Chapter Text
The argument starts over football.
It always starts over football.
"You're hesitating again," Rin says flatly.
The words cut across the empty training pitch.
Isagi wipes sweat from his forehead and glares.
"I'm not."
"You are."
"I'm literally not."
"You think too much."
"Oh, and you don't think enough."
Rin's eyes narrow.
The familiar irritation sparks immediately.
Normally, Isagi would smirk.
Normally, he'd fire back something equally annoying.
Today he just looks tired.
Exhausted, actually.
The kind of tired that sits behind someone's eyes.
Rin notices it.
Ignores it.
"You played badly."
The second the words leave his mouth, he knows they're harsher than intended.
Isagi freezes.
For a moment neither speaks.
Then:
"Right."
That's it.
Just one word.
Not angry.
Not defensive.
Just...
Defeated.
Something twists unpleasantly in Rin's chest.
"Isagi—"
"I'm going home."
He grabs his bag.
Rin frowns.
"Training isn't over."
"I know."
Isagi's voice is quiet.
Too quiet.
For some reason that bothers Rin more than if he'd shouted.
Then Isagi leaves.
The door closes.
And the room feels strangely empty.
That night, Rin receives a message.
Isagi:
"Need some time alone."
Rin stares at it.
Types a response.
Deletes it.
Types another.
Deletes that too.
Eventually:
Rin:
"Whatever."
Message sent.
Seen.
No reply.
The next morning, Isagi isn't at training.
Nobody seems concerned.
"Probably overslept," someone says.
Rin says nothing.
But he checks his phone.
No messages.
That evening he calls.
Once.
No answer.
The following day.
Calls again.
No answer.
Third day.
Still nothing.
Fourth day.
The irritation is gone now.
Replaced by something worse.
A tight feeling he can't explain.
Because Isagi always answers.
Even when he's annoyed.
Even when they're fighting.
He always answers.
On the fifth day, Rin is sitting alone in his room.
Phone in hand.
Staring at the call history.
Five missed calls.
Five.
His thumb hovers over Isagi's contact.
He calls again.
The ringtone echoes.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then—
Voicemail.
Rin closes his eyes.
And for the first time, a thought slips through his defenses.
What if something actually happened?
The realization hits like a truck.
Not because Isagi might be hurt.
Not because he might be gone.
But because Rin suddenly understands how unbearable that possibility is.
And that terrifies him.