?????? | S. ITOSHI

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN ITOSHI SAE WANTS TO TALK TO ME?"

"hell if i know man, apparently he's doing business with the JFU? not my problem, but just expect a visit from him," 'egghead ego' responded to y/n's exclamation of a question, on the phone call she was on.

y/n pondered for a moment, before realising something, "wait, how will he know where i am? it's not like he has my-"

"he has your number, anri-chan gave it to him. that, and your location."

y/n froze, and then turned behind her to see the third-years she was familiar with in that hall talking to each other. she realised that itoshi sae showing up may just kill the mood, and would rather not have to be the cause behind that. her limited experience with the man was enough to put her off for life.

"though..." ego interrupted her chain of thought, "he did give me a message to give you-"

"he what?!"

"shut up y/n-chan, i'm trying to find the note," ego could be heard from across the phone trying to find whatever it was he was given, but y/n's breath hitched slightly as she recognised a blur of reddish brown hair from a distance.

fortunately for her, sae was not within the view of the volleyball players in the hall as she'd stepped outside to take the call. she tried to listen to whatever ego was saying on the call, as she could see he wasn't particularly close to where she was standing quite yet.

"ah, i found it. geez, anri could've written this a bit better," ego complained.

y/n sighed impatiently, simply wanting to know what the note had said,  "ego-san?"

"yeah yeah, right it says 'tell y/n i apologise for my strange behaviour at the store the other day and i, by no means, meant to-'"

y/n looked up and noticed sae quite literally walking towards her, with a blue flashcard in his hand, reading aloud, "-seem like i was disinterested or act rude towards you."

"ego-san, i've got to go," y/n hissed quickly at her phone, hanging up and simply looking at itoshi sae in front of her, unsure what to even say to him.

mustering up the courage she had, she muttered out, "itoshi sae."

"l/n y/n," sae cooly said in response, "i've come to apologise for how i seemed the other day."

"you came to miyagi to do that?" y/n asked, slightly weirded out. surely this guy had better things to do.

sae wasn't used to general conversation - small talk was something he stopped years ago. now he wished he'd practiced speaking with classmates and teammates more often in his life. maybe even rekindling his relationship with his brother would've been helpful for the moment he found something he was interested in.

sae replied, "i was in miyagi anyway," also unsure of how much to reveal to the girl.

"this whole 'blue lock' thing," he continued, "its something i'm not sure what to think of. i'm curious to see what'll happen, though i haven't got high hopes."

sae peered at the girl before him, also deciding to tell her something more truthful, "i also stuck around to see what you'd be able to contribute."

"to football, fair enough," y/n responded with a slight twinge of doubt in her voice. she didn't believe sae, and was mostly flattered by his interest, though didn't understand it whatsoever. 

though she felt attacked by sae's lack of confidence in project blue lock. she felt even insulted. sae may have technically complimented her potential, which he could see himself, but the very program she worked within didn't meet his standards.

"it makes me glad to say you wouldn't be as useful around here..." y/n added for her own self-confidence's sake. she felt insecure in the mere presence of this guy: as if every single thing she was doing was being ultimately judged and murdered by him.

sae's face remained apathetic, yet his tone didn't quiver as he snapped, "what are you on about? i'm the best there is and you know it."

"maybe you should check where you are."

y/n and sae turned their heads to the door of the hall, to see miya atsumu, not looking too pleased with the teal-eyed stranger in their midst.

"the best there is?" atsumu asked, with a smirk on face. he looked at y/n, as if asking for confirmation.

"sae's one of the best of the football world atsumu, there's no doubt about that,"  y/n admitted, smiling politely though not feeling like being very nice to sae.

sae, on the other hand, was irritated. not at y/n or even miya atsumu for interrupting. he couldn't believe everything coming out of his mouth. he knew it sounded conceited and under normal circumstances, he'd be fine with that portrayal of himself to others. it was how he preferred to seem to journalists and teammates and fans. it was the version of himself to succeed as a new gen 11 midfielder. so why wasn't he succeeding anymore?

why couldn't he just tell her he wanted to get to know her?

y/n and atsumu were having a full blown conversation in front of him and he still couldn't get words out of his mouth. it just seemed like banter between the two of them, which came so easily to atsumu apparently. all he could here was y/n trying to explain to atsumu who 'itoshi sae' was, seeming to think sae wouldn't want to say anything himself.

well, she was right though he still felt he made a bad impression on the two through that.

sae then noticed a grey-haired guy, with the exact same face as atsumu come through the door and calmly stand himself next to him. sae looked to his side, and simply stared. no smile or exchange of words. just a stare.

this guy had a lot of work to do.

"itoshi-san, l/n-san doesn't bite y'know," osamu deadpanned, not as naturally starstruck as his brother appears to be in front of athletic champions. though with osamu, it was only those within volleyball.

"...i'm aware," sae simply stated, still deep within his thoughts. though for the moment, he realised he could probably gain something from speaking to osamu.

"you..." sae began, "you're friends with l/n y/n?"

osamu looked forwards to y/n and atsumu apparently arguing all of a sudden - likely over something insignificant.

"i suppose," osamu concluded, slightly amused at the superstar's use of y/n's full name, showing a formality he didn't realise people around his age even used.

"how?"

osamu quirked an eyebrow at that. if he didn't know any better, he'd think itoshi sae had a crush on the girl or something, from the awkward mannerisms he displayed and his obvious interest in getting to know her.

if only sae was better at showing her that as well.

osamu peered quickly back at the hall with the rest of his team, and noticed one of his closer friends, suna rintaro, simply staring into his phone. he then took his phone out and signaled to sae to wait a moment as he made a call.

he had work to do.