itoshi sae, one of the top 11 football players in the world, whose name is feared and admired by many.
l/n y/n, a chaotic yet caring person trying to become a successful artist, whose name is unknown by many and cherished by few.
when these two meet...
bachira slept like the dead so luck was in your favour while you snuck downstairs to his mum's studio. your eyebags must hate you as your phone screen flashed 02:03 when you cautiously opened the door of the garage and switched the lights on. yuu bachira (bachira's mum) was a renowned artist featured in many magazines and exhibits. she was the one who started your passion for art and the one who taught you everything you know. the way she would speak about the calmness of watercolours and the rawness of oil pastels never failed to intrigue you, her voice was soft but it brimmed with fascination, obsession even. the brush is only a brush, not your way of expressing or whatever your middle school art teacher said. the paint is only paint, a coloured substance you use to make images on your canvas. but, the image is a fragment of you, not a way to show yourself instead it is a raw, chaotic piece of you that is displayed how you see it. that's what she taught you.
setting your sketchbook down on the table, you rummaged through the draws for charcoal pencils and tissue. you sat on one of the chairs, cross-legged and started to scribble random faces subconsciously and a couple doodles of future painting ideas. slowly the faces became familiar; bachira smiling, isagi on the verge of death, shidou grinning, rin scowling and sae irritated. you grimaced at his face before adding a crooked crown and whiskers to his portrait and snickered. you added horns to rin's hair and clown makeup to shidou's face, 'lipstick suits him so well, oh my god' you realised doing a double take on your own drawing, tilting your sketchbook slightly for a better look.
"lipstick looks good on that guy."
"i know, right?" you agreed subconsciously before freezing at the realisation that you're not alone. your eyes were met with bachira's mum standing in the doorway with her arms crossed and eyebrows raised knowingly. 'when did she open the door?' you panicked, thinking you were going to be scolded. quickly thinking of an apology you closed your sketchbook and began to get up.
"sit down, i'm not mad," she laughed, shoulders shaking slightly. she opened a cabinet and grabbed a drink and a bag of chips before sitting next to you. "sooo, why are you up this early, and let me see that guy again, his hair's crazy," she gestured at your sketchbook while opening the bag and offered you some.
"my hands are dirty, but i'm just thinking about things so i couldn't sleep. it's nothing," you showed her the portraits before getting up and washing your hands at the sink.
"liar," she scoffed peering at the details and snickerd at the doodles, "you can tell me what's up, y/n."
you sighed while sitting back down and grabbing a handful of chips and eating, "you know me too well," you said after swallowing, "i have my exhibits and i have fans but i still can't make it big for some reason, i'm still a small artist even though i put everything in for my art, i gave everything up for it but i'm stuck. i can't get a manager or be able to go independent still." you don't know how but the words spilled from your mouth like an avalanche; clear, chaotic and unpredictable. "i took up this partnership with some snob in hopes i can gain some publicity and experience with rich people. i know that's a bad idea since they have a stick up their ass but i don't know what to do. and the guy i'm working with for it is an absolute nightmare, the personification of arrogance and a knock-off flame princess from adventure time."
"ok, wow, that's a lot," she gapes at you rambling while eating and drinking non-stop. "so first we'll talk about the snob. how do you know he is a snob?" she asks grabbing more chips and drinks.
"well he insulted me before knowing anything about me, not even a hello and he starts his tantrums because i didn't know his name. he gave me a backhanded compliment about my paintings and he lied about being free cause i have 'a bird's nest' on my head," you mocked sae, enraged at his rudeness. how can one be so irritating in less than 30 minutes.
"hmm, yeah he sounds like a snob but you have to try to crack this front up, i mean he chose you for the partnership, right? you told me he was a football player too. they never really show people their true feelings, i've met a couple and god they were either sweet or annoying as hell," yuu explained with that same caringness she always used when talking about your art. she understood what you were going through to an extent. "try and be the bigger person, it's best in these situations."
you contemplated as you stuffed your mouth with more chips. 'god these are good' you sighed and turned to her, "you're always right, how do you do that?"
"mother's instinct," she shrugs turning the pages of your sketchbook, "so tell me about this idea, i really like it, it leans more to realism and far from what you usually do."
the night was drowned out by the sun's first rays, the birds started singing awfully loud and you were yawning as you and bachira's mum went back inside the house to get ready for the day. bachira still slept like a log, his body contorted in ways inhumanly imaginable.
"meguru, get up, it's 7 don't you have to practice woth isagi for something?" you shook him awake and grabbed your clothes, thank god you kept spares at his house.
mumbling incoherent words, bachira opened his eyes and greeted you, "good morning and oh my god you look worse and worse every day." you rolled your eyes at him and greeted him back before heading down for breakfast.
"ooohh rice and miso soup? where's the tamagoyaki?" you asked eager to eat.
"almost ready!" yuu shouted over her shoulder.
"good morninggg," bachira stretched still in his pyjamas, "so what are you gonna do y/n? you gonna work on your plans for the partnership today?"
"unfortunately but i chose this so i gotta bare the consequences."
you were still thinking about yuu's words and that maybe you did misunderstand sae, he doesn't want to do this as much as you so maybe you can find some common ground.
after breakfast, you went back in the garage and sketched ideas for the partnership, thinking about a compromise you could come up with.
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