2.1. Spare Cash

"Whoa, who's that?"

"He looks so handsome?! Is he a model?"

"Too short to be a model... what about the guy next to him?"

"W-wait, that's...!"

"Sae Itoshi?! The genius midfielder?!"

"Is the guy a bodyguard or something?"

"Who cares? Quick, let's get a photo!"

Two men ghosted through the city centre, in the evening.

Well, one man, and one boy. The man's magenta hair was covered by a black baseball cap, his face covered by a black facemask. He still was easily recognisable, with his teal eyes and lean, athlete's body. Aside from the mask, he had on a full black suit, the white shirt standing out against a blood red tie.

The other was dressed in similar clothing. He was much shorter than Sae, with a slight, lean build. His suit fit him perfectly, in a dark shade of red that contrasted his black shirt.

Yet, as impressively as both of them dressed, the shorter one couldn't help but grumble. He leant into Sae's side, complaining like a kid as they headed down the street. "Where are we even going?"

"Be polite." Sae chided quietly. He let Y/N lean into him though, as the two of them approached a familiar place. "Not far now."

"To what...?" Y/N blinked with confusion, walking close to Sae. The two of them turned into the main doors of Ginza subway station.

Y/N's legs were aching, barely strong enough to hold him up. He'd spent a week with Sae so far. The man had warmed up to him quite a bit - he actually spoke to Y/N without a cold look, and he didn't seem like he wanted to murder Y/N whenever he did something.

But damn, was it hard being around him. Sae pretty much thought about soccer all day, every day. He woke up thinking about soccer, and went to sleep thinking about soccer. Every day, they'd practised for 90 minute intervals multiple times, putting Y/N's stamina to the test.

Today, Sae had pushed him even harder, and Y/N's body certainly felt the aftereffects. He slowly walked into the station, wincing every so often as he tried to move. But apart from that, he did his best to not show any pain.

Ascension had taught him to never show weakness around others.

"Remember how I promised to get you good food?" Y/N blinked again. He'd been certain that Sae had already given him good food - over the past week, they'd eaten all sorts of strange, but amazing food. Sae's personal chef was certainly a master, and while the food in Bluelock had been amazing, it put that to shame.

"Kinda?" Y/N stuck close to Sae as they walked down an underground tunnel. It was packed with people moving back and forth, in stark contrast to the empty corridors of Bluelock. They turned into a smaller corridor, heading down a flight of stairs.

"Well, today we're here to try some good food." Sae glanced down at Y/N, his eyes cool and calm as ever. "Usually, you have to reserve a year in advance, but I'm good friends with the owner."

Y/N gaped. "A year? What for?" As they headed down the stairs, he slipped, arms flinging out to try and grab the handrail. A jolt of panic ran through him.

Without even looking his way, Sae grabbed his wrist, stopping him from hitting the ground. Y/N flushed, murmuring an apology as Sae carried on walking. "Sushi."

"What kind of sushi needs a year's wait?" Y/N hurried after Sae. "We can just pick that up at 7-Eleven."

"Good sushi." They stopped outside a small shop, a few stories underground. Unlike the rest of the restaurants they'd come across, this one looked much smaller, and much less developed. The front entrance was made from wooden planks, with the inside lighting being soft and yellowed from what Y/N could see.

"What's good sushi?" Y/N stopped by Sae's side. The magenta haired man stood by the entrance, reading the kanji on the door before he nodded once. "How much?"

"Â¥110,000 for both of us." Y/N's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. Sae didn't seem the least bit concerned.

"110?"

"Yes."

"How much sushi do we actually get?"

"It's a 20-piece course, served over 35 minutes." Sae stared up at the sign. "Shall we go in?"

Y/N paled. "But it's 110 thousand...?"

"Is there a problem with that?" Sae focused fully on Y/N now, looking the teenager up and down as he rubbed at his trousers anxiously.

"I-I can't pay you back. I barely have enough to pay the rent this month."

"You don't need to pay me back." Sae sighed. He patted Y/N's shoulder. "Though, why do you live by yourself? Are you a runaway?"

"My family doesn't want me." Y/N forced a smile. "It doesn't really matter though. They send me money to keep me alive, and it's peaceful without them."

"Hm." Sae didn't probe any further. "You don't need to pay me back. Let's go in." Without waiting for an answer, he strode forwards. Y/N nervously walked behind him.

The shop itself, Sukibayashi Jiro, was small. Y/N hesitantly followed Sae in, glancing around. It was pretty much entire wood, not a sign of modern technology around besides the equipment behind the counter. Only ten stools were at the counter, none of them filled.

"Sae." An elderly man greeted them as Sae took his seat. He stood behind the counter, hands at work readying something on a mat. "Good to see you."

Sae just nodded back as Y/N slid onto his own stool. The teenager looked curiously between them. He'd said they were friends, but it didn't look like it at all as they sat in silence.

Eventually, Sae slid a small leaflet over to Y/N. "I didn't give you any time to study the rules, so here."

"Rules?"

"Things you have to do." Sae amended. "Most of them are simple."

Y/N gazed down at the leaflet in his hands. Who knew there would be rules for sushi... He sighed. "Can we not just get convenience store sushi?"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

🥕🥕🥕

That wasn't the only place Sae took Y/N to eat at. Over the course of the time they stayed together, Y/N tried all sorts of strange, unique, and expensive food.

Top quality wagyu beef? Y/N was treated to that literally the next day, in a restaurant at the top of a skyscraper that overlooked the city below. Same as before, they both wore suits, and same as before, Y/N was wholly out of place amongst the hyper rich people around them.

"Sae, the menu is in French...?"

"I thought you understood French."

"Yeah, but I can't work out what this is supposed to mean. It's just a bunch of random colours and foods."

Sae contained his smile, hiding the fact he had a Japanese menu and he'd purposefully given the French one to Y/N. "Just choose a random one. That's what I normally do."

"But what if I choose one and I don't like it? They're really, really expensive..."

"I'm ordering a steak for you anyway. You can eat that instead."

"But then that might go to waste."

"Just eat the damn food, Y/N."

Sea urchins and pufferfish? For that, Sae took him to a private party that Y/N didn't realise he hadn't been invited to. Sae managed to make it work - after all, nobody wanted to try and argue with him. Both the urchin and pufferfish were prepared right in front of him.

While Y/N was... hesitant, Sae didn't make it any better by his somehow teasing, yet completely monotone words. "You know, if they cut a millimetre off, the poison in the pufferfish will kill you faster than asphyxiation."

Y/N gulped. "Do I have to-"

"It costs thirty thousand. Eat it or it'll go to waste."

"Uh..."

"I'm sure it's fine. They probably prepared it right."

"Probably?"

And on top of that, Sae showered him with all manner of gifts. Did Y/N touch a piece of clothing in a public mall? When they got back to the penthouse they shared, Y/N would usually find it lying on his bed.

"Sae. Why the hell did you buy me a cardigan?" Y/N held up a bright pink knitted cardigan, the sleeves long. It was cropped high, and when Y/N held it to his chest, it would've been long enough to show off his entire stomach.

"..." Sae looked up from his soccer book. "You were looking at it."

Y/N facepalmed. "I was looking at it 'cause I thought I saw Anri wearing it! When she fixed me up after a game."

"...so you don't want it?"

"I never wanted it in the first place!"

"Put it in your cupboard. Maybe you'll wear it sometime."

"Sae. It's cropped halfway up my body."

"I think it'd look good on you. Wear it next time we go out."

"What?!"

"You heard me." Sae nonchalantly returned to his book. He hadn't actually given much thought to it when he'd seen Y/N looking at the clothing. He'd just bought it, and his teasing was just to cover up his embarrassment. And because it was funny to see Y/N so confused.

Then there was the fruit incident. Sae just didn't seem to know what 'no' meant. And he also seemed to be an expert at making Y/N do what he wanted. Must be the midfielder genes...

"Sae, look at this!" Y/N laughed. They were inside a mall, of course in one of the luxury shops. Sae'd mentioned wanting to get a watch, and of course, Y/N had got distracted when he'd spotted a fruit store. "I've always wondered why these cost so much."

He was pointing at a set of fruits, each one wrapped individually in gold and white in separate boxes. The shop was filled with them, huge bunches of perfectly rounded grapes, brightly coloured oranges and mangoes, melons wrapped with ribbons and white cloth.

The real show-stealer was the watermelon, grown into spheres the size of Y/N's head, or into heart shapes, or even into cubes. Y/N gaped at the prices of everything. Maybe when I'm a pro I can afford to try it... His currently broke seventeen-year-old situation made it very difficult to indulge.

Sae nudged him. "That's not the best thing." He gestured to a cooler, where pairs of white strawberries sat inside gold boxes. "Apparently, those are."

"Have you tried them?" Y/N curiously looked towards the fruit.

"I'm about to." Sae'd already pulled out his wallet, and Y/N rushed to stop him. His eyes widened with panic.

"S-sae, these are fruits!"

"I can see that."

"They're really expensive..." Y/N glanced at the nearest bunch of grapes, which were probably the most beautiful shades of purple he'd ever seen. "That's seven thousand yen!"

"I know." Sae hummed, inspecting a watermelon. "Should I get one or two?"

"None!" Y/N grabbed Sae's wrists with both hands, gripping on tightly. He took a deep breath. "I was just looking. Really. You've bought me so much over the past few days... I don't need any more."

Sae was silent for a few seconds. He held Y/N's gaze with dull teal eyes. Y/N smiled up at him, and at the sight, Sae's lip turned up slightly at the corner. Good. He's not gonna bu-

"Would you prefer a square or a heart shaped watermelon?"

"I don't. Want. Your. Watermelon." Y/N slowly said. "Do you understand me? I'm never going to be able to pay you back."

"You think I need to be paid back?" Sae scoffed. "I wouldn't expect you to pay me back in a hundred years."

"Then why are you buying so much for me...?"

"Because I want to."

Y/N froze. He shook his head, swallowing hard. He just wants me for something. Probably something to do with soccer. That's the only reason anyone would get anything for me. "Mkay."

"If it bothers you so much..." Sae gently prised his hands out of Y/N's grip. "I'm not buying the fruit for you. I'm buying it for myself to try." He didn't mention he'd been gifted a lot of it in the past.

"Okay..."

They ended up leaving the fruit store with a whole bag full of luxury fruits. As soon as they crossed the threshold, Sae held out an orange wrapped in a red ribbon. He very purposefully looked away from Y/N, holding out the fruit. Y/N stared at it. "I've already bought it, so might as well eat. Or else it'll go to waste, I bought a lot."

Y/N took the fruit. He held it in both small hands like it was a treasure, staring down at it with wide eyes. "Thank you..." His voice was quiet, shy.

Sae looked down at him as the teenager walked, head down as he stared at the fruit like it was from another world. He supposed, for someone who couldn't afford it, it might as well have been.

The ghost of a smile showed on his face.