Chapter Text
Seiji was irritated, to say the least. In front of him there was Jesse Coste, with his perfectly styled hair and pristine white blazer, the sight annoyed Seiji to no end. To top it all off he had that hateful fake smile on his face. There were two things that never failed to make Seiji lose his temper, two people actually. One was Jesse Coste, the entirety of his personality and what his person represented made Seiji want to pull his hair out. The other was his roommate, Nicholas Cox.
Although he got on Seiji's nerves, it was completely different from how Jesse bothered him, but somehow worse. It seemed that Nicholas knew how to push all of Seiji's buttons and make him explode. While Seiji's hate towards Jesse was ice cold and distant, his dislike for Nicholas was up close and burning, starting from the boy's infuriating mop of hair and ending at his stupid careless way of wearing clothes.
"Quit bothering me, Jesse. Last time I said I wouldn't go to Exton with you and I won't change my mind." Seiji said coldly. "Find something better to do and stop coming here to pester me." He didn't even bother to stop walking. When he had seen Jesse in the middle of the path towards the salle, he just kept on his way and the blond started following him, insisting on the same speech he used every single time.
Nicholas was walking along after them. They had been walking together to practice, but at some point he must have fallen behind, Jesse replacing him by Seiji's side.
"As much as you wish I was here to convince you to come to Exton with me" Jesse scoffed, that arrogant grin on his face "which you obviously should do" he continued "that's not the purpose of my visit. Coach Williams asked me to come here once again for one of your practices and I agreed happily." His grin turned to a triumphant smile, his blue eyes sparkling in the afternoon light, his expression conceited.
Seiji stopped in his tracks and turned to stare outraged at Jesse, he could see Nicholas in his peripheral vision, looking between them anxiously, his shoulders were sagged and his expression was sour, Seiji didn't pay any mind to it more than that, he was busy at the moment.
"Why, Jesse?" He said, sharp and full of venom "You really came here out of the goodness of your heart?" the words were spitted out, making the distaste they carried clear "Somehow I doubt that."
Seiji's frown deepened in anger. He was fed up with Jesse, with all of this. Didn't he understand Seiji's boundaries? His limits?
He made it very clear he did not want to go to Exton with him and no longer wanted him in his life, and still Jesse was relentless, didn't respect the walls he had clearly put up.
Jesse's smile dimmed, but Seiji didn't wait for a response, they had reached the door to the salle, he pushed it open and forcibly closed it behind him, not worried about upsetting Jesse or being seen as rude. He strode decisively towards the locker room to get changed, not giving a single glance behind him, not even when the door opened and revealed Nicholas' upset frown.
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Practice was awkward, the room full of unspoken tension.
Seiji fenced Jesse and no one else, he didn't say a single word to him anymore, not falling for his taunts, but he also didn't split his attention toward any other thing or anyone.
He missed Nicholas' pained expression while he fenced the blond and his anger when Jesse put a hand on his shoulder while saying goodbye.
His behaviour was unusual thanks to his anger. Seiji gathered his things as soon as Jesse had left and went to the dorms alone. He tends to walk with Nicholas back to their room together everyday after practice, but today he was so frustrated he just left without even a word.
After showering he got out of the bathroom to find Nicholas back already. He observed him distantly, as if his thoughts were far away, somewhere else entirely. The boy's head was down, looking at his cellphone, his messy brown hair was wet from showering in the locker room, falling into his face and covering his eyes. Seiji looked at his exposed arms, wearing that black tank top he used as a sorry excuse for pajamas. He processed all this from what seemed to be underwater, not actually recognizing he was staring or noticing where his mind had gone.
Nicholas' kind brown eyes met his as he looked up full of concern. Seiji's anger, that had still been dormant in the back of his mind, vanished, his heartbeat slowing significantly.
"Are you alright Seiji?" Nicholas said softly, lines of worry forming on his face. Seiji didn't want to talk about it, so he told Nicholas he was fine and went back to his side of the room, disappearing from the other boy's view behind the duck curtain.
He stayed there for a moment, feeling numb, not knowing what to do next. He had a few assignments to do, but felt exhausted because of the whirlwind of emotions he felt in the last few hours. Unthinkingly he laid down on his bed and fell asleep.