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Itoshi Sae is a public figure. Everyone knows him. But contrary to that, he's a very private person. Barely anything is known about his private life. Whenever the interviewers pose any questions regarding his personal life to him, he shuns them with no hesitation, only answering with a 'It's none of your business'.
"Itoshi-san, do you mind sharing how you and your brother, Itoshi Rin, have come to have such a strained relationship?"
"None of your business."
"Itoshi-san, can you share anything about your life outside of football?"
"No. Why should that matter in an interview about football?"
"Itoshi-san, are you seeing anyone as of late? A girlfriend perhaps?"
"No."
Itoshi Sae may be a public figure, but he couldn't care less about any implications that come with it. So long as he could play football and become the best in the world.
Itoshi Sae hates it when the media approach him like they want something from him, to dig deep into his personal life and get the biggest scoop out of it.
Even the people in his closest circle wouldn't know something about him if he kept it quiet enough.
---
It was the day before the Japan U-20 vs. Blue Lock Eleven match. The U-20 team had a day off to rest well and to prevent any sudden injuries from occurring.
Aiku was going to drag the team out for a meal and do some team-bonding activities or whatever. Though before Aiku could even finish speaking, a young man with magenta hair stood up and headed towards the door.
"No way I'd go. I have my own plans." He said with his typical cold tone — yet there was the slightest hint of softness in his voice — while pocketing his phone, and walked out of the room.
"What's his problem? The genius is too high and mighty to eat with us or something?" Sendou huffed while glaring daggers towards the door.
"Hm, guess genius-chan has no confidence when it comes to things outside of football." The captain said to ease the tension, though he couldn't help but recall that Sae was focused on his phone the whole time he was in the room.
---
Sae made his way into a quaint little cafe tucked away in an unsuspecting corner, where it isn't easily noticed. Exactly what he needed right now.
He didn't pick this cafe himself, but he appreciated the gesture from the person who did.
He pushed the cafe door, and the bell on the handle chimed, signalling a customer's entrance. He walked into the cosy space, windbreaker zipped fully and hood up to protect himself from the chilly autumn breeze outside.
The cafe was empty, the scent of freshly brewed coffee immediately hitting his nose, soft jazz music playing in the background, and a barista who didn't blink twice at his appearance. Perfect.
He scanned his surroundings for a sight of familiar, long, dark blue hair with a sprout on top.
Then he spotted it—her, sitting at a table, in a corner to the left of the counter. It's been so long since they've last seen each other, with Sae being abroad in Spain, and now his hectic training schedule on the Japan U-20 team. The one day off he gets, he will use it to spend time with her. 'Finally.'
He can feel himself getting warmer and butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He released a breath he didn't realise he was holding and headed towards the lone girl.
"Hey, Yocchan," Sae said with a voice so soft that he reserved only for her. "Long time no see." The girl looked up, and recognition filled her eyes like sparkles before she jumped up to embrace the football player—her boyfriend.
"Ahh, Sacchan! You're here!" Sae wrapped his arms around her, tighter, as if she would disappear if he didn't, and you can see his eyes soften and his lips quirk into a small smile.
Ah. He's smitten.
She is his safe space, someone he can go to whenever things get overwhelming, someone he swore to protect from the vicious media.
---
By the time Sae got back to his accommodation, it was already 9 pm. Good, a full day well spent with Isagi.
He smiled to himself as he recalled their day together while packing up his things for tomorrow.
The way Isagi smiled so brightly when Sae won a Hello Kitty plush holding a football from a claw machine with his nonexistent arcade game skills.
The way Isagi wanted to feed him a potato fry, not the best thing to be eating the day before an important match, yet he gave in to her despite thinking they're deadly unhealthy.
The way-
"You smell like a woman." An annoying, ear-grating voice came from his doorway. Sae turned to glare at the tan boy. "Why are you here?" His question went unanswered.
"Whew~, is Mr Prodigy getting action the day before a match? I didn't think you'd be the type. I thought I had a chance." Shidou leaned against the door frame, continuing his teasing. "You're imagining things." Sae narrowed his eyes at the uninvited guest.
No way he's letting anyone here know about Isagi, and definitely not Shidou of all people.
"You literally smell like blueberries and honey." Shidou cackled. "Well, your nose is broken then." Sae slammed the door in his face, refusing to let the conversation escalate any further.
He does not need Shidou-stress after the one day out he gets with his girlfriend.
---
Tensions are high. Excitement and anxiety were flowing through everyone present in the stadium.
This was it. The final point. The point that determines it all. Whether Blue Lock would continue or be demolished.
The game was about to restart, and Sae caught a mop of familiar dark blue hair waving and cheering at him from the lowest bleachers.
"Sacchan!! You can do it!!" Her voice was drowned out by the audience's cheering, but the midfielder heard her regardless.
If he got more serious after that, well, that was for himself to know.
Sae wasn't the only one who caught her voice, though.
'Huh? Is that... Isagi-chan?' The forward's eyes immediately shot to the crowd and saw the girl waving at him, too.
"Rin-kun!! Good luck!!" Isagi was fired up, firmly believing in both of the Itoshis to fight with all they had, that she would support both sides no matter the outcome.
Rin could sense her energy from where he was standing. He will give all he has in this final stretch, even if it kills him.
The small, tiny, childlike part of him was filling with warmth at the thought of Isagi, who was basically like a sister to him now, being here to witness him play against his older brother in a serious match.
'I will crush you, aniki. I will become the best striker in the world.'
---
GOALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!
The whistle blew. The match ended. Cheers sounded all around the stadium.
4-3, the final score, in Blue Lock's favour.
The last goal, shot by none other than Blue Lock's #10, Itoshi Rin.
Players from the Blue Lock Eleven team charged towards him with celebratory shouts, some even with tears in their eyes.
Rin cheered at the top of his lungs, the most ecstatic he's ever been in a long time, finally scoring a winning shot against his brother.
Some players (read Bachira) flung themselves towards Rin in their excitement, to which Rin swiftly dodged and headed towards the side of the field to face the audience.
Both teams lined up and bowed deeply to express their gratitude to everyone who took the time to come watch this match.
---
After everything wrapped up, the football players started making their way to the locker room, with some staying behind to meet with family.
To the U-20 team's surprise, Sae stayed behind as if he was waiting to meet someone instead of going straight to the locker room as he usually would.
As the crowd was slowly clearing, Isagi started speedwalking to the field, her body thrumming with excitement. She was so caught up in her enthusiasm that she slammed into a firm, hard body towering over her.
In a flurry of panic, she sputtered out apologies and bowed multiple times as deeply as she could.
"Mm, I'm good, you're too small to hurt me." The boy interrupted her before she could continue, face and voice equally as tired.
Seeing as the other wasn't bothered at all, Isagi focused on her mission and continued towards the field, not before yelling out another apology, though.
"Hey, Reo, who is that girl? She's cute..." The tall player turned towards his friend, who shrugged in reply. "I don't know, Nagi. Probably one of the guy's family, maybe a sister."
They kept their eyes on the girl as she walked to the field and towards the crowd of players, searching for someone before running and throwing herself into the arms of a player on the U-20 team??? Who was... ITOSHI SAE????!!!!
---
The field was pindrop silent, all conversations ceased the moment everyone saw a random girl hugging Sae... and he hugged her back?!?!
The girl was animatedly complimenting him and recalling the plays he made, and Sae just listened intently to her rambling with the softest look in his eyes. The duo was uncaring of the world around them.
In a split second, the smitten look on Sae disappeared when Blue Lock's centre neared them. The blue-eyed girl paused her conversation with the magenta-haired boy to congratulate Rin and ruffle his hair.
The sight of Rin bending down and allowing this girl to pat his head was slightly (very) hilarious to the Blue Lock players. Oh, they definitely will never stop bothering him about this.
Sae's face was painted in a frown as he watched the two interact, growing more upset that his brother had interrupted his moment with Isagi, and Aiku took this chance to slide up to him. "Hey, hey, genius-chan, care to explain yourself?" The captain asked as his lips curled up in a sly grin.
The midfielder was about to dismiss the other until he realised it was too late to back out of his predicament, as everyone's attention was on him and Isagi.
"Hmph, she's Isagi, my girlfriend." There, short and straight to the point.
Sae should've expected the chaos that erupted on the field. These nosy guys would never lose a chance to pry into his business.
"What?! A guy like you can get a girl like that?!" Undoubtedly came from none other than Sendou.
The Itoshi glared daggers towards the pink-haired striker, because how was he supposed to respond to that? Start spilling his heart out about how he and Isagi had known each other for as long as he's been playing football? That Isagi is such a sweetheart for being able to accept him for who he is? That she's completely different on the field, and they complement each other so well? How upset he was when he couldn't bring Isagi along with him to Spain? Hah. Fuck no.
("Haha! Nagi, your luck with girls is terrible! Seems like it's all gone to your gacha games." Nagi sulked all the way to the locker room, leaving his friend who was still wheezing behind.)
While Sae was still trying to get the U-20 team off his case, a swarm of Blue Lock players started crowding around Rin and Isagi.
"Hey! Isagi-chan, was it? I'm Bachira! You like football, dontcha?" A cheery voice cut through their moment. Rin felt a vein throb in his head. How dare these fuckers interrupt him.
"Nice to meet you, Bachira-kun! Yeah, I love football!" Bachira's eyes seem to be sparkling at this point. Oh, no. Rin wasn't going to have it. He wanted to catch up with Isagi in peace. "Oi, dumbass, leave us alone."
Before he could even resume his conversation with the girl, his older brother came and grabbed onto her wrist, pulling her towards the direction of the U-20 locker room. "Quick, Yocchan, let's go!"
Isagi could only wave goodbye to everyone while staggering away. The players on the field could only stare at the couple, dumbfoundedly.
---
The next day, Sae's phone was flooded with way too many tags on his social media, push notification articles, and messages from his manager. Whatever, he sent a 'good morning' to Isagi first, then only opened one of his social media apps. A tag called saesagi was trending, which caught the midfielder's attention.
He clicked into the tag only to get blasted by pictures of them hugging from yesterday and edits??? 'How were there edits already???' He kept scrolling; most posts were alright, he may even say some were cute. Some fans even dug up his old interviews and highlighted the hair tie and bracelet on his wrists. He had no words for that, honestly, their dedication is next level.
He reviewed some articles next. What did this have anything to do with sports journalism anyway? It seemed more like a gossip category that aunties and teen girls enjoyed, to Sae. Media outlets writing about Itoshi Sae having a girlfriend as if it were some kind of breaking news weirded him out. He immediately left the page once he deemed that there was nothing negative written.
Finally, he shot a message to his manager, telling him to monitor anything posted about him and Isagi and to get any slanderous posts taken down immediately. He didn't bother reading what his manager wrote earlier; he tells himself he'll read them later.
At last, he got out of bed to get ready for the day and another date with Isagi. A deep part of him felt delighted that their relationship was out in the open now.
---
Itoshi Sae is a public figure. Barely anything about his private life could be found. Well, now, barely anything except his relationship with Isagi Yoichi.