[Name] held his breath back as he froze on the spot. His heart seemed to jump within his chest as he couldn't bring himself to turn around and face Reo.
"Who's there?" Reo asked once more as he slowly stood up. Nagi seemed to pause as well as he watched the purple-haired teen after discreetly grabbing his phone back.
Reo took light steps toward the wall before finally peeking behind it. "[Name]?" He spoke with wide eyes.
[Name] took in a deep breath as he plastered a smile on his face. He turned to his side without making eye contact. "Hey." He spoke quietly.
Reo's eyes couldn't help but widen in realization. No wonder there was so much commotion earlier, today was the day [Name] returned from his tour! And he completely forgot! He'd been so busy with Nagi these past few days that it completely slipped his mind.
"I'm so sorry-" Reo reached out a hand but [Name] was already dismissing him before he could continue.
"No, no! It's completely fine." And it really was. Although it was a bit disappointing not to see Reo right as he got back, [Name] knew he couldn't always be the other's priority. Reo was a busy person with all his responsibilities so he had expected this at some point. "I get it."
He just didn't expect that the reason for Reo's absence would be due to him meeting his soulmate.
"Still..." Reo could be seen pouting as obvious guilt showed on his face. "Let me at least make it up to you!"
"It's seriously fine." [Name] shook his head with a smile, feeling a bit better now that he was talking to Reo again. "You don't need to make it up to me for anything. Just seeing you again should be enough." He spoke earnestly, trying to dissuade Reo.
His words, unfortunately, seemed to have the opposite effect as they made Reo feel even worse and far more determined to do something for him. "You're making me feel even worse, you know that right?" He spoke with a deadpan expression, eliciting a laugh from [Name].
"Am I? Oops." He smiled in amusement with no sign of apology on his face.
"You're so-" Reo was about to quip back only to get interrupted by loud shooting noises.
"Damn, I lost again." Nagi's monotone voice was loud against the quiet hallway, causing Reo to whip his head around in remembrance of the other.
"Nagi!" Reo turned around, not noticing they way [Name]'s smile fell when he did so. He was about to scold the other before realizing something. "I want you to meet someone!"
[Name] couldn't help the sinking feeling in his stomach as Reo grabbed his wrist and dragged him closer to where Nagi was sitting on the stairs. He bit his lips as he stared down at the glowing purple thread on Reo's finger, the sight making him feel even worse now that they've met who it was connected to.
[Name] was by no means a selfish person yet as he stood in front of Nagi, the one who's connected to Reo by fate, he couldn't help but feel his mind darken.
"Come on, Nagi! Work with me for once." Reo huffed as he tried to get Nagi to let go of his goddamn phone in order to stick a hand out for [Name].
"Do I really have to? What a pain." Nagi sighed as he finally looked back up to [Name] who was staring at him with an unreadable expression. He let go of his phone and stuck out his hand for the other. "I'm Nagi Seishiro. Nice to meet you or whatever."
"Nagi! That's not how- you know what, never mind." Reo could be heard groaning in the background but [Name] tuned it all out, his gaze purely focused on the hand outstretched towards him.
After a beat of silence, he eventually flashed an empty smile as he reached out to grab Nagi's hand. He would've appreciated the warmth much more if it weren't for the circumstances.
"Nice to meet you too, just call me [Name]."
Reo couldn't help but smile at the scene of two of his most important people finally meeting each other. What he fails to realize, however, is the true thoughts that linger behind [Name]'s friendly facade.
Once again, [Name] wasn't a selfish person but he was still human.
'I wish you never showed up. Why couldn't you have stayed away?'
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Nagi was a decent person seeing as how he was pretty easy to get along with due to his low-maintenance needs. [Name] wants, and is trying, to get along with him but no matter what he does, he can't help but let his selfish feelings cloud his judgment.
It doesn't help the fact that he's always with them whenever [Name] wants to hang out with Reo alone. He knows Nagi isn't at fault for this considering how it's Reo that usually drags him around but [Name] can't help but resent him just a bit anyways.
"Nagi and I are aiming for the World Cup!" [Name] smiled as he leaned his cheek against his open palm, his eyes staring at Reo as the purple-haired heir rambled on about his plans. It was nice to see him so energetic, so determined to get something.
He still remembers the days when Reo joined every club he could, trying to find something to chase after, something to want. As an heir to a CEO who could give him anything he could ever want, it was hard to find something he actually had to work and suffer for.
Although he won't exactly understand it, he could still somewhat relate to that feeling. It was the thrill of wanting something. He supposed it was something similar to the envy he felt to other kids when they were younger all because they had something to strive for.
Right now, it was after classes so there weren't many students around to interrupt them, but then again, it's not like many people passed by the staircase they've been meeting up in frequently.
"There's no Soccer club in Hakuho thought but it's nothing money can't handle." Reo flashed an evil grin causing [Name] to roll his eyes affectionately. Just before he could comment about the abuse of power, a teacher suddenly passed by the corner beside them.
"Oh, Reo-kun!" One of the male teachers greeted with surprise once he caught sight of the trio chilling on the steps. Quickly, he composed himself as he approached them slightly. "This is actually pretty good timing. Can you give these papers to your adviser?"
Despite the smooth smile fixated on Reo's face when he stood up, [Name] could see the slight annoyance that showed behind his purple eyes. After years of knowing each other, he's come to learn how to read him pretty well.
"Of course!" Reo grabbed the papers from the teacher before turning to him and Nagi with an apologetic smile. "I'll be back quickly." He huffed before sprinting away, not wanting to waste any time when it came to hanging out with them.
[Name] simply nodded as he hugged his legs against his chest. Now that Reo was gone, he just realized how quiet it was with the only sound to be heard being whatever game Nagi was playing.
Normally, he would've made conversation by now, but he wasn't really in the mood to talk.
"Ah, how frustrating." Nagi mumbled after his umpteenth attempt at getting past a certain boss fight. He was about to press replay again before unintentionally letting his eyes fall onto [Name]'s curled up figure.
"You're a lot more quiet than I thought you were." He commented suddenly as he exited the game and opened another. He was getting tired of losing over and over again.
"Am I?" [Name] mumbled back instantly, not too surprised at the sudden conversation. He's experienced people suddenly walking up and speaking to him too many times to actually be startled by it now.
"Yeah," Nagi nodded even though he knew [Name] wouldn't see considering how be was a few steps behind him. "Since you're friends with Reo, I thought you'd be the same; talkative."
[Name] merely hummed as he looked at the windows placed on the wall opposite from them. Reo is quite chatty when he needed to be but he's never like that when it came to strangers or people he just met.
[Name] halted his thoughts before he made sense of the implications he was arriving to.
"Is it weird? That I'm not talkative, I mean." [Name] spoke up suddenly. He didn't know why. He could've just let the conversation die there but he didn't.
He didn't want to admit it but Nagi was interesting.
"Nah, not really." Nagi hummed as he tapped away on his phone.
Another moment of silence passed before Nagi spoke up again.
"Do you dislike me?"
[Name]'s eyes widened just a bit at the sudden question. Normally, a person would be quick to deny such a statement but he didn't really feel like lying right now. "If I said yes, what would you do?"
"Nothing really, I just wanted to know." Nagi shrugged easily as though they were talking about the weather. "It's because I'm hogging all of Reo's attention, isn't it?"
[Name] couldn't help the surprised laugh that left him this time. Was he really that obvious? "It can't be helped, he really likes you..." He muttered bitterly, not wanting to admit that fact.
"I can try to stay away from him if you want." Nagi offered nonchalantly. Although he was starting to like Reo, he still didn't like all the unnecessary practices they have to do. If he could get away from that, then he wouldn't mind.
[Name] gave a thoughtful look at the suggestion before shaking his head with a softened gaze. "It's fine. Reo would be sad if you do."
Nagi looked up from his phone for a second to give [Name] a look.
But what about you?
"If you say so..." Nagi turned his full focus back to his game.
The conversation ended at that as they waited for Reo in silence. It didn't take long for him to come back though.
"I've returned!" Reo huffed with a smile on his face. It was quite obvious he ran all the way back if the light sweat coating his forehead was anything to go about. "Did I miss anything?"
"Not really." Nagi shook his head as he spoke first. This caused [Name] to relax his body that he didn't realize was tensed up.
"That's good," Reo began to walk back to where he was sitting before the teacher called onto him.
The teen then began to start his chatter once again, starting from how he had ran around the whole school looking for his adviser up until he finally found her.
[Name] nodded along with a fond expression but unlike before, he wasn't listening with his full attention anymore.
His mind still lingered on the conversation he had with Nagi. He knew the other won't tell Reo about the hidden dislike he had for him but that's not what he was thinking about.
He was thinking of how easy it is to talk to Nagi.
And he hated it.
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Any thoughs for this chapter?