Chapter Text
Isagi Yoichi was an unassuming character, he had heard it from his closest friends many times before.
“Ye’re like the default hero we get when we start a game.” said Yo once.
“I feel like you’d give me flyers at the mall.” said Rensuke another time.
“Oh, you’re definitely the vanilla childhood friend who never gets the girl.” said Hyouma just a few weeks ago.
And honestly, he couldn’t fault them for saying such things. He is just a regular student who liked to play football in their youth club with all other said friends. He is an only child to a happy, sometimes embarrassing, couple. He gets average grades, gets generic haircuts, uses generic products, wakes up when most of the people around him are, and sleeps the same time they do as well. He was regular, old, boring Yoichi.
However, he had one uncanny ability when it came to the people around him. And that was to walk into a scene that could, in one way or another, possibly incriminate him, rarely was it physical, though there were times that he had to bodily come between a heated exchange between Rensuke and Ryuusei. Today, unfortunately, was no different from that.
His fellow club members were milling around, conversing amongst themselves. Another day of recreational plays had finished around an hour ago and they were usually seated in groups catching up with each other’s lives since not all of them went to the same college. Yoichi should have taken this as his first indication to run for the hills yet he was stupid enough to walk toward them when his curiosity wins over.
“No way.” he hears Nijiro say, cautiously looking around the others to see their reactions.
“It’s up to you if you want to believe me. But I’m telling the truth.” Ryuusei says, reclining himself as he leans his weight on his arms behind him.
“I call bullshit.” Hyouma says.
“Yeah, no way in hell are ya friends with an Itoshi.” Yo continues.
“Who’s friends with an Itoshi?” Yoichi couldn’t help but ask, his ears practically ringing at the surname. Curse him, he has PTSD over a certain someone’s death glare.
“I am. Why?” Ryuusei gloats, before his grin turns predatory, “But I prefer the term ‘boyfriends’.”
“Are you sure?” Yoichi couldn’t help the slip-up, immediately putting a hand to his mouth to cover it as if said person was going to pop out from behind him and begin grilling him again.
“Hey! What’s wrong with Sae-chan?!” Ryuusei exclaims, making Yoichi let out a breath. Ah, so a different Itoshi, then?
“Oh, sorry, I thought it was someone else, my bad.” Yoichi replies, laughing nervously. He really didn’t need any of his friends (was Ryuusei his friend?) having a connection with said Itoshi.
“Don’t think we forgot about you.” Yoichi hears someone say before he was dragged downward, nearly toppling over all others who sat in the circle had they not made a space for him.
“Ow, forgot about what?” Yoichi says, shaking free from the grip Meguru had on his arm.
“Yeah, you went MIA last week. What was that about?” Hyouma asks, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“Oh, that?” Yoichi smiles to himself as he remembers what had transpired. It was finals week at Waseda University and he had gotten a call from one of his boyfriend’s friends that the other was stretching himself too thin because of the course demands. So like the good boyfriend that he is, Yoichi went to their shared apartment (read: penthouse) and cooked meals for all three of the burnt out students. He was thankful that his university’s timeline finished earlier, so he had the chance to do all of it without compromising his own academics.
“Someone just needed my help, is all.” he says cryptically, praying they wouldn’t ask.
“Who?”
Damn you Chigiri Hyouma.
“Just… someone.”
“And I asked who.”
Like hell you’re asking. Yoichi wanted to say, but he held his tongue lest he inncriminates himself further.
“If you don’t want to share you don’t have to.” Nijiro says, smiling at him.
“Yeah, no. He has to share.” Yo says, smirking at him.
“Alright, fine. It was my boyfriend.” Yoichi says, sighing to himself as he sends a mental apology to said boyfriend.
“What school does he go to?” Hyouma says, smiling to himself, all too happy to have another thing to talk about.
“Waseda.”
“Bullshit.” Yoichi fights the sigh once more as he turns to face Shohei.
“Surprising to see you still here and mingling with the plebians, dear king.” Yoichi replies instead.
“I don’t need to explain myself to you. But how did your NPC looking ass get a boyfriend at Waseda?”
How, indeed…
“Sae-chan is from Waseda… has a sports scholarship and all.” Ryuusei says, which makes Yoichi’s blood run cold.
He was cursed after all.
“Is that so?” Yoichi replies, keeping his voice steady, yet from the grin on Ryuusei’s face, he knew he had been caught.
“Y’know, Sae-chan also has a little brother. A little younger than you, little sprout.” the grin turns animalistic as Yoichi’s eyes widen at the implication.
“Oh, fuck no! Not him!” Yoichi exclaims, startling all the people present. It was only when he looks back at Ryuusei did he realize the mistake he had made.
“So you know him.”
“Shit.” Yoichi mutters, completely forgetting their audience, with all his attention being solely on Ryuusei.
“No way did the Alexis Ness go for you.” Yoichi physically flinches at the accusation, knowing he had been caught, and the reason for it is solely himself.
“Why do you say it like that?” Yoichi mutters to himself. "And how did you even know it was Alexis?!"
"Well, Rinrin doesn't really have any friends, so its either him of the other. And we both know the other one is already on his fifth honeymoon this month alone." Yoichi shudders, remembering the first time he had witnessed the son of a known billionaire and is repeatedly voted the most eligible bachelor of Japan get on his knees and pull a giant fluff ball into a piggy back ride.
“Alexis Ness? Like, the artist Alexis Ness? The German exchange student?” Hyouma seizes him by the shoulders, ready to get more information out of him.
“Why do you even know him? And ‘the’?” Yoichi couldn’t help but ask.
“First of all, how could you not know who Alexis Ness is…” “He’s my boyfriend.” “And second of all, he makes great song covers where he puts snippets of his own compositions into the song. And third, yeah, I agree with Shidou, no way did you bag the Alexis Ness.”
“Wait. Song covers with snippets? He’s only ever sent me full songs?” Yoichi asks innocently, before catching himself as he realizes what he had said. They both look at each other, stunned at the information, as the other members of the group (read: Ryuusei and Yo) start guffawing with laughter.
“Wow, I know you were delusional, Isagi but wow. That was a good laugh.” Yo says.
“It’s true!”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll ask Sae-chan if he knows about you.”
“Please, no! Anything but that!” Yoichi practically begs, already imagining Rin looking down on him for even daring to make his existence known to his family.
“Why? Afraid of getting caught?” Ryuusei taunts, smirking at him.
“Afraid of losing my life, more like.” Even if he had “bonded” with Rin during the past week, the younger had made it clear that he had merely finished one of twelve tasks of Hercules to fully get his approval to date Alexis. The others merely laugh in reply, before they move on to another person to make fun of. And unfortunately, it had been Shohei who apparently had someone he needed to wait for before going back to the dorms.
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“I’m home.” Yoichi calls out, as he enters his apartment.
“Welcome back!” a voice calls from his bed, the mass stirring until arms pop out from under the covers.
“Hey, how was bedrotting?” Yoichi asks, laughing when the other juts his lower lip out in a pout.
“Shut up. I need to recover. Now where’s my kiss, shithead?”
“Don’t you have a way with words, oh so great lyricist, Alexis Ness.” Yoichi says, nevertheless leaning in to fulfill his request.
“Did you get food?” the older asks when they pull away, making Yoichi shake his head.
“Yes. It’s that fried chicken from a few blocks down that you love so much.” Yoichi replies, making the other smile, pulling him down once more for another kiss.
“With that spicy sauce?” Alexis asks when the pull away once more.
“Extra, with cheese dip on the side.”
“Fuck, I love you.”
Yeah, the others can say what they want, but joke’s on them, he knows exactly who the real winner is in this situation. And spoiler alert, he was holding the trophy in his very hands.