Hiruma compiles on his phone list a set of contacts labeled "SaiRo" the winter after his second year, which he mass-texts every time Karin updates. It's a list of nearly all the players who make appearances in the series, and the players he knows are fans. Musashi seems more amused by it than anything else; he reminds Hiruma that it's been a while since they last went out for coffee, after the chapter Sai-Agon has a jealous explosion at Sai-Hiruma for spending too much time with the kicker of the Takekura Construction Babels.
SaiRo's popularity grows steadily among a certain sect of sports BL fandom as well as a good chunk of college girls; so much so that Sanzo and Karin start receiving in their message boxes demands for some sort of community where fans can gather. It's a little beyond Sanzo's abilities to set up a forum so he asks Hiruma instead.
He has to think it over for about two seconds, until the thought of Agon stumbling across whatever amateur hackjob message board Sanzo can cobble together makes the decision for him. He cuts a deal for 80% of the profit from the few ads running on the site; the rest goes back to maintenance. There are a few separate categories: introductions, update discussion, general discussion, fanworks.
This is how Hiruma finally begins to understand SR shipping culture.
It starts simple; portmanteaus like HiruAgon or MusaHiru, UnZo, A-Un, AKyu, IchiUn, they all make sense. A few days in, some numbers start popping up- 11, 240, 180, 24, 80- and it doesn't take Hiruma long to figure out that a few of the more pretentious message board members are multiplying jersey numbers to refer to their pairings. That system doesn't last long; there are too many combinations of numbers that could result in the same multiple and for all the ways this kind of dedication is a little disturbing, the gradual evolution of SaiRo's fanbase is interesting enough that Hiruma can't stop watching.
A guide goes up, compiled by a helpful fan in Sapporo (Sapporo!?). It's a list of the players on the top college and X-league teams that appear in SR, along with their jersey numbers. This causes a fundamental shift in the way the fanbase addresses players- HiruAgon becomes 0102, UnZo is colloquially referred to as 1220, and everyone knows that 0233 means AKyu and 4018 is ShinSaku and 4021 is ShinSena.
(It's a comedy goldmine; there's at least one very vocal 0112 shipper and fairly large 0212 base and Suzuna's handle is actually Cheerstar2012 which never fails to crack Hiruma up when he sees her name pop up- her posts are full of what are you talking about? of course 20chan is the seme, he'll teach 12nii romance and take good care of him~ ＼(｀0´)／ 12nii is clueless about this kind of thing!
He always links Unsui discussion threads dominated by 12 fans, because many of them are truly hysterical, but most of the time he doesn't get a reply.)
Karin formally asks Unsui for permission to attend Fires practices (in addition to games) at the beginning of his junior year, her sophomore. For real research, and she has the e-mail from her editor to prove it so Unsui agrees on the condition that she doesn't interfere with drills or leak their plays.
(He says nothing about SaiRo, though, because it brings attention and attendance to their games, which results in sponsors and better funding, which is something he has to worry about because their coach actually knows nothing about college sports. Unsui decides that he might as well put that finance and law double-major to good use.)
SR turns its focus on the Fires that year, starts getting into the mechanics of football and the game chapters become more detailed and elaborate as Karin gains more confidence in her sports-drawing. Unsui's accommodating with regard to letting her have free run of the field during practices and he gets her press passes for games in exchange for taking video.
Sena and Shin's rivalry continues to rage that year too and their intense showdowns draw a big chunk to add to SaiRo's fanbase. Karin's as much a football player as anyone else so she covers it seriously (though she can't resist slipping in some 4021 and 4018 subtext; it's in her blood).
Saikyo still features, so there's plenty of 0240 too. Unsui figures it's better than 0212 so now that he's got access to Karin, he might have possibly talked up how much attention Agon focused on Shin in high school and still does in college. (Just an offhand When Agon was talking about Shin last night here and I don't think I've ever seen my brother look at someone like that there, Agon's pretty excited for the match against Ohjo, he always likes clashing with Shin. Anyone who thinks he's above being underhanded doesn't know him very well.)
Shin doesn't help, either. Every time he's interviewed, he says things like, My clashes with Eyeshield 21 are enjoyable for me as well, and Given another chance, I would like to play alongside Kongo Agon; our defensive styles are compatible. The quiet squeals of delight from the spectator seats within earshot seem to fly right over his head.
If anyone asks, Unsui's only ever vaguely heard of a series called SaiRo but it sounds interesting and sure, maybe he'll check it out sometime.
Unsui's taken to turning off his phone. It's not that he doesn't like receiving text from Hiruma, because the other quarterback is almost always interesting conversation, but he gets spammed with SaiRo quotes whenever it updates and he just knows Hiruma's cackling on the other end.
It's when the other quarterback starts texting Sena instead, ordering him to read the lines out loud to Unsui (which he does, with profuse apologies), that he decides to step in.
「fine, i'm back. stop harassing my RB.」
Unsui rereads the message after he sends it, which is also when he finally processes what he actually wrote. Any normal human being would read that sentence innocently, but he's dealing with Hiruma, of all people, and Hiruma's been dealing with Saikyo Romance for about a year by that point. (Then again, so has Unsui and the damage has already been done. All he can do is contain it.)
Hiruma feels the need to inform him, 「forwarded that to koizumi」 and Unsui replies 「i figured」 before he sets the volume to silent instead.
The next two weeks are a brief period in which Karin posts some very cute art of Sena and him doing adorable things like eating sundae out of the same cup and falling asleep on each other's shoulders. He keeps expecting an illustration of himself nudging a meatball to Sena across a plate with his nose, but it never actually comes and her interest thankfully wanes (there's a severe lack of tragedy in this 'ship).
The result of having plenty of screentime in SaiRo but very little romantic subplot (after all, Kakei's in America and Julie finally said 'you know, let's give it a shot' and Akaba and Yamato's friendship really blossomed at the end of Yamato's freshman year) is two very dedicated fans who would like to turn everyone else into the same.
Kotaro, while an idiot, has little trouble keeping Saikyo Romance a secret from people who have the ability and inclination to very easily snap his neck (he just avoids Agon). Mizumachi has no such compunctions and has since the World Cup frequently acted as Agon's punching bag- the abuse just doesn't faze him, which Unsui knows is just as frustrating for Agon as it is painful for anyone watching.
Mizumachi's taken to joining Unsui on his morning runs in addition to laps during official practice time, which he does around Enma's campus now (the rest of the team joins them once or twice a week, depending on when they arrive). He occasionally shows up with bruises on his face or a fresh black eye, usually mornings after they have a practice game against Saikyo.
Unsui doesn't know why Mizumachi insists on aggravating Agon- nothing good can ever really come out of acting as his twin's Cupid of Friendship. It takes him a while, but he figures it out like this.
Things Unsui knows about Mizumachi Kengo: Kakei Shun's best friend; excellent linebacker; really bad at math; extremely social; 'genius of hard work'; has an intense workout regimen; swimming champ who made his debut with Kyoshin before disappearing just as abruptly after his team deserted him.
'Agon is probably lonely' isn't an idea that's new to Unsui- his brother doesn't have the patience to wait for people to catch up to him, but maybe going to Saikyo's eased that burden a bit. He comes alive when he's in the company of fellow superhumans, and rivalry is a kind of camaraderie, too. (Unsui's happy for him, even though that monster team is his biggest obstacle on his path to the Rice Bowl.)
He extrapolates that to Genius is probably a lonely title to hold, which leads to a moment in which Unsui mentally smacks himself on the forehead and thinks, Oh.
He has to replace his stock of cold patches and ice packs and sprays more frequently than ever now that Mizumachi's taken it upon himself to introduce Agon to True Friendship. Unsui doubts he'll ever really succeed, but he gives up on trying to stop him, because Agon could really stand to have a few more people in his life who will relentlessly irritate him.
(Sai-Mizumachi's appearances steadily increase, however, and he seems to spend most of his time trying to hook his teammates up. With each other, and with their rivals on other teams, and he says things like "Friendship is great! Love is even better!"
Actual Mizumachi predictably has a lot of fun with it, and spends moments in practice he's not doggedly practicing technique to chatter at Karin about her ideas, offering anecdotes like the time Ikkyu dropped by to give Unsui his birthday present and wouldn't meet his eyes and blushed the whole time, or that day Sena caught a flu and showed up to practice anyway with a face mask and his uniform on and Unsui yelled at him for being careless with his own health before Monta could. And then he asked Riku to take him to the nurse's office. Unsui's scary when he's angry and Ikkyu has a massive crush on him, is the message Karin assumes Mizumachi's trying to convey.)
「update」
Unsui gets the text in his inbox and he already feels a headache building at the base of his skull. A big story arc had just begun, and it seems to be shaping up to be about him and Agon, and he doesn't doubt that this update would be too. It's contrived and silly and fueled by Communication Issues (which, okay, Unsui can admit he and Agon have in epic, steaming spades) and he'll never see the appeal of these stories, but they're almost distressingly popular. He had assumed that 0240 would take longer to wrap up, but Karin seems to be partial to 0212 when 0102 isn't happening.
Ikkyu, for once, manages to pre-empt Hiruma, who likes to quote updates at him, and Suzuna, who likes to talk to him as if he hasn't lost any and all control over his life and the things that happen in SaiRo.
「unsuisan, i think your storys going in an onitragic direction」
「stay here /」
「uu-nii don't do that, you'll get sick too! (´Д` ) what about sanchan!」
He doesn't usually get this flood of text messages and Ikkyu's fills him with an uncomfortably intense mix of paranoia and uneasy anticipation. He has a reputation to keep up (the careful, observant quarterback of the Enma Fires can't just ignore something that could leave lasting repercussions on his team and his friends) so Unsui pulls the most recent update up in literature class on his phone, from where he settles near the back of the room.
Agon hadn't brought an umbrella or a jacket- and then he'd gone to Tokyo, taking an air-conditioned train in nothing but his wet sleeveless tee and khaki shorts. Of course he'd get sick. It would be strange if he didn't. What Unsui didn't expect was for Agon to have a splitting headache when he'd gone to pick his twin up at the train station at the crack of dawn, a raging fever the whole way home, and by the time he'd been tucked (wrestled) back into bed, Unsui was almost as tired as his twin.
He didn't hesitate when he made the decision to skip class and keep an eye on his brother. Unsui called the doctor promptly while he set a cup of water on the table by Agon's bed, then left and came back a few minutes later with a bottle of some painkillers. He'd only used them sparingly when he sprained his shoulder during practice in his first year on the Fires, so the little plastic container was still mostly full.
Brows furrowed in pain, teeth clenched against the pounding against the inside of his skull, Agon looked even more dangerous asleep than he usually does awake, but Unsui gamely (and gently) shook him by the shoulder until his brother pushed himself up on his elbows and blinked up at him. Unsui pressed two capsules of acetaminophen into Agon's hand and waited for him to pop them into his mouth before holding the glass of water up to his lips.
Agon muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'I didn't need you to bring me this shit,' and fell back onto the futon, eyes slipping shut again. Unsui pulled the comforter up over his twin's shoulders, brushed Agon's dreadlocks out of his face and ran a cool, damp washcloth over his forehead.
It didn't take long for the painkillers to take effect and the crease between Agon's brows smoothed significantly in that short time- or maybe it was Unsui's presence that did it. Whatever it was, Unsui settled himself on the edge of his brother's futon, gingerly pulled his feet up and folded his hands in his lap.
Shortly after (half an hour at most), something tugging on his wrist drew his attention and Unsui snapped out of his meditation.
"Water," Agon rasped, and only growled quietly when his brother pulled him up to sit, shoulders braced against his. Unsui brushed Agon's dreads out of the way after he finished drinking and leaned in to press their foreheads together, frowning at the heat radiating from his skin.
"How do you feel?"
If anyone asked, Agon would blame it on the fever later but he leaned closer and exhaled sharply, warm breath rushing over his twin's lips even as Unsui stilled and tensed, "How the hell do you think I feel?"
"Go back to sleep," he replied after a long second, expression softening as he stood up. "If your fever doesn't break soon, I'll call the doctor and ask him to bump your appointment up."
Agon complied, sort of. He flopped back down, curling into the already-warm space he had occupied earlier. When Unsui turned to leave, he dealt a sharp chop to the back of his brother's knee and grabbed his wrist when it came within range.
"Agon," Unsui snapped, "what do you think you're-"
He was cut off as Agon dragged him forward and then under the blanket, immediately repositioning the captured arm into an ideal position for use as a pillow. Unsui briefly considered struggling, but Agon was already out (no one with his personality should be allowed to look that peaceful asleep), and Fires practice could go on without him, once in a while, so he settled in, one arm thrown over Agon's shoulders.
Unsui reads through most of the update with the impassive expression of someone who's resigned himself to the fact that he's a character in a BL webcomic and he has his head in his hands by the time he reaches an illustration of him and Agon gazing adoringly into each other's eyes.
He closes the tab before he can bring himself to read the rest of it, and then out of morbid curiosity pulls it back up when he gets on the train back to the apartment. Things that don't actually happen on those rare occasions Agon gets sick: everything that just happened in SaiRo. Unsui isn't crazy enough to put his face so close to his brother's when he's disease-ridden, for one thing; he can't afford to miss practice. (Agon is also far less pleasant when ill than Sanzo seems to believe he is; if he's sleeping instead of whining for better food and more entertainment, then the situation calls for more drastic measures than just acetaminophen and a cool washcloth.)
There's a part of him that wonders how Karin could have known that he'd hurt his arm in freshman year, though Sanzo might have told her. And how Sanzo managed to remember something as minor as a sprain and his painkiller habits will always be a mystery to him.
(In addition to that, how anyone knew that he'd skipped class to stay with Agon that time his brother caught a nasty cold is something Unsui doesn't particularly want to think about.)
Agon's phone goes off when he's got a cute blonde 'librarian type' in his lap trying to separate him from his pants. She stops and looks at him curiously, then opens her mouth in preparation for a round of questioning. He growls low under his breath and unhooks her bra to prompt her to get back to work, but she shifts away and retrieves his phone.
She flashes him the screen, where a picture of the back of Unsui's bald head and 'Unko-chan' flash on the screen. "Agon-kun," she says, "isn't this your brother?"
"When the hell did you meet my brother?" he asks, snatching it out of her hand and hanging up.
"I saw the two of you on the train a few weeks ago," she says, and then pouts, "remember?"
Agon, not for the first time, takes a moment to regret the fact that Unsui'd picked a university in Tokyo. Ever since Unsui had moved to city, the bitches had started to text him with 'Agon-kun, guess who I just ran into!' and 'Agon-kun, your brother is so cute~' and 'Agon-kun, why didn't you tell me you had a twin, I think I scared him when I jumped on him' and 'Unsui-kun just thanked me for looking after you... ah, what a sweetheart.'
Sweetheart his ass, more like the most embarrassing fucking sibling in the goddamn world. Though Agon's sure he would've harassed his brother into moving with him anyway if he'd tried to stay in Kanagawa (it's always easier to live with Unsui than to have to find a shitty roommate).
He gets a text message a few seconds later. "Yeah, yeah. Idiot brother wants me to take a jacket with me tomorrow. Fucking annoying."
"He just doesn't want you to catch a cold," she says, settling back into his lap, hands reaching up to tangle in his dreads, "it must be nice to have a brother who cares about you so much."
"Yeah, well maybe if he wasn't such a nag."
"It'd be nice to meet him properly sometime. Agon-kun, you should introduce him to me~"
There's an undercurrent in her voice that Agon can't quite place, something between curiosity and excitement. He's thinking about investigating it a little further but then she unbuckles his belt and he decides that they can cover that ground later when they don't have more pressing matters to attend to. He keeps his voice neutral and light, but doesn't bother to hide the warning tone. "Hey now Ako-chan, are you here for me or my brother? Anezaki didn't say baldies were your type."
"Obviously you..."
"Let's not talk about Unko-chan then, okay?"
Later that night; 'Discussion Characters'
OKA 「i really want to see more 0212wwwwwww they are really cute」
CheerStar2012 「but everything's been about them lately! (( _ _ ))..zzzZZ and 2012 hasn't updated in a week...」
OKA 「but there's something about brothers don't you think? i bet 12 reminds 02 all the time when it's going to rain now. it would be hard on both of them to repeat that arc... and they have a big game coming up! i don't know who to root for.」
CheerStar2012 「i don't know why you like 0212 so much o金e, weren't you just reading for the games?」
OKA 「it's true i like the shonen element most, but their texts are so cute...」
dragonfly 「you can read their texts!? share, please!」
OKA 「well i can't really get to them anytime... but in my experience, i can tell you SR pretty much gets it right! one of my best friends is the wizards manager, she says it's close too.」
Masa「oh, i'm really jealous...! i can't even come to games from osaka, i have to watch online」
OKA 「magikkun has all the games streamed and recorded so we're pretty lucky, don't you think?」
Masa「yes! magic is the best moderator o(^▽^)o i wish we knew who he was...」
Yamato unironically enjoys SaiRo- partly because it's Karin's project but mostly because despite its subject matter (his teammates falling rampantly in love with each other), it's still a well-written story. Besides, it's never a bad time to learn more about his opponents and team. The difficult part is getting Taka to give it a try, which the receiver has staunchly refused to do, even though Sai-Taka almost never gets himself into truly embarrassing Situations.
Boring classes are ideal for prodding his teammate, so Yamato spends most of math and physics texting in the back, phone set permanently on vibrate.
「taka, update」
「Yamato, I don't care.」
「you should read it」
「you're in it」
He takes this time to copy the link to the most recent update, another Saikyo-Enma game rife with heated exchanges and hotblooded speeches. (It's no surprise to Yamato that SaiRo is popular with boys who like sports shonen; he assumes they just skim past the romantic parts.)
「That doesn't make me want to read it.」
「but taka it's great」
「Stop.」
「SERIOUSLY!」
Yamato is only vaguely aware of the fact that he's making weird expressions at his phone in the middle of class, but his memory is good enough that the teacher really can't call him on not paying attention. Memorizing a few equations is small beans compared to the complexity of defensive and offensive formations.
「Yamato, no.」
「i think you'd like it」
「I think you're wrong.」
「but montakun is in it too」
「...」
「does this mean you're reading it」
「No, it means I'm not replying to you anymore.」
「taka!」
「taka?」
「oh come on, taka」
「it's great」
「you say cool things like 'if enma is the opponent, then i won't hold back either'」
True to his word, Yamato's phone stops going off and he's learned many lessons in America, including things like Persistence Is Key and The Squeaky Wheel Gets The Grease, so he decides to be the squeaky wheel. Perfect fusion of east and west; a taste of America in Japan.
「karin's getting much better at action scenes too」
「i should tell her that」
「ok done」
「don't you want to see how the qb you scouted is doing now?」
「(shes doing ok)」
「taka」
「taka you win against montakun this time」
「sorry that was a lie, you actually lose」
「and agonshi turned into a purple hippo」
「it was great」
「sorry, that was a lie too」
「Yamato, I'm turning off my phone.」
Yamato frowns at his phone, already resigned to the fact that Taka's about to ignore him in earnest, but he sends a last flurry of texts for the receiver to find when he turns his phone back on anyway.
「spoilsport」
「taka?」
「you were serious?」
「fine but you're missing out」
Sanzo and Karin agree on just about everything; their first point of contention arises when Sanzo says that he thinks Unsui-kun and Ikkyu-kun would be terribly cute together, but Karin insists that it's because he likes both of them (which is true, but it's not the only reason, by any means) and that he just doesn't want to insert himself into the comic enough to be conspicuous (which is also true, and definitely most of the reason: but isn't it only natural for him to want to pair his two favorite characters?)
He texts Suzuna instead, who always seems to understand how he feels about Unsui and who he knows is a big fan of the Nagas.
「 (´ω｀ ) what does suzunachan think about unsuikun and ikkyukun?」
「yaa... i dont know. uunii mostly talks about agonne but 9kun texts him a lot too! ( ⌒o⌒)人(⌒-⌒ )v」
It's not quite the answer he's looking for, but Sanzo doesn't give up; Shinryuuji's football training is brutal on the best of days and he didn't stick that out for so long only to give up in the face of Suzuna-chan's ship myopia. Ichi-Un is perfectly valid and 3312 is adorable (he really can't picture Unsui taking the lead in a relationship, the poor boy is so repressed).
「you should have seen them at shinryuuji! (✿ ‿ )」
「agonkun only ever acknowledged unsuikun and ikkyukun」
「and they played so well together! and unsuikun would always make sure ikkyukun would be drinking enough water」
「(● ∀ ) and ikkyukun was always looking at unsuikun at the beginning of a play even if he was on the bench for defense...!」
「that sounds really complicated ( ・◇・)？ sanchan... 」
「but they're really cute together right? (ﾉﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ」
「uunii and 9kun are cute but uunii is only allowed to belong to sanchan! o(｀ω´*)o 9kun can too!」
The feeling of warmth and affection for Suzuna that washes over Sanzo puts his conflict with Karin completely out of his mind. The fact that someone out there supports his uphill battle touches him to his very core (after all, if Unsui has an OTP, it would be himself/football and Sanzo has never seen him flustered by any girl or boy, seemingly oblivious even to the most obvious come-ons from Agon's girlfriends and Shinryuuji underclassmen in his third year).
It's with happy tears in his eyes that he replies.
「 (*´∀｀*)人(*´∀｀*) suzunachan is the best after all」
Karin draws most of the games, because it's not something Sanzo's particularly interested in (it's enough for him to play in them) and it's great material for her portfolio. Unsui and Hiruma both provide her with game videos for reference (high school games for the series she's actually getting paid for, too), but they don't share with each other.
Ikkyu and Monta, who are always well-represented as the ace cornerback and receiver of their respective teams, have kept up their correspondence from high school well into college, so naturally SaiRo comes up as a topic of conversation. Ikkyu takes his lusting-after-Kongo-twins cameos fairly well (Ah, it's okay... Agon-san and Unsui-san are oni amazing after all...) and Monta's mostly Sena's sidekick, except for catching showdowns during game chapters (I'm okay with that MAX!).
Talking about SR tends to morph into talking about their teams and the strange parallels that seem to crop up between real life and webfiction; Monta would feel guilty about texting during class but he wouldn't have understood most of it even if he were listening.
Besides, Unsui's tapped Riku to tutor the second years, and Ikkyu only ever replies this quickly when he's in his literature class, too.
「oni great catch on p4! you'd better not let down your guard for practice next week against us wizards either! Ｏ( ｀_´)乂(｀_´ )Ｏ」
「this nagas arc is pretty interesting too, ikkyusenpai... ⊂((・x・))⊃ have you seen unsuisan lately? he looks tired max! just like in the update!」
「is he okay? agonsan is the same as usual at practice, so you can tell him not to worry」
It's common knowledge that Unsui's circle of concern doesn't extend very far, and if he were being honest Ikkyu would have liked to be on the same team as the rest of the Nagas, but having his friends on rival teams is fun too. Spirit of sportsmanship, and all.
「even if i say it...」
「it's probably just the fall tournament (´･_･`) he gets oni stressed about that kind of thing... take good care of him! if unsuisan gets sick, agonsan will be even scarier than usual...!」
「he didn't seem worried about it at all but i guess it's really up to us, isn't it ikkyusenpai. KATSU MAX」
「this is a serious responsibility, so don't slack! shishihakuto!」
「(￣^￣)ゞ everyone has to be at their best when we meet in the finals! i'll tell sena too」
Riku's the one who ends up forcing Unsui to take a break from practice, with backup from the formerly-Deimon offensive backs. The three of them bar the door between locker room and field (all it would really take is Kurita, but he's already started his laps) and when Unsui tries to weave around them, they form a solid line. When the quarterback tries to break through anyway, they manage to rebuff him, knowing he'd never actually bowl them over to get them out of the way (Unsui is strong but he's not a lineman and more than that, he's too nice to tackle someone outside of a game).
Karin watches the entire exchange with Mizumachi, who had excitedly informed her that the Enma Shorties are collectively up to something and she should watch- he's definitely going to.
"Riku," Unsui finally sighs, backing up to sit on the bench, "what's the point of this?"
"If you have to ask," Riku says sternly, "then you really do need a break, Unsui-san."
(Riku/Unsui, Karin thinks, but quickly shoves it out of her mind. SaiRo's headed in a precarious direction already and she can't use any pairing that catches her eye just like that.)
There's a flash of Agon in the manner Unsui's eyes narrow, features not at all tempered by a layer of iridescent glass the way his brother's are.
Riku doesn't retreat but he does impatiently check his watch when Unsui stands up and approaches, towering over him, his strides long, bearing overflowing with the aggressive confidence that's usually more characteristic of his twin. Karin has no idea whether it's his natural state just now coming to the surface or if it's body language the quarterback employs intentionally after observing Agon (she assumes the latter), but it is effective enough to drive Sena and Monta a hurried step back.
"If you're going to insist on this," he says, voice painfully even, "I think I deserve an explanation."
A voice cuts into the conversation before either he or Riku have a chance to react, and Ikkyu comes bounding up, slapping Monta's upraised hand as he barrels into the locker room. "Unsui-san!"
Dark Unsui persona abruptly shattered, he turns a mildly betrayed look to Riku before addressing Ikkyu. "What are you doing here?"
"Unsui-san, you look terrible," is how the cornerback starts his lecture. "You're all pale and you're definitely not getting enough sleep and I know you've just been eating takeout lately, okay, Agon-san's complaining about how you haven't been cooking at all. It's 'cause you're spending all your time at the gym, isn't it?"
"I'm fine-"
"You're always telling the underclassmen not to overwork themselves 'cause they're just gonna degrade their conditions, Unsui-san, but you oni don't listen to your own advice at all!"
"I'm not-"
Sena leans over to whisper to Monta, "You called Ikkyu-senpai?"
"Yeah, Riku told me to. It's working, right?" Monta's mouth curls up into a victorious grin. "I've never seen Ikkyu-senpai like this, he's usually just yelling at me not to slack off MAX..."
"Though I feel a bit bad for Unsui-san..."
Riku snorts. "Don't, Sena. He had it coming. Let's get back to practice."
The three of them trek out of the locker room, leaving their captain to Ikkyu's wrath, but Mizumachi and Karin take this time to sidle closer and get a better look. By the time Ikkyu's finished his initial tirade, Unsui's already back on the bench, legs on either side of it, leaning back on his hands while he waits patiently for Ikkyu to take a breath.
When he finally does, Unsui tugs him by the wrists to sit down in front of him, which he reluctantly does.
"Are you done, Ikkyu?"
"No, but whatever you have to say you better say it now, Unsui-san, you're still in for an earful."
"I'll be fine."
"Unsui-san-"
"I know my own condition better than anyone, alright? I'll rest up a few days before the match, promise." The grim determination in Unsui's eyes seems to fit on his face the way a well-worn pair of gloves or cleats would over his hands and feet, voice steady and reassuring, like he's trying not to set off a cornered animal. "If you're worried that I won't be at my peak against Saikyo in the semifinals, don't be."
"I was," Ikkyu grudgingly admits, "and if you go down against the Doctor Fishes, I'm not gonna forgive you, Unsui-san."
Unsui doesn't smile often, Karin thinks, but when he does, he always looks like he's holding something back. It's another one of those, mild and a little sad, but he reaches out and squeezes Ikkyu's shoulder, waiting for him to look up before he says, "Thanks, for worrying about me. I appreciate it, Ikkyu, but don't."
"Well... just for today then, Unsui-san, I came all the way out here, so let's get dinner together." He adds with a sly grin, looks towards the field where Riku is drilling Sena and Monta, "That guy won't let you back on the field today anyway."
Karin whips out her phone and punches in Sanzo's number with practiced speed.
「okay, i'm convinced.」
Sanzo gets his way when a lull in the story calls for some outside interference. Hiruma and Agon are busy with (trying to sabotage) each other (in between long bouts of alternating vitriol and UST) and he tries to keep himself out of the main continuity so canon Unsui is up for grabs. Karin had been thoroughly convinced by the 3312 showing a few days ago; it's the perfect opportunity.
(Canon Sanzo is studying in Kyoto; his relationship with Unsui is temporarily put on hold after a bittersweet parting, wherein they both acknowledged the possibility of finding someone else, but they're both pragmatic enough to know that a long-distance correspondence would only lead to more pain for them both. It was tragiromantic.)
"Unsui-san," Ikkyu said, reaching for Unsui's hand and grabbing a hold of it in front of his door, "I'm going for a first down now, is that okay?"
"You what?" Unsui asked, but before he could process it, Ikkyu had pushed himself up on his tiptoes and pulled the taller boy into a quick, light kiss. After a few seconds, during which Ikkyu stared at his shoes and chewed on his lip, Unsui said, "Oh."
"Unsui-sa- mmph!?"
"Aa, sorry. Interception." Unsui's face flushed as he pulled away completely after returning the favor, but a small smile still snuck onto his face, only a few centimeters from Ikkyu's. "The offense switched."
"U-Unsui-san-!
"Oh my god," Goku says, banging his hand against the table in the dorm he shares with Hakkai and Gojyo, "oh my god, you guys, come here."
Gojyo rolls out of his bed, away from his laptop to look over the other lineman's shoulder. "What happened? Did you see something cool?"
"Holy shit," Hakkai says, "that's Ikkyu."
"And Unsui!"
"Oh man!" Gojyo crows, "Oh man, they would make lame football puns at each other."
"Someone text Yamabushi-senpai, he has to see this!"
When Ikkyu finally checks his phone after practice, his inbox is almost full. He doesn't hear from the Saiyuki Trio very often anymore, but when he does it's usually all of them at once and he reads the first few lines of several texts (「yeah loverboy, go get him!」 「u-u-u-unsuisan!」「INTERCEPTION」「wow you really need to work on your defense」「and offense」「and pickup lines」) before he clears them all in one fell swoop.
He doesn't text Unsui about it and the other boy very tactfully doesn't bring the update into conversation either, skillfully steering them away from any topics that can lead to Karin and Sanzo and any sort of romance, Saikyo or not. It's impressive the way an artist is, when they've clearly been dedicated to their craft for several long decades.
Agon finds out about Saikyo Romance minutes before the beginning of the Rice Bowl. Ikkyu's reading the most recent update on his phone in the locker room, casually skimming it just to stay updated, when Agon looms up silently behind him, no warning, reading over his shoulder.
And because Ikkyu's life is actually just a series of one unfortunate event after another, the first page Agon sees has Agon on it; the second page he sees has Hiruma on it, and the third page he sees has him pinning Hiruma up against a locker and sticking a hand up his shirt.
The locker Ikkyu's sitting in front of, which he had thought was interesting and kind of a funny coincidence up until the very moment Agon's low, dangerous, What the fuck is this? has him jumping about three feet in the air, sending his phone flipping in a graceful arc over his head. He meets Agon's eyes and the words Aerial Catch Expert VS Godspeed Impulse marquee across the back of his mind, but Aerial Catch Expert trumps reaction time in a catching battle so he reclaims the phone without any bloodshed.
It's when he's back on the ground that Ikkyu realizes he probably should have let Agon have it but he hangs on stubbornly, until Hiruma walks into the locker room to see Agon twisting his arm behind his back and liberating his phone just long enough to scan the page and memorize the URL.
"Agon-san, I can explain!"
Hiruma switches gears into damage control mode with the speed and grace of a pro racecar driver. He snaps loudly, "Have your breakdown after the game, fucking dreads, the fucking old man is asking us to crush him."
Agon seems to weigh that in his mind (break legs or win a football tournament? the answer is only obvious to people who enjoy football more than they like breaking legs), decides in the end that he can catch up anytime and the more pressing matter involves stomping some trash into the dirt, even if the sight of Hiruma's face makes him want to smash things. "Aah? Why would I have a breakdown over this dumb shit, you piece of trash?"
Ikkyu mouths I owe you one to Hiruma when Agon turns his back to shrug into his shoulderpads and jersey.
When he finally catches up (after a hard-won Rice Bowl, a few bruised ribs from that gorilla trash and a victory lunch party), the only person unlucky enough to be within reach is Unsui. Because they live together. Which the older twin is really starting to regret.
"I'm gonna kill those shitty pieces of trash," Agon says through clenched teeth, voice oddly calm.
Eye of the storm, Unsui thinks as he stacks the plates they used for dinner and shuttles them to the sink, but what he says is, "It's harmless, Agon. Ignore it."
"Yeah Unko," he answers with a sneer, "that's exactly what I'm gonna do to the pieces of trash who're writing this shit about me. Ignore them."
"It's Koizumi Karin," Unsui says patiently, and Agon's seen enough of her (probably too much of her) in the last year and a half to really want to smash her face in, though he does briefly consider breaking her arms.
There's another long silence where Agon's turning that over in his mind; he knows it's a two-man project, and he's already narrowed the suspects down, so it's just a matter of locating Sanzo, really. Agon's quicker so he reaches his brother's phone first, but Unsui's weapon was never his speed and Agon's not stupid. "If you kill Sanzo, what are your chances with Koizumi? Pretty close to zero."
"Well they're not zero now, are they Unko-chan?"
"Oh." His expression is innocently surprised, a quirked eyebrow that makes Agon's hackles rise, and Unsui says with a calculated sort of offhandedness, "You have been spending a lot of time around Hiruma, haven't you?"
"Don't compare me to that trash."
Agon calms down when he finds the UnZo section (really more SanSui these days). There's a weird sort of respect mixed with the disgust in his expression when he's done reading it, which Unsui's really not sure how he should take. "Hey Unko," he says in a call to Unsui in the middle of class, which he had to duck out to answer, "when's the next time that homo trash is coming around?"
"If I tell you, are you going to ambush him?"
"No, I'm not gonna interrupt your fucking date."
Unsui winces, but it's better than hearing 'yeah, I'm going to kill our former teammate while you're out shopping for football supplies, you'll just turn around and poof, dead baldie trash' so he lets it slide. "Next week. He says he needs help picking out new cleats for his team."
He gets a silence that says he's missing something important, probably, but his twin has better things to do than to tell him what it is, and Agon asks instead, "Koizumi coming out too?"
"If she has time."
"I'll make time," Agon says easily, as if that's just another thing he can bend to his will.
"Takeout for dinner," Unsui sighs into the receiver, right before he hangs up.
How did things turn out like this? is the thought that keeps running through Unsui's mind as he pokes at a plate of chicken curry and rice. He couldn't resist buying a new set of wristbands (specially woven to wick away sweat, dry quickly and cool down in the process) at the sports store while he waited for Sanzo to place an order, and Agon and Karin had split off to check out an art shop, though they'd all met back up for lunch.
Agon hasn't surprised Unsui in a long time but he's oddly well-versed in classic and contemporary art, which definitely throws him for a loop. Expression attentive, Juliets perched on top of his head, he switches topics from football, back to art, Karin's classes, the news- their conversation flows fast and easy the way it never does with any of his teammates, but Unsui can see the sheen of insincerity even if it's probably hidden from everyone else at the table.
He sounds refined, friendly, interested, and Unsui knows that it's not really a 'face' per se, because Agon is and can be all of those things, but usually not without an ulterior motive.
Unsui also can't take his eyes off a half-grain of rice that had decided to stick itself to the collar of Agon's fitted gray shirt, tiny smear of curry on his bottom lip, and it's weird because his brother isn't a messy eater.
Careless, sure, but Unsui can remember plenty of times he's picked at a stain on his own uniform from dripping sauce and then looked over to Agon, clothing pristine even after a particularly messy meal. And maybe he's just been reading too much SaiRo but Unsui hasn't been able to dispel the thought that their entire day excursion has been kind of like a double date and he probably shouldn't add more fuel to the potential love quadrangle fire, but-
"Agon," he says at last, picking the grain of rice off Agon's shirt and taking a napkin to his face, acutely aware of their tablemates' starry eyes as he hisses, "you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
"Don't fucking ruin this for me," he mutters back into Unsui's ear as he leans in to rub his hand over the top of his head. And then he says out loud, "Aah, what are you, my mom?"
Sanzo turns his face to the side to hide his expression, but Unsui sees his hand rise to clutch his chest over his heart. Karin's more discreet, hiding a smile behind her milkshake, face downturned but gaze tilted up to watch, drinking in every detail.
Unsui, as a rule, tries not to think uncharitable thoughts about his brother, but If someone kicked him in the head right now, I would probably shake their hand bubbles to the surface of his mind before he can suppress it.
Agon's thing with Karin does whatever the opposite of 'working out' is. He likes his girls easy and fast and she's anything but- the challenge is fun once in a while, but not when the target thinks he should be making out with that trash Hiruma even after he's expended the effort of trying to convince her that she'd be much better off going out with him, fucking christ.
part one