4.3. Just Maybe

"Anri-san. Are you sure about this?"

"No. But I have to, Ego. There's no way we can let things like this continue. Just because Kuroi is gone, doesn't mean that the things he started will stop."

Y/N awoke to the sound of a woman, and a man.

Immediately, his body was in panic mode. He shot up from the bed - muscles tensing, legs shaking, eyes whipping wildly around the room. But he didn't get very far, wrists and ankles bound by something. His stomach and hip screamed with pain.

It reminded him of Ascension.

"Calm, Y/N. Calm." A quiet, familiar voice. Y/N forced himself to breathe, and looked next to him.

Ego Jinpachi sat there. On a medical chair, right next to his bed. Y/N sighed, half with relief, half with annoyance, and slumped into the bed. All the panicked energy immediately drained from his body.

Anri was there, too. Hovering around Y/N's bed nervously, fidgeting with her hands. As soon as she noticed Y/N awake, she immediately gripped the side of Y/N's bed. Two worried pink eyes stared down at him. "Are you okay?!"

Y/N blinked. He was a little tired, yes. Hurting, yes. But why was she so worried...? "Yes...?"

"He's lying." Ego muttered. "Y/N, you have a bruised hip, thankfully not broken. Your stomach had a piece of black plastic embedded in it, but that has been removed and you have received stitches. It is normal to feel pain."

Y/N gulped. "A-ah. Okay."

"Oh my god, Y/N." Anri said quickly. "What happened?!"

"Uh." Y/N tried to move, but the restraints yet again stopped him. Shooting a harsh look towards Ego, Anri made to unstrap him from the bed.

"This guy said they were necessary."

"Necessary to stop Y/N from hurting himself in a panicked throe, yes." Ego flatly replied. "You can undo them now."

As Anri undid them, Y/N gingerly sat up in the bed. He shook out his arms and legs, sighing heavily and wincing at the pain in his stomach. "What happened?" Repeating Anri's question, he shook his head with disbelief. "A lot."

"What... Kuroi? The police found a gun. And a knife."

"Yeah." Y/N slowly replied. "Yeah, both of those. What happened to Kuroi?" That was the big question.

Anri winced. "Dead. Dead, dead. The truck was going at nearly sixty. Hit him square on."

Y/N exhaled. He shifted back in the bed, leaning his head against the wall behind it. "Damn." Y/N gave them both a small smile. "Is it bad that I'm not upset? I'm not happy, either. I just wished it didn't have to come to that."

But deep down, he knew it had to.

Kuroi Jigoku. Y/N L/N. The two names simply couldn't coexist with each other. So maybe, one of them dying was the only option.

It had been so fast.

"It's not bad." Anri reassured him. "With the evidence found on scene, like the weapons amongst other things inside Kuroi's pockets, the police are more ready to accept whatever story we need to tell them. Like..."

"Like Ascension." Y/N finished. "They'll believe us now?"

"I should let them talk. They didn't say a lot to us, but you're the main witness in all of this. You, and another boy. Kira Ryosuke...?"

Y/N immediately remembered the white-haired boy. He nodded. "Him too."

Silence for a few seconds. Ego hadn't said much, just staring at Y/N so hard it made him a little uncomfortable. Anri glanced from Ego to Y/N and back to Ego over and over again, before finally shrugging and heading for the door. Ego looked towards her. "Where?"

"The police inspector asked me to fetch him when Y/N woke up."

"Ok." Ego nodded blankly.

She smiled at Y/N. "You know. Ego doesn't show it. But he's glad you're safe. So am I."

Y/N was so caught off guard by the oddly emotional words, his brain just turned off. Cheeks going a little pink, lowering his head, he replied. "You too."

Then he blinked. You too?! Internally crying, he sighed. Thankfully, Anri didn't draw attention to it. She just laughed, and left the room.

It was a few minutes before she returned. In that time, Ego and Y/N stared at each other awkwardly. Ego coughed. Y/N swallowed.

"The Bluelock participants are worried about you."

Y/N stared at him. He'd completely forgotten about Bluelock. Forgotten that he'd been kidnapped in his room, midway through preparing to head out onto the field for the final game of the NEL. "Who won?" Upon Ego's slightly confused look, Y/N clarified. "PXG against Bastard."

Ego waved a dismissive hand. "That doesn't matter. You'll find out when you return to the facility, anyway."

"Ah." Y/N nodded. "What's the time?"

"Five. In the afternoon."

Y/N blinked. Had it really only been a few hours since he'd been taken by Kuroi? "Really...?"

"The game finished two days ago."

His stomach dropped. Eyes widening, Y/N's voice raised. "What?!"

"You'll be cleared to go soon. The hospital is busy, and we can continue treatment at Bluelock."

"O-oh. Okay."

It was a pretty awkward conversation. What was there to say to each other? Sorry that you nearly died? Glad the Neo Egoist League is over? Y/N didn't know. "So... what's the plan after the NEL? It's done, right?"

"It's done." Ego confirmed. "The plan, though, you'll know when everyone else does."

Y/N slumped. "I nearly got shot. Can you just tell me?"

"But you didn't get shot." Ego muttered. "If there's actually gods up there, they sure as hell love you. The police said because the gun was illegally bought, and also very, very old, it literally blew up in his hand."

Images of bloodied flesh and shrapnel flashed through Y/N's head. He grimaced. "Sounds about right."

The door to the room opened. In it came a smartly dressed man, followed by Anri. He motioned for Ego to leave the room. Y/N raised a tentative hand.

"Yes, young sir?" The man who Y/N assumed was the officer looked towards him. Y/N hesitated.

"Can they stay...?"

The man looked at him for a few seconds. Then his eyes softened. "Of course." He took the seat Ego was in, though, leaning forwards with a serious expression. "So. What happened?"

The man was blunt, straight to the point, and wholly businesslike. Y/N blinked. "Uh. I got kidnapped."

"Where? When? And how did it end with you living, and a wanted man being run over by a truck?"

"Wanted man?" Y/N paused. "Kuroi is wanted?"

"He was wanted, yes. But implications with high ranking officials meant that he was never really able to be detained. He's dead now, anyway." The officer quickly said. "So, the story. Short form."

"So, in Bluelock, before the last game of our league..." Y/N started. "Do you know when that was?" Speaking to Ego.

"The police fully understand the Bluelock timetable." The man replied. Y/N turned his attention back to the police.

"Kuroi just barged into my room. Held me at gunpoint, walked me down out of the compound. He'd hurt a security guard standing by an emergency exit, I don't know if he killed him or not."

"He didn't." The policeman replied. "The guard is alive and well now."

"Oh. Good." Y/N nodded. "So he walked me down to a quiet street, and held the gun to my head. And then when he shot, it exploded. I ran, towards the road. He had a knife. So I kind of... ran across the road. And he followed. And then... yeah, the truck hit him."

"Concise." The man nodded, satisfied. "Good. I don't need to press you very hard, we already knew exactly what happened based on camera footage from nearby houses and dashcams. But I just wanted to check."

Y/N blinked. "Oh."

"Now, to a more pressing matter." The man's eyes grew darker. "Kuroi was the only protection his 'Ascension Project' had. We couldn't conduct any operations there, because superiors were tied up with him. But, we know of the compound."

From inside his pocket, he withdrew a pack of photos. He handed them to Y/N, the top one being instantly recognisable. Y/N looked at it. A huge concrete structure, with an altar engraved in the side, looked back. Ascension.

"From what we understand, this is a highly secure compound. Heavy weapons, many, many rooms and tight spaces, and with the majority of it underground, it is virtually impossible to breach." The man said. "But we need details. As many details as possible on the layout, the number of subjects, the number of possible combatants, any escape routes, everything."

Slowly, Y/N responded. "What are you planning to do?"

"Three things. First, arrest every person working there. Second, rescue as many people as possible. Third," The man gave him a tight, grim smile. "Reduce the entire goddamn place to rubble."

Dazed, Y/N stared at him. Then he nodded.

"Here's what I know."

🥕🥕🥕

Maybe an hour of talking later, and two hours of Anri arguing with the hospital staff after that, Y/N emerged from the hospital room.

He still wore his match gear. Thankfully, Ego had brought him some sandals, so he wouldn't destroy the hospital floor with his boots. But it still felt strange, to walk through the entire ward in sports gear.

As they left the hospital, large double glass doors sliding open, Y/N felt a tap on his shoulder. Anri held his phone out to him. "Figured you'd want it." She quietly said. Y/N took it with two hands, bowing his head as he thanked her.

He powered it on, and holy shit.

Messages. So many messages.

Some of them were confused about Y/N's disappearance. Some of them were celebrating their match win, or crying about the loss. One or two of them were frantic, clearly having been told about what happened. And as Y/N scrolled, the recent messages grew more and more worried.

He shook his head, stunned. So many people. All of them were concerned for him.

A warm feeling in his chest rising, Y/N looked to the sky. A small smile curled onto his lips.

Kuroi was gone. Ascension hopefully would be too. Y/N had friends, and as he looked at Anri and Ego walking either side of him, adults that cared for him too. He flicked to the group chat, not replying to any individual messages and choosing instead to message everyone at once.

"Sorry for disappearing." He wrote. "Would've loved to be there for the game. Yes, I am alive. No, I didn't watch your amazing goal. Yes, I'll tell most of you what happened when I get back. No, I won't go on a date with you. Yes, I think I'm better off than I was before."

Y/N hummed to himself.

Maybe he wasn't there yet.

Maybe he was still traumatised.

Maybe he would still lose control of his soccer in the future.

Maybe finally being free would prove too hard to overcome.

But...

In that moment.

Seeing everyone's relieved messages flood the chat. Walking with Ego and Anri to a car, getting in the back as they took the front seats. Knowing that Kuroi was gone. And truly beginning to believe, believe that he could be free...?

He realised.

Maybe everything would go wrong.

Just maybe it could go right too.