Chapter Text
Isagi considered himself an accomplished man. As accomplished as any man could be.
Who else could say they were the Prime Minister of Japan for an entire decade, voted in democratically for three separate terms? Who else could brag that they were the youngest Egotist Leader in Japanese history? Who else could gloat about their countless peace treaties, their leaps and bounds for equal rights and their-
Well, you get the picture. Isagi had many so many achievements to speak of and successes that, whether due to his old age or his arrogance, he was more than ready to share and yet… the media, like the blood-crazed sharks that they were, only ever seemed to ask him to speak on his biggest failure. Or, in kinder words, Itoshi Rin.
Isagi huffed out an irritated breath as he stared down at his glaringly bright laptop screen opened onto his work emails, his reading glasses slipping down his nose as he lowered his gaze. Right there on the screen, in bold letters like it was mocking him, was the subject line: ‘Isagi & Itoshi: The Neo Egotist Revolution’ Documentary.
What bullshit! What was there to say that the media hadn’t pried out of him, out of the both of them, sixteen years ago? Did they have no dignity? Well… Isagi already knew the answer to that.
He supposes people can’t help speculating and searching for answers, even if he prays to anyone and everyone above for them to leave him out of it. After all, many, and he means many, years ago, him and Rin were an inseparable duo. People would often joke you could never find one without the other and, like the naive boy Isagi was, he had appreciated his eternal tether to his (more than) friend’s name. But Isagi was not a boy anymore, and he was most certainly not inseparable from Rin Itoshi of all people. In fact, they were infamously separate. So while documentary makers and newspaper journalist’s undying endeavour to reopen the same infected wounds every week was not beyond Isagi’s understanding, it still pissed him off all the same.
Could Isagi ever be his own person? Enough of his reign and autonomy as Prime Minister had been restricted by that petulant brat clinging to him, Rin’s turbulent moods and unheard of power as Chancellor representing and defiling Isagi’s own public image. Rin…
wasn’t the enemy here. It was this stupid fucking email.
To prevent his fingers, already strumming on the keyboard in anticipation, from typing out a strongly worded response, he decided to actually read the message in full. Only so he would know exactly what to say in reply to ensure they never contacted him again, of course.
Dear Sir Isagi,
It would be our utmost pleasure to invite you to collaborate on our documentary dedicated to your record-breaking leadership and the admirable leadership of the Right Honourable Sir Itoshi.
‘Isagi & Itoshi: The Neo Egotist Revolution’ will be a documentary which commits itself to exploring the nature of the relationship between yourself and the Right Honourable Sir Itoshi and how your monumental and unparalleled bond shaped both of your bright political futures.
It must seem clear to the both of you that your close political relationship is of interest not only to journalists, but to the greater public, who have never and will never witness a kinship as intimate as yours again in political history.
You two would surely agree that a relationship as infamous as yours, with the amount of propaganda the media has spread over the decades, requires some rectification. Allow us to set the record straight and put an end to the vipers of misinformation. If you allow us to interview you, we pledge to make it worth your while.
Thank you for your humble consideration,
Yours faithfully,
Blue Lock
Rolling his eyes this far back into his head was painful. A loud groan escaped his lips as he reached the last couple of lines; it was the exact same motivational rubbish that every email of this nature had. ‘You must set the record straight’ ‘You must clarify your relationship’ every time without fail. It’s like nobody understood the concept of minding their business anymore. Rin and Isagi had never even clarified their relationship to one another, they had never needed to, so in what world would they do it to the slobbering jaws of reporters?
He let out an unamused laugh at the thought of their… complicated relationship before laying his eyes upon the last line of the email. Blue Lock. That rang a bell but Isagi couldn’t put his finger on which one. There were a lot of bells when it came to the media and a good majority of them were bad news.
Quickly, Isagi searched the words ‘Blue Lock Isagi’. Nothing. Well, that’s boring. Without wasting a second, Isagi searched up another term ‘Blue Lock Itoshi’. A long list of results flashed on the screen. Oh.
That’s where he knew Blue Lock from.
He burst into laughter in his silent study, startling the birds singing on his windowsill into frantic flight.
Blue Lock’s infamous exposé on New Gen XI Prime Minister Itoshi Sae and his Special Adviser Shidou Ryusei’s torrid love affair, including the multiple images of them less than fully clothed in the back of a government car. Oh, of course he remembers Blue Lock. This was the funniest day of his life, for more than one reason. Isagi giggled to himself like a drunk schoolgirl as he recounted it in his head.
That fateful morning, he was woken at 5am by Rin aggressively shaking him, thinly-veiled fury in his voice as he commanded Isagi to look at the document he had thrust in front of his face before he even had a chance to open his eyes. Upon reading it, and seeing the photos that Rin had kindly scribbled all over with threats in red ink, he collapsed back onto the bed in laughter, pulling a disgruntled Rin into his chest with a teasing coo as he continued to mock the incredulity of the scandal.
All he remembers is that Rin had not been impressed, and had kicked him at least once before muttering that he was ‘too tired for this bullshit’ and went back to sleep.
Before you assume anything, though, Isagi was not heartless. Not at all. In fact, he called Sae that very day to ask him how he was coping and what he could do to help, a generous offer that was met with a scoff and an annoyed ‘If they keep spreading those trivial photos, I’ll bring back conscription. I couldn’t care less.’ to which Isagi had just laughed and hung up, cutting off Rin’s sleepy retort of ‘You’re not as nonchalant as you think you are.’ before Sae could hear it.
“Be nice to your brother” Isagi remembered replying, kissing the crown of Rin’s head and mussing his hair, “I’m sure you wouldn’t like people prying into your love life either.”
How ironic was that.
God, Rin must be furious right now. The audacity of this email, acting cordial with him after ruthlessly sending his big brother into the greatest scandal of his career. He must be seething. Isagi can almost see it himself, as if he were there; Rin’s breaths coming out heavy as he hunched over his laptop, annoyed growls escaping his pursed lips as he tried fruitlessly to control his anger. Rin never did learn how to control that beast of a temper. If Isagi was still a boy, he would’ve called it cute. As a man, he had to stop himself from giving in to those traitorous thoughts.
The thought of Rin loathing this email even more than Isagi possibly could was almost enough to convince him to consider the offer. After all, it had been sixteen years. They were both retired, any new revelation from the press could do little damage to their careers. And, most importantly, it gave him an excuse to see Rin again. To see Rin annoyed again, obviously.
Now that he was thinking about it, how bad could it possibly be?
Before he had the chance to make any impulsive decisions, however, his phone began to vibrate violently from the shadowed corner of his desk, screaming that stupid ringtone that could only belong to one person.
Rin.
Fighting the urge to let the call ring out, if only to gauge how desperate Rin was and to, indulgently, make the younger man madder, Isagi languidly reached over to grab his phone and answered with a giggly:
“Isagi Yoichi speaking, who is this?”
The line was silent. Isagi’s chest hurt from his suppressed laughter. He really should have broken the habit of raising Rin’s blood pressure like this, especially considering it had been years since their last conversation, but… it was just too easy.
“You know who the fuck it is and exactly why I’m calling, don’t give me that bullshit.” was the warm and welcoming response Isagi was met with.
Some things never change, huh?
Isagi decided to leave Rin’s last nerve alone for now, in a charitable act of kindness.
“You saw Blue Lock’s email too then?”
“Of course I saw their stupid email. I don’t understand what they could possibly want. Those lukewarm bastards jump at any chance they can for drama, I don’t see why it’s taken them a whole sixteen years to harass us. It’s not like we’ve done anything together recently.” Rin trailed off, probably going through the last couple years of his memories for any blackmail material related to Isagi Yoichi.
“I mean, there was that movie made about us last year… The Deal, or whatever it was called.”
“Yeah, but that movie was shit… and completely inaccurate too.” Isagi could practically hear Rin’s scrunched up face through the phone.
“I don’t know…” he deliberated, “I think they adapted your little tantrums pretty well. It was almost uncanny.” Isagi teased through the phone, playing on that one tone of voice that always got Rin annoyed.
“Oh, fuck off.” Like a bee to honey, Rin had finally delivered his favourite words to say to Isagi. It really was an honour.
“I’m serious!” Isagi protested, “And anyway, people still make edits of us in that movie, it’s not crazy to believe Blue Lock are just opportunists riding the wave of the hype.”
“They make edits?”
“I can send you some if you want. I’ve got three collections: ‘Sad’ Rinsagi Edits, ‘Happy’ Rinsagi Edits, ‘God, we looked hot there’ Rinsagi Edits-“
“Absolutely not.” Rin let out a long breath, muffled slightly by the hand over his mouth. Whether that was from exasperation or exhaustion, Isagi genuinely couldn’t tell.
“Well, anyway, what’s the harm in accepting-“ Isagi tried but was quickly cut off.
“What’s the harm? What’s the harm? Do you remember what happened to my brother after those photos got leaked? The public never forgave him, it followed him until his defeat at the polls. And, before you start, I’d never suggest he lost the election because of it; he lost because he’s an annoying, out-of-touch bastard and we led the greatest campaign this country has ever seen. But still.” Rin ended his statement with a sigh and his end of the phone went staticky as, Isagi assumed, he laid back in his chair and rested the speaker on his cheek, an endearing habit of his.
“You have a point with the last part” Isagi chuckled, “but you fail to consider that Sae could not have cared less-“
“But I do!” Rin cut him off with a sudden start, sitting up in his chair, “I’m not my fucking brother. I do care. I care how I’m perceived, how my image is conveyed. I can’t bear it, being made into something I’m not, you know that. And that’s exactly what they’re gonna do. They’re gonna squeeze every last detail out of me and then start a stupid fucking smear campaign about homosexuality running in the family.” A snort. “Don’t laugh at that. I don’t want to talk to those vultures.”
It was almost reassuring how little Rin had changed since their last talk. Every version of Rin quickly flitted through Isagi’s mind, finally allowed to after years of being cast aside in cowardice of the feelings they’d bring.
The first Rin he met appeared, the one who he in equal parts admired and feared. The Rin who he was so silly to fear in hindsight; that vengeful little boy in an oversized suit declaring war on his brother, the ice-cold and unapproachable leader of the country. What was even more silly, though, was Isagi’s complete and utter faith in Rin’s childish dream and his willingness to be swept up in it.
That version of Rin quickly, too quickly, blossomed into the Rin who he had loved with his entire being, the Rin he would consider in every way his soulmate, the Rin who both endeared and obsessed him. The vulnerable Rin, the one who knew him better than anybody on this planet. His favourite Rin.
And then finally, fatefully, that Rin eroded into the volatile, unstable, spiteful Rin who he had abandoned. The Rin who cursed his very name, and himself for loving him, and swore revenge like a hysterical mantra.
All of those Rins were still present within the one he was talking to now, and the thought made his heart clench, made him pull his phone closer to his face, almost nuzzling it, and, with that, he suddenly knew what his decision was.
He had to see Rin again.
“Rin, you can do whatever you want. I mean it. If you really don’t wanna go, you don't have to. But-“ He heard a sigh over the other side of the phone, but Isagi’ll be damned if he’d let that deter him, “But! I’m going to go either way. I think it could be important for… closure or whatever.” Yes, he was making this up on the spot.
“Just think, neither of us have any reputation we have to maintain anymore, we aren’t civil servants. We’re under no obligation. We can say as much or as little as we like and they can’t do anything about it. If you wanted, you could just go into that interview room and slander my name the entire time.”
“That was my plan.” Rin responded in a sarcastic drawl.
“Hey! But you could, if you wanted to. Say whatever you feel comfortable with, we don’t have to tell them anything.” Isagi paused for a moment to let his words sink in before continuing.
“But don’t you think it’d be nice, after all this time, to put every slanderous article and smear campaign to rest, to set our own narrative, to have some credit for our own story?” Isagi rattled on, hoping to God he was getting through to Rin.
“You underestimate how stupid the general public are. I could stare into the camera and repeat ‘I hate Isagi Yoichi’ for five hours straight and they’d still find a way to call me obsessed.”
“Are you not?”
Silence.
“Ouch.”
Rin huffed a laugh. Victory! Isagi could stand up and cheer, but he didn’t wanna seem that desperate.
“So, what do you think, Rin?” Completely ignoring his previous declaration to not act desperate, Isagi crossed his fingers and prayed.
A long sigh left his speaker. A very resigned sounding sigh.
“…fine.”
A scream of celebration blew Isagi’s phone speaker and Rin let out another chuckle. Oh, it was like Christmas.
“But I refuse to speak about you. I’ll talk about my leadership and my leadership only. If you want to defile my character with our relationship, you’re free to do that, but you’re the one who will face the media wrath for it. I’m not getting involved.” Rin declared and, with that, rested his phone back on his cheek, like he had no care for Isagi’s reply.
He probably didn’t. Rin was a force to be reckoned with once he had made up his mind.
Good thing Isagi was more than happy with Rin’s rules.
“Deal!” Isagi replied way too quickly and way too enthusiastically. “You can talk about your gold sales or whatever, I’ll handle the interesting parts. Like, my own leadership.”
“Who cares about your leadership?” Rin mock-yawned.
“You literally campaigned for me to be leader?”
“And I hated every second of it.”
“Sure you did.”
“I did!” Rin groaned, “Whatever, I’ll do the stupid documentary, are you happy now?”
“Ecstatic. And Rin?” his voice took on a softer tone.
“Yeah?”
“I missed you.”
Two second of silence. And then… a beep. Rin hung up.
Isagi released the breath he was holding. Figures. That had always been Rin’s response to any indication that Isagi was fond of him. The countless calls ended after Isagi had dared to tell him he loved him, and the many times Rin had threw his phone before Isagi could even get all the words out were a staple of their time together.
Chuckling to himself, Isagi wrote out his reply to Blue Lock. Formal enough, he hoped. He considered throwing Rin under the bus and mentioning that he had agreed too but, not willing to poke the bear any more for now, he left that for Rin to do.
He was really going to see Rin again. He almost couldn’t believe it. After sixteen years, they would finally be face to face once more, forced to either confront or run from their catastrophe of a relationship. The autopsy of their romance would be broadcast to the entire nation, it would be a utter disaster, a scandal even, but, despite it all… Isagi couldn’t wait.