Seishirou’s first long time friend.

Seishirou blinks back down at the piece of paper he’s holding. It’s a bit wrinkled because his mom
gave it to him in a rush this morning as he was getting ready for school and Seishirou didn’t feel
like opening it in the train. “Yeah,” he hums, turning the paper (it looks like an application form?)
back and forth as Reo takes a seat next to him on the stairs.

“You thinking of signing up?”

In all honesty Seishirou doesn’t really want to— but Reo hasn’t told him to throw away the letter
yet which is telling that he wants him to take a look at what the application has to offer.

Reo reaches out for the letter and Seishirou lets him because he doesn’t feel like reading it. “This
feels like a hassle,” he sighs, taking out his phone and watching from the corner of his eyes how
Reo’s pulling out an identical looking letter from his pocket. “What’s it about?”

“Player improvement project,” as if to confirm his words, Reo turns their papers around so
Seishirou can read the title too. “Come on, Nagi, it’ll be interesting. High school level football is
starting to become boring.”

Seishirou sighs from his nose and taps the screen on his phone, waiting for his game to load.
“Shouldn’t something like an improvement project only be for someone who wants to go pro? And
besides,” his game starts with a soft ping and the main screen greets him along with the game’s
familiar music. “I thought you were just playing football to pass time?”

Reo chuckles and Seishirou is already playing his game which is a sign for Reo to not bother him
again. Reo picks up the innuendo (which he always does and part of what Seishirou likes about
him) and folds both their invitations to keep it with him.

“If you change your mind then you know where to find me,” with a pat to his back, Reo gets up
and starts down the stairs where Seishirou could immediately hear the calls of Reo’s other friends.

His phone flashes white before the screen is filled with the golden words of Victory! just in time
for the bell to ring indicating the end of the break. Seishirou exits the game, turns off his phone
and pockets it before jumping down the stairs two at a time to head towards his classroom.

Seishirou thinks about football for a second, mind flashing with that letter his mom gave him and
concludes that signing up would just be troublesome. He leaves it at that.

⚘⚘⚘

Yoichi is given a deadline of one full week to filter through five-hundred files of highschoolers and
an extended two days for Ego to filter through them again before he was shooed away and sent to
deliver the invitations and participation form to a specific post office that does large printing in
Shibuya with Anri-san. He skipped school for that full week and two days and then the day after
that because he desperately needed to catch up on proper sleep and not power naps.

He skipped a total of eight days off of school but apparently Anri-san had already given his school
a heads up and he’ll be on extended leave until further notice.

He likes being manager already.

During the week of filtering files, Ego left him alone for most of the time while Anri-san liked to
keep tabs on him and tell him that in fact there was no deadline and Ego was just being a prick.
Though Yoichi can’t put the whole blame on the aspiring coach because seeing the players that
would change football get filtered through his hands felt like a rush of power and he wanted the
best possible outcome with what he was given and what he’ll get in return when these players get
to start their training.

Then after another day of full rest, he gets an email from Anri-san to pick up some documents from
the JFA building in Minato City.

Yoichi takes the train to Tokyo Station and then to Tamachi Station and though he has to transit
from one train to another, it’s a lot cheaper and faster. He walks on autopilot, a small buzz in his
steps as he proceeds with his task and suddenly forty minutes of travel is spent and now he’s
holding an envelope and a letter with the growingly familiar logo of Blue Lock on both papers.

He can’t stop the bubbling mix of feelings in his chest; excitement, anxiety, trepidation, impatience
. Suddenly he can’t remember the last time he was involved with anything football related and
although he’s not playing (he never will and Yoichi can’t ever stop thinking of that) he’s still
somehow, with that small, indisputable fact, related to football and that’s enough to satisfy him
(but for how long?).
The documents in his hand crinkles and Yoichi eases his grip, glancing around to see if he
disturbed anyone and settles back down again when no one pays him any mind. He takes a deep
breath and relaxes.

After the full week of pulling multiple all-nighters (he hasn’t done that since the last Football
World Cup Championship played and he wanted to watch it live so time zones were a thing and
well), Yoichi can still feel the stiffness in his neck and the sunken skin of his eye bags no doubt
tinted a dark colour from lack of proper sleep. But he feels refreshed— he always is with anything
related to football.

Above all, due to his fatigue, he’s grateful for the slow hour he finds himself in because Yoichi
doesn’t think he can handle the usual crowding of Tokyo’s trains no matter what kind he takes. The
announcement rings with a reminder that he’ll arrive at his destination in a few minutes. He can
already see the station with a tilt of his head towards the windows and slings his bag over his
shoulder.

As the train comes to a stop, Yoichi is the first to step out and beelines towards the schedule board
for his next train back to Saitama. Yoichi rarely goes to Tokyo, especially so when he entered
highschool and found no need to commute the distance which is why it’s taking a while for Yoichi
to figure out which train is best to get to his next station.

He sighs. This won’t get him anywhere. Just as he’s about to check his phone for an answer,
Yoichi feels the tingling sensation of someone watching him. Turning around, he sees a boy with
pristine white uniform, white hair and the most vivid colour of eyes he’s ever seen. It takes him
back a second.

“Do you need anything?”

The stranger blinks owlishly and tilts his head a bit, long strands of hair falling further into his
eyes. He says nothing and continues to stare curiously enough that it makes Yoichi a bit self-
conscious. What the hell? A sense of annoyance bubbles and Yoichi is about to tell him to piss off
before the stranger points at the letter still in his hands.

“Do you play football?”

Huh .

Of all things, Yoichi didn’t expect that. He frowns, brows furrowing and fingers wrinkling the
letter Anri-san entrusted to him in a defensive manner as if this stranger would just up and snatch it
away. How is he supposed to answer?

The station grows more and more crowded and shit he has to get to his train platform before it gets
too packed— he seriously doesn’t feel like standing.

He gives the stranger (he looks a bit familiar) another look and frowns at him before turning away
and whipping out his phone. When in doubt, do a web search. The method proves to once again be
helpful and he lets the platform signs guide him to where he needs to be. It says his train should
arrive in about twelve more minutes.

“Hey, I asked you a question,” a hand on his shoulder startles Yoichi enough that he jumps a bit
and immediately after his knees buckle and he’s falling and fuck, fuck, fuck —

A hand snakes around his middle and his fall breaks with a firm arm wrapped around him and
Yoichi is left staring at the floor, body still tipped forward and a hand splayed on his stomach. His
breath hitches and his mind is still reeling from the abruptness of that chain of events but this
stranger is still holding him and he almost falls and Yoichi’s mind blanks.

“Are you okay? I don’t wanna get in trouble by accidentally killing someone,” the stranger frowns
and slowly pulls him back up and Yoichi holds onto the sleeve of this person’s blazer as if he’ll fall
again if he isn’t secured by something. The stranger doesn’t say anything and lets Yoichi clutch his
blazer even when he’s already upright and it takes even more painful seconds for Yoichi to slowly
let go of this stranger before turning around and clearing his throat.

“Thanks,” he breathes and it came out so shaky that Yoichi winces because he sounds like he’s on
the verge of a panic attack— which is not what was about to happen and Yoichi leaves it at that.
“Sorry,” he winces, gesturing to the wrinkle in the strangers clothes and Yoichi wants the ground
to open up beneath him.

The stranger lifts his hand to inspect the crease and shrugs. “It’s fine.” He then points to Yoichi’s
arm. “I wanted to ask about that but you ran away for some reason,” Yoichi watches as this
stranger frowns and furrow his brow as if confused why Yoichi reacted the way he did which is
wow because now Yoichi feels like he’s the strange one for this whole interaction when this
stranger had opened the conversation weirdly.

“We don’t even know each other,” Yoichi points out instead, easing the hold he has on the
documents because apparently he’s been clutching them like a lifeline.

The stranger perks up and— “Nagi Seishirou.” He points to himself, “that’s my name.” And the
stranger– Nagi tilts his head as if waiting for response.

What a strange kid . “Isagi…” He mutters and says louder when Nagi leans closer to hear him.
“Isagi Yoichi.”

Nagi nods, face impressively blank and once again loosely gestures to the document he’s holding.
“Are you a football player?”

Yoichi frowns. Again, how was he supposed to answer? “I used to,” he replies anyway, “but not
anymore.”

At this, Nagi perks up again and his eyes shift from the documents to Yoichi’s face before he gets
closer to him. “Did you quit? Why? And How?”

What the hell .

Yoichi bristles and gets ready to tell him off for real this time before his train arrives and Yoichi
decides escape from this douche is the best option. “Leave me alone,” he mutters angrily and
rushes in.

The train is more packed than the previous one but it’s not stuffed so Yoichi still has room to stand
near one of the doors when he can't find a vacant spot to sit. His mood dampens when
remembering that prick, Nagi , and he exercises his breathing to cool his head.

He can’t be a proper manager if he gets easily riled up like this. What if one of his future players
would be an asshole too? Would he just call it quits and not do his job? Yoichi can’t expect
everyone to be pleasant and cooling his thoughts in times like this is a good start. Right, he’ll
slowly get to the point where prickly bastards won’t be able to get under his skin anymore.

“You have a habit of running away, huh?”

This time, Yoichi does not jump and buckle down because he’s holding onto the strap above him
and he clutches onto that as he turns around and his mood sours again.

“What are you doing, here?” He hisses, suddenly disliking his average build because this stranger–
Nagi is fucking tall and Yoichi takes that personally. He pauses his thought and bites his lower lip,
suddenly nervous. “You… you’re not from Saitama, right?” Because Saitama is big but the world
is small and Yoichi does not want that slim chance of seeing Nagi again.

“Oh, is that where this train is headed?” As if just realising, Nagi looks at the destination screen
and Yoichi’s small build of worry dissipates and turns to ease before blinking up at Nagi with
confusion.

“You didn’t know?”

Nagi shrugs and raises his hand to hold onto the strap next to him. “I’ll just take the next one
back,” Nagi concludes easily and rests his chin on the arm holding the strap to look at Yoichi
comfortably. “Also, can you answer my question? Why’d you quit?”

Yoichi steps back a little to keep distance but Nagi is already comfortable where he is and doesn’t
make any effort to chase after him again. Yoichi sighs. Think of this as part of training. The
thought helps a little and he hugs the documents to his chest to keep them secure.

“I didn’t quit by choice,” he starts after a bit of pondering. “And if you’re gonna ask a shit question
like why not then fuck off.” Yoichi was right— telling the stranger– Nagi off feels great.

“Eeh,” Nagi hums, blinking his eyes as if taking it in. “What’s so fun about football, anyway?”

“Everything,” Yoichi answers without missing a beat. “Kicking, dribbling, scoring, bockling—
they’re all really fun.” He sniffs, staring at the window but not really looking. He worries his
bottom lip for a moment before deciding to continue.

“It’s that feeling of rush and power when you make an amazing goal, feeling your blood pumping
and temperature rising. The best feeling was beating the other team and coming out on top, but
that’s not all there is to it. While you’re playing, your mind just blanks and there’s no one but you
and the ball and everything becomes clear and chaotic at the same time. Nothing else mattered
except for what you do on the court and it’s like running on landmines with the ball weighing you
down– if it’s taken then you’re dead. And keeping it until the end of the line is the most liberating
feeling.”

His thoughts jumble and muddle in his head because you could give Isagi Yoichi all the poetry and
love songs in the world but it still won’t be enough to describe the type of feeling he has for
football.

“Hm,” Nagi hums and Yoichi is brought back from his thoughts. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt like
that.” He closes his eyes and Yoichi thinks he might fall asleep like that but Nagi opens his eyes
again, nose buried in his arm and eyes half-lidded. “How do I get those things you just said?”

Yoichi stares into those vivid eyes— staring him down like a predator waiting to be freed.

The speaker announces the train's arrival at the station and Yoichi is alive .

⚘⚘⚘
 “Reo,” Seishirou is the most impatient he’s ever felt. Reo takes forever to let the front gates of his
manor open and he doesn’t get a word out when Seishirou sees him before the white-haired boy is
holding his hand out. “Let’s sign up for the improvement project.”

Reo blinks and Seishirou is impatient. He shakes his hand as if Reo would move faster and that
seems to snap his friend back to reality. Reo is moving towards his room at a normal pace and
Seishirou is impatient but he stays silent as Reo takes out their letters and hands an empty one to
him. The one Reo’s holding is already filled and signed with his name.

“What’s with the sudden change of heart?”

Seishirou doesn’t read over the words except the bolded text of Blue Lock and he goes to the
registration paper to sign his name. “I want to find something.”

Reo is evidently confused by this. “Find what?” He frowns and takes back Seishirou’s letter when
he hands it to him after signing. Seishirou doesn’t feel like reiterating his earlier encounter and
shrugs, heading to Reo’s bed and melting on top of it like a cat.

He’s left alone after that and Seishirou hears Reo’s sigh of resignation and his friend moves to his
desk to seal up their letters. Seishirou closes his eyes and doesn’t fight the sleep pulling him away
from consciousness. Now he waits.

⚘⚘⚘

“How do I get those things you just said?”

Yoichi’s chest is tight with a feeling he will not acknowledge and looks at Nagi with a sort of fire
he hasn’t felt in awhile. He answers simply.

“Lose.” The doors to the train slides open and Yoichi lets go of the handle. “Then you’ll get those
feelings.”

⚘⚘⚘

Yoichi is an idiot because white-hair, impassive look, tall build and his name is Nagi Seishirou and
Yoichi remembers late nights and the feeling of being impressed and excited as he submits Nagi
Seishirou’s name into the list of player candidates.

He’s a fucking idiot .

Chapter End Notes

fun story time! i took an hour++ to find a place where i could make isagi 'meet' nagi
like a drama scene cliché and had in internal crisis when realising that blue lock
doesn't really give us an idea where they specifically live askajldkjs

based on a trivia i read about the boys, nagi was born in kanagawa and reo in tokyo
and they go to the same school which is fine and all but?? asuming the school is in
tokyo (which is where most of the prestigious rich schools are all at) then that means
nagi goes to school in tokyo too, right??? but here’s the thing

a quick search says that it takes like half an hour from yokohama station to tokyo
station but it still doesn’t include the time needed from nagi's house to the station +
tokyo station to the school so that should at least be like an hour-ish timeframe and idk
if nagi moved or an hour away school is normal in japan but that fact was just wild to
me especially knowing nagi’s insouciant personality so i found this headcanon(?) of
mine that he gets ready an hour+ earlier just to get to school super funny assuming he
finds being late and getting scolded more troublesome www

being nagi is to avoid getting scolded by teachers about tardiness and going my pace™
when it comes to friends (·ω<)☆
 entry log 2: the start
Chapter Summary

The Blue Lock facility, as it turns out, is quite huge and built like one of those escape
room buildings and maybe Yoichi has watched too many movies but why is there a
torture room that Ego calls the disciplinary corner…?

Or: Yoichi watches others chase his dream while he sits behind a screen

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Ego Jinpachi receives three-hundred signed letters in return for the amount he had requested. It
took a mere seventeen days for every letter to be registered and collected to the expected three
weeks to do so. The shown interest of all these school-level players were somewhat impressive,
though not above unexpected.

It’s quite easy to gather a novice’s interest by dangling possible access to their dreams, afterall.

Miss Anri had already registered these players’ names into the system for Jinpachi to sort out their
rankings. He prepared five-hundred potential candidates to then narrow down into three-hundred
participants. After that, 299 players would be sacrificed to help give birth to a new world-class
striker.

Jinpachi’s methods are precise and his criteria is of a specific category regarding what he deems a
dream team on an international level should be. Which is why he only desires a striker to be born
from this project.

His method is simply to bring out the worst in these players— Japan’s orientation of team play is
the simple reason why they can never be on par with other international teams and it will be the
main thing he will make sure his future striker will not think about. Football is a team sport but
when it comes down to it, it’s nothing more than individual play.

He’s seen countless teams play and lose because of the overreliance on team play. Though
similarly, he’s also seen many teams play and lose because of a single player performing poorly on
the field. The possibility of victory and defeat is limitless; so are the type of players he will soon
have to manage.

Which is why his only demand to the JFA was to shut up and stay out of his way . Jinpachi does
not want the early stages of his experiment to be disturbed by the ideals of those who know
nothing about football. If those people meddled in the project then there would be too much clash
and uncertainty of the facility’s methods. He does not want the plans he laid out to constantly be
questioned or changed. He had intended to run the program by himself.

As if to put a spoil on his plans early on, Isagi Yoichi appeared.

⚘⚘⚘
Yoichi started playing football exactly two days after he got to watch his first match on television.
He remembers the exact moment the players with the white and green stripes scored a goal with
the one who scored ( he’s called the striker his father explained) running laps toed by the other
white and green wearing players jumping and hugging the scorer in victory. Yoichi remembers he
was four years old, having watched a football match on the television and instantly loving the sport
with all his little heart had managed that day.

I want to be someone who scores goals too .

So right after the match ended (the white and green team wins and Yoichi likes them already) he
jumped to his father, clutched his pants and tells him he wants to play football. The next day his
parents bought him some kiddie football gear and a helmet and Yoichi jumps up and down because
now he has his own soccer ball and he loves it so much .

The next day after receiving his gifts, Yoichi fell in love all over again with this new sport he had
discovered when he kicked the tiny soccer ball and it spun to the side instead of straight and it was
so great that he’s starting to play . Yoichi loves football and he’s absolutely sure he’ll continue to
love it in the future because whenever the adults in kindergarten ask him what he wants to be in the
future he would always reply with shy, giddy enthusiasm that he wants to be the best football
player in the world.

Yoichi is six years old, already in first grade of elementary and he finally joins a football club. The
club’s practice routine is mostly just kicking balls in a straight line— nothing too complex yet for
young children but Yoichi doesn’t really care because he finally gets to meet other kids who enjoy
football as much as him.

It took two practices after school for Yoichi to realise that the other kids don't seem to have the
same amount of passion as him when it comes to the sport. They follow the instructions with little
excitement and seriousness and Yoichi can’t wrap his head around the fact that they joined the
football club with no prior knowledge or even effort to play— why would they even do that? So
Yoichi goes home after practice and sits in the back of his mom’s car with a sour mood.

“Mom, can I join a real football club, please?”

Yoichi is eight years old and a third grader in elementary when he finally joins a football club
that’s actually a football club.

He remembers being the only third grader there because that’s the youngest age allowed in the
club so the members already there are all older than him. They were all pretty nice and decent
players, teaching Yoichi about this and that and then a week later when the club had a practice
match with another club (Yoichi wasn’t allowed to play yet because he’s still young and not a
regular) he watches the match with a tingling feeling in his chest and there on the field wearing the
same colour of black and white he was wearing was the club’s ace, Itoshi Sae.

⚘⚘⚘

The Blue Lock Project begins and Yoichi keeps silent even when he’s confused. He does not
comment on the fact that he finds it strange how Ego is already letting go of twenty-five players
less than an hour after all those aspiring players ran into the facility to chase their dreams. It was a
bit strange— but Yoichi stays silent even when National’s candidate player Kira Ryousuke is
eliminated.

Twenty-five players are eliminated within an hour and Yoichi is confused but he knows he’s not
protesting because why would he . Yoichi understands how these twenty-five players (former
players now) failed on the get go— they didn’t adapt and react fast enough.

Or they were simply unlucky (kind of like him).

“Do you know Itoshi Sae?”

Yoichi wants to reply who doesn’t but he wants to get appropriate working hours so he keeps his
mouth shut and nod his head. “We were in the same football club before he went abroad.”

Ego nods, seemingly satisfied or already expecting the answer before he throws a file on the table
and it slides closer to where Yoichi is. He picks it up and examines the contents to see Sae’s profile
and his picture with the Real Madrid Youth Team uniform staring back at him. Something inside
him twists a bit and Yoichi settles on the feeling of jealousy instead of something more intimate at
seeing the success his senior had achieved in their time apart.

Because here’s the thing.

Yoichi looks up to Sae when they were in the same club because Sae is aloof yet patient with him
whenever he asks for extra practice together. The older boy is amazing at the sport he loves and
Yoichi likes him and the way he plays because how could you not? Not when Sae is equal bark
and bite; he does not boast about his evident superiority in football and works hard to be how he is
and Yoichi likes that about him.

So when Yoichi is at the point where he feels like he’s playing his best and can still improve with
the guidance of this standoffish senior of his, Sae is invited to join the Real Madrid Youth team and
Yoichi never got to say goodbye. The same year Yoichi played his last match, he found out that
Itoshi Sae, former senior of the same football club as him and someone he looks up to, has
officially become part of the Men’s World 11 while Yoichi is stuck in rehab.

With that sequence of events laying out (something inevitable and just waiting to happen because
it’s Sae and he deserves to be recognized by the world), Yoichi nestles that small, stinging and
tender feeling in his chest whenever he hears news of the genius prodigy player from Japan and
keeps those feelings as far away as possible simply because he does not want to confront it.

Yoichi was about four months into rehab when Itoshi Sae texted him with an unknown number—
an international number that Yoichi does not know belongs to which country. The message is curt
and very much like the Sae he remembers that Yoichi forgets for a moment that they haven’t
contacted each other in what feels like forever.

I heard about the accident .

Another one follows closely after the first and Yoichi had reflexively opened the chat.

This is Itoshi Sae by the way.

Ego speaks and Yoichi closes the file.

“Itoshi Sae had expressed interest in the project,” Ego starts, gaze not straying from the multitude
of monitors in front of him. “He’ll be staying in Japan and the old geezers from JFA thought it’d be
 good to keep him here for the time being. Simply put, they want to keep his interest by sending
updates on the project to him.”

This time, Yoichi does not hold back his confusion. “Is it okay to let an outsider know about all
this?”

Ego waves his hand in a dismissive manner and the monitors display each stratum’s teams. There
is a total of five stratum each with five teams ranging from team V to Z and nothing above that.
Each team consists of a maximum of eleven players like an actual football team and they’re fed
with the belief that they have competition from team A and so on. Yoichi had thought it was a little
cruel to play with a bunch of people’s confidence like that but he gets it and stayed silent during
the player sorting.

“The money is from the association,” Yoichi nods. “Better listen to them unless you want this
whole thing to end before it even starts.” Ego turns to face him, chair half-way turned and head
tilted to look Yoichi in the eyes. “I want you to be the one updating Sae and answering every little
thing he asks. Tell him what he wants to hear but make sure he doesn’t go digging in.”

“Right,” Yoichi agrees, tucking Sae’s file safely under his arm. “Anything else?”

Ego turns back to face the monitors and Yoichi wishes he hadn’t asked. “For every player staying,
write an extended leave notice to their school and family. Update each time players get
eliminated.”

A dark voice whispers in Yoichi’s head and reminds him that he signed up for this. Damn. Before
he can stop himself, he asks again on autopilot: “anything else?”

Ego hums and Yoichi is already heading out the door but before the doors can fully close behind
him, the older man’s voice shouts after him. “Get me three ramen cups, Isagi.”

Yoichi wants to curse his good son habit.

Chapter End Notes

imagine not showing up to school for months only for your friends and classmates to
see that you’re in a match fighting your country’s national team like how wild is that
lmao

this is mostly like a filler chapter than anything else and the fun part should be on the
next update hehehe *rubs hands together*

and also!!! thank you so much for all the interest in this little indulgent fic of mine!!!!
 entry log 3: managing
Chapter Summary

Yoichi watches and analyzes football plays like a ritual and he considers himself
decent on being able to visualise and determine the course of a match by simply
noticing things outside of what the players are able to see. He doesn’t think he’s the
best at it but he likes to think he’s decent.

Or: Training starts and Isagi can already tell which teams will be eliminated three
minutes into meeting them.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

During the course of the Blue Lock project going underway, there is the looming threat of failure in
the back of Yoichi’s mind. Less than an hour into the project, twenty-five players have already
dropped out— including national-level player Kira Ryousuke . The thought and abruptness of it all
left Yoichi a bit restless for a couple of nights.

Within a week of Blue Lock’s launching, five players had dropped out in the span of two days,
leaving some teams lacking a player to form a proper team. Yoichi stresses over that for a couple
of good hours before finally receiving Ego’s instructions.

“Update the data on how many players are still in.”

Yoichi had sweaty hands when he input the number 270 into the data log. He’s lost thirty players
already within a week and Yoichi feels a bit faint.

“The teams that don’t have a full eleven players will be given a bit of handicap. I heard you were a
decent strategist when you used to play, so all you need to do is give the lacking teams some
advice.”

Yoichi had questioned that method for a bit. How was he supposed to help a team short on
members if he can't play? The question hadn’t even left Yoichi’s mouth before Ego had put his
hand in front of him as if silencing his thoughts.

A good strategy can get you a long way. He had said, glasses glinting in mock intimidation.
Whether they fail or succeed will be up to them and you. Think of this as a mock exam for the real
deal.

An hour after the talk with Ego, Yoichi made rounds with the teams to give their supposed
handicap: him.

⚘⚘⚘
Coming into the second week of the Blue Lock project, Yoichi finds a rhythm he’s slowly getting
accustomed to. He finds that being Blue Lock’s manager is solely for the players— his job
revolves around them and this means managing their stats, training regime and giving handicap to
teams lacking players.

He doesn’t manage the details of their rankings or how to determine them. He also doesn’t get into
managing sponsors or whatever you call those with money sponsoring the project, though Anri-san
did say he’ll dabble in that bit when the project is more stable. So for now, his routine revolves
around the players.

For teams that have a full eleven players, Yoichi is instructed to only manage them from behind the
scenes, which means they don’t even know he exists. On the other hand, for teams lacking a
player, it’s a whole different story.

Given that he basically has to give them pointers first-hand, Yoichi runs through five different
teams on different platforms everyday. There are a total of five different platforms titled A to E in
the facility. Each platform holds five stratums and narrowed down even more with five teams per
stratum. Yoichi has to keep this in mind every time he ventures through each platform to make sure
he doesn’t run into any members from full teams.

It wasn’t as simple as he thought it’d be— these players like to wander places they shouldn’t be as
if they owned the place and Yoichi lost count how many times he had to hide in a supply closet
because of it. But the main problem he’s been faced with was meeting the players first hand.

Ego was right when he said the initial plan was to leave the teams be– the first objective was to, in
Ego’s words, let them use their heads. The second was to simply make sure they couldn’t ask
questions; Blue Lock was too foreign and too harsh for people to not question and the angry teams
demanding answers from him upon knowing his position in Blue Lock was overwhelming. It was
the most amount of people who directed their anger at him in a short span of time.

Yoichi had sulked for a whole hour that day.

Then training started and it was Yoichi’s turn to be angry at them.

If all they could do was whine and complain whenever he upped the level in training then Ego
should have given him middle-schoolers for him to pick at random and he’ll still get the same
result. The worst was probably team Z from stratum five, platform C.

“Igarashi, if you’re going to give up every four minutes then you have no chance of surviving
here.” Yoichi huffs, pressing the off button in frustration and the players of team Z-C all collapse
on the ground. The more he looks at them the more frustrated he gets. Running twenty minutes
straight shouldn’t be a problem— it doesn’t even come close to the first half of an official game
where running is the bare minimum .

Yoichi reminds himself that he’s the one who chose these players and makes peace with himself
again before channelling his frustrations into reports of the team in his journal. Ego doesn’t usually
need them but Yoichi wants to mark down every little progress he sees. Right now, he’s not seeing
any.

“Shut up, Isagi,” Igarashi huffs, chest heaving in heavy puffs as he tries to catch his breath. “You
try running like a mad-man for three hours and see how you like it.” The insult is weak at best,
what with the heavy wheezing Igarashi breaths in every word.

“It’s not even three hours,” Yoichi grumbles in return, picking up the team’s water bottles and
carrying whatever he can manage. “Take a fifteen minute break and then we’ll move on to the next
routine.” He distributes the drinks even as he feels his irritation growing at the back of his mind.
Deep breaths.

They have less than a week to go before the First Selection starts and Yoichi is almost certain all
the teams he’s met so far— especially this one, won’t make it. But like hell he’d let them fail
without a fight. It’s like an unspoken rule that if the teams he’s managing fail then he’s the one
who loses and there’s no logic to that but still . He won’t let incompetence be the main reason his
teams fail.

“Fwaah~ Isagi’s a spartan like usual,” Bachira sighs out, stretching his arms out and grinning up at
Yoichi when he passes him a water bottle. He takes large gulps of the water and sighs happily,
feeling more refreshed.

“Just do your best and don’t complain every three minutes, you guys. You’re down one member so
you have to work extra hard to make up for it.” Yoichi reminds the team. He goes back to his
journal after finishing with distributing the drinks.

Naruhaya pipes up. “How come you don’t just play? Is it cause you’re a manager or whatever?
Aren’t you the same age as us? What’s with the high position,” the blond huffs, gesturing at Yoichi
with his bottle.

Yoichi frowns, eyeing the baby of the bunch and raising a brow at him. “Just follow the regime
and you’ll be fine.” Naruhaya pouts and goes back to drink his water. Yoichi leaves it at that.

“Stop with the bullshit, Isagi,” Raichi growls out, the angriest and tired he’s been since Yoichi
started managing them. Kunigami pipes up to intervene but Raichi’s already rising up from the
ground to glower directly at Yoichi. “What kind of fucked up regime is this anyway? One where
you kill us all? We don’t know shit ‘bout why we’re here and you’re just sitting ‘round barking
orders. How ‘bout you play, huh? Too chicken to do it?”

“Oi, Raichi, cool it, man,” Kunigami places his arms up as if prepared in case things get physical.
He then turns to Yoichi with furrowed brows, both troubled and apologetic. “Just ignore him, Isagi.
We’re all just tired and frustrated with ourselves.”

Yoichi has categorised the players he’s had contact with in an ‘asshole vs non-asshole’ category
and Kunigami falls into the latter. On the other hand, the asshole behind him falls in the former.
Yoichi grabs hold of his earlier frustrations (it’s growing and growing the more he looks at them)
and he can feel his lips pulling into a snarl.

Yoichi’s heart palpitates in his chest and his knees ache and suddenly he’s rushing forward. His
legs give out before he could make two steps and it must have sent the wrong message because
Kunigami is holding onto him— holding him back as if he’ll do something and the room falls into
chaos.

Yoichi grabs hold of the arms holding him up, glaring and bearing his teeth at Raichi who sees his
abrupt movement as provocation. Kuon, Igarashi and Ieon hold him back as the explosive male
begins shouting words in anger. Yoichi holds the burning anger in his heart and doesn’t let go–
unlike his emotions, his body is starting to go lax in Kunigami’s hold to the point he feels another
pair of arms holding him up from behind.

He’s raising his voice before he can stop himself and the pages of his journal wrinkles in his
attempt to stop himself from throwing it at Raichi’s face. “I– shut the fuck up and listen, you
asshole! You think I’m not frustrated at just sitting back and watching a couple of good-for-nothing
assholes get a chance to chase their dreams?”

Fingers clutch at the back of his shirt and he thinks he hears Bachira whisper his name– Isagi, calm
down— and Kunigami grabbing hold of his arms because his legs are useless and Yoichi sees red.
“If you have a shred of pride in you and care about football, then follow me,” he fumes, breath
heaving and there’s no more shouting. “If you follow me then I’ll get you to the grand stage. The
rest falls on you so don’t go fucking blaming me for shit you can’t do.”

Yoichi registers the silence in the room. His fingers go numb and the journal slips from his fingers.
The room smells heavy of sweat and anger. It dissipates and settles in Yoichi’s nose as he gets used
to it and the room gradually cools. The air condition feels too loud but Yoichi suddenly feels too
hot when he registers the arms around him.

He gulps, feeling conscious of the way he’s practically draping himself over Kunigami and how no
one’s making a comment about that. “Sorry,” he murmurs and the spell over the room breaks. No
one looks at him when Yoichi scans the room and he pats Kunigami’s broad shoulders awkwardly.
“You can let go of me now.”

“Right,” Kunigami nods, an odd tone in his voice as he makes sure Yoichi is upright before letting
go. Bachira still holds the back of his shirt.

“You can let go too, Bachira.” The exhausted lilt in his own voice doesn’t go unnoticed by him but
Yoichi ignores it for now as he turns to look at the boy still holding onto him. Bachira gives him an
awkward smile, head tilting a bit before a much more familiar smile blooms on his face– much
more playful and mischievous.

“Isagi’s also super passionate, huh?” Bachira teases softly, voice dropping as if the words are a
secret between them. “I’ll take you up on that offer,” he takes Yoichi’s hand, grabbing it with both
his hands and giving him a shake. “Take good care of me, ‘kay?”

“Same here,” Kunigami joins in, patting his shoulder and as if on cue, the rest give in their reply
with various forms of enthusiasm and grumbles. Raichi curses at him and demands his cooperation
in the same breath— Yoichi thinks he doesn’t mind.

“I’ll give you hell.” He replies out of spite, no bite in his voice because he can feel something
changing in this room of ten people chasing their dreams.

As if challenging him, he receives loud shouts of determination. Bring it on!

Yoichi can briefly see a future changing with this Team Z coming out on top. He’ll make sure of
that.

⚘⚘⚘

The day of the First Selection announcement, Yoichi is given a day off from managing first-hand
as each team prepares for their first match. His day off is in fact, not a day off when Ego tells him
that Itoshi Sae will be coming to the facility later on.

Staying true to his task, Yoichi prepares for Itoshi Sae’s arrival with distraction. He makes last
minute changes and strategy building as he waits for any information of when he should be
meeting with the genius player from Japan.
He’s in the middle of formulating another strategy for Team X from platform B when Ego informs
him via mail that Itoshi Sae wanted to ask questions outside the facility. Yoichi replies his
compliance and sits on his chair for a full three minutes before rushing to the bathroom. It’s really
happening— fuck.

It’s rare for Yoichi to go out of the facility for whatever reason. A month passes within the walls of
the facility and Yoichi has already forgotten what the sky looks like. Though exaggeration aside,
the fresh air is a nice change of pace. He was almost sure that he would go crazy if he’d stayed
cooped up inside for any longer— he almost feels bad for everyone else not being able to enjoy the
outside. Almost.

“Hey.”

Itoshi Sae greets casually. Eyes half-lidded as if he’ll fall asleep and dressed in something other
than a football uniform Yoichi is more familiar with. He almost looks like a total stranger like this
and then Yoichi belatedly remembers he sort of is.

“Hey…” Itoshi Sae makes his way over to him and Yoichi’s stomach twists. “Sae-kun.” The boy in
question raises a brow, waiting for him to continue but Yoichi’s mind is still blank and Sae stands a
bit too close than he usually did— or did he usually stand this close? “How are you?” It comes out
a bit more high-pitched than he’d like and Itoshi Sae smiles– amused. “Oi, don’t laugh at me.”

“I’m not,” Sae-kun replies smoothly and Yoichi notices how he has to look up a bit to keep eye
contact. Why is he conscious of that? Sae-kun had always been taller than him so why is he
focusing on that?— “How are you?” Sae-kun’s voice is also a lot smoother than what he
remembers.

Yoichi goes to take a step back and he manages to move a leg back before Sae-kun places a hand
on his elbow and keeps him in place. “I asked you first.” Yoichi opts to say, trying not to focus on
how he’s being tugged back in. “How are you.” He insists, more demanding now that he could see
how Sae-kun is teasing him.

“Good,” Sae-kun smiles, a soft tilt on the corners of his lips and Yoichi’s knees are weak; he lets
the older boy tug him closer until he can feel the soft puff of air as Sae-kun speaks. His hand trails
down Yoichi’s arm, softly teasing the skin of his fingers before settling on his hip– his right hip
and Yoichi’s vision blurs. “How’s your injury?”

It takes all his willpower to not focus on the soft touch of Sae-kun’s thumb tracing his hip bone.
“Fine,” he mumbles in a daze, zeroing on the necklace chain Sae-kun’s wearing. His heartbeat
drums loudly in his ears and his face feels warmer under the attention he’s receiving. Seriously,
Yoichi can't remember the last time he was in this type of situation– or at all. International air had
somehow changed the Sae-kun he remembers into— this .

Fuck, he’s not even sure if he likes it or not.

“Sae-kun, step back a bit.”

The older boy complies easily and Yoichi breathes. He waits for his heart to calm down as Sae-kun
looks behind him at the facility, face going to the familiar blankness he always sees during
interviews on television.

“So that’s the facility,” Sae-kun murmurs and Yoichi isn’t sure how to reply. The former looks at
him and the blankness is replaced when one corner of Sae-kun’s lips lifts slightly. “We should talk
some place else.”
 Yoichi watches as Sae-kun turns around and heads to a car parked a little farther from where they
are. He would have thought their reunion (or if there would be at all) would be a bit more dramatic
or mundane— not the familiar closeness he vaguely remembers they had all those years ago.
Yoichi can’t help but find it a bit funny how he’s seeing a whole different Itoshi Sae from the one
he normally sees during sport interviews. Maybe Sae-kun’s really like this behind the camera?

“Yoichi,”

Eh? No, wait..

“I see you haven’t stopped your habit of getting lost in thought,” Sae-kun raises his voice a bit so
Yoichi can hear him. “You could do that when you’re alone again. For now, just keep me
company, yeah?” Without waiting, the older boy gets in the car, leaving the door open.

Yoichi walks towards the vehicle in hurried steps, not wanting to make his… guest? Client? Where
does Sae-kun stand in all this— he doesn’t want to make him wait and hurries for the door. Yoichi
makes a mental note to ask Ego or Anri-san what type of relationship Sae-kun has with Blue Lock
later and then he wonders since when did Sae-kun call him by his given name…?

Chapter End Notes

*slams fist on table* let sae be cute and flirty with isagi but snarky and mean to
everyone else!!! he’s a two-faced btch like that AAHAAKJSHASJKSL also that hip
caressing bit was from that one scene in tsurune and i think it would fit here so—
*kyaa

but jokes aside i– dynamics!! i wanna build isagi’s dynamics with everyone in a word
vomit but the slow burn tag is grabbing me by a chokehold so i shall stay true to it !!!!

also!!!! again!!!! thank you all so much for the cute messages and support this fic has
garnered like fr thank you so much!!! ilyyyy <3333
 entry log 4: overtime
Chapter Summary

Yoichi sees dreams of grass-stained clothes and rough-patched knees and then he
wakes up to a room painted with shallow emptiness; a heart monitor beeps in his ears.
He thinks there’s too many things already going wrong with his life.

Or: What else is he supposed to do except walk forward? He can’t run like he used to,
afterall.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

There’s three things he wants in life and a thousand methods to chase after them.

He wants to play football for as long as he can. With that thought in mind and his ability backing
him up, he scores and scores and scores until his name is the talk among players outside the field;
“Did you see that kid from practice yesterday? Aren’t his shots too powerful for a brat?”

Then he wants to be the best striker in the world. He remembers his parents running late to pick
him up after practice (they always are and he doesn’t care). He uses the extra time to get some
kicks in because what else is he supposed to do when there’s a familiar patterned black and white
ball in front of him?

His parents often run late picking him up and he doesn’t go home on his own because the field is
empty and he can practice his shots and dribbles so why would he leave?

He practices even when it’s getting dark and he practices even through the rain. A singular focus
from one goal to the other. The only reason he ever stopped during those times was when his
mother finally came to pick him up, still dressed in her work clothes and sheepish smiles as he
gathered his belongings.

The routine became more familiar and more daily as he comes to practice, plays his usual (he
hears whispers about how he tries too hard and hogs the ball too often and he doesn’t care), then
he continues with even more practice as he waits to be picked up because he won’t go home alone
unless prompted.

The routine continues and then he’s joined by that teammate that always watches him from the
sidelines but never approaches; a small surprise considering they’ve never talked before. After
that, his after practice routine is spent in a game of two people.

They practice together and train together; a shared passion for a sport that breathes life into their
lungs whenever they run, kick, slide— exist in the field. In those times, he passes the ball and runs
forward without looking back because he knows he’ll receive the ball again and score another
flawless goal and his routine became something for two people.

He spends what feels like the start of a lifetime with someone he can give his life to on the field and
then he receives a call that he’s accepted into The Real Madrid Youth Team.
Itoshi Sae receives that invite on the last day of spring and he leaves on the start of rainy seasons
without saying goodbye to his teammate, rival, partner, Isagi Yoichi.

Sae leaves for Spain and he changes his second plan of becoming the best striker. He plays
midfielder and he imagines dark hair and ocean deep eyes being the striker he passes to on certain
nights.

Sae changes his third plan without even starting it– he plays his best and his name is on the cover
of every sports magazine and he whispers names of Isagi Yoichi to other world-level players and
watches as the cocky ones always take interest.

Sae gets accepted into the Men’s World 11 and two months after winning the national’s league,
Michael Kaiser smirks at him and tells him “you might want to check up on your little pet, Sae.”

Exactly a week after finally acquiring Isagi’s number (it didn’t change and the confirmation sent a
sharp twinge in his chest because Sae memorised that number but he never contacted it) and Sae
types and types until he reaches the max capacity of letters. He deletes the block of words and tries
again. I heard about the accident (and I’m sorry). This is Itoshi Sae by the way (I hope you
remember me).

He waits as Isagi starts typing and releases a breath when his phone chimes a soft ting; Sae-kun,
it’s good to hear from you! How are you?

Sae responds with a simple good and he starts from there.

This time, Sae makes sure to keep tabs on the prodigy he left behind. He makes sure to text Isagi’s
mother as well because Isagi dodges questions about his injury like the plague and Sae can see the
nervous jitter— fingers scratching his cheek and eyes straying everywhere in his mind’s eye but he
wants to know the extent of Isagi’s injury.

Sae finds out Isagi can never play football professionally and Sae throws away his third goal
before it can fully start. Sae focuses on his plays and he imagines dark hair and ocean blue eyes
watching him from the sidelines. The image disappears with each victory he acquires and Sae
drowns in those images of what ifs.

He wakes up and Isagi Yoichi is not the person he passes to on the field.

⚘⚘⚘

Sae takes Yoichi back to the facility that same night he finally gets to see him again after all those
years of fading images.

He smiles more naturally whenever the now manager cracks a terrible joke and tells him about the
players in Blue Lock. Yoichi talks like he always does when it comes to football; all smiles and
paragraph long sentences and Sae listens attentively, nodding along and asking questions here and
there because he is genuinely interested but he’s also greedy in the same regard.

Which is why he sits close to Yoichi in the car, in the fast food restaurant they eat in, in the cafe
they talk in. Sae nods along as Yoichi speaks, leaning in closer when he can’t hear him well and
places his hand on Yoichi’s knee so he can show the younger that he’s paying attention.
Sae takes Yoichi back to the facility and he walks him to the entrance as Yoichi bids his goodbye.

“It was really great seeing you again, Sae-kun,” Yoichi grins and his face flushes in that cute way
whenever he gets embarrassed about something. “I’ll send you more details later if you want.
Thanks for the ride!” He bows, pacing towards the Blue Lock entrance and Sae opens his mouth.

“I’m sorry,” for leaving suddenly, for going ahead, for contacting too late .

Sae expects nothing in response which is why he stays silent when Yoichi pauses, steps faltering
and the image of ocean blue eyes fades as Isagi Yoichi leaves without saying a word.

⚘⚘⚘

Yoichi doesn’t sleep that night after the apology.

⚘⚘⚘

The teams from first selection are given three business days between matches to come up with a
plan and train for the next. Of the five teams Yoichi is managing first-hand, two out of five came
out victorious in the first match with Team Z from platform C giving the worst performance.
Yoichi makes sure he has no favourites but he sure as hell has his least favourites.

Which is why he goes past curfew to hand those three losing teams pointers on strategy. Nothing
too solid or a full-out perfect plan because they have to use their own heads but Yoichi wants to
give them a fighting chance while still biting at their flaws like a persistent bug.

He meets up with the team or just a member or two in rotations; Team Y from platform E, Team X
from platform D and finally Team Z from platform C. The decision was made based on
performance and Yoichi looms the prospect of getting more sleep if you perform better because
more often than not, Team Z-C receives their pointers way past afterhours which means less sleep
for them.

Yoichi is perhaps an asshole for that but it serves for good motivation judging by the growing stats
of those three losing teams.

For his two teams that won their first match, Yoichi is more lenient but he does his job either way.
There is Team X from Platform B and then there is Team W from platform A.

Yoichi feels the least concern for team W-A because they listen to him and work well together.
Yoichi lost count of how many times he’s watched their match and thinks of programmed AIs
playing on the field with how consistent yet animated they are. He has concerns for the lack of
creativity on the field but Yoichi is more concerned about the other winning team.

Karasu Tabito is an enigma Yoichi is keen on not figuring out but is still curious about,
nonetheless. Team X from platform B is perhaps the closest thing to a properly functioning team
despite the lack of a single player somehow. All the other four teams he’s managing first-hand are
all variations of… mediocre to just plain bad— Yoichi can’t even bring himself to lie about that.
He’s not privy to the true rank of each player (Ego keeps that for suspense or just to make him
work harder), but he thinks the one named Karasu Tabito deserves a good rank. Though a good
rank doesn’t mean the best— a fact Yoichi is a bit bummed about when concerning the crow-like
player.

A lazy genius. That’s all Yoichi wants to say about Karasu Tabito.

He plays like a seasoned player that’s been on the field too many times to count. The calculated
and assured steps he takes on the field is something Yoichi doesn’t see often in highschool-level
football, which is a nice surprise over all. But like every other genius Yoichi is watching over in
the facility, this one also has a horrible personality.

He gathers the team into the break room, thinking of his opening words when Karasu leans against
the lockers, standing close and above Yoichi at the same time.

“Ya got somethin’ t’say, mister manager?”

Yoichi likes to think of himself as someone who can handle different situations well. For reference,
he had made a great diffuser that one time infighting almost took place in his old middle school
football club and Yoichi is proud of that piece of memory. Which is why he knows how to adapt to
football geniuses with bad personalities.

“Yeah, just a bit,” he smiles, gesturing to the bench where the rest of the team is already gathering
around. “You’re not gonna sit down or something?”

Karasu smiles that charming smile of his, the one Yoichi isn’t sure if it’s amused or taunting but he
lets it slide as the former shrugs. “Stretchin’ out my legs,” Karasu kicks his leg forward a bit to
emphasise. “‘Sides, the manager seems to wanna say somethin’ important so ‘m all ears.”

Yoichi smiles wider, feels his lips strain in a growing sneer as Karasu tilts his head. Bastard.
Yoichi breathes through his nose and looks down at the clipboard in his hands for a second before
lowering it down. The detailed notes of his all-nighter commentary of the teams match and how
they should improve based on the theory of Ego’s philosophy is forgotten as he looks at a team
lacking a player but came out victorious over a full team in a match the day before.

He looks at Team X from platform B and wonders how many players can a genius replace on the
field? What chances does someone ordinary have in the face of one genius? He looks at the genius
that is Karasu Tabito currently standing near him, a bored yet assured look on his face because
he’s aware of his own capabilities.

Yoichi looks at Karasu Tabito and sees someone who became the sole reason a team lacking a
player came out victorious in the face of a team with full members. Yoichi looks at Karasu Tabito
and sees how many other players he can replace and still come out on top.

Yoichi looks at Karasu Tabito and then he looks at Team X from platform B.

If a single genius is all it takes to bring a team victory then Yoichi will just have to make sure the
rest get on the same level.

“I’ll be straightforward with all of you, the only reason you won that last match was because of this
guy,” Yoichi points his thumb at the team’s genius. He sees the barely suppressed scowls of the
ones labelled ordinary and Yoichi feels elated .

“Ain’t that a lil’ harsh, mister manager? The team won anyway,” Karasu defends but preens at the
statement, smiling too wide and too confident. He faces Yoichi as if seeking praises he doesn’t
need and turns his back on the team he is in as if he doesn’t need them. And maybe he doesn’t.

Yoichi smiles and smiles and smiles because that’s all he can do when faced with a genius—
someone who can leave him behind and Yoichi smiles. “3-0 with three points to Karasu and zero to
the other team but also zero to every single one of you,” Yoichi opens the dam and he watches as
each ordinary player snarls and glares at him. He smiles and smiles and Karasu Tabito looks like
the tension in the room is the best entertainment he’s ever seen.

“You wanna win this whole thing as a team then sure, go ahead,” Yoichi smiles, fingers reaching
out to Karasu’s uniform and he yanks him closer, pushing at his shoulders to turn him around to
face the rest and Yoichi smiles . “But if you wanna win and beat this guy , then you better listen to
every single word I say next and hold on to them as if they’re salvation.”

Yoichi holds Karasu —no longer smiling and openly annoyed— by the shoulder and keeps him in
place. The genius in his arms doesn’t struggle but Yoichi can see the vein protruding in the
former’s jaw from restrained feelings.

“I’ll start with the first lesson,” Yoichi pats Karasu’s back and lets go, pleased when Karasu’s
smile turns strained. “The first step to beating a genius is knowing how they move. After that
assess, evaluate and apply. If that doesn’t work? Retry the whole process and press closer, think
faster, move quicker, be persistent. Still doesn’t work? Do it again and again and again .”

Yoichi bends forward, smiling and leers up at the genius looking down at him. “The second step is
just a result of the first really,” his voice drops in a playful manner, heart racing as the tension in
the room rises and rises and everyone waits for the secret of how to kill a king. “The second step?
You piss them off real bad and see their self-destruction. That’s how you kill a genius.”

Yoichi feels hands at the back of his neck, fingers curling into his hair but there’s no harsh yank
Yoichi was expecting. Instead, Karasu’s fingers tug at the back of his head, coaxing and pulling his
head up to move on his own. When Yoichi straightens up again, all he can see is dark eyes and a
smirk that’s all teeth and too wide. He feels the fingers on his hair tighten the slightest bit—
keeping him in place but not enough to restrain him.

“Ya think a shit plan like that’s gonna be enough t’ piss me off?” Karasu’s voice is steady,
taunting and demeaning.

“See,” Yoichi grins . “He’s already starting to get pissed off.”

⚘⚘⚘

Karasu Tabito grows to be one of Yoichi’s favourites; asshole personality or not, Yoichi can’t deny
talent when he sees one.

Which is why he felt somewhat satisfied at how quickly composed the other became and the taunt
thrown to his teammates was one he didn’t expect but had hoped for.

For the rest of you ordinaries who wanna try that shit tactic then go ahead. I’ll grind every single
one of you to the ground.

There’s four other matches Team X-B will have to play in but Yoichi can already see their names
being one of two surviving teams. With that assurance in the back of his mind, he can focus on the
other teams.

⚘⚘⚘

It’s nearing two in the morning and already way past curfew. Yoichi stopped by team Z-C earlier
and tells Kunigami that he’ll help them come up with a plan for the next match another time
because Yoichi is already spent— the enthusiastic chime of Igarashi telling him it’s fine and to go
away almost made him want to stay anyways but he decided against it.

It’s already way past curfew which is why Yoichi hides in a dark corner of the hallway and stays
silent when Kuon leaves the cafeteria closely followed by the Wanima brothers.

Against his better judgement, Yoichi enters the cafeteria after the trio is no longer within ear-shot.
He walks around the room as if expecting something to materialise and confirm his suspicions but
— but Yoichi already knows what they were talking about and he’s seen it happen before and he
feels empty .

Ego emphasises that football is an individual sport through and through and Yoichi knows that but
isn’t this type of thing the catalyst to his own downfall?

“I thought you said the meeting would be postponed until tomorrow?”

Chigiri Hyouma speaks and exists in a soft manner but Yoichi still startles at the sudden voice. He
turns around to see the resident beauty of perhaps the entirety of Blue Lock looking at him with a
blank expression, waiting for his response.

“I did, yeah– the discussion’s tomorrow.”

Chigiri nods and sits on one of the benches, gesturing to the one across from him and Yoichi takes
the signal. “So what’re you doing here? I was getting water when I saw someone pacing in here
like a ghost.”

“Ah, hm, please don’t say something unsettling with a blank expression,” Yoichi starts. “I… I was
inputting the code on the vending machine to request for a refill.”

“Right,” Chigiri nods, quieting for a moment. “I actually wanted to ask you something.” He places
his elbows on the table, crossing his arms and leaning closer as if wanting to reveal a secret.

Yoichi can’t help but focus on the slow cascade of pink hair framing the other’s face; soft scent
wafting into his nose and long lashes fluttering— his face grows warmer as he nods, back
straightening.

“Is it possible to get a type of healing cream here? I brought some with me but they’re already
running out. I wasn’t sure if this falls into the reward category or not.” Chigiri doesn’t make eye
contact and speaks in a soft, slow manner as if he has all the time in the world.

Yoichi takes a moment to look at Chigiri Hyouma and he can see it; the detached facade and
uninterested looks whenever the team practices. He looks and listens and he understands.

“Sure,” he sighs, “on one condition.” Yoichi smiles at the annoyed look he receives and puts his
hands up in playful surrender. “Just this one thing! I heard you were quite the runner on the field.
How come we’re not seeing any of it?”

The sigh the pinkhead lets out makes Yoichi grin. Chigiri looks annoyed more at himself and how
the conversation turned instead of openly directing it at Yoichi. “Is that seriously any of your
business? You know what, don’t answer. Forget what I asked for.” He stands, pushing the bench
back roughly that it drags across the floor with a loud sound.

“Is that really what you want though? To just stop,” Yoichi sniffs, watching Chigiri pause. “We
both know that’s not really what you want, is it.”

“And what the fuck do I want?”

“A reason to stop playing.”

At this, Chigiri quiets down, brows furrowing in confusion and Yoichi gestures to the bench,
inviting him to sit down again. “Stopping is easy, I think we can both agree on that. But how you
stop is a whole other thing, isn’t it?”

The room feels a lot darker and the air conditioning feels a lot colder but Yoichi can see the
internal conflict Chigiri goes through as clear as looking at a carbon copy of himself. He speaks in
a tone he wished he heard during that time; not too kind and not too understanding— he knows the
reality of his situation and all he needs is the push he never received.

“Trust me, stopping on your own terms– one where you can accept wholeheartedly is a lot better
than letting someone… or something else decide for you. You’ll be able to sleep with a lot less
what ifs that way.”

Chigiri looks at him with eyes as cold as winter and his gaze is void of emotion but Yoichi can see
the start of acceptance on his face, a type of closure with his inner demons Yoichi can’t see but
understands. “You’ve been in this type of field a long time, huh.” The comment sounds dead and
Yoichi seriously can’t tell if it was meant as a jab or a joke of some kind.

“No promises,” Chigiri taps the table before pointing his finger at him. “The cream. Then I’ll
consider playing seriously.”

“Right, right.”

The small tension in the air melts and they fall into a comfortable silence before a clang interrupts
it. Chigiri turns around and Yoichi’s view is blocked by pink hair but Yoichi recognizes that voice
from anywhere and… oh, fuck, shit—

“Sorry, I didn’t see the trash can since it’s really dark but what’re you two doing… ah? Oh, the
master from the train.” Nagi Seishirou tilts his head, blindly putting the trash can lid back to its
place while giving a small wave at Yoichi.

Yoichi hears sirens blaring in his head and Ego giving him more work for breaking a rule and oh
god he wants to sleep and Chigiri is talking — “so you have been in this type of field for a long
time” — and Nagi Seishirou from the train and best player of his stratum is walking towards them
and—

“Didn’t expect to see you here,” Nagi starts and Yoichi buries his face in his arms. “So what team
are you on? I don’t think we’ve faced each other, yet.”

Chigiri response instead because Yoichi refuses to acknowledge the intruder’s question and maybe
he should divert the question and blow it off completely and maybe he should’ve handled the
 situation better because Chigiri looks at Nagi like the later had grown a third head and—

“What’re you talking about? Isagi’s a manager here– doesn’t he go to your team or something?”

Nagi stares at Chigiri and tilts his head, taking a seat next to him and poking Yoichi’s arm who still
refuses to reveal his face. “Hey, you manage this guy’s team? I didn’t even know this place had a
manager– I think Reo doesn’t know either. Isn’t that unfair or something?”

It’s nearing three now– or already past that and Yoichi thinks he should stop working overtime.

Chapter End Notes

there was a lot that went down here and i love that akakkakaka

fun little fact but i didn't consider the chaotic trio (it's karasu, eita, yukki and they are
all types of chaotic energy i take no criticism-) into the original harem game because...
heh AKJDAKLDKALSKDJF but then i suddenly kept imagining their dynamics and
how they’ll interact and i'm like oh so the harem grows! /sweats

also it's currently finals for me! which is why i'm not word vomiting and dumping
them all in an update since i'm hngghh me want good grades and sleep yknow– but
hopefully things should be over and done with soon so hopefully(2) i'll be able to write
up and update like i usually(?) do!! i already have a rough idea up to chapter 7 and
kinda 8 after all /cries dynamics me want dynamics...

anyways thank you so much and take care everyone!! <33

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