Tastes Like Home | Blue Lock x Reader

One

He felt nervous.

Yoichi Isagi, a renowned persona in Japanese Football, who had gone through many trials and errors, felt nervous. Perhaps it was the familiar scent of the cabin wood... or even the freezing nipping at his skin despite his thick, winter clothes. Deep inside, however, he knew it was due to the fact that any minute from now he would finally be face-to-face with the girl he had been head-over-heels forever since he was a child.

He never realized the things he had taken for granted until they went their separate ways. He had gotten accustomed to her company: her sweet smile and encouraging words were always there to greet him day by day. He had made the mistake of letting her go too easily and not making the effort of staying back to be with her.

He remembered the day he was about to move away. She cried, a lot. She begged him to stay, reminding him of how he was her only friend and how distance would damage their friendship. He assured her that it would be okay. He was wrong. They never spoke again due to a multitude of reasons.

But it was okay now, right? He could make up for his mistake now that they were together again, right? Wrong.

The cabin door flew open, an aura of warmth greeting them as a (h/c)-haired girl greeted them with a pleasant smile.

"So you've arrived, Yoichi and friends." Right, he was not alone at this place, thus, he could not show too much vulnerability towards her simply because his friends would not let him live if they knew.

"Hi, (Y/n)," Yoichi smiled softly. "It's been a while."

"Been a while indeed," (Y/n) giggled. "My parents are out at the moment to fetch some groceries so I will be keeping you hospitable for now."

"Woah! Never seen a cabin so big!" Meguru pushed past Yoichi, throwing his luggage to the side and jumping onto the couch. "The couch is bouncy too!"

"What a lovely place you have here Ms. (L/n)," Rensuke said politely, standing next to Yoichi. "Bachira, take off your shoes."

"Okay, okay-"

"First name basis, I see," Hyoma whispered teasingly in Yoichi's ear, making him burst into a deep red.

"Love the scented candle." He hummed, leaning his luggage on the back of the couch and joining Meguru in an orderly manner.

"We're just really close friends, I promise..." Yoichi whispered, making sure (Y/n) didn't hear him. As if the world was against him, however, (Y/n) snickered at his response.

"That's not what you said the week before you left..."

"(Y/n) I can explain-"

A purple-haired boy carrying a much taller, white-haired boy came crashing into the room. The purple-haired boy gently places his sleeping friend on the couch and then turns to their welcomer.

"I apologize for the late arrival, I did not anticipate the uphill route would take as long." He said politely.

"It's no big deal."(Y/n) nodded, face contorting to that of concern. "Pardon? Uphill?"

"Yeah! We walked from the bus stop twenty minutes away." Meguru said. "Nagi got tired like five minutes in, so Reo had to carry him through the rest."

"Oh no, your muscles must be sore then."

"No, it's fine. Our endurance exercises are much more grueling-"

"I'll go get you some healing tea." And with that, the (h/c)-haired girl scurried off to the kitchen.

"She's... Very hospitable." Rensuke eyed Yoichi.

"Yeah, she's just like that." Yoichi nodded. "I'll just... I'll go try to stop her while I can." He said before following closely behind her.

__________

The kitchen smelt of herbal tea as the sun poked through shoji-like windows. Smoke arose from the teapot, the silent hum of steam filling the room. Everything was nostalgic to him as he stood in front of her, his ocean eyes fixated on her skilled hand movements. He had easily forgotten his main objective as he immersed himself in the art of tea.

It was mesmerizing... The way she sifted the tea and poured the water with grace in her strokes. She was the greatest tea maker he knew. A sip of her tea was bound to ease the muscles of any beaten-to-the-bone football player. Oh, if only the tea she was making was for him-

"You want one, Yoichi?" It was almost as if she could read his mind.

Yoichi straightened up, startled by her statement. "I-Is that okay?" He bit his bottom lip.

"You're no stranger to us, Yoichi," (Y/n) smiled softly. "Of course, it'll be okay. I'll make it the consistency you like- soft and thick, perfect with kintsuba."

"Oh," Yoichi's breath hitched. He tried not to sound too excited but could not hold back the sparkle in his eyes. "Thank you..."

(Y/n) got up from her position and made her way over to the fridge. She pulled out some red bean kintsuba and served it on a cute little clay plate. She sat back down at the tea table and placed it in front of him.

"Oh wait, before I forget," she said, pulling out a tiny blue leaf from her herb storage and placing it on the kintsuba. "There you go, Mr. Isagi, kintsuba and (Y/n)'s special herbal tea." She gave him that sweet smile of hers that made him all giddy.

Yoichi couldn't help the heat rising to his cheeks as he nodded, accepting her offer. It had been years yet his feelings for her remained strong.

He got his chopsticks and thanked her for the food before digging in. They remained in pure silence for quite a bit, both too nervous to speak what was on their mind.

He was just about to take a sip of his tea when her calloused fingers stopped him with a gentle grip.

"Yoichi," she started. "Look at me."

He obliged, shakily lifting his head to gaze her in the eye.

"Yes, (Y/n)?"

"I missed you," she said without hesitation, pulling him into a hug. "I missed you so, so much. Thank you for visiting."

Yoichi's eyes widened as melted into her touch. God, he missed her. He missed being in her arms and just being able to hear her voice.

"Did you do it?" She asked, rubbing circles onto his back.

"Hm?"

"Become the world's greatest striker?"

He pulled away, a frown on his face. "No, not yet."

"Why not?" She tilted her head to the side.

"I'm not up to par with everyone else yet. They have much better physical qualities and talents than I do."

"I find that hard to believe." She ruffled his hair. "Just because you're not as fast or strong as everyone else doesn't mean you don't have your own good qualities. After all, you have something not everyone does." She grinned, pointing to her eyes. "Puppet master."

Yoichi's eyes widened. "You saw...?"

"Of course," she chuckled. "Just because I'm stuck here on top of a snowy mountain doesn't mean I can't watch your games. You really shine in every single match you participate in."

Yoichi blushed, scratching his neck in embarrassment. If she watched his games, then that meant she saw whenever he missed a shot or acted so arrogantly. At Blue Lock, arrogance was normal. However, (Y/n) didn't like that.

"Thanks... I'm sorry for leaving you so suddenly," he muttered. "Was a really dick move of me, I know."

(Y/n) chuckled, ruffling his hair. "It's fine Yoichi, we were eleven at the time, anyway. You didn't really have a choice and I was a crybaby at the time," she hummed. "What matters is we're going to have lots of fun this summer. By the time you're back in football jail, I'll make sure you and your friends are absolute pros at snowboarding, got it?"

Yoichi couldn't help the smile making its way to his face as he nodded. "Looking forward to it."