Work Text:
Isagi liked his new job, sometimes he thinks he might even love it. When he's off the field, he enjoys spending time with his fellow Blue Lockers, much to the surprise of the other players (although he doesn't know why).
Earlier this week, Ego had announced that due to popular demand, a limited time Blue Lock diner would be opened to encourage fan interaction. He had read off a list of players that would be working as diner staff, saying something about being fan favorites.
Isagi admits that being called out as a fan favorite made him blush. But what really excited him was that the diner could bring more attention to Blue Lock. Which meant that the program, which was almost canceled prior to the U-20 match, could continue on.
He'd be devastated if Blue Lock ended and he was forced back to a life where he couldn't live and breathe football every single day. He was currently living his dream and he wasn't ready for his egoism to die now.
So of course, he was more than willing to dress up in the diner uniform and skate around. He was sure it wasn't even the worst thing Ego had made them do.
Surprisingly, he found himself having a really great time. It wasn't often that he could spend time with other players in a non-competitive setting. He had to remind himself several times that his job was to greet diner guests and serve them food. It was definitely not to make note of his coworkers off the field to analyze later— in case the information proved useful in a play.
"Isagi~" Bachira nearly knocked them both over as he skated into Isagi, arms thrown wide in anticipation of a hug. "Aren't you glad we're both working together?!"
Isagi laughed as Bachira rubbed his cheek against his own, skewing Bachira's pink visor to the side. "Of course! I'm excited to meet some of our fans. Let's work hard for the sake of Blue Lock!"
"Is that all you think about you silly egoist," Bachira teased, before waving two cold bottles in front of Isagi's face. "Look what I got!"
Before Isagi could respond, Bachira shook the two colas. Rin, tray in hand, was unfortunately passing by when the caps flew off the bottles and drenched the three in syrupy liquid.
"You lukewarm shits," Rin scowled, menacing look dampened by the melon soda dripping from his bangs.
"Watch out!" Before Rin could reach out to strangle the duo, Reo skated between them wielding a mop. Without waiting to hear a reply, he began furiously mopping up the spill. "Tsk, you three are so clumsy! What if Nagi slipped on this mess."
"Reo~" Bachira latched himself to the taller purple-haired man's back. He stuck his tongue out and pointed a finger accusingly. "Rin-chan's being mean."
"No arguing," Reo chided. "We have orders almost ready, let's get back to work!"
"Reo's like a boss," Bachira sing-songed back, doing wide loops as he skated away. " Yes boss, I'll be sure to work hard."
Isagi, who had been busy noting how Reo had control of the team off field to the same extent he did on, barely registered the napkin Reo held out to him. Rin on his left was currently dabbing soda off his face, slightly flushed in embarrassment after offering a reluctant 'Thanks' to the older boy.
A loud clatter interrupted Isagi's own thanks. Nagi was standing near the counter, hands empty with his tray and a pile of fries at his feet. Large gray eyes stared helplessly at Reo.
"Reooooooo..."
"Coming, treasure," Reo left the napkin in Isagi's hand before skating towards the slouching striker.
"What a lukewarm idiot."
Isagi considered updating his mental note on Nagi to include clumsy and helpless.
✦
Chigiri initially waved Ego's latest project off as a waste of time. Between Manshine training and trying to end a certain hero's emo arc, he was a busy guy.
But even he had to agree with Reo that the outfits were cute. With his hair up in a ponytail, complete with a pink visor and matching pinstripe shirt, Chigiri was kind of eating up the diner look. He'll still roll his eyes whenever Reo tries to get him to admit he's having fun. And Chigiri will still respond with a "It's only because we look so good in these outfits."
It had absolutely nothing to do with Kunigiri joining them, having been dragged along by a very cheery Isagi out of the Bastard Munchen's dungeon or whatever.
Though the orange haired striker still had all the emotional capabilities of a cyborg, Chigiri had a good feeling about the whole diner thing. After all, outside the super depressing Blue Lock prison walls, he felt he had a much better chance of cracking Kunigami's exterior.
"Carrying two trays at once?" Chigiri teased, skating up next to the striker. "Looks like you're still the same muscle hero I know."
So what if Kunigami didn't even look his way as he went to deliver the order? The diner was open for a week and Chigiri had never been a quitter. Sulking (only a little), he returned to the front of the diner to grab another menu. Being hostess was fun and all, but let's be real, he only had one job here.
"Still trying to save our lost hero?" Reo slid up next to him, balancing two drinks on a tray.
"Aren't you worried your little treasure is going to be lost without his mommy?" Chigiri snarked back, not unkindly.
"Nagi's fine by himself," Reo stuck his other hand on his hip. "Besides, after I drop this order off for him, I told him I'd massage his legs."
Okay, Chigiri had to seriously fight the urge to roll his eyes at Reo, fearing they would pop right out of their sockets onto the diner floor if he did. Has Nagi even delivered a single order?? Reo must've seen whatever constipated look he had on his face, because he let out a laugh.
"He said skating around hurt his feet," Reo defended, probably reading Chigiri's slanderous mind.
The redhead was currently praying that he would be rewarded for even having to bear witness to Reo breaking his back making excuses for Nagi.
"Besides, we don't want to lose our next match, right princess?"
Never one to leave without a last word, especially if the last word was Reo saying anything related to that lazy slob Nagi, Chigiri lightly teased back.
"Well, it makes me feel better that I'm not the only one working hard for my crush in this diner, let's hope at least one of us is lucky in the end."
Chigiri couldn't help his smug look as he caught Reo's flushing face. Before his delusional friend could respond with a "He's just my treasure, it's not like that at all," Chigiri skated off with a menu in hand.
✦
Barou? Barou fucking hated this damn activity that Ego forced them into. The thought of being a puppet for that bowl headed creep made a vein twitch in his temple, something that had been happening far too often since he started working.
It's like none of the other idiots here have heard of health code violations and sanitation regulation. Thank the powers that be, Ego or not, that the Blue Lockers were only serving food because if they were cooking or preparing food, Barou was sure some of the patrons would be leaving sick or dropping dead.
He dies a little (a lot) inside every time he sees that damn buzzing bee spray whipped cream on Isagi's face, then into his own mouth, and then onto a crepe for a customer . What the fuck?
Not much better is Chigiri, who he already knows is disgusting from their time rooming together (Chigiri AND Nagi's cesspools of filth still haunt his dreams). Thankfully the redhead was only acting as a hostess and not actually interacting with any food. And yet, here he goes, whizzing by Barou, tracking god-knows-what behind him. He knows that the Manshine striker is fast, but is he also blind to milkshake puddles and crumbs as he drags them along behind him?
Without contest, Nagi was the worst source of Barou's headaches.
For Barou, it's not a question of How has my lazy coworker not been fired? But a case of Will Ego please fire this waste of space, disgusting leech of a creature before I have an aneurysm from being in the same room as it.
He knew for a fact that Ego could fire people. Everyone was present when Shidou was fired for non-stop extremely lewd behavior directed at Sae that resulted in customers losing their appetites and the diner losing business.
Ego had said it had to be done because it was "bad for business." And Barou knows for a fact that having Nagi's health code violating ass in this diner was equally as bad. The diner hadn't even been open for three days and Barou has already witnessed that repulsive creature do things that would make a starving man lose his appetite.
For one, Barou has never seen Nagi wash his hands. He has seen him lay on the floor whining about being tired. He has seen him splay out on a dirty counter after losing a game on his phone. He's even seen him grab onto Reo's skates in an attempt to get the purple-haired player to tend to his needs. But he has never seen Nagi use whatever brain cells he had in that empty ass head of his to consider washing his hands. Because they were serving food. To other people.
Not only that, Barou has caught the useless lump on multiple occasions tasting food before giving it to others. And not even on his own. Reo would skate up to the disgusting creature, ruffle his hair, and take the tray to deliver it in his stead.
Barou can't wait for the diner to close at the end of the week. Maybe if he strangled Nagi to death, it'll be forced to close sooner and he can get back to training instead of losing his damn mind.
✦
Ego was trying to curate Japan's number one striker. He was not trying to play baby-sitter or diner manager or whatever the hell else came with running a program full of teenage boys. He thought handing off the Blue Lockers to top football players for coaching meant that he was free of his problems.
But alas. Blue Lock TV was supposed to help the program gain popularity and prevent its cancellation. It worked a little too well. Because now he had to deal with "public opinion." Was it not enough that he gave each player their own (too large in his opinion) bed and stopped crowding them to one room?
He supposed popularity was one important aspect of the number one striker. But look how the "Jewel of Japan" fared. The only thing that mattered was an egoist mindset, a thirst to be the best.
So how the hell did they end up here. With some of his best players skating around in the shoddy diner he was forced to build to placate the public. A diner Ego himself would not be caught dead in. Just seeing how the teenagers handled food made him cringe behind his monitors.
But if it's what the public wants, it's what they'll get. All powerful in his football prison, not even Ego could fight against public opinions. So he'll just throw his players into the diner for a week and then get back to his real goal.
Yes, the diner is a trainwreck, but there haven't been any complaints. Well there haven't been any complaints since the internet blew up about how one of his player's behaviors was wildly inappropriate and that there were kids watching, etc etc. Firing Shidou seemed to be enough for now.
Ego is not an idiot. He knows that Bachira should not be touching others' food with his bare hands and then licking his fingers, rinse and repeat. It's obvious that besides Barou and Reo, the other players have never cleaned a day in their life. And there's no denying that Nagi, who hasn't gotten up from the floor since he recently knocked over an order, is wasting the diner's money. How many trays could one server spill before it became painfully obvious it was intentional.
However, he's here to coach his unpolished gems. And if people haven't commented on any of the diner staff's behavior since Shidou, he suppose he can let it pass. Besides, Mikage has been working unsettlingly hard in maintaining a semblance of a functional diner. Perhaps Ego can file that away to make a quip later about putting as much effort into playing decent football with his so-called "partner."
✦
Reo was having a great time— maybe the most fun he's had in a while. Of course, he's been enjoying Blue Lock. Getting the chance to play against talented competition has helped him grow exponentially and he's been enjoying playmaking with Manshine.
What he hasn't been enjoying is his tentative reunion with Nagi. Since Nagi's super goal, he's been feeling an insecurity reminiscent of the ugly feelings he had during the Second Selection. It's only amplified since their string of losses.
Reo had been taut with stress, anxious late night playmaking and fervent rewatches of previous matches, when Ego announced the diner. It seemed silly at the time for him; he had Barcha and the state of his partnership with Nagi on his mind.
And yet, guiltily even, he found himself having fun at the diner. Maybe it was breathing the stale Blue Lock air or being confined to gray walls with no semblance of self, but at the diner Reo felt like he was finally falling back into who he was before Blue Lock.
He had forgotten that there was something outside of Blue Lock. Yes, the diner was kind of horrendous and made Reo question whether the Mikage Corporation pulled their sponsorship. But it had a charm to it. Maybe the charm was just Reo's brain being so fried from recent stress.
Reo found himself joking with other players and being able to talk with their fans made him feel surprisingly normal. It was a welcomed change of pace.
What stayed the same though was Nagi. His precious treasure was currently sprawled out behind the counter tapping away on his phone. Reo found himself smiling fondly at the other, whose eyes were beginning to droop.
"Reo," Nagi dropped the phone onto his chest, turning to look at him. Reo found him extremely endearing— his pink visor pushed down and nearly covering his eyes, pink tie stained lightly with oil, and apron wrinkling as he sat up. It was all so Nagi .
"Yes, treasure?" Reo set the tray he had been holding onto the counter. He leaned down to meet Nagi at eye level, a hand reaching out to adjust the pins holding the other's white hair back.
"Let's go back to our room." Nagi looked up at him, gray eyes wide and doe-like. Reo swears he saw the other's lips press slightly together in a small pout.
"We can't, Nagi," Reo chided, a finger tapping the tip of Nagi's nose. He giggled lightly as he watched Nagi's gray eyes come together in the middle, following the finger. "The diner hasn't closed yet."
"But I don't want to do this," Nagi responded. Was his partner throwing a tantrum?
Reo tilted his head in confusion, hand pressing against his chin in thought. "Hmm, maybe we can find something that'll motivate you. At least until the end of the shift."
"How about a milkshake?" Reo suggested when Nagi offered nothing in response. "That won't be a hassle to eat."
Nagi shook his head.
"What do you want then?"
"Reo." Nagi looked at him with shining large eyes. What a strange request, but Reo learned better than to assume meaning to his partner's words.
"You already have me though," Reo responded, hand moving to pinch Nagi's cheek. "But if that's what my treasure wants, sure."
"You guys are literally disgusting," Chigiri interrupted, hands on his hips as he looked down at the two. "Reo, your table's asking for their order."
"Later then, Nagi," Reo promised as he scrambled up. Hopefully his table's order hadn't gotten too cold.
"You are so pathetic," Chigiri directed to the white haired striker, whose eyes were still trailing after Reo as he skated away tray in hand.
"Shut up, princess," Nagi responded, eyes blazing with determination. "Just give me the next table."
+1
The diner was a hassle. Nagi had a list of other things he could be doing with his wasted time.
He could be laying in bed playing another shooter, with Reo next to him petting his hair. He could have been listening to the sweet melody of Reo's voice as he spoke while drying his hair.
It would be a lot of effort, but he could even be eating his lunch, with Reo feeding him of course. He could've locked eyes with Reo's own pretty purple ones, as Reo held a piece of perfectly cut steak for him to bite, and afterwards Reo would praise him.
...And he almost dropped his tray.
"Watch where you're going, you lukewarm useless idiot," Rin hissed at him, swerving to avoid where Nagi almost elbowed him.
"Go chase after your brother instead of bothering me," Nagi responded in kind. How annoying that this eyelash try hard interrupted his daydreaming. Now he had to start from the beginning.
"Excuse me?!" Nagi only heard the beginning of whatever Rin was saying. Mm maybe Reo and him could've been spending time together napping instead. It had been a while.
As he unceremoniously dropped the tray off at his table, order intact (yay awesome), he turned around to look for Reo.
There was his beautiful partner, currently delivering a tray with a radiant smile. Reo was so patient. And kind. And angelic. He must be the luckiest man alive to have such a gorgeous partner/future wife/life soulmate/love-
"Ahem," Chigiri appeared next to him, menu in hand as always. "I know you're busy making lovey dovey eyes or whatever at Reo, but I have another table that needs their order."
Nagi's shoulders fell at the thought of more work. But Reo did say he would be rewarded if he survived the day. Love makes people do mysterious things, he thought as he prepared to soldier up.
"As if that lazy shit would work," Barou sneered as he nudged him aside, trying to take his order. "Stop dragging us down, go back to your team and do that."
...And Nagi did not survive the shift. After he and Barou got into it, Ego sent them both away for the day. Unfairly, although admittedly he did pour a milkshake on that fake king's head, he was forced away from Reo in his cute diner get up.
Later at night, Reo and Chigiri joined him in their shared room, both having showered and out of their diner clothes (sad). Chigiri immediately flopped on the bed, muttering about "Another unsuccessful day," as Reo sat down next to Nagi.
"What happened, treasure?" Reo patted Nagi's head, which had matted from not having his partner dry and comb it for him.
"Do you think I'm dragging you down, Reo?" Nagi asked, staring at Reo's shocked face. Out of the corner of his eyes, Nagi could see the nosey redhead turn his head to the side to listen in.
"What makes you say that?" Reo ran his hand through Nagi's hair, gently detangling his white locks. Was it really wrong to want this for life?
"You said we needed to change," referring back to their post-Ubers conversation. Barou's comments earlier struck a nerve that was still stinging from their loss. "Am I not good enough for you?"
Nagi could hear Chigiri's quite audible gasp. Surprised the striker hadn't brought out popcorn as he watched along.
"Of course you are," Reo assured, grabbing both of Nagi's hands. "If we're going to change, it'll be together."
"Together 'till?" If Reo didn't remember their promise, Nagi might as well just put his diner skates back on and roll off a cliff, World Cup be damned.
"Together 'till the end," Reo whispered, purple eyes crinkling at the edges.
Nagi held his arms open waiting silently for a hug, relishing in the cute pink blush that spread across Reo's beautiful face. When Reo doesn't budge from where he sits on the edge of Nagi's bed, he has no choice but to break out the big guns.
"I want Reo," Nagi hoped he was pulling his best puppy dog face, the one Reo can never say no to. It seemed to be working because he could see his partner begin to waver. "Didn't you say I'd always have you?"
The final bullet. Reo's face was a lovely red and he huffed lightly as he moved to lay next to Nagi. Nagi wasted no time in wrapping his arms around the smaller player. Side by side, Nagi nestled his face into his partner's neck.
Just as Nagi was about to drift off into a sweet dream, no doubt one with Reo in it, said partner broke the silence.
"No more getting kicked out of the diner though."
"Reooooo..."