『(𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲) 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬』𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘪 𝘹 𝘳𝘦𝘰

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﹝ ᴇᴘɪsᴏᴅᴇ ᴛᴇɴ ﹞
𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬

"NAGI!" A horn burst his bubble, and he felt his pulse jump in surprise. Fucking hell...

Kunigami looked apologetic from the car window, slowing down to catch up with him. Nagi stopped so Kunigami could turn on his emergency lights before someone honked at them too.

"Get in; let me give you a lift," Kunigami offered, smacking the side of his car for emphasis.

"...Since when do you have a car?" Nagi wondered.

"I don't have one. It's my mom's. She forced me to get my permit to drive my brother around, but it's kinda late, so I'm taking Asuka home. You live close to hers."

She sat in the backseat instead of the passenger seat, but Nagi didn't ask; it was more convenient for him that way. Kunigami unlocked the door, and he sat, eyes falling onto the leather seat. "I didn't know you had such a nice car..." he mumbled.

"It's not that new or expensive. My mom's just an expert on keeping it pristine."

"She's like one of those dads on TV who names their cars and cusses you out when you close the door slightly harder than they do," Asuka chimed in, never looking up from her phone. "Mind if Ren drops me off first?"

"Nope." Walking home would have taken longer anyway.

"Well, most people are very careful with possessions that were a big investment," Kunigami clarified, looking at Asuka through the mirror. She rolled her eyes, the embodiment of charm and politeness she was. "Uhm, we saw you talking with Reo outside," Kunigami brought up out of the blue, peeking at him. "All good?"

No, but no one needed to know that. Plus, Nagi wasn't accepting of the fact yet. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I don't know," the skater sped up, focusing on the road. "Chigiri told me some stuff...."

Of course.

"Reo said some stuff, too," Asuka added.

And weren't Asuka and Kunigami Reo's friends?

Nagi sank into his seat, which Kunigami saw. "Don't get me wrong, Chigiri only gave me some context. He needed advice." Because he was supposed to meet up with Reo soon, he must still believe contacting the heir was some sort of betrayal of his loyalty to Nagi. "And Reo, well, we've never talked about you. What he's said to Asuka... that's a whole other thing, though."

He glanced at her again, sounding jealous of their closeness. Or, in any case, slightly hurt at being kept at arm's length by both of his friends.

She only made a face in response. "You know, Nagi," she kicked softly at his seat. "You should join us at the club this weekend."

Kunigami groaned — it wouldn't surprise Nagi if they had discussed this beforehand without getting to an agreement. "What?" The medalist blinked, looking for the joke in her invitation. She's never asked him to hang out before.

"I know you and Reo used to be pretty close, and we're going to the club to celebrate with him. Kunigami was gonna invite some guys from the team, and Shidou and Mei-Ling will obviously tag along. It could be a chance for you two to catch up."

Except she must have some sort of ulterior motive, and Nagi would prefer to avoid another emotional turmoil. He looked at Kunigami for advice.

Kunigami could only squeeze the wheel. "Nagi doesn't like going out, Asuka."

"Not even for a friend he hasn't seen in years?" She argued, "you don't wanna come with us, Nagi?"

Why would Reo want to see him? "I guess I'll pass, thanks."

"Huh, Reo wasn't lying then...." She sighed.

"Asuka."

"About what?" Nagi asked before thinking better of it.

"About you." She went back to her screen, long nails tapping loudly. "I always thought you kept to yourself because you thought you were better than us," which was big coming from her, "but he told me it wasn't intentional. You just never really cared enough about your friendships."

Nagi clenched his jaw.

Hypocrite, what a fucking pair of hypocrites. Asuka, who was so arrogant, she grew bored of conversations with anyone but Kunigami. And Reo, the one that cared so much about their lifelong friendship, moved to fucking the other side of the globe without warning. What they lacked in self-awareness they had in audacity to discuss and criticize him.

He bit back any retort like he often did, and she dropped it, focusing on their friend instead. "Here, Ren, please leave me at the next gate."

"Sure"

He parallel parked with ease, and she was out of the vehicle in a blink, muttering, "Think about it," as she got off. Then, she approached Nagi's side, bending to his height. "Can you give me my bag?"

It was on Nagi's feet. It had probably been on the passenger seat before Kunigami made space for him. Nagi opened the door, pulled the bag onto his lap, and she took it with an almost inaudible "thank you."

"Asuka."

Kunigami's warning went ignored, and Asuka glared daggers at his friend. For a second, Nagi wondered what the hell had he done for her to do a total 180 on him.

"I think you owe Reo an apology," she finally said, slamming the door.

An apology.

Him? For what, going to the Olympics without Reo?

"Ah, shit..." Kunigami murmured. "Sorry about her...."

Nagi swallowed instead of saying something like no worries, because, honestly? He was a bit pissed. Or upset or disorientated because he couldn't understand what the fuck was he supposed to be sorry for.

He couldn't even think about a reason because after being overwhelmed, doing more thinking about Reo wouldn't fucking help. So no, fuck that. Nagi wouldn't waste more time; he had a clean conscience, and deciphering Reo's motives were too much work.

He could deal with his feelings later. Or Reo could grow a pair and confront him if he had an issue.

Nagi had no issues. Actually, he had a competition to prepare for, and that was ten times more important.