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It was like any other day. Birthday always made you feel like it would be all magical and you would feel differently but your feelings were all the same and your routine was the same. No changes from the preset course. Morning practice, school, more practice, homework, extra practice just because you still had energy for it and really you were feeling like you were behind everyone else in the world and so now you were starting a new position as a midfielder just because you weren’t enough for the previous one but it was your birthday.
Sae Itoshi was now seventeen years old. Happy birthday to him and whoever else was celebrating that day.
It was five in the morning and Sae was annoyed already. His team was still sleeping since Sunday’s morning practice was always optional for them (besides they would try to get their way out of practice by saying that it was Sae’s birthday and they really should be celebrating and not practicing. Just like they did for everyone else on the team) and so he was the only one on the field doing his usual morning routine.
Being alone on the big field made him feel small like nothing really mattered but everything did matter. Sae was tired of it all. Four years felt like an eternity but he wanted this. He wanted to leave Japan for his dream and so he did. He wanted to be the best on the field and he would be. He was already.
But if he let himself dream for a moment and remember how it was when he was back home for his birthday. Rin would probably wake him up a little bit too early and he would be as excited as Sae was. They would get Sae’s favorite sweets and make his favorite food and they would go to their favourite spot to eat and celebrate and have fun.
Food was probably one of the things he missed the most. Food was home but that’s just a small price for his dream. His dream.
His phone started buzzing. He probably shouldn’t have his phone with him during the practice but oh well. He could have it with him today and maybe someone would try to reach him but so far all messages he had were random stickers with “happy birthday” written on them. Sae didn’t even look at who was calling, only Rin would call him without checking what time it was in Spain. He picked up and was waiting for Rin to speak.
“Hey, nii-chan,” he sounded so cheerful. Sae was almost jealous. Almost. He was the one achieving dreams while Rin was back home. “Happy birthday!”
“Yeah, thank you.”
“Any plans for celebrations? We always used to get sweets from the bakery and go to the beach so will you do the same? Do you even have a beach near?” Sae smiled. As far as he remembered his brother was always so restless.
“I might do something later but for now I have no plans besides practice.”
“Oh come on, even you need a break from time to time and it’s your birthday! Invite your team to celebrate or something!”
“No, it’s fine really. I am much better on the field practicing.”
Rin wasn’t really convinced of it. It was his brother after all why would he be alone on such a day? “You sure? It is your birthday after all and you know birthdays are for presents and fun?” Restless was an underestimation for sure.
“Yes.”
And there it was. Silence between them was getting bigger and bigger. It was never like this when Sae was back home. It was getting on his nerves and really Sae should go practice more.
“Mom said you will be back home sometime soon.”
“Yeah, I need to renew my passport,” it was a bad excuse to come back home but he wanted to be back at least for a little bit. He wanted to see his family, his home. “Want me to bring you a souvenir?” Sae had so many little trinkets he got for Rin already. It would be a wonder if they all fit into one suitcase.
“Obviously,” Rin was probably rolling his eyes as any younger brother would do when asked for presents. “Anyway, whatever you do, have fun, okay? And take care.”
“Okay.”
“Miss you, see you soon.”
“Yeah, see you soon.” A short silence before Sae heard the beep of the ended call. It was so hard not to scream. Instead he hit the ball as hard as he could. Net stopped it of course but it felt like he could make a hole with it. Figures. Team could always get a new one.
A lot more memories flooded him with all his and Rin’s birthdays. How much they argued on it for small useless things. It was funny to look at it right now.
Sae Itoshi was now seventeen and so fucking lonely in the day he really didn’t want to feel like this. He could take it for his dream. Birthdays as any other holiday were overrated anyway. But he could do something just for himself. He decided to look up the nearest bakery that was selling his favorite red velvet cupcakes. It would be open in a few hours which was great. He had time to finish up his practice and get there right before opening. He deserved as much as to get himself something as a present. Birthdays were for presents and fun . Sure he could.
He got himself four fresh out of the oven red velvet cupcakes and coffee that was probably cold already. Whatever everyone said about being young and athletic it was actually hard to keep himself awake and running on five hours of sleep all the time.
He also got birthday candles. Just for the mood. It probably wasn’t wise to light up a birthday candle in the dorm but he could risk it once in a while, couldn’t he? So he stuck one candle in the cupcake and lit it up.
“Happy birthday to me I guess,” he blew the candle and was looking at the smoke that was coming out of it. It was pathetic but his main concern was not to activate the fire alarm right now. Right, no alarm. He took a sip of the coffee and grimaced, “Lukewarm.”