Chapter Text
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After several months of dealing with the tepid nuisances at Blue Lock and a frankly frustrating conclusion to the U-20 vs. Blue Lock match, Rin was prepared to sulk and rot at home the entire 2 weeks he had off. As Rin opened the door he noticed an unfamiliar pair of shoes at the doorway. Rin looked at them questionably until his mother spoke up.
“Oh by the way Rin, your grandfather is in the hospital so your father and I are going to visit him.”
“What happened to grandpa?”
“He had an accident on the stairs, but I think he should be fine.” She responded, and noticed Rin was still eyeing the foreign shoes in the doorway.
“I’m really sorry Rin, I know isn’t ideal that we leave you alone, so your brother is here.” Rin face contorted into a tense frown. She then got closer to Rin, “Look I know the two of you two haven’t been getting along recently, but I really want you to try to talk it out while we’re gone.” She said almost whispering. If anyone else had asked this, Rin would have scoffed and disregarded such a ridiculous request, but his mother was probably the one person who was the most worried about them (although Rin is still hesitant about confronting his brother). Rin simply nodded and continued to make his way up to his room.
The first thing Rin did when he came to his room after spending months in the excruciating, yet exhilarating, prison which is the blue lock facility, he crashed into his bed. This had to be the shittiest day of his life, well excluding the day Sae crushed his dreams. First of all that stupid perverted insect got to play alongside his brother and receive his passes. Then at the end Isagi outwitted both him and Sae scoring the last goal, and finally, to add insult to injury, Isagi had the audacity to steal his praise from his brother. Oh when Rin gets his hands on that lukewarm piece of shit he swears he gonna-
“Rin, dinners downstairs! We’re heading out,” his mother yelled from downstairs. Rin called back some generic response and quickly changed before hurrying downstairs. Although he missies his mother’s cooking, he wasn’t too bothered by the food he received at Blue Lock. He was ranked number 1 after all, it was only natural he received the best.
Rin sat down and mindlessly ate his ochazuke when the screeching of the chair got his attention. Sae sat down and was seemingly messaging someone while eating his portion of the food. Rin stiffened and froze in place. ‘Why the hell is he sitting here??’ Rin thought to himself.
“What.” Sae spat, noticing the shift in Rins demeanor.
“Nothing” Rin barely managed to blurt out before quickly finishing his meal. He could feel Sae glaring daggers at him, and it made the tension in the room, no, the whole house unbearable. He had to get out of here. So much for him rotting at home in peace.
Just as he opened the door to leave, he could faintly hear Sae scoff and mumble something to himself. Rin just ignored this and ran as far from home as he could.
Ever since Sae left for Spain the itoshi house felt more lonely, and it got especially lonely ever since Sae crushed his dreams that day on the football field. That day he not only lost their shared dream but his brother as well. They used to live in that house together at one point, all the memories they made constantly remind Rin that his brother was simply using him to advance his football career and that even he is replaceable to Sae. The thought of spending this time alone with Sae felt so daunting.
As Rin was walking by the ocean, he noticed the video game store. He forgot his wallet when he was in such a rush to leave the house, but it wouldn’t hurt to take a look. Plus it would let him forgot about whatever was going on around him for a bit. His first instinct was to go to the horror section. Although he has played most of them, some of them were unfamiliar, probably new releases during his time at Blue Lock. He was skimming through them and keeping note of the ones which piqued his interest before he heard a voice call out his name,
“Itoshi Rin?” A monotone voice called from behind him, which belonged to that white haired pest from Blue Lock, what was his name again? Naru? nachi? N…? Rin can’t recall it. Now what is he doing here? Rin is supposed to be on break from anything Blue Lock related right now. “Oh it is you, I didn’t expect to see you here,” The lazy nuisance glanced to Rins hands which were placed on a game. “I was gonna get that game too.”
“You can have this one, I didn’t bring my wallet so I can’t buy anything” Rin said, handing the white haired sloth the game. He hummed a thank you and left for the check out.
Just as Rin was about to leave he got a call from Sae. ‘Why the hell is he calling me now? He didn’t bother picking up my calls when he was in Spain.’ He thought to himself as he hung up. Just as he was about to exhale he got another call from Sae. Rin scoffed once more and hung up. He’s too tired to deal with Sae’s bullshit right now, didn’t Rin make him puke? Why is he calling. Before he could form another thought Sae called again, and Rin was growing more irritated. He hung up once more only for Sae to call back again, however this time instead of hanging up Rin threw his phone on the hard concrete. This didn’t stop the ringing, nor did it satisfy Rin’s rage. He was about to kick his phone across the street until the ringing finally stopped on its own.
He let out a sharp exhale before assessing the damage. Yeah, his parents would definitely be upset about this. Cracks from the corner of his phone spread across the entire surface, if he’s lucky, only his screen protector is damaged. Great, this is all stupid Sae’s fault.
“Yikes, what happened?” The lazy ’genius’ asked, appearing from behind with a deadpanned expression
“My stupid brother was calling me” Rin frowned
“Sounds like he’s worried about you”
“Yeah right, that’s the last thing that arrogant piece of shit feels.” Rin sees a couple messages pop up on his screen from Sae, asking about his whereabouts and what time he’ll come home. He tried to type out some kind of angry response but tiny splinters of glass pierced his skin, so he gave up and powered off his phone.
“You look kind of tense, and I can tell you aren’t gonna go home anytime soon.” The pest started and Rin looked at him with impatience. “You wanna come over to my place? We can place the new game I bought. Reo’s with his parents today so I got kinda bored.” Rin contemplated for a moment. Is hanging out with him really better than having an awkward and rage inducing day with his sorry excuse of a brother? Yes. The answer is definitely yes.
“Yeah sure, let’s go.” Rin responded promptly.
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Ever since Rin bolted out of the house, Sae developed a temporary habit of checking the clock periodically and sending Rin a ‘casual’ message, asking about his whereabouts.
That careless brat left without his wallet, keys or even a jacket, and Sae knows damn well he read his messages, at least in the beginning, so he’s just throwing a fit. Ugh, where the hell is he? As far as Sae is aware Rin is a loner and doesn’t have any friends. He didn’t buy anything either since his wallet is sitting at home.
Sae abruptly gets up and decides to venture off to locate Rin, it’s a much better alternative than sitting here and waiting for a Rin which will never return.
Sae grabs his keys and placed an extra copy under the rug, in case Rin returns while he’s gone.
Sae doesn’t really know where to start looking, he tries a nearby football pitch where the two of them played when they were younger, but it was closed. Sae checked the park and a couple convenient stores to no avail. He did try calling him earlier but he was being stubborn and kept declining. Is Rin seriously underestimating his older brother? He can see that Rin has seen some of the messages. This wild goose chase is making Sae’s head hurt. He contemplates just going home before he thinks for a moment, then it clicks. He’s probably at the sea shore, since he remembers his mother mention Rin goes there a lot.
When he arrived at the deserted beach he wondered whether his judgment was incorrect, but upon further examination he saw that old owl phone charm which belonged to Rin on the floor, which were accompanied by a couple small shards of glass. Did that destructive bastard seriously chuck his phone on the floor? Sae picked up the charm and continued along the path.
He then finally found Rin, and he was with… a friend? Damn, this almost shocked Sae more than when Rin briefly surpassed him in the match today. After taking a closer look, Sae determined the white haired guy was actually from Blue Lock, and he scored one of the goals against the Japan U-20 team. Anyone else would have been impressed by his goal, but it was a lukewarm performance, especially if you compare to the talents of the rest of the world. Sae tries to get closer, without alarming either of them and giving himself away. There was no point to this however since they were just walking in awkward silence. Okay, now this situation seemed a little more plausible. Since Rin was never the type to make friends, he was kind of lacking in the social department.
“What happened between you and Itoshi Sae?” The white haired boy broke the silence, and Rin stopped in his tracks at the question. He inhaled deeply before responding,
“It’s just rivalry between 2 brothers, nothing more, nothing less.” He continued to walk by the other boy’s side.
“There’s got to be more to it, you wouldn’t avoid going home over a simple rivalry.”
“…”
“It’s fine, you don’t h-”
“He’s a piece of shit brother who crushed my dreams, so I swore I would crush him no matter what it takes, ” Rin spat, his voice overflowing with hatred. “He usually stays at a hotel or something when he visits, but for some reason he’s at home this time. I cant stand being under the same roof as that bastard.”
“Damn. Is that why you had that awakening during the match?”
“That was because I stopped allowing all the annoyances in my life hold me back with their cheap values, which includes my brother.”
The thought that Sae’s efforts to further Rin’s evolution weren’t in vain brought him relief. After today’s match, Sae was very impressed by Rin’s plays and was shocked that his ego was still burning so bright (not that he’d ever admit it out loud). When Sae went to Spain, he was hit with the painful reality of world of professional football. As someone who didn’t have any exceptional talents compared to others, he couldn’t make it as a striker, and his dreams were crushed. This however opened a new door for him, he realized his strengths in absorbing large amounts of information from the pitch and making calculated plays, which allows him to be a world class midfielder.
Rin on the other hand, was born with an extraordinary ego and talents, the only thing holding him back was… Sae. He kept clinging to the mediocre dream of being second best. Sae is aware of Rin’s stubbornness, he knows a simple explanation won’t convince Rin to abandon their dream. The only way to steer Rin towards the correct path was to give him a new goal, new motivation, which needed to be stronger than his love for his brother. Ever since Rin was a child, Sae noticed Rin’s passion for destruction. If he was able to harness that power and bring it to the field, he would be unstoppable. Who would be a better candidate to receive Rin’s destructive power than Sae himself. So Sae ignited the sparks of Rin’s ego with a carefully calculated encounter when he first returned from Spain.
Although some may argue Sae’s method of motivating Rin may be unethical, Sae is only doing it for Rin’s future. He doesn’t want to see Rin’s dreams be crushed by the cruelty to professional football, he would rather do it himself.
“Wait… do the rest of us at blue lock count as annoyances to you?” The taller boy questioned
“Yes. Absolutely.” Rin replied
“Ouch, Rin, that kind of hurt.” The boy put a hand on his heart and wore a lousy expression of insincere grief.
Another moment of brief silence passed until the boy spoke up.
“Rin, can you carry me”
“What?”
“I’m getting tired, and I forgot how long it takes to get home..” he was now dragging his feet across the concrete.
“No, fuck off”
“Please, I would usually ask Reo but he’s not here..”
“You’re a grown ass man, you should be able to walk on your own.”
“Please..”
“How can you score a goal in a national match but not walk home on your own?” Rin could feel his blood pressure rise.
“I’ll let you stay at my place as long as you want, you won’t have to see your brother.” The boy offered.
“….” Rin thought for a moment
“So..?”
“Fine. ” Rin finally said, allowing the boy to climb on his back. Sae had enough of this idiotic behavior and decided to go back home.
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