Chapter Text
He was so mad at Nagi, really! How dare him ditch him for a nobody like Isagi, again?
Ever since Isagi made his grand transition to this school he has intentionally (unintentionally) made Reo’s life a living hell. Ever since he showed up with his stupid soccer skills and that stupid face and that stupid sprout on top of his head—Nagi has been obsessed with beating him, and for some strange reason, being his friend.
This was the third time Nagi ditched him this week! And what were his excuses?; ‘Isagi and I are going to practice,’ ‘Isagi is helping me with Math,’ ‘Isagi and I are going to the library with his friend Chigiri…Reo should join.’
It was always ‘Isagi this’ or ‘Isagi that,’ every time he heard the name Isagi coming first out of Nagi’s mouth he had to brace himself for the bullshit that was going to come out.
At least Nagi was decent enough to invite him to his little hangouts with Isagi, but still! Reo only wanted it to be him and Nagi when they’re hanging out, not Isagi or his also nobody friends.
’Whatever’ he thought as he watched Nagi walk away from his locker and slowly catching up to Isagi while dragging his feet, and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes to the back of his head.
But even with all his anger, Reo silently wished that Nagi would just look back and regret his decisions of ditching Reo for Isagi for the past month.
So he just stared, stared at Nagi’s back hoping and praying he would just turn around and come back to him. And he stared until they were no where in sight.
“Why so gloomy, purple bun?”
This time, he didn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes to the back of his head before turning to the annoyingly familiar voice.
He scrunched his face when he realized how close they were, and he glared at the other. Shidou stared back at him with his usual wide grin and sharp pink eyes. Eugh.
Ever since joining the soccer team Shidou wouldn’t stop bothering him. Always calling him purple bun or sweet cheeks, and always flirting with him. It was infuriating. And quite frankly, today was not the day for Shidou to be hovering around him with his annoying nicknames and pick up lines.
If he didn’t know about the thing that Sae and Shidou had going on, he would’ve felt smug about Shidou’s flirtatious behavior (and he maybe would’ve used it to his advantage…which was making Nagi jealous). But unfortunately, he did know, as well as the whole soccer team. And instead of feeling confident, he just felt like a home wrecker and a classless whore.
He was going to slowly shut his locker and kindly tell Shidou to just fuck off and leave him alone as well as also remind him to button up his school shirt (that was his duty as student president!) when Shidou decided to open up his big mouth again.
”What happened to your puppy?”
“Ahhhh, what was his name again…stinky? That’s what Chigiri calls him,”
”You know Chigiri, right? Isagi’s friend—“
He shut his locker way harder than necessary, making the guy with glasses behind Shidou—who was patiently waiting for him to stop leaning against his locker and move the fuck out of his way so that he could open it—flinch.
Reo saw a few heads turning towards them.
“You should mind your own business, yeah?” And before Shidou could spew out anything else (Reo had already started seeing the forming grin spreading across Shidou’s face and his pink eyes sparkling with the idea of a fight) he swiftly turned around and walked away.
And if he was any other person then he would’ve knuckle punched Shidou right in the jaw and spit at his shoe.
But he was Reo Mikage, the class president and captain of the soccer team. And he wasn’t about the risk his reputation for some lowlife like Shidou Ryusei.
🕷️
He was kinda hoping the run into Nagi on his way out from school. But he didn’t, and a part of him felt grateful because then Nagi would’ve seen his shitty mood and permanent frown he’s had since his and Shidou’s talk.
He had left Kunigami in charge of practice that afternoon, since he had to go to work. Because yes, on top of being a captain and the president of his class he was also so responsible and bright to the point where he even had a job despite his family being the highest donor of the school.
Anyways, Kunigami was the only person Reo trusted with the team (aside from Nagi, but he was always late), and he hoped that Kunigami would make Isagi run more laps than the other (that was wishful thinking, Kunigami and Isagi were friends—and Kunigami was the only friend of Isagi thatReo tolerated).
A few minutes later he was walking down a long hallway with sickly pale walls in a lab coat that went all the way down to his ankles.
He was also holding a clipboard with papers as every other person he saw lingering in the hallways, waving and smiling at his dad.
(Reo sometimes liked to believe that they were waving and smiling at him, too. So he would smile and wave back.)
He walked a few paces behind his father. His father, who walked with the perfect posture and head held up confidently. It reminded him of Nagi, and a colorful image of him popped up in his mind—of him walking with his shoulders slumped and head low, trying to make himself seem smaller than he actually was.
Reo smiled, and his cheeks probably turned a light shade of red of the thought of Nagi (Reo forgot that he had ditched him for Isagi for a moment). But if anyone who passed him noticed, they decided not to comment on it.
However, his smile and cheeks lost it’s warmth and tenderness as the image on his mind was slowly drained of its colors, turning into a horrible lack and grey as Isagi slowly made his appearance beside Nagi.
Reo frowned for the rest of the walk.
His father always talked about how his heir, Reo Mikage, was going to take over all of Mikage’s businesses and make him proud. And Reo had to put up with it every night they sat at the dinner table.
He didn’t mind taking over the handful of industries all over Japan that his father owned, he was actually looking forward to it since he loved science and his father owned three labs in Tokyo.
(He wasn’t ready to give up soccer, tho.)
But despite all of the enthusiasm his father shared towards Reo owning the family’s industries in the near future—he got weird when it came to his laboratories.
Reo just assumed that his father also loved science, and wasn’t ready to give up his creations and experiments.
He reassured his father that when he finally owned the labs, his father could go anytime he wanted and even be his partner.
But even after all of reassurance and insisting from Reo’s side, his father was still really secretive about what they exactly did in those labs and the purpose of them.
Reo got stuck with paperwork, again.
He was getting tired of this, really. He had earned his place in this job through hard work (begging) and he deserved to be part of the team or something! He expected to be doing something other than paperwork after six, long months of working here, but nothing had changed except the paperwork.
And it’s not like he gets to leave early either, no, he would sometimes stay late hours filling the papers with a whole lot of nonsense that he didn’t care about.
(He stopped caring the first three weeks of filling them out).
He sat on a spinning chair with a long, white desk that practically reflected his face with how clean and white it was.
He had three more papers left, and he should probably hurry up and finish it, but all Reo could do was stare at the words on the paper in front of him.
His father had left, as well as everyone else except the receptionist and the security guards patrolling outside.
The blinding light of the room almost made him think that the sun was still out and shining bright outside, when in reality, it had began to set.
If he was being honest, the events of the day had been clouding Reo’s mind since coming to the lab.
Nagi with Isagi, Shidou’s words, and the stupid paperwork who were still waiting to be filled.
Maybe he needed a distraction, maybe looking at his phone would help. Maybe Nagi had texted him apologizing for dropping him and asking him if he wanted to come over to his dorm after he finished.
Maybe his dad had texted him apologizing for making him do paperwork for a bruising six months, promising that next time, he’ll get to finally do something worth doing.
Maybe Shidou had texted him through some sort of social media because he didn’t have his phone number, apologizing for not minding his business and for being in his personal space.
Or even better, Isagi had texted him also through some kind of social media, telling him that he got into some sort of argument with Nagi and that they were no longer friends, and promising to stay out of his way and life from now on.
Or seeing the news that Isagi got into some sort of car accident. Hah.
Reo hoped to the gods out there that at least some kind of good news was waiting for him on his phone, patiently waiting for him to open it up and find it.
But when he finally pulled out his phone from his pocket after clutching it for a solid minute and a half, there was absolutely nothing. And if this was some kind of cartoon, a fly coming out of his phone would’ve hit him in the face.
Nothing. Literally nothing.
And for some reason, this made him realize that he didn’t have any other friends besides Nagi.
Reo wanted to almost laugh at the pathetic realization and situation. But instead of laughing, he just typed his password and went to his messages, sending a quick text to Kunigami before putting his phone back into his pocket.
He walked the hallways of the lab after deciding that he didn’t want to do the paperwork and that quite frankly, his father couldn’t force him to because he was not there. So, he left the unfinished paperwork where he was filling it, took his leave, making sure to turn off the lights on his way out.
The lab always felt more empty and hollow after everyone leaves. It was cold, as if everyone working here had been the main reason of the warmth that embraced the hallways in the evenings.
His footsteps echoed loudly against the polished and too-white floors as he peeked into rooms like he always did when he stayed late.
Most of them were locked, of course.
His eyes caught a glimpse of light coming from one of the rooms, standing out from the darkness of the hallway.
He was pretty sure everyone had left two hours ago already, as they usually did, so he was confused.
‘Maybe someone was also working late…’
He should’ve just left.
‘Well, wouldn’t hurt to check,’
He walked closer towards the door of the room, noticing the slight open crack of the door.
Reo was planning on just taking a peek from the small window that every door had. But if it was open then it wouldn’t hurt to look from the crack…right?
He first took a look from the little window, only seeing half of the room, before opening the door a little more to see the whole room.
No one was there.
So, Reo did what every other person would’ve done—push the door open and entered.
It was more colorful than Reo expected.
Glass tubes of…something, decorated the walls.
It was also more warm than he expected.
There were computers on long desks that Reo had been filling out paperwork on but in a different room.
There also was paperwork, and for a moment he felt happy that maybe the paperwork had to do something with the research and experiments done in the lab—and that his father was just preparing him for his next assignments.
He also felt guilty for a moment, thinking about the paperwork’s that he left on the table abandoned in the other room.
But it was only for a moment. Until he picked up a paper to read it, and realized that there were levels to this, and he was on the lowest.
This was nothing compared to what he had to fill out. Actually, this was already filled out for them, and there were just pictures and equations that were not included in his papers.
He made a mental note to himself to talk about this with his father later on, and just put the papers down.
Walking around the room, he could see animals and organs trapped inside bigger tubes that weren’t hung on the walls.
He also saw cables and wires and equations that he never even saw before.
There was a tablet next to some sort of enclosure, and he was too far into his intrusion to limit himself from touching even more stuff. So he took it.
The screen lit up, and to his luck, it didn’t have a password. There was already some sort of app opened.
PROJECT: ARACHNE
“Arachne?” He muttered. “That sounds familiar…”
His thumb scrolled without thinking, only to be met with stuff he didn’t understand. Graphs that spiked and dipped like heart monitors. Words like bonding, compatibility, anomaly…he didn’t understand.
He frowned, leaning on a random counter. He looked at the tablet and the enclosure that had nothing inside it before his phone vibrated in his pocket.
He put the tablet down and took out his phone, opening the number that texted him.
(Reo knew that it was Kunigami even though he didn’t have his number saved, because quite frankly, Nagi was the only number he had saved apart from his father and mother.)
It was a picture.
Reo clicked on it and was immediately faced with the faces of his teammates. It was clear they were in a some ramen place, with lots of empty bowls on the table and cups that would be a nightmare for the staff the clean up.
Kunigami’s face was in the center of the picture, taking the most space with his peace sign and awkward smile. Chigiri smiled next to him, the both of them leaning on each other.
Shidou (ugh) was grinning at Otoya, who was downing a bowl of noodles next to Karasu, who was sipping on his drink. Nanase was smiling politely at the camera, his bandana resting on the table. Aryu was combing his hair, while Barou was yelling at him while trying to snatch the comb away (Reo could practically hear his screeching voice telling Aryu not to comb his hair near his food). And Zantetsu, as always, was in his own little world.
However, as he scanned the picture, he noticed that Nagi and Isagi were nowhere in sight (Sae also wasn’t there…but he never is since he’s anti social), and just as he was about to shoot a quick text to Kunigami, asking him where they were—another picture was sent.
Titled: These two lovebirds were in the bathroom, hahaha.
It was Nagi and Isagi. Isagi was smiling awkwardly at the camera as Nagi leaned into him with his sleepy eyes.
He felt as if he was going to have a panic attack.
‘Bathroom? Together? Doing what?’ Was his heart beating faster?
‘Why together? What were they doing?’ Reo should probably just calm doing.
’Lovebirds? What do you mean love birds?’ Was he sweating? Why was he sweating?
’”Lovebirds” was me and Nagi’s thing, I mean—the whole team practically called us that!’ His hands felt clammy.
‘Well, they haven’t called us that in a while…since Nagi and Isagi have been hanging out a lot—‘ He should probably put the phone down unless he wanted to drop it.
’Why were they in the bathroom?!’
’Still! That didn’t mean that Nagi and I stopped hanging out—we just…’
’Together?!’
’grew apart...’
’What were they doing? Maybe I should ask Kunigami—‘
‘Nagi had replaced me.’
’No! That’s stupid—‘
’And the whole team knew.’
’it’s obvious what they were doing!’
‘I should’ve known.’
’They were peeing, right?!’
’I should’ve known the moment Nagi had first ditched me.’
’Right?!’
’Back when Nagi and Isagi first locked eyes.’
’RIGHT?!’
’I should’ve known.’
’Or—‘
’I should’ve known the moment Nagi looked at Isagi with those puppy eyes with sparkles in them.’
’Or were they—‘
’A way he’s never looked at me before.’
’Or were they having—‘
’And probably never will.’
A sharp pain—that wasn’t from his heart—suddenly engulfed the nerves of his hand, and Reo managed to wince despite the panic attack that was rising if he kept thinking about Nagi and Isagi even longer.
He looked at his hand to find the culprit, and with its eight legs and small head stood a spider.
It was little, but not little enough to the point of not being seen.
It was quite beautiful and unique, actually. With its un-natural colors and pattern. And if it was any other day, Reo would’ve been at awe by the sheer beauty of it, because quite frankly—he liked spiders.
But unfortunately, today was today, and he was not having a good one, and this teeny bitty spider made his day even worse.
(Reo didn’t want to admit that he was a little grateful for the spider, since it stopped his hyperventilating and fast pace of his heart.)
He flicked the spider, and it landed on the floor upside down with its’ little legs flailing up in the air. Twitching and turning.
🕷️
He had no idea how he got to his dorm the night before, but when he woke up, he was laying on his bed wearing the clothes from the night before.
He was sweating and his bedsheets were bunched together on the edge of the bed. And even though he was sweating, he felt cold
He scrunched his face. He felt also felt gross.
Reo slowly got up, peeking over at his roommates side of the room and finding his bed empty. And for the first time, he was glad that he and Nagi weren’t assigned roommates together.
(He was mad at Nagi.)
His head spun when he sat up, and his bangs stuck to his forehead. He walked to the bathroom, bumping and stepping into stuff on the way. It was a short walk, but it somehow felt longer than usual.
’Maybe I’m just really tired…’
He groaned when he looked in the mirror. His hair was a mess…
’I look homeless…is that a pimple…?’
He brushed his teeth slowly, practically blinking in slow motion like the way Nagi did.
He put on his uniform before taking it off and ironing it, and then putting it on once again.
He felt off.
And even though he thought he had stopped growing—he felt as if his uniform had gotten tighter and shorter.
’Had I gotten fat?’
He quickly rushed out of his dorm after seeing the time, and when he got to his first class—everyone was already sitting and waiting for the teacher to get ready to start the lesson.
Unfortunately, Nagi was in his class, and he saw the way he patiently (and sleepily) waited for Reo to go and sit next to him like he always did in the back of the classroom.
But he wasn’t going to sit next to him. Instead, he took the closest seat to the door so that he could bolt out of the classroom as soon as the class was over.
(Reo was mad at Nagi, but a part of him didn’t want Nagi to see how not put together he was today.)
(Reo was not not put together, but to Reo’s high standards of himself, he wasn’t.)
Reo didn’t even dare to turn around to look at Nagi as he sat away from him, but when Shidou walked into the classroom (also running late?) he almost got up to go and sit next to Nagi.
Reo seemed to have forgotten that Shidou was also in this class, and that the seat he was sitting on was right next to the seat Shidou normally sat on.
And unfortunately for him, it was empty.
’God damnit.’
Shidou’s eyes practically lit up when he walked into the classroom and saw Reo sitting next to his assigned unassigned seat, and his face broke out into a grin.
Reo was going to get a headache today.
He happily made his way over to him, basically skipping with excitement, and loudly made a show of throwing his backpack next to his desk and slumping onto his seat.
Reo didn’t acknowledge him, mentally begging all the gods out there that Shidou would just catch the hint that today was not the day and that he didn’t want to talk to anyone.
But of course, Shidou was Shidou, and he did whatever he wanted to. (The gods hated him.)
“Well well well, look who we have here!” He grinned, shuffling into his chair and throwing his arm around Reo’s seat. God he was so loud.
Reo needed to calm down. He had already gotten mad at Shidou (and at everyone for that matter) yesterday, and he was going to take it slow today.
He was going to be nice and kind and respectful, like he always was.
Yes, kind and respectful.
A tight and fake smile appeared on his face as he slowly turned to Shidou before speaking.
”Please button up your shirt.”
Shidou talked his ear off whenever he got the chance to. Not even paying attention to the teacher when she told him to be quiet or get out of the classroom.
Reo just sat there, staring off into space and not even bothering to respond to his snarky and flirty comments.
He sighed in relief when the bell finally rang, and he quickly began to pack up. When he got up to get out of this classroom once and for all and was adjusting his backpack straps, he suddenly felt a warm breath hitting his cheek. What the fuck.
To no one’s surprise, it was Shidou. He was grinning at Reo—far too close for his comfort—and looking at him with wide eyes.
”Why so fast, purple bun?”
The said purple bun slowly turned his head to Shidou, and their faces were so close to the point where they could count each other’s eyelashes if they really wanted to. But Reo surely didn’t want to.
(Reo secretly hoped that Shidou couldn’t see the pimple on the side of his chin that he didn’t have time to cover up that morning because he was running late. Not that he cared how he looked like in the eyes of the blond haired freak.)
They stared at each other for a few seconds, and Reo watched as Shidou slowly licked his lips and flashed his fangs at him.
”Reo.”
That too familiar voice snapped Reo out of the trance Shidou had managed to put him in, and he quickly whipped his head around to find Nagi standing there.
He was staring at Shidou and him with a kind of look in his eyes that Reo couldn’t put a finger on, and it made him squirm in his place.
He was suddenly too aware of his own body.
”A-ah, Nagi…” he squeaked, but Nagi didn’t spare him another glance because now, he was looking at Shidou with intense and dark eyes.
”…get away from Reo,”
Shidou hummed, almost lazily but amused.
”Or what?”
Nagi glared. Shidou sneered.
Reo has never seen Nagi acting like this except for that one time Barou was insulting him on the field and Nagi stepped in to defend him (they almost got into a full blown fight right in the middle of the game). But that was a while ago, and Reo didn’t know how to deal with that Nagi back then, and especially not now.
A hand grasped his chin, and his face was forcefully guided to face Shidou once again, going back to the proximity their faces were before Nagi stepped in.
”Exactly,” Shidou sneered, looking at Nagi over his shoulder.
”Anyways, where were we—“
”Don’t. Touch. Reo.”
It took a few moments for Reo to process what was happening, and when he looked around the classroom he saw that no one had bothered to get out of the class and go to their next class, too busy watching them and what was going on.
And then he realized that probably one of the major reasons why no one had gotten out of the class yet was because they were blocking the door, and embarrassment washed over him.
And before Shidou could get even closer to his face and invade even further his personal space, he grabbed the back of Shidou head and gripped his hair to pull him off.
And he succeeded! He pulled his face away from his, but with a little problem.
And the little problem wasn’t the fact that Shidou moaned (…) in pleasure when he pulled his hair, even though it was really gross and made Reo uncomfortable.
But it was the fact that when he successfully pulled him away from his face, and tried to untangle his hand from Shidou’s blond (and surprisingly soft) hair to yell at him, his hand didn’t budge.
He tried again. And again. And again, to the point where he was practically pulling his hair forcefully while Shidou was groaning (and he prayed it wasn’t in pleasure.)
Fuck.