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Meguru could see strings. Loads and loads of it.
The first time he noticed them was when he was five, a myriad of colourful strings littering the ground. All followed different paths, some connected to others while the rest leading away. Meguru was just happy to see his red string tied onto his pinkie.
“You’re special, my love,” his mother said when he told her about his new discovery. “You see a beautiful world.”
Meguru grinned, brimming with pride. He’s special and he wanted his classmates to know so, truly, it’s no surprise when the next day he goes to his school, he rushes to his classmates and babbles about the colorful strings he sees.
“Hiroko-kun!” Meguru exclaimed loudly, clutching his soccer ball tightly with both his small arms. “Did you know you have a yellow string tied to your pinkie?”
Hiroko looked surprised to be called out to by him, but his surprise quickly morphed into an ugly face aimed at Meguru.
“Eh, Bachira-kun, that’s so weird. Why would I have a string around my finger?” Hiroko looks down at his hand with a frown. “I can’t even see it.”
“Stop making up girly stories, Bachira-kun!” Hiroko’s friend exclaimed before his eyes drifted off to his ball. “Oh! Can we take your soccer ball? We want to play.”
After vehement refusals on giving away the ball and insists on yes, he can see strings, Meguru’s classmates stuck their tongues out at him and walked away, grumbling all the way to the playground.
The next day his monster was born.
Meguru learnt that he can’t touch anyone’s strings, his own string being the only exception.
He also learnt to never ask his mother about her gray and frayed string, looking like it could break with just a pull.
“Daddy will come back, Meguru,” his mother had once said, holding Meguru’s cheeks with her palms. “He promised he would.” Meguru had nodded at that. She’d looked so tired when she had said that, hoping against all odds that the promise would come true.
But months passed and Meguru realized his father’s promise was an empty one and he noticed his mother’s once red string slowly fading away, gray and lifeless, no longer holding the sparkle most strings he’d seen held.
He hugs his mother, his arms getting coated by the paint on his mother’s dress. His mother hugs him right back and they stay there, mother and son, enough for each other, one with his destiny waiting for him in the near future while the other stands with her pre-determined destiny broken.
Meguru came home late the day he received the letter.
Meguru Bachira,
You have been selected for a special player training program.
Meguru felt his heart pump fast suddenly and he forgets about the tears he had been shedding a few moments back. He threw his arms around his mother and laughed cheerily.
“Mom! I got into a soccer program!” He let out a huff of disbelief. “I can play with a team now!” He grinned. He felt amazing, as if he were on top of the moon, as if he had just scored a perfect goal in the last minute.
His mother held his cheeks and gently kissed his forehead. “I’m so proud of you,” she told him and Meguru grinned, feeling his eyes prickle lightly.
“I’ll become the best striker, mom. The next time you see me, I’ll be the best Meguru Bachira you have ever seen!” He laughed when his mother reminded him that he is the only Meguru Bachira she knows. He laughed and maybe cried a bit, too. By the time he went back to bed to sleep, all he could think about was his soccer ball and someone with the same monster as him. And maybe even with the same end of the string as him.
He wasn’t able to go to sleep that day.
Meguru was sleepy.
He had already changed into his Blue Lock uniform and the gentle cool of the room and the lack of sleep from the previous night caused him to feel extremely drowsy.
He sat down cross-legged, letting his eyes shut close. He fell back, curled up on himself, and dozed off, sleep taking him within seconds.
Unfortunately, his sleep didn’t last long. He woke up right when the man who had been speaking to them a few moments earlier- Ego Jinpachi, his mind supplies helpfully- started talking about a game of tag except with a soccer ball.
He heard shouts of dismay and anger right after. Someone shouted that this wasn’t even soccer and Meguru nodded his head absently before nodding back to sleep again.
He was once again very rudely awoken up to the sight of a football about to be kicked in his face. Suddenly, all signs of sleepiness left Meguru and he felt his body thrum with excitement.
Meguru does what he does best: he kicked the ball back.
“Good morning,” Meguru wished to anyone who was listening, rubbing his eye with the back of his palm. Ah, he was excited.
Meguru felt as if he’s on cloud nine. This place where he could play soccer seriously, where he could play with a team of his own, felt like heaven.
IT: YOICHI ISAGI.
Meguru glanced around curiously to search for said Isagi and found a dark haired boy standing with a soccer ball between his feet, desperately trying to get rid of it with only 50 seconds on the timer.
Meguru jumped onto the blond hair man’s back. “Here’s your chance!” he called out and laughed happily when he is practically flung off.
He lands heavily on the first ‘it’ rather unceremoniously. He pushed himself off to scurry away when the other boy called out for a time out, his leg twisted up in a nasty angle. He looks absolutely terrified when he notices Isagi standing right there.
“Isagi, please, I’m sorry for what I had done before, but I can’t let this end this way. Please-” the other boy babbles and Meguru waited for the ball to hit him.
But it never does.
Isagi turned around and Meguru saw his monster in him. Isagi’s eyes glowed with a ferocious glint and Meguru could recognize that glint, that desire anywhere.
“I came here to become the world’s best,” Isagi said and Meguru feels a grin rise up his own face.
“I like you,” he called out before stealing the ball between Isagi’s legs and racing away to zoom in on the strongest, the best. Ryosuke Kira.
He hit the ball, aiming for his head but Kira ducked and even managed to dodge Meguru’s foot to his face. Meguru is about to kick again when he sees his monster’s looming presence standing not beside Kira but behind Isagi, a crazy, crazy grin on its face.
“Kick it here,” it snarled and Meguru complied, letting his ball soar over Kira’s head and over to Isagi.
He saw the resolute look on his face, the crazy glint in his eye and Meguru knew he will hit.
He hit.
Isagi stood there, sweat sticking to his brow and a manic look of accomplishment in his eye. That was when Meguru traced the path of Isagi’s string to realize that it didn’t lead away to the door like most people’s did, but instead, led right towards Meguru.
Meguru was grinning like a fool. Ah.
Meguru felt his heart hammering in his chest, exhaustion, anticipation and the dirty, sticky feeling of fear all clogged up in his heart as he watched the final seconds of the match against team V tick by.
But it was Isagi with the ball, his partner, his destiny with the ball. Meguru watched as he ran, eyes crazy with the want for a goal, with the need for a goal and he couldn’t help but shout: “Remember your own goal!”
Isagi kicked, all might and power and it was a beautiful sight to behold. Meguru was rushing towards him before he even heard the whistle blow to end the match. He has wrapped his arms around Isagi’s shoulders before he could even register it, hoisting himself up solely with the energy rushing through him due to the wondrous goal.
Team Z shouted victoriously but all Meguru could do was glance down at Isagi’s face, taking in his bright, and exhaustion flushed face in. Meguru supposed with their team’s victory in not only the match against team V but also in the first selection should be what he is beaming about, but all he could feel at that moment was that, even for another day, he could continue playing with his monster, his partner.
His destiny.
Meguru and Isagi returned with trays with the juice bottles only to find their team fast asleep, all lying at awkward angles.
Meguru smiled.
They tread carefully, sidestepping their teammates and sat down near the table. Isagi placed the bottles down and Meguru followed, placing the bottles down though he knew it was probably not going to be drunk anytime soon.
“Ah! Guess they’re all fast asleep! Who’s going to eat all that?” Meguru asked, laughing as quietly as possible, which, to be frank, wasn’t very quiet, but he tried.
Isagi smiled, leaning back on his hands and letting his eyes fall shut. “They deserve a nice sleep. The first selection had been so draining! We can perhaps store the food in the cafeteria fridge.” Isagi pushed himself back up, now resting his head on the table. “Now that I think about it, do we even have a cafeteria fridge?”
Meguru laughed, once again trying very hard to be quiet and failing miserably. He copied Isagi’s movements and rested his head on the table, both of them now eye-to-eye.
“Today was amazing. Soccer is amazing. I want to feel this over and over again, this excitement.” Isagi had his eyes closed when he said that. He looked seconds away from deep sleep.
“Of course we will. After all, we’re egoists and the best strikers!” he exclaimed. Then, he added quietly, “But today, you were the egoist on the ground, the striker on the ground who decided the match. You were amazing. Though, next time, I’ll be the one to score.” Meguru gently patted Isagi’s head and Isagi scrunched his nose up before huffing out a laugh.
Isagi positioned himself more comfortably and his breathing became more relaxed. Meguru closed his eyes too, no longer expecting an answer when he hears a hushed “Thank you.”
Meguru feels himself smile before letting sleep take him away, too.
Meguru thought the days after winning the first selection would be with their team getting rewarded with some other fun matches to play but what they actually got was rigorous training with a strict no to even touching a soccer ball.
It was really not fun.
He collapsed onto the ground after they entered their room while everyone made a beeline towards their futons. He let out a weary sigh, feeling this pent up irritation within him rise.
He felt the thread on his finger shift and looked up to see that Isagi had joined him, too, on the floor. He tried a smile with whatever energy he had left over and Isagi returned, exhaustion etched on every feature of his body.
“Ah, practice is no fun without a ball,” Meguru whined, resting his head against the wall. “I just feel so restless. I would do anything to get my hands on a soccer ball right now. I’m not even kidding!”
Isagi laughed, leaning heavily against the wall. “Guess we’ll have to try harder to be able to play soccer again.” Isagi smiled. “Let’s try our best.”
Bachira whined before suddenly flopping onto Isagi’s lap. “I’m tired,” he said pouting. Isagi raised his eyebrow but didn’t push him away either. They stayed like that for a while. Isagi gently stroked Meguru’s hair, almost absentmindedly, and Meguru can’t help but smile.
The thread was pooled around them, whirls of deep red bright against the dark floor. He smiled. Maybe it would work, the destiny of theirs. He definitely wouldn’t mind.
They lost.
No, they hadn’t just lost, they had lost their team, Meguru had lost his team.
But he had hardened his gaze and taken it in stride. He had turned around, stared at Isagi, straight at him, gaze unwavering and said “If you want me, come steal me.”
He had walked away, not bothering with a glance behind and perhaps that’s what he regretted as he watches Isagi run with the ball with Rin at his heels.
Listening to his monster then had made him lose his partner, his monster.
His destiny.
He lost control of himself, feeling the ground underneath him melt, consumed by his monster, forever there, never gone, never leaving.
But, perhaps for the first time, he didn’t want it there, he didn’t want it anywhere but it rages like a burning inferno, only growing larger in size as the seconds passed. Meguru is covered with its dark looming body, made deaf with its incessant snarls and that is when he noticed his little pinkie finger with a lone gray thread hanging on it.
Meguru felt despair lodge itself in his throat, heavy, sticky. He felt paralyzingly numb.
He follows its path, but it seems impossible. It was too faded, too fragile as if any movement from Meguru’s side could snap it in half, gone away. He’s inevitably reminded of his mother, so strong, so brave and yet so utterly lonely.
Meguru spiraled and lost himself.
He ran, desperate, so desperate to get back what was his and Rin’s words echo in his ears, loud and unwanted. “You’re always looking for a partner to play with.” Was he? Was he looking for a partner? He doesn’t want the answer, but he knew what the answer was anyway as his eyes, yet again, longingly searched for Isagi’s retreating form, thriving and in no need of help from Meguru’s side.
He was looking for a partner to play with and he didn’t even get that.
He ran, letting the dull pain of aching feet help him in any manner possible. He yearns, he wants but he couldn’t get, he couldn’t even get what was set out for him, what was meant for him, he couldn’t get.
The ball fell on his lap.
And that is what makes him forget, forget about the sudden lack of threads around him, forget about the broken thread on his finger, the only thread he could see, and forget about his yearns, wants and needs.
He was to score and he would score for, above all, he was a striker, an amazing striker.
He ran, crazy in a way that surprises him, too. He used the edge of his toes, pushing the ball around, never still, never there but never not there either. He felt crazy but it wasn’t a foreign feeling, no, for this was what he felt when he was just a young boy, laughing with only his soccer ball to keep him company.
He could continue and he would continue.
He broke past anyone in his way, friend or foe, and rushed, the goal-post nearing his sight. He kept on accelerating, not even a second going with him slowing down. His vision was flooded with his monster, dark and overbearing and he wanted it gone, locked away from his sight.
And he does just that. Others didn’t matter, it was just his ball and him on the ground, just like before. He jumped, dodged and defended but never did he pass, never did he think of passing. He propels past due to sheer stubbornness. It was his game to win.
He was just a few meters away from the goal-post, from his goal so, he shot, already envisioning the feeling of triumph that would course through him when the ball would hit the net.
But it never did. Isagi stood there, blocking the ball’s path with the same ferocity Meguru had seen in him on the first day and says, “I believed in you, Bachira. I believed that you would come here alone.”
Meguru stumbled because that is all he could do as the ball bounces off and lands, far away from both of them.
But, not far away from Rin.
Rin swung his leg and connected it with the ball and the ball hit the net with a resounding thud.
Meguru felt a sudden silence envelope the stadium before the whistle blew to indicate the end of the game. But Meguru couldn’t seem to move himself, rooted down at the same spot feeling neither victory nor defeat.
He saw Isagi fall down on his knees before he curled up on himself, letting out a soft cry of defeat. Isagi’s team lost, Meguru’s mind suddenly seemed to realize but, he did not feel any pump of victory rushing through his veins. Because Isagi, who had been there when he needed someone the most, had always stood beside him to share his feeling of victory.
Meguru didn’t need anyone, no, but, perhaps, that is what made him realize just how much he loved playing with Isagi because Isagi made it fun, he made soccer a lot livelier.
He would choose him, not because of destiny, but rather, because he wanted to.
He realized then, a little late perhaps, that even with the lack of the string of fate bounding them together, Meguru still wanted Isagi by his side, as a companion, as a friend and as something so much more.
Meguru opened his mouth to call out Isagi’s name but Rin beats him to the punch. Rin called out for Isagi and called him to join their team and Isagi raised his head in utter shock and, perhaps, for the first time, Meguru sees Isagi not as his monster, not as his destiny, but as Isagi and Isagi only.
Meguru returned from the showers, well dressed and utterly exhausted and very much ready to fall asleep immediately.
All plans to fall asleep immediately were, however, thrown out of the window when he saw Isagi was the only one the room and was also not sleeping.
Meguru threw his arms around him and they both landed on the bed with a soft ‘oof’. Meguru grinned. He hadn’t done this in a while.
Isagi turned around in his hold and stared at him. He soon realized their faces were incredibly close, mere inches separating them. Neither of them moved for a beat and Meguru could feel his cheeks heat up suddenly. Meguru immediately flopped off to the other side of the bad casually (he hopes).
“Wasn’t today fun?” Meguru asked happily as he turned around to face Isagi.
Isagi grinned. “It was, wasn’t it? Ah, all I want to do now is to defeat those top five.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be able to do that in very soon. After all, we’ll be in the top five in no time.”
Isagi grin grew even wider. He turned around to face him and Meguru suddenly realized just how pretty he was. Even in the simple T-shirt given by Blue Lock, Isagi somehow managed to look absolutely breathtaking. His wet hair was curled around his face, framing his face and making his startling blue eyes seem even prettier. A stray water droplet dripped from his hair, going down onto his jaw then lower and lower-
“We would be, wouldn’t we? Alas, I’ll be the No. 1 while you’ll have to deal with being No. 2.”
Meguru had lost track of what they were saying in mere seconds. So, to save face, he said “It’ll obviously be the other way round,” and then wrapped his arm around Isagi to pull him in a hug to stop any further continuation of the discussion.
He felt Isagi startle, but then Isagi immediately wrapped his own arms around Meguru. Meguru buried his face near his collarbone, taking in his gentle smell of soap and laundry.
He felt Isagi’s arm move, so Meguru looked up to see that Isagi was now pulling a blanket over both of them. Meguru went back to pressing his nose into Isagi’s neck.
As the lights went off and the room was immersed in a blanket of darkness, Meguru felt quite warm and comfortable. He really liked him.
Meguru sees his mom after a long, long time after the U-20 match ends with Blue Lock’s victory.
“Mom!” Meguru shouted as he bounded up to her, wrapping his arms around her thin figure. “Mom!” he exclaimed again. “Did you see the match? Wasn’t it amazing?”
His mother nodded her head vigorously before enveloping him in a hug again. “You were amazing. I’m so proud of you,” she whispers. Meguru smiled and hugged his mother back just as tightly.
His mother then ushers him into a seating position on one of the stadium seats and Meguru then realizes just how tired he is. He hungrily gulps down the bottle of water his mother offers him before going off about the match again.
“The final minute meant everything, mom! We only had a minute to score and win! And we did it! Did you see Isagi’s goal? It was-” Meguru stops mid-sentence. “He was amazing,” he corrects.
His mother’s warm eyes meet his but he doesn’t hold her gaze for long. Meguru’s eyes drift off to where Isagi was sitting, talking to his parents happily, all smiles and excitement. His mother follows his gaze and smiles knowingly.
“Is he your Isagi?” she asks Meguru and Meguru can only nod his head at her statement, seemingly forgetting the ‘your’ she put in her statement.
“I talked to his parents. They were wonderful,” his mother says and Meguru listens attentively. “I’m sure their son is just as wonderful. But, I don’t think I ever doubted that once I saw how happy you were with him. He makes you happy, doesn’t he, Meguru?”
Meguru flushes lightly but nods his head in affirmative. “He makes me very happy, mom,” he admits.
His mother patted his head, smiling sweetly. “Treat him well, my love.”
Even though they had met up a few days ago, all of the Blue Lock team decide to meet up again but, this time at a movie theatre to watch some newly released movie. Meguru has no idea what it was about but he didn’t mind. He could always ask someone whenever he was confused.
Unfortunately, there were two flaws in this little plan of his. 1) He was always confused. The plot made zero sense and he also had no idea why the main lead was crying as if his dog had died. (Turns out his dad died, so he wasn’t far off.) 2) Turns out talking when a movie is going on was something you should never do. Especially when you’re sitting beside Chigiri. This made him wish that he had sat down beside Isagi.
An hour passed by and Meguru stared glumly at the screen and soon, the word ‘interval’ appeared on the screen in bold and Meguru couldn’t have been happier.
He got up, rushed out of the cinema hall and stretched his arms and legs. He was just deciding whether he should just camp out in the bathroom or not when Isagi came, smiling widely at him.
“How’d you like the movie?” he asked, sitting down on the plush chairs in the hall.
Meguru groaned, pouting a little, and sat down beside Isagi to complain about the horrors of incomprehensible plots. “I couldn’t understand a thing!” he said. “There are monsters killing everyone everywhere! If the monsters wanted free labor, shouldn’t the humans be imprisoned rather than killed?”
Isagi laughed at that. “Probably,” he said. “But then the story wouldn’t really proceed.”
“You know what I’m going to do?” he said to Isagi as if he were letting him in on a big secret. “I’m going to camp out in the bathroom with a bucket full of popcorn. You should join me.”
Isagi laughed again. “The plot’s not all bad,” he protested. “You just need to leave your brains at home to get the true meaning of the very deep plot.”
Meguru buried his head into Isagi’s shoulder and Isagi patted his head sympathetically. “I could always tell you what’s happening if you want to know,” Isagi offered. “You’ll just have to switch seats.”
Meguru immediately started nodding his head. “You’re my savior,” he said solemnly while holding Isagi’s hands with his. “You have truly saved me.”
“Hey, you two! Come on! The movie’s about to start!” Chigiri called out and both of them hurried back into the cinema hall, still hand in hand.
The view outside the bus as they drove closer and closer to Blue Lock was a very pretty one and Meguru had made it his goal to make everyone aware of it.
“Isagi!” he exclaimed. “Look at the mountains! They’re so big!”
Chigiri leaned over the seat behind him and looked at him, amused. “You’re so easy to please, Bachira. You remind me of my five year old cousin.”
Meguru stuck his tongue out at him. “I'm merely appreciating the beauty of nature,” he protested. “I was making sure none of you were missing out on the— Oh! A café! It’s so pretty!”
“You just proved my point,” Chigiri said raising his eyebrows at him, unimpressed. “Also, it’s called Lovers’ Café. You should go there with Isagi.”
Isagi promptly started choking on air.
Meguru looked at him, worried. He gently patted his back to help him when he noticed just how red Isagi had gotten. Dang it, was this a good sign or a bad one?
“Isagi!” Meguru exclaimed. “If you die now, I’ll be very sad!
Isagi laughed before coughing once again. “Right, of course. We can’t have you sad, can we?”
Meguru laughed before he let his mind drift back to their previous conversation and suddenly he remembered just how red Isagi had gotten. Maybe it could be because of coughing so hard or maybe it could be because he was flustered, but because Meguru was such an optimist, he decided to believe the latter.
He leaned and watched how Isagi’s cheeks got red again. He smiled cheekily. “You know something that would drive away all my sadness? You coming to Lovers’ Café with me.”
Isagi drew back and Meguru would have thought this were a firm rejection if it weren’t for the fact that Isagi was covering his flaming cheeks with his hand.
“Well,” Isagi started, looking at resolutely at Not Meguru, “I could come to Lovers’ Café. With you. Together.”
Meguru grinned. “Really?” he asked happily. He then leaned in even closer. “Can I, then, kiss you?”
This time, Isagi looked at him and Meguru once again came to the realization of how beautiful Isagi was, but before his thoughts could drift away, he was pulled into a deep kiss.
Isagi had his hand tangled in his hair, pulling him incredibly close. Meguru sighed into the kiss and wrapped his arms around his neck to pull him even closer. He was just so warm.
He was kissing him, for how long he didn’t know, but he was kissing him. He would’ve happily stayed like this forever, but he very desperately needed air so he reluctantly drew away.
Isagi had his hair messed up and cheeks alight and he looked absolutely gorgeous and Meguru very much wanted to go back to kissing him, but Meguru was a man with self-control who could control himself.
That was when he saw a gorgeous gold string materializing around them, beautiful and bold. It shimmered with tints of red and gold and coiled itself around his finger and Isagi’s. It was absolutely breathtaking. It was their string of choice, chance and love.
“When we win this time, too, let’s go to the café. Together,” Isagi said, flushing slightly, but with a happy smile on his face.
“Like a date?” Meguru asked.
“Like a date,” Isagi agreed.