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Itoshi Rin isn’t a believer.
The supernatural is a redundant myth. A cunning lie garnished with just the right amount of allure.
Simply put, jest.
A fucking hoax made to manipulate the desperate, gullible, mentally ill population into joining weird cultish social gatherings and extort their lifespan and pockets until they inevitably end up with nothing.
So Rin doesn’t wish, doesn’t plead, and definitely doesn’t hope upon the shooting star crossing by. Instead, opting to glare at its trail, the shimmering piece that leaves ample magic beyond the night sky of twinkling stars.
Isagi.
Rin can’t seem to get him out of his mind these days, likely because of the upcoming World Cup, and also because of the incident.
It’s not like Rin’s at fault. He has his own training regimen to stick to, and if Isagi were to stick close, he doesn’t think he’ll be able to focus.
So it isn’t his fault. Isagi’s face took on a depressed expression and the former Blue Lockers undeniably caught on and pestered around. So what? Was it really Rin’s fault that he pushed him away because the World Cup is more important and he wants to win the trophy? What, did shitty Isagi lose his ego from dribbling practice balls in Germany?
Ha.
Rin doesn’t care at all.
There’s a dry patch at the back of Rin’s throat, unpleasant enough to get him conscious.
Rin swallows once, twice, and it still thuds like his insufferable, beating heart. He’s parched, tongue and throat deprived of the smooth liquid.
He thinks of getting up to grab a cup of water, but his back is extremely sore, and somehow the rest of Rin’s body pounds with the same pain, especially the lower region. Rin thinks back to yesterday, and he doesn’t recall overexerting his body to get to this point.
Strange. An athlete’s body truly is a mystery.
Rin opens his eyes, summoning up the strength to keep them open. The image he sees is blurry, eyes adjusting to the sunlight peeking through the curtain on his left side.
Sunlight?
There weren’t any windows in Blue Lock rooms, at least that’s what he remembers, but he chalks it up to post-waking up confusion. Blue Lock had gotten renovations for all facilities and actually listened to the previously encaged Blue Lockers when they requested for more windows—a whole fuckton that no matter where Rin is, as long as the sun’s up, his eyes end up burning, pleading to be gouged out as a final act of mercy.
Rin thinks there is much left to unravel of the human brain.
Rin tries harder, blinking away the drowsiness even though his body is screaming not too—fortunately for him, he’s in charge while his tormented body is unfortunately not. His eyes had finally adapted to the brightness, able to stare at the brown ceiling—
Brown?
Rin thinks his eyes are playing tricks on him for revenge. Not cool.
He sits up, hissing at the sting on his forbidden cheeks. Rin glances around, scanning everything in the vicinity, not recognizing anything. The bed was positioned in a strange way, dipping at his side as if something heavy layed on top. He looks down to his left.
Rin clearly did not recognize the naked man.
He carefully crawls away from him, discreetly not to wake him up, lest he murders Rin like Pennywise or some shit.
Somehow, the man seemed to notice and woke up yawning.
“Rin? You up already, baby?”
Baby?
Rin thinks there’s something worse than a killer clown—a naked one.
He throws the sheets on the man’s face and runs to the nearest door, swiftly locking it once he made it in one piece. Rin breathes heavily, back against the wall and palms keeping it in place just in case the guy tries to barge in.
Rin surveys around to find a weapon because he’ll be damned if he learns nothing from being a horror movie fanatic. He’s smarter than any of those NPCs. Rin finds a small glass vase on the marble counter.
“Baby, something wrong?” He hears footsteps shuffling across the room, the perpetrator slowly making his way towards Rin.
Rin makes a split-second decision to move away from the door to grab the vase. Clutching the piece of ceramic, Rin’s eyes caught his reflection on the mirror—if it really was his.
He’s perplexed, striving to shift the gears in his head to make this all make sense. The guy in the mirror looks at Rin with pity because he isn't him. That’s not Rin.
Rin’s face was fuller, rounder cheeks leading to a pronounced jawline. But no t Rin’s face is angular with a slightly softer bone structure. Rin feels around his face, calculating, reasoning.
He thinks back to a few moments ago. The naked serial killer’s hair was midnight blue, sharpened facial structure with somewhat plump cheeks, and his eyes. They were the pools of the unforgiving ocean, luring sailors to their demise with enticement, and almost as blue as—
Naked serial killer looked just like Isagi fucking Yoichi.
Rin can’t mistake those eyes anywhere. Those were the eyes that had haunted him since he left for France and left everything behind, the eyes that had driven him mad every damned day.
And he has come to three conclusions: 1.) He’s dreaming. 2.) Isagi Yoichi had finally driven him to insanity. 3.) All of this is real and he either shapeshifted or got transported to some alternative timeline.
Great. Just great.
Naked serial killer—or suppositionally Isagi Yoichi—is just outside the door, feet barely palpable through the tiny gap. He’s knocking on the door with soft, featherlike beats, like he’s actually worried.
And even greater.
“Baby, did I do something to upset you? I’m sorry. Can we please talk this through?”
Baby?
Rin’s (untrustworthy) reflection didn’t look like a child. As a matter of fact, he looked older, from likely late 20’s to early 30’s. Isagi Yoichi is not his father.
The word “baby” is also used as a term for endearment. Rin sees it happen plenty of times around the world. People call their significant other baby as a gross way to express affection. Ergo, only people dating call each other “baby.”
And in conclusion: Itoshi Rin and Isagi Yoichi are either dating or not.
Fuck.
Rin needs time to process all of this. But Itoshi Rin is still Itoshi Rin no matter what form he may take, and right now, he needs to buy time.
“Don’t come in,” Rin tests the waters, calculating how much power he has in this situation.
“Rin, is everything okay? You know you can talk to me, right? Please talk to me, baby, I never want to see you suffer.”
As it turns out, suppositionally Isagi Yoichi may not be an insane naked serial killer.
“Everything’s fine. I’m just…” Rin’s eye examines the room, attempting to come up with a plausible excuse. His eyes glanced at the toilet. “Taking a dump…”
Rin wants to drown in a puddle of shit.
“Oh, really?” suppositionally Isagi sighs in relief. “Sorry about the probing. Had a bad dream. I’m going to cook breakfast, yeah?”
“Mhm.”
“I’ll hit the shower after so you can do it now if you don’t want to wait.”
Rin hears Isagi’s footsteps leave and lets out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Thank god for granting him the ability to use the shower. Rin’s form is awful and he could really use the time to hatch up a plan.
Rin turns his head to find the shower, settling one last glimpse in the mirror.
Shit. He was bare too.
The shower was oddly relaxing, warm, pleasant droplets dripping onto his skin like a mellow massage. When he scrubbed his body, he was horrified to learn that it was bruised, littered in blue and purple markings, all stinging from a bit of caressing. He has theories, but he locks them in the corner of his mind for later. Rin still has other priorities.
Rin didn’t know where to find his clothes and it would be suspicious to ask so he resolved to inspect the area. He found a door leading to a walk-in closet, some clothes precisely hanging on a metal bar and others neatly tucked in the wardrobes.
He can’t comprehend which ones are meant to be his. After some time scrutinizing, he threw caution to the wind and seized clothes that looked like they’d fit, praying that suppositionally Isagi would be too drowsy to notice.
After putting on the light green hoodie and shorts, he smoothes out the creases heads out. But there’s one problem: he doesn’t know where the dining room is.
Rin internally curses the forces that brought him here in the first place and ventures to find the room in this comically large mansion.
Rin didn’t think he could just storm out of this place without any dire repercussions. Besides, if suppositionally Isagi really is Isagi, then Rin could perhaps trust the guy. And also, if they actually are… in a relationship, then that gives Rin a reason to have a bit more faith in him. Nevertheless, the most vital matter right now is to gather information.
Much inspecting later, Rin at long last spots the guy who he mistakenly called a naked serial killer—in his head—before he grew a headache.
He’s still preparing the meals so Rin sits himself down. Suppositionally Isagi catches him from the corner of his eye. “Ah, you finished,” he greets with a comically large grin but Rin discerns that his gaze doesn’t falter, locating something, analyzing, and once he uncovered it, he went back to cook.
Some time passes with Rin pinning his piercing gaze on the shady cook, and now that he’s in front of Rin, setting the dishes down, he perceives he’s wearing an apron. A stupid one with “KISS THE COOK” printed in bold font. But Rin supposes it’s better than a while ago when he was wearing only briefs.
The dish Rin received was oatmeal with sliced apples and bananas and a bowl of plain greek yogurt. Between Rin and formerly naked serial killer was a big pot of chopped fruits, which Rin can make out as oranges, apples, bananas, pears… and other fruit with a color under the rainbow. The guy across had a stack of pancakes filled to the brim with raspberries and blueberries and a dash of maple syrup, and to his right was also a bowl of ochazuke with sea bream on top.
Rin admits that he’s slightly jealous…
“What’s wrong, Rin? Do you not like the food?”
Crap. Rin didn’t register that he was practically ogling.
“Ah, sorry, just thought of something,” he tries to play it cool, taking a bite of the oatmeal.
Suppositionally Isagi doesn’t comment, elbows propped on the table and chin resting on the back of his palms, watching Rin.
“Are you not going to eat?”
Isagi hums contemplatively. “Depends.”
Rin raises an eyebrow in question, perplexed, and his body is too, running a chill down his spine even if it wasn’t cold.
“You’re not Rin, are you?” Rin’s hand freezes before the spoon comes in contact with his mouth. His eyes widen in shock, the spoon falls with a resounding plop on the table. He’s a deer caught in headlights, and by now, it’s already too late to play pretend.
“How did you…”
“Well, to be precise, you’re not my Rin, are you?”
“What do you mean?” Rin’s eyes narrow, contemplating, but he laughs and it confounds Rin even more because they’re in a dire circumstance, and yet he’s laughing like he could afford to be carefree.
He wipes off the tears in his eyes. “Sorry, Rin, you just look so cute right now, I couldn’t help it.” His eyes refocus to settle on Rin, softening. “You look so tense, Rin. Relax for a bit. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“How would I know that?” Rin bites back. For all he knows, under that sweet façade, he was a psycho maniac.
“Your Yoichi—oh my bad. Your Isagi, do you trust him?”
Rin doesn’t quite know the answer to that. It’s not like Isagi and him were friends. They’re rivals and nothing more. But at the very least, he’s not a bad person, and he can trust that.
“More than you to be fair.”
“That’s good,” Isagi flashes him a smile. “Hm… well that isn’t working.” He ponders for a bit and speaks up, “You know, Rin, if I wanted to kill you, I would’ve done so a while back.”
Rin flinches, caught off guard.
“Your face is practically begging for answers. You’re so easy to read, baby.”
“Don’t call me that. ”
“You mean baby, baby ?”
Rin glares daggers but not his Isagi is undeterred.
“Ah, you’re angry. Sorry, was reliving a memory.”
Rumble.
“Shit, I forgot you haven’t had the chance to eat yet.” Isagi hurriedly gives Rin his meals and takes Rin’s.
“What are you doing?”
“My meal was originally yours and the other way around. When you ate my meal without saying anything, I knew right away. My Rin would’ve cursed at me and called me shit,” he speaks of his love with a drop of honey that Rin can’t help but want to snatch a taste, and not his Isagi giggles at the end because he’s just so, so in love he wants to let it out.
“You enjoy being degraded?”
“Well if it’s my Rin, then yes,” he approved.
“You’re crazy.”
“Everyone in a relationship is.” Rin cringes his eyes, squinting them to parade objection.
”And that’s it?”
“Hm?”
“How you knew I wasn’t your Rin.” Rin doesn’t believe that Isagi in any universe would be smart enough to find out. He’d need at least divine intervention and a whole fuck ton of coke to be able to come out with that conclusion. Isagi’s not dumb, but he certainly isn’t that smart.
“I guess there are two things.” He closes his eyes and nods to himself, sticking one finger up after. “Those pants are mine. My Rin would never wear mine. He says they don't fit correctly… and that they’re ugly.” He puts another finger out. “And for two… I guess instinct? It’s like I just knew you weren’t really him but when I put the puzzle pieces together I came to the conclusion that you’re…”
“Another Rin?”
“Exactly! How charming.”
“Freak.” Rin delays for a while, disbelieving. “So you’re really dating your Rin?” Rin asks to confirm. Even though he already knows the answer, he hasn’t explicitly heard it yet so it’s still speculation and not fact. Itoshi Rin is not a believer, but he implores to the elements, forces of nature, god or whoever is listening right now to be wrong.
“We’re in a very happy, very committed, very serious relationship so yes, and my Rin is technically still you so take that with a grain of salt and enjoy your meal.”
Unfortunately, Itoshi Rin is a genius.
“Explain properly, shitty Isagi .” He gets up from the table, urging to beat up not his Isagi’s conceited face.
“Woah, there, wild cat. Eat first and I’ll explain later.” Not his Isagi raises his hands to placate Rin. Once he shows no sign of accommodating, he grabs a strawberry and shoves it in Rin’s mouth.
Rin gives him a dirty look like he already planned his death and is committing to following through, but there’s one thing he didn’t foresee: Isagi is good with domestication.
“Swallow.”
Rin makes a movement to discharge the foreign thing.
“Nuh-uh, don’t spit it out,” not his Isagi commands and he considers disobeying but somehow, he can tell he’d get reprimanded.
So, he gives in.
Rin gobbles up the nasty foreign object and realizes that it’s not that nasty at all.
“Sweet, right?” Not his Isagi grabs a strawberry from the bowl and bites. “We both like it sugary so I’d know.”
Rin (reluctantly) sits himself down, deeming it far more efficient to trust the stranger.
Not his Isagi munches on the food gleefully, cheeks puffing out because he’s a greedy dog who adds more food in before he can swallow.
And Rin thinks it’s fine, very fine, to trust him. After all, he looks stupid.
“So, if you’re not my Isagi, then who are you ?” Rin puts the chopsticks neatly on the bowl, just having finished his meal a little later than that greedy gremlin.
“Technically, I still am,” he says matter-of-factly, resuming the former position he was in when he watched Rin eat food that isn’t his. Elbows on the table and head over the back of his hands, like he’s observing a wild animal.
“Expound.”
“Hm… I guess it’s pretty hard to explain but Rin told me—ah my apologies, my Rin told me that he once traveled in the future to meet me when he was younger.” He raises his hand to correct himself.
“I mean, not really meet me, as in the me right now since you know, I just met you and all, but like the me from the near future.” He checks to see Rin’s reaction, “Sorry if I was rambling, but did you get any of that?”
Rin runs the information in his head, lining up the pieces to make them fit in one board.
He knows three things.
1.) He had somehow time traveled into the future.
2.) The future is bleak.
3.) He’s dating Isagi (in the inevitably grim future).
Rin has a theory that is somehow an alternate timeline of their universe, but seeing as the gods want to spite him, he can’t bet on this speculation.
So he accepts it, taking one long inhale and an even longer exhale. Then he screams in his head.
Perfect. He directs his attention to not his Isagi but still is (in the future) slash doomed fated future boyfriend.
“Obviously.”
“Ah, I see. You’ve always been so smart, Rin.”
And Rin tries not to heat up from the praise, knowing that this man would somehow fully occupy his future. But he does.
“Someone’s flustered,” not his Isagi but still is because he’s future Isagi— fuck , Rin determines to abandon the ludicrously long moniker—coos.
“You’re insufferable.”
“Charmed?” Isagi smirks.
“Harassed,” Rin says plainly. He’s not going to play games with the devil.
“Same thing. Any questions? Concerns? Something on your mind about the future?” Isagi leans closer, eager.
“None…” Rin’s a liar. Of course he has questions, doubts, the discrepancies lingering in the back of his mind.
Isagi doesn’t take any of his bullshit. “C’mon I know you have some. Spill it all out.”
“No.”
“Pretty please?” Isagi presents his puppy eyes. Rin was fooled by them once. Isagi used those damn eyes to get him to drink water and relax during training multiple times.
And Rin’s not going to fall for them again.
“No.”
“Pretty please, baby ?” But Isagi fucking Yoichi had already crafted another scheme.
“I told you not to call me that .” And Rin isn’t a weak man, but carrying the burden of unresolved feelings… can even make him, of all people, fall.
“Mhm.” Isagi studies him for a bit, this Rin. Outside, there’s no doubt it’s his beloved Rin, but Isagi’s eyes had been sprinkled in love and dipped with fondness. There are tiny differences that set them apart, but he really is still Rin in essence, and that gives him more than enough reason to hand him his heart. “What’s on your mind, Rin?”
“None of your business, shitty Isagi,” he snarls.
“Are you that adverse to our relationship, Rin?” Isagi’s not even angry, he’s smiling. He’s smiling so tenderly and it pierces Rin’s heart to shreds.
“Am I really in love with you?” Rin is asking, pleading because he wants to know. To express doubt is to question, and Rin wants the answer from Isagi’s eyes—the big blue eyes that spoke the unwavering truth.
“Hm, who knows?” He tilts his head back. “You were never keen on verbal affirmation even after all these years.” He turns his head back and looks Rin dead in the eyes. “But you stuck with me all throughout. Your body is very honest, Rin.”
Isagi’s eyes never lie, never to Rin.
And that’s all confirmation Rin needs.
“Fine, I’ll date you.” Rin almost sounds bored, rolling his eyes at the “yay” Isagi makes. “So? How do I get to this future?”
“So you are in love with me,” Isagi sneers like he knows everything, like how he knows Rin is in love with him. Because he does. He’s had plenty of experience being with Rin, the laughs, trying times, the moments where they completely blew up on each other, and Isagi stayed—through it all.
“Not really there.”
“So a crush?”
“What? No!” Rin wants to deny it, he really does, deny that he has feelings for that shitty Isagi. But upfront his older version, the man he’s going to be, strong build, cute face, he’s gay panicking. God forbid he goes back to his teenage self who first found out he was interested in guys—and then the Isagi thing happened.
Holy shit, Rin wants to scream.
“Sounds like the great Itoshi Rin has found his first encounter with puppy love, congratulations!”
“Again, insufferable.”
“And the love of your life,” Isagi quickly adds, reminding him that this is his future and he can’t escape from it—he doesn’t really want to.
“Rather you not be,” Rin mumbles but he’s sure Isagi heard him. “So? What should I do?”
“Do to?”
“What do you want me to do to get you to like me?”
“Seduce me?” Rin tries not to think of the marks and bruises he saw in the mirror. Did he have to do something so scandalous to get Isagi to look at him? Scratch that. Rin throws his chopsticks at him.
“Hey!” Isagi dodges them by a hair. Rin loathes that he’s an athlete.
“Be serious.”
“Honestly, you wouldn’t have to do anything, Rin. Since I was pretty head over heels in love with you back then.” Isagi stretches his arms. “So just relax and let the future unfold by itself. We’re destined to be together after all.”
“Ha? You seriously believe in that destiny crap?” Rin doesn’t want to comprehend the weight of Isagi’s words. They’re truth bullets waiting to pierce the beating thing in his chest. Isagi has already seen it but he doesn’t want him to have it—yet.
“Not really. I think people are in charge of their own fate. But we just happen to work that way, I guess. I know that I’d know I’d fall in love with you in every universe. Isn’t calling it otherwise selling it short?”
Maybe Rin could believe that they actually are destined to be together, because Isagi was fated to be a thief. He had already stolen Rin’s heart before he could close it.
Rin thinks fate is a curious thing.
“Spending the rest of my life with a sap. Just great.”
“And you think you aren't one either? Might I tell you that you were the first one to say ‘I love you’ on our first date, sent me lobster gifs when I was sad and when it was our first time, you came first when I whispered sweet nothin—
“Oh my god, stop!” His cheeks had become a cute shade of red and he closed his eyes. Rin doesn’t believe he’d ever do those kinds of things. But it’s Isagi, and god knows how much he’s wormed his way into Rin’s heart.
For the first time in his life, he hates how honest Isagi’s eyes are.
Rin peeks at Isagi a bit. “So do you guys… do it a lot?”
“Do what?” Isagi had just finished laughing, but he's already ready to go at it again.
“Sex, dumbass.”
“That’s a very inappropriate question, Rin. My Rin told me that he was in his early 20's when this happened. I’m very disappointed in you.” And Isagi eyes him with genuinely fake dissatisfaction.
Rin can’t believe this. They both know he’s a grown adult but Isagi’s toying around with him, treating him like a kid who sucks on fucking lollipops.
“Ha? Weren’t you the one who told me to seduce you, horndog?”
“I meant to hold his hand or something! Not—“ Ha.
“Uh-huh, next topic.” Isagi hastily shuts up, sliding his index and thumb across his mouth like he’s zipping a zipper. Rin casually looks to the side, running his hair through his fingers. “So…”
“Hm?”
“Am I the guy who… takes it?”
Isagi thinks for a second. “Oh, bottoms!” And then a pause. “Yup.”
Rin sighs, thoroughly aware.
“What, surprised?”
“Nope. Just enlightened.”
“That’s nice,” Isagi says, all smiles.
“I guess.”
There’s a brief period of silence, and then Isagi speaks up.
“Any other questions?”
“Not really. They’re not important” And Rin isn’t lying. He thinks asking any more is pointless and might ruin the whole timeline—he watched from a horror movie once.
“So, what you asked just now were?”
“Depends.”
“‘Depends’ he says.” Isagi starts howling and picks up the dishes.
“Need help?” Rin lifts his eyes to find Isagi’s.
“Do you want to?”
“No.” And it’s not like Rin feels bad because Isagi’ been antagonizing him, but he helps anyway.
Isagi hums, practically done washing the dishes while Rin wipes them clean and puts them in shelves Isagi tells him to. It’s clockwork honestly, how they are so in sync, it’s like they’ve been completing chores their whole life. But it’s not a chore because it feels right. And what feels right is never a burden.
“Do you want to do anything later?”
It was late morning when they first woke up so their “breakfast” was practically an early lunch. Now Rin has the rest of the day to spend with him, but he’s never been good with those sorts of things.
“Not sure. You?”
“Hm… Let’s see.” Isagi dries his hands. “We can stay at home and watch movies?”
“That’s fine.” Rin doesn’t necessarily mind doing anything, or nothing at all. He’s fine with whatever Isagi decides on since he’s definitely the one who’s gonna put effort in it.
“Not that pleased, are we?” Isagi helps Rin store the other ceramics. “The mall’s too boring and playing soccer right now feels like a chore.” He hums, trying to find a solution to this unsolvable dilemma. “Want to go to the beach?”
“The beach?” Rin can’t help the way his eyes inexplicably light up. Having been surrounded by the sea since he was a child because he lived in a coastal town, Rin had grown fond of water, often contemplating on the seawall.
His doubts, problems, ambitions, the sea had swallowed them whole.
“There’s a beach you like nearby. We can go out for a drive.”
“Hm.” This time, Isagi knows he’s content.
“Okay,” Isagi says as he finishes putting everything in the cupboards.
It would take a while for Isagi to finish showering so he had guided Rin to sit on the couch and relax after Rin finished changing into a light green hoodie and black pants.
Isagi handed him his phone a while back, and Rin doesn’t want to ruin the space-time continuum or start a bootstrap paradox and whatnot, but curiosity did kill the cat and everything else he’s doing is technically an anomaly so fuck it .
Rin opens the device, light flashing before his eyes. It looked completely normal, no games installed because he prefers playing on PC so he goes straight to his gallery.
It’s pretty much what Rin expects from himself, soccer pictures, some horror movie screenings, random objects he finds interesting. And then he scrolls down a bit further.
He sees Isagi in some pictures, mixed in with the rest of the usual. And then he scrolls down further and finds that the color scheme had slowly gravitated to blue, and then more, bluer, agonizingly blue, until his whole gallery had been overtaken by that shitty blue-eyed idiot.
Rin doesn’t know if he should feel embarrassed, shy, or a different color in general so he’s a mix of all emotions that have been dyed blue.
He hears footsteps approaching so Rin turns the phone off and tries to wash the red out of his face.
“Shall we go?” Isagi is wearing a white shirt with blue trees and ships scattered around in print and light blue shorts of the same color.
Rin nods, following Isagi along. They make it past the other rooms he hasn’t explored, all with the same agonizing blue and beige color scheme. Isagi and Rin eventually make it to the driveway parked with 2 sport cars.
“That's all?”
“You aren’t into cars,” Isagi replies, examining both machines. Rin admits they’re both eye candy but he’s not especially interested.
“Thought you were.” Isagi opens up the car door for Rin. They’re using the teal lamborghini with hints of black.
“I prefer buying sweets, thank you.” He hops inside and closes the door. It wasn’t until they made it out the driveway that Rin realized they’re living in a really big mansion.
Isagi notices him looking out the window. “Impressed?”
“Kind of.” It’s deadpanned with no extra meaning whatsoever, and Rin doesn't appreciate Isagi’s unusual humor.
The sound of his laughter ticks him off—as usual—so he glances to the side to give him another glare, or two. Rin discovers a new side of Isagi, the sideview, sun perfectly hitting the black strands of his hair. It’s as irritating as his laughter.
From his periphery, he discerns two letters engraved on his fourth finger, wrapped around two tattooed circles.
I.R.
“Seems I taught you English.”
“Hm?” Isagi peeks at Rin, following his gaze until he spots his left hand. “Oh, that? Yeah, it was a special memory.” Isagi’s mouth creases affectionately, like the beating of his heart had fully controlled the actions of his body.
“Me teaching you English? Ha, funny. I thought you didn’t like it, especially after the second selection.” Rin thinks back to that time during Blue Lock. Isagi had just lost to Rin for the second time and that idiot was groveling on his knees like well—an idiot.
Still, Rin couldn’t read his last play. He decided Isagi couldn’t sink just yet. He had to watch him become the best striker. They studied English after, and based on what he’d seen, Isagi was a flop.
“Hm. Well, people change.” Isagi politely hums to himself, all cryptic like he’s hiding a secret Rin doesn’t know.
Rin doesn’t follow up on it, choosing to watch the scenery outside the window. Then, a thought suddenly popped out.
“When do I get back to my time?”
“Oh, about that, my Rin said he doesn’t remember when exactly but the moment he woke up, he came back.” Isagi’s eyes are focused on the road, unmoving.
Rin ponders for a bit. “Hm. So the moment I doze off, it’s completely over.” His voice lowers a bit, unconsciously, even though he doesn’t completely get it. It’s not like he’ll ever see Isagi again. But still.
“What, you sad? Gonna miss me?” he teases.
“And what if I said that I will?” Isagi’s eyes widened, not prepared for the words that came out of Rin’s mouth. Rin doesn’t believe it either.
“Rin, I—”
“Relax. It's a joke, idiot.” They both know it wasn’t, but Isagi doesn’t comment on it.
“I’ve never changed, Rin.”
Rin doesn’t comment either, cherishing the silence and not paying mind to what Isagi had previously said—but it’s already stuck.
They say nothing after, the background music cushioning the lull. Isagi’s glued to the road and Rin’s watching the view.
Isagi only speaks up until they finally get to their destination.
“We’re here, Rin.”
It’s a vast beach, covered in trinkets of sand and seawater so vast, it extends far beyond the horizon. And best of all—it didn’t look like a tourist destination. It was almost empty, save for some people here and there, but it wasn’t crowded. It felt like when goldilocks ate the baby bear’s porridge, just right.
They get out of the parking lot and progress to the sand. Rin and Isagi take their shoes off and the teeny tiny particles of sand beneath Rin’s feet feel gritty and good.
Rin is entranced by the water, clear blue liquid that just bewitches you to dive in, but Isagi catches Rin’s hand before he can sink.
“Let’s go together.”
They walk beyond the shore, hand in hand. Savoring the breeze blowing by like cool silk and the water quietly rushing on the sand. It’s cloudy, with just the right amount of sun to flower over the beach.
Before long, the hand that grasped Rin’s palm found their way entwining with his fingertips. And soon enough, the sun watched over the two from far away, blessing the union with warm, lovely sunlight.
The color of the sky had been tinted with a light orange and Rin realizes they’ve been walking for hours.
“Have you ever seen a sunset, Rin?”
Regardless of the pleasant landscape and the awareness of his beating heart, Itoshi Rin is still Itoshi Rin. “Does it look like I was born yesterday?”
And even with all the bites from the royal house cat, Isagi Yoichi is still Isagi Yoichi because he takes it with an award winning smile. “Let’s watch it.”
They perceive a place to sit down, one with the perfect sight of the sun and just enough to not let the waves reach them.
“Do you like sunsets, Rin?” Isagis legs are splayed out on the sand while Rin’s are huddled up, touching his chest and wrapped tightly with his right arm because Isagi has a firm grip on his left.
“I guess.” Rin’s honest with this. He’s not fully sentimental but they have a special place in his heart, tucked around a corner like a certain blue-eyed striker.
“I like that.”
It’s a homey calm after, just two people in the world enjoying each other’s company.
And just a bit, a teeny tiny bit, Rin indulges himself.
Rin lays his head on Isagi’s shoulder, a sudden impulse that captured Isagi’s attention from the setting sun. He doesn’t make another move after, loosening up with Rin’s body on his, eyes fixated on the realm ahead.
The waves had gone violent, angry waves that hunger to consume and the sky had grown upset too, red and bitter hues adorning the heavens.
Maybe it's because the wind had gone cold after the sun bid farewell that Rin felt tired.
“Good night, Rin.”
Rin wakes up to a bad dream.
He sits up in a small bed, alone and surrounded by a white ceiling and armored walls. But, at least the sun greets him with a smack on the face because it blinds Rin’s eyes.
“Fuck.”
After heavily debating whether to go back to sleep or actually be productive and start his morning routine, he ended up going with the latter.
He gets up out of bed to open the window until he sees a note taped on the window.
Here’s a better training regimen than all those NPC trainers could come up with.
Rin skims the rest, skeptical, until he reads the bottom part.
Also, there’s a step-by-step guide on how to seduce Isagi Yoichi behind this.
-Your’s Truly, Itoshi Rin
.Rin: I’m available today