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Reo gave him a pretty bracelet.
It was around a year ago that Reo approached him with a secretive smile after one of their afternoon football training sessions. Nagi never cared much about surprises, but Reo hiding something was decidedly weird.
With his giddy, suspicious smile, Reo plopped down on the grass in front of Nagi and held out his fist. “Give me your hand,” he said.
Nagi stared at him questioningly, yet he easily complied.
Reo then opened his palm to show two identical purple-white string bracelets. “This is a friendship bracelet,” Reo told him happily back then, “Think of this as our promise. Don’t ever lose it, ‘kay?”
Since then, Nagi always keeps it. He doesn’t always wear it, but he brings it with him everywhere. He assumes Reo does the same. After all, it’s Reo who came up with it in the first place.
So, imagine Nagi’s surprise when he sees that familiar purple-white bracelet in the trash bin.
“Reo! Reo! Are you there?”
It took him a while to find out which room Reo is staying in. With Ego constantly changing their rooms during the second selection, asking around who’s staying at where becomes such a pain. Even so, Nagi was determined to give back the bracelet.
Now, Nagi is standing in front of a door to what’s supposedly Reo, Igaguri, and Shindou’s room. He’s aware that the two of them hadn’t parted on good terms yesterday, but he hopes Reo would still talk to him.
“Reo—”
The door creaks open. Reo’s unassuming face instantly turns sour after seeing him.
Ouch.
Being in a fight with Reo really sucks.
“What do you want?” Reo asks coldly.
For a good few seconds, all Nagi does is stare. There are a lot of things he wants to say.
‘Why are you angry at me? Stop it. This is tiring. I don’t like fighting with you. Can you give me a piggyback like you usually do? Walking all the way here is such a pain. I don’t wanna walk back. Can you carry me? Can you give me those usual head pats? I never say it but I like it a lot.”
In the end, he can’t even manage a single word out. All he does is show Reo the bracelet he found in the trash bin earlier.
But then Reo only stares silently for an amount of time, and Nagi begins to get antsy. He clears his throat awkwardly. “Um. I think you dropped it earlier—”
“Why?”
Nagi’s head snaps up. “Huh?”
“Why are you giving it back to me?”
Nagi stares at him, puzzled. “What do you mean why? You’re the one who told me to never lose it. This is our promise, right?”
Reo doesn’t say anything, but Nagi can see emotions swirling in those amethyst irises. His heart clenches. He really misses Reo. But this is for the best. They both need to get better, and them going on separate ways this time is for the best.
“Here,” Nagi says, grabbing one of Reo’s hands and tying the bracelet on his wrist. “This way you won’t lose it again.”
Reo stares at the bracelet wordlessly before his gaze slides back up to Nagi’s face again.
“Are you still keeping yours?” Reo asks quietly, as if dreading the answer.
In response, Nagi pulls out his own bracelet from his pocket. “I even carry it to the bathroom. It gets wet sometimes, but I worry someone might steal it if I leave it on my pillow.”
“Can I…” Reo trails off, averting his gaze, before seemingly changing his mind and changing his wording, “Can you wear yours too?”
“Okay.”
Nagi only takes it off for practical purposes, but he can wear it if it’s what makes Reo happy.
“It’s a little hard…” He mutters as he fumbles with the ties.
Reo reaches out, a little hesitant at first, but then he says firmly, “Let me help.”
Nagi obediently holds out his hand and lets Reo tie the bracelet around his wrist. Reo’s finger brushes with his skin, and it makes him weirdly happy, although he doesn’t really understand why.
“There you go,” Reo says softly.
Nagi looks at his work and nods approvingly. “Now we match.”
For some reason, that gets a little laugh out of Reo. “Yes, we match.”
Having finished what he’d come for, Nagi turns away to leave and waves a little. “Bye, Reo. See you at the third selection.”
But when he doesn’t hear anything in return, Nagi stops in his tracks and glances back. “Reo…?”
Reo looks sad. Oh, no.
“Reo—”
Before Nagi could backtrack and ask if he’s alright, Reo seems to snap out of whatever trance he was in by himself and jerks violently. Nagi waits patiently as Reo opens and closes his mouth several times. But in the end, all he manages is a weak wave.
“See you too, Nagi…and don’t you dare lose.”
“I won’t,” Nagi says confidently.
He waits until Reo goes back inside and closes his door before resuming his walk back to the direction of his own room.
Days passed. He wins more matches with Chigiri and Barou; it was a surprisingly difficult feat despite their individual talents given how terrible their teamwork is when Isagi is not around.
Finally, they arrive at the final stage.
Nagi waits with bated breath as one by one the other doors slowly open, revealing other players who have made it onto the next stage. His anxiety spikes up as more players gradually show up yet Reo is nowhere in sight.
When the last door is raised and reveals a bunch of players that he’s not familiar with, Nagi’s stomach drops.
But then he sees it.
Standing a bit far back from the others is Reo, who’s staring pensively as his gaze roams around the room.
“Reo…” Nagi whispers faintly.
He releases the breath that he didn’t realize he was holding. He feels so relieved that he almost collapses right there.
Then, their eyes meet.
Nagi’s breath hitches when he notices that Reo is still wearing the bracelet—the purple-white bracelet that is a symbol of their promise.
‘I keep the promise,’ Reo’s piercing gaze seems to say.
Nagi responds to him by raising his left hand, where he wears his own bracelet. ‘Me too.’
Reo is here. It’s the two of them again now. They’re alright now.