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“Man, this is so great!” Chigiri exclaimed as he laid down on a top sauna bed, stretching his whole body.
“Yeah, it feels amazing.” Kunigami, who sat on the bed below, replied. He threw his orange head back and rested it on Chigiri’s left thigh before getting promptly knocked off.
These two have been dating for just a little less than a year and to celebrate that, they manage to take a little break together for the new year. Chigiri found affordable plane tickets to Italy and Kunigami booked them a hotel room inside the aqua park resort with unlimited access to this sauna zone. And the rest of the park, but the main area is filled with families and small children, so taking solace in the adult-only part of a park is the only way to go, especially during this busy time of year.
This year has been extremely busy for both Kunigami and Chigiri. Not only it marked the beginning of the new relationship but they both graduated university and started their big boy jobs. Balancing that with a newly blossoming relationship and football careers taking even higher road was way more difficult than anyone could imagine. So this r&r is really needed.
With less than three hours before closing, regular visitors began packing up, leaving the park for hotel guests and that’s how Kunigami and Chigiri managed to get a more popular sauna just for themselves.
“Wanna hit the pool bar afterward?” Kunigami asked after getting up the step to Chigiri’s level, he sat down next to where His head was. Kunigami stoked Chigiri’s pink luscious hair that he had put in a tight, high ponytail.
“Yeah, why not,” Chigiri mumbled without raising his head. The heat got to Chigiri a little, so he covered his face with his arms. “After such a long trip we deserve it.”
And thus, not long after they headed toward the pool bar, located on the first floor inside the big pool in the very center of the area. Pool was surrounded by different sized jacuzzis, all filled with groups of people speaking in multiple different languages. Pool had a way to swim to the outdoor pool that was closed during the winter season, but outdoor saunas were still full working and the area was accessible by the door instead. After getting down the stairs and finding the pool stairs, Kunigami set his towel on a handle rack and stepped in, Chigiri set his towel on Kunigami’s one and followed behind.
They swam to the bar, Kunigami ordered himself a classic g&t and Chigiri went with a Long Island Iced Tea, since he had g&t with dinner before they got to the park.
“Long Island, uh?” Kunigami said after paying for both of their drinks.
“Always wanted to try, never had a chance before,” Chigiri shrugged and took a big sip. “All tubs are filled, should we stay here?”
“Look over there,” Kunigami subtly pointed to their left, where a semi circle section of a pool had bubbling machines and a bench. “We can wait once that man leaves and then move there.”
Not even 5 minutes later, that man had gotten out and they walked towards the benched area. Pool wasn’t too deep, so both men didn’t struggle to walk through with water barely reaching their chests. Being tall is so fun.
Kunigami sat down not directly behind the machine, thus stabilizing in water with a drink in his hand was no trouble. Chigiri on the other hand, tried sitting on Kunigami’s right, directly where the machine nozzle was located and got easily pushed once his feet left the ground. Luckily he was holding his drink with his right hand so he swiftly grabbed onto Kunigami’s sculpted arm. Kungami couldn’t stop giggling at his boyfriend’s misfortune as he scooted away to make space for Chigiri to sit down. Once he did, Chigiri put down his drink on the pool edge and returned the favour by playfully smacking Kunigami’s side.
After finishing their drinks, Kunigami carried both of their now empty cups back to the bar and followed Chigiri out of the pool. To finish off the day they headed to the third floor, towards another dry sauna, except this one was a less popular small infrared sauna, so it didn’t feel that warm as they walked in.
This sauna was in a nonagon shape and only had one level bench, so they sat down close to each other. Chigiri can withstand heat well, probably even better than Kunigami, but after a while he began feeling a bit doozy. Maybe it was the strong cocktail he just had, maybe the several day long cross continental trip during Christmas time, or maybe both of these combined, but either way, he rested his head on Kunigami, who noticed the shift in lover’s energy right away.
“Hyoma, are you okay, wanna go back to the room?” Kunigami worriedly asked, caressing the other man’s shoulder.
“Yeah, just a bit tired, I can stay for a few more minutes.” Chigiri snuggled into Kunigami closer and Kunigami hugged him from behind.
The rest of the night wasn’t as eventful. They got back into their hotel room after sitting in the sauna for another 5 minutes, quickly washed off, had a glass of red wine while watching an Italian dub of some unknown movie that was playing on the TV and answered a couple emails from home before dozing off in each other’s arms.
*****
“Morning, Rensuke,” Chigiri softly poked Kunigami in the face and sat up. “Time to wake up.”
“Ugh, fine.” Kunigami wasn’t too pleased about the emptiness besides him.
Their morning consisted of a strong routine, slightly modified for their break. First thing in the morning Kunigami went for a light jog while Chigiri did his own and his leg’s morning care. Afterwards the two went to the hotel gym, where they met one more person, which was surprising, considering it was just before 8am on Saturday. After fishing their individual sets, they got back to the room, got changed and went for breakfast at 9am, just before the mass of hotel guests began swarming the restaurant.
After breakfast the couple went outside the resort to walk around the small town they were staying in. It was raining, so it didn’t take long before they went to a small cafe to relax and spent two hours chatting, planning the rest of their trip, planning the new year and so on. Time literally flew by before it was time to head back for their spa procedures. Two hours ago the town was considerably empty but now they understood what reception lady meant by there not being that much space around. Inside the resort, the line into the park took even outside, which somehow still shocked the two. It was noon by that time.
Mudbath and facial procedure set and a nap later, the pair reached a room, filled with familiar looking machines.
“Oh, look, spine breaker 9000!” Kunigami jokes, overlooking a room filled with different massage chairs.
“You didn’t have the pleasure to have rehab with Mr. Tokusa. I had to go to him after last season, and that man is truly a spine breaker,” Chigiri furrowed his eyebrows. “But postseason recovery felt amazing afterwards.”
“Oh right, I remember the bruises,” Kunigami’s eyes lit up. “I’ve been trying very hard each time and even I couldn’t reach that amount.”
“I’ll pretend you didn’t just say that out loud.” Is it too late to rethink this relationship?
“Good evening,” A woman at the reception close to the door said. “Please scan your wrist watches here and follow me.”
The woman led them to the back of the room, instructed them how to use the chairs, turned the chairs on after both Kunigami and Chigiri sat in and went back. There were some more specialised chairs left but all the full body ones were being used and yet the room was quiet.
After a relaxing 15 minute session, they went back to their room to get ready for dinner. After a dinner and another short rest filled with Italian drama on the TV and another set of emails, it was time to hit back at the saunas again.
“So if the pigeons were real– did you feel that?” Chigiri felt a shiver go down his spine after the pair left their hotel territory and entered the main dressing room.
“What do you mean?” Kunigami looks around, hoping to see what something.
“No idea, but I felt like there’s someone we know here,” Chigri looks around as well to see nothing but several families leaving the premises. “Probably it’s just my imagination.”
“You really need this break,” Kunigami chuckles, and turns towards the entrance.
Once they walk inside the showers towards the entrance, a broad shoulder figure with a hair down his neck peeks behind the locker block, fierceful overlooking the two men who stand out even in a populated place like this and closed his own locker with so much force that the sound allerted the worker several meters away.
“Hyoma, I’ll stop by the bathroom real quick,” Kunigami patted Chigiri on the shoulder. “I’ll catch you up."
“Okay.”
Chigiri stopped by the mirror to fix his ponytail into a bun and in that time Kunigami caught up.
“So pigeons–ouch!” The two walked towards the sauna and Chigiri walked into a tall man who looked him down with a look that was even more familiar.
“Chigiri!” Growled the man.
“Barou?” Kunigami stepped closer.
“Tsk,” Barou rolls his eyes after meeting someone he knows this far away. “You walked into me, you hyena! You will have to pay for this.”
“Nice seeing you too,” Chigiri rolls his eyes and crosses his arms looking up directly into Barou’s fired filled red eyes. “How about a little challenge then?”
“No need to make a scene,” Kunigami tried to intervene, but that attempt was fruitless.
“What are you suggesting then?” Barou’s look became more intense. If looks could kill, Chigiri would have been long gone.
“Who can stay in the sauna for longer!” Chigri beams up.
“Oh you’re going so down!” Barou might have been steaming from his ears at this point. “Pick the one you want, you washed up princess.”
“Only one here has a timer–” Chigiri pondered before getting interrupted.
“Infrared on the third floor? That works for me!”
Chigiri is one stubborn man that never backs down from a challenge, especially against his friends who more often than not happen to be his former teammates, so all Kunigami could do was go with the flow and make sure Chigiri doesn’t do anything too dangerous.
Once inside, they agreed on some of the base rules - challenge is over once one of them leaves the sauna, only using the towel to sit on, but if needed using their own hair to protect the face.
“Uuu, new look?” Chigiri pointed out the red streaks in Barou’s hair that were not there when they last saw each other as he let his own hair down.
“Tsk.”
And thus the challenge has begun. Kunigami stayed with them to overlook everything and flip the timer every 15 minutes. He did not sign up for the challenge, so the rules did not apply to him.
First 15 minutes went like a breeze, they barely even warmed up, so it was a great time to catch up.
“Oh right, you went to Ubers,” Chigiri pointed out. “Shindo and Aiku will be joining them next year as well.”
Chigiri met Barou after joining the Blue Lock team around the same time when he was 17. For being very different people in nearly every aspect, in the end they were a great team. Then after nearly two years another boy from Akita - Kunigami - joined as well.
Being from the same prefecture, Kunigami knew Barou quite well as he got to play against him in high school leagues. Then, at the age of 19, Kunigami faced Barou again, but this time as a teammate. Not for too long though, as just 5 months later Barou was scouted by Ubers.
It wasn’t anything unusual, since that’s how the Blue Lock project worked. After going through many qualifiers, the best of the best get to move to become Blue Lock starters and after playing in the team they get a chance to move to phase II - getting personally scouted by the best teams out there.
“Now I remembered that Nikko mentioned both of you were in the list of who got picked as well, right?” Barou looked up at the men in front of him.
“Yes,” Kunigami replied first. “I’m joining Bastard and Hyoma is joining Manshine.”
“Huh, Bastard you say. A lot of people went there.” Barou crossed his arms. “And Manshine is one of least popular choices. Is there anyone from the project even there?”
“Reo and Nagi, they went there after you left.” Chigiri sat up straight.
“Ugh, that mister hassle man.” Barou angrily growled, remembering all the displeasure of having to share a room with Chigiri and Nagi back in the Blue Lock facility.
Another 15 minutes passed and the drops of sweat began forming on three men’s bodies. They continued catching up and bickering until the timer ran out and Kunigami had enough.
“You two are still at it?”
“YES!” Both Chigiri and Barou yelled in unison. There’s something they can agree on at least.
“Well, I am done, so I’ll be back in 10.” Kunigami stood up and flipped the timer again. “Don’t kill each other and don’t die on your own.”
Kunigami knew that they wouldn't be going anywhere so he took his sweet time cooling off and even took a dip into the ice tub for funsies. Afterwards Kunigami found himself at a herbal tea station where he began plotting a recovery plan for these two after the challenge.
Planning and setting the plan in motion took him a little longer than expected and thus Kunigami walked back into the sauna just as the timer ran out. The two men started looking more deflated, sweat was dripping off them and both of their faces were covered in the curtain of hair. But they were still swearing like old sailors at each other, so they are still fine. Kunigami laughed overlooking how pathetically Chigiri looked and yet at that moment he was sure that that’s the man he wants to spend his whole life with and restarted the timer for the fourth time.
After ten more minutes the swears calmed down and at that moment Kunigami began worrying.
“Look, you stubborn idiots, time to head out!” Kunigami stood up, crossing his arms. Sudden movement made the other two look up from behind the dripping hair curtains.
“No..” Chigiri spoke up. “I am losing to this bastard!”
“I’m not going anywhere either!” Barou retaliated.
“Look, body bags are expensive and I’m not letting my boyfriend die here, so move it, both of you!” Kunigami’s voice became stern.
“Boyfriend?” Barou muffled, not being sure if he heard that right and stood up.
“Showers and tea room, now!” Kunigami instructed as he closed the doors as the other two wobbled to the nearby showers.
In the tea room with glass walls overlooking the main pool there was a bucket with cold water, two damp cooling towels and several cups of now lukewarm herbal tea. Kunigami instructed the two to sit down and put the towels in their heads which Barou refused first and Chigiri didn’t want to budge either. But with the power of charismatic Kunigami, the two finally listened and sat down around the small coffee table.
“So you two are a thing, right?” Barou finally broke the silence after a while.
“Yeah,” Chigiri spat out after fishing the second cup of tea. “For several months now.”
“I see,” Barou dropped the small towel into the bucket and sat up straight and looked directly at Kunigami. “Balancing all that and still managed to get picked, impressive.”
“Thanks, I guess.” Kunigami wasn’t sure if that was an insult or compliment.
“And you are going to different teams.. Didn’t you start working as well?”
“We did,” Chigiri sat up straight as well. “I will be working fully remote. Manshine City is connected to that company as well through Blue Lock, so it won’t impact other schedules.
“Huh.. And this guy?” Barou pointed at Kunigami with his thumb without looking.
“I work at a German company, so they will transfer me to their München office once I move.”
“When are you two starting then?” Barou continued with the questioning, trying to scope their situation better.
“I’m scheduled for the first of February and this one,” Kunigami points at Chigiri and his hand gets smacked by Chigiri’s warmed up towel. “He’s scheduled for the first of March. We’ll stay here until 31st, then go to Rome for two days and then fly to München and Manshine to meet up with the teams and to finalise the last details about this move and then fly back to Japan until the time comes.”
“Can’t wait to crush you in the field then.” Barou spat out as he stood up, his voice quiet down with the second sentence being barely audible. “Really hope it all works out for you.”
Barou walked out without turning back around, leaving Chigiri and Kunigami alone in the emptied out park. It was several minutes past 10pm once the pair noticed the time on a giant clock across the pool.
“And what was our plan for tonight?” Chigiri smiled at Kungami, making his heart skip a beat or two.
“Definitely not that, “Kunigami scoffed back. “We should head back, are you feeling okay now?”
“Better than ever!” Chigiri stood up. “Will we also change our hairstyles after transferring to Europe?”
“Anything could happen.” Kunigami shrugged as they headed towards the dressing room.
“Should I get y– nah, I’d look stupid.”
“You were about to say what?”
“Nothing!”
And thus they got back to the hotel room, washed up and fell asleep right away with no Italian dramas needed.
However, earlier conversation and Barou’s words stuck to Kunigami and he kept replaying at the back of his mind once he woke up in the middle of the night. Will the two be able to balance everything? Kunigami knows he loves Chigiri and he knows that they both worked so hard to get to where they are now and nothing will get in the way of their dreams. So what if this as well as while being long distance won’t work for them.
But as if Chigiri could hear all these thoughts, he rolled over to face Kunigami and hugged him in his sleep. In the dim light, coming from the window, Chigri was glowing. The touch of his warm skin made Kunigami feel at peace again.
It wasn’t his fight to fight alone, Chigiri is right here by his side. They want to become the best strikers in the world and they will do that together, even if that means being separated by several countries in another continent for a while. One day they will reach the top and once that day comes, he will be the happiest man alive.
Kunigami hugged Chigiri harder and fell back asleep, hoping to not meet anyone he knows tomorrow, so they could rest a bit more before jumping back to the new year.