Chapter Text
When Reo woke up, he barely had any idea of what was happening.
White ceilings stared back at him, and annoying bright lights that made him groan. Blue lock definitely didn’t have an infirmary, so where the hell was he?
He sat up slowly, running a hand from his cheek through his hair, looking around. Not his bedroom, but definitely someone’s.
His eyes finally landed near the door, where Prince was about to leave. He wanted to say something, but didn’t. Letting him go, and waiting a while. It was almost 10 minutes of just staring at a strange painting on the wall.
Something abstract.
His throat burned, like something was stuck in it but he knew nothing was. Almost like his uvula expanded. He was sore all over, finally stepping out of the bed.
He stumbled a few steps, grabbing onto a side table. He wanted to sleep, take a nap. But he was more set on finding Chigiri.
He wasn’t even sure what he would say, but he owed Chigiri an explanation of some sort.
Upon opening the door, he ran right into Nagi, who was about to open the door. He looked like he had just rolled out of bed too, but when didn’t he?
“Oh…” Reo forced out a small sound, looking down, “hey.”
“Hey,” Nagi waved slightly. It was awkward, Reo wanted to sink into himself.
Neither of them spoke for what felt like an eternity. Before Reo was picked up with a hug. A tiny yelp escaped his mouth, before hugging him back. Suddenly Nagi pulled away, and Reo frowned at the loss of warmth. He grabbed Reo’s shoulder and shook him lightly once.
“You scared the shit out of me.” Reo felt tears welling up in his eyes, “Do you… You could've gotten seriously hurt, you did get hurt. You almost got a concussion and you pulled a muscle. Just…” Nagi trailed off, hugging him again, “Don’t ever do that again, okay?”
Reo nodded slightly, hiding in Nagi’s neck, trying to hide any tears. It wasn’t common that Nagi exercised more than he had to, and Reo wasn’t exactly featherlight.
He was nearly dragged back to the bed, Nagi propped up against the headboard.
Eventually, they both fell asleep. He woke up again with Nagi gone, and a cold meal on the nightstand. This time, Chris was pouring himself a cup of tea. Fuckin’ brit’s, amirite? Once he turned around, he saw Reo sitting up, running a hand through his hair.
He was still very confused, the interaction with Nagi felt like a dream, but he couldn’t tell if it was. Chris walked over, pulling up a chair beside the bed. “Well,” He slouched down, placing his elbows on his knees, “I think we need to have a talk. I’d assume you’re confused, you just woke up.”
Reo felt as if his body gained a trillion pounds, his heart was somehow both in his throat and bowels. He felt so many things going on at once, even if nothing was really happening.
Of course, Nagi wouldn’t care. He’d throw Reo away in a second if he became useless, he wouldn’t even get out of bed if he heard Reo got injured at all.
Not to mention, ‘a talk’ with his parents always ended up with yelling, and threats of sending him off to some European boarding school where no one would find him. So he could only fear what Chris had to say.
He braced for impact, waiting for some explosion. But all he was met with was, “Tell me, Reo, why would you do that?” His voice was more patient and calm than he expected. But Reo felt like there was something that would end up with him off the team.
He didn’t have a reason. Well he did. But it was stupid, irrelevant, and beyond pathetic. He couldn’t just say, “I didn’t want to fall behind. There’s so many geniuses here, and if I want to win the world cup, I have to work 10 times harder to keep up.”
“I see.” The accented English translator responded, and Reo felt his back straighten out. How disoriented really was he? He could swear, his mouth didn’t move a bit, not in any way at all. “You know, Reo. If you burn out, you can’t keep up at all. If you want to push yourself harder, you could’ve come to me. I can set up a new routine for you. But trust me, doing that again could end everything you’re working so hard for.”
Reo didn’t exactly know how to react, nodding slightly. He could look Chris in his eyes, focusing on the painting. It was abstract before, but now it was just some sunset portrait. “So… um, do we still have practice tomorrow?” he asked nervously, what if that was the last spark for the fuse? Thankfully, it wasn’t.
“We do, you don’t.” Chris pushed on his knees to stand, smiling down. “You should head back to your room though, you need rest. We’ll get you back up and going on Wednesday. Until then, you’ll just stick to a simple workout routine. You pulled a muscle in your leg.”
Unknowingly, Reo mumbled “pulled a muscle” quietly. So maybe the dream wasn’t too far off. Chris nodded before going back to his tea.
Reo left shortly after, needing a few seconds to completely wake up. Heading back to his room, Nagi and Chigiri were talking. Once he came in, the both stopped and turned their heads. He felt naked, but kept walking towards his bed. Before he could get there, he was smothering with a hug from a certain redhead.
“Fuck you!” Chigiri sounded on the verge of tears, hugging Reo from the side. Once he sat down on his bed, he was faced with scolding. Glancing at Nagi, who looked as agitated as he did. “What the hell were you thinking!? That could’ve been seriously serious!” His voice faded off as he made eye contact with Nagi, sharing a very slight smile.
Chigiri finished after a few minutes when Nagi whined. “Let me sleep,” He groaned. And after about 15 minutes of nightly routines, Chigiri and Reo turned in too. Chuckling lightly, almost as if nothing happened. Both of them are about to go to bed. Chigiri reached over, his arm as extended as it could go.
“Promise me, you’ll never do something so stupid again.” The Princess had his pinky finger extended, fully serious.
Reo moved to the edge of his bed, reaching out and hooking his pinky to Chigiri’s. The two bounced their arms like a handshake, an official deal. Even if Reo was mentally crossing his fingers.
Although it’s safe to say, after that point, fields were locked every night.