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It was the time of day that Nagi wished he’d been given headphones when he’d gather enough points to receive a phone. Watching football videos was one thing, but you could never get the full experience without the atmosphere surrounding the action.
The calls for the ball, the shouts of anger, cheers, and boos from their respective team’s fans surrounding the field. However, each of these qualities was being drowned out by his new roommate’s hairdryer going at full blast. Usually, he could drown out any sound, a majority of it being people he didn’t quite care for chatting, but the volume of that damn thing was even too much for Nagi to take.
Flopping onto the bed, he stared at the ceiling then towards the cause of the issue. Chigiri’s scarlet strands were waving and taunting him from across the room, pestering him that they had won the battle tonight. The way the other soccer player was positioned, Nagi would only partially see the other’s face, enough to see it plastered with frustration.
He wasn’t one for talking to others, usually leaving most chats to Reo to handle, but he felt obligated to ask his teammate if he was okay, considering that they needed the team in peak performance if they were going to move on and have Bachira return.
Speaking just enough over the instrument, he called out to the other. “You alright over there?”
It took a minute to get a response, but it was drawn out enough to know that Chigiri wasn’t doing the best. “It’s just this hairdryer sucks. The one I have at home has more pressure compared to this one, so I can't get everything to be equally dry.”
Before he even realized what he committed to, Nagi’s mouth uddered out a suggestion. “I could help you if it’s too hard.” He never wanted to help anyone out, unless it only ended in him having a worthy enough net gain. It’s because I want the team spirits high and the outside volume low , he told himself.
Peering over, now showing his full expression, a mixture of confusion and interest, he asked “You would?”
“I mean, I guess.” And a guess would just have to do for now.
Rolling over and landing onto his feet much like a cat would, Nagi walked over towards the other and pressed onto his mattress, slightly sinking. “What, um, what would you need?”
Bringing the hairdryer behind, he passed it like a runner in a relay. “Can you just get the very back? Like the part closest to my neck.”
A fact about Nagi was that he’d never used a hairdryer in his life. Sure he’d seen his mother and aunts use them throughout the years, but he himself had never needed one. His hair was short enough that a pat from a towel and the world’s air would be enough. Looking at Chigiri’s hair, he could tell it would take hours if he’d used Nagi’s method.
“Well?” he asked, heels clinking against the bed’s frame. This got Nagi to think out of his head and onto the new objective: hoping he didn’t fry the other’s hair.
“Right. Sorry” was all he replied with, cold and calculated. He fanned it back and forth, mimicking a wave to a friend. Nagi thought he was doing a decent enough job until the other moved his arm back yet again, curling his fingers around the other’s wrist and drawing it closer to his neck.
“We’ll be for decades if you go that slow. What are you scared of?” The chuckled after was indeed playful and without harm, but Nagi didn’t quite like the sound of it anyways.
Giving a light shove with his free hand, Chigiri’s hand and body leaned forwards with the action. A quick “Shut the hell up” and he was back to before, albeit taking the note into consideration.
He wasn’t sure how long it’d have been or how much longer he should continue for, but either way (whether he’d admit it or not), Nagi was starting to find it all too relaxing and oddly comforting. If the world of football was comparable to a school’s production, remembering lines and moves and how to deliver them, then doing Chigiri’s hair was like watching a ballet dancer. The strands rising and falling like a dancer’s shoes, twirling around with grace, moving with no cares or concerns. Without even thinking of the implications, Nagi’s hand seemed to want to become a potential partner, gliding fingers underneath for help in a graceful hold. He didn’t even process that the other had tense for a moment, only to retreat back to his relaxed state like before. Maybe he wanted to become a part of this new world that he’d only now discovered…
If it was even humanly possible, Baro came back with more volume and anger than he had left the room with. Isagi, however, wasn’t angry or loud in the slightest coming back into the room.
“What the hell are you dumbasses doing?!” He questioned, or shouted, or both. Regardless, it made both parties diverge from one another and to opposite sides of the bed.
“Nagi was just helping me with the back of my hair. Do you need help getting the stick from out of your ass?” Chigiri replied, switching off said instrument that Nagi had dropped onto the bedspread.
Maybe it was due to the snow haired boy’s snicker that didn’t even try to contain that made Baro so upset, or maybe it was just Baro being true to himself. His face was getting as red and flamed as Chigiri’s hair before Isagi had to step in, literally and figuratively.
Palm glued onto the aggravated player’s chest, he eyed him down then over to the instigator. “Can we please just try to focus on getting back Bachira and not getting back at each other?”
Huffing and a slight rotation of the eyes, Chigiri fell onto the bed and looked up at Nagi with an expression he couldn’t quite lock onto. He uttered a quick “thanks” before rising and telling everyone he was getting ready for bed, leaving the room.
After that everything went back to as much normalcy the group could consider the predicament they were all trapped in. However, Nagi’s mind was still in need of more time in order to halt it racing any longer.
---
Hiding the shining light underneath the covers at an hour where he should be asleep echoed from when he was back at home. He’d always been a creature of the night and training for his sport under intense circumstances was not going to change that one ounce, but he had the decency to watch out for his teammates, so he sucked up the hot pressured air under the comforter.
Back in the world outside this compacted one, Nagi remembered overhearing classmates talk about a theory that had become viral. One where your electronics listened into your conversations and produced advertisements based around those. He did and still continued, to believe that it was all an elaborate hoax, but he was a tad spooked when it happened.
While clicking on another highlight video of a football tournament, several scrolls down near the very end was a video that was out of place among the other recommendations:
6 Must-Do’s Every Athlete Should Know !!
SwimmerStyle02 ・ 23k views ・ 19 hours ago
He wasn’t too sure as to why he clicked on the video with the flashy thumbnail. Boredom? Curiosity? Sleep-deprivation? All or None? What also dawned on him was that he didn’t understand why he watched it all the way through, taking in a plethora of mental notes along the way and reflecting on the styles when any surprise ads appeared.
Nagi continued to marathon videos similar to that one in nature, all the while becoming much more focused while still remaining tired. Eventually, the phone’s screen faded to black and so did his vision.
###
It’s unsurprising that Nagi is the last one to walk up and make their way to the kitchen, where the rest of his table is up and eating their designated meals.
Once he finds his teammates over at the nearly deserted corner of the room, he decides to take the seat next to Isagi, all the while bearing the stares of the least cheery member Baro.
Dissecting his… edible food, he can’t help but notice and fixate on the flash of color from the corner of his eye. Sitting and struggling diagonally from him, Chirigi’s passionate locks go in and out of view, irrigation growing on his pale face. Whenever he goes to eat some of his food, no matter how hard he tried to fling it back or tuck behind the ears, it still manages to sling over his shoulder, disrupting the whole meal process.
Apparently, Isagi had been paying attention to the non-interaction and how Nagi had barely taken another bite from his food since it began. Nudging him, he asked what the matter was, which got the attention of everyone else at the table. Both Team Z players had similar masks of true concern, while Baro looked more curious than anything.
Trying to think of an excuse, Nagi accidentally blathered out the one sentiment he wasn’t supposed to: the truth. “I was watching Chigiri eat.” You’re a dumbass, dumbass.
Tipping his head, he quickly had to move his falling hair aside to showcase his new outlook of confusion. “Huh?”
Feeling his cheeks mimic the same pigment of the boy’s hair, he poked at his food. “I just… It looked like your hair was becoming a hindrance at the moment.” Nagi still wasn’t sure what on the planet pushed him off the cliff he’d perched himself on, one that usually distanced himself from land that was a nosedive into unknown. “You want me to do your hair or something?”
Everyone’s moves, thoughts, and anything else in between ceased movement.
Eventually, Chigiri cleared his throat, whether intentional or just trying to gain everyone’s attention was up to each person to decipher. “Ah, um, are you sure?” Soon after backtracking by adding, “It’s not like I can’t put it back myself or anything.” The reasoning as to why died in his throat.
Hands suddenly getting too much moisture, Nagi brushed them against his sweats. “I mean, I used to do Reo’s hair all the time for him,” That’s clearly a lie, idiot. “So I wouldn’t mind? Unless you’re uncomfortable…”
“No!” He shouted, maybe a bit too suddenly, as Isagi stuttered in his seat from the noise. “Um, I’m totally cool with it, but I don’t…” He shot both his wrist up, showing that he didn’t have anything to tie anything off with. He shot Nagi a short smile, which Nagi accidentally returned.
Baro, who was now looking disgusted with whatever the hell was happening before his eyes, slammed both palms onto the table before standing up. Leaving the table, he mumbled something that had the phrases ‘ I’ll be right back, wait a sec’ and ‘ fuckin weirdos’.
It didn’t take long before he returned with two circular elastics and flung them to the teammate with the longest hairs. Everything went still like before, but thankfully not that same duration.
“You wanna start now?”
“Can I do it now?”
Taking that jumbled mess of both responding with the same sentiment into consideration, the offerer deduced they both wanted to get the whole ordeal moving. Slipping out of where he was sitting, Nagi marched over towards his friend. He could feel Isagi giving him a glare of some kind, but he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) worry about it for now.
Instead, he planted his feet down in front of Chigiri’s back, who was still wacking some stray strands over his shoulder. “You can go whenever you wanna.” he’d heard, which gave him the last shove into the abyss that was Chigiri’s hair.
He tried to think back onto the video, processing the whole situation like it was a game. The once cool green field turned into a brightly warm color. Nagi weighed his options on what tactic he wanted to do. Bun? High ponytail? Low? Half ponytail-half not?! Thoughts were so much similar when Reo used to tell him what to think.
After what seemed like an endless spiral, he grabbed the hair and took in a breath, finally deciding on a course of action. Slinging his hair through to make sure there were no snarls or knots (because of course there weren’t any), he felt a smile creep around his lips as Chigiri began to giggle under the touch. Giggle .
Swatting his hand in the air as if a bug was swarming around him, the noise sobered down. “S-Sorry, you’re doing great. I’m just not used to this is all.”
Nagi didn’t respond, having been fully submerged into his work by this point. He had successfully made a low ponytail and was now getting ready for the more challenging part: the braid that would be sandwiched between the elastics. He produced three different sections and imagined them being a part of a soccer team’s defense. All he had to do was weave in and out until he reached the goal.
And this was working surprisingly well enough. Sure, some tufts of hair weren’t held in place and made it look a tad inflated compared to other parts, but for his first time, while still being sleep deprived, it was looking pretty stellar. Biting his lower lip and squinting his eyes, he was fully concentrated onto tying it off without any complications.
Stepping to the side, he peered over the other’s shoulder and noticed that his eyelashes were more of a deep magenta rather than the outgoing locks shade up top. It was fine, however, since his eyelashes were still flattering in the graceful dance they performed while moving along his cheeks. ...What?
“It’s all finished, but I can redo it if you’d really wanted me too?” Nagi spoke for the first time, mouth a little rough from not using it for so long.
Neglecting the words, Chigiri pulled the finished product in order to see what had happened. His smile made Nagi’s heart feel like his heart was going through dribble exercises. Looking up he responded with a quiet “It’s great, thank you, Nagi” which had a backtrack from Baro making gagging noises. But it didn't matter, what was important was that Nagi did a good job.
Nodding, he moved back over to Isagi who seemed to be disinterested, taking another bite from his almost finished meal.
Nagi’s job wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t perfect since the braid kept falling over Chigiri’s backside and swinging into his face. However, out of the corner of his eye, he swore he could see the other player with the unsectioned end and grow a bigger smile due to it.
###
After that, Nagi and Chigiri we’re constantly doing each other’s hair and always on the other side, practically inseparable.
It was slightly jarring for Isagi to see especially, considering they had been so reclusive and out of reach for him since the beginning. However, he was happy that they were happy with the other’s company, which soon made his stomach churn over.
“ Nagi, give me back my water bottle or else I’m gonna-“
“What are you gonna do, hm?”
“-put neon yellow dye in your shampoo!”
“You wouldn’t dare..”
While the two in question where teaching one another with petty insults, destressing from another practice session, Isagi turned to the other player who was close to them.
They were sitting on other sides of the bench, Baro towards the door and Isagi observing the two before him. Tapping his finger against the water bottle, the more aggressive player spoke with less fire and more insight, as if the unspoken question had been asked. “So what do you suppose we do about this then?”
Tilting his head, as if the new outlook would give the unforeseen answer, he stated the facts. “I don’t even think they know themselves yet honestly…”
Hearing a ‘ tsk’, it was followed up by “The smartest people are usually bumbling idiots off the damn field.”
“So, are you saying you're an idiot on the field then?”
Punching him more than necessary on the arm, Isagi was frantically scrapping the pain off as the other replied with a more cold passion. “I’m the exception. No more fucking stupid questions, you hear?” Swinging his legs over to see the two still having as much fun as they could, he added “Seriously, what’s the game plan? I know you’ve been thinking up at least thirty by now.”
“All of which, don’t have you involved.” He stood up and grabbed every possession he needed in order to go back to their designated room. With only a smile and glace that the pseudo-captain could make reassuring, he responded. “Don’t worry. I’ll have it handled before we have our match to get him back.”
Leaving Baro behind, he only hoped that for the sake of his future (and he supposed the rest of his team) that whatever plan was brewing in that cauldron he called a brain would work.
###
“Hey, Nagi could you help me out with something in the hallway for a second?”
Moving his eyes over from above, where he was currently on Chigiri’s lap looking up at his complexion, to where Isagi stood in the doorway, he gave a slight sigh. “With what?”
“T-There’s, um… uh, a spider. Yeah… And I specifically need your help.” He tried to give off a convincing smile and facade, but it crumbled before it even had a chance.
Nagi could tell the other needed him, no matter if the lie was incredibly bland, so he made his way off his friend’s lap and towards another direction.
Making their way outside to the cold and compact hallway, the snowed haired boy talked in his usual chilled manner. “So where’s this ‘ spider’ , hm?”
When turning the corner, showing a side coordinator that led to a blackened space, did the guide turn around himself. His eyes were intense, making Nagi remember the stare he’d given him from their rival game.
“You are.”
Not even attempting to mask his confusion with disinterest, he just gave a short “Huh?”
“You are the spider and the web, Nagi.”
“... I don’t follow.”
Leaning his side against the wall’s chipping paint, he looked downward. “What… Do you like Chigiri?”
Do I what?! Taken aback by the question delivered, he tried his best to keep his emotions at bay and his face concealed. “Of course I do. He’s my teammate-“
Rolling his eyes, Isagi made his way over to the other. “Cut the shit. You know what I mean.” His face was getting warm, steam boiling behind his face.
Nagi knew what he meant, or along the lines of what that could even mean, but that didn’t mean he was going to accept it so smoothly. “I don’t see how this has to do with you, Isagi.” His arms were laced over his torso, further showing that the other should mind their business.
Taking an impossible step further, Nagi could feel Isagi’s breaths get more rapid. “It is, considering if you two don’t figure this whole thing out, then how the hell are we supposed to get Bachira back from-“
“Oh, this is about Bachira? Not about Chigiri and me?” That would make more sense to Nagi than any other reason, considering all he talked and compared other people to was his used-to-be number one.
Hand sliding down the side of his own face, the palms made a defeated plop against his darker-toned shorts. “You’re inferring you know that?” He shuffled only slightly as if to pass by, but stopped when their shoulders aligned. “I…. I just don’t want you to end up in my situation. Take the change while you still have it. “ Patting him on said shoulder, he gave some parting words. “Just don’t be an idiot, stupid!”
Nagi didn’t move for a while, not really knowing how long it was. A couple minutes? An hour? Two hours? And eternity and then some? He hadn’t really taken an account into how the feeling of having endless time would possibly come to a close. Whenever he was with Chigiri he felt like they were untouchable, but they’d always have the pressure of Ego’s institution so long as they were in those walls.
So, Nagi would have to make a decision about what to do. Quickly.
###
It had finally been decided and declared that they’d be going up against the team that now claimed Bachira into their lineup. And that match would be played out and wrapped up by this time tomorrow.
Kneeling onto the bed, Nagi was trying another hairstyle that Chigiri had asked him to replicate, noting how he wasn’t too picky if it actually turned out the same way or not. Maybe he could place the blame for his fumbling on that factor and not the lingering thought in his head.
“Are you alright, Nagi? You’re even more quiet than normal.” He couldn’t get a read since he couldn’t dissect Chigiri’s face but based on the tone, he could see that he himself was nervous as well.
Weaving some more stand into the piece, he gave a simple and static answer. “Just thinking about tomorrow.” Overthinking probably.
His shoulders moved when he chuckled, making Nagi’s job harder for a brief moment. “Yeah, me too.” Then there was another breath of silence, followed by Chigiri’s voice going dimmer. “...Nagi? Can I ask you something…?”
Oh. He knows. Just act cool. It’ll be fine. Just don’t fuck it up. “Y-Sure.” Dumbass.
He could feel the other’s hands grip onto the sheets, pulling him and the fabric further to the bed’s edge. “Do… you resent me for being picked instead of Reo?”
What? “Huh?” He ceased working, a little taken back by how the situation was taking a complete untraveled and unexpected road.
“It’s just…” he started, tone more somber. “I know you two were close is all. And I don’t know how you feel that he’s somewhere else, maybe even eliminated while I’m here in that place.”
He didn’t really know how to respond, seeing how he’d never really thought about the choice in that way. “Chigiri…”
“ Don’t”, he whispered, tugging on the bed’s edge tighter. “Patronize me. I… I just need to know.”
Nagi knew that the other was hurting, or at the very least had been sitting on this for a while, so Nagi decided that it was only the correct course to be equally honest. “If you really wanted to know… I was a little sad that Reo couldn’t be with me. At first, that is.”
“At first?” He tried to turn his whole stature around towards him, but Nagi held his palm out, other hand still gripping the piece he was creating.
“Don’t turn around because I even see your expression, I’m not going to be able to finish either talking or your hair. Got it?” It seemed like he understood, since after he reverted right to before.
Puffing in another stream of air, he continued. “We’ve been a pair for football for a while. And we were good at it, which I liked. So yeah, I was bummed he wasn’t with us at the beginning. But then I got to really meet you, and… I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”
He didn’t know if it was a general lack of reply giving him confidence or nerves, or maybe it was the adrenaline that came from telling him how he had been feeling. Or maybe it was a mix of them all. Somehow, Nagi gained the boost needed in order to reach around a give a sincere peak where Chigiri’s jaw met his neck, soft and tender.
When he came to, he realized what he’d done and how he’d probably fucked everything up in the process. “I-I’m, I have no idea what just came over me. Shit, Chigiri, I’m sorry-“
“Good. You should be apologizing.” Well, fuck everything in Nagi’s life because sure as hell he just ruined- “It’s extremely unfair to do that since I can’t turn around and kiss you back without my hair coming undone.”
Nagi had never finished a project up in his life as quickly as he’d tied off Chigiri’s pieces of scarlet shooting out.
Once he’d finished, Chigiri came around with equally as bright-toned cheeks that matched perfectly with his hair. He didn’t waste time wrapping a hand around Nagi’s own neck, smile being consumed by the kiss. It was sweet and cozy, nothing extreme in nature, but obvious that the passion was everywhere in it.
Taking a moment, Chigiri giggled against Nagi’s earlobe as he drew the other into an embrace. “Hey.”
Tightening the hold, he gave back and equally cheerful “Hey.”
“So, what does this mean?”
Hesitantly, he whispered to the other. “...What do you want it to mean?”
“I was thinking… something along the lines of partners on and off the turf? Sound good?” His voice at the end tethered into some fear of rejection, but smoothly he reeled it in.
“Yeah. Sounds perfect, Chigiri.”
It sounded like a lot of things to the soccer player. Like no matter what happened trapped in between the walls Ego had built around them, and no matter which side they ended on, they would scale it together and meet again at the top. It sounded better than those calls for the ball, the shouts of anger, cheers, and boos from their respective team’s fans surrounding the field. The sound of Chigiri’s smile, swifting hair, bitter remarks were leagues better.
Nagi was excited to see what else was underneath the surface of Hyoma Chigiri’s persona, and equally as excited to love the whole person underneath that cracked shell.