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By the end of the match, Kunigami isn't surprised to see 2-1 on the score board.
They lost again. It's a flashback to the first selection when they had went against Team White.
It was a close call, Isagi going through Chigiri's defense in the last second, striking for the first time with his left foot, something not even the goalkeeper could have expected. Stealing Kunigami's technique and making it his own with ease.
A slight bitter taste filled Kunigami's mouth. How many times would he have to fail miserably, to try again, to work harder, to finally win without destroying himself in the process?
Bachira's laughter as he jumps on Isagi, praising the hell out of his partner, distracts Kunigami from dwelling too much on his defeat. He should get back on training. He should rewatch their match and make sure he doesn't repeat his mistakes. He should aim to become the best striker, to reach his goal.
He can't help but wonder when football has become such a tiring task.
As he's about to leave the room, a slender hand grabs his own. It's Chigiri. Of course it is. He frowns, waiting for the red-haired to speak up.
"Hey Rensuke. We did great." Chigiri smiles.
An awful, terrible and shitty liar.
Chigiri can put a confident facade up for all he wants, Kunigami knows him well enough to notice the tension in his voice, the slight furrow of his eyebrows and the forced uprise of his lip corners.
All of that screams that they did not, in fact, do great. And he's not handling it as well as he pretends to be.
"It wasn't good enough." It never is, goes unsaid.
"It would have been if it wasn't for Isagi last trick, we would have tied this match." He shrugs. "Besides... we haven't played together in awhile."
Kunigami rolls his eyes and assumes the conversation has come to an end and reaches for his water bottle. Chigiri's incredulous look says otherwise.
"What?" He says.
Chigiri stays silent for a second, opening and closing his mouth, trying to find his words.
"... Can we just talk?"
"There's nothing to talk about, Chigiri. Go back to your quarter." Kunigami spits harshly. With that he's certain that he'll back off, that he'll finally understand that it isn't worth to spend effort on someone like-
"I don't want to."
Except Chigiri isn't one to give up when faced against difficulty anymore, surpassing Kunigami's expectations all over again.
"I want to be your friend again, but I can't do that if you won't let me in." Chigiri pleads.
… And Kunigami can't help but soften.
No matter how strong he is now, he'll always be a weak fool to Chigiri and his requests.
It brings him back to the time spent with Team Z - the better time, where he would wait for Chigiri to be done with his beauty care, even assisting him on blow-drying his hair sometimes, knowing full well the scolding only he would get once they arrived to Kuon's meeting 30 minutes late.
The "Sorry" that Chigiri mouthed from across the room, with a smile that was anything but apologetic, was worth all the hassle anyways.
This is the reason why he nods, because the way Chigiri's face brighten and the grin he gives him before dragging him out of the field still makes his heart skip a beat just like all these months ago.
They went in the cafeteria, which happened to be surprisingly empty.
Chigiri changed a lot too, he has grown more talkative.
Back then, they used to settle into a comfortable silence. Sometimes it would get broken by Chigiri’s rambling on something that annoyed him that particular day. But more often than not, they would stay quiet. Chigiri did his leg massage, and Kunigami trained. They didn't need words when they were feeling content just by the other's presence.
He also seems happier, he hasn’t stopped smiling ever since they got here. Kunigami notes as he listens to Chigiri's tale of the U-20 versus Blue Lock game.
He doesn't bother telling him that he watched the match in the Wild Card repeatedly, until every player's moves were carved into his brain. He remembers the nausea he felt as he watched his old teammates celebrate their win. He remembers wishing so badly he was there with them to congratulate Isagi for scoring the last goal to listen to the crowd going ecstatic over the final score.
"Dude, I wish you could have seen Reo imitating Aiku's defense trick. That was so cool." Chigiri says, interrupting Kunigami's chain of thoughts.
"How is he doing?" He blurts out, surprising both himself and the boy sitting across him.
"Reo?"
He nods.
"He's in a good place right now. In every aspect you could think of. Nagi and him reconciled during our match and they've been joined at the hips ever since." Chigiri huffs with a small smile before muttering hesitantly ".. He missed you, y'know."
Honestly, it wasn't that surprising. They had seen each other during their lowest moments. Reo had hit rock bottom and had no other choice but to fully rely on Kunigami. Before their last match, they became close enough to be considered friends, which wasn't an easy task when you were stuck in a death game-like situation. They were bound to get attached.
In a twisted way, Kunigami is glad Reo was the one who got chosen.
"And he wasn't the only one." Chigiri adds. Kunigami is avoiding his gaze, opting to stare at the blank wall in front of him instead. "I missed you too."
"..."
Chigiri puts his elbows on the table, and leans towards the orange-haired, squinting. Kunigami raises his eyebrows.
"Turns out you're still a softie, aren't you?" There’s a glint in his eyes.
"I am n-" He gets cut off immediately.
"You haven't changed that much, Rensuke." Chigiri takes a sharp breath before continuing, "If you did, you wouldn't have asked about Reo, you wouldn't have even bothered coming with me here."
He's reaching for Kunigami's hand, not looking hurt in the slightest when he gets rejected.
"Chigiri." It is a warning - to not cross the walls Kunigami has carefully bridged around him, to leave him alone.
"I want to train with you again."
Kunigami gets up.
"I want to eat with you again, to let you take my ginger slices, and to give you my stupid seaweed soup you like so much."
He puts his glass on the counter.
"I want to know more about your family, I'll listen to your younger sister's middle school achievements anytime."
He's almost in front of the door.
"I want to fall in love with you all over again."
He stills.
Time freezes, a million thoughts running around his head he can't quite process.
The silence is deafening, only broken by the sound of quick steps filling the room.
He turns around and sees Chigiri with his cheeks flushed, looking both relieved and embarrassed by his sudden confession.
Kunigami has never seen anyone more beautiful.
Chigiri's hand cup his face, and while he doesn't lean into it, he doesn't reject him either.
"Ah... this isn't like how I wanted it to go." A shy smile has taken place on his face
"I would have thought you would be more romantic than this, with all of those classical books you talked about."
Chigiri snorts. Kunigami still doesn't know how he's supposed to react.
"You left me no choices." He marks a pause, and adds with a more serious tone. "You don't have to say it back, Rensuke. I'll wait for you, until you're ready."
He clenches his jaw.
Because he's also an awful, terrible and shitty liar, he can't storm his way out of this situation by simply refusing to talk about it. Chigiri seems to know parts of him he didn't even realize still existed.
The reasonable option would be to suppress his own personal feelings. There's no way a relationship could last in a place like this, it can only result in heartbreak and resentment.
But... Kunigami went against the odds more than once, didn't he?
He takes a leap of faith.
Instead of rejection, he takes Chigiri's other hand, caressing it with his calloused thumb. There's a fond look in Chigiri's eyes, which is reserved solely to Kunigami, it means he understood him.
"Don't be too slow hero."