Chapter Text
After a two-week break from Blue Lock, everyone who had made it through returned to the facility. Rin arrived a little early, preferring to be ahead of schedule rather than risk showing up late. He leaned against one of the walls, silently watching the others as they slowly trickled in.
There were still plenty of people who hadn't arrived yet, but he noticed several familiar faces that hadn't originally been part of the Blue Lock project. Among them was Japan's former U-20 national team. After all, they had lost to the Blue Lock Eleven, so it wasn't surprising that they were now fighting to keep their places. Rin didn't care. It wasn't his problem.
His only goal was to play in the World Cup, and win it. If the former national team had to give up their dreams of ever stepping onto that stage again, he had no issue being the one to destroy those dreams. Besides, he had always thought they were mediocre. Winning with players like them on the team would only make things more difficult.
A moment later, Isagi approached him. Just the sight of him was enough to irritate Rin. He was still angry, and he doubted that feeling would disappear anytime soon. Right now, all he wanted was to beat Isagi and make him regret sticking his nose into something that wasn't his business, stealing Rin's goal during the U-20 match. He still remembered how awful he had felt after it happened.
"Rin, I knew you'd be here. Blue Lock just wouldn't be the same without you." - Rin had no idea why Isagi kept talking to him so casually, almost like nothing had happened. Even after everything Rin had said to him in the locker room.
"Don't talk to me, you pathetic hero. Want me to stab you?" - Rin shot back. He had no intention of changing his attitude, even a little. He wanted Isagi to know exactly how much he despised him.
"Oh, shut up, you failed villain" - Isagi laughed, clearly unbothered by the insult. Rin was about to tell him that he was going to crush him, but Ego's voice echoed through the room before he had the chance.
Ego began explaining why even the players who had lost were there. Then he reminded everyone that there were exactly one hundred days left until the World Cup. After going over a few more details, he introduced the five teams they would have to choose from and join.
Rin didn't need much time to think. The French team seemed like the perfect place for him to grow and matched everything he was looking for, so he chose it without a second thought. He spent the rest of the time in silence, listening to everyone else struggle with their decisions. They had to hurry, after all, the time was limited, just like the number of spots.
At one point, he accidentally overheard Isagi saying he would probably choose Germany. Rin didn't mind that at all. If that was true, there was no chance they'd end up on the same team, which meant he'd get the chance to beat him later.
Once the time was up, everyone went their separate ways. Rin headed toward the meeting point for the players who had chosen France. There, he noticed a few familiar faces who had made the same choice as him.
At first, he thought they seemed decent enough and probably wouldn't get in his way. Then his eyes landed on one particular blond pest.
That was the moment Rin regretted his decision for the first time. Shidou, like some annoying leech, just had to follow him everywhere, even choosing the same team. It was irritating, so the moment Rin noticed him, he frowned and quietly stepped farther away. He was already walking at the back of the group, but if he could, he'd have fallen even farther behind.
Eventually, they reached their destination, where they were greeted by Loki, the person who would apparently be coaching them.
Rin remembered him from their match back at Blue Lock, where the French prodigy had been part of the World Five. He also remembered losing to him, though it was a memory he'd rather forget. Over the next few days, he'd make sure to get his revenge by defeating him. After all, Loki couldn't be that good.
After a short introduction, the first round of tests began. As Rin expected, they were meant to determine the starting lineup for their opening match. The challenge was simple, reach the goal as quickly as possible while overcoming a series of obstacles along the way.
They were competing against some of the best players in France, so it was only natural that those guys would take the lead. Even so, Rin had no intention of giving up. He didn't care how good they were, he was going to beat them anyway. In the end, he placed fairly high on the leaderboard, though not in first place, which irritated him more than he cared to admit.
"Oh? Looks like our Rin-rin is still keeping up." - Shidou said after finishing his own run and burying the ball into the net. He walked over to where Rin was standing in front of the scoreboard so he could check his own placement as well. - "Hey, you're only one spot ahead of me. That's not so bad, right?"
"Shut up, insect." - Rin scoffed, turning away from him. He was still slightly out of breath after the brutal run and all the obstacles, and listening to Shidou certainly wasn't helping him calm down. He was the last person Rin wanted to hear right now.
"You're still such a brat, huh?" - Shidou replied with a mocking grin. He had expected Rin to act exactly like this, so it wasn't much of a surprise.
"You're just as annoying as ever, you damn cockroach" - Rin shot back. Shidou was about to answer, but before he could, one of the French staff members walked over and handed them each an earpiece. Apparently, it would let them understand one another even if they spoke different languages.
Rin took his and put it on. Before he even had the chance to figure out whether it actually worked, Shidou's loud voice echoed through the room, making it pretty obvious that the device was translating everything without any problems.
"Rin-rin, it actually works! Did you notice? I can hear everything in Japanese! This is so awesome" - Shidou said, adjusting the earpiece until it fit comfortably.
"I would've noticed if you weren't yelling like an idiot." - Rin muttered, clenching his fists as he listened to the sounds around him.
"I'm not yelling. You're the one acting like you've got sensitive hearing." - As far as Shidou was concerned, he wasn't being that loud, even if people pointed it out from time to time. Maybe he noticed it himself once in a while, but he never thought it was a bad thing.
"Bullshit. I'm sure they can hear you from the other side of the room."
"Think they'll hear you scream too if I hit you right now?" - Shidou asked with a mocking grin as he stepped closer. Rin simply scoffed and braced himself, fully expecting an attack. By now, he knew exactly what Shidou was capable of.
Just as Ryusei was about to throw a punch, Loki stepped between them and stopped him with ease.
"Huh? Can't you see I was just about to settle things with him?" - Shidou asked, a hint of irritation in his voice. Loki, however, didn't seem bothered in the slightest and got straight to the point.
"Fighting won't be tolerated here. Either you learn to behave, or neither of you will be playing in any matches." - Shidou clicked his tongue and took a step back. In his mind, Loki was getting a little too comfortable with the authority he'd been given, and it annoyed him that the Frenchman thought he could order him around like that
"It wasn't even my fault" - Rin cut in, defending himself. There was no way he was going to end up on the bench just because that cockroach couldn't behave himself. He wasn't about to face the consequences of Shidou's actions.
"Maybe not" - Loki replied. - "But you probably would've hit him back." - He didn't know the two of them very well, but it wasn't a difficult assumption to make. - "Now get yourselves ready for the next training session."
Rin scoffed, ignoring everyone else as he headed toward the next training area. This time, it looked like they were finally going to have a proper practice session instead of another endurance test.
For the next drill, everyone had to split into two teams. The groups were assigned at random, and by pure luck, Rin and Shidou ended up on the same side. Neither of them liked it, but neither complained. They simply exchanged irritated glances before focusing on the training ahead.
The match on the field turned out to be difficult. Every time Rin was about to score, Shidou would successfully get in his way, and the same happened the other way around. Both of them wanted to take the spotlight for themselves. Unfortunately, that strategy clearly wasn't working, because they quickly realized they were only dropping in the rankings because of their behavior.
"What the hell are you doing, idiot?! You're ruining my plays!" - Rin shouted the moment he noticed his performance dropping because of Shidou. He couldn't allow himself to stay anywhere but first place in the rankings for too long.
Shidou scoffed as soon as he heard that. - "You're doing the same thing, Rin-chan. I would've scored at least three goals already if it wasn't for you."
"First, learn how not to steal other people's balls, you blond antenna."
"I'll play however I want." - They kept exchanging remarks every now and then. It seemed like the other players on the field were slowly starting to lose their patience with them and were urging them to get the game going again.
There was no reason to be surprised. Nobody wanted to keep listening to their shouting and insults. Everyone else was here to train as well, not to watch some free drama show.
"Cut it out with the arguing. You're wasting everyone's time, idiots." - Karasu called out from the other side of the field, clearly starting to lose his patience. He considered their behavior childish and couldn't believe that some people still acted this way.
"Don't order me around, little bird. I still have unfinished business with him." - Ryusei replied, keeping his eyes fixed on Rin's figure. He was about to start another fight, but a loud whistle suddenly rang out, catching him off guard and stopping him in his tracks.
After that, both of them were scolded for starting another argument, which annoyed them both. Fortunately, they didn't have to wait much longer before the session finally ended, allowing everyone to leave peacefully.
After that, there was still the matter of deciding who would share rooms with whom, but Rin honestly didn't care much about it. He only hoped he wouldn't end up with someone annoying. In the end, he was told that he would be staying with Tokimitsu, Nanase, and someone else whose name he couldn't remember. Out of all of them, he only really knew Tokimitsu, since they had been on the same team before. The other two were complete strangers to him.
However, they didn't seem like they would cause any problems, so Rin was fine with the arrangement.
That night, he slept comfortably. The beds were definitely better than the ones they had before, and the overall comfort was much better as well.
He woke up in the morning and followed his usual routine. He moved quietly so he wouldn't wake the others, although he honestly wouldn't have cared if someone lost their precious sleep because of him. Still, he kept some manners and tried not to disturb them.
After leaving the room, he went to the bathroom, took a morning shower, and brushed his teeth. He didn't bother with breakfast and headed straight to training.
Their first match hadn't happened yet, so the Blue Lock rankings hadn't changed, and Rin was still in first place. However, in the ranking system they had here, which showed all the players on his current team, he hadn't managed to keep the top spot. It was probably because he was competing against professional players, but he still believed that if he trained hard enough, he would eventually surpass them as well.
So he didn't waste any more time. He found an empty field and started his training. It took a while before it was finally time for a break, during which he went to get something to eat. The rest of the day passed just as quickly and was focused entirely on physical training. Loki had prepared a strict workout schedule that was extremely exhausting. By the time it ended, everyone was completely worn out.
The following days continued in the same way until the first week finally passed. During that time, Rin managed to climb back to the top of the rankings, surpassing everyone else. Because of that, he was certain that he would be part of the starting lineup for their upcoming match.
Shidou was right below him, which meant that both of them would be on the field. Now they had to figure out what strategy to use in order to combine their completely different playstyles and achieve victory without any major complications
After some consideration, they had already prepared one technique, but they weren't completely sure how well it would work in an actual match. Even so, they decided to rely on it, and it would most likely be the strategy they followed during the game.
Rin was currently in the middle of his own extra training session, which he had assigned to himself. It wasn't like he had anything better to do than play again anyway. Besides, he actually enjoyed pushing himself to exhaustion. It made him feel like he had truly given one hundred percent that day and had nothing to blame himself for.
At some point, however, the door to his training room opened, which surprised him a little because usually no one came to bother him during these sessions.
As soon as he turned around, he saw one of his roommates standing there. It was Nanase. At first, he had no idea why he had come, but he quickly realized when Nanase immediately got straight to the point.
"Please, make me your student!" - Nanase shouted, almost desperately, bowing down in front of him.
Rin didn't need much time to think. - "No way, loser." - He had no intention of training him just because he couldn't keep up. He didn't care about the others or whether they got eliminated. The only person he cared about was himself.
"Wait! Please, otherwise I'll never be able to play another match again!" - Nanase continued, stepping closer to him. - "I'm begging you, just look at me."
Rin could hear the desperation in his voice, but he had no intention of feeling sorry for him. Nanase had chosen this path himself, and if he wasn't good enough, then he didn't deserve to play. - "Your passes, your shots... everything about your game is at a low level. What would I gain by helping you?" - he asked with genuine curiosity. He simply couldn't see any benefit in it.
"I'll do anything, Rin-san! I want to survive the Neo Egoist League... I'll offer you anything!" - Rin could hear the desperation in his voice. Because of that, he had to think for a moment.
"I'll drop you if you end up being useless. Train harder than everyone else." - He began. Rin himself added extra exercises outside of the official training schedule, so if he was going to train someone, he would expect the same dedication from them. - "Do everything I tell you."
"Okay!" - Nanase immediately seemed to light up, a spark appearing in his eyes. He sounded surprised as well, but in a positive way.
"From today onward, you'll be my property." - Rin said, staring at Nanase's shocked expression. Nanase was willing to agree to anything, so he nodded without hesitation.
That was when they started their first training session. Rin immediately wanted to see how he played and analyze him carefully. He had already seen him during previous training sessions, but he hadn't paid much attention to him, so now he wanted to examine him more closely.
Just as he expected, Nanase's skills were rather poor, and he wasn't even half as good as Rin. Improving him was probably going to take some time.
From that day onward, their training sessions were held together. To Rin's surprise, Nanase remained motivated and eager to cooperate the entire time, following every instruction he gave him. Rin could see a deep determination in him, something that was truly worthy of respect.
They didn't have enough time to improve their teamwork or practice most of their passing combinations. Their first match came in the blink of an eye, and before they knew it, they had to step onto the field.
The strategy the entire team had planned beforehand didn't work very well. Small mistakes could be noticed, and some players kept getting in each other's way. As the match went on, most of them eventually stopped following the plan and started playing according to their own style, which created a bit of chaos. Despite that, they had enough strong players on the team to secure a victory.
After the match, the rules and the overall system of the Neo Egoist League were explained in detail. Rin definitely didn't like the fact that cameras were placed all around the hallways, but there was nothing he could do about it. He simply had to adapt.
Ever since he learned about it, he paid more attention to how he acted, because millions of people were watching them. He was still rude and cold toward others, and he had no intention of changing that. He just tried to hold back a little more when it came to certain things.
He wasn't completely sure, but he assumed that his training sessions were being broadcast as well. The same probably applied to the gym and the other rooms. It made him feel slightly uncomfortable, but it was something he could get used to.
While they were preparing for their second match, they managed to come up with a different strategy. This time, it worked much better than their previous one, or at least that was what they believed based on their training sessions. Of course, there was always a chance it wouldn't work during an actual match, but for now, it had very few weaknesses.
Rin was playing with Nanase, who acted as his support player. He was still training him, which made his passing gradually improve, although it was still far from perfect. Even so, Rin was satisfied with this arrangement because when they played this way, Shidou had no chance of getting in his way. It meant they interfered with each other much less.
Throughout all those days, Rin did his best to avoid everyone he encountered. The only exception was Nanase, and the fact that they shared a room meant they ended up spending a lot of time together during the day. Sometimes it became irritating, but all Rin had to do was raise his voice at him, and Nijiro would immediately give him some space.
After all, Itoshi wasn't someone who particularly enjoyed being around other people, although this time he was partially forced into it.
When it came to what Rin thought about Nanase, he had mixed feelings. The boy seemed far too energetic, although in small amounts, he was tolerable. Especially since he never opposed Rin, which was something he definitely appreciated.
Because of that, Rin could say that he was probably the closest to Nanase out of everyone there, even though he still tried to avoid him whenever possible. He didn't want to get dragged into unnecessary conversations with him. After all, their only shared goal was training. He had no interest in making friends.
Even so, especially during the evenings when most people were resting in their rooms, Nanase was social enough to start small conversations with almost everyone who happened to be near him at the time.
That was exactly what happened this time as well. Night was approaching, and most people were probably already getting ready to sleep. Rin was lying on his bed with one earbud in and a tablet in his hand. On the screen, he had an earlier match between Bastard München and Barcha playing. He was analyzing their gameplay so that he could defeat them later himself.
Nanase's bed was right next to Rin's, so even unintentionally, his eyes wandered toward him and the screen he had open.
"Are you watching a match, Rin-san?" - he asked curiously, leaning slightly toward him. Rin reluctantly paused the video as soon as he heard him.
"Yeah. I need to analyze it." - He replied briefly, clearly not wanting to start a deeper conversation. However, Nanase apparently didn't notice his tone and continued.
"Most people do that in the room meant for it, don't they?" - Back in Blue Lock, there had been a room specifically designed for watching previous matches and analyzing them. Rin, however, didn't like spending time there because there was always someone else around, and he couldn't get enough peace and quiet.
"I don't care. I'd rather do it alone." - Doing it together sounded like a nightmare. He was sure that if he analyzed it with someone else, they wouldn't do as good of a job as he could by himself.
"Yeah, probably..." - Nanase smiled awkwardly. - "But I can always help you with something if you want, Rin-san."
"I told you I can handle it by myself." - Rin hoped Nanase would finally drop the subject and go back to whatever he had been doing before. He didn't want company. It only threw him off balance.
"Oh, right! I know that. I just think we could do something together to strengthen our bond." - Nanase explained, waving his hands slightly. "That way, we could understand each other better on the field."
Rin blinked. How many times did he have to repeat that he wanted to be alone? - "I'm not looking for friends, bumpkin"
"Sure... You seem really isolated." - Nanase added, but the moment he received Rin's sharp glare, he immediately froze and quickly changed the subject. - "Never mind. Good luck with your analysis." - He said, scratching the back of his neck before turning away.
Rin only scoffed quietly under his breath before starting to think about it. He didn't understand how talking to someone throughout the day could possibly help them understand each other better on the field. It was supposed to be about skills, not friendship or personal feelings.
He wondered if having a good relationship with someone would actually allow them to play better together during a match. The first person who came to his mind was Shidou. After all, they had never been able to get along. He wondered if, somehow, they actually started liking each other, would they be able to play together the way Ryusei and Sae did.
However, he quickly dismissed the thought. After all, that nuisance was still constantly getting on his nerves, so there was no point in even considering it.
He resumed watching the match, focusing solely on it.
~🌸🌸🌸~
Shidou had no major problems starting conversations with people. Sure, others found him strange, but wasn't that exactly what drew people toward him?
When he chose the PXG team, he didn't think about who else would join it, probably just like everyone else. He acted on instinct, which was why he quickly decided that France would be the best choice for him.
The first few days weren't much different from the previous Blue Lock experience, except that they now had team practices where everyone participated together. Before, it was usually about improving your own skills individually, and team bonds weren't that important.
Well, he wasn't going to complain about it. After all, it was something new, and he actually enjoyed it. Sometimes the game really did become unpleasant and frustrating because of certain people, but once they developed a formation and stuck to it, that problem became much smaller.
He was now heading toward one of the rooms where the upcoming matches of the Neo Egoist League were being broadcast. Ten days had passed since their last match, so it was time for the next round of games.
This time, their team was the one that wasn't playing, which gave them extra time to prepare for their upcoming matches.
Loki had reminded them about it that morning and mentioned that when the matches were being broadcast, attendance would be mandatory. Nobody knew exactly why, but everyone assumed it was so they could analyze the other teams together afterward and increase their chances of winning.
Shidou didn't complain about it. He had already planned on showing up anyway. So, as soon as the match time arrived, he made his way to the designated room.
There, he noticed Karasu sitting next to Charles. Apparently, Tabito wasn't very happy about listening to the younger boy, since he was only sighing and occasionally nodding along
Shidou walked closer to them and sat down beside them. - "The match hasn't started yet?" - he asked. He was sure the scheduled start time had already passed.
"Apparently there's some kind of delay. Nothing unusual. The previous match also started a few minutes late." - Karasu admitted, letting out another quiet sigh.
"Yeah, that makes sense, Crow-chan." - Shidou leaned back slightly, supporting himself with his hands. - "It sucks that we're not playing today. I feel like beating someone."
"Your ego can survive a few more hours without kicking someone in the ankles." - When Shidou heard that, he only scoffed quietly, though it was more out of amusement than irritation.
"But I want to play too! I want to face Barcha and see if their weird style actually works or if it just looks ridiculous." - Charles shouted, reaching for his bag of chips.
Ryusei wondered for a moment how he even got those snacks, considering they were usually forbidden, but he didn't really care. After all, it was Charles. He could probably get them through all sorts of strange methods.
"You just have to wait for your turn." - Tabito cut in. - "Besides, Barcha hasn't shown anything special so far. They lost their last match, and their training is just as strange as their team." - He still kept in contact with Otoya, who shared information about their training with him. Apparently, Lavinho had a very unique perspective on football, explaining it in some pretty crazy ways.
"You're only saying that because you don't understand them with that bird brain of yours." - Chevalier laughed, causing Karasu to furrow his brows.
"Strange, huh?" - Ryusei looked at him, returning to his earlier comment.
"From what I've heard, Lavinho focuses on awakening each person's own 'monster' or something like that."
"So basically, he's supporting that bee kid's schizophrenia?" - Shidou asked. He remembered Bachira mentioning something about his own monster inside him once. It wasn't like he viewed it negatively, it had just stuck in his memory.
"You mean the guy with number eight? His dribbling makes my head spin. I like people who play like that. They're interesting." - Charles had come across a video showing Bachira's impressive dribbling skills earlier. It seemed like he played in his own unique way, which intrigued him.
"He's talented. I want to see if he can keep up with me." - Shidou laughed, then looked back at the screen that was supposed to show the upcoming match. - "Seriously, can't they just start already?" - He tapped his finger impatiently.
He looked around the room. And just when he was starting to get restless, he noticed Rin entering the room. He watched as Rin looked around with a slight frown on his face, most likely caused by irritation.
"Oh, is that Rin? He shows up this late, yet he's always complaining when others are late." - Charles made a mocking expression before starting to imitate Rin's typical annoyed reaction whenever something didn't go his way.
Shidou laughed at his performance, then turned his attention back to Itoshi. Rin was apparently looking for an empty seat, most likely searching for the least crowded place away from everyone else. It was extremely typical of him.
All three of them were sitting fairly close to the entrance, so Rin could easily hear their voices. And the moment he realized how annoyingly Charles was imitating him, he immediately sent him a sharp glare, hoping it would provoke some kind of reaction.
"What the hell are you doing, you brainless idiot?" - Rin asked, taking a step toward them.
Charles tensed up when he heard his tone, but quickly recovered. - "I'm just having fun. Don't be so boring and admit that it was funny!"
"How exactly was that supposed to be funny?" - Rin scoffed.
"You're such a grump!"
Rin was about to respond with some of the new insults he had come up with, but before he could, Shidou spoke up.
"He's right! You need to relax, Rin-rin. You're always so damn tense." - He laughed, tilting his head casually to the side, clearly enjoying provoking him.
"You shouldn't worry about that." - Rin clenched his teeth and narrowed his eyes.
Karasu had been watching them from the side. At first, he had no intention of getting involved, but the moment he noticed the atmosphere becoming tense, he decided to stop the whole spectacle before the two of them caused even more trouble. - "Enough. You're acting worse than children."
Rin looked at them with obvious irritation on his face before scoffing. - "Tch. Whatever. I'm not wasting my time on you two, you lukewarm NPCs." - He turned away, clearly planning to leave.
However, Charles quickly stopped him by grabbing his hand and pulling him back down. The sudden movement caused Rin to let out a small, surprised gasp. - "Don't leave us! It'll be more interesting."
"Get your dirty hand off me, idiot!"- Rin shouted immediately.
"Let him go. If those two stay together for more than a few minutes, they'll probably kill each other." - Tabito warned him.
The Frenchman, however, clearly didn't care. If anything, he was excited that he would get to watch it happen with his own eyes.
"It'll be more fun! It's already boring enough here, we need some entertainment!" - Charles said, fidgeting restlessly while still holding Rin's hand. Rin could feel his anger growing with every passing second. After a moment, he forcefully pulled himself free from his grip, which wasn't particularly difficult for him.
"You guys are so fucking stupid." - He was about to get up from the floor, but then he felt heavy arms wrap around him, keeping him in place. He immediately shouted again, but apparently no one paid any attention to his complaints.
"No way, Rin-rin. You're staying with us. Char-boy is absolutely right, we need some entertainment around here." - Shidou admitted, holding him firmly. - "You can provide that for us, can't you?"
"In your dreams." - Rin shuddered at the unwanted contact again. Despite that, he stayed where he was, not wanting to humiliate himself by struggling to leave. Meanwhile, he looked around and noticed that most of the seats were already taken anyway, since he had arrived late, and on top of that, these idiots had successfully stopped him from leaving earlier.
"The match is starting. Shut up." - Tabito said, before turning his attention back to the screen.
After a moment, Shidou let go of Rin, giving him enough freedom to move. Rin immediately took advantage of it and moved as far away from him as possible. He stayed in his seat, not wanting to cause a scene, and ignored Charles and Shidou's voices as they continued talking to him. He tried to focus on the screen, although it was difficult with all the distractions around him.
"Do we really have to sit here? In this spot, with no way to leave? Is Loki keeping us trapped here?" - Charles groaned, apparently already getting bored during the match. Rin thought there was definitely something wrong with him if he couldn't sit still for even a few minutes.
"Leave if you want. Nobody needs you here." - Rin replied coldly. He would actually be more than happy if Charles suddenly left and never came back.
"You hurt me!" - Charles made an exaggerated, fake hurt expression.
"Rin-rin is so cruel. Have you ever thought about joining some kind of group activity that helps you discover your ability to feel sympathy for other people?" - Shidou asked with a grin, watching as Rin's face immediately twisted in annoyance again.
"Something like that doesn't even exist, cockroach." - Well, at least he had never heard of anything like that before. And he was certain Shidou had just made it up on the spot.
"Yeah, because usually people aren't as heartless as you are." - Shidou rolled his eyes.
"I don't care. It's going to be quiet now. I'm watching the match. Nothing will happen to you if you shut up for a while." - Rin tried to move even farther away from them, as much as it was still possible. He regretted approaching them in the first place. He would much rather be somewhere far away, keeping to himself.
He watched as Shidou and Charles laughed together, trying to pull Karasu into their little group. So far, in Rin's opinion, Karasu was the only one acting normally there, also trying to focus on the match like he was supposed to.
While he calmly watched the game, he felt something small and almost unnoticeable hit his shoulder. He turned around and immediately frowned when he saw Shidou and Charles throwing their snacks into the air, trying to catch them with their mouths instead of simply eating them normally.
Rin considered it nothing more than a waste of food, because some of the pieces had already fallen onto the floor, and he definitely wouldn't want to eat them anymore. Although maybe those two didn't care about germs and would eat them anyway.
While watching them, he realized that he was starting to get hungry. He had come here straight from training without even thinking about lunch. He pulled his legs closer to himself and tried to ignore the feeling. He just had to wait until the match ended, and then he could go get something to eat in peace.
At least, that was what he hoped at first. But when another piece of snack hit him, he used it as an excuse to take away some of their food.
"What the hell are you idiots doing now?" - he asked, not wanting to immediately snatch the bag out of their hands. He would do that in a few seconds anyway.
"It's reflex training." - Shidou explained, tossing another piece of food into the air and catching it smoothly before eating it. - "You wanna try too?"
"Tch. Whatever, give me that." - Rin reached out and grabbed the first bag he could get his hands on. Shidou had definitely made his little plan much easier. He hadn't expected it to be this simple.
Shidou, meanwhile, blinked, clearly not expecting him to actually agree. He had assumed Rin would just call him one of his ridiculous nicknames again and go back to ignoring him. - "Aren't you supposed to ask? It's not yours." - He raised an eyebrow.
"You were the one who offered." - Rin put a snack into his mouth, immediately tasting the sweet flavor on his tongue. Maybe sweets weren't the best thing to eat on an empty stomach, but it wasn't his fault he didn't have anything better.
It annoyed him a little that he had given in so easily. After all, just a few minutes ago he had planned on ignoring them completely, and now he was eating their snacks. Still, he didn't think anyone would really pay attention to it.
"Hey, you were supposed to throw it up and catch it, not just put it straight into your mouth! You're no fun." - Charles complained.
"Let me eat in peace, you little midget."
"I'm not short." - Charles defended himself, although he didn't seem particularly offended. Right after that, he opened another package of sweets and started stuffing his mouth with them.
Rin wondered how Charles had even managed to sneak in so much unhealthy food, considering it was usually restricted and sometimes completely forbidden. He thought about whether he would get in trouble later for eating it, but since Charles and Shidou were eating it too, and in much larger amounts, it probably wouldn't be that bad. He could always just blame them if anything happened.
"Rin-rin, do you like sweets?" - Ryusei suddenly asked.
Rin wondered what he meant by asking that. Was he trying to make fun of him again, or was he attempting to continue the conversation? Either option sounded bad.
"What kind of random question is that?" - he complained. Besides, the answer should have been obvious. If he had willingly taken their sweets and was now eating them, then even that stupid cockroach should have been able to figure it out.
"I'm just wondering. Because you look unusually happy that you finally get to eat them." - Shidou laughed, putting another piece into his mouth as well.
"Huh?" - Rin wondered if that was actually true. He thought he looked completely normal. As far as he knew, he wasn't doing anything unusual, so maybe Shidou was just messing with him again.
"That's actually really rare for you." - Shidou said, putting a lot of emphasis on the words really rare. After all, it wasn't often that anyone got to see Rin show emotions other than anger. - "Your eyes are practically glowing."
Rin heard Shidou's stupid laugh, which immediately made him shut himself off even more. He had never been able to control how his eyes looked, so maybe he really did seem like they were shining whenever he was happy.
Right now, he didn't think he was overflowing with happiness or anything like that, but it was true that the sugar was definitely making him feel better. Especially since he hadn't had any in a long time.
"You're imagining things." - He turned away even more, not wanting anyone to watch him.
"Whatever. Enjoy your candy while you still can. Loki will give us extra training if he finds out about this." - Shidou sighed. He had already had a situation once where he ate a few of Charles' gummies and ended up having to run extra laps during training. Although even that hadn't stopped him from doing it again.
"I always do extra training anyway, losers." - So he could eat as much as he wanted. A few additional exercises during the day wouldn't make much of a difference to him.
He kept putting more pieces of snacks into his mouth until the match on the screen reached the moment when Nagi scored an incredible goal, equalizing the score. Immediately, the room filled with various cheers and applause, even though no one else had actually heard anything.
"Wow, that goal was pretty cool, wasn't it?" - Charles shouted excitedly, apparently getting genuinely fascinated by something that happened in the match for the first time.
"I didn't know that guy could do something like that." - Shidou admitted, and right after him, Karasu spoke up.
"That lazy bastard actually improved during all this time."
Rin scoffed. Sure, it looked impressive, but there was no need for so many compliments. - "I could recreate that easily."
"Oh, come on, you're ruining the fun again. Relax and finally admit that someone else is good." - Ryusei leaned toward him and patted him on the shoulder.
Rin frowned. Shidou was touching him unnecessarily again, and it was starting to become irritating. - "No way. Get your damn hands off me."
"You're so boring." - Shidou moved away, then turned his attention back to Charles and Karasu
Rin placed his hand over the spot where Shidou had touched him earlier. It was warmer than the rest of his body, even though the contact had only lasted for a moment. He found it strange, but quickly ignored it, not wanting to waste his time thinking about something so insignificant.
He spent the rest of the viewing session in silence. Nobody spoke to him anymore, but he considered that a good thing. The moment the match ended with Kunigami scoring the winning goal that gave Bastard München the victory, he headed toward the exit as quickly as possible, not wanting to waste any more time sitting there.
Even so, he could feel Shidou's piercing gaze on his back, one that he stubbornly tried to ignore.