Chapter Text
Nagi Seiishiro easily destroyed the remaining crumbs of morale Team Y had, getting his hat trick and letting V win 9-0. Asuka smiled at the resounding victory, but didn’t join the rest of her team that celebrated. She only gave a passing glance to Bangs as she went back to her locker room so she could beat the others to the showers before questions could be asked about her distance. While the rest of Y was pale at their horrifying defeat, Bangs was pensive and seemed to be staring intently at her as she left.
It was like her cordial behavior with Reo was nonexistent with how she attempted to avoid him for the next couple of days. It wasn’t like she was upset at him, but she didn’t want to get close to him. The reminder she gave herself to beat Chigiri gave her tunnel-vision, so she was avoiding any feelings of camaraderie. Exercises would be done in silence and meals would be eaten next to Tsurugi, who remained pleasantly quiet throughout mealtimes. Reo didn’t seem annoyed with her, as he was trying to rally the rest of the team and that took his primary focus. The trust-fund kid created a meal-exchange program, trading portions with the team until they were all happy and under his thumb. Well, everyone except for Asuka and Tsurugi.
Every day, somehow , Tsurugi did something that got under Reo’s skin. Tsurugi was an idiot, so more often than not, something he’d say would be incorrect and Reo apparently could not hold himself back from snidely correcting Tsurugi. The self-proclaimed super-elite could control his attitude for everyone except their idiotic teammate. Tsurugi would reply to Reo’s pretension with a criticism about Reo’s capitalistic manipulation (a phrase that gave her and Reo whiplash because he was correct ) and Reo would take that as a direct insult to his very existence. Asuka wondered why he didn’t ignore Tsurugi entirely.
After the boys’ latest fight that made Asuka’s already unappetizing dinner less so, she escaped from the noise and decided on researching the Team W roster. Each team had a viewing room to watch theirs and the other team games that took place in their stratum. What no one else seemed to take advantage of was that by using the computer in the room, they could also view the recorded stats of the other teams. Understandable, since stats didn’t equal what position they’d play in the game since they were all attuned to being a striker.
W was the next opponent her team had to face, finishing their first game against X earlier in the day. None of her team had gone into the monitoring room to watch the match due to their own exercises taking up time after lunch and they probably forgot about it after dinner and showers. Since Asuka usually ignored her hunger in favor of cleaning herself alone before eating, she expected to be the only one getting a headstart on planning. She began to fill a notebook with her observations of player placement and anyone of interest. The only video given to players was a shitty aerial view that didn’t focus on anyone in particular, even when they scored, but that distance didn’t hide the familiar play-styles of a duo on Team W. In order to confirm her suspicions, she pulled up the files of the fitness results. Asuka clicked through the faces and froze at the name on the screen.
“Wanima Keisuke…” Asuka muttered, grimacing at the disturbingly wide grin and matching creepy eyes. The rage coursing through her caused her grip to snap the pencil she was holding to take notes on Team W’s plays. Without even bothering to read his stats, she clicked to the last player on the roster and groaned. Keisuke’s twin, Junichi. Of course she’d have to deal with those two so early.
Asuka wasn’t worried they’d recognize her with her cut hair and bound torso (she totally was not trying to delude herself into thinking her body looked any different before and after Blue Lock). Since they didn’t like Chigiri, they never bothered speaking to his best friend. She also never interacted with the two, only knowing about them through Chigiri and seeing their play-styles by attending their games to watch him. She wanted to avoid them due to the absolute fury they’d incite in her. Asuka was ready and willing to destroy them, but any plan of hers to put them in their place relied on Chigiri. All of their practice matches, his coaching, the only way she knew to combat them was by having someone she could rely on. She did her best to write down what she recalled Chigiri telling her about their weaknesses with her half-pencil, but the blood rushing through her body made it hard to focus when all she wanted to do was punch a hole in something.
“They have creepy eyes,” mused someone from behind her.
Asuka jumped and spun her chair around, finally noticing Nagi laying behind her, and he’d definitely been present for a while. He had clumped up his towel as a makeshift pillow, looking half awake. God, he looked so much like her dog it was getting weird. Asuka couldn’t even be mad at his interruption with how much she wanted to ruffle his damp hair.
“Why aren’t you in bed with the rest, Nagi-san?”
“I could ask you the same, and just drop the honorific stuff. Everyone else does. I don’t really care about that. It’s kinda weird…”
“Seems like you care a little bit,” she teased. Asuka powered down the PC and cleaned up her study materials, tossing the broken pencil in the trash. That didn’t escape Nagi’s gaze. He sat up and slung his towel over his head.
“What made you mad? Did the creepy eyes jumpscare you?”
Asuka didn’t want to delve her feelings about the twins to Nagi of all people, but she begrudgingly accepted that if she was going to replace Chigiri in a game against them, she had to extend the olive branch eventually. Nagi was probably the easiest to speak to, as him telling others or asking for more info would be “too troublesome.”
“They went to my school. They’re assholes. When my friend tore his ACL they celebrated because they wanted to be recognized as the better strikers. They taunted and bullied him until he stopped playing. He was so desperate to get back to playing, but his passion was gone. He wasn't the same…”
‘We were never friends. I just needed your skills since everyone else was useless. Since I can't play like before, I don't need to act like that anymore. Leave me alone…’
Asuka took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in her throat. She had already cried over those stupid , fake words from her dumbass former friend. They would not affect her in front of Nagi. She looked to her stoic teammate, jolting slightly when she realized how intently Nagi stared at her during the emotional rant. Asuka expected a blunt remark about, “what did she do to help her friend,” which was something she tortured herself everyday asking when he cut off their friendship. No, he just listened. Maybe that was all Asuka needed, because her body felt lighter after talking about Chigiri, even with all the vagueness.
Nagi stood up and took Asuka’s notebook. He parsed through it before nodding. “Okay, I’ll give this to Reo and ask him to listen to you. It seems like you have a plan.”
He really was doing everything she didn’t expect, wasn’t he? “Huh? Wait, why?”
Nagi shrugged. “‘Cause you wanna beat them. Reo and I are always gonna win, but you should be the one to beat them. You should be in charge of our win. And Reo would listen for sure if it came from me.” She hated how right that statement was.
The two left the monitoring room. Nagi occasionally shook his damp hair like a dog and it kept giving Asuka psychic damage as she restrained herself from glomping the ever-present reminder of Purin. “You never answered why you came into the room rather than going to bed. Don’t you value sleep more than anything else?” she asked to make him stop his habitual movements.
Nagi rubbed the back of his neck and averted his gaze. Was that a hint of color on his cheeks? No, probably some residual flush from a hot shower. Asuka pouted as she waited for an answer from the beanstalk.
“Reo mentioned you’ve been distant. He thought you were mad at him so he asked me to ask you. He didn’t wanna talk to you in case that made you upset.”
So Reo was worried about her and being considerate. Was that why he hadn’t tried speaking to her after the game? Her bad attitude wasn’t a secret. Asuka restrained a groan. That kind of stuff should’ve been reserved for his friends, something she declared they weren’t, and yet Reo was still trying to push that boundary. And damn it, it was working ! She actually felt bad for ignoring him because of her selfish decisions! Did he really want to connect with her, even when she ignored him and their partnership? Reo really was someone that got whatever he wanted…
“Damn that pretty boy,” she muttered, snatching the notebook back and fast-walking past Nagi to their room, leaving him alone in the hall. He stood still, tilting his head at the mood change. He then shrugged, leaning against the wall to finish drying his hair. Nagi wondered why Asuka kept staring at it. Did he not like wet hair? Nagi decided to just dry it to avoid the whole “you’ll get a cold if you don’t dry your hair” lecture he was sure Asuka had stored.
“You!” Asuka said when she entered her team room. Everyone was still awake and immediately turned to Reo, the only person they knew Asuka talked to. The violet boy only gave a peace sign in response. God, he was insufferable . How did he manage to worm his way into her good graces? The things a good football pass could give a man. “Outside, now!” Asuka paused and added a meek, “…Please.” Reo made haste to listen.
Asuka hadn’t planned what she was going to say to Reo because she fully knew she had no idea what she was mad about. It’s not like him viewing her as a friend should’ve been anything that bothered her, and she hated that it did. They stood outside the room, with him looking as relaxed as ever despite Asuka’s frown.
“I’m guessing Nagi told you something?” He chuckled. “I had a feeling you’d be mad that I was worried. Don’t worry about reciprocating friendship. Think of it as me worrying about my investments, is that better?”
“No, because…” Asuka sighed. “Because I don’t hate the idea of having a friend. And I hate the idea of me taking advantage of you. We’re partners and whatnot…” What she really hated was how embarrassing it was trying to be a better person. He didn’t deserve her spite. That was supposed to be reserved for everyone that was from Rakosute.
Asuka handed over the notebook with W’s stats. Reo raised an eyebrow, but took it to read through the contents. “In Team W there are two guys that I want to beat. Like, physically beat the shit out of—” Reo did a double-take at the confession “—but I can’t, so football is the next alternative. I used to have a plan of attack with all their weaknesses and how to combat their skills, but I could only pull that off with my… my best friend. I don’t have him anymore, so I need you.”
Reo kept quiet as he read the notebook. Once he finished, that annoying grin appeared like she expected. He tapped her on the head with the notebook, like she was a child. She might as well have been with how she tunnel-visioned on her wants rather than remember she had a partnership. “You didn’t have to break your whole emo-facade to tell me to listen to you. I would’ve done so regardless, as long as you had a plan.”
“Of course I would have a plan. My entire villain origin story for football started because of them. The thing is, my plan needs someone I can trust in to match me, and I them.”
“So that’s where I come in as your new bestie?”
“Hah, cute. No .” Reo puffed his cheeks to show his annoyance and lightly punched Asuka’s arm. She returned the gesture. “I played with my best friend for a year and he and I knew each other’s styles like the back of our hands. I doubt we can do that in a few days. You’re great, but not a god. You and Nagi, however, can fill that position. I’ll tell you what to do and you can explain it to the freak of nature whenever he gets back.”
Asuka began a lecture of the twins to Reo, who paid rapt attention to every word. They were still talking outside when Nagi sluggishly made his way towards them, leaning his weight on Asuka and scaring the crap out of her. She thought her dog somehow snuck inside the building.
“Nagi, do you know what personal space is?”
“You’re more comfortable than Reo and I’m not going in without either of you. I don’t like anyone else. They’re no fun to talk to besides Za…” Nagi trailed off. Reo didn’t seem to notice, but Asuka could guess he was about to say Tsurugi’s name.
Asuka felt proud about somehow garnering Nagi’s favor, as if it was hard. She bet she could win him over with gacha game merch—he seemed like a closeted otaku—but it was nice that someone else apparently thought of her in a positive light. She adjusted herself and finally gave into the temptation of petting his fluffy hair. “Alright, fine. Stay here. We’re still going to be out here discussing game plans, though. Is that fine?” Nagi responded with a grumble that she took as agreement.
“Alright, let’s get to work, Reo-san.”
Reo and Asuka used their free time after dinner to practice her specific plans for the Wanimas, with Nagi and a few other teammates tagging along to help. Asuka learned that Reo was fantastic at retaining information if he had seen it once. He would imitate either twin like the videos showed and it was very useful kicking their more cocky teammates into gear. Higher numbers meant nothing if they couldn’t shut up and do their damn job.
Since Asuka didn’t want to let her other teammates know of her admittedly extreme distaste of the twins, she had to swallow down her many, many curses when Reo mimicked wordless passes to Nagi with scarily accurate emulation. Nagi wasn’t as clean as Junichi when receiving, but made up for it with his pure talent. God really had favorites, didn’t he? Anyway, Asuka did her damndest to steal the ball from Nagi, which was easy enough with his lazy defense skills, but her teammates weren’t able to contain Reo, who came to reclaim the ball.
Reo’s skilled footwork and larger physique could easily best the rest of the team and he was willing to trip up Asuka the moment another teammate passed the ball to her. After two hours of playing, Asuka laid against the astroturf with her bangs becoming a blindfold with how her sweat clumped her locks together. She missed being able to wear ponytails and braids but alas, this was the life of cross-dressing around dense high school boys. Honestly, she was surprised she hadn’t been questioned by anyone.
Nagi and Reo, never ones to leave her in peace anymore, sat next to her. Neither boy said anything, but Asuka knew Reo well enough; he found her messy appearance the peak of comedy right now. As the two people on V that were the most put together at all times, there was an unspoken competition to find the other unkempt. Thankfully, he never followed her into the showers because he had some modicum of respect. Asuka probably looked like that Team Y boy. Oh, if only he could see her now. He’d absolutely eat his words.
“You doing good?” She almost kicked Reo with how poorly he was restraining himself from laughing.
“Absolutely peachy… I’m not at all mad that I can’t beat the people I dislike in simulated exercises despite literally having a plan for it…” she grumbled, burying her face in her arms. Chigiri alone could easily defend against Keisuke, always on his toes to cut off his connection to his brother. There was a snowball's chance in Hell that the rest of V would be able to replace him without knowledge of how the duo worked. If they were going to succeed, it would be too close for comfort. She wished she hadn't taken so much time off playing after her heartbreak, as she bet she could kick their asses if she kept training! Asuka groaned loudly, kicking her feet like a child at the inevitable fight that she'd have with W. Damn the idea of being a mature person, she deserved a tantrum here and there with everything she was willingly putting up with.
“You’d probably be better if your hair wasn’t in your face,” Nagi mumbled. He reached over to gently pull a handful of her sweaty hair off her face and she winced at the blinding light he exposed her to. “Now you can see when Reo’s right in front of you.”
Asuka smacked Nagi’s hand so he’d drop her hair. “If it was that easy I wouldn’t have eaten shit so much. I can see fine.” Her shaggy haircut actually was starting to become an issue, but she didn’t want to risk pulling her hair back. She needed enough of it to frame her face and help hide her round cheeks. Although some boys she had seen in this place looked more feminine than her, she wasn't banking that everyone would be as blind as her team. Someone was bound to sniff her out so she wanted to delay that awkward begging to secrecy that seemed more likely with every passing game. That and Asuka was content keeping her mysterious emo kid look, thank you very much.
Reo pulled his extra tie off his wrist. Like Nagi, he grabbed a handful of Asuka’s hair, but only her side bangs and managed to pull her short hair into a half up style.
Asuka stayed frozen during the entire exchange. The feeling of a guy running his fingers through her hair was enough to make her short-circuit. She was, after all, not immune to cute boys doing cute things. Asuka hoped her face wasn’t blazing red from his actions, so she kept her head down when Reo pulled away.
Asuka felt the small ponytail he left behind before discreetly checking that there was still enough hair to fall around her face. “Reo-san, what magic did you do to make my hair suddenly long enough to tie back?” She was already surprised enough how he could give himself a ponytail with how short his hair was, now he did it to her? If soccer and being a trust-fund kid didn’t work out, hairstyling was an option.
He snickered. “As someone always cognizant of how I look, I know a thing or two about fixing hair to make it look nice. Get a shower and comb it out, you’d look almost as good as me.”
“Oh, the horror,” she deadpanned.
The trio continued practicing after their small hairstyling break. Much to Asuka’s chagrin, she did start playing better with less hair sticking to her face, but it’s not like she’d admit it. Nagi probably knew, anyway.
Reo didn’t ask for his tie back after the match—not like Asuka would give it back. She rather liked this new look he gave her.