Chapter Text
Sae was glued to the TV, waiting to hear what that bastard had to say. To Sae he was only an attention seeker that would do anything to garner that from anyone that's willing to give it to him without second guessing the reasons.
But Sae knew Bunny better. The blond Spaniard was an orphan, one of those that are taken by a house of nuns and other kids that were unlovable. Bunny was cute, but he ultimately was a terror.
He knew Bunny was adopted early in his teen years. Sae knew because Bunny had been a scholarship kid like Sae. But while Sae had a horrible set of parents and a treasure in the form of Rin, Bunny had no one back there.
And didn't Sae regretted offering his friendship to the other. Ugh.
Back then, Bunny's Japanese was acceptable. The blond said he learned from animes, which yes. It was noticeable in the way he spoke... sometimes using conjugations that made him sound like a brat.
Like Rin and his clinginess.
"What are you watching, guapo?" Luna's voice reached his ears and he glanced towards the old man.
And even when there was a 10 years age gap between them, Sae felt as if no one else could understand him better. Shidou was good in the pitch, but here was more than just a football player... he was a human with a handful of feelings and a whole town of traumas.
Each had a pretty house to live in... inside Sae's head.
"The bastard is on the TV." He stated, still waiting for the audio to work.
"Oh, right!" Luna smiled in that pretty way of his. "Rumors has it he has a baby and an Omega." Luna stated, flopping down on the couch.
Sae glared at him.
"Don't you have a house of your own?" He asked looking at the blond and then, casting his eyes toward the screen away.
"You hurt my feelings, pimpollito." Luna pinched his cheek and blew a kiss towards Sae. And then he leaned his head on Sae's shoulder, body stiff and searching green eyes.
Sae blinked but didn't shrugged him off.
He was sure Luna took that as some kind of heavenly omen or whatever. The guy the ridiculous is Sae's opinion. But he couldn't be cruel enough the man he was crushing on with. He sighed heavily, impatiently waiting for Barcha's biggest idiot to say whatever is it he wanted to say.
And the press was taking their sweet time with it as well.
"Who do you think he bagged?" Luna started and Sae rolled his eyes. Unlike the demented blond, he wasn't interested in gossip.
"Some pretty Omega, right?" Luna started. "The kid looked cute... has his hair colour and all. White blond with pretty curls." He stated. "I saw a picture. Wanna see, pimpollito?"
Sae looked down at him. He couldn't care more about the kid or if they have Iglesias' hair color or not. He wanted to know if the presence of this new family in the spotlight will make him more aggressive in the field.
Leonardo pushed the phone in his face, nearly hitting him in the forehead. It was a blurry myriad of white, red and blue. Blue everywhere, because...
Sae stated the hand away and missed the first part of the speech when Luna leaned up and dropped a kiss against his jaw. His heart jumped and ran the race of its tiny life. Sae's cheeks turned red and his breath hitched.
“The man you saw is Itoshi Rin. He is my partner, my anchor, my husband and Shun’s mother.” The sound reached his ears and...
Wait, wait, wait. Stop and rewind.
Did he put Itoshi Rin and husband in the same sentence? As in his little brother Itoshi Rin.
"Oh, that explains the brat's pretty eyes." Luna started his unwanted commentary. "Because let's be honest, Bunny's eyes are ugly. The way only true Spanish people can achieve. And the color... all wrong. Makes him looks like a spawn of hell."
Rewind.
"Eyes?" He asked looking down at Luna. The older man nodded and showed him the phone again. There the small picture of Iglesias picking up a baby from someone's hands greeted him with mocking Barcha colors: red and royal blue.
And the eyes...
Those were Rin's eyes. The same shape of Rin's eyes when he was little and curious and... Happy.
Because this child was happy, even if the white-blond curls falling on those eyes felt wrong; because Sae was used to black strands of hair falling on teal colored eyes. Because those were the colors of his memories.
And this was... this was like a cosmic joke.
“To address the ugly whispers I’ve already heard in the press—Rin is an Omega. He bore our child in his body. Where do you think those pretty eyes of Shun came from?” Bunny's voice coming throughout the speakers filled the room.
What? What did he mean by that?
Rin has never been pregnant. Sae would know. Right?
"Sae..." Luna's voice brought him back from his spiraling thoughts. "If you clench your fist tighter you are gonna break a few ligaments there, pimpollito."
He took a breath and let the air slowly scape through his nose. Luna wrapped his hand around his own and Sae felt something uncoiling in his chest. His heart went back to its normal rate and finally, finally, Sae's hand unclenched.
"But Rin has never..." he stated in that voice that only came around when he is surrounded by people that made him feel safe. "He has never been pregnant." He stated with his hearth in his mouth. It felt heavy inside his own chest, the words bitter on his tongue. "He would have tell me."
Luna cupped Sae's cheeks and his green eyes softened with something Sae couldn't name yet. This wasn't the first time said glance has been threw his way by his lover. Pablo would have done the same in this same moment.
"Dear protege of mine," Luna stated softly. "Tell me... when was the last time you spoke with your little brother?"
Pablo, his actual boyfriend, would have never worded it that way. The Argentinian forward would have sit up, took his hands in his and...
"Che, cuándo fue la última vez que hablaste con el guachito?" That would have been his words. Doused in Argentinian Spanish and something hard under that innocent face of Cavazos.
But both cut deep right now.
Because Sae couldn't remember. Because Rin blocked him after that shit show that was his trip to Japan back when he was 17 and Rin was 15. And then, there was the U-20 match. He had been so angry with the shitty team the JFA had given him to play, —against his little brother's own team.
Yes, because Sae noted the Captain band around Rin's left bicep. Yellow on blue. — and he had lashed against everyone.
But against Rin was the worst.
Why?
Now Sae understood better. He understood himself better and the things he said that never came out as he really wanted. Back in Japan he was angry, he was hurting and he felt... betrayed. Betrayed because Rin couldn't understand that he wasn't good enough to be a forward. Because he felt rejected by Rin when his brother refused to accept that Sae chosed something different, something that wasn't as weighing as being a striker.
And he lashed out.
Instead of speaking with measured words, like the adult he was, he decided to be a brat. He was tired, jet lagged and hurting. And Rin rejected the new version of him, the version he had tried so hard to built from the dust, to not disappoint his little brother.
And it hurt.
But he acted like an idiot back then. Didn't he knew Rin since the moment the brat was born? As his therapist explained later: had your little brother ever been easy with changes?
Sae knew the answer instantly: no.
Rin used his sweaters until they were holey and worn down to a thread of their cotton-y lives. Rin wasn't good with changes. He had hated those when he was a kid. Kindergarten had been a sweet nightmare for his family: Rin didn't wanted to go because he wouldn't be home to greet Sae back. It was a nightmare to get little Rin ready for kindergarten was like playing buscaminas... a disaster. Rin didn't wanted to go. He didn't wanted to use the kindergarten's sweater uniform.
No.
Back then, little Rin only wanted his old sweater that barely fitted him anymore. He didn't wanted to eat the kindergarten's food, he wanted the Ochazuke Sae left for the nanny to warm up for him. Even the crayons were a nightmare. If one of those died, Rin threw a tantrum expressing his discomfort about something or the other.
Back then Sae had labeled it as Rin being a brat.
With his therapist he discovered that maybe, Rin had deeper issues than only wanting attention. Because Rin was always restless as a kid, always throwing his body from places because he wanted to feel something.
That didn't raised any alarm in their parents.
Because they were ashamed of ever been told that something was wrong with Rin. That their youngest was touched in the head. That Rin needed therapy for his issues, whatever those were.
He knew that know.
"Pimpollito?" Luna called him and he blinked back into reality. The TV was showing something different now. "Should I call Pablito for you?"
Luna was odd like that. They weren't anything. But he called Sae Pimpollito even when Pablo was in front of them. And Pablo...
Pablo accepted it with the grace Sae didn't possessed for banalities. Because Luna and Noa had something going on. Vomit inducing was the next step if he stopped to think way too long on that one. Still, Luna was here. Pablo and Noa weren't. Well, Noa would never be in the same location as Sae if Sae has a saying in that. Pablo was currently in France, probably gossiping with Loki about interior design or God knows what.
And Luna was babysitting him because last night's dinner didn't sit well with him. Oddly enough, Iglesias was nowhere to be seen during dinner celebration. The man scored a hat trick and didn't even showed up to the party in his honor.
And now Sae knew why.
"Don't call Pablo." He stated softly. "I'm not dying and your hair is still attached to your scalp."
Luna swatted him in the arm slightly.
"Oh, you might have fooled me with that face of yours," he joked and turned his attention to a horrible soap Sae wasn't interested in.
So, Rin has been living in Barcelona all this time? A City away from him and they... what? Sae wasn't even in the loop that Rin wasn't living by the Senne anymore.
And the brat Iglesias took in his arms looked more awake than a newborn was, so it has been longer than a year.
He didn't paid enough attention to Rin. Because according to PXG Rin wasn't retiring, no. What they say to the press was that Rin needed a break and that he could go back to the French League whenever he was ready for that.
Sae never thought it would be because of a baby.
He took his phone in his hand and opened I'mstagram. He searched between the small bunch of people that had his personal account, the ones that he followed, a name that didn't belonged to him: OrionsLight_21. Rin's personal account's username was: Owtlish9 and that greeted him.
There were posts from years ago, from days ago. He saw that Rin's followers grew up, the personal accounts of people that were in stardom with his brother were the new addition: Bachira Meguru, Nagi Seishiro, Yukimiya Kenyu, Reo Mikage and...
No.
The last post was a cute picture of a garden and two people in there: a small figure and a bigger one in the dim light. Small hand wrapped around a bigger one. A baby and a man.
And the mentioned username left him with his blood cold because @IglesiasBN was tagged there. The caption was the nail in the coffin. The part that told Sae how much of strangers they were to each other, because this has been going on for a long time and they...
Sae didn't even knew he has been an uncle for 3 whole years. If he counted the 9 months pregnancy and that the kid looked to be over age 1 because he was walking on chubby legs, then yes! He had been an uncle for the last 3 years, take or add a few months, and he was ignorant of.
The caption readed: "There was a time I wanted to gouge my eyes out. Now I don't want to ever close them knowing you both are here."
The comments were the slap he didn't knew could hurt him through a screen.
@MegBach: hug my godson for me, yes? Miss those spity kisses already.
@Eagleyes: awwww, so cute!
@IglesiasBC: 🥰💘
Sae hadn't know. He hadn't...
He pressed his finger against the screen to open Rin’s instastory. There was a story of something Lavinho posted only a few minutes ago. Which meant that Rin approved.
Lavinho @InnerBest:
“We had a first row for their romance. When the world says it’s a scandal, the truth is, we just saw our teammate building his life. We've been holding our breath since the dancing started. Welcome to the spotlight, Rin... again. Welcome to the world, Shunny.
[Video Clip Attached]
The footage was warm, slightly dark, and completely unguarded. It was taken in a small, lively tapas restaurant in Barcelona. Rin, dressed in black, was being led in a graceful, sensual salsa dance by Bunny. Rin's usual fierce intensity was completely absent, his face soft, his eyes alive and sparkling with genuine, unbridled happiness. Bunny was radiating, his smile genuine—a broad, loving expression that rarely made it past the pitch.
The camera, held steady by the older forward, briefly lingered on Rin's midsection, where the fabric of his shirt showed the subtle, small bulge of an early pregnancy, a quiet prophecy of Shun's arrival. As the dance ended, Bunny leaned down and kissed Rin’s forehead, then rested his hand protectively over that tiny bump. He mumbled something in Rin's ear that made Rin pressed himself closer to the bastard's body. Rin was hugging him with his arms.
#BarchaBaby #BabyIglesias #JuanDíaz #GabrielDemera the new generation of Barcha.
Rin was hugging Bunny with his arms and his heart. And Sae was ignorant of it all, because he and Rin weren't brothers anymore and it....
"Pimpollito?" Luna's voice took his will away and Sae sobbed with his would body.
"It hurts." Werr the whispered words that scaped his throat.
"What hurts?" The spaniard asked the next second, anxiety mixing with the smell of burnt cinnamon and confidence that rolled off Luna's body.
But Sae couldn't tell him what, because from his point of view, only his heart hurt, even when he knew it wasn't a real decease. So, he didn't tell Leonardo, because he wasn't sure how to say so, how to voice his pain.
Once again Rin was beyond him, in a place Sae couldn't reach. Just like when they were kids and Rin was a star he couldn't reach. For the longest time Sae had been sure that Re Ale scouted the wrong person, because Rin was more talented than him.
And then, Rin rejected a contract with Re Ale to play with PxG. All of that without reaching out for Sae. And it was partly his fault, Rin was never good with spoken words. Rin used to write his feelings down in small, short phrases. Because back then they had been more then brother, because back then words weren't needed.
And when Luna hugged him, Sae broke completely. He sobbed and cried until his eyes were swollen, his head pounding, his nose red and Leonardo's sweater was soaked with his body fluids.
"It's okay, pimpollito." Luna said softly. "Getting better takes time. Rin isn't dead, though."
That caught him off guard.
"I know he isn't dead, but maybe I am for him." Sae said, still clinging to Luna's shoulders.
"Well, knowing Rin as I do because Julian never shuts up about him and what a good player he managed to lock up for PXG... I would say that Rin isn't averse to talk to ghost. Hell, I think the kid can conjure up a demon and still manage to stare the bastard down."
A soft pats landed in his head.
"So..."
"So, you suck it up and speak with your little brother. Okay?" Luna said softly. "Hell, Sae, you have a nephew now. Those eyes are just like yours in shade." Luna said slowly. "Time doesn't heal the wounds. Speaking up is the only thing that might do the trick."
Luna's words made a home in his skull.
"Rin blocked me." Sae said softly. "Back when I was 17."
"Then, but another number." The older man stated softly. "Would you like to see him? Would you like to see Rin?" He asked slowly. And Sae nodded, body heavy with pain. "You know, there was a time when Ego asked for a World 6 but Bunny declined." Luna said. "According to Silva it was because there was something about Japan that made him want to cry." Luna said slowly. "For a long time we thought it was about you. Now I know it was about Rin. We faced him. Kid never gave up, not even once."
Sae nodded.
"I would like to see my brother again." Sae said in a whisper after a while in silence.
Did that version of my brother does even exist?
He wasn't sure because the Rin he remembered had rounded cheeks, liked to poke his tongue out and had the loveliest eyes in the world. He was always fitting under Sae's chin, in Sae's arms.
Now Rin was taller than him.
If I tell you everything, would you ever forgive me?
"Sae," the soft calling of his name brought him back to thebland of the livings. That and the small hand that was carding through his head. "Amor mío."
Sae blinked his eyes open and took a deep breath. It smelled like the grape soda usually found in Jacaranda. He reached out blindly and found the hand running through his scalp and Sae sighed with all his body.
"Leo called me." The voice said, pressing against his ribs and making a space of their own against Sae’s side.
"Figures," he said in a rough tone that meant nothing. "Weren't you with the speedster?" He asked, rolling to his side and dislodging his companion from his ribs.
"Weren't you okay when I left?" He asked back, burrowing against Sae’s ribs again.
He looked down to hazel brown eyes and pulled the Omega closer.
"I am now." He stated because there was no reason to lie to Pablo, not here in their bedroom. Not ever. "Thanks for coming, though." He stated, running his hands through white milky skin.
"Not a burden, Alpha." Sae opened his eyes and peered inside Sae's soul, or so the midfielder felt. The silence felt over there and Sae permitted himself to only... exist in Pablo's presence.
The Omega was soft like that and his baby face wasn't helping Sae's instincts. He pulled the Omega closer to him and wrapped his arms around the other's waist. His mind wandered to a snowy, sad night in that moment.
That was the night where Rin's eyes changed. The light dimmed and his usually warm and curious eyes turned cold and serious.
"Pablo, do you think I am a bad person?" He asked after a while.
Pablo leaned up and looked at him with those calm and warm eyes of his. His rainbow colored hair was falling over his eyes and Sae felt... he felt his heart skipping a bit and restarting again with fervor.
Pablo was so pretty.
"I think you never say what you mean to." He stated softly. "I think you are not bad, but a bit misguided." He said softly. "Where's this coming from?"
Sae sighed and tried to search for the right words.
"Rin." It was the only thing he said, though.
"Rin, as in Rin your little brother Rin Itoshi?" Pablo asked, sitting cross-legged on the couch.
"Yeah." Sae said, heart and shoulders heavy. "He... he has a baby." He stated.
A whole life I didn't even knew existed.
"Oh..." the Argentinian said slowly. "Is this about Iglesias as well?"
Sae sighed and nodded anyways. There was no reason to deny it.
"I thought that Rin was going through a phase," he stated softly. "Not that I... that I made him mad enough to exclude me from his life."
"Huh? How's that even possible?" Pablo looked positively flabbergasted.
Yeah, Sae, how is it possible that you thought that puberty attitude would last this long in Rin?
He sighed again, body coiling again.
"I said things I didn't mean when we were younger," he fussed up after Pablo looked at him with those waiting eyes. "And then I was so mad about being enslaved by Ray that I called him names during the U-20 match..." he stopped.
"The U-20 was years ago, amor." Pablo said. "I still remember meeting Rin a handful of months before that particular game." He said.
"You met Rin?" Sae looked at him and sat up, cross-legged on the couch.
"Yeah." Cavazos said softly. "Luna was very impressed with his game and so was I. I would have never thought Rin to be an Omega. Not with the amount of fire that was burning in his heart." He stated softly. "Maternity has soften him up."
"Maternity..." Sae tasted the words. Because Rin was a mother now. A mother to Bunny Iglesias' pup. "The kid, does he looks like..."
Pablo the good sport he was took, took his phone out and showed him a picture of the baby. One that wasn't grainy as fuck. Iglesias and Barcha had been very clear with their statements. The kid was out limits when it came to the press, and by the law, they couldn't print an HD picture of the brat.
Yet, Pablo was showing him one in HD.
The baby was essentially a copy of Bunny Iglesias, if the devil were to be turned into a baby again. The blond-platinum hair falling on a milky forehead. The cheeks small and round, the nose small and cute. And the eyes...
Those were Rin's eyes: teal blue with a spark of happiness and curiosity Sae had yearned to see again, directed at him. A wish that never happened and maybe would never happen, because Rin hated him enough to forget to tell him he was claimed by an Alpha, pregnant and lastly, that the kid was born well and for the looks of it, the boy was developing well.
"What's his name?" Sae asked softly.
Pablo looked at his own phone.
"Why don't you ask Rin?" He suggested softly, throwing the phone away and cupping Sae's cheeks with his both hands.
"Because Rin blocked me, because he hates me." Sae said softly.
"Well, Bunny doesn't hates me, so..." he pointed to his phone. "Fire him a text."
Sae munched on the inside of his cheek.
"Why do you have his number?" He asked frowning at the device but taking it nonetheless. "May I?" He asked for permission and Pablo nodded.
"So, there was a time when Silva wasn't Ego Jimpachi's first option for the World Five." Pablo said, flopping down on the couch and releasing a calming bout of pheromones. "As you know, Adam and Loki are Betas. Luna is an Alpha, and I am Omega, but I play in small leagues, even if I am good." He stated. "Bunny was the second Alpha Ego wanted to play in the World Five." He stated softly. "Bunny was on board until Ego sent the list of players we needed to face. Bunny politely declined when he saw Rin's name and said that it might turn nasty and personal between Rin and him. And Ego wanted an objective report, so he accepted Bunny's words." Pablo carded a hand through his tresses. "Now I think they might have been in love with each other since that time."
Sae took a fortifying breath.
"Rin was sixteen back then," he stated softly.
"And?" Pablo asked softly. "Alphas and Omegas can married at age 15. And they both look so in love it is a bit disgusting." Pablo giggle. "The kid is pretty, though. I would love to hug him close to me, like a teddy bear."
"Babies aren't teddy bears, Cavazos." Sae said and sighed heavily.
Instead of keeping up the conversation, he decided to fire a message to the terror that was Bunny Iglesias, before he lost his nerve. His fingers hovered over the keys, then he was doubting the words, then he erased what he typed and lastly...
Pablo - 19:21
Can you tell him to unblock me? -Sae.
Conejito Matón... ugh. Pablo and his weird thing with nicknames. Sae thought himself. But the Assassin Bunny fits Barcha's star very well.
Conejito Matón - 19:22
I will tell him. But I cannot force it upon him.
Pablo - 19:22
Good enough, I guess.
Conejito Matón - 19:24
Not doing it for you, but for him.
Pablo - 19:24
Him?
Conejito Matón - 19:25
Not my story to tell. Good night, Sae.
And Sae could respect that.
"Done?" Pablo said and decided that Sae was more comfy then the sofa, because he proceeded to use Sae's body as his pillow.
"Yes."
"Hated it?" Pablo asked.
"Every second of it." He sighed heavily. "Not because of Rin, but because of Bunny."
Pablo hummed softly and let it go.
The silent fell over them, filling and loving. Pablo's weight was a welcome blanket for Sae's turmoil and he clung to it with his hands and feet. He revealed in it, hearts slowing down, mind blanking.
Eyes closing, sleep claiming him again.
Until his phone vibrated inside his pant pocket and Sae lifted the thing, thinking that Dabadi most be mad at him for slacking in his social media. Sae answered his phone still with his mind catching up to him.
"Who is this?" He asked in a groggy voice.
There was silence and then...
"Forget it." The voice said and Sae's heart stumbled inside his chest.
"Rin?" He called for the brother he missed. For the brother he killed.
"No. Is it Cinderella's seventh dwarf." The other said sarcastically. In the background a baby was babbling.
"Wrong fairytale..." he stopped for a second.
"Yeah, what else is new with me when it's come to you." And Rin was agitated, maybe mad, so before his brother could hung up on him, Sae did the only thing his brain could come up with.
"I'm sorry I was bad to you that night. I'm sorry I was bad to you only because other people were bad to me." He rasped, his voice off. He sat up and...
He was in bed, Pablo sleeping besides him.
"Whatever." Rin hung up anyways.
And Sae... Sae cried, small, slowly, in a crazy way.
For the first time Rin had listen to him. For the first time in nearly a decade they had talk over the phone. And that felt good.
"I will try again. In a week or so." He vowed in the darkness of his room.