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Meguru Bachira knew he was being bullied. He had always known. Everyone knew. And yet no one did anything.
They said “boys are just boys, what if they’re playing a little too rough?"
They said “he just has to toughen up and learn to take the jokes."
They said “if he wants to keep playing football he’ll have to get used to it, that’s just how boys his age are."
And things just kept happening all the same. Until they got out of hand.
Practice had just finished. The team’s captain was in an especially bad mood, and Bachira playing leagues above everyone else on the team hadn’t exactly sat well with him. That was enough for everything to come crashing down.
It was not the first time they’d hit him. Although they’d never had left an open lip like this, an undeniable proof of their violence. And in the middle of it, when a foot was colliding with his rib once again, their coach walked in.
He was supposed to be long gone, and had only come back for some papers. The team froze, Bachira letting out a desperate cry against his will.
He didn’t want to show it affected him so much.
But it hurt. Everything hurt.
The following days were just a blur. Coach left him at the infirmary, the nurse looking at his bruises, old and new, in complete shock. His mother was called. There was yelling, lots of yelling. From his mother, his coach, his teachers, the other team member’s parents, the school principal.
The fog in his brain only lifted when he was standing with a box filled with his things in a new room, in a new house.
His mother had decided it’d be best to move away, start again. A new city, a new house with plenty of space for her to paint and a nice backyard for Bachira to play with the ball.
A new high school. Ichinan High School.
“Is there a football team?” Was the first thing he asked after half an hour of walking through the school. The teacher giving him the tour was quick to answer, glad he finally showed some kind of interest.
“You can’t just join in the middle of the year.” The team’s coach said when Bachira crashed their practice that afternoon.
“If I score a goal against your starting eleven, can I join?”
Everyone was surprised at his confidence. Did he really think he could do that?
Bachira stood in the middle of the field, ball on his feet and eleven players between him and the goal. His monster smiled at him and he couldn’t help but grin.
He was weird. He was different. But he refused to be scared. If he was never going to make friends at least he’d make sure to not be the prey.
Bachira started running, Ichinan’s forwards waiting for him. He dribbled past them like they weren’t even there.
The midfield presented a bit more of a challenge. They had more experience in playing defensively and moved as a unit. But his monster simply showed him where to go, where to put the ball so it was simply out of their reach.
Only one last wall, the defense, before it was just him and the goalkeeper. Their defense was solid, but not perfect. They were all together in one part of the field. Bachira barely needed to glance to see where his monster was waiting for him.
He hit the ball, almost like he was passing. But it couldn’t be a pass, there was no one else on his team.
Bachira started running towards his own ball before the defenders could process what he was doing. In his mind he saw what would happen next. He would get to the ball, waiting for him where his monster was. A precise kick just out of the goalkeeper’s reach and it’d sit in the back of the net.
His fantasy was shattered by the sight of blue eyes, focused on the exact spot he was headed to.
One of the strikers? How had he… Did he see his monster too?
It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t stop Bachira from scoring. They reached the ball at the same time but, while the blue eyed boy tried to receive, the yellow eyed boy kicked the ball up, out of both of their reaches.
Bachira’s body twisted in the air in a way that seemed almost impossible, the other boy on the ground now, until his foot made contact with the ball.
Almost like there was a magnet between them, the ball found the net.
“Goal!” Bachira yelled, ignoring any looks he might get. A grin stretched through his face. Football was really the best thing in his life.
“That was amazing…” The other boy whispered beside him, still on the floor. He was grinning too, despite having lost, and a fire seemed to have lit up behind his eyes. The intensity in his stare was unsettling. Bachira knew it well, he’d seen it looking at himself in the mirror.
“I like you.” He determined, offering a hand to the boy, a hand that was taken. “Can’t wait to play with you, monster.”
“Monster?” Blue eyes looked at Bachira intently, like he was trying to figure out every last bit of him. “I think you’ve got it wrong.”
“Not at all. Only a monster like mine could have read that play. And you did it so that means, you have a monster too.” He explained, still smiling.
The boy chuckled. Bachira felt all warm inside at the sight. This guy… He didn’t seem bothered by him saying he had a monster. Even if he thought Bachira was joking, this was so different from what he was expecting.
Maybe things really would be different here. Maybe things would be better.
“Yoichi Isagi.” The boy introduced himself. “Welcome to the team.”
“Meguru Bachira.” He replied, wrapping his arms around Isagi’s shoulders. “We’re gonna have a lot of fun.”
“And with your abilities, we’re gonna beat every other team.”
“Of course we will.”
He had finally found another monster, after all these years.
Nothing would stop him them now.