strange way to love (rewritten ver.) - bllk

EVOLution

The next morning, after his meeting with Reo. [Name] decided that he was going to pay a visit to his friend. When the hand marked half past nine in the morning, the young woman was already standing in front of the wooden door. It was in a matter of seconds that the noise of the metal doorknob made a sharp squeak. [Name] looked at Nagi Seishiro sideways before letting out a: "You're a mess, you didn't sleep at all, did you?"

He denied it profusely, so [Name] arched an eyebrow at such an obvious lie. "You're a terrible liar, you know? Let me in, I feel like I haven't seen you in years, besides it's a little cold outside." Nagi remained silent and had no choice but to move sideways so that she would enter the mess of her apartment. "Good grief, how can you stand being in this landfill?" She complained, scanning over the space— wrappers thrown on the floor, and other scattered objects around.

"What a hassle, Reo's the one who always helps me with these things." There he goes, mentioning Reo. Despite the fact that he had told him the day before that they were dealing with such a predicament, [Name] realized that it was not going to last long. If she had missed them lots, they missed each other even more; even if they were under the same building isolated from the world there was no distance that it was possible not to make them not long for each other. It was there that she realized that she should not meddle in the state of her relationship, as no one would ever feel the same love for her the same way Reo and Nagi loved each other— it hurt, as if someone clawed her heart out from her chest and clenched it so hard that you could fill an empty canvas with tears and blood shed in the form of a grotesque scenery. As long as they kept going down the path to conquer their dreams, she would keep falling behind out of their reach.

"There you go, talking about him, and I thought they were divorced." [Name] joked, sinking the room into a rather deafening silence. "So, what were you doing all night that left you so devastated?" He said, looking sideways at Nagi's appearance, his platinum hair pointing everywhere, reddish dark circles forming under his eyelids, and the odd spot of dubious origin on his sweatshirt. There was no need to ask because she knew she was waking up in front of the screen playing video games, but she did it anyway. "So, are you going to clean this mess or not?" [Name] asked, one hand resting on her hip.

"Don't wanna," Nagi whined, going back to his previous slouching on the couch. "Why are you here though?"

"Am I not allowed to visit my friend? You've been away for God knows how long. Listen, I met with Reo yesterday so I wanted to visit you too and I see no problem with it. Unless you want to keep rotting on that greasy couch."

He remained in silence for a while, about to fall asleep, until a certain someone's name was brought up in the conversation then he perked up. "You met up with Reo? And what did he say?" Nagi asked, with a hint of curiosity and excitement hidden behind those sparkling eyes. [Name] had to contain her laughter for a minute, thinking about the contrast between the defeated Reo— who looked like one gust of the wind would make him completely break down, and Nagi, whose resemblance was of one of a puppy wagging its tail at the mention of his partner's name.

"Nothing much, we caught up in some matters and that's it, I think. Say... Nagi, I've wondered; since you've spent so much time with him while you were both away. What's your opinion about him now?" [Name] asked with genuine interest, though she would not expect an answer longer than three or five words coming from him, she observed Nagi's face, waiting for him to speak up. They stayed in silence as his eyebrows furrowed a bit, the anticipation building in— he took a deep breath before finally answering.

"Reo...? Hm, he's cool. Even though at first I thought his dream of winning the World Cup was a nuisance, it's fun being with him. Tagging along not just with him, but with you too made me realize that I want to help Reo. Maybe putting an effort is worth it when it comes to him." Such a declaration coming from someone who was often talked of as having a lack of determination and a way to express affection in an odd, almost empty manner made [Name]'s eyes in shock— quickly concealed with an adoring smile.

"Woah, who are you really? You've really grown up in a mindset haven't you? I feel like I missed out on a lot of stuff in the span of months. It's great to hear that from you though." For the nth time, silence engulfed them for a few minutes until [Name] spoke again, changing the topic before it escalated. "That won't distract from the state your apartment is in right now. Seriously dude, get up from that couch or you'll rot." She pulled one of his arms that was dangling from the couch, but of course it was futile given the abnormal height difference between the two— just that it would not hurt to give it a try at the very least."

Nagi buried his face deeper into the fabric of the couch, letting out a rather loud whine forming from his throat. It was not a surprise that despite the upgrade on his mindset and his ideals towards his goals he could not let go of those meek habits because, well, fixing them is a nuisance to him.

"Look," [Name] made an attempt to convince Nagi to get up, "I'll help you with this mess, damn, you really lived like this before we meddled in? Tsk." Still not fully convinced, he stood up anyways.

He dragged his feet across the wooden floor and stopped when he was next to [Name], and with no previous warning, he leaned forward; resting the upper half of his body onto her shoulders and head. Nagi closed his eyes with a relaxed expression on his face, completely ignoring his friend's words. She tried to brush him off but to no avail.

"Man, get off. You're heavy as fuck, don't use me as your personal headrest!" [Name] complained, but deeply, she actually didn't mind— but it would be more enjoyable if she was not bearing his crushing weight on her shoulders.

"No, don't wanna." He whined in response, purposefully shifting more of his weight onto her. She sighed, and as she opened her mouth to protest but was interrupted by the noise of knocking on the door, she took the opportunity to get Nagi off him, and went to the door. [Name] opened it slightly and slammed the door shut again when he saw who it was.

"Speak of the devil... he's looking for you so you might want to open." She glanced back at him, pulling the door open regardless for Reo to come in.

The purple haired boy walked in regardless "Oh, Hello Nagi. I didn't expect [Name] to be here either." Upon his entrance the ambience fully shifted, whether it was the awkwardness or the joy as if watching the sun rise the first day of summer was unknown— not that it was of a relevant matter because neither Nagi or Reo, despite being a duo of geniuses know how to read the room, being so ecstatic to see each other after (probably not) long.

"So what brings you here?" She asked

"What do you mean? Am I not allowed to visit my treasure whenever I please?"

[Name] felt like groaning, she was aware that despite whatever issue they had going on they were both going to put it aside when speaking in front of them; acting as it never happened in the first place. "Never did I say that. Just find it unusual of you to visit Nagi at this hour. on a Saturday" 

"Is that so?" Reo let out a chuckle, "Well I might have changed my habits you know, maybe I'm trying to be more proactive on weekends, and more so since we're both on a two-week break." Loud and wrong. The sole reason he was up early too was because he too had stayed up all night, not playing videogames like his one and only was, but rather thinking about him that eventually lead to few hours of ugly crying— though he knew it was futile to lie to her so blantantly. She noticed, she has been through those moments of dreariness as well. Still, [Name] decided it was better not to comment on that matter anyways. 

It was unlikely of him to open up and tell the truth to her, they both had to deal with it. [Name] could tell easily what had happened between them just from the look their eyes held. Not only in that moment, but the day before— and the day she saw prodigy duo Reo Mikage and Nagi Seishiro on the field together not as her friends but as Blue Lock Eleven players. 

_____

God I hate them (endearingly).