Chapter Text
The day before The Bastard Munchen vs Ubers match the French team PXG played their first match against Barcha. Barcha had won against the Ubers with a score of 3-2 so they wanted to keep up their streak.
All of Sae’s team settled down in the monitoring room to watch the match. Sae was interested to see how it would play out. While Barcha had less players from blue lock on the starting line up they were still in contention for victory. Barcha was the most creative team in the league meaning that their opponents could never predict which plays they would make next.
With Otoya’s off the ball movement, Bachira’s dribbling and Bunny’s dominating physical stats and jumping height they made for a formidable trio. In the other hand PXG had a group of incredibly skilled strikers along with a plethora of dedicated support.
Sae wondered how Loki would choose to use Rin and Shidou. Would he put them on the pitch together and risk them clashing and ruining the whole game or would he swap them out allowing them to run the pitch in their preferred styles so the other team wouldn’t get used to them too quickly.
PXG was the only team yet to have a match in the nel so no one was quite sure which angle they would choose to attack from. They all watched from the edge of their seats as the screen faded in from black and the commentators begun their introductions of each team.
Both teams chose to go with an offensive formation which was to be expected with their main philosophies. On Barcha Bunny started as the main striker with Bachira and Otoya on the wings either side. For PXG both Rin and Shidou were on as strikers with Nanase, Karasu and Tokimitsu there for support.
It seemed like every player except the two main strikers had been forced into different positions to play on the starting line up. That made sense it fit in with the PXG style of fostering talent and pushing everyone in behind. It was the system that allowed Loki to become so dominant as a striker.
As the master Loki would have to stay on the bench for most of the game but the same couldn’t be said for Hugo who had taken a place as a midfielder along with young prodigy Charles. It was almost unfair to have two new gen 11 players on the same team but nobody stopped them since it made for such good tv.
Usually Hugo played for Arsenal but he had joined PXG especially for the nel. It seemed like many players felt it was the best place to push their individual brand to teams all around the world.
In Sae’s opinion PXG had the potential to be a dominating team in the nel as long as their two main strikers could stay away from eachothers throats for more than a couple of minutes. It had been days since he had last seen Rin and Sae thought that he held himself differently than the last time they spoke, he seemed more confident like he was more aware of his skill.
Sae hoped to see his brother awaken at some point in the nel even if he had to wait for later games to see it.
Both Sae and Isagi watched the screen with the same analytical eyes, they were examining each and ever players movements and interactions searching for chinks in the armour that they could exploit in later games. It was clear before the first whistle even rang that Rin and Shidou still couldn’t get along. They pushed and snarked at eachother the entire walk to their starting positions.
Sae watched Hugo and Bunny, two people he had once been so close with. They were definitely different to the last time he had seen them two years ago, their personalities were the same but they seemed more grown up than they had before. They had grown as people and players while Sae had just been left behind.
Snuffy’s words from a few days ago instantly rushed back into his brain. Sure it seemed like he could still keep up with the other players like he used to but what if when he finally played against them again he would find himself lacking. He hadn’t been playing for two years after all, he hadn’t been improving while everyone else had years to sharpen their skills.
If he would have just stayed home then he wouldn’t have to worry about that, he probably wouldn’t even be watching the nel on tv in he wasn’t actually here.
The whistle blew signaling the start of the match. Both teams spurred into action chasing the ball trying to move it to each end of the pitch. PXGs défense was relatively weak but the midfield had been consistently shut down by Hugo and Charles making it difficult for Barcha players to force a way through.
Hugo ran the pitch like a machine only making moves that were completely necessary, he didn’t miss a trick and he wouldn’t allow Barchas creative tactics get past him. On the other hand Barcha seemed to be preforming at the top of their game trying to slip through cracks with skill and unpredictable moves.
For a while the match was trapped in a deadlock neither team allowing the other to claim a single metre of ground. It was a clash of massive egos all scrambling to be the best on the pitch to catch the attention of scouts.
After a bit more back and forth Lavinho decided to take his three minutes on the pitch. Sae was slightly shocked to see that Loki chose to stay on the bench relying on his teammates to shut down the world famous striker. When he took to the pitch it seemed to light a new fire in the rest of Barcha but they still struggled to get past the midfield.
Of course after a while Lavinho was able to slip past with his dance like dribbling scoring the first goal of the match. After a couple more minutes his tube was up and he had to return to the bench, he probably hadn’t done as well as he had hoped being the only master on the pitch even with his goal.
As the match stretched on Sae started to see where the problem lied with PXG. It was predictably Rin and Shidou. Whenever the ball got close they both ran in to chase it shoving eachother out of the way and leaving more opportunities for it to be stolen back by Barcha leaving their offence weaker than it should have been.
Loki really would need to find a way to deal with those two or PXG wouldn’t do nearly as well as they should in the tournament.
Sae thought back to his early days in Re Al back when Bunny was still part of the team before his transfer to Barcha. Bunny was only a year older than Sae and they became fast friends doing nearly everything together in and out of training. With Bunny as a striker and Sae as his midfielder there had been a time when they thought they could be unstoppable some day.
They had a friendly rivalry both encouraging eachother to be the best they could be on the pitch. They won match after match until it all come to and end when Sae was fourteen a year before he returned to Japan. When news of the transfer came in Sae begged Bunny not to go but nothing could be done about it once the contract was signed.
Without Bunny there to charm them through life Sae struggled to connect with his other team members leaving an awkward rift between them leading to them tearing him badly off the pitch which then transferred over to official games.
Soon enough ever mistake made on the field was Sae’s fault even if he was nowhere near when it took place. They spoke down to him relentlessly in the locker room insulting his play until he felt as though he was worthless on the pitch. He left Re Al because he couldn’t bare to exist in a world that spat venom at him at any opportunity.
Maybe Snuffy had been right maybe he really was to delicate for the lifestyle that came with being a soccer player, the only problem was that nothing else could make him feel anything. He would rather be miserable every day then have to go back to being an empty shell again.
As the match continued Rin managed to score a goal quickly followed by Shidou who couldn’t let the younger boy have all the glory. Bunny scored a few minutes later equalising the score at 2-2. One more goal from either side and the Gabe would be over. Would PXG claim their first victory or would a Barcha continue their winning streak.
After an excellent final cross pass from Charles Shidou was able to score the final goal bending the back of the net with the force of his shot. While the pass was very good the delivery was still a little wobbly, Sae couldn’t help but think that his own pass could have Been far cleaner if it was him on the pitch.
When Shidou scored he grinned right up and the camera and for a moment Sae couldn’t help but wonder if that smile was aimed at him even thought was ridiculous.
Now that game was over it would be less than 24 hours before Sae had to face Barou and the rest of the Ubers. After watching such an excellent game he was in a good mood, exited to also get a chance to prove himself to the scouts of other big teams.
Isagi and Sae spent a few hours in the monitoring room rewatching moments from the game over and over again drilling the play styles of their soon to be opponents into their heads.
After a while Isagi stopped the recording and sighed “PXG are amazing, do you think we even have a chance at beating them” Sae nodded confidently. “At the moment Shidou and my brother are both their biggest weapons and their biggest liabilities, as long as we can get them to clash it should make it harder for them to score” Isagi nodded.
“It’s not just them, the midfield seems almost impenetrable” Sae agreed. At this moment in time their biggest problem would be getting past Hugo and the midfield. If Hugo was anything like he used to be he was probably still obsessed with destiny using the idea of what a player was best at to predict and shut them down.
Hugo and Charles were like oil and water. Pure logic paired with someone who did the exact opposite of what made sense and that was what made them so dangerous. Their differences caused them to fill in the gaps the other left open, they found a way to use their strengths to make the other stronger instead of just getting in eachothers way like with Shidou and Rin.
That was the reason why Sae preferred midfielders to strikers, they weren’t so full of themselves that they couldn’t make compromises in order to win.
When Sae’s eyes began to turn blurry from staring at the screen for too long he decided it was time to leave Isagi and take a break. When he turned a corner on the way to his dorm room he accidentally collided into someone completely the other way.
He was sent stumbled back having to grip onto the wall to find support. As he scrambled to find his bearings he quickly apologised to the person still stood in front of him. “Sae”
Sae recognised that voice “Hugo?”
He looked up to stare in the dark eyes of the other midfielder. He had a towel slung over his shoulder like he was just coming back from the locker room after a shower. Sae was about to congratulate him on his teams victory when Hugo cut him off.
“unsuitable”
Sae blinked “huh, what?”
Hugo’s face didn’t change he just continued to stare down at Sae impassively.
“your destiny no longer alignes with that of a soccer player anymore.. when your path branched off you should have followed it instead of clinging to this one, followed a destiny that is not your own will bring you nothing but strife”
Sae stood completely stunned for a few moments completely unsure how to react. This was the second time in a single week that a player Sae respected told him that he should have never returned to soccer. The blade that cut through his heart with Hugo’s words was sharper than a dagger leaving him gasping unable to get a proper breath in.
He ended up not replying at all just pushing past the older boy so he could go on to his dorm room.
He walked quickly through the brightly lit hallways uncertainty running rife through his head. He sniffled and rubbed at his nose with the sleeve of his shirt desperately trying to stop tears from falling down his flushed cheeks. Just as he reached the door of his dorm room he was intercepted again before he could shove open the door.
“Hey lashes” Sae screwed his eyes shut and took a deep breath steeling himself to face the other player in his emotional condition.
“What do you want Shidou?” He said trying to keep his voice as even as possible.
Shidou’s smirk just grew impossibly wider. “Did you watch my game, impressive huh” Sae wasn’t in the mood to boost the older boys ego for him.
“yes yes Shidou very impressive” he said dismissively as he pushed past him to open his door. Shidou caught the door with his hand before Sae could slam it in his face pushing it back open so he could slip inside of the room. He closed the door behind him leaving Sae locked inside a room with Shidou alone.
Sae spluttered and tried to order him to leave but Shidou didn’t care to listen. He used Sae’s shock to drag him across the room till they were both sat side by side on the narrow little bed. “Your messing up my sheets” was the only thing he could muster up to say still shocked at Shidou’s audacity.
“come on what’s up?” Sae gave him a confused look.
“I’m fine, what are you even on about”
“Your not fine, your way grumpier than usual… is it because you couldn’t be playing with me on the pitch?” He finished in a suggestive tone.
“hardly, why would I want to play with you”
“see this is what I mean”
“What? I’m not even in a bad mood”
“yes you are”
“no I’m not”
“oh yes you are”
Sae sighed loudly growing sick of the pantomime back and forth. “How do you even know”
“because… I know you”
“huh, no you don’t”
“yes I do”
Sae stopped himself before he could continue the back and forth even further.
“come on just tell me what’s up… I promise I won’t make fun of you”. Sae went silent for a moment trying to decide if he should tell Shidou of the insecurities that had recently been dragged back to the forefront of his mind.
“do you… do you think that I shouldn’t have come back to soccer” Shidou gave him a disbelieving look. “What, Hell no your the best damm player in this whole place” Sae smiled slightly hearing the reassurance. “What made you think that?” He asked.
Sae just shrugged “I just don’t know if I’m suited to this whole life anymore” Shidou scooted closer to Sae on the bed until their sides were pressed firmly together the grounding contact preventing Sae from retreating into his thought.
“who cares about any of that” Shidou declared “if you never came to blue lock then we never would have met”
Sae furrowed his eyebrows. Shidou said it with such conviction like he truly believed that their meeting was the most important thing to come out of the blue lock project.
Sae once again felt a warm feeling bubble up in his chest just like the time Shidou got close to him just like this a couple of days ago. “I guess” he replied quietly. It was true that meeting Shidou had ignited a fire in him that he hasn’t felt since playing with Bunny. Playing with Shidou made him feel like a real person again after years of living in despair.
Sae looked slightly to the side to see Shidou staring down at him with a quiet intensity. The look in his eyes was mostly unreadable full of emotions that Sae was unused to. The only one he could decipher was all encompassing fondness, a fondness aimed at him and only him like Sae was the only other person in the world.
He felt his cheeks heat up as he quickly looked away. After a moment he felt warm fingers wrap around the base of his jaw pulling him back to face Shidou properly. Shidou moved his face so close to Sara that he could feel his warm breath in his cheek. “Sae I think your incredible”
Before he could think of a reply Shidou closed the gap between their faces tenderly bringing their lips together in a soft kiss.
Sae’s Brain short circuited for a moment and he found himself completely unable to move as Shidou deepened the kiss. When he regained the use of his body he clutched the front of Shidou’s shirt with shaky fingers as his partner wrapped an arm around his waist pulling him impossibly closer until they could almost become one.
After that Sae let his mind go fuzzy letting Shidou wash away all his worries.