𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓 | 𝘽𝙡𝙪𝙚 𝙇𝙤𝙘𝙠

01. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦

"𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐓𝐎 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘 𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐌𝐄, 𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐒."

Just two days later, Sae Itoshi stood at the front door of Adonis Saint's shared home, his eyes glued to the pavement.

This man was his best friend, yet there was so much shame in him asking such a thing.

When really, Sae just still felt the shame of what he said during that game. He knew he was in the wrong.

But he never wanted to lose again.

He replayed the shot again, again, and again in his mind, constantly reliving that disgusting moment where he lost.

He never wanted to lose again. He never wanted to feel like this again.

"uhh.. sure I guess?"

Sae and Rin were already an uncontrollable duo, but when you add the man that rivaled Itoshi Sae to that mix, they'd be guaranteeed victory over every team they beat.

And that's exactly how it was.

With Sae and Rin on the team, Adonis never really had to...well, he never had to try.

He was bored, winning every game and blowing every team out. It wasn't any fun at all to Adonis.

It was just like when he played on his own team, but instead he had teammates that could do the work for him.

Over time, Adonis slowly replaced Rin, taking a majority of Sae's passes and turning them into Goals.

It felt like no matter where Sae passed it to, Adonis was always able to turn it into a Goal.

The two easily became the best youth strikers in the country of Japan, they would be the players to save Japanesse soccer.

Yet, it was all so undesirable to the Saint, all of it, the fame, the recognition, not being able to go to the store without being noticed.

He just wanted to play soccer, to play against an opponenet that would actually give him a challenge.

A challenge like that championship game, a challenge that forced Adonis to become greater.

There was no feeling comparable to the one he felt at the end of that game, the pure ecstasy that consumed his brain when he saw the defeated face of Japan's Genius.

In that moment, at the end of the game, Adonis wanted nothing more in his life than to win.

His mind became a blank slate that desired only for victory, his desperation fueling his actions.

There was no player that could force that out of him, not in Japan, not after he joined up with Sae.

As a result, he began restricting himself, holding back on his ability, bringing himself down a few levels.

After all, what type of predator goes all out on their prey?

Not many people realized Adonis playing down to his opponents, because they still effortlessly won.

But Sae did, it was a fact that infuriated him.

He kept training, pushing himself endlessly and over and over, all to match Adonis Saint, but he could never match the man's skill as a striker.

Adonis became a different person on the pitch, he became ruthless, emotionless, evil. He had the ideal mindset of a world-renown striker.

Every time Sae stepped onto a pitch with Adonis, his own dream broke apart, withering into the back of his consciousness as he realized the diffence between the two.