Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s safe to say that Kaiser is not a risk taker, nor a roadrunner. He’s not one to passively watch when given the opportunity to prove his skills. No, Kaiser would be one of the first people to get up. As long as he understood some part of the task he’d volunteer.

However, his current situation isn’t one that can be solved by any physical means. He is utterly baffled by the problem before him at this very moment.

Said problem is named Alexis Ness, the German midfielder for Bastard München.

Ness, who is innocently engaging Grim and Sachs about their upcoming match. The same midfielder who has been the object of Kaiser’s dreams for the past three years.

How does the (subjectively best) New Generation 11 striker have such worrying issues with a boy who has an entire wall of his room dedicated to Harry Potter?

(Kaiser couldn’t answer this no matter how hard he tries.)

That’s why Kaiser took charge of the opportunity he had and made his way into Ness’s room. He tried to act as aloof as possible for the cameras and in case he bumped into any players while on his way there.

It just so happens that yesterday, Kaiser had forgotten his favorite water bottle in Ness’s room when he’d gone in to discuss game plans with the magenta haired midfielder. Now he was here to reclaim his property.

...if I don’t remember where I left it, I would have no choice but to snoop around a little bit, right?

It was his right. When you like someone, you want to learn about them, right? This is the same as stalking someone’s instagram page!

Kaiser was sure that Ness was besotted with him, and yet in the four years they had been a duo, nothing had changed between them. No lingering touches, no romantic hand holding, no dates. All of it was disguised as “friendly pats on the back after a good long pass” and “pulling Kaiser up after an opposing defender tripped him”. The touches were never long enough to leave warmth on his skin, and the adrenaline rushing through both of their bodies left Kaiser unable to thoroughly enjoy the feeling of calloused skin against his own.

None of it was what Kaiser really wanted. What he wanted was for Ness to admit that he felt the same—that the connection between them wasn’t just a chemical reaction that would pass.

The day after the Bastard München team had moved into the Blue Lock facilities, Ness had all but pestered Anri for a second key to each dorm, arguing that it would “help keep team connections high if they could visit each other outside of training and matches”. Needless to say, Ego saw right through him and simply gave him two copies; Ness gave Kaiser a copy of the keys to his dorm triumphantly. There was only one dorm down this hallway, the midfielder added.

Kaiser used said key to unlock the door to Ness’s room after a few risky looks around, ensuring that nobody would come around the corner and see him loitering around. The moment he stepped inside and the door shut behind him, the striker made a beeline for Ness’s giant bookshelf.

The midfielder had been sent many, many volumes of scientific information by his family over the years. They always said that they were “preparing him for when his football career went down the drain”.

His family, Kaiser notes, is very accepting of the LGBTQ community.

(He learned this firsthand when Alexis opened a voicemail in his vicinity and his father began a rant about how “love is just a chemical reaction, no matter who it’s with!” very passionately. Kaiser still doesn’t know what the voicemail was referring to or why Alexis’ father had sent it in the first place. It was after Ness had butt dialed his parents while talking with Kaiser, though, so he has a few ideas.)

Kaiser scanned the bookshelf for anything resembling a gray notebook with a spiral spine. He remembered watching Ness scribble something down in the notebook while Kaiser was urging him to go on an early morning run. It was a juvenile idea, but maybe Ness had a diary. Inside that diary could be the key to why Ness had been hesitant to broach the idea of dating.

The blond-and-blue haired man combed through the bookshelf with his hands when a swift skim of the spines failed. His parents must have a lot of these, or they bought them for that “just in case” theory. Though, by the way Ness had described them, his family seemed hellbent on crushing his imagination and proving themselves right. Not the best family, but not the worst. Kaiser would know.

(Ness allowed Micheal 5 minutes of freedom—

“A new record off the pitch!” Sachs chuckled, elbowing Ness and derailing his train of thought.

Ness scowled at the blond. “I’m not some mosquito who trails after Kaiser.”

”Yeah, you’re worse,” Grim said, “You’re the Romeo to his Juliet. If he died you’d surely follow.”

Ness pardoned himself from Theo and Benedict. He left the lounge and began searching for Micheal, cracking his knuckles without thinking.)

His hands paused over a book titled “50 Dark Facts About the Medieval Ages (And 20 About Witches)”. Kaiser blinked, nonplussed.

Ness got this book from his parents… and kept it? His parents sent this? To their son? What kind of idiot keeps the book his parents sent to discourage him from his current career path? Surely there had to be something in there worth saving. Kaiser flipped through the book, eyeing the headings of each page. (He was mildly surprised by Germany’s final resort resolution to conflicts between husband and wife and disgusted at the “popular entertainment” in France that consisted of burning cats.)

When he got to #24, “animal courts”, he paused, zeroing in on the last word. Courting… isn’t that just subtle dating with the intent to go straight to marriage? Kaiser made a mental note to check the definition again later. He wasn’t quite ready to go as far as marriage, but…

Suddenly, the blond-and-blue haired striker heard footsteps coming down the hallway. The only dorm down here was the one he was currently occupying, and the hallway led to a bathroom so far away from the main building that there was no practical means for using it.

Thus, Kaiser came to the conclusion that Ness was approaching the dorm. (It could have been someone else, but the Blue Lock dimwits had no business with Alexis and the German players knew that they would be playing left bench the second Kaiser caught wind of it.) He quickly shoved the book back into where he assumed it had been before and tried to initiate a realistic looking search as the doorknob trembled and gave way.

Ness stood at the doorway, staring wide eyed at Kaiser, who was laying flat on his stomach next to Ness’s bed.

“...Kaiser…?” the midfielder murmured, his voice taking on a confused tone.

(If Kaiser were a different person, or hadn’t spent the past 4 years familiarizing himself with the other boy, he would have disintegrated on the spot from embarrassment.)

Being caught in the room of the person he planned to date wasn’t the best start to a relationship, but Kaiser would make it work. “I left my water bottle in here,” said Kaiser. He then realized that he normally wouldn’t explain his actions unless Ness asked. Damnit.

The midfielder nods slowly, eyes squinting as he tries to think of a logical explanation for Kaiser’s appearance. (Usually Kaiser would inwardly coo at that habit, but being at the end of Alexis’s gaze seems less cute and more… concerning?)

“Oh, is this one yours?” asked Ness, fingers wrapping around a 40-ounce bottle stamped with the Blue Lock logo standing on the drawer at the farthest end of the bed from Kaiser. The same bottle that existed all over the facility. There had to be at least 20 of them within the Bastard quarter of the building alone.

Wordlessly, Kaiser took the water bottle out of the midfielder’s hand and passed by him, their shoulders brushing slightly.

Kaiser heard Ness hurry after him. “Ah, Kaiser! I almost forgot. I saw a weird video, do you—“

(He wondered if Ness had a spell that could read minds, or at least intentions. If he did, would he see the tug-of-war within Kaiser’s chest and mistake it for bloodlust?)

“Sure, yes,” Kaiser replied flippantly.

There’s only so much enjoyment you can get from a prison without windows. Kaiser didn’t know how the Blue Lock players get by with barely any windows or fresh air in their confinement. They probably took vitamin D pills or vitamins to get by.

Ego must have been a soothsayer in his past life, because the same day the Neo Egoist League teams came in, he made a new policy allowing players with a drivers license and ID to leave the building. The Blue Lock kids had a window from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and must be 17 or older, or 16 and accompanied by another person.

(Kaiser suspected that the spiky blond haired menace who dominated the field with Sae was to blame for that rule. He’d acted very recklessly during the match, and there were rumors circulating that the striker had been chained up.)

It’s only natural for him to take advantage of the near free reign that Ego had given the professional football players.

(“No coming in drunk or high. You’ll be kicked out for the night if you are. If you’re tipsy you’ll have to buy painkillers outside of the facility or get some from the nurse station.” Those exact words had been listed on the rule sheet.)

Even if he woke up at 4:47 and had to muster up the courage to get out from under his duvet when it was still dark out. He had a mission, after all. That mission included leaving his room at 5:03 a.m. and throwing on his casual outfit to go to the store.

Celebrities had to disguise themselves as much as possible after all. It didn’t bother Kaiser that it took him nearly 2 hours to get dressed, eat, and shower. A plaid, high collar green and white t-shirt paired with jeans worked wonders. It didn’t quite go with his eyes or hair, and everyone expected a football star to have great taste. Kaiser also put on a baseball cap to hide his signature hair; sunglasses to disguise his stunning eyes.

When his phone read 6:54, Kaiser went down to Ness’s room again, forgoing knocking and simply barging in. The midfielder was still in bed; the only part of him that was still visible was his bedhead.

“Ness,” Kaiser muttered, his voice almost (almost) cheery at the thought of a grumpy Ness. “Wake up, we’re going to the store.”

The other boy groaned and sat up reluctantly. “Yeah… ‘m coming Kaiser…” Ness grunted, rubbing his eyes. Then his eyes shot open, and he sat up quickly. “Wait, Kaiser?!? Why are you up so early?!”

He counted this as another win. 

It took Ness 40 minutes to get dressed and clean up after praising Kaiser for “getting up early”. (Kaiser could very well get up on time, but he chose to be well rested. It helped with focus. It also helped him to see Ness’s face first thing in the morning. Doctor’s orders.) Ness claimed that he wasn’t hungry, but Kaiser knew that, come midday, Ness would be one of the first in line for the cafeteria lunch options.

“Why did you wake me up at 7 a.m., Kaiser?” Ness tailed Kaiser out of the Blue Lock facility. The striker couldn’t read his companion’s face because of the sunglasses darkening them. “You must have something planned! Is it some new plan to beat Yoichi and the other clowns? A new move or technique? Maybe even—“

“Theo and the others made a list of stuff they want to buy. I want to stretch my legs.”

Ness blinked, nonplussed, before quickly adding, “Oh! Two birds with one stone. On their behalf, thank you,” Ness grinned, yet his tone lacked his normal charm. A side effect of him being groggy.

They fell into a peaceful quiet as Kaiser called an Uber. When they finally got to one of the two stores, Kaiser pulled out his phone and read the message Grim had sent to the group chat compiling all of their different needs.

“We need 2% milk, eggs, and creamer… Protein powder is cheaper at the store across from us, according to Kurona,” Kaiser finally told the other while grabbing a cart.

“What are you going to do once we head back to the facility?” the midfielder said, drawing Kaiser into small talk.

Shopping with Ness was not a rare occasion. In fact, it was a common occurrence that both parties seemed to enjoy. But this time felt different. Ness was leading the way this time, taking Kaiser down aisles in search of the items listed. A soft “Oops” left his lips when he led them down the wrong aisle twice. Kaiser offered Ness one of the mini apple pies he located in the bakery section and the latter refused.

It felt so good, so gratifying, to act this way with Ness. They could play pretend, and as long as Kaiser didn’t try to get closer, Ness would stay with him. They would pretend that the sunglasses on their faces would shield them from the truth.

This is what separates us, isn’t it? Ness is such a benign person. He’s satisfied with how we are now. I…

Kaiser was no saint. He was selfish. Kaiser wanted to hold Ness to a higher standard. A romantic relationship between them…?

Before he knew it, they were at the self checkout. Their Japanese was limited, rudimentary at best, and there was always a chance that someone could recognize their voices.

“Kaiser, are you feeling alright? You’ve been awfully quiet,” Ness whispered, turning to face his companion. “Do you want to get anything? I’ll look away, even if it’s sugary.”

Ness, so observant. Even when it doesn’t concern your own feelings.

“Wait here. I need to get something,” Kaiser said instead. His feet carried him away. Away from Alexis.

In the end, Kaiser was too weak and brittle to confront his feelings.

That’s what the courting is for, isn’t it? So that both sides can see if they truly want the other party?

The smell of baked bread greeted Kaiser, a welcome distraction. Kaiser really did want that mini apple pie, but he had also come for something else.

During “team bonding exercises”,—a crude disguise for partying and going out—Ness had made it no secret that he loved sweet foods. At clubs, he would always get the sweetest drinks on the menu—if he even drank alcohol at all. In restaurants he would ask for chocolate or strawberry flavored desserts.

Ness was especially loyal to sachertorte, a chocolate sponge cake with an apricot filling. If any place they visited had sachertorte, the midfielder would order it with a gleeful sparkle in his eyes. Kaiser adored that smile, and took time out of his day to look for restaurants that had sachertorte on their menu specifically for his teammate. Of course, it couldn’t be too often or else Kaiser would be questioned.

Since they were in Japan, they hadn’t had the opportunity to have any true German desserts.

Obviously the small convenience store wouldn’t have the beloved dessert, but Kaiser compromised with something else.

Ness felt like a fool, sitting there and twiddling his thumbs while the old lady behind him in line glared menacingly. She was probably judging him for taking so long to pay. He tried smiling at her to appease her foul mood, but that had just made her scowl. Micheal, I swear, if you don’t get back here in the next 20 seconds I’m leaving our spot to go look for you.

Ness didn’t handle pressure from old people well.

Just as he counted to 17, Kaiser appeared in all of his glory. His hands were crossed behind his back and his signature smirk was on his face.

“I’m back, Alexis!” The use of his given name surprised the midfielder. He hadn’t heard it ever since he’d departed from Germany, but his last name would be a dead giveaway to who they were.

Kaiser didn’t even ask “did you miss me?” like he would have two years ago; they both already knew that the answer was a shameless “yes”. It was expected.

“What did you get, Micheal?” Ness asked, feeling a bit better with the absence of the old lady who had been scrutinizing him. She’d found another register and was scanning her groceries.

“Here, it’s for you.”

Ness’s mind was wiped blank at those words, and any attempt at speaking was destroyed when Kaiser pulled a chocolate muffin out from behind his back. With one hand now free, the striker idly tapped on the counter of the register.

Kaiser would complain about germs and how gross self checkouts are later in the day. But now…

“M-me?!” Ness exclaimed before covering his mouth in shame. The day couldn’t get any more bizarre. He had just yelled at Kaiser!

It was so uncharacteristic of him that Kaiser stopped talking and frowned, his blue eyes meeting Ness’s. Said midfielder felt his face warming up.

“Sorry, M-Micheal… I thought you were getting something for yourself. Why—what’s the occasion?”

Ness began rapidly thinking of any of his feats in a match or training that could warrant this. Was it because of the cross he had pulled off against Barcha? Or perhaps him dribbling past Yukimiya and Hiori. Maybe it was because—

“No reason. You’re being so nosy, Alexis. Just take it.”

—Just like that, Kaiser had managed to short circuit his brain. Ness took the muffin and scanned it, willing the blush on his face to go down.

“Don’t let the others see it, or else they’ll bother me to buy them something, too,” Kaiser added absentmindedly as they waited for the street light to turn red so they could cross. They had one more store to go to before they could take an Uber back.

“R-right,” Ness stuttered. Don’t let the others see… hah, absolutely nothing wrong with that statement. Nothing off about him not wanting to buy sweets for our teammates. Out of everyone on the team, he’s closest with me, and vice versa. It…

It didn’t make sense. But then again, Kaiser wanted to make the impossible happen. If this entire illogical situation was impossible to solve, then it was possible that Kaiser had made up this scheme to satisfy his own goal.

Partially satisfied, Ness crawled out of his thoughts and trailed behind Kaiser as they crossed the street. He walked behind the striker when they were in the store and at the register. It was easy, being in Kaiser’s shadow and not having to face his beautiful eyes. 

The ride back to Blue Lock was calm. Ness glanced at Kaiser every now and then. The striker was busying himself with discouraging the driver’s attempts at making conversation lest he recognize their voices. Their driver was very persistent to say the least.

Ness’s mind was still on the muffin burning a hole through his hand.

Chapter Text

Kaiser was so sure that he had made his intentions clear to Ness. Sharing food was usually a romantic gesture.

Well, Kaiser himself hadn’t taken a bite out of the muffin. It was a gift. You could give your partner presents, right?

One of Kaiser’s favorite quotes was something along the lines of, “man will never change his mind. If evidence should arise to prove him wrong, he will rarely change his mind; instead he will twist the evidence to fit his own thoughts.” (He couldn’t remember the exact quote, sue him.)

Kaiser had watched (admittedly with some amusement) as the gears in Ness’s head turned. He’d been too skittish to respond to Kaiser’s ramblings with anything other than “Okay” and “Yes.”

As adorable as it was, the far away—Thinking?—look in Ness’s eyes had faded by the time they’d picked up the protein powder.

The tension between them was comparable to vines climbing up their legs, twirling around their wrists and slowly dragging them together. And still Ness ignored him. Ignored them. It was infuriating that Ness was depriving them both of what they wanted. Kaiser could see the hunger in Ness’s eyes since they’d started properly talking 4 years ago.

If man is determined to twist damning evidence to fit his ideals… then I will give him evidence that can’t be disproven.

Bastard München had a team training session tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. Kaiser was no exhibitionist, but it would be fun to see Ness squirm.

It was these little moments, plots to ruin Ness, that convinced Kaiser to get out of bed in the morning without Ness’s assistance.

Yoichi took one look at Kaiser and fled to the other side of the pitch with the other background performers. Perhaps he’d seen the mischievous glint in Kaiser’s eyes, or maybe Kaiser had underestimated Yoichi’s dislike for him. His escape couldn’t be helped, and if Kaiser called them back to be apart of the audience, Ness (who had come outside before Kaiser, but had quickly scampered to his side once the striker had appeared) would get suspicious far too early on.

They were all waiting for Noa to come out from wherever he was holed up in. Leave it to Noa to come late to his own training exercise, Kaiser thought gleefully. At least in the pentagon prison they weren’t subject to harsh weather or a strong breeze.

When Noa finally came out of wherever he’d been cooped up in, he held a stack of papers. The sight of it made Theo groan. “Leave it to Noa to give us homework!” he whined. Kaiser didn’t respond aloud but agreed in his head.

Now spoke without looking up from the papers in his hands, passing them out to each person. “Today, you will rotate between using the gym and dribbling exercises. We are going against another team soon, so we can’t afford to slack off.”

Hilariously, not even Yorichi was paying attention to Noa’s words. He crouched down to tie his (already secure) shoe laces to safely tune out their coach.

Kaiser glanced down at his own sheet of paper. On it was over 18 different exercises and drills. Now had circled leg press, bicycle, dribbling and tackling. There were quite a few upper body exercises as well.

“Tomorrow you’ll do a new set of exercises and drills. The amount you have to do is written beside what I circled.” Noa said before slinking away.

Kaiser set his sights on Ness. “Ness,” he purred, “show me your paper.”

“Alright, Kaiser.” Ness smiled almost shyly.

Kaiser frowned slightly when Ness made no move to take his own paper. “You can see mine too, you know. If you want.”

“Oh, I didn’t think to—“

“Haha, just take it, puppy!” Theo guffawed, slapping Ness’s back and stumbling forward. Kaiser scowled at the gesture.

And thus, their training began. Kaiser only shared 4 drills with Ness, so he started with some basic stretches, keeping an eye on what machines the other man used.

He got a little distracted by the way Ness’s thighs strained and stretched as he used various machines to work out every muscle in his legs: quads, hamstrings, calf’s. Ness’s thighs were a work of art.

Kaiser’s legs started cramping from being locked in the same position for so long under the weight of the leg press.

At some point in the haziness of working out (and staring) Ness stopped using the treadmill and began to leave to do his dribbling drills. Kaiser almost threw his dumbbells to the side in a hurry to follow Ness out.

The practices outside were significantly harder than the gym ones solely because the bigger space required them to run more; it was meant to push their limits to the max. Laps, goals from difficult angles, cones.

Yoichi and Hiori were passing the ball while slipping between cones, practicing dodging defenders. Kaiser sat on a bench with Ness, trying to keep his hands to himself.

(He’d dreamt that Alexis had been merged into his back. Alexis’s shoulder extended out, allowing the other to move the rest of his body freely. Somehow they had ended up at an amusement park, and Kaiser had to arrange them in different ways so they could fit on the rides. The seats, however, were not meant to hold conjoined people. The last thing Kaiser had seen before waking up was Alexis falling down, down to his doom.)

Ness sat in the grass, head tilted back, legs spread wide. Sweat dripped down his forehead, clinging to his neck and cheeks. His upper back was visibly damp. Kaiser was in a similar state; his bangs stuck to his forehead and the collar of his shirt was darkened and damp.

Ness’s eyes were foggy, the kind of fog that came after taking NyQuil, dimming the lights, and laying down. Kaiser made his move.

“Ness, you look pathetic,” Kaiser sighed. “You need to work on your stamina. There’s no way you can help me defeat Noa if some hours of exercise wipes you out.”

“S-sorry, Kaiser,” Ness was trembling from exhaustion. “I’ll… do better next time… Just give me a second.”

“Here.” Ness glanced up at Kaiser, watching the water bottle dangling in his hand. “Drink it. I don’t want you getting dehydrated.”

“Thank you…” the midfielder croaked, bringing the bottle to his lips.

Silence covered the field, which was strange, because Yoichi and Hiori had been talking about—

Speak of the Devil, and he will appear with his minions.

Yoichi and Hiori watched the two with equally horrified expressions on their faces. It was almost laughable. Kaiser would’ve laughed if the dumbass blue haired had just kept his mouth shut.

“Err… Ness,” Hiori said, glancing at Yoichi as if to confirm his findings. “Ain’t that Kaiser’s water?”

Woah. What the fuck? How had he figured it out? Ness and Kaiser had brought identical water bottles to practice. Then again, Kaiser hadn’t been looking around when he’d made the switch. But he was sure that Hiori and Isagi hadn’t been facing them.

“W-what?!” Ness sputtered, his face flushing. “Our waters are the same, but I put mine here, and I saw Kaiser pick it up!”

Kaiser added, “Yeah, what he said. Are you trying to embarrass Ness, Hiori? How would you even see that…?”

“Metavision,” the two said in unison. Damnit, Yoichi spread it to him like a plague.

“This has to be some crude joke! You would never do that, right Kaiser?” Ness laughed nervously as he turned to his companion, probably hoping to see some form of embarrassment or confusion or disgust on his face. Something to help confirm the idea of Kaiser just making a mistake or the Blue Lock players playing a prank on him.

But Kaiser had never backed down from a challenge, especially if it was just out of reach.

Kaiser tapped a finger against his chin, mimicking thinking. “…I did move my bottle earlier.”

The midfielder’s jaw dropped. His face turned a deeper shade of red, resembling a tomato.

And now for the final nail in the coffin.

“Ah, it’s fine, right?” the blond man smirked briefly at Ness. “Remember that time at House Burg when—“

“Hey!” Ness squealed, waving his hands frantically, “I—uh… That’s enough. I’m sure it was just an accident.“

”Naw, not an accident. Saw it with my own two eyes.”

”It’s not a big deal, right Ness? We’re friends, so it’s alright!” Kaiser said in a patronizing tone. 

“You were eyeing him down like a hawk,” Isagi grumbled skeptically, “that doesn’t seem very platonic to me. Or accidental.”

The bottle fell from Ness’s hand, its contents spilling across the turf. “I… I—“

“Looks like you broke yer puppy,” Hiori stated with a pitying tone. “He looks so sad.”

his words snapped Ness out of whatever trance he’d been in. “I need to go… return something to Sachs,” he grunted before sprinting away, his previous exhaustion forgotten.

“Shut the fuck up, Yoichi,” Kaiser snarled the moment Ness had disappeared. “Stay out of my way and let me handle him.”

“I would gladly do that if you could keep your little boy toy drama under control.” The rivaling striker ran a hand through his own hair.

“Just don’t react. I almost have him.”

“Ya just scared him off,” Hiori said, stifling a laugh. “I don’t see him bein’ all lovey-dovey with ya just yet.”

“Shut up, you—“

“You should watch yer mouth. Be grateful I didn’t bring up the ooglin’ at his legs, alright?”

Unfortunately, that was his nail in the coffin; Hiori’s words successfully quieted Kaiser. It was 2 versus 1, and he had no chance of winning. He flicked his hair over his shoulder, flipped the duo the bird, and left to continue his workout without ever doing the remaining exercise he was required to do.

While on the treadmill, Kaiser thought, Ness is mine, and he knows it. It’s final.

His adorable face, full of expressiveness and a bit of chubiness that had never been trained out of him. His bangs bouncing when he plays soccer. The way Ness preached magic, going on and on about shows he had watched or books he had read about it.

It all belonged to Kaiser.

He was an emperor. God’s chosen emperor. It was only right for him to get whatever he wanted.