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Barou was, for lack of a better term, primping. Or he was trying to. Knowing now that the games were broadcasted, he wanted to look his best and stand out more.
Not that he didn’t already stand out, what with him being their main scorer, but they were going against the Bastards, and he wanted a certain pair of eyes on him, not the resurrected Hero.
He mentioned as much to the pompous glam guy, and got dragged to the Uber’s bathroom with a few suggestions. Which was where he was forced to sit in front of a mirror with Aryu standing beside him.
“You can wear your hair long like me,” Aryu suggested, striking a pose that Barou didn’t quite understand but he was sure that the other man thought was stylish . “Your hair is silky when you don’t put in that much gel. We can be glam together!”
He briefly considered it. He was aware his hair was healthy, he took really good care of it, as he did his entire body. Barou kept calling himself a King. Surely long hair would look like a lion’s mane and solidify that connection.
“What’s going on?”
Aiku popped his head into the room, cutting off Aryu’s spiel on how long hair flowing behind you as you ran was glam.
“I was trying to convince Barou how glam he could be with his hair streaking in the wind like mine.” Aryu explained, tossing his hair for emphasis. “Our King seems to want to stand out more.”
“If you wanna stand out,” Aiku grinned, entering the room, the look in his eye almost made Barou alarmed. Almost. “You shouldn’t change your signature look so suddenly.”
“What?” Barou hesitated. As much as he wanted help with his look, he wasn’t too sure Aiku was the right person to help him.
“Your signature look,” Aiku explained. “Your hair all up and obnoxious like that is part of how you stand out on the field. It’s basically your brand.”
“My brand?”
“I get it!” Aryu cut in. “The audience can tell it’s Barou because his hair is easy to spot!”
“Exactly,” Aiku smiled. “Branding is important! You shouldn’t change it now while the bids are still rising.”
Barou saw Aiku’s point, and had to concede that it was a good one. Aiku understood the merchandising portion of soccer more than he and Aryu did. They were basically merchandise after all, and their games were their advertisements. Barou needed to show them his goods, so to speak.
But he wanted another thing too.
A specific set of eyes to be trained on him and only him. He needed to do something.
“This has something to do with our match against Bastard Munchen tomorrow, doesn’t it?”
A new voice called out as Niko joined them, shaking his head at them.
“isagi will notice you just fine, Barou.”
“This isn’t about that donkey!” Barou yelled.
This was about upstaging everyone else and showing the world that he was the King. This was about impressing—
“Yeah, yeah,” Aiku said, his tone clearly saying he didn’t believe Barou. “Ever thought about highlights?”
“Great idea,” Aryu enthused. “That sounds glam. You can even choose a colour that has meaning for you.”
“They can be blue, for Blue Lock.” Niko suggested. “Or you know, Isagi’s eyes.”
Barou suddenly remembered something from one of his sisters’ books. Maidens would give favours to their preferred Knights, and in turn, those Knights would wear the Lady’s colours into battle.
In those books a Princess could give a favour to the King too, if he competed in a game.
It wouldn’t be a favour, but he could still wear the colour.
“No. They’ve got to be red.” Barou insisted.
“Red!” Aryu exclaimed. “Like the blood of our vanquished foes! How very glam!”
“That’s ridiculous,” Aiku scoffed. “He obviously means red for war!”
Niko didn’t say anything but Barou could feel the man’s eyes on him. They both came from the same stratum in the first selection. Barou knew the other man could very well remember the members of the team Barou had cleared the second selection with.
“Red huh?” He whispered low enough for just Barou to hear. The other two were still going on about what red could mean.
Barou’s answering glare just made him chuckle.
“It’ll suit you King. I’m sure everyone will notice the change.”
Barou knew the emphasis Niko put on the word everyone meant he has understood who exactly was the reason behind Barou wanting to stand out more. He just didn’t want to give the man the satisfaction.
“Let’s do this then,” Aiku grinned at Barou with Aryu standing behind him holding a bottle of something.
“Let’s fucking go!” Barou responded with a matching toothy grin.
* * *
Chigiri watched the Ubers vs Bastards game with the others from the England stratum. Their game was next so they weren’t giving the other game their full attention.
Even so, Chigiri noticed the change in Barou’s hair. And he smiled.
The King had some guts to wear his colours for everyone to see. Chigiri couldn’t wait to tease him about it. But first, he had a game to win, and his legs to flex.