38. A FAIR TRADE-OFF

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LAST

night felt like a feverish dream. You can hardly remember what really went down—and the only reason you could differentiate it from such a dream was the vivid, unmistakable feeling of his lips against yours. The mere thought of the intensity in his eyes made your stomach twist and heart skip a beat, fingers clenched into your palm. 

Nagi Seishiro had always been confusing, and just when you thought you had him figured out, he became even more of an anomaly in your perfectly ordinary life. Just great.

You couldn't say you were mad, though, more conflicted. You were completely unsure of how to feel—and maybe you'd like to keep it that way. Feelings are confusing, you realise, thinking back to the moment between Chigiri as well. You hadn't seen him in a while. You should say hi when you get the chance. You also don't know what kind of thing you have going on with Bachira, too, with how touchy he is—so much touchier than anybody else by a long shot.

Does he like-like me? Or is he just insanely comfortable and doesn't get how it comes off?

You're exhausted—you don't want to think about this. Screw Ego, this was all his fault. When anything goes wrong, your immediate reaction is to just blame Ego—nine out of ten times it is his fault anyway, even if indirectly.

Whatever.

You stop feeling sorry for yourself and get up out of bed, rolling out of the white covers and slipping on your slippers—or you would've if they hadn't already been on some other gross pair of feet. You mumble every curse word you know under your breath, eyes half-lidded, and you're still tired, even when you groan, "Shidou... stop wearing my slippers..."

You can still hardly believe you're living under the same roof as somebody like Ryusei Shidou for a moment—but you're quickly brought back to his reality by the feeling of your own slipper being shoved into your face.

Just great. That's exactly how you wanted to start the morning.

He peeks his face out—too evil and smug for somebody who's wearing My Melody's face on their feet at this moment—with a wicked grin, "Not until you tell me where the fuck you were last night. I beat Rin's ass and you weren't even there to watch!" He confesses, uncaring of a button being gripped tightly in your left hand, thumb itching to just press the device.

As if you'd tell him—you send him a swift, sharp glare.

The shock device—something you were mostly unfamiliar with until you began living underneath the same roof as Ryusei Shidou. Ego had personally left it on your bed with a note that says "Use if threatened and/or physical altercation occurring. Misuse will lead to expulsion."

Way to have faith in me, you thought at first, but soon you realised exactly why he had given this device to you. Too many times, throughout the night you were awoken by noises that sounded suspiciously like people throwing down in the bathroom—and too many times were you forced to shock him to get him to just sleep.

"I think it was a good thing I wasn't there to watch because otherwise, I would've had to shock you like you were a stray mutt," You sigh, picking the slipper off his foot and standing up away before you get a faceful of Shidou's disgusting foot, "Give it. I need to wash my face."

Shidou rolls his eyes, but with a tantalizingly slow rise of the device in your hand, towards his face, he throws it off his feet and walks barefoot to the bathroom with a middle finger raised.

You don't smile, frown, or groan, just reclaim your lost slipper, and fall onto your bed, eyes focused up on the ceiling with a blank expression.

Since you were very loudly—and rudely—awoken by Ego's voice blaring out that the last stage for the third selection was finishing up, you were now forced to gather up in the main hall, for another day of dealing with soccer idiots. Joy.

I hate my job.

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It doesn't take too long to physically force Shidou out of the bathroom (while averting your eyes, since the tan man has no sense of shame, even while being as naked as the day he was born), especially when Rin comes and tries to stake his claim on the shower himself.

It's almost entertaining watching them fight like primitive lions, but you decide you've had enough when Shidou takes a step back—a move you noticed he would do when winding up for his signature head-smashing kick—and shocking him, watching as he falls to the floor, twitching.

You remind yourself that there was no other way when you start having pitying thoughts, stepping over him cautiously before walking into the bathroom, just after giving a short greeting to Rin (who, surprisingly, greeted you back! This was progress).

You had to squirt the water out of a bottle to get Shidou to wake up—but it was no problem. You, Rin, and Shidou all walked to the main area, meeting up with the others (even if you were the only one out of the three who actually had any friends, go figure).

You purposely made sure to avoid Nagi's heavy gaze, and made it a point to not talk to him. You were too confused to decide what you wanted to do—even more confused than when that happened with Chigiri. 

But you needed to stop thinking about them and focus on the scene in front of you—is what your thoughts are when you adjust your bag's straps and quickly take a spot where you weren't too near the two knuckleheads, but they were still in your line of sight.

The person you ended up nearest happened to be...

"Isagi," You smile for the first time in what feels like years, instant relief flooding you when you catch sight of your friend. The exhaustion that settles into your bones is released immediately when you say, "It's been a minute."

You don't miss the way his eyes quite literally brighten up when you come into his line of sight, however, you don't expect the hug he suddenly engulfs you in, holding you close against his chest with such a tight grip you wonder if he has been waiting for this moment.

"[name]!" He sounds so excited, it makes you feel a little guilty you didn't think of him more. You reach your arms up around his back and his cheeks feel hot against the side of your neck. "How are you? Are you doing okay? Is living with Rin and that guy too much?"

You remove yourself from the bone-crushing hug, but his hands still linger on your shoulders as you speak, "I'm... surviving. Somehow."

You snort at your own half-joke, hand covering the lower half of your face, but all you can focus on is the adoring look Isagi sends you.

Oh god.

A guileless expression falls over your face at your realisation, and the chatter that Isagi fills your ears with (he sounds a bit too happy to be talking about accidentally messing up his bangs) suddenly becomes static.

Wow. Go fucking figure.

You don't think you've ever been as happy as you were at this moment to hear Ego's voice—sounding more like the heavenly sound of angel bells rather than his normal scratchy, hellish tone, "And now, after counting the total of votes, taking into account the first and second choices... we'll be announcing how players were sorted into each team."

This is the first time you'll be seeing this list as well. The managers who were not chosen to oversee each of the pairs were the ones who worked on the list all night—you couldn't help but feel sorry for Kyouka. You slept in a ridiculously comfy bed, while she slaved away at her desk sorting out a list. But you were having to take care of Ryusei Shidou—so you thought of it as a fair trade-off.

The list suddenly pops up on the big screen, replacing Ego's horrid jumpscare of a face, and there you see all the players and all the teams. 

Team A, Itoshi Rin, Shidou Ryusei, [name], 12 players... Aryu... Bachira, Tokimitsu... Isagi... wait, Isagi?

Your head snaps towards the boy, but he seems to be completely enthralled by the screen, so you look back at the other teams.

Team B, Karasu Tabito, Otoya Eita, Merodi, 9 players... Barou... Raichi... Niko, and Chigiri...

Team C, Yukimiya Kenyu, Nagi Seishiro, Jenny, 8 players... Zantetsu... Gagamaru, and Reo...

You pause, staring at the icon on Reo's screen with furrowed brows. Reo... You ended up right back with Nagi.

You sigh, shaking your head a little before looking back up. You hadn't quite caught it, but it seemed Ego had changed the slides to show the matches of each of the teams. A, with four matches, two against B, and two against C. B, with three matches, two against A, and one against C, and C, with three matches, two against A, and one against B.

You glare at the screen, anger boiling behind your eyes and a dissatisfied look crossing over your face, All this means is more work for me.

The three players are randomly selected—the first three players that end up with you, Rin, and Shidou, two randoms whom you've never met, and Isagi. One of the boys had kind eyes and a thick headband around his hairline, while the other looked feminine and had a thick Kansai accent. Isagi looked too shocked to be picked, causing others around him to giggle at his stupor, resulting in a blush on the striker's face.

The three players chosen for team B are—once again, two randoms, and Chigiri. Your eyes instinctively dart towards where Chigiri was—but he didn't look the least bit shocked, eyes neutral and expression not helping in conveying whatever he was feeling.

That's Chigiri for you, you think with a small smile, that quickly gets wiped away after Ego announces that all of you must depart—so quickly, you gather up Rin and Shidou (the latter picking his nose, something that made you slap his hand and curse) then walk through a door while they fumble with jerseys. 

You don't get a chance to see the look on Isagi's face as you rush off without a word—not that you'd really like to, anyway.

You walk in front, bag slung around your shoulder and clipboard pressed tightly against your chest, while keeping your head held high and their pride be damned, you say, "At least try to include your teammates. I know this might be the equivalent of asking you to bite a chunk out of your own arm—but at least try."

The lack of response other than a grunt or laughter makes you feel a bit queasy about this whole situation, but it doesn't matter. You peer over your shoulder, catching a glimpse of tan skin from the corner of your eye, "And don't beat up the other guys because they don't make you explode. I'll tase the shit out of you."

This warning doesn't seem to phase Shidou one bit—not the reaction you were hoping for, but unfortunately, the reaction you had expected—and he only giggles when he walks forward, an arm slung around your shoulder, "Relaaaax. Don't worry ya pretty lil' head 'bout it. Getting tased the fuck out isn't fun for me either, you know, I'm not even awake for most of it."

You don't want to question what his words mean, so you choose the safer option and just don't. Rin rolls his eyes, flexing his shoulders and stretching his neck to the side, "Whatever. I don't care about those extra players. All that matters is scoring my own goals and winning—and all you have to do is watch me, okay, lukewarm manager?"

He still doesn't call you by your name. You sigh, Shidou's arm still stuck in place around your shoulder, before nodding and lowering your head, pride befallen, "Right. That's all I have to do..."

You really do hate this job.

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