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Luciano Palonsky had half of a bottle of sunscreen rubbed on his skin, a big sun hat, and a hotdog in his hand. He was sitting in one of the floor level seats around the beach volleyball court, ready to enjoy a couple of matches and relax. The rest of his team promised to join him later because most of them were sightseeing or spending time with his families right now. But he had free time to kill, and honestly, the location of the court was to die for.
Next to the Eiffel Tower and with the olympic flame on sight, he couldn’t help but feel a bit envious of how pretty this court was compared to the indoor volleyball one. He noticed the general public prefers this modality of volleyball, not sure if it was because of the background or the sport itself, and he wondered if it’s a good idea to give it a try. He had become very good at receiving and getting back up ready to strike, and he plans to work on his floor technique now that he will play in Japan next season, so he believes he would do pretty decently after a few practice rounds.
He also loves the beach, so playing volleyball there doesn’t sound too bad. Maybe he would try to convince one of his teammates to practice with him in their free time. He wasn’t planning on seriously changing sports, but with so many changes happening with the national team, he needed a breath of fresh air. As he contemplated his future as a beach volleyball player, the seat next to him got occupied. He didn’t pay attention to it, but when he took the first bite of his hotdog, a voice too close to his ear surprised him.
“Palonsky-san I need your help.”
Luciano jumped on his seat, choking on his hotdog. As he fought for his life, a hand patted him on the back to help him with his coughs. He grabbed the water bottle that was being pushed into his hands and drank. When he could breathe again, he looked to his right.
“You scared the shit out of me. I didn’t even think you would talk to me outside the court.” he said, returning him the water bottle.
Ran Takahashi sat next to him, wearing the full kit that identified as a japanese olympic athlete. No disguise thought Luciano. Only a cap and sunglasses concealed his identity, but judging by the girls with team Japan merch hanging around close to them, he wasn’t fooling anyone.
“Why wouldn’t I? Aren’t we acquaintances, Palonsky-san? There’s so much I want to learn from you. We are very similar players if you think about it!” he said eagerly, in the tone he usually heard Ran talk to his teammates to give them energy.
“Okay, drop the honorifics, I am not in Japan yet for you to do that. Just call me Luciano.” he rolled his eyes, and asked him “Shouldn’t you be practicing? What are you doing here?”
“I already told you. I need your help: the fate of my team might be in your hands!” and Ran sounded genuinely worried about his situation, which put Luciano on alert.
“You’ve lost me. We just started talking but you already lost me. What do I have to do with you guys? Is something wrong?”
The whistle announced the start of the match as Ran took off his glasses and went on to explain his team’s issue: Yuki Ishikawa was unable to wake up from his slumber. The three matches they played in these olympic games so far had been a disappointment, both for them and their fans, especially compared to their performances during the VNL. Of course, a team doing badly can’t be blamed only on one player having a couple of bad days, but the truth was that their captain’s condition heavily impacted on the rest of the team. They couldn’t help but reflect his mood, and so far, their playing wasn't on the level they needed to make it to semifinals.
They had a good team of professionals, and their families were in Paris to give them support, but nothing seemed to help Yuki. The captain had insisted that the pressure to do well got to him, and the precarious life in the Olympic Villa was affecting his thorough daily routine, so he wasn’t feeling his best. But being so close to him, Ran was sure he was hiding something else that he refused to share with the rest of them.
Luciano had noticed that something was wrong with Ishikawa, just like everyone watching him play probably did. The usual sagacity with which he handled the ball wasn’t there, and neither was his usual confidence when it came to commanding his team. At the time, the argentine had much more important things to concentrate on, but now that the race was over for him, he can think about the issue.
“We really need him to bounce back for our next match. The rest of us could be in our best condition but if he doesn’t have the head in the game, Italy will devour us.” Ran was looking at the game in front of them, but his eyes seemed far away. “And I really hate seeing him like this, it makes me angry. He carries so much weight on his shoulders, and people will blame him if we don’t do well…I don’t want that.”
Ran’s voice got tight on his last sentence, so he coughed and drank from the water bottle. Luciano gave him a few seconds before speaking.
“Okay I feel bad for you. But I don’t know why you came to me, I don’t think I can do anything to help him.” he says as he watches one of players dive into the sand, not getting in time to save the ball.
“But you know someone that can.” Ran says and does a dramatic pause “Agustín Loser.”
“Agus...? Now, what does that idiot have to do with any of this?” he scoffed.
“Listen Palonsky-san,” Ran spoke over his complaints about being referred to by honorifics “I suspect that whatever got into Ishikawa-san has to do at least a bit with Loser. Haven’t you noticed something weird between them? They are usually so close, and always hang out together if they are in the same country. Back in Italy, I had to witness Loser tag along many times when me and Ishikawa-san wanted to get dinner together. But now…” he shook his head.
“What? Now, what? I know they are close but maybe they simply didn’t have the time to hang out.”
“I think they aren’t on the best terms right now.” he says, and then he whispers “You know their necklaces?”
“Yes, the friendship necklaces they wear.” Luciano acknowledges, to which Ran replies by raising one of his eyebrows at him “What? Did I say something wrong?”
Ran rolled his eyes “No, it’s fine. Didn't you notice they aren’t wearing them? They didn’t even interact before our match, or after. They barely hugged briefly in the court. I think they are fighting or something, and that’s why our captain’s head is somewhere else. I need them to fix whatever is wrong between them. Now.”
“So you want them to talk it out…Why do you need my help to get Agustín to talk to him, though?” Luciano asks. As Ran talked, he realized that Agus was indeed acting weird towards his friend.
“I already tried to ask Ishikawa-san about this issue and he practically kicked me out of his room. He’s prideful and thick-headed; Loser is probably the same.” At Ran’s comment, Luciano nods “So we need to trick them into talking. I need someone in Argentina to give me a hand for my plan to work.”
“Ran Takahashi, what are you planning?” Luciano squints at him.
“Listen nothing else is helping Ishikawa-san, and-” Ran’s watch pings with a notification, interrupting him “Crap, I need to go. Give me your number and I’ll text you. Please Palonsky-san, I am begging you.” and he bows to Luciano.
“Okay, fine, just stop doing that. I don’t want to feel guilty later. This better not be a stupid plan.” he warned Ran as he gave him his phone so he could add his number. By the smile he gives him -with his lips too tight- the plan was indeed very stupid.
He already said goodbye to him when he stopped on his tracks and turned around to face him. For the first time since this weird encounter started, he seemed truly awkward, anxiously playing with his hands.
“Oh, um…Palonsky-san? Ah, about our match-” he started, but Luciano raised a hand and stopped him.
“Shut up. I know you failed to serve after our red card on purpose.” And looked at Ran in the eye with emphasis “No one is mad at you guys, trust me. It was just an emotional moment for all of us, and you can’t tell me the referees weren't acting up. So save it. And stop calling me that.” he adds as an afterthought.
Ran smiles at him before giving him a two-finger salute and leaves the seats. Luciano watches him walk away, his fans tailing him after him. He shoots Ran a text letting him know it’s him, and then opens his chat with Agus, urged by the curiosity Ran’s words spiked. His fingers hover over the screen, thinking about if he should ask him about what’s his deal with Ishikawa.
As the first set of the match comes to an end, Luciano turns off the screen of his phone. Luciano cared about his friend deeply, but he couldn’t miss a chance to mess up with him. He would gladly help Ran if his plan not only helped his own team, but got Agus' underwear tangled up in the process too.
“Takahashi-senpai, are you sure about this working? Won’t we get in trouble with Ishikawa-senpai?” asked Masato Kai, with his huge eyes. He was standing by the door keeping an eye on the corridor. Ran stood up to his full height to answer his little kouhai, but Tatsunori Otsuka’s snort interrupted him.
“Ran is using us as a shield, Kai. Ishikawa-senpai won’t kill us, but he’s probably waiting for the perfect excuse to beat up this dude.” he says from his spot on the sofa, where he was playing on his console.
“Hey! Treat me with some respect, you punk! No one is killing anyone! Trust me, this plan will be a success!”
Honestly, Ran wasn’t so sure about this plan. All he knew was that he needed to do everything he could to get his captain on the right mindset for the quarterfinals match or it was over for them. Yuki was their backbone and he needed to be in his best condition, because their matches so far left a lot to be desired. It would help if the man was more honest about his troubles, but noooo he refused to share anything that could be a burden to them.
After Yuki repeatedly insisted that he wanted to be left alone, everyone decided to focus on themselves, respecting his wishes to recover on his own. But Ran couldn’t sit there without doing anything to help him, so he decided to brainstorm some ideas with the rest of the team, trying to figure out what was wrong with their captain. Some of his teammates told him to mind his own business because Yuki knows what’s better for himself, but, funnily enough, those players were the ones that inspired him to come up with this plan.
Two of them were his seniors Akihito Yamauchi and Kentaro Takahashi, who were playing cards when he went to ask them about his opinions on the matter. They told Ran to not worry too much because they trusted Yuki to bounce back when needed, but he insisted them into giving him ideas on how to help him. They rolled their eyes at him and made comments about him being such a good little brother, but still didn’t take him seriously.
Kentaro suggested they should throw Yuki in the Seine River to wake him up. He laughed with Aki, who then said jokingly:
“You know what Yuki needs? A good fuck. So he can unwind some. He needs to stop being so uptight all the time.”
“True.” agreed Kentaro, nodding “He needs to stop thinking about volleyball so much and get a date so we don’t have these problems anymore.”
His teammates were very obviously poking fun at Yuki’s lifestyle, but their comments made a lightbulb light up inside Ran’s head. Being together in Italy, Ran spent as much time as he could with Yuki because it made him feel less alone. He had noticed the man had a very close relationship to Argentina’s middle blocker and his teammate in PowerVolley Milano, Agustín Loser. This was rare coming from Yuki, who even if he was known for softening with time, he didn’t let many people be close to him the way he allowed Loser to be.
Their closeness could be appreciated inside the court, during promotional videos, and even in social media. But in their private life, Ran knew those two were really attached to the hip and were really used to each other’s presence. More than one time he came over to Yuki’s place to have dinner with him just to have Loser tag along, and found himself entranced by the two of them preparing the dishes, both moving in perfect coordination and aware of the other at all times. He had looked at Yuki suspiciously when Loser kept his hand on the other’s waist for too long while waiting for the food to heat up.
Yuki even gave him a matching necklace! Necklaces that neither of them was wearing right now. Ran was so used to seeing the necklace around Yuki’s neck during matches that he did a double take when his captain switched it for a different one. Even more of a shock was seeing Loser wearing some silver chains instead of his gift during the olympic matches.
Ran never asked his captain about their relationship because there was some sort of invisible line that shouldn’t be crossed about the subject, but the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced the other two were…something special. His teammates in the national team constantly teased Yuki about his obsession with volleyball not letting him time for romance, but maybe Yuki just sighed at them good-naturally instead of talking back because he already had someone.
Ran could be wrong about all of this, but he was willing to try anything to make his captain snap out of his trance. That’s why he's now in the common space of their assigned floor for the men’s volleyball team, with his two accomplices that weren’t completely filled in about what was going on. He just needed extra muscle in case Yuki wanted to escape, and not at all because he needed a shield for when his senior tries to strangle him for stealing his phone.
He couldn’t allow Loser to try to contact Yuki or his plan would fail, so he took the phone when the other was showering. Now, the three of them and his captain were the only ones on their floor, and he was really hoping Luciano didn’t ghost him. He didn’t have big impressions about the argentine outside of being scary looking and having a mean strike, but he was who Ran could get to help him in such short notice, thanks to Yuuji Nishida that suggested looking for argentine players at the beach volleyball court.
When Ran first came up with the general idea of his plan after talking to his teammates, he went to look for guidance with the one person in his team who would happily fuck with Yuki’s personal life. When he tells Yuuji about it, the man doubles with laughter in his chair.
“Nishida-san! He’s being mean to me!” He accuses him of being with Sarina Nishida, who was having a peaceful lunch with his husband before Ran came to talk to them. She just sighs good-naturally and puts a hand on Yuuji’s shoulder.
“Takahashi-kun,” she says, not unkindly “our Yuki...well, you know how shy he is. I don’t know if putting him in that kind of situation will help anyone. He is an adult; he knows how to separate those kinds of issues out of his professional life.”
“Yeah, but Ran is right though.” says Yuuji once he calms down “Something fishy is going on with that Loser guy. I honestly have no idea what’s wrong with Yuki, and no one else is doing anything anyways. This sounds fun, I love messing with him.”
Sarina sighs again, and her husband gives her a bright smile before talking to Ran again “But how are you going to make them talk to each other?”
“We kinda just need to force them to be in a room together and talk, right…?” Ran says, playing with his hands.
Yuuji and Sarina share a look.
“Takahashi-kun…are you going to actually lock them up together in a room?” Sarina asks, frowning.
“No! Well...maybe? Listen, this is how I will make it happen.” he uses some grapes from Yuuji’s plate to explain the steps of his plan.
By the end, Yuuji is cleaning the tears from his eyes, and even Sarina is fighting her smile. Ran doesn’t know what's so funny about his master plan.
“So now I need someone from Argentina to help me…Nishida-san?” he asks Yuuji.
“Ran, I love your plan so much. Please record Yuki’s reaction.” he is rubbing his eyes with his palms “And I don’t know anyone from that team. I saw on instagram that they are going around the village watching sports. You should check out beach volleyball, I am sure you’ll find them there.”
“Okay, I’ll try to catch one of them…hopefully someone that isn’t too scary looking. I don’t have much time so I’ll get going.” He stands from the table to bow to Sarina and gives Yuuji a handshake, and then starts to walk away.
“Wait, Ran!” Yuuji calls, and when Ran turns around, he says “You also haven’t been playing the top of your game lately. Could it be that you have the same problem as Yuki? Team Canada is out of the quarters too, maybe you can look into that too while you are at it.” He teases him.
Ran raises his hands to his face, and uses one to cover the rude gesture he is making with the other, so Sarina doesn’t see it. Then he turns on his heels and leaves behind Yuuji’s laughter and Sarina's scolds. You say one thing about your club teammate once and your whole team back home uses it as a running gag. And what if he’s constantly surrounded by tall white men during his time in Italy? Not all of them have the eyes or cold-exterior soft-interior personality that Arthur Szwarc has. Can people appreciate male beauty in peace anymore?
Back to the present, Yuki’s phone starts to vibrate in his hands. When Ran checks the screen, he can see Loser’s name coming up with several texts. Minutes later, he's even calling Yuki. Ran smiles because Luciano went along with his part of the plan after all. Now all he had to do was wait.
Suddenly, Yuki appears from the corridor that leads to their rooms, and squints at them. Ran quickly hides the phone in his pocket. Their captain walks close to them and folds his arms in his chest.
“Which one of you has my phone?” he asks, a tired undertone to his voice. Ran feels a bit bad about it, but he won’t let his plan fail.
“Ran took it.” replies Tatsu, still focused on his console.
Ran jumps and gasps. “I don’t! What-Tatsu! What is wrong with you man?!”
“I don’t even know what I am doing here.”
Yuki rubs between his eyes and extends his hand.
“Give me my phone, Ran. I don’t know what your deal is but, please.”
“Listen, Yuki-san, this isn’t-” he raises his hands to calm Yuki.
“Um…Takahashi-senpai…” Kai squeals and his eyes widen, but neither of the others pays attention to him.
“Ran! Give me the damn phone!” Yuki sounds angry now.
But before Ran can do anything, he feels Kai bump into his back. He hears the voice before realizing they had a visitor.
“Yuki, are you okay?! Why the fuck aren’t you answering your phone?” Agustín Loser asks breathlessly, walking into the room in a rush. Then comes to a stop when he sees the man of the hour, and stops on his feet. “You don’t look too bad…” he mutters, now confused.
Yuki’s whole demeanor changes, confusion mirrored in his face as he stares at Loser, who’s staring at him up and down.
“Agu…? What are you doing here? Why wouldn’t I be okay? What?”
“Luciano told me he received news that you were very ill. You lost some bet and had to swim on the Seine, and then you got sick?” Loser explains, already feeling something is not clicking.
“What the fuck?!” he asks shocked “What-No! None of that is true! Why would I do that? Who-” and then stops himself, gears working inside his head, and slowly turns his face to look at him. Oh that gaze, Ran is so dead. “Ran...”
“Listen everyone, calm down. I can explain.” He tries to get control of the situation.
“Ran took my phone without me knowing, that’s why I wasn’t answering. And I didn’t swim anywhere!” he says to Loser, who now turns to look at Ran.
“Luciano told me Yuki got infected with e.coli and was delirious in bed.” Agus tells him and oh wow, Luciano went all out with his part.
Yuki throws his hands in the air in confusion and looks at the other men in the room.
“You two are a part of this too?” he asks, angrily.
“Ishikawa-san, we didn’t know. Ran just asked us for help and-” Tatsu starts to explain calmly.
“Ran!” Yuki screams at him “Why the fuck I am suddenly on my death bed! Give me my fucking phone back!” and Ran winces and throws the phone at him.
“Listen, I was just trying to help, okay?”
“By…telling people Yuki is very sick?” Loser raises an eyebrow at him. Ran is a bit scared of the man now, he looks murderous.
“Yes! I mean, no!” he rubs his face “I just wanted to get you here so you could talk to him! Our captain is being stupid, and we are going to fucking lose our place on the podium if you two don’t make up.” He lets all out in a single breath, causing everyone else to go silent.
The air in the room changes, and Yuki goes pale. Then he closes his eyes, and he’s mumbling what sounds like mantras under his breath. Well, this isn’t going too well. Ran is planning his route of escape when Loser’s voice interrupts his thoughts.
“Yuki.” Loser says, and when Ran looks, the man is staring at Yuki with a hard stare. In seconds, he goes from worried and confused, to having a dark look in his eyes. His posture is that of a predator ready to pounce its prey.
Ran really fucked up now, because there’s no way Loser isn’t about to punch Yuki in the jaw. He mentally prepares himself to accept his failure and jump to defend his captain, even take the hit if needed, when their leader clenches his fists and orders them out of the room.
“Everyone out. I’ll speak to the three of you later.” and he must notice the hesitance, because loudly he repeats “I said everyone out, NOW!”
The three of them quickly scatter out of the room, now rushed out by two very angry looking people. Yuki follows them close behind and closes the door behind their backs loudly. Ran is pretty sure everyone in the building heard that door. He silently prays for his captain’s wellbeing, before putting both of his arms around Kai’s and Tatsu’ shoulders.
“Well, team. Let’s get out of here because I don’t want to hear whatever happens next. Let’s just hope I’m still alive for the game tomorrow. Anyways, lunch?” he says animatedly.
“Senpai.” Kai cries.
“C’mon Kai,” says Tatsu, and starts to guide them away from their floor “let’s go out and find your senpai something to eat. He can’t have dry ass chicken from the village’s kitchen as his last meal.”
Later in the afternoon, when everyone is having their last meeting with the staff in the gyms before their game tomorrow, Ran is stretching his back together with Kento Miyaura as they listen to coach Blain talk. The door opens and Yuki walks in, and the conversation stops for a second, everyone paying attention to him. Their captain doesn’t acknowledge this, and goes to stand next to the coach. He offers them a smile and claps his hands together.
“So, team, how are we winning this?”
Their coach smiles back and squeezes Yuki’s shoulder. Everyone seems to feel the change in Yuki’s demeanor, who looks cheerful and less anxious as he starts to talk with them. He does it with confidence and purpose, giving them energy, and the team’s mood changes dramatically. Even if they are nervous for their match tomorrow against such a strong rival, feeling that their captain is back with them is enough to make them feel invincible.
Ran studies Yuki closely, and he does look lighter on his feet, shoulders relaxed instead of tense. He is also kind of glowing, and has a particular twinkle in his eyes. His hair is wet, as if he took a shower before coming here. When Yuki catches him studying him, he slides his thumb across his own neck before pointing at him. The death threat, however, it’s not as scary as he intends to be because his ears go red from all the staring.
Ran blinks and looks at Yuuji, a few steps behind Yuki. The opposite makes a ring with two of his fingers and raises the index finger of his other hand, and Ran’s eyes widen in terror when Yuuji does a crude gesture with them. He looks again at Yuki and yeah, he definitely looks mussed in a way Ran had no desire to see. He shivers and shakes his head. He’s feeling the satisfaction of being right all along, but he’s grossed out. He knows this is what his plan was aiming to, in a way, but still. Gross.
“You know what’s up with Ishikawa-san’s mood? You were trying to help him, right?” Kento asks him.
“Trust me, you don’t want to know.” Rans shivers again, for the sake of it “All of you are welcome though. We are winning tomorrow thanks to my genius brain and good looks.”
Luciano was lounging around the exclusive area only athletes and staff were allowed access. He was there tagging along with Agus, who was anxiously biting his nails. Luciano grabbed his hand and took it away from his mouth, to which Agus reacted by smiling sadly at him. Both of them went back to their phones as they waited for the rest of the players to come out. Some of them stayed doing interviews and such, and that’s why they were taking so long.
Agustín had begged him to come watch the quarter final match of Japan vs Italy with him, and how he owed him for lying to him. Luciano snorted at his demand ( Own you? he thought I made you get laid but whatever) but easily agreed, as this match promised to be an exciting one. And it ended up not only being that, but intense and exhilarating to the point Luciano was holding the edge of his seat so strongly the plastic was biting into his skin. He still couldn’t believe how Italy recovered the way they did- the temperance their captain had as he led them to win. Either of those teams losing would be sad for fans all over the world, but for Luciano, right now, the bitter taste in his mouth was on behalf of Japan’s defeat.
“Hey! Here!” Agus called. Luciano raised his eyes and saw Yuki finally coming out.
The japanese man smiled tiredly and started to walk towards them before stopping on his feet and turning on his heels. Then, he grabbed someone that was trying to get away unnoticed by the back of his shirt, and dragged him along towards them. Even from this distance, Luciano could hear Ran’s complaints, but the youngest didn’t fight his captain. Like a baby kitten carried by the scruff , he thought.
When they got to them, Yuki let Ran go in order to let Agus hold him. Luciano didn’t know the details, but it looked like the two of them were fine now. So fine that they are, in fact, dating. He wasn’t aware they were even a thing to begin with, but Agus looked happy. That was all that mattered to Luciano, so he was thankful to Ran for stepping up and solving this.
The outside hitter’s face was all puffy and red from all the crying, but his eyes were dry and clear, as if there were no more tears in them. He looked at Luciano and nodded at him. He seemed very tired.
“You played good, kid.” he says, and puts a hand on his shoulder. Ran huffs and returns the gesture.
“Not as good as him. He is superhuman.” he says, pointing at Yuki.
“31 points.” Agus says to Yuki, wrapped around him “That was crazy. I doubt anyone will do that number of points in the rest of the games.”
“It doesn’t matter. It wasn’t enough.” the captain says, but carries on before any of them could console him “Stop, I am tired of hearing it. I am still happy that my team played well.”
“All thanks to who? Me and this dude right here!” Ran says “Me and Palonsky-san better be groomsmen at your wedding”
“Ran.” Luciano warns him.
“Palonsky-san?” Yuki questions. Agus is red in the face, probably from the wedding comment.
“He keeps using honorifics on me even if I ask him to stop”
“You’ll be playing in Japan soon anyways, so better get used to it.” Ran checks his watch “Can we please leave? Today sucked so much and I’m so tired, I need to sleep for 3 days straight.”
Yuki and Agus walk in front of them holding hands chatting about the start of the club season in Italy soon, while Luciano and Ran walk together in silence. Luciano still has a couple of weeks before having to get on a plane to Japan and start his life for the next 6 months. Everyone knows that Japan means he will be leaving that country being a master of defense and digging, something he will be happy to add to his skills. Ran himself is a great libero, and now that he has his phone number, he will exploit the fact that they will be in the same country.
“How do you feel about beach volleyball?” he asks Ran, breaking their silence.
“I don’t like sand.” the younger scrunches his nose. When Luciano groans at his answer, he rolls his eyes. “It looks hard. The floor is already unstable, and then you have to move so fast to first save the ball, and then spike. It’s crazy.”
“I think it would be good training to polish some skills. Want to give it a try?” He asks him “I am looking for a partner to practice with while I am in Japan.”
Ran's eyebrows shoot up his forehead and then offers him his first smile since the end of the match.
“Count me in Palonsky-san, I'll be so much better than you at it." he says.
“Whatever you say, Takahashi-kun."
The use of the honorifics makes Ran's smile turn into a laugh. Luciano is glad the japanese man came to him for help with his plan, because he looks like the right type of person to befriend. Ran Takahashi seems like a very resourceful man.