"𝐃𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈'𝐌 𝐒𝐀𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐒?"
The young boy, now identified as Adonis, stood across the counter from the speaker, his head propped up by his hand as he looks forward.
"I understand all too well, but that fails to change anything."
He rolled his eyes as he spoke, discontent laced thoroughly throughout his words.
The two boys stood together in a store, the darkness outside fought off by the light from the ceiling fan in the center of the small space, the clock ticking as each second goes by, reading 11:38 pm in a digital red coloring.
One of the boys wore a hoodie and sweatpants—his hands inside his pant pockets—while the other sported a black polo, a nametag on the front that read ADONIS, in all caps.
"I'll ask you once again, because I don't think you fully understand-"
"I said I do. I'm not going to Europe with you. I can't leave my sister."
The boy infront of him sighs as he pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration, turning as he pulls his hood on.
"Fine then. Enjoy this backwater lifestyle you live, Saint."
The ring of the bells on the door sound as it opens and closes swiftly, leaving Adonis by himself in the store, a sigh leaving the boys' mouth as he opens the register, taking the money out and counting.
The clock ticks are louder than even as he whispers to himself, the noise of paper sliding against eachother reaching his ears while he counts.
"5"
Tick
"10"
Tock
"15"
Tick
"20"
Tock
—
𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓 was a man who's life had been riddled with misfortune since he was conceived.
Even since birth he had been looked at differently from the rest of his peers, the main factor being his colored eyes, one a bright gold, and one white.
His mismatching eyes made him easy to pick on, but it wasn't anything irregular. Young children were always known to be extremely mean.
He was bullied harshly throughout his early days, picked on and made fun of. But he never let it truly get to him. He was always happy regardless, and his family—his parents and his older sister—were easily the reason for this.
It's just that, it's so maddening how quickly, in just a moment, someone's life can be turned on its head.
When he was at the mere age of five, he lost his parents to a brutal car crash.
He, his sister, and his mother were the only ones to survive the initial crash, A fate that differed from his father's.
There he stood, his small eyes widened as he watched at his bloodied mom lay in the bed, her now frail body hooked up to so many machines, that she looked like a puppet with all those wires connected to her.
"Please, donny, live your life... And remember, no matter what anyone says... you're a child of the heavens."
The last words he ever heard escape his mother's mouth, a phrase she loved to tell him when he came home with tear-stained cheeks—a common occurence, the bullies weren't very kind.
The low ringing of the EKG piercing through the lingering silence that followed.
And there the young child stood, bawling his eyes out into his hands, an indescribable grief ripping through his mind.
He had lost his parents, his lifestyle. All to some selfish drunk driver who got to live through the accident.
Adonis himself didn't just strut out of the accident at 100%. His body well felt the pain of being stuck in a car that folded in on itself.
That pain showed itself on his skin, many small scars laid upon his body, all different places he had been stabbed and scratched by metal pieces of the car.
The main one though, was one that stretched across the bridge of his nose, tainting his face.
What was supposed to be a fun family outing had turned into a nightmare.
He cried, all day, and all night, his near silent whimpers echoing through the cold, silent rooms he always found himself in.
He and his sister were left alone, nothing for them in this world anymore.
He hadn't any extended family, unless you counted his uncle—his mother's younger brother, but he hadn't even a clue as to what the man's name was.
And the man obviously didn't care for him, or his sister, as he never showed his face once.
So they had nobody on earth to fall back on.
They could live off of their inheritance from their parents for some time, and a little help from their parents' friends.
But, they werent exactly wealthy, they just made enough to get by decently. So, as a result, their funds eventually ran low.
It was around the time she was 12, Adonis was still 8, not nearly old enough to get a job himself.
She got a Job, but it wasn't enough for both her and her brother, but two jobs wouldn't cooperate with her schedule.
So she made a choice.
She hated that she'd never be able to achieve her dream of being a doctor, but Adonis was her family, and she needed the money in order to provide as his legal guardian. Otherwise, they'd end up being separated.
It was stressful, but she would do anything for her brother. Anything in the world.
Adonis recognized that, even at a young age, and he hated how she had to sacrifice so much for him.
When she told him she'd be dropping out, the pain in her eyes as she spoke, the hurt that he heard in her shaky voice, it was one of the worst days he could remember.
On many occasions, the Itoshi's—their parent's closest friends— offered to help out with the money problem, but it was really too much to ask of them.
It made it convinient that Adonis and Sae were best friends, it was actually what had brought the families together as close friends.
So naturally, Adonis would've been exposed to soccer from a young age, with Sae being a prodigy, because obviously he'd go to support his friend.
Plus, his family used to always watch whenever they could, it was the way they spent time together.
His mother always insisted on watching the France national team matches, as well as the Bastard Munchen ones.
He didn't know why it was those teams specifically, but it didn't really matter to him.
That, paired with his best friend's prowess in the sport, he found himself watching soccer quite a bit.
Seeing Rin and Sae on the pitch during their games was rather amazing, he would say.
Sae was a prodigy, everyone knew this. Rin was like his second-hand man, his partner in crime.
Adonis knew about some dream they had, he admired their sibling bond. It reminded him of his with his sister.
They were easily two of the best strikers in Japan.
But what really stood out was how happy they looked playing together, how happy they were on the field.
He wanted to know what that feeling was, that feeling of exhiliration.
Watching football was one thing, but would playing really bring a true smile to his face?
So he signed up for the next season, starting his first year of football at the age of 10.
But, he refused to play with Rin and Sae Itoshi.
He admired that dream Sae and Rin had together, so he didn't want to get in the way of that.
A very kind gesture, actually, because Adonis was nothing short of excellent on the pitch.
All those years of watching soccer, from the couch, watching Sae and Rin, analyzing the players, boosted his general iq about the sport immensly.
He was a prodigy.
The one player. that stood out to him was none other than Noel Noa, the best striker in the world.
Adonis always took a liking to that man's play, the major factor being the fact that the two were both ambidextrous.
It helped Adonis figure out the way he really wanted to play soccer, studying Noel Noa, and enchancing the mans play style.
Adonis quickly became a star striker for his team, he averaged a mind blowing 3.7 goals and 2.3 assists per game.
His ability was very quickly recognized throughout Japan like Itoshi Sae's was. Two star strikers in the same generation was unfathomable.
But being known nationwide, beating his opponents without any challenege, it wasn't fun.
Being recognized everywhere because of skill, alongside his distinct appearance, wasn't fun either.
He wasn't smiling and laughing like Sae and Rin were, he wasn't happy about beating each team mercilessly.
Where was the fun in winning without a challenege. How would he ever know if he was truly strong?
Some would say that lack of emotion was good for him, to help him focus.
Some others would say it was weird for a prodigy child like him to not celebrate a goal.
Nonetheless, he continues to play, waiting to find that happiness, that spark that would help him be happy playing.
He hoped it would come by in his next match, the club championship.
A nationally broadcast youth game, one that took place at Japan's national team's stadium. the first youth game of it's kind. But that was to be expected.
A clash between the best youth strikers in Japan. Adonis Saint vs Sae Itoshi.
There was 5 minutes left in the game—injury time.
The score was 1-1, tied.
He was doing as best he could, thats what everyone thought, but he himself felt like he was playing off today.
Beforehand, he had always been enough to carry his team, but up against Rin and Sae who picked apart his teams defense, it was all hopeless.
He was lined up for a freekick, his hands on his hips as he took a deep breath, the roar of the crowd sounding through the stadium.
These two were Japan's future, of course the stands would be packed.
The surrounding noise bore in on Adonis's ears, his own heartbeat pounding, as he contemplated whether to take the shot, or pass it.
A whistle signaled play as he hesitated, deciding as he took a step, using his right foot to kick a line drive towards the goal, one of his teammates bursting forwards towards the goal, taking a shot off the volley.
A pathetic attempt of a shot.
Adonis watched in what felt like slow motion, his perfect placed shot, the decision was much to easy. There was no way he'd pass in this type of situation.
It was a low kick with a slight curve, which apparently made them think it was a pass.
Which lead to a poor volley tap-in, one that was stopped under the foot of Japan's genius, Sae Itoshi.
"Lukewarm, you all are lukewarm."
He burst forwards, Rin moving alongside him. Adonis quickly moving his other side, attempting to stop his friend.
"I applaud you, Saint. Not many could carry a team of bums to a place like this." Adonis's eyebrows furrowed as he listened to the insilting words by Sae, trying to stop the one-two's by the siblings.
"But after this, you may be better off playing house with your sister."
Sae's words made Adonis slow to a stop, his arms limp by his side as he stood there after hearing what the older Itoshi had said, watching the brothers advance.
Multiple loud boos came from the massive filled stadium as they watched the young boy give up—boos that fell on deaf ears.
to say something like that.... it angered Adonis.
Playing house with his sister?? Sae of all people knew about the struggles the Saint siblings had to endure.
To use that against Adonis, now it didn't matter if it was just trash talk.
Itoshi Sae would regret those words for time to come.
The score was now 2-1.
Rin and Sae had scored again, as Asonis lined up in the center, his arms limp as he stared forward. his eyes locked with Sae's cocky ones.
Sae's gaze faltered for a second, looking at the striker in the center circle.
For some reason, it was terrifying.
It was like an unexplainable darkness spilled over his body, a pitch black void of shadows that radiated off of him.
Sae, he had seen multiple different ego's before, each varying in color, all insignificant to his own.
A black aura, was common, all the scrubs they played with had that, it was grainy, insignificant.
But this was the first time he had seen a pitch black one, if this could even be called an ego.
It was pure, it flowed. It was like the ones he saw when he watched the pro strikers play.
But at the same time, the darkness was nothing. It was empty, no meaning, no feeling. Yet filled with potential.
A representation of how Adonis felt, and was, on the field.
The true fear factor, however, wasn't the dark aura the man had, but the judgemental gold, and pure white eyes that shined through it.
This was the man that was supposed to be an angel?
—
"Yeah, I should've never said that to him. It was the first time I'd ever seen that side of him, That state he was in."
—
The said man tapped the ball over to his teammate, starting play, as he immediately rushed over, stealing the ball back from his own team.
It earned him some angered words and some more boos, but he didn't care. He walked forwards until he and Sae stood infront of eachother.
"checkmate."
It was like a blur how quickly the darkness rushed by Sae, who stood there, his eyes widended at the sheer speed.
He turned around, seeing Adonis take on each and every person on the team, beating them and taking the ball to the goal.
The entire pitch watch him barely slow his stride down as he plants with his right foot at the top of the goal box, swinging his left with his full body, his leg moving so fast that it was like a blur; the boom of the ball connecting with his foot echoing through the arena.
The ball smacking into the back of the net sounding off next.
The score was 2-2 now, as Adonis walked back from the goal, admiring his work.
The stands watched in shock, soon erupting into a roar as the majority wondered where this type of skill had been the entire match. It was like he leveled up, like he awakened.
Sae started with the ball off the restart, shocked at the true skill Adonis had, It was maddening.
He passed the ball to Rin who passes it back, the two preforming one-two's down the pitch again as they beat each of the useless players on Adonis's team easily.
Rin received the last pass, in a one on one situation with the goalie. Taking a direct shot that was almost too easily going to score.
but it was a simple save, really.
Sae had completely forgot to account for one thing, a foolish mistake.
Adonis had appeared in a blur of darkness, Rin and Sae's eyes each widening as they watched the ball sit on his forefoot.
It was a textbook copy of Sae's save from earlier. No...it was different.
It was like he adapted to it, like he made it better.
Adonis took off again, this time, Sae matching him as the two sprinted downfield uncontested.
"Not again...You won't beat me again. I'm the true prodigy. I'm the genius. I'm the ace."
"You are," Adonis started, a dead tone in his voice as he looked over for a brief moment, "But I'm also a prodigy. You can be the ace, but then i'll be the joker."
They were still so far from the goal, and there was so little time left. It was almost impossible to score.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Adonis reached his arm across Sae's chest, holding him back as Sae tries to do the same thing, the two fighting over the ball.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
"There's no possible shot course. It's game over."
Three.
Two.
"Do you know who I am???"
One.
Everyone on the pitch and stands alike spectate in awe, watching Adonis swing his left foot from nearly half the field away as time expires.
3-2.
"GOAL!!!!!! A HAT TRICK FOR 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐒, ADONIS SAINT, TO END IT ALL!!"
Sae stares ahead in shock, left with no words to explain the confusion ran through his mind, turning to look at Adonis the very first man to defeat him on the pitch.
Sae watched him intently, watching the boy stand there, arms limp by his side like a zombie, not reacting in the slightest.
Adonis turned to Sae, a wide grin stretched across his face, contrasting the tears that ran down his cheeks as he spoke.
"You hear that, Sae? I'm a child of the heavens."
—
2730 words
pilot.