Chapter Text
The first time he heard Andrew Minyard’s name, it was from Kevin’s lips.
“I found number 5,” Kevin whispered in accented French. The three of them stretched apart from the others even though Kevin and Jean had officially debuted as Ravens two weeks ago. Riko wasn’t around, called away by Tetsuji, and wouldn’t be back for a while. Their absence was the only reason Kevin risked speaking out of turn.
Nathaniel raised a sceptical eyebrow while Jean continued to lean over, tender around his recent bruises, wholly indifferent. Doubt coloured the silence between them. Riko and Kevin had been obsessively hunting their ‘number five’ for years. Many hopefuls had been brought in for try-outs, kids trafficked in from all over the planet, more like Jean than Nathaniel. None had passed the Master’s muster.
Kevin pulled his arm across his body and held it close. “His name is Andrew Minyard. He’ll be our goalie.”
“And?” Nathaniel said, filling the word with all the derision he’d collected over the years. Jean shot him a warning look from the corner of his eye.
Kevin scowled. “At least pretend to care.”
Nathaniel cared. He cared about Jean and Kevin, and even Riko when wasn’t being a complete asshole. He cared about Exy and winning. He didn’t care about the failed project that was the “Perfect Court”. Failure didn’t belong in the Nest; they all knew that. The Perfect Court had been about gathering the greatest talents the underworld had to offer and moulding them into the best players the world would ever see.
But they never found their dealer nor their goalie.
Nathaniel had turned sixteen a few months ago. In two years, he would be debuting as a Raven. The last of the Perfect Court to do so. If they found anyone younger, then Jean and Kevin would age out before they all trained and gathered. Anyone older, and they would inevitably be a loose cannon. It was a failure – even if no one but Nathaniel dared to say it. And him only once.
Nathaniel had started to hate Riko after that. He wasn’t sure when he would stop.
“You shouldn’t get Riko’s hopes up,” he said.
Kevin glared at him and stood. “Shut up, three.”
Nathaniel did as ordered but he didn’t hide the smirk on his lips. Because he was right. Even if Kevin wouldn’t admit it. Kevin marched off, finding a different section of the room to stretch.
*
Nathaniel was on a flight back to Japan the day Riko and Kevin were to recruit Minyard. He wished it had been delayed, if only so he could help redirect Riko’s rage when Minyard didn’t meet their expectations. He would have to rely on Kevin which wasn’t confidence inspiring. While he trusted Kevin on court implicitly, his number two was a coward. His only comfort was that Riko’s anger usual dispersed as quickly as it ignited. A grenade against fierce winds. It would pass. There was a game to be played after all.
All thoughts of the Nest died as he stepped onto the Moriyama’s jet.
Ichirou didn’t so much as look up as Nathaniel bowed low. “Waka-sama. Ikaga osugoshi de irasshaimasu ka? Is all well?”
“I have business in Tokyo. I’ll drop you off.”
“Thank you.” Nathaniel eked every ounce of gratitude he could find in himself. There wasn’t much. Ichirou didn’t do casual visits and with the plane now flying into Narita, he’d added several hours of travel to Nathaniel’s trip. He wouldn’t be back at his school dorm in Fukui until late.
As a future member of the Ravens, Nathaniel was expected to have an immaculate record. Appearing out of nowhere would only attract unwanted attention. Not to mention leave then without real game experience. So all of Tetsuji’s protégé’s were sent off to play for a high-school team.
Jean had gone to a local school near Edgar Allen. He’d come from France just before his sixteenth birthday and needed hard training. “He makes up for three’s weaknesses,” Tetsuji had said. When Nathaniel had first been brought, the Master had believed Nathaniel would inherit his father’s bulky frame. But despite his face being a perfect match, Nathaniel had his mother’s build: short, thin, but fast. He was faster than any of the starting Ravens, as Tetsuji often proved. Nathaniel had raced them countless times. A test to see if the Ravens could beat a mere apprentice. None of them could ever outpace Nathaniel and they knew it well.
For their part, Riko and Kevin had been sent to Baltimore to play for the Wildcats, one of the best teams in the nation and made the best by their presence. They’d been under the careful watch of the Butcher but the Master had deemed that impermissible for Nathaniel. The exact reason had not been given but Nathaniel had overheard a few words ‘flight risk’ and ‘Hatford’. It was the first confirmation Nathaniel had that his mother was alive since Riko let slip she was in the hospital five years before. Sometimes, he thought it might have been easier if she was dead.
Ichirou’s glass was half empty; planned, he had no doubt. Nathaniel filled it with all the formality expected of him. Ichirou’s gaze tracked up his arm to his chest, before arriving at his face. “You have better clothes than this.”
Nathaniel hadn’t changed out of his work out gear. It’s what he felt most comfortable in, especially knowing that a camera was sure to snap a shot of him as he made the short walk to the carpark back at Edgar Allan.
“I hadn’t expected to see anyone important.”
Ichirou’s dark eyes glowed with annoyance. “Change. There are clothes for you.”
Nathaniel did as he was bid. He collected the pile indicated and moved towards the plane’s toilet but Ichirou simple, “Stay,” stilled him. He turned back to his lord. A few months ago, on his sixteenth birthday, Ichirou had brought him up to the East Tower. Nathaniel had known the significance of the sake-ceremony but why Ichirou would choose to claim him, choose to take on the disruption it would cause, Nathaniel hadn’t comprehended. Now, well, now he knew.
He didn’t know when Ichirou had first looked at him that way, but he was aware many did. A grip too long, hand too low when spotting him. Girls at school fawning over the ‘handsome gaijin’. Riko’s jealousy when the media ran articles ranking them for looks and Nathaniel always coming out as first.
Nathaniel pulled off his hoodie and folded in carefully. He slowly stripped off his shirt, leaving only scarred flesh. A childhood with his father and an adolescence with the Master was written across his skin. He wasn’t shy about his body, there was no room for that at the Nest, but it still set him apart. The whispered comments he’d heard in the changing rooms had made him all too aware of that.
An announcement came through the cabin. They were to depart soon. Nathaniel didn’t pause his movements. His trackpants pooled at his ankles, leaving him only in his boxers. Nathaniel picked up the crisp dress shirt Ichirou had left him. He had many that looked like it, with only fine details changed. He only wore them when ordered and always out of sight of Riko. Nathaniel could readily guess how his number one would react if he suspected Nathaniel had any involvement with the main family.
Attention from Kengo or Ichirou... Nathaniel never truly understood why Riko craved it so much, even when Riko insisted they were the same. Abandoned by cruel fathers. If Kengo was anything like Nathan, Nathaniel thought that might be a blessing. Riko had not agreed.
Nathaniel took the seat across from Ichirou as the plane reached the runway. He watched the airport stream passed and the skies engulf them.
Trapped, Nathaniel’s mind supplied as the air became an inescapable prison. But regardless of if there was a doorway to leave through or not, Nathaniel knew the truth. He always had been.
*
Life in Japan held no more freedom than the US. Not for Nathaniel. From the jet, he was transferred to a private car. It hurt to sit but no more than usual. He considered the books Ichirou had given him. Nathaniel had a talent for languages, Ichirou had said, a useful one. “Learn to use it.”
English, French, Polish, and Japanese had all come easy to him. The Polish had begun to fade, after years separated from his grandparents, until he’d been quietly assigned to classes the year before. The words all came back, as if he’d never been without them. Now he knew those classes at been a test. Ichirou expected him to master Mandarin, Korean, and Spanish by the time he became a Raven. Teachers had been arranged. All done without the master’s knowledge. Nathaniel didn’t understand the young lord’s plan but he knew it could only end badly for him.
Still, curiosity got the better of him. He opened the first book.
Not long into his journey, his driver’s phone went off. The driver answered and listened for a few moments. He held it towards Nathaniel. “Its Day-san.”
Cold trepidation overtook him. Nathaniel almost didn’t take the phone.
“Yes?”
“He said no.”
“Who?”
“Minyard. He said no.”
Nathaniel stared at the road. No, a simple word, yet in two measly letters it managed to spell disaster. “And Riko?”
“I don’t know what to do. I don’t…”
“You talk to him.”
“But–”
“Don’t you dare let Jean deal with it!”
“It’s not my choice!”
“You–” Nathaniel’s fingers gripped his phone tightly. “Kevin, find him. Now.”
“We did everything right. I don’t get. I don’t get it. Why did he say no?”
“Kevin, listen to me: It. Doesn't. Matter.”
“What’s wrong with being number two?”
“Move!” Nathaniel snapped in Japanese. Kevin’s shaky breathes came through the speaker. After a moment, Nathaniel picked up the sounds of him opening a door. He was going. Thank fuck for that. “Thank you for calling me.”
“Yeah… Bye.”
“Bye.”
He hung up, knowing staying on the phone any longer would break Kevin’s nerve.