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“And… we’re live! This is Starstruck, your number one channel for celebrity interviews, and I’m your host, Yamada Taro. Today, as part of our series ‘Fans Gone Wild’, we’re here with the legendary midfielder Itoshi Sae! Itoshi-san, thanks for joining us.”
Sae gives the bland-looking talk host an unimpressed stare from his appointed lounge chair. As with all the interviews he’d done in the past, he couldn’t give less of a shit about pretending to want to be here. In fact, he’d firmly turned down this interview, but his lukewarm manager had overturned his veto, arguing that he should make at least one public appearance while he was in Japan for the U-20 World Cup.
“Ah hah… there’s that ice-cold charm he’s famous for!” The host awkwardly remarks to the camera. “For those who may have forgotten, in ‘Fans Gone Wild’, we ask your favorite celebrities about their craziest experiences with fans who took it way too far.”
Frankly, Sae has no idea what ‘crazy experiences’ he’s supposed to talk about. He’s never had many interactions with his fans; he dresses incognito in public, and if his fans do recognize him, he just walks away. He supposes he’ll say as much.
“So let’s get into it!” The host concludes his intro, turning to Sae with a wide smile made for television. “I’m sure you have some juicy stories for us, yes? After all, there’s no way a man who consistently tops Japan’s Hottest Singles lists hasn’t had a few obsessive pursuers.”
An obsessive pursuer, huh…
He could tell that story.
His manager wouldn’t like it. He’d been strictly warned not to let this story reach the light of day. The press would eat it up like a five-star meal, and his manager would be left to clean up the mess.
But then again, it was that same manager’s fault that he was doing this lukewarm interview. Actions, consequences.
“Yes, there was someone like that once,” Sae dryly responds. “This incident took place a few months ago, the last time I was in Japan…”
“Here’s your prize, demon.”
The demon’s lips parted on an ecstatic grin as Sae returned his brightly colored phone to him. Sae rolled his eyes at the man’s over-enthusiasm.
“I saved my number in your phone. Don’t expect me to contact you.”
“Oh, I’ll do plenty of that myself.” The demon cheekily responded as he stalked forward. “And you’ll text me back, yeah? I think I’ve earned as much.” A wandering hand reached toward Sae’s towel-clad hip, which he nonchalantly slapped away.
“Unlikely,” Sae huffed, retrieving his clothing from his duffel bag. “As I don’t see you sending anything worthy of my attention.”
“Yeah, fair enough,” the demon chuckled, wholly undeterred.
Silence permeated the locker room. Sae could almost feel shameless eyes raking over him as he removed the towel from his waist. It took him but a few minutes to dress himself, and once done, he turned back to the demon to see he’d followed suit. Upon recapturing Sae’s attention, the demon flashed Sae a lascivious grin. Sae’s eyes followed the movement of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed.
“Damn, prodigy, a private show? If you’re trying to get me hot and bothered, it’s working.”
Sae immediately wrinkled his nose in repulsion. He liked the striker much better when his mouth was shut.
“Horny demon,” he admonished, moving to leave the locker room without so much as a farewell. He was wholly unsurprised when the demon dutifully trailed behind him. “I believe you have a cage to return to.”
“Ah, but you freed me, didn’t you?” The demon remarked, a playful lilt to his words. “So take responsibility for your horny demon.”
Any argument Sae could have made would have fallen on deaf ears, so he said nothing at all. And just like that, Sae left the Blue Lock facility, his demon hot on his heels.
They walked in comfortable silence to the parking lot, where Sae slipped into the backseat of a Rolls-Royce parked nearby. Without asking for permission, the demon seated himself beside him.
From the front seat, his manager, Gerald Dabadie, craned his head around to glance confusedly between the gleeful intruder and the nonchalant prodigy.
“Eh, Sae-chan…” Dabadie ventured, “What is he doing here? You didn’t inform me that someone would be joining you…”
“Ignore him,” Sae bluntly responded. Frankly, he really didn’t feel like explaining the situation. “I’m hungry. Take me somewhere to eat.”
“I want meat!” The demon cheerfully interjected. Dabadie raised an eyebrow at Sae in silent question. Sae dismissively turned his head away.
So, with a sigh of resignation, Dabadie buckled his seatbelt and set the GPS to a nearby yakiniku restaurant.
“...Wait, let me get this straight,” the talk host interrupts, a confused look on his face. “Your ‘obsessive pursuer’ wasn’t a random fan, but a teammate? One from a match you played last time you were in the country, so that would make them… someone who was on the former U-20 team, before Blue Lock took it over?”
“Yes, we were briefly teammates on the U-20 team,” Sae dryly explains. “Or does that fall outside the scope of your interview series?”
“No, that’s fine; teammates can also be fans… but to think you’re talking about a representative of the nation’s soccer…” The host is clearly apprehensive, most likely having realized that this interview might cause a scandal, but Sae doesn’t particularly care. “Anyways, I’m surprised you let this so-called ‘demon’ with clear dubious intent follow you off the premises. Weren’t you scared he might take advantage of you?”
“Not in the slightest,” Sae bluntly responds. “At the very least, the demon knew how to keep his paws to himself.”
“...Um, I’m not sure how to interpret that–”
“Just shut up if you want me to continue.”
“What do you expect to get out of this, demon?”
Sae glared disdainfully at the demon across the table, who was humming to himself as he grilled a piece of beef. The demon caught his gaze and returned it with an unassuming smile.
“Who, me? Nothing at all,” the demon replied with unconvincing innocence. “I’m just going with the flow. Though spending more time with my favorite Itoshi is always a plus~”
Sae scoffed at the shameless flattery. The demon extended the meat he’d grilled towards Sae, and Sae wordlessly accepted the offering. Frankly, he was terrible at grilling meat, and the demon was behaving somewhat well, so in this specific situation, the demon’s interference was tolerable.
However, the bigger picture was a different story. Sae was all too aware of the demon’s true intentions– in the locker room and even on the field, he’d made no effort to hide his desire.
“Let’s make something clear, demon,” Sae spoke around a mouthful of beef. “I fulfilled my end of the bet and gave you my contact information. As of now, I owe you nothing.”
Silence. Sae stared down the demon, who continued to grill entirely unaffected.
“...So, stop following me.”
“Nah. I’m having fun.”
I’ve made a terrible mistake, Sae thought to himself. I should never have released this devil-may-care demon from its cage.
“And besides,” the demon continued, “I don’t want you to owe me anything, pretty boy. I want to make you want this– voluntarily and with minimal reluctance. Consent is sexy, after all.” Sae rolled his eyes at the flirty wink the demon shot his way.
This wasn’t the first time Sae had been propositioned– far from it, in fact. It was true that he normally didn’t engage with his fans when they approached him, but that had never stopped all the women from shooting their shots regardless.
Setting aside his… general disinterest in the female sex, he simply didn’t see the point in wasting time on frivolous indulgences when it was better spent on soccer. Not to mention that– in the words of his manager– relationship scandals, especially of the same-sex variety, were a ‘serious brand risk’.
However.
This was a rare moment in which there was nothing productive Sae could be doing instead– training right after a match was more harm than help. Plus, since the press would be captivated with Blue Lock’s sudden rise to fame, the attention on his goings-on would be at an all-time low, meaning there was minimal risk of scandal.
And honestly, ‘frivolous indulgences’ didn’t seem so bad when they were offered by the hottest piece of ass he’d seen in years. Seriously, it was shameful how attracted he was to that damned horny demon.
So no, he wouldn’t mind dancing with the devil for a fleeting afternoon.
But, at the end of the day, he was still the same ever-stoic Sae Itoshi, and he had far too much pride to ask for what he wanted. Besides, it would be far more entertaining to make the demon beg for it.
“In your dreams, demon,” Sae coldly chastised– which, predictably, only widened the demon’s grin.
“Ah, but earlier you told me to dream big, didn’t you~?” the demon teased. He picked up a small cut of beef with his chopsticks and leaned across the table to press the warm meat against Sae’s lips. “So, Sae-chan, are you gonna make my dreams come true?”
The air crackled with tension as Sae and the demon waged a silent battle of wills. Then, slowly, Sae parted his lips, letting the demon push inside and place the meat right on his tongue. He slowly licked his lips as the demon pulled back, watching with satisfaction as the pupils of those piercing pink eyes dilated in real time.
“Fuck,” the demon breathed, “You don’t know what you do to me.”
“Untrue,” Sae deadpanned as he chewed, to which the demon huffed in amused exasperation.
“Oh, so you’re just being stubborn on purpose, then.” The demon chuckled dryly, raising a challenging eyebrow at Sae. “Come on. Get freaky with me, Sae-chan. I know you want me, and you know I’ll make it good for you–”
“I’m done eating.” Without warning, Sae stood up from the booth, slapped a stack of bills on the table, and began to walk right out of the restaurant. A long-suffering groan rang out from behind him, and he resisted a smirk as the tip-tap of footsteps followed him out the door.
“You are the brattiest bottom I’ve ever met, Sae-chan.”
“I’m going to start ignoring you now.”
“Heh, joke’s on you, I’m into that shit.”
“So, you decided to let this pervert keep trying to seduce you for what, the fun of it?” The host asks, unable to hide his amazement.
“More or less,” Sae off-handedly responds, sipping on a glass of water they’d given him shortly before.
(When recounting the story, he’d decided to leave out the minute detail of his reciprocity of interest. Some things don’t need to be discussed on live television.)
“Well, Itoshi-san, you’ve certainly got me hooked,” the host laughs brightly. “This is easily the wildest tale in our series; I’m dying to see how it ends. But before you continue, I have to know: what’s with the ‘demon’ nickname? You use it a lot; is there a story behind it?”
“I’m calling him that to protect his identity.” It’s a worthless undertaking. Knowing that loud-and-proud pervert, he’d probably love it if the world knew of his exploits. “And there’s no story. I call him a demon because he is one. He likes the nickname, so it’s fine.”
“Wait, you said he likes it– as in, present tense?” The host interjects. “Does that mean you actually kept in contact with this pervert?”
“You could say that,” Sae nonchalantly responds. “Since, as it stands, I’ve still yet to delete his number. Though our busy schedules prevent us from talking frequently."
“That’s, um– you’re giving me mixed signals here, Itoshi-san,” the host awkwardly jokes (uncomfortableness isn’t an uncommon reaction for Sae’s interviewers). “Well, our time’s running low, so how about we hear the rest of that story, yeah?”
“So, um, where would you like to go now, Sae-chan?”
Sae could see a drop of sweat roll down Dabadie’s brow as he tried to ignore the vagrant demon once again occupying the back seat of the car– or, more accurately, the demon’s hand inching towards Sae’s thigh (to no avail; Sae would slap it away when it got too close).
“Take me to the hotel,” Sae bluntly responded before turning to gaze out the car window. Dabadie let out a nervous chuckle.
“Ha ha… um, Sae-chan, what about your guest? Surely we don’t need to take him to the hotel as well…?” Dabadie hesitantly questioned, to which Sae chose not to respond. “Eh, okay, how about I just drop him off at the Blue Lock facility, then–”
”No need!” The demon cheerfully interjected, slipping an arm behind Sae’s back and pulling him closer by the waist. Sae kicked his shins repeatedly in a futile attempt to escape, which only made the demon squeeze him tighter. “I will be staying with my dear Sae-chan tonight, if that’s alright with you.”
Dabadie opened his mouth to protest, but the demon gave him such a menacing smile that Sae could see the fight draining out of him in real time. He looked to Sae for help, but the blank expression Sae gave him was no more comforting.
“...That’s alright… but we’re definitely talking later,” Dabadie mumbled under his breath. Without further complaint, he started the car and began driving the two back to Sae’s hotel.
The ride progressed in comfortable silence for all of half a second.
“Hey, pretty boy…” the demon murmured low in Sae’s ear, sending an involuntary shiver through his body.
“Let me go, demon,” Sae cut in before the demon could continue. To his surprise, the demon actually retracted his arm from Sae’s waist, keeping his hands firmly to himself. Somewhat confused, Sae shifted his full attention to the demon.
“I meant it when I said I want you voluntarily, Sae-chan,” the demon continued, his voice possessing a quiet seriousness. “And yeah, I’m being pushy because I think you also want me under your ice queen facade, but if you really don’t want this, then just say the word, and I’ll stop–”
“Demon,” Sae suddenly interrupted, the nickname falling from his lips before he himself even realized. “I’m not some helpless damsel. If I had a problem with your behavior, I would have put you in your place hours ago. Is that clear?”
A moment of silence passed, the demon’s expression betraying no emotion. Then, suddenly, a smug, smug grin spread across the demon’s face.
“Oh, it’s clear as day… that you do want me.”
Sae’s heart stopped dead in his chest.
Yes, he knew he was going to sleep with the demon, but he’d wanted to make him beg for his attention, wanted to be the one holding the reins… but now, in a cruel reversal, he’d been the one practically begging the demon not to stop.
“You admitted it, you want alllllll of this dick–” Reflexively, Sae slapped a hand over the demon’s mouth– only to pull it back as his tongue painted a wet stripe of saliva on his palm.
“Will you be quiet?” Sae hissed under his breath, averting his gaze in embarrassment. “I don’t need my manager to hear you talking about your damn dick.”
“Shit, you're right,” the demon whispered, cupping Sae’s cheek and turning his attention back to him. Sae could feel his heartbeat pick up as the demon inched forward, tilted his head, dragged his eyes down to Sae’s lips... “Gonna shut me up yourself?”
In retrospect, what Sae should have done was carefully consider the ramifications of making out with a man in plain view of his manager, and then reject the demon with a firm ‘can’t, not here’.
In practice, what Sae did was instinctively close the distance and chase the demon’s grinning lips without a moment’s hesitation. He chased them all the way to the hotel, all the way up the elevator, all the way to the freshly made hotel bed…
“...and then, I ended up sleeping with him. That concludes the story.”
Silence falls over the studio. Every single person on set has their jaw dropped to the floor. It takes almost a minute for the host to break the ice.
“You’re… admitting to sleeping with a man on live television. A former member of the Japan U-20 team, no less.”
“No, a current member of the U-20 team. Not former.”
“...That’s the biggest issue you’re seeing here?”
Suddenly, the host’s gaze averts to a crew member behind the camera, who flashes him a message written a whiteboard. He stares at the whiteboard in disbelief for a full second before turning back to Sae with a smile so strained that Sae almost finds it amusing.
“Well, um, we’d normally end the interviews by having you answer some called-in questions from a few viewers, but we have to end this one early, so we’ll just be picking one today,” the host nervously explains. “So, let’s hear from our lucky viewer, Shidou-san from Tokyo… who’s been calling our line for quite a while…”
Before Sae’s mind can make the connection, a familiar vibrant voice plays over the loudspeakers.
“Greetings! Can my darling Sae-chan hear me~?” Shidou croons, his voice a bit distorted from the phone. With a huff (the Itoshi-equivalent of a genuine laugh), Sae turns to stare blankly into the camera.
“Yes, I can… Hello, my little demon.”
That short response is all it takes for everyone in the studio to put two and two together – and the result is a very interesting four.
“There’s my favorite Itoshi!” Shidou cheers, his smile clearly audible. “You didn’t tell me you were doing an interview today, angel. I only found out because it was blowing up on Twitter– which, speaking of, I thought you didn’t want us to go public?”
“I changed my mind,” Sae casually states, like he hadn’t made this decision on a whim just to get back at his manager. Not that Shidou would care one bit, whatever the reasoning.
“Can’t argue with that!” Shidou laughs. “Anyway, I get to ask you something, right? So, my question is this: will you come over to my place tomorrow when our break from Blue Lock starts?”
A moment of silence passes. Then, as casual as can be–
“Come to my hotel suite instead. The bed’s bigger.”
– henceforth marking the moment Itoshi Sae irreversibly lost all his dignity live on-air.
“...I cannot believe you’re saying this on national television. This is actually so fucking hot.” A heavy breath sounded over the speaker, and Sae pinched the bridge of his nose in fond exasperation. “Ah shit, I’m out of time– Rin-Rin is coming for me; he must have found out about the interview… Bye, Sae-chan, I love youuuu~”
With a loud click, the call disconnects. The host stares at the camera, seemingly unable to do anything but blink in astonishment.
As for Sae?
“Alright, I’m done here. Someone tell my manager to pull the car around.”
Sae nonchalantly stands up from his lounge chair, walking off the stage without as much as a wave. He doesn’t feel bad in the slightest; it’s what they deserve for wasting his time with stupid questions.
And he can’t be wasting any more time at the moment… because now, he has a date night to plan.
Priorities, people.