Requested by Vivalawiva on Tumblr
The prompt was to put my playlist on shuffle and write a drabble for the given pairing based on the first song that comes up. The first song that came up was 'Nobody's Side' from Chess the Musical... I honestly could not have asked for a better Io song!
Nobody's Side
"I'm on your side," Io tells Ryuu with a smile but no emotion in his voice. It's an oft repeated line, and it used to be that Ryuu would have to annoy it out of him, but he's long learned that in matters relating to one Akoya Gero, it was best to quickly give Ryuu the reassurance he craved and let them both move on from the topic. Io's long perfected his poker face at his point. He can look as supportive as Ryuu wants him to be, and at the ever repeated encouraging words, Ryuu's scowl quickly turns into an eager smile.
"Thanks buddy," he beamed, "That Gero totally doesn't know anything!" Io nods in agreement, and returned to his tablet.
Incidentally, the war of the week was over a scarf. Ryuu found it fashionable; Akoya found it hideous; Io couldn't care less.
I'm on your side.
Io doesn't say these words to Akoya, because it's an unspoken agreement. Akoya's proposal is solid and promises profits for both of them as long as Io follows it to the letter. There's a decent risk involved, and of course millions of yen would need to be invested, some of which may end up being sunk costs, but Io has a certain… no, it's not quite trust, but rather, respect for Akoya's abilities.
"I'd knew you'd like it Naruko-kun," Akoya's smile is bright and playful, as if he wasn't plotting a hostile takeover of a company. He calls the waiter over to bring him another coffee, while Io looks at the presentation on his tablet again. He'll need to do some of his own research and run a few more forecasting models later before fully committing to the plan, but there's no harm in hinting approval at the moment.
Akoya's coffee arrives and he holds the cup to his lips. "I'm so happy to have such a great friend," he says.
Somehow, the war between Ryuu, Akoya and the scarf continues, and, as always, Io stays out of it by supporting whichever of his two friends happens to be in the room. At the moment it's Ryuu.
Once again, he's ranting.
"It's bad enough that he hates the scarf but dissing the designer is going too far!" Ryuu complains, cradling the notorious accessory in his hands. Now that Io has finally seen the thing, he can't help but want to extend his sympathies to Akoya. It's… well, it suits Ryuu, at any rate.
"That guys just has no taste!"
"Ryuu, your tastes are truly beyond us all," Io sighs, and continues reading the article he'd found. His forecasting models were in line with Akoya's predictions, but he wants to learn more about the company he's about to become a majority shareholder for.
Ryuu grins and walks over to him, looking over his shoulder. "Well, it looks like you get me at least!"
"Hm?"
"He's a total genius, you know," Ryuu continues, unaware that he's lost Io, "A total designing visionary, and really cares about his customers."
"Ryuu, what are you talking about?" Io frowns.
"The article," Ryuu nods at the tablet screen in approval, "That's my favorite designer that Gero thinks is a tasteless hack."
Several pieces suddenly come together in Io's head.
He's not amused.
"Tell me everything you know about his company right now."
To Akoya's credit, he doesn't bother playing dumb. It only takes a single glare from Io for him to understand.
"Oh, you figured it out," he's sheepish, as if he'd been caught playing a harmless prank and not conspiring to run his rival's favorite designer out of business, "You're quicker than I predicted." Not that it was much of a secret to begin with. Akoya had purposely left out a few minor details regarding the company he wanted to acquire, but he knew that Io would learn them during his research. Io was nothing if not thorough. There was a reason Akoya wanted him as his partner.
Io just stares, waiting for an explanation.
"There's nothing false in my proposal," Akoya assures him, "You've done your research. The current business model employed by that company isn't maximizing their profits, and is stagnating their growth. If we take over and install a competent CEO, there will be a huge profit for us. I would never deceive you about that."
"You merely forgot to mention that you plan to take away creative control from the man who happens to be Ryuu's favorite designer."
"It's a necessary sacrifice," Akoya shrugs, "You can't expect me to allow a company my name behind it to keep producing such unbeautiful mistakes. Do you disagree? You may have Zaou fooled, but I can tell how embarrassed you are to walk next to him in that thing."
Io doesn't fully understand why, but he's angry about this. Not that Akoya would try to destroy an entire company because his rival liked it—no, that level of pettiness was so ridiculous that it was downright impressive—but that he wanted Io to help him.
Yes there were profits to earn. Lots of profits. And true, Ryuu would likely never find out that his favorite label's rebranding was their doing, because he'd never do the research. At worst, Ryuu would sulk and then quickly find himself a new favorite (hopefully one that was less… colorful).
But Io would know. The matter may have been painfully trivial and silly, but Io didn't take sides. Not when it came to Ryuu and Akoya.
(Not wholeheartedly, anyway.)
"There's no deal," Io tells Akoya curtly.
Akoya just shrugs.
"Oh well. Do you plan to stand against me then?"
"No, you're welcome to do as you like. Your proposal is good, I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding another investor," Io replies, "You won't do that though." Now Akoya's face darkens.
"You seem quite sure of that."
"I could be wrong," Io admits, and turns to leave, "I haven't told Ryuu about this, by the way."
He isn't sure that Akoya won't act on his plan. Far from it. If anything, he practically provoked Akoya to go through with it. Akoya knows Io won't be too upset with him if he buys out the company. Io knows Akoya isn't upset with him for backing out. Such is the nature of business.
Nothing changes in the market for a long time. Evidently, Akoya's lost interest.
The bickering over the scarf dies out at least, albeit more because Ryuu and Akoya find a new topic to debate than anything. It's nothing more than arguing for the sake of arguing. If someone were to ask Io, he'd tell them they just enjoyed it.
"Io, tell Gero I'm right!" Ryuu shouts.
"Nice try, Naruko-kun agrees with me," Akoya taunts him.
Io gives both of them a pointed albeit halfhearted glare.
"I'm on nobody's side."
AN: Thanks for reading :)
I hope this is alright!
(The Chess soundtrack seems really fitting for the second years haha)