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“Here.”
Nagi opens his eyes and notices the yellow bottle of lemon tea being held out to him. He nods gratefully and allows himself to linger on the faint smile that blooms on Reo’s lips as he hands over the drink. Reo immediately sits down beside him and opens a can of cold soda. He takes a quick first sip and, with a sigh of pleasure, slides lower down the wall he’s leaning against. Reo loosens his tie a little by feel, unbuttons the top button of his snow-white shirt, and pulls the collar back slightly.
Nagi realizes he’s been staring only when he catches the other’s questioning gaze. He shakes his head and finally looks away, pretending that studying the cloudless sky is much more interesting.
“Listen,” he says tentatively, “it’s so hot today that…”
“No,” Reo cuts him off, his voice betraying not a hint of doubt about what he’s about to suggest. “You can’t skip practice over something as trivial as the weather. It’s not like it’s going to kill you.”
“Well, I don’t know…” Nagi objects weakly. “If I go out on the field today, I’ll probably melt and turn into a puddle.”
Reo chuckles and takes another sip from his can. Nagi wonder, if he asked to try Reo’s drink right now, would he let him? After a moment’s thought, he decides to put that idea aside for later and shifts his gaze to the bottle in his hands.
“Shall I open it?” asks Reo, and Nagi immediately hands him the tea. There was absolutely no problem with unscrewing the cap himself, but who in his place would turn down Mikage Reo’s help?
The taste, too sweet for a natural lemon, spreads across his tongue and offers an almost imperceptible relief from the heat.
The sun gradually slides across the sky, casting shadows, so Reo has to move closer to avoid being in the light. A pitiful few centimeters remain between their shoulders, but it doesn’t seem to bother Reo in the least, and Nagi feels a strange sense of disappointment.
Reo presses the cool, condensation-drenched can against his forehead and shifts slightly in his seat.
“How’s it going with that girl?” he asks suddenly, and, receiving only puzzled silence in response, quickly adds, “I mean, if you want to tell me, of course, haha. You don’t have to answer; I don’t know why I suddenly…”
“Who are you talking about?” Nagi interrupts him, and his expression is surely almost frowning, because he can’t think of anyone Reo could be talking about right now. He probably wasn’t asking about Ba-ya, was he?
Reo turns to his neighbor and silently stares into the other’s eyes.
“Your online girlfriend?” he begins slowly, still watching his reaction closely.
It seems Nagi’s gaze is eloquent enough to fluster Reo and make him furrow his brows in equal puzzlement.
“Sorry, I thought you two were already dating,” he says quietly, turning away from Nagi.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Nagi exhales almost calmly and tilts his head slightly, trying to see the other person’s face.
“Well, you said it back then,” Reo waves his hand vaguely and pauses, trying to recall the exact words, but with every passing second, his frown only deepens. “Though, you know, never mind. Forget I even asked.”
Nagi tries for a few more seconds to grasp the mood that has arisen, but, failing to do so, returns to his tea and phone. Reo moves even closer, but still looks away. A sudden gust of wind makes him flinch as he tries to smooth down his tousled bangs. Nagi catches every one of his movements and notices out of the corner of his eye as the screen of the smartphone, with the game running on it, goes dark.
Why did Reo even decide that he had a girlfriend? Nagi was close only with him, occasionally exchanging a few words with his teammates. Even some teachers tried not to speak to him unless absolutely necessary, not to mention his classmates. And the extent of his interaction with other people online was limited to online shooters with the chat turned off. And Reo knows this perfectly well, but he still thought Nagi had a girlfriend. Does he really look like someone who’s in a relationship?
“Why do you think I have a girlfriend?” Nagi doesn’t even realize he’s asking the question out loud, but when no answer comes, he starts to wonder if he really said it.
Reo takes a sip from his can, grimaces for a moment, and finally turns to Nagi.
“I thought we were done with this.”
“But I’m curious,” Nagi puts his phone in his pocket and adopts a less relaxed posture.
Reo blinks in surprise. The sun’s rays pull his legs out of the shadows, but he pays no attention to it.
“Fine. Fine. Okay. If you want to talk about it, we’ll talk. Remember, we recently answered a few questions from the journalism club?” Reo waits for a nod and continues. “You had someone specific in mind when you answered the question about the type, right?”
Nagi tilts his head thoughtfully and looks away. He hadn’t thought about it before; he’d just said the first thing that came to mind. He hadn’t made anything up on the spot, of course, but maybe he just misunderstood the question?
“Probably?” Nagi says after a short pause and opens a bottle of tea, but doesn’t drink from it.
Reo sighs dramatically.
“You might not realize it now, but you were definitely talking about someone specific. Come on, rack your brain and tell me who it could be?”
Nagi nods readily and starts going through names in his head, settling on the very first one. In reality, he could only have been talking about one person, right?
“Reo.”
There’s absolutely nothing strange about that, is there?
Reo frowns even more deeply, closes his eyes, and rubs his temples. It seems this isn’t the answer he was hoping for.
“Do you really understand what we mean by “the type””?
“Someone you might like, right?” After all, Nagi isn’t that socially inept; he just lacks a little practice. Not that he needs it—he’s perfectly content with the way things are.
“Right. Then why did you think of me?” Reo pulls his knees up to his chest and rests his forehead against them.
“Because I like Reo,” Nagi takes a sip of tea and notes with displeasure that it has gradually started to warm up.
“Not in that sense,” Reo mutters, barely audibly.
Nagi snorts and shrugs his shoulders in an attempt to loosen up his stiff muscles. There isn’t a single cloud in the sky, and he sighs inwardly at the thought of the upcoming practice under the scorching sun. It’s hard to believe that everyone in the club loves soccer enough to train in this kind of heat. There’s no point in training if only two people from the whole team show up, and they might as well go home without any regrets. On the other hand, he and Reo were the core of their team; everyone else was mostly just there to make up the numbers.
“Okay, let’s try a different approach,” Reo sits up straight and suddenly looks way too serious. “What about physical appearance? What kind of people do you like?”
Nagi freezes for a second and, trying to buy some time, takes another sip of tea. It’s no use; even after a few more seconds, he still can’t come up with another answer.
“Someone just like Reo, I suppose?” Nagi glances at his neighbor, as if trying to confirm his own words.
He could definitely stare at Reo for a long time without getting bored. Nagi really liked the way he looked: everything from his slightly tousled, soft hair and expressive eyes to his always perfect posture and long, slender fingers. Nagi liked looking at the other guy’s dazzling smile, and at his small eyebrows furrowed in a fit of anger—in a surprising way, every emotion suited Reo. Anyone could get lost in looking at him; Nagi was simply sure he wasn’t alone in that regard.
Reo groans in agony and covers his face with his hands. He takes a few deep breaths and freezes in place. He sits like that for about ten seconds, then leans his whole back against the wall and tilts his head back.
“You can’t just… You have to talk about who you like—like, you know? In a romantic way.”
And yes, that definitely made sense. But understanding the difference between ordinary attraction and romantic attraction was a more difficult task than Reo had probably anticipated.
“I don’t know, I just like being around you,” Nagi says lazily, as if repeating a simple truth for the hundredth time.
“Me too, but that’s not what we’re talking about!” Reo’s voice now sounds a little irritated, but he’s still trying to keep his composure.
“Does it really matter? If we’re both okay with it, what difference does it make what we call it?” Nagi closes his eyes and feels a gentle breeze ruffle his hair.
Reo is silent, and Nagi has to look at him to figure out what’s going on. Reo’s expression is frozen somewhere between horror and confusion.
“Of course it matters!” he blurts out when he comes to his senses. “Fine, if you don’t get it… Let’s try this. We’re friends, okay? We want to spend time together—at least, I hope it’s not just me—we want to chat about different things, play soccer together, but that’s it. Romantic love is more complicated. It’s, you know, something like wanting to spend your whole life hand in hand and die on the same day.
“I wouldn’t mind,” Nagi replies instantly, causing Reo to freeze up again. But he wouldn’t have said that if it weren’t true, right?
“You!...” Reo buries one hand in his hair, tugs at it, and holds his breath for a few seconds. “You don't want to kiss your friends?”
He utters the last words almost pleadingly, but all his hopes of reaching what remains of the other's sanity shatter against Nagi's unexpectedly pensive expression.
He hadn’t thought about it before, but now that Reo had said it out loud… Nagi casts a quick glance at the other’s lips, trying to imagine them kissing. He’s surprised at how easily he can do it. Reo’s lips must be very soft, and feeling his warm breath on his face seems incredibly pleasant. It’s strange that this thought hadn’t occurred to him before. And yes, now he definitely wanted to kiss Reo, but before he could say it, Reo covered his mouth with both hands.
“Don’t you dare, whatever you want to say,” Mikage almost hisses, and only after making sure he’s understood does he pull away. “The break will be over soon; it’s time for us to go back.”
Reo stands up and stretches his clasped hands above his head. He turns his head a couple of times, cracking his neck, picks up the can from the floor with a light movement, and looks expectantly at Nagi. Nagi stands up too and doesn’t have time to do anything because Reo hands him his drink with a short “hold this.” He buttons the top button and starts fiddling with his tie. Are they really just going to let this conversation go?
“I like you, Reo,” Nagi says—not for the first time today—but now he hopes he’s putting the right meaning into those words.
Reo freezes with the tie loop half-formed. Getting no other reaction, Nagi decides to continue:
“Maybe I don’t quite understand all the nuances, but for some reason I’m sure that… Well, anyway… Talking is such a hassle.”
Reo thaws and seems surprisingly close to losing his footing. His gaze darts across the roof, trying to latch onto something—anything—but, finding nothing, returns to Nagi. Reo frowns, trying to figure out if what was said could be a joke. But Nagi looks sincere enough, and besides, he wasn’t the type of person capable of such a thing, so it seems Reo has no choice but to give in. He pulls his tie off and sighs deeply.
“Are you confessing to me right now?”
Nagi nods. He knows that Reo has received many confessions, but he also knows that he hasn’t accepted a single one.
“Alright. I can’t give you an answer today, but—” Reo turns away and takes a few steps toward the exit, “maybe tomorrow…”
Nagi doesn’t press the issue. For some reason, he thinks that this time, things will be different.