Work Text:
Rin trudged along, warily looking around at the suspiciously empty hall. Neither the imp nor the demon had bothered him during or before his meditation - immensely suspicious. Especially in the case of Shidou.
(No, Rin was not disappointed that he wasn’t there. He would never want to see Shidou so early in the morning, even if the other gets so eager to terrorize Rin he does so before his routine, leaving his hair ungelled and face makeup free. Which, okay, Rin might think he looks pretty - NO. Rin does not think Shidou Ryuusei is pretty, with or without his gyaruo aesthetic. That would be insane.)
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Rin huffed. Casting a final glance around, Rin headed to the PXG cafeteria. The two are most definitely here, they have to be. And no , Rin isn’t trying to find them, he is simply prepared for them to be here. The meditation just made him hungry, so meeting with them is inevitable. As he drew closer to the cafeteria, the unusual quietness in it unnerved him. While it was often just Karasu, Shidou, Charles, and Rin up at this hour the others still made it more than lively.
Even if Shidou seems to focus more on Sae now.
Whatever. It’s not like Rin cares. Sae will leave again, anyway, so Shidou will focus on him soon enough. Which Rin is upset about, of course. So upset, he hopes Sae stays!
Ok. Rin is not that far in denial.
When Rin finally gets to the cafeteria, he stares at the sight before him. Shidou is currently curled up in the fetal position underneath a table, with Karasu crouched beside it talking to him. With a glance to the left, Rin finds Sae staring pensively at the open fridge while Charles appears to be fiddling with someone's (Karasu’s?) phone.
As though sensing him, Sae turns to Rin, blinking at the sight of him.
“Rin. Is steak good for menstrual pain?”
“What the fuck.”
Rin turns to walk towards whatever the hell Shidou and Karasu are doing, avoiding both Sae and that awkward question.
“..Is that a no?”
“Ok, so the internet says that red meant is actually REALLY bad for period stuff!”
“Ah. Good work, Boy.”
“No problem, Mr. Stepdad Sir!”
“You can just call me father.”
“Nope!”
Yeah. Rin would take Shidou over those two any day. Karasu too, of course. Rin would never enjoy Shidou’s company on its own. Obviously. Approaching the scene of the crime, Rin stands beside Karasu as he listens to him… negotiate? With Shidou.
“Shidou. Come on. You gotta get out from under there.”
Silence. Rin decides to crouch down as well, seeing that Shidou is facing away, curled up as though in pain. Despite himself, Rin feels a spike of worry. Is he okay? Is he injured? Rin glares at Sae out of the corner of his eye, ready to blame him.
“Dude, I know this sucks but you’ll feel way better once you eat something and have some ibuprofen. Come on, there's gotta be something .”
Ibuprofen…Sae’s earlier question…. Ohhhhh . Rin gets it now.
“Lethal injection.” Shidou mumbles, somehow curling into himself further. Rin can’t help but pity him, despite the demon being his ultimate rival (and he’s Shidou’s ultimate rival, of course.) (And maybe Rin doesn’t like seeing him hurt unless it’s one of their fights. Possibly. Perchance.)
“ No .”
Rin finds this diplomacy stupid. He can just pull him out from under the table. These people are so lukewarm.
“Antenna Freak. I’m going to pull you out. If you freak out I’ll throw you.”
“Rin, do not do that.”
Karasu is normally not this idiotic. Rin will simply have to prove him wrong.
“Mm. Whatever.”
Karasu turns to stare incredulously at Shidou, as though this was some insane plan. Rin ignores him, reaching down to grasp the demon (and he was only gentle about it because Karasu would throw some annoying fit, of course.) by the waist, pulling him out and hefting him up in a bridal carry. Hm. The demon was surprisingly light and easy to carry. Shidou squinted, burying his head into Rin’s shoulder with a groan.
Woah. Ok. Rin feels a blush spread on his cheeks, stuck in place for a second. He was trying very hard not to hyperfocus on the feeling of Shidou’s body against his, the movement as the other breathed. Rin was now realizing why Karasu said this was a bad idea. The demon must be able to cast some form of spell via touch.
Then, Shidou is gone. Blinking in shock (and disappointment), Rin finds Sae cradling the demon, annoyance clear in his eyes. This fucking guy.
“I am going to take my boyfriend to his room now.”
Sae then glances at Charles.
“Boy, get the ibuprofen.”
“Yes sir, Mr. Stepfather Sir!”
And then Sae is walking away, Shidou still in his arms. Rin was fully ready to chase after his stupid bitch of a brother when Karasu puts a hand on his chest. Rin turns his pissed off gaze at him, angry for reasons unknown to him. (It was NOT jealousy.)
“ You’re going to get a heating pad. Infirmary, bottom drawer from the left.”
Rin glares at him, and then stalks off with a growl.
Karasu stares blandly after him, shaking his head in disappointment.
“Fucking Itoshi’s .”
—---------------------------------
Theo Sachs is a man of many talents - football, deciphering Ness’ moods, and staying under Kaiser’s radar are just a few. Unfortunately, none of them translate in a way that explains why Itoshi Sae is standing silently in front of their lunch table, an exhausted Karasu Tabito beside him.
Ness for whatever reason seems determined to ignore both of them, silently eating his apple. He still doesn’t stop the disdainful side-eye he shoots the elder Itoshi brother every few seconds. They’d been standing they’re so long that even Kaiser has noticed, glaring openly at both of them.
After what feels like forever, Ness finishes the apple and does a slow head turn facing Sae. His dislike of the other is clear in the overly polite, tense smile. Theo would really like to know when Ness somehow started beefing with Itoshi Sae . Seriously, he didn’t even know that the two knew each other.
“Itoshi.”
Yeah, Ness does not like this guy. He practically hissed that shit out.
“Magician. Where is the ibuprofen.”
“...Do you not have any in your own infirmary?”
Okay, fair. Theo is pretty sure PXG has it’s own infirmary. No, it definitely does if that Shidou guy is on the same team as the younger Itoshi.
“Banned. Give us yours.”
“Excuse me? Why would I give you shit?”
Well, if the presence of the two PXG members didn’t catch anyones attention, Ness cussing sure did the trick. The red-haired midfielder’s face twitches in distaste, the first sign of emotion so far. Karasu looks intensely frustrated.
“Because you’re nothing more than some lukewarm lackey whose lucky -”
“Cause Shidou needs it.”, Karasu interrupts, pushing Sae back slightly to take over the conversation. Ness turns a much less hateful expression on him, face falling in concern and then understanding.
“ Oh . Well, of course, if Ryu needs it.”
Ryu? Ness knows Shidou too? Before he has time to question it, Ness is pulling two pill tablets out of his short pockets. Theo stares. Does he seriously just carry around ibuprofen all day? Why?
Nevermind. Theo knows damn well not to ask questions he doesn’t want the answers to.
After casually passing the pills to Karasu, Ness does a fluid turn to face Sae. Smiling so brightly that his eyes squint. Oh, Ness really doesn’t like this guy. Well, to be fair, he did just insult him. But still.
“Itoshi, if you ever insult me again I will have Ryu hopping on my strap faster than you can fumble him.”
Holy shit .
“He would never cheat on me.”
“Who said you’d be dating?”
HOLY SHIT?
The elder Itoshi’s face remained calm, but Theo had never seen such a clear feeling of rage in someone's eyes before. Understandable! Ness has said Some Things before, but this is new. Super new, honestly Theo should mark this date in his notes app.
“Yeah, thanks Lexis. We’re going now.”
Waving goodbye, Karasu dragged Sae away from the table, hopefully to never return. Once they were gone, Ness turned his attention back to his food, completely normal again.
Okay. Guess they’re just supposed to ignore this then. As Theo watches Kaiser power up a spoiled rant about something or the other, probably the fact Ness didn’t tell him he knew those people, Theo finds that he’s just glad that Ness has other friends.
—----------
Shidou focused intensely on his task, kneeling beside his bed with his hands clasped and head bowed. He had to utilize the brief moment of clarity the heating pad had given him wisely, no matter the judgemental stare he was receiving from Rin.
“Ms. Anri, who has done more for me than any god, please give all of my period cramps to Ego Jinpachi. It would be so fucking funny, please .”
The door opens, and in walks Sae and Karasu, the latter holding two pills triumphantly.
“Holy shit, ibuprofen .”
Ms. Anri has deemed him worthy of another blessing, then. Shidou thinks the Ego idea is funnier, but he’ll take anything right now. He takes the offered pills with a sluggish hand, downing it with the water that Nanase had gotten him.
“You know Sae almost got jumped for those.”
“I did not .”
“Yeah, sorry, my bad. Ness threatened to steal your boyfriend from you faster than you could blink.”
Shidou blinks slowly, trying to process the new information. Then frowns.
“Sae-chan...has a boyfriend?” He can’t help but feel sad when he says it - both because he wants to be Sae’s boyfriend, and at the fact that he might be a homewrecker. It leaks into his tone, tears prickling in the corners of his eyes.
Everyone in the room stops and stares at Shidou, shocked.
“What?” Sae stares at him wide-eyed, surprised enough to briefly suppress his lovely Resting Bitch Face. Then, both Karasu and Rin spin around to yell at Sae.
“Did you seriously never ask him out?”
“What the fuck is wrong with you, you lukewarm piece of shit!”
“You know what, maybe Ness should steal him. Maybe I’ll help !”
Shidou blinks slowly. He’s..going to take a nap now.