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Step 1: Prevent Anything from Happening in the First Place
Hyoma Chigiri would consider himself fairly intelligent. He wasn’t some sort of genius or anything, but he would like to think he knew more than the average person. All of this was to say that he knew that the moment he saw one Rensuke Kunigami on a dating site, he should’ve just blocked him. Now, knowing he should block his ex is one thing, but actually doing it? That’s a whole different story.
Chigiri stared at the screen, a familiar body greeting him like an old flame that went out too soon. Although Chigiri wasn’t super picky on who he would hook up with, he can’t deny that he had a type. A type that unfortunately stemmed from the guy who was practically taunting him on the screen by having the body of a modern-day Adonis and the personality of an awkward, but well-meaning German Shepard. Unwisely and unhappily, Chigiri decided to tear his eyes off the shirtless beach picture and actually read what Kunigami put on his dating profile. His nose scrunched up when he saw the “Looking for long-term only” at the end of a generic bio, but he quickly shoved away his thoughts as he shouldn’t have had them in the first place. Hooking up with an old friend from soccer prison? Been there, done that. It’s fine (More than fine if he was being totally honest) and you can just go back to being friends since there are no expectations. Hooking up with an ex from soccer prison? Chigiri was pretty sure that there were movie deal talks about the various soap drama-worthy situations that came from that.
So, the plan was simple and clearly laid out for him. Just block the man on the screen and move on to whatever other hot muscular guy that’s on this “celebrity” dating app. However, as Chigiri went to the block button, he found himself unable to block the other man. He reasoned that they were adults now, he didn’t need to block him, he just needed to not match with him. All he needed to do was swipe left and continue with his night. Was there the underlying hope that Chigiri wanted Kunigami to run into him on the dating app and go through similar feelings? Maybe, but Chigiri would never admit to it.
Naturally, Chigiri’s thinking ended up wandering into the fact that he just didn’t need to match with Kunigami for it to be a disaster. On some levels, he knew that he was just making excuses for himself and his possible actions, but it didn’t matter to him at the moment. He trusted himself to make reasonable choices. After all, he was always the “straight” man to Reo, Nagi, Bachira, and even occasionally Barou and Isagi. He had the power of reading many romance novels to make reasonable guesses on how situations would end and hooking up with an ex rarely ends well. Yet, despite knowing this, Chigiri was overcome with the urge to swipe right. It wasn’t his fault that Kunigami practically shaped his taste in men from the moment they interacted.
Chigiri looked at the profile again and thought back to his relationship with Kunigami. It didn’t end well, as Chigiri wanted to get out and spread his wings. He didn’t want his life from then on to only be defined by Blue Lock and football, even if those two things were some of the most important things in life to him. He had the opportunity to go to a new country, meet new people, gain new experiences. As much as he had loved Kunigami, he loved himself and the possibilities of a more exciting, varied future for himself more. In hindsight, Chigiri felt like he did shaft Kunigami back then. The other man still wanted to date and try long-distance before breaking up, but Chigiri wanted to cut as many ties with Blue Lock as possible so that he could be fully soaked in the new environment. Was it short-sighted? Yes. Did Chigiri regret it? Not really.
Kunigami was a noble guy. He stood up for himself and what he thought was right, even during his darkest moments. Why would he match with and accept the shafting that Chigiri gave him? He wouldn’t. (At least that’s what Chigiri hoped, otherwise, this would turn disastrous.) So, it would be fine if Chigiri swiped right just for shits and giggles. There were definitely no underlying emotions or wants there. None at all. It’s all just for a bit, like one of those cliché moments where a person swipes right on their ex as a joke. However, as Chigiri made the motion to swipe right, he paused. This really wasn’t a good idea. Why is he opening up the possibility for a match when he could just nip the problem right in the bud? Well, he knew the answer to that, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it yet.
Chigiri took a deep breath and quickly swiped right on Kunigami, immediately putting his phone on silent afterward. This decision would probably come back to bite him in the ass knowing his luck and the other man’s softer tendencies, but maybe it won’t. Maybe, this would just be something to laugh and lament about later with his friends. Said friends that are shared with Kunigmi. Okay, maybe this is just something that Chigiri can think about when it’s 2 am and he can’t sleep and just thinks about the What-Ifs in his life until he eventually does succumb to slumber. Chigiri placed his phone face down on his nightstand and turned his attention to the nearest book, desperate for something to take his mind off his bad decision. Unfortunately for him, the nearest book was Birthright by Nora Roberts, and as much as he enjoyed that book, he really didn’t want to read any Second Chance Romance novels. Chigiri sighed as he looked at the time (an early 21:28) and just decided to call it a night as he started his hair-care routine.
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Step 2: Freak Out (In an Elegant and Socially Acceptable Way) When the Consequences of Your Actions Arrive
The situation turned disastrous.
Chigiri really should’ve expected this. Of course, Kunigami, stupidly loyal dreamy Kunigami, would swipe right on him too. Chigiri could only look in abject horror at the matched screen that greeted him when he opened the app the next night because he still hadn’t achieved his goal of getting some. To make it worse (or better, Chigiri couldn’t decide), the guy didn’t even shoot him a message. No “hi”, “wyd”, or “dtf?”? Chigiri was hoping for at least some indication of what he should do next. Sighing, he opened up Kunigami’s profile and was prepared to unmatch with the man, only to find his fingers hovering hesitantly over the button as if it was waiting for something to stop it. Logically, he knew that nothing was there to stop him but himself, which meant that he should do the logical thing of unmatching.
Logical he was not, as Chigiri resigned himself to just staring at the shirtless beach picture that Kunigami made his first photo. God, Kunigami didn’t just shape Chigiri’s taste in men, he made sure that no one else could even compare. Chigiri groaned and placed down his phone. “I really just need to get laid and everything will fix itself,” He muttered, massaging his temples. “I’m hot. I can easily get someone today and exorcise what the fuck this is from my system,” He continued, nodding to himself. Feeling a bit better now that he had a plan, he picked up his phone only to get a notification that caused his newly formed plan to screech to a fiery halt.
Kunigami had just messaged him.
Chigiri could see the monkey’s paw curl cruelly as he could only stare at his lock screen blankly. He ran through all the different possible messages in his head. The most probable message, at least the most probable based on the Kunigami that he used to know, would probably be something cordial and awkward. It would probably be something like “Hey, didn’t expect to see you here. How’s it going?” or “Wow, long time no talk. How have you been?”, which Chigiri could handle. Although he would never admit it to anyone, he had imagined and planned on what he would do if Kunigami ever texted him something similar out of the blue. He would play it cool and friendly, and see where it goes from there. If he got the very unlikely hostile message, then he’ll take it as a much-needed sign to move on. If he got any type of message that involved hooking up… he would be unbelievably doomed, so he was hoping that Kunigami would send literally any other kind of text.
Of course, the monkey has two paws, and the other paw curled as Chigiri read the message nervously. “Hey, I’m kinda surprised that you would even swipe right on me? Most people on here would jump on your bones,” Chigiri muttered, offended for Kunigami on his behalf before continuing his reading. “I’m glad you did though. Want to grab dinner and catch up?” Chigiri sighed and calmly placed down his phone next to him, before grabbing the nearest pillow and smothering himself with it. At least with hooking up, Chigiri could delude himself into thinking that it’s just sex, but dinner? Catching up? Sure, it could be a friendly thing, but Chigiri has consumed way too much romance media not to see the hidden implications there. Yet, even with all of the knowledge that he had, he couldn’t get himself to decline the offer. Was it the horniness? Probably, but Chigiri knew that wasn’t just it. Instead, he was stuck feeling like he did in Blue Lock when he kept on chasing after Kunigami post-Wild Card, nervous but hopeful.
For all the bravado that Chigiri had, deep inside he knew that he was fucked the moment he saw Kunigami’s profile and didn’t immediately swipe left. Now, the real question was just how fucked is Chigiri? He hoped that it would be very since that was the reason that he downloaded the app, but all jokes aside, he didn’t want whatever tenuous relationship to burn up completely. Sure, their interactions as of late were just the yearly birthday and Christmas wishes, social media post likes, and rare replies to each other in group chats, but Chigiri won’t lie and say that he didn’t look forward to the next time that they would interact. His feelings are in a weird limbo where he can’t say that he is over Kunigami, but he also can’t say that he isn’t over him either.
Chigiri lifted his face out of the pillow and grabbed his phone. He was past the point of pretending that he was nonchalant about matching with Kunigami and if he was being fair, he did ask earlier for Kunigami to give him a sign on how to approach the situation next. Instead of opening up the dating app, Chigiri opened up his texts and was greeted with many years’ worth of “ Happy Birthday”, “Thank you.”, “Merry Christmas”, and “Merry Christmas to you too” from both sides. It was uncomfortably barren and Chigiri briefly wondered if he should just respond to Kunigami back on the dating app, where there was no air of torrid memories or awkward history. However, he quickly dismissed the thought. It felt distasteful and impersonal to just sweep all of their shared memories under the rug if this dinner did turn into something more, so Chigiri supposes that he has to be the one to break the unsaid barrier between them.
Taking a deep breath, Chigiri sent a text that said “sooo like, this dinner thing… is it just as friends or like is it a date??? i gotta know how good i should look”. Much to his nervousness, the read receipt showed up a few seconds later and the text bubble popped up. He looked up from his phone to stare at the poster of one of his favorite movies, Hereditary, hanging on his living room wall. “Oh, Toni Collette, we’re really in it now,” He muttered.
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Step 3: Talk to Friends
“Out of everyone in Team White excluding me, I thought you were the least idiotic,” Barou said after Chigiri explained the entire situation to him over the phone. An offended “Hey!” could be heard in the background, as Chigiri heard Barou mutter something about how his boyfriend was obviously an exception so he didn’t need to be mentioned, before returning back to the call. “Turns out that only I had the brain cells after Yoichi left.”
“Listen. I know it’s stupid, you don’t have to rub it in,” Chigiri replied defensively, staring up at his bedroom wall. “I just wanted to get a relatively sane person’s take on what I should do.” Barou snorted at the stray directed at most of their other friends.
“Unmatch with him and continue on living life?” Barou made it sound so easy, which it would’ve been if not for Chigiri’s Schrödinger‘s feelings. “There are probably hundreds of guys who would literally die to have a chance with you.”
“You see…” Chigiri racked his brain for any semi-plausible excuse to give Barou, only to come up empty.
“I don’t see because I make good decisions in life.” Chigiri heard Isagi’s stifled laughter in the background. The traitor.
“I didn’t actually finish telling you the whole story yet.” Chigiri continued sheepishly, tucking several loose strands of hair behind his ear.
An uncomfortably long stretch of silence filled the call until Barou’s exasperated sigh broke it. “Don’t tell me you caved and asked to hook up,” Barou said as Chigiri could practically see the scowl on his face.
“Don’t worry, I’m not that desperate,” Chigiri replied, suddenly interested in the paint bubbles on his ceiling. He should start on that apartment makeover he had wanted for a couple of years.
“You’re doing that voice that you do when you’re tryna hide something,” Isagi chimed in as Chigiri glared at his phone.
“I think you should pay attention to your dinner before you set off the fire alarm again,” Chigiri said sweetly as Barou snorted again.
“He’s right, y’know.” Chigiri heard Barou say as Isagi’s muffled response came right after. “Yes, of course, I’ll tell you everything. Although let’s be honest, he’ll still be talking when you’re done cooking.” The conversation with Isagi ended with a kiss and a “Love you” from Barou as Chigiri smiled to himself. Out of all the relationships that came from Blue Lock, Chigiri wouldn’t have pegged Isagi and Barou as the healthiest relationship, but he wasn’t all too surprised about it. Despite their hypercompetitiveness on the field and their never-ending rivalry, they were both communicative and perceptive to each other’s wants and needs, which couldn’t be said for most of the other relationships that came out of Blue Lock, his and Kunigami’s included. “Don’t think you’re getting away from telling the whole story.” Barou’s gruff voice broke Chigiri out of his thoughts. However, before Chigiri could say anything, Barou continued. “I’m not gonna fact-check you or whatever, but it’s kinda useless to lie to someone that you asked for advice from.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Chigiri admitted as he sat up and pulled his covers up so that it went completely over his head. There was no one else in the apartment, but Chigiri liked the warmth and security that came with being completely under the blanket.
“I’m always right.”
Chigiri rolled his eyes at the response but chose not to comment on it as he knew that Barou was stubborn enough to keep the snark going. “Okay, so don’t get mad-”
“Every single time you’ve said that, it always ends with you saying the most fuckshit things ever.”
“-But, he texted me about getting dinner, and instead of unmatching or rejecting him, I asked if it was a date so that I knew ‘how good I should look’ and he hits me with the ‘you always look perfect, so I don’t think it matters.’ How am I supposed to respond to that?”
“That’s nauseating.” was Barou’s first response.
“Maybe so, but he’s hot enough to make it sound romantic.” Chigiri could practically hear Barou’s eyes rolling.
“Well? What did you do next then?”
“I thanked him and asked if it was a date or not so that I know the expectations, and he responded with another non-answer of ‘It can be whatever you want it to be’, which sucks because I don’t fucking know what I want it to be.”
“Listen, princess, you gotta make up your mind before rushing into any dinner or hookup or whatever. It’s unfair for you and the other person if you go in giving nothing only to come out with expectations.” Barou’s voice was sharp, but it wasn’t unkind, and Chigiri was glad that he went to him for advice.
“I know, which was why I confirmed it as a date. He didn’t really react to it in any big way, but I think he’s pleased? He sent a smiley face at the end of his text and everything.” Chigiri felt like a teenager again as he also had many calls about his crush on Kunigami underneath his blankets back then. He put Barou on speakerphone so that he could scroll through his gallery. He has moved back to Japan after spending four years in England, so he had to scroll a bit before he reached the old pictures that he had with Kunigami. It seemed so long ago that it made Chigiri’s heart ache when he realized that he was a very different person from how he was back then.
“I’m surprised the guy matched with you, you really did a number on him with that break-up.” Chigiri looked at the top of his phone, startled and worried that he accidentally was on video call. Barou wasn’t just perceptive when it came to Isagi, he was perceptive when it came to whoever he cared about, and he could read Chigiri a bit too well for his comfort. “I get why you did that, you do what you gotta do to improve yourself and your life. Blue Lock really was like a shackle for many of us and it’s good that you took steps to break out of them.” Before Barou could continue, Chigiri heard the shuffle of footsteps and the soft clang of bowls being placed down on a table.
Chigiri heard the mutters of Barou catching Isagi up to date on the situation and Isagi’s familiar thinking hum could be heard throughout. “I also get why you did that, but I don’t agree with it. I would’ve at least given long-distance a try before just breaking it off,” Isagi said after he was caught up to speed. “Kunigami didn’t even look at anyone else for the next three years. It took Raichi introducing him to a nice, long-haired ballet dancer for him to even go past basic flirting.” Chigiri had never heard of this ballet dancer before and he could feel a spark of jealousy flare up in his stomach. However, he knew that now wasn’t the time to ask for the name, so he made a mental note to go through Kunigami’s following later to see if he could find out more information.
“In hindsight, I really should’ve tried long-distance first, but I was just…” Chigiri paused as he didn’t like any of the words that came to his head. He wouldn’t necessarily call the old him selfish, but he would call him restless and insatiable. “...on edge. I had just torn my ACL again and this time, the whole world saw it. I wanted to just leave that moment completely behind, and it was way too rash of me.”
“You barely kept in touch with anyone in Blue Lock. We all had to start conversations and plans with you first before you started to slowly ease back into our lives,” Isagi said, pausing to take a drink of water. “It reminded me of what you were like at the start of First Selection. History seems to repeat with you.” Chigiri flinched, but he couldn’t say anything to defend himself because it was the truth in this case.
“During the four years you were gone, I’ve actually met up with the guy a lot whenever I came back home to visit my family. We worked out together and he always asked if I had heard anything new about you and if you were doing well,” Barou said after he thanked Isagi for the food. Chigiri winced but didn’t say anything as Barou continued. “It annoyed me because he literally asked about you every single time, and I met up with this guy three times a week whenever I was back in Akita. I didn’t give him too much shit though, I know what it’s like for your thoughts to be consumed by someone else 24/7.”
“Yeah, like when you decided to dye your hair like some flamboyant chicken for Isagi before your NEL match together,” Chigiri replied, unable to resist the easy opportunity to tease his friend.
“Yeah, but unlike you, I actually decided to properly communicate my feelings to him.” Barou let out a deep sigh. “Whatever it is that you’re going to do Chigiri, just be aware of both your and his feelings. I don’t want to him to ask about you after I just finished doing a rep ever again.”
“When is this date anyway?” Isagi asked after there were a few moments of silence as Isagi and Barou ate their food and Chigiri continued swiping through his pictures.
“It’s tomorrow,” Chigiri answered as both Barou and Isagi stopped chewing.
“You truly haven’t changed,” Barou replied, a hint of fondness seeping into his voice. “Always chasing your goals as fast as possible.”
Chigiri stopped scrolling when he saw a picture of Kunigami laughing in some park. The sun was setting, and the whole park was painted golden. The remaining sunlight was bathing Kunigami in a way that made him seem like he was a descended angel and Chigiri was the lucky person that he decided to grace. Kunigami’s smile was softer than Chigiri had remembered it had ever been and the crinkles at the end of his eyes were a familiar friend that Chigiri never even realized that he missed. “Well, like Isagi said. History seems to repeat with me, so it’s my turn to do the chasing.”
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Step 4: Deny Anything Will Happen
It was the day of reckoning and for as much bravado as Chigiri gave off, he was nervous. He was extremely nervous. He had his hair in a smooth ponytail and he was wearing a lower-cut shirt so that his nape was out on full display. Did Kunigami still have a thing for napes? Chigiri sure hoped so. As he stepped into the bustling tsukemen restaurant, he immediately noticed the pair of auburn eyes scanning for him. Auburn eyes met pink ones as Chigiri could do nothing but stare at the man in front of him. He somehow was taller and more muscular than before, which really wasn’t fair because Chigiri barely grew in height at all. A hesitant smile appeared on the taller man’s face as Chigiri slowly made his way over to the table. Well, it was too late to back out now.
“Long time no see,” Kunigami said as Chigiri sat down in front of him. Although it was brief, Chigiri noticed the lingering look that Kunigami gave his neck and collar bones. Okay, so at least that hasn’t changed.
“Hey.” Chigiri paused as the words “Sorry about breaking up with you and going low-contact for four years. I was having a life crisis and really needed the space” laid unsaid on his tongue. Chigiri is aware that that was way too much for the beginning of a date, so he tucked it away for later on if they’re both feeling sentimental.
An awkward stretch of silence settled between the two of them as Chigiri tried to focus on what he wanted from the menu. The truth was that he already looked at the menu a few hours ago and decided on something then, but he didn’t want to seem too idle. Fidgeting with the menu, Chigiri sneaked a glance up at Kunigami, who had on his old thinking face. Now, while Chigiri knew his approximate end goal of getting closer to Kunigami, he didn’t know the route he should take. Should he be forward and try for that hookup that he set out on the app to get? Should he just aim for friendship first? Should he go even slower and just aim for being acquaintances? From all the media he has consumed, the best results always came from becoming friends again and then working up to whatever it was that he desired. If he went straight to the hook-up, it was likely to be a one-and-done thing, which Chigiri wasn’t looking for. If he went for being acquaintances, that would be too slow and Kunigami could lose interest. Nodding his head, Chigiri looked up to see that Kunigami was unabashedly staring at him.
“You okay there?” Chigiri asked with a smirk as he tilted his head to show off more of his collarbones. He had put on some body glitter there to really make it shine and he was glad that he did so as Kunigami could barely tear his eyes off of them.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just wanted to see if you were ready to order,” Kunigami said, tearing his eyes off of Chigiri’s collarbones to look at him in the eye.
If Chigiri was being honest with himself, he didn’t know if he had the patience to go through friendship first before jumping Kunigami’s bones. The almost reverent look that Kunigami was giving Chigiri made him feel desired. Powerful. Chigiri paused and mentally took a deep breath. If there was anything that he learned throughout life, it was that speed doesn’t necessarily get him to his goals. Sometimes, being slow and steady wins the race.
“Yeah, I’m ready,” Chigiri replied as he flagged down a waiter. The two of them placed their orders before finally settling down to properly begin their date. Chigiri had no idea how to befriend an ex, as he only ever had one. Still, though, he assumes that it can’t be too different from befriending someone normally. However, before he could say anything, Kunigami had beaten him to the punch.
“How’ve you been these past few years?” It was a basic question, boring even, but Chigiri could see the earnest look that he was given. He knew that he owed Kunigami at least an explanation for what happened.
“I heard from Barou that you asked about me every time you guys met. I’m flattered,” Chigiri teased, batting his eyelashes. It’s a faux pas to start off a date with something serious, even when there is a lot of history to acknowledge. “So, doesn’t that mean that you should be pretty caught up on how I’m doing?”
Kunigami rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “It’s always better to ask the source for these kinda things,” He replied, flashing Chigiri a sheepish smile. “Barou also never said anything else other than a gruff ‘he’s fine’, which didn’t tell me anything at all.”
“You could’ve just asked me directly,” Chigiri said, fully aware of why Kunigami didn’t do so.
Kunigami stared down at his hands. “I wasn’t too sure where I stood with you,” He admitted. Their tsukemen had arrived and he gratefully looked up at the waitress, thanking her warmly before taking a deep breath and looking at Chigiri. “I’m sorry for being unfair to you back then. I kept on just pushing for what I wanted without really taking what you wanted into consideration. You were under a lot of stress and I just kept on thinking about myself.” Kunigami apologized, bowing his head.
Chigiri was dumbfounded. Kunigami kept on surprising him at every turn, even if these surprises weren’t all too surprising if he thought about it long enough. “Thank you for apologizing,” Chigiri said slowly, watching as Kunigami was watching him warily. Distantly, he was thankful that they chose tsukemen as their meal of choice because he wasn’t too sure if he could eat any time soon. It was still too early in the date for Chigiri to feel comfortable apologizing back, but it would be rude to just leave someone to their faux pas. The kind thing would be to join them so that they don’t feel as alienated. “If anything, I should’ve been the one to apologize first. I was restless and unsatisfied with my life, so I just wanted to start it over, even if it was just for a little bit. I was the one that only thought of himself. I should’ve given us more of a chance instead of running away like I always do.” Chigiri bowed his own head. He was glad that the restaurant was too big and crowded for them to draw any attention.
Kunigami’s eyes widened briefly before a sincere smile spread on his face. The familiar crinkles at the end of his eyes made Chigiri wonder why it took him this long to reach out. “Thanks, but as I’m sure you can tell, I’ve forgiven you a long time ago,” Kunigami said, pausing for a bit before continuing. “Let’s start over as our post-Blue-Lock selves.” He held out his left hand. Chigiri hesitantly reached out and grabbed it with his right. Kunigami didn’t seem to have changed much, but Chigiri knew that wasn’t the case at all. He had spent the past few years working to become a more mature version of the guy that Chigiri first knew, the one that hadn’t yet gone to Wild Card, the one with passion and fairness coursing through his veins. He really was amazing.
“Hi, I’m Chigiri Hyoma. I just moved back to Japan after spending time in England,” Chigiri said, an uncharacteristically shy smile on his face.
“Hi Chigiri, I’m Kunigami Rensuke and I think I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
Chigiri’s face was burning and he was pretty sure that he was about to melt into a gooey pile of sludge. He was a sucker for cheesy lines, sue him. However, he was never the type to back down during high-tension moments. “Well Rensuke, I don’t think I’ll ever make you wait again.”
Step 5: Accept That Something Will Happen
Chigiri’s plan to go slow flew out the window the moment that Kunigami hit him with a cheesy romance line. The two of them finally started eating their tsukemen and if Chigiri was being honest, he would rather be devouring something else that was long. The two of them had somewhat moved on from the moment, but Chigiri could tell that the implications still lingered by the longer, deeper stares that Kunigami gave him.
“So about that looking for something short-term on your profile,” Kunigami said after the two of them had pleasantly chatted about random things that they had gotten into. Kunigami had apparently gotten into wrestling and Chigiri almost tripped over himself asking if he had any videos of it.
“What about it?” Chigiri replied casually, as he brushed Kunigami’s legs with his own. “You interested?”
Kunigami didn’t respond right away, instead reciprocating Chigiri’s brushes with his own. Chigiri froze when he felt strong hands teasingly rubbing up and down his leg. “You saw that I had looking for long-term only on my profile. Why did you swipe right on me despite that?”
Chigiri smirked and leaned forward, tracing the veins on the back of Kunigami’s arms. “I thought that maybe you would make an exception for me,” He purred, his smirk growing bigger when he saw Kunigami’s pupils dilate.
“You drive a hard bargain,” Kunigami replied, taking Chigiri’s hands into his and holding them down gently. Chigiri couldn’t wait for these hands to pin him down to the bed later. “But, I suppose that I’ve been making exceptions for you for years. What’s one more?” Kunigami paused, nervous hesitation clear on his face. Chigiri was about to ask what the matter was, but Kunigami once again beat him to the draw. “What about you? Would you be willing to make an exception to the short-term thing?”
That’s what Kunigami was nervous about? Chigiri wanted to laugh, but he supposed that it was warranted considering their history together. “Well, I’ll have to warn you that I’m a bit of a diva. A lot of people can’t handle me.”
Kunigami’s mouth quirked up and the worry in his eyes seemed to have instantly dissipated like a match’s flame when it was tossed into an ocean. “Don’t worry, I have a lot of experience dealing with divas.” He hurriedly flagged down a waiter and paid for both of their meals, despite Chigiri’s protests. “I was the one to ask you out, so it’s only fair that I pay,” He said, gently pushing away Chigiri’s cash. “Besides, we’ll have a lot of opportunities for you to pay if you want to.” Chigiri was about to continue protesting, but Kunigami quickly shut him up with a casual “Hey, with dinner over, did you want to come to my place and meet my dog? He’s been lonely with no one else in the apartment.”
Chigiri forced himself to stay calm and not immediately jump Kunigami’s bones right there in the restaurant. “Yeah, sure. I’m more of a cat person, but I like dogs too,” He replied as casually as he could.
The train ride back was torturous and every single brush of contact that they had caused a burn of desire in the pit of Chigiri’s stomach. If he was being honest, when he swiped right on Kunigami, he kinda expected it to end up with a hookup. Even though, he didn’t technically know Kunigami well anyone, he still knew him well enough to realize that they wouldn’t be able to keep their hands off of each other. The restarting their relationship thing though? That was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Chigiri knew that too was inevitable when he realized mid-makeout of his last hookup that every one of them had some aspect of Kunigami in them, whether it was his personality, his hair, or his muscles. History did tend to repeat with Chigiri, but he knows that the original will never be replaced.
The moment Kunigami managed to clumsily unlock his door and the two of them stepped into the apartment together, Chigiri roughly tugged down on Kunigami’s shirt to smash their lips together. Kunigami pulled away, causing Chigiri to whine, and locked the door quicker than Chigiri thought was humanly possible. After he was done, he turned his gaze hungrily onto Chigiri before shoving him gently against the wall. He leaned down and pressed kisses to Chigiri’s jaw before planting kisses that trailed down the shorter man’s neck. “The glitter was a smart choice,” Kunigami growled, his voice deep and breathy in Chigiri’s ear.
“Isn’t it?” Chigiri replied smugly before he let out a startled moan as Kuigami started sucking a bruise on the side of Chigiri’s neck. Some things never do change.
Kunigami didn’t actually have a dog, but Chigiri was fine with that. He got what he had been after this whole time.
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Step 6: Trust that It’ll Work Out like in the Stories (Even if your friends clown on you)
“I’m happy for you Chigiri, but don’t break his heart again,” Isagi said as Chigiri immediately called up Isagi and Barou after he left the following day with the promise that he would return with some clothes and a toothbrush. “He’s my friend too and I don’t want to see him hurt again.”
“Yeah, the worst part is that the dude would take it every time and would keep chasing after you despite it all,” Barou said from the couch as the two were currently watching a match between FC Barcha and Paris x Gen. Isagi hummed his agreement.
“Don’t worry guys, I think it’ll work out this time. I’ve learned how bad on-and-off relationships are from third-wheeling Nagi and Reo,” Chigiri replied as Barou and Isagi glanced at each other. As fellow victims of being a third-wheel of Nagi and Reo, they trusted that Chigiri, who was the biggest victim of the couple, would learn from their mistakes.
“You better not run away when troubles arise princess,” Barou warned, leaning back into the couch. “I don’t think I can take another four years of the guy simping after you,”
“Yeah yeah. I get it. I’ll communicate and think through my actions,” Chigiri replied flippantly. Barou rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help the affectionate snort that came out. As he had said before, Chigiri was the only person that he believed had some sort of brain cells in Team White if he and Yoichi were excluded. Chigiri would be fine this time. He and Kunigami both acknowledged and addressed their fuckups, which couldn’t be said of most of the other relationships that came from Blue Lock. And if they weren’t fine, then he and Yoichi would be there to knock some sense into them.
“Congrats again Chigiri. Let us know if you need help with anything,” Yoichi said before hanging up. He looked up at Barou with a cheeky smile on his face. “We hurry up and get married before those two beat us to the punch.” Barou patted the empty space next to him and Isagi quickly slinked up and snuggled close to him. “Toothbrushes and clothes in the same apartment on the first date? At the rate they’re going, they’ll get hitched this year.”
“They’ve technically dated for a year before this, so it’s not that strange that they’re just returning to the stage that they were at before,” Barou replied, curling his arm around the smaller man. FC Barcha had just scored a nice backheel strike against PxG and the crowd was going wild.
“I suppose so, but I still want to beat those two. We all promised each other that we would be rivals for life,” Yoichi said, smiling at the replay of the goal. “Nice goal though, even if the buildup was a bit chaotic.”
“Your competitiveness even extends to these kinds of things huh? How weird of you,” Barou responded affectionately, mentally noting to himself to start looking up the prices of different venues.