2.25. Takaosan

"Alright, see you!"

After outshining all of the U-20 players in karaoke, and then doing the exact same thing to the Bluelock players, Y/N was strolling out of the arcade with a wide smile on his face. All of the others were going off to a nearby bowling alley, betting dinner on whoever won it.

They'd spent hours so far, playing into the late afternoon. It so far had been one of the most fun days he'd ever had, and hopefully, it wasn't ending yet.

A ping on his phone drew his attention. Y/N glanced down. He'd been added to a LINE group chat, with a whole fifty-one people in it. All of the U-20 players, all of the Bluelock players, and Kunigami for some reason as well. I guess he counted as a Bluelock player...

When he saw that Chigiri had made the chat, though, he understood. Kunigami and him were pretty close, weren't they...

A half second later, a second ping dinged. A notification popped up at the top of Y/N's screen. Then two, then three, then four.

Ei.Yu.T has liked your Instagram post.

Ei.Yu.T has liked your Instagram post.

Ei.Yu.T has liked your Instagram post.

Ei.Yu.T has started following you.

It was odd. Y/N hadn't told anyone in Bluelock about his social media accounts yet. And random people hadn't managed to find it yet, even though his name had been all over the news since the game.

And, on top of that, this account was brand new. No followers, following nobody but Y/N, and with a completely blank profile picture. Y/N's finger hesitated over the block button, before he shrugged it off. Probably just a bot. Or maybe a soccer fan actually found me.

He had bigger things to think about. Like the fact that in a few minutes, he was finally going to be able to meet Julian Loki again.

They'd organised it over text. Ego had put Julian's number into Y/N's phone for him - something that made his actions at the U-20 game just a little bit more forgivable.

Y/N headed down the crowded streets, heading to the location that he'd been given. A skip in his step, and a huge smile on his face, he was akin to a little kid as he quickly weaved in and out of the pedestrians.

Tucking his phone away, he turned off from a main street, walking down a few smaller side streets. One or two people gave him strange looks, but he didn't notice at all, humming under his breath.

"I'm super shy, super shy..."

Eventually, he spotted him.

Julian stood on the side of a quiet road, leaning against a wall as his eyes scanned the surrounding area. A taxi was parked right next to him.

Y/N sped up, his walking getting a little bit faster. Then he was jogging. Then he was running, footsteps echoing on the pavement as he ran for Julian.

The French athlete's eyes flickered towards him. They widened as Y/N shot towards him, slamming him with a tight hug. "Jules! Oh my god!"

"Hey, Y/N." Julian smiled down at him, a hand around his back, and the second hand rubbing his hair. "Why do you sound surprised?"

"I just..." Y/N let out a breathy laugh, voice muffled by Julian's shirt as he buried his face in the taller boy's chest. "I don't know. Wasn't sure if you would actually stay in Japan."

"I told you I would." Julian laughed quietly. "I try not to lie."

"Hm."

"Besides, I literally have to stay anyway."

"Hm?" Y/N glanced up at him with curious eyes.

"It's about what happens next for the U-20 team." Julian hinted. "I'll tell you in the car."

"Car?"

He gestured to the taxi waiting patiently next to them. "I've been paying this guy top rate to just sit here and wait."

"We're not staying here?"

"Is there anything specific you wanted to do?"

"Not really."

"Then we'll go with what I planned."

They broke apart. Julian opened the back door for Y/N, and Y/N slipped inside, followed by the taller striker. He settled into the seats, fastening his seatbelt.

A large carrier bag sat between the two seats. When Y/N pointed it out, Julian had smiled. "When we arrive, all the shops will probably be closed. I brought food."

"Arrive where?"

"Takaosan." Julian grinned. "It's an hour's drive, so we'll get there late. But I figured it would be fun."

"Takaosan..." Y/N echoed. "I've never climbed it before."

"Neither have I." Shrugging, Julian's smile widened. "But first time for everything, I guess."

The taxi pulled away from the pavement. It took the smaller streets, avoiding the likely traffic on the bigger lanes. Y/N sat quietly, eyes flickering to Julian every few seconds.

"Sooo..." He drew out. "You know what's happening next for Bluelock?"

"Yeah." Loki nodded.

"Am I involved?"

"You're a big part of it, actually. So, there's fifty-one people from Japan that will partake in the next phase of the plan."

"Fifty one?"

"The U-20 team, everyone from the Bluelock team, and some guy called Kunigami Rensuke."

"Right... why him? Not that I have anything against him."

"He did some extra special training, apparently. Private training, given to him by..." Julian hesitated, sighing. "By Kuroi."

"Right. So he's probably not gonna be the same guy I knew before."

"Yeah..."

"Oh well." Y/N shrugged. "I can't say I knew him well. So what's gonna happen to the fifty one dudes?"

"They're calling it the Neo Egoist League." Julian replied. "An entertainment program as well as a way to find out the top players from Japan. Five teams are on their way to Japan, and the games between them will be broadcasted to the entire world in order to rake in cash."

"Mkay."

"There's a Spanish team, an Italian team, a German team, and an English team, none of whom have been confirmed. The fifth team, though, is PXG."

"Your team."

"My team." Julian agreed. "So we haven't sorted out all the finer details about how matches work, but for now, that's all we have. You guys are gonna be split into these teams, and playing matches will get you bids from clubs all across the world."

"Bids?"

"Like how much they'd be willing to pay you to play for them."

"Ah."

"And the highest 23 bids will play for the U-20 team for Japan in the World Cup." Julian explained. "At least, that's what it is for most people."

"What do you mean?"

"Some of the investors have raised an idea for you and you only. A way to make the games more interesting, and much, much more competitive together. But there's no guarantee."

"Right..." Y/N thought. "So if I'm understanding this right, we're all gonna play in a sort of league, to see who is worth the most."

"Pretty much."

Y/N opened his mouth. Then he closed it again. Outside, the buildings of Tokyo flew by.

"I was told that Ascension..."

"Oh, Ascension. Yeah." Julian looked out the window. "From what I managed to gather, Kuroi aimed to get Bluelock shut down, in order to steal all the players, and to get more influence. And when that didn't work, he tried to just take you, with some of his sponsors."

Y/N nodded. "Kuroi, Mikage Corp, and L/N Tech."

"Your parents...?" Julian raised an eyebrow. "They're sponsors?"

"Apparently so."

"I didn't know that." Julian pursed his lips. "Anyway, after I kicked them out of the stadium, it looks like they've had huge troubles with starting up the project."

"Hold on." Y/N raised a hand. He grinned. "You did what?"

"I kicked them out of the stadium?"

"You were there?!"

"Of course I was!" Julian's voice was incredulous. "I wouldn't dare miss you playing!"

"And you kicked..." Y/N giggled. "I wish I could've seen their faces."

"I showed up with security and all. Ego helped me. Did you know that none of the bodyguards they had, nor your parents, nor the Mikages had a ticket to the match? Also, the changing rooms and tunnel were off limits, so they were technically doing wholly illegal stuff. And on top of that, they were technically match fixing..."

Y/N laughed. "Did they get jail time?"

"Sadly, no." Julian grinned. "But they got a huge fine, and they were literally manhandled out of the stadium in broad daylight."

"You shoulda taken photos for me." Y/N shared a look with Julian, before he made a waving motion. "But continue, you were saying something about Ascension."

"Yep. They haven't got any government support, because Bluelock is being so successful. Ascension won't make the government any instant money like the Neo Egoist League, and Bluelock is so famous right now. So Kuroi is having trouble finding participants and trouble finding workers."

"That's perfect. So did it start up?"

"Kuroi wanted it to start the day that Bluelock lost against the U-20 team. But because you didn't take that last shot, and Bluelock won, they couldn't start. It's delayed indefinitely."

Y/N's heart soared. He wanted to yell, scream his joy into the sky. But he just smiled, eyes closing as he did. "That's even better."

🥕🥕🥕

It was beautiful. From where they sat on a bench, it felt like Y/N could see the entire world spread out beneath them.

The walk itself had been pretty already. With the cherry blossom trees beginning to flower, and the relatively low number of people, it'd been peaceful. Up past simple shops and stalls, across small wooden bridges, and up well-maintained stone paths.

They'd passed so much. Small streams, their banks glittering with flowers. Traditional houses, wooden steps and stone walls painted swathes of pink and red by the oncoming sunset. Past the cable car station at the bottom of the climb, taking the stone steps up as they endlessly chattered to each other.

The more they'd climbed, the quieter it had grown, the sounds of the city fading to the gentle noises of nature. The sun lowered itself beyond the horizon, the sky lighting up like an artist's canvas with shades of orange and yellow, pink and purple. They had passed stone memorials, squirrels flying amongst the trees, small shrines and buildings each honouring a different traditional deity.

But up near the very top, on one of the observation decks, it was one of the most beautiful sights he'd ever witnessed. The sunset was just fading, a dark orange colour just barely illuminating the surroundings. There were a lot of people up there with them, but everyone was quiet, watching the sunset as they took pictures on their phones, or just stared out over the view.

And what a view. Tokyo sprawled out in front of them, a shining city. Thousands of light sparkled throughout, a sea of stars in the oncoming night. On the other side of the mountain, Y/N would've been able to see Mount Fuji in the far distance, separated from them by a sea of green forest.

A gentle wind whisked across the mountain, ruffling Y/N's hair. He patted it down, eyes staring across at the city. The place where he'd lived for years.

Then he turned to Loki next to him. "Thank you for taking me here, Jules..."

"Anytime." The man shrugged. "Thank you for coming out today."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world."

"Neither would I."

As the sky gradually darkened, Julian stood up. He extended a hand to Y/N, helping the boy up from the bench. "Hungry?"

"A little."

Julian fished into the carrier bag he'd brought with them. "What do you want?"

"What do you have?"

"Um..." Julian handed it to Y/N. Y/N scoured the contents, scooping up plastic-wrapped onigiri.

"You bought enough for five people."

"I didn't know what you like to eat."

Y/N threw his head back and laughed, voice light like the wind. Julian watched, taking a sandwich from the bag. It was quiet. Peaceful. Calm.

He smiled. "Come on. I want to go to Yakioin before we leave."

"Hm?"

"The temple. We can pray for good luck there."

"Mkay."

They started off down a different path, following a standalone sign on the roadside. Y/N carefully unwrapped his onigiri, biting into it once. The taste of fresh salmon filled his mouth.

Glancing across at Julian, he studied the other man's features for a second. Then he hummed contently, swallowing his food.

Today... really has been the best day in the world.

Y/N couldn't have been more grateful.

And he couldn't have been happier.