Chapter Text
8am classes should be illegal, Kensei Maeshima thinks to himself as he makes his way to the lecture hall. It’s not like he didn’t have the option to choose his own classes or anything, it’s just that by the time Kensei had gotten around to selecting his classes for the semester all of the other time slots for Biochemistry 101 were full - a minor consequence of leaving class selections to the last minute. He’d never admit that fact, however.
Kensei reaches the lecture hall with just minutes to spare, quickly taking a seat towards the back of the room, setting his energy drink on his desk as he rummages his bag for a notebook and pen.
“Those are bad for you, y’know.”
Who in the f-, Kensei looks up from his bag, eyebrows furrowing at the guy next to him. The guy looks about his age, though, behind his glasses, the bags under his eyes almost add a few years, or was that smudged eyeliner? He flashes a smug grin as he swirls what looks like an iced coffee around with a straw, his feet kicked up on the row of seats in front of them. What a bastard.
“Shouldn’t someone majoring in Sports Science be taking better care of what they put into their body?”
“Says you,” Kensei retorts, snatching his can to his chest as if he were an old lady protecting her purse on the subway. “What is that? Coffee? That’s just as bad!”
“It’s iced coffee, sweetheart. Besides, I never said I was perfect.” his smug grin only grew. The audacity of this guy- Kensei was honestly perplexed, who even acts like this?
The guy swirls his straw around again, the sound of ice against plastic obnoxiously loud compared to the dull murmur of their classmates' conversations. Before Kensei can get the next word in their professor clears her throat into her microphone, silencing the lecture hall. Kensei sighs under his breath- letting someone else get the last word isn’t really his style, but he’s only two weeks into the semester and he doesn’t want to get on the professor's bad side just yet. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for blondie next to him.
“ Psst-“ Kensei feels like snapping his pen in half. “ Oi, caffeine kid!”
Kensei bites his tongue.
“ Oi! Dumbass!”
Kensei snapped his head towards the glasses wearing prick beside him. “ Would you shut the f-“
“Can I borrow a pen?” Kensei could just about feel a blood vessel popping in his head. We’re two weeks into the semester, how does this bastard not have a pen? “...some paper too?”
“Did you seriously come to class without anything to take notes with?” Kensei feels like he’s whispering a touch too loud but he can’t control the clear frustration in his voice. He doesn’t even know this guy and he’s already sick of his shit.
“What was your name again?” There’s that grin.
“I never told you my name.” Kensei is trying his best to focus on what the professor is saying, but that’s hard enough when you don’t have an annoying bastard in your ear and you’re the poster child for adolescent ADHD. Something about the chemical properties of lipids?
“Oh, forgive me, I seem to have lost my manners.” At this point his neighbour wasn’t even whispering anymore and it was a matter of time before they both got called out in front of the entire lecture hall. “I’m Sasugai Hayato, but you can call me Hayato-sama.”
The absolute cockiness of this asshole! What kind of bastard introduces himself like that? Kensei’s Obaasan would’ve slapped this guy upside the head and chewed him out for having an attitude like that. He figures the best way to survive the rest of this lecture would be to ignore Sasugai, however impossible that may prove to be. In hopes that it would make him shut up, at least in the short term, Kensei grabs a spare pen from his bag and tears a page from his notebook, handing them to Sasugai.
Kensei feels like he’s caving, giving up, losing a battle that doesn’t exist. “I want that pen back at the end of class, Sasugai-san.”
“ Ooh, so formal.”
Kensei could’ve sworn he saw Sasugai wink behind his glasses but he chose to ignore it, instead shifting his focus back to the lecturer. He tries his best to catch his brain up to what topic his professor is on but it proves difficult. His notes stop making sense and by the end of the lecture he feels like he has less brain cells than he began with. Maybe those energy drinks are bad for him.
Maeshima Kensei was one of the top ranked junior figure skaters in his elementary school years. While he hasn’t stepped foot on an ice rink in almost a decade, he still likes to stay fit. His high school peers had tried to get him to join one of the other sporting clubs at their school but Kensei always refused. Yeah, he was good at most sports, but he was never great. He was never the best. That was proven to him at age 11 when Shinozaki Reo beat him for the last time.
Kensei slipped his earphones in and after a few quick stretches he was off, jogging through the university campus. The evening chill made this time of day perfect for running, the campus well lit along various pathways and the scenery incredibly beautiful. At about the halfway point of Kensei’s lap around campus is a small bridge, over an artificial koi pond. The pond is monitored by the environmental science students, surrounded by cherry blossom trees in full blooms, marking the beginning of the semester. Kensei usually marks the pond as his point to rest, stopping by the water fountain to cool off on one of the benches by the water’s edge. Only this evening, there’s someone already sitting on his usual bench; messy blond hair tucked behind his ears, glasses resting on the bridge of his nose, that fucking grin on his face.
“Ah! Caffeine kid!” Sasugai pulls himself off the bench as he waves Kensei over.
Kensei couldn’t help but notice Sasugai’s horrible posture as he made his way towards him. Growing up ice skating professionally until the age of 11 conditioned Kensei into having almost perfect posture his entire life. Skating hunched over messed with your center of gravity and could only end with falling on your ass and a nice cold wet patch on your pants. Sasugai’s arm fell around Kensei’s shoulders, an uncomfortable heat rising up on the back of his neck. This guy has zero boundaries. Ever heard of personal space?
“Or should I call you former Japan Novice Figure Skating Championships silver medallist; Maeshima Kensei-kun?”
Kensei’s blood runs cold. Is this guy a stalker?! He shrugs Sasugai’s arm off his shoulders and turns to face him and that smug grin, like a fox baring his fangs.
“No need to look like I’ve just discovered your secret identity, honey.”
“Are you stalking me?” Kensei narrows his eyes at the other man in front of him. Besides his face, he didn’t look all that threatening- his skinny jeans showed just how scrawny he was underneath his baggy jacket. If Kensei were being stalked he could definitely take this guy. “Do I need to call the police on you, honey ?!”
Sasugai - that even was his real name - held up both his hands in innocence, but the cheeky smile on his face spelled anything but.
“Woah, hey now! No need to be feisty.” Sasugai brings one hand up to push his glasses up, saying, “I can explain.”
Kensei reaches for his phone. He wasn’t actually going to call the cops but he could still call someone from his dorm, at least to get some witnesses down here.
“Shinozaki Reo.”
Kensei freezes. Shinozaki Reo. Nationally ranked figure skater and skate-leading champion. Made junior nationals at just eleven years old and could’ve gone on to dominate in seniors but switched to skate leading at age sixteen where his high school team won championships. Last he heard he was training with the Japan National Team and is set to be selected for the Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022. Most importantly he’s Maeshima Kensei’s sworn rival. No- arch nemesis.
Sasugai must notice the clear distaste on Kensei’s face because the corner of his mouth twitches, turning his cocky grin into an all-knowing smirk.
“You see, Kensei-kun - can I call you Kensei? - the wonderfully-talented-child-prodigy-national-treasure Shinozaki Reo is none other than my half-brother.”
He has to be lying. “You’re lying.” Shinozaki doesn’t have a brother? “Shinozaki doesn’t have a brother!” They have different surnames- wait, he said half-brother, right? Kensei opens his mouth to argue again but Sasugai beats him to it.
“Our father is a lying, cheating, asshole,” He begins. It’s weird how nonchalant he is, the way he talks about his father. “Reo is only a few months older than me. His mother - our father’s wife - had no idea her darling husband was fucking his secretary on the side. Until he knocked them both up, at least. It’s so cliche, like something out of a daytime TV drama.” Sasugai laughs to himself. “Anyway, Reo was obviously the favourite, so as you can see; I hate his guts too.”
It shocked Kensei, leaving him staring blankly at Sasugai. This is all very new information for him. His rival has a brother? The shocking revelations about his rival’s family?
Kensei still hasn’t said a word when Sasugai starts speaking again. “So, Kensei-kun, you have an unbelievably ridiculous one sided rivalry with my half-brother. I have a mountain of unresolved childhood trauma and honestly just hate the stuck up ice princess, so what would you say if I said I had a proposition for you?”
A proposition? Kensei is still processing everything Sasugai has dropped on him. Thinking about it, this entire encounter and this morning’s seems weirdly planned. Wait, is he actually stalking me? C’mon, we’re well past that Kensei! He feels a headache coming along.
He finally answers. “What kind of proposition?” It’s stupid, he knows he shouldn’t be entertaining this guy, but he’s intrigued. Shinozaki Reo has had an invisible hold over Kensei’s life for over a decade, even if it was entirely of his own making. Besides, what does he have to lose?
“I have a plan. It’s perfect but you, Kensei-kun, are the key,” Sasugai begins. “In a few weeks, Father is planning a fancy dinner function to celebrate his favourite son’s achievements or whatever. I really don’t care, but my presence has been reluctantly requested.” Distaste drips from every word, but Sasugai’s signature grin still remains. “So what would be better revenge than, in front of all the wealthy skating officials and donors, father’s friends and our incredibly conservative family, than me, the family disappointment, bringing his boyfriend , former skating prodigy; Maeshima Kensei? ”