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“Yoichi… or me?”
Yeah, right.
Remembering the ordeal from the other day, Kenyu scoffed as he pulled his glasses off, shutting them inside his locker with a bang and the hopes to leave the image of Kaiser with them. Kenyu was not about to go team up with that overconfident blonde, just because Isagi was in places where Kenyu couldn’t yet reach. Kenyu would get there on his own accord, and no half-assed passes to anyone were included.
That argument with Isagi was the furthest issue from his mind right now. First and foremost, Kenyu wanted to relax, to melt into the shower after a session of extra practice, and feel the collide of hot water against his sore body.
The bathroom became vacated as mostly unfamiliar faces passed by. Kenyu entered with a face of indifference and a white towel clinging loosely to his slender hips. Everyone had finished their individual training earlier than Kenyu had, who had taken longer to reach a good and satisfying stopping point, especially on a frustrating day as such. At least he had a quiet and empty bathroom to himself, Kenyu thought.
Approaching a shower, he lets a long breath escape as he slips the towel free from his body, hooking it nearby. The blue tiled room is quiet enough that the slap of a second pair of feet coming closer makes Kenyu pause in his tracks and bite the inside of his cheek. It was just Kenyu’s luck—he hears him before he sees the German, and his blood starts rising again.
So much for relaxing.
“Have you gave it some more thought?” The tall blond quips, directly behind Kenyu’s ear. Kenyu swats him away like an annoying fly, and Kaiser simply chuckles and joins the shower next to Kenyu's. He stares back at the brunette with his vivid blue eyes, making him cringe, because, what did he want? Kenyu was done with this! He’d made up his mind, and he’s going to prove that he can succeed without having to waste time by picking someone other than himself. He understood this egoism, he needed to be selfish, right?
“Kaiser.” Kenyu turns the water on. It trickles down his fair skin in thin rivulets. “I thought I made myself clear. I’m not siding with you nor Isagi.”
“I’m just saying, it’s better to have more allies than enemies.” Kaiser worked soap into his hair calmly while humming a tune. Suds trailed down his nape, catching Kenyu’s eye. The clean and sparkly bubbles contrasted with the dark and thorny vines tattooed on his arm. Kenyu’s auburn eyes darkened. Everything about Kaiser was so…in your face.
“What you want are not allies, Kaiser. You want subordinates who will bend to your will with no regard to their own. I’m not foolish enough to fall for such a scam," he said. "I know who you are.”
Kaiser rolled his eyes as he rinsed himself. The soap fell from his body, slid down his back, and down, down— “You know who I am, you say? Tell me, then, what am I?”
“You’re… you and your friend, Ness, that’s...it’s not a normal relationship between two men.” Kenyu’s mouth had moved on its own, subconsciously, letting the first thing from his mind slip. He’d surprised even himself. He supposes it’s been weighing on his mind more than he realized.
The other halted in his movements. Water splashed on the floor, echoing off the tiles on all four corners of the bathroom.
As Kenyu lathered down his arms, he continued with a deep lilt in his voice. “So if you…require something like that of me, there is no way in Hell I would ever work with you.” The sound of scorn was laced in his words. It was an uncomfortable topic, one that Kenyu usually sought to avoid, but Kaiser was pushing his buttons and remembering the way in which the dark-haired boy, Alexis Ness, presented himself towards Kaiser made something in Kenyu twist with displeasure. Everybody was here to play soccer and vent their frustrations through the game like normal men, not-
The next thing Kenyu knew, there were hands gripping his throat, as if trying to choke the words back out, and his feet stumbled backwards until his shoulders were pressed against the tiled wall. Kenyu gasped in surprise, reaching for the wrists that held him tight, and all he could see was intense, angry blue, striking down into him like a sword.
“Where do you find the confidence to talk to me like that?” the blond spat. His anger exploded on Kenyu in blues and reds. Sharp and cold like knives and warm as blood. “You think you know so much about me and Alexis? You and I, we’ve only known each other for a day, Glasses. So get whatever fantasy you have about me out of your head.”
Kenyu coughed, “What the fuck? Get off me!” He panicked, because Kaiser’s grip was strong, and his breath was only getting thinner. “Hey, somebody! Help—!” A hand slapped over his mouth before he could shout once more.
“Shut the fuck up.” Kaiser’s icy eyes drilled into Kenyu’s brown, trembling and watery, pleading to be let go, but the fingers digging into the veins on his neck didn’t cease. As he quieted and breathed intensely through his nose, Kaiser’s lips started to stretch as if something dawned on him. “Is this maybe what you wanted all along? Yeah? For me to order you around? I didn’t know you were jealous of Alexis.”
Kenyu shook his head furiously, making weak noises of protest from his throat. Kaiser looked very calm, like a switch had flipped. The muscles in his face relaxed, and it made Kenyu’s blood go cold. But if he were not being choked, fearing for his life, he could have recognized that Kaiser had handsome features up close.
“It’s too bad, though. I’m not gay, you’ve got it wrong, Glasses…” Kaiser tilted his head to the side while holding Kenyu's gaze. “But I suppose I could humor you. You take care of yourself well.” A finger twirled a single brown lock cradling Kenyu’s face, then fell and stroked his jaw, a mesmerizing movement that steadied Kenyu’s breathing for a second. Eyes as clear as glass flitted over the expanse of his face. “Really, you’re not bad at all…”
Staring back for one beat too long, Kenyu’s body was on fire. He finally remembered his own strength, and exerted all the power he could muster to successfully tear away from the blonde, then stumbled back with ragged breaths. “I'm not like that, either! You…you freak,” he coughed, then tasted blood on the inside of his cheek. He cupped his face where Kaiser had touched, branded and burnt. Swallowing down the taste of metal, his vision darkened into fuzzy, black splotches obstructing his sight. “Jesus Christ,” Kenyu prayed under his breath. His knees felt like they wanted to fall. "There's something seriously wrong with you."
Kaiser stood there, his hair wet and matted to his skin, the true image of a wilted rose except there was no sorrow to be felt when looking at him. There was only cold ice below those thin eyebrows twisted in disdain. “Praying like that won’t save you here,” the languid voice said distantly, leaving as quick as he had slipped in and had turned Kenyu inside out. Kenyu choked on a million words that he wanted to shout and rip Kaiser apart with, but he watched him gather himself in a towel and leave the quarters with an indiscernible expression.
The fading image walking away was distorted by a dark cloud as Kenyu’s lungs pumped erratically, and his heart still racing for one reason.
Why had Kaiser looked at him like that?