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Nagi has never been a jealous person. He’s never really had a reason to be jealous. The only friend he has is Mikage Reo, who he met in grade school, and he’s never had a reason to be jealous of Reo. He’s almost always been the best at what he’s doing, so again, never had any reason to be jealous.
The problem comes in the form of a new player on his college soccer team. Yoichi Isagi. But he’s not jealous of Isagi. No, he’s jealous of everyone else.
It starts on Isagi’s first day. Nagi is on the grass tying his cleats when Coach Ego blows his whistle to call them in. Nagi will later blame his exhaustion for not noticing the newcomers just then, but when Reo elbows him and nods toward them Nagi sees him.
He’s beautiful. Smaller stature with black shaggy hair, slim features and gorgeous cobalt blue eyes. While Ego talks, everyone listens but Nagi sees Isagi looking around at them. Nagi knows he should be listening to their coach, but once Isagi’s eyes land on him it’s like all other brain functions leave him.
Isagi gives him a small smile before his attention is directed back at Ego. Nagi zones back into the conversation then, just in time for Ego to introduce them around the circle. Unfortunately, now that Isagi’s been introduced, Nagi isn’t the only one staring at him.
Nagi sighs and has a bad feeling about the intent looks on all of their faces. The only ones not watching Isagi are Rin, Reo, Chigiri and Kunigami, and Rin is staring at Isagi’s friend instead. Nagi decides that whatever chance he may have imagined with Isagi was just that—his imagination.
For practice, Ego divides their team in two for a scrimmage match to measure Isagi and his friend, Meguru Bachira’s soccer skills. Isagi’s a monster, he has no problem getting through defenses and putting himself in the perfect spot to either be passed to or pass from. His direct shot is killer and even takes Nagi down one on one. Afterward, the others are still watching him, trying to talk to him and marveling at his skills so Nagi sits down with another sigh and takes off his cleats.
Reo drops down next to him to do the same, watching him curiously. “Why aren’t you over there? I saw the way you looked at him.”
Nagi shakes his head, pulling his tennis shoes back on. “It’s his first day and he already has a swarm of guys after him, there’s no way I of all people have a chance.”
“What?” Reo looks at him, a shocked expression on his face. “So you’re not even going to try?”
Nagi shrugs. “If I do, I don’t want it to be in a haze of other guys. I don’t want to overwhelm him.”
The two of them stand and before they can leave someone calls Nagi’s name. He turns to face them and to his surprise, it’s Isagi. He’s looking up at Nagi with a grin, offering a high five. “You're good, I almost couldn’t get past you.”
Nagi chuckles softly. “You’re better, you did eventually. I’ve never had someone steal a shot like that before.”
Isagi puts a hand on the back of his neck, looking at him sheepishly. “Thank you.” He smiles again, taking one step back. “It was really nice to meet you, Nagi.” He looks at Reo too, waving to him. “And you, Reo. I’ll see you guys later.”
He still doesn’t look away from Nagi before he turns around and jogs to Bachira. Nagi smiles to himself and turns around to keep watching a smirking Reo. “Dude, please tell me you’re going to try. I bet he’s interested in you, you’re the only one he actually sought out.”
Nagi does want to hope he might have a chance to get to know Isagi, he already has over half the team eager to do the same. Shaking his head with yet another sigh, he starts walking to his next class with a disappointed Reo by his side.
<><><>
Sure enough, Isagi does have a trail of guys after him super often. He’s friendly, funny, cute, so it only makes sense that people would want to be around him. One day about two weeks after Isagi and Bachira started on their team, Nagi is yet again sitting on the grass taking his cleats off when Reo drops down next to him to do the same.
Nagi’s eyes are drawn to the raven haired boy across the field as soon as he laughs at something Bachira says.
“I’m gonna do it. I’m going to ask him out.” He hears a deep voice from behind him. He turns his head to see what’s going on and finds Baro standing in a group with Kuon, Raichi, Gagamaru and Naruhaya.
“No, I’m going to!” Kuon says angrily. “I’ve been waiting longer than you!”
Baro laughs. “Well, that’s your mistake.”
Before anyone can say anything else, Baro starts walking toward Isagi. Before he gets there, Isagi happens to look up and catch Nagi’s eyes on him, smiling. Nagi smiles back, but when Baro steps up to him, Isagi’s eyes move to him and Bachira goes to talk to Chigiri.
Nagi sighs and turns to put his cleats in his bag, torn between watching to see what Isagi is going to say or leaving. In the end, he’s too curious when it comes to Isagi. Reo snickers at the silent decision, but stays with him nonetheless.
Baro is facing away from him which means Nagi can see Isagi’s face the whole time. As Baro speaks, Isagi’s face becomes less excited but more sympathetic. When Baro finishes speaking Isagi looks at him sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck as he responds. In the end, Baro nods and turns around, looking defeated.
When he reaches Kuon and the others he wordlessly picks up his bag and leaves, grumbling the whole way. Isagi watches after him, looking sad. Nagi is both sorry for Baro and experiencing this odd sensation. He’s not sure what the name of it is yet, but he’s sure Reo will explain it to him sometime.
Nagi sighs and stands, waiting for Reo. Before they can leave, though, he hears Isagi call his name. A smile grows on his face and he turns to face the smaller man. “Hey. What’s up?”
Isagi looks nervous, but continues. “I just wanted to say good game, you’re getting better every day.”
Nagi laughs softly. “Well, to be honest I think it’s because of you.”
Isagi looks surprised, “How so?”
The taller man shrugs, looking away for a moment. “You challenge me. It makes me want to get better.”
Isagi looks touched, smiling at him softly. He opens his mouth to say something else, but Ego calls him over. He looks at Nagi apologetically. “I’ll see you later?”
“Yeah, see you later.” Nagi watches him with a small smile as he goes.
“You’re kidding.” Reo sighs next to him. “Nagi, please, for the love of god ask him out.”
Nagi glares at him. “He just turned down Baro, he might not even be dating right now. He’s not into me.”
Reo looks at him incredulously. “You’re delusional, let’s go to class.”
<><><>
The next time it happens, Nagi’s literally in the middle of a conversation with Isagi. They’re in the courtyard this time, nowhere near the soccer fields.
“Hey, Nagi! Wait up!”
Nagi turns and finds Isagi jogging over to him. The shorter man stops before him and smiles up at him.
Beautiful, Nagi thinks, so fucking beautiful. He’s pretty sure he could drown in Isagi’s ocean colored eyes. “Hey.” He’s also pretty sure Isagi is the only one who automatically brings a smile to his face.
“How are you?” The smile on Isagi’s face makes him feel warm.
“I’m good, how are you?” Nagi’s not sure how else to respond, he’s never been good with words.
Isagi’s smile widens. “I’m great! So anyway, I was wondering if—”
“Hey, Isagi!” It’s Naruhaya, running up behind them. The smile drops from Isagi’s face immediately and he sighs.
Nagi feels a sudden urge of protectiveness and glares at their teammate the whole time.
Isagi smiles again even Nagi can tell it’s a fake one, which makes Nagi want to step in front of him. But, he doesn’t because he gets the feeling the smaller man can take care of himself just fine.
“Hey Naruhaya, what’s up?” He sounds tired, whether physically, mentally or both Nagi’s not sure.
Not even caring that Nagi was talking to him, Naruhaya smiles widely. “So… I was actually wondering if you’d want to get dinner with me sometime.”
Ballsy. Nagi has to fight the urge to scoff and roll his eyes.
Isagi looks like he expected the question, but before he answers his eyes flash nervously to Nagi and back to Naruhaya. “Um, thank you. I’m really flattered, but I’m not…” The nervous look goes back to Nagi before he sighs. “I’m not really dating right now.”
“Oh,” Naruhaya, at least, has the decency to look embarrassed and apologize instead of storming off like Baro did. “I’m sorry about that. See you at practice?”
Isagi just nods politely and as soon as Naruhaya leaves he sighs and rubs his eyes. “I’m so sick of this.”
The conversation had confirmed what Nagi thought. Isagi’s not dating and he’s sick of being asked to do so. But, it’s okay—that’s what Nagi already assumed.
“Has it been happening a lot?” He asks, trying to regulate himself back into friend mode now that he knows for sure that he has no chance with the smaller man.
Isagi sighs, looking down at his feet. “Four times. I don’t even know what I’m doing, but I’m tired of it. I don’t understand why.”
Nagi smiles at that, how does Isagi not know? Isagi looks up, confused. “What?”
“You really don’t know?” He asks it gently, making sure to not sound like he’s laughing at him.
He shakes his head exasperatedly. “No! If I did I would stop!”
Nagi smiles again. “Well, you can’t do that.”
Isagi glares at him, though not seriously. “If you know, just tell me!”
Nagi chuckles softly, looking up at the sky for a second before looking down at him again. “Isagi, you’re beautiful. And smart, funny, nice, a soccer genius. You can’t stop doing any of those things.” Isagi’s staring at him with wide blue eyes. “I’m sorry they’re being annoying. I’ve never seen them like this before, and I hope they stop. I can yell at them if you want.”
He says the last part to make him laugh, which works, and Isagi looks at him gratefully. “Thank you, Nagi.”
Nagi’s sad that he has to say goodbye to his chance with him, but he’ll take being his friend over nothing at all. “You’re welcome.”
Isagi looks like he wants to say more but his cell phone rings from his back pocket and he pulls it out to check it. “Oh shit! I’m supposed to be at Bachira’s room right now.” He looks at Nagi with a newfound fondness and smiles. “Thank you again, I really appreciate what you said.”
Nagi shrugs one shoulder. “Anytime. See you later?”
Isagi nods with a disappointed (?) smile on his face. “I’ll see you later.”
Nagi watches him go and it hits him again that he really doesn’t have a chance. Oh well, it was a nice thought. He sighs and resumes his trek to his room, suddenly wanting to take a nap.
<><><>
The next time doesn’t go over so gracefully. It’s Kuon, which is unexpected. The absolute tantrum he throws is not as unexpected.
Nagi’s walking up to the soccer field, lamenting having to wake up at 5AM every time they have a morning practice. He yawns and stretches his arms, but freezes when he hears yelling coming from the field. He picks up his pace wondering what the hell is going on, and his surge of protectiveness comes back when he sees Isagi and Kuon yelling at each other. They’re apparently the first ones to the field for practice, with Nagi now being the third.
“—don’t understand what it is, why have you been turning down everyone?!” Kuon shouts and Isagi glares up at him.
“I don’t have to explain myself to you! You don’t need to know, you just need to leave me alone. All of you.” Isagi says the last words with so much bite; it would've made Nagi flinch if it were him.
Kuon scoffs and points at him, getting much too close to Isagi. “You can’t just come in here an—”
Nagi interrupts him and can't help but step in between them, not liking the tone from Kuon at all, and slaps his hand away. “Back up.”
Kuon looks surprised by the sudden appearance of the taller man. “But—”
“Back. Up.” Nagi repeats, interrupting him again.
He does, but keeps talking. “We were just talking!”
Nagi wants to take another step forward, but a hand grips the back of his shirt. “No, you were yelling. And why? Because he doesn’t like you?” Kuon glares at him, but opens his mouth to respond. “It was a rhetorical question. He doesn’t have to like you, he doesn’t have to explain himself to you and I don’t know where you get off trying to make him. Go. Away.”
He leaves no room for argument at the end and Kuon groans but leaves. Nagi takes a big breath and turns around to face Isagi, who’s smiling up at him softly. “Thank you, Nagi.”
He returns the smile and just for a second he wants to do something like kiss his forehead and has to hold himself back. “You’re welcome.”
Bachira appears suddenly and, now that their bubble is broken, Nagi realizes pretty much everyone showed up during that. “Hey, you okay? Someone told me Kuon yelled at you.”
Isagi nods at his best friend. “Yes, Nagi stepped in.”
Bachira looks up at Nagi with a scrutinizing expression before smiling. “Well thank you, Nagi.”
Nagi sees more behind the expression, but… he’s a little scared of the yellow eyed man. “You’re welcome.”
He sees Bachira’s gaze move to the side of Nagi and he smiles deviously. Nagi turns around and finds Reo there, looking suspiciously innocent, and glares at him. Bachira starts talking to Isagi so Nagi and Reo sit in the grass to put their cleats on nearby. He catches Isagi’s eye again and the darker haired man smiles with that same warmth before turning his attention back to Bachira.
Nagi’s been good about keeping the frame of mind of Isagi’s friend, but he wants him, and that’s getting harder to ignore with every interaction they have. He sighs, looking at Reo’s full on ‘sick of this shit’ look. “What?”
Reo just rolls his eyes. “You’re an idiot.”
<><><>
Reo’s tired of this. Full on sick of it. He’s in awe of how oblivious his best friend is and since Reo can’t get it through his thick skull that Isagi likes him too, he has to take a different approach.
He knocks on the door in front of him, waiting for a moment before it opens. Bachira grins at him playfully, “Hey, are you ready to put us all out of our misery?”
Reo nods hurriedly, “Yes fucking please,” and then he’s ushered into Bachira’s dorm room. The two of them sit cross legged on his bed before Bachira talks.
“Normally I wouldn’t be talking about Isagi behind his back, but he needs to get his head out of his ass.”
Reo laughs and nods in agreement. “Nagi, too, he’s been so jealous and that’s something I’ve never seen before. I don’t know if he even realizes that he’s jealous.”
Bachira kicks it off after that. “Okay, so Isagi came here the other night having an absolute meltdown.” He shakes his head fondly. “Apparently Nagi was standing with him when Naruhaya tried to ask him out and Isagi couldn’t think of anything else to say except, ‘I’m not really dating right now’. Now he’s convinced that he’s ruined any chance he had with Nagi by inadvertently friend zoning him.”
Reo shakes his head, laughing. “Nagi called me the other night to tell me he was right the whole time and that he really doesn’t have a chance with him because he himself said that he wasn’t dating. And also that Isagi said he’s sick of being asked out.”
Bachira laughs too, burying his face in his hands before looking at him again. “Bonus points to your guy though after what he told Isagi.”
Reo looks confused and Bachira’s mouth drops open. “He didn’t tell you?”
“No, tell me what?” What could Nagi have left out?
“Apparently Isagi said that if he knew what was making them all ask him out he would stop it, and Nagi told him he can’t stop since it’s because he’s a beautiful, smart, funny, nice soccer genius.” Bachira pouts at him, “But, that made Isagi freak out even more since he’s convinced that he has permanently friend zoned Nagi when he may have felt the same.”
“Dude,” Reo scoffs. “This is some romantic comedy shit.”
“Sooo true.” Bachira sighs. “So, how are we going to do this?”
“Can we just spell it out for them?” Reo asks thoughtfully.
Bachira taps a finger on his chin. “I don’t think so. Maybe the four of us could eat together and I’ll ask Nagi about his dating life and you ask Isagi how it’s going with all those guys?”
“Has it always been like this with him?” Reo is truly curious. Isagi showed up and swept away nearly the entire soccer team, Reo didn’t expect that at all.
Bachira shrugs. “Not to this extent, but what can I say? He’s pretty adorable.”
Objectively, Reo could see it. “He’s the only person I’ve ever seen make any difference in Nagi. He tries harder now, cares more. Actually smiles at someone other than me and his mom.”
“Isagi’s always been pretty happy but he looks at Nagi like he’s the only thing he’s ever been looking for, it’s sweet.” Bachira sighs dreamily. “After we hook up these two idiots, I have my sights set on Rin.”
Reo grins, “Rin looks at you differently, too.”
Bachira grins right back. “I’ve been wearing him down, we’re almost there.”
Plan solidified, they say goodbye and Reo leaves with another wave to Bachira. He knows he’s smiling like a maniac, but he’s just excited that his best friend might’ve found his person.
<><><>
Unfortunately for Reo and Bachira, it doesn’t quite happen that way. Instead, Nagi happens to walk past Isagi getting asked out yet again, this time by Gagamaru, though the smaller man doesn’t realize Nagi is walking by.
“Thank you, and I’m very flattered, really. But, I actually…”
Nagi waits for the same ‘I’m not dating right now’, but instead Isagi says something completely different.
“I actually like someone else. So, I’m sorry again and thank you.”
He doesn’t stick around to hear the rest, hung up on how he answered. Nagi finds himself feeling… jealous again? Why did Isagi say he’s not dating at all in front of Nagi, but something different when he’s not there? The answer is obvious. Clearly Isagi didn’t want Nagi in on his business, and it emphasizes yet again that there’s no chance for him.
He gets back to his room, drops his bag, takes off his shoes and collapses onto the bed. Why is he so jealous? Before Isagi no one had ever caught Nagi’s attention like that. Isagi intrigues him, inspires him to try harder, makes him smile…
But there was never a chance for him in the first place. Still, if Isagi likes someone else, it’s not Nagi’s place to judge. He can be a little sad though, so he’s going with that. His phone vibrates in his pocket and he pulls it out to check it.
Reo: Going to dinner with Bachira and Isagi in a while, wanna come?
Before today, Nagi would’ve jumped at the opportunity. But after what he heard, he’s going to let himself be sad a while longer.
Nagi: I’m not feeling too great, I’ll probably skip it tonight. Sorry man
After that, Reo calls him. Nagi groans and considers just ignoring it, but he expects Reo would just show up. He taps the answer button and puts it on speakerphone. “Hey.”
“Hey, are you okay? I thought you’d be excited for dinner.”
Nagi sighs. “I just don’t feel very good.”
“Nagi,” Reo says firmly. “What’s up?”
Knowing he’s not going to be able to get out of this one now, he groans. “I passed Isagi on my way back from class. He was being asked out again, but this time he said no because he liked someone else already. Clearly he doesn’t want me to know his business, so I kept walking. I’m just sad.”
Reo sighs. “Okay, well do you want me to come over instead? We can play a game.”
Nagi thinks about it and still decides to pass. “It’s okay, Reo. You can go to dinner, I’m probably just gonna nap or something.”
Reo sounds disappointed now, but accepts the answer. “ Okay, well I’ll call you later and check on you.”
“Okay, thank you.” He’s really thankful for Reo, thankful they’ve been friends so long. They say goodbye and Nagi settles in to take a nap, drifting off to sleep within a few minutes.
He wakes a while later to knocking on his door and looks at the clock, confused. He’s been asleep for a few hours at this point and he knows if he tries to go back to sleep he won’t be able to sleep tonight, so he begrudgingly gets up to answer the door.
He thinks it’s going to be Reo with snacks and movies or something, so he’s shocked when he finds Isagi on the other side. “Uh… hey.”
“Hey,” he breathes the word out, like he’s relieved to see him. “I have to talk to you. Can I come in?”
Nagi’s still in shock from having Isagi standing in front of him, but nods anyway. The smaller man enters, walking in a little bit before turning around to face him. Nagi closes the door and gestures to his bed, making it up a bit before motioning for Isagi to sit down. Nagi crosses one leg and leaves the other foot on the floor while Isagi crosses both legs.
“So… what’s up?” He asks nervously, fidgeting with the blanket underneath them.
With no lead up, he responds. “I have been an idiot, and I need to explain and I need to apologize.” Nagi looks confused but nods anyway. “I just talked to Bachira and Reo—well actually I got scolded.” Nagi looks even more confused now, watching him warily. “There have been a lot of things that I’ve said that have gotten… misconstrued, so I’m just going to start. Okay?”
He nods again, waiting to hear what Isagi’s going to say and also making a mental note to give Reo a dead arm later for talking about him behind his back.
Isagi lets out a breath. “When you and I were talking and Naruhaya interrupted us, I said no because I’m not dating right now. I knew what saying that would mean to you, but it was the first thing that popped into my head. When I said I was sick of it and when I said I wanted all of them to leave me alone… I wasn’t talking about you.” He pauses, burying his face in his hands. “And then anytime I tried to talk to you, like actually talk to you, we were interrupted.”
Nagi opens his mouth and then closes it again, unsure of what to say. “What do you mean, you weren’t talking about me?”
Isagi laughs softly, shaking his head. “Okay, I’ll start from the beginning, I’m sorry I’m being so confusing. The first day that Bachira and I came to practice, the first person I noticed was you. The first person that I sought out was you.” Is Nagi hearing what he thinks he’s hearing? “And then through all of this… shit, you were still the only one I wanted to talk to. When I told Naruhaya that I’m not dating right now, it was the first thing that came to mind, but I knew that I was saying no to him… because, Nagi, I want you.”
Nagi’s breath catches, but Isagi keeps speaking. “And then a few hours ago, you heard me tell Gagamaru no because I already like someone else. When I saw you walk past without even looking at me, I knew I fucked up. I wanted to call after you or go after you, but I didn’t think you’d want to talk to me. And I wouldn’t have blamed you. When Bachira told me about going to dinner with you and Reo, I thought maybe you’d already talked to them and were coming, but then Bachira called me to come to his room instead.”
“When I got there it was him and Reo, and they confessed to me that they’d made this plan for us to all go to dinner together and basically spell it out for both of us that we like each other. When Reo found out about what you heard he and Bachira canceled their plan because he realized we just needed to talk to each other and told me everything.”
Isagi sits up straighter and hesitantly takes Nagi’s hand. “Nagi, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry to have put you through all of this… when it was only ever you I wanted.”
He goes silent after this, finally allowing Nagi to think through everything he just said. “So… this whole time, you’ve had a crush on me?”
“Nagi…” Isagi whispers, leaning as close to him as he can. “I’ve had a crush on you and only you since the first time I saw you. And, the others? I couldn’t care less. I never wanted any of them, only you. And when you told me how beautiful, smart, funny and all of the other things I am… you’re just so sweet.”
Nagi chuckles, rubbing his forehead with his hand. “So, we could’ve been together this whole time?”
Isagi nods, both with a hopeful smile and a worried expression. “We’re both idiots, basically.”
Isagi stops talking, worrying more and more about what Nagi will say. It’s all for nothing though, because Nagi quickly reaches out to pull Isagi in by the shirt and kisses the hell out of him. Isagi’s able to pull back for a breathless laugh before attacking his lips with his own. Nagi’s not sure how long they kiss for, but he’s sure he wants to do nothing but it. Eventually, Nagi lays back on the bed with Isagi half on top of him, resting his ear over Nagi’s pounding heart.
“So… can I take you on a date?” Nagi asks, laughing when Isagi’s shoulders shake in his own laughter.
“Please, do. About time,” The smaller man jokes. “I’ve only been waiting.”
Nagi laughs and rolls them over so it’s him that’s half on top of Isagi. “You kept me waiting, too.”