Against Our Demons

The Proposals - Sae

A/N: this boy is such a mess...but we love him anyways 

also I was gonna post both proposals as one chapter but this one got a little out of control so now they're gonna be separate ok enjoy <333 

Sae won the final bet four to one. Just like he'd planned.

Well, that wasn't exactly true. He'd planned to win five to zero, but Hanover had been decently helpful for one of the goals and Junior had gotten tackled by one of the opposing team's members for something entirely unrelated to the bet. Sae was the slightest bit sour about it, him liking to be in control of every situation he ever found himself in, but he had planned on winning and had in fact done so.

It was still in his bag, but he could feel the ring vibrating even from the field. He felt it calling to him. He felt the cold of the metal, the heat of it once he'd held it in his hand long enough, two sensations he'd become accustomed to over the past two months as he'd been planning, preparing, considering.

He'd won. Just like he'd planned.

Ryusei was pissed, but Sae decided that was fine. It hardly stopped him from gloating. And by gloating, this meant that both the corners of his mouth turned up when he finally caught his eye. Ryusei looked not only angry but genuinely disgusted at the situation. Sae would have expected no less. It hadn't been said but it had been well understood. Most of their bets warranted no sore losers, but this one was going to.

Ryusei was angry. He was disgusted. But more than any of that, he was disappointed. He'd gone so out of his way to make this plan and try so hard and he'd come up short. It had been important to him. He wanted to propose immediately. It had taken over half a year to finally get a proper I love you out of Sae. He didn't want Sae to be holding this over his head for however long it might take him to rid his feet of the frigidity of something like marriage.

But as he made it through his post game shower, a particularly hot and lengthy one at that, he started considering proposing anyways. After all, he had a ring. He wholeheartedly believed he was unique in that fact. The bet had gotten serious, but it had started as a joke. And there was no real way to tell how serious Sae was about anything besides winning.

He had been serious about that much. During that match was one of the first times Sae had ever truly terrified Ryusei. He'd more than caught glimpses of the genius' dark side before, but that's all they were: glimpses. This time, it had been a fully formed monster, a purebred scoring machine, and Ryusei had been entirely on the receiving end of it. It had indeed terrified him as much as it had turned him on.

Then, he started seriously considering it. So much so that he had fully convinced himself it was a great idea by the time he'd turned the water off. Sae loved him. The whole thing had started as a joke. It was fine.

So as they had made a habit of doing, they waited for the locker room to clear out. As the team had come to learn to, they cleared out as quick as they possibly could. Both of them were oblivious to their surroundings. Sae was still gloating to himself. Ryusei was still planning to propose. Everyone else was tip toeing around them, because they had given their congratulations on the field, and didn't wish to be caught in the crossfires of their two strikers' love exchanges any more than their cold blooded fights. Nobody could say which was worse, so everyone tended to avoid both.

Sae was about ready to leave when he turned to Ryusei. "You ready?"

He was already dressed, seemingly waiting for him, and that was answer enough for Sae. He was smiling again, ready to gloat a little and then suggest they get going, but Ryusei beat him to it.