Blue Lock: I, Kira Ryosuke, Obtained Thunder Breathing from the Start — Chapter 26

"Think of the positives. At least it shows Ryosuke has great jumping ability and arm strength, right...?"

After a few seconds of silence, the others all started chiming in with comments.

Kira Ryosuke scratched the back of his head and stuck out his tongue sheepishly.

"Sorry, I'm not very good at shooting."

After speaking, Kira Ryosuke lowered his head and carefully examined his hands. The movement he had just made had been almost instinctive, as though he had practiced it countless times.

He knew very well that it was an effect brought by the Rice Soul Skill, but he had not expected this skill, which enhanced dribbling ability, to work in basketball as well.

That counted as a pleasant surprise.

As for shooting... Gathering Mosquitoes into Thunder lets me control the ball's arc more freely. I wonder if I can use it to correct it.

Kira Ryosuke thought to himself.

"Setting that shot aside, Kira, that move you used to get past me just now was really beautiful!"

Hyuga Junpei walked over to Kira Ryosuke and praised him without reservation. At the same time, he adjusted his glasses and asked in a very serious tone, "But Kira... was that really your first time playing basketball?"

"Strictly speaking, not really. But I haven't played in many years. I only played when I was little, though our team does occasionally do drills similar to yours."

Kira Ryosuke explained with a smile.

The dribbling he had just displayed had been far too exceptional. Claiming he had never played basketball before would have been a little too absurd.

"Incredible. You can't pull off that kind of dribbling without years of training..."

Hyuga Junpei said, unable to help sighing inwardly.

Kira Ryosuke was not merely a soccer prodigy—he possessed incomparable potential in basketball as well.

If Kira could come to Seirin...

Just as Hyuga Junpei was thinking, Kiyoshi Teppei walked over and patted him on the shoulder.

"What are you thinking about? It's our turn to attack!"

"Mm."

About forty minutes later, the practice game had ended.

The substitute team Kira Ryosuke was on had still lost, but this had only been a scrimmage meant to help the starting players practice their tactics.

Although Kira Ryosuke had not scored much in the game, the speed, reflexes, and dribbling skills he displayed were all outstanding.

"Amazing. Kira doesn't seem very good at shooting, but he's genuinely excellent in every other respect."

Kiyoshi Teppei wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel, praising Kira Ryosuke without restraint.

"If Kira really hasn't touched a basketball in years like he said, then with just a little practice, he could become a terrifying player. What a shame."

"What's a shame? Kira's already making waves in the soccer world, all right!"

Izuki Shun turned his head to the side and pointed in a certain direction.

"Look over there—"

Everyone followed the direction of Izuki Shun's finger and saw a row of brightly dressed girls.

"Kira! It's Kira!"

"Kira's amazing at basketball too!"

"Kira is so handsome! Look over here!"

The girls nearby were cheering excitedly. When Kira Ryosuke turned toward them after hearing their voices, they erupted into even louder cheers.

Someone among them had discovered that Kira Ryosuke was playing basketball with the team, and the news had quickly spread. Many people had come to the gym hoping to take photos with him.

"I've never seen our basketball club have this many spectators... Is this the difference between a star player and an ordinary player?"

Hyuga Junpei sighed helplessly.

Seirin was originally a high school that had only been established recently, and its basketball club was even newer. Usually, no one paid any attention to their practices.

Yet because of Kira Ryosuke's appearance today, so many spectators had appeared out of nowhere.

Although they had won the scrimmage, in truth, they had lost completely.

"All right, all right! Today's practice is over! Hurry up and get back to your own business!"

Seeing that so many girls had come for Kira Ryosuke, Aida Reiko felt inexplicably irritated. She quickly chased them out of the court, then immediately turned to Kira Ryosuke.

"Ryosuke, we can't stay here for long. Let's slip out through the back door!"

Facing Death Without Fear: Aida Reiko's Heaven-Defying Cooking Skills

In the evening, Kira Ryosuke returned home with Aida Reiko. Aida Reiko's home was above the gym.

The moment he pushed open the door, Kira Ryosuke could smell a distinct aroma of food, which quickly stirred his appetite.

Although Kira Ryosuke, as the top-ranked member of the team, ate relatively high-quality meals every day, every meal had been the same set dishes for more than half a month. No matter how delicious they were, he was bound to get sick of them.

"Welcome back, baby Reiko!"

Hearing the door open, Aida Kagetora, still wearing an apron, immediately rushed out with an eager smile on his face. The moment he saw Kira Ryosuke, however, he frowned.

"Hmph, you again, kid."

"Uncle Aida's cooking again? It smells amazing."

Kira Ryosuke smiled and greeted him. Back when he had been urgently training at the gym, Aida Kagetora had been responsible for most of his daily meals.

Although Aida Reiko occasionally made something for Kira Ryosuke herself, she generally only considered the food's nutritional value, completely disregarding its appearance and taste. It could be said that, by modern standards of aesthetics and eating habits, her dishes were far too ahead of their time.

"Flattering me won't do you any good. I'm only making delicious food for my precious Reiko. You freeloading brat just get to benefit from it!"

"Understood. Thank you very much, Uncle Aida."

Kira Ryosuke knew that although Aida Kagetora looked rather fierce, he was actually an extremely kind person. During his previous training, he had received plenty of guidance and help from him.

Besides, if Aida Kagetora had not been cooking, Kira Ryosuke probably would have already starved to death at Aida Reiko's hands.

"Perfect, Dad, you've already prepared the ingredients, right? I learned a specialty dish over the past few days too. Let Ryosuke try it! Ryosuke, wait a moment!"

Aida Reiko said with a smile before excitedly running into the kitchen.

Kira Ryosuke turned to look at the sofa, where numerous books about cooking had been piled up. It seemed Aida Reiko had made plenty of preparations for his return.

"Kid, can we talk?"

After watching his daughter enter the kitchen and begin bustling about, Aida Kagetora turned to Kira Ryosuke.

"Sure."

Kira Ryosuke soon sat down on the sofa with Aida Kagetora, who began speaking.

"You've heard about the Blue Lock project. It's pretty crazy, isn't it? What do you think?"

"Yeah."

Kira Ryosuke nodded.

"Then, Ryosuke, what do you think of the Blue Lock project? That man was called Ego Jinpachi, right?"

Aida Kagetora's expression gradually grew serious. He wanted to hear Kira Ryosuke's answer firsthand.

As a former National Team player, Aida Kagetora also knew the inside details of Blue Lock—it was meant to bury the professional careers of 299 players.

"I don't agree with his methods."

Kira Ryosuke gave his answer.

"Using the careers of 299 people as the price to create one super striker—I don't agree with that idea. It's disrespectful to every player, not just the players in Blue Lock, but players at every other position too. Whether it's soccer or basketball, neither is a sport where victory or defeat is decided by one person's ability alone. What matters most is teamwork. The reason I'm staying in Blue Lock is to prove that his beliefs are wrong."

"Good."

Hearing Kira Ryosuke's words, Aida Kagetora nodded in satisfaction. The two then discussed more matters related to Blue Lock. Several dozen minutes later, Aida Reiko emerged carrying a steaming dish.

"Ta-da! This is my proud masterpiece—the Beef Stew with Potatoes I just learned how to make!"

Aida Reiko placed her creation on the dining table and proudly introduced her handiwork to Kira Ryosuke.

Kira Ryosuke stared at the dish and could not say a word for quite some time.

The smell was indeed normal.

There was indeed beef and potatoes on the plate...

But it was one huge piece of beef, completely uncut.

And the potatoes were even more ridiculous. Not only were there two whole potatoes, but they had not even been peeled.

It seemed Aida Reiko had seriously misunderstood the name Beef Stew with Potatoes.

"Um... Reiko, did you learn this dish from these books?"

There was a faint tremor in Kira Ryosuke's voice.

"That's right, but I only read the part about seasoning! The other parts were too troublesome, so I didn't read them!"

"..."

"Alright, alright, let's eat!"

The three sat around the table. Aida Reiko's mother was away on a business trip, so she was not home.

"Let me try my precious Reiko's cooking!"

Aida Kagetora picked up his chopsticks and aimed for the beef in Aida Reiko's dish—only for his chopsticks to be blocked midair by Reiko's.

"The beef is for professional players. It's rich in protein, so it's very important."

As she spoke, Aida Reiko flicked away her father's chopsticks and placed the meat into Kira Ryosuke's bowl.

"Ryosuke, eat up! Dad can just have the potatoes."

"Y-yes, thank you very much!"

"Potatoes are fine too!"

Aida Kagetora immediately picked up an entire potato and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing hard several times.

In an instant, his face turned ashen, the corners of his mouth twitching uncontrollably.

"What's wrong, Uncle Aida?!"

Kira Ryosuke asked anxiously.

"It's nothing... As expected, as expected of my precious daughter... Urgh... Gulp... The food she made is really delicious! Urgh..."

Although Aida Kagetora said so, the pained expression on his face was impossible to miss. Kira Ryosuke felt as though, in that instant, he could see Aida Kagetora's soul slowly drifting out from above his head.

"Uncle, did you just make a retching sound?"

Kira Ryosuke was somewhat surprised. He had never expected Aida Reiko's cooking to be this lethal.

He was a little puzzled. Logically speaking, as long as someone followed the recipe's steps, even if it did not taste good, it should not have produced this kind of effect, right?

"Reiko, did you really season it according to the recipe?"

"Of course."

Aida Reiko nodded with complete certainty.

"Then that's strange..."

"But to give you more nutrition, I added some protein powder, electrolyte water, creatine chewables, and things like that..."

"I understand now."

Kira Ryosuke suddenly realized what had happened. Turning to look at Aida Kagetora beside him, he saw that the man's features had nearly twisted together. Yet in the end, he still pounded his chest forcefully and swallowed it down.

At that moment, his face seemed to be filled with the expression of a man ready to face death.

Late at Night, a Girl's Sudden Confession

A few dozen minutes later, every dish on the table had been wiped clean.