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It's Nagi who voices out the question needed to be asked.
"Which one will it be?" he asks when what he really means is who is strong enough .
"Kunigami," Barou answers and says his piece right as the question is voiced.
Isagi and Nagi snap their eyes at him. They don't quite argue, but they say different names and their logic is sound. Barou sees their point, knows that they're coming from a mountain of well-thought-out reasoning, all built from observation and facts, but it's the first time Barou actually wants something, someone, so it is him who argues. He shoots down their suggestion like a marksman, and he can see Nagi's and Isagi's reluctance.
"Are you sure?" Isagi asks, and Barou bristles at the other's audacity to doubt his choice.
"I am," he replies with the sharpness of a knife in his tongue and the blaze of fire behind his eyes.
Of course, he is sure.
He's been sure before their match even began. No. Barou thinks with lingering memories of a desperate goal, one powerful enough to break through his iron defenses, his decision is already made even before he is aware that there is a need to make one. Back then, he has seen something in Kunigami, a flash of a storm waiting to be unleashed. Mayhaps, it might be a ridiculous notion to put their fates into a potential yet untapped, but Barou, with a gaze that stretches far beyond what's in front of his eyes, that sees nothing but the top of the world, thinks with certainty that this soldier he's faced not even minutes ago is worth betting on, and if not, Barou will make it so until he is.
The other two say their protests once more, each one wanting another, but Barou pointedly doesn't listen.
"I scored the winning goal," Barou reasons, not wanting to budge even the slightest bit. It may be true that using his last goal as his trump card might be unbecoming of a king, but Barou will be damned if he doesn't get the last say.
(He is king, and kings always get what they want.)
Silence lingers between them, but Barou keeps his gaze forward, watching something that is yet to come, and perhaps Isagi is able to catch a glimpse of the same thing he sees because he lets out a resigned sigh and announces Kunigami's name.
Then, they are moving away and up.
Kunigami disappears right after they are all settled.
Barou doesn't know where he went, and he doesn't bother to know. He doesn't care much about the disappearance of their fourth member. Kunigami is free to do what he wants, but Barou's indifference only lasts until Isagi and Nagi both decide that Kunigami's absence is their cue to act like a pair of dumbasses.
Not even fifteen minutes later and there are already dirty socks and food wrappers decorating the floor, and Barou's stress level rises like mercury inside an oven. He is on the verge of losing his mind, fingers twitching with the uncomfortable need to clean and fix everything until no table has been turned and arranged just right, his throat already raw from screaming at the sheer idiocy of both Nagi and Isagi when Kunigami returns to their shared room, fresh out of the shower and smelling like citrus.
Kunigami's arrival silences Barou's rant midway, and his focus is taken away from the mess he's cleaning up, his attention drawn to the calm presence by the door. Barou watches Kunigami, waiting to see what he will do now that he is here, wondering how he will slide himself in the team. He stares as their fourth member scans the room, looking deep in thought. Kunigami remains silent for a while before neatly folding his dirty clothes, placing it on top of the spare chair in the corner, and when he is done, he turns to look at Isagi, impossibly patient.
"Isagi, don't make someone else clean your mess please," Kunigami says, not unkindly but firm enough that even Nagi freezes.
Isagi splutters, embarrassed, and Barou sees the dumbass almost trip as he scrambles to pick up the pieces of clothing littered on the floor. Isagi's clumsiness makes Nagi snicker, and it brings Kunigami's attention towards him.
"You too, Nagi," Kunigami says it in the exact same way he did with Isagi, perhaps even firmer, like he's already gauged how to best handle Nagi, how to push him the right way and not hear any complaints.
Nagi stares at him for a drumbeat and another, and Kunigami returns his look with a ghost of encouragement behind his eyes. It takes approximately five seconds until Nagi averts his gaze, looking almost ashamed before abandoning his game to pick up the candy wrappers scattered on the floor.
Involuntarily, the tension in Barou's shoulders eases.
It's only been half an hour, but Kunigami is already proving to be a good teammate.
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Kunigami is different.
He's not a bumbling idiot like Isagi, nor a thorn to his side like Nagi.
He's not like them, but Kunigami is not safe either.
(He will never be safe.)
Barou might have chosen him, but he also knows not to let his guard down around him. Kunigami doesn't look like it, and he doesn't even feel like it, but he's as dangerous as they come.
Kunigami reads the mood and the room like they're open books, as if it's what he's doing all his life, easily stepping in between Isagi and Nagi when they're being too rowdy. He doesn't stop them, not really, but he expertly averts their attention somewhere else, to something less chaotic and a lot calmer, waiting for them to settle and quiet down on their own.
The first night Kunigami is with them is also the first time Barou has had a restful sleep.
Barou hates to admit it, but Kunigami can read him just as well.
It's almost annoying how one look is all it takes for Kunigami to know when Barou is on the verge of erupting — because of Isagi and Nagi; it's always because of Isagi and Nagi — when his anger and irritation are rapidly rising like magma. But what's more irritating, Barou thinks, is how Kunigami seems to know just how to quell the inferno beneath his skin, just like how Kunigami's mere presence calms everything within his radius.
It's ridiculous, and it makes Barou's hackles rise, but he doesn't say anything because Kunigami is cleaning the mess that isn't even his to begin with as if he's known all along what's making Barou tick and is set on stopping it, on cutting the wire before the bomb is set off and explode.
It's ludicrous and stupid , but Barou says a different thing entirely because he might be a hulking mass of pride and arrogance, but he's not ungrateful. Not completely.
"Thanks," the word tumbles roughly out of Barou's mouth, foreign and callous. He doesn't explain anything, doesn't elaborate, but he thinks he doesn't need to. He has an inkling Kunigami gets it.
He hears Kunigami hum in acknowledgement, like he's heard everything he didn't say, and Barou's opinion solidifies.
Kunigami is someone he needs to watch out for.
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Barou has already chosen to walk the path of villainy.
And when he sees Kunigami in the training room, a shadow of a monster lurking behind his determined gaze, he thinks that one more person following in his footsteps can't hurt.
There's just something about Kunigami, a freezing aura that whispers to the darkness within Barou, telling him how much better it is if he can drag Kunigami to the demonic side of things, make him see his point of view. At least when football is concerned because Barou's sure he can't do much against Kunigami's marshmallow heart, and Barou has never been the type to waste an ounce of strength on things that are impossible to change.
Besides, Barou likes Kunigami enough.
Not a lot, not yet , but enough that when Kunigami is focused on the remaining members of the team, fussing over Isagi or making sure Nagi doesn't fall asleep somewhere, Barou almost feels lonely .
Which is impossibly absurd because Barou doesn't get lonely, so Barou decides not to dwell on such a thing longer than necessary.
Plus, the point that he's really going for is the fact that Kunigami is interesting in ways he did not expect.
Kunigami is strong in many ways others are not, set on his goals while others falter at the smallest of disturbances, the lot of them already shaken before the earthquake even arrives.
But there is also something else stirring beneath those piercing gaze of his. A ripple of uncertainty and a glimmer of insecurity that create small, barely visible cracks on his otherwise solid wall of confidence.
It feels off .
(Almost like an itch that never goes away.)
It's bothersome, and Barou decides to resolve it all at once the way he knows best.
He demands that Kunigami go against him. One-on-one. Kunigami's power against his own.
It ends with an overwhelming victory in favor of him, of course, a result that doesn't surprise Barou but disappoints him all the same.
There's still a lot Kunigami can give, Barou knows this because he's faced Kunigami twice, has heard Kunigami utter a challenge against him, but Kunigami's occasional doubt and fear limit his potential, and Barou thinks it will not do.
It's unacceptable, and Barou is willing to push harder than he ever did until it is, so he gives Kunigami, crouched on the grass-covered floor of the training room and undeniably exhausted, a hard stare.
"Stand up. We're not stopping until you score three goals against me."
He watches Kunigami fidget under his gaze. "I don't think I –"
"You can," Barou interrupts Kunigami then and there, destroying a bad seed before it can take root.
Kunigami stares at him, wide-eyed and disbelieving.
"You can," he says again, more firmly this time, like his tongue is made of truth, like his words are set on an unbreakable stone, cutting off whatever protest Kunigami can think of.
"Okay," Kunigami gives him a shaky nod in response as he stands, and Barou's not having any of it.
He shoots Kunigami a glare that isn't really one when he hears the hesitation lining his words, and he doesn't break eye contact until Kunigami swallows. Barou isn't patient, but he waits for Kunigami to get his wits together, gather his confidence and shove it back to his face, just like when he promised to drag him down from his throne not even long ago.
"Okay. Three goals. I'll do it," Kunigami amends with a much sturdier voice, and Barou has to extinguish the rapidly growing flicker of pride in his chest when he sees Kunigami's eyes finally reflecting the strength of his left foot and the determination of a true hero.
"Then, come on!" Barou bellows, growling out his challenge before surging forward with the speed of crackling lighting and the power of a hurricane.
'Prove yourself to the king that has chosen you.'
Kunigami answers to his challenge with a roar of his own and meets him halfway, taking everything he's throwing at him and giving them back tenfold.
'Watch me, king. I wouldn't disappoint you.'
Despite himself, Barou smirks.
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Kunigami's improvement is rapid.
His power and strength have grown, but so does his penchant for initiating challenges and accepting them with a subtle sort of glee that Barou can only describe as predatory . It's somewhat of a surprising change but not at all unexpected. Not when Barou himself has a hand in Kunigami's transformation.
Kunigami is learning, and it's satisfying, even more so when it catches Isagi off guard.
"So me and Nagi just need to win against Kunigami and Barou, right?" Isagi jokingly asks during training one day.
"You can't stop us," Kunigami says in return, and it's more of a declaration than anything else, confidence rolling off his every syllable.
Kunigami's words startle Isagi, and the look of uncomprehending surprise on Isagi's face is delicious.
"Bold words, Kunigami," Nagi comments when it's clear that Isagi is too shocked to do so. "Can you back them up?"
"Try me," Kunigami fires back with a dare, and Barou finds himself nodding in approval.
Barou is aware that he's cultivating a monster, and although it might sound counterproductive, Barou's not at all worried.
Kunigami might be a monster about to be born, but Barou will always be the strongest.
(When Barou looks at Kunigami, he sees the face of a teammate, the shadow of a rival yet to awaken, the silhouette of a friend.)
Then the fateful day finally comes.
They are facing the top three plus Bachira, and the scent of war is thick in the air, electric and intense.
Itoshi Rin is intimidating, so are his teammates. It doesn't help that Isagi's partner is with them. Barou knows that this team is made up of an ego far greater than anyone else can comprehend, but so are they.
None of them wavers.
Next to him, Kunigami hisses. He looks steady on his feet, eyes blazing like hellfire. He's ready to wreak havoc, and Barou is pleased.
Kunigami is a threat yet to be named.
But soon, Barou thinks.
Soon.
"Oi, what have you been teaching Kunigami?" Isagi suddenly asks him with a shudder. He looks scary is all Barou hears from him.
In a rare moment of playfulness, Barou huffs out a short, all too knowing laugh. "Who knows? Maybe our hero's turning a new leaf."
Isagi squeaks, horrified, and it takes all of Barou's willpower not to throw his head back and cackle like a madman.
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