Chapter Text
Michael: gift from God. He certainly was to the football world. Once a nameless boy who walked into the field one day became a world class sensation in one night. Kaiser: emperor, a title fit for someone who controls the field and rules over everybody. Who always comes out at the top and stays there.
Michael Kaiser is a talented individual with the smarts and looks. His playing style is strong, ruthless and calculated with elegance.
One could wonder where he came from, what he was doing before or who he was.
A few have shared their stories about the boy's past; that he was a runt in the streets and ran away from home but Kaiser has never said anything about it so there were always more assumptions.
Some call him a nepo baby while some call him a hard worker— either way it was undeniable that he was a remarkable player.
So how did he get here? On the sidelines, called out by the none other than Noel Noa when he should be on the field playing.
“Get on the bench.” Noa said with that blank voice of his. There was no hint of disappointment— it's as if Noah was expecting nothing from him.
The world in his pov was wobbly, sweat evaporated from his body distorting his sight and sound. Ness was standing up for him, offering himself for Kaiser, begging Noa to replace him instead of Kaiser, rambling about how doomed Munchen would be without him.
“What?” Kaiser chuckled in disbelief. He was sweating profusely, unsure if it was because of all the running or because of what Noa had said. Probably the second option—he hopes —as he never had to exert so much energy whenever he was on the field. And he wasn't tired yet, he could still play.
Noa doesn't answer him. Instead he calls one of the players from blue lock to replace him and he's unable to register anything.
He sees one of the nameless players standby, waiting for him to exchange places. But Kaiser doesn't heed; he starts an outburst and lashes out, trying to intimate Noa. When Noa pays no mind, he tries to move to the other player but then he's stopped and warned.
It's there when his eyes meet Yoichi Isagi's, carrying a sceptical look, as if he wasn't the one who messed up his goals.
For a short second, Kaiser's face twitches in fury and protruding veins but immediately remembers where he was. He relaxes his face and tries one more time but his impatience shouts so loud that everybody begins to stare over his team’s side. The commentator had the audacity to point it out too.
Noa was stoic as always, a disinterested expression that felt like judgement at first glance. Further look through and the man was unreadable.
Kaiser still stood his ground however, challenging back with a canine grin, standing firm to a no. But the Germany's master did not hesitate to threaten him with his contract; so Kaiser, shocked to disbelief and offence, shuts up and takes his place on the bench for the first time since his arrival at the NEL.
Then, he turns into the audience and watches the game like a washed out soccer player watching other professionals succeed in their dreams. The air thick around him with silence, face hidden under the shadow of his towel, everyone avoids him but not with their eyes.
And Michael Kaiser just sits there with poison bubbling up like stew in a witch's cauldron. Flames of sulphur burn him, and it's like an iron rod has been shoved down his throat. The poison boils with alarming temperature and steam, slowly heating and cracking the iron pot.
It's anticipated to explode and spill out like goo, turn into a sentient being that squirms around Yoichi Isagi and embeds the boy inside it's melting form just to hear the cries of agony and torture.
Michael Kaiser wants to destroy Yoichi Isagi and he will do it even if it's the last thing he ever does.
-----
The sound of water thrashes against the walls of the marble sink. Water sinks down the pipe in a vortex as Kaiser keeps on throwing water in his face, causing disturbance to the flow.
He's angry and wants to feel fresh but the water wasn't helping and if he tries to splash more water on himself he might punch the mirror. So, with his last drop of patience tries to put his thoughts in line, organise them and be rational with each.
Today was a horrible day, he agrees on that and the grip on the sink hardens. His face twists to something tense as he recalls his day— the humiliation and the disgrace. He grits his teeth as his brain replays every scene of him falling and slipping on the fake grass after failing to kick the ball into the net.
Three times. Three times he had the chance to score a goal and he missed every.single.one. All those three chances he had were taken away by Isagi.
That damned egoist he wanted to crush crushed him instead, scoring a hatrick and earning a bid of 300 million yen from Bastard . It was an unbelievable jump, impossible maybe, but Yoichi Isagi did it, and earned it.
He was the man of the match and the heart of the team. Without him, Munchen would not have earned a clean sweep in the NEL.
Meanwhile Kaiser's bid was at 325 million yen from Madrid. 325 million yen. 325 million yen. 325 million yen— a 5 million increase— a 25 million difference.
He has a higher bid. Let's see who scores more goals, egoist.Does it matter though?
A hatrick, three goals, 3. Two goals against Ubers, 2. Zero goal against Manshine, 0. Zero goals against Barcha,0.
Zero goals against PxG, 0. One goal against Ubers, 1. One goal against Manshine, 1. One goal against Barcha, 1.
5-3.
Two goals. Yoichi Isagi has two more goals than Michael Kaiser. I lost.
Kaiser wants to laugh and he starts doing so. It's like a subtle hysterical cackle with a tone of mock following it. He laughs and laughs and laughs and
He sees himself in the mirror, mouth stretched out wide and open that his gums are visible. He has a crazy look in his eyes and they seem lighter than usual.
His face settles itself and soon he's lost with something far away behind his eyes. He was thinking of something else other than the match and that made his mind quieter.
His hand cups his face and he begins caressing it. He moves his face to look at it from different angles from the mirror’s reflection and closely examines every feature in it.
Calloused fingers knead his porcelain skin and draw down to his chin and back to his jawline. He feels the structure of his bones and the tightness of his skin with a vacant stare.
Michael Kaiser despises both his parents but he hates his father the most.
His mother— he has no idea really, but thinking about her makes him upset and furious. Yet, he's grateful he has her looks because even if Michael Kaiser is both his father's and mother's child, when he's staring at his reflection, only one of them is looking back.
He searched her up after a few boys in Munchen told him he resembled this one actress. Of course he said nothing but it urged him to know more about her. His mother had changed titles and was a popular actress who was planning to retire.
He didn't look further after that.
It's a useless lie he tells as a joke; that he's only seeing his mother, the woman who left him for selfish reasons, but who has never broken him everyday and night unlike his father, even though Kaiser knows that he's more like his father.
And he hates that but hate was what he grew up with; all that pain his body and mind and heart went through because of the hate from his father reminded him that he was a living breathing person despite being his punching bag.
He’s happy that he managed to escape that rotten house and that he never has to go back. But at times, unwanted thoughts are created in Kaiser's mind.
Once he dreamt that he was standing in front of his old house, with an empty face, and sitting on the doorstep was his father with a cartoon of milk in one hand. His father was grinning like he won something and that grin was being given to his son. Next thing his father does is drink the milk with an unmoving gaze.
All of a sudden he is unable to breathe and it's like he has been woken up from something. He is aware of that familiar squeeze on his neck, hands that fit perfectly like his father, Kaiser doesn't stop tightening his clasp.
Even if he is struggling, even if he feels nauseous and his ears echo danger, he wedges his finger deeper into his trachea.
He can still go on and he knows, so he persists. Despite collapsing on the ground, Kaiser refuses to stop strangling himself. He wants to feel alive and he's desperate for it.
He needs the pain but it's never enough.
His hands presses and presses, eyes bulge out with broken coughs, yet no one stops him. It's when his mind feels mush and the world cold and black that he frees himself of the torture and instantly he's gasping for air, feeling alive.
Kaiser is addicted to this feeling, it makes him feel human. And it makes him think that perhaps to feel the most human is by being the closest to death. And it makes him want to die.
He turns on the tap again, washing away his drool and face. M He sighs and thinks of doing some yoga or running on the treadmill.
His stomach growls and he's reminded that he has not eaten. He craves for something savoury but frowns remembering the encounter with Isagi and his friends in the cafeteria celebrating their win.
Heck, even his own teammates were merrymaking with the blue lock members. Three tables were joined to make a bigger table and it was filled with food and drinks and everyone was either talking or eating.
In the middle of that, Michael spotted them together, Yoichi Isagi and Alexis Ness, sitting side by side with drinks in hand.
He stared at the way Ness was smiling politely, soft as he spoke, a faint blush in his cheeks. There was a pang of betrayal. They both looked like they were having a great time and that was when Isagi looked up without a warning.
Ness imitated Isagi and it took him a moment to realise who was there. Like clockwork, everyone's gaze directed to him and Kaiser felt tiny in that huge cafeteria.
He felt intimidated and cornered, as if they would all pounce on him like a predator to prey or hurl him with mock laughter.
Instead, Gesner spoke first. “Hey Kaiser, come over and celebrate with us!” He said with cheer.
“Yeah, come on!” Someone else said and he was about to respond when his eyes connected with Isagi's. He was carrying his normal stare and that irked the German.
His face contorted as he glanced around and before anyone said anything, Kaiser turned and stomped out of the cafeteria.
Nobody called out to him or followed him.
It's alright, he exhales. He's going to leave for Madrid, he's not going to be on the same team as Yoichi Isagi. He's going to grow stronger elsewhere and when he has performed enough miracles, he'll come back and crush Yoichi Isagi. Call him a coward, he doesn't care. He hates the Japanese enough that even the sight of him spikes his blood pressure.
"Just you wait, Yoichi." He grins maniacally."I'll destroy you even if it's the last thing I do."
There's a shuffle near the entrance. Kaiser peers over and Ness stands there, playing with his fingers nervously and his eyes towards the floor.
“Um, Kaiser.” He sounded so meek. It made Michael’s blood boil.
Seeing the midfielder’s face throws him back to the match.
Kaiser remembers watching the midfielder struggle and mess up. Trying to send a pass to anyone but Isagi.
When a mistake landed the midfielder on the grass, he saw Isagi stand tall like a god and Ness looking back at him like a sinner.
Isagi's mouth moved in such a rough way that one could guess that the only things that came out from him were insults. Ness' reaction backed up the thoughts. From Kaiseri seat, the purple eyed looked conflicted and tossed aside, isolated.
When the match continued, Kaiser expected Ness to experience the same treatment as him except it didn't happen.
It was like Ness had a rebirth, or an awakening. In an instant his play style evolved and he did the unexpected, he passed to Isagi and for some reason Ness looked happier. He looked like he was having fun.
It was like the field moved farther away from Kaiser or maybe he was the one who moved. He was an outsider now and he could only watch in sheer confusion as the bastards obliterated PxG.
With an incredible pass from Ness, Isagi scored the last goal and he watched his partner and the clown jump on each other in celebration.
Now, it was as if a huge crack appeared between him and the field, no way left to reach them.
Ness smiled at Isagi, the most genuine and warmest, a smile that offended Michael Kaiser greatly. The entirety of the team except him leave to celebrate too.
Nobody remembered his existence. In their eyes, Yoichi Isagi was the star of Bastard Munchen, not him. When he walked away silently, nobody called him.
And just now did Ness have the insolence to show up in front of him.
“What?!” Kaiser hisses causing Ness to flinch.
Ness slowly looks up and gulps in nervousness. “Are you alright? You don't look good.”
Kaiser breaks eye contact. “I'm fine.” He turns away.
“Y'know,” Ness began awkwardly, “it would be great if you could celebrate with us. The others send me here and we would all be happy if you're with us. Even Yoichi as-”
“YOICHI! YOICHI! Everything is about him huh?!” Michael thunders as he dashes forward and captures Alexis by the hem of his shirt.
“You seem so close to him now. Did you forget who got you here?!”
“Kaiser I-”
“Fuck you!” The blonde spits, twisting the shirt to pull Ness to his toes.
For a second there is terror screeching in the purple eyes but it diminishes in an instant and there was a hand holding onto Kaiser's, firm and strong. And Alexis Ness too stood firm and strong.
“Please don't do this.” Ness tried to pry Michael's hand off. “I don't want to get you angry. And Isagi-kun and I were just talking.”
Kaiser scoffs. “Right? And he inspired you so much that you gave him a pass.” He smiles wryly and nods. Ness knows he's walking on thin ice and freezes.
There's an evil hiding behind Michael Kaiser's blue eyes and it wants to get out.
“You played well today. I'm surprised you could, especially without me.” He chuckles and Ness almost glares back.
Kaiser finds his situation hilarious. The boy in front of him, who he considered a tool, a dog, was standing its ground.
He thinks of the day they met.
Alexis Ness, a lonely boy like him, barely clinging to hope.
He was like a slave who escaped into the desert, searching for water as the sun drained his energy and will. When he spotted a pool of water, he ran with all his hope only for it to be shattered because what he saw was a mirage, an illusion.
In the middle of despair and hopelessness, came Kaiser pouring water over the boy’s mouth. The boy drank greedily and looked up to his saviour. Promising all the water he wanted, the boy followed Kaiser and became a companion. But all it really was that the slave had a new master and the freedom the slave was given was an illusion born through a fickle friendship.
Michael Kaiser thought what he wanted would always be fulfilled until Yoichi Isagi appeared like a tyrant, fighting the master and its slave. When the master was defeated, the tyrant became a saviour to the slave and showed the slave what freedom truly felt like.
And Kaiser watched both of them run, watched as his slave ran away from him, with the tyrant, his new master, no, his friend.
There is a heavy feeling in his chest and it's beginning to overwhelm him. Like standing in front of a burning pyre, his skin crackles like embers and the colour red rises in intensity.
“Come on, let go.” Ness tried to laugh away his nervousness. “ I know I'm here because of you and I'm still loyal to you, I swear. It was a heat of the moment and Isagi-kun is–”
Ness is unable to complete his words because Kaiser swings a hard fist onto his cheeks and in a second, his knees smash the ground, then his face.
Ness howls in pain, his body hurts, his knees hurt, his face hurts the most. He puts his hands to his face and feels the bruise, blood creases through his fingers and a tooth falls out like a click.
He panics now, pain throbs through every nerve. He feels dizzy and his mouth burns, he just wants it to stop hurting.
A shadow falls on him and he trembles, afraid to look up. The figure sits down and stays there and Ness makes the mistake of looking.
Kaiser's face looms with something inhuman, dark shadows carve his face, his eyes had no humanity left.
Ness wants to scream, scream for help and get away from the monster in front of him. He's terrified and he's crying; his insides twist and knot as his heart bangs on his chest.
No. No. No.
Why?
“Kai-”
Kaiser smacks the boy mercilessly. He doesn't care to listen or think twice.
He just climbs onto the poor boy and pummels punch after punch. Helpless noise from the receiver cuts after each blow.
Screaming harshly as the memory of his father beating him plays like a tune; blood flies and trickles down his face like a tear, yet the flurry of hits never seems to end.
“What are you doing?” A shaky gasp travels into the room.
Kaiser snaps to the voice and standing there is Yoichi Isagi, motionless with a horrified face.
“Ness.” Isagi mutters.
Kaiser follows Isagi’s line of sight.
Below him, under his legs, his hand clutches a tuft of magenta hair with dark wet ends, pulling up the mess he created from Ness’ face.
Ness is bloodied, two teeth are missing, a blue bruise sleeps on his cheek. His irises are barely visible under quivery eyelids as if they were hiding from Kaiser.
Kaiser glances around the room, as if he's being brought out of a spell. He notices his left hand, raised in a clenched fist, dyed in blood. Startled, he jumps back a little but still doesn't let go of Ness.
“Kaiser.” Isagi’s voice was heavy and he was staring down at him with a firm expression. Anger and disgust seeped from it. “Get away from him, now.”
His voice was too commanding for the German. The harsh susurration was loud in that room, with its reverbs humming against the cold walls and floors, it echoed back shivers to its occupants.
Water trickles from a tap like tears from Ness' eyes. Isagi's face hardens with anger and he gets louder.
“Kaiser.”He moves in. “Get away from him, NOW!”
A switch clicks. Kaiser can see Isagi approach him with anger in his eyes and adrenaline in his veins but what he is more focused on is the shadow looming behind Isagi; a large shadow wearing the silhouette of his father.
Anger. Kaiser knows anger. It was buried inside his heart; pain and abuse nurturing it, its roots squirmed through his flesh, wrapping around his bones, dissolving his insides and rotting his heart to absorb him like a caterpillar inside its cocoon. It burned his skin and urged to be set free until today, it tore itself out to a creature of pure rage.
He jumps, a predatory shadow casts on Isagi. Kaiser's fist flings the air before his feet touch the ground. There's a moment of daze which immediately dissipates when he catches a glimpse of Isagi running towards Ness.
Kaiser leaps with arms out like an animal, his nails digging through Isagi's shirt, trapping his waist around his arms. They both fall but Kaiser doesn't hesitate to pull back Isagi using his hair and instantly plants his face onto the tile.
Isagi gasps in pain but he doesn't stand down. His elbow swings back and it hits Kaiser's face, sending him away from himself but at the last second the German’s hand bites his ankle like a bear trap.
Isagi falls in an attempt to run, unable to stand as Kaiser jabs his shoulder and ploughs down his body into his.
Air wrestles out of Isagi's lungs, blood spills out his nose and mouth and he tears up as his face smacks the ground again.
“Stop! Stop!” He gargled. He was beginning to choke on his own blood and he needed to breathe or he would die but Kaiser wasn't listening.
His face leaves the ground from the tight grip on his hair. Isagi knows what's coming, the floor is much redder now.
There's a sudden jerk accompanying a scream. Kaiser's weight is kicked off from him and Isagi watches Ness drop down next to Kaiser.
He then watches Ness trying miserably to sit up, resembling a deer that had been hit by a car when it tried to cross a road, limping with blood and dragging its life to die elsewhere. Tears began to fall. “Please stop, Kaiser.”He croaked.
And Isagi begins to beg the gods that Kaiser stops, that he realises what he did and tries to undo everything. But the gods were not listening. They preferred bloodshed and violence.
That's why Kaiser stood up huge, bestowing a murderous glare on both of them. The shadow of his father was now his and Isagi and Ness shuddered in fear.
Oh, they were going to die.
The man takes a loud step that explodes through the room and Ness is frantically apologising and pleading for mercy. He asks Kaiser to stop or he would be in trouble.
But the face of Michael Kaiser is cemented in fury and adrenaline and completely blind to anything but his victims on the ground. He needed to destroy them, a primal rage and instinct to kill and see blood fly everywhere.
“Run, Ness.” Isagi groans. He desperately needed Ness to stop panicking, he was only adding fuel to the fire.
"Kaiser." Ness begged."Stop Kai"–
A swift kick to the jaw lands like a gunshot
and blood flies out with a tooth. Nesis falls to the ground, unmoving. Isagi cannot hear or see breathing.
For some reason, the world seems to be blaring a siren as Isagi crawls towards the fallen. But as soon as the siren stops he stops too and suddenly he's jumping towards the blonde.
He strikes a punch and a pop pulsates inside his hand but he ignores it to land another one. The German falls hard but Isagi has no conscience for the moment. He punches one more time and draws blood but is suddenly yanked back with his hair and thrown sideways.
A pair of legs latch around him and a pair of hands hug his neck that instantly tighten to choke him. Isagi flails his arms, punches and scratches Kaiser's arms but the German won't let go.
He tries to grab Kaiser''s face or hair but catches his ear so Isagi pulls on it and bites his arm and the German starts screeching.
The black haired boy summons all his strength and uses his elbow to jab the blonde's abdomen. The second his arms and legs let go, he swings his heel onto Kaiser's knee and runs out of his grasp.
But Michael Kaiser being a fucking cockroach, grabs Isagi from behind again and slams him against the wall. He doesn't allow him to fall and instead grabs him again and swings him towards the mirror with a grunt.
The glass shatters and Isagi feels warm liquid trickle down his skin with the sensation of muscles contracting something. There's a numbness but he's not given time to think because the other man punches him and this time his spine strikes hard on the tap.
Kaiser is about to punch the boy again when he's hit with a piercing pain on his thigh. The glass shard eats through Isagi's palm but the adrenaline makes him not care about it. The taller boy hollers like a madman and he takes this opportunity to push the taller one away but Kaiser still persists.
Holding onto Isagi's hands, his bony fingers crushes the younger’s knuckles as both wrestle in the room. Isagi tries to get them away from Ness while Kaiser was trying to push him to the floor.
And Kaiser was winning, he had managed to push him back a few times and Isagi was getting more tired with every passing second. A malicious grin appeared on Kaiser's face and all of a sudden the force on the boy's knuckles increased. This stunts him and he shrieks in pain as the taller boy starts twisting his wrist.
But all of a sudden Isagi grits his teeth and determination flashes like lightning in his blue eyes. In an instant he pushes forwards and with all the strength he had left, he hurls his head right onto Kaiser's with the loudest and most painful collision.
The impact throws them off in the opposite direction but Isagi is quick to his feet and before Kaiser regains composure, he seizes his shirt. The intent was to throw the blonde to the floor but the momentum causes Isagi to fall over with Kaiser and instead of hitting the floor first, both teenagers smack the edge of the marble sink with a loud thud and crash down violently.
With that the fight finally stops and both the boys lay on the glass. Both are exhausted and Kaiser lied there in a stupor but Isagi tried to sit up.
He wobbles a lot and Kaiser sees blood stream down from his face. The japanese boy was panting softly as he tried to support his body using the sink but he slipped back down. He's given his everything and he just needed to rest, so he leaned back against the wall and let go.
From where Kaiser lied he could see that Yoichi hasn't closed his eyes but knows he has fainted. He can also see Ness from his periphery, lying like a corpse and there's a realisation but Kaiser doesn't feel anything. Instead he says “oh”.
Soon he hears the chatter of a group and eventually there's the sound of a person screaming. But they start disappearing with his vision and the last thing Kaiser sees is a hand reaching out to him.