Chapter Text
An agonising blow, threw shock waves inside of his nose, it felt like there was an explosion going off inside of his head. He tried to breathe through his mouth but his throat was under attack to, it was so dry he could barley cough up a gasp. His vision blurred, he couldn't see Kaiser anymore. The throbbing sensation didn't stop neither did the blood, it spilled out of his noes like a waterfall. He stumbled around reaching out for Kaiser, This is bad. Really bad. I need Kaiser. A few seconds later a thick reconsiabel voice boomed through the air, "This is all your fault." Those were his parting words....
Three years later.
A tonless voice echoed through the speaker, "your all set right your plane leaves at 5:55 am" that voice belonged to Noel noa, Ness's old coach and former mentor.
It's been three years since Ness left Bastard munchen, he's been away on a three year transfership to Italys Ubers. Noa decided it was for the best after the incident, the one that broke up the team and his noes.
But he's fine with it now, shipping him of to a random foreign country where he barley spoke the language was a fabulous idea, It only took him 7 months to learn Italian he wasn't bitter at all. Sadly that was a lie but he tried to sound nonchalant, "yeah I'll be there at 5am don't worry," but in reality the thought of facing his teammates and Kaiser again terrified him. But what choice did he have his transfership was officially over.
Transfering to Ubers wasn't all for nothing tho with there striker, Barou on the team it gave Ness a chance to improve his passing and play making without having to worry about Kaiser and his needs, he had significantly improved since leaving BM, he was no longer just Kaisers passer or dog. He had made a name for himself over seas and that hype had spread to Germany.
A small part of him hoped Kaiser had kept up to date with him and his improvement, but another part of him hoped that Kaiser didn't so he could return and surprise him with his new and improved skills. The only person Ness still really kept up to date with was Yoichi Isagi since he couldn't think about Kaiser without feeling depressed. He would never had admitted it back then but Isagi was magical. Alot of the former Blue lock players stayed on the BM team after he left they all still compete on that show blue lock TV Ness's dosent watch it tho if he did he'd see Kaiser.
He opened his laptop to a new article, Yoichi Isagi and Yo Hiori, are the most dangerous duo in the whole league! But Michael Kaiser is a dangerous player too. He swiftly cicked of the article. God it's like he's everywhere. "Hello Ness you still there." Shit, he covered his mouth with his hand. Didn't I hang up. "Oh y- yeah I'm still here sir I'm just packing you can hang up n-" before he could finish his sentence there was a Beep. Ness actually hadn't packed anything he'd just do it later he had plenty of time.
It was two am, when Ness realised he had no idea where his passport was. He quickly jumped off his bed and dashed around his room like a mad man. His suitcase was layed open on the floor; he had nearly triped over it twice now.
He raided the inside of his bed side drawers, his hands were moving so fast it took his mind a little while to catch up. He brushed aside the loose change and old receipts; it's gotta be here somewhere he thought. It felt like the clock was ticking louder and louder. After having no luck with the drawers; he ran to the couch.
He quickly tossed the cushions aside, diving deep into the couch. His heart pounded whilst his fingers searched and his brain panicked. Not there either- what am I going to do he wondered. Why was one of the most important things he needed gone; he had it this morning he just can't remember where.
He suddenly stopped- this isn't working where did I last have it. He was trying to reason with himself, calm his brain down abit. There was still 3 hours or so left he had plenty of time to pack and find his passport- it's fine I don't need to worry about it. But "it's all my fault." That felt like a slap in the face those four words reminded him of the incident...
"Kaiser, no wait I'm sorry," he couldn't see his vision was still blurred. He could hear his heartbeat slamming into his ears as he reached out for Kaiser. SLAM!! The locker room door slammed shut. In that moment Ness knew he was gone. He had messed up it was- all my fault all my fault all my fault.
All my fault. Everything was all Ness's fault. He slumped down onto the cold ground, he could barley breath anymore. He sobbed out "How am I going to face Kaiser when I can't even think of him without breaking down." His lips were trembling, he felt like a big baby.
After a few minutes, Ness slowly got up, he dragged his feet towards the bathroom. His stomach was doing backflips he felt like throwing up, his anxiety had been acting up alot more lately he knew it was it because he had to see Kaiser soon. As he stepped inside, his passport met him on his bathroom countertop. He must of left it there this morning. Why was it in the bathroom?
He glided towards the mirror, and tried to avoid looking at his reflection. He hated the way he looked he always had. He lightly touched his noes it had healed nicely during the three years he'd been gone. You wouldn't even be able to tell that it had been broken at some point. But he could, he had been self conscious about it ever since it broke but now you could barley notice the bump. That's good right?
His physical appearance has changed so much, his hair was slightly longer then before, his eyes were less tired, he was more sun kissed thanks to the blistering sun always shining in Italy. He's even grew a little bit. Slowly he opened his passport and stared at the photo, it had been taken a month before the incident, he's transformed into a unrecognisable person since then who was he...
He took his time, packing away his apparent. It truly was an end to an era, Ness had been in Italy for three whole years. He had adopted a whole new way of life, sure some things were harder then others but he built a good life here in Italy. However he always knew he would eventually have to leave it all behind. A small part of him always felt like such a coward, sure he didn't necessarily want to leave Germany but he could of put up a fight against noa or at least said goodbye to his teammates to Kaiser he really wanted to say something to him. He was the one person who accepted Ness sure he was also the one who broke his noes. But it was all his fault if ness had just done what he was ment to do Kaiser wouldn't have had to hit him. Kaisers didn't even know he was leaving, after Ness had come back from the emergency room, Noa showed up at his apartment with a suitcase and told him to pack his shit hes going to Italy. It probably seemed like he just disappeared one night but they must have found out eventually that he had joined Ubers. But he wouldn't know though he blocked everybody on the team it was Noas last order to him.
His eyes softened as he got to his Ubers jersey, when Ness first got his uniform he sobbed that night it all was just so unfamiliar and strange. It took him awhile to really fell like he was apart of the team. But most of his teammates were really considerant of his feelings; they didn't play internationally so seeing Bastard munchen wasn't a problem, they never spoke about his old team at least not around him. But Ness knew they were curios, why was he here? Last time they played against Ness he was a BM player, his loyalty and his reasons for playing was all for Kaiser. He knew that was his problem everybody knew that was his problem. But he didn't think it was a problem at time, his loyalty to Kaiser bought him so much joy when he was with Kaiser he was special. But that couldn't happen again he needs to be special on his own like he is in Italy...
It was about 4:30 am, when Ness got a call. "Ness a cars waiting for you outside." It was noa, Ness had finished packing a while ago. "Okay I'll head down now." Beep oh my god this was really happening. He walked towards the coat hanger and pulled on his coat. His eyes swept the place one last time. Nobody from Ubers was there to say goodbye, most of them went home to Japan since the Italian football season is on a international break. But his phone was flooded with texts from the official Ubers group chat.
Official Ubers:
Sendou 🦊: Goodbye Ness
Barou 👑: 👋
Niko 🪬: see ya
Ness 🪄 has left the group chat.
Staying in that group chat would be pointless. He may have made solid connections with some of the Uber members but he wasn't exactly close with anyone, they'd probably just loes contact. He walked out, pushing his suitcase behind him. When he got downstairs there was a black Ford Fusion parked outside of the apartment complex.
He slipped into the back seat, the door clicking shut behind him. A black partition separated him from the driver, sealing him into his own quiet space. His mind raced with panic. What would happen when he gets there he hasn't been to Germany for 3 years. Before he could spiral the car jolted forward catching Ness by surprise. He quickly reached for his seat belt and clicked it into place. The ride to the airport wouldn't take long about 10 minutes max. Ness gazed out his window, the buildings were glowing in the dark. The city stretched out before him, vibrant and beautiful. Yet here he was on his way to the airport to leave, to come back to a broken team. To come back to him....
The car ride went just as expected—quick and quiet. Ness got out without thanking the driver it would’ve been hard to, anyway. The windows were tinted pitch black, making it impossible to see inside or out. Whoever this guy was, he clearly had no interest in people. Ness stood in front of the airport. It was 5:12 am and he needed to be at his gate by 5:30 just to be safe. Ness made his way into the airport, the automatic doors hissing open as he stepped inside. The air was cool and smelled faintly of coffee and floor polish. Fluorescent lights cast a sterile glow over the tiled floors, and the early morning hush was broken only by the occasional announcement over the intercom and the soft hum of rolling suitcases.
Ness approached the security checkpoint, his steps slow as a knot tightened in his stomach. The bright lights above felt harsher here, casting a sharp reflection on the metal devises. He fumbled with his passport and ticket, handing them over he tried to avoid looking at the TSA agent. But it didn't work. "You sure that's you boy" he jestered towards Ness's passport photo. He mumbled. "Uhm yeah that photos from three years ago." The man grunted loudly he had a stupid look on his face, he just compared Ness's real life face to his photo. After a few seconds of awkward silence he let Ness through.
He slipped off his shoe's, emptied his pockets, and placed his bag on the conveyer belt. Every motion felt clumsy, under the silent presence of watchful eyes. As he stepped into the body scanner, he held his breath irrational thoughts clouded his mind. What if he somehow had a knife or a gun. What if it goes of and his bag needs to be searched and he misses his flight. The scanner beeped. A pause then a wave through. Relief didn't come immediately. He grabbed his things with jittery hands, heart still pounding as he moved towards his gate.
Ness quickly made his way to Gate 5, where he would be boarding his flight home. The flight was only two hours, Ness should be fine maybe he'll take a nap or watch a movie. By the time he gets back it'll be around seven am, will he be expected to go straight into training or will he get a few days off? He waited patiently for his flight to start boarding. The air felt thin; Ness looked around. The airport wasn't busy at all only a few people remained they looked tired and irritable. Ness wondered if he looked like that too.
A loud robotic voice echoed through the speakers. Ladies and gentlemen, we are now beginning pre boarding for Flight 5A with service to Germany. Please make your way to Gate 5. Boarding will begin shortly. Ness glanced around it seemed like the select few people who were still there were flying to Germany too. An old man, with a scowl on his face marched over to start a line for boarding. Ness soon followed him up managing to be second in the line. A few minutes later, the electrical doors opened and everybody made there way inside of the plane.
The cabin of the plane was dimly lit, with a soft, ambient lightning casting a warm glow over rows of empty seats. There was only ten passengers aboard this flight, so Ness wasn't sat near anymore. Ness chose to sit next to the window. Through the small oval window, the night sky stretched endlessly. A deep inky black canvas doted with stas, Ness was the painter. He drew all sorts of things just by using the starts and a little imagination. There was no crying baby's or unnecessary noise, just the sound of the engine filled his ears as fell into a deep sleep. They were gliding through the night sky surrounded by the stars.
Ness woke up a while later. He had no idea what time it was, but the sun was just starting to rise. It filled the sky with soft shades of orange and pink, darkness faded as light spread all throughout the sky. Ness thought it was beautiful, but he had no idea what time it was or when they'd be arriving to Germany. He yawned and slowly turned on his airplane TV, it said they had thirty five minutes until they land. The plane was even more quiet then before, it seemed like everybody had fallen asleep. To pass the time, Ness decided to watch a documentary about the history of magic. A bit later, a loud voice echoed through the speakers, distracting Ness from his documentary.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we're reaching our destination pretty soon. Please make sure your sat down and your TV screens are turned off. Sit up right and fasten your seat belts. Thank you, for flying with TQ Airlines hope you enjoy the rest of your day!" Ness found himself doing exactly what the pilot said, he sat up straight fastened his seat belt and prepared for landing. The plane began to move down towards the runway. Outside the window you could see the ground, the wheels dropped down making Ness jolt ever so slightly. The plane had landed in Germany.
A few seconds later, the plane doors opened and everyone was getting ready to leave. Ness picked himself up out of his seat and walked towards the exit. As he stepped of the plane a harsh chilling breeze flew by. Ness was already starting to miss the sun Germany was freezing. The airport was packed with people, you could hear the chaos of crying baby's, loud rolling suitcases and the shuffling of people trying to navigate. Ness squeezed pass people trying to look for his luggage. Suddenly he could fell his phone vibrating in his back pocket. He grabbed it saw it was Noa texting him.
Noel noa: a cars waiting outside again, it'll take you to the bm accommodations
Ness 🪄: okay I'll be out in a sec.
Ness scanned around trying to find his suitcase, he quickly spotted it. He grabbed it of the conveyer belt, setting it down onto the floor. A loud squeal suddenly demanded his attention. "Are you Alexis Ness!" He quickly turned around just to be met with a girl who looked to be fifteen or something. Before Ness could even answer she started walling again. "You must know Michael Kaiser right!" Ness wasn't sure what to say, yes he knew Michael Kaiser but he hadn't been asked something like that in years back in Italy when a fan saw Ness they wanted to know about Ness not him. "I-I guess I do." He stutter, the girl just smiled and said. "That's so cool he's my celebrity crush I remember seeing you two playing together all the time." She nodded her head before she went bouncing in the other direction suitcase in hand.
A swirl of emotions left him unsure of what to feel, he took a deep breath before making his way outside. The official bm mini bus was there to pick him up, why didn't noa say something. People crowded around it curiously wating for whatever soccer prodigy would appear so they could get a photo of them. Ness pushed through the crowd trying to get inside the bus, when he reached the front he grabbed the door handle trying to open it up. The crowd realised somebody was trying to get in and slightly backed away once they saw the academy logo on his suitcase. Ness turned around and the crowd gasped, flashing camera lights burst around Ness, momentarily blinding him as he pushed his way into the bus guess they really did remember me.
When he finally forced his way inside of the bus, his heart was pounding and breath ragged. He looked up only to freeze, behind the wheel staring back at him with an unreadable expression was Noel noa...