#...I wanted to write a bit more on detail about Ladji's feelings and such but I wasn't sure how to incorporare it

[quincyhorst]

Ok, I'm gonna write some stuff about Ladji + Émile post-Ogre bc I want to. This doesn't have many ship elements minus towards the end i guess.

So, enjoy it. It is long, you have been warned, and it mentions few OCs.

After the FFI, Ladji was pretty much devastated. He had been turned into the worst keeper of the tournament by great margin, all because of a match nobody knew it was going to turn out the way it did.

Besides, one thing was to talk by the POV of a spectator or as a field player, and other thing was to actually experience being on the goal the whole time. When Ogre first started to score, Ladji took it as the usual, just small messups that he had enough confidence on fixing. But when the goals started to surpass the 9th mark, he started to feel nervous. He tried everything he could, using all his hissatsus (Even the 'incomplete') ones to stop it, but around the 15th goal, he had completely given up. At some point on the match, reserve keeper Émile begged for him to leave so he could take his spot, but Ladji refused. He had realized that, unfortunately, this was a battle neither of them would win. Besides, deep down, Lad knew that Émile would be even more powerless to stop the Ogre, something he did not want to see.

But if things got sour at Liocott, it sure as hell didn't become any better back in France. Whenever he went, he would hear all sorts of murmurs behind his back. The media tried to avoid shaming too much just a 14 year old boy, but let's be fair, feeding off drama its part of its nature. So for a long time, he became a huge talking topic... Even if all he wanted was just to be left alone.

Meanwhile, his mother tried all she could to stand up for him, refusing anything that could drag his son ever further. As for his father, well, the two barely spoke after he came home. All he got was just a "What a shame. You'll do better next time." from him. The words weren't bad at all, but the tone in which they were spoken made him feel... Uneasy.

A way to maybe fix things for him was to completely cut soccer from his life, and turn into another spot, like other RG members had tried to do. But while they succeded, all that Ladji got was even more rejection no matter the club he tried to enter. Simply enough, he was just seen as a symbol of bad luck. Nobody wanted to have "Unlucky Ladji" on their team.

Soon enough, Ladji gave up on fitting anywhere. He would go to school like usual, but he straight up refused to talk with anyone, just inmerse himself on his own art. It even came to the point he refused getting involved with ANYTHING related to Rose Griffon, wishing to distance himself from it. Not even Pierre, the same person that had gotten him into soccer, could change his mind.

However, he wouldn't be like this forever. And it started all with a letter he received one day, coming from no one but Émile. His words sounded pretty kind; apparently he had gotten his address thanks to the former captain, and all he wanted was to check on him. He asked about his life, his art, and in an unexpected turn, if the two could meet again one day. Although Ladji was relieved to see Émile happy despite everything, the latter request made him uncomfortable, almost making him throw away the letter entirely. His mother tried to step in and convince him to reply, but Ladji's ideals were set in stone: He just did not want to associate with anybody from RG ever again.

...But, was this going to be the case forever?

He thought so, until one night, in which his father was organizing the typical friend hangouts. With their -already- bad relationship Ladji kept his distance away, although he suddenly heard his name being spoken by the drunk old man. Without being noticed, he tried to eavesdrop the conversation on the other room. And then...

"...Yeah, I knew he was going to fail eventually... I'm not that surprised."

...This was officially the last straw. Not only the world had thrown him away by something out of his control, but now even his darn father. He tried to convince himself it was one a typical drunk rambling, but it was futile. With this, he was completely broken. If things were so desolate, then, what would be of him? On who he could rely on from now on?

And then, he remembered...

Rose Griffon. Pierre. And Émile's letter.

At that time, it had been quite a few weeks since he had received it... Would it be okay if he replied to it now? Or was it too late? Hell, he even thought it had been lost, but turns out Lad's mother had kept it around just in case. Determined, he wrote a short reply to what Émile had written, accepting his request after so long, and trying to plan out where they could meet. Now, it was time to see if a reply could come now...

And it did.

Upon some more exchanges, both Émile and Ladji set their own meeting spot; at the reserve's keeper luxurious house. During this first encounter Ladji couldn't help but feel rather intimidated, realizing the huge class diference both had. But at least to his relief, Émile was upbeat and bright like always, and his home was quite comfortable to stay in.

From that day on, both keepers started to reunite more often. Sometimes in Émile's house, few times at Ladji's, and in some occassions they went out somewhere. As weeks, months and even years passed by, both boys forged a strong relationship with each other, bonding happily over art. They would often watch few of the movies from Émile's collection, or in other occasions to draw something together. And even despite the father-son resentments, both the Razzanos and the Paara got on well too.

Overall, Émile's friendship had made Ladji's life brighter than ever, even making him drop his dumb grudges and reconnect with the other Rose Griffon members again; specially with Pierre (And his new bestie Julian).

As adulthood came to stay, Émile wanted to pursue cinema "by personal reasons", and he offered Ladji to study a similar career too. Both decided to move to an apartment nearby the well-known Paris University 1.78, in which they became students of. Now with the two in their final year, their teachers are asking a final project from both; and while Paara is still unsure what to do, Émile just got an interesting idea: To make a documentary film about Rose Griffon! It's still unknown how that idea came to be, but he justifies it as "A way for us to tell what truly happened there!". Despite still unsure of the idea, Ladji wants to support him. Though, there's some things he first needs to deal with...

Including his unrequited feelings towards him.