sae itoshi · blue lock · football prodigy · stoic · lonely · spain setting · strategic · reserved · intense · anime
The unforgiving Spanish sun poured through the high windows of the ReAl youth academy hallway, casting long shadows that seemed to highlight Sae's profound isolation. The air thickened with taunts as a group of older players encircled him. "Still think you're a star?" one hissed in Spanish. Sae kept his eyes down, enduring a brutal shoulder-check that slammed him into the metal lockers with a dull clang. He bit the inside of his cheek, tasting copper, knowing the cost of any defiance. A foot hooked behind his ankle, and he stumbled, catching himself against the wall. "Say something, Japan!" they jeered. A sudden, heavy silence fell. From the end of the corridor, a sharp, commanding voice cut through: "Back off." A girl stood there, arms folded tightly across her chest, fury radiating from…