After that chilling welcome to Life at Bluelock, we were dismissed and sent to an enormous, empty, metal room without even the tiniest hint of Furniture in sight. No beds either. Just 11 Futons stacked on each other in the middle of the room. On the wall next to the door was an Electronic Map of the facility we were in. It showed us the way to the Bathroom, Gym, Cafeteria, the Training Field where we could come at anytime to practice, and most importantly, the Football Pitch where Matches will be played.
Inside our rooms, we couldn't stop talking about Kira's elimination. Everyone was scared, well, almost everyone. Bachira and isagi had buddied up and left for the Training Field, Chigiri just sat in the corner, refusing to talk to anyone, and Kunigami and I decided to take a break and head to the Gym first.
As we made our way to the Gym, we came across other Bluelock participants and overheard them talking about how they had also lost one member to form the team that they were in and the circumstances in which said member was lost. Kunigami looked at each other and shook our heads. "It's better to not think about it too much. We should just take it as a lesson and an example of what happens if we fail. We must give it our all if we wan to survive in this place.", Kunigami advised. I sighed and responded affirmatively, "Yeah, you're right. It's just...…..I don't know, man.". Noticing my reluctance, he placed a hand across my shoulder and said, "Hey now, a bit too late to be hesitating, isn't it? You're already here so you might as well see it through all the way, right? Come on. We gotta clear our heads of this."
With those said, he led me to the Gym where we worked out together, pushing to better ourselves physically. "What the hell, Kunigami? You are jacked. You sure you're not juicing?", I asked in astonishment because this guy's muscles had muscles and those muscles had muscles too. He just laughed and said, "Yeah, I get that a lot but trust me, it's all natural. I work out a lot and it helps me with my Style of Play.". Curious, I asked,"And what would that be?". He said, "Well, I'm no good at dribbling, I've got a semi-decent Speed, I can hold on to the ball really well, thanks to my strong Physique and my finish is my strong Left-footed Mid-range Shot.". "Oh, right. I forgot. You have a Cannon of a Left Foot. Tell me, were you aiming at Isagi back then?", I asked again. "No....No, I wasn't. I was actually looking to hit Igaguri but well, Isagi got hit instead. I still haven't apologised to him about that. I know how hard that ball hit him. Trust me, I've been on the receiving end of a few Powershots and it is NOT fun, I guarantee it.", he answered remorsefully. I just smiled at him and said, "You're a really nice guy, Kunigami. You're genuinely sorry about hitting him back then and are even looking to apologise even though it wasn't your fault.". Again, he clammed up and blushed slightly. "Sh…shut up. I can't help it, okay? Stupid Kaido….", he grumbled, looking away. This caused a genuine peal of laughter from spilling out of me and echoing all over the empty Gym. "Oh, man. You are so precious, Kunigami! Big guy like you but you shrink when compliments come your way? Oh my God!! Hahahahaha!!!!!". Not being able to take it anymore, he quickly got up, off the floor and resumed his work-out. "Oh, come on, bro. What, can't take a little friendly teasing?", I said while smiling at his face scrunched up in effort, trying to distract himself fro my teasing. He grumbled again, "Shut up….I'm working here and you're distracting me...…..dumbass..". Finally relenting, I smiled and said, "Okay, okay. I'll leave you be...…..for now. Heheheheee~", and then, I left for the Squat rack, loaded it up and resumed my own work-out.
After everything was concluded, we talked, had Dinner in the Cafeteria and went to bed.
The next morning, we woke up to a smooth Alarm and a female voice on the PSA System saying, "Good morning, teams. Your Bluelock rankings have been adjusted according to the last administered tests. Please return to your rooms to confirm your new Bluelock Rankings." My and Kunigami's futons were next to each other so we got up at the same time. Getting up to my feet, I checked out my Right sleeve and just as the PSA said my ranking had gone from 294 to 269. That brought a smile to my face. 'Even Igaguri, who had the lowest rank of 300 had gone up to 275. if someone like him could rank up that quickly, then Bluelock might not be as harsh as I thought.' was my thought process at that time. Oh, how utterly, hopelessly wrong I was.
Minutes later, Isagi and Bachira entered the room and Ego's face appeared on the big Screen. "Good morning, my Diamonds in the rough. Have a good night's sleep?", he greeted. "Hey, what the hell, man? What's with the crappy accommodation, huh? How are my Skills supposed to improve in a place like this, huh?!!", Raichi immediately snapped at Ego. "Yeah, he's right. And we need better Food too.", Naruhaya inputted his 2 cents. Ego snorted and his answer shut them up instantly, "Your Accommodations are crappy because they reflect the collective level of your Skills. You want better things, YOU get better. Oh, by the way, the Rankings were adjusted due to the locking off of 25 out of the 300 players that started here at Bluelock. And if you're wondering how I created the teams, there are 5 buildings in Bluelock, housing 5 teams each and as for the team rankings, Team B are ranked from 11 to 22, Team C are ranked from 23 to 34 and so on. Do the math and you'll realise just how low you're ranked."
"Hold on, so we're the lowest ranked team in the lowest Building in all of Bluelock? We're literally the bottom of the barrel. Are we that bad?", I asked in near Disbelief. Raichi snorted and said, "Yeah, right. Don't lump me in with these losers. I know I'm way better than that.", which irritated me so I stepped up to him, "The hell you just say, Shark-teeth?!". Raichi, not one to back down, doubled down on his statement, "I'm sure you heard me, loser. Don't tell me you're trash at Football AND deaf too?". That does it. This guy's about to get it. I was ready to swing until Kunigami's strong arms wrestled me to the ground and away from Raichi, "Kaido, calm down. That's enough. You're wasting your breath and your energy. You don't want to get locked off because of some hidden infringements, do you?", he advised as he held my head to the soft Futon.
Ego calmly continued, "Are you idiots done? Good. The reason I'm here is to tell you all something very important, the beginning of Bluelock's 1st Selection. All the teams from Building 5 will play against each other in a sort of 5-round Robin style and the top 2 teams after the last match will have all its Players move on to the 2nd Selection. But for the rest of the losing team, only the highest Goalscorer on their teams will advance to the 2nd Stage with the rest of the team getting locked off. And the first match of Bluelock's 1st selection will be Team X vs Team Z. Goodluck." with that, his face flickered and finally disappeared, replaced by a 24-hour timer counting down.
I took a breath and finally said, "Hey, Kunigami. Anyone ever tell you how heavy you are? Get off me, will ya?". like a startled Cat, he quickly got up to his feet and apologised, "Oh, right. Sorry about that.". "No worries, man. Alright, we have 24 hours before our very first game in Bluelock. We don't know what to expect so we gotta come up with some kind of gameplan. If we don't plan for anything, I guarantee Team X is gonna tear us apart out there.", I tried to reason with the team but Raichi again interrupted that, "Here's a gameplan for ya. Pass me the ball and I'll score. Easy, right. Just give me the ball and I'll make light work of Team X.". I slapped my forehead in exasperation because his words had sparked another round of pointless arguments with Raichi, Gagamaru and Naruhaya getting in each other's faces. Kunigami tried to intervene and calm things down but no such luck. I sighed while shaking my head and left the room, heading for the Cafeteria with surprisingly Bachira following behind me with a weird smile. "Alright, Bachira, what is it? You're smiling way too widely for my comfort.". That made him smile even wider and he simply said, "You have a monster inside you too, right? I know it. The monster inside me told me.". I looked at him with suspicion and replied, "Buddy, you've been watching way too much Naruto. Look, I like the anime just as much a the next guy but you are not a Jinchuriki, my man. Calm. Down.". He looked at me confused and asked, "What's a 'Naruto'? Isn't that Fish Flakes used as toppings in Ramen?". That Question stopped me dead in my tracks and I turned to look into his confused eyes with my flabbergasted ones. "You're joking, right? Tell me that was a poor joke. Not watching anime is fine with me but you should at least recognise one of the biggest Animes in existence right now, right?", I asked in pure disbelief but all I got was a mere shrug. Not trying to burn what was left of my Brain cells, I dropped the topic and continued our conversation, "I'm not surprised you don't remember me, Bachira. We played against each other in an Exhibition match one time. You were really impressive in that Match, turning our Defence inside out and all that. What shocked me is that despite the innumerable chances you created with your Dribbling, you didn't score anything. Not even an assist. And all your passes were either too far ahead of your teammates or over everyone's heads and out of play. It's almost as if you were actually passing to someone on the field but that person wasn't visible to anyone but you. Is that the monster you were talking about?". This stunned Bachira and he laughed happily, "Hahahahaha, I was right. You DO have a monster inside you. You're right. When I'm on the Field, I listen to it's voice. Sometimes, it will say stuff like 'Move around a bit more' or 'Dribble a little further' or 'Fire a quick Through Ball'". I jut smiled at him and shook my head, finally responding, "Let me guess. It was the monster that told you to send that floated Through Ball to Isagi during that 'Tag' game that Ego put us through, right?". He smiled and happily nodded in affirmation.
I hummed in contemplation and said, "Well, I don't know about Monsters and stuff but sooner or later, you're gonna have to start listening to your own Voice, your own Instincts. This 'Monster' is like a Crutch for you, slowly helping you walk. One day, you'll need to start running and that Crutch that helped you all this time will suddenly become a hindrance. I don't believe in Monsters. I believe in the results of Hardwork and Dedication. Simple as that.".
As we talked, we had already made it to the cafeteria and sat down to eat. After enjoying a hearty meal of Rice and a side of Gyoza, we left and went to the Training Field after changing into our training gear. On the Field, I stretched and warmed up before I began running multiple Stamina and Speed drills for an hour. After that, I took a few minutes of rest before moving to pick up a ball and some Blue cones, placing them in a restrictive Square around the Centre Circle. "Hey, Bachira. Let's do One-on-Ones. I'll defend, you attack. Come on." to which he happily obliged. We continued for 2 hours, rotating attacking and defending every 30 minutes until we stopped for a break. 5 minutes of rest later, I retrieved the Cones and returned them but kept the ball on the field, doing Free Dribbling and Shooting from different angles but I restricted myself to Outside the Box Shooting only. For an added challenge, I asked Bachira to join me, trying to stop me, to which he happily obliged. We even snuck in some combination plays, raw and instinctive but it was a start.
By the time we finished training, there was 12 hours left till our first match with Team X. We sat down on the grass and just chatted. Getting to know Bachira better, he was a pretty interesting guy. A bit quirky, true, but he was very exciting to play with and terrifying to play against because he was capable of making you look like you've never touched a Football once in your entire life. He was that good.
Getting back to our feet, I was about to continue until Kunigami and Isagi showed up and joined us for some extra training. Kunigami also apologised for smashing the ball into Isagi during Ego's 'Tag' game but Isagi quickly let it go. Frankly, I'm pretty sure he already forgot about it but you know Kunigami, Mr. Fair and Square. Thankfully, it was resolved quickly and seamlessly.
After getting in another extra hour of training, we all left to wash up and prepare for our first match at Bluelock.