Chapter Text
Bachira brushed furiously at his teeth, eyeing the time on his phone every few seconds.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, Bachira cursed himself. I overslept again.
He had stayed up late last night in the training field, trying out some fun dribbling techniques that he imagined using against the World Five when, and if, he would ever play against them again.
That late night adventure was catching up to Bachira now as a yawn erupted from his lips. His vision glossed over with tears—the way they always did when he yawned. Nothing out of the ordinary until–-
Ting. Ting. Ting.
Bachira paused mid-yawn, mouth still open, and looked down at the countertop before him.
He had expected to feel moisture stain his cheeks as the tears fell, but instead, he felt tiny pricks against his skin.
And the tears weren’t tears at all.
Bachira stared up at his reflection in the mirror, eyes following the trail of stars falling from his eyes, mesmerized by their blinding colors. Each drop was so unreal, so delicate—Bachira nearly convinced himself that he was dreaming.
A faint jingling sound accompanied each tear, complete with the sound of shattering crystals when each drop made contact with the counter. The sound was crystalline.
And so very unreal.
Bachira reached a hand out to the mirror, half in fear, half in awe. His cheeks were glistening in something like gemstone powder and the sink in front of him was smothered in glittering colors.
His toothbrush sat, forgotten in his hand, as he examined the situation, captivated by the stars’ magical, illogical appearance. As more stars began to leak from his eyes, Bachira couldn't help but be fascinated by his reflection.
What were these things falling from his eyes? An illusion of the light?
Bachira scrunched his eyebrows, thinking back to his first encounter with these stars from a few days ago.
It had been in the second selection—in the middle of the match against Isagi's team.
***
Rin looks upset.
Bachira frowned at the thought. In the past few days that he had spent on Rin’s team, Aryu and Tokimitsu had done most of the engaging. Rin tended to isolate himself, and if he happened to be in the presence of the others, he was usually completely disinterested in conversation.
Now, Rin looked fired up, his eyes glaring at the area where Isagi stood.
Bachira had been delighted by the thought of playing with two monsters on the same field. It had been all he ever hoped for in this sorry life of his—a person who understood the kind of soccer that Bachira indulged in—and he had ended up finding not one, but two people that made his heart beat in anticipation.
Bachira had smiled on the field that day, eyes glazing over in excitement. In hope.
But then that moment on the field happened… that moment when Rin and Isagi had run past him as if they couldn't see him.
As if he didn't exist.
Bachira had swiveled his head to look towards their turned backs, a crippling bout of fear gripping at his chest. Every part of his body had felt excruciatingly painful in that moment, like the air around him had suddenly morphed into poisonous gas.
It was then that a single star fell from his eye, landing on his jersey. Bachira spared no extra glance, brushing it off as a figment of his imagination, as he fought against his monster to make himself a crucial player in the game once more.
After the game against the World 5, Bachira had found the star latched onto the side of his jersey—a beautiful turquoise droplet.
He had been surprised at first, wondering how the little thing had managed to stick onto him for so long. But closer examination revealed the sharp edges of what seemed to be a small, glowing rock—those sharp edges had dug into Bachira’s jersey from their brief moment of contact, creating a comfortable place for the star to nestle in while Bachira had run around the field.
Bachira closed his fist around the star, not knowing what to do with it. Something about the star had felt too fragile, too much like Bachira himself, and he didn’t want it to meet the eyes of anyone else.
He ended up shoving the star into the bottom drawer of his nightstand, closing it off from both his mind and the rest of the world.
***
Bachira side-glanced the doorway of the lavatory before walking over to his nightstand, albeit hesitantly. He hooked his right foot onto the handle of the bottom drawer and pulled it open. Inside, the turquoise star rested, as beautiful and bright as when it first fell from Bachira's eye a few days ago.
He picked it up and closed his fingers around it, bringing it over to the counter where he had been standing.
Bachira inspected the stars lining the bottom of the sink in an arbitrary fashion. There were only a few, but their glow was already nearly-blinding. He pushed down the stopper and opened his closed fist over the small pile. The star took its place amongst many, losing itself in the whirl of dazzling hues.
Bachira swirled his finger into the many colors, taking unconscious note of the odd sensation. Each star seemed to give his finger a small prick as it passed by—not deep enough to make a mark, but sharp enough that it made Bachira wince.
His finger came to a stop and he picked up a blue star from the pack. Its color was eerily similar to the eyes of someone he knew.
“Isagi.” Bachira murmured, the name tickling his lips.
After a few more moments of musing over the mysterious appearance of the stars, he make-shifted a canopy with his shirt and transported all the stars from the sink into his bottom drawer.
Bachira kicked his drawer shut without another thought and made his way to join the others for language studies.
***
Bachira raised an eyebrow, “Wed-ness-day?"
Rin let out an annoyed sigh, "It's 'Wednesday', you moron. And you got everything but 'Sunday' wrong."
Bachira jumped at the sound of Rin’s voice. His quiet mumbling had been for himself only—why was Rin even listening to him? He was always minding his own business.
Maybe Rin wasn’t as disinterested in everything as he seemed.
Bachira set his pencil down, pouting. Why was English so hard? He ripped out the page he was writing on and began to fold it.
It had already been a few days since their team had begun their language studies, and yet Bachira felt as if he was getting nowhere.
He let out a sigh, glancing at his hands which had been folding mindlessly. The ripped sheet of paper was now a sleek paper airplane that looked as if it would fly an appropriate distance. Bachira made a mental note to try it out later.
His eyes trailed over to Rin, where Tokimitsu and Aryu were pestering him with questions. Bachira propped an elbow onto the table, resting his head in his hand.
Rin really was the embodiment of perfection. He was the striker of every soccer player's dreams, and at least for Bachira, the monster inside Rin made him even more perfect.
Bachira had no idea what to expect when he joined Rin’s team. The Top 3 seemed so far away from him—so different from what Bachira was comfortable with.
So different from Isagi.
But he soon realized that Aryu and Tokimitsu were just normal people. And in a way, Rin was too.
Bachira shifted his gaze over to Isagi. He looked at peace with his eyes closed, nodding along to whatever was playing into his headphones.
Isagi.
His first friend. The first person, aside from his mom, that Bachira had learned to cherish and love.
Sometimes Bachira couldn’t tell just how far this love of his stretched.
Isagi, despite his ever-positive demeanor and charming personality, was hard for Bachira to read. Not in soccer, no, but rather as a person.
Bachira couldn’t tell how Isagi felt about him. The only time Bachira had ever seen Isagi get fired up over someone was…
Bachira's gaze shifted over to look at Rin once more. His hands were grabbing at his hair in frustration as Aryu and Tokimitsu continued to badger him.
A small chuckle slipped from Bachira's mouth as he watched on. He couldn't stay mad at Isagi for being intrigued by someone like Rin. If Bachira didn't have feelings for Isagi, he would've liked Rin too.
Bachira's eyes widened at the thought.
"What are you laughing at, Bobcut?" Rin had turned his head and was glaring at Bachira.
Bachira relaxed his eyes immediately and looked around his study space in a panic. He picked up the paper airplane, the first thing he laid his eyes on, and aimed it at Rin, "I can FLY-DAY!"
Bachira clapped his hands together in glee. The route of the little plane was perfectly smooth, just as Bachira had anticipated. Plus, his pronunciation had sounded pretty decent just now.
The airplane hit Rin square in the temple and he jumped out of his seat, clenching his fist, "Enough is enough!" He smacked a palm onto the nearest book and chucked it at Bachira.
Bachira laughed and covered his head. He enjoyed getting a rise out of Rin. It was in moments like these that Bachira was able to see Rin break free from his cold demeanor. Those precious moments were few, yet refreshing.
The intercom sounded overhead, "All members who will advance to the third selection have now been gathered. Please promptly put on your bib uniforms and gather in the central joint room."
Bachira rose from his seat with a smile, "I was just starting to get tired of studying."
Isagi made his way over to Bachira and placed a hand on the spot where the book had hit Bachira, "Are you okay?"
Bachira’s heart was pounding steadily, "I'm alright, Isagi-chan!" He glanced up at Isagi's hand still on his head.
Bachira had always felt more giddy than a human should be when Isagi made any kind of physical contact with him. Whether it be a hug or a hand on a shoulder, Bachira always welcomed each interaction with excitement.
However, this touch didn't feel quite the same as before.
Almost as if Isagi’s affection had changed. Or maybe it was Bachira’s excitement that had dimmed.
But that couldn't be. Not when Bachira had been feeling bitter about the idea of Isagi’s fondness for Rin just a few moments ago. Bachira took Isagi's hand from his head and held it in his, "Let's go get our uniforms!"
Just as Bachira was about to pull Isagi out the door, another book came flying at their intertwined hands.
"Mind the people in the room, would you?" Rin spat at the two. His eyes were locked onto their intertwined hands in something of spite.
Bachira instinctively sagged under Rin's gaze, feeling both embarrassed and yet strangely satisfied at Rin's discontent. He knew that look well—it had the same feel as the eyes Bachira had given Isagi after seeing his chemistry with Rin on the field.
Apparently that wasn’t the only thing they had chemistry in.
Bachira averted his eyes from Rin’s, knowing a look of jealousy when he saw one. Of course the person that Isagi had eyes for requited his interest.
Everything worked out for Isagi.
Nothing ever worked out for Bachira.
Requited love was a phenomena so far out of reach for Bachira, it was practically nonexistent.
Isagi lifted Bachira's hand to eye level and examined the red marking stretched across his hand, "That book hit you kind of hard just now–" He turned to Rin, "--watch it."
A flash of concern flickered across Rin's facial features as he looked toward Bachira's hand, but it disappeared so fast that Bachira wondered if he had imagined it.
"Whatever." Rin muttered, standing up.
Bachira gave Isagi a quick smile and then followed Rin towards their living quarters.
***
Bachira scrambled around the room, looking for his uniform. He groaned as he kicked at his clothes scattered on the floor around his bed. He never really bothered to clean up after himself, whether it be in art or daily life, and it was moments like these that made him wish he did.
A jersey landed on top of Bachira's shoulder and he turned to see Rin's outstretched hand. A seed of warmth sprouted across Bachira’s chest as he tugged his uniform on, "Thanks Rin-chan!"
Rin looked like he was about to say something, but Isagi interrupted, suddenly bursting into the room from the bathroom door, "Guys, look what I found!"
Bachira's eyes fell to Isagi's palm and his blood ran cold.
A single red star was sitting in the base of Isagi's hand. Sparkling and beautiful.
Bachira was fairly sure he had cleaned up after himself properly that morning, but it was entirely possible that he could’ve missed one of those small stars in his rush to get ready.
He ran forward and snatched the star from Isagi's hand, "I was doing some stuff with glitter earlier. I probably didn't clean up properly."
The excuse sounded stupid. Even to Bachira. His fist was clenching the star so hard that he could feel its edges piercing into his skin.
Isagi raised an eyebrow, "Where the hell did you get glitter from?"
Bachira forced out a laugh and threw his arms around Isagi, "Secret!"
Rin eyed the two for a moment before letting out an annoyed "tsk" and walking out of the room.
Isagi turned to look at Bachira with a slightly worried face, "Bachira…” his voice was barely above a whisper, conscious of Aryu still in the room styling his hair, “That's not glitter, is it?"
"What do you mean?" Bachira could feel cold sweat building behind his bangs, "Of course, it's glitter. What else could it be?"
Why was Isagi looking at him like that?
As if he knew what was happening to Bachira?
Heck, Bachira didn’t even know what was happening to himself.
Bachira let go of Isagi and speed walked towards the meeting area, not giving him a chance to say another word. On the way, he opened his fist over a trashcan in the hallway, praying that these odd stars wouldn’t cause any more trouble for him.
***
When it came to light that Bachira had been placed at number seven, he was delighted by the news. He had never particularly tried to rise through the ranks in the way he knew Isagi did, but seeing the results of his time in Blue Lock had fired up something within him.
Bachira sat on his bed, pondering the benefits of joining each of the three teams displayed on the screen of his phone.
He knew Isagi would choose Rin's team out of his desire to unlock his unknown potential. And although Bachira had claimed he would pick a team at random in the lunchroom earlier, deep down he wanted to pick Rin’s team too.
He couldn't really put a finger on why he felt this way, but he supposed it was because playing alongside Rin would present the opportunity for challenge that Bachira was always craving. Rin’s plays always took Bachira’s breath away—no matter how many times he watched them, he could never get used to them.
That and his wish that he would be lucky enough to get picked to play alongside Isagi in one of the matches.
Without a second thought, Bachira clicked Team A on his device, smiling with satisfaction.
***
"Nanase Nijiro... Hiori Yo... Isagi Yoichi."
Bachira's heart dropped ever so slightly, seeing that he wouldn't be playing in the same match as Isagi. The feeling quickly passed as Aryu placed a hand on his shoulder and steered him towards the cafeteria where the other players had begun to gather.
Players were allowed to view matches only after they had completed their own, but since Bachira would be playing in the last two matches, he wouldn’t be able to watch any of the matches—only review his own.
Bachira took a seat next to Aryu, his eyes trailing over the hushed excitement filling the room. He clenched his jaw, closing his eyes. He was already feeling gloomy about not playing in the same group as Isagi, and he really didn’t want to think about whatever was going on between Rin and Isagi on the field right now.
Why am I feeling so bitter about this? Do I like Isagi that much?
For some reason, that didn’t seem quite right.
Bachira opened his eyes as Aryu’s head moved into his line of vision, blocking his view of the table before him, “Bachira-kun. Are you okay?”
“Huh?” Bachira sat up a bit, “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Aryu twirled a strand of hair with his finger. Bachira watched his manicured finger go round and round as he talked.
“I overheard you and Isagi earlier.” Aryu paused. “Sorry for eavesdropping.” He added hastily.
“No, no, you're good.” Bachira blinked, snapping out of his trance that was Aryu’s hand, “What did you overhear?”
“About that star-looking thing.” Aryu replied, “The red one.”
“Oh!” Bachira smiled uneasily, “Yeah. No idea where that came from…”
“I was watching you during the match against Isagi’s team. I saw the turquoise star that fell from your eyes, Bachira-kun.”
Bachira fell quiet, staring helplessly at Aryu. “Well? Do you know what it is?”
Aryu’s eyes darted around the room before he leaned in closer. Bachira mirrored him, turning his ear towards Aryu.
“ Star Tears . Very rare. I’ve read about it once. Even then, there was barely any information about it.”
“ Star Tears .” Bachira repeated. “What in the world is that?”
Aryu shifted uncomfortably, “They say it’s due to… unrequited love.”
“Oh.”
Bachira’s voice felt stuck in his throat, preventing him from uttering another sound. He was dimly aware of the conversations erupting around him, but the only thing he could see right now was Aryu’s face.
Even that was oozing out of place.
Aryu placed a on Bachira’s shoulder, “Are you okay? Do you need some water?”
“Um.” Bachira’s throat was dry, but he didn’t want to drink anything. He felt like he was going to be sick if he ingested anything right now. “I’m just… gonna go rest for a bit.”
Aryu nodded slowly, removing his hand, “Let me know if you need anything.”
Bachira rose from his seated position, clouds of black surrounding the corner of his vision as he stumbled towards the living quarters.
***
Ugh, Antenna-freak pisses me off.
Rin rubbed at his shoulder as he made his way towards the living quarters, planning to make good use of his six hour break before his next match.
He pushed open the door to the room he had inhabited for the past few weeks during the second selection, not expecting to see someone curled up on the bed in the far corner of the room.
Rin’s eyebrows raised as he took in Bachira’s yellow highlights peeking out from under his head. His thumb was hovering near his mouth, not quite inserted as it usually was, but pretty close.
Rin walked over to his bed diagonal from Bachira’s, frowning when he saw unfamiliar belongings dumped on top of the sheets.
“Fuck, who put all this here?” Rin murmured, picking off a jacket from the covers.
A groan escaped from Bachira’s lips as he stirred in his sleep, turning Rin’s attention back towards him.
Back in the second selection, Rin had always awoken early to head to the gym for his morning meditation sessions, so he was no stranger to Bachira’s sleeping habits. The golden-eyed boy was always peaceful in his dreams, eyebrows relaxed and face reverting to an almost-ethereal form as he dozed.
Now, however, Bachira’s face looked troubled—Rin had never seen it look like that in the few times he had glanced over at Bachira’s bed before his morning excursions.
Rin bent over Bachira’s bed without thinking, eyes widening as a small glittery object flashed in and out of his sight. Rin could’ve sworn he heard the faint sound of a bell.
What is that?
“Rin-kun!”
Rin turned abruptly, straightening himself. Aryu was standing at the doorway, eyeing Rin’s position near Bachira’s bed. “What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean? I–” Rin paused.
Realization dawned on him.
When the third selection began, he had been moved out of this room into a new one with Yukimiya and Nagi. Rin had been so exhausted by the first game that he had mindlessly wandered back to his previous room.
In front of him, Aryu’s eyes landed on something behind Rin and he quickly shuffled over to Bachira’s bedside, back facing Bachira as he gave Rin a smile, “Did you need something, Rin-kun?”
Rin was oblivious to a lot of things, but he wasn’t dumb. He noticed the way Aryu had placed himself to perfectly block out Bachira in his line of vision. He also noticed the way in which Aryu had become incredibly fidgety all of a sudden.
“Tch.” Rin turned on his heel and left, annoyed at having put himself through this hassle, and even more annoyed at himself for being ever so slightly troubled by Aryu’s actions.