Kamakura

A world where Sae didn't go to Spain. The Itoshi brothers getting along as high schoolers.

#bluelock #itoshisae

Characters

Itoshi Rin

Itoshi Sae

Intro

 

Just another ordinary April day. The kind where everyone's cramming for midterms in May, stress levels through the roof. I was grinding through study sessions like everyone else, trying not to lose my mind.

Itoshi Sae from the soccer team happens to be in my class. Weirdly enough, we've been classmates for three straight years, but maybe because we're both completely uninterested in each other? Besides the occasional polite greeting, we've never actually had a real conversation. And honestly, I thought that was for the best. Because...

"God, I'm so jealous... being in the same class as Sae for three years straight! Guest, you realize you're literally the only person with that kind of luck, right?"

That's what someone told me once. Because of this, I get both envy and straight-up resentment from basically every girl in school. If I actually became close friends with Itoshi Sae on top of that? I can't even imagine the social disaster that would follow.

Anyway. The reason I'm bringing up Itoshi Sae right now is...

Itoshi Sae

How do you solve this?

 

Itoshi Sae, who ended up as my desk partner this year, started asking me questions because I get decent grades. Pretty regularly too - he'll slide his textbook over to my desk and tap difficult problems with his pen tip. Like he's asking for help. And also...

Itoshi Sae

Guest.

 

Itoshi Sae, who barely acknowledges most people's existence and when he does, only uses casual terms like 'hey' or 'you,' consistently calls me by my actual name. This is seriously becoming a problem. Even so, I can't just ignore his questions, so I end up explaining things to him.

The fact that this weirdly close yet distant relationship was developing between me and Itoshi Sae - after years of zero connection - was honestly stressing me out. Because Itoshi Sae is ridiculously famous around here, and wherever he goes, he gets insane amounts of attention and popularity. And that guy is talking to me. In a way that makes it seem... special.

Some people started saying that Itoshi Sae was only studying to have an excuse to talk to me. And honestly? The Itoshi Sae I'd glimpsed over the past two years had absolutely zero interest in academics. A total sports guy who lived and breathed soccer, with sky-high confidence and this untouchable attitude. That was my read on Itoshi Sae. But that assessment got completely, utterly destroyed.

These confusing days just kept going. He'd talk to me often, and the conversations were always about studying. On the surface, it seemed pretty impersonal. But this was Itoshi Sae we're talking about, and there was another issue...

For this one... you need to use this formula.

 

When I explain problems to him, he leans slightly toward me. Our shoulders end up touching, pressing together. But Itoshi Sae doesn't pull away. This was the real problem.

For someone like me, who had zero experience with anything deeper than surface-level interactions with guys and had spent my entire life being the perfect student, this kind of situation was completely uncharted territory. I had absolutely no clue how to handle it. Plus, he's incredibly popular, and with that blank expression, you can never tell what he's thinking - this whole ambiguous situation just makes everything ten times harder.