The loss to Team V didn't just hit Team X—it reverberated through every corner of their dorm. Blue Lock's concrete walls did nothing to muffle the tension between its strikers. Every breath, every step, every glance carried weight.
Akashi Sejiro sat by the end of the hallway, stretching quietly as Perfect Memory looped the entire Team V match.
Every strength.
Every failure.
Every mismatch.
Barou's power creates openings… but he doesn't recognize them. He draws gravity but refuses to redirect it. Against Nagi and Reo, that stagnation kills us.
His red eyes sharpened.
But if he changes—if even a little—our dynamic becomes lethal.
Across the room, Barou Shouei paced like an agitated lion, frustration radiating off him in thick waves.
"Tch. That white-haired freak… that purple passer… next time, I'll crush them," Barou muttered.
Akashi rose, stepping into Barou's space—an intentional collision of egos.
"We lost because your tunnel vision made you predictable."
Barou's glare was instant. "Say that again, red-eyes."
"You heard me." Akashi didn't blink. "If you don't pass when needed, we'll lose again."
Something sparked between them—pressure, friction, the promise of a future explosion.
Barou clicked his tongue and looked away, but inside he thought:
I don't need him. I'm the King. But… damn it… that goal he scored—
I couldn't do that. Not like that.
They didn't resolve anything.
But something had shifted.
It was small.
Barely visible.
But real.
---
Training: The First Spark
Training the next morning felt like a battlefield simulation.
Barou bulldozed through drills with his usual violent efficiency.
Akashi adapted around him—matching timing, reading transitions, mapping Barou's explosive routes with microscopic precision.
The midfielder from before watched them with a mix of unease and awe.
"They're… starting to sync," he whispered.
From the door as he entered, Isagi was observing quietly with Bachira and Chigiri.
"They don't get along," Isagi muttered, "but their movements… they're beginning to overlap."
Bachira tilted his head. "Not friendship—just instinct. Feels kinda fun, though!"
Kunigami folded his arms. "If they stabilize, Team X becomes… scary."
Chigiri smirked. "As long as Barou stops being an idiot."
---
Match Time - Team Z vs Team X
When Team X arrived on the field for their next match, they immediately saw Team Z warming up—faster, sharper, more cohesive than before.
Their captain, Minato Haruki, wore a determined expression.
"Last time, they crushed us," he said to his team. "But today, we adapt."
Beside him, Kaito Senda—Team Z's calm playmaker—observed Akashi with surgical attention.
"That one," Senda murmured. "The tall one with red eyes. He's their anchor point. If we break him, they crumble."
But even as he spoke, he felt it a sharp gaze.
Akashi watching him back.
He already read me. Before we even started.
Senda exhaled.
"This will be rough."
---
Match Start
The whistle screamed.
Team Z launched their opening attack with surprising structure.
Minato sprinted down the left flank with sharp acceleration.
Senda played a threaded pass that slipped between two defenders.
"You're not scoring this time!" Barou roared, cutting off the lane.
But instead of blasting forward, he made a choice that surprised even himself.
He passed back instinctively.
Directly to Akashi.
What the hell am I doing? Barou thought.
Relying on someone else? Ridiculous… but—
Akashi was already moving.
The moment the ball touched his foot, the Eye of the Emperor activated, mapping every micro-movement of Team Z's formation.
Left back leaning inward. Keeper bracing early. Midfielder late on rotation.
He cut diagonally.
One touch.
Two steps.
A clinical strike.
1–0.
Team Z froze,
Isagi's eyes widened. "Their link-up… it's actually forming."
Chigiri tilted his head. "Took them long enough."
Isagi paused and started thinking what can he do to secure a goal and what piece was he missing that could make him score against a monsters like Akashi and Barou.
---
The Second Goal was scored as.
Team Z adjusted. They packed the center, forcing Barou outward.
Perfect.
Barou slammed through the flank, tanking a shoulder check like it was nothing.
Akashi mirrored his route from the center lane—timing precise, distance calculated with one look to barou.
Barou's internal monologue surged:
Pass? Again? Tch… fine! Don't make me regret it!
He fired a violent, ego-filled pass.
Akashi intercepted in stride, dribbled past the last defender with Absolute Offence, and chipped the keeper with surgical precision.
2–0.
Kunigami let out a low whistle. "That coordination is getting dangerous."
Bachira giggled. "They're starting to look like a duo!"
Isagi clenched his fists. "Damn… I need to evolve my thoughts to match the game."
---
Team X Dominates
Team Z tried to pivot through Senda's midfield control, but Akashi suffocated his passing lanes.
Every time Senda looked up—
Akashi was already in the way but Isagi responded was coming to support Senda.
How is he reading me so easily?! Senda panicked internally.
Barou sensed the shift too.
"Give me the damn ball!" he shouted.
Akashi flicked a high pass with perfect lift.
Barou launched forward like a missile, barreling past two defenders before smashing the ball into the net.
3–0.
The whistle blew.
Team X had dismantled Team Z with clinical brutality.
Barou flexed his jaw. "That's how a King plays."
Akashi exhaled calmly. "Then keep acting like one."
Their egos hadn't softened.
But their movements aligned.
And in Blue Lock—
that was needed to survive.