found family; with sae itoshi -> female reader
imagine volunteering at japan's u20 working a small job but unintentionally becoming friends with SAE ITOSHI... no, not having the usual equal respect and companionship, or expectant friends to lovers. you're the same age as his little brother, so he oddly treats you like a little sister. the weird thing? he's so nonchalant about it.
"excuse me, but they're confirming if you wanted a red or white zip up again..." twiddling with your fingers softly before pointing to your pushy bosses, you seem to be making good friends with the floor while speaking to a famous, pro-league, good-looking but mean soccer player (sae itoshi). your classmates were all practically screaming at how lucky you were to secure volunteer service in professional sports, in professional soccer. i mean, the card collecter boys in your class were practically feining, asking you for autographs and other stupid favours. maybe you could ask for a picture, yeah—you were definitely going to ask sae itoshi for a picture, but that thought was soon dispersed at the man's dismisive tone. "white is fine," the midfielder curtly replies, with a straight face and one hand planted on the side of his hip. "how old are you?" he looks down at you with the world's most unreadable gaze and ridiculously long lower lashes, "sixteen." you reply, finally facing him. "oh," sae dryly responds, that bored look in his eyes in never, "you're about the same age as my little brother."
"[name], come here." sae itoshi murmurs, laying flat on the floor in the middle of the training center, you look around the empty facility at five in the morning, confirming if he was even POSSIBLY speaking to you again. "yeah?" he tuts on the floor, lifting a muscled leg in your field of vision, "i need help stretching, pull on my leg."
your eyes scan hesitantly over the dangling cleat, before your hands lock around his ankle, attempting to pull and soothe his strange stretching, though definitely failing. why was the midfielder so heavy? he wasn't even trying to make this easier by at least slightly lifting himself. "you're bad at this, not even lukewarm." he'd say, though his tone didn't show any real frustation or intended offense. instead, cerulean eyes blow open when you pull a little too hard and hear something crack that most likely wasn't supposed to.
on other days, he'd pat your head and buy you a popsicle, two for the price of one was a better deal, anyway.
and on the day of japan's u20 verus blue lock's eleven, when RIN ITOSHI's piercing gaze catches the melting popsicle clutched in your hand and sae handing you a napkin, he freezes. his gaze softens in a way that doesn't melt away at the icy chambers of his heart, but instead softens and melts it wholly intead. that day, you were genuinely bewildered and confused that blue lock's number one gave you more dirty looks that day than any actual player on the field.
"your brother is scary," you mutter, causing the taller midfielder beside you perk up in interest. "he kept giving me death glares." sae rolls his eyes at the thought, "maybe he likes you, i dunno. he's in his rebillious phase." it truly made you, at your adolescent age, realise that sae itoshi's head was entirely hollow when not thinking about football. buuut, he buys you ice cream, so who really cares?
