Work Text:
unknown number:
hey sae-chan (●♡∀♡)
unknown number:
do you know who i am?
you:
Of course I know, demon
you:
I didn't give my number to anyone else
horny demon:
you remember me (≧▽≦)
you:
Why wouldn't I?
horny demon:
why would you?
horny demon:
we played one match together and your one of the best in the world
horny demon:
it was probably not that important for you
you:
So what?
you:
I gave you my number, I won't forget you
you:
And it was important for me
horny demon:
aww you're so sweet sae-chan
you:
Whatever, it's just the truth
"Sae, quit smiling and your phone and get ready. The match starts soon, it's time to go." His manager said, snapping his attention back to the real world.
He texted Shidou a quick goodbye and got up. Time for another easy match that would turn harder all thanks to the idiots in his team. At least the Re Al was good enough to have some decent players for him to work with.
'It won't be worse than playing with Japan's U-20.' He told himself as he left the house, ignoring his manager's yapping. 'If it weren't for me and Shidou they would have lost 20-0 or something like that.'
After seeing what Blue Lock had to offer, Sae agreed it could be the way for Japanese football. But he didn't care about the program anymore, he wasn't interested in all those players. There was only one he wanted:
Ryusei Shidou.
***
horny demon:
i just watched your match from yesterday
horny demon:
that last pass was perfect, can't believe the guy didn't score
you:
You'd be surprised how many useless players there are even in the top teams
horny demon:
i wouldn't have wasted a chance like that
you:
I know
you:
I thought you weren't allowed phones or tv in blue lock?
horny demon:
i'm not in blue lock
horny demon:
we have a two week break
horny demon:
so that means i have two weeks to text you all I want
you:
Your plan for the break is annoying me all day?
horny demon:
yes (ㆁωㆁ)
horny demon:
do you mind?
you:
Not at all
***
you:
You said that? Really?
horny demon:
yes, of course i said it
you:
No wonder my brother hates you
horny demon:
you don't hate me, right?
you:
Of course I don't
you:
I would ignore you if I hated you
you:
And I’m not doing that, am I?
horny demon:
maybe the great sae itoshi does have a heart somewhere in there
you:
Don't go saying it around, you'll ruin my reputation
horny demon:
don't worry, i won't
horny demon:
i want that heart all for myself
Sae chuckled at the reply. He was about to write something back when someone called for him
"Itoshi! Practice is about to start!" It was the captain. Sae was standing in the Re Al changing room, texting instead of joining everyone else in the field.
"I'm coming." He muttered, the small smile on his face from texting Shidou turning into his usual stoic expression. He put the phone in his bag and jogged into the field.
***
horny demon:
what do you have me saved as?
you:
Why do you want to know?
horny demon:
i’m curious
horny demon:
and bored
you:
Horny demon
horny demon:
fair
you:
What do you have me as?
horny demon:
the itoshi i wanna fuck
horny demon:
your brother is “the itoshi i wanna punch”
you:
You have me matching with Rin?
horny demon:
yes
horny demon:
do you not like it?
you:
It’s alright I guess…
horny demon:
do you just want to have something special to you?
you:
…
horny demon:
i’ll take that as a yes
horny demon:
okay you are now “makes me wet with a glance”
you:
Ryusei Shidou
horny demon:
yes? 😀
you:
What the fuck is that name
horny demon:
a fact?
you:
You can’t have me saved as that
you:
What if someone checks your phone and finds it?
horny demon:
my wallpaper is a dick pic i don’t think they’ll care about this
you:
Your wallpaper is what?
horny demon:
a picture of my dick
horny demon:
you wanna see it?
horny demon:
i saw you typing
horny demon:
i know you want to say yes
you:
I’ll ignore that. Why don’t you just save me with my name?
horny demon:
fine…
horny demon:
what about 💕sae-chan ♡(> ਊ <)♡💕
you:
You know what? I’ll take that
horny demon:
but then you have to use my name too
you:
That’s fair I guess
horny demon:
not my last name, my name
you:
Fine, fine
Ryusei (my demon):
:3
***
you:
It's been a while since I've had rice for breakfast
Ryusei (my demon):
but it's the best!!
you:
Well, it's not an option here in Spain
you:
So I just got used to not having it for breakfast
Ryusei (my demon):
what do you eat then??
you:
Toast and coffee
Ryusei (my demon):
boringgg
you:
Shut up
"Who are you texting, Itoshi?" Sae looked up from his phone to glare at his teammate.
They were all on the bus, going to another city for a match. Sae usually ignored everyone, but apparently today they'd decided to talk to him.
"Why do you care?" He replied.
"Well, you've been all smiley on your phone lately." Another one said. "So we're curious."
"It's none of your business."
"That sounds like someone's got a girlfriend now..."
Sae's face turned slightly red against his will.
"I don't have a girlfriend."
"That's what a guy hiding one would say."
He wanted nothing more than to remind all of them just how stupid they were, but his face was still red and he knew they'd never take him seriously. And so Sae just glared at his teammates and went back to his phone.
you:
I can't believe there's people even more annoying than you
Ryusei (my demon):
i think by now we both know you don't think i'm annoying anymore
you:
If I'm being honest
you:
I never found you annoying
Ryusei (my demon):
awwww, i love you too
***
Ryusei (my demon):
can you talk??
you:
Yes, I can
you:
Just got back from practice
Ryusei (my demon):
nice
you:
What did you want to talk about?
Ryusei (my demon):
actually, i was thinking
Ryusei (my demon):
could you call?
you:
You want to talk on a call?
Ryusei (my demon):
yes
you:
What, do you miss my voice or something?
Ryusei (my demon):
maybe i do
Ryusei (my demon):
you do have an angelic voice
you:
Whatever you say
Ryusei (demon-chan) is calling…
“Hello, my demon.” Sae said, picking up the call. There was a second of silence and then,
“That was so sexy I think I just came.”
“There’s no fucking way that’s the first thing you say.”
“What did you expect?”
“Exactly that.” He admitted, sighing. And yet there was a smile on his face. “Did you miss my voice that much?”
“Of course I did. No one can call me an idiot quite like you.”
“Whoa, what a compliment. Got me falling for you.”
“What can I say, I’m a charmer.”
Sae walked to his bed, dropping in there. No one was around, no one ever was. It was lonely, yes, but he didn’t mind.
“How’s the break going?”
“It’s weird to see the sun.”
“Can’t believe that psycho got the government’s permission to lock all of you in there.”
“Yeah, it’s crazy when you think about it. But even if I’d known, I would have gone.”
“Probably me too, if I was in Japan with you all.”
“I thought you were a midfielder.”
“Yes but… I’m pretty sure if I hadn't come to Spain I’d still be a striker.”
“It’d have been cool to have you at Blue Lock. To meet you before.”
“I’d have kicked all of your asses.”
“You can still kick mine if you want. Literally.”
“God, how can you just say those things with a straight face?”
“I don’t think there’s anything straight about me.”
Sae couldn't help it when the laugh bursted out, a truly foreign sound for him.
“Did you just laugh? That was so cute.”
“Don’t call me cute!”
“Then don’t laugh like that. Especially when I can’t make noises.”
“Why can’t you?”
“My family is sleeping.”
“What time is it in Japan?”
“Around two am…”
“Then why are you talking to me?”
“I wanted to hear your voice.”
He wasn't expected to care as much as he did. Shidou was losing sleep over him. That was… heartwarming, in a way. But Sae didn't want him to do it, he wanted him to rest properly now that he had a break.
“Shidou. Go to sleep.”
“But-”
“I’ll still be here tomorrow. We can call at a time that works for you too.”
“...Fine.”
The line was silent for some seconds. Sae was waiting for Shidou to hang out, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“Good night Sae.”
“Good night. Sleep well.”
Shidou cut the call. Sae stared at his phone.
***
Ryusei (my demon):
i just got a message
you:
From who?
Ryusei (my demon):
blue lock
Ryusei (my demon):
we're going back tomorrow
you:
I see
Ryusei (my demon):
in the first selection we could get our phones back scoring goals
Ryusei (my demon):
but that never happened again
you:
So you don't know if it'll be possible now
Ryusei (my demon):
exactly
Ryusei (my demon):
this might be the last time we talk in a while…
you:
It’s alright
you:
I’ll still be here when you get your phone back
Ryusei (my demon):
are you gonna miss me??
you:
Of course
Ryusei (my demon):
i’m gonna miss you
you:
I know
Ryusei (my demon):
i’ll be the best striker in the world
Ryusei (my demon):
we’ll play together as best striker and best midfielder
Ryusei (my demon):
and we’ll be better than everyone
you:
That sounds like the best future ever
you:
You’re the striker I want to play with, no matter what
Ryusei (my demon):
god i need to fuck you
Ryusei (my demon):
goodbye sae, i gotta go
you:
Bye Shidou
you:
Go win, my demon
***
"Sae, you'll be doing the post match interview." The coach said as he stepped into the changing room where all the members of Re Al were.
He gave a nod and walked out to the interview room, which was a mostly empty room with a table, a mic and a chair, space for reporters and the sponsors logos on the walls. Sae didn't play in Re Al's first team, he played in the second. The lower level leagues in Spain had more followers than he expected before moving there, but something was up today. The interview room was never filled up of impatient reporters like this. Hiding his confusion behind his usual blank expression, he sat in the chair. The coach had already answered his questions, so it was now all him.
“What do you think about your team’s performance in the match?” The first reporter asked.
“We only won because the other team made mistakes. We should have played better and won by our own successes." Sae replied. He wasn’t gonna sugarcoat it, the match had been a disaster. Which was expected with the starters the coach had chosen, most of the best players, including himself, had sat on the bench until minute 60.
“There have been rumours the directive might replace the team’s current coach with a female coach. How do you feel about that?”
“Gender doesn’t matter. As long as they do their job well, I’ll follow the instructions of any coach.” He hoped the directive finally decided to change their current coach because god he really was taking some really bad decisions. And Sae meant it when he said he couldn’t care less if it was a woman. He only cared about winning.
“Are we allowed to proceed with questions unrelated to the match?” The next reporter asked.
“Yes.” Sae imagined there was a reason for so many people to be here and it was probably not the ridiculous match they’d just played.
“Barely over two weeks ago you played an exhibition match with Japan's U-20 team. The starter players for said national team have been invited to the Neo Egoist League, can you confirm or deny your participation in the project?”
Sae frowned, confused.
“The what?”
“The Neo Egoist League.” One of the other reporters replied. “The next initiative from Japan’s Football Player Association. A small exhibition league with five teams made up of Blue Lock players, Japan’s U-20 team starters and young promises from different European clubs, including Barcha.”
What was that madman Ego doing now? A league with top European teams? That one match against the U-20 had surely got him some money if he was getting this ambitious.
“I had never heard of this. It is true that I played with the Japanese team, but first and foremost I am a Re Al player. If Barcha is one of the teams involved I imagine they wouldn’t want to mix us up.”
“Would you have liked to be part of it?”
“While I find the Japanese Football Player Association’s initiatives very… interesting, this doesn’t seem like anything more than a pointless competition to see what striker can show off the most. I’d rather stay here with the team and keep working towards my goals.”
“Footage from the match between Blue Lock and Japan’s U-20 suggests a close relation between you and the striker Ryusei Shidou. Would you want to-” Whatever question, probably too invasive, the reporter was gonna ask was cut off by Sae himself.
“The interview is over.” He said firmly and walked out of the room.
He heard the team’s PR manager calling out for him, saying he couldn’t just leave like that, but Sae found out he didn’t care at all. The relationship between him and Shidou was… He had no idea. But what he knew is that, whatever it was, it was only for him and Shidou to know.
Ryusei was only his.
***
When Sae arrived at his apartment, it was empty. It was always empty, but he didn't mind.
Well, he used to.
Because today, for some reason, he minded it.
He found himself wishing there was someone else here. Wishing Shidou was here.
They hadn't talked in what, two, three days? Sae never knew it was possible to miss someone this much.
As he walked through his apartment like some sort of depressed ghost, he couldn't help but wonder. Wonder how things would be like if Ryusei lived here.
Sae wanted him to have a side of the bed and a cup in the kitchen and a blanket on the couch. He wanted to get home to him and watch a movie and cuddle and fuck him in the bedroom and in the ridiculously big bathtub. He wanted to wake up in the morning and make him breakfast and see his messy hair, hear his raspy voice. Wanted him to fill the place with his stuff so everyone knew two people lived here.
How was it possible to miss the presence of someone in a place where they'd never been?
He remembered being fourteen, making the decision of moving all the way to Madrid, to the other side of the world.
Distance is hard, someone had told him. Who had it been? The school counselor? He didn’t really remember. But what he did remember clearly had been his answer.
“I have nothing in Japan to miss.”
And that had been true. Of course, he had a family in his home country. But he didn’t really miss them, just wondered how they were doing from time to time. They never bothered to call anyways so they must not miss him either.
That had been true. But it wasn’t anymore, was it?
Because he’d chosen Ryusei for a match and Ryusei had instead, somehow, managed to get into his heart. Sae didn’t even know he had one.
But he did. He had a heart and something to miss and distance was hard.
What was he supposed to do now?
***
Initially, he didn’t want to. He’d already seen what Blue Lock had to offer. Some players had potential, like that Yoichi Isagi guy. And then there was Shidou, of course, but that was different.
He’d left Japan with the idea of not hearing about those guys again until the U-20 World Cup, where he either managed to get Spanish nationality somehow or he’d get asked to play with his home country.
So why the hell was he checking this BLTV thing?
The answer was, unsurprisingly, Ryusei. He seemed to be the answer to everything in Sae’s life recently.
He thought he could deal with the distance. He thought he could handle missing him. No contact wasn’t that different from only messages.
But now it was getting out of hand. All Sae could think about was Ryusei, he had even found himself zoned out during football practice. There was no way things could go on like this.
So he’d given in. Paid the stupid subscription just to see Shidou’s face. God, he was pathetic.
There wasn’t much yet featuring PXG, the team Ryusei was playing with. Only some video of Loki explaining, an argument between him and Rin in what looked like a changing room and then the footage from the match.
Why were there so many videos of Bastards anyway? He did not want to see Kaiser’s ugly face, he wanted to see Shidou.
He watched the match. For a second Sae could imagine they were in the U-20 versus Blue Lock match again, playing together. He should have said more that day, done more.
He didn’t think Ryusei would get a grasp so tight on him. He didn’t think it’d go on instead of fading away.
He watched the match again. Then the fight. When did it become 2 am?
Sae dragged himself to bed. He needed to sleep, his regular sleeping schedule was very important for his performance. He couldn’t afford to slack off, not now that coaches were starting to consider letting him play with the first team.
He had never had sleeping problems. So why was he staring at the ceiling? His mind was fully awake and going on and on about Ryusei. About how cute the pink ends of his hair were.
‘What the hell am I thinking?’
Without moving, he reached out to the bedside table and grabbed his phone. The mostly empty home screen stared back at him. He didn’t have much social media, just some accounts for PR stuff the team forced him into that he never really used.
Why would he spend time scrolling when he could be working to improve at football?
But right now, Sae had nothing to do except keep on fantasizing about Shidou. Which he refused to do because one, it was kind of embarrassing and two, he would never fall asleep if he did that.
First few posts were about football. It made sense, all he did was reply to the team’s posts. Soon enough, some videos from the Neo Egoist League started to show up. It was quite popular, people seemed to like to see teenagers be dramatic on the field.
Sae ended up coming across a video of one of Ryusei’s goals. He hesitated a bit before giving it a like. It was a really beautiful goal, but Sae wasn’t surprised. It was Ryusei’s.
The algorithm clearly had noticed he liked Shidou, because more and more videos of him started to show up. Mostly clips of the match he’d already seen. And then he started to see the edits.
Thirst traps, people simping over Shidou. It all made a dark satisfaction bloom inside Sae. Strangers could dream about him all they wanted, but Sae was the only one Ryusei would pay attention to.
He was surprised to find out people agreed with that when he stumbled upon fanart. At first were a couple drawings of Shidou, playing football or doing whatever. A few others with people from PXG: that blonde kid, Loki, Rin…
It wasn’t long before he found himself. Lots of different drawings of him and Shidou in the U-20 uniform. Ryusei draped over his back, Sae rolling his eyes. People must have done this after the match against Blue Lock.
He kept looking through the fanart. The football drawings weren’t the only ones. He quickly came across others that portrayed the two of them in much more… domestic situations.
Cuddling on a couch. Cooking together. Walking by the sea. Holding hands, hugging, arms draped over each other’s stomach and necks and heads and legs. Every position imaginable.
Kissing.
Sae had not consciously realized how bad he wanted to kiss Ryusei. It had almost happened after the U-20 match, in the locker room, but they’d both stopped, not sure if it was alright to take that step when they’d barely met each other. And now they were in opposite corners of the world.
It was almost three am and Sae felt stupid. He wanted to kiss Ryusei, but he couldn't. He wanted to sleep, but he couldn’t. He wanted all of this to go away but he wasn’t sure he could go back to his empty-hearted self.
His eyes were fixed on the fanart. He could almost imagine it was real, could almost feel Shidou’s lips on his.
He clicked the like button without thinking too much. Minutes later, he was asleep.
***
The call from his manager came before his alarm sounded, so it ended up being what woke Sae up.
He was still wearing his training clothes from the day before and was all sweaty since he hadn’t showered. Half asleep, he rescued the ringing phone from between the bedsheets.
“Sae! Do you have any idea what you have done?”
“Do what?”
“Don’t try to lie your way out of this.” His manager sounded genuinely mad. “You already give me enough problems insulting every Japanese football player out there and now you do this?”
“What are you talking about?” Sae asked, sitting up on the bed. “I just woke up, I don't know what you’re yelling at me for.”
“You liked a social media post yesterday. It had an image of you being… Intimate with another player.” The man explained, clearly not very comfortable with the topic. “It has been interpreted as a confirmation of a romantic relationship.”
That managed to fully wake Sae up.
***
“Sae?”
“Ryusei. Hello.”
“What’s going on? Anri suddenly showed up and pulled me from training, gave me my phone and asked to call you.”
“Yes, I know. I needed to talk to you.”
“Something happened? She seemed worried.”
Sae let out a deep breath. He felt nervous but at the same time so happy to hear Ryusei’s voice again.
“I- uh- liked a fanart. Of the two of us. Kissing.”
There were some seconds of silence.
“And?”
“People have taken it as confirmation that we are dating.”
“And?” Ryusei repeated. “We are dating, right?”
“If you want to.”
“Do you think I’d say no?”
A smile broke into Sae’s face. What had he been so anxious for? Of course Ryusei would just say yes.
“My team’s PR manager has been talking to Blue Lock’s. They want us to decide if we want to confirm it or deny it.”
“We’re confirming it, right?”
“Are you sure? They’re worried about the impact it might have on the public’s perception of us, especially in Japan.”
“Like I care what they think. I’ll just move to Spain with you. Spain’s cool with gays, isn’t it?”
“More than Japan, that’s for sure.”
There was silence again, but this time it was far more comfortable. Sae could almost forget his manager was trying to burn a hole through his skull with his stare.
“Will you face backlash for making it official?” There was genuine worry in Ryusei’s voice.
“I might have to wait more to debut with the first team. But nothing I can’t handle, I just have to keep playing well.” Sae replied. “What about you?”
“The rankings are based on how much teams would be willing to pay for us. I guess something like this might make my numbers go down. But there’s nothing I can’t fix scoring some goals.”
“Let’s do it then. I don’t want to have to hide this.”
“Me neither. I want everyone to know you’re mine.”
“I love you.” The words hung for a second as the line went silent again.
“I love you too, my angel.”
***
@itoshisae_oficial has posted:
he’s mine
i’m his
[attachment ID: picture taken during the Blue Lock versus Japan U-20 match. Sae Itoshi and Ryusei Shidou talk on the field, Ryusei with a grin and Sae with a small smile]