Zephyr {Sae Itoshi x Reader}

Sae Itoshi

Apart from my back hurting, I didn't feel too much. My brain still felt incredibly foggy, but I assumed that was some sort of trauma response. I remember hearing about that in class at one point or another. I guess it was good I couldn't remember the gory details, as I'd be totally freaking out right about now if I did.

I managed to walk home without any trouble. When I got there, my parents stormed out of the house and into the driveway, practically shaking with worry. After a quick interrogation and short, short answers, we got into the house and collapsed together in a hug.

"Y/n!" my little brother cried, joining in the hug. Rusei was six years old and by far my biggest fan. I didn't do anything to deserve fan behavior, but boy he was the biggest hype man you'd ever seen. "Where were you?"

"I stayed over at a friend's house," I lied. I told my parents the truth in the driveway, though altered a bit. Meaning, the bar, Ito's age, the gift, and the man paying for the broken shot glass were all conveniently left out. Mainly I just gave them the getting attacked part so they could understand for any future hospital visits. Knock on wood that doesn't happen again.

"We saved you some dinner," my mother said. I looked at the time. Apparently, I was at the hospital for way longer than I thought. Whoops.

"Thanks," I replied gratefully.

"Y/n, Y/n!" Rusei chanted. "Do you want to play soccer with me?"

"Ah," I smiled. "I think I'm just going to eat and then head to bed. Maybe tomorrow?"

Rusei pouted, then ran to go get his ball. Lately he'd been watching a ton of soccer. Apparently he had become a huge fan of Real Madrid and idolized a couple players on it. I didn't super see the appeal, but Rusei loved it. He spent hours practicing outside.

As I ate, my parents attempted making conversation about topics other than last night. It was clear to me that they were both freaking out, but obviously panicking wasn't going to help me, so they held it in.

I showered off the past two days. I felt disgusting and tried to clean off everywhere he touched me. The only problem was, I didn't even know where.

I got out and dried myself off, staring into the mirror. Bruises stained me black and blue, and there was a sharp cut that had been torn open and stitched together on my stomach. I looked like a mess and was actually surprised no one had told me so. In my head, I was still rational. I was still the same girl as I had always been. But gazing into the mirror, I looked faded and weary, as though I had been on the run from a hurricane or tornado.

I didn't dare sleep that night. I'd heard too many stories of people who were attacked remembering painful memories in their sleep. Instead, I picked up my pen and began writing to distract myself. I didn't know what to put on the page though. For the past year I had worked on Ito's book, but that was back at the bar. In all honesty, it was probably meant for the trash. I wasn't published, so how good could I be?

I absentmindedly began writing whatever thoughts popped into my head. I thought of character descriptions, interesting settings, plot ideas, anything that could come up. I created a character out of nothing but my own thoughts.

He had ash-red hair and piercing eyes. I intended for him to have a cold, distant personality—the kind you fell in love with when you read a book. He would be incredibly skilled at his craft, whatever that may be. I couldn't think of a name, but the character felt oddly familiar to me. Maybe the name would come when I had more inspiration.

I left my fan on in my room for a few hours, and it blew the curtains covering my windows open. There was a faint light shining through. I peered outside and saw a dazzle of pink streaking the sky.

Sunrise already? I didn't feel all that tired honestly, but as the morning wore on I definitely felt the effects of my brainstorming session last night.

"Y/n, Y/n?" Vi loudly snapped her fingers in my face. "Girl, you are so messed up right now."

I shot my best friend a hard glare, to which she responded by laughing at me. "I didn't sleep well last night." The two of us sat in the back of the class as our math teacher droned on and on. Everyone else was slacking off as well, so it was a perfect time for gossip to be shared.

"Yeah, and you didn't come to school yesterday either," Vi complained. "How did Ito's birthday go?"

I stayed silent. Vi had met Ito a few times in months previous, but they were all short lasting, as it always ended in her trying to rip his head off.

"Oh, so your pedo boyfriend finally snapped, huh?" she said.

"He's not a pedo," I shot back. "We're only a few years apart."

"Me, when I'm delulu." She threw her head back in a laugh, slapping her thigh as she did it. Vi had an aggressive laugh, which matched her aggressive personality. She had dark purple hair that was tied into a long ponytail, and her uniform blazer was notably untucked from her skirt. I think the teachers have given up on dress coding her at this point.

I sighed. "The birthday wasn't the greatest. I'm not quite sure where we're standing right now."

Vi rolled her eyes. "That bitch should've been gone a long time ago. I don't even know how you keep justifying him right now. Look at the world outside, girl. There's plenty of hotter, nicer men out there for you."

"Yeah, let me know when you find one that's interested, then I'll start listening."

Vi smacked me on the back of the neck. Hard. It was an "affectionate" signal reserved for when I was talking bad about myself. I have a theory she was actually some sort of primate in another life; there's no way a regular human could have so much force in a single shot.

"What about him? He's mega hot." Vi flashed me her phone and I reached out to steady it. Of course, it was another athlete who she was in love with. This time, it was a soccer player.

It was an edit on Tiktok that had been created, with a rather slutty song playing behind it.

"Oh my gosh," I breathed. "That's the boy from earlier."

The caption read: Who needs church when God gave us him as a blessing? Number 1 soccer player

Sae Itoshi.