"Good practice, everyone," announced a tall, white haired man in German, clapping his hands as his team dispersed. Practices at Bastard Munchen were always rough, but what else would one expect from one of the best teams in Europe?
A purple haired boy stretched at the side of the field, knowing he'd be sore tomorrow as he checked his phone, grabbed a towel and followed his blue and blonde haired best friend off the practice field. His normal feed popped up on the device, soccer tips, cat videos, Michael Kaiser edits, Michael Kaiser clips, and more.
Absentmindedly, he scrolled down posts and reels, not pausing until one caught his eye. His English was rusty, but he understood enough to read what was on the screen. It took a couple seconds at first, but after rereading the sentences twice, he gasped.
"Holy shit!" he exclaimed, making a couple heads around him turn, including his ace's. The blue haired man looked quite annoyed at the outburst as he rolled his eyes.
"What is it now, Alexis?" asked Michael Kaiser, Bastard Munchen's striker, as he walked over, abandoning his towel as he sipped his water. Leaning over Alexis Ness' shoulder, he read the words on the phone as well and nearly choked.
'After two years, renowned center forward (Y/N) (L/N) makes a reappearance on Japan's U-20 national team! Welcome back to the world of soccer!' read the post's headline, followed by a picture of the player clad in a white and red jersey.
"There's no way in hell..." Kaiser whispered under his breath, raising an eyebrow as he examined every aspect of the photograph. (Y/N) wasn't quite the same as Kaiser remembered them, but he still recognized them nonetheless.
They looked relatively healthy, but the bags under their eyes spoke a million words to him. (Y/N) looked well built, perhaps even more so than their days in Germany, but what really caught Kaiser's attention was their face and eyes. They were as beautiful as he remembered, but in the picture, their eyes looked empty and the signature smile they always wore was vanquished, replaced by only a lost-looking frown.
It was then that memories of the last time Kaiser had seen the athlete came to mind. He winced to himself as he remembered the words he'd said to them, silently beating himself up for being so rude and blunt. Sure, what he'd said was true, but at the time, he hadn't even considered the possibility that (Y/N) was going through more than he was.
(F/N) (L/N) was the best coach he'd ever had or hoped to have, aiding him through whatever problems he might've had, whether it'd been soccer related or not. When the news of his death had reached Kaiser, he'd cried for a couple days straight before his grief and mourning had manifested into anger and an endless fuel for soccer.
To let out his rising emotions, he'd practiced day and night, night and day for the following week, well, minus the day of the funeral. The funeral had been the first time he'd spoken to (Y/N), his former best friend, for a week and... they'd looked awful, but he'd been too busy being angry that they hadn't shown up to practice to notice.
The next–and last–time he'd seen (Y/N) was the day of their argument and also the day that they'd quit Bastard Munchen and, apparently, soccer as a whole. Kaiser had considered, but had never gone through with, contacting them again. And so began a massive digital silence.
Among the shock at seeing their picture in the news, Kaiser felt anger rise in him as well. (Y/N), Bastard Munchen's center forward, his center forward had up and started soccer again without even a word. Not to mention, but he was playing with some sub-par nobodies that the world didn't so much as care about.
Kaiser shook his head, trying not to let his internal conflict show on his face as more players of the team gathered around, all exclaiming various things as they took in the information. Clenching his fists, the ace let out a small tsk before walking off to leave the stadium, his mind racing.
All throughout the drive back to his house, there was only one thought on his mind, driving all others away: (Y/N). He was half relieved that they were still okay, but at the same time, they were livid that the player hadn't even considered dropping in on their former team. It was like he didn't even exist!
The man clenched his fists as he laid in bed, scrolling through posts among posts, discussing (Y/N)'s return to soccer online. Their playing was just as good as he remembered, but didn't seem as if they'd improved at all, but what did even expect? Right now, it seemed ludicrous that Kaiser had ever considered them to be of equal skill as him.
It wasn't long before his fingers strayed to the messages icon on the top right corner of his screen, scrolling through his contacts and tapping on the small profile that was (Y/N). Perhaps he was just nostalgic or feeling soft, but he shuffled through their past conversations.
They'd been talking happily about some random topic before the line went cold, never to be picked up again. A regretful feeling clenched at Kaiser's chest as he sat there, fingers hovering over the keyboard, wondering what he should type or if he should even try and engage in conversation.
Part of him wanted to berate (Y/N), to tell them how skilled they were and to convince them to come back to Germany, but he knew saying all that would only make things between them ten times worse. Instead, he realized something as he read and reread their former friend's last messages to him.
Kaiser hadn't apologized for all he'd said the day (Y/N) quit. He'd been a dumb and proud teenager back then, unaware of anyone else except himself. Selfish and egocentric, he didn't realize how much his words must've impacted his friend until it was too late. Even now, years after the incident, he could still remember those (E/C) eyes brimming with tears.
Would it be too out of the blue to apologize so suddenly? Should he even reach out? Would his ego even let him do any of those things? Apprehensively, he typed a couple words before closing his eyes as he put his thumb on the blue send button.
(y/n)(l/n).official (private messages)
hey (Y/N) I know we haven't talked in a while
I saw ur games in Japan
I didn't know u were still playing football
u still play pretty well
look what I'm trying to say is that I'm really sorry for what I said
please respond
delivered
--------------------------
HELLLOOO GUYS!!
so heres a tiny special (????) chapter for you guys! I just wanted to develop the relationship between Kaiser and (Y/N) 😈😈😈
sorry its not anything special 😭
anyways i need you guys' opinion on how to proceed
do we forgive kaiser? yay or nay?