Chapter Text
Chapter One: The Gamer Observes, Notices & Sees Things
To say things had changed for Blue Lock since the U-20 and their victory would be one massive understatement. Everything had changed, from the second the world had registered their presence for the first time and had given them their acknowledgement. The football scene had never been so intense: the revelation of the Blue Lock project wasn’t a bluff and was now being taken more seriously, if the sudden interest of the international clubs that had called Ego back to accept his invitation to Japan was any indication.
Change… was good. At the very least, Japanese football seemed to become more of a reality than a dead dream thanks to Isagi Yoichi scoring the definite goal that opened the door to world-wide recognition. And now that the Neo Egoist League had begun, Hiori Yo couldn’t back out. There was no escape anymore—not since the match against the Ubers where he’d broken down the chains he’d put on himself all these years ago. He’d finally let loose and the ultra sadistic and shameless egoist that had been lurking underneath crawled out of his shell to step onto the stage.
Thanks to Isagi Yoichi. Because of Isagi Yoichi.
If anything, Hiori would say that choosing Bastard München had been a good choice. The training regimen definitely was something else under the legendary Noel Noa, but he was managing. However, finally feeling a real passion for football during the match against Ubers after Isagi had managed to link with him to score the final goal had confirmed that Hiori needed to be more hungry. Such delight at channeling his spell with another player, who used to be unremarkable at first given his previous stats, had felt amazing. The rush and sickening elation Hiori had gone through after they’d won had made him feel the most positive emotions he’d ever experienced in his life since leaving home for Blue Lock. As a human being, as a football player and as an alpha who’d proudly bared his fangs and had bitten off on prey for the first time.
Isagi Yoichi was formidable. As a human being, as a football player. And as an omega. The only omega who could somehow keep up with all these alphas.
…
Should Hiori also add that Isagi Yoichi being an omega in an alpha-dominated industry had been part of the revelation that had made the world even more interested in Blue Lock?
In fact… the world had actually gone a bit crazy since the very innocent revelation of his sub-gender.
Because, if you were to ask Hiori Yo and so many of his peers… the fact that the Heart of Blue Lock had revealed himself to be an omega just didn’t make any sense. No more than the insane play he’d demonstrated during the last minutes of the U-20 match that had managed to counter Itoshi Rin’s destructive output and stun the older Itoshi (Hiori wasn’t blind, nor was he was idiot: something about Isagi had triggered all the alphas during that match and it wasn’t just because this omega had dared to interfere in the ridiculous showdown between the brothers). The energy surrounding Isagi had drawn everybody to him, their enraged and dilated eyes glued to his back, as if he’d released more than just pheromones that day and Hiori couldn’t help but ponder more about it whenever he wasn’t training with the others.
Although omegas had become alarmingly rare nowadays and even before he was born, he’d still studied them during biology classes. Interesting and very fascinating creatures, considering just how much they could actually handle despite being inferior to alphas; not only did their constitution make them incredibly unique in their own way because they were the perfect balance between resilience, strength and softness, but their near extinction within the Japanese society had driven people to grow quite protective over the few omegas that were discovered. With how low the birth rate in Japan had sunk these last few years, the concerning lack of omegas was secretly making the government panic about the reproduction rate.
And Isagi… Isagi who had inadvertently revealed his sub-gender to the whole world by releasing the most addicting, sweetest and most intoxicating pheromones (was it blueberries and oat milk? Insane combination, anyone would go nuts!) once victory had been seized at the U-20, might have unintentionally set the football scene ablaze—if the bewildered looks he’d been given by most of the players on the field were any indication of their shock, despite the euphoria Blue Lock had been bathing in. In fact, Hiori was certain he’d never seen Rin look this livid. It was as if he was more furious over not having realized he’d been duped by Isagi’s deception than having been stolen the decisive goal that had sealed the fate of Blue Lock.
“Now that I think about it, I might understand where Isagi’s coming from by not telling us the truth about his sub-gender,” Yukimiya had mused one afternoon after doing some drills, his gaze thoughtful. “The football scene is largely dominated by alphas due to their constitution as the superior sub-gender and that’s been a common fact for so long. So while it could have been nice to have some omegas to create some kind of balance in the industry, we… might have preferred them away from such brutal and unforgiving career.”
“Speak for yourself!” Igarashi had piped in, rudely pointing at the duo with a fierce expression. “He’s defying the odds and showing everybody that football can be for both omegas and betas as well, and I applaud him for that devotion! May the Great Buddha bless him!”
May the Great Buddha bless him indeed.
Not knowing what to say to that, Hiori had only chuckled before nodding in agreement. If it wasn’t for Isagi’s intervention during the match against Ubers, the gamer would have remained uselessly benched while he’d managed to actually link with the guy that had succeeded in seeing the craziest opportunity to crush the enemy. And he’d been the only one to manage such feat.
At that very moment, which had come after the U-20 against the Japanese football team, it had become clear to so many people that Isagi Yoichi wasn’t any ordinary omega—not even in the traditional sense. He was becoming more and more appealing by the day, so much that he was able to inspire those who’d been so close to giving up football for good. Hiori had heard it straight from Chigiri Hyouma, who was still a bit miffed about the whole omega ordeal no one had guessed before (if the pursed lips, the sour expression and the bitter smell of jasmines and cherry blossoms that emanated from the redhead were any indication).
“It’s incredible how he can talk shit to you and actually back it up, right?” Chigiri had huffed irritably when they were getting lunch together. He was still smiling though, his gaze both amused and fond. “He used to be so unremarkable at first because we all thought he was just an ordinary beta with no special stats back in Team Z but then, the matches kept happening, Isagi kept getting better and impressing us, the U-20 happened and… everything just changed. I thought it was because he’d lied about his sub-gender, but…”
Hiori had hummed with a light frown, thoughtful. “… but there’s something else underneath, right? Something other than just the omega part of him that we’ve come to be introduced to?”
Under the lights of the cafeteria and amid the chatter inside the wide room thanks to all various members of the different stratums, Hiori had managed to catch both Chigiri’s perplexed expression and burning red eyes as they’d dilated in remembrance.
“… Isagi is definitely hiding something else that has nothing to do with his omega sub-gender. I don’t know what it is, but I can tell that it’s both drawing me in and warning me to stay away; my alpha… doesn’t seem to know what to make of Isagi, although it’s attracted to his omega. It’s been like this since the U-20 and the match between Bastard and Manshine did nothing but solidify our attraction towards him,” Chigiri had hissed low with a growl, closing his eyes. “Remember when he fainted right after Bastard’s victory and the most intoxicating and heavenly scent you’ve ever smelled as an alpha triggered all of us? I thought I was about to go insane. It took all my self-control to not march over there and…”
Ah. Oh yeah.
This particular moment had become the most talked about subject ever since the Neo Egoist League started—from the second Isagi was finally understanding the mechanics behind his Metavision to the instant he’d pushed himself too far and had passed out due to exhaustion, inadvertently releasing a scent that had gotten all the unmated alphas hot and bothered. He’d literally gone into heat. Hiori wasn’t stupid, nor was he blind, as even he had been affected by the crazy pheromones released in the air; never had his alpha been so agitated and triggered, as it had mostly been repressed down under due to his parents’ controlling and obsessive drive for him to play football, so it had shocked him to high heaven when he’d reacted to Isagi’s predicament. His alpha had clawed underneath, had burned hot inside him, had made him growl loud to assert dominance over the delicious unconscious omega and mark his territory. All of Hiori’s instincts he’d mostly repressed had been calling out to him, ordering him to do something about the situation, to fight for the prize that was just laid out in front of them.
Claim. Claim. Claim. Claim. Claim. Claim.
That was all Hiori had wanted to do to Isagi—among all the dirty and insane images that had flashed through his sadistic mind at lightning speed. He wasn’t going to lie to himself; the fantasies he’d quickly imagined in just a few seconds had been wild, perhaps a bit violent in order to tame that egoist. Even Nagi, who is the epitome of laziness, looked so ready to pounce, the gamer remembered as he lazily chewed on some apple, his blue eyes finding Isagi’s bed. It was currently empty, as the occupant had gone somewhere else to probably train or lounge in the Spanish stratum with Bachira, who’d pestered the omega about hanging out together for some time. It was definitely not about building up something between the two—something that might steer Isagi’s attention away from Rin, who had been alternating between training like a madman to crush the omega in their oncoming match and lurking around the German stratum for no reason (getting an answer out of the gloomy alpha had been like pulling teeth from a very disgruntled child). Hiori was certain that both Bachira and Rin must have ulterior motives for showing up at the German stratum every so often; it would be normal for the former to visit Isagi every so often and demand his attention… but for the latter?
It didn’t make sense. Rin didn’t make sense.
As neither had been present to witness the suffocating display put by all the present alphas the moment Isagi had gone into heat, Rin and Bachira’s alphas had no claim—yet. Them coming over to ask the blue-eyed striker to hang out over the most ridiculous and unnecessary reasons was so obvious to Hiori that he was almost laughing at the predicament that had been annoying the hell out of both Ego and Noa. But if anything, Bachira and Rin were stubbornly and rightfully oddly persistent, though their attempts at taking Isagi away from the German stratum would be rebuffed by the stern Noa. The alphas who’d been around the Heart of Blue Lock during the Manshine vs. Bastard match were already tense enough, with Nagi strategically choosing a simple yet effective approach at the common mess hall to claim a seat right next to Isagi, immediately followed by an unusually eager Reo, a smiling Chigiri and an overly enthusiastic Bachira—whose chaotic alpha had been releasing the craziest, possessive and maddening pheromones around Isagi. Even Yukimiya, who’d had it out with Isagi before and during the match with Manshine, seemed to have ‘mellowed out’ a little towards him.
However, there was something that caught Hiori’s attention and, to be frank, was slowly starting to freak him out despite being a very difficult person to startle. Or rather, someone.
That certain someone would be Michael Kaiser.
Upon thinking about the German, Hiori couldn’t help but scowl rather harshly. He even growled in annoyance, his chest vibrating strongly, and his eyes flashed in restrained annoyance… and resentment. A bitter and burned scent of cotton candy immediately flooded the room to show his emotions, strong to his sensitive nose. The gamer leaned back against his pillow to stare up at the ceiling, thoughtful and a little too agitated for his taste. Ever since their group had chosen Bastard München for the Neo Egoist League, they’ve had to endure the somehow constant and daunting presence of that German alpha, who had immediately made it clear he’d only come to Japan to meet Isagi and had thus decided to make himself the most annoying obstacle in the omega’s path. No one else had his attention—only Isagi.
And Isagi… had been reacting pretty strongly to Kaiser.
Too strongly.
If you were just as observant as Hiori Yo was, due to being a huge gamer, you wouldn’t think that Isagi and Kaiser’s clashes happened only because of their respective natures as alpha and omega. Michael Kaiser being the ace of Bastard München, a genius striker of his own right because he was crazy talented and could actually get serious when he wanted to (Hiori had proof of this statement during the match against Ubers, where the German seemed to have completely snapped and pulled an extraordinary Kaiser Impact upside down, fucking hell!), had now zeroed in on Isagi in a way that was making all the alphas from the four stratums quite… antsy. His smirks, taunting remarks and insults would rile up, annoy or straight up piss the hell out of everyone who would give him the time of day. But the way he’d fixated on the blue-eyed omega since the match against Manshine City was undoubtedly unnerving, especially since he had no concept of personal space. At first, Isagi would jerk away from Kaiser with a pointed glare and a wild snarl—he had the audacity to snarl at the arrogant and pompous alpha like a menacing animal!—at the German, whose smug expression wouldn’t leave his face. The fangs peeking from Isagi’s mouth had been visible, strangely bigger and sharper than what Hiori had expected. But what had been Kaiser’s reaction?
His grin had widened considerably, sharp and dangerous with bigger and and more fearsome fangs, and—Hiori was certain he hadn’t imagined it!—his pupils had shrunk to slits for a split second, had trembled even, before returning back to normal. The gamer could swear he’d perceived a low purr emanating from the German alpha, as if he’d been extremely elated by Isagi’s reaction. The icy blue eyes had been so predatory, full of—huh?
What? What the hell was that?
However, Hiori could vividly remember the times he’d caught something that definitely wasn’t normal at all. And although he could discuss this with Kurona (maybe Yukimiya, if Model Boy had cooled his jets for real after scoring a goal due to Isagi’s back-heel shot that had overthrown the German), the gamer wasn’t sure if they could get to the bottom of this without alerting his dorm mate. Just how secretive had Isagi Yoichi turned out to become when there were too many alphas who were eyeing him, obviously waiting for the right time to strike and claim?
So, so many risks.
It wasn’t rare for Isagi to wander off after practice and dinner late in the evening, even when he was clearly tired from their activities. Hiori had noticed that he’d started this little routine almost right after the match against Manshine once he’d recovered from his sudden and unexpected heat, which had made him curious; tailing a teammate that wasn’t doing anything wrong was stalker behavior, but since the young omega needed to be supervised so that the incident wouldn’t happen again, the gamer had thought he’d just take on the task by himself—he liked Isagi, so he didn’t mind. Cloaking his scent with some blockers had been easy and being silent had long become part of his character, so he’d followed the omega without any problem.
Well… until he’d stumbled upon one of the strangest scenes he could ever witness—besides him playing a good football game and enjoying it for the first time.
Isagi had gone back to the viewing room for some reason (no surprise there, that was his spot even before the Neo Egoist League) and the door was ajar, allowing the light of the TV to filter through the crack. Hiori had been about to approach when his keen ears had picked up an unfamiliar sound, which had made him stop in his tracks in surprise. It had sounded like… purring. A deep, low and definitely pleasant purr to listen to. It was almost like there was a big cat inside the viewing room with Isagi. Rough as it had sounded, it had grated in his ears and had made his heart pound quite erratically in his ribcage. It hadn’t sounded like the usual sound any alpha or omega could make, as it had been just too animalistic. Plus, Hiori could also detect another familiar scent meshing with the intoxicating smell of blueberries and oat milk—Fresh roses, his mind had helpfully supplied that evening.
Kaiser had been in there too. With Isagi.
This… this just couldn’t be good. As in, he couldn’t hear any bickering from the two even if he were to strain his ears—just that purring and the sounds of the television. The omega and the alpha hadn’t even sounded like they were at each other’s throat.
Eyes wide in child-like wonder and blinking innocently, the gamer had been as silent as possible when he’d peeked through the crack. He’d even held his breath—just in case, because it could have betrayed him on the spot, as Kaiser had some ridiculously keen senses that would alert him whenever someone would either observe him or talk about him (he’d somehow heard Yukimiya bitch about him all the way from the entrance of the mess hall when they were already sitting with their lunches and had asked him to say whatever he had to bitch about to his face, shocking the life out of the bespectacled model and others around him). Whatever this outing had ended to be, it was just the beginning.
Hm… Isagi Yoichi lounging with Michael Kaiser inside the viewing room was one thing.
Isagi Yoichi nesting with Michael Kaiser while lying and snuggling on top of Michael Kaiser was a whole other bunch of nonsensical madness Hiori hadn’t expected at all.
Because he couldn’t mistake it. He’d seen pictures and read descriptions in biology classes. All those clothes carefully organized and rearranged in a pit big enough to hold both strikers inside had clearly confirmed that this was a nest built for omegas to bask in by an alpha—who would scent the clothes beforehand with their own smell to soothe and comfort the intended. Seeing Kaiser sprawled inside the nest with Isagi right on top of him was one crazy image to take in, especially because these two didn’t get along—at all. And yet, Isagi had been peacefully pliant in his position, so much that the German had wrapped his arms around his smaller body to hug the omega to his chest (one of his hands had sneaked right under Isagi’s pajamas’ top and had been stroking his toned back in a tender caress, for fuck’s sake!) and had been cradling his head in his neck just as tenderly—again, what the hell? These gestures didn’t make any sense whatsoever, none of this truly did. The tattooed hand that had been cradling Isagi’s head had been carding long and elegant fingers through his hair, stroking the scalp with such affection that Hiori couldn’t help the way his jaw had dropped open in shock. And Isagi, though he couldn’t see his face at the time as his face had been hidden in the crook of Kaiser’s neck, had seemed like he was enjoying the attention since he’d allowed himself to be stroked by the German so intimately while he was nesting and hadn’t been complaining at all. Their legs had even been tangled together, with Isagi keeping one hand on top of Kaiser’s muscled chest.
And Kaiser in all this?
The bastard. Had been. Smiling.
And the worst part had been that it hadn’t been one of his usual smirks—cruel, daunting and absolutely mocking to the core. No, this one had been so different that Hiori had openly gawked at the unfamiliar and disturbing sight because it had made Kaiser look fucking gorgeous and handsome. This smile had been soft, so relaxed and… happy? Eyes closed to purely enjoy the moment he’d been having with Isagi, he’d looked like he was in high heaven and had—he’d been the one purring?! All this time?! When the omega had moved to rub his cheek—rub his cheek like a… —against the German’s so tenderly, Kaiser’s smile had widened considerably, displaying these dangerously sharp and long canines that still looked much bigger than what normal alphas possessed these days.
The purring had grown louder in volume in response, making the omega chuckle.
“You purr too loud, shitty emperor,” he’d whispered before dipping his head.
A second later, Kaiser had jolted with a low growl that had seemed to reverberate all around the room in such animalistic manner that Hiori had felt chills running down his spine upon listening to them. The tattooed hand had tightened in Isagi’s hair while the one underneath his pajamas’ top had visibly done the same. A warning from the alpha to the omega.
However, Isagi had chuckled again while lifting his head to gaze down at Kaiser with a cheeky grin that had bared his own fangs—again, way too big and sharp. The German had been frowning, a little annoyed at having been interrupted, but not mad at all. Isagi had only huffed, rolling his eyes.
“Just get back here and shut up, Yoichi,” Kaiser had groused before trying to pull him back. But Isagi had resisted with a big grin, which had led to a struggling tug-of-war between the two strikers. “Yoichi…”
“Huh-huh!”
After a few seconds of the two testing themselves, with the German letting out a few warning growls at the chuckling Heart of Blue Lock, the struggle had ended with Kaiser rolling them over into the nest, slamming Isagi into the warm and fluffy pillows and clothes. The alpha had somehow rearranged their position into kneeling right between the omega’s legs, forcing them apart so easily, and had restrained him with one hand holding both wrists above Isagi’s head while the other hand had taken hold of his chin in a tight grip—not tight enough to hurt, but enough to get his attention. When the younger man had had the audacity to ‘playfully’ snap his jaws at Kaiser’s face, the gamer and the German had openly gawked at him in shock, staring wide-eyed at this grinning omega with twinkling blue eyes.
Again, what the hell?
Eventually, Kaiser wasn’t about to let that slide; his expression had darkened considerably while his own grin had grown and stretched from ear to ear, as feral as Isagi’s. A vein had throbbed on the right side of his forehead, showing his irritation, and his scent had burned Hiori’s nose so much that he’d almost sneezed. Thank fuck he’d covered his face with his sleeve, because the alpha hadn’t gone easy on the pheromones. The fierceness in both sets of eyes was something that Hiori just couldn’t get out of his head, because both strikers had looked feral without even showing their fangs. The second Kaiser had swiftly dived in to bite at Isagi’s right cheek just as ‘playfully’, the gamer had almost screamed upon seeing the fangs protrude on the skin.
But—
Isagi had just relaxed back in his nest and had laughed.
He’d just… laughed.
And the joy displayed on his face had been so genuine, so carefree that it had made him look like a child. The intoxicating scent of blueberries and oat milk had flooded the entire viewing room the next second, confirming that Isagi hadn’t felt hurt by Kaiser’s abrupt bite. The smile, so wide and innocent, had looked so right on his face that Hiori couldn’t help the way he’d admired the duo, fascinated by their game.
“Alright, alright, I yield,” Isagi had giggled, cheeks red from laughter and eyes so bright. “But I’ve wanted to do this for a while now, because you bit me so much during my heat!”
Oh? Hiori had blinked and perked in interest, his gaze still taking everything in. Slowly, Kaiser had released Isagi’s cheek to gaze down at him with a… a look that had conveyed an emotion the gamer would have never thought to be possible with this arrogant and insane prick.
Fondness. Sugary with a soft smile.
It completely contradicted with the feral looks both Isagi and Kaiser would sport most of the time on the field, as if things between hadn’t changed at all. But now that the omega seemed to have confirmed that he’d spent his heat with the German ace of Bastard München, their dynamic had changed. He could see it. Did that mean that they secretly were a pair? Upon checking, Isagi didn’t have any marking bite where his scent glands were located, so he hadn’t been claimed by Kaiser, but… the way the omega had been nesting with this irritable alpha was just too familiar and incriminating—no way in hell would Isagi and Kaiser be able to deny this, especially with how shamelessly assuming the German was with everything regarding his actions.
“Fuck around and find out, love,” Kaiser had drawled with a lazy smirk, his gaze intense. Then he’d licked Isagi’s right cheek slowly twice, triggering the latter’s giggles again. “I already told you I’m not really impressed with your bites so if I have to discipline you, in the way we both prefer, I’ll do it gladly.”
“So dramatic,” Isagi had huffed. “But in any case…”
He’d lifted his head to bump his forehead against Kaiser’s in the most tender and affectionate manner Hiori had ever seen—and he had no idea why this particular gesture still stood out to him the most. Then, Isagi had wrapped his legs around Kaiser’s hips to bring him even closer, which had been much obliged by the German with a widening smirk, and had licked—licked, for crying out loud!—his mouth obscenely right before catching the man’s lower lip with a cheeky grin and his sharp teeth.
The growl that had escaped Kaiser’s chest had been downright animalistic enough to make Hiori shiver in silent awe.
“C’mon, shabby emperor,” Isagi had purred low quite seductively. “Nest with me. Like we’ve been doing for a while now.”
“Even if Cotton Candy over here is spying? He’s been ogling you for a while now and I’m fucking over it.”
At this instant, two pairs of blue eyes had snapped towards Hiori at lightning speed, the black pupils having turned into slits to signal impending danger. Hiori had jolted, alarm bells ringing loudly in his head as he’d taken in their expressions; Kaiser had looked livid and ready to strike, immediately moving his half-naked body to hover over Isagi protectively and possessively while growling menacingly at the younger alpha. His teeth had been bared into a snarl, his fangs dangerous and sharp enough to tear easily into flesh. The scent of roses that had been flooding the viewing room, suave and pleasant, had suddenly started to burn his sensitive nose horribly. On the other hand, the omega hadn’t looked as pissed as his pair but the bitter annoyance Hiori could feel oozing from his own scent and his expression had been palpable.
Clearly, the gamer had interrupted a very intimate moment between an alpha and his omega and Michael Kaiser despised being interrupted and sharing Isagi’s attention with others he deemed unworthy.
Good ta know, Hiori had thought before making a swift escape.
…
…
…
So. Isagi and Kaiser seemed to be, from what Hiori had observed… a pair. And apart from him, no one else seemed to have caught a whiff of what has been going on since the omega’s heat when several alphas were actually considering going for it.
The German had been fast. And now, he was going to create a lot of turmoil around.
“Bachira will flip,” Hiori mumbled, taking his phone to look for a game to play. “Hm… oh, what about Ness?”