Mikage Reo didn’t know what kind of mood he was in at this moment as he witnessed this scene.
The all-too-familiar white-haired figure was currently half-kneeling on the sofa, concealing a black-haired youth with indistinguishable features beneath him. Based on the actions, it appeared as if Nagi Seishiro were the proactive one. At this moment, the two were so close that it was enough to trigger all sorts of groundless associations in anyone who was unaware of the situation.
Perhaps it wasn’t even groundless associations…
Watching Nagi Seishiro’s expression, Mikage Reo thought in a daze.
What kind of expression was this?
It was as if a hunting lion was in the heat of the moment, only to be suddenly interrupted, causing him to gaze at the outsider with slight impatience and slight vigilance.
Was he an outsider?
Mikage Reo felt a sense of immense absurdity.
“Ah, Reo.”
After seeing who had arrived, Nagi Seishiro switched instantly from his vigilant expression to his usual lazy state. Mikage Reo no longer felt that gaze as if he were being watched by a beast.
But Mikage Reo’s mood was not at ease. The information his vision was receiving at the moment exceeded his cognitive limits; no matter what, he would never have imagined that Nagi Seishiro actually had such a relationship with Icarus in private.
Yes, that black-haired figure aside from Icarus, Mikage Reo didn’t think there would be anyone else at this time and this place, and whose figure was so small that Nagi Seishiro’s back alone could block the person completely from sight.
Mikage Reo saw Nagi Seishiro glance toward the person beneath him, his expression appearing somewhat hesitant.
“I’ve disturbed you.”
Feeling a sense of fragmentation as if a treasure had been stolen, Mikage Reo tried his best to suppress the recurring pain in a certain part of his heart, worked hard to smooth out the expression on his face, and moved his feet, intending to leave.
He didn’t want to stay in this place anymore. He was afraid he would say something strange.
“Is that Reo?” Icarus struggled to poke his head out from beneath Nagi Seishiro, “Is something the matter?”
“Ika…” Nagi Seishiro whispered a warning.
“It’s okay. It’s someone I knew before. And since he was once so close to Nagi, he would know sooner or later,” Icarus ruffled Nagi Seishiro’s hair, sat up straight, and looked at Mikage Reo, who was watching him with a complex expression.
“Reo, let’s be formally introduced again: Icarus Cecil, in my capacity as a vampire.”
Mikage Reo stared fixedly at the bloodstains on the black-haired youth’s lips.
He desperately wanted to interrogate the other party: What purpose did he have in running this Blue Lock project to cultivate the world’s number one striker? Was it just to satisfy his own appetite?
“Of course not.” Seeing Mikage Reo’s incredulous expression, Icarus’s expression became serious.
“My goal in starting this project from the very beginning was to cultivate the world’s number one striker; it was absolutely not for personal reasons.”
Seeing that Mikage Reo still seemed a bit skeptical, Icarus said helplessly, “If I were truly short of food, do you think I would need to go to such great lengths?”
Thinking of the power of the Cecil family, Mikage Reo fell silent, reluctantly persuaded.
“Then, what were you two doing?”
Only now did Mikage Reo see clearly. Perhaps it was due to the misalignment of the angle before, but the relationship between the two wasn’t as he had thought, not to mention that Icarus’s lips looked perfect at the moment, with no traces of having been sucked.
This was somewhat difficult to explain. Was he supposed to tell Mikage Reo that Nagi Seishiro was proactively offering his blood to be sucked? It sounded very much like he was covering up some fact.
Icarus thought with a guilty conscience.
“Paying a reward,” Nagi Seishiro said lazily.
“Reward?” Mikage Reo frowned.
“That’s right, Ika’s soccer skills are excellent; this is the reward after finishing soccer practice with him each time.”
Ika? Each time?
Mikage Reo took a deep breath. The relationship between these two had definitely started long before he knew about it… perhaps during that period when he and Nagi were in a cold war during the second selection.
Originally, he still felt a bit awkward inside, but he considered himself to have let go of his heart’s knots, and was looking forward to stepping onto the field together with Nagi Seishiro and then taking home the World Cup.
But now, Mikage Reo suddenly felt a bit uncertain.
He took a deep breath and asked calmly, “Nagi, you are still striving toward being the world’s number one striker, toward the World Cup, right?”
Yes, because this is Reo’s dream.
Nagi Seishiro was just about to answer, but a voice answered for him one step sooner.
“That is a matter of course,” Icarus looked at Mikage Reo firmly, “All things will make way for the goal of being the world’s number one striker.”
Nagi Seishiro, having had his line stolen, nodded silently.
“Is that so?”
Exhaling a long breath, Mikage Reo smiled softly, “That’s good.”
With chaotic thoughts, Mikage Reo turned and left.
He had originally only intended to tell Icarus that Yukimiya Kenyu had agreed, but he hadn’t expected to accidentally learn all of this… Forget it.
Watching Mikage Reo disappear at the door after waving his hand, Icarus wiped the residue of his meal from the corner of his lips and licked the bloodstains from his fingertips.
He had been too rushed just now and hadn’t had the time to clean up.
In the blink of an eye, seeing the unhealed blood holes on Nagi Seishiro’s neck, Icarus beckoned to him.
“I’ll help you clean up.”
Nagi Seishiro’s grey pupils brightened, and he obediently bent down, offering his fair neck to the vampire’s mouth.
Icarus licked the remaining blood holes, cleaned away the bloodstains, and clapped his hands.
“Alright, it’s not early anymore; go back and rest early.”
“It’s so far, I don’t want to walk back to the dormitory… I’ll sleep here.”
“Suit yourself, there are plenty of hospital beds here,” Icarus stretched, “But I’m going back to my room to rest. Make sure you don’t catch a cold.”
“Then I’d better go back.”
Nagi Seishiro pouted his mouth into a Miffy rabbit shape.
“By the way, I probably won’t be able to find you for soccer tomorrow. Practice well on your own.”
Icarus guessed that Mikage Reo had come to report the good news about Yukimiya Kenyu to him. But he hadn’t expected the news not to be delivered, and for the messenger to have walked away in a daze.
“…Then what about the day after tomorrow?”
“We’ll talk about it then. Go rest.”
“Oh…”
…
Yukimiya Kenyu stood once again before the familiar door.
This time, there was no excessive hesitation. He took a deep breath and pushed open that door.
“Welcome, welcome,” Icarus welcomed the arrival with a smile, “Have you thought it through?”
“I have,” Yukimiya Kenyu looked straight at Icarus, “I want to gamble on that one possibility.”
“A smart choice; you won’t regret it,” Icarus snapped his fingers, “Go in.”
Watching the operating room the black-haired youth pointed to, Yukimiya Kenyu took a deep breath and asked as a final question.
“Although it is very unnecessary to ask this now… but will it affect the subsequent selections?”
“Let me think, hasn’t the match for Group C of the third selection already ended?” Icarus pondered, “How about this: before the next match, I can ensure that you will be able to play on the field, full of life.”
Could he really do it? But at this moment, besides believing, it seemed there was no other way.
“If you truly have a match, I will have Ego postpone it. It will not affect you,” Icarus waved his hand indifferently.
Although the fact that a doctor could actually influence Ego Jinpachi’s decision-making surprised Yukimiya Kenyu slightly, as a striker with keen observation, the various clues the other party usually revealed also indicated that his origins were likely not simple. Not to mention the rare, solemn expression on Mikage Reo’s face when he talked to him yesterday.
“Since that is the case, then I will leave it to you,” Yukimiya Kenyu said prudently.
“Leave it to me~ Yuan.”
“Yes, Master Icarus.”
To prepare for today’s surgery, Icarus had had Yuan standing by in the operating room early in the morning.
“Let’s begin.”
…
As the surgery came to an end, Icarus stretched.
Before him, Yukimiya Kenyu was still lying on the hospital bed, yet to wake up. Icarus gave instructions, “Yuan, keep a watch. The lucky striker who won in the losers’ elimination match is calling for me.”
That’s right; Icarus had received an urgent contact from the other party the moment the surgery concluded.
Still wearing the white coat he hadn’t changed out of, Icarus walked slowly along the road, colliding head-on with Itoshi Rin, who had a Band-Aid on the bridge of his nose.
“You got hurt?”
Itoshi Rin, who had looked toward the arrival upon hearing the voice, pursed his lips, wanting to skip the topic, “It’s nothing major.”
“Of course it’s a big deal,” Icarus frowned, “Looking at the injury, it doesn’t look like a normal training collision.”
Could there be bullying in Blue Lock? That won’t do. It must be handled seriously.
“Just a little friction,” Itoshi Rin changed the subject quickly, “We didn’t decide a winner last time.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have the time lately,” Icarus said regretfully.
Whether it was Kunigami Rensuke or Yukimiya Kenyu, he couldn’t walk away at the moment.
Itoshi Rin shifted his gaze, appearing indifferent. “Whatever.”
After the two parted, Icarus quickly contacted Ego Jinpachi and learned the cause of the matter.
“Shidou Ryusei.” Slowly reciting the other party’s name, Icarus narrowed his eyes.
Let me see if Shidou Ryusei’s talent is sufficient for me to discard the other strikers in Blue Lock for his sake alone. If it were the other way around…
…
Icarus came before the access control and swiped his ID card. The door slid open smoothly to both sides, revealing the pitch-black interior.
Icarus walked in without changing his expression and reached out to press the switch.
“Why do you, like Ego, dislike turning on the lights? Let’s speak in the bright light.”
Kunigami Rensuke’s dark pupils reflected the figure of the black-haired youth. He watched the person walk forward and skillfully lean down to squeeze his ankle a few times.
“Is your ankle uncomfortable?”
Kunigami Rensuke nodded silently.
“Let’s take a scan and see.”
Icarus looked at the results of the scan and analyzed, “You were originally left-footed; now you want to undergo surgery for a forced modification to add being right-footed. It may require a certain period of adaptation.”
Kunigami Rensuke listened silently, only to see the black-haired youth’s actions suddenly pause.
“Perhaps you don’t care about these reasons; you only care about when you can resume training.”
Kunigami Rensuke, whose thoughts had been guessed correctly, pursed his lips.
Before meeting Icarus, he had indeed thought that way, only wanting to solve the subtle, sour pain coming from his right ankle as quickly as possible. But after meeting him, Kunigami Rensuke suddenly felt that listening to him talk was also quite nice.
The black-haired youth’s tone was peaceful, his breathing stable, effectively neutralizing Kunigami Rensuke’s chaotic thoughts, allowing his brain to obtain a moment of tranquility.
“I’ll go find some medicine; you rest for a while. During this period, be careful to reduce the number of times you shoot with your right foot during training.”
Icarus waved his hand and disappeared at the doorway. He went to the operating room next door, which had been specially built for Kunigami Rensuke, found the required medicine, poured another glass of water, and added his own blood using the same method as before.
This is called a two-pronged approach.
Kunigami Rensuke looked at the glass of water brought before him and drank it down without hesitation. He didn’t know what had been added to the water, as it had a slightly fishy taste, yet he remained completely unperturbed.
Icarus raised his brows: “Are you not curious about what I added?”
In order to adapt to the body Kunigami Rensuke had modified after surgery, Icarus needed to add more blood than he had given Chigiri Hyoma and Yukimiya Kenyu last time. One or two drops might not be obvious, but such a large amount of blood added in, yet Kunigami Rensuke didn’t show any reaction.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Kunigami Rensuke finally spoke the first sentence since Icarus had arrived in the ward, his voice hoarse and low.
“Because I already have nothing left.”