Barou Shoei never faltered, his single-minded ego burned through everything and he turned his own despair into power to evolve. Nothing seemed to be able to break him or pierced through his pride at all. So why the hell all of the sudden, the sight of you, standing right in front of him, made his stomach churned like this?

You and Barou knew each other since birth, yes, the whole next-door neighbor, childhood friends, grew up together, went to the same school package. He'd spent the first half of his life looking out for you, protecting you from troubles, begrudgingly putting up with your presence, and you'd spent yours watching him chasing his dream of becoming the best striker, following him out during his daily training routine even when it rained or snowed, supporting him with everything you got. But even then, it didn't stop him from cutting you off at all.

The moment Barou realized what it'd take to achieve his dream, the day he received the letter to go to Blue Lock, he made a decision—that he needed to put all his focus into it, even if it meant dropping everything else, even if it meant dropping you. Anything outside of his way to become King of the soccer world was a distraction, and for the sake of winning, he couldn't tolerate having any. So, without hesitation, he grabbed the string of the long built connection between the two of you and ripped it apart.

He heard that it almost killed you, the day he spat out those cold-hearted words and left you in pieces. He knew it, he knew you, he called it, knowing it'd happen, but at the end of the day, Barou couldn't bring himself to pretend that he was sorry when he wasn't. All he did was right by him, and he didn't plan on changing his priorities at all. It wasn't his fault you couldn't sit with the hard truth.

Years'd gone by since that point in time, and he swore to God he hadn't thought of you in ages. Right now, he was a 23 year old professional soccer player who was recognized as one of the best strikers in the world, the King that was feared and adored by everyone on and off the field, all thanks to his experience at Blue Lock. He wasn't fully satisfied yet, of course, but his status right now was something he was proud off, especially when all his hard work'd paid off.

Now, you were just someone he used to know, a distant memory that he put at the back of his mind, not wanting to think of the amount of damage he'd done to you, to be distracted by the thought of you probably hating him. Screw it, he was above those feeble feelings. Not like he was ever gonna apologize anyway. So meeting you again shouldn't affect him at all, even when he could still recall the devastation on your face back then just by looking at you right now. What was he expecting? You to just jump into his arms again? How ridiculous.