another love; itoshi sae
itoshi sae comes to spain with dreams bigger than the skies themselves. after watching his future be crushed to dust, he fails rin and decides he's not cut out for the big brother role. but then, itoshi sae meets you, and he realizes he has a second chance to try and be a better man. plus, if there was one person in the world sae could openly admit to loving—it was you.
a/n; sae and reader's relationship is platonic, reader refers to him as nii chan, rin is out of the future sae envisions for himself, indirectly replaced by your love instead.
in spain, there was only one person who made itoshi sae feel at home. you were a rebellious kid, reminding him too much of the one he had left back at home in japan. sae had just lost a brutal match to some guys who challenged him in hopes to win some money off of the foreigner, and he lays on the dirty field after being defeated for the first time ever in a football match.
the setting sun is hot as it beats down on him unforgivingly, and even as sae closes his eyes—he can feel a shadow hovering over him. with a barely restrained groan, he opens his eyes. they widen a fraction when he sees you, a young girl, peering over him curiously. your gaze flitted nervously between him and your older brothers, the ones chatting a few meters away as they bragged about their victory against sae to their friends. they were completely oblivious to your advances on their opponent as you bite your lower lip nervously
sae was still getting used to spanish, but he understood yours perfectly. his scowl deepens, and he sits up. he tries not to wince as he feels a sharp pain shoot up his leg, the same spot where he was kicked by one of your brothers for no other reason besides scoring a goal against them. you notice it instantly, crouching down and placing a gentle hand on his calf in hopes to soothe the pain as he jerks away from your touch.
"get lost, kid." he mutters bitterly, running a tired hand through his sweaty hair—the dark pink locks stick to his forehead, and he pants heavily from the excess strain on his body. you inch closer, ignoring his protests as your eyes squint.
"don't let them see you're hurt," you whisper quietly, crouched down beside him as he blinks back at you blankly. though the expression on his face gives away nothing, you can see the gears shifting in his mind as he realizes the situation he's in. sae was barely fourteen, and your brothers looked like they were almost eighteen—one match with them allowed him to learn the nature of their playing styles and personas. you on the other hand looked just shy of eleven.
"i-if they see you're hurt, they're gonna hurt you more. they're not nice."
sae's eyes narrow stubbornly, and he watches your brothers laugh loudly from afar as they skim through his wallet, pulling out hundreds of euros and pocketing the cash quickly.
"bastards," he growls, moving to stand because your stupid brothers were taking all of his money. he put a hundred euros on the line, sure of himself and his abilities to win. he thought he could take on all three players alone, but sae realizes he would've lost against just one of them in the end. his own weakness is apparent in the way he struggles to stand, and your eyes widen in panic as you push him back down
"no, no! it's okay, just, uhm—go home. i'll get you your money back, promise! but you can't fight them, they play dirty," you affirm, placing your smaller hands firm on his back and helping him get up. he stands quickly, an angry huff leaving his lips as he lightly smacks your hand away from him
"don't touch me, you brat. they can't just steal from me like that, i won't let them. i don't care if they beat me. that money is mine."
later, sae staggers all the way back to his dorm—body spent and bloodied as he returns empty handed. he hated getting lectured by the program's stupid teachers, but he couldn't deny that getting an injury that kept him from playing football for at least a week wasn't something to be proud of, either.
it's late one night when sae's laying in bed, his dorm mate out practicing football, that he hears a soft knock on his window. he ignores it at first, passing it off as an animal scurrying by. with his tongue poked out in concentration, he focuses on balancing his soccer ball on the tip of his foot before he hears it again.
he tugs out his switchblade, something he acquired from a street vendor after he landed in spain before he approached his window with purposeful strides. in a single, fluid movement—he rips the curtains away and peers out into the dark landscape outside
he's surprised to see you outside, small hand curled into a fist as you pause mid knock. you suddenly make a pointer figure, gesturing eagerly to the window lock as sae sighs, complying and pulling it open for you. he leans out the window, a bored expression on his face.
"did you follow me back here?" he accuses, brows pinched together in silent frustration as you take a moment to silently admire the boy in front of you. your brothers, the meanest brothers in the world, couldn't break this boy's spirit. he seemed just as determined and strong as he did when you'd first met him. even after getting beat in both the match and by your brother's brutal punches—he stood tall and strong, in all his glory.
itoshi sae was incredible.
"your wallet," you stammer, shoving the money forward through the window as sae frowns in confusion—looking down at the familiar cash, he blinks slowly, before raising his eyes to look at you.
"you didn't have to. i could've just told my supervisors i lost my wallet. they'd replace everything." he states, and sae watches your fingers curl uncomfortably into the fabric of your dress. it swayed in the summer wind, colorful flowers—rosettes—printed all over the fabric. your eyes are round, and sae thinks you kind of look like rin when you pout.
"i hope you're feeling better, 'm sorry they hurt you. i-if it makes you feel better, i made 'em think they lost your money on the drive back home!" you confess, smiling a bit as you peer up at him. sae scoffs, moving away from the window to throw the wallet back onto his bed before he leans back out the window. he stares at you quietly for a moment, before sighing.
he repeats your name a few times after you tell him, before he finally managed something similar to a smile. well, at least sae hoped it looked like a friendly gesture from your perspective. but he wasn't used to smiling, and it appeared more like a grimace in your eyes—your heart sunk at the sight.
"you're absolutely insane, y/n. i've never met anyone who defies their brothers of all people the way you just did. you're gonna get in big trouble one day, i can already tell."
your lips tremble, and you nod quickly in agreement. brothers are scary, you mumble quietly, and sae stays silent as he watches you. he knows the tell tale signs, thanks to rin. the way you stammer, the way your breaths come out in short huffs as you quiver—you're far too close to bursting into tears for his liking. he exhales through his nose quietly, before a rough palm is cradling your cheek—turning your head towards his as his hardened gaze softens just a fraction as he looks at you.
"not all brothers are so bad."
he started seeking you out more often after that day. you see him again after a few weeks, when you're dribbling a run down pink soccer ball happily as your brothers play on the field adjacent to yours. a lot of people liked gathering and playing football together, and your brothers let you tag along sometimes so you could go off and practice on your own.
you don't have anyone to teach you how to play—football is a boy sport, your brothers told you when you asked to play one day many years ago. they said you could kick it around if you wanted to, but you're not allowed in their games. so, you watched from afar. tried to copy their moves as you played aimlessly without a proper teacher.
the ball dribbles out of your control, before someone moves into view and stops it under their foot. itoshi sae stands proudly, not even a hint of the smile he shared with you that night weeks ago is present as he kicks the ball back towards you, expression stoic and bored as he hums quietly
"i didn't know you played football,"
his injuries have healed, and he looks a lot better than he did the last time you saw him. your brothers probably didn't even remember sae—just how many guys have they beat up in football matches after sae? too many, but sae's pink hair did stick out. luckily, your brothers were too immersed in their own game far away from the two of you, so you allow yourself to indulge in the foreigner you were growing quite a liking for.
sae teaches you how to dribble and pass, just a few helpful hints that worked wonders. he came back next week too, and the week after that. he could only come after his classes were finished with for the day, but slowly, surely—sae became someone important to you.
"you would say nii chan, that's what rin calls me."
sae only talks of his younger brother back in japan, nobody else from his home country is mentioned. you nod quietly, sipping on the mango smoothie he bought you as you repeat the foreign word back to him
"nii chan," you repeat, and sae nods firmly.
"you said you wanted to make me feel more at home, so call me nii chan."
and sae really was incredible. he taught you more than your brothers ever would. he bought you sweet treats every friday afternoon when he was allowed free time from his classes, and he invited you to his games—organized ones where hurting each other wasn't tolerated, and you were introduced to a new world of football. not the violent sport your brothers had shown you, sae showed you a game that involved thinking and skill—instinct and talent, he opened your eyes to a prettier picture than the muddied one your brothers had painted. a game where players high fived each other after matches instead of throwing punches.
sae nods silently, chewing slowly on his sandwich. you watch his adam apple bob up and down as he swallows, and he turns to you with a sigh.
"i can't be the best striker. not after what i've seen here—i'm nothing."
you strecth your legs out in front of you wordlessly, and sae takes your leg before his hand moves to slowly massage your lower leg—uncoiling the knots he found beneath your skin and easing the tension. for some reason, sae found the activity stress relieving for him. bringing you ease made him feel better, oddly enough.
"you're incredible, sae nii,"
he wants to tell you to stop lying, but he knows how persistent you are when it comes to him. your loyalty for him, your devotion—it truly was admirable. and sae hated making himself seem weak in front of you, he wanted to be someone you could look up to. but he is weak—spain taught him that. he's nothing. a waste.
"i've seen the players here in spain. everyday, my brothers watch matches from all around the world on our small tv, where i see even more people play. but there's something none of those players have—you're raw, like a diamond in the rough, waiting to be carved. you're special, i know that nii chan. please believe me."
neither of you speak after that. you sit beside him, feet idly swaying back and forth over the rocks you two sat on after you tug them out of his lap. the sun sets in the distant horizon—casting a golden blanket over sae's face. his eyes glitter like emeralds.
"when i go pro, when i leave this place—you're coming with me."
sae stayed true to his word. the program he was in allowed his talent to shine—he would travel the world now, maybe go back to japan—he tells you one night. sae tells you that you can do whatever you want, be whoever you please—he says with him, you can become something great.
it doesn't have to be football. sae took you out of your small town in spain so you could explore the world with him, it was always nii chan this, and nii chan that. there was something sae felt for you that was indescribable. you were rare. you cared for him when he was nothing, and only one other person had done that for him. but itoshi rin was long forgotten now, a lost cause.
right now, sae was warming up for yet another match. something about the u—twentys versus a place called blue lock, he'd told you. you help him stretch before hand, dutiful hands running up and down his back as the two of you prepare for the day's events. you're rolling around on the clean green football field now with a childish type of excitement that has his lips twitching upwards.
"nii chan, i had no idea japan's fields were so big! so clean, wow!"
"i know," sae muses as he lays down beside you with a sigh. he watches you from his peripheral vision, unsure if he should bring up his brother's name.
the field was empty, not a soul lingered near you two. sae stays quiet for a moment, admiring the stars peaking through the clouds in the darkening sky above. sae almost always won when the two of you played one on one, nii chan was just that awesome. but sometimes, he slowed down to your pace and allowed your talent to shine—your smile after scoring a goal was far more important to him than his ego.
"you know i can't say no to you, y/n."
and there's something euphoric about the way you laugh, something that makes sae's heart soar as he remembers the real reason he began playing football. he thinks about rin, how he may not have been a good brother to him—but he could be a good brother for you.
your footsteps are fast, spinning around sae and making him dizzy. you wore one of his spare jerseys, and his eyes barely catch the embroidered name sae on your back whizzing past him as you score a goal. he wonders if rin would enjoy playing with you, too. rin and him were in a tough spot, but sae hoped he would eventually get over himself and see not everything was sunshine and rainbows.
but, if sunshine and rainbows were anywhere in itoshi sae's life—they were through you, a reprieve in the cruel world around him.
so, sae will indulge in you. he'll forget about his real brotherly responsibilities, he'll forget about the rules of football and help you win against him—because even though this sport is something near and dear to his heart, nothing is more precious than you and the soft sound of his honorific, nii chan, slipping past your lips—he had a second chance to be a good brother, and he vows not to break your heart the way he broke rin's.