Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

His soccer origin story was just like any other kid. 

Seeing a match on TV and having this insatiable pull towards the sport. Imagining himself being the one to take that winning shot, or over powering a team so much the game is over before the timer runs out. 

Even as a younger kid he spent hours and hours with a soccer ball unlike others who got bored of it after some time. And he was also noticeably good at it for his age. So spent those prepubescent years being better. 

But life was never that easy. Presenting as an omega was a surprise to everyone. 

Coming from a long line of beta’s nobody was expecting it. His first heat at nine was spent in his room wrangling around with sheets and pillows his parents grabbed while panicked. It felt like he had a horrible fever, sweating in his bed with a migraine. He admits he cried half the time. The pain and new feelings over rid everything sensible in his brain.

When he was lucid again the first thing his parents did was shove a newly acquired pamphlet into his hand. He still remembers the content inside. 

{ Information for the newly presented! 

Alphas

- Make up 20% of the population. Can be both genders but the majority are male. Pheromones detection and production are strong. Are dominant, strong and make up most of the leaders in the world. | Alphas have a knot that is used to lock them and their mate together for proper reproduction.

Betas

- Make up the majority of the population at 70%. They follow strictly the characteristics of the first gender type of male and female. They do however also possess the ability to detect pheromones/scents and produce them, though they are mild in comparison to other 2nd genders. 

Omegas

- Make up the last 10% of the population. Can be both genders but the majority are female. Pheromones detection and production are strong. They are submissive, soft and do the passive roles. And have a big role to reproduce and to bear children for the strong alpha. | (Male omegas have male genitals with a womb in the rectum that produces a lubricant type slick for mating.) 

Heats 

- Omegas have them over about a three month cycle, with the actual heat days ranging from 3-4 depending on the person (not including pre-heat). Suppressants can push back heat if needed and are recommended to have on hand. Heats are not inherently sexual. During the first couple heats after a presentation, younger omegas are more ‘cuddly’ wanting affection while feeling like they have a high fever. Farther into puberty is when one might become ‘more sexual’, though it depends on the person. However an omega should always be kept away during a heat as they can accidentally seduce an alpha. 

Ruts 

- Alphas have them about once a year, though this can vary. But can go into more if in contact with a heating omega. Suppressants can push back ruts if needed, though is not common due only having one per year. 

Pheromones & Scent Glands 

- All genders have scent glands that are located on the neck and wrists. They produce natural oils that give off ‘pheromones’ that are detectable by their scent. Scents smell different to each gender—like an alphas pheromones smell better to an omega than another alpha. Though there's a consensus on what type of scent someone has (i.e. woody, clean, fruity but whether or not that smells good depends on the person). 

- The glands themselves are sensitive and are usually only touched with mutual consent to be more intimate. On the back of an omegas neck there is an area that is used for marking a mate. Though some people do not respect that and try to mark a non-mate.  Omegas wear a collar for this reason due to the high volume of unsolicited markings. 

- Scruffing: Omegas necks are also sensitive, if pressure is placed correctly on the back of the neck then it can temporarily neutralize them. Usually only used by people in packs to calm down a panicky omega. Though some people use it as a way of control, which is looked down upon.  

- Scientists have made ways to neutralize the scents with scent patches, blockers and other methods. Omegas are expected to bare this responsibility. } 

When he was ready to go back out after his heat, he didn’t feel much different. Sure, now he could smell things he couldn’t before but he still had the drive for soccer as he always had, so yeah, things couldn’t be that different. 

While he didn’t change himself. It was everyone around him who did.

Suddenly Isagi wasn’t their star player, a genius for his age. He was instead an omega. Not even a genius star player omega. Just omega . 

Nationals.

That was all that was on his mind as he easily weaved and outran the opposing team. He was playing for an average school that ever so graciously let an omega join the soccer team. Despite that, he was the one to carry his team through the qualifiers. 

He’s the one that scored about 90% of their goals the whole season and they still treat like he’s some charity case on the team. They can’t sub him out though, cause they’ll lose otherwise. 

Isagi shook his head refocusing on the match. He was getting closer to the goal and he felt it. He was going to score and bring this back water team to nationals.

“Isagi! I’m open, over here!” He heard. With a glance to the side he saw his teammate, Tada, running with no markers on him. If he passed the other would have a good chance at scoring.

“Isagi! One for all and all for one, remember! Let the alpha handle it!” his coach yelled from the bench. 

Isagi frowned at that. Then he smelt a familiar scent drift by. Tada was an alpha and he didn’t have good control over his scent, or as he said. Somehow it always came out when he wanted Isagi to do something. But it was so repulsive that it made him want to do anything other than what the alpha wanted. 

He was trying to get Isagi to pass to him. And for a split second he thought about it. But then he remembered that the alpha sucked at shooting. He always just looked at the ball and hoped for the best. He never aimed.

Isagi could imagine it, him passing just for the idiot to miss the easiest open goal ever.  

A memory flashed through his mind–why he remembered it at that exact moment, he didn’t know why. 

[ He was sitting in front of the TV, soccer ball in hand. He had gotten it as a gift from a relative and his parents played a match for him when he asked about the sport. As he watched Noa Noel on the field, the first thing he noticed wasn’t his team work. How many passes and assists he gave someone. 

No, it was the raw power behind his goals. That he bended for no one and scored for himself .]

That was what got him into soccer. Not any of this..eleven players on the field. It was seeing people score. 

So he blocked out his teammates' yells and kept going. 

He felt the player that was on him get closer. So he abruptly stopped and stepped back. Knowing that there was nobody behind him from the image in his head of everyone on the field. He paused as the player flew past him, the momentum making it hard for them to stop. 

Without wasting any time he wound up his foot and kicked. And just like him imagined the ball went flying straight into the goal. 

There was a pause before cheers exploded through the stadium and the numbers on the scoreboard changed from 0-1 to 1-1. Yes, this was it. Isagi looked at the player that was marking him. Who had fallen with his momentum when Isagi had faked him out. 

Something stirred within him as he looked down on the fallen player. 

This feeling…

It felt so good!

They won the game. 

Isagi continued to ignore his coach and scored another goal beating out the other team. His team was so focused on winning that it hadn’t sunk in that they won because of an omega. They only seemed to really notice when he was asked for an interview. The look on his coach's face told him would be scolded later but he really didn’t care. 

He was still on the high of the tears of the other team. 

He was brought to a wooden backdrop that was set up on the side of the field. There were cameras and journalists lined up ready to talk to him. Isagi felt himself grin. 

“Today we’re with player number 11 of Ichinan High. He scored all the goals for the winning team of Satama prefecture and is now going to Nationals!!” The reporter said to the camera. She then turned to him. “Can you tell us your name?” she said, holding out her mic. 

“Isagi Yochi,” he replied, the high of winning still on his chest. 

“So, Isagi, how do you feel about winning against Matsukaze? They were said to for sure be the winning team, especially with rising soccer star Kira Ryosuke on the team.” 

Isagi grinned. “It feels great.” It came out confident and he didn’t bother with any of that; ‘ they were a strong team ’ bullshit. 

“Ooo, feeling cocky are we?” the reporter laughed. “It’s okay, you have bragging rights, we don’t blame you! And what about your team? During your first goal you had a teammate that was wide open for the goal but decided to shoot yourself, why did you do that?” 

“I just felt like it needed to be me. I needed to shoot that goal or I would regret it.” He paused for a moment. “And frankly my team isn’t that good. I’m sure they would have found some way to mess it up. So I should shoot the goals, right?” He waited for their reactions. The reporter went silent, seemingly processing Isagi’s arrogance. 

She was about to reply when she paused, eyes widening. “Wait..you're wearing a collar?” She didn’t notice before?” “You're an omega?” She didn’t know this whole time? 

He frowned. Why was being an omega here important? He just said something crazy! He wanted them to react to that, not his secondary gender. 

“Yes..” he said. 

“Oh wow! An omega, huh? You’re so good for an omega…but why are you playing soccer? It's a very alpha dominated sport, isn’t it? Kind of unsafe for an omega. Don’t your parents care?” 

“I’m playing because I like soccer. What else is there?” he huffed. 

“Sure, that’s nice and all but still wouldn't it be better to quit while you're ahead? I mean playing with alpha’s is just too much.” 

Isagi let out a growl and the women backed up, looking appalled. Like she never would have imagined for an omega to get angry with her. “It’s obviously doing something with your nature,” she said snappy. “Making you act like this. I mean how disgraceful is it for an omega to growl? To play soccer even?” He couldn’t help it as he clawed at her. He narrowly missed as she dodged back. 

He didn’t care what she thought. He could tell this would go nowhere so he stalked away while muttering insults under his breath. The reporter called his name but he ignored it.

His team was waiting on the side lines but he ignored them as well and just made way for the locker room. He was packing up his stuff when the rest of the team entered the room. He tried to leave discreetly but was stopped by the coach. 

“Wait,” the coach stopped. “Everyone sit down, I want to talk about something.” 

Isagi sighed and sat down as far away from the others as possible. They never tried to contain their pheromones and Isagi was half convinced they purposely released them just because he was there. 

“First off, congratulations on making it to nationals, you all worked hard.” Isagi almost scoffed. Yeah, they all worked hard. “And I want to shout out our team omega, Isagi, for getting us the goals to get there.” 

While he didn’t have to mention the omega part, Isagi was pleased that he was getting recognition. Maybe seeing him play out there changed his mind and now—

“But I do have to say how you played out there was very selfish and dangerous. Tada was right beside you most of the game, you should have left it to an alpha–” 

Well, there it was. His fault for getting his hopes up. 

“–what if you got tackled or the other team tried to get physical. Omegas are very delicate I’m sure you know–” Isagi drowned it out. He stood and went for the door, stalking past the coach that was still talking. “Hey, I’m still talking to you. Don’t ignore me!” 

Isagi did just that, opening the door and walking out without so much as giving them a look back. He was glad it was one of the heavy doors that didn’t soft close, as the sound of the door slamming echoed through the hallways and probably louder in the locker room.

He quickly made his way down the hallway as he heard an uproar from behind the door. He made a turn down the hall when he bumped into someone. He wasn’t expecting anyone to be hanging around down here. 

“S-sorry,” he said, backing away. Whoever he had bumped into was tall as he had to tilt his head up quite a bit to meet their face.

Isagi froze when he met the others' eyes. Something about him seemed dangerous. “You're fine,” the man said, his voice was smooth and lacked normal infliction. “Isagi Yoichi,” he said, not asking but rather stating the fact. “You just won the match.”

“Yeah..” Isagi replied. Something about the man was seriously creepy. ‘ It must be his eyes ’, Isagi thought. He also tried to scout out if the man was a beta or alpha, but it was hard to tell exactly. He was tall enough to be an alpha but also lanky. His vibe gave off someone powerful, like you should be paying attention. Though his scent was more subtle, though once you noticed it, it commanded power. 

It was throwing him off. 

“I was actually coming to look for you, what a coincidence,” he said. “I’m Jinpachi Ego, part of the Japanese Football Union.” He then pulled out a card and handed it to Isagi. 

Holy shit, am I being scouted!? 

“I’m running a program soon, where I take this country's best youth strikers and mold them into Japan’s weapon, to ensure victory over the world cup. I’ve been watching you for sometime. A sole player carrying his shit team to nationals…This match today solidified my interest in you. I’ve come to personally invite you for this program.” 

Program ? So he wasn’t being scouted. 

It honestly sounded kind of suspicious. His mother always warned him to beware of strange people approaching him. Especially so after he presented. 

The man looked at his expression and huffed, amused. “I can see the look on your face. I assure you I have no interest in you other than in soccer.” Isagi blushed at his internal thoughts being read so easily. 

“I–” 

“Vigilence is good, don’t apologize.” 

Isagi closed his mouth. This man was definitely weird. They looked at each other and then the air around the man changed. 

“You had a breakthrough on the field. I’m sure you felt it. Breaking away from the weak mentality that plagues Japan’s soccer. You could have passed to your teammate out there, with how open he was, some would say that would be the correct move. But you ignored that and used your skills to score for your self. For you to hold the glory.” 

Isagi’s eyes widened. Did he get it? 

“Enough about that eleven other players on the pitch, teamwork above all else. All for one and one for all. None of that matters if you don’t get enough goals. I’m the one who will bring this country out of being second rate and I can offer you the opportunity of a lifetime. All you need to do is accept.”

His breath quickened. He did get it. This sparked a feeling of hope in his chest. If this man wasn’t just all talk, then an opportunity like this would be a one time thing for an omega like him. So the only answer was. 

“I’ll join!” he said eagerly. 

Ego then went on to explain Blue Lock. How he was planning to train 300 of the country's best U-18 strikers into Japan’s own personal soccer weapons. It sounded like something out of a weird sports fantasy and that made him all the more excited. 

“I have another reason for seeking you out rather than to just invite you to Blue Lock.” Isagi tilted his head as to say, ‘ go on ’. “I want to train you personally before the program. This is exactly as it sounds like, favoritism. But you also have a biological disadvantage to the dominated demographic of soccer.” It was the first time Ego has alluded to his second gender since they started talking. And for once he didn’t feel annoyed by it. He felt like he was being treated like a normal human being.

“There are no other omega players that have caught my attention, so if you choose to train with me and further in Blue Lock you will have to face the challenges of the prejudice this sport holds, alone. Do you still accept?” 

“I’ve been facing it all his life. I’m strong enough, what’s a little more?” he grinned. 

“Good, we start tomorrow. Your progress with this training relies on you. 

“Huh, tomorrow?”

Chapter Text

Isagi was breathing hard as he fell into the bench, grabbing one of the water bottles and chugging it down. He wasn’t sure what training would be like but Ego took training seriously . 

They’ve been training and Isagi feels like he was rebuilt from scratch. Making him do drill after drill for hours on end. And while it was hard he couldn’t say he hated it. Soccer was his favorite thing in the world after all. 

Ego also had him doing a new type of training he hadn’t tried. It was based in gymnastics and he could feel his tendons bending farther and farther the more he practiced.  

Isagi looked over to the other side of the bench. Ego was typing away on his tablet, probably documenting Isagi’s progress as he told him one time.

Where they trained everyday was a park. A park with very well kept grass that never had any imperfections or people around. The park wasn’t located anywhere super private and there were no fences or anything to keep people out, so how they had the area alone for hours on end was a mystery to Isagi. But Ego liked to dodge his questions, maintaining an air of mystery the other was sure was just for the man's amusement.  

‘Hmmm ,’ he thought. “Ego,” he said after a moment.. 

The other looked up from the device and met his eyes. “Yes?” he asked. 

“Can I ask you something personal?” 

“You can ask but I won’t promise to answer,” he replied, letting the tablet fall to his lap. 

Isagi hesitated for a beat. “What’s your second gender?” While to the untrained eye it might have looked like Ego had no reaction. To Isagi who has spent the last couple days with him for hours on end saw the slight twitch in his face. 

“Well,” he started. “If you really are curious. I’m an omega,” Ego stated. And Isagi felt the world around him shift. 

“W-WHAT?!” he shouted, crawling across the bench to get closer to the other. 

“Ugh, back up,” Ego huffed. The man used his long arms to push the teen away. 

An omega! A male omega at that. Isagi hasn’t met many omegas in his life. And even then all of them were female. He’s never met another male omega before. 

“I’m not sure why you're so excited, I’m not the only male omega to exist. And I’m sure you know that,” he said dryly. 

“But you should have said something! Omega solidarity and all that! I was half convinced you were an alpha creep that liked to watch teens run around!!” Oh, he let that last part slip out. 

“And you still continued to meet me?” the older omega said, judgement slipping into his voice. 

Isagi blushed. “Well, your drills were actually helpful…and I figured I could out run you if it came down to it..” He could see it didn’t really help his case as Ego continued to judge him. 

“Should we do a day on omega safety?”

“No..” 

They continued to stare at each other. Ego broke the contact first and let out a soulful sigh. 

“...Go back to practicing." 

“Yes, sir!” 

Isagi dribbled the ball through the cones Ego had set up for him. Isagi found it a breeze compared to before. The training and workouts Ego had him do made him feel lighter and swifter. 

[ “ You’re focusing too much on trying to build muscle you’ll never get. These workouts are specialized for alphas who put on body mass like nothing. What you need to focus on is flexibility and mobility. Do your current workout  twice a week and the rest of the time do these new specialized ones I made for you. These are catered omegas or more specifically, you. ” ] 

He really seemed to know what he was doing. Isagi had been following routines of other athletes and ones he saw online, not considering that it wouldn’t work as well for an omega like him. Ego was right and now he was really feeling the benefits of having something that worked for him. 

Going through the last stretch of the cones Isagi lined up the ball and kicked hard, shooting the ball swiftly into the target attached to the next. Then another ball came flying at him and he kicked it with his opposite leg, the ball flying just as strong with his left. Straight Shot: Right & Left. It’s something he’s been working over the course of his training. Building up his left leg to be as good as his right. 

“Good,” Ego said. “Both shots were on point with aim and strength.” Isagi grinned. “Don’t get too comfortable, while it’s a strong shot it’s not anything crazy. You need to develop something else if you want to go toe to toe with some of the talent there.”

He wanted him to develop a new weapon? He would only have a week to come up with something if he wanted it ready in time for Blue Lock. 

“Calm yourself, I can smell you. You don’t have to have it mastered but start brainstorming something into effect.” 

Isagi mindlessly placed a hand on his neck, feeling his new collar. One thing Ego was adamant about was Isagi playing with no scent patches. Before he would place the patches under his collar before putting it on, but now he left them off completely. 

Ego gifted the collar to him a bit after him after he revealed his second gender. 

The collar was made of a nice dark bluish thin but strong leather. It was also incorporated with a type of carbon mesh that allowed his scent of waft out and air to come in. The mesh, while also thin, was tightly wound. Isagi was sure it would take a lot to pierce it. Due to the design it hugged his neck like skin tight clothing. While it wasn’t perfectly flat, it was way less bulky than usual collars. And was also prettier than his last one. He actually liked it. 

It made him feel free. Like a shackle off his neck. 

He never had any attachment to his old collar. Just a plain one that had good reviews online. It didn’t have any sentimental value to it but this one was nice, symbolizing a new relationship between him and his new mentor in soccer and being an omega. 

The main point of the collar was because Ego said he wanted him to get more in tune with his instincts but it was also nice to be given a gift. 

[ “Omega’s were originally the one on top. Ancient history shows omegas were the ones to lead hunts, the household, and other positions of power. They used their natural leadership skills to control the knot-driven alphas into doing the heavy work. After some time alphas let their labour get to their egos and began to believe they were the superior leaders. Selfish and entitled and they used that to hold back omegas into what they are believed to be now.”

Isagi tilted his head. Honestly hearing it he wasn’t that surprised. He figured these alphas were full of shit. 

“It might sound hypocritical for me to criticize that given my philosophy about soccer, but that’s what it is. Philosophy about soccer, not humanitarian issues. They are not the same. So if you try to explain that to someone and they give you shit don’t sit for it..” 

Isagi nodded. “I won’t.” 

“I’ll hold you to it. Now my point is that omegas for centuries have repressed their instincts to follow society. But you, my protege, have already broken away from that. While I’m not saying being naturally more..submissive is an inherently bad thing. It’s clear you are not. Practicing out here like this, I want you to tap into your base instincts and use them as a tool, rather than suppress them. It will help you grow as a player and soccer egoist. Is that okay with you?” 

“You haven’t led me astray so far. I’ll trust you on this.” ]

Isagi thought for a moment. Trying to think of something he could use as a move. He sat there staring at nothing when something came to mind. 

‘ It might take a lot to pull off but if I really mastered something like that..! ’ 

“Did you come up with something already?” Ego asked, curious. 

“It’s just an idea and it might lead nowhere…but maybe I could–” Isagi leaned in and explained the concept. 

Ego’s eyes went wide. “That…that could work..” 

Isagi grinned, already thinking of ways to practice it. 

Isagi looked down at the address on his phone and then the sign that read, ‘Japan Football Association,” he guessed this was the place. 

“Oh hey, you're Isagi from Ichina! I’m not surprised to see you here, your plays during the qualifiers were crazy!” Isagi turned to see Ryosuke Kira, Japan’s ‘National Jewel’. “You remember me right? I was pretty bummed when we lost!” 

For a moment he was surprised. “You know me?” he blurted out. 

Kira gave him a weird look, tilting his head to the side. “Do I know you? I’m pretty sure all of Japan knows you! That interview of yours went pretty viral. You didn’t know?” 

Oh yeah, the interview. He forgot about that. “Uh, no I’m not really on social media like that..” he said. 

“You made the news, let alone social media. And you still didn’t see it?” 

“No… I’ve been busy with training so I haven’t really had time to watch the news.” It wasn’t a lie. Ego’s training kept him busy and if he wasn’t training he was sleeping or eating.

“I see, well not too much we can do there. We should head inside, it’s almost time for wherever this is to start. I’m curious to find out.” Isagi nodded despite already knowing.

Inside the building there wasn’t anything crazy inside, the only thing being vague arrows pointing down the hallway. They followed them until they were met with two large doors that stood out the normal sized ones they saw everywhere else. 

“This must be the place,” Kira said while opening the door. 

Immediately he was hit by intoxicating waves of pheromones. He coughed and covered his nose, bending over a bit. Damn, couldn’t Ego have warned him or something. 

“Isagi-kun, are you okay?” Kira fretted. He peeked up and saw that the room was looking at him. He could tell most of the people were in here were alphas, not that he was too surprised. But the scents were overloading his senses and he felt his eyes watering. Too strong . 

Quickly he pulled his scarf from his neck and placed it to his lower half of his face. Immediately he felt his senses calm down. The scarf was infused with his beta parents' mild scent and the scarf itself helped filter out the pheromones. 

“Y-yeah..sorry. The scents are strong in here..” he said. 

“No kidding, I felt it too. Can’t imagine how it must feel for an omega,” Kira said.

The word omega seemed to trigger something in the room. 

“Wait, he has a collar on.” 

“Isn’t he that one omega, the one on the news.” 

“He tried to scratch a reporter right?”

“An omega was invited? Is this program even legit?” 

“Don’t say that..” 

“What! Everyone was thinking about it!” 

Isagi scowled, which made a few of the players turn around but others continued to stare shamelessly.  

“That was cute..” 

At that he whipped his head around at that but couldn’t find out where the source came from. Sighing he fully stepped into the room, letting the door close behind him. 

“You good? There’s a lot of people in here,” Kira said. The alpha was standing in front of him while facing him. The way he was standing was kind of looming, like he was trying to shield him from the rest of the room. Normally, he'd be annoyed but he appreciated it in this sense. At the end of the day he was still an omega and being in a room full of alphas was messing with his insticts. 

Isagi nodded at the words. At least the scarf made it bearable. 

The lights suddenly went out and the room was plunged into darkness. Then a familiar voice flooded the speakers around the room. Isagi, along with the rest of the room, turned their attention to the front. He turned just in time to see Ego get lit up by a spotlight. 

The man always had a taste for the dramatics. 

Isagi listened to Ego explain the concept of Blue Lock. He was already given a general run down so he drowned it out, only half listening. When the lights turned back on he squeezed his eyes, adjusting to the contrast. 

Isagi was mildly surprised when Kira raised his hand. “Excuse me, I can’t agree with the conditions you just laid out,” he said loudly. “Each of us has a team important to us and I can’t abandon mine to hang out in some nonsensical program. And you haven’t even given any details at all about ‘Blue Lock’ but you want us to blindly follow you?” 

Those words started a chain reaction. People all over the room started shouting at Ego, demanding different answers. Even the pheromones around the room spiked and Isagi bunched the scarf up more to compensate. 

Ego stood there as about three hundred teens started yelling at him, scratching his head. Isagi would have found it funnier if he wasn’t fighting for his life against the pheromones. He wondered how the other omega was dealing with it, especially since the pheromones directed angrily against him. Maybe it was his age? 

“I see..” he drawled. “You're all seriously ill, then.” He raised his head in a sort of puppet motion and waved the crowd off. “Then lock off, anyone who wants to leave is welcome.” The room tenses. 

Isagi watched as Ego explained his philosophy to the room. Shutting down Kira’s own words about teamwork. The door behind the older omega opened while rumbling, the backlight against his silhouette and Isagi felt himself shiver. He knew Ego wasn’t spitting bullshit. 

“Isn’t that what it means to be a striker?” There was something swirling in the man's eyes. And Isagi ran towards it. 

“ Huh, the omega?”

“Fine, I'll play your little game!” 

“I’ll be damned if I let an omega beat me!”

“This seems like it’ll be fun!” 

Like Kira, Isagi sent off his own chain reaction and soon enough three hundred highschoolers were running into the doors of Blue Lock. As he passed Ego he shot the man a grin. While he didn’t get a full one in return he saw the corner of the older omega’s mouth twitch up. It was enough for him.

Chapter Text

Despite the dramatics of running through the door there wasn’t much behind it. 

Isagi felt kind of embarrassed at running so passionately because once he fully stepped into the room it was only filled with rows of tables with employees sitting at them. The room quickly filled behind him as others followed. They all stood taking in their surroundings. 

It was a very large room, the only thing in it being long tables lining the walls with employees behind laptops and papers. A big sign in the center read, ‘Registration’. On each side of the room were other signs that pointed to the tables. One said, ‘Alpha’s here,’ and the other said, ‘Beta’s Here’.

Being part of none of those categories Isagi looked around confused. Then he spotted it, at the opposite end of the room was a singular small desk with a sign that said, “Omega’s Here.” It was very telling about the amount of omegas invited to this program as there was only one employee compared to the rows for the other sub genders. 

People began to line up as Isagi was dreading the walk to the end of the room. Ignoring the whispers that started up around him he started for the table. He noticed the scent of pheromones was milder in this room, probably because the scents hadn’t been marinating yet. It was bearable so Isagi finally let the scarf drop from his nose and took a deep breath. 

Sitting at the desked label for omegas was a woman who looked to be in her late twenties, maybe early thirties. “Hello,” she said before he even sat down. “You must be Isagi,” she said, holding out her hand to shake when he took a seat. 

“Yes, nice to meet you,” he said. 

“Well, Isagi, my name is Dr. Shimizu and I’m a doctor that specializes in omega care,” she said straight to the point. “I was hired by Ego as both a nurse for Blue Lock and to ensure your health being the only omega in this program.” 

Ego had told him that no other omegas caught his attention but he had been hoping that maybe in the time they were training that it might change. But male omegas are already as rare as it gets, let alone other soccer prodigy male omegas. 

She looked over at her laptop. “We don’t have to go over any registration or permission since Ego already took care of that, all we're going to do is go over some health stuff. That good?” she asked. He nodded, not really sure of what to say. “Well first off, Blue Lock is not separated by gender. The dorming system and everything else is co-ed. And that raises concern for you as an omega. Normally co-ed dorms would be fine but you’ll be spending a lot of time in close quarters with mainly alphas. And due to the nature of the program they’ll be a lot of aggression and just pheromones , especially with competitive alphas everywhere. You felt it right? When you came in, the amount of pheromones in the room?” 

“Mhmm.. It felt like an attack on all my senses. I had to cover my nose with my scarf. ” he said. He hadn’t really thought about how he would fare at a biological standpoint. 

“Inside the facility has a very nice ventilation system, so it won’t be as stuffy,” she said sympathetically. “Now I have some concerns on how the amount of pheromones might affect you and your heats. Do you track them?” 

His cheeks went a little pink, talking about heats with a stranger even if it was a doctor was a little embarrassing. “Yeah.. It comes about the second week every three months. I’ll usually go into pre-heat at the start of the week and finish it out by the end,” he said awkwardly. 

“And when was your last heat with specific dates if you can,” she asked. 

“Uh, it was last month. I think I started on the 11th and ended around the 12th, my pre-heat a few days before.” 

“How would you say they go? Like you are in a lot of pain, are you out of commission for a majority of the heat?” 

“My preheat is about four days and I can function just fine. I’m just a little more..in my instincts? I guess. My actual heat is around three days. On day one it feels like I have a fever and can go through my day if I take painkillers. But on day two I’m completely out, I think because the rest of it is so mild that it all piles and spills over,” he explained. “And day three just feels like getting over a bad fever and then I’m fine the next day.” 

She began typing into the laptop. “Okay, that’s good. With the influence of pheromones there might be some changes in your heat, like the intensity or length. I can’t accurately predict anything so we have to be vigilant. I will however be providing suppressants when you arrive that are only to be used in an emergency.” She said the last part very seriously. 

“Blue Lock will not be regulating the use of scent patches, the choice will be up to the person, along with other scent and pheromone regulators. Though alpha’s will however be given mandatory long term suppressants because if a were rut to happen it can make everyone in there on edge. Alpha’s see it as some kind of competition. And luckily, you won’t have to worry about it either.” 

Isagi tilted his head. “Can't I get long term suppressants?” he asked. Not having his heat sounded like a dream. 

She shook her head. “No, unfortunately. The health risks and drawbacks involved with omegan suppressants are very different from alpha ones. And skipping on heats for omegas can not only affect physical health and put strain on your body but also affect you mental heath. A heat is not only for mating, it’s also a way for omega’s to reset their body essentially. Since you are such a young omega, I wouldn’t be able to prescribe something like that in good conscience.” 

He frowned but accepted the answer. Better than having someone who didn’t care, he guessed. She then handed over a health form and asked him to fill it out. When it was done he gave it back and she handed him a different paper. 

“This has the information on Blue Lock, things like what to bring and where to meet. You’ll be brought to the dorms tomorrow so make sure to pack thoroughly, you never know when you’ll leave again.” 

Sounded ominous. 

He thanked the women and went to leave. The room was still full, having to register so many players probably took a while. People in line were looking at him still and he tried to ignore them. He was passing back through the large opening when someone tapped his back. 

“Isagi-kun, you leaving?” It was Kira. 

He turned to face the alpha. “Yeah, I just finished registering. Today was tiring so I want to go home and sleep,” he smiled. 

“Lucky, I think I’ll be here for a while.” They both looked down the line that didn’t look like it was getting any shorter. 

“Looks like it, good luck,” he said amused. 

“Yeah..” Kira said. There was lull in the conversation. The alpha looked like he was finding something to say but there wasn’t really much to talk about, having just met. “I guess I’ll let you go sleep, see you around?” 

“Yeah, see you around,” Isagi offered, giving a small wave as he left the building. 

“Yochan, are you sure you have everything?” his mother fretted. He was sitting in the door foyer, tying his shoe to leave. 

“Yes, mom, we’ve checked fifty times,” he said exasperated. 

“Are you really sure? I mean that doesn’t look like a lot, this is a long term program, isn’t it.” It was his fathers input this time. 

“I’m really really sure. They said they provide everything for us and I’m sure if I need something I can convince Ego to get it for me.” 

“Tsk, I’m not sure why you're so fond of that guy. He gives me the creeps, why would he spend so much time with you as an adult!” 

Isagi rolled his eyes. “It’s just like having a private coach and I told you he was an omega!” 

“Isagi, don’t be prejudiced. Omegas can like other omegas and omegas can be predators too,” he mom frowned. 

Isagi grimaced. This was going nowhere. His parents continued to fret but he ignored it as he grabbed his duffle bag, standing up. 

“Bye, mom, dad, I’ll see you when I’m the world's best striker!” he said exiting the house. 

“Wait, did you grab your–” He closed the door. 

He arrived at the pick-up area with about twenty minutes to spare. He spent that time finding out what bus he was riding and getting a good seat. Vaguely, he wondered how Ego was able to get three hundred parents to give their kids permission to be out of school. If everything went shit would he have to be held back? That was worries for another day, he decided. 

‘ Let’s see, number 299, room Z, ’ he thought looking at the uniform. The door opened automatically and  he felt vaguely intimidated by the eyes in the room. They all looked powerful. He felt on edge as he entered the room.

“Isagi! I’m glad, I’m rooming with someone I know,” Kira said, bringing attention to himself. 

Isagi felt some of the tensions drain out. “Kira-kun. Me too, I’m relieved.” 

He went to step closer to the other when his vision was obscured. His senses were immediately filled with the scent of fresh pine wood. He immediately could tell the scent belonged to an alpha and was surprised to find he actually liked the scent. Normally the scent of alphas repulsed him to different extents. 

“Oh, sorry,” a voice said, low and smooth. “I threw it too hard.”

He pulled the clothing from his face and resisted the urge to sniff it again. With his vision now clear, he saw the voice belonged to an orange haired muscles alpha. He tried to not let his eyes trace the sheer amount of…mass the alpha held. He was interested purely because he wasn’t able to build muscles himself. That was the only reason.

“You're fine,” he said plainly. He watched as the orange-headed teen’s eyes drifted to his neck. Slightly stiffening when he noticed the collar. Isagi resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Here,” he said, going to bring the shirt to the other. 

Smelling a scent coming from the floor–which reminded him of sweet honey. He looked down to see a person curled up in a ball, sleeping while mumbling to himself. Weird . Choosing to ignore it for his peace, Isagi stepped around the–who he assumed, by the scent–alpha. 

He handed over the shirt to the tall teen. “Sorry again, I would have been more careful if I knew there was an omega in here. The pheromones didn’t do anything, did it..?” The alpha said it so innocently that Isagi couldn’t find it in himself to be too annoyed. 

“You're good. Omegas don’t go crazy over the smallest whiff of anyone's scent,” he said sarcastically. The awkwardness in the other was enough retaliation for Isagi. 

Going to his own locker labeled 299, Isagi shrugged off his blazer and began to unbutton his shirt. Immediately he felt the eyes that were previously all over him look anywhere but him. He rolled his eyes, though at least they were respectful unlike his high school teammates. They were a shameless bunch and loved to do everything possible to make him feel uncomfortable.

As he was changing he listened to the conversations around him. “What about you Naruhaya-kun, why’d you come?” he heard behind him.

“This place said they’ll make someone the world's best striker, right? Being the world's best striker comes with women, omegas and money, right ? So of course I came. I mean what kind of alpha wouldn’t want that!” another voice said. 

He glanced over to–who he assumed was–Naruhaya. He has plain brown hair and didn’t stick out much. If the teen didn’t announce it to the whole room he wouldn’t have thought of them as a beta. 

Isagi mentally shook his head. Wanting to be a striker–or soccer player in general–for those reasons was pitiful in his opinion. Have they never felt the pleasure of making a goal for themselves? At the end of the day that mentality was structured around other people. Not in their own ego. 

Whatever, it wasn't his problem. 

He pulled the shirt down over his waist and stretched, trying out the clothes. They were a little awkward being skin tight but everyone wearing them made him feel better. He was curious on how they got measurements on everyone here, as the uniforms fit every one of them pretty much perfectly. 

He turned around to see Kira's hands being aggressively shaken. “Are you the Kira Ryousuke? Wow, I’m happy to meet you! I was rooting for you during your preliminaries, shame you lost." 

“Uh, yeah…thanks,” Kira said awkwardly. 

Then the buzzcut teen randomly turned his attention to Isagi. “Wait, aren’t you that omega from that interview? The one that won against Kira?” 

“Yep..” he said, popping the p. The other must be a beta from his almost nonexistent scent. 

“Wow, I watched your match and was surprised to see you play so well. I mean for an omega you were amazing!” the beta said. Isagi didn’t even get a chance to respond to the backhanded compliment when the teen started dumping his life story about not wanting to be a monk. 

Luckily he was saved from the chatty beta when the large screen above their heads turned on, revealing Ego. “Done changing, diamonds in the rough?” his mentor's voice rang around the room. “Ya, ya,” the man greeted. “These people here, think of them as your roommates and also rivals who will help you improve.” 

Most people perked up at the work rivals, but…“ Wow, roommates with the omega, how lucky! ” 

Disgusted, Isagi turned to the direction of the voice. He had a split second of eye contact with the Naruhaya person from earlier and the other turned away, trying to play it off. People around the brunette looked uncomfortable, taking glances at the weirdo. He shot a glare before turning back to the screen. 

As Ego continued, Isagi wondered if it was a recording or if the man was talking live. “Your abilities have been quantified and ranked by me according to my arbitrary and biased decision making. That’s what the numbers on your uniform represent. You can tell at a glance what your rank is out of three hundred." 

Isagi twisted his arm and looked at the 299 on his uniform. He was ranked that low? Even with the man's training and bias? He wondered if it was some sort of ruse or if Ego really believed that's where he stood with everyone else he invited. He still had a long way to go after all. 

Ego explained the ranking system and the eventual goal they would be working for, becoming starters for the U-18 match in six months. That was a big deal . Everyone else must have felt the same as there was a slight uptick in scents. 

He then explained the rules for the game of soccer tag they were playing as a ball dropped from the ceiling. What's the budget in this place ? What happened to just having a basket for balls?

“...whoever’s ‘it’ the moment the timer runs out, will be locked off. Also, no using your hands.” The screen flashed and showed a cartoon picture of a player with the name Igarashi Gurimu, who was ranked 300. 

“ What? This is not how you play soccer.. ” Isagi heard someone say. 

Usually he would agree..but training with Ego has shown him that everything the man did meant something.

Chapter Text

“I’m ‘it’ first because I’m ranked the lowest? Fine, let’s do this. No hard feelings, okay?” Igarashi said, stepping up to the ball. 

“Hey, wait! You actually believe what he said?”

“What if he’s being for real? I’m doing this or else I’ll be stuck as a temple for the rest of my life!” 

Igarashi took the ball in dribble and began running while yelling. Isagi found himself in a corner with four other people, one of them being Kira. 

“Sorry, Isagi!” Igarashi grinned and then shot the ball with a loud, “Namusan!” 

It was predictable so Isagi jumped out of the way as everyone else in the corner did the same. Isagi followed Kira standing next to the alpha as ‘it’ attacked other people. “

“This is ridiculous..” Kira said to him. “I’m here so I can prove him wrong, I won’t let him ruin my future.” Isagi didn’t know what to say to that. Kira sounded passionate, and nothing he could say right now would change the others mine. And there was too much going on to argue his philosophy about the sport. 

“Damn I can’t hit anyone!” Igarashi said. He was looking around for other people when he stumbled across the sleeping alpha Isagi almost stepped on. “He’s still asleep! Gotcha!” Isagi wanted to shake his head. If he wanted to hit him, he shouldn’t have announced his presence so loudly. 

Isagi was surprised when the alpha suddenly sprung up and kicked the beta in some type of back walk-over so hard he started to bleed. Igarashi started yelling angrily about fouls at the alpha who didn’t seem bothered by the violence he just inflicted. 

“Good morning,” the alpha said sleepily. While the whole display was a little weird, the demeanor of the alpha..Isagi found it..kind of cute? He didn’t want to expand, pushing it to the back of his mind. 

Then the guy who flung his shirt earlier approached, putting a hand on their newly risen member. “Hey, I’m not a fan of foul play. Play fair,” he commanded. 

The other just gave a side eye. “Mr. Straight-Laced, huh?’ 

They looked at each other for a beat not moving when suddenly the taller alpha was hit in the face with the ball. It honestly looked painful. The sound of the ball bouncing was all that was heard in the silence as everyone watched on. “You left yourself open, Namusan!” 

The person on the screen changed–Isagi noted the name Kunigami Rensuke–and the demeanor of the orange-haired teen changed in a second. Isagi scrunched his nose as the alpha’s pheromones intensified. 

“ You bastard , I’ll destroy you!” the other growled, rounding on the beta who had run away to beside Isagi. 

Suddenly, Isagi felt a strong tug as he was grabbed. Igarashi had grabbed him and was holding him out as a shield. Panicked, Isagi turned to see that Kunigami was so into his revenge against the beta that he wasn’t looking properly at the two of them. 

Hearing the explosive sound of the ball Isagi knew if he didn’t get away now he would get hit. The ball was flying towards his chest and he tried to pull away forwards but the beta was holding him back. The ball was getting closer, so in desperation he bent back at the waist. Due to the beta pulling in the same way he was bending, the moment pulled him back fast enough for the ball to wiz past his chest. The ball collided with the wall leaving behind a loud thud. 

Thank goodness for Ego training my flexibility.  

Isagi planted his hands on the floor and–in a similar action to sleeping teen from before–kicked back over and hit the beta in the face for holding him hostage. He pushed himself away and rounded on the alpha, growling angrily. 

“Hey! Can’t you aim, you almost hit Isagi!” Kira yelled angrily. While he appreciated the sentiment, he could defend himself. 

“Uh, sorry…” At least the alpha had the sense to look sheepish. Isagi huffed and moved away from the vicinity of the ball. He couldn’t blame the other too much as the point was to tag someone else, even if it was the wrong target of your rage fueled revenge.

He found himself in the corner again next to Naruhaya–a name he’s memorized now–and someone with long pinkish-red hair he hadn’t noticed yet. Kira was separated from him on the other side of the room, as it was too risky to cross over with the chance of getting hit by the ball. 

He took a second to breathe and took in the around him. It felt familiar. Looking around feeling the space with his mind, he realized it was the size of a penalty area. He hummed, ‘ it must mean something ’. 

But his attention was dragged away from his thoughts before he could fully flush them out. 

“What did I say about foul-play!” Kunigami growled at Igarashi, who ran over to the corner to avoid the still chasing alpha. Isagi stayed put as he was unsure of how the alpha would move but also kept an eye on the problematic beta. Luckily for him, Igarashi decided to grab onto Naruhaya this time. “Oh, not this time!” Kunigami announced, winding up to kick the ball. 

Isagi, deciding it was time to move away, was stopped by another tug. This time it was Naruhaya who seemed to be copying Igarashi’s strategy of using a human shield. More confident, Isagi went to free himself. 

Then, he suddenly felt pressure on his neck and he slumped in the other's hold. His mind was fuzzy as he felt a ball slam into him at high speed. It would probably bruise. The whiplash of the sensations left him disoriented on the floor as he was let go from his hold. What just happened..? 

“Did..did you scruff him ?!” a voice said outraged. Dazed, he looked over and could make out a pinky-red blur yelling at who assumed was the person who scruffed him. 

“Why are you mad at me! He grabbed the omega first, I was just copying!” 

“Don’t yell at me!? I didn’t scruff him!” Igarashi, he recognized from the voice. His head was starting to clear but it was still blurry. 

“What’s you guys and scuffing, anyways? He’s an omega who cares!”

And that sobered Isagi right up. Pushing himself off the floor he took the ball and rounded on the brunette teen. He wobbled for a second but gained his bearings. In his peripherals he saw a few people cover their noses, he guessed he was giving off an unhappy scent. Naruhaya in front of him didn’t even look apologetic or guilty in the slightest. He wasn’t even on edge, like he assumed Isagi wouldn’t be able to get him. 

He snarled and kicked the ball with as much force as he could muster. He grinned as his training reflected the intensity of the ball, while it did miss the other due to the brunette dodging. It was unmistakable in its power. Naruhaya's eyes widened, finally realizing that Isagi could, in fact, hit him. He ran away from the corner as Isagi took the ball once again. He glanced at the timer. 30 seconds . 

As the other ran, Isagi analyzed how he moved. Isagi realized that the other was predictable in his movements. 

Isagi scoffed. He would rather die than ever be predictable. 

Lining up his shot he kicked again, just like he predicted the other dodged in the left, and just like he prepared the ball slightly curved in his path. Slamming into the other's face, hard enough that Isagi saw skin ripple. 

The screen dinged with the change in ‘it’. A clean hit, Isagi was happy with himself. Running on pure instinct Isagi ran up on the brunette and took the ball again. 15 seconds . 

“Isagi-kun, what are you doing!?” Kira said from somewhere behind him.  

Naruhaya had recovered and was running away again. “Idiot omega, why would you take the ball again!” 

Isagi aimed again, needing to get another hit in. The movements were just as predictable as before. He lined up the kick and went to follow through with his leg. Wait.. His stationary leg slipped up a bit on something liquid on the floor, sweat he assumed. Who was sweating that much from a little running around? The kick connected but Isagi could tell that it wouldn’t go on the course he wanted. 

The ball narrowly missed and Isagi cursed. The ball rolled over by the sleepy alpha from before. He took the ball and looked at Isagi’s intended victim. “Haha, going twice is fun!” the alpha said as the screen dinged to read: Bachira Meguru. Naruhaya, seemed to sense that it wasn’t just Isagi he needed to be safe from and promptly turned around, running. 

Isagi watched as Bachira kicked up the ball in a dribble before kicking it high as it arched over the room. The grin on the brunette's face pissed him off even more, as he guessed the ball wouldn't hit him. 

5

The ball came down from its arch, right at Isagi. 

4

Something swirled in his eyes and a grin took over his face.  

3

He would have to thank the alpha later. 

2

Isagi’s leg came up and connected with the ball. 

“Bam!” 

The ball went straight into the brunette's face sending him to the floor with a spurt of blood. 

1

0

The timer buzzed to signal the end of the game. And the final name on screen was Asahi Naruhaya. 

“Wh…what..how?” 

A sound of clapping echoed through the room. Isagi looked up to see Ego on the screen. “Diamonds in the rough, the ‘how’ doesn’t matter. The only thing that does is results.” Ego leaned into the camera, eyes wide, casting a shadow over his face. “Loser leave,” he spat. “Asahi Naruhaya, you are disqualified.” 

At the words the teen on the floor gasped, sputtering. “Huh..? T-t-this is bullshit.. How can my career be determined by… by some lousy game of tag ?!” Naruhaya shouted, standing to face the screen. “I’m more than qualified to be here! I mean how can an omega be more talented than me?! Tell me!” He pointed straight at Isagi, making him frown with a low growl. 

“Listen here, shitty alpha. You’re ranked 296 out of 300 and you think you can talk about qualification?” Ego’s voice got low, warning. 

“While I didn’t interfere because I believed Isagi could handle himself. One would assume that I would not have to specify that you can't scruff someone .” The way he said the last part had Isagi himself shivering, there was something commanding in his voice. “And even with that ‘benefit’ you still somehow lost. Getting hit not once but twice . Pathetic.”

“B-but what does tag even have to do with soccer! This is wrong!!” 

Ego sighed, shaking his head. “Everything in Blue Lock deals with soccer. And it’s pretty obvious. Look around you in this room. It’s 40.2 by 16.5 meters, that’s the size of the penalty zone. Where about 75% of goals are made, are you getting it now?”  So he was right about the size. Call that a win on his analytical skills. 

“S-s-so what if it's that size, that has nothing else to do with soccer!”

“Losers always have something to say.” Ego pulled up a hologram. “If you’re ‘it’ your dribbling, aim and mobility must be sharp while your kicks are fast and high quality. If you're dodging you have to have a keen sense of positioning, space and reflexes to accurately dodge the ball. And you can’t be predictable . How are you expected to get a chance for the ball if you're always getting blocked so easily? That’s what it has to do with soccer, wimp.”

“S-STILL–” 

“Boo,” someone interrupted. “Come on, stop being a sore loser and leave already, it's getting tiring.” It was Bachira. Isagi looked over to see the alpha yawning while sitting cross legged on the floor. 

Kira then appeared out of nowhere, grabbing Naruhaya by the neck. “You think you can pull something like that and still be here,” he growled in the other's face, dominating him with his pheromones.

“Kira-kun..” Isagi said, placing a hand on the white-haired alpha's shoulder. Signaling to him to let go. He didn’t want a fight to break out, especially when the cause seemed to be him. 

Naruhaya locked eyes with Isagi and pushed away from Kira. He raised his pointed finger. “I hope you're ashamed, taking a spot from a qualified alpha. I don’t know what tactics a slutty omega like you employed to seduce everyone in here, but it won’t work for long. You should never be above alphas, should’ve stayed back home where it's safe and start looking for a husband to breed you.”

A gasp rang around the room. Isagi was especially taken aback by the vulgarness of it all. While he prided himself on being strong, he would be lying if the words didn’t hurt. 

“What did you say? Say that again with me around–” Kunigami started. But like always, Isagi could defend himself. He stepped around Kira and got in the ugly alphas face, locking eyes.

Then he wound up his arm and slapped, palm open, as hard as he could. The sound rang across the room as the alpha clutched his cheek.

“Enough,” Ego spoke. “Ashai Naruhaya, lock off before I get someone in there to do it for me.” 

Breathing heavily he looked around while clutching his bruising cheek. “Fine, be seduced, see if I care. This is all so wrong ,” he made for the door. Right before he exited the alpha turned around, again looking at Isagi. “I’m serious when I say you should’ve stayed home where it’s safe, you’ll never know what’ll happen in a place full of alphas.” Then he went out the doors, not looking back. 

It left a disgusting taste in his mouth. Threatening something like that …absolulty vile.

“H-hey, Isagi-kun, don’t listen to him, nothing will happen to you.. I wouldn’t let it,” Kira said. He was approaching him carefully, not getting too close. 

That's when Isagi realized his scent was spoiled. ‘ Upset, hurt,’ it read, it was so 

much even he could smell it. Then he felt a single tear run down his cheek. 

‘ Oh’ , he thought. He didn’t even realize he was tearing up. It wasn’t full on crying, just watering eyelines. He took a breath to calm himself and tried to control his scent down to something more bearable. 

He felt embarrassed that he got so emotional over some pathetic insults. None of them were even original. His cheeks turned pink as he willed the tears down. He didn’t want to seem like a soft omega that cried at the drop of a hat. 

“It’s okay, I know he was just talking shit.” Isagi said, smiling softly at the other to try and ease the tension that built up around the room. 

It didn’t work perfectly as the others still seemed a bit tense but still, it didn’t feel as suffocating. 

“Well assure no doubt that if any of you try anything similar to that…lack luster approach, you will be eliminated without second thought. World class strikers can’t play soccer if they’re in jail,” Ego said plainly. 

His demeanor changed as he leaned into the camera. Bringing back that ego filled swirl to his eyes. Ego’s word drew their attention away from the now previous player. Replacing the uncomfortable with a different kind of tenseness. This type. Isagi enjoyed way more. “Now that it’s over, how do you feel? Everyone here has essentially ‘won’. Does it excite you, scare you? Are you shaken up thinking, ‘Alright! I survived!’ Well that’s going to become your new norm in Blue Lock. Etch that victory into your brains. That feeling is your ego growing, which will launch you into the level of world class strikers.” He backed away, speaking more simply. 

“Congradulations, you have passed the admission exam for the Blue Lock dorm. There are eleven people in this room, and you eleven will be living together. At times you’ll work together, others you’ll betray each other. You will be rivals who wreck each other's dreams. 

Blue Lock’s team Z.”

Chapter Text

Isagi huffed, breathing loudly as he ran, doing his best to keep his running form. While was a step up from the average high school athlete, running consistently at 20 kilometers per hour was still hard for him. He would blame it on his omega nature. Though, he was still doing better than Igaguri–the new nickname for the monk–who was just flailing around. 

“Isagi! Igaguri! How can you talk about becoming the world's best striker looking like that!” Rachi taunted from beside him. “You mere mortals should go home before I make you cry!” Isagi breathed out amused at the alpha’s taunting. He appreciated the motivation.

“I’m not done yet!” he yelled back, he straightened his form to focus on running. 

“Grrr,” the blonde said. Pressing a button on his treadmill. The alpha somehow got another spurt of energy from cranking up the pace faster. Isagi knew if he tried the same he would be wiped out so he accepted his fate at being slower. 

“Both of you shut up!” Igaguri said before promptly throwing up. Gross. 

He got off the treadmill to avoid the mess. Now that his adrenaline wore off he was tired, he bent over trying to breathe. 

“Don’t worry about it, Isagi-kun.” He looked up to see Kuon approaching. “Do you want some water?” 

Kuon was very nice. Taking care of everyone despite not being required too. He wondered if the beta was trying to get on everyone’s good side. For what he was unsure of. Or maybe it was just his personality?

“Yes, thank you,” Isagi said, straightening up to take the water. He chugged about half of it down. 

“When you catch your breath do you want to do the jump test with me?” Kuon asked. 

Isagi thought for a second before nodding. “Sure.” 

Isagi took a minute to breathe before going over to the mats with the tall beta. “Read..set, go!” They jumped and Isagi was despaired at the sheer difference in height. Curse his omega genetics, he should have been taller. 

“Isagi-kun, are you not at your best today?” 

“How am I supposed to jump that high with this body of mine?” he joked. 

It didn’t seem to land well as the other just looked uncomfortable.

He realized the other thought he was talking about himself as an omega, when he was just speaking about his height. Well, what can you do if someone misunderstands. 

And if he happened to find a bit of pleasure in making others uncomfortable when he spoke about omegas, who was to blame him. 

– – – – 

In the cafeteria the novelty of being the only omega had started to die down. He was grateful for the less stares and people whispering about him.

Going over to Team Z’s food window he scanned his badge and was disappointed at the dispensed natto again. 

“Natto? Lucky, all I’ve got is pickled radish, ” Igaguri said, coming from nowhere. The monk teen had taken a liking to following him around. He guessed it was because no one else wanted to tolerate the beta’s presence. 

Isagi went to sit down and Igaguri followed. 

[ The day after the tag test–

“Hey, Isagi..?” he turned around to see Igarashi, shifting from one foot to the other. After the game of tag Ego had them immediately go to the gym to start working on their physical training. And that’s all they’ve been doing so far. It was night now so they were all winding down in their room. 

“Yes?’ Isagi said back confused. 

“Uh..I just wanted to say sorry for grabbing you. It gave the ideas for that other guy to…uh…s-s-scruff you. And uh–” 

Isagi tilted his head, confused on why the other was apologizing. “You’re fine, I don’t blame you. It was Naruhaya’s choice to do that. I understand that you were just trying to survive and that guy took it too far.” 

There was a moment of silence before Igarashi flung himself at Isagi, startling the omega. “H-huh?” 

“I-I-I just didn’t w-wan’t y-y-you tata-to hate me!” the beta cried, muffed against his chest. “Bu-budda would have never approved of such methods and I thought it was my fault!!” Isagi, still confused, awkwardly patted the sobbing beta. 

“There..uh..there..” he said. 

Suddenly, beta pulled back and Isagi grimaced at the wet spot on his shirt. The beta was also a really, really ugly crier. “Omega’s really are blessed! Call me Igaguri, That’s what all my friends do.” Igarashi, or now Igaguri said, taking the omegas hands and holding them like a prayer. Then, he started to lean in. “You also smell really good–”

“Okay, enough of that.” Isagi was saved as the beta was pulled by the back of his shirt by a freshly showered Kunigami. “Didn’t anyone teach you it was bad manners to sniff someone like that?”  

“Yeah! You're a beta but I can smell your stink from here!” Isagi turned and saw it was Bachira who had set up his own sleeping pad and was laying on top of it, watching the interaction. 

“Yours is not any better..” a voice said not far from the honey scented-teen. It was obvious it came from Kira, who wasn’t trying to avoid being caught.  

“Huh, what did you say? You just smell wet, who likes that?” Bachira shot back. 

“Better than fermented syrup!” 

And the two started fighting again. For some reason they seemed to dislike each other from the get go and have been antagonizing each other at any given moment. He wasn’t sure what caused it but newly formed Team Z was learning to accept it as the norm. ] 

As he was thinking about the two, said alphas showed up to sit on either side of him. Just like Igaguri the alphas also took a liking to him, following at his heels like lost puppies whenever they weren’t training separately. 

“Isagi, don’t let this weird bumble bee force you to hang out with him,” Kira said setting down his tray. 

“Ehh? Me? It’s you who’s been sticking to Isagi since the beginning, don’t you think he wants some new friends?” Bachira argued back from Isagi’s other side.

They both leaned in to flash their teeth at each other, scents flaring. Normally, he might have reacted to the scents but their behavior reminds him of some type of petty cat fight. The image dulled any reaction to the mildly aggressive scents.

“I think you're both sticking to Isagi weirdly, I mean look at you two now!” Igaguri spoke up from where he was sitting across from him. 

They both whipped their heads around at the beta who shrunk at the sight. “Shut up,” they said in union. 

“Smelly beta!” Bachira. 

“Don’t think we don’t see you trying to stick to Isagi at night!” Kira. 

“Hey! Yeah, I’m a beta. Who knows what you alphas are up to!”  Igaguri accused waving one of his pickled radishes at the alphas. They all started arguing and Isagi looked down sadly at his natto, ignoring the three. 

He was about to start eating when a pair of chop sticks hovered down over his tray, placing a single gyoza on his plate. Isagi tilted his head up to see the unblinking eyes of Gagmaru looking down at him. 

“I don’t know how they want an omega to do their best on natto, take this.” 

Isagi blinked down at the gyoza then back up at the tall teen. “Oh, thank you.” 

Looking satisfied with his actions, he nodded and then left, going for his usual seat. The dumpling looked mouth wateringly good next to his natto. 

“Isagi-kun don’t smell so happy at that.” Isagi looked over to see Kira pouting at him. That’s when he realized that his scent was leaking out at the generous display. Who could blame him, he’s been eating natto the last couple of days. “Here, I can do better than that.” From his own plate Kira picked up a portion of his buckwheat noodles and slice of tofu and placed it next to the dumpling. 

Isagi gasped. “Really? You’re giving that to me? Thank you!” he said, looking Kira in the face. Said alpha’s cheeks went a bit pink and his scent changed to something proud. 

“What, don’t try to win Isagi over with cheap tricks!” Then, Bachira placed a portion of his stir-fry with his newly acquired potluck of food. 

Isagi didn’t even care that the two started growling at each other again, happy that he didn’t have to eat just natto. He thanked the two happily once more before digging in.

“Wait, that’s not fair!” Igaguri whined. “Isagi, you want to share some of that with me?” he thought about it for a second, but before he could reply chop sticks were coming for his plate. 

They were stopped quickly though. “That’s for Isagi-kun, you're really going to try and steal from an omega?” Kira scowled. Bachira agreed, pointing his chopsticks threateningly at the bald teen. Ganging up on Igaguri is the only thing the two seemed to get along on.

He just shrugged at the beta.

Nothing I can do, sorry. Igaguri’s continued pleas were shot down by the two next to him. 

Was it because he was an omega that they were willing to give up their food so easily? If that was the case then that was one thing about his ‘omeganess’ that he could thank. 

Isagi tried to close his eyes and let the exhaustion of the day wash over him. But no matter how much he willed his thoughts away he couldn’t. 

‘Agh, it’s no use. I need to shake this energy off,’ he thought, sitting up.

Isagi pushed Igaguri away who was making his way over to his mattress. He shoved a pillow over the bald beta’s face in revenge, at least Kira and Bachira had the decency to not be all up on him at night. 

Isagi creeped over everyone, trying to not rustle the others. He winced slightly as the light from the hallway flooded into the room when the door opened. 

As he walked, he frowned at the number on his pajamas. Even with the extra help, he still felt so behind and this number was solidifying his worries. He was still unsure if Ego was trying to do something or if he really was that bad. 

He was halfway down the hall when he was pulled out of his head by a whiff of a familiar warm scent. He turned around just in time to dodge a ball coming for his head. 

“Oops, sorry I didn’t think you would notice me!” Bachira said as the ball bounced down the rest of the hallway. 

Isagi gave a side eye, ‘You were still trying to hit me though.’ But he wasn’t really that upset so he let it go. “Sorry, did I wake you up?” he said, turning to face the alpha. 

“Nope, I wasn’t sleeping when you left. Are you going to train?” 

Isagi nodded. “Yeah.” 

“Want to train together then?” Bachira asked, flashing a big smile. 

“Oh-uh, eung...” he nodded. They changed and entered the training grounds, as they were stretching a thought popped into his head.

“Hey Bachira, why did you pass to me then?” Bachira tilted his head. “During tag, you passed the ball to me. Why did you do that? We didn’t know each other back then so it shouldn’t have mattered to you who lost.”

“Hmm, well if I had to say,” the look in the alpha’s eyes changed. “It's because I have a monster in me.” 

“Huh? Monster?” he said, confused. 

“Yeah! When I play soccer I have a monster in me that talks to me. ‘Score a goal,’ ‘weave through them,” Bachira said. He started coming at him with the ball and Isagi started trying to defend. 

They weaved around each other, Bachira trying to get past him. This was his first time going against any of the others, the last few days being spent on solo workouts and practices. 

Bachira was good. But apparently not good enough, he caught a hole in the alpha’s offense and kicked the ball out from under his feet, taking it. He moved past the other and kicked the ball with his direct shot, the ball flying into the goal from his place near the center of the field.

He turned back around to Bachira who had stopped once he broke through. “The monster told me, ‘pass to Isagi, he has a monster too.’ That’s why you went for that guy twice, you heard the monster.” 

Did I hear a monster? Isagi didn’t think so. All he wanted to do was ruin that guy for scruffing him. 

“The monster also told me that a guy like that shouldn’t be here. That he needed to be crushed,” Bachira added, eyes going dark, angry. Isagi thought about what was going through his mind at that moment. All he remembers is feeling rage at being violated like that. Was that the monster? 

Thinking far back to when he first presented. Back to when the people first m started treating him differently. Discouraging him by saying that an omega can’t be a soccer player, even if he was good. That he’ll be crushed by an alpha and should quit before it happens. 

When he remembers what pushed him to keep going, all he can remember was rage. 

He wasn’t some stone wall that could take anything thrown at him. The words still penetrated and hurt, no matter how much he wanted to deny it.

And it could have been…would have been easier to listen to them. But every time he thought about it, he would just get so angry. 

And it festered over the years. 

“Why aren’t they putting me in any more?” 

He had only just presented.

“Is being an omega that bad?” 

“Why didn’t they sub me in, that guy is bad.” 

‘I’m better than him.’ 

Would leave him out, even if it meant losing. 

‘Why did they kick me out, what does being an omega have to do with anything!’ 

‘They’ll find out how I can really be.’

‘I’ll show them.’

‘I’ll beat them.’ 

He needed to so badly. 

‘I’ll win.’

‘I’ll win as an omega.’

He looked at Bachira, whose eyes were swirling with something. He recognized it in Ego as well. 

Is that what I look like?

Whether or not Bachira’s ‘monster’ was real or not, Isagi thought he could understand the honey-scented alpha just a little bit more. 

Maybe that anger was his own monster. 

“A monster, huh?” he said to the other. “I can work with that.” 

A wide smile stretched across Bachira’s face. “I’m glad I came here, because I got to meet you!” Isagi blushed and looked away at the others' sudden confession. Bachira continued to look at him before he stepped closer. The alpha was in front of him, he wasn’t much taller than Isagi but he felt bigger. Not in a physical sense but in his presence. 

Maybe because he was an alpha. 

Isagi stiffened as Bachira leaned down–hovering about three inches from his neck, his eyes weighing heavy–and took a deep breath. Just as quickly as he leaned in, Bachira was pulling away. “You smell good,” he whispered as he passed his ear. 

“B-Bachira..” he blushed as he pushed the other away. 

The other just smiled, putting distance between them once more. “Are you sure your rank is correct?” Bachira said, like nothing happened. “You beat smelly Kira before Blue Lock and even if I don’t like the guy, he’s still known as ‘Japan’s Jewel’. I’m also ranked right behind him but you seemed to get past me pretty easily. And that kick you just did…during tag too. They were precise and powerful.” 

Isagi instinctably looked at his arm, trying to see the number in full without twisting. “I don’t know,” he replied. It was the truth after all.

“Hmm..” Bachira hummed. “Maybe you should have a word with Ego,” the alpha suggested. 

It was actually a good idea. He hasn’t seen his mentor in person since he started Blue Lock. He would try and find out tomorrow.

Chapter Text

With Ego announcing their new rankings, Isagi and Bachira went back to the room to find everyone up. He guessed they stayed up most of the night. It was hard to tell when this place barely had any clocks and less windows. He wondered if it could count as a type of psychological abuse. 

“Isagi! There you are, I was wondering where you went.” Kira said, speeding walking towards him. He looked relieved, like his absence was concerning to him.

“I was training and lost track of time,” he replied. “Sorry if I made you worry,” he offered kindly.

Kira’s attention shifted to where Bachira was behind him. “You were with him?” Kira said, frowning. Bachira stepped around to stand next to Isagi.

“Yep! We were together the whole night,” Bachira said while dragging the word ‘whole’. “Isagi’s really good and we had fun!”

Kira growled lowly and Bachira smirked back. Not wanting to be caught in the cross fire of whatever beef they had, Isagi stepped around them and walked further into the room. 

“Isagi, look! I shot way up from my rank, to 175! And look, you did too!” Isagi looked at his own arm to see it ranked 174. 

He thought for a second. If there were 300 participants and we were all split into groups of 12 originally, then lost 1 per group. There were probably a lot of people eliminated, meaning their ranks probably didn’t shoot up, they just changed to accommodate the new amount of people. 

“Don’t get your hopes up too much,” he said simply to the other. Igaguri tilted his head in confusion, he opened his mouth to reply but the interaction was cut off from the big screen turning on. 

As Ego explained the concept of Blue Lock. One thing stood out to him as confusing. If there were 25 teams ranked from B-Z why would he not include A. The lowest team could have been Y rather than to exclude A. That would be the normal thought process. It wasn’t solid evidence Isagi found it a little fishy. 

And Ego wasn’t the type to give preferred treatments to others. He would say it would make others too cocky and eventually sloppy. And then he wasn’t the greatest player, but he certainly couldn’t be the worst, so Ego placing him in the apparently “worst” team didn’t make a lot of sense. 

Maybe it was because there were no higher ranked teams.

“Let’s start the first selection.” 

Isagi felt pleasantly happy when he won the game of rock, paper, scissors.

“Fuck! Isagi won!” Raichi growled. 

“Then starting from Isagi we’ll say which position we want to play in,” Kuon said. 

“I want to be the forward,” Isagi replied, determined. 

Kira walked over from where was watching the game, he lost pretty early in the round. “You happy about being the forward? I can smell it on you,” he said teasingly. 

Isagi blushed and tried to control his scent. 

“Ne, Isagi, don’t hide it! It’s nice, I think everyone likes it, right?” Bachira chimed in, gesturing to the room. 

Kunigami didn’t look away like some of the people in the room but the very faint pink to his cheeks gave away his feelings. 

“See, see everyone likes it!” 

“Hah? I never said I liked it!?” Raichi huffed. 

“So you think he smells bad..?” Igarashi asked, tilting his head. 

“W-what!? I never said that…” 

“So you do think he smells good? No need to be embarrassed, we all think the same!” Igarashi said, patting the blonde on the shoulder. 

“Yeah–” someone else started.

Isagi had enough. “Stop that, I'm right here,” he growled. He placed his hands on his collar, covering the area where his scent could leak out. It wasn’t the first time anyone had mentioned his scent but it kept coming up. They didn’t talk about each other's scents, only his. 

He walked over to his locker and grabbed a clean pair of clothes and then promptly left the room. He didn’t care if he was being dramatic, maybe they would take the hint. 

Isagi, despite being so sure of his thoughts earlier, ended up overthinking it in the shower. Maybe he overreacted. They weren’t being rude or gross about it and didn’t feel malicious like his previous team. When he got to the cafeteria for breakfast, the team was huddled up at a table. When they saw him they tried to pull away from each other naturally but it was obvious they were discussing him. 

“Um,” he started.

“Isagi!” Bachira and Kira said at the same time. 

“Isagi I’m sorry for bringing that up!” 

“I’m sorry for getting everyone to talk about it!” 

The two kept apologizing and he was quickly getting overstimulated.

“Wait! Okay okay, I hear you!” he shouted, putting his hands out. He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry too, I overreacted. I know you were just trying to make me feel better but I just got all…grrr.. I-I guess..” he said, losing confidence at the end when the two gave him a face. He could see it in the others too. “Umm..” 

“Wait! No, why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong! We don’t want you too–” Bachira cried. 

“Stop that, you're being annoying,” Kira nudged the alpha beside him, who glared at the other. The white haired alpha ignored it and turned back to Isagi. “What we're trying to say is you don’t need to apologize. You felt uncomfortable, right? You shouldn’t feel bad for expressing your boundaries and we all apologize for that. We’ll tone down talking about you in that matter.” 

Isagi’s never been spoken to like this. It was…nice. “Thank you…for saying that,” he said, looking through his lashes from where his head was tilted down. 

Bachira’s face immediately twisted as he let out a light squeal. “Oh my god! Isagi don’t look at me like that, you're too cute! And when you said ‘grr’ earlier I wanted to die!!” 

“Stop, what did we just talk about!” Kira shouted, scolding Bachira. 

Isagi couldn’t help but be amused. He let out a light huff of amusement as the two alpha’s whipped their heads at him. 

“Did you just laugh?” Kira announced. 

“I don’t think I’ve seen you laugh yet.. Do it again!”  Bachira said, seriously. 

“Hey, were you even listening? Stop pressuring Isagi like that!” 

“You brought it up first!”

Isagi laughed again, less of his amused huff and more of an actual laugh. He covered his face with the back of his hand, eyes squinted in amusement as he spoke. “Okay, okay we get it. Honestly, you guys are ridiculous..”

Chapter Text

“Look alive, Team X,” Kunigami pointed out from where they were grouped up together stretching. 

Team X looked intimidating. Despite them only having just walked out, number 10 stood out to him the most. Whether it was his aura or his hair, he wasn’t too sure. To explain the second option, it wasn’t hard to miss the guy with his tall hair that had too much gel in it. 

Honestly, it looked like it was encased in hard candy. He laughed at his own thoughts which gave him curious glances from his own team and hostile ones from across the field. He didn’t elaborate. 

The VAR sounded for the start of the game and Isagi took off. He was immediately confronted with three players trying to box him in. It wouldn’t be too hard to go against them. 

As he set up his next play he noticed something in the corner of his eye. Seeing as it was one of his teammates–despite them being out of formation–he didn’t think it was anything too strange until it was too late. 

“Huh? What are you doing, Rachi!?” he shouted at the blonde. Who had just stolen the ball from under his feet. 

“The top scorer can move on, right? I’m doing this my way!” he grinned condescendingly at Isagi. 

“Now you're talking,” another voice joined in. Kunigami then stole the ball from Rachi just as the blonde did to him. “If that’s how it works here, then I’ll have no gripes about playing for myself,” the alpha explained. 

The two continued to fight not noticing another player coming to scoop up the ball. Suddenly, there was an all out fight between everyone, not even being a team stopped people from ganging on each other. 

As more people joined in, Isagi found it disgusting to look at. I mean what was even happening. This wasn’t soccer. Even if he entertained the thought about joining into the fray the aggressive scents that formed almost a cloud would be too much for him. 

He sensed something. 

Isagi looked around the crowd trying to find the new piece he sensed. There. It was number 10. He was watching the fray, looking for the ball. Isagi noticed the second the other found the ball and an opening. 

Isagi moved just as the other did. Yep, just as he planned. Player 10 broke through with the ball and was met with Isagi who was in his path. “Get out of my way or I’ll kill you,” the alpha growled. 

He wasn’t intimidated by a lame threat like that. Isagi noticed how the other brought the ball between his feet. A heel flick, he thought. He reacted by quickly stepping back and just a second later the ball arched in the air, now going towards him. 

Number 10 seemed surprised, his red eyes narrowing. The alpha didn’t back down though still running to where the ball would land, now just standing in front of him. He couldn’t fight against raw strength and the other caught the ball with his chest. 

The alpha tried to dribble around him but Isagi blocked his every move. Not leaving an inch for the other to take advantage of. While he was good he wasn't the greatest player ever, so Isagi didn’t have too much trouble keeping him boxed. 

The alpha growled, stepping back with the ball. “What are you trying to do?” They were at a stand still. 

“What do you mean trying? I have been blocking you,” he gloated. 

He was planning to attack himself when his vision was obscured. 

“Move Isagi! I’ll take him!” Igaguri said. 

“No, you move you idiot!” he hissed. Isagi moved so the other wasn’t in his way anymore but it was too late. Number 10 had taken the distraction as a chance to move past him. Isagi could only watch as the other passed the ball through the legs of Kuon and Imamura and then into the goal. 

1-0, the scoreboard now read as cheers of the other team rang out. 

Barou spun around to face the field, his arms were open like he was talking to a crowd. “Now listen to me, shitheads, and remember this. For me, the ball isn’t my ‘friend’ or anything like that. It’s just a spherical servant made solely to make me shine.”

“On the field, I am the king.” 

Oh. 

Oh wow.

Isagi was frozen. 

Not in fear, but second hand cringe. This wasn’t some fantasy shonen anime, what’s with the monologue? And king, really? 

Maybe it would have looked cool if there was, like…special effects or something, but the guy was just standing, talking to nobody in particular. Even as his team surrounded him he didn’t lose his dumb pose. And was still staring at nothing, like he was pretending there was a camera capturing him.

Ignoring whatever it was, he turned back to his own team that was in a different tone.

“Aren’t you the goalie? Act like one!!” Again, it was Igaguri.

While the bald beta hadn’t annoyed him too much during the last few days–despite clinging to him. The stunt he just pulled had Isagi feeling irritation rise in his body. He really had the nerve to complain when he messed everything up?

He spun around to face the beta but he was beaten to it. 

“Why the hell are you complaining? If you hadn’t gotten in the way of Isagi we would have gotten a better play!” Kira said, pointing accusingly at the beta. 

“H-huh? Why are you mad at me! I wasn’t the only one that acted selfishly..” Igaguri defended. 

“So what? You still–” 

“Okay, okay it was only one goal, let's calm down!” Kuon interrupted. 

Isagi went to step closer to the group. “Yes, we’ll be fine if we stick to our positions and–” 

He was blocked by a body. “Huh? If we do that, then as the forward, you’ll score all the goals. Losers should stay on defense. You should all pass to me!” 

“Then, by that logic you should stay to the back…” Is what Isagi wanted to say, but he held his tongue, being hostile will just make them want to listen to him less. 

“Hell no, pass to me!” Igaguri shouted back. Who would pass to you? 

“No me!” Another voice joined. Before they could come to a conclusion the automated voice told them to resume the game. As he placed the ball down he had a plan to make up for the others thoughtlessness. 

“Bachira! Let’s at least pass between us. And Kira cover our back!” Those two at least seemed to be listening to him well. And they should be smart enough to know that whatever the others were trying to do would not work. 

The whistle blew and he kicked the ball towards Bachira and positions to run forwards. But before it could even reach the other it was intercepted by Igaguri. Isagi growled at the thoughtlessness of his pass. While he knew others would try something he didn’t expect it right at the start. 

“Igaguri, your position!” he stressed. 

“Isagi, are you an idiot? The top scorer on the team survives. I’m never passing to someone else!” 

‘You’re the idiot,’ he wanted to scream. That only applies if the team loses and if you can actually score a goal! 

And of course the ball was immediately stolen by the other team. Isagi felt stressed as the other team began to organize itself around the spiky haired guy named, whose name he caught as Barou, as their own stayed as a pathetic mess. 

Another goal was scored and they were down 2-0. 

Then 3-0. 

He could imagine it would keep going this way. 

“What did I say about passing to me!” 

“No, me!” 

“I was open so just let me score!” 

It was the same argument over and over again. Usually once you keep losing you try to do something different but these dumbasses didn’t know how to think. 

He hated people who couldn’t think. 

“Hah! My soccer will get goals so just–”

“Enough,” he snapped. 

“Hah?” Rachi said. 

“Aren’t you embarrassed! I mean what is even happening!? How is this a soccer match?” 

“Haven’t you been listening? I’m going to pass with my goals and win by myself!” 

Seriously…maybe I should just explain how this won’t work, just saying to stay in position isn’t working. I’ll just say it nicely and maybe he’ll listen to me. Yeah, I’ll just explain—

“I have been listening since that’s all you fucking say. You keep sprouting that bullshit! That only applies if you can even score a goal, but you can’t even stay in possession of the ball for more than a few seconds before it's stolen! So tell me. How are you to pass with your goals if you can’t even score any? You keep sprouting ‘sexy soccer’ but what you keep showing makes me want to be celibate. Dry as ever!” 

“H-huh, wha–” 

He strutted up to the arrogant alpha and pushed his finger into the blonde’s chest. 

“Useless moronic bastards who don’t know how to think don’t belong on the field.I mean really, who cares how many goals you score if the other team still wins. So if you’re going to be a dead weight you might as well just sit in the corner of the field and watch. Maybe watching people who can actually play the game will jumpstart your brain into finally being able to form a thought beyond just stealing the ball from your own team. Then, you’ll actually be worth something,” he growled. 

He took in a deep breath then his heart dropped out of his chest. 

Um. He didn’t mean to say all that. 

The field was silent, both teams were looking at him with varying expressions ranging from horror to surprise to bewildered. 

“Oh shit.” 

“Damn, that team just got chewed out..” 

Isagi nervously looked back at the blonde alpha who looked like he was just slapped in the face. “O-oh…haha…Sorry, I didn’t…uh mean to say it like that..” he said sheepishly. “What I meant to say was, umm, stay in our positions and we’ll be able to score..?” 

Celibate? Really Isagi?

Rachi just continued to stare at him for another minute before nodding slowly. “Yeah..” he said, dazed. 

They all migrated back to their positions and Isagi was face to face with Barou. The alpha was looking at him with an unidentifiable expression. It wasn’t hostile nor friendly so he was unsure of what to make of it. 

Isagi kicked the ball towards Batchira and they ran off. The rest of their team still seemed dazed by his words earlier but were cooperating better now as no one was trying to steal the ball from under their feet. This was good, they could make a comeback. 

Bachira passed back to him by cleverly passing through the legs of a clumsy player. He glanced around the field to take in everyone’s positioning. Now that he didn’t have to worry about his own team stealing the ball, he could get back into it. 

Bachira was keeping pace on the right while Kira appeared on the left. Kira had moved out of his formation but he could work with it. He ran forwards with the ball and was predictably stopped by Barou. 

“Hey mouthy sucker, don’t stand out more than me, okay? I told you, I’m the king and I don’t need a queen right now.” Isagi frowned. Why does everyone here just like to hear themself talk?

Without looking he kicked the ball backwards with his heel, aiming it towards Kira who was just a bit behind him to his left. The white-haired alpha made a sound of alarm, like he wasn’t expecting the pass but recovered quickly and moved forwards. There were two people marking him but Kira maneuvered past them easily. 

Barou looked flustered as well but reacted swiftly and moved to take on Kira as he moved towards the goal. As Barou stopped Kira’s advance, the markers he got past caught back up and were spread out along the goal. Leaving no blind spots for Kira to take advantage of. 

Isagi himself had moved up to the right but with his own markers on him there wasn’t much he could do to help. 

“Kira!” a voice yelled. It was Bachira who was a little ways back from Kira to the right. 

Kira passed the ball back to Bachira. And Isagi continued to run forwards now that there was opening for more movement. “It’s up! Isagi!” 

Bachira kicked the ball up in a high arch and Isagi trapped it easily on his leg. Nice!

Again, Barou was in front of him. Instead of waiting for him to make the first move, the alpha was running at him, obviously going for the ball.  

“Isagi! Behind you!”

“No! Over here!” 

Rachi and Kunigami. 

Isagi took a split second to think. While he had never tried it against a real players or much at all, he could maybe pull it off now… 

Barou was coming at him quickly so he whipped his head at Kunigami and caught the other's eye. Then, lined his feet up to kick to the side. Making it really obvious where he was passing. 

He looked up and watched Barou’s eyes. 

Barou wanted to scoff at the others' carelessness. He was so obvious in what he was planning. While sure, he could admit that the blue haired boy, Isagi, had some skill–evident from their few encounters–it wouldn’t be enough to take him down. He was still the king and ruled the field. And rulers needed to know what their subjects were up to. 

He looked over at the spiky orange haired player who was making a ruckus. Trying to get the number 11 to pass to him, which worked as the other moved to do so. It wouldn’t work out though, as he was already moving to block it. 

He followed Isagi’s gaze once more to the orange haired alpha. 

Then, he looked back to player 11. Only to find him gone. 

Wait, gone? 

Barou looked around and couldn’t see the boy or the ball anywhere. Everyone’s eyes were focused on something behind him. So he whipped around to find the blue haired boy already running a few feet away from him. He tried to catch up but it was too late as Isagi kicked the ball into the goal. 

“YEAH!” Isagi cheered. 

“Isagi! How did you do that?!” 

“He didn’t even react!” 

“You literally disappeared!!” 

Barou stormed up to the team and grabbed onto the omega’s uniform. “What games are you playing at? How did you do that?!” he demanded. 

“Get your hands off of me!” Isagi demanded, pushing the alpha away. “What’s your problem!”

The others surrounded him, Bachira and Kira at the front, and stepped in front of him to block any more of Barou’s advances. 

“I’m the king, I won't be bested by some lousy subject!” 

“More like a chuunibyo tyrant! I mean you played with an omega and get violent! Nothing but alpha testosterone up there. Can’t stand an omega beating you?” Isagi shot back. Oops. Like earlier, he didn’t mean to say all that. 

“W-what? This has n-nothing to do with you being..a.a…o-omega..” Barou stammered. Isagi was surprised at the change of tone. 

“Huh, what’s wrong with you?” Bachira asked. 

“Yeah, why’d you get weird at the word omega,” Igarashi asked. 

When Isagaguri said, ‘omega’ Barou’s face tinted pink and his face pinched up. “H-h-huh..!!? Who got weird!” 

“Wow..” Kunigami said. 

“Are we in middle school? Can’t handle the word omega?” 

Barou stepped back and pointed a finger accusingly at them. “S-shut up! I’ll make you regret messing with the king!” he declared before scurrying over to his side of the field. 

Well, you meet all kinds of people here. 

It does kind of make sense with his weird chuunibyo thing going on. Guess the guy was stuck in 7th grade.