Disclaimer: I own none of the original characters nor plot of Blue Lock.
Chapter Warnings: cursing, harassment, Yoichi having (many) teenage boy thoughts, thoughts in dubcon territory but nothing explicit that's dubcon happens.
BIG HUGE GINORMOUS THANK YOU TO MY BETA
ALCHAZAR
AND TO MY REVIEWERS:
ErlanggSIOC, Guest, perseusdiangelo007, Iron Sand, BuzzBuzzBachira, Ashnnix, AverEE, 102602, Sp8cefluff, AnythingForGiorno
Chapter Dedicated to:
Isagi loves thighs
who has taken the time to leave a detailed review for almost every single chapter. I cannot convey how much fun I have reading them and I hope you enjoy : D !
**A/N: Important question re writing style (pretty please read!)**
Was Chapter 1 too slow? Too fast? Were there a bunch of mistakes (it was pre-beta). Was the dialogue wonky? Was the OC introduced in a weird way? Is the formatting weird? I'm asking because per FFN, the reader retention rate between Ch1 and Ch2 is 22%. Is there anything you guys noticed that could have made ~80% of readers give up before Ch 2? It looks like most people who read Ch 2 and 3 continue on but there's just such a huge drop between Ch 1 and 2, so I'm trying to figure out what I could have done better. I plan to (one day, hopefully) write an actual book so I would really, really love some feedback on how I could have made Ch 1 better : ) Feel free to pm me over ffn instead of a review if it's easier. I know it's tough since clearly you guys stayed and it was a few months back, but if there was anything that really threw you off in Ch 1 or that made you mentally think 'huh, that's weird/bad/I might give up on this' I would really appreciate it if you let me know so I can change it for next time! : )
Onikko
{鬼っ子}
chapter 8 – just a kiss
'Ryosuke Kira... Shit.'
Luckily, the white-haired striker hasn't spotted him yet. Yoichi immediately pulls the wolf mask over his face and hauls Reina in the opposite direction.
"Wha-?! Isacchi, where-"
He moves faster, maneuvering around and through the sea of festival-goers until he sees a sign posted between the trees. It has a bright yellow arrow and map showing a path towards one of the many wayside shrines in the area.
'Perfect,' he thinks. 'No one will be there.'
Yoichi pulls Reina along behind him, speed-walking up the moderate incline despite the uneven terrain. By the time the pair reach the end of the path, the sounds and lights of the festival have dimmed. He pulls her towards the wayside shrine: one that's small enough to not be an attraction on such a busy holiday, but also one that's big enough to have a partial engawa sticking out in front of it. There's easily enough space for a small family to relax on it comfortably.
The striker sighs in relief when he sits, pulling Reina down next to him on the low porch. He realizes the mask is still on, so he pulls it off and puts it onto the side.
"What's wrong?" She asks from his left.
He could lie, he supposes. But there isn't much point to that now, is there? "I just saw someone I knew."
She tenses. "W-what do you mean?" her voice cracks. "I thought you… Why did we have to leave so fast?"
He turns towards her. "What other reason could I have? Obviously I didn't want him to see-"
She immediately yanks her hand from his. Or, at least, she tries to. His grip reflexively tightens, keeping her by his side. "Let go, Yoichi," she says so quietly and meekly he almost doesn't hear her.
He's baffled at her sudden change in demeanour. "What's wrong with you?"
She looks away from him, still struggling to pull herself free. "If you want me to leave, it's fine. I don't care."
"What?" He frowns. 'Where the hell did she get that idea from?'
That's the last thing he wants right now.
"If you don't want to be seen with me, or whatever." She mumbles as she tugs. "It's fine. I have a bunch stuff to study at home, so it's fine. I'll just lea-"
"You're really messed up, huh?"
'Shit.'
That was definitely supposed to stay in his head, but now he has no choice but to go with it. Her eyes widen further and Reina really starts trying to claw herself away from him now. "Let me go!" She hisses.
'She totally took that the wrong way.' He sighs, his grip on her remaining steady. "Settle down, would you? I just meant…" How to not make this sound dumb? "I just… I will never care about your parents not being married. Ever. Or that you're only half Japanese, or whatever other stupid reason you've made up in your head." Her relentless tugging finally abates. He brings his finger to poke her forehead, and she blinks. "I'm not good with words like you are." He continues. "So, for the sake of preventing any future misunderstandings just…"
'…assume that I never want you to leave,' is what he could say. After all, it's what he means. But that sounds so lame and cringy, so no fucking way is he telling her that. Instead, he goes with, "…remember that if I didn't want you around, I'd just leave."
("Uh oh. Careful not to hint at forever," the voice reminds him with a wicked grin. "She's firewood, remember? Once Blue Lock restarts, you're gone and she'll be ash. Clock's ticking, striker.")
Reina's eyes widen further at his words. "O-oh," she breathes out quietly, clearly still processing something in her busy head. "B-but just now… then why… you said you didn't want your friend to see us?"
Yoichi groans. "Definitely not my friend."
She raises a brow, and the striker realizes that he doesn't want to tell her. What happened during tag shouldn't matter, so why are the words so hard to get out?
("Because she doesn't know this part of you yet," the voice croons. "She doesn't know how easily you toss away obstacles to reach your dream… or what you'll do to her when you finally accept the fact that she is nothing but another obstacle for you to toss away. Go on, tell her. Maybe little miss genius will see it for the warning it is.")
Yoichi takes a breath, then explains what happened with Kira.
"Okay, I get it now." She hums to herself after he finishes. "So Kira-san was nice to you, and you screwed him over." Yoichi flinches. "And you probably didn't think much of it during Blue Lock. I mean, you were focused on other things, understandably. But now that you just saw him again, you feel like maybe it was kind of a shitty thing for you to do."
He nods, shifting his gaze towards the trees and unsure of what to say next. It was easy to justify any callous or cold actions in Blue Lock. It was easy to call them ego, to consider his actions a show of his unwavering resolution to become number one, and to even be proud of what he did. Now though… now that his actions might colour her opinion of him… well, he isn't sure, exactly. He doesn't feel guilty about what he did to Kira (he did what he had to in order to get to the U-20 game). But…
But he wants her to think well of him.
"So you think I was wrong?" His gut curls.
"Well, I guess that's one way of looking at it. And I can see why you might feel bad." She continues, squeezing his hand. "But, I mean, there's another way of looking at what happened, isn't there?"
He turns his eyes back towards her.
"You wanted to go to nationals, right?" She prods.
He nods.
"And, well, I guess… He killed your dream, so you killed his." She tips her head towards the sky. "A dream for a dream; an equivalent exchange." She shrugs. "Fair's fair, I guess. Well, I think, at least."
'A dream for a dream.' Her words echo in his mind.
"Next time you see him," she continues, still staring upwards. "I'd just let him guide the interaction. If he's going to dredge up old grudges, it's on him. If he's over it and wants to move forward, good on him for being mature, I guess." She turns towards Yoichi and quickly tags on, "I'm betting on the former, by the way. Just so we're clear. He's probably still pissed. Like, really, really pissed."
"What would you have done?" He's curious. "Back then," Yoichi clarifies.
"Tough question, I wasn't there." She tilts her head again. "In the end, I guess it depends on what you'd regret more. Would you rather have a friend or your dream? I mean, speaking as someone who was pretty much friendless for most of my life, and who finally has some… Well, they're great, and I enjoy my time with them, but…" She turns to him. "I'd still give them up in a heartbeat if it meant I could have my dream. So I'm the last person who can judge you for what you did when I'm pretty sure I would have done the same. "
Something lightens in his chest: specifically the part that was weighed down by Kira's angry eyes, Naruhaya's crumpled form, and Kunigami's shadow.
"Because a person can always leave." She continues quietly. "They usually do, actually. But a dream? A dream can be yours forever." Reina pauses. "Or maybe that's an excuse," her eyes turn from contemplative to playful. "Maybe I'm just an awful person?"
"Stop fishing for compliments," he nudges her arm with his elbow, before tightening his grip on her hand. "Guess you and I can be awful people together, then," he mumbles.
"Suppose so." She smiles at him gently, then brings her free hand up and in front of her face. She's silent for a moment.
He thinks she's staring at the bracelet he gave her, but, no, not at all. She's staring at the night sky between her fingers.
"You know this place you dragged me to, it's got a pretty crummy view of the sky. There are too many trees."
"They tend to have those in forests, genius."
She smacks his chest with her free hand, then looks upwards again. "But despite the crummy view. I can probably still make out some constellations. Some pretty fun ones too, actually. Well, not my favourite one, but-"
He turns his body towards her, disbelieving. "You have a favourite star?" He tries really hard not to laugh at her because, what a dork. But he clearly does a piss-poor job hiding his unflattering opinion, since she whacks his arm, clearly upset.
"You have a favourite soccer player, don't you?" She bristles. "Well, I have a favourite constellation, okay?"
"Alright, alright," he says to pacify her. "Noel Noah's my favourite player. So what's your favourite…" (He smirks, because she's just so adorably lame sometimes, isn't she?) "..star?"
Reina tries to smack him a third time, but he catches her wrist, wrapping his fingers around the bracelet. "Shut up." She pouts grumpily, turning away.
"I'm just teasing you." He smiles in an attempt to appease her, while tugging on her second hand and pulling her gaze back to him. "Come on, tell me." They're nearly chest to chest now, but he's too distracted by her to get nervous about it.
"No." She presses her lips together, as if taking a vow of silence in retaliation to his teasing.
'So stubborn,' he thinks fondly. But Yoichi knows her weakness. "I'll buy you a cookie?"
"You can't just buy me off with sugar!"
So much for her vow of silence.
"Coffee too?" He prods. "Medium of your crazy order."
"Grande," she corrects with puffed up cheeks, even though they both know he said it incorrectly just to provoke her. "And it's not crazy, it's perfect." There's a pause before she deflates. "For the record," her nose scrunches, "I won't always forgive you so easily, Isagi Yoichi."
He nods, transfixed by how her lips say his name. The striker absentmindedly brings her left hand down from his chest. Once it rests on his lap, his right thumb distractedly plays with the charms dangling from the bracelet. "Mhm. Got it."
"You owe me a cookie and a coffee."
"Mhm."
"And it better be a big café style cookie, not those dinky little ones."
A laugh gets trapped in his chest as he nods. "Whatever you want. So?" He prods.
"It's called Columba." She finally concedes. "You've heard of Noah and the Arc, right?"
He nods again, vaguely familiar with the story from English class.* His brain brings up an image of a bearded guy and a bunch of animals on a boat. He remembers being somewhat interested in the story because the man shared the same name as his idol.
'Or, wait. Was Noah the guy who fell off the boat and kept refusing rescuers because he thought his god would save him?'
"Well, Columba is the dove that tells Noah the flood is receding." (So it is the animal guy). "In another version, just when everyone is about to give out hope on ever finding land again, the dove comes back with an olive branch and proves that if they just keep going, they'll find land soon." She sighs softly. "I guess that's why I've always liked it. It's a symbol that no matter how bleak the situation seems, things will always get better." She grins. "The shape is pretty awesome too."
"Can you see it tonight?" He asks.
She shakes her head. "Not at this latitude, and not this time of year. But there are some others we can see." There's a soft, happy expression on her face as she asks, "want to know some more?"
The striker nods. 'Sure.' He doesn't care about stars at all, but he likes the sound of her voice, especially when she's happy.
"Hmm. Which ones can I see… Oh! There's Cassiopeia!" She pulls her left hand out of his grip to turn and point at the sky. He's left holding just her right hand between them. "See, it's the one with the W-shape, just right there. It's to the bottom of the really bright one; that one's Polaris."
The striker nods along even though he can't see shit. It's all dots to him. 'Would it be weird if I pulled her other hand back into mine?' He liked it better when he was holding both of them.
"So the mythology behind Cassiopeia is interesting, because there's a bunch of stars connected together in the same story. She's a Queen who wanted more prestige, and essentially she boasted to all and sundry that her daughter, Andromeda, was more beautiful than even the gods."
The striker decides that maybe it would be weird to reach for her left hand again, so he settles for tightening his grip on the right one that's still in the space between them.
"Andromeda's also up there, but you can't see her because of all your beloved foliage. Stupid trees. But anyway, as punishment for Cassiopeia's bragging, the gods sent a sea monster to destroy their kingdom. The King, Cepheus, he's up there too. He's the upside down house just above her, see?"
She points excitedly and he nods again, not seeing whatever it is she sees. (And honestly, he doesn't really care to. It's just dots, after all. But he'll play along for her. It's…kind of cute, how excited she looks as she explains it.)
"The king and queen are told the only way to appease the gods is to sacrifice their daughter. So they chain Andromeda to a sea cliff, and leave her to be devoured by the sea monster. But Perseus, one of the Greek heroes, sees her chained while he's sailing by, and instantly falls in love with her."
Yoichi catches that part, and snorts.
Reina scowls. "Shut up, I didn't write it. Anyway, Perseus tells the king and queen he'll save their kingdom, but only if he gets to wed Andromeda. They agree. But after Perseus defeats the sea beast, her parents go behind his back and try to forcibly marry Andromeda to her uncle."
"Her uncle?" Yoichi interrupts, grimacing.
"It was ancient Greece, there was a lot of incest. Like, a lot." She shrugs. "So Perseus defeats her fiancé and her father, frees her from her chains, and takes her far away from her terrible parents." She points to the sky again. "Cetus, the sea beast that Perseus defeated, he's up there too, just to the…"
And Yoichi's listening, somewhat, he promises. It's just so hard to focus on her words when all he can process is the light in her eyes, her radiant smile, and her pretty lips. He wishes he was brave enough to tell her that he couldn't recognize the constellations she was trying to point out, and wouldn't it be so much easier if she just let him pull her into his lap? Then he could put his head right next to hers and see exactly what she was trying to show him. Just for learning purposes, of course.
"Hey, Yocchan?"
He tunes back in. "Mhm?"
"Thanks," she smiles. "It's been years since I was able to share this with someone."
"Years, huh? Did you and Reo go star-gazing together when you were younger, then?"
("Touchy, touchy. Still jealous, then?")
She snorts, in a loud way particularly reminiscent of a pig (although he's sure Reina would kill him if he said so.) "As if." Then she hums to herself. "Sometimes Sae-niisan and I would... Just a few times, really. But it was during… it was when I really needed…" He can tell the minute she decides to tell him something else instead. "One time, even Rin-niisan seemed interested. It was back that one night when Sae-niisan took us to Tanabata." She smiles, fondly. "Then again, the only thing Rin-niisan was remotely interested in was learning about his sign and finding it in the sky. Which, he's so prototypical it isn't even funny. Fussy, critical, picky, and a total perfectionist." She giggles. "He's a Virgo through and through. He even critiqued the shape of his constellation when he could finally see it. Can you believe that?"
'Yes. 100% yes.'
Yoichi raises an amused brow. "I'm honestly more surprised you believe in that superstitious stuff."
"Oh, I don't." She clarifies. "Horoscopes and those personality stereotypes are a load of unscientific trash." Reina's mouth curves into a little smirk. "But even unscientific trash can be fun once in a while," she chimes.
'And that explains the Ruzzfeed quizzes.'
"Hey, hey, Yo-kun?" She squeezes his hand. "When's your birthday?"
"April first."
"Liar." She points a finger at him "Tell me the truth."
"I'm not joking. It's really April Fool's day." Yoichi sighs. "My mom and dad were trying to be 'the fun parents' right from the get-go, I guess."
She laughs brightly. "Hmm," she moves her finger to her chin. "I think that would make you an Aries, right?"
"Yup." He hates that he knows that, and blames his mother. (And the annoying girls in his third grade class who went around one week demanding everyone's birthdays, loudly announcing each student's sign, and then proclaiming whichever classmate everyone would end up marrying because of it.)
"You aren't a typical Aries though, are you?" She tilts her head in consideration. "Arrogant, hot-tempered, selfish, domineering." She lists off. "That really isn't you at all."
("Dim thing, isn't she?" The voice snickers. "If she could hear your thoughts about her or if she knew about the controlling and manipulative lines you spout while on the field, she'd know exactly how selfish and domineering you are.")
Reina continues. "But I suppose Aries are also known for being determined, competitive, and dynamic. Which you totally are!"
"What about you?" He asks, curious. "When's your birthday?"
"December 24th."
'Christmas Eve?' His eyes widen. "Really?"
"Yup, I'm a proud Sagittarius through and through." She puts a hand over her heart, dramatic as always. "Smart, optimistic, lover of freedom," she smirks and she nudges her shoulder against his. "And hilarious to boot."
"Don't know about that last point. You're really not that funny."
She sticks her tongue at him. "You suck." Her lips bend into an eager smirk. "So how many times did your parents pretend to forget your birthday as an April Fool's joke?"
He groans. "Every. Single. Year."
She laughs, and the pleasant sound makes his mouth tug upwards.
"Guess we both got stuck with holidays as birthdays. But yours must have been worse." He says. "Did you always get people giving you a single gift to cover both your birthday and Christmas presents? That would have been annoying."
"O-oh, umm, w-we didn't really celebrate that kind of stuff." She stutters before her pace picks up. "Capitalism and all that, you know? But, hey, look, look!" She pulls at his hand, excitedly pointing upward to the sky with her other. "I can show you where Aries is!"
They talk for about twenty more minutes before, with absolutely no warning, the caffeine booster from this afternoon abandons him. His fatigue hits him in a dense wave, one that sinks deep into his skin and weighs down his bones. His eyelids grow heavy, and Reina gets blurry.
He yawns, not for the first time, and she puts a hand to his cheek.
'Oh.'
He likes it when she does that. He tilts his face into her soft palm.
Her voice sounds far away. "When did you get up?"
"Mmm." He blinks his eyes open. "four thirty, I think." He murmurs in a sleepy haze, watching her lips as she speaks. Even when she's blurry, doesn't she just look so pretty.
He yawns again. He feels a tug, and he's just tired enough that he lets himself fall into her. Yoichi's brain processes his changed position at a sluggish pace. His head… her lap….her thighs.
His cheeks blaze. "W-what a-are y-you-"
"I'm surprised the caffeine kept you going this long. Close your eyes," she instructs. "You can straighten out our legs on the engawa, too. There's plenty of space." She reaches over a bit to tug at his leg, and he feels her thighs shift underneath his head.
'Fuck she's going to kill me.' Embarrassment gives him just enough energy to start getting off her before he does something creepy as fuck, like bury his face in her lap.
"Reina, I'm fin-"
"You're going to take a nap." She interrupts his ascent, firmly pressing a hand to his sternum. "You're going to burn out." Her voice softens. "Just take a bit of a rest for now. Don't worry, I'll wake you up."
He places a hand overtop the one she put on his chest, ready to take it off and just sit up… and he should get up… except… fuck she's so soft and warm, isn't she?
"Just for a few minutes," he compromises as he straightens out his legs on the porch, and then settles his head back more comfortable into her lap.
Her hand on his chest stays, while her other hand surprises him when it starts gently stroking back his hair.
"Is this okay?" she whispers soothingly, as her fingers delicately glide through the strands on his scalp.
Quiet affection fills his chest. "So okay." Yoichi murmurs, lips tugging upwards as he lets his eyes finally drift shut.
It's surreal: the calming motion of her hand, the cushion of her thighs, the faraway lights of the festival, the distant sounds of the music, the tranquility of the wayside shrine, the seclusion of the forest, the warmth of her hold…It's comfortable.
Yoichi's last thought, before he succumbs to sleep, is how much he's going to miss her when he leaves her.
Some time later, a sudden loud whistle and thud erupts above them, followed by noisy crackling.
Yoichi's eyes burst open.
His pillow startles as well. He blearily blinks his eyes open to see Reina above him. She's distracted, busy looking up at the dark sky that's been lit up with colourful explosions.
"Fireworks," she breathes out, with her voice almost inaudible compared to the spiralling and sparkling blasts. The bright colours shine onto her face, and he realizes their evening is ending.
'No,' he grumbles, eyes open but mind still half asleep. 'Not yet.'
He doesn't want to wake up yet.
So he turns his face towards her lap instead, curls his head further into her stomach, and wraps his arms tightly around her.
"Y-Yocchan?"
He mumbles sleepy, incoherent things into her warm stomach. One of his arms briefly lets go of her torso only to drowsily flail around in order to find her hand and bring it back to his hair. "Stay," he murmurs, squeezing her hand to keep it in place, before sliding his arm back around her.
'Stay forever.'
The next time he opens his eyes, it's because Reina's gently shaking him awake.
"I'm sorry, I know you only got an hour to nap," her voice whispers from above him as his eyes blearily blink away his sleepiness. "But your parents wanted you to call them after the fireworks, remember? And the show's been over for a few minutes now."
He finally registers his compromising position, how his head is buried in her lap and how his arms are firmly wrapped around her, with his fingers clinging to the fabric at the back of her kimono. 'Shit.' He abruptly sits up, very much awake now. The sudden movement nearly sends his forehead crashing into her jaw, but she evades just in time.
His head spins for a second as he rolls himself off so he's sitting next to her again. She gives him a sad sort of smile. "Time to leave."
She starts to get up, stumbling immediately. In an effort to stop her from falling forward, he reaches out to stabilize her, but somehow ends up pulling her back onto him instead.
Oof.
She falls into his chest.
"S-sorry!" She squeaks into his shoulder, her body now draped atop his. "I, m-my legs. I t-think they f-fell asleep when-"
She keeps stuttering out excuses into his shoulder but all he can hear are his own racing thoughts.
'She's on top of me? She's on top of me! She's… fuck… is… is this what all girls feel like?" His arms come around to secure her against him. 'Soft… She's so soft…'
The striker turns them to their sides. And he should stop there. Turning them to their sides puts them in a neutral position, so they can both get up freely. But instead, as if possessed by an invisible force, Yoichi keeps them rolling until he's on top of her. With their current position, he's all but pinned her to the wooden platform.
"I-Isacchi?"
'Even if she's temporary… Even if I don't get to keep her... I want to know what it's like to kiss her.'
His eyes fixate on her mouth. 'But what if I ask and she says no?'
("Why would you ask? If you want something, just take it.")
'But what if I try without asking and she pulls away?'
("Then you pull her back.")
Only, he'd maybe hate her a little if she pushed him away...
"W-what a-are y-you d-doing?" Reina stammers, only he doesn't hear her, not really. His head's too loud, her voice is too far away and distorted. It's like he's plunging underwater.
'Is this what it means to crave a person?'
("After all this time you've wasted on her, surely you've earned more than just a kiss?")
'More than a kiss…'
A loud buzzing interrupts his musings, and reels him back from his mind. Like coming up for air, he takes in a breath and finally sees how she's gone absolutely rigid beneath him. He finally registers her nervous expression and her palpable apprehension.
"S-sorry," he murmurs as he half-reluctantly pulls himself off her. "S-still sleepy. I just overturned a bit."
("Liar.")
He tries to ignore the relieved breath that she heaves out as soon as he gets off of her. But he can't ignore it completely; his gut swirls with something sharp and cold and shaped like guilt.
"O-oh." She immediately sits up as soon as he lets her, hands fisting the fabric on her thigh. "Okay…"
Yoichi finally picks up his still-buzzing phone. "Hey Tousan." He stands even though he doesn't need to, because he isn't sure he trusts himself to stay sitting next to her right now. "Where are you guys?" The striker takes a few restless steps, trying to shake off the strange uneasiness suddenly hanging in the space between Reina and him.
His dad finishes laughing at something on the other end. "We're at a stand that's a few minutes away from the north entrance. You're mom's a bit…" Yoichi overhears his mom say something unintelligible on the other end. His dad chuckles heartily once more. "Let's just say it'll be difficult for us to move too far. Can you two make your way to the north entrance to meet up with us? There's usually a few cabs waiting there. We can all share one to get home."
Yoichi figured as much. They had taken the cab to the festival since they were already running late, and even though distance-wise their group could walk home, he doubted his mom was in any shape to do so. Yoichi nods, stretching an arm to the sky. "Yeah, we're pretty close to that side, actually. We'll be there in five." He hangs up and then turns to the girl who's seated silently on the engawa, dark eyes still staring into her lap. "Reina? You good?"
She doesn't answer.
'Annoying.'
He brings a hand to her cheek, and she flinches. Yoichi frowns. "I thought you said your cheek was better." He bends so they're at eye level, tilting her chin so she faces him. Her expression's unreadable. "If it still hurts," he continues. "I can get you some ice? I don't want you to be uncomfortable."
Her gaze softens.
"I-it's fine. S-sorry. I was… I t-thought… I must have just imagined…" she shakes her head. "Never mind. Sorry, I think I'm probably a bit overtired too."
"We should start walking down to meet up with my parents." He wavers for just a second before he carefully holds a hand out to her. "Do you need help? Are your legs still asleep, or?"
The cold, tense sensation that had twisted his stomach immediately releases when she gives him a small smile. Any leftover awkwardness dissipates as she winds her fingers through his.
They're part way down the uneven forest path when she speaks up again.
"Yocchan?"
"Yeah?" He squeezes her hand and turns to her.
"How far is it? Until the cab."
"My parents are waiting for us at the north entrance. It's only about five minutes from here. Which, by the way, I should warn you." He rolls his eyes. "It sounds like my mom's hammered, so try not to engage with her."
He expects a giggle or a playful hit to his shoulder. He doesn't expect the tender look she tosses him.
"You told them, didn't you?"
He immediately knows what she's talking about. He sighs. "I never said I wouldn't."
'I just let you hear what you wanted to hear.'
"And they really… they really don't care?" She whispers, voice cautiously hopeful.
"Not a single bit." He snorts. "They were actually offended I thought they would."
"Oh, okay. That's… that's…" She grins at the ground, and doesn't finish her sentence.
When they run into his mom and dad, his mom has clearly already run into Toga-san.
Reina and Yoichi find his parents seated on a bench that's off to the side and away from the crowd. His dad spots them and waves the younger pair over. With an overly indulgent "time to go now, love," his father gently pulls his mom to stand. Yoichi rolls his eyes when the woman immediately drapes over his dad, who holds her vertically by her shoulders.
"So who won this time?" Yoichi asks his dad sarcastically, strategically positioning himself between Reina and his mother. (The girl had let go of his hand when his parents came into view, and he's honestly still sour about it.)
"Yocchannnn! Reina-channn!" His mom drawls.
Yoichi resolutely ignores her while his dad chuckles. "Depends on who you ask."
"I won!" His mom yells, unnecessarily loudly and attracting the notice from the few festival goers in their vicinity.
The striker glances up ahead, thankful that the line for the cabs is at least 20 yards away. Though there's the occasional person or family passing by their group to head towards the cab line, there isn't a huge crowd around where his parents had been waiting. (No doubt an intentional choice by Tousan. The man could be somewhat merciful when he so chose.)
"I was the ch-" his mom hiccups. "The champion!"
"Yes dear," his father smiles at her, gently adjusting his hold on his wobbling wife. He turns back to the kids. "At least your mom is vertical; Toga-san had to be physically lifted from the stand by her husband." He chuckles. "Firefighter's carry style."
"I am the champion, my friends…" his mom starts singing the famous song, very badly and very loudly. "…And I'll keep on winning till the ennnnnddd."
Yoichi slams his palm into his face, mortified by her drunken antics. The group literally hasn't even made it a few feet away from the bench. 'How fucking embarrassing.'
Reina bursts out laughing, which softens his annoyance at the situation and even pulls a small smile from him, against his best efforts. Unfortunately, Reina's laugh also has the undesired consequence of drawing his mother's attention. His mom abruptly stops singing (read: screeching), yanks herself out of his dad's hold, and then moves towards Reina. Yoichi stops the short and stumbling woman by the waist, partially to stop her from falling, but also to stop her from nearing the girl at his other side. Yoichi's well aware the only thing on the drunk woman's mind is wreaking havoc.
The striker succeeds in stopping his mom's collapse, but he makes a mistake: her hands are left free.
Like an indomitable demon, his mom stretches both hands across him and plops them onto Reina's cheeks. Or at least, that's what Yoichi's assuming Kassan was aiming for. She ends up just sloppily putting one hand on the girl's eye and nose and another along her ear and jaw.
"Ohh, Reina-chan!" His mom coos. "I'm so glad he found you!"
"Take her back, Tousan. Now, please." Yoichi scowls, getting increasingly nervous over his mom's loose tongue. He transfers the swaying woman back to his unfairly amused dad, hopeful that the man can at least distract her. But his mom's claws stay locked onto Reina, and the older woman just pulls Reina back with her, squishing the girl's face between her pale fingers. "You're just so pretty! With your big round eyes and your lovely features, you and Yocchan will make me just the most beautiful little grandbabies!"
Yoichi immediately grabs Reina by the waist and yanks her away from his mother.
"Kaasan!" He barks, furious.'What the absolute fuck?!'
"Don't start making my cute grandkids now, Yocchan. You're in public." She shakes her head, the absolute menace. "I know teenagers have urges. But you have to control your hormones until you're older, okay? And I still want you to marry her first, so don't get too handsy either." She turns to her husband and stage-whispers (loudly enough for the entire fucking country to hear). "Issei, I think you need to have the talk with him again."
His dad makes zero attempt to contain his wife or his roaring laughter.
'That's it!' Yoichi refuses to stay in this disaster zone any longer. 'Who knows what she'll say next?' The striker can't quite imagine anything worse than what his mom's just spouted. 'But, I'm sure Kaasan will find something if we stick around.'
"We're walking!" He bites out. "You guys can take the cab without us."
"Yocchan," his mom whines. "I already said you had to marry her first. Or at least wait until you're a bit older. Oh, I just can't wait to design your wedding outfits. Hey, hey! Where are you going? I want to hang out with Reina-chan more! Bring her back!"
Yoichi can literally feel the steam coming from his ears as he starts to stomp away.
'I hope you have a terrible hangover tomorrow!' He thinks viciously.
His mom continues in her loud, drunken voice. "So impatient. Doesn't ever listen to our advice, that one. Just does everything on his own. He gets that from your side of the family, Issei."
His dad, unhelpful as always, just chuckles. "Yes, dear." Then he yells out to his departing son. "Text us if you run into trouble!"
"I'm leaving it!" Yoichi tosses back over his shoulder, pushing the still-stunned Reina along in front of him.
'The only danger right now is Kaasan.'
His dad continues to laugh loudly in the background while his mom starts singing again.
They've just turned onto one of the quieter side streets, only two or so blocks from the festival, when she speaks up. "Umm, Y-Yocchan?"
"Yeah?" He asks apprehensively. 'She's probably going to tell me she is freaked the fuck out and never wants to see me again.' He's not ready for her to leave him yet. 'How do I convince her to stay?'
Reina stops walking, before quietly asking. "How far until we get back?"
He stops next to her. "Umm. Probably another thirty minutes, give or take a few."
"Oh." She frowns but the line of her lip quivers. "Okay, that should be fine."
Only a block later and she stops again. "I, s-sorry, but I-I just can't anymore."
'Shit.' Is she so freaked out that she doesn't even want to walk home with him anymore? 'But I can't let her go off on her own, so what can I-'
"Can we get a cab please?" She's staring firmly at the ground.
'Huh?'
"Umm, sure?" He opens up an app on his phone. "Shoot. Looks like all of them are busy." Unsurprising, they're all probably still occupied at the festival. "It'll probably be another 40 minutes until it says one is free to grab us from here."
"I know it's weird and not proper, but can I just walk barefoot?" She blurts out to the ground.
'What's up with her?'
"Uhh, sure?" He says, confused as to why she thinks he would care. He's also genuinely confused by why she wants to walk on the streets barefoot, until she takes off a geta and tabi sock, and he sees the damage. "Shit, what happened?"
"Umm. Well, it was fine until the shrine, I guess. Adrenaline, maybe? But then when we sat down I kind of realized how much they hurt?" She gives a nervous chuckle. "Umm, and, well, umm, the shoes were a bit small. I thought it would be fine, since we just had to walk down the hill and we were taking a cab back anyways and -"
"You idiot. Why did you even wear the geta if they didn't fit?"
"Your mom was really excited about the photos, and I didn't want to complain or upset her, and we were already running late because of me, and I didn't want to make us later, and when we arrived it's not like I could walk around without shoes, and-" she rambles as she takes off the sock and geta from the second foot. It looks even more blistered up and cut into than the first.
Guilt builds in his gut. He spent the entire festival dragging his eyes from her mouth to her legs but didn't notice her discomfort at all… but even more damning was his other suspicion. Walking in ill-fitting geta won't cause blisters like that. But being forced to run through an uneven forest path while wearing them? That will do it.
'But then why didn't she stop me if it was causing her that much pain? I would have slowed down.' He frowns. 'I wouldn't have kept dragging her behind me if I knew I was hurting her.' He thinks of her silence on the train when her hair was latched onto his jacket, he thinks of how she didn't say anything to that father and son duo with the toolbox behind the apartments, and he thinks of how she just let his mom treat her like a dress-up doll even though she was clearly uncomfortable. Irritation floods through his veins, overpowering the guilt. "Do you ever speak up for yourself?"
She avoids his gaze, and he has his answer. He's not the most vocal person himself, sure, and prefers peaceful resolutions whenever possible (outside of soccer, that is.) Mostly, he's passive to avoid the headache that usually comes with unnecessary conflict. And yeah, sometimes it's more convenient to be polite than honest. But he's also not a total doormat. He'll be blunt and speak up if something's genuinely bothering him. (He didn't when his Ichinan coach forced teamwork down his throat, and the striker's silence almost cost him everything. Yoichi will never forget that.)
He sighs. "I'm not wasting forty minutes just waiting here, and I'm not letting you walk anymore. Come on, get on my back. I'll carry you."
She rapidly shakes her hands in front of her face, flustered. "You really don't have to! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have complained. It's fine, I'll walk just like this, I'm fine!"
The idiot tries to step forward and flinches.
Yoichi sighs again and stops her progress by bringing his palm to her forehead, taking care to place it more towards the side opposite of the cheek that he crashed into earlier. He doesn't say anything, just holds her in place with his hand while wearing a firm 'I'm not entertaining any objections right now,' sort of look.
Her shoulders droop in defeat. "Okay," she murmurs. "We aren't, umm, passing any busy streets or anything, right?"
He shakes his head, unsure why it matters. "Nope. Just residential back streets. They're the quickest way to get to my place."
When she suddenly starts bunching her kimono up to her knees, he realizes why busy streets mattered. There's a reason his dad wasn't piggy-backing his mom to the cab line, and it's because kimonos like theirs don't let the wearer's legs easily open for it.
As she carefully, slowly twists the kimono to stay just above her knees, his eyes definitely follow the fabric up. His gaze sticks like glue to her shapely calves and her thick thighs.
"Y-Yocchan?"
"Mhm?" He responds distractedly, utterly entranced by every inch of indecently smooth skin she just revealed to him. 'You should pull it up further,' he thinks, eyes fastened to the too-small strip of skin above her knees. 'Let me see more of your thighs.' The greedy words claw up his throat, waiting eagerly behind his teeth.
"Y-you… umm… n-need to bend down and, umm, turn around, I think?" Reina squeaks out, with one hand holding the rolled up fabric and the other wrapped tight around her stomach. The girl's eyes remain focused on the ground.
Reina's words abruptly yank him out of his daze and he roughly shakes his head, completely mortified that he so blatantly ogled her. "Y-yeah. R-right." He swallows thickly, then nervously clears his throat. "S-sorry." He turns around and bends his knees, trying fruitlessly to tame the blush that's rampaging all over his face and chest.
Reina carefully slides her arms around his neck, and he feels a band tighten around his lungs in anticipation of how close she'll be to him. She gives a little hop and his arms immediately go back, but his nerves shoot his arms too far. He ends up grabbing too high on her thighs, and that is definitely the curve of her a-
Yoichi immediately lets go, causing her legs to drop. But Reina's arms remain clinging around his neck, so her center of gravity lurches forward, and she nearly tumbles them both over since he's still kneeling.
"S-sorry!" He blurts out, steam actually coming out of his ears. "I d-didn't, that w-wasn't intentional." ("As if she'll believe that after you just drooled all over her.") "I s-swear, I didn't mean-"
"It's okay!" She squeaks, voice pitched even higher than his and right near his ears. "Y-you can, umm, try again. Just, umm, not so f-far up, okay?"
Her arms are literally strangling him.
"O-okay." He taps her elbow. "B-but could you loosen your grip, maybe?"
"Yes!" She yelps, jerking her arms looser. "S-sorry!"
After a too-long awkward pause that's thick with an obvious tension, Yoichi somehow manages to get her on his back, both without groping her further and without her decapitating him. But even still, his chest thud, thud, thuds.
("Didn't she feel so good in your hands? Doesn't her skin feel so good against yours right now? Or how about how her chest is pressed up right against your shoulders, her every inhale pushing her curves further into you.")
His pulse races. 'Think of something else. Now!' The last thing he needs is his body reacting to what he just felt, or worse, her noticing. Oh god, he'd fucking die if that happened.
Her forcibly summons unpleasant images to the forefront of his mind.
His hundredth serving of Natto at Blue Lock. Raichi's unnerving scowl and Ikaguri's stupid thumbs up pose. Maid Barou. Aryu's freakish style pose. Kuon's smile when he betrayed Team Z. Losing Bachira to Rin. Kira's face when he got eliminated because of him.
He scours his mind for everything undesirable or repulsive. He needs to be distracted from how her thighs feel wrapped around him, how bare calves smoothly brush against his forearms with each step he takes, and did he mention that her thighs are wrapped around him?
He searches for a conversation, any conversation.
"S-so that kid from the kakigori stand was an asshole, huh?" It's the first coherent thing that came to mind. (He's trying really, really hard to not let his gaze stray to the extra few inches of her thighs that had peaked out from her kimono after she climbed onto him.)
Reina huffs out a laugh through her nose. "You shouldn't say that about a kid, Isacchi." He feels her arms relax more around his shoulders, as her face settles into the junction of his shoulder and neck.
The striker rolls his eyes, resolutely ignoring how warm her breath feels as it puffs against his neck. "Assholes are assholes, no matter the age."
"I thought he was cute." She giggles. "Harmless, but maybe somewhat…misguided?"
"Well he sure thought you were cute too, Princess Elaina of Avaland."
"Oh my god, stop." She groans into his neck, and the throaty sound reverberates down his spine. ('Maid Barou! Styl! Natto! Rin!') "And it's Avalon, you troll."
"Where's that even from?" He's a bit curious, but mostly just desperate for a distraction.
"Wisney." She mumbles. "A somewhat recent release, actually."
He quirks a brow. "You're really into Wisney, huh?"
"Not at all." Her eye roll is audible. "I find their stories super unrealistic."
'And your anime where kids go to a super power school isn't?'
"But Momo-senpai is obsessed with Wisney movies. I'm not sure how much of it is some sort of nostalgia versus her actually enjoying the plot. Maybe I'd like them more if I watched them as a kid? I'm not so sure. Well, I mean, I guess I sort of get the appeal. It's a nice idea, that someone will magically appear to come and save you from everything..." She adjusts her grip on his neck. "Princess Elaina of Avalon just came out in theaters a few months ago, so Momo-senpai dragged us all out to watch it with her."
Puzzle pieces snap into place. She skipped a grade, that's why she addresses all her friends as senpai. He mentally tallies them, matching names to faces. Mina-senpai, Ochako-senpai, Momo-senpai. "I haven't met that one yet, huh?"
"Hmm no. Momo-senpai doesn't get to come to YCA often since she's usually busy with other extra lessons her parents make her do. Even when she comes, she usually has to leave early to make it somewhere else."
"You mention those three a lot."
"I, umm... Well, I sort of... had a pretty, umm, tough time at Shibuya for the first bit. But then they found me." She tightens her grip on him and he hears the clear affection in her tone. "They're my first friends. Well, my first actual friends."
("And yet she said she'd throw them away without hesitation to reach her goal." The voice purrs approvingly. "She might just be as cold-blooded as you.")
"Hey, Yo-kun?"
"Yup."
"Thanks for taking me to Momoji." He feels her smile into his shoulder. "I had a lot of fun."
In an instant, his racing heart finally steadies. Instead of thudding wildly against his rib cage, it melts. He's left with a funny sense of tranquility again, like world is quiet.
"Yeah." He smiles softly. "Me too."
"I'm really glad you forgot your scarf that day." She mumbles softly into his neck.
"So am I." The striker murmurs back.
He looks up at the sky.
'It led me to you.'
She carefully steps off his back when they reach his front door, and he immediately misses her warmth. Instead of standing up, he bends even lower to search underneath the welcome mat for a key, the spare one that he's really hoping his dad didn't forget about.
The striker feels the cold metal under his hand, and lets out a subtle sigh of relief.
Yoichi quietly opens the door, assuming his parents are asleep. Instead, he's surprised to see the kitchen light on. His dad steps out with a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin, clearly meant for his mom. "Oh, Yocchan, Reina-chan. You're both back." The older man smiles until his eyes catch the girl's feet. He whistles. "Geeze, Reina-chan. Those look pretty painful. Did you want some bandages?"
"I'll get them for her." Yoichi quickly interjects. 'Please just leave before mom comes downstairs hunting for you.'
His dad lifts his occupied hands up in surrender. "I can tell where I'm not wanted," he chuckles. "Hope you had a fun time at the festival, Reina-chan. Besides the battle wounds, that is."
In typical Reina fashion, she bows and thanks Tousan profusely. 'Overly formal idiot.' The striker tugs on the back of her obi to get her vertical again.
His dad turns to him. "Make sure to walk her back, Yocchan. And if it's getting too late, just call a cab for you both, okay?"
"Got it." Yoichi answers, with a very pointed. "Goodnight, Tousan," as he guides Reina to the couch. Once she's settled he turns to get some bandages from the medicine cabinet.
After double checking his parents aren't snooping from atop the stairs, he heads back to the living room. He hands her a wet cloth, ointment, as well some wraps after she adamantly waves away his offer to help.
"Are you sure?" He asks. "I'm pretty good at dressing foot injuries."
"Yes, yes! I am definitely sure!"
He shrugs and sinks into the spot next to her.
"When did you get your curfew extended until?" He asks once she's finished dressing her blisters. (She did a terrible job, and he would have done it better. But Yoichi feels like she wouldn't appreciate the critique, so doesn't comment on her haphazard job.)
"I have to be at otousama's house for tomorrow at 11:00 AM anyways, so I figured I'd just head straight there tonight and told my school the same."
"So you have some time, then? You don't have to leave yet?" He's embarrassed by how eager he sounds and quickly tags on, "I mean, you may as well rest your feet a bit before heading to the station, you know," he explains, attempting to casually lean back into the couch. "It's not like I can carry you around all week if you mess them up worse."
'Don't go yet.'
"I wouldn't make you carry me around, no matter how fun the Isagi-Express was," she giggles lightly. "And yeah," she continues with a soft voice. "I can stay for a little bit longer."
It's quiet for a moment, and Yoichi feels his cheeks heat.
She fidgets, before looking at her hands, which are clasped in her lap.
The striker tries to think of something, anything, he can say to break this new and sudden awkwardness. "We could umm watch a movie or whatever… if you, umm, if you wanted?"
"Sure." Her shoulders relax. "What do you have?" She smiles at him, sending more heat into his cheeks.
"M-Metflix." Why is he stuttering? "Umm. We have a Metflix account. So whatever you want to watch on there?"
He turns the TV on, making sure to turn down the volume so it doesn't disturb his parents. The striker clicks his Metflix profile and is surprised to see Thuppakki* paused. 'Oh yeah.' He remembers. He had been watching it the night after he lost the prefectural finals, taking solace in the familiar movie.
"Is that a Bollywood movie?" Reina's eyes widen. "Colour me surprised. Didn't think you'd be one for musicals and elaborate dance numbers."
Yoichi's cheeks flare. "Tollywood." He corrects. "And it's an action-thriller, not a musical." (Well, there are a couple of songs in this one… but he forwards through them. He likes the action scenes, and watching how Vijay's character puts all the clues together to solve the mystery.) "It's about an officer who apprehends a sleeper agent. Then the officer has to capture the mastermind behind a series of bombing attacks." The striker huffs. "Again, not a musical."
Reina pats his cheek. "Aww, don't be embarrassed. I think it's cute. I love watching foreign movies."
He catches her hand before she can take it back, feeling a weird urge to share more. "One of my mom's best friends, Aashita-san, she and my mom worked together before I was born. They both still talk a lot, and especially a lot whenever Aashita-san moves to a new place. And she moves around a lot since she works as a designer for some big company. Last time Aashita-san was here I think she mentioned she was going to be moving from Mumbai to Los Angeles in a few months. But, anyways, she still visits us a few times a year, whenever she's in Tokyo for work. She showed me some Bollywood and Tollywood movies when I was a kid, and I liked them."
Why is he suddenly such a rambling mess? 'She didn't ask for an essay.' His neck burns. 'Stop oversharing.'
"Ahh, so that's the story. Well, when I can, I usually watch Spanish and French movies. You can guess why. Sometimes I'll watch a random one with captions, too, if it's well-rated." She sighs. "I haven't watched any movies for fun in a while though, since I've been so busy with school. Hmm… Now that I think about it, I probably haven't watched any since Princess Elaina of Avalon."
"Well this actor," Yoichi points to the screen. "His name's Vijay. He umm. He has a lot of well-rated movies. I like him a lot."
"We can watch one of his, then. I've never seen a Tollywood film before. Which do you want to watch?"
"I can just restart this one. It's good." He brings her hand down between them, keeping it clasped tightly in his. He uses his other hand to control the remote and restart the movie.
He's seen this movie a dozen times. So honestly, while she's absorbed with the screen, he takes more than a few breaks from the screen to watch her.
It's how he recognizes that she won't stop fidgeting. He clicks pause on the remote.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" She squeaks.
Yoichi raises a brow, unconvinced. "If you're sure…" He restarts the film.
A few minutes later and she's squirming again. He pauses the movie once more and lifts an expectant brow at her. She glances away, but answers. "I just, I keep leaning back into the couch."
The striker rolls his eyes. "Seriously? You can lean into the couch. That's allowed."
"No, you butthead." She snaps, turning back. "I mean, well, umm…" Her eyes fall to the couch. "Each time I lean back the umm… the knots of my obi dig into my back."
Just that? 'Easy fix.'
"Then take it off." He shrugs, realizing what he's said only after it's left his mouth. "Just the obi, obviously." He quickly adds on as his neck flushes. He averts his gaze. "Not rocket science, idiot."
"Oh brilliant idea, Isagi Yoichi. I hadn't thought of that!" She whisper-snarks at him, seeming just as flustered as him. "I-" she sighs. "I don't know how. I've never worn one before. Your mom said she pinned it so it wouldn't move, but now I can't pull it forward to try to undo it. Even if I could pull it forward, she said something about making a fancy type of knot, but not to worry since she'd teach me how to undo it after the festival, but, well…"
'Kaasan.' He internally growls. 'Unendingly meddlesome even in her absence.'
Reina heaves a defeated sigh. "I have no desire to attempt unraveling that Gordian knot blind and end up ripping or in any way damaging your mom's stuff. It's fine, I promise." Reina turns back towards the screen. "Let's just keep watching the movie."
He clicks play.
She starts twitching again not even five minutes later.
He pauses the film once more, and he's pretty sure he's redder than Chigiri's hair when he speaks. "D-do you want m-me to take it off you?" Her eyes widen at his words and he really regrets how he phrased that offer. "I mean j-just untie it, and get the pins off, or whatever. Just the obi, not your kimono, o-obviously." ('Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking!')
There's an awkward pause where they both can't meet each other's eyes.
"O-okay." She finally nods, before quietly turning on the couch so she faces away from him.
His hands tremble as they reach for her back. He grabs the obijime first. It's a simple and string-like thing, so despite the fact that his hands are shaking uncontrollably, he's able to untie the beaded rope. But then comes the hard part. He looks at the thick knot at her back, confused by the multiple loops of fabric. 'Shit, what the hell is this?' He tugs at a few random ends until he feels a bit of give. He slowly pulls on it, watching as it starts to unravel.
("Like opening a present," the voice titters.)
'Not now,' Yoichi viciously shoves away the voice, ignoring how the words cause his lungs to spasm.
Not even two inches into tugging, the fabric stops. His hand slides to where the fabric snagged and he finds one of the pins she mentioned. His hands shake as he unhooks it, letting the fabric loosen further.
'She's so close.'
His pulse rate skyrockets. The fabric keeps getting stuck, and he pricks his fingers at least six times while undoing the stupid so-called 'safety' pins. (Later on he'll think about how turning on the room lights so he had more than just the TV to work with, would have been amazingly helpful.) It takes him ten minutes before he finally undoes the last knot and tugs it, letting the two ends fall to her sides.
He heaves a sigh of relief until he sees another two ties a secured a bit tighter underneath. 'More?' Oh well, these two look simpler than the obi.
"Not those!" Reina squeals, lurching forward as soon as his hands attempt to pull on the cords. "I, umm, n-not those ones." She murmurs more quietly, arms now wrapped tightly around her stomach.
'Fuck, fuck, fuck! Am I stupid!?' Those were totally the koshi himo and muna himo. I.e. the sashes that fastened her kimono and kept it on her.
"S-sorry!" He stutters. 'Idiot, idiot, idiot!' He berates himself. "I d-didn't… I j-just thought those were part of the o-obi too…"
("Liar, liar, liar. Kaasan used to dress you up in this shit all the time." The voice smirks. "You knew exactly what you were reaching for. You were just hoping she wouldn't.")
'Shut up! No. I wasn't... I wouldn't…'
Her shoulders relax a bit. "O-oh, okay. Umm those parts need to stay on. But umm thanks for taking off the obi."
("Thank us by letting us take off the rest.")
"S-Sure." He says, steadfastly ignoring the voice that's been so loud, too loud, this entire evening. "Let's get back to the movie. Umm, I think you'll like the next part."
Reina nods as she settles in next to him, leaning back into the sofa with a content sigh. She also doesn't seem too upset about his almost-mistake, since she lets his hand curl around hers once more.
As the credits play, he decides he doesn't want the evening to end.
"You were right. That was really good!" Reina announces, gently extricating her hand out of his in order to stretch her arms towards the ceiling. "Well, it's getting kind of late." She settles her palms back against the cushion at either side of her hips, getting ready to propel herself off the couch. "I should probably head-"
"He has some other good movies." Yoichi blurts out, wrapping his fingers around her wrist before she can stand. "Umm. If you wanted to…that is if you… umm…you could..."
She draws her hand out of his and he feels the sharp, bitter sting of rejection for only half a breath before he realizes she's using her free hands to take the elaborate decorative pins out of her hair. She places the fancy headpieces on the side table, almost… reverently? He watches, transfixed, as her dark strands tumble out of the updo his mom had made for her when she pulls out the other, simpler pins.
Then she sinks back on the couch next to him, closer than before, and grabs his hand again. "I can stay a bit longer."
His heart stutters. "Yeah?"
She smiles tenderly at him, "Yeah."
Her hair's messy, more matted knots than stylish curls. Her make-up's bled a bit around its edges. Objectively, Reina looks less done up and less perfect than before. But Yoichi doesn't care. Instead, he prefers her like this. (He likes the intimacy of seeing her relaxed like this, of knowing that this version of her is his and his alone.)
She starts to tip sideways at some point during the second movie, letting her temple come to rest tentatively against the curve of his shoulder.
Feeling a strange mix of brave and terrified, he slowly unfurls his hand from hers and carefully slides his arm between her lower back and the couch, gently bringing her closer. He feels her breath hitch and he immediately pauses, but she doesn't push him away, so he cautiously continues. By the time he's finished curling his arm around her, he's pretty sure his heart is beating out of his chest and he's blushing past the tips of his ears. (Honestly, he's probably luminescent at this point.) He's too scared to look at her expression, so he keeps his eyes locked on the screen, even though if he was offered a million dollars to explain what's happening on it right now he couldn't do it. He's entirely focused on if what he did was okay, and is his arm too high or too low? Shoot, maybe he should just take it back before he upsets her or-
She sinks into him, letting her head fall further into the curve of his neck. And just like before, with one action, his heart rate normalizes and he relaxes into her.
'This is nice,' he thinks, securing his grip around her waist, eyelids growing heavy.
Sometime later, Yoichi's wakes up to a bright Bollywood dance number flashing in front of his face. He blinks, confused for a minute, before he registers where he's sitting, and what's on top of him. He tilts his chin and there she is. Snuggled up against his chest and half over his lap, with her cheek pressed over his sternum and a fist curled into his yukata. He's not exactly blameless in their surprisingly cozy position either. His left hand drapes over her thigh. His other arm wraps behind her neck, his fingers clutching the fabric at her shoulder and keeping her pressed against him.
Her hair is all over the place, and tufts of it scratch at his neck. 'A hurricane even while you're asleep,' he thinks, fondly. He lets go of her thigh so he can brush back her messy hair. She makes a cute little whistling sound when he smooths down the stray strands. Then she wriggles closer to him when he slides his hand back onto her thigh. His thumb runs over the smooth fabric unconsciously, until he realizes the pink cloth is all that separates his palm from her bare skin.
His hand freezes and his cheeks heat at the realization, and he yanks his eyes back from her leg, only to land on her neck.
Oh, that's a mistake.
The fabric of the kimono, without the obi, and with her slouched over him, has as slackened just enough to slip a bit on her shoulder. From his angle, he can see her collar bone peeking out. ("It'd be so easy to see more of her soft skin… using your hand that's already on her shoulder… just a little tug of your fingers would be enough," the voice cajoles. "She wouldn't ever have to know…")
'No. Shut up.'
Yoichi forces his eyes away from her neck, only for his gaze to land on her mouth. Her lips, slightly parted, still have the faintest red on them leftover from her shaved ice. The striker dazedly wonders if she tastes like the sugary syrup. It's true he's avoiding sweets, but he'd happily make an exception for her mouth…
He shakes his head, alarmed by his internal contemplations. 'What the hell am I even thinking? She'd be so freaked out if she could hear my thoughts right now.'
Well, maybe she wouldn't be offended by all of them.
'Girls like to be called pretty, right? And she is… she's so pretty and she's smart and I like her laugh and I want her to smile at me all the time and she's kind and she's warm and she-
("And she'll hate you forever when you leave her.")
The realization comes like a slow, heavy suffocation.
("She reeks of abandonment issues. And when you walk away you'll be stepping on the same landmine her mother did.")
'S-stop.' His heart beats loudly, but this time to the somber tune of a tolling bell
("Better take what you want now, or you'll never get the chance to have her again.")
'No. I can't just…' he shakes his head. 'I shouldn't kiss her if I know I can't stay.' He looks down, maps the features of her peaceful face with his eyes, and sears them into his memory. 'She's just...'
"Temporary." The word is nearly inaudible when it leaves his lips, and it tastes like bile.
"She is. But she's also a distraction that you keep refusing to ignore. So go ahead and kiss her. Kiss her until it bores you; you'll be able to leave her so easily once you scratch this annoying little itch. And then you can get back to what really matters. Hint, loverboy, it isn't her."
'I can't.'
"You can. It's easy, just press your mouth over hers."
Yoichi frowns. 'But she's asleep.'
The voice sounds almost amused. "And?"
'She can't say yes if she's asleep.'
"She can't say no either." The voice smiles. "And that's what you were really afraid of at the shrine, right? You were scared to try for a kiss because you were worried she'd turn you away. Well, she can't turn you away now."
'No… it would be wrong.'
"Strikers take what they want, remember? You want her, so take her."
'She's asleep. I can't just attack her.'
"Nothing so wicked as an attack. It'll just be a kiss, perfectly harmless." The voice croons. "Surely just a kiss would be fine, even gentlemanly. After all, even though she's left herself so vulnerable, you won't touch her, or anything more, even though you could – even though she's all but offered herself to you. She always acquiesces to everyone so easily, she won't mind if you just take an innocent little kiss."
'I... shouldn't… I…' Any remaining protests sputter out.
"After an entire night of denying yourself, surely just one taste is okay?" the voice coaxes, in an eerie echo of Reina's earlier words. "It'll be our little secret."
'I…' his heart races.
"She let Melissa kiss her after less than an hour. After how much time you've wasted on her, she owes you at least this."
'She didn't mind when Melissa did it… so... just a kiss… could be fine… I won't take anything more…' Powered by a dizzying desire so overwhelming he can't suppress it (he doesn't really want to, not anymore), his mouth slowly approaches hers. 'It's just a kiss…' he justifies to himself, his breath quickening in anticipation. His mind goes fuzzy and his gut clenches. 'She won't mind…'
His mouth is a hair's breadth from hers when, like a furious specter, a shadow roughly yanks him back.
Kunigami's stern voice reverberates in his brain, 'hero's don't do this.'
'What are you doing?' His dad's disappointed voice rings next, followed by his mom's fury. 'You know better than to try to hurt her like this. How could you?'
It's suddenly very loud in his head, very fast. Before he can make sense of the spinning in his mind, the girl in his arm stirs, likely because of the motion from when he abruptly pulled away.
All the voices but one fade.
("Guess you lost your chance, striker. Bet you'll regret it. Because once you abandon her, she won't ever let you touch her again.")
Reina blinks groggily. "Hmm, Isacchi?" Her sleepy voice is hoarse in a way that lights a traitorous flicker of interest low in the pit of his stomach. Her drowsy eyes struggle to focus on his face. She squints. "Are you… why are you so red?"
Yoichi's face flushes further. What the absolute fuck did he almost do?
"W-well, you're all over me." His voice cracks as he lies, and he swallows down the guilt.
Yoichi sees the moment his words and her position register in her head. Reina's eyes widen like saucers. She immediately tenses and then starts to pull away from him. But his grip tightens around her shoulder and thigh, preventing her from moving.
"It's f-fine. I d-didn't say you had to g-get off, stupid," he stutters. The hillside scene from the random Bollywood movie suddenly looks very interesting. "You can stay like this," he mutters, gut coiling tight with nerves.
There's a pause. He doesn't know what her reaction is, since he's refusing to look at her. 'Is she… is she going to say no and leave?'
"O-okay," she whispers as she nestles in closer, her grip on his yukata tightening.
His face heats further. "J-just for a bit," he stutters, eyes focused on the movie as his chest slams against his ribcage. 'Can she feel it beating against her palm?'
Reina nods against his chest. "Just for a bit," she agrees softly.
His grip on her tightens.
It's quiet for a few breaths, almost peaceful…
And then…
"You're too hard," she murmurs drowsily, mercilessly, "to make a good pillow."
'Does she realize what she's saying?' He internally groans.
"But you're warm so it's fine," she continues, sighing as she snuggles closer.
He feels her smile into his chest. For a moment, he wonders if maybe she was trying to embarrass him on purpose. 'If that's okay for her to do, then maybe it's okay for me to embarrass her back?'
Just a bit.
"You're cold," he tilts his head down to murmur against the shell of her ear, so closely that his mouth brushes against her skin as he speaks. He can feel his heart in his throat. "But you're soft, so it's fine," he breathes out, as his hand tightens its grip on her thigh, sliding just a touch higher than before.
A breathy little 'oh,' escapes her. His fingers dig in further. She lets out a quiet squeak as her face turns up to meet his. Dark, wide, wanting; her eyes don't look so drowsy anymore.
The moment feels charged, like something more is supposed to happen, like something more will happen…
But it doesn't.
They just stare until they fall asleep, both waiting for the other to close the distance.
If you are enjoying the story so far, please consider leaving a review if you can!
If you have any feedback or constructive criticism (especially re: chapter 1), I would also super appreciate it : )
Also, I did single instead of double spacing this chapter. Do you guys find the single or double spacing easier to read?
Asterisk Notes
* Engawa = edging strip of non-tatami-matted flooring in Japanese architecture, usually wood or bamboo.
* English class = I'm aware that most foreign countries that have English classes don't teach religion, but where I grew up, during English we had to learn the Bible, Greek mythology, etc. because it helped us find metaphors, understand imagery, etc. in "Classic" English novels (Shakespeare, etc.)
* Apparently Vijay is Isagi Yoichi's favourite actor according to his wiki page. No idea how that came about. This is my made-up explanation for it. Thuppakki is a pretty popular Vijay movie (per google) and I thought (given the detective angle explained on its wiki page) that it was something Isagi could have liked in canon.
Preview For Future Chapters
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Reina had not realized anyone had been listening. But when she steps out of the room, she sees Rin frozen in the hallway. Rin, who stares at her like she is the devil reborn.
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"So how was your night?" His dad asks lightly, smiling 'innocently.'
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She gives him a tender look that sets his neck on fire. "You're just kind and considerate like that."
("Tell her what you almost did to her last night. See if she calls you kind then.")
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This house will never welcome you… You're nothing but father's mistake, here.
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"Always playing victim, how lukewarm." Rin steps closer. "What? You really think you can hide behind a shithead like him?" He mocks.
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"Are you really that dense, Isagi? … Little Rin abandons little Reina. Little Reina gets a grudge that grows with her.….. One week later I find Reina clinging to you on our usual running route. Kind of convenient… Reina's smart and bored, Isagi; don't get caught up in her games."
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Kaiser has the type of condescending smirk that makes you seriously contemplate murder. Like actually look up the number of years you'd be sentenced for homicide just to see if it would be worth it. (It isn't, but only by the smallest margin.)... If there was an award for most smackable smirk, the German player would be a three-time recipient … smiling like Satan himself. Trying to unnerve her by testing her boundaries.
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"If you get to use me," he whispers into her neck, "I get to use you too."
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"Oh please, don't make me sick... You don't love him Reina." He sneers out the word, his distaste palpable. "You're just desperate for someone to love you. It's fucking pathetic and honestly embarrassing to watch… When he realizes that, he'll hate you… Do you really want that? Another person who wishes you never existed?"
Responses to reviewers
ErlanggSIOC - TYSM! I struggled for a bit to think of content (I literally watched a youtube video on games at summer festivals lol) so I'm glad it translated well. Hehehe it seems like I left you all hanging with Kira but I promise, Kira will be back! Sae more soon, Rin & Kaiser later. Yes of course I would love it! Lol me too! I'm using it as my hobby right now so we'll see how long I can keep going before I tap out. I have an outline in my head and there's one scene in NEL (and when they're adults) that I REALLY want to get to so hopefully I stay motivated. Reviews like yours always help with that so tysm :D
perseusdiangelo007 – I know it seemed like I copped out with Kira, but I promise, he will return and actually interact with Isagi!
Iron Sand - Yay I'm so glad! I was worried about how he'd come across so I'm glad it seemed realistic! Omg I know I had a blast writing him and his mom, there will be MUCH more Iyo embarassing Isagi because it's so much fun to write! DW Kira will return and we'll get an interacion between him, Reina, and Isagi! It'll just be after some Reina POV. I'm with you mostly in your interpretation of Kira & Isagi, which you saw this chap and you'll see when he comes back ;) I honestly was disappointed Kira never got brought back. I assumed he would be on the U20 team (before i had to flip back and realize he had been called up for the U18* team instead). I promise I didn't cop out of the reunion, it's coming a few chapters down the line!
BuzzBuzzBachira – Vote noted! I also thought it was Yo-chan at first, but then I went in the manga scenes with his parents and they actually spell it Yocchan!
Ashnnix – ikr like how can OC resist?;) The voice will be there for a bit before you meet him, can you guess who it is ;)?
AverEE – I don't take it negatively at all, I love feedback. You will definitely see more of her flaws/insecurities in her POV, promise! Remember, it's all been Isagi POV right now so it's biased ;) - her only 'flaws' from Isagi POV are her messiness, tendency to ramble when she's nervous, recklessness, passivity/inability to speak up for herself, and we very lightly touched on the whole abandonment issues thing. BUT I'll (hopefully) delve deeper into her flaws/insecurities during her POV to flesh her out more! Please keep letting me know if you feel she's too Mary Sue, I definitely will work on that!
Isagi loves thighs - Ahhh I love your reviews SO MUCH. Whenever I'm feeling low motivation I will literally go back and read them lol. This chapter is totally dedicated to you so I hope you liked all the thigh lol ;) Ikr even as I write it, I'm like, this dude is so dense my word. Kira will return! My lips are shut re German ;) I am so sad its ending soon too! Im assuming it'll get renewed for S2 because its so popular but we'll see!
102602 - tysm for your review
Guest - Vote noted lol i also love platonic isagi x all the other players : )
Sp8cefluff - omg ikr. ahh you're totally right but for plot purposes/my laziness let's apply a willing suspension of disbelief lol ;)
AnythingForGiorno - believe it or not the initial plan was slice of life / fluff with two big drama scenes, but I am (as you can see in my fic list) entirely encapable of writing fluff without angsty drama LOL. Ahh i totally agree! Kira WILL show up, but it will be after some Reina POVs. Jojo's on my to read list but I def got the death note reference ;) tysm!