Zephyr {Sae Itoshi x Reader}

VIP Section

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" Rusei was bouncing on the seat and singing at the top of his lungs. I don't think he realized that being louder might not help us warp time to speed up the process.

"Rusei, there'll be lots of time for screaming at the game," I assured.

Sae was driving us in his fancy car—which was practically a dream come true for Rusei. Rusei was practically talking Sae's ear off, which meant we hadn't quite had the chance to have the catch up I wanted.

"Here we are," Sae hummed. He pulled into the VIP parking of the stadium, which was jam-packed with fans from all over. The billboards weren't kidding—this really was the biggest game of the year.

Sae took the ticket I had bought and quickly traded it out for a VIP one. Although Sae could've totally just gotten two tickets, I was glad that my ticket could be used somehow. It made me feel a bit better for spending all my time and money buying it.

Thanks a lot for telling me...jerk, I thought angrily. Though I was still grateful.

Sae gave us a quick goodbye and headed off to the locker rooms, while Rusei and I were escorted to the VIP area.

"Y/n, is Sae your friend?" Rusei asked.

I blinked. "Of course he is."

"Well he's my best friend. So I'm gonna cheer louder than you!"

"Nuh uh, not gonna happen," I teased. In the VIP area were a bunch of families—I'm assuming those of the players. Plenty of parents were talking about their sons and the outcome of the match, but a familiar set of red hair was seated before us.

"Dr. Chigiri!" I called. The woman turned her head and smiled, waving. Her daughter, seated next to her, did the same.

It was obvious that they were family—but looked more like twins than mother and daughter. They had gorgeous red hair and eyes that seemed to sparkle brightly in the sun. Yep, if I were a man...

Well, good thing I'm not.

The three of us conversed about the match until the announcements started up. The stadium went dark and a loud voice boomed over the audience.

"May I please direct your attention to the field where I can introduce your starting lineup!

"For the U-20 national team," there was a roaring applause, "may I first introduce your captain, Oliver Aiku!"

The crowd went berserk. Half the fans in the VIP section went criminally insane as they cheered for the soccer captain. Though, I didn't see the appeal. He did not look under 20. He looked 45 and ready for prison. The announcer went through each of the U-20 starting names, but made a long pause right at the end.

"And finally, Japan's Prodigy, Sae Itoshi!"

The spectators roared so loud you could hear it back home. People stomped and clapped and screamed and hollered. And Rusei and I joined them.

"Let's go Sae!" I cheered.

"Best friend! Best friend! Best friend!" Rusei chanted.

Sae looked relatively uninterested in the applause. I noticed him scanning the crowd and finally landing on our section. He raised a fist up high, almost as if he were trying to give me a fist bump.

But it wasn't to me. It was to my little brother, who had raised his fist first.

I guess Sae had taken a liking to both of us.

"And now, may I announce the Blue Lock Eleven!" the announcer cried. "Meguru Bachira!"

"That's him! That's my little boy!" a lady called, shaking another mother. "Look at my Meguru!"

"Eita Otoya!"

"Tabito Karasu!"

"Kenyu Yukimiya!"

"Seishiro Nagi!"

"Gagamaru Gin!"

"Isagi Yoichi!"

"That's my son!" the lady who had gotten shaken yelled at the first crazy mother. "That's my Isagi! I don't know what all this is, but he sure looks great out there!"

"Hyoma Chigiri!"

I let out a loud cheer along with Dr. Chigiri and her daughter for Hyoma. It was a miracle how similar the three of them looked. Hyoma also had long red hair and the same gorgeous eyes. I could see it from the Jumbotron.

Who needs Sae anyway, I thought, eying the boy.

"And finally...oh, what's this? Another brother, it's Rin Itoshi!"

I didn't know Sae had a brother...

I thought Sae would greet him warmly, well, as warmly as that boy could muster. But he simply ignored him. Maybe he was called to a sense of professionalism, but for some reason I doubted that.

I looked down at Sae. He was quiet. Not in a sad way, but more in an annoyed way. He was right, he definitely did not like his teammates.

Once the crowd stopped chanting, kickoff began. The match was incredibly intense, straight from the beginning. Rusei was excitedly cheering and filming and dancing the whole match.

But my eyes were glued to the boy in red.

Sae was absolutely phenomenal. Every touch he made was graceful and calculated, and he blew past his opponents like it was nothing. Over and over he demolished confrontations and placed the ball beautifully, as though the very sport had been created just for him.

But it just didn't look like he cared.

He wasn't sweating or breathing hard, and the only time he looked ferocious was when he was facing his brother. I couldn't quite tell what was going through his head, but I got the feeling that his heart just wasn't in it.

"Look at him run!" Dr. Chigiri exclaimed. She turned to me, "you know, he tore his ACL a while back, but my Hyoma can still fly!"

This was the most passionate I'd ever seen the woman. And she was absolutely correct, the Chigiri boy flew like the wind, tearing up any opponents in his path.

The entire match was overlayed with commentary by the announcers, but what was more hilarious was the commentary by the Chigiri's. I'd practically heard his entire life story by the tenth minute of the match.

But then, boom.

Chigiri was down on the ground, unable to stand.