Chapter Text
Almost two years have passed since the Blue Lock project ended. Almost everyone got to play their dream team, travel to different countries, meet new people, and start new lives.
Blue Lock was an amazing kickstart for each and every one of the players. After its end, almost everyone went on a separate way. Some continued with football, either as professional players or studying for coaches, while others chose the more mundane life, mostly working and playing football as a hobby.
Friendships, rivalry, and hardships were a constant theme. Some became stronger, unshackled, some fell to pieces. Broken pieces that were hard to put back.
After their last match, Reo went fully to his other hobbies like business, entrepreneurship, and finances – he was really passionate and good at it. Not as passionate as it came to football, but it was a close second. He has his life together living in the big city, in a big neighborhood, but in a secluded house. He loved the peaceful life after the busy one revolving around soccer.
Nagi, on the other hand, was living a similar life to the one prior to Blue Lock. He still loved chilling, peace, and being comfortable just playing games. It was what brought him joy. He gained a lot of money from their last matches so he still had a lot of money to spare, still. He wasn’t thinking of a job, not for now at least, as with a low-maintenance life, he had money for years.
Everyone was living in their own world but weren’t completely happy. Life in Blue Lock was full of thrill, emotion, and adrenaline. The players ’ minds were focused, full of motivation and goals. Now, the everyday life seems just too average.
One day, each of the players got a text message with an attached invitation
~ Blue Lock Players Catch-Up party ~
The message caught Reo as he was reading one of his books. He glanced at his screen, not anticipating a text from anyone, so he had no clue what he was about to see. His eyes, however, lit up as he saw the invitation. He felt something in his stomach, a mixture of adrenaline and anxiety. He hasn’t seen much of the players since the project ended, mostly keeping communication with Chigiri, as they continued being friends after playing together in a team.
Reo, being the extrovert he is, is never one to be afraid of social gatherings, but the thought of seeing certain someone after so much time has passed stirs something inside him.
Nagi and he were on good terms. After their last game, they continued living their life similarly to before meeting each other. Reo really had the intention to offer to continue their cohabitation by maybe living as roommates, but as usual, he couldn’t find the right words. He didn’t want to sound annoying or clingy anymore, now that their goal was reached, he sort of felt that maybe Nagi wouldn’t want to be around him that much. He didn’t want to be more intrusive.
And Nagi being the introverted one, never offered anything as well. He wanted to continue having Reo around, but since their “deal” was done, he wasn’t sure Reo felt the same way. They won, they were happy, end of story. He knew he couldn’t require more from Reo.
Nagi couldn’t admit it to himself, but he missed the attention Reo gave him. He wasn’t one seeking such, but getting it from Reo never felt bad or annoying.
They, of course, exchanged their numbers, but texted each other once or twice, mostly sending memes.
None of them knew how to start a conversation without feeling awkward. And the thing is, they didn’t know why it felt awkward. Their friendship in Blue Lock was so natural and close, but after the project ended, and after everything they’ve been through in it, things got a bit weird and silent. The only things speaking loudly were their minds.
Reo’s phone screen lit up an hour after he received the invitation.
Chigiri: You saw that right? We’re going, right? It’s this weekend.
Reo was sure he wanted to go. But he wasn’t sure if he wanted to admit to himself the real reason why he wanted to go.
Reo: “Yeah, I wonder if many people are going to come”
C: “I think most of them will do, I mean we were all pretty close”
R: “That’s true. It would be great catch-up time. I haven’t talked with many people since this thing ended…”
C : “Me too, I’d say. You’ve been in touch with Nagi, right?”
Reo’s pulse quickened once he read the name on his screen. Not sure why, as it was just his friend’s name.
R: “Yea, not really”
C: “??? But you guys were inseparable”
Reo and Chigiri were close and regularly texted about stuff around their life, but Reo never really mentioned his situation with Nagi. Their relationship appeared close to most of the players in Blue Lock, and most of them would undoubtedly assume that it continued after that as well.
It did, just not like it was before.
Reo never really talked about his feelings. After all the events that happened during their time in Blue Lock, he learned a lot of lessons about trust and got his guard up. He started relying more on himself, not busying others with his problems. In reality, this wasn’t something good, since he thought he might end up bottling up emotions, but as Blue Lock ended, he tried to ignore his feelings by just being glad this all happened.
He felt blessed with what he and Nagi had during that time. He was afraid of ruining it by talking about it.
But maybe he needed to.
R: “Were, correct. We kind of stopped communicating after BL ended”
C: “ L I didn’t know, you haven’t mentioned him but I assumed you kept in touch, at least”
Reo read that and locked his phone. He left it on the nearby table and decided to go back to his book.
However, he couldn’t. He wasn’t able to focus. He started thinking about everything. About the past, about this meeting, about needing to share his thoughts with somebody.
R: “Wanna meet up these days? Tell me if you’re free.”
C: “Tomorrow’s good?”
~ ~ ~
The message caught Nagi as he was on his phone, as usual, while watching a video. He paused it to see what it was about since he read “Blue lock …”
Going out wasn’t one of his hobbies for sure, but the thought of seeing some of his past teammates might be convincing enough.
He instantly thought of Reo and whether he would be there. He hasn’t seen him in such a long time.
Staring at the screen, he started reminiscing about the old days. How fun it was, despite having to do so much stuff like training, planning, and keeping up appearances.
He was positive he wanted to see his teammates, most especially Reo. He was curious what his ex-teammate was doing. He missed him.
Wanting to maybe send him a text, asking if he will be there, because thinking about it, if he isn’t there, it would feel boring. But he felt like it wasn’t the right thing to text him out of the blue about this.
He unpaused the video, but now it was only used as background noise. Laying on his back, he just stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, thinking.
~ ~ ~
R: “I am here”
Reo was looking at his phone, waiting for a text, indicating that Chigiri is close.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Mikage himself,” Chigiri called out cheerfuly behind him.
Reo instantly turned back when he heard his name.
“Long time no see!”
They hugged and headed to the Café.
Time passed by as they chatted about all types of things, such as work, hobbies, travel, football. Almost one hour in, Reo felt the need to finally bring up why he wanted to meet Chigiri face to face.
“Hey, can I maybe share something with you?”
Sipping the last drops of coffee, he looked at him a bit puzzled, not necessarily by what he said, but by the change in Reo’s tone.
“Of course, is everything alright?”
Reo was nervous. He wasn’t feeling okay bringing this up but he felt like it was the right thing to do. He felt like he could trust Chigiri with showing his vulnerable side.
“I kind of wanted to meet today to discuss something with a friend. I thought you would understand me best.”
Chigiri was watching, patiently waiting for what Reo had to say next.
It was hard to put his mind into words. It was a mess in his head, it was gonna be a bigger mess if he tried speaking it.
“I mentioned Nagi and I not speaking, right”
“Mhmm”
“Well, do you think it’s okay if I miss… speaking with him?”
Chigiri gave him a questioning look.
“Of course? You were so close that I was so surprised when you mentioned you weren’t speaking. Why aren’t you, in the first place?”
Reo started to relax a bit, now that the hardest part, starting the conversation, passed, he felt like words were coming out more easily.
“As Blue Lock ended, we went back to our homes, living separately, and of course, I can’t offer him to continue living together out of the blue, but I also wasn’t sure what to say in terms of our friendship. I thought that maybe he felt like he didn’t need me after we achieved our goal. We won, deal was over. This was the sole purpose of our friendship. I really wanted to continue having what we had, but wasn’t positive he wanted the same. And he didn’t say anything as well, so…”
Chigiri listened patiently.
“Nagi is not the best at communicating, you know him,” Chigiri said, “I believe he also wanted to continue the friendship but wasn’t sure what to say. Maybe he was also waiting for your initiative.”
Reo knew that. “Yeah, but, after all that happened, I felt like I may be a bother to him.” He looked down after saying those last words, quietly. It hurt him to think like that.
Chigiri stood silent for a minute, choosing his next words carefully.
“Do you have feelings for him?”
Reo froze up, still staring at the table.
He wasn’t sure how to answer that. Did he have feelings? He had, but what types of feelings? He missed having Nagi around, he missed spending time with him, even missed buying things for him. Having his company was relaxing. It was fun. Now everything seems boring.
“I’m not sure, I don’t know.”
“I think I do,” Chigiri smiled at him and patted his shoulder, “It’s okay, but I don’t think I am the best person to discuss this with. I mean, I am a great option, but I think you would need to talk this through with him. Let him know that your friendship felt rocky after Blue Lock, and based on his response you can try going deeper in this topic.”
Reo felt confused. He never thought such time would come. He didn’t want to say anything, he didn’t want to make it worse than it already was in his head.
“Maybe you’re right, but maybe it’s pointless as well…”
“You’ll never know until you try. It’s better than just beating yourself in your head over and over again, thinking what could’ve happened. “
Staying silent, Reo was consumed with thoughts. He only imagined how awkward everything would be talking this out with Nagi. He started feeling anxious at the thought that maybe Nagi indeed thought about him as a bother and didn’t need him after Blue Lock. That was the worst-case scenario and increased his worry.
“What if he just rejects everything, me, our friendship…” Reo said silently, “I will just feel embarrassed, like the dumbest person alive”
“I believe in you. Not just in you, in you two. I don’t want to give you false hopes but I’ve lived with both of you for some months, I truly believe that what you had shouldn’t have ever stopped. Not only on the field but your dynamic outside of it also felt heartwarming, complimenting each other, not even in a romantic way,” Chigiri rolled his eyes, then fixing them on Reo, “and I mean it. Me, personally, I would like to see that dynamic again.”
Reo smiled. Chigiri was a great friend indeed. He realized he should have opened himself to him earlier, maybe he could’ve eased his thoughts.
“Thank you. Really” Reo smiled slightly.
“No need for that. I am doing the minimum, just pushing you to do the right thing, the rest and hard part is up to you. I can’t do the talking for you, too, you need to do something as well!”
They both laughed. Reo really felt better after this. He didn’t feel like the world was ending anymore.
“I appreciate it. Maybe I had some trust issues due to everything that happened, I really wasn’t comfortable bringing this up initially, so don’t be hard on me,” Reo laughed awkwardly.
“This weekend at the party, I am rooting for you. Believe in yourself. What happened is in the past, don’t let it bother you anymore. You need to talk it through just like you did with me.”
A few more minutes passed and they decided to call it quits.
The weekend was just around the corner.