breaking through my defenses

chapter 21

Lifting himself upwards, was accompanied with unbearable stiffness of his whole body. Noa would offer him a drink as he explained the whole bargain to him. It sounded like a fever dream, and he almost believed he still was passed out that he pinched himself for a counter proof. He is now a player of fifty million yen of worth.

He walked back to his room, with a tape containing records of the matches. Having had slept for the rest of the day, he could use some hours from the night that was still young, to analyze them, but first, he had to wash away the filth that casted over his skin from the previous physical activity, clogging his nose with an ugly sent, and his skin with vexing stickiness.

He dried his hair with a towel, quietly sinking down his bed, while going over his phone messages. His roommates were asleep, and he was careful not to make much noise, before he exited the room towards the monitor one.

He suddenly remembered when Noa told him to text Sae, whom he hadn't received from, informing him that he was up, since the boy had been worried, according to him, and was the one who carried him to his room.

Going over the chat, it was blank, except a couple of messages about the call being initiated, and ended. They have never chatted over text. And to his misery they were still on a disagreement. He only wrote, I'm up, then closed the chat, almost certain he was going to receive no answer.

The screen lit up a few seconds later, and much to his surprise, Sae was the sender.

Where are you? It said, hinting that he wanted to see him.

He informed him of his current location, as uneasiness started to take over him. He was troubled by the unknown conversation they were about to have. Time had gotten slower, as the waiting prolonged. Sae showed up in fifteen minutes, but had felt like fifty.

Sae wordlessly sat a few millimeters on his right side, cross legged on the mattress that was extended on the floor, in the middle of the window-less room. It had next to no fourniture in it, excpet the several screens, and well, the mattress. Their knees would brush occasionally, and Isagi couldn't help but be overly conscious of the contact.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, his eyes on the screens. That was his go-to, he thought, half-minding the screen before him.

Isagi, decided not to filter the answer. "Like I was hit by a truck."

Glancing over him, he reprimanded; "Well, that's what you get from pushing past your limits."

He dismissed the scold, moving onto a more uncomfortable subject. Running his fingers through his hair would only cause him more displeasure, since it was only half dry. "I was... told you carried me to Noa San's room." he spoke, with a layer of embarrassment, then added, "uh.. Thank you."

It was awkward, unbearably so, this whole setting was unsettling. He was supposed to still be angry with him. Sae too, was annoyed by him, from when their last fight.

He absurdly did not behave any different from his usual self, and with a somewhat loosened guard.

"Don't worry about it." he monotonously answered.

Breathing had never been as loud and as suffocating, ever since silence fell over the room.

Sae won't break the silence, and for whatever reason he was stubbornly watching the screen, the way isagi should be watching it, since he, was the one intrested in analyzing the game.

Upon seeing the very first goal, he recalled how serious Sae was in that last match.

"I've never seen u play so seriously." he casually observed, the nervousness inside the voice he spoke with irked him.