AT FIRST, IT WAS OUT OF IMPULSE.
"ah, i'm sorry, i didn't mean to peek." a voice creeps from behind seishirou. languid, he thinks, but duller than mine.
seishirou stares at the owner of the voice. he can't help but notice how some of his h/c strands were astray. just a bit.
but he also can't care less. besides, he doesn't even brush his own hair, so why bother with someone else's?
he blinks at the stranger before turning his head back to restart on his new, three point eight stars of average rating, zombie-shooting download. "it's fine, you can stay."
"...thank you." stranger, unkempt stranger, said. seishirou doesn't know where the gratitude came from. or for what. whatever.
as unkempt stranger walks past him, seishirou can smell a saccharine fragrance. was it his cologne? maybe unkempt stranger isn't so unkempt after all. the mild earthy and buckwheat scent of cold soba, and oh, was that the umami of tsuyu permeating his nostrils too? what a col-
grumble.
seishirou continues shooting away zombies in his game. and if unkempt stranger was shooting him a glance in his peripheral vision, no, he was not.
now that seishirou thinks about it, unkempt stranger kinda resembles the zombies he's shooting. tousled (seishirou doesn't care if the stray hair isn't even a handful anymore) and weird-smelling.
"you haven't had lunch?" damn it.
"not really, it's too much work." seishirou responds, a beat too late. somehow. whatever that means. the direction his thoughts are going makes him lean further into the railing.
"then you can have some of my cold soba."
seishirou's fingers come to a halt. with the speed his head snaps towards unkempt stranger, he swears he is seeing stars when his grey eyes stare back at e/cs. by the way, the stray hair of unkempt stranger was still there.
unkempt stranger seems to be startled by it. seishirou briefly thinks the former's impassive exterior must be false. "only if you-"
"sure."
"huh?"
"...it's a bother to eat later, so i'll accept your offer." seishirou averts his gaze from unkempt stranger (and his equally unkempt strands) back to his device.
he doesn't know what came over him when he says that, but when unkempt stranger scoots closer with some of his noodles atop the lid of a lunch box along with a pair of chopsticks, seishirou chooses to not dwell on it further.
"...thank you." seishirou thanked him, and was quick to find that he didn't mind this new camaraderie. he guesses that unkempt stranger feels the same, too. hopefully.
"it's no problem."
at least he thought so. but the drumming of unkempt stranger's fingers may imply otherwise. or another thing. whatever it was.
some of the hair framing his face was still astray, though.
seishirou briefly wonders if he should lean in to count the strands of them.
"why aren't you eating?" unkempt stranger's voice breaks him out of his daze, making him blink owlishly. "you're not eating either."
seishirou watches as unkempt stranger's eyes mildly widen before immediately going back to their impassive look. huh. "well... i was just wondering... if you..."
the fringes of his hair fell beside the stray hair, and seishirou could feel his fingers twitch against his will.
"if... you'd like my grandfather to pack one more lunch to school since you find it a bother to find lunch. so..." unkempt stranger trails off.
seishirou clones unkempt stranger in bowing his head, whether it's to stop his urges or it's starting to feel a little hot, he doesn't know and doesn't want to know. "...if your grandpa doesn't mind."
"he wouldn't. he's a retired chef, so he'd be more than glad."
seishirou swears it was just for the food until he glances up to see unkempt stranger's eyes in wonder. though the twinkles are barely there, they're still a sight to behold (since he doesn't expect him to be able to make a face like that, of course).
"i'm nagi seishirou." seishirou blurts out in the spur of the moment. well, his moment.
"i'm l/n y/n, pleased to meet you." unk- y/n pulls out two containers and holds them out to him, "it's warabi mochi with black sugar syrup. please... please be my friend."
oh my god. seishirou clasps over both of y/n's hands and shakes them gently, the container following along. "let's get along well, y/n."
y/n beams and holy shit, seishirou's eyes are probably the ones that look like they're in wonder now. he doesn't think he cares about y/n's hair anymore.
one look is all it takes for seishirou to immediately tear up his stereotype of y/n being remotely similar to him or impassive.
how'd he even get that conclusion, anyway? seishirou wouldn't put up this much effort to befriend someone (maybe that's why he doesn't have any friends in the first place).
for now, he'll just enjoy the sweetness of the mochi, and maybe of l/n y/n. just a bit, really.
☆✮☆
THEN, IT BECAME A ROUTINE.
"y/n~ what's the menu for today?" seishirou approaches y/n outside of his class. the latter have been picking him up for lunch break a few days after they met (seishirou slept for too long once and y/n got worried), and seishirou would be lying to say it doesn't lift his mood.
because classes are dreadful and nothing cheers him up more than the idea of a full stomach, obviously.
y/n fixes up seishirou's collar before they start walking. "grandfather slept in, so we'll be buying from the cafeteria today."
seishirou hums, the ghost of y/n's touch lingers like perfume on his neck. "and your grandmother?"
"she doesn't cook very well."
"and you?"
y/n stops in his tracks.
"nagi-san, are you implying that you're willing to taste my cooking?"
seishirou turns his heel to stare at y/n in confusion. "why not?"
"...i'll see what i can do soon."
"huh? okay," seishirou nods at him. "can't wait."
they don't talk about the small peps in the h/c-ette's steps when they resume their way to their staircase.
the moment they arrive, seishirou latches himself on y/n's side and leans his head on his shoulder as he always does. except he forgets that y/n didn't bring their lunch boxes.
"nagi-san, get off me, i'm gonna go to the cafeteria to buy melon bread." y/n pushes his head off of his shoulder. seishirou groans as his head gets pushed back when he tries to lean in again.
"stay here, i'll be back." as though seishirou was a dog, y/n orders him before making his way downstairs.
'i'm not a dog....' seishirou rubs the spot his hair was leaning on y/n and stares at where the latter left off to make him look like an abandoned puppy. seishirou doesn't like this metaphor.
he pulls out his phone and clicks on a random game he and y/n downloaded on his device from when they were browsing the play store together yesterday. ah, the good days when y/n would let him lean on his shoulder.
he yawns as he taps mindlessly, seishirou's getting drowsy enough to have y/n worry for him again.
when is y/n coming back? he needs a good pillow to sleep on before the blue light emitting from his screen wakes him up (and before he starts missing e/c eyes a bit too much for his liking).
suddenly, a thud gets the phone in his loose grip falls down the stairs. but before it could touch the ground, seishirou deftly catches it with his foot.
he hasn't lost the game yet, thankfully.
"dude! what the hell was that?!" the dude behind him exclaims. "are you on the soccer team?!"
this guy smells really good. like some sort of floral herbal but in purple, just like his face.
"oh, you're that rich guy's son. can you give me money? i don't play any sports. i just want to chill and do nothing for the rest of my life." seishirou says as he holds out his hand to him.
"bro, if you work hard, you can become a pro player!"
"work hard? sounds like a hassle, i'll pass." he'd rather spend the rest of his high school days rotting away with y/n (as transactional best friends!) anyway.
chill, seishirou. it has only been months since you met him.
reo puts his arm around him and leans in. the scent is lavender, seishirou thinks.
"that's fine! you don't need to change! say, what about playing soccer with me?"
"nagi-san?" y/n calls out too late, seishirou's not sleepy anymore. the h/c-ette glances towards reo. "and you're...." he tilts his head, "...mikage-san, right?"
reo grins. "that's me! and you must be this genius' friend! hey, mind if i steal him?"
"y/n, send help...." if seishirou fakes a faint, will y/n carry him away as though he's the sleeping beauty and he is his prince charming?
"steal him? why?" y/n tilts his head to the other side. seishirou's eyes find this motion very interesting.
"'cause i'm gonna win the FIFA world cup with him! oh, wait, since you're his friend, how about joining us?"
"soccer isn't my thing." y/n's usual inexpressive eyes felt a bit dimmer. his grip on the two melon breads mildly tightened. the two don't pry if they notice it.
"that's fine too! you can watch over us! or anything you want!" reo smiles an eye smile, bringing his other arm around y/n to pull him closer to them. "i'm mikage reo! we're in this together!"
"what a pain...." seishirou slumps. he glances at how y/n's eyes widen a little upon hearing reo saying 'together'. "but... 'kay. don't make me work, though."
reo grins even wider at that.
☆
with a new addition to their lunch buddies group, after the dorayaki disaster, seishirou's routine changes once more.
the heir has been dragging them around the school to form a soccer club using his rich boy connections for days.
seishirou would be sick of it if it weren't for him piggybacking on reo and y/n looking a little too excited about these after-school hangouts of theirs.
today, there might be another slight modification to his routine. at least that's what seishirou thinks when he hears reo ask y/n,
"nice! are you coming, l/n?"
the same fingers that twitched for the y/n's hair gnaw at the bottle in seishirou's hands.
it's normal to be like this when there's a possibility of one of your friends, who you happen to be paying more attention to, coming over to your place, right?
"hmm...." y/n ponders for a moment, "i'm going to have to get something from home first. i'll follow after."
his grip loosens.
"too bad we can't walk there together! then, we'll go ahead first! see you! let's go, nagi!" seishirou finds it silly how reo doesn't even try to hide his adoration towards y/n. the people at their school would go crazy if they saw the mikage reo waving both his hands like a child.
staring at y/n, careful to not be entranced again, seishirou mumbles, "later."
he watches until he can no longer see his figure in the distance, and reo doesn't comment on it.
☆✮☆
SUDDENLY, IT'S ADORATION. NOT. IT'S CARE, PROBABLY.
"choki, i'm home."
"choki?"
"my pet cactus."
reo hums. "me and y/n have gardens."
at the mention of him, seishirou visibly slumps.
"sigh."
"dude, what's up with you?" reo questions, circling him.
seishirou doesn't respond. the moment he throws his bag and shoes to who knows where, he lies down on the floor of his living room, boring holes into the white ceiling.
the more he stares at it, the more his vision sees y/n's pondering face taking over.
"i'll follow after."
seishirou groans as he closes his eyes, hoping whatever illusion the ceiling has will go away when he opens them again.
the faint fragrance of lavender reaches him briefly when reo settles down alongside him, looking at the very ceiling that plays seishirou.
the silence between them is broken by the sound of the obnoxiously circulating fan and the occasional humming of songs from reo. they stay like that for an awfully long while until seishirou speaks his mind.
"hey, reo, isn't y/n taking too long?" seishirou mutters, "buy a helicopter with your dad's money and pick him up."
"maybe he got lost. also, that's not how it works!" reo playfully punches his shoulder.
"...wait." seishirou glances at reo. "does he even know my address...?"
"i'll ask my dad if i can rent a helicopter." reo stands up and goes to grab his phone.
muffled voices can be heard from the other side of the room. seishirou shuts his eyeballs after glancing at reo. thank god the y/n he saw in his damn ceiling doesn't appear in his jet-black sight.
two minutes later, he feels a foot nudging his torso. with a huff, seishirou wakes up and raises himself to sit instead.
"my dad said no." reo says as he perches himself in front of him.
"why?"
"said it was a waste of fuel and would harm the environment or something." he shrugs.
to seishirou, y/n is a serenity, tranquillity of idleness. it's peace, it's calm, it's what he recognises as the definition of solace now. every other word synonymous with it doesn't even compare to him.
y/n's not a waste, nor is he a threat.
"oh?"
shit. he said the last part out loud.
"don't say anything." seishirou grumbles.
"i wasn't about to, but now you've tempted me." reo's lips quirked up into a smirk. "i think he's adorable too."
if it weren't for reo being the heir of the mikage corporation, seishirou would've punched that smile off his face.
"i didn't say that."
"he's not a waste or a threat, so what else would he be if not cute?" reo turns his words against him. "i'm sure you think just as much."
seishirou pouts, and lies back down and rolls to the side, showing his back to reo. "talking to you is a pain in the ass!" he groans, covering his ears, which feel weirdly hot against his palms, "this hassle of a conversation is over."
"oh, come on now!" reo laughs. damn bastard. "you didn't even deny it!"
"i said this conversation is over! you're such a bother!"
"whatever you say~! for your information, i think y/n is adorable too! the cutest, even!"
seishirou grumbles. "you've said that twice already!"
"and you didn't deny it thrice now!"
"damn you—"
☆
"hey, nagi. can you check my phone again?" reo asks as he pedals their bike towards the jfu building.
"what a hassle." seishirou says, but he's already opening both of their phones. "you asked me that a minute ago."
reo clicks his tongue. "just in case y/n replies!"
"why would he message you first? he's known me longer."
"he saved us as mikage-san and nagi-san. which letter do you think comes first in his contacts list?"
"don't know, don't care. i'll just spam him until i'm at the top of his notifications."
"i hope he ignores you, nagi-san." reo makes sure he says seishirou's name as impassive as he can.
"he's ignoring both of us, mikage-san." seishirou doesn't even try to impersonate y/n like reo did when his voice has always been languid, but not duller than y/n's.
the reminder of y/n ghosting them makes them sag even more. damn, why did seishirou have to say that? now it's going to ghost him just like how y/n ghosts them.
"reo, pedal faster...."
"yeah...."
reo, in fact, does (can) not pedal faster.
☆✮☆
NOW, IT'S...
arriving, everything passes by like a blur to seishirou.
maybe it's because of all the brooding he did on the way here, but he doesn't even have the energy to play his games anymore.
reo took deep breaths and repeated mantras of, "we'll kick everyone's asses before y/n gets back!" and shakes seishirou vigorously as if he was trying to allot some of his energy to him. seriously, wasn't he sulking just as much as seishirou did?
that's all seishirou caught on until some bowl-cut dude with concerning eyebags started his speech.
the man manages to get his attention, he catches a few keywords, but his interest isn't enough for him to concentrate. he doesn't know what can.
that is, before he hears the familiar voice he's been longing to pull him out of his daze, and lo and behold.
"i'm l/n y/n, ego-san's assistant, pleased to meet you."
it was l/n fucking y/n in the flesh.
seishirou can't believe the first time he sees y/n outside of their school uniform is in a crowded hall filled with hundreds of other sweating and stinking men.
in a soccer training camp nonetheless, seishirou thought he wasn't even interested in soccer.
(the white button-up and black pants combo really suits him, though.)
with his jaw probably on the floor, seishirou immediately stirs himself awake from his near slumber. he would've missed both y/n and this sight of him. he would've missed y/n either way, actually. thank goodness he didn't leave when he contemplated it.
even if he did try, reo would stop and drag him back to his feet no matter what.
seishirou eyes every fibre of y/n's being like a hawk, just in case the latter magically disappears on them again. if that happens, at least they'll have some clues now. white button-up. black pants. tousled hair (seishirou's fingers don't twitch this time!), and... disturbing e/c eyes. and- oh, seishirou just realised y/n's fingers stopped tapping on the mic, he's no longer nervous now.
that's good.
looking out for your friends doesn't imply that you think they're adorable or cute, right?
seishirou has just been trying not to blink because he cares for y/n and doesn't want him to vanish again. it's all there is to it.
he holds the words y/n said in the back of his mind and a corner of his heart. he tries to recall what the man before him says, what an ego is, what it means to win, what it means to be a striker, and how only one out of three hundred of them can survive.
(seishirou notes how y/n's gaze never falters, always on a boy with the same hair colour as him)
seishirou isn't interested. he'll probably get bored and leave. but...
he glances at reo, who's just as shocked as he is, and y/n, who doesn't seem to notice that his friends are here.
he's willing to doubt that.
even though it's a pain.
even though it's something he would never consider in the past.
it was so easy for him to imagine winning the world cup, anyway.
so he lets reo drag him, like he always does, towards where y/n had run to one of the wings.
"we can't fall behind y/n and let him leave again, hurry up!"
he sees the fire in reo's eyes. they see y/n being carried away by a woman he doesn't know.
(and something twists in his gut.)
he'll have the two win the world cup with him, and even longer after that.
jinpachi held out his hand before they could get near the wing. "blue lock is that way." he pointed to his right.
"is y/n okay?" seishirou says ahead of reo. he's impatient.
"we're his friends! we wanna check up on him, please!" reo pleads.
jinpachi lets a smirk creep up on his face. "join blue lock, and maybe you can see him for yourselves."
reo clicks his tongue "let's go, nagi! the sooner we see him, the better!"
reo pulls him and has them sprint to where jinpachi had pointed. seishirou's ears felt like his ears were being grated when reo yelled, "i'll make sure to get back at you, ego jinpachi! mark my words!"
leaving a dumbfounded jinpachi behind.
"they could've just walked past me though...?" he turns his heel to stride towards the way to the staff's bus. "y/n has some weird-ass friends."
☆
seishirou stares at the same lady who carried y/n before in front of him and reo.
"welcome to blue lock," she holds out her hand to him, "please hand over your wallets and phones."
reo is quick to obey and hand his items over, while seishirou keeps on staring at her, frozen.
"um... can you please hand yours over"
"do you know y/n?"
the woman blinks. "are you a friend of his?"
"we are friends of his, actually." reo rests his arm on seishirou's shoulder. "can we see him? we're worried, and saw how you were supporting his-"
"teieri-san?" a monotonous voice tinged with curiosity interrupts them.
y/n is standing across from them, still dressed in his previous attire, hair somehow messier than the last time seishirou saw him, and a(n) f/c cardigan slung over his shoulders now.
he seems tired, like he just woke up from a nap.
"oh, y/n, speak of the devil! your friends want to see you!"
"my friends...?" only then did y/n's gaze fall on seishirou and reo. he rubbed his eyes, blinking them again twice.
"mikage-san, nagi-san. it's been a while."
reo audibly shuts his jaw with his hand before scrambling towards y/n and hugging him, nearly throwing them both off balance with how he jumped to do so.
"y/n! here you are!"
"m-mikage-san...! you're squeezing me too hard!" y/n rapidly pats reo's back.
"sorry! sorry!" reo laughs, "i just miss you so much! we were so worried you'd be unreachable forever!"
seishirou takes that as a cue to approach them. he opts to pat his shoulder since reo left no other space for him. "y/n, i miss you, too."
"thank you, you two." the previous grogginess of the h/c-ette is now gone, replaced with his own, y/n-esque radiance of joy. "sorry about the last few days, i forgot to bring my phone here."
reo pulls out of the embrace to ruffle y/n's hair. "that's so like you!" he gives the latter a lopsided grin, "you owe us a three-day hangout for that!"
"make it three weeks." seishirou parrots.
"i'll try my best...!" y/n says, ever so genuine. reo's hand on his hair freezes for a moment before messing them even more. "just how can i not squeeze you every time!"
"mikage-san...." y/n sweat drops.
"see?!"
seishirou was about to open his mouth when anri beat him to it. "alright now! your reunion is really sweet, but you're holding up the line!" she holds out her hand to him again, "wallet and phone, please!"
grumbling, seishirou begrudgingly offers them to her. he feels his wrist being hastily dragged by the warmth of an s/c hand, he glances to reo and sees that he's being held too.
the two let y/n bring them in front of a van with the blue lock logo embossed on it. y/n lets go and faces them, and seishirou feels warm all over his hand.
"wait here. i have something for you." y/n doesn't wait for their response and immediately enters the van.
"i'll look forward to it!"
"i'll look forward to it."
seishirou and reo say simultaneously, making them look at each other blankly.
"he probably means the both of us!" reo chirps.
of course, who else? "right."
then seishirou thinks, he wants to ask y/n about why he's here; in a dormitory to train soccer players when he's not one. he knows reo wants to ask too.
but they glance at each other, and telepathically agree to never ask. instead, they'll wait for y/n to open up to them.
'cause they're friends.
when y/n comes back, half of his cardigan is off his shoulder.
"thank you for waiting. here." he holds his palms out, there are keychains of a star, moon, and sun on them. "they reminded me of us."
seishirou is suddenly aware of the thudding of his heart.
"which one do you think represents us individually?" y/n asks, tilting his head. seishirou wants to say something, but he's afraid his heart will get to his throat before his voice does.
he takes the leap anyway. "y/n should take the star." his words earn confused hums from the other two. "i mean, sometimes they shine in his eyes."
at that, reo snaps his fingers as though he realizes what he means. "i totally see that! if you squint, they've always been faint in his eyes!"
too flustered to retort, y/n hangs his head low. the tips of his ears are red.
fuck.
reo seems to have noticed too, looking at how he tries to bite back his widening grin. is he being merciful because y/n is about to give them something?
their y/n-watching moment is cut off with the subject of their adoration lifting his head in concerning speed, and a slight pout on his lips.
another new shot has been added to seishirou's growing folder of y/n in his head. wait, since when did he have that?
"then..." y/n mumbles, a contemplative look on his face. "nagi-san is the moon, and mikage-san is the sun."
then, a small smile tugs on y/n's lips, and seishirou makes sure to burn the sight into his retinas.
"because nagi-san makes me feel at ease, and mikage-san brightens my day."
...how frustrating.
—ADDITIONAL TIME!
"you know, nagi-san, my grandfather thought you were my boyfriend at first."
seishirou drops his phone, reo chokes.
"what."
—✮
y/n:
nagi: bro what have you done to me. can i tuck your hair behind your ear for you
y/n and nagi's perspective of reo joining them differs. where y/n THINKS that reo doesn't immediately accept him, nagi just 👍 that the three of them now come in a package one day after meeting.
and reo's perspective? we'll see his full pov one day!!!! they all care for each other i promise. i hope their little friendship thing was cohesive (along with this entire fic actually). ik its corny as hell but idgaf !!!! theyre ooc here cause 1. in my eyes theyre friends and friends tease each other so 2. i need them to have lots of fun before the um. you know. 3. i can't live without fluff 4. i love them three
(in the middle of writing this and i just realized this chapter can pass as a oneshot LMFAO)
OH YEAH AND WOOOO 2K VIEWS!!! WHERE DID YOU ALL COME FROM !!!!!! this was fun as hell to write (but very painful too) (also sorry it took two whole ass weeks i got way too ambitious LMFAOOO) i also hope my tsundere nagi agenda is being annoyingly shoved up to your faces (he'll tuck y/n's hair one day trust!!!).
anyways im upset my finals are nearing when im just getting to the part of where heart to heart gets romantic and silly (and a tad bit insane), so wait for me y/n!!!!!!! (in bold gothic font) i will protect you my dearest son.