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IT'S BEEN ALMOST A WEEK and Reo can't take it any longer. Toronto was supposed to be his safe haven – safe from past ghosts with white hair and his very same surname.
Reo had moved to the other side of the world for his mental health, and he wouldn't risk a setback only because his ex- best friend had come. Nagi was now living in the same apartment complex where Reo and the other skaters were renting a place but it didn't mean they had to talk. So far, they hadn't even looked each other's way, and if it were for Reo, that wouldn't change anytime soon.
But his luck couldn't last forever.
"Hey, Reo," Anri called him minutes after he had finished changing, right before he left the rink with Shidou and Mei-ling. "Do you have any idea how Seishiro might be acclimatizing?" She asked.
Reo's smile had vanished so quickly, that Mei-Ling excused herself in a blink, claiming she was thirsty and forcing a fake cough.
It's been a week, and Reo can't even hear Seishiro's name without wanting to break something. He's sick of how everything always leads to Nagi Seishiro.
"No," he finally replied. "It's that all?"
Anri sighed, putting down her clipboard and looking at Reo like a disappointed mother. It made him feel stupidly guilty for replying so sharply. "You should be nice to him," she said, "he'll spend some months away from home, and you know better than anyone how scary that can be. Why don't you show him around? Like Shidou and Mei did when you arrived."
Except Shidou and Mei-Ling had no shared history with Reo, and their presence didn't make him want to gauge his eyes out (or his heart). He tried to smile at his coach, knowing her intentions were pure even if she didn't understand that making Reo and Nagi spend time together would cause more problems than solutions.
"He's old enough to figure it out, I think."
"Reo..."
"And he's pretty independent," the skater insisted, forcing his words into a cheerful tone. "You know I wouldn't want to bother the newcomer, right Anri?"
"Reo," she sighed for a second time. "You're better than this."
But Anri wasn't his psychologist, and Reo wasn't that much better. He still understood she wasn't taking no for an answer, and out of respect, gave in. If anything, the imminent disaster may convince her to keep the skaters apart.
There was a pattern when it came to Reo and Mr. Emotionally Irresponsible. Reo couldn't deny the effect Nagi had on him anymore – he didn't like who he was when it came to Seishiro. He's never liked it at all.
