[26] Saitama
"Oh, goodie. I'm not too late"
Izumo commented as he gazed at a university stadium in front of him while wearing a black cap, a black mask, and a black windbreaker.
He could see multiple teenagers wearing their respective uniforms in his surroundings as well as some unrelated people.
And he happened to be one of those unrelated individuals.
Indeed...
He came to this place, specifically at Saitama Prefecture at some random school since this was the place designated as the venue for this preliminary match.
As for the reason he did such a thing?
Naturally, It was to watch someone's game...
Someone he deemed important enough for him to skip the very first match of a very important tournament.
"I really hope I didn't just waste my time coming here"
Izumo muttered as he lowered his cap and smiled beneath the mask before entering the stadium and heading toward the audience stand.
Finding an empty chair, he walked toward it and soon sat down as he then proceeded to gaze around, seemingly looking for someone.
But alas, he didn't seem to find that someone and just went back to focus on the empty field, waiting for the match to start.
And he waited for a couple of minutes until the speaker turned on before the commentator for today's match spoke with his voice resounding throughout the stadium.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen~ for this year's Inter-high preliminary match!"
The commentator greeted everyone from the audience stands with enthusiasm and vigor in his voice which elicited most of the spectators to cheers.
"F-F-For the first match... drumroll please"
The commentator drummed his fingers against the mic, attempting to imitate the sound of drums as the man tried to hype up today's match.
"On the right side comes the Sakurai High School!"
Upon introducing the team, 11 players shortly walked out and stepped inside the field with their hands waving at the spectators.
Meanwhile, a group of students in the stands, wearing the Sakurai uniform stood up and started cheering as they took a banner and raised it up in the air for everyone to see.
"Now on the other side comes one of the favorites to win..."
"Please welcome, the Ichinan High School!"
This time, the audience stands erupted with greater cheers upon introducing one of the seeded teams in this year's tournament as 11 players soon walked out and stepped inside the field.
Cheers became even louder as a crowd of students in the stands, wearing Ichinan uniforms began chanting, took out a banner, and drummed the drums as the sound echoed throughout the stadium.
The disparity between the two clearly showed which one was the stronger and more popular team just based on the cheers.
Meanwhile, Izumo who upon hearing the familiar school called out immediately sat up straight with his elbow rested on his knees and his hands locked together as his chin rested atop them.
He was clearly interested just from his expression alone considering his eyes narrowed, boring his gaze at the Ichinan team before an excited smile formed beneath his mask when he saw a familiar young man among the eleven.
In fact, it was this very team that he had looked forward to watching since that someone he came after was situated within them.
Indeed...
For him or anyone who had read the manga.
This school was something everyone would recognize since it was where Isagi Yoichi, the protagonist was enrolled in.
And he, Izumo specifically skipped his match just to come here for him.
After all, how could he possibly miss his favorite character's first high school match?
Frankly, he was looking forward to seeing the pre-Blue Lock Isagi technique and skill level.
He knew from the bits of information in the spin-off novel that Isagi had a nickname he earned during middle school...
The Unbeatable Striker.
It was too bad that Isagi's potential and ego died off after he joined Ichinan because of the damn sh*tty coach philosophy of One For All and All For One.
Truly, another victim of this second-rate country...
Thankfully it started to come back after the young man was invited to Blue Lock.
Still, it was unfortunate for Izumo that he wouldn't be able to see Isagi unlock his original ego in the manga since he had died early on.
Though on the flip side, he could now see it in person instead.
"Buckle up on your seat, everyone! The match is about to begin!"
The commentator abruptly shouted through the mic, surprising Izumo out of his thoughts as he then focused his attention back on the field.
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Meanwhile, in Tokyo...
"Huddle up"
Kousuke entered the locker room and proceeded to order the team instantly which the players did so and gathered around him.
And just as he took out a small whiteboard and was about to give instructions for today's first match...
A voice suddenly interrupted him, causing him to look toward the player who spoke up.
"Hold on, coach"
"What?"
"Izumo is not here yet"
Akai stepped forward and reminded Kousuke as the team also noticed Izumo missing from the beginning.
They initially assumed Izumo to be with Kousuke since that was usually the case most of the time.
But as they saw their coach walk in alone without their ace, the team gradually became worried.
On the other hand, Kousuke didn't care about the matter at all as he was more annoyed and fixated on the fact that he was interrupted instead.
Though he wanted to just shrug it off...
Unfortunately, the team wouldn't be able to focus on the match if he didn't say anything, forcing him to explain the matter to the players.
"Fine..."
Kousuke rolled his eyes and moaned in clear annoyance as he cleared his throat and was about to explain when a sudden light flashed in his eyes, swallowing the words he was about to utter.
Meanwhile, the team looked confused when they saw their coach pause for a moment before a mischievous smile appeared on his face.
"Coach...? You okay?
Akai asked, feeling concerned at the unusual behavior of their coach.
"Very much so"
"..."
"Don't worry about it"
Kousuke responded as the mischievous smile he had vanished in the next second and was replaced by his usual expression, acting as if his earlier strange behavior didn't happen at all.