Chapter Text
The breeze caressed Sae’s face, leaving his cheeks pinker than usual from the warm temperature.
It was another year of school, and Sae could already see all the projects and essay’s his teacher would reign upon him. He was in his last class yet he already wanted to meet the comforts of his bed, a soft groan emitting from him at the sad reminder.
“Itoshi?” His teacher’s voice echoed firmly, “Is.. Itoshi Sae here?”
“Here,” Sae grumbled, barely lifting his head to save his attendance from reaching it’s downfall- he couldn’t have a repeat of last year’s- especially since he was threatened by his counsellor that he would have to repeat a grade.
“Ah, i definitely remember you from last year..” His teacher muttered under his breath, an unpleasant wrinkle forming in between his brows.
Sae didn’t respond to the comment, and he didn’t acknowledge the stares he got from his classmates. Whether they were judgmental stares or genuinely curious stares- Sae couldn’t bring himself to care.
The moment his teacher began to blabber, Sae knew that was his cue to begin dozing off for the remainder of the class time. He would pass his tests and finish his assignments on time either way, so wasting his time to listen to the lecture when he could be sleeping? Yeah, he’d rather chose the second option.
With his face buried in his arms, Sae’s breathing began to even out, his chest rising up and down with a slow rhythm.
Soon enough, class was finished and a quiz was announced, earning groans from around the room. “Fortunately, it won’t be a part of your grade, it’s just to see what you know so far.”
The teacher rambled, pushing the slipping glasses up their nose bridge. Sae released a sigh- he was already confident that he would earn full points without even trying.
“All right, class is dismissed. See you guys tomorrow.”
Without missing a second, Sae practically zoomed out of the class, the bored expression long disappeared from his face.
“Yo Sae!” His ‘academic weapon’ best friend called out for him, “You’re leaving already?”
Sae nodded, his fingers itching to run through his already greasy bangs. Luna frowned disapprovingly, “You’re not trying to skip, are you? We already talked about this, Sae.”
The pink-haired rolled his eyes, his cheeks puffing out in irritation. He missed the times when Luna didn’t care as much whenever Sae skipped class- matter of fact, he only began caring when Sae’s counsellor pulled him in to complain about his best friend’s attendance- even going as far to threatening Luna that he would be out on prohibition for his clubs until Sae’s attendance approved.
“It’s my free period, I have nothing else to do,” Sae retorted, sending a weak glare directed at the other.
Sensing his best friend’s irritation, Luna sighed. “Alright then. I trust you, and we’re still meeting up at your house, right?”
Sae hesitated- a part of him wanted to spend the rest of his day alone and rot in his bed while scrolling on his phone, while the other half knew it would make Luna upset for him to suddenly cancel plans when they planned it weeks ago.
“Yeah.” He decided.
A small smile appeared on Luna’s face. “Awesome! I’ll bring some snacks over,” he excitedly offered, his infectious energy earning a grin from Sae himself.
“Alright, just come into my room, my mom already knows about our plans.” Luna nodded, sending one last wave before departing ways. Sae was left alone, his hand still twitching on the side.
Sae walked alone on the sidewalk, his hands stuffed in his jeans despite the tight amount of space. His hands began to throb, and the sweat clinged onto his back, leaving an uncomfortable feeling as the wind picked up.
Slowly, he reached his favourite part of his walk home. Every time he was able to appreciate nature instead of constantly thinking about life, Sae would stop by the creek that was always lively with fishes and frogs.
But this time, it seemed he wasn’t the only one who wanted to appreciate nature’s beauty.
Standing on the bridge was a short boy with blue hair and a visible ahoge peaking from the top of his head. His cheeks were resting on his palms and he had earplugs on, a distant look clouding his eyes.
Upon moving closer to see the male at a shorter distance, did Sae notice how pretty the random boy’s side profile looked. Even though he looked like he was about to fall asleep, it was hard to resist staring at his face. The male was wearing clothes that suited his complexion, only adding onto the list of his beauty.
He barely took a step on the bridge before the bluenette’s head snapped up, his blue eyes locking with his teal ones.
He paused his music, slipping it off his ears. “Sorry, am I ruining your moment?” The cute boy asked with an apologetic smile.
“Nah, you’re fine.” Sae immediately responded, awkwardly scratching his cheek to distract himself from combing his hand through his hair.
It grew silent afterwards, and the sound of the birds chirping along with the water flowing filled the area, allowing it to settle into a tranquil atmosphere.
Sae quickly noticed that the bluenette had a stick in in mouth. No.. it looked like a.. cigarette?! Was this what the younger generation were doing now at their age?! Noticing his gaze, the cute boy rummaged through his bag before reaching a hand out to him.
“Want one?” He asked. A strawberry flavoured lollipop was resting on top of his palm, and Sae finally noticed the round head connected to the so-called ‘stick’ in his mouth.
Sae accepted the lollipop, muttering a quiet thank you. He scrutinized the lollipop, his mind wandering off into a memory of his old habits.
Specifically the bad kind of habits.
”You go to BlueLock High, right?” The shorter male’s question suddenly rang out, “Are you a freshmen or a..?”
”Sophomore.”
“Ah, you’re a year or two ahead of me!”
A small smile unconsciously slipped. “You don’t go to this school but I recognize you. Did you perhaps have Mr.Ego as a principle during middle school?“
The cute boy pondered for a while, his brows scrunching together. After a few moments, his blue eyes lit up, “Oh wait, I did! But he moved to Blue Lock High, I think..”
“Right.. actually, isn’t class in session right now? Why are you outside by yourself?”
Sae couldn’t help but curiously ask. Was he the kind to skip classes? “Uh.. it’s kind of complicated.. but I promise I wasn’t skipping, I had permission to leave early!”
He must’ve expressed the disappointment on his face, because the blue-haired male suddenly bursted out laughing. The cute boy bumped shoulders with him- and only did Sae realize how close he had gotten towards the shorter.
“So you’re the skipping type of student, huh?”
“?! What makes you say that?” Sae pressed offensively with wide eyes. That earned another round of giggles from the cute boy, and Sae felt his cheeks warm despite the already hot weather.
The boy’s laugh was bubbly and bright, the sound a soft melody to Sae’s ears. “I was just teasing!”
”Haha. Very funny,” Sae sarcastically muttered. He tilted his head to take a better look at the shorter male. “Ah, before I leave, do you think we can share numbers?”
Sae asked with a blank face whilst the blue-haired flushed at the straight-forward question. “E-eh?!” The boy stammered adorably.
He looked down, his bottom lip jutting out, making it look as if he was pouting. “..I recently broke my phone and my parents said I have to wait a few months before they can buy me a new one. W-what’s your name? I’ll write it down so I can find a way to email you!”
It grew quiet after that, the wind’s embrace caressing their face with comfort. Sae was the first to break the silence, “Sae Itoshi.”
The blue-haired boy smiled softly. “..Sae Itoshi.” The sound of his name leaving the boy’s mouth made Sae suck in his breath - a pink hue spreading across his cheeks. He quickly hid the lower part of his face and cleared his throat to hide his flustered face.
“What’s yours?”
“Hm? Oh- here,” the cute boy fumbled through his bag to pull out.. an ID card?
”My name is Isagi Yoichi!”