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It was some days before Christmas and two women, a mother and grandmother, visited the temple close to their home to make an offering and wish for good health and to be able to give the child they were raising to be able to be happy, healthy.
Said child, barely seven years old and an endless ball of energy, had been separated from the women, running from stall to stall, staring at all the different street foods he knew he wouldn't be able to get. He might've been young, but even he was aware his family didn't have the best situation when it came to money.
So he wouldn't ask and see the sad smiles on his mother and grandmother's eyes as they made an effort to get him what he asked for. So he wouldn't ask for food.
Once in the temple, grandmother, mother and child, each made a prayer, with Shidou being the one ringing the bell, a smile on his face.
All he prayed for was to get a soccer ball for Christmas. He had been asking one for weeks now, and his Nana told him to ask the gods directly, as they were always listening.
And his Nana was ALWAYS right.
Fast forward several years, Shidou was doing some solo training in a deserted clearing close to his home.
A place he had always come to play and train ever since he got his first soccer ball ever, all those years ago.
He was now older and was aware it had been his grandmother and mother who bought it for him, not a gift from the gods. But, to Shidou, the effort they had made to gift him it that made the ball all the more special.
It was now, run-down and dirty, and he had had to sew some of the edges himself, but he couldn't bring himself to get rid of it.
What was Shidou doing in the clearing, one would ask?
He had received a letter inviting him to participate in some project called Blue Lock. And while he would definitely accept it, and being 18 he didn't need any legal guardian to sign anything, he didn't know how to tell his mom and nana that he wouldn't be living with them for a while.
He knew they'd support him, they always had.
Coming to his matches despite work shifts, making sure Shidou had the equipment and shoes to play in a team, always encouraged him. Even to enroll in a high school with an, at least, semi-decent team and make it become better by joining.
Still, he'd never left them alone for more than a few days at a time.
But, if he was the one to survive Blue Lock, he would be able to give his family a better life, and give back all they did for him tenfold.
So, run-down soccer ball under his arm, Shidou made his way home, having made his mind of not only joining Blue Lock but becoming the sole winner.
It'd be his way to take his family out of poverty.
The underdog that would win at life no matter what he'd need to do.
Shidou's eyes snapped open,eyes getting adjusted to the darkness. Looking around and realizing he was at the facilities where the PXG team were staying before their next match.
Knowing he'd be unable to fall asleep again, Shidou stood up and stretched all his limbs, all of them popping back and complaining after Shidou had carelessly fallen asleep the moment his head hit the pillow and ended up in a weird position while sleeping.
He was in a weird mood now, though, because the dream he just had wasn't a dream but a collection of memories from his past.
Memories that reminded him of what and who he had left behind when he joined Blue Lock.
Not that he regretted it. It had been the best decision he had ever taken, and he continued to prove that right every time he stepped into the field.
And he'd continue to do so, making the offers on his name to grow higher and higher. And he'd make sure there was no Rin, no Isagi, no noone who surpassed him when it came to football.
But, it also made Shidou miss his mother and his grandmother. The only people who had ever rooted for him, that had always believed in him no matter what trouble he caused, or how many fights he started (and finished).
The women that shaped him into the person he was. The women that had always done all they could to give him the best life they could offer.
And, now that he had grown up, he saw and appreciated all they had done to make sure that, despite their situation, Shidou had a happy and fulfilling childhood.
That's why, when playing football all he wished form, all he wanted, was to feel fulfilled and complete. An explosion of all that couldn't be contained inside.
A tribute to the way he had lived and those who made sure he reached the heights he was now able to play at.