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Nagi likes Reo.
It's a fact. Just like how Nagi likes video games, Nagi dislikes crab and Nagi has a cactus named Choki, Nagi likes Reo.
He randomly came across this fact yesterday as he was playing a horror game.
( The room is dark, all lights off, except for a small light coming from a phone. Choki's standing menacingly from his place by the windowsill.
Nagi's lying on his back, on his bed, phone held above his head with his left hand. He's moving the joystick around. It's your typical Indie horror game—find keys in drawers and escape, while avoiding the killer.
He's about to head into another room when suddenly there's a loud shriek from his phone. It's the chase soundtrack starting up. He's been spotted.
Nagi skillfully avoids death, but, unfortunately, his internet chooses that time to buffer—Nagi's character lags, and he gets caught. Queue the annoyingly loud jumpscare sound and the frozen picture of the killer on screen.
Nagi's first thought is, "oh, I died."
Nagi's second thought is, "oh, the killer reminds me of Reo," because there's just a tiny fucking bit of purple on his outfit.
Nagi's third thought is, "oh, I think I like Reo."
He drops his phone on his face. )
Nagi's not quite sure how he came to that conclusion from an attempted jumpscare, but he doesn't feel like thinking too hard, so he doesn't.
Plus, there's no question as to why he caught feelings—he figures it's only natural, given that Reo's the only one who's looked at him like he's more than a white lump in the corner of the classroom.
And also because Reo coddles him endlessly. Ever since Nagi agreed to play football with Reo, the latter's been treating him like he's the one who hung the stars in the sky. But it’s not just about football—Reo shows interest in Nagi’s hobbies as well, like gaming.
Nagi still remembers the first time he introduced Reo to shooter games. Nagi doesn’t even know and doesn’t want to know how the fuck Reo died before the match even started.
Anyways, with all that said, Nagi's almost certain that Reo likes him back.
However, Nagi's no good with confessions. For starters, he doesn't even know how to confess. Doing so also seems to be such a hassle—Nagi knows Reo wouldn't be happy with a half-assed confession.
Additionally, Nagi's seen and knows what happens if one person confesses to another who doesn't feel the same way. In his eyes, there are two foreseeable endings to his "Confess-to-Reo" game.
One: Reo feels the same.
Bubbles and flowers and sparkles flying around them against the pink background (Nagi might know this from installing a dating simulator 'cause the love interest on the game's icon had purple hair. Or maybe he didn't. Who knows?).
In other words, the good ending. The winning screen.
Two: Reo doesn't feel the same, which means no more piggybacks, no more feeding and no more being coddled. Things will be awkward between them.
In other words, the bad ending. The mission failed.
Nagi doesn't top frag on every shooter game he owns (sure, his opponents may be little squirts who have yet to develop object permanence—but that doesn't change the fact that Nagi's still good) because of luck. He's a fucking gamer god .
So, obviously, this means he will definitely get the good ending with Reo on the first try. 'Cause, y'know, he's a pro like that.
Nagi's not quite sure why he's putting so much effort into something like this—something he'd normally pay no mind to (he suspects it might have to do with the fact that it concerns two of his favourite things: Reo and games).
To avoid the bad ending, Nagi believes the best course of action would be to make sure Reo's in love with him too.
So behold his master plan: Nagi will make sure that Reo likes him back, thus leaving the confession to Reo. A perfect idea—
Except for one, big, glaring problem.
Seishirou Nagi is a cringefail loserboy. He doesn't know how to make Reo fall for him.
It's Reo who's good with these types of things. But Nagi can't ask Reo to teach him how to make Reo himself fall for Nagi—that'd be one hell of a confession for sure.
"Nagi!"
Speak of the devil. It's Reo (obviously, because who else would care enough to speak to Nagi?), heading towards where Nagi is seated on the bench.
"Reo…"
“Are you ready to leave? Do you have your bags?”
Nagi nods. "Yeah.”
They head out the school doors, with Reo carrying both of their bags and Nagi trailing behind.
It's a Tuesday, which means they're heading to Nagi's place. They have a schedule set up: every odd day is spent at Reo's, and vice versa.
Nagi catches up, and the two walk together in a comfortable silence. Reo's staring straight ahead, so Nagi uses this opportunity to study the other's face.
Reo really is the prettiest person Nagi's ever seen. Granted, Nagi doesn't pay attention to anyone's faces, but he knows that Reo beats them all by a landslide.
There are his silly little uneven bangs. That's the first thing that Nagi noticed about Reo—not his eyes, but his bangs. He wonders if it's a genetics thing. Maybe the left side of Reo's hair roots grows quicker.
Then there are Reo's wide eyes that counter Nagi's own—to be fair, Nagi's always sleepy so his eyes are only half their normal size, but Reo's are still bigger. And more adorable.
People (read: Reo) often compare Nagi to a cute oversized dog, but between the both of them, Nagi thinks that Reo's the cute puppy. The way he gets excited and his eyes light up when talking to Nagi makes his heart do silly little things.
Just like right now. Reo's staring straight into Nagi's eyes, grinning as he rambles on about a new football strategy he wants to try out tomorrow.
Nagi nods. Anything for Reo, anything to make him happy.
Reo's interrupted by one of their classmates running up to him, profusely apologizing and asking about a project. A polite smile replaces Reo's genuine one as he turns to talk with her.
Nagi's mood turns sour. Can't she see that Reo and he are walking home together? How is she even here? It's late—Nagi and Reo stayed behind for football practice. No other students should be present. Was she waiting this whole time to speak with Reo?
Nagi puts his hand on Reo's shoulder, pouting.
"I'm tired… let's go home, Reo…"
Reo smiles apologetically at him. "Hang on, Nagi. I'll be done in a second."
Nagi frowns. "Choki is waiting," he says. "He's gonna die."
Their classmate turns to Nagi. "Choki? Who's that?" She asks.
Nagi really wants to go home. He also really wants Reo to stop talking with their classmate who is so very obviously trying to flirt with him.
So, he says, "Choki's our child. Let's go, Reo."
Their classmate let out a squeak of surprise. Reo looks like he's about to both sock Nagi in the arm and break out in giggles.
Nagi takes Reo's arm and starts dragging him in the direction of his house. Reo doesn't protest, but still politely bids his classmate goodbye. She's still frozen in a state of shock.
" Ha, " Nagi thinks.
When they're out of earshot, Reo shoots him a lopsided grin.
"Well, that's one way to put it," he says.
Nagi's surprised. He'd thought Reo would be more embarrassed, but apparently not. He also thinks he might have fallen a bit more in love with Reo.
Nagi needs to put his "make-Reo-fall-for-me" plan into action soon, or else Reo, who's oh-so-perfect and pretty, will definitely get stolen away from him.
Nagi's always on his phone anyways, so Reo continues walking and explaining his strategy plan as Nagi discreetly opens his browser and searches, "how to make my friend like me so I won't have to confess".
The first result, highlighted in bold, is flirting.
Nagi clicks on the suggested website and finds an article with a list of self-proclaimed fool-proof flirting tips that guarantee success.
Nagi eyes them all and decides to try out one of the more popular ones.
- Indirect kissing.
Nagi's seen that in shows and games before. Although he tends to avoid it, several of his games have romantic scenarios where the (unfortunately) female love interest is subjected to indirect kissing.
"Hey, Reo…" Nagi interrupts Reo in the middle of his explanation. He knows Reo won't mind, anyways.
"Nagi? What's wrong?" Reo turns towards him, face filled with concern. "Do your feet hurt? Do you need a piggyback ride?"
Nagi shakes his head.
"No." he looks around and spots a convenience store to his right. It's not the one they frequent, but it'll do.
"Let's go there." Nagi slowly raises his arm, pointing to the small Seven-Eleven a few blocks away.
"Ah, are you thirsty?" Reo smiles. "You stay here, I'll buy you that lemon soda you like!"
Nagi frowns. He doesn't want a drink—he wants Reo to get a drink for himself, so Nagi can carry out his plan.
Reo's concerned expression returns. "Nagi? Is there something wrong?"
Nagi shakes his head.
"I… I want you to buy a drink. For yourself."
Reo raises his eyebrows. "A drink for myself?"
"Yeah."
"I'm not thirsty, though."
Nagi doesn't know how to respond, so he moves. He starts speed walking (which, in Nagi terms, is equivalent to the speed of an elderly man crossing the street) towards the store with a confused Reo trailing behind.
"Nagi?"
He refuses to elaborate, dropping only a "stay here, Reo," as he drags his feet inside the store, searching for Reo’s favourite drink. That’s right—Nagi pays attention. He knows Reo’s favourite drink.
‘ Take that, ’ Nagi thinks, to no one in particular, ‘ I care about Reo. ’
He grabs the drink and heads to the cashier.
Approximately five minutes later, Nagi heads out of the store and pops open the can of coffee milk, handing it to Reo.
"Thank you, Nagi…!" Nagi can hear the hint of a question in Reo's response, but nonetheless, Reo tentatively brings the can to his lips. Nagi stares him in the eyes. Hard.
Reo swallows and smiles kindly, although Nagi can tell there are traces of confusion from the way his eyebrows are a bit scrunched.
"Is… is there something wrong?"
Nagi doesn't reply. Instead, he grabs Reo's drink, and, as he maintains uncomfortably intense eye contact with Reo, he takes a sip.
Reo's smile turns nervous.
If he tries real hard, Nagi thinks he can hear crickets chirping. He frowns again. Unlocks his phone. Checks the website. Makes sure he didn't miss anything.
→Indirect kissing.
That's it. Nothing under. No follow-up.
Nagi's frown deepens. At this rate, he'll be stuck with a permanent one.
He lifts his head. Gauges Reo's reaction.
Reo flashes him another anxious grin. There's no blush in sight. No sign of him falling in love with Nagi.
"That's strange…" Nagi mutters, mostly to himself.
"Nagi…?" Reo tries again, hesitantly reaching out to pat him on the shoulder.
Nagi deflates, slumping down lower than usual. The burst of adrenaline has ended—he's left feeling extremely tired, especially after the intense practice they had.
"Let's go home," Nagi mumbles, for what feels like the tenth time today.
He's glad when Reo doesn't question his earlier strange behaviour (another thing he loves about Reo) and instead nods. "I can piggyback you," Reo offers, "but you'll have to carry the bags."
They arrive half an hour later. It took longer than usual, cause they made a stop at the convenience store and Reo decided to walk back today, so Nagi’s exhausted.
“You can’t sleep yet, Nagi! You have to study for a test,” Reo smiles. “It’s tomorrow.”
Nagi lets out a small groan as flops down on his bed. “Do it for me, Reo…”
Reo laughs and shakes his head, even though Nagi can’t see it. “I can’t, Nagi! Just come and review some things, and then you can sleep.”
Nagi sighs. “But Reo, I’ll ace the test anyways…”
Reo hums in agreement, but still beckons him over as he takes out their notes. Nagi gives in, tumbling off his bed as he half-crawls towards the table in the center of his room.
It’s been nearly ten minutes since they started, and Nagi feels like sleeping already. He reaches for his phone for a quick distraction, and he’s reminded of his plan to flirt with Reo when the website pops up once he unlocks his phone.
Nagi takes a look at another popular tip.
- Initiate more physical touch.
This one looks easy, but after a bit of thought, Nagi realizes that may not be the case.
He and Reo are already so physically intimate: from piggybacks to hair ruffling, Nagi isn’t quite sure how to go beyond. Kissing would definitely be too much, he thinks, and he doesn’t even know how to kiss anyways.
He decides he’ll let his natural reflexes take over when there’s a chance to touch Reo. The reason Reo picked him up off the (metaphorical) streets was ‘cause of his insane reflexes, anyways.
“Nagi, get off your phone! You should be studying.” Reo’s voice interrupts his train of thought. Nagi nods and sets his phone down.
Reo’s so cute like this, he thinks. His longer bang is tucked behind his ear, and hes focused on the papers in front of him. Reo sticks his tongue out when he’s focused. It’s adorable.
His side is also wide open, so Nagi takes this chance to wrap his long arms around Reo. The latter lets out a small noise of surprise. Nagi stays still, dropping his head down on Reo’s shoulder. So comfy… he could fall asleep right there and then.
“Nagi, you’re distracting me,” Reo says, not unkindly. Nagi reluctantly lets go, pouting. He may want to touch Reo, but he doesn’t want to make him angry—Reo takes note of Nagi’s expression and laughs softly. “What’s wrong?”
Nagi doesn’t know what to say, so he shrugs and takes his phone out. Quiet shooting noises echo throughout the room as Reo gives up on telling him to study, deciding to focus on his own studies instead.
Nagi’s flopped down on his desk, face down, as he waits for lunch break to end. He’s about to drift off when he hears a familiar voice.
It’s Reo, talking with many classmates. Some are asking about schoolwork, some are asking about his football team, and some are just talking with him because, well, he’s Reo .
There’s way too many people around Reo right now, and Nagi doesn’t like that. For starters, it’s too noisy. He wants to sleep. He also feels like throwing the next person who presses her chest against Reo out the window.
“Reo,” Nagi says, getting up from his chair and walking over.
Several classmates move to the side, making way for Nagi’s 190 cm frame.
“Hello, Nagi,” Reo replies.
Nagi moves so he’s behind Reo, then drapes his arms around the other’s neck, letting his full weight fall on Reo’s back. It’s like a piggyback ride, but Nagi’s standing up. It looks like Reo’s growing another head from the left side of his neck.
Nagi hears several classmates shriek. He thinks he hears the snap of a camera, too. There’s distant muttering about papers and cults and his name and—this might not be the best way to flirt with Reo, Nagi thinks, because it's far too dangerous. He feels like his face will be plastered on wanted papers tomorrow, and if he's ever caught, his head'll be on a strick within two hours.
He lets go of Reo, who apologizes to his classmates. “He’s like that sometimes, but he’s my treasure!” Reo explains, as Nagi trudges back to his desk. He’ll check the website again later—his safety comes first. Nagi makes a mental note to hide in the school for an extra two hours and take three detours to make sure he’s not ambushed on his way home.
It turns out later is two weeks—Nagi’s finally gotten his phone back after trading in points from his previous matches. The first thing he does is catch up on all the missed rewards from all his gacha games. The second thing he does is check the website, because its been far too long since Nagi’s flirted with Reo.
- Constantly use their name.
It’s very vague, but it’ll do for now. Nagi doesn’t think he has the capacity to do something extreme after scoring all those goals.
“Reo,” Nagi says.
“Yes, Nagi?”
Nagi opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again, and pauses. Shit. He didn’t think this far.
“Reo,” he says again.
Reo hesitates. “...Yes, Nagi?”
Nagi pouts. “Reo,” he says, and its a statement. He nods to affirm it.
Reo's seemed to have accepted that Nagi's taken a liking to saying his name, so he nods back, albeit confused.
Nagi keeps it up for as long as he can. If this is what'll make Reo like him, then so be it.
"Reo," he says, as the other brushes his hair.
"Reo," he mumbles, as the other piggybacks him.
"Reo,” he yawns, stretching his arms out towards the other.
“Reo!” He yells as he watches the other gets pushed by Barou. You fucker, Nagi thinks. If Reo’s hurt, he’s going to kill someone. To hell if he’ll get a red card and get kicked out of Blue Lock.
After Reo calms him down, Nagi regains his senses. If he didn’t know better, he would’ve thought that Reo looked scared. Nagi never wants to scare Reo.
Nagi lets up on calling Reo by his name for the rest of the match. He decides the appropriate time to start up again is when they’re in the cafeteria, with Barou a couple of tables away.
“Reo…” he mutters as the other feeds him. Barou stills.
“Reo,” he says again, after a bite. Barou’s eye twitches.
“Reo.” he grumbles as Reo pats his head and steps away, searching for napkins. Barou slams his fist down on the table and stalks over to Nagi.
“Will you shut the fuck up already ,” he growls, grabbing Nagi by the collar of his shirt. Nagi’s little portion of beef (cut by who else but Reo) drops to the floor. “Can you go fucking five seconds without mentioning Reo.”
Nagi looks up at the ceiling, thinking about it.
“No,” he decides.
Barou probably would’ve killed him right there if Reo hadn’t walked back to their table, confused.
“Hey, let Nagi go!” Barou glares at Reo but complies, dropping Nagi unceremoniously to the floor.
“Your slave disgusts me,” he barks. “You two are disgusting.” He gives them one last glare as he takes his tray to another table far, far away.
“I think he’s heterochromia,” Zantetsu says, across the table, having spectated the whole ordeal. Nagi hadn’t even noticed him there.
“It’s homophobic, stupid Zantetsu,” Nagi pipes up from his place on the ground. Reo’s confused, like always. He helps Nagi up with a hand.
“What’d you do, Nagi?” he asks.
Nagi shrugs. “Reo,” is what he says in response.
Across the cafeteria, Barou breaks his metal fork in half.
Apparently calling Reo’s name constantly doesn’t make Reo fall for him, so Nagi decides its time to switch tactics. (What he doesn’t know is that you’re not supposed to just say the other’s name without context—you need to incorporate it in a sentence, but Nagi’s a little dumb sometimes. That’s okay.)
He fishes around his mattress for his phone, clicking on the bookmarked website when he finds it. The next tip appears on the screen.
- Compliments.
It's simple, so that's why Nagi chooses it. He's exhausted after the match with Barou.
Nagi's just finished his shower and his hair is being combed (it's not even worth mentioning by who). It’s the perfect time to compliment Reo, so he does.
"Your eyes are like the toilet," Nagi says. "Toilet water," he adds as an afterthought.
Somewhere in his office, Ego chokes on his coffee.
Reo's frozen, a polite smile plastered on his face.
"... Sorry?"
Nagi wants to say something about the toilet flushing and spiralling water and how Reo's eyes are similar with how hypnotizing they are and—and Nagi realizes that one, explaining all this to Reo would be too much of a hassle, and two, maybe a fucking toilet was not the best thing to compare to Reo's eyes.
"Nevermind," Nagi mumbles.
( Later, as Nagi's washing his hands, he hears Ego's unimpressed voice echo through the nearly empty washroom.
"Really, kid? Toilet water?"
Nagi has no idea where the cameras are hidden, but he spins around, hopefully flipping Ego off. )
Reo looks like he wants to say something, his mouth flapping open and shut several times, but he eventually decides against it.
Nagi should probably elaborate, but he's really too tired to do so. Just thinking about explaining his earlier comment to Reo gives him a headache.
"Reo… I'm tired. Give me a piggyback ride." Nagi's hair is straightened out enough by now.
As if those were the magic words, Reo unfreezes, the nervous grin on his face replaced by a genuine one.
"Of course, anything for my treasure!"
Nagi drapes himself on Reo's back comfortably. They really were made for each other. His head first perfectly in the crook between Reo's shoulder and neck.
Maybe that'd be a better thing to try flirting about, Nagi thinks. That's okay—he'll try again another day. After all, he'll always be by Reo's side.
He is no longer by Reo's side. Fuck.
But deep down, Nagi believes it's for the greater good. Winning the world cup is Reo's dream, so to make Reo happy, Nagi has to improve. That's why he joined Isagi's team—to get better, for Reo.
Sure, he did say some things he didn't mean to Reo—it was the heat of the moment—so surely Reo has understood that, has already forgiven him, and is also looking forward to meeting him again.
As he heads to the bath, Nagi hopes he'll see Reo there too. He can't wait to share the newest things he's learned by playing with Isagi, as well as to finally try his hand at flirting with Reo again.
Unlike the natural instincts enforced in his brain, Nagi didn't laze around the entire time after joining Isagi—he read another flirting tip while separated from Reo.
- Talk about the bedroom.
Nagi was a bit confused with this one at first, but it was rated pretty high up, so he did extra research (he downloaded dating sims) to figure out what exactly it is that he should be talking about. After too many dating sims to count, Nagi likes to think he has a pretty good idea of what to say.
Nagi doesn't remember the last time he put so much effort into anything. Maybe he'll mention this to Reo and get bonus points—that's how it worked in dating sim number four.
"We're rivals now, Nagi."
They're what now?
Nagi's subconsciousness tells him he might've selected one too many choices that lead to a bad ending (dating sim number three was full of those. He knows this because he watched others play it, of course, not because he tried out the game himself and got all the bad endings on his first try. Nuh-uh. He's a gamer pro.), but obviously that can't be the case. Nagi's too skillful to lose this easily.
Reo's glaring at him with such empty, dull eyes, and Nagi frowns. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Why is Reo angry?
"Reo…?" He tries to reach out again. Reo flinches away, refusing to meet his eyes. Nagi pulls back.
He's spent so much time researching for this moment, and he'll be damned if all the time he could've spent sleeping resulted in nothing—so, despite Chigiri shooting him X's with his arms frantically, Nagi opens his mouth.
( Chigiri slumps down deeper into the water as Nagi begins to say whatever stupid shit he's come up with.
"God damn it," he mutters. "We're going to have to deal with another ‘loserboy Nagi’ rant again."
Kunigami nods, having already accepted his fate three toothbrushes and fifty-two crumpled tissues ago.
Isagi looks confused. "The… what rant?"
Chigiri glares at him accusingly. "You're paying for our therapy sessions when we get out of this hellhole," he says.
" Wha-what did I do?!" )
Nagi tries to remember what the flirting tip was. He closes his eyes and pretends he’s on his bed, staring at his phone.
"Let's… let's go talk it out in the… the bedroom…?" He says.
Reo's pained expression drops for a moment as pure confusion etches itself on his face.
"... Excuse me?"
Ah. That didn't work as expected—Reo's not all flustered and stuttering like love interest number two, but oh, well. At least he's not angry anymore, so Nagi continues.
"I… I put in a lot of effort while on Isagi's team."
He's trying to convey "I never put effort into anything but you", but Nagi quickly realizes he must've worded it wrong because Reo's horrible expression is back and Nagi wants nothing more but to reach out and smooth away the pained furrow between his eyebrows. And kiss him. That too.
Reo lets out a cruel laugh. Nagi winces. He's never heard Reo sound like this.
"Of course you did," Reo mutters. "Anything for Isagi, right?"
Nagi shakes his head. "No," he wants to say. "Not anything for Isagi. Anything for you ." He doesn't manage to though, 'cause Reo's already standing up and walking away.
"Wait, Reo—" he's suddenly dragged underwater by Chigiri.
"Pwah!" Nagi gasps for breath as he rises back up. "Chigiri, what…"
The redhead's glaring at him. If looks could kill, Nagi would be ten feet under by now.
"You have done enough damage already," Chigiri spits out. "I'll go comfort him, but I swear to God, if you do not sort this shit out soon, I will kill you ."
Nagi doesn't think he's joking.
(+1.)
They’re back together. Obviously.
Even though they lost to Isagi, Reo doesn’t seem too unhappy, if his playful banter with Nagi earlier in the baths was anything to go by.
He’s really missed this. The feeling of Reo’s hands in his hair, Reo smiling brightly while chattering about football, and just Reo in general.
It's one of those rare days when they’re allowed to leave the Blue Lock facility and spend time together, since they’ve finished all their matches. Nagi, obviously, is with Reo. They’re a small group today, with only Isagi and Bachira.
There wasn’t really much of a plan; the four of them haven’t hung out in a while ever since the Shibuya outing, so they’re glad to be together again.
Reo, ever the responsible one, decides that they should go to a cafe. Isagi’s rambling on about gay German clowns with awful hair and how they should perish, Bachira’s talking about how much he loves sending Rin pictures of eerie images with unreadable text, and Reo’s smiling at them both warmly.
Isagi seems to notice that Nagi’s feeling left out, so he directs Reo’s attention away from him and Bachira.
“How’ve you been, Nagi?” Isagi asks. Nagi shrugs and lets out a neutral reply. He’s glad though, ‘cause Reo grins at him and pats his head.
Eventually, they arrive at the cafe Reo chose. They choose a table outside and sit down, Isagi thanking the waitress as she hands them menus.
Reo excuses himself to the washroom after they order. Nagi shifts to the side to give him more space to get out and takes out his phone, prepared to beat the newest level of a game when Bachira rummages in his bag, holding his own phone up like a trophy when he finds it.
“This is so you and Reo, Nagicchi!” Bachira giggles, flopping over the table as he taps his phone a couple of times and scrolls. Nagi squints because Bachira cannot hold anything still for the life of him. Isagi shoots him a sympathetic smile as he helps steady Bachira’s hand.
It’s a meme of a character staring at another, with the caption “idk how to flirt imma just stare at you until u marry me” .
Nagi’s eyes widen. This might work.
“Thank you, Bachira,” he says. “I’ll try that.”
Bachira looks surprised for a split second before his grin returns, wider than ever.
Isagi pales. “Wait, that’s not what he mea—”
“Of course!” Bachira exclaims, clamping a hand over Isagi’s mouth, “anything for my dear Nagicchi!”
Nagi nods, waiting for Reo to come back from his washroom break. This will work for sure.
From the moment Reo steps out of the washroom, Nagi’s eyes are trailed on him. Reo notices, catches his eye, and shoots him a warm smile.
“What’s up, Nagi?”
Nagi shakes his head. “Nothing.” He shifts to the side again to let Reo back in.
Nagi slips his phone back into his pocket, determined. He'll make Reo fall for (and marry?) him today.
Isagi looks like he's extremely conflicted. Or maybe he's just constipated. Does Bachira have his phone out—is he filming? Nagi can't tell, since he's focused on Reo.
"Is there something on my face?" Reo asks. "I was just in the washroom, though…" he mumbles, reaching out to touch his cheek.
Nagi doesn't register that Reo's talking to him until Bachira responds in his place.
"No worries, Reo-chan!" He giggles. “Nagicchi’s just a little silly like that, y’know!” Reo nods slowly, a small smile forming on his lips. “He is,” he agrees.
Not long after, the food comes, and Nagi keeps his eyes on Reo the entire time.
Bachira’s not even trying to hold back his laughter now, and Isagi looks like he’s given up.
“Ah, Nagi…” Reo gives him a timid smile, “would you mind not staring at me while I eat?”
Nagi shakes his head. “I would mind,” he says.
Bachira guffaws. Hell, even Isagi lets out a laugh. Reo glances at them both despairingly.
Before Nagi can protest, Isagi finally decides he feels bad enough, so he takes out Bachira’s phone, unlocks it (how come he knows Bachira’s password?), and shows Reo the meme that Nagi saw a couple minutes ago.
Nagi slumps down in his seat when Reo stares at the screen, unmoving for a long time. He’s likely thinking back to all the times Nagi had been acting strangely.
"Are—have—have you been flirting with me, Nagi?!" Reo has the most incredulous expression on his face (which is turning red at an alarming rate).
There’s no way out of it now, Nagi thinks, so he tells the truth.
"Yeah," Nagi says bluntly. "I like you, but I don't know how to confess, so I'm flirting with you to make you fall in love with me, so you'll confess."
Reo stares at him. Blinks once. Twice.
"Just—just saying something like 'you're pretty' would suffice!" Reo yells. "It would've been less work and more flattering than whatever you've been doing the past few months!"
Nagi thinks about it for a while.
"Ah. You're right," he says. "You're pretty, Reo. Do you like me now?"
"What the fuck? No!"
Nagi frowns. Reo doesn’t like him? He's about to apologize and leave when he sees that Reo's grinning.
"The hell, Nagi… that's not romantic at all!"
"Reo…" He pouts, relieved.
“Come here, you idiot,” Reo laughs, holding his arms out. Nagi obliges, because it’s Reo, and Nagi would do anything for him.
( “Let’s go, Yoichi,” Bachira grins, grabbing onto the other’s arm. “Let’s go tell Chigirin. He’ll be overjoyed!”
Isagi nods. “He’ll finally stop sending me terrifying messages like ‘I see you’ or ‘give me your money’ at three in the morning!”
Bachira’s grin drops. He stares at Isagi. “He what now?”
Isagi blanches. “Uh, I mean—”
It’s too late. Bachira’s already out the door, yelling something about monsters and hair products. )
“In a way, my flirting did work out in the end,” Nagi says, thoughtful.
Reo groans and leans over to kiss him.