CHOICES || y. isagi

XXV.

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Rin led the way into the next phase where Ego informed us that in order to move on, we would have to play the top five strikers in the world. Had we not already had experience being tasked with the impossible, I might have been surprised.

The match was to be held in five days.

Aryu, Tokimitsu, Rin and I had made our way into the locker room to change out of our cleats, a halo of silent surrounding us after what we'd just heard. Isagi was god-knows-where, though I had a feeling he'd made his way back onto the pitch to give his old teammates one final goodbye.

"So when were you going to tell us?" Aryu sniffed from the other side of the room where he had been storing his cleats away.

I shot him a look as I placed my socks into the laundry shoot for cleaning, briefly entertaining the idea of Ego washing our dirty clothes (although that was as far fetched as the USMNT winning the World Cup). "When was I going to tell you what?"

Aryu flicked his hair over his shoulder as he languidly waltzed towards me. "That you and Isagi were a thing."

I almost choked, eyes wide in surprise.

"Y-yeah!" cried Tokimitsu worriedly. "I thought we were friends, Saito! You're supposed to tell use these things!"

I scoffed even though my heart fluttered, turning away from the pair to place my cleats safely in my own locker. "First of all, of course we're friends, Tokimitsu. And second, Isagi and I are definitely not a thing. Where the hell did you get that idea?"

Aryu placed a hand on his hip with an "are you serious?" look on his face. "You couldn't take your eyes off each other the whole match."

I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "Like that means anything," I grumbled defensively. "He was just the best one out there. You can't blame me for keeping an eye on him."

"Right," Aryu said disbelievingly, expression remaining unchanged. Clearly, he wasn't buying it. "I happen to think Nagi looked especially stylish, but I wasn't oogling him the whole time."

"Okay Mr. Perfect," I said, continuing to play it off. "Sorry that I didn't want Isagi getting another goal on us."

"He wouldn't have," Rin's emotionless voice cut in from behind me.

I whirled to face him where he sat on the bench, slowly untying his shoes. "Right," I snapped, allowing my growing irritation to seep into my words. "And why's that, huh? Because you just always have everything under control? Because you've always got everyone attached to little strings like you're some goddamn puppeteer?"

Usually I was good at not letting Rin's careless comments get to me, but some irrational anger had swelled inside me and I couldn't help myself from biting back him. Maybe it was because Aryu had unintentionally hit a nerve that had been nagging at me for a while, even though his words shouldn't have affected me the way they did. After all, Isagi and I weren't a thing, were we? But something buried deep inside myself desperately wanted us to be.

"Because I wouldn't have let him," came Rin's frigid reply, slipping off his shoes without even bothering to glance at my peeved expression.

"Yeah whatever," I muttered, just as Isagi stepped into the locker room.

The room fell back into silence as Isagi began to take off his cleats, unaware of the tension pervading the room.

Aryu glanced skeptically between the two of us before sighing tiredly. "Well, I still want to dry my hair before breakfast so I'm off to shower." He gave me one last pointed look as if he were doing me some huge favor before making his way towards the door.

"Me too!" Tokimitsu said quickly, picking up on the shift in the room. "N-not the hair d-drying part, but, um, y-yeah." He scurried after the long haired boy, Rin following wordlessly, not even sparing Isagi a glance before the door sealed shut behind them.

"Is he always like that?" Isagi asked, breaking the heavy silence after a moment.

"Who, Tokimitsu?" I barked a laugh. "Yeah, most of the time. He just gets nervous."

"I meant Rin," Isagi smiled slightly. "Though that's good to know too."

"Oh." I let out a sigh, sinking onto the bench beside him. "Yeah he's usually like that too. I'd like to say he'll warm up to you, but he doesn't really warm up to anyone." I shrugged. "It's not all bad though. At least he's quiet."

Isagi nodded in understanding. "Well I guess I'll have plenty of time to get to know them." He glanced sideways at me, a grin forming on his lips. "Looks like we're all stuck with each other for a while."

I did my best to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach, forcing a smile. "Right," I said, pushing away any thoughts of my impending decision. "Plenty of time..."

If Isagi noticed my sudden change in attitude, he didn't show it. Instead, he turned fully to face me on the bench. "You know, I've been thinking a lot lately about certain recent events." He began, a mischievous look creeping its way across his features. "I thought maybe we should talk about it."

I tried to keep back the genuine grin from crawling its way onto my face, but it was proving difficult. "Oh yeah?" I asked coyly. "And what recent events might that be? I don't recall." I'd turned fully to face him now, our knees barely touching and my right hand on the bench beside his leg as I leaned forward ever so slightly.

Isagi's eyes sparkled playfully, flickering between my own and down at my lips. "Well, maybe it would be better if I just showed you."

And then his mouth was on mine, hungry and devouring. I could faintly taste the sweat on his lips from the match, the salt leaving a bitterness in my mouth that somehow made me crave him all the more. My hands found their way to his hair, clutching and pulling softly as I attempted to ground myself through him.

His fingers were around my jaw, holding it firmly and lifting my chin upward to guide my lips on his. His left hand had crept up my leg, his thumb rubbing circles on my inner thigh as I groaned into the kiss, tongue dancing around mine.

His right hand slid around the back of my neck to cup my head as he broke away, trailing kisses down my jaw. I blinked up at the ceiling panting, mind hazy with desire. "Isagi," I murmured, as he worked his way down my throat, pausing to hum his acknowledgment against my skin. "Isagi," I tried again, barely a whisper, attempting to gather myself even as his thumb circled higher up my thigh.

He bit my skin gently before running his tongue along the spot to soothe the pain and I tugged at his hair frantically at the feeling, eliciting a groan from him. "Yes, beautiful?" He asked, voice hoarse.

"We-" I gulped, forcing myself to breathe as he trailed his lips ever closer to mine. "We still have things to do. Shower, breakfast... We're scheduled for the film room in an hour..."

He humed once more, his lips at last gravitating back to mine as the rest of the words died on my tongue. I could barely think with his hands grasping and kneading my body.

Finally, he pulled away, allowing me a moment to breathe as his eyes trailed me. "Well why don't we kill two birds with one stone then?" A devilish smirk upon his gorgeous lips.

My brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?" I asked as he stood up, suddenly missing the warmth of his hands on my thigh and in my hair.

He extended his hand, pulling me to my feet, grinning all the while. "Just come with me," he said and when I looked into his eyes, it was the monster that stared back at me.

~~~

A/N: No words for what I just wrote. No words for what I'm about to write...