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1.
It starts on the field, like most things tend to do.
The intense match against Manshine City has just ended with Yukimiya’s goal. Isagi feels his state of ‘flow’ dissipating as he recalls the last 45 minutes of the match. His newly acquired ‘metavision’ will need to be improved on for one thing.
His assist to Yukimiya was a plan B in the very likely case that Kaiser would come to try to stop him from scoring.
In that moment, Isagi knew that he had caught Kaiser off guard. So what if the guy was a stupid genius? He may not be able to beat him in a straight-up duel yet, but he sure as hell wasn’t losing in a battle of wits. The successful de-throning of his ultimate rival brings a smug smirk to Isagi’s face.
His mouth settles into a more pleasant smile as he remembers Yukimiya’s impressive goal. He could sense that the brunet was struggling internally during the match, but his ego shone through at the very end. It was partly for Yukimiya’s sake, but it was also convenient in beating Kaiser as a playmaker. Basically, it was a way to kill two birds with one stone.
He brings the collar of his shirt up to wipe some of the sweat off his face. A stab of pain courses through his head, and he struggles a little to stop himself from stumbling on the spot. Scowling at the ground, Isagi focused his attention on a patch of uneven fake grass. He figures that the intensity of the match took a toll on his body, which wasn’t particularly surprising, all things considered.
He also feels a tiny bit apologetic at how he goaded Yukimiya, trying to push his buttons.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thinks about how he does the same with Kaiser, yet he has never felt the need to apologise for it. But he guesses that being friends with Yukimiya makes that much of a difference.
Isagi looks up to see the man in question walking towards him. They both look at each other in silence for a small moment before their mouths open at the same time.
“Sorry.”
“Sorry.”
Isagi’s eyes widen slightly in mute surprise. It’s true that Yukimiya made some rude comments earlier, but in all honesty, Isagi feels like he probably deserved it.
He explains his thought process behind the last play and his plan to use a hidden trump card to destroy Kaiser. He feels quite proud of himself for being able to outsmart Kaiser, and that feeling only grows as he observes Yukimiya’s impressed and shocked expression.
Yukimiya sends him a grin, which Isagi matches. Coming down from the high of the match, Isagi feels a spike of exhaustion run through his body. He was glad that he got to clear things up with Yukimiya. He knew that he could get a bit carried away on the field, but at the end of the day, he loved all his friends and wouldn’t want to be on actual bad terms with any of them.
His happiness, however, is short-lived as he hears the annoying bark of a certain German’s pet dog. He turns around and sure enough, Alexis Ness was walking towards the two Japanese boys while passionately complaining about Isagi’s, truth be told, excellent assist.
“Stop trying to justify your pitiful assist with logic, you useless, pathetic, loser!”
Isagi attempts to stifle a tired sigh. His head feels heavy, which he suspects is from overusing his new metavision ability. It was tiring to keep it up during the match, and he hasn’t used it enough yet. He also knew that he couldn’t see as much as Kaiser could. The thought almost makes him huff. He’ll improve his metavision and become the best striker in the world, surpassing and devouring everyone in his way.
“Looks like Kaiser’s stupid lackey couldn’t understand my last play. Should I dumb it down for you, little boy?” Isagi says with the coldest expression he can muster, even while his surroundings become blurrier every second.
Ness’ face contorts in rage, and he shouts out, “Shut up..!” His voice rising a few octaves higher. “Just shut the hell—“
His incessant nagging gets cut off by a voice ten times more annoying and that much more dreamy—
…Isagi really needs to get some sleep since his thoughts seem to have been possessed by an otherworldly being. He looks up to see Michael Kaiser, who was definitely not there a second ago. He didn’t even notice him approaching.
He doesn’t exactly catch the words that come out of Kaiser’s mouth; instead, he follows the shape of the man’s lips as he says them. He can’t make a single one out. No shit, Isagi, he’s speaking German.
Kaiser starts talking about something that escapes Isagi’s ears. All he can hear is the lull of his voice (soft but rough at the same time, like tumultuous waves crashing on the shore) and a ringing in the distance. Wait, ringing?
He blinks a few times to bring himself back to the current moment. He tunes back in to catch the last of Kaiser’s words.
“We’re both strikers,” Kaiser levels him with a deadly gaze, but Isagi can see a mischievous grin forming. “Let’s see who scores the most goals, sweetheart.” His honeyed voice was dripping with sarcasm as his smirk turned condescending.
Isagi thinks he misheard at first, considering how he felt like he was underwater — or maybe the translator misunderstood Yoichi as whatever sweetheart was in German — but as he stares blankly at Kaiser’s proud face with an eyebrow raised at Isagi in a silent challenge, he realises that Kaiser was trying yet again to grate on his nerves. He decides that he won’t give him the satisfaction of feeling like he’s won this new game of his, so he scoffs and opens his mouth to make a snarky retort, or an equally teasing comment, but no sound escapes. Instead, he feels himself stumble forward, and he prepares to make out with the same patch of grass he was staring down earlier.
Except — his face doesn’t meet the ground. He feels a hand grasp at his hair, and he hears that oceanic voice, which is no more than a distant mumble to Isagi right now. His eyelids flutter closed, and he allows himself to be dragged into unconsciousness.
Fuck you, Kaiser… I’ll play your game, and I’ll win.. Isagi thinks with annoyance as darkness envelops him.
2.
Isagi dribbles a ball absentmindedly in the empty training field.
It’s 11 pm — everyone else was asleep in their shared dorm rooms, but Isagi couldn’t help but feel a little restless. He wasn’t sure what was bothering him exactly. It’s been a few days since the Manshine match, and since then, he has been thinking of ways to improve his skills with the ball. And most importantly, his metavision. He needs to grasp a complete understanding of the field and keep track of everyone’s current and predicted actions and positions.
The quiet was comforting in a way. The only sound filling the room was the gliding of the Blue Lock football against the fake grass and Isagi’s heavy footsteps echoing against the stale, grey-white walls.
As much as he doesn’t want to admit it, football isn’t the only thing stuck on his mind. Kaiser’s… ‘challenge’ was replaying in his memories. At the time, he was consumed by fatigue and didn’t really process what was happening. Now, he’s tackling this problem with a clear mind. Or, well, as clear as it can be.
That’s the problem; his mind feels anything but clear when he thinks about that sickeningly sweet pet name. Isagi can feel frustration rise inside of him, and he lets out a loud groan. It’s clear that Kaiser was trying to get a reaction out of him. Well, jokes on him because Isagi feels completely unaffected by that exchange. He proudly remembers his own stoic countenance upon hearing the disgraceful word from Kaiser’s lips (albeit his head was spinning, and he fainted about ten seconds later), and he reinforces his belief that he would simply play him at his own game and win while he was at it.
Isagi didn’t really know what constituted winning, but he thought it would be funny to get back at Kaiser and possibly see him flustered, if that’s even possible. With a determined glint in his eyes, he kicks the ball.
The ball shoots into the net with much more force than necessary, but Isagi didn’t care. He was completely immersed in his thoughts, too distracted by the different pet names swirling around his head and trying to decide which one to use on Kaiser, that he didn’t notice the tell-tale click of the door opening or the figure that entered the room.
Isagi briefly wonders which pet name Kaiser would like the most. Surely he’s had a girlfriend before, right? With a face like that, it wouldn’t be surprising. What did she call him?
Images flash through Isagi’s head. Kaiser getting teased by a girl, Kaiser blushing furiously over something like a pet name, it all seemed impossible, and Isagi laughs a little as he turns around and sees—
Kaiser, who is standing by the door. The door that is currently slowly closing behind him. Isagi plasters on his usual annoyed frown and turns his body away from him.
“Yoichi~ not even a hello? Is that any way to greet your rival?” Isagi could hear footsteps approaching him. “We’re competitors now, aren’t we?”
“I’m busy, Kaiser, not now.”
“It’s past curfew, y’know.”
“What are you doing here then?” Isagi says as he walks forward to retrieve the ball, which was resting inside the net.
“Couldn’t sleep,” Kaiser replies. “Thought I’d might as well get some practice in.”
Isagi pauses in front of the abandoned ball. An uneasy feeling crept up inside him, though he couldn’t decipher it. Kaiser’s reply was straightforward. Honest. He half expected him to dodge the question or make some sarcastic comment. Now that he thinks about it, he realises with a jolt that he and Kaiser rarely talk off-field. Actually, this might even be the first time they’re talking normally like this. For some odd reason, Isagi wants to keep this conversation going.
“Me neither,” Isagi says as he reaches for the ball and brings it into his arms. “Besides, I have to improve as quick as possible so I can devour you, right?”
“I’d love to see you try, Yoichi,” Kaiser says, sounding much closer than before, Isagi notes.
“Don’t get too comfortable at the top, you never know when someone like me is coming to knock you down,” Isagi replies with a huff.
It’s silent for a moment, but then—
“I’ll be waiting,” Kaiser says, and his voice sounds strangely loud, almost like it’s right beside his ear. Isagi’s suspicions are confirmed when he feels a puff of breath against the side of his neck.
Startled, he whirls around and comes face to face with light blue eyes, enunciated by the tattooed red eyeliner that makes the blue colour stand out. Kaiser’s lips are curved in the all too familiar smirk that adorns his features like a permanent aspect of his appearance.
They’re close. Too close.
When did he get so close?
Looking up at him from here, Isagi can see the flutter of his eyelashes and his porcelain skin in detail.
Like breaking out of a trance, Isagi clumsily steps backwards and sends Kaiser an irritated look. Kaiser just tilts his head and smiles at him innocently.
Isagi rolls his eyes in mock annoyance and stares up at Kaiser (from a reasonable distance). He’s hit with the same urge from earlier to keep the conversation going.
“Do you always come here when you can’t sleep?”
Kaiser’s smile falters, and his eyes are a mixture of confusion and something unreadable. Almost like that’s the last thing he’d expected Isagi to say. Even Isagi was slightly confused. He didn’t expect to care about something like that, but he found himself wanting to know the answer.
Kaiser recovers hastily, a tight smile forming on his face. “Yeah, if I can’t sleep anyway, then I might as well make good use of my time.”
He looks at the football in Isagi’s hands, and a complicated expression flickers across his face. He seems to consider his next words carefully. “And… sometimes, I like to visit an old friend at night.”
Isagi isn’t sure what he means by that. Old friend? His thoughts get interrupted before he can think too much about it.
“So, Yoichi, are you gonna let me have that ball anytime soon?”
Isagi’s look of confusion is quickly replaced by a devious grin. He’s feeling the same way now as he usually does when he smells a goal, and being the egoist that he is, he’ll take whatever opportunity he gets to score.
“Sorry, dear,” he says, throwing the ball at Kaiser’s feet and proceeding to make deliberate eye contact with the blond.
He says it more like a joke than an actual insult. A light jab, if anything.
He expects Kaiser to get annoyed and talk back, but a few seconds pass in silence.
Isagi has to stop himself from laughing upon seeing the look on the other man’s face — Kaiser’s eyes are wide in faint surprise, and his mouth is slightly parted. His ears looked a little red, and he glances from the ball, which came to a stop in front of him, to Isagi, then back to the ball again. His mouth starts to move, but no words come out.
He quickly snaps out of it and his usual smirk is in place yet again, though it looked a little more forced than before. His brows furrow in slight disdain. Isagi sees it as a victory. Pride swells in his chest and he leaves without looking back.
3.
“Hey, Isagi, your plays on the field are really amazing, ya know?”
“It’s really nothing special,” Isagi says as he lightly bumps his shoulders against Hiori’s. “I’m just putting a few different things together.”
Isagi takes a long gulp of his water and leans his head against the cool wall behind him. Hiori’s beside him, scrolling on social media. He peers an eye at his screen and sure enough, there’s a video playing of Isagi’s recent goal at the end of the match against Ubers.
“We really make a great team,” Isagi says. He closes his eyes and listens to the white noise of chatter around him. The entire German stratum has been training together for the upcoming match against PXG. It’s been devolving into pure chaos, seeing as Kaiser seems extra pissed off lately and Ness looks at Isagi like he wants to place a deadly curse on him. Sometimes, he dreams of Ness stabbing pins into a plush version of Isagi while laughing hysterically. A chill runs down his spine.
“We sure do,” Hiori says, his voice coming out clear against the drone of murmurs scattered throughout the training field. “But don’t forget I won’t hesitate to discard ya if ya can’t keep up with my passes, Ace Striker.” Hiori flashes a smile, and Isagi is reminded of just how sadistic this guy is.
“What’s up, up?” A new voice stands out against the background, and the two boys sitting on the floor look up with a smile at the approaching Kurona.
“I’m tellin’ Isagi how amazing he is,” Hiori says. “He even won that lil’ bet he had going on with Kaiser.”
Isagi grimaces as he recalls Kaiser’s icy-hot glare on him in the locker room after the match. But he still felt extremely triumphant at having scored more goals than Kaiser. Who’s the best striker now, huh?
“Yeah, the guy’s been in a mood lately, even Noel Noa’s telling him off, off,” Kurona says as he plops down on the other side of Isagi.
“He got what he deserved; he’s the one who made the bet in the first place,” came Hiori’s reply. He puts his phone away and stretches his legs in front of him.
Isagi sighs in defeat. He’s not wrong, he thinks. But…
Suddenly, Isagi feels two pairs of eyes on him. He glances at his friends on either side of him with his eyebrows raised in question. “What’s with those looks?”
Hiori and Kurona share a look, and Isagi gets a sense of foreboding as he looks between his friends. They regard him with a deadpan stare, and Isagi suddenly feels like he’s 9 years old again, getting caught by his parents with his hands in the cookie jar. He exhales a short puff of breath through his nose and runs his hands along the fake grass beneath his feet.
“Look, I just think you two should cut him some slack. He’s way too full of himself, yes — but he was also on that throne of his for a long time, with nothing threatening his position until now,” Isagi explains, avoiding eye contact with everyone. “I’d be mad too if I were him. Geniuses like him have it easy, so defeat hits even harder for them.”
The silence stretches on around him for one, two, three seconds. All that could be heard was the consistent chatter from various conversations in the training field. After the silence continues for an uncomfortable period of time, Isagi holds his breath and looks up at Hiori and Kurona’s shocked faces. They blink at him with a mixture of emotions: confusion, surprise, and… amusement?
Isagi could feel his face heat up, and a strange feeling rose up within him. The uneasiness makes him recall that night in the training room when he ran into Kaiser. Fuck, why was he even thinking about this?
“Hey… are ya really Isagi Yoichi?” Hiori looks like he’s enjoying this whole situation immensely. It does nothing to quell Isagi’s growing embarrassment as he thinks about what he said.
“It’s nice of you to defend your rival like that,” Kurona says, lips curled into a smug smile. “Guess you don’t hate him like we thought you did, did.”
“Shut up…” Isagi says rather unconvincingly, and glares at the two offenders beside him. “He’s not that bad.” Sometimes, he thinks as an afterthought. He immediately regrets admitting this out loud when Hiori and Kurona lose all reservations and remaining politeness, instead opting to burst into a fit of laughter. Isagi wonders how much it would cost to rent out his own private island, where he can just hide forever. Ah, what a nice dream.
A new voice cuts through the background noise, stopping all three boys in their tracks. Isagi didn’t have to look up; he already knew who it was. Only one person has a voice that sounds like the ocean through a rough but beautiful seashell. No — seriously, just what is he thinking about right now?
Isagi tries to shut off his thoughts and lifts his head to peer at the new face. That private island has never sounded more appealing. To make matters worse, his friends were grinning between the two like idiots. They’ve both adopted this knowing look. Isagi really didn’t understand.
Kaiser stood in front of the three with an inscrutable countenance. His gaze sweeps over them, but Isagi doesn’t miss how his sky blue eyes linger on Isagi’s deep blue ones for just a moment longer.
Contrary to popular belief, Isagi didn’t hate Michael Kaiser. It’s more accurate to say that Kaiser just rubbed Isagi the wrong way, and they both can’t help but annoy each other in an attempt to one-up the other. But Isagi likes competing with him on the field and seeing how much he himself has improved as a striker by devouring those with a higher skill level than him. He views Kaiser as a worthy rival and a wall to overcome in his goal of becoming the greatest striker in Japan.
However, Isagi doesn’t know much about Kaiser as a person. Sometimes, he thinks that — under different circumstances, perhaps they could have been friends. He continues this line of thinking as he looks at Kaiser in front of him, wanting to catch his eye again, wanting to know him. The real Michael Kaiser. Obviously, he does not voice any of this; instead, he frowns and remedies his curious gaze into a glare.
This is how it is, and how it will be until the end of the NEL, a fierce competitiveness that stemmed from admiration and a determination to get better. A small voice in the back of his head whispers that maybe it doesn’t always have to be this way.
Isagi mentally shakes himself out of it before the silence stretches on for too long, seeing as Hiori and Kurona are making no moves to break it.
“Kaiser,” Isagi says, clearing his throat. “What do you want?”
Kaiser’s eyes meet Isagi’s once again, and he tenses up a little before easing back into that signature smirk. Isagi wonders what his real smile looks like.
“Yoichi, you may have scored one more goal than me in the last match, but don’t think this means you’ve won,” Kaiser says in a demeaning, almost childish tone. “Next match, we’ll see who is truly the clown in this story.”
Isagi’s face breaks out in a ferocious grin. “Prepare to lose again, shitty Kaiser, don’t get so down in the dumps next time.”
Kaiser’s eyes light up with determination and a cold confidence that makes Isagi recoil a bit in awe.
“Whatever you say, darling,” Kaiser lets out a soft chuckle as he turns to walk back towards Ness.
Isagi freezes, and his head momentarily goes blank until he remembers the ‘game’ they’re playing. It doesn’t help; his face starts to heat up instead.
The thing is — this time feels different to when Kaiser called him ‘sweetheart’, or when Isagi retaliated by calling him ‘dear’. It wasn’t laced with sarcasm or dripping with condescension. It had no malice behind it; it felt… genuine. Like a promise.
Isagi pushes down the flustered feelings in his gut and rolls his eyes with an annoyed huff. “Fucker,” he whispers under his breath.
Finally, Isagi looks around and meets the wide eyes of his friends yet again. This time, Isagi is the one who doubles over in laughter.
4.
Before he knew it, Isagi and the other players from Blue Lock were gathered in the monitor room to watch the 7th and 8th matches to prepare for the final match of the NEL against PXG the next day.
The matches passed in a blur of observation and strategisation. Isagi made sure to mentally take notes on the players and team dynamics of PXG until he could figure out a way to counter every single one of them.
Tomorrow, he would finally play against his Blue Lock rival, the number one of the NEL, his friend, and the one he desperately needs to surpass to move forward as the best striker in Japan: Itoshi Rin.
He studied Rin’s plays closely and came up with all the possible ways to defeat him. All in all, Isagi was feeling pretty confident. He watched as the results came out and Rin’s bidding rose impossibly higher, but that was fine. It just meant that the threshold of what he had to surpass in the next match increased that much more.
Noel Noa walked in to conduct the final strategy meeting, which went on for quite some time and ended with a few encouraging words from Ego Jinpachi.
There are still thirty minutes before curfew. Isagi thinks. He decides to stay for a while longer to rewatch the last two matches in case there was something he missed. He stretches a leg out until he reaches the remote and kicks it towards himself. He holds it in his hand as he waits for everyone else to leave the room.
The Blue Lock players were slowly filtering out until it was only Hiori and Isagi left in the monitor room.
Hiori’s footsteps pause just before the doorway, and for a second, the monitor room is filled with silence. Isagi can feel Hiori’s gaze on his back, and he turns his head slightly to glance at him. He jumps a little when he meets Hiori’s eyes. There’s a conflicted expression on his face that’s gone so soon that Isagi thinks he’s imagined it. He blinks a few times in confusion. Has Hiori ever hesitated before talking to him?
“Hio—”
“I’m curious about something, Isagi,” Hiori says, with a mischievous glint in his eye. He crosses his arms and leans his body against the door frame, eyeing Isagi with a grin.
Isagi gets the feeling that he won’t like where this conversation is headed. He feels a little nervous as he thinks about what Hiori could possibly be curious about. Something to do with Isagi’s improving football skills? Or perhaps the game tomorrow? His head fills with various possibilities, and he runs through the different scenarios, but fails to think of anything. His thoughts are interrupted when Hiori’s voice breaks through to ask—
“Are you and Kaiser dating?”
Isagi blinks once. Twice. Three times. He stares at Hiori with a dumbfounded look, as he feels his face heating up. Hiori just narrows his eyes at him, looking completely serious. Isagi can’t believe this, but he doesn’t know what to think as he looks at the sincere expression on the other boy’s face.
“Wh-what? Of course not! Why in the world would you think that?”
“Y’all aren’t together? Seriously?
“No! What is this, all of a sudden?” Isagi knows he’s blushing like crazy, which probably isn’t helping in his current situation. He fiddles with the remote in his hands and turns away from Hiori, fixing his gaze on the floor in front of him.
“He called you ‘darling’ the other day!” Hiori repeats the term of endearment that has been haunting Isagi’s mind ever since he heard it, with an incredulous tone. Like the word itself is disturbing to say. Isagi manages to put two and two together and figure out what the misunderstanding here was.
“You’ve got it all wrong, Hiori, he’s just trying to get under my skin like usual,” Isagi says as he turns back to meet his eyes. Unfortunately for Isagi, the ultrasadist looks entirely unconvinced. To make matters worse, he’s got a mirthful look on his face, like this is the most entertainment he’s ever had.
“If ya say so,” Hiori pushes himself off the door frame and raises his hand in a wave. “Don’t stay up too late.”
Isagi watches as Hiori finally leaves the room, and when the door shuts behind him, he lets out a long sigh. Dating? He and Kaiser? Yeah, right, he’d rather lose against Rin than date an annoying guy like him. The suggestion itself is unrealistic and absolutely ludicrous. He’s never even thought about dating Kaiser, or hugging him, or waking up to the sight of blue-tinged blond in the morning. He definitely has not thought about running to him after scoring a goal and kissing him until the cheers and applause fade away, and nothing but the feeling of Kaiser against his lips remains. Definitely not. That’d be crazy, of course.
Isagi shakes himself out of his thoughts and turns the screen on to the last game that PXG played. A few minutes pass by, but Isagi can’t concentrate at all. Instead, his lovely brain keeps reminding him of what Hiori said.
“He called you ‘darling’!”
I know, that’s the problem, Isagi thinks to himself. These affectionate nicknames are messing with his head. He quietly reminds himself that their pet names aren’t actually used as terms of endearment. Rather, it’s the complete opposite. It’s a calculated insult — sarcastic spins on nicknames that are generally considered romantic, except neither of them actually harbours any feelings of that degree towards each other.
He focuses on that, and not on the fact that it’s nice to hear someone call him something sweet like that. That it’s nice to hear Kaiser call him that, in that alluring voice of his, his gaze directed at Isagi like he’s the single most interesting person in the world. He feels a warm heat building in his stomach, and his blush growing deeper. Isagi groans loudly and throws the remote to the side. He slumps backwards to lie against the floor and glares at the ceiling like it’s personally wronged him. Why is he thinking so much about this anyway? It’s not like he cares, right?
He gets little time to lament over his Kaiser-related problems when the sound of the door opening catches his attention. Isagi figures it’s probably Hiori coming back because he forgot something. Flashbacks of their last conversation filter through the forefront of his mind, and embarrassment bubbles up in his gut. He decides that he couldn’t risk talking to Hiori again, so he closes his eyes and pretends to be asleep instead.
He can hear the sound of someone drawing closer to him and a muttered word under their breath, too quiet to make out.
A few seconds tick by before the sound of the monitor screens playing previous PXG matches suddenly comes to a stop. In confusion, Isagi opens his eyes and lifts his head to see what exactly Hiori was doing.
Except — it’s not Hiori’s eyes he meets. It’s a different shade of blue, like the sky in the summer. He stares dumbfounded for the second time that day until he spots the remote in Kaiser’s hand. Isagi scowls at him and makes a half-hearted attempt to reach for it. To no one’s surprise, Kaiser moves his hand out of reach and waves it around in the air with a smirk on that annoying face of his.
Looking at him, Isagi can’t help but notice that his features look more relaxed now. It’s completely different from a few days ago. Now, it appears that he’s back to that cocky, confident asshole again. It makes Isagi feel happy, and he tells himself it’s because he needs Kaiser to be at full power when he devours him on the field. Deep down, he knows it’s more than that, but he didn’t feel ready to face that fact just yet.
Isagi raises an eyebrow at Kaiser, and the blond huffs a small laugh before throwing the remote in Isagi’s lap. Isagi stares down at it distractedly. Distantly, he wonders what the other man is even doing here. Everyone knew that Noa was talking to the Blue Lock players today, so does that mean Kaiser came to see him specifically? Isagi shakes that thought off; he didn’t want to get his hopes up.
“It’s almost curfew, Yoichi,” Kaiser says, effectively breaking the silence. Isagi looks back up at him and immediately regrets it. His eyes are soft as he smiles in a manner that seems almost… comfortable. Isagi is taken aback for a second. He stares breathlessly at the genuine-looking smile on Kaiser’s lips and finds himself smiling too.
Kaiser’s eyes widen by a fraction as the tips of his ears turn red, and he quickly looks off to the side, finding great newfound interest in the blank monitor screen. Cute.
“What are you even doing here, Kaiser?”
“I had a feeling that you’d be here even though the meeting ended already” Kaiser looks hesitant, but continues talking, “It’s the final showdown tomorrow, I can’t have you overheating and fainting again.”
Is Kaiser… worried about him? Isagi stares at the side of his face in disbelief. His heart is racing, and he feels a blush creeping up on his neck. His thoughts go into overdrive and jumble together in his head. He blames this for what comes out of his mouth next.
“Right… Thanks, love,” Isagi responds in a daze, then instantly stiffens.
Wait.
What?
Kaiser’s head snaps back to Isagi. His lips are parted in vague shock, the blush on his ears now travelling across his entire face. He looks confused, and frankly, so is Isagi.
He hadn’t meant to say that. He didn’t even mean to thank him in the first place. Their terms of endearment aren’t supposed to be used like this. The fact that Isagi said it without thinking makes it even worse. It feels too casual — almost romantic.
Isagi internally panics. He considers playing it off as a joke, but he finds that he can’t bring himself to say anything.
Fuck.
Today must be his lucky day, though. He thanks every god when Kaiser just laughs at him and makes for the door.
“You won’t be so sarcastic when I bring you down from the top tomorrow, little Yoichi.”
He has never felt so relieved in his life.
5.
If you had told Isagi a few weeks ago that he’d be suggesting to Kaiser to team up with him, he would’ve laughed in your face, but here he is now doing just that.
It feels like making a contract with the devil — he’s crossing into dangerous territory, but the only thing on his mind is defeating Itoshi Rin. His resolve bleeds into the rest of the team, and he feels the entire field heating up.
He feels euphoric as he weaves across the field with ease. He’s vaguely aware of how well he and Kaiser are syncing up — they move past PXG without even sparing the other a glance, instead relying on metavision and feeling.
Time slows to a stop as Isagi approaches the goal. He knows Kaiser is close behind, but turns to glance at him anyway. He doesn’t know what he’s expecting to see, but Kaiser keeps looking ahead. He’s clearly deep in the ‘flow’ state, and weirdly, Isagi can’t look away. He knows where the ball is — knows where to go, where everyone on the field is, and he knows how to score the next goal. He doesn’t need to look at any of it; he’ll snatch the winning goal.
So, he keeps looking at Kaiser. He watches him move almost desperately. Isagi gets the feeling that Kaiser realised something during the match. His movements changed completely over the course of the game. Like he found his ego.
The ball flies over to Ness of all people. Isagi knew what to do.
“GOOOOOAL!!”
Cheers and applause erupt throughout the stadium. Everything feels like it’s moving in slow motion. Isagi can hear his heartbeat in his ears like a crazed drum solo. His friends run over to him in celebration, and he thinks he could live in this moment for the rest of his life.
After a while — when everything’s calmed down — Isagi approaches Kaiser, who’s kneeling on the ground, looking utterly defeated. He wonders if he and Ness will overcome this. Isagi believed in Ness’ evolution, and because of that, he managed to win.
A part of him feels sorry for Kaiser. There must be a reason for his inability to trust or believe in others fully. He doesn’t dwell too much on it, though.
Isagi knows Kaiser is pissed, but he’s on a high right now — the sensation of victory against him and Rin coursing through every part of his blood.
“Thanks for your hard fucking work, my finest clown,” Isagi says to Kaiser, hand outstretched. He doesn’t expect him to take it, obviously, and he isn’t surprised when it gets smacked away.
“You… You’re really something else, Yoichi.”
Isagi can’t see what expression is on his rival’s face, his hair covering his features as he stares down at the ground. Unexpectedly, Kaiser lets out a weak laugh.
“Fuck you,” he says, though it has little bite behind it, only a flame of unnerving rage — strangely, it doesn’t feel like it’s directed towards him. “Why did I…”
He trails off, and Isagi watches as he clenches his fists against the fake grass. Something inside him wants to reach out to Kaiser, who looks smaller than ever on the ground in front of him. He knows any gesture now would be unwelcome, so instead, he decides to leave him alone to think as he walks towards the screen showing the final rankings.
Isagi doesn’t make it a step inside the locker room before he’s swarmed with hugs and claps on the back. He feels slightly conflicted as he thinks back to Nagi’s departure, but looking at the smiling faces of Bastard Munchen, he decides to focus on the present for now.
“Isagi! That goal was amazing.”
“I’m very impressed.”
“It was exhilarating just to watch ya.”
“Hey, social media’s blowing up, up.”
Isagi chuckles and feels a little bashful at all the praise. After coming down from the high of the match, his body and mind are worn out. His emotions also regulate themselves a little — he finds himself wondering how Kaiser is doing.
Looking around, he spots the blond in the corner of the locker room staring at the ceiling. He moves towards him but gets stopped by one of the German members.
“We’re hosting a celebratory party tonight since all the teams are leaving soon. Everyone’s invited, including the other stratums. Hope to see you there, Neo Egoist,” he says with a pat on the shoulder.
Isagi nods with a smile. The mention of the party sets everyone off into an excited buzz. Isagi takes this chance while the room is distracted to walk towards Kaiser. He realises that Ness isn’t around. He feels a little worried; despite everything, Ness is the only friend (if he can call it that) that Kaiser has. For some odd reason, Isagi finds that he doesn’t want him to feel like he’s alone.
Kaiser doesn’t even notice Isagi in front of him, looking lost in thought. He has a broken look on his face that makes Isagi’s stomach twist. He wants to wipe it off and replace it with that smile he saw yesterday.
“Kaiser.” Isagi waves a hand in front of his face, which seems to do the trick as Kaiser meets his eye.
“What, you here to gloat?” Kaiser scoffs and hardens his expression into something cold.
Isagi stays silent, suddenly at a loss for words. He doubts Kaiser wants to talk to him at all, let alone let him cheer him up. Isagi slaps himself internally. How could he cheer him up? The blond hates his guts after all, and that defeat he suffered earlier did no favours for him.
A complicated expression flickers across Kaiser’s face, but it’s gone in an instant. He runs a hand through his hair as he contemplates saying something. After what feels like an eternity, he comes to a decision and looks Isagi right in the eyes.
“The reason I lost was because of me. I have nobody to blame but myself,” Kaiser says with a sour expression, as if it were hard to admit.
Isagi didn’t know how to respond. He couldn’t believe the Kaiser was admitting defeat like this. Before, he suspected that Kaiser had discovered something about his ego during the match, but now he’s sure of it. He feels a little out of his element as he gazes at Kaiser’s tired eyes, his mouth stretched into a frown. He wants to run his thumb across his cheek and smooth out the lines under his eyes.
“I—” Isagi makes to say something, anything, but promptly gets cut off.
“Stop. I don’t want to hear it.”
You don’t even know what I was going to say, Isagi thinks with a bitter smile, though he supposes he doesn’t know himself either. Kaiser narrows his eyes at him. He seems distracted, like he’s looking through him instead. He brings his hand up to his hair as his lips twitch into a wry grin.
“You won, baby, enjoy it,” Kaiser sighs, before freezing. His hand pauses in the air, and an abundance of emotions flit across his face before eventually settling on horror.
Isagi feels as if the world has stopped completely. Something in his chest flutters frantically, and he fights the blush that’s threatening to sprawl across his face. His head is spinning a little, and he feels extremely light. He can barely breathe, or think, or even process anything that’s happening around him. He doesn’t even notice that the room has gone deathly quiet. He barely registers it as Kaiser stands up abruptly and flees the locker room in a flash, with one of the German players following closely behind him.
It’s just — well, nobody’s ever called him baby before. He’s never had a girlfriend, so hearing something so affectionate as that word directed towards him with such softness made him feel dizzy. He knew he was blushing badly if the heat on his face was anything to go by.
Everything was silent for a few minutes; the other players of Bastard Munchen stood still, afraid to even breathe too loudly. Isagi eventually snapped out of his trance and noticed that nobody else was saying anything.
“What the fuck,” he says, looking around at the bewildered expressions of his teammates.
“I’d say we’re more shocked than you are,” Hiori says with a strained smile.
Isagi slaps a hand over his face.
+1.
The party is loud.
It’s held in one of Blue Lock’s many facilities, a huge lobby area connected to the main building. Isagi had no idea a place this big even existed. There’s a makeshift bar set up for those who can drink, and there’s another table that has been prettily decorated with a blue and white polka-dot tablecloth; it’s adorned with various soft drinks and juices, and a platter of delicious food and bowls of fruit. The lights overhead cast the room in an orange and purple hue.
Apparently, the guys from the German stratum begged Ego and Anri to allow them to host this party. They only agreed on the condition that the Germans clean everything up after, and anything that happens is their responsibility. That said, Anri looked more than happy to help set things up. She even put up some banners and made sure the music was in order.
Isagi was told that all stratums were invited, but it isn’t until he arrives that he fully recognises the meaning of it. There are a lot of people here, including the team captains, who have all taken to sitting at a mini lounge area in the corner of the room.
As soon as Isagi walks in, he’s bombarded with pats on the shoulders, handshakes, and hugs. It takes at least twenty minutes to get past the initial crowd of his friends, as well as the foreign players. He scans the faces in search of a blond German but ultimately has no luck.
Well, it makes sense after all. He’s sure Kaiser wouldn’t be very keen on greeting him upon his entrance. Unfortunately for both of them, Isagi craves his presence more than anything right now.
He’s given the whole situation a lot of thought after what happened earlier in the locker room. He’s known about how he feels for a while now — even before his slip-up in the monitor room — but didn’t allow himself to ruminate on those feelings because he and Kaiser are rivals who hate each other. Or so he thought.
Lately, he has felt an intensifying desire to talk to Kaiser, play against (or with) him, or simply be near him. It’s gotten to the point where he can no longer deny it to himself.
He looks for him in every room. He thinks of blue roses and a saccharine sweet voice when he looks at the sky. He wants to use their pet names as something genuine and real. And — oh fuck it all to hell, he wants him.
He wants to hear the oceanic breeze of his voice, wants to lose himself in blue eyes that shine brighter than any star, wants to see his authentic smile of unfeigned delight. He wants so badly. And anything Isagi wants, Isagi is determined to get.
Maybe he’s reading into things too much, but Kaiser always paid a lot more attention to him than anyone else. They’ve also both slipped up in their usage of pet names. What started as mere taunts has clearly evolved into something more. Kaiser is observant; he must’ve noticed it too, right? He was checking up on him that time in the monitor room, and he blushes when Isagi calls him anything affectionate. It all has to mean something, doesn’t it?
He feels somewhat lighter after coming to terms with his feelings towards Kaiser. His mind clears up significantly, and he goes back to scanning the room while also thanking everyone who comes to talk to him.
After things calm down a little, Isagi spots Bachira, Otoya, Karasu, and Hiori at the food and drinks table. Perfect timing, he feels parched after talking to so many people. He could also do with something to eat. His excitement bubbles as he approaches and spots the variety of desserts and snacks laid across the table.
“Here he is! The man of the match,” Karasu says, giving him a light shove and ruffling his hair.
“Isagiii~ I heard about that last goal! I wish I could’ve seen it in person,” Bachira sighs in disappointment, and juts his lips out in a small pout.
Isagi chuckles at his best friend’s antics. “Hey now, you’ll probably end up seeing every angle somehow on social media anyway.” Honestly, he has no idea how the cameras even capture most of the angles he sees online.
Everyone laughs in agreement, but abruptly falls silent when two voices are heard close by.
“Riiiin, your brother isn’t responding to any of my messages! Should I just call him instead? What do you think?”
“Do whatever you want, just leave me alone.”
“Aw, don’t be like that, we were pretty good today!”
Rin walks straight towards Isagi with Shidou in tow behind him. He straightens up and prepares for some kind of conflict, but he doesn’t expect what happens next.
“We tied for the number one spot today, so let’s see who can surpass the other first, demon king,” Rin says, with steady determination in his voice.
Isagi is confused by the nickname but offers Rin a smirk. “I’m going full speed ahead. Try to keep up.”
Rin says nothing, instead opting to glare daggers at Isagi before turning on his heel and walking away. It’s a far cry from that time in the locker room after the U-20 match. Isagi smiles despite himself.
“You did pretty well, Isagi,” Shidou says with a wink, and jogs to catch up with Rin.
“Getting a compliment from that guy, you’re really amazing, ya know,” Hiori says, looking particularly excited. He hopes that whatever is in that cup he’s holding is non-alcoholic.
Isagi opens his mouth to reply, but stops short when he spots a messy mop of magenta-coloured hair.
If Ness is here, then…
But wait, those two aren’t on the best of terms right now. In that case, he probably isn’t around here.
Ness looks up and catches Isagi’s eye, and immediately sends him a cold, angry expression. Isagi shudders under his gaze and flashes him a condescending smirk. After all, he could only score that last goal with the help of Ness, even if he hadn’t exactly meant to help at all.
Isagi impatiently scans the room a bit more before ultimately deciding to follow Ness’ movements. To his surprise, his eyes follow him all the way to the bar counter, and he watches as he taps the shoulder of a person slumped over in his seat, head resting on the counter in front of him.
He watches with bated breath and hopeful eyes as the person straightens up. Isagi’s heart skips a beat when he sees blond tinged with a gorgeous shade of blue. He’s holding what looks to be a pint of beer in his hand, and even from where Isagi is standing, he can see that his neck is flushed red.
The two exchange words for a moment. Well, I guess this means they’ve made up, Isagi thinks. He feels a surge of relief rush through him. It must be hard for him to have to face things alone all the time. Maybe Kaiser would let him in, too. He takes a deep breath and decides that he wants to try knocking.
I mean, he thinks, He called me baby…
His stomach flips at the memory. It’s at this moment that Hiori grabs his shoulder and turns him back around to face him. He realises belatedly that he had forgotten about his friends in front of him, who were all flashing him with understanding and equally knowing looks. Embarrassment momentarily washes over him as he remembers the incident in the locker room. He has a feeling Hiori told everyone about it already.
Isagi tries to look as apologetic as he can. “Sorry, I spaced out.”
“Oh, we know,” four voices say in unison while casting a glance over to Kaiser. Is he really that obvious?
“Go talk to him,” Otoya says, a little teasingly. The others nod their agreement and break out in devious smiles. They share a look amongst themselves before patting Isagi on the back and walking away, with various words of encouragement and good luck’s.
Isagi thinks he might need it, honestly. He mentally steels himself before striding towards the bar.
As expected, he receives a judgmental look from Ness upon his arrival. But instead of complaints and insults, he just sighs deeply in barely concealed annoyance and, with one final glance at Kaiser, gets up and walks away.
Okay, that was weird.
Isagi can feel his heart speed up in anticipation, and he takes the previously Ness-occupied seat beside Kaiser. There’s no reaction from the German to indicate he even notices his presence.
He leans back to take a large sip of his beer with a bored countenance. Isagi unapologetically follows the bob of his Adam’s apple at the gesture. He tilts his head and just stares up at Kaiser’s face. Upon closer inspection, he can see the tension in his shoulders and the unease in his eyes. If Isagi didn’t know any better, he would think that he was nervous.
“The fuck are you looking at?” He slams his half-finished pint down on the counter and turns his head to give Isagi a cold stare — except, it doesn’t really land because his face is flushed, and Isagi can feel a warmth behind his glare. In fact, he looks more like a petulant dog right now than anything else.
The sight makes Isagi laugh in earnest. Kaiser looks at him with wide, confused eyes, but visibly relaxes a little. That fact alone causes Isagi’s insides to burn. He thinks this man might be the death of him.
“What’s so funny, asshole?” Kaiser says with his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Are you drunk?”
Kaiser gives him an incredulous look before snorting in response.
“I’m only on my second drink, what do you take me for?” He smirks down at Isagi. His cheeks are dusted in a rosy pink, and his irises reflect a shimmering blue under the lighting. It makes Isagi’s breath catch in his throat.
He says nothing in response, preferring to admire the rare sight in front of him. They stay like that for a while, just staring into each other’s eyes like they’re the only two people in the room. (Unbeknownst to the pair, there’s a crowd of curious eyes directed at them in remarkably failed discretion)
Kaiser searches Isagi’s face for something. Whatever it is he was looking for, he seems to find it by the way he sighs in resignation and turns his body to face Isagi fully.
“You’re a great striker, Yoichi.” Isagi jolts in genuine shock. He blinks in bewilderment, opening and closing his mouth dumbly.
“Wha—”
“I’m gonna say something important, and you’re not gonna interrupt me until I’m finished, honey,” Kaiser says softly, sincerity plain in his voice; there’s a newfound resolve in his expression. He stops in his tracks for a split second, but recovers swiftly — his eyes give nothing away, and Isagi is unsure whether or not he meant to say that. He could’ve easily said his name there, and he thinks that maybe he had meant to. But no, he had said honey with so much fondness that Isagi might burst at any minute.
Kaiser takes his silence as an indication of his agreement and continues. “It’s clear to anyone that you saw the field on a higher level than everyone else today.” There’s a hint of regret and something else that Isagi can’t figure out in his eyes. “When Ness had the ball, you adapted to his line of thinking and ran straight to the goal. I could’ve done the same if I had understood what Ness was trying to do, but I fell behind at that last second. I tried to convince myself that that was the reason I lost to you, but that’s not true.” Kaiser drums his fingers on the counter and exhales shakily.
“The real reason I lost to you is because I was distracted — distracted by how fucking fun it had been to play football with you. I never knew football could feel like that. You were in every ideal spot, opening possibilities with every move you made. It felt exhilarating, and I lost sight of the goal, too focused on the rush of excitement running through me. You evolved even further, and you’ll most likely continue to evolve more in the future. I have no plans of letting you run on ahead of me, rest assured, but—”
“You — you’re incredible, a true egoist that may one day shape the football world forever,” Kaiser whispers the last part, looking well and truly out of his depth, and somewhat resembling someone who’s being held at gunpoint. Despite the sour expression on his features, Isagi could tell that his words were said in earnest. It makes his stomach flip over and his heart drum at an alarmingly fast pace.
Isagi is speechless to say the least. But he knows one thing. He needs to kiss him right now. He barely has to think twice before grabbing Kaiser by the wrist and leading him to the doors that open to an empty hallway.
“Ba—Yoichi, what do you think you’re doing?”
Isagi is, frankly, at his wits’ end. He has no idea why he didn’t do this sooner. He decides they need to end this little thing they’re doing, where they dance around each other and neither one of them says anything about it.
When the door closes behind them, Isagi stands in the middle of the hallway, his hand still clutching onto Kaiser’s wrist; the touch warms his hand, sending electric impulses up his arm and through his entire body.
“I’m doing something I should’ve done a long time ago,” Isagi says.
In one swift motion, he sets the palm of his free hand on Kaiser’s chest and pushes him against the wall, still holding onto his wrist. He doesn’t think he could let go if he tried.
If Kaiser is surprised by the sudden development, he doesn’t show it. Instead, he grins down at Isagi like the annoying bastard that he is. He jerks his hand back, pulling Isagi in closer until they’re pressed flush against each other. Isagi’s head spins with the proximity. He hasn’t touched a drop of alcohol today, but he feels like he could be drunk right now. He can feel Kaiser all around him — can smell the light fragrance of expensive cologne, mixed with the pungent smell of beer, topped off with an oceanic scent that’s so Kaiser that Isagi might go insane.
Isagi meets his gaze head-on and calls out with purpose, “Sweetheart,” in a tone devoid of any sarcasm or insult, only his real feelings of pure affection seeping through. Kaiser visibly reddens, but his expression doesn’t change. His eyes show the tiniest speck of hesitation, but then,
“Yes, dear?” He breathes.
“Seriously, you can’t say all those things and expect me not to do anything about it,” Isagi huffs. Their faces are now inches apart. Kaiser’s eyes burn into him with a sense of longing and doubt. Isagi thinks he could stare into that blue forever. But he has something more important to do right now.
“I’m in love with you,” he declares.
A strange expression flickers across Kaiser’s face, and his smile falters. Isagi wants nothing more than to wipe all of the uncertainty from the depths of his heart.
“You are?” Kaiser says in question, his voice barely above a whisper.
“How could I not be?”
Isagi doesn’t know who leans in first, but their lips meet in the middle. A warmth rushes over him as he takes in Kaiser’s soft lips against his own. He tastes like beer — which would usually be repulsive — but it’s the best thing he’s ever tasted in his life. Isagi loosens his grip on his wrist in favour of holding his hand. Kaiser’s free hand finds its way to Isagi’s waist, his thumb stroking his side.
Isagi pulls back to catch his breath, and he revels in the way Kaiser chases his lips. He presses their foreheads together, and for a moment, they just stay like that. Well, until Kaiser tightens his grip on Isagi and spins them around so that their positions are reversed. He leans down to catch Isagi’s parted lips in his and kisses him with fervour. Isagi deepens the kiss with matched enthusiasm.
When they finally pull apart, Kaiser smiles at him — a real and genuine smile — and his hand comes up to cup Isagi’s cheek.
“Oh, by the way, I love you too,” Kaiser clarifies, like it wasn’t already obvious based on the past thirty seconds. “Baby,” he adds, as if it were an afterthought.
It makes Isagi think about how far they’ve come since the day they started this whole fiasco. It took them a while, but they got there in the end, and now Isagi feels eternally grateful that he decided to play along back then. He doesn’t know when their insulting pet names became actual terms of endearment, but he thinks he prefers this a lot more.
“You better, Michael, love,” Isagi says as he watches the deep red flush throughout Kaiser’s face, up to the tips of his ears. It’s the most beautiful sight in the world. He wraps both hands around Isagi’s waist and leans down to rest his forehead in the crook of his neck in an attempt to hide his expression. Cute, he thinks unashamedly.
He doesn’t know what will happen tomorrow, but right here, right now, he’s holding the embodiment of the blue rose in his arms; something seemingly impossible — made possible, and very much tangible in his grasp. He may not know how they’ll navigate their future together from here on, but he does know that no matter what, they’ll manage to be okay.
(Neither of them notices the slightly ajar door, or the quiet, excited whoops and cheers from their friends.)