21. NIGHTLY RITUAL

note: sorry for accidentlt publishing that chapter. my phone was bugging out ugh. anywaus double chapter for that, sorry again!

*⋆｡˚𖦹࣪˖ ִֶָ⋆｡°✩

TODAY,

is the first time you have ever slept in the same room as a guy. Sure you've had a boyfriend or two in the past, but it wasn't like it was anything super serious to the point you would live together. Now—you still aren't dating a guy, but you are sleeping beside one. A bunk bed and next to it, a single mattress that's laid flat on the floor. It's a lot less thick than the one you had back in your room during the first selection, but it's still better than nothing, you suppose.

It's also still a lot nicer than the one you owned in your house, so there's that. Both Isagi and Nagi had decided to take a shower after you had gone into your rooms, and you agreed to just wait outside until they were done and changed into their night clothes. You were advised to bring any personal belongings you needed in the bag you take everywhere with you, so you set up the things you needed for the night while you waited.

Now—they were both done, and Nagi sat cross-legged on the top bunk with a towel wrapped around his shoulders and a blank expression (really, what was new?). "Check this out," he taps the top of the roof against his flat palm, "It's almost like being in jail."

Isagi stands examining the only other thing in the room—a whiteboard with pictures and numbers that you don't bother to read. "Well, it's called Blue Lock, after all. Looks like there's a cafeteria and a communal bathroom. So it's a downgraded version of the facilities we had before. Seems the biggest difference is... you can take on Blue Lock Man inside the training room whenever you want."

Isagi turns his head and looks at you with a confused expression. A nervous smile falls over his face as he looks at how you rub something into your skin while peering at yourself in a small mirror that belonged on a desktop. "Hey, [name]... what're you doing over there?"

Without missing a beat—you throw a deadpan expression his way and say, "My night-time routine. Kyouka got me into it."

"How did you even get these things???" He leans down beside you—where you were sitting cross-legged on your mattress—and picks up a bottle that spelled, in big words, hyaluronic milk toner. 

You give him a toothy smile, "Anri."

"Figured. Ego would never be this nice." He chuckles, then stands back up and looks at the whiteboard. Nagi climbs down from his bunk (very monkey-like, you add) and squats down on your mattress, head tilted while staring at a bottle.

"Ni... cin a meed?"

"Niacinamide." You correct him, rubbing a cream into your forehead. Nagi opens the serum bottle, squeezes it a few times and watches the goopy substance in fascination.

"Why do you use it?"

"It makes me feel better, I guess. It's nice." You shrug, rolling the cap back on a container, and then opening another one. It was blue and looked almost like jelly. "Wanna try?"

Nagi deadpans at you, but exhausted eyes are still as dark as always, "Okay." You hand him the container—but he only places it back in your hand without a word. You raise a brow, giving it back to him—but he does the same thing. You look down at the open container—then up at his blank slate of a face, then you realise what he wants.

You deadpan right back at him, glossed lips pressed tightly together. Wow, he really is a spoiled baby. But despite this thought, you still comply—swiping your finger into the jelly cream and smearing it into his cheek. You rub in the cooling substance, and he looks even more peaceful than he usually does.

Without turning his head away, Nagi calls out Isagi's name while you're still putting on the product. "How come you didn't challenge Barou in the next round? I figured he'd make a pretty good addition in our team."

You can't really see, due to Nagi's big head taking up your entire field of vision, but from his tone, Isagi must look conflicted. "Of course I want him. But given our current level..."

Nagi doesn't miss a beat, lips moving just as Isagi trails off his words. "Alright, then let's talk about what the two of us are missing."

"That match against Rin made me realise something. For both our weapons to work, we need to receive a pass from another player first."

Nagi presses his lips together, then nods—mouthing an apology when you narrow your eyes at him. "Oh yeah, you're right. My skill's ball control, and yours' is that direct shot."

Isagi slumps to the floor and rests his elbows on his knee. Now, from the corner of your eye, you can see his tired and distraught expression. "Well, we know what we're missing. Someone who understands our weapons... and is also good at passing, like Reo, or Bachira. Without that—we can't do a thing."

"The problem being that we don't have a person to help set up plays anymore. So what now?" You open up a serum bottle and dab the substance into Nagi's cheek while he talks. "Say we go against someone with superior dribbling, or speed. Maybe they have crazy long limbs or brute strength on their side. Doesn't matter. One-on-one, we have zero chance of winning against them."

"We have to come up with a new strategy," Isagi's voice slightly muffled by his hand—which he squished right against his cheek. His head hangs low and he stares at a spot on the floor, eyes clouded. "Some kind of plan to make up for the missing ingredient."

You finish up and tap the snow-haired boy's cheek with a smile. "Done. Pretty nice, right?"

Nagi yawns, eyes hanging lower than ever, and you can barely see a sliver of his dark eyes from under his lids. "Totally... makes me feel sleepy... Kinda late to be problem solving... sorry, Isagi, but I've reached by limit of thinking... let's pick this up tomorrow..."

Nagi falls forward abruptly—and would've made full face contact with your mattress if you hadn't caught him under his arms and held him up with a distraught expression. You shake him once. Then twice. Then call out his name. "Nagi.... Nagi. Are you kidding me?"

He's dead, you decide. He's barely breathing and he won't budge. You look over at Isagi—who's looking at Nagi in shock. "Help. Please." Isagi reacts immediately—kneeling forward and grabbing Nagi by the collar of his neck like a mother cat would do to her kitten. He then rests him on the bottom bunk, careful to put his head on the pillow.

Isagi turns over to you, peering at you from over his shoulder while his body is facing the sleeping Nagi. You speak before he has the chance to tell you goodnight, "If you want—I could pass to you in training. I mean, obviously, I can't play with you two in an actual game... but I don't mind helping out."

Isagi blinks, lashes fluttering over his bright blue eyes, and he doesn't say a word. You continue, "I used to play soccer, so you don't need to worry that I'll be useless, even in training. I'd like to believe that I'm still at the least, pretty decent."

He then nods, a smile stretching across his face, and a bright gleam appearing in his eyes. "Yeah. That'd be good. Thanks, [name]. You really are a great manager."

You swallow thickly, turning your head away and you close the cap on a product, gaze focused on the floor. You don't look at him, even as you speak, "I'm just doing my job.

*⋆｡˚𖦹࣪˖ ִֶָ⋆｡°✩

You hold a drink under your arm and a tray in your hand, bear slippers on your feet as you make your way beside Nagi and Isagi. Isagi's looking around, eyes flittering from place to place and person to person. They both also hold trays of their own in their arms, and Nagi's looking down at his own with a clear sense of distaste. "Looks like the other teams that lost all came down here too."

Nagi's shoulders slump, and his lips stick out in a pout (in a childish way that doesn't suit how tall he is), "How are you focused on them? Look at this—pure nightmare. The cafeteria only serves natto and pickled radishes."

Isagi laughs, shoulders shaking when he turns his head away, and he smiles down at his own tray, "Sorry, your majesty—but I'm used to this menu."

Nagi's pout only deepens when Isagi says those words, and he sighs, long and dramatic. You three all take a seat at a table. His dark eyes meet your food—and widen in shock at your plate. "[name]... can I have some?" He says your name in a whiny voice, and he leans closer to you. 

You scrunch up your nose and roll your eyes—both of which he clearly notices, but does not acknowledge—before you push your plate forward, saying, "You're too spoiled." But you don't even flinch when he takes your generous offering.

With a mouthful of your food, Nagi looks over at Isagi from across the table with a curious gaze, "So, what's the plan? Which team do we take on?"

Isagi raises his bowl and shoves a ball of rice into his mouth, chewing to the side as he speaks (and averting his gaze so he doesn't meet your heated glare, given to him from his lack of table manners), "Well, I'm sure we'd win against a weaker team, but that will leave us with a new problem." He swallows, which makes it a little easier to understand him. "We'll be adding a subpar player to the roster, which will probably end up leading us here all over again. We're better off with a stronger team, that way we can steal a good player. But that increases the risk of losing, so we gotta be careful who we choose."

Nagi nods, and with just as horrible table manners as his partner, rests both his elbows on the sleek metal and slumps his back so badly that you wonder if it's even comfortable for him to sit that way. "Yeah, guess everyone else is busy working through the same issue."

You grab Nagi's sleeve and tug his hand away from your food, glaring with a clearly agitated tone, "Leave at least a little for me!"

*⋆｡˚𖦹࣪˖ ִֶָ⋆｡°✩

"YOU WHAT?!"

You're sure your voice is loud enough for the rest of the five stratums in Blue Lock to hear you, but you don't care. Isagi's head is slumped down while he's in the training ground, his everyday bodysuit now replacing his nightwear and a nervous expression on his face. You pace back and forth while Nagi is peacefully practising his shooting behind you, choosing to not get involved in whatever is happening between you and Isagi.

You throw your hands up in the air, a stressed expression clearly plastered on your face and brows furrowed like there was no tomorrow. "You know you people can never discuss things! You always just have to get riiiiiight into it like it'll kill you to wait ten MINUTES!"

You finally make your way to the wall of the training grounds and you slide down it, resting your head back against the smooth wall, and groaning, "I'm growing grey hair... I'm going to have a head of white hair before I know it..."

You don't catch the stink-eye Nagi throws at you due to your miserable dilemma. Isagi fruitlessly defended himself, "[name]—I didn't think about it! I mean, c'mon—you should rip into Nagi too because he challenged Barou head-on!"

"That didn't count." Nagi kicked the ball into the goal again, swiftly dodging past Blue Lock Man and the cardboard defenders. You burrow your head into your knees and suck in a deep breath through your nose.

"I mean, it would've been nice to at least know!" You let out that same breath through your mouth, and lift your gaze, peering at Blue Lock Man, and another ball flies right past him. "But... you and Nagi agreed on it... so I guess it's fine." Your voice grows noticeably quieter and calmer with each word, and you swallow thickly when Isagi apologises again.

"Okay... fine." You shake your head and lift yourself up off the ground. You stand in front of Isagi—and Nagi watches from a distance, feeling his black-hole-like eyes on your skin. "You decided it would be a good idea to challenge somebody like Barou, so you both better win. Otherwise, I'll be totally pissed."

You pause. "At both of you."

Nagi visibly throws his head back and groans, turning away. Isagi looking right back at you, and without missing a single blink, he grins, "I'd never want to make you mad, [name]."

*⋆｡˚𖦹࣪˖ ִֶָ⋆｡°✩

note: as an apology for the past few chapters being pretty boring, here's a very fanservicey chapter with isagi and nagi lol.