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Like most things that go wrong in Reo's life, it starts with Nagi.
Actually, that's a little misleading. There weren't very many things that didn't go to plan for a Mikage; the few troubles Reo faced could be traced back to his own father, and it was purely because he was also a Mikage that he was able to do so.
Perhaps Nagi would be better described as the start of Reo. Sure, Reo existed before meeting him, but he was more akin to a star than a human. He was orbited by countless planets, while Nagi was off in his own world, too far to feel the influence of Reo's gravitational pull. Reo hadn't realised how lonely he really was until Nagi looked at him and wasn't blinded.
Reo had never known anything but boredom until he had met Nagi. It was a bit ironic as talking to Nagi was compared to watching paint dry by many of their classmates, but to Reo it was exhilarating. Their relationship was the simplest thing in his life while also being the most intricate. Everyone Reo knew wanted something from him, whether it was money, knowledge, reputation. They hid it behind flowery words and social conventions but it was obvious that there was always an underlying ulterior motive. But Nagi was different- he asked for piggyback rides, for Reo to help with household chores and sure, he also asked for money but it was for gacha games rather than designer clothes and parties.
But Reo had also never known crushing despair until he had met Nagi. He’d never felt loss, the feeling of working tirelessly to make something his and watching it slip through his grasp in an instant. Being around Nagi felt like being around an amplifier where all of his emotions, positive and negative, had become overwhelmingly loud.
And that was the root cause of Reo’s current predicament. He scowled down at his phone, rereading the email that he had unfortunately woken up to for the sixth time.
From: Blue Lock Management
To: Mikage Reo
Subject: Mandatory outing - 08/08/22-09/08/22
Good morning.
This is a generic email sent to all active Blue Lock participants and eligible members of the U20 Japan team. In preparation for the launch of Blue Lock TV, we wish to record introduction videos for everyone participating in various locations. One of these locations is Okinawa. We will be traveling to a private beach to record short self-introductions as well as ‘vlog’ content, staying overnight in a five star hotel. Transport, accommodation, food and spending money will all be paid for by Blue Lock. Attendance is mandatory, and failure to attend will result in penalties which will be up to the discretion of Jinpachi Ego.
Please see the attached document for more information and a detailed itinerary.
See you there,
Anri Tieri.
He paced around his room, swearing under his breath. Honestly, this seemed like a perfect excuse to hang out with his friends. He doubted they’d have to spend too long recording introductions, so they’d have a lot of free time with the only caveat being that they would have to record stuff for these aforementioned vlogs. The issue was his and Nagi’s… everything.
Their complicated relationship had mellowed out by the match against the U20 players. The results of that game were far too important for either of them to focus on anything but training, and the forced distance between them did wonders for Reo’s psyche. However, they still weren’t exactly on speaking terms.
His feelings were just too complicated for him to bounce back so quickly after everything fell apart. Reo was simultaneously working on his new style of football to win Nagi back and to prove to him that Reo could be independent. He was a mix of contradictions and hypocrisy. In the past week alone he had cried over Nagi forgetting their promise, gone to his home gym and imagined the other boy’s face on the punching bag, and laughed fondly while looking at pictures of him on his phone from before they went to Blue Lock.
It was made worse by the fact that Reo could never tell what Nagi was thinking anymore. It was like a switch was flipped when their relationship fell apart, and the microexpressions that used to be so obvious were now a mystery. He’d felt Nagi’s stare on him like ants crawling over his skin when they’d accidentally met up for bowling a few days ago, but he had no idea what it could mean. Nagi was the one who left Reo, he had no right to stare at him with an unreadable expression for what felt like hours.
The awkward air between them was exactly why this trip was going to be so stressful for Reo. On the surface, this would be a perfect opportunity for them; Reo wanted to fix their friendship one day. He wanted to be close to his treasure again, so that eventually they could look back on this period and laugh at how pathetic Reo had been. He wanted to be an equal, someone who could exist without Nagi so that he would never be left behind with nothing again.
However, he wasn’t sure if whatever they were before Blue Lock could be classed as just a friendship.
Reo wasn’t sure what love felt like, but whatever he had felt for Nagi was still the most intense emotion he had ever experienced. The vulnerability which came with that emotion was exactly what made Reo hesitant to try and re-establish the full extent of their relationship. He didn’t want to offer up his heart to Nagi again just for it to be trampled all over on one of the other boy’s whims.
Friendship was okay though. It was easy, a best friend was still intense but in an uncomplicated way. A trip to Okinawa could be the perfect way to clear the air around them in a natural, platonic way.
But Reo has read too much shoujo manga, he knows exactly how this is going to play out. This was practically a beach episode! A classic romantic trope in the volumes he had borrowed from Nagi’s bookshelf while the other played games during weekend sleepovers. They’d both be wearing revealing swimsuits, and maybe Nagi would get splashed with water, droplets dripping down his chest, and maybe he’d need to apply sunscreen, pleading eyes asking Reo to help him out…
No!
Absolutely not.
Reo buried his burning face into his hands. He couldn’t let this happen, he and Nagi were much too complicated for a rom-com. And that’s ignoring the fact that Reo doesn’t want to be romantic with Nagi in the slightest! He and Nagi had no romantic chemistry whatsoever, it didn’t matter if all of their teammates thought otherwise. Any feelings other than platonic they had for each other were buried in the past.
It was okay, everything would be okay. He’d just have to ignore Nagi completely as a precaution against the shoujo tropes which were out to ruin his future plans. Those sorts of things didn’t happen in real life, but it was better to be safe than sorry. It was a small setback in his goal to restore his friendship with the other boy, but drastic measures had to be taken to ensure him and Nagi stayed as far away from romance as possible.
It would be easy. Hell, they barely even spoke to each other anymore!
1. Kabedon
Reo yawned as he trawled the aisles of the airport convenience store. A seven a.m. flight from Tokyo to Okinawa meant that he had to leave the house at five, his exhaustion made worse by the extremely poor sleep he had gotten the previous night.
It was completely worth it though. He grinned to himself as he remembered the long phone calls he had made to the manager of the hotel and the airline they were flying with. He had not only upgraded all of them from economy to first class, he switched his ticket so that he was sat between Yukimiya and Chigiri, as far away from the trio of Nagi-Niko-Barou as possible. (He also asked if Bachira, Rin, and Isagi could sit together. He needed some in flight entertainment!). Reo had also ensured that his shared hotel room was both as far away from Nagi’s as possible and definitely had at least two beds.
That was two common tropes felled already. By organising this the night before, there was no sudden mixup the hotel could make where he and Nagi would have to share a room with only one bed. There was also no way he’d end up stuck next to Nagi for a three hour flight, where he would suddenly and without reason develop a fear of flying and have to grip Reo’s hand tightly despite it not aligning with his character archetype.
The flight being this early was also a blessing in disguise. Nagi would be dead on his feet having to get out of bed this early so there was absolutely no chance that they’d run into each other.
Reo’s grin quickly faded at the quality of the convenience store meals in front of him. This was the stndard of food people put up with? He made a mental note to donate a large sum of money to this chain so that there was more variety, especially for people who’d be going on long flights.
He decided to forgo a meal for now. He would just eat when they landed in Okinawa. He had just begun turning to leave when a voice called his name.
A very familiar voice.
Thud.
Reo had his back pressed against the fridge, a hand pressing into the glass next to his head. Reo’s own arms were pressed close to his chest; he had raised them instinctively at first, but now they were the only thing stopping Nagi’s chest from pressing into his own. There were only four centimetres between them, but Nagi seemed to loom over him like Reo had shrunk to half his height.
His heart was pounding.
A kabedon! And completely out of left-field! It was a classic shoujo trope where the love interest corners the main character against a wall by slamming their hand against it. It was intimate, tense, and the perfect situation for a long built up confession.
“Reo…” Nagi mumbled, his eyes half-lidded.
Was Reo about to be confessed to? Was Reo about to be kissed?! In an airport convenience store?!
Reo had had plenty of confessions, but none from someone who he liked back. How was he supposed to react, fuck, what was he supposed to do with his hands?
Nagi’s eyes slipped closed and he dipped forward. Reo inhaled sharply, his face burning and knees feeling weak. Hey, wasn’t Nagi being a little too forward?! Usually the two leads danced around each other for at least a hundred chapters before a confession, and they didn’t kiss until at least a hundred more. He and Nagi had not known each other long enough to be in chapter two hundred of their shoujo manga!
But still, Reo closed his eyes and leaned forward a bit. This was completely against all of his plans, but Nagi doing something so brazen would require a bit of restructuring. Maybe… Nagi had felt the same way this whole time? Maybe all of their awkwardness was a misunderstanding?
Suddenly, the stifling atmosphere of Nagi’s body over his own dissipated. Reo inched open his eyes.
“Ah, I fell asleep for a second…” Nagi yawned, stretching his arms above his head. Reo pointedly did not look at the sliver of skin that was revealed by Nagi’s hoodie riding up. “Reo, do you have a phone charger I can borrow?”
Huh.
Nagi finally looked at Reo’s face clearly, his doe eyes wide and concerned. “Why are you so red? Does Reo have a fever?” He reached over and poked Reo’s forehead.
Huh?
Reo shoved Nagi away, sprinting out of the store. He was really channeling his inner flustered protagonist right now, although Reo was an athlete who ran much quicker than the stereotypical fragile main character.
How could he be so stupid!? Of course Nagi wouldn’t suddenly act so out of character, especially if it was for Reo. The only thing he ever took initiative in was video games and football, he’d proven by now that Reo wasn’t very high up on his list of priorities. However, that knowledge hadn’t stopped Reo from hoping, just for a few moments, that Nagi still cared about him.
He thought he was doing better. He thought he was finally over Nagi, but one small action from the other boy and he was once again at the mercy of his flippant personality.
Not paying attention to his surroundings, Reo almost ran straight into Chigiri, the other boy’s quick reflexes the only thing stopping them from crashing into a heap on the airport floor.
“Dude, are you okay?” Chigiri asked, his hands on Reo’s shoulders, stabilising him. Reo took a shuddering breath, gripping onto Chigiri’s arms and staring deeply into his eyes. Chigiri’s eyebrows were furrowed, worried for him even though he pretended not to be. He really was a good friend.
“Chigiri,” Reo started, gulping around the lump in his throat and slightly out of breath from his sprint. ”All men do is lie.”
“…What the fuck are you talking about?”
2. Misunderstandings
The trip was going pretty well, ignoring the unfortunate incident in the airport earlier. They’d gotten to their hotel by 10 a.m., dropping off their bags and freshening up as quick as possible to head to the beach. Reo’s and Chigiri’s shared room was as far away from Nagi as possible, and they’d already made plans to have a late night binging some shows on the large TV at the foot of Chigiri’s bed.
Over on the beach, the Blue Lock TV production staff had set up with a camera and microphone facing the open ocean, giving each participant three minutes to say whatever they wanted to about themselves. They’d started around fifteen minutes ago so the majority of them were hovering around the staff’s general area, impatiently waiting for their turn to be over so that they could have some fun. Karasu and Otoya, who had gone first, were already having a water fight with needlessly complex rules, the latter holding onto a small camera on a selfie stick.
Most of them were standing in groups of three to four, making idle conversation while most of them sported nearly identical Blue Lock issued t-shirts and swimming shorts. The staff had requested for everyone to keep their shirts on until all the self-introductions were finished, although Aiku was really pushing this rule with his unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt. Well, Reo could respect the originality. It was much more visually interesting than a monotone blue shirt. Not to mention the rumours that Reo had heard about Shidou refusing to be anything but completely naked, dragged off into ‘Blue Lock jail’, whatever that meant.
One would assume that Reo would also use this time to socialise, but they’d be dead wrong! He knew exactly how dangerous this scenario could be. It was the perfect opportunity for the classic romantic misunderstanding trope!
Picture this: the main character and love interest have been dancing around each other for weeks when suddenly the love interest pulls away. The main character is confused, because they don’t realise that a grave miscommunication has occurred. Last night they had been talking with a close friend after school, giggling and exchanging casual touches. To them, this is a normal friendship but to the love interest it is anything but that! This is a romantic rival that they could never compete with, resulting in a few days of sullen behaviour until their jealousy overflows and they confess to the main character.
Reo would make sure nothing he did had any chance to provoke Nagi in that way. He didn’t seem like the type to get jealous over something as small as a conversation with someone else, but the beach episode shoujo-ness was doing weird things to the air. If Reo stood in silence until he and Nagi were out of sight from each other then there was absolutely no chance of a misunderstanding!
It was a little bit boring, to be honest. The view was beautiful, the waves glittering like stars under the glare of the sun. It stretched on endlessly and the way it blended into the sky made Reo understand why people used to think the ocean was the edge of the world. But he felt like he had analysed every inch of it, despite him only being here for a quarter of an hour. He stared wistfully at his own friends. They seemed to have taken his refusal to talk to them in stride, Chigiri gravitating towards Barou, reminding Reo of an excitable younger sibling doing anything to annoy the gruff older one. Yukimiya, being a social butterfly, had drifted from Isagi, to Hiori, to Sendo Shuuto of all people.
Speaking of Isagi…
Hadn’t he gotten a bit too close to Nagi? The white haired boy had found a shaded corner to take a nap as soon as they got here, and Isagi had somehow found himself sitting next to him. They were talking to each other quietly and Reo could see how focused Nagi was on their conversation even though they were quite far away from him.
Reo’s jaw dropped. Did Isagi just poke Nagi’s cheek? Since when were they this close?! He didn’t think he had missed any major romantic developments between them, but Reo also wasn’t sure that was platonic friend behaviour. Yeah, Reo casually touched his own friends all the time but this was something different! He wasn’t sure how it was different but it was definitely strange.
Well, if Nagi was in a romantic relationship that was good for both of them. There’d be no chance of his own friendship with the other boy developing into something deeper. It still made his chest throb, though. Past all of the denial, Reo knew that he still felt something more than platonic for his (ex?) best friend, and it would take some time for him to get over this new duo. He’d probably be unable to look Nagi in the eyes for a few days, but he’d get over it eventually. He had to, even though the thought of them together made him want to claw his eyes out and maybe commit arson.
Wait.
Holy shit, Isagi was tugging at Nagi’s shirt.
Holy shit, Isagi Yoichi was tugging at Nagi Seishiro’s shirt.
What was happening? Did Reo fall into some alternate universe? Why was Isagi giggling like that, people other than Reo rarely found Nagi that funny! Reo blushed, he couldn’t believe that those two were behaving like that in public. The audacity! The lack of shame!
“Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of the way Isagi’s going about this either,” a sudden voice cut through Reo’s thoughts. Chigiri sighed next to him, tilting his head up to look down at Nagi and Isagi in the distance.
Oh? Chigiri knew something about this budding romance? It made sense, Reo supposed, Chigiri was pretty close with Isagi. “What’s Isagi going about wrong?” Reo asked, dreading the answer.
“Don’t you know? I could’ve sworn I told you,” Chigiri gave him a searching look, trailing off into a mumble. He shrugged. “Isagi’s decided his best way to navigate the Rin and Bachira situation is making them jealous.”
“The ‘Rin and Bachira’ situation?”
“Yeah they’ve got some complicated love triangle going on. Isagi’s gotten closer to Nagi because of it, and he’s been using Nagi to get them both to pay more attention to him.”
…After giving it a second thought, Rin had seemed more angry than usual. And Bachira’s cheer seemed a little artificial.
Reo gasped, he’d been going about this all wrong! He was the victim of the romantic misunderstanding. Of course he wasn’t the main character of a shoujo manga.
He must be the love interest!
3. Indirect kiss
Realising that he was the love interest made this whole situation much easier to navigate. If he disregarded the Airport Incident as an unfortunate accident, all signs pointed to Nagi being the main character. He was an aloof prodigy with little to no romantic experience, while Reo was the cool, perfect, secondary character with hidden emotional depths. This meant that all Reo had to do was be completely indifferent to Nagi to get through this trip without their relationship being pushed over the edge. Ignoring him would force Reo into the ‘mysterious and brooding’ archetype, while being casual friends with him would push him into the ‘childhood best friend’ trope. Not that they had known each other from childhood.
“Mikage Reo, it’s your turn for the introduction,” a staff member called out to him. Finally, It had taken a good forty minutes for him to be called. The crowd in the area had thinned considerably, the vast majority of them finishing recording their videos and proceeding to spread out in groups to explore the beach or the town. Nagi was still sleeping under the shade.
He made his way in front of the camera, noticing his throat was a little dry. A drawback from staying silent for so long, he supposed. Chigiri had left soon after informing him of Isagi’s true motives, and all of his other friends actually respected Reo’s wishes to not talk to anyone until he wasn’t around Nagi. The camera director handed him a bottle of water. Reo gulped down half of it, thanked her, and handed it back.
The video was a breeze to record, Reo was a natural in front of the cameras. He was witty, charming, charismatic, everything a Mikage was raised to be. The staff decided not to give him a portable camera after he informed them he was planning to spend most of his day with Chigiri and Yukimiya, who had already been provided with them.
He fished his phone out of his pocket, sending a quick message to Chigiri, asking for his location. Chigiri was a notoriously slow responder, so Reo resigned himself to waiting in the same area for at least another ten minutes before Yukimiya reminded him to check his phone.
Reo tensed as he heard Nagi being called up for the next video. But he wouldn’t run away this time. The shoujo gods would somehow construe that as him endearing himself to Nagi, and placing them in an embarrassingly romantic situation for no reason at all.
He’d just be indifferent. It was easy!
From the corner of his eye, Reo saw that a staff member ended up having to drag Nagi in front of the camera, the white haired boy in a state of disorientation having just been woken up from a nap. Reo held back a laugh; Nagi’s hair was sticking up all over the place, and though Reo didn’t want to admit it, it was pretty cute.
“My throat is dry…” Nagi mumbled, the last word turning into a loud yawn.
“Oh, sorry we just gave out the last water bottle,” an assistant said, digging around behind the camera to see if there were any left over. Another one interjected.
“There’s half a bottle left, but another participant drank straight from it. You can still use it if it doesn’t bother you?” He handed Nagi the water bottle as he said it. A familiar water bottle.
A water bottle Reo had just drank from.
No… surely not. This wasn’t happening.
This was not happening.
Reo had done everything right. Why has he been forsaken by a popular manga genre?
“Not having water would be more of a hassle, I guess,” Nagi took the bottle with a nod to the person who handed it to him. He raised it to his mouth to drink, and it was like time had slowed down. His lips touched the same bottle that Reo’s had just moments prior, and without even thinking about it, Reo had already sprinted halfway across the beach, a hand clamped over his gaping mouth. He felt lightheaded.
An indirect kiss.
Another classic trope that hadn’t even crossed his mind. It worked especially well in long, drawn out stories. A beautiful main character, much more innocent than the average teenager, offering a drink to the love interest. The love interest knows that they shouldn’t, that this is much too close to a physical touch in their fluffy, sexless world but they can’t resist the thought of their lips touching the other’s, no matter how indirect it is.
The roles were reversed to an extent, but this definitely solidified Reo’s role as the love interest. Nagi was unintentionally innocent, while all Reo could picture was Nagi’s mouth on his, careful exploration of each other developing into searing heat, Nagi’s body on his own, Nagi, Nagi, Nagi.
4. Fireworks
“Go away!” Reo choked out, pulling the blanket tighter over himself as Chigiri tried to rip it off of him.
“No! You’re pathetic, but not pathetic enough to do this while everyone else is hanging out because you’re sad over your situantionship,” the pink haired boy replied, finally pulling the blanket under Reo’s neck. His head popped out, not unlike a disgruntled cat sticking his head outside of a cardboard box.
Reo couldn’t disagree with Chigiri, he really was pathetic. He thought that he could get over Nagi, that they could just be friends. In a way, this trip was the ultimate test of Reo’s conviction and he failed. He didn’t deserve to be friends with Nagi when he was so easily influenced by his unrealistic, rose-tinted view of the other boy, weak to his environment and so desperate for Nagi to return his feelings.
Hell, he’d sooner blame shoujo tropes than himself for his inability to feel normal about his first true friend.
“Come on, I don’t know what’s going on with you but it’s something to do with Nagi, right? I promise, you won’t even see him for the rest of the trip!” Chigiri was leaning over Reo’s curled up figure on the bed. If it was Nagi leaning over him, Reo would think that fate would misconstrue the situation, making Nagi seem like the doting main character fussing over the ooce interest when they get sick. But all Reo felt when looking into Chigiri’s face was how grateful he was to have him for a friend.
Reo wanted to spend more time with him. He wanted to be able to exist around the people closest to him, without fussing over Nagi this and Nagi that.
Nagi was an irreplaceable part of Reo’s life, the bearer of his heart, holding it so tight that Reo had no hope of it ever being returned to him. Reo thought that his anger fading made their relationship less complicated but it didn’t. Reo still wanted nothing but Nagi, everything but Nagi. To be defined by him and to exist unconnected to him. To love him dearly and to never see him ever again.
“And how will you make sure I won’t see him?”
“Hmm,” Chigiri tugged on his hair braid. “I’ll grab you and run if I see white hair!” Je grinned, stupidly proud of himself for coming up with such an ineffective plan.
Reo pretended to consider. “Well, you do run quite fast…”
Chigiri’s face lit up, taking the opportunity to pounce on Reo’s perceived weakness. “Yep! I’m the safest person to be around if you want to stop moping about your guy.”
“Hey, He’s not my guy,” Reo glared, but he knew he had already lost. He sat up, pushing Chigiri away from him while deliberately ignoring the almost proud glint in the other’s eyes.
“Yes, yes whatever you say,” Chigiri said, rolling his eyes. He was good at pretending to be annoyed, but his pleased grin proved otherwise. He pulled Reo up and out of the bed, “Hurry up, I heard that there’s a firework display later.”
***
All things considered, Reo had a pretty good day. They’d met up with Yukimiya in the hotel lobby at around two p.m., spending time eating at gourmet restaurants and playing football on the beach. It was harder in unsteady ground, but they took the sport lightly for once, prioritising fun over winning.
Of course, Reo and Chigiri got along like a house on fire, and he was certain that they’d recorded a lot of good content for the Blue Lock TV channel. Speaking of Blue Lock, most of them had the same idea about the fireworks display, flocking to the beach for the perfect view of them as soon as it got dark.
Technically, it was another classic shoujo trope, but it was uncommon for it to happen at the same time as the beach episode. That, combined with the fact that Chigiri had caught Reo worrying over how to prevent any confessions and dragged him out of his own mind, made it so that Reo had nothing prepared for potential situations this evening. For the first time today, Reo had no plans on how to navigate any interactions with Nagi, no way to prevent the trip from the conclusion it seemed fated to turn out.
It was scary. It was exhilarating.
The first few fireworks went off, and Reo was captivated by their beauty. Purple and white bursting into the sky, painting the inky blank canvas breathtaking colours, dancing together and intertwining like they were one. The lights were fleeting, fizzling out for longer than they shone.
Reo heard shuffling next to him, and he turned to the right.
Nagi stood next to him, as transfixed by the fireworks as Reo was. Reo was glad it seemed like he had also gone out during the day; he’d get a headache if he stayed cooped up inside for over twelve hours. He was wearing the same white hoodie he was at the airport, a food stain on the sleeve that Reo would find messy on anyone else, but endearing on Nagi.
Reo chuckled internally; here he was, unable to look away from Nagi and Chigiri hadn’t dragged him away just yet.
An arm reached out to grab at his sleeve. It almost seemed like Nagi was blushing, but it was hard to tell with how dark it was. “Reo, the moon…” Nagi said, eyes not leaving the cacophony of sparks flying in front of them. It seemed like he was avoiding his gaze deliberately. Reo fianlly tore his eyes away from Nagi, looking up at the sky, confused. He was pretty sure it was a new moon, so it shouldn’t be visible at all. Maybe Nagi was talking about the brilliant white fireworks, illuminating the sky like the entire galaxy had been condensed to one explosion.
“Yeah,” Reo replied. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”