Chapter Text
the first thing kaiser says when you pick up his call is: “don’t tell me you’re with that clown right now.”
you roll your eyes at the unadulterated jealousy laced in his voice, wishing the gesture was an audible thing that could be heard over the phone. “i won’t tell you then. and that’s rude, by the way. he has a name, kaiser.”
“fine. let’s try that again: don’t tell me you’re with…”—kaiser pauses, allowing a few seconds to pass before letting out an annoyed sigh, as if treating another person’s name with respect is a hard thing to stomach—“yoichi,” he finally finishes, despite uttering the name with such obvious distaste.
you lean back into your seat, watching absent-mindedly as students begin to fill up the lecture hall. isagi, who’s sitting right beside you, is busy rearranging his notebooks on his desk, completely oblivious to kaiser’s slander.
“do we have to do this every week?” you say quietly, exhaling loudly through your nose. “we’re just classmates and i only have this class once a week anyway.”
“doesn’t matter. i don’t like that he gets to be in the same room as you so i’ll call you every week at this time to remind you who’s your boyfriend.”
“i don’t need a weekly reminder.”
“yes you do. now, turn on your video, i miss your face.”
the professor arrives at the lecture hall early but is quickly swarmed by a group of students who undoubtedly have questions about last week’s midterm. class isn’t supposed to start for another five minutes away, so you entertain kaiser’s antics for a little while longer.
“no way,” you say, voice hushed, “class is starting any moment now and i’m all grimy and gross after being out the whole day.”
kaiser, however, hardly ever takes no for an answer. “so what? i’d still love you even if you were a worm.”
“oh, would you now?” you purse your lips in an effort to stem the smile creeping onto your face.
kaiser hums for an obnoxiously long time until he says “no” before erupting into a fit of cackles. his voice momentarily strays from the receiver as if he’s thrown his head back to laugh at his own joke and there’s nothing more that you’d like to do than punch him in the face right now.
“i’m hanging up—”
“no, no! i’m joking, i’m joking!” he pleads. “i just wanna see you. i hate that yoichi gets to see your pretty face. it’s not fair.”
“you’re coming to pick me up later anyway, we’ll see each other then.”
“...eh? i’m picking you up?”
you pinch the bridge of your nose, already sensing the migraine your stupid boyfriend always seems to give you.
"you forgot, didn't you?”
it’s the silence on his end that’s somehow both infuriating and endearing at the same time as you picture him trying to rack his brain and recall the plans you made for tonight.
“of course, i didn’t forget!” his voice being a pitch higher now is evidence of his hesitance. he totally forgot he was supposed to pick you up today.
“mhm.”
“baby, you’re not mad, right?”
“class is starting, bye kaiser.”
“w-wait, babe please—”
you hang up, pleased with the fact that you stole the upper hand from him this time around. you’ll never admit this out loud but your silly phone calls with him always end up brightening your day. you try not to let it show on your face but it’s hard to suppress the giddiness.
suddenly, isagi turns to you. “was that your boyfriend?”
“yeah,” you say, hoping your face isn’t too flushed with embarrassment.
“that’s so sweet, calling you in between classes.”
all you manage is a soft laugh to mask the fact that you’re thinking isagi is the very reason that kaiser ever calls at this time thanks to his unabating jealous streak.
“he must really love you,” he adds.
you let his words sink in for a moment, a realization dawning on you. as much as kaiser behaves as the bane of your existence, pushing your buttons and subjecting you to a hundred different emotions all at once, you do believe he genuinely loves you. he’s never given you a reason to doubt that.
you turn to isagi with a smile, “yeah, i think so too.”