Work Text:
Kugisaki: hey.
Kugisaki: come to a party with me PLEASE.
Yuuji: huh???
Kugisaki: i know it’s been a while since our class together, but my girlfriend’s friend is having this party and she has to babysit her cousin all night because he’s finally agreeing to go out with us. please please please i don’t wanna be alone all night!!
Yuuji: sure, i guess? but what do you mean “babysit”
Kugisaki: ugh, he’s a loser and never wants to go out. he’s finally agreeing, but he doesn’t really know anyone there. my gf said she’d hang with him, which means standing against the wall the entire night. LAME. COME OUT WITH ME.
✎ ✎ ✎
Yuuji stumbled towards the balcony door, his movements feeling loose and slow while also, somehow, feeling fast and dizzying at the same time. He tried to blink a couple of times, squeezing his eyes shut and opening them wide, to see if it would help with the disorientation.
It did not.
Fuck, he had way too much to drink…
It wasn’t that he went overboard or anything, but the realization that cutting out alcohol meant having a lower tolerance went right over his head. Now, here he was, only a few drinks in, and getting to reap the benefits of what he sowed. He supposed that was his karma for being so strict with his diet.
He never really planned on going into a profession where he’d have to watch what he ate, but being a professional boxer meant being at the top of his game. Yuuji always did his best to eat healthy — even before the agents and the matches and the media coverage and the fans — and it wasn’t like he went out partying every weekend or something, but his trainer would absolutely lose his mind if he saw Yuuji right now.
The room seemed to stretch and bend with every step forward. He felt both so far away and so close to his goal, seemingly stretching on and on as he tried to find a break from the chaos of the party. Somewhere in the living room, he could hear Kugisaki laughing, and he remembered vividly seeing her with her arm tightly wrapped around the waist of a girl he could only assume was her girlfriend.
“I don’t want to be alone all night,” my ass, Yuuji thought.
He chuckled to himself, knowing that he should have known it would end up like this. He never, in a million years, would have expected Kugisaki and her girlfriend to go an entire night without being around each other. Even if she promised to hang out with her cousin, it was only a matter of time before Kugisaki found her way over.
Yuuji was fine with it, though. He enjoyed socializing and meeting new people. There were a few faces he actually recognized through Kugisaki — friends she posted about that he occasionally saw in his feed. It was a new experience, and Yuuji was never one to turn down a new experience, and he found himself content with the various conversations he carried through the night.
Miwa — the host of the party, he learned — was celebrating the conclusion of her first year of graduate school, along with her boyfriend, Muta. He spoke with them for a while, talking about their respective fields and what Yuuji was doing. Upon learning that he only completed a two-year degree and was now a professional boxer, Miwa took it upon herself to introduce him to everyone in the apartment, and that took up a good chunk of his time.
Now, however, Yuuji was thoroughly socialized out, and he wanted to go somewhere where he could just sit and sober up. The balcony seemed like a pretty good call. He definitely didn’t want to go into someone’s bedroom. From what he could tell, the balcony seemed like a good place to seek refuge, so he figured he’d take his chances. Besides, nothing was better than fresh, spring air after spending hours drinking and snaking through a crowd.
After what felt like eons, Yuuji finally made contact with the handle of the door, suddenly feeling grounded and relieved. The party was still booming, music blasting through speakers and people shouting above the noise, and he could tell that whatever awaited him on the balcony was going to feel life-changing.
Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic, but he really, really could use some peace and quiet right now.
The cool night air fanned across his face like a feather tracing his skin. It felt delicate and soft and was everything he needed after the heat of the party and the alcohol in his system. Yuuji took a few clumsy steps forward into the night before shutting the door and making his way to the railing. Gripping it hard, he hung his head, just inhaling slowly as his skin cooled and the burning feeling in his cheeks slowly drained.
Every time he closed his eyes, the world spun around him. Yuuji felt like he was the only thing anchored in place, while everything else just kept going. The turn of the earth, the feeling of hurtling through space — Yuuji could feel it.
Man, he really needed to cool it on the drinks next time.
He stood there, holding onto the railing for an indeterminate amount of time. It could have been thirty seconds or thirty minutes, but when he finally felt the strain of the weight of his body on his arms, he pushed off and turned around, opting to lean back on it instead.
The first thing he noticed was that he wasn’t alone.
There was a man sitting on the balcony floor, just next to the door that Yuuji had stumbled through, with his arms resting on his knees and his head thrown back against the wall. His eyes were closed, covered partially by his bangs that swept across his face in a really messy but… cool way. Yuuji noticed its dark color — inky black strands that jutted out in seemingly every direction. He took note of how it fell around his face, framing his sharp features.
His lips were parted, just slightly, and his Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed. City lights illuminated his skin, glowing under the moon, and Yuuji couldn’t help his gawking — especially when the alcohol made his brain all fuzzy, and he was pretty sure this guy was, like, the most beautiful person he had ever seen.
A part of him wanted to say something — maybe strike up a conversation — but… Did he even know that Yuuji was out here?
He wasn’t exactly quiet in his entrance, but the stranger didn’t even acknowledge him. Was he conscious? It was possible that he didn’t care whether Yuuji was here or not, but he also looked really tired and drained. He was barely moving, too, with nothing more than the soft rise and fall of his chest to signify that he was alive and breathing.
It was probably just someone who had too much to drink, Yuuji told himself.
Or he was like Yuuji and just wanted some peace and quiet — away from the party. In that case, maybe he shouldn’t say anything, and instead, he would just have to be here, next to the handsomest guy on the planet, and try not to let his mouth run.
He continued leaning back on the railing, twisting his body and looking down at the city around him. Taller buildings stood high above it all, and he could see glimpses into other people’s lives — an office here, a living room television turned on there, and a lot of closed curtains and blinds. The mix of people in Tokyo left a wide variety of stories unfolding around him, and he stood in the midst of it all at a party, only a train ride away from his own story.
And then he was left to ponder that. His story. What it meant, where it was going, and how he would tell it.
Maybe the alcohol was making him introspective, but he just couldn’t shake this strange feeling that had been growing within him for a few years now. It was a feeling of insignificance. It left him hollowed out and dull. This career that he had built for himself was going somewhere, and yet, somehow, Yuuji felt completely stagnant. Plateaued.
He turned back to the stranger on the balcony, who still sat in the same position as before. Yuuji cursed himself, inhaling deeply before sighing it out and looking around as the night settled. He didn’t even know what time it was, but it felt late. There were fewer people out on the streets, and his body ached with exhaustion he didn’t know he had.
He didn’t want to think about his job or his life or how colorless it all felt. He just wanted something... new to happen to him.
Finally working up the courage, Yuuji pushed off the railing and walked closer to the stranger. He lowered himself against the wall, leaving enough space between them so as not to alarm him, and then he just… sat there.
The man didn’t even peel an eye open to look at him. He could be asleep, for all Yuuji knew, but they remained where they were on the balcony, surrounded by the city lights and the moon high in the sky. Muffled voices from the party floated through the doors, and the buzzing bass of the music seeped into Yuuji’s chest, but it was nice out here.
Yuuji was never really impulsive like this. He was explosive and quick to decision at times, but he never made a choice without thinking about it first. So, he couldn't really say what it was that made him speak to this person, this stranger, someone he wasn’t even sure would respond.
Yet he found himself saying, “Hi.”
For a moment, nothing happened. Yuuji was looking at the man, waiting for a reaction, but all he was left with was silence and the distant sound of a train rumbling along its tracks. He almost figured that he was asleep and considered standing to head back in when, slowly, an eye peeked open and met his own.
It was like he had been thrown under a microscope. The gaze of this stranger staring at him out of the corner of his eye was both imposing and intimidating. He hadn’t even moved. His head was still leaning back against the wall, and his arms were still draped lazily over his knees, which were pulled up towards his chest, but the way he looked at Yuuji — it was like he was reading him.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you,” Yuuji said quickly, holding a hand up in apology. “You were probably enjoying the silence.”
“’s fine,” the man mumbled. He sat up, groaning as he did so. “I’ve been out here for a while.”
“Really? How long?”
He hummed, looking up in thought. He dropped his legs, letting them splay out before him, long and casual. Crossing his arms, he looked back at Yuuji and replied, “An hour, I think? Maybe two.”
Yuuji widened his eyes. “Seriously? Are you, like, feeling okay?”
“Hm? Oh, yeah. I just don’t really… party often.”
Now that Yuuji had a better look at him, he could see the flush of his cheeks and the drowsiness in his eyes. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one who had one too many drinks tonight, and that must have been how they both ended up here.
Just two people with way too much alcohol in their systems trying to wait it out.
“Me, too, actually,” Yuuji said with a small laugh. “Not anymore anyway. A friend of mine asked me to come out, though, so I did, but she’s spending time with her girlfriend at the moment.”
“I had two family members drag me out, and my sister insisted that I go,” he mumbled. “Probably had more than I should have.”
“Yeah, I definitely know that feeling…” Yuuji chuckled sheepishly as he trailed off.
The guy didn’t seem like the type to be a conversationalist, but Yuuji found it to be surprisingly easy. He was short in a lot of his responses, but he prompted further discussion in return, allowing a steady yet weightless conversation to flow between them.
It was nice, Yuuji thought. It wasn’t often that he got to just sit and chat with someone about anything and everything. They talked about the party, about the weather, about the city — whatever came to mind, really. The exchange lessened the whirling, overwhelming feeling in his head, and it kept him grounded as the world continued to move around him.
It was like they were the only two people here, in this space and on this balcony. A secret, little hush of a moment that stretched for far longer than Yuuji was aware of.
How much time had passed since they started talking? Thirty minutes? An hour?
It felt slow and fast at the same time, as if they had been talking for hours, and yet Yuuji wasn’t even tired in the slightest. He was fine to just be here — with a person he only just met — if it meant they could exist together a little bit longer.
“So, are you in school for anything?” Yuuji asked.
“Just graduated, actually. That’s part of the reason why I got dragged out here.”
“Oh, that’s amazing! Congrats, man!” he beamed, scooting a little closer. “What did you study?”
The man knocked his head back against the wall, staring up at the night sky. “Literature and linguistics, though I’m not technically done with it yet.”
“Are you going back for grad school or something in the fall?”
“Not quite. I’m going to take a gap year and work full-time first. Then I’ll try to go back to school. Mostly, I’m just focusing on saving money for the time being and helping my sister out with some bills.”
Yuuji nodded. “Where do you think you’ll work?”
“Well, I work part-time for a newspaper in Toshima City. The owner wants to bring me on as a full-time journalist. I said yes, as long as I can keep covering hard news.”
“Oh, that's super cool," Yuuji beamed, sitting up. “You’re a journalist? I know a few.”
He hummed. “Yeah, it’s not something I expected to get into, but I like it enough. Writing for news was a bit of a learning curve, but I appreciate how straightforward it is. That’s why I prefer to write stories for current events rather than conceptual topics. Things like crime and politics rather than something like entertainment or pop culture.”
Yuuji had never considered that there were different types of news like that. Well, he knew that there were, but hearing about it from someone who knew it intimately was interesting. All he really knew about journalism was that there were people who wrote stories, but it seemed like there were different subsections of the field with specific reporters for each area of focus.
It was cool to meet someone like that, sitting next to him and learning from him. The way he explained it was easy to understand, too. Concise and straightforward.
He likes to write for crime and politics? Yuuji smiled to himself. It suits him.
Then the man turned his head, one pair of eyes finding another. “What about you?”
Silence filled the air as he waited for a reply, but the problem was that Yuuji was pretty sure he had just lost all of his higher brain functions. Everything that they were talking about went right over his head, and he was left staring dumbly into a pair of deep green eyes — eyes that shone in the moonlight, reminding him of a moss-filled pond. Shimmering, reflective, and just…
Wow.
Now that he was closer, sitting in the light and looking at him properly, Green Eyes was even more breathtaking than he had previously thought.
Yuuji never really understood what it meant for a person to be captivating or alluring. He had seen people before that were attractive. There were plenty of beautiful faces and bodies and personalities that have shined their light in his life at various stages — a high school crush, a fleeting romance, and the occasional turn-your-head type of charm as a person passed him on the street.
But this was different.
He could blame it on the alcohol or the distant city lights or the help of the full moon with her beautiful, cool reflection of the sun, but everything about this just felt so different. It was like he was being sucked into a black hole — ever gravitating, inescapable — as he stared into the stranger’s eyes. He never thought he’d ever see a color so vibrant, but all he knew was that he wanted to see more of it. More color, more of this feeling, something that made him feel like he was actually here and alive and not just ambling through life.
“Sorry…” Yuuji could hear his own voice trailing off as if he were watching this happen to someone else. Like playing a game in the third person. He swallowed. “What was that?”
The man eyed him for a moment, his expression full of confusion, before a small laugh escaped him. He brought one of his arms up, covering his mouth, and snickered into the back of his hand.
Immediately, Yuuji flushed, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck. He was grateful that his response didn’t come across as rude and that Green Eyes didn’t seem to take it that way, but that meant that his staring was so fucking obvious he couldn’t even pay attention to a question. He cursed at himself, and when he turned back to the man, he was met with a soft smile.
And, oh.
He didn’t really need to breathe anyway.
Green Eyes didn’t really seem like the type to smile often. Yuuji wasn’t sure what gave him that impression, but it just seemed to suit him. Quiet, reserved, polite, yet withdrawn. He came across as the kind of guy who cared greatly but rarely. Aloof to a lot of the world, but with strong bonds held close to his chest.
It was a nice smile. It softened his features — the cut of his jaw and the sharpness in his eyes. With just a simple curl of the lips, he shifted from someone intimidating to someone tender. Attentive.
“I asked what you were doing with your life,” the man deadpanned. “Since you asked me about mine.”
“Oh, um, sorry if it was intrusive,” Yuuji said sheepishly.
With a quirk of his lips and an amused glint in his eyes, the man simply replied, “I’m just messing with you.”
That made Yuuji blush even harder.
Usually, he was so good at carrying a conversation, but right now, he just felt so lost talking to this person.
He couldn’t tell when he was joking or being serious, and he was terrified of ruining the vibe and offending him or insulting him. It was like walking on eggshells, trying to not to make a fool of himself, and the fact that he was also literally stumbling fucking drunk was not helping him out here.
“Oh, right.” Yuuji cleared his throat. “Well, I’m not in school or anything. I actually had a two-year degree, and I was going to go to undergrad for something, but I ended up doing something else instead.”
“Like what?”
“I’m a… professional boxer.”
The way Yuuji said it felt like forcing an object up his throat. It was something that choked him, constantly discomforting, that he just couldn’t shake. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel pride in his career, and he knew that he was lucky to be as successful as he was, but—
“Are you serious?”
Yuuji looked up and saw Green Eyes looking at him with skepticism.
“What? Yeah, I am,” Yuuji replied, a little bit offended. “Here, look.”
He quickly pulled out his phone and searched up his boxing nickname — his brand or persona, or whatever it was called. Various articles showed up, including a profile on him and his career. It was strange to see himself through that lens. It felt so different from who Yuuji actually was. Still, he held his phone out and showed it to the man, who moved in closer for a better look.
Now, they were flush against each other. Two warm bodies sitting together outside.
Green Eyes peered at the phone, quickly swiping through some of the photos and stories written about him. He looked amused as he did so, letting out a little chuckle when he read what Yuuji’s nickname was.
“The ‘King of Curses?’ That’s really corny, you know.”
Yuuji felt his cheeks redden, and he pouted at the smirk on the other man’s face. “Hey, what’s wrong with my title? You didn’t even believe me when I said I was a boxer.”
“No, I didn’t,” Green Eyes admitted with a playful lilt. His smile was lazy, drunk, and addicting.
“Why not?”
He shrugged. “You didn’t seem happy when you said it.”
And despite the carefree way in which he said it, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, Yuuji felt like he had just been sucker punched. It was like getting caught off guard with one of Todo’s brute-force attacks when they’d box together. Like having the air ripped from his lungs and a pressure so great hitting him square in the chest. He didn’t know what it was — the candidness of his words or the way he shrugged as he said them — but the statement landed at Yuuji’s feet with a resounding thud.
And he didn’t like how exposed he felt.
“What do you mean by that?” Yuuji asked, slightly bristled. “I like my job.”
“It was just… how you said it. I don’t know,” the man replied, slightly slurred, but each word was crystal clear in Yuuji’s mind. He shook his head. “Like, you hesitated.”
“That’s because it’s weird to say to people,” he defended. “I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging. Like, ‘Oh! I’m a pro boxer, you know.’”
Green Eyes scoffed, a smile returning to his face, and bumped his shoulder. “I don’t think it would have come across that way.”
“Well, now we’ll never know,” Yuuji said with a hmph. Crossing his arms, he leaned back on the wall, staring up at the sky. “I was lucky to go so far, you know. Not that many people get to that level of recognition in such a short time.”
“Now, you sound like you’re bragging,” Green Eyes teased.
“Shut up.” Yuuji blushed, turning his head. “I just mean that I’m one of the youngest out there.”
“Not helping.” His voice floated with a bit of a sing-songy tone.
“No, like, me being so young is why I have recognition.”
“Still bragging…”
Yuuji huffed. “I’m not!”
He spun back in exasperation, frustrated and ready to spit out some sort of retort, but found himself stunned into silence.
Green Eyes was right there, close to his face, studying his features like he was reading over a book. The proximity was terrifying. Intimidating. Yuuji watched as his eyes dipped from the scar on his eyebrow down his nose and along his jaw. Their breaths mixed in the spring air, and Yuuji could smell the faint scent of alcohol on his lips, wondering if he was going to taste it here himself.
He swallowed, frozen in place, drunk on the proximity and the liquor in his stomach. Green Eyes wasn’t moving, keeping them both grounded here, and despite the fact that only their sides were touching, he felt his skin burning all over. Heat flushed from his cheeks down to his chest, engulfing him in flames as they stayed locked in this silent stalemate.
Yuuji wasn’t even sure what he was upset about anymore. Was he even really upset? Green Eyes was only teasing him. Maybe he was flirting with him. Fuck, was he flirting? Yuuji was too drunk to tell, and every single one of his social skills had thrown themselves off the very balcony he sat on, so he was left here to fend for himself with nothing but his words and the two shots he took before coming out here in his system.
He was so fucked.
“Sorry, you’re pretty cute when you’re frustrated,” Green Eyes said, and Yuuji was pretty sure his mind totally blanked.
They must have sat in silence for a minute or two, because eventually, the man leaned back, a little more reserved than before, and cleared his throat. Yuuji instantly missed the closeness between them, a little moment that was now shattered. All because of his stupid mouth that didn’t move when he needed it to.
“I’m sorry for that, too…” The man looked out at the city. “I, uh, don’t really know what I’m saying right now.”
“It’s okay,” Yuuji said, maybe a bit too quickly. “Sorry, yeah, it’s… it’s totally okay with me. I just… turn into an idiot when I’m drunk, I guess.”
He tried to laugh it off, hoping that Green Eyes would turn back to him.
Oh, how he wanted this moment to last forever. This quiet little pocket in time. Something that existed only for them, separate from the rest of the world. He hoped that he didn’t just ruin it.
“Maybe you got hit in the head one too many times during a match?” Green Eyes quipped.
Yuuji felt the corner of his mouth curl up. “Yeah, something like that.”
“That sounds like something you should check out, you know.”
“Are you offering?”
“Are you agreeing?”
At that, Yuuji laughed, stunned by the boldness of this stranger.
Okay, so he wasn’t totally reserved and withdrawn. Part of it was definitely the alcohol, but there was more to this guy than he had previously thought. It was attractive and exciting, and he found himself being drawn in — more and more — the longer this conversation lasted.
“So, how did you end up in pro boxing?” Green Eyes asked. “I can’t say that I meet many boxers every day — much less professional ones.”
“Ah, well, I know that this will sound cliché, but it just sort of… happened,” Yuuji answered. “I don’t really know when things started getting serious, but then there were people asking me to participate in matches, and suddenly, money was involved, and—” He shrugged. “I guess it got away from me.”
Green Eyes only hummed, just staring at him. It was hard to tell what was going through his mind, but the silence was surprisingly nice. Yuuji didn’t feel awkward or anything, and he found that it was actually pretty nice to just be here with this guy.
A part of him wondered if it was weird to think that about a stranger, and yet…
“See, but there it is again.”
Yuuji furrowed his brows in confusion. “What?”
Green Eyes nodded towards him, as if he were pointing something obvious out. “You just don’t seem like you love it.”
“I mean, it’s fine,” Yuuji said with a shrug.
“Just fine?”
Then he thought about it.
Was it “just fine”?
Was Yuuji truly content to be where he was? He had had these feelings before — the kind of feelings that made him think there was some sort of hole in his chest. There was a small part of him that always wondered if this was what he was meant to do for the rest of his life, but everyone went through that sort of crisis, didn’t they?
The whole idea of having a job was choosing something sustainable, doable, and enjoyable, and Yuuji was one of the lucky ones who got to turn his extracurricular sport into a real career. He liked boxing and winning matches. There were people he met through it — Todo and Hakari — that he considered to be some of his best friends. Hell, Todo called Yuuji his brother. Those bonds would have never happened if it weren’t for boxing, so he should be grateful.
But then he was back to feeling that strange, awkward feeling that hit him so suddenly earlier.
Yuuji remembered the weight of Green Eyes’ words, telling him so casually and plainly, “You didn’t seem happy when you said it.” Hakari had always talked about having a fire, a passion — something that burned hot and bright and lit him up — every time he stepped in the ring.
Did Yuuji really have that, though?
The more he thought about it, the more he wavered in his response. He thought it was normal for people to just coast, but his grandfather always talked about having a proper life. What did that mean to him? Living famously and successfully sounded pretty proper to anyone in the world. Most people dream of that but never get it, and yet it just fell right into Yuuji’s lap.
But did he want that?
Did he always want that?
“I just don’t really know anything better than this, I guess,” Yuuji admitted. “I mean… fame and all that.”
Green Eyes let the words hang in the air, crafting a response as he looked at the sky in thought. His profile was so angular. Light cut around his silhouette from the party, almost haloing him. Even with drooping eyes and uncoordinated movements, he still seemed so graceful. It was just the way that he carried himself, Yuuji supposed. So sure and definitive.
“I don’t know if aiming for ‘better’ is the right idea,” he eventually said, turning to look at Yuuji. “What I mean is that I don’t think the more famous or rich you are, the happier it’ll make you.”
Yuuji considered his words, transfixed by those green eyes boring into his own.
“It doesn’t take a lot to be happy, you know. Sometimes, you can have something as simple as the people around you, and as long as you feel fulfilled, then that’s all you need.” He continued on, dropping his gaze to his hands in his lap. “For example, I would be fine with just a small apartment — quiet and somewhere where I could visit my sister often, even after I move out. And if all I did was go to work, come home, do laundry, and repeat it the next day, as long as she was happy, then I’d be okay with that. I don’t need anything more.”
“It sounds like you two are very close,” Yuuji offered.
Green Eyes hummed. “Yeah, we kind of had to be. Sorry, not that you really need to know about all of that. But she had to do a lot of growing up for me, so I just want to be able to make it up for her.”
“And that would make you happy? Something as easy as that?”
“It would.”
“What about after?”
The man looked over at Yuuji, confused. “What do you mean?”
“Let’s say that you fulfilled that and that your sister was the happiest you could make her,” Yuuji explained. “Then what would you do?”
Thinking about it for a moment, he sighed a sound of content. “I want to keep learning. I enjoy reading and writing and the things that I study. There’s always more to learn, so I’d like to keep doing that. That’s part of the reason why I decided to work as a journalist. I think I’d be happy with something like that.”
“So, you’re saying you don’t need the big, flashy news stories that get put on the front page of every tabloid, magazine, and newspaper in the world?” Yuuji teased.
But the more he thought about it, the more he understood it.
His grandfather was the same way, denying every possible treatment for his cancer. He was adamant about remaining exactly who he was, and he refused to sacrifice his comfort for something that couldn’t even guarantee his health. Yuuji didn’t get it at the time, too blindingly selfish to understand it all, but now, perhaps it made sense.
It wasn’t that his grandfather wanted to die; he wanted to live.
Properly. For as long as he could.
Green Eyes let a small smile creep across his lips. “No, I don’t need all of that. And those aren’t really stories that get published in newspapers. They’re more like overdramatized features. Sometimes an editorial. Most of the time, it’s a column.”
“Now, you’ve lost me, man.” Yuuji laughed, leaning back, throwing an arm over his eyes to try and drown out the fuzzy feeling in his head. “I think I know what those things are.”
“Well, I don’t expect you to know everything off the top of your head,” Green Eyes replied, eyeing him with a chuckle.
“I know a lot of things, actually,” he quipped, leaning back in. Green Eyes didn’t pull away. “Want me to prove it to you?”
A sly smile appeared. “I think you could stand to learn some more.”
“And you’ll teach me?”
“Something like that.”
Yuuji felt something burning within him now.
He thought back to Hakari’s whole spiel about fever and wondered if this is what it was like — nothing but pure energy coursing through his veins. Electricity danced along his skin as the tension seemed to rise. It was like standing at the edge of a cliff, looking down into warm, calm waters. The rush of adrenaline empowered him, and the urge to jump, to fall, to fly itched at the back of his mind.
If he leaned in just a little bit closer, their lips would brush.
He wanted to do it. The alcohol wanted him to do it. Every single cell in his body was telling him to take that risk, because when would a person like this come into his life again? When would he ever meet someone so enticing?
“So, Mr. Pro Boxer,” Green Eyes said, allowing his eyes to flicker for a moment. A brief flit down to Yuuji’s lips and back. “What would make you happy?”
Yuuji hummed, smiling. “That’s a loaded question right now.”
The man quirked his lips, and an amused yet contemplative expression took over. “Cute, but I want to know more about you right now. If that’s okay.”
Butterflies fluttered in Yuuji's stomach. He thought he was cute.
You can know anything you want. “Fine with me.”
And it was true.
Yuuji would be perfectly content just spending his time talking to this person. He was intriguing and pragmatic. His outlook on a fulfilling life was a simple one, but maybe that was what Yuuji needed, too. Something simple. Something away from the flashing cameras and the news articles and the world records. Yuuji never cared about any of that. Not really.
So, if that was the case, then what made him happy?
“I like helping people,” he said. It felt right. Easy to say. “I like being able to help people. It was something I tried to do in school, and it’s something I’d like to do now.”
Green Eyes hummed, taking in his words. “Do you mean in a healthcare kind of way, or…?”
“Anything,” Yuuji answered definitively. “You’re right in that I don’t really sound like I love boxing. I do love boxing, but it’s complicated. I love boxing in the same way that I love running. It’s just something that I do, but I’m not a passionate runner.”
“But you’re passionate about helping people.”
“I feel like I could be if I tried.”
Studying him, Green Eyes narrowed his eyes and smiled. “Yeah, I think that suits you.”
“I don’t even know how I would do something like that, though,” Yuuji admitted, staring down at his hands. He flexed and released his fists over and over again. “I only have an associate’s degree. Going back to school would be an option, but I don’t know if it would be right. Boxing is sort of all I know right now.”
“Then do that.”
Yuuji turned to look at the man sitting next to him.
Green Eyes stared back candidly.
“Surely, there’s a way for you to help people with what you already know.”
Was there? Yuuji never considered it.
Boxing wasn’t necessarily a team sport, so it would be hard to find a way to help people in that sense. But there had to be something, a niche idea that he could shape and mold into his own. The more he thought about it, the more his brain started to ache. The alcohol was really getting to him, and while he definitely felt a part of him had sobered up, he could tell that he was far more intoxicated than he needed to be right now.
Green Eyes seemed to be in the same boat, still a bit wobbly in his stature and leaning his head back against the wall like Yuuji had first found him. Something in his chest pulled as he stared at the sight. He wanted to keep talking to him. He wanted to know him. Maybe even ask him out.
Hell, Yuuji didn’t even know his name.
“Um, so—”
The balcony door slid open.
“There you are.”
Yuuji looked up to see a woman peering down at the two of them. She was tall, imposing above him, and had short, cropped hair that fell messily around her head. The way her bangs brushed over her eyes was familiar, and all it took was a look of sharp green for Yuuji to realize that must have been Green Eyes’ cousin he mentioned before.
“Jeez, we’ve been looking everywhere for you. I should’ve known you’d be on the fucking balcony, you damn loner,” the woman said, nudging him with her foot. “Come on, we’re heading back.”
It was only then that she seemed to notice Yuuji.
“Sorry, but I have to make sure he gets back home to his sister, or she’s never going to let me hear the end of it. I hope I wasn’t interrupting.”
“It’s no problem,” Yuuji said, too stunned to do anything but sit there.
Green Eyes grumbled something and shakily stood with the help of his cousin, who threw Yuuji one more glance his way before dragging them both back into the apartment.
That left Yuuji here, on the balcony, alone, confused, and… hurt. He was hurt. Not because Green Eyes had to leave, or because his cousin came right when Yuuji was going to ask for his name, but because he just really, really didn’t want this night to end.
And somehow, now that a stranger as enthralling as he was had left, it already felt like it did.
Then Yuuji thought back to everything that had happened — the conversation he had, the realization of what it meant to live a proper life, and the long, pleasant presence of someone like that stranger by his side — and he felt different, too.
A good different.
✎ ✎ ✎
“My name is Fushiguro Megumi. I work as a journalist for Toshima Shimbun Unlimited, I’m here to talk to Itadori Yuuji.”
Yuuji stopped what he was doing, leaving one of the open, unpacked boxes on the floor. Standing, he turned to the voice, knowing that there was something different here. It was familiar. He recognized it. Why did he recognize that voice?
He decided to put on a smile, calling out, “Yup, that’s me! You—”
A pair of green eyes. Long, erratic, black hair. Bangs that fell messily over his forehead. A stare that locked him in place. It was him. Again. From the café. From the balcony. And now here.
Yuuji knew that voice.
He knew this man.
Fushiguro Megumi.
He knew him.