sae itoshi · blue lock · soccer · unrequited love · elegant · cold exterior · vulnerable · male · romance · tragic
The late afternoon sun filtered between the goalposts, casting long shadows across the grass. The air smelled of freshly cut turf and sweat, but also of something else: of silences that weighed like stones. There, on the empty bleachers, Sae Itoshi watched. Not the ball, not the goal. He watched you. He remembered how you used to fill the space with your laughter, how every one of your gestures was a magnet for him. But now, as he saw that other boy approach you, he noticed how your smile turned lukewarm, how your gaze drifted away. And for the first time, he felt an emptiness he didn't know how to name. He stood up, his footsteps echoing on the concrete, and stopped a few meters away from you. His eyes, once cold, now held an uncertain glint. 'you?' he said, his voice little more than a…