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Isagi bumped into an upperclassman and fell to the floor. The senior’s kind rouge eyes, peeking through his magenta bangs, looked at him in slight concern. The older boy helped Isagi up as he mumbled out some generic apology and left. This brief interaction is what started it all.
Now, Isagi didn’t really believe love, let alone love at first sight, so the interaction they had was fairly normal. Over time however, Isagi began noticing the pink haired boy occasionally. Soon occasionally became often, then often became always. Whenever Isagi was in the cafeteria, in the corridors or even on his way to school, he would always subconsciously (or maybe consciously?) search for the senior. He had found a comforting feeling in his presence, even if he was standing a couple feet away. It was a little nerve racking though, like the feeling when the upperclassman would pass by him, or make eye contact. It always made his heart beat faster, the moment felt stretched out, and time was distorted, only resetting when the other left or averted his gaze. At first Isagi was confused by the interactions they had, but as time passed, Isagi started slowly puzzling the pieces together, and it made Isagi realize the familiarity of his situation, it felt like it was straight out of a shoujo manga.
Was he supposed to be the female lead here? How could Isagi have a crush on feel that way about someone he barely knows? Isagi refused believe his revelation, but tried asking one of his friends, Bachira, from football club. Bachira never takes anything seriously though, laughing in his face and taunting him about his ‘big fat crush.’ Isagi is really glad he doesn’t go to his school, otherwise he’d embarrass Isagi in front of the pink haired boy. Another one of his friends(?), Rin, came out of corner and bluntly told him to stop being oblivious and that he needed to accept his feelings. He reluctantly tried to accept how he felt, though he’s damn sure his friends have zero experience in the love department.
The next time time he ran into the guy, he was immediately convinced about his emotions.
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It was the early in the afternoon and all Isagi could do was mindlessly stare at the clock. He kept constant eye contact with it, staring at the seconds hand as it moved infinitely in a circle. Everyday Isagi would study the clock, to the point where he could point out any imperfections, scratches and even dents in it. Any outsider would say they had an extremely intimate relationship. Though it wasn’t his fault, it was a much better alternative than looking at the jumbled up mess of numbers and equations that was the board.
Math had always been his weakest subject. Analyzing and solving problems on the field is extremely exhilarating, but on a lifeless piece of paper with bland black ink, that he can’t care to solve, seems like the last thing he wants to do.
As he’s lost in his thought, the bell rings and Isagi immediately springs up from his seat, a little too fast since everyone turns to look at him. He couldn’t care less though, as he rushes for the door, before a stern voice stops him:
“Isagi, I hope you’re not forgetting about the session you have with the tutor.” Isagi‘s face grimaced as his teacher publicly called him out. His foot was one step away from the doorway. One step further and he would’ve been released from the shackles of Mathematics. One step further and he would’ve been in the land freedom. If only he had been more swift in his exit, or maybe more stealthy. He lets out a long sigh and walks backwards as his peers continue forward into the utopia of freedom. He briefly makes eye contact with Yukimiya, who shoots him a sympathetic look. Then his eyes meet Hiyori’s teasing smile. He was hoping and praying with all his might that the teacher would forgot his disastrous report card, or maybe just him entirely.
He plopped himself on the chair and put his head down. He had to get at least a couple minutes of rest before the torture would begin. Apparently some random senior would come tutor him for volunteering hours, and supposedly he got one of the highest grades in Math. Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. He was going to be tutored by some hot shot, super genius senior, which wouldn’t be a bad thing per se, but Isagi is known to be diabolically terrible at Math and Science. Isagi’s biggest concern is embarrassing himself and driving the upperclassman away by his utter stupidity.
As he was sulking to himself, he heard an angelic voice that immediately sent a current into the wires of his brain, lighting up the circuit of his body. His head briskly sprung up as he realized his brain didn’t deceive him. It was really him! The jaw dropping, gorgeous senior (who he learned from various sources was Alexis Ness) was in front of him, smiling at him! At Isagi! Was Ness going to tutor him? Not only is Ness good looking, but he’s smart as well, can a person get more perfect than this?
Just as quickly his world lit up, It darkened. Reality dawned on him. Ness would be the one dealing with Isagi. He would find out his incompetence for his studies and think he was an idiot and hate him and never talk to him again and-
“You’re Isagi Yoichi, right? I’m Alexis Ness.” The angel in front of him smiled. Isagi almost replied with ‘I know’.
“O-oh, yeah.” He internally cringed at his stutter. He fantasized about possible conversations they could have, but now that fate gave him a chance, he stutters? And what kind of response is ‘oh yeah’? Why couldn’t he say something more memorable? Maybe if he had the chance to rehearse. Ness doesn’t notice this however and immediately gets down to business. Pulling out a copy of Isagi’s report card. As soon as he sees the E and F he cringes once again, and he can’t help but wonder how many more exaggeratedly disgusted expressions his face could handle before he starts showing visible signs of aging.
“Okay, so I looked through your test papers as well, and you seem to be struggling with most with calculus.” Ness pulls out a giant pile of annotated papers and notes to which Isagi can’t help but gulp.
“Uhh, hah.. are those my test papers?” He chuckles lightly.
“Yeah, I marked the areas where you need improvements.”
“Well, it looks like you marked the whole thing—.” He realizes what he just said and lets out a light laugh to hopefully sooth his nerves.
“We have a lot of work to do, but it’s not impossible.” Ness chuckled and gave a reassuring smile.
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The entire afternoon went by scarily quickly, which surprised Isagi as he didn’t even glance at the clock, not even once!
The session mostly consisted of Ness explaining his plan to Isagi, and setting up a schedule for him, which required him to study Math every single day. Isagis face showed significant concern at that, which made Ness let out the sweetest and most innocent giggle, the kind that made Isagi’s heart skip a beat.
Ness then helped Isagi solve some homework problems. Isagi briefly glanced at the clock, then he did a double take.
“Shit!” He hastily got up from his chair.
“What’s wrong?” Ness asked
“I had practice today, I totally forgot!”
“Practice?”
“Yeah, I play for that football club near the train station.” Isagi blurted out quickly, so quickly in fact, that if Ness wasn’t paying attention, he would’ve missed it entirely.
“Well, I’m supposed to get to practice now too, so we can end it here today.” Ness started packing up.
“Thank you so much!” He shoves his belongings into
his bag, then he pauses. “Wait you have practice too?”
“Yeah, I play for the school’s football team.” Ness continues packing his things. Isagis eyes immediately lit up. Him and Ness have a shared interest!
“Wait, you play football too! What position?” Isagi dropped what he was doing and immediately started questioning Ness.
“Midfielder— aren’t you late for practice?” Ness raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, Right! Thanks Ness, Bye!” And Isagi bolted out of the door.
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Sounds of footballs colliding with cleats and a plethora of conversations filled the Blue Lock field. Though all these noises are muffled out in Isagi’s head, as he’s busy trying to solve a problem Ness gave him. It had been a couple weeks since Ness started tutoring him, and every session Isagi was given a couple questions as homework, but none of them were quiet as challenging as this one. He knows solving the problem here won’t work, but every time he closes his eyes, the question lingers on the inside of his eyelids. Just as he’s about to solve the equation (he’s nowhere near solving it), a ball is kicked him in the abdomen and the wind is knocked out of him.
“Focus on practice and stop zoning out.” Rin’s voice is stern. Isagi attempts to reply but all he can do is let out pathetic wheezes and coughs.
“R—Ri—” He gasps out sharply. “What the f—fuck man..” Tears begin forming in his eyes.
“Umm Rin-chan.. we’re supposed to practice passing not kicking.” Bachira says in concern, which is surprising as Isagi was sure he’d burst out laughing.
“Yeah, and…and I’m not a fucking goal post Rin, why did you kick it so hard?” Isagi managed to huff out while catching his breath.
“Whatever,” Rin scoffed. “What’s got you thinking so hard anyways? Doesn’t your entire existence revolve around football?” He passes the ball to Bachira.
“Ooo! I know! It’s that upperclassman he has a crush on at school! Maybe something happened when he was tutoring Isagi~” Bachira teased as he passed the ball to Isagi and Isagi swore he saw Rin wearing a grin, even if it was microscopic.
“No no, nothing happened.” Isagi felt a blush growing on his cheeks. “It’s just that he gave me a problem to solve yesterday and I still haven’t figured it out, and I’m like 99% sure it’s gonna come on the test tomorr—” Isagi gets interrupted by a long and very dramatic groan.
“Oh my god, when did you become such a nerd? You finally have time to hang out with your crush, and all you can do is talk about Math.” Bachira rolls his eyes as he’s passed the ball. Maybe Isagi should be doing more, trying to take initiative, but how? So far, he’s been content with just receiving Ness’s praise, or seeing the glow in Ness’s eyes when he’s able to grasp a concept. But now that Bachira mentions it, he does long for a little bit more, something more intimate, more enjoyable.
Just as Isagi was lost in thought, he subconsciously noticed a foreign ball roll into his vicinity, then a familiar pink vulgarity came to retrieve it, but not before giving his unsolicited advice.
“You’re a pussy.” Shidou laughed at Isagi.
“Okay? Who the hell asked you?” Isagi snapped back.
“I’m just saying man. Bee boy over there’s right, you’ve got a golden opportunity, don’t let it go to waste.” Shidou sighs and looks down.
“Wait… how do you know about this?” Isagi questioned. As far as he’s aware only Rin and Bachira knew.
“Bro, literally everyone knows, you’re so fucking loud when you talk about your little Prince Charming. I’m pretty sure even the coach knows.” Shidou laughs. Isagi glances around and makes eye contact with Chigiri, who just smiles and Shrugs.
“What. Are you serious.” Isagi jaw drops in disbelief and he begins rethinking his life choices while Bachira laughs like a hyena.
“Anyways, why the hell do you look so… sad?” Rin asks Shidou. Now that Isagi takes a closer look, Shidou does look down, maybe his hair isn’t as spiky as it usually is, or his eyeliner isn’t as sharp. Whatever it is, it’s unusual.
“It’s because of your beloved older brother. Why the hell is he ghosting me? We only went on one date and he’s already decided he doesn’t want to see me. He doesn’t even talk to me at school anymore!” Shidou exclaims.
“He told me you wouldn’t stop calling him ‘daddy long lashes’” Rin chuckled lightly before rebuilding his facade when Shidou glared at him.“Oh yeah, and he said he’s interested in someone else.” Rin bluntly stated as he dribbled a ball under his feet.
“What? Who is it? Where do they go? How tall are they? How good looking are they? Are they hotter than me?” Shidou bombarded Rin with a gazillion questions but all Rin could respond with was a shrug.
“I dunno, I think they go to Isagis school though.”
Shidou’s eyes immediately darted towards Isagi.
“Don’t look at me like that, you creep. I am NOT helping you! You called me a pussy!” Isagi started backing away as Shidou approached him with an insincere smile. Before Shidou could do anything though, their coach’s whistle blew and everyone was momentarily distracted.
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The next day, neither of Isagis problems were solved. Not the Ness problem or the nightmares of Calculus. He was tapping his pen restlessly against a notebook, nervously fidgeting with it and clicking it, hoping that somehow this sinking feeling would transfer from his body to the pen. He kept glancing at the clock then back at the problem, stare at it for a couple seconds before losing hope and sighing. Isagi’s test was in two hours and each second made his heart start beating faster and faster, and not in the way Ness makes it feel. Far from it actually. It was like his heart was banging against his ribs, trying to escape his body.
Last night some people in class shared a question in a class group chat. When Isagi tried solving it for himself after practice, he ended up with a negative value for the area. He attempted the question numerous times, reaching a different result every time. After gaslighting himself, and using the ‘it won’t be on the test’ excuse he checked the group chat to see if others were struggling, and lo and behold, no one had any issues solving it, some even going as far as to say a middle schooler could solve it.
Isagi was full in a full blown panic, imagining countless scenarios of impossibly challenging questions which he won’t be able to solve, getting a 20%, only to add to the surplus of failing tests shoved in his bottom drawer. Worse than the 20% though, he was imagining Ness’ face, a look of anger or disappointment. Wait, now that he thinks about it.. he can’t even imagine an angry Ness. Ness is too caring and sweet, or maybe he’s one of those people who smiles even when they're mad. Yeah, Isagi can definitely imagine a passive aggressive Ness. Just thinking about Ness makes Isagi miss him, it’s only been 2 days since they last spoke, but Isagi searches for him every second he gets, hoping to get a quick hello in between classes.
Isagi makes the decision to cash in his daily greeting with Ness and asks to go to the bathroom, to which his teacher reluctantly accepts. His feet lead him to Ness’ class, as he comes up with an excuse to see him. He’s aware the senior get free periods to study, so he’s hoping to ask Ness about that dreaded question from the group chat. He steps into the class hoping to see his magenta haired upperclassman, only to be met with emptiness.
He looks around the class confused, then in the hall. It’s all empty. Strange. A familiar Harry Potter keychain stuck out from the endless bags scattered across the class. As he approached it, he spotted a notepad with a pen on the table. Quickly jotting down the question and sketching a wonky graph he shoves the paper into Ness’ bag, but another paper falls out in exchange. He picks it up and begins reading.
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Dear Michael,
Still wondering who I am? Well, you’ll have to keep wondering a little longer… maybe until I somehow muster up the courage to say things I would never dare say out loud. Until then, you’ll have to bear with me. Regardless, I know you love dissecting these letters, with all these emotions, words and feelings in them. So, I’ll give you all the emotions you could desire, on this one flimsy piece of paper.
I caught you at the library the other day, which is surprising. You act like you’re above anything school or studying, but there you were, engrossed in a book, paying no mind to anyone walking by or staring. You carefreely sat, sometimes amused, intrigued or even guilted. It was nice to know that even the almighty emperor of the school has to put down his crown once in a while, and it was interesting to witness it myself. Everyone at school praises your bold blue hair, striking personality that commands the whole room, but what I admire the most is what lies past your blue rat tails and regal aura.
Those raw moments, where you let down the mask, and just exist, they draw me in, keep me hooked. It’s like getting a glimpse behind the curtains, and it’s always better than the show you put on for the school. You may think you’ve fooled the campus, but some of us are more observant than we lead on.
It’s laughable really, knowing so much about a person, their mannerisms, personality, preferences, and yet, the thought of telling them how you feel makes you chest pang, not in the typical lovestruck way. It’s in the anxiety inducing way you feel before an important exam. It must be the worry of ruining everything, of changing whatever it is that we have, this special connection I worked so hard to curiate.
After all this time, all these weeks of sending you these letters, I still couldn't keep these thoughts to myself. Just know that someone out there sees more than just the “emperor of the school.” And that someone thinks the real side of you can be extraordinarily beautiful.
The one who knows you better than you think,
Your secret admirer ♡
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There was no mistaking it. This was a love letter, which was obviously (maybe only to Isagi) written by Ness. Even though Ness changed his handwriting, making it appear more sophisticated, elongated, Isagi could identify the way his T’s and L’s rounded out the in a very peculiar and identifiable manner, or the fact that he dots his i’s with a tiny circle instead of a dot. Probably the most dead giveaway however, was the maroon ink Ness uses to correct Isagis work. Isagi could recognize it anywhere.
He was competing with Michael. Michael Kaiser. The Michael Kaiser. The emperor of the school. Not only was he the most attractive, but he was athletic, tall and confident. And to add insult to injury, Kaiser was already good friends with Ness. They had a better relationship than Isagi and Ness, and Kaiser was already receiving Ness’ passes!
Isagi stood motionless in the center of the class, trying to absorb the tremendous amount of information he received from that tiny godforsaken piece of paper, but then the classroom door swung open abruptly.
And in walked… Kaiser.
Isagi unscrambled his thoughts and hid the paper behind his back, hoping Kaiser wouldn’t notice. Grinning, Kaiser raised an eyebrow and headed towards Isagi.
“S-Sorry, I needed feedback from Ness for a test.” Isagi stuttered, hoping Kaiser would buy the excuse.
“Oh? Did you flunk a test? I figured Ness's tutoring wouldn't do any good for you. Did he just spend the whole time praising you? Or did you manage to somehow make him do all the work?” Kaiser teased, as Isagi rolled his eyes.
"Oh, so you're the expert now, huh? Yeah, he praised me, because I deserve it. Sounds like you don't get a lot of praise from him. Are you projecting, Kaiser?" Isagi clapped back.
“Well…you certainly talk a lot for someone who has an IQ of 30. And I don’t need praise from anyone, because I am not a dog,” Kaiser looked down towards his student ID, “Yoichi.”
“Do you enjoy disturbing my peace?” A sigh escapes Isagi’s mouth.
“Yoichi, you’re the one who came into my class, and now you’re insulting me.” Kaiser leaned towards Isagi, decreasing their distance to an uncomfortable amount.
“What? Are you fucking insane? I was just waiting for Ness and you started insulting me?!” Isagi cringed as his voice cracked. He wasn’t good with proximity.
“Is that anyway to speak to your senior? You should have a little respect for your King.” The distance between the two boys was approaching dangerous levels.
“Respect? You’ve got to earn that Kaiser. You’re no King, more like a naked emperor who’s about to lose his thro—” a sharp gasp escaped Isagi’s mouth, as the paper behind his back was snatched. Kaiser teasingly looked at a horrified Isagi. But as he read the letter, his eyes widened and he looked up at Isagi.
“You’re my admirer!?” Kaiser questioned.
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