Disclaimer: I own none of the original characters nor plot of Blue Lock.
Warnings: cursing, abusive parents, allusions to strangulation/noncon (but nothing explicit)
UPDATED TIMELINE
Pre-high school
- Reina (6) moves to Japan; Yoichi Isagi (7) gets rejected by a Tokyo J Youth team
- Reo (12) and Reina (11) meet
High school (Isagi's second year)
End of August:
-Isagi POV: Saitama Prefectural Final
-Reina POV: Annual Social Event between Hakuho (kf business; Reo and Nagi's school), IMS (kf Social Studies/Law and Soccer; the school Reina attended for a month before transferring; the school Rin currently attends), Shibuya Academy (kf math; the school Reina currently attends at their girls-only campus.) To clarify, Reo/Nagi & Reina do NOT go to the same school, but these three elite schools (Tokyo Trifecta) have a social event once a year for their students to network.
Early September: Blue Lock starts, cannon happens up until the U-20 game.
Mid-late November: U-20 game.
Late November (2 week break from Blue Lock between U20 game and NEL):
Day 1 – Boys freed from Blue Lock. Itoshi "family dinner" where Reina says Sae praised Isagi's performance in front of Rin.
Day 2 – BLE & U20 bowling in Shibuya. Isagi meets Reina (Rin & Sae's half-sister) and Megumi-san (barista)
Day 3 – Isagi (17) and Reina (16) meet up for a second cup of coffee, Iyo (his mom) helps him with laundry, Yoichi and Issei (his dad) have a mini-heart to heart.
Day 4 – Reina's late to the duo's third meeting because of an interview, Isagi asks Bachira/Nagi/Chigiri for some girl advice. Iyo gets more curious about his 'new friend'
Day 5 – YCA volunteering (Mei the cutie-pie introduced), on his way walking Reina back home they encounter Reo (17).
Day 6 – Reina and Isagi meet his parents. On his way to drop her off, they save Melissa (an exchange student from Spain) from a drunk salaryman and Isagi saves Reina from going splat because of a wayward tool box.
Day 7 (Friday) – Momoji Festival (he wins her a bracelet, she wins him a wolf mask)
Day 8 (Saturday) – Isagi walks her home the morning after Momoji (both stopping by Shibuya Academy first, where he sees her use a screwdriver on her bracelet). He chats with his mom re: her suspicions on Reina's homelife. Ego and a white specter in Isagi's BLE uniform appear in his dream. He has an argument with his dad over Reina being temporary. Reina tells Sae she's going to Shibuya to meet Megumi (after implying Sae has a way to track where she is) but meets Isagi instead. Incident where her classmates are mean to her at café so Megumi and Isagi give them sour drinks. Reina gets angry at Isagi, but they make up and he asks her out. Isagi's dad accuses Isagi of "stringing along" Reina. Isagi agrees to help out at a dinner party in Kiniro that his dad's restaurant is catering for, which to his surprise ends up being at the Itoshi household. He meets Sae and Reina's dad, goes up to give Reina food (who went upstairs early for unclear reasons) at the request of older house attendant Mako-san. Rin's mom catches Isagi in Reina's room. Reina's clearly terrified of her stepmother, the latter verbally harassing her and throwing away the food (claiming things like "No man will want a fat bride."). Rin's mom implies Reina caused some sort of disturbance related to someone called Chisaki, something that Sae had to pull her out of and this is the reason why she was taken upstairs early. Eventually Isagi is forced to leave the room at Reina's insistence. While he goes home, we switch to Reina POV and learn that she has an easting disorder that was in remission for months, but she relapses that night. It's revealed that Reina spent years with her verbally abusive step-mother. Reina started purging in middle school, with the implication that it started because of her step-mother. Quick flashback to Chisaki, a character who wanted a dance with her at the dinner event, with the implication that there is a darker history between the two that triggered her transfer earlier in this year from IMS (high school Rin attends) to Shibuya Academy (where Reina currently attends and lives in dorms, only occasionally going back to the Itoshi house for events). It's implied that her father is willing to let Chisaki's past insult against her slide given the boy's background. Sae vehemently opposes this and gets her out of there, incurring his father's displeasure.
Formatting reminder:
'Character thinking'
"Character speaking"
Past memory "or someone speaking in memory" being recalled by the POV character
("Voices in POV character's head" – default for Reina is her bio-mom, I haven't told you who the default voice in Isagi's head is yet)
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THANK YOU
TO MY BETA
**ALCHAZAR**
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Your reviews all motivate me so much 3 Thank you for taking the time out of your day to write them, they brighten my day so much when I read them!
I have no excuse for my delay with getting this chapter up, but this is an extra long chapter, so hopefully that somewhat makes up for the lateness? (*Author sweatdrops*)
O n i k ko
{鬼っ子}
chapter 12 part one – what a bad habit
Yoichi flops onto his bed, dark hair still damp from his shower and sticking to his ears. (Sleeping with wet hair is a bad habit of his lately.) Yet, in spite of his exhaustion and comfy bed, the striker remains restless. He turns to stare up at the ceiling, and his stomach squirms over what he saw earlier this evening. He brings his cell phone out in front of him, taking note of the late hour.
'It'd probably be really rude to text her this late,' the striker concludes. Despite the thought, the striker doesn't cast his phone aside; instead he opens up her contact page. 'I should just go to bed and text her in the morning.' His finger taps along his phone case impatiently, adopting a quicker tempo with each passing moment. 'Ahh, screw it.' He knows he's not sleeping tonight until he hears from her.
The striker impulsively clicks the call button, and immediately regrets it. 'It… would be too troublesome to text,' he justifies to himself with flaring cheeks. 'It's not like I'm choosing to call just to hear her voice tell me she's fine, or anything lame like that.'
The line on the other end rings and rings. Each passing moment that the call remains unanswered, his gut squirms more. The striker's finger taps more insistently against the cool metal pressed to his cheek.
'That crazy woman wouldn't have actually… done something to Reina, right?' His stomach twists as he remembers the woman alluding to some sort of punishment from the girl's father. Yoichi roughly shakes his head. 'No, stop being stupid. Her parents couldn't actually hurt her physically. It's like dad mentionned the other day, those sort of people care too much about their reputation and stuff. They had a bunch of guests at that party, so they wouldn't have… hit her or anything, right? Right.'
(But what happens after the guests leave?)
Ring, ring.
Squirm, squirm.
Tap, tap.
'Why aren't you answering?'
Yoichi's already mentally preparing to leave a message and running through what words he's supposed to use, when the last ring gets cut off.
"Hello?" The voice on the other end is hoarse, and he suspects Reina was just crying. Hardly surprising, since Rin's mom had been unbelievably cruel. (The youngest Isagi has never truly hated an adult before. But at that moment, he hates Rin's mom.)
"Yoichi?" Reina asks, and he realizes he's been silently lost to his thoughts.
"If this is about tomorr-" / "Sorry to call this la-"
They both start speaking at the same time, then both abruptly stop themselves.
"You looked nice," he blurts into the subsequent awkward silence, overcome with an urge to make her feel better. "Umm earlier, that dress, I mean, you-"
"I'd rather have your silence than your pity." She says sharply.
"That isn't…" Yoichi shakes his head instead of continuing, already sensing that this is the wrong time to push. She seems averse to acknowledging what he saw tonight, so he wonders how he's supposed to ask her if she's okay. Is there a more roundabout way? Like confirming their plans for tomorrow, maybe? "The reason I was calling was-"
"I actually really have to get back to studying now," she cuts him off. "So if you're just calling to say you can't go out tomorrow anymore, it's fine, I don't car-"
"What?" A baffled Yoichi interrupts her. "Of course I still want to go."
Why would she think…
'Oh.'
"Reina, I still want to go."
At her protracted silence, he sighs. Gosh, this skittish creature. "What I want hasn't changed at all," he tries to reassure her. Yoichi's starting to understand her a bit better after what happened at the café and what he saw at her house. She's like Chigiri pre-Team W: all snappish and defensive when you step too close to a truth they want to hide. 'Like a cat with its hackles up or a spooked horse.' So, how to best tame her - carrot or whip? Well, considering the striker already tried being gentle and met firm resistance, he opts for the latter. "I'm honestly looking forward to tomorrow. So if I end up waiting forever for you again, and then you don't even show up, I'll be really pissed off."
Finally, she responds. "You… really still want to go with me tomorrow?" She asks carefully.
He can picture her easily - her fingers digging into her thighs and her teeth biting into her lip, all while second-guessing him.
"Yes," he asserts emphatically. Then, because he doesn't trust that she won't convince herself out of going for some stupid reason, he firmly declares, "I'll come pick you up." The striker mentally counts out how long he'll need to work-out, practice, and get ready afterwards. "I'll swing by to get you around 4:30PM."
"Oh, okay. Umm, I'll be at the Academy by then." She still sounds so hesitant, but at least she's settled down from bristling to slightly cautious. "I have a mechanics tutorial early tomorrow morning at TU, and then I'm going to head to the dorms after that to help Mina-senpai study for her exam."
'Good,' Yoichi thinks, glad she'll be away from her house sooner rather than later. "But, wait. Exam? I thought you guys were on holiday?"
"Shibuya Academy is out on fall break, but anyone who didn't perform satisfactorily on the end-of-term exams is stuck repeating them over the holiday." Reina's eye roll is audible, and she finally starts to liven up again. "That's why I tried to convince Mina-senpai to study harder initially, because our chemistry exam is notorious for having the highest fail rate among all our science classes. But did she listen? No. Instead, she spent all her time trying to convince the rest of us to sign up for Travel Club, extolling the virtues of Barcelona's nightlife and Madrid's fashion scene." The girl scoffs. "As if that matters! And worse, she even skipped the chemistry review to go to drama club, and she even told Takeyama-sensei that she would help write a new script for some modern Shakespeare skit thing based on Antony and Cleopatra, when Mina-senpai should be using that time to…"
Reina sounds positively exasperated as she rants, but it's kind of… "Cute."
"Huh?"
'Shit.'
"Well, that's probably the first time I've heard someone call a Shakespearean tragedy cute." she teases lightly. "You do remember how Antony and Cleopatra ends, right?"*
The striker promptly ignores her teasing, neck warm. "So I'll just meet you at the same gates as usual, right?"
"Yup!" She chirps. (He's relieved she doesn't dwell on his unintentional slip, and lets him redirect her attention.) "I won't be late either, I promise!"
"Good, because those guards might actually glare holes into me if you are."
"Don't worry," she snickers. "They offer equally vicious stare-downs to all guests possessing Y-chromosomes."
"How reassuring," the striker deadpans. "I'll be sure to remember their fairness when they start angrily chasing me down the street."
"If that happens, you can just consider running away from them as extra practice, right?" She teases lightly.
'Ego will be thrilled.' Yoichi rolls his eyes. "Don't give my coach ideas." For all that Isagi Yoichi respected Ego, he couldn't deny the madness that accompanied the man's genius. "He's crazy enough to consider it."
Reina laughs brightly, and hearing that finally starts unwinding the knot in his gut.
"Hey, Yoichi?"
"Yeah?" He brings his free hand behind his head.
"I'm really excited to go out with you tomorrow."
His cheeks warm up further at her words. "Yeah, me too."
("Don't play all innocently bashful now, striker. If she knew of all those wicked thoughts you had when you saw her earlier tonight, she wouldn't be so eager to spend any time alone with you.")
Yoichi doesn't acknowledge the voice at all.
After saying their goodbyes, the striker simply slides his phone back onto the nightstand, then relaxes back into his bed. The anxiety that had been building since he left her room finally settles entirely, as he falls into a restful sleep.
Standing in front of Shibuya Academy, any calmness achieved from the night before vanishes.
Yoichi's so nervous for their date that he finds himself restlessly pacing outside the gates twenty minutes too early. His anxiety is not abated at all by the guards, who glare daggers anytime Yoichi accidentally meets their gaze. The striker abruptly forces himself to stop moving, well aware he looks like a total weirdo just circling the same few meters. He forces himself to lean against the brick wall next to the wrought iron gate, but the nervousness just changes forms, instead manifesting itself as the relentless taping of his foot. He's about to attempt distracting himself with his phone, when he hears a familiar voice.
"Mina, let go!" Reina yelps on the other side of the brick wall. "I refuse to go out like this!"
"Spare me the histrionics, my cute kohai. You look amazing, just smile and enjoy the product of my labour and impeccable fashion sense."
"Enjoy? I can't even walk properly in these shoes! They're too high!"
"They're wedges and barely 3 inches. Suck it up, you baby."
"I'll fall-"
"Good, make sure to land on him."
"Mina-senpai!"
"Kidding. Well, mostly. And stop pulling at the skirt, would you? I'll actually be having Ochako-level stern words with you if your anxious little fingers tear a hole in something from the Nisaru Samori's autumn line.* Wreck this dress, and the fashion police will literally charge you with blasphemy. Actually, I'm already considering reporting your crimes given where I found that masterpiece. What the heck was such a gorgeous dress by Nisaru Samori doing withering away in the back of your closet?"
"I'm cold; I want a sweater." (Despite not being able to see her expression because of the wall between them, Yoichi can still easily glean Reina's pout from her voice).
"Liar, it's 18*C." Mina cuts in swiftly. "Meaning it's an unseasonably warm Tokyo autumn afternoon and picture perfect weather for my little kohai's first date with her new boyfriend."
Yoichi's cheeks warm at the title. Is that what they are now?
"I, we haven't said, he, no, I mean," Reina stutters before sighing in defeat. "It's going to get colder in the evening and-"
"Perfect excuse to exchange body heat." Mina then adopts a higher pitched voice. "Oh, mister, I'm just so cold. Please wrap me in your warm and drool-worthy arms. I'll repay your kindness by letting you stick your tongue down my thro- "
"M-Mina-senpai!" Reina yelps, and Yoichi feels his own neck flush with heat at the other girl's crass words. "A-At least let me wear some leggings underne-"
"Absolutely not. They'll ruin the aesthetic and trample on all my hard work."
"Mina, please. I'm not joking, okay? I am sincerely uncomfortable wearing this."
"Stop it, Reina-chan." Mina's tone becomes more severe. "The skirt is barely a few inches away from being school code. And yes, I'll concede that the dress has a lower sweetheart neckline, but it's covered by a lace and voile overlay that goes up to your neck. So stop being so nervous, because you are wearing a very lovely, very stylish, very flattering, and entirely appropriate dress. Honestly, it's even a bit overly appropriate for a first date by my standards, but you staunchly nixed all my saucier options. Besides, the apparel oft proclaims the man,* remember? And I put you in quality goods. So, you are going to stop picking at the hem, uncross your arm from your stomach, and be confident." Mina's voice switches to a more somber when she continues. "I know all the shit your wicked bitch, evil stepmother has been putting in your head. But you've got to ignore her, okay? She was wrong then and she's wrong now. And somewhere in your head you know that I'm right, because you've let me drag you this far."
Reina doesn't respond, at least not loud enough that Yoichi can hear.
"Come on, Rei-chan. Buck up!" He hears Mina's voice turn lighter once more. "Honestly, you look hot as hell! If I swung that way, I would totally bang you. Actually, imagine that? You, me, Momo, Ochako; the hottest foursome you could ever-"
"Mina-senpai!" Reina rushes to cut her off. "The guards are literally on the other side of this wall; they'll hear you!"
The older girl just scoffs. "So what? They should be thanking me. I'm giving those rigid killjoys some deliciously lewd images to help them loosen up at night."
"MINA!"
Yoichi immediately brings his fist to his mouth, barely stopping an outburst of laughter. He glances towards the pair of guards, expecting outrageous indignation or something similar. Instead, one man rolls his eyes in exasperation, and the other guard pinches the bridge of his nose while shaking his head in resignation. Mina, on her end, just continues prattling in the background.
Yoichi has the distinct impression that this is not the guards' first rodeo with the girl's… Mina-ness. (As a previous victim, the striker sympathizes with the other two men.)
"Now, where is that boytoy of yours, Rei-chan? He's late."
"We're still ten minutes early."
"Eh? But you said you were meeting him at four?"
"Only because if I told you the truth, I knew you'd intentionally take too long and then he'd be stuck waiting. You're always late."
"Et tu, Brute?*" Mina mock-gasps. "What an ungrateful baby kohai I have. Besides, I wouldn't have been late for something so important."
"You were literally an hour late to the mandatory Alumni and Academic Awards Assembly! "
"Was I really though?"
"Yes you were. If Takeyama-sensei hadn't helped you sneak in without being noticed, you would have been stuck in detention for weeks."
"Love that woman. Soul sisters for life. Don't know how she got stuck teaching us, she could have easily gone into something more exciting like modeling or acting. You know Rei-chan, you've got a camera-ready face yourse- "
"And then Momo-senpai said you were an hour late to the Spring Banquet."
"Excuse you, but that was not 'being late.' That was making an entrance."
Reina snorts. "Says the one who was supposed to be on ticket duty with Momo-senpai for the first hour."
"Excuse you times two, I was just fulfilling my obligations as a killer wingwoman! I knew Todoroki-san would totally help Momo-chan if I didn't show up. It's literally one of the only opportunities to mingle with guys at this militant asylum, so I made good use of it. And, honestly, I'm a brilliant matchmaker; I should start charging for my services. Though I don't know how far I can help with those two balls of awkwardness. When I got to the desk, Momo-chan was rambling about the flow of commerce, while Todoroki was just staring blankly at her. Sheesh, I swear that guy's emotional spectrum only ranges from icicle to ice cube."
Reina, instead of countering, bursts out laughing.
Yoichi's glad he came early. Listening to their squabbling has managed to calm his own nerves. He uses the pause in their banter to leave the brick wall, and walk so that he's in front of the newly-open gates.
"Yocchan?" Reina's eyes widen, filling with embarrassed shock as soon as they lock eyes. "How-" long have you been there, is probably what she would have said. But, she's abruptly cut off by Mina, who literally shoves Reina into the striker.
Yoichi reflexively catches the girl, cushioning her crash (and stifling her affronted yelp) with his shoulder.
He immediately glares at the older girl.
"You're welcome," Mina sing-songs, not even bothering with a hello (let alone an apology). "I totally and unreservedly take credit for the feast before your eyes, Mr. Celebrity. If I hadn't intervened, my naive little kohai would have come to greet you in sweatpants. Honestly." Mina tsks.
Yoichi almost says that he couldn't care less what Reina wore. It was the restaurant he reserved a table at that demanded they dress at least business casual. But before he can respond, Mina continues. "Don't you agree that she looks hot as hell, Isagi-san?" Mina asks with a sly smirk and without an ounce of shame.
Yoichi's cheeks flare at her bluntness. He swallows, throat suddenly dry, as he looks down at the girl who's still buried in his chest and refusing to come out. "Umm, y-yeah." His eyes dance between her bare arms, bare legs, and linger on the small diamond cut out in her dress that reveals her lower back. If he moved his hands just a bit, his fingers could brush against the soft skin. "You do, yes, I mean."
Mina immediately scowls at his response. "I get that jocks aren't known for their brains, but surely your vocabulary has evolved enough to include polysyllabic compliments, soccer star." She says the moniker Reina often uses for him in a mocking tone that hints at some sort of inside joke. The girl in his arms gets even more flustered, and Yoichi feels like he's missing something.
"Mina-senpai," Reina whines, turning from his chest to glare petulantly at the older girl. Reina's motion makes him (unenthusiastically) loosen his grip. But before she can step away, his hand catches hers.
"Okay, okay." Mina appeases the younger girl, while giving a pointed look towards their locked hands. Yoichi steadfastly ignores her knowing smirk. "Teasing mother hen and sickeningly cutesy caller IDs aside…"
('Huh?')
"…I think you make Rei-chan happy," Mina announces as she returns her gaze to him. "So I'm trusting my precious little kohai with you. But," Her tone hardens even though her smile remains, which leaves a distinctly ominous chill. "If you do anything to hurt her or make her cry, I'll carve out your pretty eyes with a dull spoon. Capeesh?"
"...Uh, yeah." Yoichi feels more intimidated than he probably should by the five-foot nothing girl.
Mina, who once more seems wholly unimpressed with his response, continues. "Oh, and Momo-chan's family is old and loaded. They def' have like actual hitmen on standby. And Ochako-chan's dad is a big ol' country guy. Which means he's got a sharp axe and knows at least six different ditches where he could hide the pieces of your cold corpse." At Mina's words, Reina groans at his side, palm over her face. Mina ignores her embarrassment and persists. "Got it?"
"Got it." Isagi deadpans. "Spoon. Hitmen. Six ditches. Big ol' country guy."
Reina bursts out laughing at his sarcasm, before quickly stifling the sound with her free hand.
The striker sees Mina cast a warm look at Reina. Yoichi then wonders if Reina had been as nervous as him earlier, and if all of the older girl's ridiculousness has just been an intentional ploy to help Reina relax.
"Disyllabic words, evolution in action. " The other girl taunts lightly. Then she glances back towards Reina and proceeds to fully embrace the role of a mother sending their child off into the world. "Now, now. Time to send my little one off. Where does the time go? Take care, make good choices." She tilts her head. "Actually, forget that. Make lots of fun, bad choices. Do all the things I would do and more, and then share all the juicy details with me when you get back. It'll give me ideas for my next script."
Instead of getting embarrassed, Reina rolls her eyes. "You just want a distraction from studying chemistry," she accuses.
"Correction: I want all the details on the romantic kind of chemistry."
Reina remains utterly unfazed. "I refuse to enable your procrastination."
"Aww, come on Rei-chan! I enable all of your bad habits, why can't you support mine?" Mina pouts. "Would you reconsider if I offered a caffeine-shaped bribe?"
"No way senpai. You still have to cover inorganic compounds before we can move on to the physiology section, and you only have a few days left! So, make sure you finish the questions up to Chapter 27. I'm going to check if you actually did them tomorrow afternoon."
"Not tomorrow morning, huh?" The older girl gives them a sly look that implies she's about to say something even more… Mina-like .
"Not to be rude," Yoichi interrupts the two girls. "But the movie starts at five-thirty." (Actually six, but he'd happily lie to get them out of Mina's meddlesome clutches.)
"Aww, how cute." Mina stage-whispers to Reina. "He's jealous that all your attention is on me." She turns back to him. "A bit of jelly is sweet, but don't get too clingy. After all," She wags finger as she playfully chastises. "No one likes a red flag. You'll have to share her with the rest of us sometimes, Mr. Athlete." Mina tilts her head back to Reina. "But, alas, my time with my darling kohai draws to a close. Go on then, leave me to my lonesome as I toil over dreary chemistry and boring anatomy, while you two get to enjoy the fun kind."
"See ya," Yoichi doesn't bother responding to Mina's taunting. In fact, he wastes no time at all in pulling Reina away from the gate, while the dark-haired girl calls back sternly over her shoulder. "Chapter 27, Mina-senpai! Don't forget!"
(Mina just waves her hand in a cavalier sure, sure, be gone gesture, before turning to chat up the guards. The two men, who had been an entirely unwilling audience to the trio's show, seem wary of the brazen girl's change in target. Yoichi would feel sympathetic, but, well, sometimes sacrifices must be made.)
"I'm so sorry." Reina sighs, as they walk away from the entrance. "Believe it or not, she was holding back?"
"Honestly, it was tamer than what I expected from her." He actively suppresses the memory of Mina's lewd parting comment to them after YCA. "Well, actually," the striker tilts his head, "the whole spoon and eyes part was a bit, umm, concerning?"
Reina smirks impishly. "Really? More than the ditches and the hitmen?"
"Don't forget the big ol' country guy."
She giggles at his sarcasm, leaning into his arm. "Don't worry, I'd never let her pluck out your eyes; they're too pretty."
'So are you,' he wants to say, but the words get stuck in his throat when he remembers her prickly response to the very same compliment last night. He's spared from any potential verbal blunder by a sudden loud beeping.
"Oh!" Reina puts on a familiar strained smile. "Two seconds, soccer star." The girl plucks her cell phone from her purse, turns off the sound, then swaps the phone for a pair of mini-tools. The small screwdriver and thin wrench seem to be the same ones she used the morning after Momoji, back when he had first walked her from the Academy to Kiniro.
Again, she pulls him into a little recess in the outer brick wall of the Academy gates. (If he really thinks on it, it might be the same alcove as last time too). Then she turns away as she fiddles with the bracelet-manacle-fancy thing that seems to be a permanent fixture on her wrist. He'd ask further, but he's certain that it's territory she wants him to steer clear of. So instead, he glances at her other wrist, relieved to see she still has his bracelet on too.
After a few minutes, she finishes up with whatever she was doing to the silver band on her wrist, then returns the mini-tools to the purse slung across her torso. She quickly grabs his hand to pull him along, and immediately starts chattering about something that happened with her lab.
He nods along, letting his eyes drift up from their interlocked hands, across the smooth skin of her arm, to better appraise the dress that had worried her so much.
It's beige and green and nice. There's a smooth, silky material that makes up the skirt, which is a cream-ish sort of colour. But unlike last night, the skirt is flowing away from her instead of sticking to her thighs. The top is a light green, but covered with the same cream-coloured lace that goes up to her neck. Admittedly, his eyes hover over where the fabric clings to the swells of chest, especially eyeing where the green curves and cuts off to leave just bare skin under the lace. He drags his eyes up further (not without some effort.) Her hair's pulled into a side ponytail, leaving a large expanse of her bare neck for him to savour, the smooth skin interrupted only by an occasional curl and a silver necklace.
All in all, he deems the outfit to be nothing especially revealing or scandalous, so he doesn't get why she was making such a fuss over it to Mina earlier. 'The dress you wore last night was definitely more…' His wayward recollection of how the fabric wrapped around her thighs is stopped by an echo of his mother sternly warning to stop objectifying Reina.
'But,' he analyzes the current dress further. 'She looks more than just nice,' he admits, recognizing that the stirring in his gut is accompanied by a bit of self-consciousness too. 'She looks…'
She looks rich.
It's the sort of dress that (even with his lack of high fashion knowledge and even without Mina's comments earlier) reeks of wealth. The posh appearance only breaks if you look closely, and spot the plastic bird-moon-star bracelet he gave her, wrapped around her wrist.
He's once more glad for his mom. She took one look at him earlier, shook her head, and proceeded to swap his dark wash jeans and polo for fancier khakis and a dark button-down. Improved appearance aside, he still thinks the letterman tucked under his arm (the one not occupied by holding hands with Reina, that is) was unnecessary. He glances at it: the mostly-navy blue jacket from Ichinan soccer that he never wears because the white faux-leather sleeves seem like they'd be a hassle to clean.
("The vest is enough," Yoichi complains at the door as his mom aggressively pushes the unused jacket towards him.
"The jacket isn't for you, silly." His mom smiles slyly, as the teenager resignedly tucks the coat under his arm. The striker then quickly slides on his shoes, racing to escape before the meddlesome woman can make any more pointed comments.
He's too late.
"Have fun! But remember, no making cute grandbabies yet!")
After remembering that mortifying sendoff by his mom, he recalls Mina's similar words. Then he resolves that, under no circumstances and under no threat, shall he ever put himself in the same room as Mina and his mother.
At least, the letterman jacket seemed unnecessary… until the pair exit the more secluded side road next to the Academy.
As they make their way down the sidewalk, he catches more than one set of eyes doing a double take at the girl at his side. He pays closer attention, and notes more than one set of eyes hover in the same places he had been guilty of starring earlier. 'But it's different when it's other people.' Less acceptable, less forgiveable. Yoichi pulls Reina closer to him, nodding along to whatever she's prattling on about, and feels an angry beast roar in his gut as other guys keep looking at her.
(He remembers what Mina said about carving out eyes with spoons, and the notion doesn't seem so outrageous anymore. It seems like a rather attractive option, actually. One that becomes an increasingly plausible ending to befall each stranger whose wayward gaze that he notices.)
He abruptly pauses their stride.
"Yocchan?" she asks, all wide-eyed innocence. "Something wrong?"
"Wear my coat," he blurts out, as he half throws the letterman over her shoulders.
"Oh! I didn't even notice you had a jacket!" She seems absolutely delighted, as she lets go of him to put it on properly.
"You looked cold," he lies. (Of course she doesn't, it's 18 degrees outside). The striker wonders if he would feel so irritated by the situation if he was as tall as Nagi, or as built as Kunigami, or had a face like Yukimiya's, or-
"So cool, I've never worn one of these before!" She pops the collar and does a spin. "So, verdict? Am I stylish or what?"
He can tell she's asking jokingly, but there's nothing playful in the feeling that stirs low in his gut when he sees ISAGI emblazoned on her back.
"Yeah." He answers, stepping forward and turning her around again to close the coat properly. He starts buttoning it up, one at a time. "So, what were you saying about your lab again?"
"Oh, right! So anyways, like I was saying, I hounded them about joining both projects, and I finally convinced them! So Nezu-sensei said…"
He feels disproportionately satisfied when the last button clicks closed, and she's all covered up.
'This is better.'
The irritation in his gut settles now that he's hidden her away from prying eyes. He grabs her hand tightly in his once more as they restart making their way to the train station.
"…And so because Nezu-sensei used to work for JAXA, he has a colleague that can access genuine asterogenic metals and is even willing to share…"
("You'll have to share her with the rest of us sometimes.")
He shakes away Mina's words. Reina was the one who said she wanted a jacket earlier. So what he just did… It's nothing so petty as staking his claim, or feeling jealous, or threatened, or anything weird like that. He just wanted to make sure Reina was comfortable, that's all.
"…still have to finish with all the safety courses before I can get near any of the samples. Urgh, I tried signing up asap but the earliest I could get in is like two and a half weeks from now. So then I tried to attach…"
("Don't get too clingy.")
'I'm not. I'm just being considerate. That's all.'
"…can you believe it!?"
"Sounds tough," he offers as he nods along.
"I know! Urgh, it's like I'm totally trapped and can't move forward in my research at all, since…"
He's getting quite good at that, isn't he? Pretending to listen to her chatter while actually being occupied by his own thoughts, managing to tune into her babbling just in time to respond (and seem as if she'd had his attention the whole time.)
"...the postdocs can't even start showing me the axisymmetric modeling program they use until I get through the red tape and…"
("No one likes a red flag.")
After finishing a round of air hockey (that yielded a rather unexpected outcome) in the mall's arcade, the duo still have fifteen minutes to kill before their showtime.
"Are you sure you don't want any snacks?" Yoichi asks her, slotting some coins into one of the vending machines stationed inside the mall's theater. "Like maybe popcorn, or candy, or?"
"You said we were going for dinner afterwards, right?" She crosses her hands behind her back. "I don't want to spoil it."
'What a liar.' He totally saw her eying the chocolate in the display case earlier. 'But her choice,' he supposes. "Whatever you say," he responds. Then he goes against his better judgment to pass her the bottle of sweetened coffee that the vending machine just spat out. She beams at the drink and he sighs. "I feel like I'm indulging all your bad habits."
"Ahh, drink of the gods. As you from crimes would pardon'd be, let your indulgence set me free, "*
He raises a confused brow. "Uh, sure. You're welcome." Because what else is he supposed to say in response to her gibberish.
Reina giggles against the bottle. "Sorry, Mina-senpai's a total theater enthusiast. I swear, she half speaks in quotes from Shakespearian dramas or Greek tragedies. A bad habit of her own, I suppose. Usually, I need to covertly Coogle her quotes to even decipher them, but some of them stick in my arsenal, and I end up parroting them whenever I've spent too much time with her." Reina presses the drink to her chin in contemplation. "Now that I think about it, maybe for a quart of coffee is a meal for a king, would have been a more apt quote for that exact moment…" She even pouts, the weirdo.
"Just drink your coffee, genius." He teases fondly, as he opts out of the various fizzy drinks and grabs a water for himself instead.*
"Hmm, now that I think about it… that last quote was originally for alcohol instead of coffee." She leans against the machine as he bends to get his drink. "I kind of assumed, pro-athlete in-training and all, but you don't drink, right?"
The striker's eyes widen. "After being traumatized by my mom and Toga-san's embarrassing antics when they're drunk during their stupid challenges?" He straightens up, water bottle in hand. "Hell no."
"Good, you shouldn't." She chirps, nodding approvingly, like he's passed a test he didn't know he was taking. "Bad for your liver and all, soccer star. I hate the stuff. And worst of all, liqour makes your breath smell bad too."
"Coffee breath isn't exactly pleasant either," he teases, taking a gulp of his water.
She scrunches her nose in momentary displeasure, but then her mouth curves into a mischievous smile. "Hey, remember that time I beat you at air hockey?"
'You mean that time that happened not even fifteen minutes ago?'
"Hey," he smiles back, wiping his mouth with the back of his wrist. "Remember that time at Momoji when you missed forty ring toss throws in a row, ones that even grade-schoolers were able to-"
She smacks his arm with her bottle and he laughs. Then he grabs her hand to guide her towards the kiosk that gate-keeps the auditoriums.
Her eyes narrow with suspicion as they join the line. "You're sure you didn't just let me win?" She asks accusingly, again referencing their recent air hockey battle.
Yoichi snorts. "Trust me, I'm more shocked over the outcome than you."
Reina sighs mock-dramatically. "And here I was worried that you pretended just to spare me the heartache."
"Nope." He shrugs. "Miracles are bound to happen sometimes, I guess."
"Uh, rude." She lets out an offended puff of air before grumbling. "I'm so not paying attention to you anymore."
And if they weren't in public, or if he was a little bolder, he would lean in right against her ear, and whisper, "I can think of a few ways to steal back your attention."
But they are visible and audible to the crowd around them. The duo are now sandwiched in a line of impatient theatre-goers waiting for the sole ticket taker to let them through. So, wary of their potential audience, Yoichi chooses to proceed with a less volatile response to her words. "If you're trying to guilt trip me into giving you another caffeine bribe, then it's too bad. You're not winning against me this time."
(But they'll be enveloped by the darkness of the movie theater soon… So maybe if they're in a row further back, he can be a bit bolder then.)
A bang here, and a colorful 2D explosion there. There's a guy on fire who's casually walking around, and another guy who has a bird for a head.
Yoichi's genuinely confused. He'd meant to Vikipedia the popular anime this morning, so he'd have at least a clue of what was going on (other than his basic knowledge of "kids with superpowers that go to a superhero school.") But the striker was consumed with his training earlier and totally forgot.
So instead of paying attention to the movie, he's mentally reviewing his practice from this morning. No use occupying his mind with worries over trying to be bold, since his date had pulled him towards a seat smack in the middle of the auditorium, surrounding them with a family on either side and some middle-schoolers above and below.
Though, occasionally, he'll still take a break from his soccer-related thoughts, peek at his side, and let himself enjoy Reina's reactions.
He's just finished picturing different ways to optimize his first touch based on the receiving angle, when he again glances at the totally immersed girl. Once more, he catches himself holding back a snort. Because her reactions to the movie are entirely too close to mirroring those of the elementary-aged kid seated to her right.
There's a single jump scare near the climax, and instead of just tightening her grip on his hand, she grabs his arm and clings to it.
Oh.
He thinks, next time, that he'll take her to a horror movie instead.
("Next time?" The voice prods. "Well, I suppose you'll have plenty of time to loaf around when you get kicked out of Blue Lock.")
Yesterday, (during his mom's rant over him sending her to voicemail, etc.) Yoichi had made the mistake of letting the troublesome woman know of his plans. And so, she meddled.
("Make sure to take her somewhere nice and really woo her, 'kay?" She winked, sliding him some extra yen. "I'm totally shipping you two."
'Dear lord.' He pinches the bridge of his nose and prays for patience. But then within a moment, it's not annoyance but another flare of self-doubt.)
How could he not repeatedly second-guess himself when he's trying to impress someone who grew up in a place like Kiniro? The night he'd asked her out (after he finished up with practice), that doubt led him to spend thirty minutes scouring Peddit for restaurant recommendations.
And the result of that diligent search is how the pair end up standing outside of Aji Hassaikai.* The ritzy-looking place is rated 9.8/10 stars on the SavouryShinjuku subPeddit page, is located just two blocks from Gyoen Park, and apparently boasts a great dessert menu. Honestly, it's a restaurant that he never would have looked at twice before. It's the type of place that's probably missing the prices on the menu. He even had to pay a deposit just to book a reservation (and even then, he'd only managed to secure the seats at such a busy place so last minute because there had been a cancellation just before he called. Apparently you'd otherwise be stuck waiting for weeks to grab a reservation here).
Anyways, it's nice, he thinks looking at the Italian-themed building, feeling pretty proud of his efforts until he sees her reaction.
"Oh. You made the reservation here." Her face doesn't look pleased at all.
'Should I have found somewhere even nicer? ' Shit, he knew he wasn't good at this kind of stuff.
"I didn't think you'd pick a place like this," she continues to mumble under her breath.
He hears the emphasis on you instead of this, and he's definitely irked at how condescending that sounded. "Umm… I get I'm not as well off as you, Reina. But I can swing a fancy dinner once in a while."
She jerks at his side. "No, no. I didn't mean it like that! I promise, I, I just, M-Momo-senpai gave not so good reviews on the place, that's all." She rushes to explain, with a shaky smile, eyes that can't meet his own, and a slight stutter. "But she's way too picky, obviously, so I'm sure it's fine." (He wishes that he hadn't learned what she looked like when she was lying.) "No, not just fine, I mean, I'm sure it'll be great!"
Yoichi immediately regrets not telling her the place's name in advance to keep it a 'surprise.' Worse, the striker feels disappointed with her reaction and more than just a bit stupid.
'I knew I should have found somewhere fancier. I saw where she grew up, did I really think this would be enough for her? But it wasn't random… I put more thought to this place than she probably realizes.'
He clears his throat awkwardly. "I actually, umm picked this place because it was just two blocks away from Gyoen, since you said it was, umm, your favourite park. So I thought we could walk there after dinner again, to see the parts we didn't get to the other night." Reina's face seems to fall further at his explanation, and gosh, was this really such a bad pick? "I already put the deposit to get the reservation here but, I guess, if you want to go somewhere nicer we could see if-"
She cuts him off by hugging him, and says words into his shoulder that he can't make out at all, so he has to ask her to repeat herself.
"Just… can we redo the last few minutes, please?"
"Redo?" He asks, baffled.
She nods, turning towards the restaurant again. "Wow, Yoichi. This place looks amazing! Thank you for going out of your way to make a reservation at such a nice restaurant." She glances at him, a mix of earnest apology and desperate hopefulness in her eyes.
If she's looking at him like that, of course he plays along.
There's a slight hiccup during check-in, where the hostess meaningfully eyes the jacket Reina still has on. But the girl immediately senses the woman's silent censure and quickly slides the letterman off, before sheepishly folding it over her arm. The older woman nods in approval at the outfit underneath then calls a waiter to guide them to their table.
Even though Reina's the one who called for a redo, she's still acting weird.
She's tense as soon as they pass the entrance, and her eyes continue to rapidly scour the place as they walk deeper into the building. Her nervous scanning of the room is interrupted only when the pair reach their corner table. "I'll sit on this side!" She blurts out, immediately claiming the chair against the wall.
"Sure." Yoichi nods, completely ambivalent towards which chair he takes. He thanks the waiter before sitting down. He frowns when, even seated, she's focused more on examining the rest of the restaurant instead of the menu in front of her. Is she… searching for something?
"Reina, is something wrong?"
She jerks her head back to him. "Nope! Not at all. I was just appreciating the restaurant; it really is gorgeous. You picked a really lovely spot, Isacchi." Then she smiles so prettily that his cheeks flush, and he forgets all about her odd behaviour.
Whatever seemed to be bugging her, seems to ease up. She relaxes with each passing minute, as they order from a 'price-less' menu, talk about stupid things, and eat their dinner. He finishes his plate rather fast, since the serving size was miniscule. 'Is she full with just that? Should we order seconds?'
Before he can offer, she's already debating over dessert, so he starts browsing the menu too.
"Hmm should I get the tiramisu or affogato, or maybe-" He assumes she's just switched to mentally contemplating over the options, but the silence lasts too long. He looks up from his own menu, curious.
He catches her staring wide-eyed at something behind him, expression just as horrified as last night.
The striker immediately glances over his shoulder, expecting to see another unwanted Itoshi. But the only disturbance in his view is a trio of guys entering the restaurant. They're too boisterous for the setting, but don't get reprimanded at all, and are instead ushered with some degree of reverence to the restaurant's upper floor.
Yoichi looks back to Reina, who's gripping the dessert menu tight enough to crease it. Her gaze is still focused behind him, and she's breathing faster. Something is definitely wrong.
"Reina, are you okay?"
"A minute… I just need…. I'm fine; I'm fine… just…" She responds but he isn't sure she's actually heard him. So the striker reaches for her hand, surprised when she abruptly flinches away. Her wide eyes are looking at him now, but they're seeing something else. Something that's making her panic.
And without another word, she springs out of her chair and bolts towards the exit.
'What the hell?'
"Reina, where are you-" He gets up as well, intent on chasing after her, but he can't dine and dash. Especially not at a place like this. So he grabs the letterman jacket she left on her chair, feels insanely rude when he has to flag down their clearly busy waiter, apologetically pays the bill, and is so worried about his runaway date that he doesn't even bother reacting to the exorbitant cost.
As soon as he steps outside, he spots her puking in one of the public waste bins* not even two buildings away.
He approaches her from behind. She's wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, and seemingly just staring at the bin. He reaches a hand for her shoulder, but barely skims the side of her neck when she turns abruptly and jerks away from him.
"Don't touch me," she hisses out, smacking his hand away.
But then her eyes widen, and finally, he thinks she's actually seeing him.
"Calm down," he says, belatedly realizing that that's probably the worst thing he could have said when she tenses even further. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she responds, voice hoarse from puking.
'Liar.'
"Something's been off ever since we reached here, and whatever" ('or whoever') "you saw just now made it a hundred times worse."
Her hands dig into her thighs.
"Reina, can you please tell me what's wrong?"
("Bet she would tell Reo," the voice snickers. "How sad, and you had tried so hard to win her over too…")
'Not now.' Yoichi pushes the voice away.
Reina scoffs. "As if you'd believe me."
"If you tell me what's going on, maybe I can help-"
"Help?" She looks at him like that's the most ridiculous thing she's heard all night. "How could you possibly help?"
He's stumped. He doesn't know. And every time he's tried to help her before, it hasn't exactly gone well. ("Reo had helped her, hadn't he? Bet she wishes he were here with her instead of you." The voice jeers. "Rejected again, how pathetic. Poor little Isagi Yoichi, who never seems to make the cut. But did you ever have a chance? You've been training since you were four, and Reo caught up to you in a mere six months. Why would she choose you over him?")
Reina heaves out a heavy sigh. "Just… just stop okay. Stop pretending like you care."
"I'm not pre-"
She interrupts with a miserable wet chuckle. "Do you really think I'm that dumb? The only reason you're even with me right now is because of my brothers, right?"
("She's got you there, striker." The voice smirks. "But, wow, for someone who's supposedly so smart - did it really take her this long to figure it out?")
"That's not-" That's not true, at least not anymore. Not for a long while.
She doesn't let him explain. "Or maybe it started like that…"
'Yes, finally,' He's almost relieved at her words. 'You understand what I mea- wait, why are your eyes so cold?'
"…But now it's just pity."
Where on earth is she getting this from? What's even happened right now?
A mean smile twists her face. "Well newsflash, I'm not the victim; I'm the villain. Why do you think I approached you?"
'This is getting out of control.' He sighs, confused over how everything's devolved into this.
"Okay, Reina, I don't think you understand what you're saying anym-"
He reaches for her, but she pulls away before he can grab her.
"Understand? How could you possibly understand anything, when your family's perfect?!"
He's utterly bewildered by her words and uncertain over what exactly he's supposed to say next. But before he has the chance to even deliberate, that batshit crazy girl actually-
"Hmm should I get the tiramisu or affogato, or maybe-" She glances up towards her date, but sees a monster instead.
'No.' Her heart drops when she sees his familiar form step into the restaurant. 'No, no, no. Why are you here?'
(The newest obstacle to her freedom.)
'How did you find me again?'
(The latest complication in her escape plan.)
Her luck can't possibly be this bad. No way.
(The reason she had to run to Shibuya Academy.)
Sure, this was one of the restaurants his stupid family owned. But this very night, this very time, out of every possible restaurant in this massive city.
(The reason she couldn't sleep for months without nightmares.)
'Sae just got rid of you just last night – so how are you in front of me again?'
(The reason Rin hates her.)
Dark eyes meet her own.
'Chisaki Kaito…'
But contrary to her expectations, Chisaki isn't angered upon seeing her despite what happened last night, nor is he at all perturbed by the occupied seat across from her. Instead, he just smiles.
It is not kind.
It's not his usual smug or arrogant smile, either. It's worse. It's the knowing smirk of someone who's already won.
Chisaki finally turns with his two lackeys and leaves to the restaurant's upper floor, but the ghost of him remains. There's a phantom wrapping around her neck, squeezing tighter and tighter until she's choking in a hallway and Rin isn't coming.
("Rin's not coming to save you this time princesa, no one is." Her mother's voice cackles.)
A hand reaching for her arm breaks her reverie - only not really. All Yoichi's effort does is bring her attention to the shackle around her wrist.
("Little girl, are you lost?")
She's outside.
How'd she get here? She needs to get back. Get back where? To the restaurant? No, never. She never wants to be in the same building as that disgusting monster again. But that's not her choice is it? Because there's a debt she owes, one she cannot repay even though collection day is coming. So maybe she can run. But run where? Home? Where's home? It's across the sea in a library she doesn't remember. But even if she had a destination, how could she run? There's a shackle around her wrist chaining her to this hell. Even if her plan works and she escapes, what is there to go back to? Nothing. Because Abbi's dead and her mom will kill her if she ever finds her.
("Always remember this, I never wanted you.") ("No one in this world will ever want you.")
Her biological mother and her stepmother, both playing a lifelong game of who hates Reina more.
("Do you see the pit I saved you from?")
But no matter how hard they try, the winner of this morbid game is always her father. He's the one who hates her most of all.
("You should be on your knees thanking me, begging for any opportunity to pay me back for the life I've given you.")
Reina is the daughter Enji Itoshi never wanted. She's the one mistake that ruined his perfect life.
("I suffered an inestimable loss by raising you, never forget that.")
Reina Itoshi, the only stain on her father's flawless reputation.
("Never forget the debt you owe me.")
Reina Libertad, the living proof of her father's worst sin - a sword shaped like a contract and a fake ID, hanging over his neck.
("How old are you?")
She's puking in public, great. At least it's into a trash bin, though that doesn't stop the stares and the whispers. But shouldn't she be used to those? Judgemental eyes and murmurs have followed her for years.
The other pedestrians probably think she's a drunk tourist. How perfect. Just one more step towards becoming her mother.
("The only worthwhile thing your mother ever did was give you her face.")
Ahh, her father's words from last night, the ones that had made her step-mother especially volatile. How is that fair? Why is Reina the one who always pays the price whenever her father so callously references his ex-lover's beauty in front of his wife? But, the more pressing question, why is Reina spiralling like this again - twice already in twenty-four hours - when she was normal for months?
("What's wrong princess, are you scared?")
Oh, right, she's spiralling again because of him .
("You're even prettier when you cry. How can I resist prying out more tears from those pretty eyes of yours?")
She saw Chisaki last night, and his reappearance unbolted the locks on memories she was never supposed to see again. (Wasn't that the point of all those overpriced therapy sessions? To bury her past forever, to never again feel the ghost of his hands on her.)
("You uppity little bitch, you think you're better than me?! You're just as arrogant as your piece of shit brother. Someone needs to teach your entire fucking family a lesson.")
Phantom fingers wrap around her neck again.
("Maybe if you scream loud enough, your brother will come back for you.")
No, it's real, there's a hand at her neck-
"Don't touch me!" She spits out, smacking the hand away. Reina turns quickly, but recognizes the culprit too late. It isn't her usual phantoms at all (not a boy with dark eyes nor a woman in a dark dress). It's worse. It's the person who was never supposed to see her like this.
Isagi Yoichi.
'No, go away! Why do you keep catching me at my worst? You have to leave now. You can't see this, you'll think I'm crazy too.'
"Calm down." Yoichi says, mercifully looking more worried than freaked out.
'It's okay. It's fine. Just be normal again.' She frantically instructs herself. 'He'll forget. He let you have a redo earlier, just do the same thing again. He didn't even prod about the bracelet. He'll play along if I just keep pretending. So stop acting crazy, be normal, stop shaking.'
"What's wrong?" He asks.
"Nothing."
Everything's fine. It's fine. It's completely fine.
'Can you just pretend like you didn't see this? Can't you just play along like before?'
He frowns. "Something's been off ever since we reached here, and whatever you saw just now made it a hundred times worse."
'Stop… stop prying. Stop digging. Stop trying to uncover all the parts I'm working so hard to hide from you.'
("Why would I ever leave someone as perfect as you?")
The memory of Yoichi's words from the other night shakes her to the core. The boy in front of her only likes her because he's seen the good parts. He thinks she's faultless, so what will he do now that he sees the cracks?
Simple. He'll do what Rin did.
("You need to be hospitalized… Fuck, maybe lobotomized… How fucked up is your head?")
Yoichi will realize how messed up she really is, and he will abandon her.
"Reina, can you please tell me what's wrong?"
("Don't fall for it, niña. If you try to tell him the truth, he'll think your crazy is contagious, and leave you just like the others." Her mother's voice jeers. "Or worse, his eyes will turn cold, and he'll blame you before taking back all his kindness, just like Sa-")
"As if you'd believe me."
'But… he might.' Reina thinks, belying her words. 'Yoichi might. He wouldn't blame me, he would-'
("Careful, careful. If you tell him the whole truth, the secret even your brothers don't know, you'll trigger the ending you've so carefully avoided all these years. If you tell the secret, your dear otousama will kill this boy… and then your father will come for you.")
("This is a secret you will take to your grave. If you ever tell anyone, you don't want to know what I will do to you. Do you understand?")
Yoichi reaches for her. "If you tell me what's going on, maybe I can help-"
She steps away. "Help?"
Him?
As if.
This boy whose childhood photo album is well-worn by his loving parents thinks he can help her? This boy who's just like Rin and draws people to him without even having to try. This boy who's probably always been well-liked and never had 'friends' who smiled then disappeared. This boy who's probably never run away from his house with just a rucksack and a prayer. How can someone like him help?
Oh, there it is, a familiar curling in her gut that starts clawing up her throat. A sharp, bitter mix of envy and resentment and spite. All those wicked emotions merge together once more, into the same toxic sludge that nearly fatally poisoned her relationship with Sae. And, like a nasty reflex, she flings the venomous muck at him. "How could you possibly help?"
'You, who grew up with a mother and father who treat you like you're the person they love most in the world. You were never a mistake, you were never unwanted, you were never alone; so how can you possibly help me?'
("He doesn't actually want to help you." Her mother's voice jeers. "He's here for a reason, remember? There was always a motive behind his affection. You knew that from the beginning.")
Oh, right. How had she forgotten? Years after, and she's still making the same mistakes. Stupid girl, she fell for a handsome boy with a kind smile again.
Reina heaves out a resigned sigh. "Just… just stop okay. Stop pretending like you care."
'It just makes me feel worse.'
His eyes widen. "I'm not pre-"
She doesn't want to hear him lie. She doesn't want to fall for the same deception again. (If she keeps making the same mistake again and again, is it a bad choice or a bad habit?)
"Do you really think I'm that dumb?" She asks, already knowing the answer. "The only reason you're even with me right now is because of my brothers, right?"
His eyes widen again, and she sincerely wishes that he wasn't so easy to read. She recognizes it easily, the flicker of guilt in his eyes. (He had hesitated to answer, and that pause cost him her trust.) "That's not-"
(The voice snickers. "Maybe at first he wanted you for Sae and Rin, but now he wants what boys always want from you.")
'He isn't like that,' Reina argues back, thinking of the considerate boy who so carefully buttoned up her coat.
("Did you already forget how he looked at you, back at the shrine and in the alley? It was brief, but it happened – the moment you couldn't push him away, the moment his eyes turned dark, and the moment he looked just like Chisaki.")
'No, you're wrong. Yoichi's kind.' And with that thought, a cold realization settles in her gut. 'Oh. It's not lust, it's worse.'
"Or maybe it started like that." (He's kind, after all, just like Mina. Reina really is stupid.) "But now it's just pity."
("That's right." The voice smiles meanly. "He saw how you're treated and he pities you. He's just like your dear senpais. You're a charity project they all feel bad for, a car wreck they can't help but spare a curious glance towards while driving by. But never forget, mi niña bonita, that pity and curiosity are transient things. So, time to leave him before he leaves you. You remember what happens when you hang on to people who don't want you anymore, right?")
How could she forget?
("Abbi?! Abbi!" Young Reina cries, clinging to her grandmother's legs. "Was I bad? I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She sobs. "Please don't leave me! Please take me back!")
Reina can already predict Yoichi's pending departure from his expression.
(Her mother whispers into her ear again. "If you chase him away first, it'll hurt less than him choosing to abandon you.")
"Well newsflash, I'm not the victim; I'm the villain."
Same story yet again. Didn't this chapter happen just months ago? Back then, when she had heard her father's footsteps coming down the hall, and knew how easy it would be to brew a terrible misunderstanding. Back then, when Rin's abandonment was still a raw wound, so a vindictive Reina spun a horrible lie, even though she knew how badly it would hurt her brother. (Rin had betrayed her first, so she betrayed him back. Better the villain than the victim, she had justified, better hated than pathetic.)
"Why do you think I approached you?"
It worked back then, it'll work again. Lying and self-destruction are, after all, perhaps her greatest talents.
("You are poison… You're a curse that kills everything you touch.")
Again and again, simmering and smouldering, until she erupts and burns the person closest to her. Reina can tell she's about to make a familiar mistake, so why can't she stop herself?
Yoichi sighs, evidently fed up with her, and an alarm starts ringing so loudly in her head that she can barely make out his words. "...I…understand what you're-"
'Understand! You who's always had Iyo-san and Issei-san? You, who has never been told the world would have been better if you didn't exist by the very person who brought you into it. You, who's never had to desperately beg for even an ounce of attention from the people you loved? How could you possibly understand anything, when your family's perfect?!"
Her thoughts escaped her mouth. Oh no. Too far. And now Yoichi's looking at her the same way Sae did before leaving for Spain - disgusted and disillusioned. The cracks have spread, the mask has crumbled away, and he's seen her true face now. If Reina stays here long enough, Yoichi's expression will only twist further, and soon he'll start looking at her the same way Rin does. So, Reina makes the same mistake she always does when she's too scared to face the consequences of her impulsive actions. Reina does again what she's done too many times before, even though it never ends well.
Reina does what Sae taught her.
She runs.
(Gosh, what a bad habit.)
Hi friends! If you're reading, please consider leaving a review. Thoughts on their first date so far? Loving Mina or nah? (I totally stole her characterization from all the Kacchako fics I read, and that became my new head cannon for her) Any theories on what the "secret" Reina has to hide is? (I've given a couple of hints, but the next chapter will reveal it). If you've caught any mistakes, please let me know! Also, to the manga readers - THAT GOAL THOUGH! Who else was squealing in excitement when they read it?
Thank you guys for sticking with this story so far! Responses to last chapter's reviewers are in the author end notes below!
(Also, stay tuned for the image for this chapter that'll be up on WP & AO3 in a week or two.)
Asterisk Notes
*Antony and Cleopatra = a Shakespearean tragedy that ends with both characters attempting suicide on learning of the other's death (her's was initially faked). In the story, the Roman soldiers in Antony's retinue believe that Cleopatra was distracting him from his duties in Rome. Rather than lose her throne and become a "trophy" for Octavian, she kills herself. Also one of the few tales from that time period where the woman is written as smart, powerful, manipulative, ambitious, etc.
*Nimaru Sasori = designer for Bakugou and Ochako's costumes, two of my favs from MHA.
*The apparel oft proclaims the man - a quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet that means that clothes you wear show the type of person you are.
* Et tu, Brute? - quote said by Caesar at the end of Shakepear's Julius Caesar. He says it to his friend Brutus, upon realizing that Brutus (who he had pseudo-raised) betrayed him.
* As you from crimes would pardoned be, Let your indulgence set me free - End of Shakespeare's the Tempest, Prospero's speech. Implies that the play is coming to an end. (I was trying to be witty and allude to how Reina's past is going to come to light soon)
*Yoichi declining pop in favour of water totally reminded me of the whole Ronaldo-coke-water debacle and I laughed a bit. Just wanted to share.
* Aji Hassaikai = In MHA, Shie Hassaikai ("Eight Precepts of Death") is the organization run by Overhaul (MHA Chisaki). I changed Shie to Aji, so it means "Eight Precepts of Taste" (I think)
*Fun fact about trash cans in Japan: "Public waste bins and garbage cans were largely removed from Japanese cities following the 1995 sarin gas attacks, forcing residents to adopt some of the world's more disciplined waste disposal techniques. In recent years, however, the long-absent trash cans have started to make a cautious return to public spaces such as parks and train stations." news/articles/2019-05-23/where-are-all-the-trash-cans-in-japanese-cities
*If you read the Takeyama, Enji, Todoroki, Nezu bits and were reminded of MHA - that was 100% intentional. Momo's flow of commerce line was referencing back to her and Todoroki's conversation in the Hideout Raid Arc.
Preview for the next chapter of Onikko
Was it bad he thought she looked pretty even when she cried?
-/-
"Abbi?" Young Reina blinks, confused. "Why are you crying?"
Responses to Reviews
Golden Wind God: Ah, Reina's past only gets more gut-wrenching :( Dw, I also want to pull out step-mom's hair every time I read what I've written, and I'm so glad you're reacting so strongly to her. Love your analysis on Reina, totally right on the dot. Ahh, sorry friend, still years and lots of angst to go before I give these two their HEA. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!
AnonymousTJ: Omg that's so flattering, *I* squealed when I read your review ;) No comfort this chapter, but you'll get some over the next few chapters! But the angst will be coming on board much more for the next few chapters too. Reina and Bachira still a few chapters away, but it'll happen! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!
Hollowz: Believe it or not, this fic was never supposed to be this long when I planned it. But things just kept adding on and adding on as I wrote :P Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed :) !
ElvenMatter: I'm glad you found her despicable and entertaining, she's really trying hard for the "over the top" villain award ;P So interesting, I actually never considered them to look alike because of their eyes being so distinct but the one time I saw a similarity was actually during that panel where Isagi talks about how he was "stained by Blue Lock" - I thought he looked so much like Sae in that panel. But you bringing up the Rin and Isagi bit is interesting, as you aren't the only one who has accused her of brocon tendencies (more on this during the future chapters that will talk about her past, though it'll be highlighted more in the Rin POV chapters. Don't worry, there will NOT be any incest in this fic.)
102602: I'm so happy you liked the contrast. I actually went back to chapter 1 to write an extra bit to "hint" at Reina's true intentions, as I realized with this review and one of the prior ones that it did make Isagi seem too mean in those earlier chapters. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!
Isagi loves thighs: So I have totally reacted that way to some of my ongoing fics before and I am so, SO happy that you get the same way with this fic! Biggest compliment ever! Stepmom is evil, and will continue to be more and more evil as you learn about her past. I tried to hint at it a bit with referencing the snug jeans and the callouses on her knuckles, but they were so brief that I would have been surprised if anyone suspected it (it was actually something I added in later on, as opposed to something I thought of during the fics inception. I'm doing okay, don't worry, but I hope you are too! You'll get more info re: chisaki soon! I've actually also planned out a POV chapter for him (thought it'll be more like a few paragraphs as opposed to a full out chapter) though that's way down the line (so will Mako's few paragraphs ;) ) Ngl if I ever encountered Reina's mom in real life I'd be curled up into a ball too *sweat drops* Murphy's law haunts us all, my friend. Omg I love Bachira so much too, he'll be coming after the chapters that foray into her past. I was so upset over Mirko's injuries too! (As well as the other female character that died - keeping my lips sealed for those not caught up the anime - but I lost my marbles when that happened). I think Ness will be the one that's benched, especially since he played so "illogically" by getting in the way of Isagi's goal but not compensating with his own (like Kaiser does) - or, at least, I hope so. #BLtakesoverBM I'm too nervous to watch S2 because of the spoilers I've read *sighs* I just want all my favs to have HEAs and get so stressed when they're put in stressful situations - I get WAY to involved in their fictional lives, smh. As always, tysm for reading and reviewing!
KindofScenic: Ohhhh crime themed story recommendations? Please share! I'm so glad you felt Reina's pain and it didn't come off as contrived (I was so worried over how it would be received by readers). Trauma-dump away, writing fics is literally my way of trauma-dumping :P I'm so happy you liked that part, that was one of my favourite parts of that chapter! Also, I know this will sound odd but I loved your origami analogy! The voices are so cruel, but gosh, so fun to write. Does that make me a horrible person *Sweat drops*? Omg I died from laughing at the tetanus comment. No comment on the leaving, that's a spoiler I'm keeping to myself ;) KK Bachira and Reina are troublesome fo rme, because a part of me wants them to be best buds, and another part of me wants them to be jealous of each other (or at least Reina jealous of Bachira, and how close he is to Isagi). Imma try to incorporate both versions somehow if I can, like maybe it starts with jealousy and then they bond over how much they adore Isagi sort of thing? Omg that is such a compliment I'm flattered and grinning so widely rn. OMGGGG you referencing manhwas is everything because I've been super into manhwas/webtoons recently - especially the northern duke and emperor ones :P oh ho ho ho, unexpected pregnancy you say? Don't read my mind... ;) As always, thank you for reading and reviewing, I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
FadedFreddie: I'm so flattered, honestly that's one of the best compliments for a fic writer ! That training session is half written already, I hope you enjoy it once we get there ;) Yup, your theory was spot on! Oh, they are definitely not the best of people in this fic. There are literally things coming up that will probably make you dislike them, though they're still further downstream. I actually thought over the name for the trio for a while since I saw your review and I can't think of anything better yet - but give me some more time to cook, I'll try to come up with something for you ;) Okay, ngl, I was in the camp that BM would lose their third match and then be forced to somewhat work together for their fourth match for narrative purposes, but DANG was I off. I feel like narratively speaking they HAVE to win against PXG (Isagi overcoming Rin & Kaiser, Kunigami overcoming Shidou) but I'm so excited to see how/if that happens. My love for MHA is way to obvious in this fic, LOL. Did you enjoy Mina's appearance? Thank you for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too!
AnythingforGiorno: Sorry friend, a few more heavy chapters incoming. Her childhood sucked, you'll learn more soon. Honestly, that's always been a pet peeve of mine in fics. Even in GOT/ASOIAF, where I love all the Starks including Cat, it infuriated me how she treated Jon while letting her hubby off scot free. More ache before the toxic first kiss, but once the "past" chapters are cleared the romance/physicality will also be ramping up ;) Thank you for reading and reviewing, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
