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It’s not like any of them were well socialized before being locked in insane soccer jail.
They were all chosen for skill, sure, but also for their potential to meet Ego’s ideal striker- egotistical, cold, and willing to do anything for the sport. That they all managed to get along as well as they have is kind of a marvel. Chigiri sure didn’t have any friends before coming here and he knows he’s not the only one.
But here, in the most unlikely place, he’s actually managed to make a few friends. It’s weird, but he cherishes them and their precious little bonds. In this place isolated from the rest of the world he’s less lonely than he’s been in years.
That’s what makes it so hard that Kunigami won’t even look at him anymore. His Kunigami, his hero, the best friend he’s had in a long time- unable or unwilling to say two words to him unless forced. Chigiri runs his hands through his hair and sighs. What a fucking mess.
He’d gotten special permission to come to the Germany Stratum, but only Isagi and Bachira had managed to convince Kunigami to hang out. If they hadn’t shown up, Chigiri knows Kunigami wouldn’t have stayed to talk much less actually play soccer for a few hours. Hell- the second they were done Kunigami was gone and now he’s headed back to the England Stratum alone. Reo and Nagi will be there at least. They’ll let him be aggressively sad and sulky and they can watch a few hours of compilations or something equally mentally easy.
It's a little hard to trust that they won’t leave him given how things with Kunigami are, but maybe that’s just life. Maybe he’s just-
“Well, hello there, Red.”
Chigiri nearly jolts out of his skin. God, he hadn’t been paying attention at all and now this asshole’s here. Kaiser’s leaning against the wall a few feet ahead of him and Chigiri rolls his eyes. He does not need this right now. There’s no other way to get back to the England dorms and nothing else is this way- perfect for an ambush and perfectly horrible for a potential rescue.
That’s fine. Chigiri’s kind of spoiling for a fight right about now. He runs his hand through the unbraided side of his sweaty hair and settles it on his shoulder, fixing Kaiser with a cold look.
Kaiser looks… genuinely delighted.
What the fuck is wrong with this guy?
“Oh, it’s you, the slow guy from the game,” he says, slowing to a stop. “Sorry, I don’t actually remember your name.” It’s definitely petty o’clock today.
Kaiser just laughs and pushes away from the wall, coming just short of too-close and towering over Chigiri. Chigiri folds his arms over his chest. Being intimidated isn’t really his thing.
“I think you do, Little Red,” Kaiser says, sizing him up. He drags his eyes up over Chigiri’s body in a way that’s wholly inappropriate given how sweaty he is from hours of playing with Isagi and the others. It’s also just inappropriate, period, but that’s not important right now. “I looked you up after the game. Blue Lock’s infamous little princess- you sure don’t disappoint.”
“You mean after how I outran you, scored on you, and just generally outplayed you? Not just your team but you, personally?” He ticks the points off on is fingers with a vicious sort of glee in his chest, he loves a good verbal spar and Kaiser is a worthy opponent.
Kaiser’s outright grinning now.
“I think someone needs to be reminded his team actually lost!” He moves forward, leaning against the wall over Chigiri’s head, and Chigiri’s forced to take a begrudging step backwards to avoid contact. He leans back against the wall and folds his arms over his chest. This is a little close for his liking but he’s definitely curious about where this is going. Even if the hallway is empty, he’s still an athlete and more than capable of defending himself.
Besides, something like this has happened literally every week since the Second Selection. Like he said, they’re all just so under socialized.
“You know,” Kaiser reaches out and gathers some of Chigiri’s hair around one of his fingers, twisting it idly, “good little princesses should be grateful when an emperor takes interest in them.”
Chigiri arches a single brow at him.
“Have you talked to someone about these delusions you’re having? They seem pretty serious.”
Kaiser gives the little bit of hair he’s holding a light tug and Chigiri’s eye twitches.
“Come on princess- come serve me,” he says, leaning in a little closer so that his elbow is resting on the wall by Chigiri’s head. “Come run those beautiful, fast legs for me. You’ll send me perfect passes and I’ll score again and again- and after that,” he leans in even closer, eyes locked on Chigiri’s and finger wound tightly in that little stand of hair, “when you’re done serving me on the field, I’ll bring you home and you can serve me again. All. Night. Long.”
Chigiri takes a quick little breath and uncrosses his arms, resting one on Kaiser’s chest, feeling his steady heartbeat against his palm. He shifts his weight and leans away from the wall, bringing his face just that little bit closer to Kaiser’s and dropping his gaze the slightest bit. Kaiser’s heartbeat picks up dramatically beneath his hand.
“I think,” Chigiri says softly, flicking his eyes back up to Kaiser’s, “that I would literally rather retear my ACL.”
He slaps Kaiser’s hand away from his hair with one hand and shoves him back with the other, shouldering past him and starting off down the hall. What a weird fucking dude- who says shit like that? They’ve met twice!
Kaiser bursts into laughter behind him and Chigiri stops, watching him over his shoulder as Kaiser settles back against the wall. Alright he does love a little banter, and Kaiser’s being a really good sport about being rejected.
“Oh, kitty has claws!” he crows, grinning. Chigiri’s never getting over these cat allegations. ‘Red Panther’ is a cool nickname but man does it open him up for a lot. “You’ll see, Red. We’re perfect for each other. You’ll come to me eventually.” He winks and Chigiri rolls his eyes.
“Seriously, consider talking to a professional, you need help.” He turns and starts for the end of the hall, throwing over his shoulder, “and get some better lines! Yours are awful!”
Kaiser’s pretty sure he’s in love.
He walks back to the dorms with a spring in his step. Girls have been throwing themselves at him as long as he’s been able to kick a ball, but he’s never been half as interested in any of them as he is the red spitfire who outran him so effortlessly. He’s perfect- the perfect scoring accessory, dedicated to the sport just like Kaiser is! He won’t care about late practice nights or trips abroad! He’s the perfect wife and Kaiser just has to have him.
He wasn’t lying- he looked up all of the Princess’ stats directly after the game. He knows everything from Red’s scoring records to his poor busted knee. He learned a lot about Red from those videos but there’s only so much personality one can learn from game footage. He knows what kind of player Red is, but not what kind of person. For that a different kind of research is needed.
And luckily for him- dinner just started!
Yoichi is sitting at a table with Hiori, Kurona, and a few people Kaiser cannot be bothered learning the names of.
“Yoichi!” he sings, throwing himself into the chair across from his least favorite teammate. Alas, sacrifices must be made for true love.
The easy chatter of the table dies immediately and everyone is on guard, watching him with suspicious eyes. Yoichi stops eating and puts down his plastic cutlery- probably to free up his hands in case of an attack. Smart but unnecessary!
“I just had the most delightful conversation with your hot redhead friend!”
Yoichi’s face goes from suspicious to threatening in half a second. Delightful, really.
“Stay away from him, Kaiser. I’m serious.”
Their little group breaks into soft murmurs but Kaiser only has eyes and ears for Yoichi right now. “Oh, come on! I’ll treat him right I swear. Just tell me a little about him- what’s he like? In bed or out, I’m not picky.”
Yoichi stands abruptly, sending his chair careening to the floor, and slaps the table. “Don’t be gross about Chigiri, Kaiser. I’m not fucking kidding. Whatever issue you have against me- leave him out of it.”
Kaiser laughs, and the soft murmurs from the extras at the table cease abruptly. Oh, everyone’s mad at him now! These guys must be from their precious little Team Z too!
“I know you’re becoming a good little ego-whore, Yoichi, but this has nothing to do with you. In fact, none of the many, many things I want to do to the princess have anything to do with y-“
He doesn’t get to finish the sentence before someone punches him in the side of the head.
**
By the time they pull Kunigami off Kaiser and everyone’s separated, Isagi has a massive migraine coming on. He doesn’t want to deal with this right now at all. Unfortunately, he needs to give a heads up to the only person he can think of that might actually be able to keep an eye on Chigiri.
“Does anyone have a phone? I need to get ahold of Reo.”
**
Chigiri towels his freshly washed hair as he walks into the room he shares with Reo and Nagi. Nagi is, predictably, watching videos on his phone on his bed and doesn’t so much as twitch when Chigiri walks in. Reo, on the other hand, has pulled a chair up to face the door, arms crossed over his chest, and radiating disapproval.
The whole disapproving parent routine would be so much more convincing if Chigiri hadn’t been present for the toothbrush incident. Chigiri went through an entire parenting crisis trying to get Reo through his breakup with Nagi. He’s ready to have an army of teenage daughters now; he knows things no sixteen-year-old boy should know. It’s just very hard to take Reo seriously after that.
So, he doesn’t even try.
“Where have you been?” Reo asks in his best young-master voice. Chigiri snorts and brushes past him, tossing his hairdryer on Nagi’s bed and barely avoiding hitting him in the shoulder. Nagi grumbles, but hauls himself up into a sitting position as Chigiri plugs in his hairdryer and settles on the bed in front of him.
“With the guys from Team Z,” he says, scanning the video on Nagi’s phone. Apparently, he’s into corner kicks tonight, so Chigiri dutifully pulls up a Beckham compilation and angles the phone so Nagi can see it while drying his hair. It’s the weirdest little symbiotic habit he’s ever had, but it works for them. The Bluelock hairdryers suck and have no real drying power so Nagi helps him dry the back of his hair and Chigiri uses his vast soccer knowledge to find videos on whatever topic’s piqued Nagi’s interest that night.
“I just had a very interesting phone call with Isagi,” Reo says as Nagi switches on the hairdryer and Chigiri selects their first video of the evening.
“Congratulations.”
Nagi’s gotten really good at this over the last few weeks. He works deft, calm fingers through Chigiri’s hair and gets the worst of the wetness and tangles out. He barely ever gets so distracted by the video that he burns Chigiri’s scalp these days!
It's honestly so fucking nice to be physically close to someone. Especially in a place like this. Reo rolls his eyes and sighs, giving up his interrogation to sit next to Chigiri on the bed while Nagi finishes up. Chigiri tilts the phone so they can all watch together- thankfully in silence with the hum of the hairdryer in their ears.
Nagi and Chigiri got along immediately in the Second Selection and it’s carried over to their Manshine days. Chigiri likes Reo, he really does, and usually Reo is smart, fun, and sassy in a way that makes Chigiri strongly want to keep him in his life. Sometimes he can be a little bit of a mom friend though, and usually Chigiri can handle that, but right now he’s feeling kind of raw and isn’t really in the mood.
By the time they’re finished and all settled on their stomachs watching their fourth compilation of the night, Chigiri mostly hopes that Reo’s forgotten whatever he was going to say. Nagi and Reo still aren’t 100% even after their game so Chigiri is situated between them as their literal and metaphorical buffer. It’s a position he’s gotten quite used to in the past few weeks and he really doesn’t hate it.
Nagi’s the first one to fall asleep, so Chigiri scoots the phone over so he and Reo can watch together more easily. The sit in the dark watching the phone screen for a long time, softly murmuring comments and critiques on plays and thinking up how to integrate it into their own styles.
Chigiri falls asleep next, still curled up next to Nagi and Reo sighs before covering them with a blanket. He’ll have to tell Isagi he failed to talk to Chigiri but he fully plans to keep a close, close eye on him and keep that Kaiser bastard away from him. Reo sighs, keeping an eye on Chigiri is a full-time job and he feels like he, Isagi, and Nagi have threatened half of the fucking Bluelock facility at this point. Chigiri’s too pretty for his own good, honestly.
He's also one of the best friends Reo’s ever had, and Reo will do anything to protect him. He sighs and slides into his own bed after getting his idiots tucked in. At least he has more than enough money for a hitman if it comes to that. Isagi would probably thank him for getting rid of Kaiser anyway.