Chapter Text
"Do you think that it is a good idea to have a swimming pool party to celebrate the end of NEL?" Chigiri Hyouma asks my friends and I one day during breakfast in the Blue Lock cafeteria.
"Um, I'm not sure," Isagi Yoichi stammers, "It's nice and all, but don't we have to focus on training for the U-20 World Cup? What do you think, guys?"
Almost everyone else agrees with Chigiri, some with additional comments.
"Erm, I agreed 'cause we're tryin' to be nice and congratulate folks fer their hard work," Karasu Tabito adds sheepishly, "But we're goin' to have a party at a pool, aren't we?"
Mikage Reo hesitates because Chigiri may have something fishy up his tight sleeve.
"That's a nice thing to do, but—," he wonders.
"But what?" Bachira Meguru interrupts, "Well, Princess' trying to do something nice for once since he ca—"
"Why does he need to care? You're saying the same thing about him being nice. Why can't you be more logical?" Isagi chastises, "Well, I was about to refuse but changed my mind."
Everyone else again agrees, but Itoshi Rin regrets it. He glances at his fellow No. 1 Isagi, waiting to see if he is going to change his mind again, but he simply picks at his breakfast, not knowing what to do. Then he glances over at Shidou Ryusei and Barou Shouei, No. 2 and No. 3 respectfully, but both of them are fidgeting quietly with their breakfasts.
Unnatural. Both of them.
He has no choice but to protest. He really doesn’t trust Chigiri and his true intentions but would feel bad for refusing his own little congratulations party, their efforts futile.
So, he simply states, "If we don't have it, then there's no appreciation. I enjoy being congratulated for my efforts. But what about the adults?"
He is referring to the adults of Blue Lock—Ego Jinpachi, Teieri Anri, and the five team Masters—Noel Noa of the German Bastard Munchen (BM), Lavinho of the Spanish Barcha, Chris Prince of the English Manshine City (MC), Julien Loki of the French Paris x Gen (PXG), and Marc Snuffy of the Italian Ubers.
Chigiri nods as his pink eyes brighten.
"I already got permission from them," he says, “Sooo, do you agree with my idea?"
"All right, I agree since you want to so bad as to do a nice thing for everyone," Rin stubbornly states. He then crosses his arms in slight embarrassment.
"Aye, aye," some of the others chime in.
"Okay! Let's go!" Chigiri exclaims as he pumps his fist in the air.
"Go where?" Yukimiya Kenyu wonders.
"To the swimming pool, well, you know," Chigiri says as he shrugs his shoulders. "Apparently, I'll be training by swimming, so Anri took me to go see it recently. It's at a local community center a few blocks away. Let's go there, so y'all can help me set up the decorations and get ready for the party."
"You already know how you'll be training?" Isagi asks, aghast.
Some others, including me, are also surprised.
"Yeah, Anri-san just couldn't wait to tell me. She really wants me to become a mermaid like the one from the Little Mermaid show. She keeps telling me about the one that she'll be seeing at Disneyland for vacation soon."
To throw away your legs and become a fish, Chigiri thought as he remembers what Anri first told him.
"A mermaid!" Karasu and his best friend Otoya Eita gasp.
"Of course, you're a mermaid!" Otoya then adds, "You're beautiful and ladylike, so it suits you very well, Princess."
Chigiri blushes while the others come up with their own reactions to him.
"Disneyland!" Shidou exclaims, his pink eyes glistening. "How thrilling!"
Barou and Rin grunt in agreement.
"And how fun!" Bachira complains, "I wanna go, too!"
"Nah, you gotta train, dude," Isagi says as he playfully slaps Bachira on the back, "We'll come help Chigiri as part of this 'training'."
"All right," Everyone else chimes in, groaning.
Everyone then changes into comfortable street clothes before following Chigiri all the way outside to his 'new' pool. Throughout the way, he keeps referring to a pink notebook with Barou, his menacingly red aura threatening to escape from his inner being.
"Well, I guess that I would invite everyone else at Blue Lock," Chigiri mumbles, "And let's see…umm..."
He flips over a page as he studies his notebook intensely.
"What are you doing?" Isagi asks him as he catches up.
Barou glares at him for disrupting their once heated but cordial conversation.
"Oh! I was just checking the list of teams that I need to invite," Chigiri says as he looks up at Isagi. "You guys are the last ones on it."
When we arrive at the community center, Shidou gasps.
"I recognize this place! I pass by it often when I'm out of Blue Lock!" he yelps.
"What are you doing outside?" Yukimiya speculates as he looks at him, his dark orange eyes curiously enlarged by his thick glasses.
"On some errands that I've no business telling you about…"
Shidou shrugs as he eagerly barges through the front door.
"Oh, boy, stop talking about this place and help me set up the decorations," Chigiri says as he follows him shortly.
Hi, hi.
Well, it's me, Hiori Yo, or Yo-chan as my boyfriend Karasu affectionately calls me. I am not inside Blue Lock as expected, but at the community center helping Chigiri with the decorations with some of the other Blue Lock players. Everyone got special permission from the adults to leave, so nobody is in trouble.
We just wrapped up the NEL, which was a very long and incredible endeavor. With some of the world's best coaches, we trained and played with or against many other inspiring young European football players as we climbed our way to the top. Many of us were fortunate enough to be offered a spot to play at other prestigious European football clubs and a spot to stay on the Blue Lock Japan team for the upcoming U-20 World Cup. Unfortunately, a few of us didn't make it, most notably Nagi Seishirou and Tokimitsu Aoshi. I especially miss Nagi and his lazy genius with football and video games, as he was a good friend of mine.
But before we were to play in the U-20 World Cup, Ego did hint at providing us with individualized training regimens. Apparently, Chigiri got his already. Lucky him.
I wonder what I'll be expected to train with.
Either way, the party serves as a great distraction from thinking about training or playing football in general because I don't want to think about it! I just want to have some fun!
Fun that my parents kept denying me from having ever since I was a young child.
Fun that we must ask for permission to have before we can have it.
Fun that I wasn't expected to have until recently.
I was handling a shiny yellow garland while Karasu was handling a shiny purple one when Chigiri interrupts our flow by barking, "Hey, you! Put them around the fence! And then take that red flowerpot. I'll go take the other one."
"Hey, why are you talkin' so harshly at us?" Karasu quips as he drapes his garland around the fence. I nod as I follow suit with mine.
"Well," Chigiri quips back as fast, "You slowpokes are taking too long, so hurry and put them up!"
He places his flowerpot near the entrance of the pool. Karasu rolls his eyes hard while I just shrug my shoulders. Seems like Princess is trying to cop some of that king's tyrannical ways to get his own way with hosting this party.
"Alrite," I say.
He hurries not only us two, but also the others—and even his own close friends like Kunigami Rensuke and that tyrant. I hear a huge roar in the background as Barou with a vein protruding across his forehead tries to shut down Princess' unexpectedly excessive bossiness. Chigiri did promise that he wouldn’t boss people around at first, but actually, he sounds more like the boss because he's trying to meet a tight schedule, which stresses the king out much more.
For the party is happening in two nights…A very tight schedule, indeed.
While the boss rushes people around the pool, I manage to sneak a glance at the pink notebook left on the table.
Party Schedule
Thursday
8:30 am- Get decorations ready
9:00 am- Check decorations
9:15 am- Invite friends to come help
10:00 am- Set up decorations
12:00 pm- Finish setting up/ Lunch Break
1:00 pm- Start party meeting
3:00 pm- Finish party meeting/ Start practice
4:00 pm- Clean pool
5:00 pm- End of today's preparations
Friday
10:00 am- Design flyer
10:30 am- Copy flyer
11:00 am- Share flyers
12:00 pm- Lunch Break
1:30 pm- Install and check stereo
2:00 pm- Clean stage
2:40 pm- Check decorations and put up streamers
3:00 pm- Deliver party items
3:20 pm- Decorate tables
4:00 pm- Set areas for activities
4:30 pm- End of today's preparations
Saturday
10:00 am- Deliver cake
10:30 am- Check center
11:00 am- Kunigami
12:00 pm- Lunch Break
3:30 pm- Set up for the party
4:00 pm- Guests arrive
4:30 pm- Check roll
5:00 pm- PARTY TIME!
OMG, Chigiri is slowly but surely becoming Barou with his super strict schedule! Which seems impossible to meet everything on time! Even Barou is already pulling his hair out, having to rush with putting up the decorations and other tasks. Either way, he wasn't supposed to be helping, for he is part of the Top 4 highest ranking Blue Lock players. But somehow, he and the other top rankers got 'kicked' into preparing for the party that was supposed to be for them…
Anyways, I didn’t finish reading the whole schedule, for Karasu drags me off by my neck to the next task.
"Whatcha doin', nosy lil boy?" he jests.
"The schedule!" I gasps as I try to pry off his strong arm from my neck. "There's just so much! How could we finish…?"
"Don’t worry! What gits done, gits done."
He drags me over to Kunigami who is carrying a tall pile of brown cardboard boxes, filled to the brim with decorations.
"Come over and help!" Yukimiya exclaims as he starts picking boxes off him.
"Wow, what fun the swimming pool party will be, bam!" Shidou adds as he grabs a box. "This idea of fun makes all my cells tingle with pleasure! Right, Yo-chan?"
"Yeah, I guess," I answer, "I feel bad that Chigiri's slammed with so much work preparin' for such a party. Isn't that right?"
"Right," Shidou hums excitedly as he opens his box to find a bunch of plastic pink flamingos.
He's the kind of guy who would just go with anything, I suppose.
We became quiet during the rest of the time because Chigiri is almost at his breaking point, screaming for everyone to be quiet and finish. No more talking until lunch break, at least.
"I'm so hungry! Where shall we eat?" Bachira asks excitedly as he rubs his growling stomach.
"Well, y'all can just go back to Blue Lock for the cafeteria," Chigiri suggests.
"What!" Everyone exclaims, "What did you say?"
"I said, y'all can just go back to Blue Lock!"
"But Blue Lock food sucks! I don't wanna eat back there," Isagi protests.
"Yeah," the others agree.
"Oh, all right, I didn't tell you, but I thought that you already knew. So, did anyone bring money?" Chigiri asks.
"Huh, what that's for?" Bachira wonders.
"It's for eating lunch at the restaurants nearby."
"Oh."
Some people then declare that they have money while others do not. They are talking way too much and too loudly about where they would eat lunch that surprisingly, a vein makes its way towards Chigiri's forehead.
"Oh, all right! Eat wherever you want to. Eat in the restaurants, eat in the restaurants! Go home, go home! But remember to come back at 1:00 pm for the party meeting!" he screams with his ears covered.
So, everyone disperses into random places for lunch. Fortunately, Karasu is already prepared by bringing money with him, so I decided to join him, Otoya, and Yukimiya for a quick bite at a local ramen shop. We are so hungry that we don't say much. If we do talk, then it's about complimenting the food like, "Pass the soy sauce" or "This soup is delicious!" I ignore the pain from constantly burning my tongue and lips with the scrumptious ramen that I hadn't had in a long time.
Blue Lock food does suck, indeed.
After eating, we pay for the food quickly before rushing back for the meeting. Somehow along the way, Otoya decides to play a little game of tag as we chase him stealthily scissoring his way down to the community center.
As we rush down the streets, I explain to my friends about the schedule in the notebook.
"Wow!" Karasu gasps as he runs a step ahead of me, his long arms spread out like a crow in flight. "A cake and a stereo! How awesome!"
"Bet that we're gonna have lots of fun at this party!" Yukimiya adds as he huffs next to me.
"But Yo-chan, it wasn't nice to look at other folks' private stuff like that," Karasu says sternly.
"Why?" I ask curiously.
"Because it might be Chigiri's Burn Book of secrets."
"Nah, ya lookin' too hard into it. Or else we're gonna lose 'Toya!"
Yukimiya is about to ask me what the meeting is going to be about when he looks up. Uh, oh, we lost Otoya as he disappears into the crowds of the street!
"Oh, stop!" he yells, "Where's Otoya-kun?"
Oh, no! It's right before one o' clock and we're stuck in the middle of the street, Otoya no longer in sight.
"Y'all stay put, I'mma go look 'round," Karasu says before taking off.
"Wait—," I stammer as Yukimiya pulls me back.
A moment passes by before I blurt out, "What's takin' him so long? We're almost late!"
"Be quiet, big mouth," Yukimiya responds, "Karasu-kun's taking his time looking."
"But we're gonna be late if we don't move—!"
Otoya pops out from a corner before singing out, "Hi, hi!"
Hi, hi. My usual, cheerful greeting as a façade over my internal discontent. Oh, how dare he use it back on me!
"Argh!" Karasu growls as he tries to catch him in a back hug before Otoya ducks out of the way.
"Miss me, ya dunce?" he quips before making a beeline for the community center.
I then made my first move forward before Karasu could even respond with a witty remark of his own.
"Tag, you're it!" I exclaim as I grab Otoya's slim shoulder at the front entrance of the center.
Internally, my stomach is aching from being full, running so much, and laughing so hard.
"Oh, what a bummer," Otoya says with such a silly pout on his lips.
"Oh, what a bummer that you're back," Chigiri retorts as he shoves pieces of paper into our hands. "Because y'all are late! Everyone else's all here waiting for you!"
The meeting agendas, I suppose.
"Oops, bad timing for a little chase.”
"Well, come in, all of y'all."
Chigiri shakes his head, sweating profusely from the heat as he takes us to a huge room with lots of bookshelves around us. A library. We quietly take our seats in the back before the meeting begins. First comes a long speech from Chigiri (and grunts from Kunigami next to him) about thanking everyone for coming to help prepare for the party. He then makes us promise not to tell our other non-Blue Lock teammates about the party even though he already told the Masters about it.
"I just told the Masters that 'we're having a party' and that's it," Chigiri is explaining, "No who, what, when. So, trust me and don't tell them any more than what we say here because it's gonna be a surprise for them."
"A secret," he continues as he motions to an elderly man in a pink Hawaiian shirt. "This is Tada-san, the owner of this center. He gave us permission to use this center and pool for the party, and he gave me permission to use the pool for my personal training. So, I'm forever grateful. Thank you so much, Tada-san."
Chigiri bows deeply to Tada-san, who nods in understanding, before he continues his speech, "Anyways, Tada-san will be watching the security cameras while he’s at home, so don't do anything too fishy. Don't go snooping around anywhere in the center that is locked because you're not allowed access to them."
People clap as he clears his throat, even though he isn't finished.
"And now, Barou will take over," he announces as he rolls his eyes at the tyrant behind him.
Everyone claps as Barou steps forward next to Chigiri.
"Good afternoon, everyone. As y'all know, I'm Barou, and I will be helping Chigiri and Kunigami with hosting the party," he introduces himself, "Unfortunately, I can't tell you all the details about the party, for we still need to finalize some more things. More details will be included in a flyer sent to you and all the other teams at Blue Lock by tomorrow morning. Just know that the party's starting at 5:00 pm on Saturday, with check-in starting at 4:00 pm. Once you get the flyer, please read it thoroughly for all the details because I can't say right now."
"Now for the safety rules," he says as he pulls out a sheet of paper from a nearby table.
"Ahem," he clears his throat before continuing, "Party Safety Rules. Number 1, no fighting. If someone is fighting near the pool, they will be kicked out of the party immediately. Number 2, no running. There are water puddles where you can fall and get hurt, and we don't want that. But our night shift nurse Hanako will be on standby just in case."
He then flips the paper over to the other side.
"Safety Rule Number 3, no putting magical curses on anyone. If so, they will be asked to leave the party. Number 4, blah, blah, blah…"
Ugh! So boring! I thought.
There are only ten safety rules, but everyone else almost falls asleep when Barou reaches Safety Rule Number 5. When he finishes, only 3-4 people are still up—Isagi especially as he watches Barou in a daze of great admiration. Unfortunately, I went to sleep so I don't know.
Either way, Barou roars at the top of his lungs when he realizes that everyone, even Chigiri, is asleep.
"WAKE UP, YOU LOSERS!" he screams.
Everyone immediately jumps out of their chairs, Chigiri shaking on top of his two feet.
"W-what happened, Barou?" he asks groggily.
"You losers were sleeping while I explained the rules! Do I have to explain them again?"
"NOOO!" Everyone else wails.
"Okay, everyone," Barou says in a much gentler tone, "If you don't want us to go over the rules again, you better behave or else you will not know what will happen next."
He winks at the audience before sitting down behind Chigiri.
What emotional whiplash!
Everyone looks puzzled at first, but then Chigiri continues his speech as if nothing has happened in the first place.
"There will also be lots of food at the party because as you're aware, it's Hawaiian-themed," he explains, "So there will be lots of Hawaiian and American food (even though there's no Americans at Blue Lock). We will also have games, music, competitions, swimming and more. More information will be provided on the flyers. Any other questions?"
Several hands are up. Chigiri picks on Rin's hand first.
"Do you need any other help for tomorrow and Saturday?" Rin asks.
"Nah, we're good," Chigiri answers as he shoos his hand down. "But I do need performers…"
He sways his hips in excitement as he takes on a seductive dance pose.
"Care to dance with me?" he taunts the audience as everyone turns bright red.
Unfortunately, we are not allowed to leave until all the performers are sorted out and practice the dances at least once. And unfortunately, I’m selected to be one of the few unlucky ones. I don't understand why, especially since I never have any dance training in my life, unlike Karasu who enjoys dancing in his free time. I am paired with the No. 1, Rin, while he is paired with No. 2, Shidou. So much for separating couples…
"Good luck, Yo-chan," Karasu whispers seductively into my ear as he passes by me with Shidou during a practice routine.
My face must have been bright red as I try to look away from him and focus on Chigiri as he directs us to practice another round. His once fiery pink eyes are now drooping from the exhaustion of being so responsible for a grand party at such short notice.
But even with my lack of dance experience, it’s a lot of fun. The minute it is over, we dancers all leave the center in a hurry, my mind deep into thinking about the party.
I couldn't wait for Saturday to come fast enough.
But I wonder what could happen on Friday. Would it be as fun and exciting? Oh, I just can't wait!