Chapter Text
Alarms blared wildly.
Lights flashed in bursts of red and white.
Someone was screaming and crying nearby.
“Paramedics are on the scene!”
“He’s over here!”
“We’re losing him!”
“Administering CPR now.”
“He’s waking up!”
“Load him into the ambulance!”
“Stay with us, sir. You’re going to be okay.”
–
Itoshi Sae to take a break from the soccer world!
Re Al Madrid’s star, Itoshi Sae, shocking news!
Itoshi Sae’s temporary retirement: What waits for Japan’s prodigy?
The various headlines made Sae feel sick to his stomach. He had forced himself to shut his phone off and tuck it into the deepest pocket of his bag. He could no longer bear to see it anymore.
The articles. The titles. The comments.
Sae sighed and ran a hand down his face.
Today would be Sae's first day back in Japan after three years.
The reason for him being here was easy to lie about. Sae had opted to tell everyone that his Visa had expired, and he was forced to take a season off while it was in the process of getting renewed. It was a simple lie. Those who didn’t know him, which was practically everyone, were quick to believe it.
But the truth was he still had another year left on his Visa.
The real reason he was home was much more severe. It was a much bigger problem than a stupid Visa expiring.
Sae did not bother informing his family about his arrival in Japan. He figured that if he told his parents they would try and make it a big ordeal, tell everyone their beloved son was coming back home, and throw a surprise party. A party was the absolute last thing Sae wanted.
He did not message Rin either. It was not as if they had spoken recently– in fact it had been three years since either of them reached out to the other. It would be awkward to suddenly break the radio silence by stating he would return home after all these years.
Besides, Sae guessed Rin wouldn’t be too pleased about his appearance at their family residence anyway. It would be better to catch him off guard– assuming that neither Rin nor his parents haven’t already seen the news.
Sae had groggily been awoken from his six-hour nap on the plane to some irritating tourists clapping upon arrival. The deplaning process was something he did not particularly enjoy, and so he planned ahead and purchased first-class seats. After being one of the first to deboard, Sae wasted no time in cutting across the airport, grabbing his bags, and heading out to find a taxi.
A kind, young man with impossibly thick glasses picked him up. The driver was rather chipper, attempting to make light conversation however Sae could not bring himself to be social. The young man seemed a bit hurt from Sae’s silent rejection, but Sae always thought only fools allow a stranger to hurt their feelings.
It was an hour drive from the airport to the Itoshi residence. Sae spent the majority of the ride half asleep and was awoken by the sudden stop of the car.
They had arrived.
Sae exited the car and grabbed his bags from the trunk. He made sure to tip the driver nicely, whose face brightened up upon seeing the wad of cash his passenger had given him. It was the least he could do.
Now that the taxi had disappeared into the distance, Sae was left alone with nothing but himself and his suitcase as he faced the mansion he had bought for his parents.
Funnily enough, he had only visited this place two times despite the fact he was the one who bought it. His name was technically on some legal paper involving this house and yet it was not his home.
It had four bedrooms.
One for their parents, one for Rin, one for a guest, and one that would have been yet never was Sae’s room.
It was a very nice house. Spacious, modern, elegant. There were two floors, a large garage, and a backyard that stretched on for longer than necessary. It was the type you’d see in movies, the type of house that belonged to a rich family whose biggest problem was deciding what color they wanted their newest car to be.
Anyone would be happy to have this house. Sae was happy that his parents and brother were able to have this house. But sometimes he wished it was his home too…
After deciding he was finally done staring up at the house like some idiot, Sae approached the front door. He dragged his suitcase along behind him, the bag on his shoulder weighed him down on one side.
Upon reaching the door, Sae lifted his hand and knocked one, two, three times.
He held his breath.
He wondered who would be the one to open the door.
His father? His mother? What if it was Rin?
Sae waited.
And he waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And–
Sae frowned.
No one came to open the door for him. Just how long had it been that he was standing here waiting for someone to let him in?
Feeling slightly annoyed, Sae tried knocking one more time and not to his surprise no one came this time either.
Sae huffed.
He suddenly had an idea.
Fine. This is technically my house, so this is also technically not breaking and entering, hHe rationalized.
Sae grabbed the doorknob and pushed.
The door opened with no resistance.
Oh?
It wasn’t even locked?
Sae shrugged before entering the house, pulling his belongings in and making sure to lock the door behind him.
He was met with silence. The house was colder than he would have preferred, he usually kept his apartment at a warmer temperature as he found himself running cold.
His eyes scanned the area around him as he walked down the hallway into the living room. The house was decorated in what he would call minimalist fashion. White walls, grey furniture, painfully bright white lights. He was not sure what he was expecting, his parents were always like that even before their family started bringing in good money.
The only ‘personality’ in this living room was two framed pictures that were perched on the TV stand.
He walked closer to the center so he could get a better look at the frames.
They were pictures of him and Rin when they were kids, no older than ten and both wearing their soccer jerseys. The background made it look like they were at the same place at the same time, but despite that the pictures were framed separately.
“What are you doing?”
Sae didn’t turn around.
He didn’t have to in order to tell who that voice came from.
“Hey. Rin,” He muttered.
“I didn’t say hey. I said, ‘What are you doing?’” Rin repeated, irritation lacing his voice.
“Just looking at the pictures,” Sae said stupidly. He knew exactly what Rin was asking but he wasn’t in the mood to play those games with his little brother.
“That’s not what I’m asking. What are you doing here?”
“I came home.”
Sae finally turned around, meeting the raging flames that Rin’s eyes were blazing at him.
“I’ll be sticking around for a while.”
Sae watched as the anger in Rin’s eyes melted into pure shock, before the flame of his rage lit up once more.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m home. I’m going to be staying here for a while,” Sae said simply. He wasn’t sure how else to explain it.
“Why? Why come back?”
“I’m surprised you haven’t seen the news yet. I’m taking the season off. Passport issues. They said they won’t be able to get it renewed for some time so my coaches and I agreed I should just take the entire season off.”
“That’s stupid. Why not just go back as soon as it renews?”
Sae hesitated.
“Stop asking so many questions,” He sharply said.
Sae walked past Rin and trudged into the kitchen. It was much larger compared to the kitchen in his apartment back in Madrid. The same terribly bright white lightning and gray decor made up the room.
He wasn’t surprised when he heard Rin’s footsteps following after him.
“Where’s mom and dad?”
“They left for a trip. Won’t be back for another two weeks,” Rin replied.
“Oh.”
“That means you have two weeks to get out of here before they come back.”
Sae turned around to look at Rin.
“They don’t want to see you. I don’t want to see you. You aren’t allowed to just waltz back into our lives after you walked away and left us in your dust. Do you have any idea how much you hurt them with your silence? Mom cried because of how much she missed you. Even dad says he wonders if he ever did something wrong to you as a child for you to be this way now.”
Sae could only stare at Rin. His younger brother’s words cut deeply into him. Usually, Sae was unaffected by others’other’s cruel words. He was someone who could brush off what people threw at him quite easily. But now it’s different when it's coming from his own brother, the brother he used to share a room with and mindlessly kick a ball around on the field with.
“I… I’ll talk to mom and dad about that. But just because you’re angry with me doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to be home.”
“No. You don’t get it. This isn’t your home, Sae,” Rin spat, “You don’t belong here. Just fuck off back to Spain and leave us alone like you always do.”
Sae felt dizzy.
His vision blurred out as he stared back at Rin. His head spun, there was a pounding inside his skull– a nausea boiling in his gut. His knees felt a bit weak. He was sure that if he didn’t go sit down they might give up underneath him.
“I’m going to go lie down.”
Without saying another word, Sae exited the kitchen, pulling his suitcase along behind him. His bag suddenly felt heavier on his shoulders. He headed to the stairs and climbed them, each step proving to be more challenging than the last.
He wasn’t really sure where he was going but he somehow found himself in the room that was meant to be his. The room had not a single piece of decor up. No painting, no trophies, no pictures. There was only a bed in the middle, plain gray sheets folded neatly on the mattress with not a single wrinkle in sight. There was probably dust growing on the fabric, the bed had never once been laid on, never once been used for its true purpose.
Sae placed his suitcase and bags at the edge of the bed on the floor. He looked down and realized he was still wearing his shoes. He was thankful his parents weren’t there because they probably would’ve scolded him.
Sae slipped off his shoes before crawling onto the bed.
The mattress was not very pleasant. It was harder than the overpriced one he had at home. But it was a bed. His exhaustion exceeded his materialistic tastes.
He was tired.
He’d been tired for a really long time.
Perhaps now in the comfort of what should have been his home, shielded away from the judgmental eyes of the public, maybe now he can rest….