Chapter Text
There was only one thing that Ryuusei knew for certain and that was football.
The first day of tryouts was when Sae, the new captain, decided the team had to split into two divisions. Not that one was performing worse, but the clash between Rin and Ryuusei was too much for anybody to handle. The final straw was when Ryuusei had gotten incredibly close to smashing Rin's nose with his foot that not even a nose job could fix it.
"Teams A and B rally against each other," present Sae instructed. "Isagi is sick, so I'll play with Team B."
Ryuusei perked up. "You?"
Sae gazed flatly. "What about me?"
"Hell yeah!" Ryuusei slung an arm around Sae's shoulder.
Itoshi Sae did not nearly look as cheerful. "Get to your positions," he said, throwing off Ryuusei's limb.
Sweet. Isagi was a good player for sure, but playing with Sae got Ryuusei so excited. This was going to be a good match—Ryuusei could feel it in his muscles.
"You want to play defense?" Ryuusei overheard Kunigami ask.
"I like to switch things up," Bachira's voice replied, followed by light laughter.
Ryuusei heard Kunigami loudly crack his neck. "Suit yourself."
Bachira was being weird today, not that he was never not weird. But he was being weirder on this particular day, especially back in their classroom.
Him. That one word still rang through Ryuusei's mind, bouncing off the confines of his anatomy. It was like those gas particles stuck in a box Ryuusei learned about, except those gas particles were just him, him, him.
Was Bachira messing with Ryuusei? That was it, wasn't it? The guess was a fluke, a stroke of luck. Bachira himself said it after all. Ryuusei could laugh at himself for being so gullible enough to believe that wretch.
And if Bachira wasn't? Crap. Now there was an issue. Or issues. If Bachira wasn't lying about being a genius speculator, how did he know that Ryuusei had a secret admirer? Did Bachira read their exchange? Shit—there was no way Bachira was his secret admirer, right?
Ryuusei felt sick at the thought. There was no way it was Bachira. It could not be him. So it had to be someone else. Him.
The more Ryuusei thought about the entire ordeal, the more he wanted to shake the answers out of his supposed classmate. If Bachira was uncooperative like earlier, well, that was no problem.
In the end, it was clear Ryuusei would have to hunt down that guy later for some much-needed truth (all paths indeed led to violence).
"Oi, get to your position.” Sae's order snapped Ryuusei out of his daze.
"Sure thing, Underlashes Senior!" Ryuusei grinned widely and sprinted to the center of the field, his troubles stored for later. It was time for football.
Itoshi Rin, Team A's striker, stood nearby, his long bangs swept across his forehead like some sort of model. Ryuusei wondered if Rin was ever bothered by them. Ryuusei often contemplated cutting his own two strands that framed his face but ultimately never did.
"Time to explode!" Ryuusei shouted to no one in particular, rolling his shoulders.
Instead of contributing to what would be the start of a routine back-and-forth banter, Rin stayed silent.
Ryuusei was about to say one more unnecessary comment to rile up his rival when Sae arrived before the former.
"Wake up. It's time for you to go wild."
Ryuusei nodded in acknowledgment, his eyes fixated on Rin's distant figure.
A whistle blew, signaling the beginning of the match.
First was Hiori and Rin. Hiori didn't typically start the kickoff, but it seemed Team A was trying something new today.
The two players started slow, passing and inching closer to the goal. Then they sped up, smoothly weaving through the players that tried to block them.
Ryuusei observed from a distance, how Rin and That-Other-Guy whizzed through the field, ball gliding between the two of them. Rin moved like he was born to play football. He effortlessly swerved through his opponents like the waves of a vast ocean, and his deadly gaze swallowed their boats of hopes and dreams. He overflowed and capsized their pride to pitiful rummage. The field and its players were in his domain and his to dominate; Rin was an unstoppable force.
Igaguri approached Rin as his next opponent and yelled something inaudible. What the former said didn't stir anything as it didn't take long for him to be brushed off by Rin.
"Hey, Chestnut! Get your shit together!" Ryuusei yelled.
It was a massacre. The victims were left behind in a sorrowful trail as Rin and Hiori approached the goal and its goalkeeper.
In a flash it was just Rin and the goal now. He looked calm as he sprinted, but anybody who knew him could tell that underneath that veil of serenity Rin was blazing with fervor. As Rin swung his foot to score, his pants rode up very slightly. His thighs were clenched, and a bulging vein boldly peeked out. Ryuusei watched in slow motion as the leg that kicked like a winner propelled forward, making contact with the ball.
The goalkeeper dived. The ball spun, curving right into the net. The whistle blew.
Rin wiped his sweat with his collar as Hiori jogged up to give him a high five. Team A crowded around Rin to praise his goal. He ignored the high five and his teammates' admiration.
Ryuusei also found himself gravitating toward Rin. "Pretty cool, Itoshi Rin."
He must have heard it because Rin looked straight at Ryuusei. Rin looked like he was trying too hard to appear unbothered when he had just sprinted down the field.
A tingling sensation crept up Ryuusei's legs. He stepped closer as the crowd dispersed. "Things sure are getting interesting," he remarked when Rin didn't say anything.
"They really aren't," Rin finally spoke.
They stood in front of each other. Ryuusei put his hands on his hips. "Don't be like that. Let's see which one of us is the real number one, Rin-chan."
Rin hesitated, seemingly studying Ryuusei's face. "Sure. I'll gladly crush you so you'll leave your roach print behind on the ground for someone to remember your sorry ass."
Before Ryuusei could respond with a smart remark denying his ass was never sorry, Sae called him over to start the next round.
"You're ruining it," Ryuusei grumbled.
Sae narrowed his eyes. "I don't ruin things, moron. Now focus."
The whistle blew once more for the kickoff. Sae nonchalantly kicked the ball to Ryuusei. Ryuusei passed it back to Sae. Sae began taunting his next poor victim, and Ryuusei was left to do as he pleased.
Ryuusei could feel it. His heartbeat was picking up again like all the other times. Ryuusei didn't think; he just moved along with his body. His body carried him; left, right, left, right, left again. A spin for fun. Ryuusei was free, free to explode.
He was reminded of how Isagi had attempted to explain what his thinking process was, and it caused Ryuusei's head to throb. Who thought that much while on the field? He knew reflex alone could carry him.
Ryuusei felt warm all over. He was like an engine about to overheat. Fuck. He loved this feeling; he was pulsing.
Kunigami stepped into Ryuusei's path. "You're not getting past me, psycho."
"Look, it's the knight in shining armor," Ryuusei cooed.
Kunigami furrowed his brow. "Get ready."
Ryuusei could see the sweat on Kunigami's forehead. He laughed. "You still don't get it, Hero-kun. I told you, I'm not playing football!" With that, Ryuusei sprinted to the right with Kunigami on his tail.
In his peripheral vision, Ryuusei could see the ball that Sae forwarded spiraling toward his way. "I love it when you're rough."
It was fucking perfect. The ball rotated through the air so wonderfully, a manner only Itoshi Sae could craft from scratch. The magma bubbling inside Ryuusei that threatened to erupt was drumming in his ears. It pushed him to jump, jump so it could be freed from this mortal body. Ryuusei could feel his muscles contracting and his cleat making contact with the black-and-white ball. Every bone, every muscle, every fucking cell in his body screamed in euphoria as he drove the sphere toward the goal to catalyze the explosion.
The whistle triumphantly screeched.
Ryuusei cupped his cheeks, eyes rolling up. "Haha yes! I'm feeling it! That's it…" he smiled with glee. He was throbbing, and his body, inside and out, was on fire in the most pleasurable way.
"We've only tied the game. Don't bust just yet," said Sae.
"Let's do that again, Itoshi Sae." Ryuusei trembled.
Itoshi Sae brushed off the request, but Ryuusei knew that was a yes.
Of course, Itoshi Rin was staring at him. After all, Ryuusei and his performance were hard to miss.
Ryuusei closed his eyes, letting the adrenaline, dopamine, and everything good in between disseminate.
The next kickoff soon started. A standoff between Sae and Hiori initially presented itself, but Sae managed to swiftly steal the ball.
Bachira proved to be a more formidable opponent as he kept Sae busy. But Sae, being Sae, eventually scored a goal by himself.
Ryuusei showered Sae with praise. He did not say much.
Another kickoff. Another steal by Sae. Another shift to the offensive.
By now Ryuusei thought Bachira would try to do something to the former, but the latter didn't. It wasn't until Ryuusei was rushing down the field all by himself with the ball that the brat provoked Ryuusei by saying, "I know who your secret admirer is."
A one-second pause of Ryuusei's movement to process what was said was enough time for Bachira to dribble away with the ball toward the opposite side.
Ryuusei chased after Bachira and tackled him. The two collided on the ground, limbs tangling and hands flying. A whistle blew somewhere in the distance.
Ryuusei fisted the collar of his teammate's jersey, pulling Bachira to sit upright. "What the fuck did you just say?!" Ryuusei screamed at Bachira, spit flying everywhere and shaking him like a rag doll.
Two pairs of hands hauled Ryuusei back. Bachira had a bruise on his knee and a torn lip. Sae looked irritated with his arms crossed. And Shidou Ryuusei felt impossibly hot, hotter than the sun with its cancer-giving rays. It was like he was back on the school roof but ten times worse.
"Take a ten," said Sae. Ryuusei heard the captain calling someone else to sub in.
Ryuusei was dragged to the benches with a towel thrown on his head. He turned away from the game and gripped his thighs. He felt so hot. His heart was pounding. Was this the beginning of a fever?
Was he mad? He didn't exactly feel angry. His entire body was burning, and his face hurt. Ryuusei touched his cheek–his palm was cool. He was not (blushing). And if he was, it was from the goal he scored earlier.
Fuck. Dammit.
Bachira was just messing with him. Ryuusei kept reminding himself that, softly murmuring to himself over and over what was said wasn't the truth and most likely a lie.
Ryuusei felt a gaze upon him. He spun around and noticed Rin staring from a distance. Why the fuck was Rin always staring at him during his worst moments?
This wasn't supposed to happen. None of this was supposed to happen.
Ryuusei sat there simmering in his heated state, his only thought of Itoshi Rin.