Chapter 15: Football Trash
After cursing everyone out viciously, Naruhaya Asahi strode toward the showers without even glancing back. He wanted to wash up before the others arrived.
Entering the bathroom, he quickly turned on the shower. Warm water poured down like a waterfall, drenching his body.
He grabbed a clean white towel and lightly wiped his upper and lower body.
Because his skin was covered in wounds—large and small—every touch of the towel brought a sharp sting.
Those crisscrossing wounds looked like a brutal painting laid across his flesh.
While washing, Naruhaya carefully avoided the scabs that were beginning to peel.
Even though he tried hard not to touch them, the water loosened some of the nearly detached skin.
He gritted his teeth, enduring the unbearable itch, fearing that one careless touch would tear the wounds open and cause infection.
Though he still couldn't clearly recall what kind of accident he'd experienced on his way back to Japan, just looking at these horrifying scars was enough to imagine how bloody and terrifying the scene must have been.
Perhaps a life-and-death struggle…
Or a desperate, painful escape.
After wiping himself dry, Naruhaya stared at the reflection of his bare upper body.
His gaze swept over the scars with indifference.
At least—he thought—none of the injuries hit his shoulders, palms, feet, or any of the body parts essential to playing football.
Otherwise, even if he could still play, every match would've been torture, fighting through pain and itching.
Changing into casual clothes, Naruhaya headed to the cafeteria.
Inside, three guys were already sitting there—two of them were the ones who had loudly debated whether to join Blue Lock back at the venue.
Naruhaya glanced at them. Given the timing and the fact that only two of them were eating steak, someone from their group must've suddenly gotten hungry and dragged the others along.
Confirming he had nothing to do with them, he ordered two steaks for himself and sat far away.
Right now, he wanted no involvement with anyone from Building 5.
He put in his earbuds, connected them to his phone, and began his pleasant solo relaxation time.
"Reo, that guy's got his headphones on."
Rank 223, black-haired glasses-wearer Tsurugi Zantetsu whispered to the purple-haired and white-haired pair beside him—while trying to sneak a peek at the legendary tyrant of Team Z.
"Idiot Zantetsu, don't look! He'll notice."
Rank 222, the purple-haired Mikage Reo, stroked the white hair of the teammate lying on the table and answered quietly:
"Let's just watch for now. See what he's doing."
But no matter how they watched, that little tyrant—Naruhaya Asahi—never took his eyes off his phone.
Probably watching videos of his idol, Arthas, the American star.
"Hey, Reo… is that the boss we're supposed to beat?"
Rank 221, the white-haired Nagi Seishiro, chewed steak lazily, his chewing growing weaker as if the whole thing was troublesome.
Reo nodded, still wary of the distant little tyrant:
"Yeah. Naruhaya Asahi. Team Z's tyrant. His speed, passing, and the attacking power he hasn't even shown yet—he's the one we need to guard against."
Nagi accepted the answer and slumped completely onto the table, leaving two-thirds of his steak untouched.
"Reo~ I don't wanna eat anymore. Carry me back."
"Nagi! You're the one who said you wanted food, so I brought you here!"
"Sorry… it suddenly feels like a pain."
With no choice, Reo bent down, hoisted Nagi onto his back, and prepared to leave.
Left behind, Zantetsu stared at the leftover steak, drooling.
Muttering about how wasteful it was, he immediately moved in to finish it.
While being carried out, Nagi glanced lazily toward the tyrant wearing headphones and watching videos.
He noticed the boy holding a pen and notebook, eating and rapidly taking notes at the same time.
The notebook was filled with neatly arranged, dense knowledge points—each key section accompanied by precise anatomical diagrams.
Even a quick glance was enough to show how much effort had gone into those notes.
Seeing such focus and diligence from the tyrant, Nagi felt a wave of genuine confusion.
Why was someone with such overwhelming natural talent still working this hard?
Unable to hold back, he asked Reo:
"Reo, why is that person trying so hard?"
Reo thought for a moment and answered:
"Probably because he wants to win."
Nagi didn't get it.
"Why do you need to try so hard to win? He's not weak."
"No. I am weak. That's exactly why I work hard."
This voice didn't come from Reo.
It came from the table beside them—
From Naruhaya Asahi, who had been taking notes.
He turned his eyes away from his phone, glaring sharply at Nagi and Reo.
He didn't want to engage with Team V, but their stupid conversation was ruining his appetite.
Why work so hard if you aren't weak?
What kind of idiotic question was that?!
Even the world's No.1 striker, Noel Noah, trained relentlessly to stay at the top and fight against opponents of equal level.
Ugh—
Naruhaya felt his just-recovered appetite vanish instantly.
Looking at the white-haired boy being carried like a princess, Naruhaya felt nothing but disgust at this guy wasting his talent every second.
And looking at the purple-haired one enabling him, he suspected half of the problem came from Reo's spoiling.
Naruhaya asked calmly:
"Sorry to ask, but… did you two only start playing football recently?"
Because with attitudes that lazy, they didn't seem like athletes at all.
Reo felt something wrong in Naruhaya's tone but still answered:
"Yeah, Nagi and I started this year. Why?"
Naruhaya gave a harmless smile.
"No reason. Just saying—
No wonder you're so weak yet still so lazy every day."
Reo's forehead instantly bulged with veins.
Rage flared inside him.
Damn bastard. If Nagi weren't on his back, he'd give this tyrant a piece of his mind.
But before he could react, the "treasure" on his back asked again:
"Hey~ Why do you call yourself weak? Your attacking power is crazy strong, but you didn't use it even once in the last match."
Reo froze.
The atmosphere turned dangerous.
The treasure on his back… was provoking the tyrant.
And indeed—
the tyrant removed his headphones, set them aside, and answered with a cold smile:
"When an elephant steps on an ant, why would it need its full strength?"
His brown eyes met Nagi's gray ones—sparks flying.
The clash of Team Z and Team V had already begun.
Ding~
The cafeteria screen lit up—
as expected, it was Ego Jinpachi.
One glance, and Naruhaya knew the man came specifically for him.
Ego slurped instant noodles on screen, clearly working overtime against his will.
"Don't look at me like that. This is just a routine daily welfare check. Since you're amnesiac, I can't just let you run around unchecked."
Amnesia!
Team V's trio realized they had just heard something huge.
"Daily question: Player Naruhaya, do you want to visit medical to recover your memory? The Japan Football Union covers the cost."
Slurp.
"If you don't understand how serious memory loss is, I can—"
SHNK!
A silver fork stabbed into the screen frame, cutting Ego off.
Naruhaya's face was full of irritation.
"Shut up and eat your damn noodles, Mr. Retired Athlete!"
A smirk tugged at his mouth—taunting.
Ego paused, then asked:
"How did you know I'm a retired athlete?"
Arms crossed confidently, Naruhaya explained:
"Isn't it obvious?
I've only seen you twice during break time, yet you're inhaling instant noodles with all sorts of high-calorie toppings every time.
But your body's still thin."
"That means only one thing—
You only recently gained access to high-calorie junk like instant noodles."
"When you were still an athlete, strict diet control meant you couldn't enjoy stuff like this. Now that you're retired, you're binge-eating to make up for years of suppression. Correct?"
On screen, Ego lifted a huge bite of noodles, chewing as he nodded repeatedly.
"Mhm, exactly. Seems your knowledge-related memory is intact despite your amnesia. With a doctor, your memory recovery should—"
"Shut up!"
Naruhaya cut him off again.
He suddenly turned toward the cafeteria entrance and yelled:
"HEY! How long do you idiots plan to keep hiding and listening?!"
The Team V trio turned to look—
Sure enough, ten people emerged from the doorway.
Team Z.
Freshly showered, ready to eat—
but standing stiffly like scolded elementary schoolers, afraid to greet him.
Naruhaya didn't care how long they eavesdropped.
They were football trash anyway.
Once he made it to Building 4, he'd never need to interact with these hopeless losers again.
He stabbed his fork into his cooled steak and glared at the screen.
"You've misunderstood something, Mr. Administrator.
My memories don't matter.
I came here to catch up to my idol, Arthas—also known as Daigo Otoshi—and to understand why he abandoned Japanese football."
The caramel-skinned boy ate his steak while staring directly at the watermelon-head bespectacled man.
Ego didn't know why this amnesiac acted so differently from his file, but he didn't care.
This madman might bring hope to Japanese football.
"Heh~ Then defeat the 299 players here.
You hopeless, super-egotistical maniac—Naruhaya Asahi."
Naruhaya glanced at the players around him, twirling his fork.
"Sure. Let's wager our dreams… and tear each other apart."
"Oh, and Manager—
you miscounted.
It's 220 players and 54 pieces of football trash—everyone in Building 5 except me."
"Hahaha! Naruhaya, you little lunatic—you're interesting."
"You too, old lunatic."
Ego shut the screen off.
The cafeteria atmosphere shifted sharply.
Team Z exchanged looks.
Eventually, Isagi Yoichi stepped forward and asked:
"Naruhaya… what do you really think of us now?"
They'd all sensed his growing irritation.
After Team W, he exploded—revealing his true feelings.
Naruhaya stared at Isagi for a while, then finally said:
"Teammates. We're teammates."
Everyone blinked—pleasantly surprised.
So he did care about them—
"But only because we're forcibly bound together like vampire thralls."
Everyone instantly dropped from heaven to hell.
The room fell silent.
Kuon Wataru hurried forward:
"Naruhaya, do you even know what you're saying?!"
The little tyrant tilted his head, half-closing his eyes.
"I know exactly. Just now, I confirmed—
In all of Building 5, besides me, everyone is football trash."
Sigh.
"What a disappointment. I thought Team V's perfect record meant at least one or two useful players.
Turns out… still trash."
The Team V trio, who had enjoyed watching Team Z get roasted, instantly bristled.
Reo shouted:
"Do you even know what you're talking about?!"
Facing all their anger, Naruhaya stood slowly and stared directly at Reo:
"I know. In fact, I want to ask—you three—what exactly are you doing?"
He aimed his cannon at Team V:
"Glasses guy seems fine, so I'll skip him.
But purple hair—you spoil white hair WAY too much. It pisses me off."
"You two only started this year and still made high rank in Building 5. That means you're naturally talented.
But you treat football like a joke."
"And you—white hair."
He pointed at Nagi.
"You're the worst offender.
For purple hair to willingly carry you around, your talent must be the highest in Team V—maybe even their ace."
"But you—
Your attitude toward football disgusts me."
"As the ace, instead of training your ass off, you waste time coming to eat because you 'felt like it,'
then immediately whine that it's troublesome and make purple hair carry you back."
"Ugh—
What the hell are you even here for?
Playing the clown pretending to be a genius?"
Naruhaya gagged a bit—today was really a disaster.
One after another, talent-wasters everywhere.
"Purple hair, white hair, and Team Z—
LISTEN UP, YOU FOOTBALL TRASH!"
"The world isn't short of real geniuses.
And it's not short of hardworking people.
But it definitely isn't short of people who are BOTH talented and hardworking!"
"If you think you can half-ass your way through Blue Lock, leeching off stronger teammates while dreaming about becoming world No.1 or winning the World Cup—"
He coughed, then mimicked Ego's voice:
"Lock off! Get out."
"The title of world's No.1 striker and the World Cup trophy—
those are for me, Arthas, and Noel Noah to fight over."
"You useless football trash should go home early and play co-op games!"
The overwhelming gaze of a rampaging elephant made everyone feel crushed.
But his insults didn't make them give up football.
Instead—
their fighting spirit ignited hotter than ever.
Don't underestimate us!
Seeing their eyes burn with determination, Naruhaya didn't flame up again.
Instead—
fireworks lit inside him.
Yes.
That's right.
The more despairing the environment, the more players can evolve.
He sincerely hoped these pieces of football trash would ignite their will—
so that the upcoming match against Team V would be more fun.
After all—
Naruhaya felt he was reaching his limit dealing with these trash.