REI
There weren't words to describe the existential dread that filled Rei's soul at the prospect of team bonding.
Rei had declined Minako's friend's dinner invitation on account of today's scheduled activities. She didn't have the social bandwidth to keep meeting new people, nor did she have any particular interest in making friends.
She'd woken up earlier that morning to the sound of Minako stumbling sleepily around the apartment. Minako didn't strike her as the morning type, so Rei figured she had practice.
With nothing better to do, she'd slipped out of bed soon after Minako had left and got ready for a morning jog.
Now, it was barely 10:00 AM and she had plenty of time to kill before meeting up with her teammates. Too much time.
She was already showered and halfway through her morning tea. Breakfast had been a few slices of the banana bread her grandfather had given to Yuuichirou to give to her when she moved in.
She should've gone for a longer run.
Rei tapped her fingers against her mug, contemplating what she could do to pass the time.
All of her belongings were unpacked and had found their rightful places in her new room. Everything else had been stowed away in a cabinet or drawer in the kitchen.
Minako had said that their other roommate, Makoto, planned to bring a majority of the cookware and dishware for the kitchen, but Rei figured it didn't hurt to have something in there temporarily.
She didn't much care for the dishware she owned, it was stuff she had acquired out of necessity when her father moved her to the city. She'd only brought them along because it felt like a waste to throw them away.
While she wasn't particularly talented in the kitchen, Rei could get by if she needed to.
Her grandfather was more of a baker and she hadn't gotten the chance to learn anything about cooking from her mother before she'd passed. As a result, most of her cooking knowledge had come from random recipe cards stashed around the farm and Yuuichirou, whose best dish was instant ramen.
Rei frowned.
Normally, she was no stranger to lonely silence, preferred it, even. Today, however, she felt strangely restless and on-edge.
She was loath to admit it, but the apartment felt devoid of life. She half expected Minako to come bounding around the corner, ready to rope her into some activity she was likely to despise.
Rei's frown deepened.
She'd known Minako for the better part of two days, but the blonde already felt like a force she couldn't escape. It was hard to deny the way her aura called to Rei, as if she were inevitable.
Fortunately for Rei, she had at least a bare minimum of things she could work on in her free time. She needed some sort of task to occupy her mind.
She retreated to her room, closing the door behind her despite the empty apartment.
She plopped down into her desk chair, setting her nearly finished tea beside her and booting up her laptop.
Against her desires, her father's assistant had connected her with an agent whose sole responsibility was to be the liaison between Rei and the sports world.
Rei had been opposed to getting an agent to represent her, doubly so if it was someone even loosely connected to her father, but influencers, businesses, and media had crawled out of the woodwork to contact her as soon as college recruiters started eyeing her. Some had gone so far as to use their connections to her prep school to find her personal contact information.
That mistake had been quickly rectified, but it was enough to convince Rei that she did, in fact, need someone else to bear the brunt of communication and filter out the worst of it.
Her agent, a woman named Luna, was actually quite competent. The first time they met, Luna had taken her to get sushi and didn't say a single word about soccer or her father. Instead, she'd asked Rei about her interests and hobbies. She'd asked more about her grandfather's farm when the topic came up, and she'd smiled earnestly and softly when Rei complained about her grandfather sending her vegetables every weekend.
Their second meeting, they finally talked about soccer, as well as Rei's priorities and goals surrounding the sport. Did she plan to compete in college? Was she considering going pro afterwards?
And then the business of it all had come up. What kind of brands did she see herself working with? What did she want her media presence to look like? What values was she willing to support with potential future sponsorships and brands?
Luna hadn't brought up her father a single time throughout their entire time working together.
When pressed about it, she'd shrugged dismissively and replied, "You're my client, darling, not your father," in her posh English accent.
"Besides," she'd added, nose crinkling in distaste, "politics is bad for business."
She had a handful of unopened emails in her inbox from Luna, but seeing as Luna hadn't texted her, it was likely they weren't urgent business.
Rei gave the subject lines a quick once over and was once again grateful for Luna's superior organization. Her subject lines always had the important keywords that Rei needed to swiftly categorize her emails.
The greatest thing about having Luna was that the woman understood her. By now, she had a firm grasp on what kind of deals Rei would accept, and she rarely pushed Rei to do more than she desired.
Begrudgingly, Rei supposed that it was because her father paid her enough to not need to push Rei to do more.
Luna had, however, recently made attempts to persuade Rei to create some sort of media presence for herself.
It was the NIL era of college sports, and Rei should be capitalizing on her own image, is what Luna had said. At the very least, she'd have more control over her image rather than leaving it solely up to the university and outside entities.
Since then, Luna had been sending her names of brands that were willing to work with her that would require Rei to have her own social media to promote them.
Rei clicked through the new names that Luna had sent her and decided she'd put the social media decision off for a little bit longer. She'd known when she committed to play soccer in college that she'd likely have to deal with a situation like this in the future, but she'd stubbornly avoided it until now.
By the time she was done sorting through her inbox, enough time had passed that she could start getting ready to meet her teammates uptown.
Her teammates hadn't elaborated on what exactly their plans for the afternoon entailed. The only instructions she'd been given were to 'show up, look hot, and destroy.'
Considering there wasn't much to do uptown than get food and go to bars, Rei reasoned that whatever she was getting roped into was probably a little bit illegal and would probably have her head spinning.
Rei didn't really know what fell into her upperclassmen's definition of 'look hot,' so she opted for a cropped white tank top that peeked out from under a loosely buttoned, slightly oversized sweater vest. As for pants, she went with a simple pair of cream colored trousers.
Given that there was a high chance of alcohol being sloshed around everywhere, she dug out an older pair of Air Forces with blue stitching that went well with the color of her sweater vest.
She very much hoped that the day's activities wouldn't put her in danger of having drinks spilled on her, but it was an outfit she could afford to sacrifice if need be.
It was exactly 12:43 PM when Rei arrived to the Phi Delt gates, a small crossbody bag that matched the color of her pants slung across her chest to complete the outfit.
A few of her teammates were clumped together near the gates, the new members looking a bit nervous and the veterans attempting to hide their smirks and giggles behind idle chatter.
Rei wove her way through them, nodding to a few, but otherwise not saying much.
One of the other freshmen, Rei vaguely thought her name was Asuka (maybe it was Asuna), nudged her with her elbow.
"Do you know what we're doing here?" she asked under her breath, eyeing the upperclassmen suspiciously.
Rei shook her head.
"I heard some of them whispering about some sort of tradition and that we're gonna win it this year," Asuka (who was maybe Asuna) continued, bouncing nervously on her feet.
Rei shrugged. "No point worrying," she stated, for there was really nothing either of them could do. They'd find out soon enough either way.
As she spoke, the soccer team's captain strode up to the group, a tall woman with dyed pink hair that was close cropped at the sides, but long at the top. Violet, Vi for short, cleared her throat and all eyes turned to her.
"Are all the newbies here?" she asked, eyes surveying the group before landing on the other veterans.
They nodded.
"Alright then, rest of the team's already inside Main, let's fucking do this," Vi cracked her knuckles and smirked, "We're going to fuck them up."
Oh. Well that couldn't be good.
Vi and the other veterans led the way, escorting the group past Papa Main's and stopping in front of a building with an old marquee sign above the door. The senior members ambled toward the side entrance, clearly marked '21 AND OVER.'
Rei stiffened as they walked up to bouncer, but Vi and the man clasped forearms and he clapped her on the back.
Vi waved to the other freshmen who had fallen back a step when they approached the gate.
One by one, each of them held out their wrists and the bouncer wrapped a neon paper wristband around them.
The last of them through was Rei, she grumbled a low thanks and he grinned.
"I got money riding on y'all to win this year," he said, jerking his chin at Vi, "She'll never forgive you if you lose."
Vi flashed them a toothy grin. "Don't disappoint me, newbie."
The inside of the bar was dimly lit and the floors were slick with some foul combination of grime, sweat, and spilled drinks. Even early in the afternoon, weeks before the actual start of the semester, the bar was densely packed. From the looks of it, it was mostly other athletes and a smattering of townies sprinkled in.
No one over the age of 30 was present. Rei couldn't fault them for that, she wasn't even of legal drinking age and she was already tired of the bar scene. Never mind that she'd only been in the bar a matter of seconds.
Rei got the sinking feeling that she should have stopped off at the dining hall after her run for an actual substantial breakfast. Though, it was highly likely that a heartier breakfast wasn't going to save her from whatever the soccer team had planned.
"Here's the deal," Vi said, cheshire grin spreading across her face as one of the other veterans handed her a beer. "Every year, the soccer team newbies take on the volleyball team newbies at Beat."
Beat apparently meant 'Beat the Clock,' the Saturday special at Main Street. Beers started at $1 at 1:00 and increased in price every hour after until 7 PM.
At least, that's what Asuka had whispered to her when they were still waiting to get wristbanded. Rei tugged instinctively at the paper band, a bright neon marker that screamed of the illegal activities to come.
It wasn't that she was a stickler for the rules. She was, perhaps, an overly serious person, but she was certainly no stranger to underage drinking. Nobody in her father's prissy circle was particularly surprised to find the senator's daughter sneaking highballs from the bar. Hard to judge Rei when their own children were stumbling into dark corners to snort the world's cleanest cocaine they got from their emotionally unavailable fathers.
What she disliked was the sluggish feeling that came with too many drinks and the way it narrowed the choices she could make in any given moment. She couldn't just get up and drive away from her problems if she was too dizzy to walk in a straight line. Rei preferred being able to slowly sip whatever whiskey was on the menu and let it dull the sharp hostility she felt every time she was dragged to social events.
But here she was, crammed next to her teammates in a packed bar, hovering around four circular high top tables they'd dragged together, listening to her captain's declaration of war.
Vi stood at the center of the soccer team, shoulders set and her beer raised high. One would think they were preparing for playoffs with all the serious faces around them.
"We'll explain the game when the volleyball team gets here, but get ready to get kinky," Vi winked at them and held out her hand.
One of the other soccer veterans deposited a stack of ribbons into her outstretched hand and Rei felt her stomach sink. Surely this wouldn't be what she feared it would.
Asuka nudged her. "Are they tying us together? What kind of game even is this?"
Rei didn't want to know. She wanted to rip the wristband off her arm and flee somewhere far far away. She already knew how this was going to play out. There was absolutely no way she was going to survive, and she knew exactly who was going to be the death of her.
Her eyes did a quick scan of the bar, cataloging all the staircases and potential exits. If she could just get to one…
"Oh fucking finally!" Vi had turned toward the side door and Rei realized it was too late. "Our ladies of the hour are here."
Sure enough, the volleyball team was slowly filtering through the side door. They were too tall to see past them, but Rei knew that sooner or later, Minako would be bouncing into Main Street and her fate would be sealed.
Of course, there was always the chance that Minako would ignore her completely and stay focused on her own teammates, but Rei didn't actually believe there was any hope for that possibility.
Rei's fists clenched at her side. Mentally, she listed off all the places she'd rather be right now. Lost in the deep vacuum of space, diving headfirst into a volcano, swimming in the arctic, the den of a starving bear post-hibernation, or maybe even the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
She had just about steeled up enough nerves to make a run for it when a hand snaked around her waist and the all too familiar scent of sandalwood and cinnamon sugar filled her senses.
"Miss me yet?" a silky sweet voice murmured far too close to her ear.
Rei's jaw tensed as she angled her face towards Minako, who had somehow slipped through the crowd and found her already. She narrowed her eyes at the blonde, but she was undeterred.
"Have I ever told you you're hot when you're angry?" Minako giggled, voice just loud enough to be heard over the booming speakers. Her eyes were fixated on Rei's lips, and Rei felt her body heat up in response, a tight coil forming in her gut.
"What are you doing here?" Rei hissed, turning and pulling down on the arm Minako had wrapped around her. She held her wrist in a firm grip, not trusting that Minako wouldn't immediately move to put it back.
It didn't matter that she already knew why Minako was here. It didn't matter that the rest of the volleyball team was filling in the space around them. It didn't matter that more than a few of her own teammates were looking at them with curious expressions.
It mattered that Minako's eyes had darkened like they had the day before, and her eyes had dropped to burn a trail up and down Rei's body. It mattered that the coil in her gut twisted and screamed at her to get even closer to the blonde.
She was acutely aware of the rise and fall of Minako's chest, the way her breath caught a little when she realized Rei was watching her.
Now that she really looked at her, Minako's hair was a few shades darker than normal, she'd apparently just showered. The smell of soap mixed in with her usual scent and Rei struggled to chase away thoughts of Minako in the shower.
Minako wore an orange mock neck halter top that hugged the top of her abs and clung to her chest in just the right way. Rei followed the exposed skin down to the dangerously short black denim skirt that accompanied it.
A sharp wolf whistle startled Rei out of her own thoughts and she whipped her head towards the sound, body tensing.
Vi, still at the center of the two teams, had two fingers pressed to her lips. Beside her now was a tall woman with auburn hair that Rei vaguely recognized as one of Minako's teammates. Probably the volleyball team captain.
"Listen up!" Vi barked, as if the whistle hadn't grabbed everyone's attention. Even some of the groups around them had stopped chatting to listen in on the soccer team captain.
"It's time to see whose rookies are the best this year." Vi looked between the soccer and volleyball teams, jerking her head at the volleyball player next to her. "Natsuna will explain the competition."
The auburn haired woman stepped forward, bumping shoulders with Vi as she did. Despite Natsuna's physical height advantage, Vi still appeared far more menacing with the way she glowered at her.
Natsuna smirked. "It's time for some good old fashioned one versus one warfare," she declared, her smirk spreading to the older players on both teams.
"Luckily, this year the number of rookies on each team is the same," Natsuna continued, "You'll be split into pairs and tied together with these."
Vi waved the ribbons from earlier in the air.
For arch rivals, Rei noted that they were seemingly very in sync when it came to tormenting their new players. How incredibly lucky for her.
"Since we're all very kind and caring upperclassmen," Vi was a talented liar, "we'll be buying all of you drinks for the rest of the afternoon."
"If your partner drinks, you drink, it's that simple. If one of you taps out, the other team gets a point." Vi's smile was downright diabolical at this point.
"You have to stay tied together, and anyone in the bar can buy you drinks, but they have to buy for both of you," Natsuna said, and Rei really had to give them credit for their seamless transitions between speakers.
"And every hour you have to return to this table for mandatory tequila shots!" Vi chimed in gleefully.
Natsuna shot her a glare. "That is not a rule, Violet," she sneered.
Vi's eyebrow twitched at the use of her full name, but her grin returned quickly. "What is it, Sakurada? Afraid your little twig bitches will fall over?"
Natsuna's lips pressed together. "Fine," she spat. "Every hour you have to return to this table and do shots with the captains."
Vi gaped at her, but Natsuna didn't give her a chance to speak.
"Once you're tied together, you're free to mingle and socialize however you want. If one of you taps out, you have to report to the opposing team's captain to get your ribbon cut."
"Who's up first?" Vi was still frowning, but she stopped glaring at Natsuna to size up the rookies.
Rei wished she could shrink into the crowd and disappear.
The gods must have heard her prayers and deemed her unworthy because Vi's gaze settled dead on her.
"Hino," she barked, the diabolical smile returning, "It seems you've already decided on a partner."
Oh for fuck's sake.
A/N: For those of you wondering about the NIL Era, specifically in the U.S., the NIL stands for Name, Image, Likeness, and it basically is just the ability for college athletes to make money off their own personal brand and get sponsorships/brand deals. Previously in the states, college athletes weren't able to profit off their own image at all (like not even sell their signature) and it led to predatory situations where a university could profit x amount of money by selling a player's jersey, but that specific athlete can't even sell their own merchandise or ever get compensation for jerseys sold.
People have divisive opinions on whether the NIL deal is good or not, some critics say it takes away from college athletes having to be "amateurs," or that they're too young to be responsible for brand deals and such. I'm of the overall opinion that it's a good thing that athletes have more agency in the use of their name and it's exciting to see the positive impact it's had on women's sports (college basketball in particular), and LET'S BE SO FOR REAL MINAKO AINO WOULD HAVE THRIVED IN THE U.S. NIL ERA
Also, if you care, I think a lot of Rei's outfit inspirations will come from Paige Bueckers. She's a college basketball player, and I think her style is really dope and perfectly floats that sporty androgynous line.