Archive of Our Own

“Do you understand?”

Reo stares at the various diagrams on Ego’s many screens. It’s nothing he hasn’t seen before, but these are some of the worst organized graphics Reo has ever seen in his life. What the hell is the point of a pie chart if the proportions don’t add up to a hundred?

“...no,” Reo’s eventually forced to admit.

Ego huffs out a frustrated sigh through his nose before waving his hand dismissively. “Anri, you explain it.”

“Oh.” Anri blinks. “Okay. Well, Reo, as you know, we’ve recently expanded to a new format.”

“Right,” Reo agrees with a nod. “Blue Lock TV.”

“Right!” Anri repeats. “Of course, we’re getting a lot of funding from the channel subscriptions, but now, we’re looking to expand into a different market.” She steps to the side, revealing a small figure behind her. Reo squints at it, but he can’t make out what it’s supposed to be. Anri gestures at Reo to come closer, and Reo does so with no small sense of trepidation. Once he’s close enough to see what it is, his eyes widen.

“Is that… Isagi?”

“Yup,” Anri says cheerily. “It’s a good likeness of him, isn’t it?”

Reo’s not sure about that. The eyes on the Isagi figure are comically large. He kind of looks like a bug.

Reo’s also not entirely sure what Ego and Anri want him to do with it. After squinting at the figure for a few more moments, he glances back at Anri.

“We’re selling them,” Anri blurts out with much more excitement than Reo thinks the news entails. He looks back at the figure.

“You’re selling figures of Isagi?”

“Not just Isagi,” Anri corrects. “All of you!”

Reo’s eyebrows raise. “All of us?” He pauses. “Do you… have permission to do that?”

“It was in the fine print,” Ego says through a mouthful of noodles. Reo’s not sure where he got the noodles from.

“Legally, there’s no problem,” Anri continues with a shameless nod. “But we need someone to market these, and, well…” She trails off into an expectant silence. When Reo continues staring at her blankly, Anri continues. “You’re the only player we have that has any experience with marketing.”

Reo opens his mouth. Reo closes his mouth. There are so many things wrong with that statement that he hardly knows where to begin.

He points at the Isagi figure. “You want me to market that?”

“Among other things.”

“You can’t hire someone for that?”

“Maybe down the road, but we don’t really have the budget for that right now…”

“But you have the budget to make that?”

“Well, that’s why we need to sell them.”

Reo is frankly at a loss for words. He’s not even mentioned at all that he has zero experience with marketing—the only work he ever did for his father’s corporation was in strategy and acquisition. Marketing and promotion is a separate department entirely. Reo considers the pros and cons of actually bringing this point up to Ego and Anri and ultimately decides against it. He begins thinking of how to politely but firmly reject the job offer, when Ego pulls up something new on his massive screens.

“Specifically, we need you to promote them on this.”

Reo squints at the screen. It looks like a familiar interface, but it’s just a bit off.

“We’re rolling this out at the same time as the merchandise options, so—”

“Oh,” Reo interrupts. “This is just X.”

Ego gives him a blank look.

“Formerly known as Twitter,” Reo adds.

Ego’s expression twitches. He looks like he wants to say something, but he resists. “Some inspiration may have been taken,” he says instead. “But this is a BLTV original.”

Reo strongly doubts this. At the same time, he doesn’t doubt that they’ve managed to exploit another legal loophole to get this website running. Either way, it doesn’t change his interest in the position—or lack thereof—in the slightest. He opens his mouth to say just as much, but Anri interrupts him before he can get a word out.

“So, on this platform, you can promote the figures however you want. It’s entirely up to you.”

Well. That’s a bit intriguing.

“However I want?” Reo asks carefully.

“Within reason,” Ego mutters.

Anri shakes her head. “However you want.” Her tone is verging on frantic. Reo gets the feeling they’re both a bit desperate. In which case, this might be fun to do after all.

But before he makes a judgment on it, he’s curious to know…

“Do you have figures made of anyone else, yet?”

“Yup,” Anri says excitedly. “We have one of everyone from the Neo-Egoist League!”

That’s more information than Reo wanted to know. He shudders to think of a Kaiser figure in this particular style. He scratches his wrist and tries to ask his next question as casually as possible.

“Can I see them?”

“Of course,” Anri effuses. “You probably want to see one of your own, right? I can—”

“No,” Reo interrupts quickly. He really does not want to see his own likeness in this style. “Could I see—Nagi?”

Ego’s expression sours at Reo’s question. He turns away and mutters something under his breath. Anri’s expression does something strange, too, but she quickly flashes Reo a smile.

“Um—right! Yeah, I’ll be right back,” she says, before hurrying out of the room. Reo is left with a still muttering Ego and a deep sense of regret.

He’s just curious. That’s all. There’s no other reason.

He’s just curious.

Ego’s stopped muttering. Now, he’s just staring at Reo. Reo begins to regret his request a little more.

“We have a few different models,” Anri says as she walks in with a few different boxes. “But we think these might sell the best.” She hands Reo the boxes. Reo stares at them.

“...Reo?” Anri eventually asks when Reo continues to stare silently at the Nagi figures. “Are you—”

“Okay,” Reo interrupts. “I’ll do it.”

“Oh,” Anri says. “Oh! Great! That’s wonderful. Um, we’ll give you account access and stuff soon, then—”

Reo lifts one of the boxes. “Can I keep this?”

“Um…” Anri glances at Ego, who turns away with a roll of his eyes. “I… I guess?”

“Thanks,” Reo says distantly, before leaving the room.

Reo half-expects the post to get taken down at some point. Oddly enough, it stays up. Reo guesses Anri wasn’t joking about having full control over the account. Still, he’d thought his favoritism might have been too blatant, even if they were desperate for any type of marketing… although, now that Reo is scrolling through his notifications, he’s realizing that this form of marketing, as silly as it is, is wildly effective. Over a thousand likes, already? At least some of those must have translated into purchases. Maybe Reo is good at this, after all.

“What are you looking at?”

Reo immediately shoves his phone under his pillow before blinking up to find—

“Nagi?”

Nagi blinks back. “What are you looking at?” he asks again.

Why do you care? Reo wants to shoot back, but he bites the inside of his cheek and resists the urge.

“Nothing,” he says instead. “Do you need anything?”

It’s weird—it’s so, so weird to treat Nagi like this, to force himself to hold Nagi at a constant, careful distance. Reo hates it. He wishes they could go back to normal. He knows they never can. Maybe that’s why he’s so attached to these stupid figures. He’s got something of a collection by now—he’s been asking for Nagi figurines from Anri and Ego instead of actual payment and stashing them under his bed. It’s one of the most childish things Reo’s ever done, and he feels monumentally stupid for it. Luckily, Nagi has yet to notice. Chigiri, on the other hand, has taken to giving Reo odd looks every so often, and Reo fears he might not be as subtle as he thinks he is.

Nagi still hasn’t said anything. Reo sighs.

“I can’t read your mind, Nagi.” He thought he could, at one point.

Nagi looks away. “Never mind.”

For some reason, Reo feels disappointed. Did he really expect Nagi to say anything else? He can only watch silently as Nagi retreats to his own bed on the other side of the room and pulls out his phone.

He misses Nagi. He misses Nagi so badly he can hardly stand it, even though Nagi’s right there. It’s tearing him apart, and all he has to show for it are a bunch of nendoroids.

With a sigh, Reo rolls over and sinks deeper into bed.

Spending more time on social media—or, at least, BLTV’s version of social media—has made Reo aware of a few different facts.

First, people get really mad really quickly about everything. Reo supposes this shouldn’t be so surprising, but he has been a bit alarmed coming across incredibly heated posts arguing about Chigiri’s haircare routine.

Second, there seem to be two main demographics on the platform. There are likely others as well, but the two groups are the loudest, so the ones Reo sees most often: people who are watching BLTV solely for the matches, and people who are watching BLTV… seemingly for everything other than the matches. This latter group seems especially invested in interpersonal relationships within and across teams, to what Reo would argue is nearly a parasocial extent—

—which leads Reo to the third and most consequential point. Quite a large fraction of this second group seem especially invested in Nagi and Reo’s relationship. Specifically, they seem to think of it as romantic, or want it to become romantic.

Reo has mixed feelings about this for quite a few reasons. Obviously, he’s embarrassed that despite his attempts to stay distanced from Nagi, people have been able to pick up on his true feelings towards Nagi. It was only after he did some further research that he realized that this was the result of a few incredibly determined people who had dug up clips from the U-20 match and their time at Hakuho. He wouldn’t be surprised if Ego had leaked a few clips from the first or second selection on the platform, either—anything to bring the subscription number up, right?

At the same time, Reo’s secretly a bit pleased. He can’t help himself—when he sees people talk so eagerly about their chemistry both on and off the field, it vindicates a part of Reo he didn’t think he still had. He’s liked quite a few posts on the topic while on the BLTV Store account, which has caused a lot of buzz in and of itself. Reo continues to be grateful that there seems to be no supervision of his actions on this account.

Reo isn’t delusional, though. He knows these are all just the results of a foolish echo chamber. And yet, Reo can’t blame them—there was a time where he, too, thought they might become something more. But that was before the second selection—before Nagi made it clear that Reo and their promise didn’t mean anything to him. The fans on BLTV don’t have this context, though, and so they continue to make post after post about their new OTP.

Reo is weak. He might not be able to have this in real life, but he can’t stop himself from indulging from behind a screen.

Which makes it all the more concerning when Reo sees people theorizing that he actually is the one behind the BLTV Store account. Reo’s pretty sure it’s a one-off comment, but as people share that their NagiReo threads have been liked by the BLTV Store account, the rumor begins to spread. Soon enough, everyone has agreed that Reo is the one behind the account.

It’s not as if Reo can come out and deny it. And anyway, it was fine as long as Nagi never found out.

It’s harmless. Isn’t it?

Of course, Reo’s only job isn’t just making the occasional promo post—it had been made clear that Reo would be expected to keep up with the NEL regimen on top of his side job.

It’s a bit awkward with Nagi still, but a little less so on the field, because it’s easier for Reo to ignore him. They aren’t doing anything very rigorous today other than a few passing drills. It’s nothing Reo doesn’t know, so he lets himself mindlessly go through the actions. It’s not often that their training is so light, so maybe that’s why Reo slips up.

“You’re always looking at him.”

Reo pauses in retying his ponytail. He slowly turns to Agi. “Sorry?”

“You’re always looking at him,” Agi says again. “You know that, right?”

Reo’s eyebrow twitches. “Looking at who?”

Agi gives him a flat look. Reo’s lips twist.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Reo says, dropping on one knee to retie his shoelaces and also maybe to avoid looking at Agi as he speaks.

“Even when you’re passing to someone else,” Agi continues, even though Reo would really rather he didn’t, “you’re always watching him.” He pauses. “I watched some of your past matches. During Blue Lock. You did that then, too.”

“What’s your point?” Reo eventually snaps, getting back to his feet.

“You two are bad for each other.”

After a moment, Reo scoffs. “Whatever. If you want Nagi’s attention, there are better ways to get it.”

“You’re going to smother his creativity, and he’s going to limit your creativity—“

“I get it,” Reo interrupts. “You can fuck off, Agi. It’s not like that, I don’t need him any more, I don’t need you, either, for that matter.” He lets out a breath.

Agi watches him for a moment before he turns and leaves. Reo’s nails dig into the palm of his hands.

“Hey, Nagi,” Reo finally thinks to ask one day. “Do you ever use BLTV?”

Nagi stares at him silently for a few moments. Reo waits for a response. It doesn’t come.

“…Nagi?”

“Oh,” Nagi says eventually. “What did you ask?”

Reo squints at him. Nagi hadn’t even heard his question? Was Reo such an inconvenience that Nagi couldn’t even be bothered to listen to him when he was talking?

Reo shakes his head to dispel the thoughts. It’s nothing Reo shouldn’t know already.

“Do you ever use BLTV?” Reo shakes his phone. “The social media platform part of it, I mean.”

Nagi blinks at him. “I don’t know what that is.”

“It’s the… you know. Remember Ego made us all make accounts for something that one time?”

“Oh,” Nagi says. “Yeah. I guess.”

“So you don’t use it,” Reo prompts.

Nagi shrugs. “Not really.” He pauses. “Should I?”

“No,” Reo says immediately. “I mean—do whatever you want. But it’s not—yeah.”

“Reo, you’re acting weird.”

Reo chokes on air. “I’m—?” He pauses and clears his throat. He’s already spent too long on this conversation. “Sorry. I’ll leave you alone.”

“Reo, wait—“

Reo is out of the room before Nagi finishes.

“Hey, Nagi.”

“Hm?”

“…I thought you said you don’t use BLTV.”

Nagi makes a noncommittal noise without looking up from his phone. God, he could be scrolling through Reo’s posts as they speak—

“I don’t.”

“Oh, yeah?” Reo says a bit desperately. “I thought I, uh, saw a post of yours yesterday.”

“Oh,” Nagi says. “Yeah. I forgot.”

“You forgot,” Reo repeats.

Nagi looks up for a moment before going back to his phone. “Do you use BLTV a lot?”

“Me?” Reo says after a slight delay with a feigned incredulous laugh. “Me? No. I just—you know.”

“Then how’d you see my post?”

“Hgk,” Reo says, before clearing his throat. “I mean. You know. I just kind of saw it.”

Reo expects Nagi to leave it at that. Nagi does not leave it at that.

“How?”

“Well. Yeah, I mean. I do use BLTV. A bit.”

“Oh,” Nagi says. “Okay.”

“Yeah.”

They stare at each other. They both seem to be expecting the other to say something more. Neither does.

This used to be different. This used to be easier.

Reo swallows. “Okay,” he says. “Well. Good night.”

Nagi hums and turns back to his phone. Reo rolls over in bed to stare blankly at his wall.

The universe could not give him a clearer sign. He’s already been toeing the line with the content of his most recent posts, and the fact that Nagi is aware of them now—the fact that Nagi’s seen the posts—and replied—god, it’s taking everything in Reo not to overanalyze Nagi’s comment—

The universe could not give him a clearer sign.

And yet, Reo can’t help but wonder—

—how far can I push this?

“Hey, Nagi.”

“Hm?”

“…you think we’re dating?”

“Oh.” Nagi looks up. “Are we not?”

What the fuck, Reo thinks.

“What the fuck,” Reo croaks out.

“Are we not?” Nagi asks again, as if he’s genuinely confused. Reo deliriously wonders if this is a prank set up by Ego for more views. He turns to pick up his pillow. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for cameras.”

“...why?”

“Because this isn’t real,” Reo finally blurts out, throwing his hands in the air and spinning around to face Nagi again. “None of this is—” He cuts himself off with a frustrated noise. “You’re just fucking with me, aren’t you?”

Nagi looks a bit taken aback by this—or, at least, as taken aback as he can look. “No,” he says slowly. “Reo, what are you—”

“You are,” Reo decides. “You are fucking with me. You know—you know I’m the one behind the BLTV Store account, and you thought it would be funny to mess with me, well, guess what, it’s not funny, you bastard, and in fact, I should—” Reo throws his hands into the air again. “God! Can’t you tell I’m trying to be normal about this?”

For a few moments, the only noise in the room are Reo’s harsh breaths. Nagi stares at him.

“...you’re the BLTV Store account?”

Reo’s mouth opens. Reo’s mouth closes.

“You… didn’t know?”

Nagi shakes his head. Reo brings his hands to his face and sinks down to the floor.

“Fuuuuck,” he mutters into his hands.

“Reo,” Nagi says eventually, and god, why can’t this boy let Reo die from embarrassment in peace? “I’m confused.”

“Oh, yeah?” Reo asks faintly, his voice still muffled where he buries his head in his hands.

“You’re upset that I thought we were dating.” He’s still going on about this? “But you’re the BLTV Store account.”

Reo groans into his hands before looking up to glare at Nagi. He’s sure he looks like a wreck right now. He couldn’t care less. “What is there to be confused about?”

Nagi’s expression is as impassive as always. “Reo, you like me. Right?”

Reo splutters out an incoherent string of syllables. Nagi seems to take this as assent.

“And I’m in love with you. So what are you upset about?”

Reo stares at Nagi. Nagi stares back.

“You’re what?”

“I’m in love with you.”

It doesn’t make any more sense when Nagi says it again. Reo’s head is spinning with all the information from the past few minutes. He thinks he needs to sit down. He’s already sitting down.

“Nagi,” he says faintly. “You don’t even talk to me anymore.”

Nagi looks away. “I thought you wanted some space.”

Reo chokes out a vaguely strangled laugh. “So it’s… it’s not a prank.” He shakes his head. “You really thought we were dating, and this was…” He gestures at the space between them. “What, a rough patch?”

“Pretty much,” Nagi admits shamelessly.

“Pretty much,” Reo repeats. “And you never thought to, I don’t know—tell me? That you thought we were dating?”

Nagi brings a hand to the back of his neck. “I thought it was obvious.”

Reo kind of wants to kill him. Reo also kind of wants to kiss him.

“That’s… not how this works, Nagi.”

“Oh,” Nagi says. “Oops.”

Reo drops his face in his hands again. He hears some shuffling noises before he feels a familiar weight sidled against him.

“I made Reo upset again,” Nagi murmurs. “Sorry.” He pauses. “Is this okay?”

Reo nods with his face still in his hands.

Nagi shuffles a little closer before resting his head on Reo’s shoulder. “Reo shouldn’t ask for any more figurines.”

Reo huffs out a quiet laugh and finally lets his hands drop. “Oh, yeah? Why not?”

“Because now you have the real thing.”

Reo lets out a fond sigh. “You were waiting to use that line, weren’t you?”

Nagi burrows his head deeper in Reo’s shoulder. “Maybe,” he murmurs into Reo’s skin.

“You’re so…” Reo trails off before shaking his head. “I love you, too, by the way.”

Nagi hums.

“I know.”