Title: Onikko
Author: themirrorminder.37225
Main Pairing: Itoshi Reina x Isagi Yoichi, Original Female Character x Isagi Yoichi (Blue Lock). Potential side pairings for other Blue Lock characters TBD (if you really want to see a specific one let me know).
* * a previous reviewer requested Nagi x Reo, so that will be a background pairing going forward. **
Disclaimer: I own none of the original characters nor plot of Blue Lock.
Warnings: cursing
**Spoilers ahead:**
- Only read this if you have read to at least CHAPTER 157
- This chapter uses a secondary character from the BL Spinoff Episode Nagi. Not technically a spoiler, I guess, since it's not plot. But if you count using the character, spoiler for Episode Nagi chapter 1 as well.
AO3 Chapter Preview:
"But since we're older," Reo starts. "Let's up the stakes."
Reina tenses. "What does that mean?"
"Nothing terrible, just a little bet."
"And what do you want from me if you win?"
BIG
HUGE
GINORMOUS
THANK YOU
TO MY BETA:
**Alchazar**
AND TO MY REVIEWERS
- Isagoat15: just wait until chapter 5 ;)
- OliviaStone: HAPPY NEW YEAR TO MY FAV READER AS WELL ! :D I hope the hangover wasn't too bad ;P
- Anon: Believe it or not, I wasn't a manga reader before Blue Lock either LOL. I just watched the trailer/first ep and then was impatient for more, figured I'd skim the first chapter to gauge it, and then ended up reading all the available manga in like one weekend LOL. Happy to feed ;P
- Isagi loves thighs: first off, I love your name! Nope, no MHA Megumi tmk. I created her as a potential side pair option for another BL character, so intentionally didn't want her to be an actual MHA character :P I totally got her name from JJK though – loved it especially for the irony since it means blessing and she definitely wasn't for Isagi in the first few chapters LOL. I'm excited for future animations too! Tysm for introducing me to -tan, I'm definitely slide that honorific in at some point ;)
Onikko
{鬼っ子}
chapter 4
- they hate their names –
part one
Mikage Reo meets Itoshi Reina when he's twelve.
Tonight there's a party for a new company Reo's father is scouting, and it's being held at some lawyer's house. 'I'm bored,' Reo bemoans, entirely unsurprised. That's his usual state at these stuffy networking parties his parents force him to attend. So, Reo decides to find himself some entertainment. It's certainly not happening on this floor, where the handful of children even remotely his age are either being leashed to their parents' sides or taking turns being introduced to the host's son.
After finishing a stick of tsukune he requested from the kitchen staff, Reo walks around to find a server to give the used stick to. On the way, he spots a stairwell leading upstairs. 'Bingo. Let's see if I can find something more fun to do.' He supposes this house isn't as tiny or cramped as some of the other house-held events he's been forced to attend, but it's still not that large. The first two doors the Mikage heir tries to open are locked ('boring'). The third door opens to a bathroom, so he tosses the stick in the waste bin and cleans off any residual stickiness from the tsukune at the sink. Useful, but still boring. After trying two more locked entrances, he finally opens a door that holds promise.
'A library.'
Sometimes when Reo discovers a library within the houses that host these events, he'll find a book that can hold his interest until it's time to leave. 'This library is a lot smaller than the one at our place though.' The heir frowns when he counts out only three or four shelving stacks. 'Better to not get my hopes up.' Reo browses through the titles lined up on the rows of the first shelving stack, finding nothing of interest. It's just all stuffy law texts and thick business books, of which there are plenty in the Mikage library.
Reo distractedly turns the corner, and nearly trips over a pair of outstretched legs.
"Oh!" A girl on the ground, sitting against the second stack, looks up and pulls out her ear buds. "Sorry, I didn't hear you come in."
"And I didn't mean to almost run into you," he offers, only superficially apologetic. 'If she didn't want to be stomped on, she shouldn't be on the floor.' He stays standing while he eyes her fancy dress, and wonders if maybe she's a kindred spirit. "Are you trying to escape from the farce downstairs too?"
"In a way." She shrugs.
He eyes the book she's reading; it's about math. More than that, on closer inspection, it looks like a high school textbook, even though she looks younger than him. Reo rolls his eyes. He's seen this type of brat before – the kind that likes to bring around big books way above their level to these events so their parents can brag about how smart their little idiot is. Reo loves making those kids feel stupid when he challenges them with questions that they never get right. 'But... it's weird since she's trying to read it here, away from where other people who matter would notice. Kind of defeats the purpose.'
"Can you even understand what you're reading?" Maybe he could have asked that a bit more neutrally and a bit less disbelievingly, but, whatever.
"Excuse me?" She huffs, but it's with irritation instead of the pride he expected.
He frowns. "How old are you, even?" With her round cheeks and round eyes, he pegs her as nine.
"I'm eleven." She snipes back. "And I can understand this book, thank you very much. And definitely better than you could!"
"Oh, really?" Reo perks up, like a shark scenting blood. "Let's make a game of it then."
Her eyes narrow with suspicion. "What do you mean?"
"We'll ask each other math questions until one person can't offer an answer," Reo proposes. "I'll prove I'm smarter than you."
"You're not! I'm smarter, you'll see!"
It's about twenty minutes of back and forth with progressively harder and harder questions, before Reo stumbles.
"Well?" She smirks, clearly sensing his uncertainty. "Would you like me to repeat the question?"
He looks to the side, arms crossed and a bit dumbfounded because, well…
'I've never… lost…'
"See, I'm smart." She says, wholly confident in her statement. "But, I suppose you're pretty smart too. I had to really think about it when you asked about the quadratic formula." She nods to herself. "My name's Reina, it's nice to meet you."
"My name's Reo." Most parts of him are still processing his defeat, but another part of him likes that she doesn't say her last name all puffed up to try to impress him, like the other kids that are usually at these fancy dinners.
A book on her other side draws his attention. He had sat down next to her when their game started, but now that he's no longer distracted by their questions, he registers the other book waiting patiently on her left. It's open as well, with a page dog-tailed, as if she's saving the spot to return to later. 'Huh, it's a book about outer space,' he determines as he catches words like "galaxy formation" and "main asteroid belt." From what he can see, it's not the cartoonish kind of book – it's a serious kind. "You like space?"
She lights up as she pulls the book up into her lap. "Yeah! I'm going to be an astronaut. So I'm learning as much about space as I can!" When she lifts the space book, it reveals another lying open text underneath. 'Why is she reading so many at once? What a scatterbrain.' He peaks over her shoulder. This new, third book is written in another language, 'French,' Reo thinks, 'or Spanish. I just need a bit of a closer look to tell'. She catches the direction of his gaze, and pulls the other book into his empty lap. "Oh, this is a French vocabulary book! I just finished practicing the food and eating themed section!"
"Why?" Reo already knows French, but not out of any personal preference. It was simply one of the big five international business languages his father and mother demanded he learn. He certainly didn't practice vocabulary for fun.
She grins. "I want to learn other languages too, so I can speak to everyone on the International Space Station!"
'I can beat her in this, for sure,' Reo smirks, for once actually thankful for his academically rigorous upbringing. "I bet I know more languages than you, Reina-chan!"
"Nuh uh!"
Reo wins this time, much to her obvious irritation. "Mandarin doesn't count, Reo-kun! It's not an ISS major language and… and it's so hard! Even Rin-niisan says so! Only Sae-niisan was able to learn it!"
Reo grins, confidence reinstated. "Excuses are boring, Reina-chan."
'But you're not. You'll do for tonight. I'll spend the rest of my time at this stupid party with you. And maybe even longer, if you stay interesting.'
"Well..." Her cheeks puff out. "Well, I bet I know more about space than you, Reo-kun!"
He reaches over to close the book in her lap, no cheating allowed. "You're on!"
And so it goes. Reina wins when Reo can't name Saturn's largest moon.
"It's Titan," she says, hands on her hips and eyes gleeful with her second win.
Reo huffs. 'She beat me again?' He's a bit confused, to be honest. He's never lost… let alone lost twice. He shakes his head. 'I'll pick something I know I'll definitely win at for our next round; we'll be even then.' The heir smirks, thinking of another topic he knows he can beat her in. "Well how about we do questions abou-"
"Oh, Mikage-bochan! There you are!" The shrill voice of his mother's newest attendant interrupts him. The man's an especially annoying servant who Reo mentally dubbed Lemon Face, since his face always looks like he's just eaten something sour. The funny-faced man spots Reina at Reo's side, and then his typical pinched expression immediately becomes uglier. "It's time to go." Lemon Face instructs curtly. "Your mother is looking for you."
"No, she isn't." Reo responds easily. The heir knows because every time his parents drag him to these pointless events, he's only noticed for introductions. Even then, it's just long enough so that his parents can brag about his grades, the languages he knows, and other random accolades he's collected. (His mother's favourite phrase this evening had been, "did you know our Reo-kun scored first in the national Year 6 standardized tests!" ) Reo then follows his parents' boasting with some practiced fake modesty, and the other adults respond with some insincere fawning. His parents brag, he modestly plays down, others feign admiration; rinse and repeat until the important guests have been covered. And then Reo's sent off to play and distract himself while his parents network, do business, or whatever else. It's been happening at every event since Reo can remember, and he remembers a lot.
He's like a scarf, used for a bit before being shoved into the closet for spring, expected to patiently wait until it's fall again. A transient accessory.
Long story short, Reo's finally found something worth his attention at this dull event, so he's staying. "It's more interesting up here than down there. I'm not leaving."
"Mikage-bochan, I really don't think you understand." Lemon Face shoots a disdainful glance at Reina, who's noticeably stiffened since the attendant started speaking. "She isn't the sort of person your parents would want you associating with."
Reo's eyes widen, disbelief melding into anger. "What did you just-"
"It's okay, Mikage-sama," Reo nearly flinches at Reina's words, especially the distance wrenched between them by her change in honorific. The gap widens, both figuratively and literally, as she stands up. "You should enjoy the party." She holds the books close to her chest, looking down at them as she speaks quietly. "And I should return to my room. Thank you for talking with me."
Reo doesn't even get the chance to convince her to stay. Reina scuttles out of the room hurriedly, seeming so much smaller than before. But, she doesn't leave quite fast enough to miss the sneering, sour man mumble under his breath. "At least she knows her place."
Reo scowls at Lemon Face, who chased away the only interesting thing that's happened in the past month. "How dare you speak to a companion of mine like that." His fists clench. "You are a mere servant. How about you remember your place."
The attendant bows and apologizes for inconveniencing him in his nasally voice. 'You're apologizing to the wrong person, idiot.' The youngest Mikage stands. This empty library doesn't seem fun anymore. He stomps out of the room, hoping to find the girl, but is shuttled downstairs and into the car by Lemon-face instead.
Reo supposes he could always try to find Reina after losing Lemon Face again (it's not like it's hard, the man's a moron). But, the heir realizes that he didn't get Reina's last name. (She didn't even ask for his, which makes Reo more curious. She had looked surprised when his attendant called to him… did she really not realize who he was when they met? That makes her even more interesting… she had talked to Reo and not the Mikage heir.) Either way, without her full name, how's he to call on her again?
Curiosity about the girl momentarily overtakes his anger towards the stupid, self-important citrus at his side. "Who is she, then?"
The attendant mumbles about Reo being too young to know about these things, as he walks him to the exit.
The heir glowers. "Tell me why it's so wrong to speak to her."
Ba-Ya, their family's chauffeur (and also the only staff assigned to this outing that Reo actually likes), waits by the car and seems to sense the heir's discontent.
Reo stops walking, glowering at Lemon Face. "Tell me who she is, or I'm going to ask my parents."
Ba-Ya chooses that moment to step forward and intervene. "Is something going on?"
Lemon Face whispers something into Ba-ya's ear. The woman's eyes widen, before she nods. "I'll handle this," she says to the man. "Let's go on a drive, Reo-bochan, and I can try to answer some of your questions."
The heir nods to his favored attendant, glad to be with her instead of the fool to her right.
They drive for about a block or so, before Ba-Ya begins. "Itoshi-sama, the man who owns that house, has a wife and two sons. "
Reo nods from the back seat of the limo. "Yeah, I met one of them. The older one's in Europe playing some sport or another. The other's a year younger than me."
'And seemed just as annoyed to be there as I was.'
But whereas the green-eyed kid was forced to tag along with his mother for meet and greets with guests, Reo was free to roam.
Ba-Ya meet his gaze via the mirror. "The girl you met was Itoshi Reina."
Reo frowns. 'Weird? She definitely doesn't look like she'd be related to them. Hmm, and she's the same age as the younger brother – so maybe she's a cousin or something?'
Ba-Ya continues. "She is also Itoshi-sama's daughter, but she was born outside of Japan to a… different mother."
'Guess that explains her looks.'
Ba-ya continues. "And her mother was not married to Itoshi-sama when Reina-san was born. This means the girl you met, she is considered a… there are some who don't consider her to be polite sort of company."
Reo tilts his head. "Why?"
Ba-Ya sighs. "When a man has a child out of wedlock, that child is considered… illegitimate. Usually, those children are considered shameful for the family, and are largely ignored. Itoshi-sama gave her his last name and took her into his home, which to his credit, many men in his situation may not have done. However, she will never hold the same place as his sons do in your world. People are in the business of inserting their own opinions in these sorts of situations. The adults at these sorts of affairs… in their heads, Reina-san is lesser than the other 'trueborn' children present, because of the circumstances of her birth, and her mother."
"So, where's her mother, then?"
"The rumour mill hasn't produced an answer yet. I'm in the business of knowing things, but even I don't know who her mother is." Ba-Ya shakes her head. "Either way, do you understand now why you were taken away from her?"
Reo frowns. "But she was interesting."
'She was smart and kind of funny, too.' Reo turns to stare out his window. "I like her. I don't really care about her mother or father, or whatever. I'll let her be my friend," he announces.
Ba-Ya answers by parking the car on the side of the road. She turns to Reo with a sad sort of expression. "I'll be honest with you, Reo-bochan, because although you are young, I feel that you are mature enough to understand some of these more complex things now." She pauses, seeming to collect her thoughts. "You may not bear any punishment if you were to befriend her, but trust me on this, young master, she would."
"So, what does that mean?" Reo scowls, he's never been denied anything before. "I can't be friends with her, just because her father isn't married to her mother?"
Ba-Ya sighs. "Basically, yes."
Reo may be young, but he's already seen his father punish business rivals, and incompetent employees that made big errors… The man could be ruthless. But…
'Otousan wouldn't do anything to a kid like Reina, right?'
Reo realizes he isn't sure of the answer to that, and looks down in consideration. "So, she'll be the one to get in trouble if I tell my parents I want to talk with her again?"
"Yes."
"That… that doesn't seem very fair, Ba-Ya."
"No, it isn't, young master." The older woman heaves another, deeper sigh. "In her situation, your world will always treat her unkindly as punishment for a mistake that wasn't even hers. There was a boy in my childhood who faced a similar circumstance." Ba-ya shakes her head. "Trust me on this, Reo-bochan. The best thing you can do for that girl, is to never mention her again. Not to any servants who may gossip, but especially not in front of your parents."
Reo considers her words. 'Shoot.' He bites the inside of his mouth. 'There's a loose end.' A sour-shaped one. "What about Lemon Face?"
Ba-Ya raises a brow, her lip tugs up with it. "Not to worry. I'll ensure Shishikura-san is well aware that it would look unfavourably on him if it were discovered that he lost track of you on his watch."
Reo's father ends up passing on the company being represented by Reina's father, so the young heir doesn't get an opportunity visit the Itoshi residence again. Reo spots her father at a few of the following events that the heir's parents drag him to, but Reina's never there. However, at one of the events, he does encounter her brother.
It happens about four weeks after he first met Reina in the library.
The networking event his parents have dragged him to today was advertised as a birthday party for the host's six-year-old daughter, so there are different activities lying about to distract the children. 'How boring.' Reo already spotted the Itoshi patriarch, so spends his free time trying to find Reina. He understands what Ba-Ya said, and why Reina couldn't come to the other networking things this past month, but this time it was a party for a kid. Surely she was permitted to attend. He frowns when he doesn't find his target inside the venue, and makes his way outdoors to find her. (Reo's already long escaped Grape Head: his newest attendant, a short man with round hair so coiled it looks like a cluster of grapes.)
He finished scoping out the garden with no success. Reo frowns. It seems there's no messy-haired girl lugging around a math textbook outside either. He turns into a smaller garden, one of the last places he hasn't looked, and immediately grins when he recognizes the occupant. Not Reina, but someone who could point him in her direction: her brother.
Reo finds the other boy all alone, juggling a soccer ball.
"Itoshi Rin, right?" Reo greets.
The green-eyed boy doesn't stop playing with the ball, even though he clearly heard Reo.
'So, no pleasantries?' The heir rolls his eyes. 'Fine by me. I'd best just get to the point then.'
"Is your sister here?" Reo asks.
The green-eyed boy catches the ball with his hand, and glares. "Don't have one." He starts juggling the ball again. "Get lost, I'm busy."
'What does he mean by that? Saying he doesn't have a sister...'
Ba-Ya's words from last month echo in Reo's ears.
("...in their heads, Reina-san is lesser…")
Reo wonders if her brothers feel that way too, but doesn't get to ask before the dark-haired boy marches away. 'Whatever,' Reo scowls, 'Asshole. Reina was more interesting than you.' He decides to avoid the younger boy at future events.
After the birthday party, Reo still remembers Reina. He has more than an occasional random thought about her. Itoshi Reina, the girl dressed up for a party that she was barred from attending. Itoshi Reina, the girl that remains the only person he's ever lost to. Itoshi Reina, the girl whose existence was denied by even her own family. But weeks pass, then months, and then years. Reo's thoughts on the girl who dreams of space grow more and more infrequent.
Then he turns sixteen and meets Nagi. All Reo's thoughts and time become consumed by creating a path to the World Cup. The little girl in the library fades.
It's just when Reo's nearly forgotten about Reina that he encounters her again.
Ask anyone of importance, and they'll say that there are nine top schools in Japan, all commonly referred to as "the Nippon Nine." Some are escalator* style, some are co-ed, some are private, some are public, some are general, some are specialized, and some are a combination of any of the former. Three of these elite schools occupy the nation's capital. The "Tokyo Trifecta" consists of Hakuho International School, Shibuya Academy, and Itabashi Metropolitan Senior (IMS) High School.
Hakuho is a co-ed private senior high school that specializes in business. Hence, why Reo's stuck attending.
Shibuya Academy is also private, but split into two nearby campuses: one for girls, and the other for boys. However, both sites specialize in math and science.
Then, there's IMS – the only one in the trifecta that's technically public, but maintains it's exclusivity by solely accepting students from its three designated middle schools. IMS specializes in Liberal Arts and Social Studies, and it's considered a feeder high school into Tokyo University's competitive pre-Law program. Oddly, despite hosting one of the most competitive academic programs, IMS also regularly surpasses all other Greater Tokyo Area schools in a few sports. Specifically in fencing, tennis, and soccer. All three IMS clubs routinely finish their seasons with at least bronze medals (if not higher) on the national stage.
The Tokyo Trifecta host an annual social event for their students, to encourage camaraderie between the three "sister schools." It's usually an outdoor picnic followed by an indoor dance. The latter typically devolves into an event consisting of giggling girls huddled in groups on one half of the gymnasium, and guys lining the walls on the other.
The now seventeen-year-old Reo missed the 'riveting' event in his first year at Hakuho because his father hauled him to Hong Kong. ("It's important to show you how we close mergers for international conglomerates and subsidiaries, Reo-chan.") This year, Reo would have likely crafted a way to get out of this stupid annual event and focus on soccer, if attending it hadn't been on his parent's long list of items that Reo had to check off in order to attend Blue Lock.
'At least the organizing committee agreed to my idea.' He had requested the hosting school (Shibuya Academy, this year) to permit a few friendly soccer matches between their boys soccer teams, hopeful that he'd get to play against the renowned IMS squad. Unfortunately, the IMS team had an important away game that couldn't be missed, as it was part of qualifications for nationals. So now, Reo would be stuck playing against the Shibuya Academy boys team this afternoon. 'A lackluster squad that hadn't ever even made a nationals appearance, let alone won any titles.'
To make an already abysmal situation worse, Reo was having a hard time tracking down Nagi. His treasure had vanished as soon as the masses from the other schools swarmed to network with the Mikage heir. 'Annoying,' Reo bemoans internally with a smile pasted on his face, as he speaks with the daughter of the Mizu Hydroelectricity empire and the son of the Seijin Transportation company. Reo normally only entertained these sort of dull interactions for as long as needed to be polite before making an exit. However, the heir had to make fifty useful contacts (as per his parents' dreaded list) to be permitted to attend Blue Lock.
Reo offers his goodbyes, grateful to have finally finished exchanging information with the especially garrulous duo. He mentally checks off contacts number forty-eight and forty-nine.
'Almost done. Now, where did Nagi get to?'
After some wandering around campus, Reo finds his prized possession inside the Academy. But, his treasure isn't alone.
"You play Architectural Conquest too?!"
Reo's surprised that it's a girl who's approaching Nagi. Especially since the ostensibly unapproachable boy sits huddled in the corner on the last few steps of a large staircase, the hood of his sweater covering his face, and bent over his computer.
The Mikage heir has a good view of the situation from his position behind them at the top of the stairs. Looks like neither of them have noticed him, either. He could make his presence known, but he opts to wait and watch. This could be interesting, especially since instead of just blatantly ignoring the girl, Nagi silently turns to face her.
"I'm just surprised," the girl takes a few steps lower and sits next to Nagi, but still a respectful distance away. "It's a pretty niche engineering game. Even I only started to play it after an ex-JAXA blogger recommended it for concept application practice."
'Of all girls, it's her.' Of course he remembers this girl, the first person he ever lost to. She's easily recognizable even five years later, with her non-Japanese features.
Reo can't see Nagi's expression, since it's shrouded by his hood, but it's clearly not as stoic as usual if Reina's not put off by it. Even when Nagi returns to facing his laptop screen, she continues instead of interpreting his actions as a dismissal. "You're not bad either, to have reached level 37." A bell rings from the computer. "-completed level 37," she amends. "Have you… ever played two-player combat mode?"
That definitely catches Nagi's attention, Reo can tell from the way he makes the effort to turn his entire upper half to face Reina.
"You any good?" Nagi asks, with his typical economy of language.
Most might be offended by both his words and unbothered tone, but any offense seems to fly right over Reina's head as she smiles. "I finished up to level 42, but then quit. I was only playing for the math application anyways, and the concepts were pretty redundant after level 38," she shrugs. "But, I think it would be really interesting to give the game a try in battle mode, because then it would test my ability to manage those concepts in a time crunch, you know?"
Nagi nods. "Play with me."
Reina settles in closer next to Reo's treasure, and opens up her own laptop. The Mikage heir takes a step down, intending to talk to the duo before they become consumed with their game, but he hears his name. Reo turns to see that the call came from a group in the distance, down the hall behind him. The heir turns to walk over to the group, and efficiently secures contacts fifty-one through fifty-five (extra just to keep his parents off his case). Reo returns to the stairwell to find the pair (unsurprisingly) still utterly absorbed in their laptops.
Reina provides occasional commentary. "Don't you dare!" "You didn't!" "Take that!"
A musical note rings from their computers.
Reina smiles. "You're really good!"
"You're not that bad either. You said it gets boring after Level 38?"
She extracted more than five words from Nagi; the Mikage heir balks. Usually Reo's the only one with that privilege. The heir decides to make his presence known. "Nagi, I told you to wait for me by the fountain. The game starts in less than an hour."
Reina turns, and her eyes widen with recognition.
Nagi nonchalantly points to the outlet on his left. "Needed to charge my laptop."
Reo sighs. 'Utsu-sensei probably confiscated his Game Pocket again.'
Reina uses their conversation to quickly packsaway her laptop, clearly readying herself to escape.
'Yeah, that's not happening.'
"Reina-chan, where do you think you're running off to?" Reo grins. "We still have a score to settle."
The girl stiffens. "Mikage-san, glad to see you're doing well. I really should get goi-"
"You can call me Reo-kun, remember?" He offers partly just to fluster her since he's bored, but also because he hates it when interesting people use his last name.
She just offers a strained smile in response. Which is weird, most people would be so excited to have the Mikage heir insist they call him so casually.
He thinks on Ba-Ya's words of warning from when he was twelve. But… Reina and he out of their parents purview, so it should be fine, right? Right. So why does she seem so unnecessarily tense? 'Annoying.'
"So Reina-chan," Reo steps closer, "still kind of smart?"
Any hesitation at his presence gives way to that competitive streak he had hoped she still possessed. Her back straightens. "Still smarter than you, if that's what you're asking."
"Big words, Reina-chan. Care to prove them?"
She raises a brow. "How?"
"Question game," he clarifies, "just like when we were kids."
"Topics?"
"Nagi can choose, and ask the questions."
His treasure groans, clearly uninterested in participating.
Reina seems to empathize. "You shouldn't just drag your friend into your whims." She turns apologetically to Nagi, "you don't have to."
Nagi shrugs. "Reo gets bored a lot." The taller boy offers as an explanation, resignedly closing his laptop. "Sometimes, it's less troublesome to just go along with it."
Reina shakes her head. Then she offers an alternative: Nagi can just have the computer pop up questions through an online trivia app instead, if he'd like.
A still-unenthused Nagi starts searching up one for them to use.
"But since we're older," Reo starts. "Let's up the stakes."
Any progress he's made in getting her to relax completely unravels as she immediately stiffens once more. "What does that mean?"
Reo backtracks a bit, caught off guard by her immediate (and honestly, disproportionate) defensiveness. "Nothing terrible, just a little bet."
"And what do you want from me if you win?" She asks, voice colder than he remembers.
Reo tilts his head at her icy glare, curious. "You keep an eye on Nagi after the game, while I finish some more stupid tasks for my parents."
She instantly relaxes, and Reo wonders then what she was so worried he would ask her for. "In that case," she smirks. "When I win, I want Na-"
"-doesn't matter," Reo cuts her off with a smile. "You won't beat me."
Her eyes blaze with indignation at his words. After about half an hour, she wins, much to Reo's annoyance and Nagi's palpable shock.
"What was that you said about me for sure not winning?" She croons. "You seemed so confident, Reo-kun?"
"Shut up," Reo scowls, sore over his loss. "So, what do you want?"
She smiles sharply, "I'll let Nagi choose. After all, he's the one you inconvenienced for this."
The tall, crouched boy blinks.
Reo quirks a brow. 'If she wants to waste her win, fine by me.' He turns to his treasure. "Well, Nagi? What do you want?"
The soccer prodigy tilts his head. "I want to not go to Blue Lock."
'What?' Reo freezes. "Why would you ask for that?"
"It starts at eight." Nagi whines. "Too early."
Before Reo can outline exactly why Nagi not attending Blue Lock is absolutely out of the question, Reina speaks. "Blue Lock? Like that new soccer program?"
The duo turn towards her.
"My brother was invited too," she says. "It starts next week, right?"
The Mikage heir nods.
She tilts her head. "I didn't know you played soccer?"
Reo shrugs. "I just started about 5 and a half months ago."
Reina's eyes widen. "And you were invited? I thought it was only for the top players in the country?" She seems a bit skeptical.
Reo preens. "Come see us play today. You'll see why."
She looks at Nagi. "You play too?"
"Reo makes me."
The heir glances at his watch. "Speaking of, we've only got 20 minutes to get changed and get on the field. Time to go, Nagi."
After the game, Reo expects her to be wowed and amazed (Hakuho beat Shibuya with a score of 9-0, after all). The last thing he expects from her is unsolicited advice. Given the bewildered expressions of his teammates, they're in the same boat. She draws out their plays, says how they could make better use of Nagi's trapping if he positioned himself better, how Reo has the dribbling ability to break through lines instead of solely relying on being a pivot, and a good few other actually useful observations.
"You really don't use the spaces at all, just passing between the two of you. Nagi's innate ability won't be able to make up for underused tactics when you face more experienced teams, especially the defensively strong ones."
She impresses them with her soccer knowledge and analysis. Luckily, one of his teammates asks the question Reo's a bit too prideful to ask her. "Do you play, too?"
She waves her hands in front of her face, suddenly bashful. "Oh, no! Not at all. I just watched a lot of soccer on TV growing up."
She doesn't mention her brother, which Reo finds odd. 'I guess since I introduced her to the team as Reina-chan, none of the others know her last name and relation to one of the New Generation World 11. It doesn't seem like she's planning to willingly disclose the information either.'
The group ends up commandeering one of Shibuya Academy's (many) spare clubrooms to use the whiteboard. Reina spends almost an hour with their team going through the game with them, much to their appreciation. Reo instructs the team to head back out to the pitch so they can practice some new plays.
He turns to Reina, "Coming to the pitch with us?"
She shakes her head. "I need to finish some work."
Reo's a bit disappointed that she didn't agree to watch them practice too, she'd probably give some good on-site advice. "Nagi and I will catch up with you before the dance starts. Will you be finished by then?"
She nods brightly, and gives him directions to the room she'll be using to study while they practice.
Nagi grumbles at the distance he'll have to cover post-game. "Can't you pick somewhere closer?"
"No way!" Reina shakes her head. "It's my favourite room to study in, it has the best view of Gyoen Park!"
After practice, Reo finds Utsu-sensei and smooth talks the teacher into returning Nagi's Game Pocket. A bored Reo hands over the device to Nagi as a reward for his earlier goals, as promised. Then, with nothing more interesting to do (the other tasks from his parents are even more boring, he can delay them for a bit), Reo pulls a distracted Nagi back towards the school. The pair enter what looks like the science wing Reina described, and pass by some lockers. Just before he (and Nagi) round the corner to room 403, they overhear an unexpected conversation.
"-ever believe what I heard. Reina-me* spent an hour in a clubroom with a bunch of guys from Hakuho's soccer team!"
Giggling and not-so-muted gasps ensue.
"What a slut."
"Shameless. I mean, isn't she embarrassed? The entire school's going to know about it. Probably even the other two schools too."
"IMS won't be surprised. After all, she did go there for like a month before transferring here."
"She transferred after only a month? Why?"
"I bet she got kicked out of the co-ed school, and then had to come to a girls-only school because she's so loose. I mean, an entire team? Disgusting."
"Bad enough what she is, but acting like a whore too?"
"She really has no self-respect."
The shocked disbelief that initially held Reo back dissolves instantly.
"The ones with no self-respect are you." When he turns the corner to ream out the vacuous airheads, he realizes contact twenty-three and thirty-eight are part of the group of five girls. 'Shit. I should probably be somewhat careful. I don't need anything getting back to my parents that would jeopardize Blue Lock.'
"Mikage-san!" A new girl next to contact twenty-three smiles sweetly, as if she hadn't just been caught spewing poison about a classmate. "You were wonderful during the game!"
It takes a second for Reo to process the gall of the girl.
"Really? Wonderful?" Reo sneers. "Reina-chan had more than trite platitudes – she gave me useful advice on how we could be better. As I'm sure you're aware, given how well you all claim to know her family history, her oldest brother is a Next Generation World 11 elite soccer player. She spent an hour helping our team work out plays, not whatever prurient activities you insipid gossips crafted."
Well, there goes contact twenty-three and thirty-eight. 'Whatever, I have extra.'
None of the girls respond, some burning red in mortification and others looking at their shoes so as to not face his heated rebuke head on.
"Reina-chan and I have been friends since I was twelve." Technically true, somewhat. "If I hear anyone at this school has been spewing lies about her, I'll deal with it personally. Go spread that around instead."
At his abrupt dismissal, they scuttle away. In his head, he hears Ba-ya's warning again, about how Reina would be the one to bear the punishment for their friendship. He remembers how Reina tried to run away in the stairwell, but he stopped her. Something in his gut twists.
"I can take care of myself, Mikage-san."
Low and behold, Reina walks out of the classroom to his right, whose door had been wide open. 'Did they know Reina-chan was in there when they started badmouthing her?' Reo suddenly regrets not being more harsh. And then he registers how she had reverted back to a formal address. He looks at the way she's clutching some of her books to her chest, eyes cast down. 'She's embarrassed,' he realizes. So he tries to reassure her in the only way he thinks will work. "It's not out of pity. You won our trivia game, my debt is repaid. Nothing more."
She finally looks up at him, and nods.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Nagi asks, uncharacteristically vocal. "You clearly heard them."
Reo's eyes widen. Nagi wasn't the type to typically care enough to ask. Regardless, the Mikage heir knows the answer to Nagi's question; he understands now what he didn't when he was twelve and disallowed from her company in the Itoshi library. Reo recognizes now what Reina has likely been trained to do in this sort of situation. She's probably been instructed to ignore any harsh words, to turn inferior and invisible, and to not make a scene. Her father probably ordered her to not act out, so as to not bring further shame to him than her existence already did, or some ridiculous bullshit like that.
Reina sighs and offers Nagi a defeated sort of smile. "Mina-senpai usually bites their heads off if they're in my vicinity so... They're only making a scene because she and the others are away on a field trip."
Reo sincerely doubts that's the whole truth.
Nagi returns to his video game, seemingly satisfied with the answer. Reo instructs her to sit next to them during the dance.
She shakes her head. "I don't typically go to those sorts of things."
"Me neither." Reo pulls her by the sleeve of her uniform cardigan. "But, I'm bored, and this will make a statement." More than that…. 'It will make it very clear that I was serious about what I told those girls that I caught bad mouthing you.'
(Truthfully, Reo doesn't know Reina well enough to care for her to any significant degree. She's not Nagi. But, she's interesting, and he doesn't like it when interesting things get dulled. And perhaps he's feeling just a bit guilty. He knew her being with him could pose problems for her, but he took her with him to their game anyways.)
Reina digs her heels into the linoleum. "I know you're well-intentioned Reo-kun, but trust me when I say this isn't a good idea."
"At least be a good host and show us the way?" Reo thinks on the go. "If it's far from this area, why not put your books away first?" After they put her textbooks and her bag away, (he teases her about all the space and astronaut clippings taped inside her locker), the trio make their way to the gymnasium. 'Now, how to make it clear that she's close enough to me to ward off vultures from circling her when I leave, but also not so close that anyone will think to gossip to their parents about it.' If his father suspects he's getting intimately familiar with a girl born out of wedlock, the CEO could easily withhold Blue Lock as punishment.
A shrill duh-duh-duh interrupts his thoughts. "Huh, I died." Nagi mumbles under his breath from his left.
'Of course; it's always you, my treasure.' Reo grins, plan forming. 'Two birds, one stone. This will get my parents off my case about being "too close" with Nagi too.'
Reo pulls the other two into an empty classroom, eager to share his brilliant idea.
Reo's pulled back from the past by her voice.
"Reo-kun!" Reina beams, eyes warm. "It's nice to see you again so soon." It's been two and a half months, but he supposes it's sooner relative to the multi-year gap between their first and second meeting. "You played really well in the U-20 game. That trap and jumping turn from inside your own box was absolutely incredible!"
"Thanks." The heir wonders if she brought up the match to genuinely praise him, or to distract Reo from the fact that he found her literally climbing astride Isagi Yoichi on a public bench. 'Knowing her, it's both.' He smirks. "You were probably glued to the screen that entire game, huh? Analyzing away and everything."
"Of course!" She nods, happily.
"You two know each other?" Isagi asks lightly, though Reo sees the tensing of his jaw.
'Us knowing each other makes a lot more sense than you two.' Reo's mind grins wickedly at Isagi's obvious jealousy. The Mikage heir would be lying if he said he wasn't a bit eager to get back at the guy who stole Nagi, just a bit. 'And Isagi's provided me with such an easy target, too.' His vindictiveness rears its head. 'Who am I to decline such a generous offer?'
Hope you enjoyed! How did you like Reo's POV? What do you think about Reo and Reina's friendship? Anyone else read Episode Nagi and love Ba-ya? What do you think Reo's "plan" was in the past? Do you guys want more or less Reo? Also, if you caught any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them!
Happy New Year everyone!
Asterisk notes
*escalator schools: An escalator school is an educational school that offers education from elementary or middle until university. Escalator schools are so called because students usually rise to the next grade without having to take entrance exams. – Wikipedia
*-me (奴): A derogatory honorific, used when you refer to people, things, or concepts you're a) pissed at, b) deem despicable/inferior.- /UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics
Preview for Chapter 4 Part Two
'Looks like Isagi's got a soft spot for you, Reina-chan.' Reo smirks. 'Good job. If you were searching for a way to piss off Rin, you struck gold.'
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"What kind of terms are those?" Isagi prickles, much to Reo's vindictive delight.
'Possessive much, Isagi? Sucks when people go after your treasures, huh?'
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