Chapter Text
⁺ ⋆˚
dec. 19, 2022
Foot prints were scattered among the snow-covered sidewalks, stretching for miles.
The snowflakes that fell from the dark sky looked like they came straight out of a nostalgic Christmas cartoon, they were as big as they were gorgeous.
There were some children running around the city of Berlin with their jackets, winter hats, and mittens.
It was starting to get a bit late.
Some of the workers from various shops in the area began to close for the day.
However, there was a bakery that remained open just a bit longer than the rest.
The bakery was popular for one reason above all else—it felt like home.
Right when you entered, the smell of fresh baked goods and the bouquet of beautiful roses that sat next to the register, would hit you with a warm welcome.
Faint music filled the air.
Fairy lights were the only source that lit the area during the nighttime, making the atmosphere that much cozier and homelike.
Multiple tables were laid out by the windows, where more little bundles of roses were scattered by the window view—except these roses were artificial and just served as decorations for the bakery.
It was a bit empty.
Though Michael Kaiser couldn't tell if it was just because the business had slowed.
Or because loneliness had begun to fill everywhere room he walked into.
In a way, the loneliness always seemed to follow him around.
It was something that he'd already accepted mentally, it just wouldn't seem to leave him alone.
But he found comfort in it sometimes.
Anyway, the only person that has you at the end of the day is none other than yourself.
There was no use for seeking what he so desperately longed for back when he was a kid.
As he stirred his coffee, he noticed two boys running past the bakery.
One of the boys had a snowball in their hands.
While the other was chasing his friend with a long branch he had picked up from the sidewalk.
Although it was inaudible for Kaiser to hear what the kid with the branch was trying to say..
It looked like he was waving it around in the air.
Pointing it towards the sky.
Without any shame.
As they continued to chase each other back and forth past the bakery, the boy does it again with his branch before ultimately tackling the other boy down onto the snow.
And if it was almost on cue, it suddenly stopped snowing.
Both of the boys looked up at the sky, and then at each other, then at the sky, then at each other again.
The boy who got tackled opened his mouth in bewilderment, before grabbing his friend's shoulders and shaking him back and forth with sparkles in his eyes.
Praising him over and over.
Kaiser couldn't exactly make out what the kid was saying, but it kept him amused for a while.
He found himself wondering what it felt like to laugh that freely with another individual, especially at that age.
He felt a bit jealous of that.
Stirring his coffee with a bit more of a pace than before, he looked down and took a sip from his cup.
..What he didn't expect was to see the two kids now looking at him from the other side of the window.
They were flailing their arms around with ecstatic expressions on their faces.
Oops.
He sure hoped that they didn't think of him as some creep staring at some kids playing outside.
Before Kaiser knew it, the two boys ran inside the bakery shaking off the snow from their boots on the doormat, and making their way to where he was sitting by the window.
"Michael Kaiser!!"
"Michael Kaiser!!"
"I-I'm a big fan of yours!!"
"You're my favorite soccer player in the world!!"
"You're so cool!!"
"You're amazing!!"
"Can I please get a selfie with you??!!"
"Can I please get an autograph??!!"
This sort of thing irritated Kaiser.
Especially at a time where he was just trying to relax by himself at a place where he felt like he could take a breather when he needed to.
Or just when he needed to think.
Reminisce.
And be alone with nothing but his thoughts.
But they were just kids.
And he just hoped that the kid asking for a selfie didn't expose his favorite bakery to go to on the internet afterwards.
Without much to say, he nodded his head twice to indicate that he'd given permission for a selfie and an autograph.
The first boy took out his phone and stuck out his tongue with a peace sign.
Kaiser ran his hand through his hair and gave a slight smile to the camera.
Hopefully I look happy enough in that photo.. Kaiser thought to himself.
The second kid looked around anxiously, trying to find something that Kaiser could sign.
"Y-you can sign my face!!"
What?
The other boy began to laugh hysterically at his friend for giving Kaiser such a stupid autograph request.
"You dumbass! You would have to wash your face eventually!"
"S-shut up!! I blanked out okay?!"
The second boy was blushing out of embarrassment for making a fool out of himself in front of his favorite soccer player.
Then, an imaginary light bulb lit up in his hand, before he handed Kaiser the branch he was waving around earlier.
"I-I'm sorry I don't have much else! And I don't have a pen on me either..." the boy admitted in a defeat.
Kaiser blinked twice at the branch.
He slowly reached towards his pocket and taking out a marker that he brings along for times like these.
He'd sign soccer balls.
Photo prints.
Jerseys.
But this would be his first time signing a mere branch that a kid picked up from the ground.
Nonetheless, he signed it (tried to) and returned it to the boy, who has gleaming with happiness on his face.
Signing a branch isn't that easy.... and my autograph is sort of small, hopefully he's content with that, Kaiser thought to himself.
"Thank you thank you thank you!!" he shouted with excitement. "Now, I'm sure all of my magic spells are bound to work!"
Kaiser's smile disappeared.
...
Magic.
...
"Thank you so much Kaiser!"
"Thank you so much Kaiser!"
The two boys thanked him simultaneously, before rushing back outside in the snow to continue playing in the nighttime with one another.
And there he stayed, alone with his thoughts once again.
His heart began to ache for some strange reason.
Something about what that kid had said after he finished signing his branch felt awfully familiar to what someone had told him a few years ago, before splitting up.
It didn't sit well with him.
That feeling of longing came back to Kaiser every time he thought of it.
But he didn't know what to call it.
It felt foreign.
After all, he had left Bastard München a while back to accept the bid that Re Al had offered him after the World Cup had finished.
It was a tough decision knowing he wanted to surpass Noel Noa as well.
But it was what he initially aimed for from the beginning.
He officially left after the World Cup ended in 2019.
But leaving Bastard München meant leaving everything behind with it.
The teammates he had.
The place where he trained like his life depended on it.
The man he swore to overcome in terms of skill.
Everything.
My ego wants me..
...to cast a spell on your broken soul.
That included Ness.
It's been a while since he last thought of him.
But he'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't think of him every now and then.
Kaiser stirred his coffee again, the snowflakes began to fall from the sky once more.
Remembering back…
He wished he had never been born in the first place.
He had every right to think that way looking back at the conditions he had to live with every day with his shitty father.
But after being recruited by the man who managed to get him out of confinement, he met other "people."
Unlike him, people wanted them to be born.
He knew he had to pass the tryout exam before officially being a part of the team.
What he didn't know was that having interactions with the others would happen though.
Complimenting his tattoo.
Giving him food.
Calling him cool.
Sitting with him.
Being... friendly.
He didn't know how to receive goodwill from others at all.
After all, he'd only receive malice from his father after all these years.
And that's why for him, it seemed way easier to live as a target of malice.
So he rejected all of the "goodwill" that the guys tried showing him.
And met them with coldness instead.
He took another sip of his espresso and laid the cup back down on the table, staring at his tattoo that he had on his hand and crept up his arm.
He remembered playing with the others for the first time at Bastard München.
The coldness he gave them was given right back to him.
Back then, it wasn't much of a shocker.
But he quickly felt isolated when no one passed the ball to him.
That's when he realized…
Guys who aren't very well liked don't get passed to.
And here he was now.
In the same position but with his new teammates in Re Al.
No matter how much he read about philosophy and psychology.
None of the guys in Re Al fell for his manipulative shit.
All they saw in Kaiser was an arrogant fool that found pleasure in crushing other players.
As long as it made him stand out.
And that wasn't a player that they wanted to send passes to.
He couldn't form a chemical reaction with anyone.
The coach gave them all a break.
For about a month, they could return to their families and spend the holidays with them.
But Michael Kaiser didn't have one.
His mother had left, and he didn't consider that scumbag of a father a part of his life ever since he left that house.
Lately, all he had these days was himself.
He hasn't felt this lonely in a while.
And this time, it wasn't something he felt comfort in.
Yet, he bought a plane ticket back home to spend his break.
He missed Ness.
He'd rather die than admit it.
It was a strange feeling that he hadn't felt before, but he'd spend his days with Ness 24/7.
Whenever they were given days off back at Bastard München, all Kaiser wanted to do was stay in and sleep.
Ness changed that for him.
Ness took him out to many different places that Kaiser had never gone to before.
They've gone to many different restaurants and stores to do shopping.
Ness taught him how to dress.
The reason why Kaiser even has a slight sense of fashion is because of Ness.
Otherwise, he'd pull an Adam Sandler everyday.
Just because you’re wealthy doesn’t necessarily mean you’re gifted fashion sense too.
Ness has dragged him out of bed.
The reason why Kaiser remained on a timely schedule was because of Ness.
Without Ness being there to wake him up everyday, Kaiser would oversleep and become irritated with his terrible bed hair that was impossible to fix.
Ness had forced him onto a schedule.
Somehow...
Somewhere along the way...
Ness had became a part of Kaiser's everyday life.
Now, Kaiser's hair had grown out.
His two rat tails that Ness had cut for him were down to his mid waist.
On top of that, the blue dye that Ness had applied to his hair had faded out.
It looked more of a gray hue on his blonde hair instead of the bright blue that was once there.
The reason why Kaiser even remained his composure and sanity is because of Ness.
Human beings are interesting.
They were social creatures long before they were anything else.
Interaction with other people is a necessity as a human being, and Ness had given him that comfort he so desperately needed.
Kaiser remembered the small moments where they spent time together, the times where Ness would talk his ear off about all his interests, his problems, his icks, everything.
But Kaiser would always tune out Ness whenever he'd do this.
Not because he didn't have interest in anything he had to say, but rather because his voice was just nice background noise to Kaiser.
He rarely listened.
Not because he didn't care.
It was enough just knowing that he was there.
And right now....
Kaiser would've given anything to have Ness sitting across from his table, looking at him with that stupid "v" smile that he always had on his face, talking his ear off about anything.
Anything would be fine.
But for now, all he had to listen to at the moment were his own hitched breathes in the bakery, and the faint music that was playing in the background.
He took the last sip of his espresso.
Because those years were over.