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It was a Thursday like any other, or like it can be after the invocation and attack of an Evil God.
Central Park is now back in perfect condition, as you would expect from First, they took care of everything that happened that day.
Phantom already expected this; they would take care of the disaster caused by the battle and everything would be forgotten. Let's move on as if nothing had happened until the next villain's attack.
" That's what you'd like! "
Exactly, that's what I'd like... wait, what?
Phantom, or rather, Logan Tate, turned around to find the youngest member of the Irregulars, Mad Hatter, or Alice Jackson, the teenage-crazy-scientist, staring at him with a face that looked like it was about to laugh in his face, and in fact, it was. Like the disrespectful brat she is.
" HAHA! Now that you've apologized to William, tell us more. What did you think of your hero? I mean, considering William's age and how old you were back then, your hero was probably around 40, right? Did you also want a relationship like Shadowman and Knight Jin? So were you that jealous? Well, now your hero is here, you don't have to be jealous anymore. “
The girl actually kept talking, asking sarcastic questions and mocking how he had acted with William Lee up to that point. He simply let it go in one ear and out the other.
That's false, Logan started arguing with Alice as if he were another child (which he is), meanwhile, the oldest members of the group, White Blood and Berserker, along with the young college student William, watched the scene with a mixture of tiredness, exasperation and amusement.
(...)
Let it be known that Logan never signed up to be humiliated like this. After winning the argument with Alice (he didn't), he went home to rest after such a busy day. There are no dangers nearby that require his attention, except for the occasional shouting and gunfire from the usual gangs, who seem to have quieted down lately. The children at the orphanage are also doing well; they don't need him constantly watching over them. First has already hired good staff who will take good care of them (actually, the children kicked him out because he was still sulking about the Mad Hatter incident).
Now, in his somewhat dilapidated apartment, she simply lies on his back on the sofa, trying to calm his thoughts or sleep, whichever comes first. When he can't find the peace he wants, he picks up his phone, its screen so cracked that Alice considers it an insult to technology, and the rest of the irregulars too, with the wages First gives them. Not that he cares much; it still works, which is the main thing, except that it sometimes freezes, but that's not important.
And while he was thinking about the reactions of the others to the obviously deplorable state of his phone, he didn't even register how his hands were moving mindlessly. By the time he regained his senses, on full display on his cracked screen was a photo of one of the members of his group, the only other man closer to his age, along with a crazy girl, a literal vampire, and a likely complete cyborg or android. William Lee, a young man undoubtedly handsome and striking; brilliant without even trying, charismatic, kind, and outgoing; so sociable you don't even realize you're already chatting so animatedly, brave and strong, the kind who fits the bill perfectly as a hero, stubborn and determined like no other, and so full of love to give and receive.
Someone undoubtedly very trustworthy, the perfect ideal of a hero, just as he had imagined the hero who saved him and his mother so many years ago. And even now, after months of being formally and officially a team, he is still ashamed of his behavior, even though they have apologized and made peace; his brain sporadically decides to remind him of that moment of immaturity, especially when he wants to sleep.
He sighs after getting lost in his thoughts again, finally puts down his phone, and looks away. There he finds that old jacket next to his mother's photo. The man doesn't know what's wrong with him. He's been like this for weeks, ever since he realized he was looking at his teammate more than usual. He doesn't understand why his heart races so fast, or why he still feels so embarrassed when he makes mistakes in training when his teammate is around. Google searches simply didn't help; some only returned medical results, with websites and phone numbers for nearby clinics. It's not something he can talk to his teammates about, either.
So here he is, trying to decipher his strange feelings.
And it's not that he's stupid; he has some idea of what it could be, but firstly, it's the first time it's happened to him, and secondly, he doesn't believe it's possible. And if he admits it, then he's screwed, and if he's screwed, then everything's screwed, and if everything's screwed, then... he wouldn't know what to do.
If that's the case, how would William react? Would he look at him in disgust? Would he cruelly reject him? Would he hate him? No, he'd probably have an awkward smile, trying to be as careful as possible to reject him and not give him false hope. Because that's just how kind he is, and even if he doesn't like him the same way, he'll probably try to maintain a good relationship for the sake of the team.
He has already accepted it, he has already made peace with all kinds of scenarios, and although he still has some hope and his heart aches every time he thinks about it, he promised himself that he would move on, that regardless of the other person's response he would accept it without complaint.
He closed his eyes and counted to ten, wanting to calm down, because every time he thought about it, it was like a bottomless pit; he sank deeper and deeper into his thoughts and feelings. He wanted to deny it, but he knew it was useless. He didn't know if he wanted to, or even when it started. He sighed again, picked up his phone, and checked the date.
Tomorrow, tomorrow would be the day, or rather, the night, because he would take the opportunity to join Knight Jin's patrol, removing the presence of his assigned agents from First and the undeniable presence of Jay; he would do it, he would declare himself and then it would all be over.
He gets up from the sofa to turn everything off and goes to his room to sleep; somehow he feels heavier and more tired than when he arrived.
(...)
The truth is, he didn't sleep a wink; he was too anxious to do so. Not that he minded staying up all night, though—it wasn't the first time, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. He tried to clear his head by walking around his neighborhood, but it clearly didn't help, since this wasn't exactly a place where he could stroll peacefully. He ended up arguing with someone, and it almost came to blows, but a quick move sent the idiot running like a coward, and his cronies gave chase. Well, it did help him stop thinking about what would happen that night, so something good came out of it.
It was Friday, so William's university classes would have finished late. It's simply incredible how he manages to find time to patrol while still studying.
It was already night so the patrol would soon begin.
He left home and connected to the First earphones.
"Oh, Phantom, I didn't think I'd be on patrol today "
And his agent, Owen Rogers, answered him immediately.
"There was simply nothing else to do." And as he puts on his motorcycle helmet, he says, "Has Knight Jin started his patrol yet? I need to talk to him."
" …It's important " he adds after hesitating for a moment.
"What, are you trying to start a rebellion against First and Knight Jin is the first to be recruited? Too bad, I wanted to be the first. "
"If I tried something like that, you'd surely find out before I said a word, and Knight Jin wouldn't even hesitate to reject it, even if it was a joke. Now, answer my question."
"Pfff, you're not funny, but you're right about that, Knight Jin would probably reject your proposal even before you finish the sentence, and as for your question… no, he hasn't contacted Neville yet. “
Something hurts when Rogers says the first part; he knows the man doesn't know what he wants, and that he didn't say it with that kind of connotation either, but he's too nervous (paranoid) about the issue.
" …let me know when he's around here… " And he starts patrolling, ignoring the officer's questions.
Only 5 minutes pass before his agent informs him that Knight Jin is already out and will contact him soon.
"Phantom! " No sooner said than done, not a second after receiving the message, an animated voice greets him "Did something happen? I was told you wanted to talk to me urgently " And there it is, that serious and concerned tone of voice, with that confidence towards him.
And Phantom… Phantom wants to become an exorcised ghost.
"It's not urgent, I said it's important,…you don't need to worry, just tell me before you leave, I can wait to tell you." No, that's a lie, he doesn't want to wait but at the same time he wants to delay it as much as possible, it's so contradictory that his head starts to hurt.
" …well, if you say so " He's definitely suspicious, but he's too nice to press for answers, trusting him as his teammate " See you later, Phantom "
When Knight Jin says goodbye, he lets out the sigh he hadn't realized he was holding in, and stands for a second wondering what to do next. He doesn't have to think long, though, because Rogers interrupts and informs him of a potential conflict two blocks down. He hopes the criminals are ready, because he intends to take his frustration out on those poor bastards.
[***]
William knew that one of his teammates had been acting strangely lately, so when Dennis warned him that Phantom's own agent wanted to talk to him quickly, he became worried and prepared for whatever Phantom might need if he contacted him through his agent instead of personally.
"It's not urgent, I said it's important, there's no need to worry, just tell me before you leave, I can wait to tell you," the other said after a moment.
" …well, if you say so " It was suspicious, but he trusted that Phantom wouldn't leave him in the dark for so long, besides, their relationship had improved a lot since those times when his partner was brusque and rude… Well, he's still brusque and rude, but now in a friendly way.
" See you later, Phantom " He waves before cutting off communication with Phantom.
" …What do you think Jay is? " He asks his faithful shadow friend after a moment.
Jay responds by making a humanoid shrug while a question mark shadow appears next to his head; clearly even Jay can't think of anything about what's going on with Phantom.
"I figured as much, well, we won't know until he says so, so let's be patient, Jay." He smiles at the shadow and finally sets off in his patrol.
(...)
Four hours had passed since he'd spoken to Knight Jin, and he was still nervous. It was almost midnight when Knight Jin called to let him know he was about to finish his patrol. And he'd never wished so much to be a real ghost as he did at that very moment.
" … Meet me in alley xxxx " He's about to go crazy with nerves.
" Okay, I'll be there in two minutes.
He mutes First's earphones; he doesn't want anyone to hear what's about to happen. He'll have to ask Knight Jin to do it too. And with Jay, there's literally nothing he can do; he just hopes the brat doesn't do anything.
"Phantom! " He calls to him in a cheerful yet worried tone.
He's leaning against a wall with his arms crossed, still thinking about how he'll say it. He was startled by the gentleman's arrival.
"Knight Jin " He only responds with his hero nickname, because if he says anything else it will be unintelligible.
"First of all, what I want to tell you is private… " And before I could even ask, Knight Jin understood what he meant and turned off his own earphones.
"What's wrong? You don't look well." He's worried, and it's very obvious. "Phantom, what's wrong—"
“I love you ”
He didn't let him finish the question and simply blurted out his feelings. He had thought for so long about how to confess his feelings, but now he realized that he would never do it if he didn't say it directly.
"I'm in love with you " he said. He had to say it once and for all, or he would regret it forever.
“I don't know how, or when, but I love you, you're incredible, so kind and tender that it's hard not to fall for you…”
"I won't ask you to be my boyfriend. I love you, and that's why I'll continue as things are now. I'll accept your rejection, but I promise I won't do anything to make you uncomfortable or ruin the atmosphere with the rest of the team. I know you value them. But I just couldn't keep this to myself any longer. I'm sorry..."
He lowered his head and closed his eyes tightly, awaiting the inevitable rejection that would come.
" … " But he only got silent, and somehow that was worse.
He heard footsteps but didn't dare to lift his head or open his eyes.
Not until he took his face in his hands and kissed him, a kiss so sweet, soft and totally inexperienced, but a kiss nonetheless.
He opened his eyes in surprise, only to realize that he was in absolute darkness, but he still knew and felt Knight Jin in front of him.
They separated, and the cocoon of shadow they were trapped in dissolved. Knight Jin raised his mask again as he smiled at him.
"Next time, don't make me worry and ask for a real date. "
He turned around and left, and before sinking into the shadows, Jay made a clear humanoid shape as if he were pointing his eyes at him.
He would definitely be being watched now, but Logan didn't care; he could very well be a ghost right now because he's up in heaven.
And he would soon be even more so with his next date, and now he wouldn't be so pessimistic about his chances.