The Inazuma Scrapbook

Chance Encounters

As far as Hikaru knew, his uncle was a criminal. So how come this person was calling him a savior?

In which a chance encounter flips Hikaru's perspective completely.

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It isn't often that Hikaru feels bitter. He has always figured that if you have enough time to mope about something, you have enough time to either fix it or to move on. But this…

"You wouldn't believe who it was. Kageyama Reiji!"

His uncle had been alive. This whole time, his uncle had been alive. And yet… He never contacted Hikaru. Ever. The man who he always wanted to know. The man whose surname had ruined his social life as a child.

His uncle never owed him anything, but surely, being family means something, right? Does Uncle hate his family? Does he even know Hikaru exists? Does he still hate soccer? Kidou-san had said that he had liked — no, loved soccer, but how can someone ruin what he loves?

Hikaru doesn't know anything about his uncle. It's not something that has bothered him a lot in the past. It had been better that way, when he had been little. After all, wasn't it easier to hate someone when all you knew about them was that they were the reason most parents didn't want their kids to be friends with you?

Hikaru had studied soccer first, to see why his uncle had hated it enough to ruin it for everyone. He never found the reason, so he decided to play it. Perhaps then, he would understand better. But all Hikaru has seen so far is that he loves soccer. And he cpuld have had the chance to ask his uncle what had motivated him in the past. If only he'd known.

Shaking his head, Hikaru flips open his phone. He has nothing to do, so he might as well kill time on Instagram. He opens the app and blinks at the notification. What takes him aback about it is that it's not from one of his friends.

It takes him a while to recognize the profile picture, and his eyes widen when he does. It's a famous Italian soccer player, though Hikaru really can't remember her last name. Only Rushe comes to mind.

Do you know Kageyama Reiji? the first message says, and as though realizing that he wouldn't be called Kageyama Hikaru if he didn't know at least about his uncle, the next one says, Your name really is Kageyama, right?

What business does Italy's Shooting Star have with his uncle?

Hikaru racks his brain for anything that comes up, and something finally clicks. Uncle had been the coach for Orpheus all those years ago. Had he done something wrong in Italy too? Was Hikaru going to pay the price for being related to Kageyama Reiji again?

Hesitantly, he replies, because despite the dread pooling within him, he knows it would be a bad idea to not reply. Might as well get it over with.

He blinks again, bemused, when the new message doesn't contain any anger or reproach. I knew it! I've always wanted to see him again.

Someone wanted to see his uncle? Hikaru wonders what Rushe knows about his uncle. Probably more than me.

He shakes his head. There's no need to be bitter about it. If anything, he should be happy he's making a new friend, right? And maybe he can learn something about his uncle like this.

So, he replies, Did you know him?

The next message appears almost instantly. Kind of. He saved my life years ago. 

Just like that, in the blink of an eye, Hikaru's whole world is flipped upside-down. His uncle… saved someone? How…?

Everyone Hikaru has encountered — at least, everyone who knows Kageyama Reiji — has only ever mentioned his evils. The one person who could have given a better opinion doesn't seem to like talking about it, and Hikaru doesn't want to bother Kidou-san with his incessant questions.

As far as Hikaru knows, his uncle is a criminal. So how come Rushe is calling him a savior?

His heart is beating rapidly, as though trying to burst out any second, and Hikaru replies with shaking fingers, What?

So Rushe tells him her tale, the story of a blind girl who had given up hope, only to find it in the unlikeliest person. She mentions the letters he wrote to her, the surgery she received because of him and most of all, the soccer he introduced her to.

His uncle had been a criminal.

His uncle had been a savior.

So, which is the real Kageyama Reiji?

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March 18, 2021

Word count: 739 words.

Okay, so this piece kind of contains a couple of headcanons. I'd imagine that being related to someone the world knows as a criminal couldn't have earned Hikaru many friends. Also, I'd imagine that Rushe became the Fidio of IE GO, in a manner of speaking.