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The gentle chill of the night kept Hiori awake, seeping through his thick covers and into his bones. Hiori tossed and turned before accepting his fate, he wouldn’t be sleeping tonight. As quietly as he could, he left the confines of his bed and sat in his desk chair. He turned on his monitor, and once the bright light hit him, he winced, dimming the screen.
His eyes quickly adjusted, used to doing this kind of thing at night. He looked at his desktop blankly, going over the apps he had. Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Twitch, Danganronpa, Call of Duty, Ace Attorney, Overwatch, so many games, yet nothing caught his attention. Boredom taking over, Hiori relented and opened Twitch. Setting up streams properly is a hassle, he doesn't do much besides make sure it’s working. Deciding then and there that a scuffed stream is all they’ll get, he didn't set up his mic or camera.
He doesn’t bother to set up the waiting screen while he picks a game, either. He noticed people joining the stream, a few familiar names and icons in the chat. He smiled as a warm feeling grew in his chest. He didn’t have his mic set up so he couldn't talk which only upset him slightly. He settled on playing Genshin Impact. It’s an easy enough game that he could play it despite the fact he’s tired. The chat seemed okay with this choice too, not that he cared all that much if they disagreed.
The hours passed by in a blur as Hiori completed quest after quest and wandered the world. He couldn’t help but relax as he played, the quiet, almost mute background music soothing his mind. He paused at some point to get his blanket from before, surprisingly it did its job of keeping him warm now. The chat seemed to be joking amongst themselves which caused little laughs and giggles to escape Hiori's mouth. It’s after fighting Childe again that a request popped up. It wasn’t often that he got requests, his chat knew better than to send friend requests or invite him to their worlds unannounced.
He looked at the time for a second before joining the world. The person that invited him was using Ganyu but he could also see Yelan on the team. It was a nice match between his Yanfei and Yoimiya. The Ganyu started typing in the in-game chat, asking only for help in domains. With nothing else to do, Hiori agreed and he spent the night clearing domains and Ley Flowers. By the time the sun rose, they’d gone to just about every domain, and the mystery Ganyu had gone through just about every Cryo and Hydro character there is.
Hiori couldn’t help but wonder what his character list looked like, and before he knew it, he was making idle conversation with this total stranger. It’s only when he was in the midst of typing his own socials that he remembered he was live and very quickly shut off his stream’s view of the game. The chat went crazy at that, which he only ignored as he went back to typing out the socials. With the information shared, Hiori said his goodbyes and went to end his stream. He noticed the comments made and most of them said something similar.
With a sigh, he turned on his mic and watched as the chat slowed down. They’re quick to notice Hiori’s breathing and the messages changed from mentions of his love to that of everyone going scatter or quiet. “You guys know I’ve been reading chat, right? I’m not flirting or trying to flirt with anyone so stop the comments on this being a love story. Alright? Good.”
With that, he stopped streaming and as he fell into bed, he found himself checking his phone and smiling just slightly. It wasn't often he played open-world games, but he supposed today, he’s glad he did.
~~~
Ki & Shu
@ANG3L3Y3
two brothers on the same account. ki is lowercase shu is proper punctuation
May 12th, 20XX, 4:20am
are you seeing anyone?
no
why?
just asking
all things considered you just seem like the type to have a partner alr
well i dont
for starters kinda hard to find a boy i like this town
not out yet either yk
yea i get that
only came out to my family after my mom married a woman
your moms gay??
i never mentioned that?
no??
my bad
i think mentioned the marriage but not the details
it was a very pretty event tho
held it in aomori during the summer some years ago
What part of japan do you live in?
chubu region
Im literally from kyoto
im in nagano….
we should meet up one day
agreed
[seen 4:53 am]
~~~
Summer was always Hiori’s least favorite season. His parents wanted to keep him active so he spent the daylight hours outside in the Kyoto heat, messing around with a sport he didn’t even like all that much. At night, he got to play games as much as he liked, but only if he could handle the consequences of playing soccer on 3 or less hours of sleep.
The heat paired with his parents and the lack of free time, made Hiori bristle at the thought of going home. He knew that the break Ego gave everyone was Anri’s decision. The Ego he had come to know over the past few months would never willingly let everyone out for a month. Just the fact that he, yet again, had no choice in the matter made Hiori throw himself back on the bed.
There wasn’t much for him to even pack. All of his Blue Lock-related clothing and items would be staying in the facility. He was only bringing a bag and that was just for getting whatever he wanted to take from the outside world into the facility. At least when he got home, he'd be able to do some more gaming than the mobile ones he had.
Something about holding the controller or mouse in his hands, made it feel better. It was easier to get lost in the game and forget his surroundings. It was easier to ignore the sounds of his parents trying to hide the fact they hated each other, ignore the fact his whole neighborhood knew, but because he wasn't injured, no one cared. The little things, you know?
Before he could get lost in his mind and drift away with the wind, his phone dinged a familiar tune. He hadn’t heard it in a while, if only because he had been more focused on the NEL than anything else. He hadn’t even properly checked his phone after the announcement of their break went live. Missed calls and texts from his parents, login notifications, texts from classmates, and other such things. The notification that caught his attention, however, was from an online friend he had made a couple of years ago.
They met through Genshin Impact and would play that as well as other games together when they got the chance. Hiori never revealed his actual name to the other, and it was safe to assume the other didn’t either. After all, he had told Hiori that he shared his socials with his brother. In his words, neither was fond of the idea of having an internet presence solely attached to them.
There wasn’t a lot Hiori knew about his friend appearance-wise. He could likely list all the things he knew about him on his hands. His friend went by the name Ki, his brother went by Shu. Both boys were 15, making them younger than Hiori, but not twins, they were just stepbrothers. Ki had darker hair and lighter eyes than Shu– in his words. Shu did cooking while Ki played sports. The boys had two moms and neither chose to change their last name to match their new family. In Ki’s words, if you knew them by name only, you couldn’t guess they were brothers.
But, one thing he did know about Ki was that after almost two years of interacting with him, Ki was his ideal person. During voice calls, there wasn’t ever an awkward silence and they found themselves able to talk for hours at a time about anything and everything. Sometimes Ki’s brother, Shu, would join their calls and, while Hiori didn’t hate him, he found himself more drawn to Ki. There was just something about him that made his face flush and his heart beat faster.
Hiori was only friends with Ki, and his interactions with Shu were more so him mistaking the brothers. Ki’s pictures of his real life mostly consisted of his hands and the top of his head, as well as any clothes he had worn for that day. The outfit reveals always came at the end of the day to prevent anyone in his area from noticing him. But, back to the topic at hand, a DM from Ki.
There wasn’t a lot to the message, but it was the first he had gotten in a while and he could feel a subtle warmth grow in the pit of his stomach. The message, in short, was just him saying he and his brother got new accounts since they both started to become professionals in their craft. Ki sent two accounts to Hiori. One was a personal account he was moving to, under the same name of Ki, with a user that @ferretking, and the display name was ki | madoka solos your fav . The second account, now that was the shocker.
The @ was @NikoIkkiJPN and the display name just read Niko Ikki . After that, all Ki or Niko, he supposed, said was, ‘ My coach made me make a proper public account so yeah. I know you’re not a big fan of football so you can just follow it and mute it if you want. ’ Hiori read the message once. Then again, and by the third time, he realizes that, no, Ki wasn’t joking, he really was Niko Ikki who was just in the Italian stratum getting ready to leave. That, and they would likely be on the same bus back to Tokyo.
There were a lot of thoughts running through Hiori’s mind at the moment. He didn’t get much time to think about it, though, because Ego appeared on the screen and the speakers rang out with his monotonous voice. The buses had arrived and everyone needed to line up and get aboard because there would be no stragglers left in the facility. Grabbing his duffel, Hiori moved on autopilot, his phone tightly in his hand as if afraid someone might take it and learn what he knows.
As he stood with the other boys, he couldn't help but look for the shorter boy in the sea of people. Despite the amount of black hair in the room, it was relatively easy to find him. He was standing with the other Uber players, he was in the middle of talking to Zantetsu, who was, very much so, with the wrong team, but that fact didn’t seem to bother anybody. Walking closer, he saw that Niko had his phone in hand and a silly thought came to him. He moved deeper into the crowd of boys, getting just close enough to take a picture of Niko from behind with enough clues for it to be obviously Niko and not who took the picture.
He waited until everyone was moving towards the bus to send Niko the picture captioned, I see you! His reaction was as funny as he expected it to be. Niko suddenly stopped in his tracks, much to the confusion of Zantetsu, before looking around like he was lost. Hiori moved with the flow of people avoiding Niko’s eyes while being as casual as possible. He felt his phone vibrate in his hand but waited till he was seated on the bus to do anything.
He’s sitting in the back of the bus, much to the confusion of his friends. They don’t question it much, to his delight, but they do text. Something he was keen on ignoring. Niko had been texting him nonstop since Hiori sent the picture. It was mildly funny in the boy’s mind. The friend he maybe wanted to be more than friends with was just one building away. Hiori prided himself on his mind if nothing else, so the fact he didn’t notice was a little hit to his pride.
ki | madoka solos your fav
@ferretking
ki from @ANG3L3Y3
June 1st, 20XX, 3:00pm
are you fucking serious dude
how???
why??
who and where are you!
dont tell me youre already on one of the buses
such bs yk that right???
at least respond man
sorry was getting settled on the bus
so funny how small the world is
MOTHERFUCKER
at least tell me who you are
its only fair
mmm….
nah
~~~
For the next few days of their summer break, Hiori and Niko texted like they normally did before the identity reveal. The only difference was that now when there was a lull in the conversation, Niko would ask who Hiori was. It turned into something of a game between the boys. Niko would ask for a feature and then make a guess.
“Do you have big eyes?”
“Yes.”
“Are you Gagamaru?”
“No.” It was a daily thing. Around day 15, Niko started doubling his questions and guesses. It was funny to watch Niko guess who he was. He didn’t make it easy, only using single-word answers without elaborating. Around day 23, he had gone through more than half of the Blue Lock boys and Hiori wondered why he hadn’t heard his name yet.
It’s around the final week he starts giving proper hints. He sends a picture of his phone case, sends voice notes, and shows off his favorite things. It's only when he's leaving the house to head back to the Blue Lock does he give his biggest hint. A picture of his hair and eye color were the only things in focus and with that, he turned off his phone.
~~~
Niko was in the middle of talking to his stepbrother Shun when he got the message from Ram. They had been talking about Shun's latest meal where he used cherry blossom wood to smoke the meat. Very floral, very tasty, something Niko was sure to miss in Blue Lock. The text from Ram, though, was quick to make Niko forget about it.
The picture was blurry and low quality but it gave him everything he needed to identify his friend, maybe crush, in a heartbeat. Ram's hair and eyes were a bright cyan and there was only one person Niko could remember having such features in Blue Lock.
Niko, while eager to talk to Ram, or perhaps he should say Hiori, was terrified. He stayed home as long as he could, and when it came time to leave, he had his brother drop him off. Times like this made Niko happy his stepbrother was so similar to him. They spoke quietly to each other about animes and mangas they were reading, sticking to more isolated places as they walked and talked.
With Niko dressed in Blue Lock attire and Shun in his Totsuki Academy clothes, the fact they weren't recognized had to be a blessing from the heavens. At the buses, Shun left and headed to his Academy– leaving Niko alone with the crowd of boys.
Stealing his nerves and taking a deep breath, Niko began to scan the crowd looking for blue. He saw Isagi and his bundle of friends. He saw Zantetsu with Reo and Nagi. He saw the third years talking about their trip with a few foreign players when he finally saw Hiori. The boy was standing next to Karasu and didn't appear to have seen Niko yet.
As quietly and sneakily as he could, Niko slipped through the crowd and crept closer. Phone in hand, he pulled up Hiori's Twitter account and tapped the older boy on his shoulder. Hiori looked over his shoulder instantly before turning around fully. He smiled as his face lit up when he saw Niko, pulling the boy in for a tight hug.
Niko could feel his face flush red and no amount of hiding in Hiori's shoulder would hide that fact. It was Karasu saying something that made Hiori stop hugging him and, despite how embarrassed he was, Niko already missed the touch.
"Hiori Yo. Why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend?"
"Well… um…" Hiori avoided eye contact as he tried to find the right words.
Karasu's sharp gaze landed on Niko and the boy felt himself freeze a bit as the taller boy assessed him. Under the scrutiny of such a gaze, Niko found himself doing something he likely wouldn't do under different circumstances. "He didn't tell you because he was waiting for the right time, right, Yo?"
Hiori's face pinkened as he nodded, mumbling Niko's name in agreement. Karasu looked mildly surprised at their answers but was satisfied enough with them that he let them go on their way. Somewhere between walking to the bus and sitting down, the boys started holding hands. The feel of Hiori’s hand in his was a grounding feeling, something about it kept him tethered but, at the same time, it burned. Being this close made his face burn, and he wondered if Hiori could feel how his body heated up.
It’s a comfortable heat, like when his phone starts to heat up while playing rhythm games. It’s the sort of heat you get when you paw at a candle flame in awe. It reminded him of sitting in the kitchen as the smoke grew in time with Shun upping the heat of his smoker. Niko dozed off as he fell into that memory, it’s the same as always: Shun in the kitchen and his parents in the living room talking. In these memories, the sun was always setting, its red light reflecting off the counter as Niko laid his head against the cool marble. The window’s open, its soft breeze spreading the smell of fish and oak around the house and neighborhood.
As the haze of the memory pulled Niko further and further into dreamland, he noticed a small change in the norm. His mothers are still chatting and he could still hear the sound of Shun humming a song, but next to him was Hiori. He had his head on the counter and he was staring at Niko with a content smile on his lips. The red from the setting sun cast a glow on him like no other and Niko couldn’t help but think that this was perfect. There’s no place he’d rather be than here, he thought.
~~~
Waving goodbye to Hiori, Niko walked into the Italian stratum, his face still pink from embarrassment. The people that greeted him on the other side of the commons, though, are possibly the last people he wanted to see. Aiku, Aryu, Barou, Lorenzo, and Sendou were all sitting around the room and staring at him as he entered. He froze and Niko doesn’t need a mirror to know his face is redder than the streaks in Barou’s hair.
They all looked at him with a look of judgment and questioning but nothing compared to the sleazy grin adorning Aiku's face.
"Sooo… Hiori Yo, ey?" He said, much too happily for Niko to be okay with. Very quickly and quietly Niko turned on his heel and left the room, the sound of quiet laughs fading with every step.