Chapter Text
Chapter 1: From a little spark may burst a flame
There they were. After a long way, Blue Lock Japan had reached the final of the U-20 World Cup. It hasn't been an easy path and what lies ahead for them is not simple, either, of course. They are facing the promising U-20 Spain team, led by the current football superstar Bunny Iglesias— the same one who became the reason why Sae Itoshi decided to join Japan's team. And Sae wanted to win this game. He was making sure everyone knew that in the locker room before the match.
“You better give everything you have, bunch of lukewarms” Sae, the captain, said for the 127th time since the final match teams were decided. The whole team was determined to win—if not for the glory of being champions of the World Cup, to avoid getting killed by Sae.
“Of course, Sae-chan!” exclaimed Shidou, as he did every time Sae said literally anything. The Blue Lock players had become used to their dynamics at this point.
In the middle of the calm chaos that the Japan’s locker room tended to be, Chigiri took a deep breath. After everything he has gone through,—being at his peak, suffering from his knee injury, losing every hope of becoming a footballer and starting the Blue Lock program, where he not only rediscovered his passion for football but also met some of the most important people in his life today— he decided that he deserved to take a moment to appreciate it.
He turned his head to look to his right where one of those most important people in his life sat. Kunigami had his elbows placed on his knees and he was looking to the floor, probably thinking about the match they had ahead or maybe the path he, too, had walked. Probably, an even more complicated path. Despite the link that Chigiri and Kunigami have rebuilt together, there were some aspects about the Wild Card that Kunigami did not want or could not share with the redhair.
Before Kunigami’s elimination during the second selection, Chigiri and him were very close. It is true that, at first, Chigiri was quite rude with everyone due to his lack of motivation towards football. But when he lost his fear and regained his confidence, his relationship with everyone improved: Isagi, Bachira, Reo… but especially with Kunigami. They started to spend more time together. First, during training time and in the gym, helping each other to work out; later, in their free time, where Kunigami was always willing to help Chigiri with his knee care or with his hair routine, even if Chigiri didn't let him, treating him like a princess as the hero he is— or was. But their relationship improved increasingly during the second selection where they decided to team up together with Reo. What started with the excuse of teaming up together just to take revenge on their former colleagues, Bachira and Isagi, became more. The three of them became very close friends. Sometimes just working out, practicing with an eye on the next opponent they would have to face or stretching after a long practice. Other times their interactions became more personal: having a pleasant talk, giving advice to Reo, sharing information about their past before Bluelock, comforting Reo… But sometimes Reo needed some time alone. The betrayal committed at the beginning of the second selection was more difficult for him and sometimes he needed to deal with it alone. And, in Reo’s words, “seeing you two together all the time reminds me of me and Nagi back then”. Chigiri and Kunigami looked confused when Reo told them but they didn’t dare to question it: for their own sake and in order to preserve the few toothbrushes that were left— Reo had broken at least 4 in that week.
That way, Chigiri and Kunigami basically spent whole days together. At the beginning, their conversations revolved around football, how they could help Reo, their interests outside football and other generic topics. However, as days passed by, the atmosphere between them started to change. Very subtly. Almost unnoticeable. But it changed. Everything they did started to feel more intimate. Gestures and words which previously had a friendly and common tone suddenly felt heavier and covered with a halo of sweetness that could give anyone diabetes. Kunigami’s gaze towards Chigiri felt softer and his gestures— how he always made sure Chigiri’s knee was okay, how he gave him a bottle of water at the end of each practice, how he helped the redhead get up when he was seated on the floor and other million heroic gestures that Kunigami used to do— were done with an even greater delicacy than the one he usually possessed, which contrasted sharply with Kunigami's imposing stature and muscles. On the other hand, Chigiri started to confide some of his secrets to Kunigami, such as his fear of re-injuring his knee, how he missed his family even if his sister and mom could be a bit too meddlesome for his liking or how he barely had friends during high school years because he was very focused on football and recovering from his injury. However, Chigiri also started to… flirt? Kunigami couldn't know how to describe it but Chigiri started to add a layer to his words that made him blush; as when Chigiri told Kunigami that the reason why he was nervous before the match against Isagi’s team was because he was playing with him. Kunigami was left speechless and the only reaction he could pull out was a blushing that covered his face and that he tried to hide by looking to the opposite side where the redhead was located.
But then everything changed.
That match changed everything.
Despite their initial confidence, they lost. Reo, Kunigami and Chigiri lost.
And the other team chose Chigiri.
When the name was pronounced out loud Kunigami felt his soul leave his body and everything he could think of was What? No. It can’t be. No. No. No. They can’t take Chigiri. I can’t lose him. Not like this. It can’t be-
“Kunigami” Chigiri’s voice snapped Kunigami out of the trance he was in. "Don't forget. We still haven't won against Isagi. I’ll be holding on to the same frustration and waiting up here,” Chigiri made a brief pause no one but Kunigami could have noticed before adding “hero”.
This gave Kunigami the energy he needed to recompose himself and help Reo to do the same. Chigiri was right. If he wanted to be a hero he needed to behave like one.
But unfortunately, behaving like a hero is not something to be awarded for in Blue Lock.
Blue Lock made sure to make that clear.
After playing against Shidou and Igaguri, Reo was chosen and Kunigami had to leave Blue Lock.
Or so he thought.
Before getting to the end of the corridor destined for the losers a second chance was granted to him: the Wild Card. An opportunity or a ticket to hell. Even nowadays Kunigami himself wouldn't know how to describe it.
What he lived there was an absolute nightmare. An experience so awful he didn't want to remember it. But Ego made sure to remind him. After all, that was his biggest and creepiest project: to create a copy of Noel Noa. He couldn’t let Kunigami forget it or all his efforts would be wasted. So that was Kunigami’s ordeal. Not only did he have to experience hell but he also was condemned to be unable to forget it.
That way the Neo Egoist League came. The news of Kunigami returning to Blue Lock caught Chigiri by surprise, as it happened with everyone in Blue Lock. But in Chigiri’s case, he saw Kunigami for the first time through BLTV. He just couldn’t believe his eyes. Not only because Kunigami has been eliminated and it was impossible for him to be back in Blue Lock (or so he thought) but also because the person he saw on the screen didn't look like the Kunigami he knew. He didn’t look like his hero.
After receiving those news, Chigiri had time to think about how to approach that new Kunigami. With the small exception that he had no idea how to do it. So, after thinking day and night and consuming minutes that turned into hours, he decided that the best way to approach him would be to do it as he would do with the old Kunigami because, even if the cameras of the BLTV couldn’t capture it, Chigiri felt that there were traces of the former Kunigami in his gaze. He couldn’t see it but he could feel it.
And when the match between Manshine and Bastard arrived he did verify his hypothesis.
When he stepped into the field he saw him. This new Kunigami. But Chigiri was right. Something in Rensuke’s gaze remained the same. He couldn’t explain exactly what but he could see his hero. Maybe not the same hero. Probably a new one. But his hero.
When talking about Kunigami’s perspective, the same could not be said. His vision was blurred by the mantras that Ego had drilled into his head and that only allowed him to think about winning and being a good striker—the best striker. The formerly self-proclaimed hero had a very different perspective of everything, starting with the word hero. What had once been his goal and his reason for playing soccer had now become a reminder of his former naivety. Now he despised the word. He felt that he had disappointed his former self and that he didn’t deserve to be called a hero. That is why when he heard that word coming out of Chigiri’s mouth, with Chigigi’s voice impregnating it, he felt a sharp sting in his chest. A feeling he has grown unfamiliar with since he left the Wild Card. Actually, he hasn't felt anything since he got out of that hell. He has lived with only one goal in his mind and not a single feeling has crossed his heart since then.
Until now.
Chigiri seemed to be the exception to everything.
The match started and finished without any significant event. Chigiri tried to talk with Kunigami but the latter’s attitude was too avoidant to even start a significant conversation. Maybe he actually doesn’t care about me anymore, thought Chigiri.
What Chigiri didn’t see was the expression that covered Kunigami’s face when Kaiser told Isagi about Chigiri’s beauty and how he couldn’t wait to crush him. Oh no, you won’t, Kunigami whispered to himself at the same time he closed his fist so hard that nails clawed at his own skin.
However, after that match, Chigiri decided that things weren't going to stay that way.
As they have already played against each other, they were allowed to visit the other team’s stratum. And so Chigiri did. He decided to have a talk with Kunigami. Because if Chigiri was anything, he was stubborn. There he crossed paths with Kunigami himself and Isagi to whom Bachira was added. Chigiri’s idea was to have a private talk with Kunigami but, on second thought, Bachira’s idea of playing a match together probably was the best option. As Chigiri himself had seen in their previous match, Kunigami was not willing to talk. So maybe the game was the best option to spend some time together and exchange some words in the meantime. And so it happened.
Before they realized it, they were all laughing and smiling. All but one. Kunigami kept his cold and impassive facade. However, the fact that he agreed to join them meant a lot. This may be the way, Chigiri thought, I cannot do this alone but with Isagi and Bachira, maybe we can bring back what is left from the old Kunigami.
And since that day, that became Chigiri’s personal goal (in addition to becoming the world’s best striker, of course). He started to spend short and simple moments with Kunigami whenever he could—which wasn't very often, since they were at Blue Lock.
Like that, the end of the Neo Egoist League came and they both got into the final lineup for Japan's team. They got the chance to celebrate it with a big parade hosted by BLTV in which they could receive and see all the support that the world was giving them. However, the atmosphere was extremely bittersweet. The elimination of Nagi caused that. And seeing him and Reo part ways was not a pleasant view for anyone. Especially for Chigiri, who had built a friendship with the two of them. So not only did Chigiri have to deal with the loss of another friend due to the Blue Lock system but he also had to help and comfort Reo, who has lost his soulmate for what seemed the 10th time in this cyclical process that seemed to be Blue Lock. That is why Chigiri decided to sit next to his friend on the bus on the way back to the Blue Lock facility. However, when they were heading to their rooms Chigiri made a pause.
“You can go, Reo” Chigiri said, making an absent-minded Reo come to a halt. “I have to do something first. It won't be long, don’t worry.”
Reo just nodded and continued his way to his room.
Poor man, Chigiri thought, consumed by guilt, But I have to do this—I might not get another chance.
Then, Chigiri retraced his steps and headed over the other corridor. The one that Kunigami has taken. And, after a few minutes he saw a ball of dishevelled orange hair. He ran to catch up with the tallest one's strides.
“Hey-” Chigiri exclaimed as happily as he could pull out, which wasn’t much given the circumstances. But he was interrupted by Kunigami’s voice.
“I don’t want to talk, I’m tired” Kunigami said with a monotone voice.
“You don’t have to be so rude, you know? Like, it’s been a hard day by everyone and-”
“Chigiri,” the redhead stopped talking upon hearing his name. It wasn’t like Kunigami hasn’t called him by his name since he came back, but it was something that happened more rarely than before, that’s for sure. “I’m tired.” This time amber eyes were directed to him and Chigiri could see it. Kunigami was not talking about today. Maybe too, but it was not the main point. What that sentence and those eyes meant was I’m tired of all of this. He was tired of Blue Lock, he was tired physically and mentally, he was tired of not being enough and he was tired of seeing his friends and peers get eliminated as he was not so long ago. It was not a simple sentence, it was a cry for help.
“Oh-” Chigiri whispered as the pieces fell into place. “I see.” He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to act. He has never been in a situation in which he had to comfort someone who has gone through who knows what kind of torture. He has been days and weeks longing for a single moment in which he could get to talk to Kunigami and get to ask him about what happened in the Wild Card. But now that he found himself in that moment—no, not even that—he had simply heard the first sincere sentence from Kunigami in months. And that alone has disarmed him. He didn’t know what to do. Shit, I’m so weak. After months of bothering him just to get a bit closer to him, to rebuild that confidence… and now that I get it, I don’t know what to do, Chigiri tormented himself.
In the absence of words, what Chigiri had left was actions. So he closed the space between Kunigami and him by wrapping his arms around Kunigami’s waist to hug him. It was very slow, as if wanting to take care of a stray dog without scaring him, fearing that he might run off. But that didn’t happen. Kunigami accepted the hug as Chigiri’s face rested on his chest. However, Kunigami didn’t wrap his arm around Chigiri. He still believed he did not deserve that kind of affection. Or any kind of affection at all.
They stood like that for who knows how long until the sound of a closing door snapped them out of their trance and they splitted awkwardly.
“I should probably get going. Reo is waiting for me” Chigiri communicated.
“Yeah.” Kunigami nodded as he placed his hand on his neck before adding “Tell him that I’m really sorry for what has happ-”
“I will.” Chigiri interrupted a bit too excitedly. It was good to see that Kunigami still cared about Reo even after everything that has happened. Then Chigiri gave a small smile before adding “Bye.”
When Chigiri had taken a couple of steps, Kunigami’s voice stormed across the corridor. “Princess,” Chigiri turned his head around upon hearing the nickname, a shiver running down his spine. “I will catch up to you. Don’t forget it,” Kunigami concluded with what seemed like the faintest trace of a smile on his face. He was talking about the final ranking of the NEL in which Chigiri had ranked higher than him.
“We’ll see, hero” Chigiri retorted with the most sincere smile he has worn that day.