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The music was too loud. The crowd was too dense. The air smelt too much like weed and alcohol.
Rin felt his migraine worsen, and he wished he had not accepted Bachira’s invitation to this fucking party. He didn’t know anyone else in this place, and he had expressed his wish to remain in the solace of his apartment at least thrice before.
He had rest to get and a match to prepare. La Real was supposed to play against PXG in the next few days, and if Rin was not one hundred percent sure of his own plans, then he would not put it between the hands of this asshole Kaiser.
Or his brother, if it mattered.
Rin wouldn’t lose against his brother’s stupid boyfriend and those people he played with during the NEL. He had evolved, flourished, spread his wings far enough to never turn back to his past.
The Blue Lock had been nothing more than a stepping stone for him. The first step to his success.
And now what. Rin was rumoured to be the next best player of his generation and received award after award, praise after praise, always showered in compliments for his marvellous performances and authentic, natural plays.
Rin fucking hated all this shit talking.
None of the journalists believed what they said on camera. They were merely reading prompts and smiling at people they didn’t care about. Maybe one or two would recognise him and be nice, true to their words, but that was only a handful, and Rin didn’t bother to separate those who felt genuine to him and those who didn’t.
He navigated through the crowd, desperately searching for an exit to this maze of drunkards dancing with pretty girls and weed-smokers offering him their splits with high expressions on their faces. Rin loathed this world of extravagance and fakeness.
Smile for the picture, he heard a lot from his coach, this old roach who barely held his teeth anymore. Who was he to attempt to tame the wild force Rin had become?
No one could do that. Nobody except-
Rin clenched his fists and let the alcohol flow down his throat. This was a name he forced himself to forget.
‘What are you doing here all alone?’ Otoya asked him as he reached his side, half drunk from what he’d been drinking all night and half pleased to meet up with an old teammate again.
‘Fuck do you want?’ Rin grumbled.
‘Easy mate, I’m just trying to be nice. Not you being all pissy at me.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘Take a sip of the punch, man it’s out of this world you won’t wanna go back to anything else after that.’
‘Doesn’t matter, I’m not staying.’
Otoya, this little shit, snickered like he knew something Rin didn’t. Like he understood some unknown equations still too hard for Rin.
It sucked.
He threw his arm over Rin’s shoulder and forced the proximity between them. Too tight to be removed immediately.
‘Come on, don’t be like that, there’s a lot to do here. The music’s great, friends are here, alcohol tastes nice. Don’t leave yet or you might regret it.’
‘Piss off.’
From the corner of his eye, Rin saw movement. He would recognise this hideous haircut from anywhere, and the thought of Michael Kaiser in the same apartment as him, the same four walls of the living room, made him nauseous.
Rin had to leave as soon as possible or else he would commit a murder. Or arson. Whatever was easier to put into place.
‘You don’t like Kaiser too much, don’t you?’ Otoya smirked.
‘None of your business.’
‘Oh hell it is, dude. You’re literally throwing daggers at him right now. Shit, that’s so funny,’ he scrambled around, trying to find his phone in his pocket but failing multiple times, ‘Fuck, where did I put it.’
‘You’re a pain in the ass.’
At that, Otoya scrunched his face.
‘How did you know I take it up the-‘
‘I don’t want to know that. Tell me where’s the exit.’
Before Otoya could answer, a sharp laugh echoed in the room, so close it almost breached Rin’s tympans.
He hated the fact he recognised it.
‘Oh oh, what do we have here? Rin Rin~ I didn’t know you’d be here~’
‘Leave me alone.’
Shidou was still an insufferable asshole. His face hadn’t changed in three years and he still looked punchable.
Rin was centimetres away from throwing him on the floor with his sheer muscle mass when he was met with another guest in the kitchen. The place suddenly felt all too crowded for so many people to be standing in.
‘Don’t hurt him, I do not want to fight against a wounded enemy.’ Sae said, as impassive as ever.
‘Sae-chan~!’ Shidou smiled as he made his way to Rin’s brother, pulling him into a tight embrace.
And to Rin’s surprise, shock, horror, everything nice, Sae did not move. He simply stood his ground and let Shidou fuss over him without refusing anything.
Was this the same person who pronounced all those harsh words at Rin because he was deluded by the outside world?
Talk about lunatics.
´I’m leaving.’
He didn’t wait for any verbal authorisation and pushed Otoya away, ignoring his pleas and muttering something about him falling into Karasu’s bed sheets anyways by the end of the night, and left.
He managed to walk a grand total of five metres before he was met with a familiar face he hated more than anyone else. His blood rushed down south and his anger boiled in his veins.
Isagi was here before him, in all his glory, hair longer than before, fluffier too, eyes glossy with slight buzz and his clothes-
Fuck.
Had he been preparing for this occasion? Rin had never seen him wear such an outfit before. But again they’d met in the worst possible environment for teenagers and had been shaped in some ways that were unnatural to anyone else.
Them? They had grown used to it.
‘Rin-‘ he barely registered Isagi’s voice as someone bumped into them from behind, shoving Isagi in Rin’s chest.
Fucking gnome, he had not grown a bit since they last left the Blue Lock together.
They stared at each other for a second before Rin pushed him off, as if their simple proximity ignited something in him.
‘Geez, you could at least say hi.’ Isagi said, a brow raised.
‘I’m leaving anyway.’
‘… You’re still the same after all. I don’t know why I expected anything.’
And before Rin could answer, he watched as Isagi wandered off in the crowd, looking desperately for someone else to fill this emptiness in his heart. Rin eyed him for a long moment, before deciding that this was not his problem anymore.
Isagi had had a place in his mind for too long already, he had bothered him during sleepless nights and invaded his privacy on more than one occasion. Rin could somehow still see this mental image of him.
And when Rin imagined Isagi, he could only see his large smile, his eyes scrunched in crescents and the warmth of his whole self radiating.
This was dangerous, this wasn’t supposed to happen. Rin caught flights, not feelings. He tried to not hurt himself by avoiding reaching out to the burning flames in the hearth, but he was drawn to it anyway. Rin knew this was bad. This was the worst possible outcome, actually.
He must have been ridiculous, still standing against a wall, while everyone else was having the time of their life, dancing and partying as God intended, throwing themselves in this drunk daze.
This was a mistake. Coming to this party. Rin should have stayed in his apartment for the night and ignored all of Bachira’s texts. ‘ Everyone’s gonna be there, just football players, seriously, it’s a great occasion to meet up! ’
Well yes, but Bachira didn’t mention that Isagi himself would be here.
‘Oh… You don’t look too good right now Rin-chan!’
He turned around and faced the bane of his existence. ‘This is your own fault.’
‘Nuh-uh,’ Bachira said as he stuck out his tongue, ‘you’re the one at fault for not enjoying the time. Come on, you could simply have fun but you decide to have a stick up your ass for some reasons. Not, my, fault .’
There was a commotion a few metres away, and both averted their eyes immediately, slightly curious to know what this was all about.
Michael Kaiser was flirting with Isagi Yoichi.
Rin saw red.
‘Oh he’s at it again…’ Bachira sighed, gulping down the bottom of his comically large plastic cup. ‘I thought Kaiser would have given up by now.’
‘What do you even mean.’ Rin asked, betraying his nonchalance. Bachira smirked at him.
‘Well, it’s obvious that he’s been trying to flirt with Isagi since the Neo Egoist League, you know. It’s easy to notice it.’
Lukewarm, fucking irritating.
Rin clenched his fists and raised his cup at his lips, swallowing the burning liquid and frowning when the taste registered for the first time. Whatever Otoya had put in this was a kind of Hell in itself.
‘Then he should reject him at once.’
‘Eh, Isagi did. He rejected him quite a lot, you know, now that he’s teammates with Nessie, it’s a bit easier to communicate, but for some reasons, Kaiser keeps coming back.’
‘Roach.’
Bachira chortled. ‘Yeah, that. Poor Isagi tho’, suffering a blond German all this time… I bet he’d like someone to save him from this situation.’
‘Isagi is twenty, he can handle it on his own.’
Bachira let out a long, interminable sigh. Rin found it unnerving. He started hating everything and everyone in this place. His grip tightened around his cup. Especially Kaiser. Oh, Rin fucking despised Kaiser.
And he didn’t quite understand why it was more prominent at this moment.
‘You’re oblivious, aren’t you?’
‘Whatever Isagi’s doing is none of my business. He’s old enough to take care of it.’
‘ Fuck’s sake … Just go! Everyone knows you’re pining for each other already! Go and free him for Kaiser, kiss him square on the mouth and fuck that tension out of each other, please, this is for everyone’s own good.’
And suddenly, Rin was shoved in the crowd, Bachira’s sudden gesture taking him by surprise and launching him among a sea of dancing bodies. It wasn’t hard to navigate it, actually, Rin found himself naturally swimming through and reaching the other side where Isagi was nearly stuck to the white wall, Kaiser hovering over him.
That sole sight made Rin rage .
‘Get the fuck out of here, German pest.’ He pronounced each word with hate, hate hate hate , so much that even Rin was surprised at his own tone.
Isagi and Kaiser turned towards him at the same time. One completely flabbergasted and the other adorning his face with that usual smirk he liked to put on.
Clown. Buffoon.
‘Easy now, Itoshi Junior, don’t you see you are disturbing our little moment, I was having a great time talking with Yoichi~’
‘Does it look like I care?’
‘Sigh… You will have to learn to respect your elders, kiddo, because your attitude has to be fixed. You won’t go far in life with it.’
‘Keep babbling.’
Without thinking twice about it, Rin gripped Isagi’s wrist and dragged him out of the living room. He didn’t know how the house was designed, and surely there was nothing weird about reaching the second floor with someone behind you.
Rin opened a door, the first one he saw, really, and threw Isagi inside, checking the lock closed thrice, just to be sure. They wouldn’t be bothered by a German roach anymore, he pledged that.
Now that he took a second to focus on the person in front of him, Rin realised that they were both breathless. Whether it was the liquor or the sudden rush up the stairs, Rin struggled to inhale properly.
A̶c̶t̶u̶a̶l̶l̶y̶,̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶k̶n̶e̶w̶ ̶p̶e̶r̶f̶e̶c̶t̶l̶y̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶b̶r̶e̶a̶t̶h̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶c̶a̶u̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶o̶a̶t̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶h̶e̶’̶d̶ ̶r̶a̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶d̶i̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶n̶ ̶a̶d̶m̶i̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶.
‘So what now,’ Isagi broke the silence between them, ‘Are you going to flee again? To leave like nothing happened.’
‘You could thank me.’
‘Thank you?’ He raised a brow. ‘You just kidnapped me, and I’m supposed to thank you for it? Hell, Rin, what’s your opinion on yourself? Do you think you’re a knight in shining armour?’
Rin’s own vision was tinted with bubbles, with fog and red. So much red. It was hard to see anything else than Isagi . Isagi and his awfully hot hairstyle. Isagi and those tight clothes he wore for the first time today [or perhaps Rin never bothered checking him out]. Isagi who had been oblivious to Kaiser’s flirting for the good part of the party.
Rin loathed him [as much as he allowed him to].
‘Did you not see how he was looking at you? Like you were his slut .’
‘And how’s that your fucking business?’
Rin snorted, full of sarcasm. So much nerve for a lukewarm like Yoichi Isagi. ‘So that’s who you are then, a slut for this guy. Didn’t pin you for this type.’
‘If you’d have ever paid attention to me then maybe you’d have noticed that I’m not like that, you’re just too caught up your own ass to realise it.’
‘What did you say?’ Rin nearly growled as he inched closer.
This was unfair how Rin was taller, he kept towering over Isagi, from their ten-something centimetres difference. But today, Isagi stood his ground, meeting his gaze halfway and raising his chin.
It pained Rin to admit it, but Isagi was more than just a rival and good – ugh – football player at that point.
‘I said you’re too focused on yourself, narcissist.’
‘Like you aren’t? Hypocrite, you’re the same as me. You can keep insulting me, but we’re of the same breed, you and I.’
‘Is that so?’ Isagi said, tilting his head slightly on the side.
He was wearing makeup, Rin just noticed, his eyelids shimmering under the moonlight. Corny. So corny. This was not Rin Itoshi. He did not work like that. Rin was not someone who bent before deities.
Yet, at this moment, his knees nearly buckled and let him fall to the floor in front of Isagi Yoichi.
‘Piece of shit.’
‘You’re hateful tonight, I might just think I’m the problem.’
‘Like you’re not always?’ Rin grabbed him by the waist, a gesture he had not anticipated, and which suddenly surprised himself. ‘You’re a nuisance in my life, always pestering me, crawling under my skin.’
‘What I hear is that you’re obsessed with me.’
‘Keep dreaming.’
Rin wasn’t fooling anyone, not when he was diving straight for Isagi’s lips, pushing him until the back of his knees hit the bed and he was forced to lie on it, hopeless and unable to move.
Would he shove Rin away if he could? Probably not. The contact was too good to be broken, and the two of them knew it. There was no use denying their primal instincts telling them to succumb to their desires and simple pleasures.
Rin was drinking all those moans and gasps of pleasure, never getting enough of it. For a second, he imagined someone else being able to witness Isagi like this, and it had him spiraling.
Nobody else deserved such a sight. This was for him and him only.
Kaiser… Kaiser wouldn’t get to know this. He wasn’t good enough for Isagi. And no matter how much their pseudo-rivalry was hyped up by the media, Rin was the only person who could make Isagi evolve to this extent.
He bit down on Isagi’s bottom lip, obtaining a yelp from him.
‘You animal, that hurts.’
‘You like it.’
He returned to his ministrations, hands slipping, exploring, mapping out every centimetre of skin he could find under his fingertips, enjoying the reactions he was getting, quickly shut against his mouth.
When Rin had imagined Isagi yielding, he didn’t think it would be in this context, dazed in a party on the other side of Europe. Spain was the country of passions, wasn’t it? Lavinho had said something similar the first time he came in the NEL, and Rin hadn’t really believed him. Now that he had the hands-on experience of reaching the Heavens in said country, he started acknowledging his words.
Just those ones.
After what felt like an eternity [and far too little to Rin’s liking], they pulled away from each other, reveling in this suddenly solemn atmosphere. Rin was taking in the scenery in front of him, and wondering why it had taken him so long to make the first move.
[His ego, it was 100% his ego.]
‘You’re such a jerk, you know that, right?’ Isagi asked, catching his breath while remaining lain on the sweet-smelling sheets. ‘Why can’t you use your words instead of acting like a brute every single time?’
‘Can’t bother.’
‘Yeah, I see that. God, you could have told me you had a crush on me a while ago, it would have been easier for everyone.’
‘Who said I have a crush on you?’
Isagi sat up to stare at him like he were an alien, brows furrowed and face scrunched in a semi-disgusted frown.
‘You can’t be serious- Why do I even bother.’
As he was ready to leave the room, he heard the music coming from downstairs. This was corny and cliché, but it’d been a long time since he’d had the occasion to listen to it. He felt hot all over to suddenly be in the same four walls as Rin while people downstairs were partying to… Whatever this was.
‘Come back.’
‘No. Not until you admit your truth. I’m not a fool, Rin. And you’re not either. I know it’s easier to pretend you don’t feel anything, but there’s no need denying it anymore. You just kissed me in the intimacy of a bedroom- I don’t just… Kiss and fuck around people I don’t feel close to. If it’s your thing, good for you, but don’t do it again with me.’
‘Isagi. Look at me.’
He did. He obeyed once again, against his will, and eyed the boy who’d been at the centre of his turmoil for the past weeks, months, years . Did Itoshi Rin know what effect he had on people? Of course not.
Rin’s pupils were dilated, staring at Isagi like he was the most precious gemstone in the world, like his worth was impossible to measure. Rin was in awe before Isagi.
‘You’re really bad with words.’ Isagi said, dearly.
‘Come back here, it’s getting cold.’
It was a lie, they were suffocating in the room, and everyone could tell, but Isagi still indulged in the warmth of Rin’s burning core.
‘God, you look divine… That’s not fair.’ Isagi complained, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. ‘Don’t leave.’
‘I’m not.’
‘I’ll miss you forever.’
‘I’m not leaving.’
There was a second of silence before Isagi smiled and rested against him, his back to Rin’s front. The music had all but subdued in the living room, they could barely make out the lyrics anymore, let alone the rhythm it had.
Here, it was only them.
‘Good. I’m not letting you go.’