Work Text:
The early morning sunshine streamed through the windows at the top wall of the art studio. It was a quiet, peaceful morning in the town of Chiba. For most of the city, it was a lazy start to a bright Saturday morning.
At the Bachira household, it was a different story.
Ms. Yuu Bachira stood in front of a medium-sized canvas, making light brush strokes across the already colorful piece. All sorts of colors were splashed across the canvas – bright blues, greens, faded yellows and vibrant browns. The brunette woman hummed along with the Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” as it played on her stereo in the background.
Her pink coveralls were covered in countless strips of paint compiled from the last three days of work. A fresh strip of red paint streaked across her cheek, but her brown eyes were focused like a steel trap on the canvas in front of her.
Already an accomplished artist, Yuu found that the way she worked best was sitting on an idea for a couple of days after having the initial burst of inspiration. If she still liked the idea or felt it had potential, she would then begin work on it. In this case, the thought of her son – her precious baby boy – working hard to achieve his dream inspired her to create this piece to cope with being home alone without him. Seeing him in the Blue Lock Eleven vs. Japan U-20 match the day before inspired her to take this piece in another direction. Now it was going to be a tribute to him and his performance.
Blue Lock emerged victorious in the last minute of play and now the players were finally being let out to spend some time at home. That made Yuu the happiest mother in the entire world. She had missed her darling Meguru so much while he was away. For as long as she could remember – certainly as long as her son could – it had just been the two of them since Meguru’s father left. They had been each other’s best friends for so long that being away from each other inevitably was a weird experience. Now he was home and her world felt right once again.
Yuu was so engrossed in her work and humming along to the music that she almost missed the sweet sound of a familiar voice.
“Morning, Ma.”
Yuu stopped her work. A smile shot up her face as she turned toward where the voice had come from. Because of all the excitement from yesterday, she was not expecting to hear it until at least this afternoon, but it was a wonderful surprise to start the day with.
There he was. Her precious boy.
Meguru wiped his golden eyes with the back of his hand as he yawned. He was wearing a black, oversized t-shirt and sand-colored athletic shorts. His hair was messy and thrown around; as serious a case of bedhead as she had ever seen from him. It made her giggle.
Having him there to greet her in the morning again made her heart feel whole. As she looked at him, Yuu noticed something peculiar. Before he left for Blue Lock, they were at eye level. Now, she found herself having to look up at him slightly. Had he gotten taller while he was in Blue Lock? It certainly seemed like it.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” she greeted, putting her brush down. She wiped her hands with a paper towel before giving him the biggest hug. He happily returned it.
“I’m surprised to see you up this early,” Yuu said, stepping back from the embrace. She kissed her son on the cheek. “I wasn’t expecting to see you until at least this afternoon. I was sure you’d be so exhausted from yesterday that you’d want to sleep in until at least noon.”
Meguru chuckled. “I didn’t feel like going that long, Ma. Not when I couldn’t stop thinking about yesterday’s match.” His golden eyes glazed over as if lost in thought. By the wide smile on his face, she figured he had to be reliving every moment.
She chuckled. “It certainly was an exciting one. You were great in it. You all were, but you especially.”
“Isagi’s last goal was so amazing!” Meguru exclaimed. “I kept replaying it over and over in my head all night. Because of that, I barely slept at all.”
Yuu’s smile widened. She went over to her phone on top of the Bluetooth music player and turned the music off before returning to her son. He was the most important man in her life; he was also the only man in her life and she was more than happy to have it that way. Her hand swiped through his bangs, pushing them to the side so she could see his face better. It then rested on his cheek.
“Speaking of your friend, Isagi,” she said after a moment of silence. “Based on what I saw from you on the field, the two of you seem to get along very well.”
Meguru’s face lit up as he smiled. “You don’t know the half of it, Ma,” he replied happily. “Isagi is absolutely amazing. He’s the football soul mate I have been waiting my whole life for. He understands me in ways that no one else but you does. It’s like we were meant to meet and be together forever.”
That warmed her heart. For so long, Yuu wished that Meguru would find a friend that would look past his eccentricities and connect with him. If Isagi’s parents were any indication, then it seemed their son was indeed that person.
“I sat with his parents during the match,” she said. “Very nice people. His mom and I instantly got on. I can tell that he’s a good egg just from talking to them.”
An impish grin – it was obvious where Meguru got it from – inched up her face. She wagged her finger inward, gesturing for Meguru to lean in. He did. Yuu fought hard to contain her giggles.
“I also learned something interesting about your friend,” she whispered, allowing one giggle to slip through.
Her son’s eyes lit up. “What? Tell me, Ma.”
An avalanche of giggles followed that one as Yuu replayed the conversation in her head. The things moms reveal to each other when they get lost in conversation about their kids. She wasn’t sure how much this would change her son’s view of his friend, but she couldn’t help herself this one time.
“It seems he shares your propensity for going au naturale whenever he can,” she said.
Her son burst out laughing. It was not long before he was in complete hysterics. His hands dropped down to his knees to keep himself upright, but he instantly collapsed like a head of broccoli. Meguru pounded the ground as his laughter sounded more like dolphin noises. Yuu couldn’t help but smile, even allowing herself to laugh a little too.
“Are you for real, Ma?” Meguru asked once he finally calmed down. He wiped a tear from his eyes and coughed a few times to get his breath back under control. “That doesn’t sound like the Isagi I’ve come to know. The Isagi I know was such a prude about me doing that when we were in Blue Lock.”
“Cross my heart,” she replied. “His mom told me while we were talking.” Her hand ruffled his hair. “I’d never lie to you, my little nudist.”
“Ma!” Meguru laughed.
His famous impish smile appeared on his face. Whatever was going through his mind, she figured it was probably forging a plan on what to do the next time he saw his friend. In the course of conversation, she learned that the Isagis lived in Saitama, which was just a quick hour train ride from Chiba. Maybe she could arrange to have the boys get together during their break. She did have Mrs. Isagi’s phone number.
“Come on. Tell me more,” Meguru begged. “Is there anything else about him that he might be embarrassed about?”
She chuckled and patted his cheek. “Later. Go eat some breakfast.”
“YOU SAID WHAT?!”
Isagi’s face burned bright red after hearing what his mother just said to him. Had he heard correctly or were the cheers from last night’s match still ringing in his ears enough to impact his hearing? She couldn’t have told him what she just told him.
There was no way his mom told Bachira’s mom that he used to do the same thing his friend does.
“Don’t be so embarrassed about it, Yo-chan,” his mom said with a giggle. “It was cute how you would just walk around naked without a care in the world. If you and your friend had gotten together sooner, the two of you would have been –“
“Don’t say it, Mom!” Isagi buried his face in his hands on the table. “Why did you have to tell her that?” he whimpered. “I was little. I didn’t know any better.”
Mrs. Isagi chuckled. “You’ll understand when you have kids of your own and you meet their parents as well. It’s just something fellow parents do.”
He wanted to go crawl in a hole somewhere and never come out. His mom was completely embarrassing sometimes. If Bachira heard about this, it would be the end of the world for all he cared. He wasn’t interested in his breakfast anymore.
“Hey, hey! Nice to see you up already, Mr. Superstar. I didn’t expect to see you until noon.”
Isagi didn’t look up to acknowledge his dad’s entrance. He couldn’t stand to be here a second longer. The last thing he wanted was to have both of his parents making fun of him. He scooted his chair back and got up from the table.
“Where are you going?” his dad asked.
“I’m not hungry anymore,” he grumbled.
Isagi was snapped out of his daze by the sound of his phone ringing. He looked down to glance at the Caller ID.
Bachira.
His eyes widened. This was a surprise. He didn’t expect to hear from Bachira at all during this period. He was happily surprised as he answered the phone.
“Hey, Bachira,” he greeted with a smile. “What’s up?”
Isagi froze at the tone of his friend’s voice. It was that teasing tone he had come to know so well.
“Let me ask you a question. And be honest,” Meguru said. There was a short pause. “Do you act like a prude to hide that you like walking around naked too?”
Once again, the familiar shade of redness took over Isagi’s face. His hand clutched the phone in a death grip.
“That’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. I’ll get you to relax on it and we can do it together, nudy buddy.”
The anger and embarrassment became too much. Isagi let it out in one, long, agonized howl.
“BAAAAACHIIIIIIRRRRAAAAAAA!”