Chapter Text
A minimally funished apartment, barely lit by whatever sun beams are able to peek through it's closed curtains. And those same beams forcing a certain sleepyhead awake: Seishiro Nagi
She groaned, turning, putting her head under her pillow. Waking up so early during a Saturday would be such a waste!
But alas, as if the universe was trying to send a message, she couldn't drift back into dreamland no matter how hard she tried, and you bet she tried HARD.
Fine, getting up it was.
She dragged herself out of bed, not tidying it, because ‘What good would it do to tidy it if you're going to be back in it in a couple of hours anyways?’
She headed to the bathroom and washed her face.
“Hu…” she exhaled. Cold water was one of the few things able to make people really realize they were in fact, alive.
She took a moment to glance at herself in the mirror. Ugh…her eyebags had gotten worse these days. She went back, taking her phone and heading to the kitchen.
She poured herself a bowl of cereal and started munching on it. Sigh. Why did eating had to be such a laboursome task? It needed to be constantly done too!
She pulled up her phone in the meantime, scrolling through social media. Celebrity news; Kenyu Yukimiya -a model- started a new trend in fashion (despite being partially blind) good for her, she guessed. Aryu Jyubei -an actor- had some dating rumours. People seriously need to get lives of their owns. Wasn’t there something more interesting? Like-
Sport news...
The athlete Hyoma Chigiri broke her last record. Wow, how fast... The wrestler Shoei Barou, ‘The Queen’, has won a chance to compete in the European league. Cool…wait- no, that girl was annoying as hell back in school from what she could remember. Fuck her. Something about the basketballer Yo Hiori. Yada yada...
...
Japan won the world cup, led by the striker Yoichi Isagi. Why was that name familiar?
"A striker huh..." she mumbled, putting another spoonful of cereal in her mouth. It was the position she had played during highschool, though she didn't know back then. She stared blankly at the screen, involuntarily reminising about those times.
Sports were always uninteresting in her eyes. Running for hours after a ball, sweating, getting injured, all for the sake of a single point, only morons would enjoy something like that, or so she had thought.
Still, she had played in her high schools team for two and a half years.
Why? Because Reo had asked her to.
…
Right, Reo…
…her first and only love.
She was a person Seishiro had accidentally met after the first semester of second year of high school.
Reo had bumped into her as she was sitting on a staircase, knocking her phone out her hands. She had jumped down, and 'caught’ the phone with her foot.
She hadn't thought what she had done was anything special, she had done it all her life afterall. But apparently it was, as Reo had practically became her stalker from that moment on, pestering her to join the football team.
Nagi huffed a chuckle. She had found Reo so annoying at the start, though it had lasted for about a week at most. Because afterwards Reo, had lifted the load of many tedious everday tasks off of her shoulders.
She had carried her everywhere on her back, massaged her sore spots after practice, helped her fix her sleeping schedule as well as her diet. Nagi looked at the spoon in her hand. Reo had cooked for her and fed her.
Yeah...Reo had made her highschool life so much easier than what it could have been. Reo had made it livable for her.
How could she have not fallen in love with such a person? How could anyone not, really? Reo was a headstrong person. She had strong opinions, she knew what she wanted in life, and she wasn't afraid of putting in immense amounts of work to get it.
'I will always get what I want' , that was her life motto. And it was never all bark with her. She stubbornly worked towards her goals, and she shined blindingly whilest doing so.
And that was were Nagi had came in. She had become Reo's -who was looking for an unmatched talent in football at the time’s- treasure, a diamond in the rough, a genius unrecognized yet.
And that was also where Nagi stood. Football was the only reason why she was allowed to be next to Reo, and Reo’s parents hadn’t allowed their daughter to ‘waste her time’ with football, even after she showed them the success she had with her. And Nagi didn’t have any plans of going professional.
Well- Reo had pestered her to reconcider like a gazillion times but...without Reo she had no reason to play, so...
As their graduation marked the end of highschool, Nagi didn't have any excuses left to be standing next to her.
She sighed, putting her cheek on the cold surface of the kitchen counter.
If Nagi had to admit her one regret though, It had to be that she herself had restricted herself to only being Reo's football partner. She should've confessed her feelings, at least at the graduation party.
'I like you, Reo. Like- a lot' If she had been able to utter these words, would her life be different now?
It might’ve. Looking back on it now, she could see that Reo definitely had some interest in her at the very least. She had beaten herself over this realization for a long time. Gods, she was so incredibly dense back then.
She raised her head back up.
In any case, it didn't matter now. These were all water under the bridge. Reo had taken her over her fathers company and Nagi was living her life as an animator.
She wasn't famous or anything. The pay was enough to...live...the work load was bad at times (at times as in mostly) but she wasn't someone with great sleeping schedule to begin with –despite all of Reo’s past efforts- anyways so she made it work.
Yeah...she was making it work. She had moved on. She was living without Reo just fine.
Or so she had convinced herself, before a message popped on her screen.
Unknown Number:
Hello! Seishiro Nagi, right? This is Meguru Bachira!!
Meguru Bachira..? Now, why was that name so familiar- ah her. A famous painter.
'Art is meant to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. Her art disturbs the comfortable AND the disturbed.' Was what people mostly said about her.
What business could an S tier artist like her have with a B (at most) tier one like her? How did she even get her number??
Unknow number:
I know it must be confusing,
Yeah, no shit.
Unknown number:
and I know I'm not really the person who has the right to say this,
Where is she going with this??
Unknown number:
so please overlook my rudeness!!! But!
???
Unknown number:
Reo Mikage is getting married in like 4 days!!!!!!!!!!!
...
Nagi frowned.
...So…so what..? Why was she telling her this exactly? It didn't have anything to do with her. Her and Reo had only been able to be highschool friends, that was it. Moreover, Reo hadn't invited her, which reinforced that they weren't really close. I mean, of course they weren't! They hadn't spoken for over 6 years, for gods sake!
Unknown Number:
📍 Location sent: XXX venue, LA/ U.S.A. 17:15
America..? Yeah there is no way she was going there. And again, she wasn't even invited, so what the hell could she do anyways?!
...
Yet, despite all of her rational thoughts, her body was betraying her as she took out her suitcase from the depths of her closet.
.
.
.
.
.
Nagi wouldn’t be able to tell you how the next 3 days went by. But there she was now, in an Uber, heading towards she location Bachira had sent.
What was her game plan, you ask? Nothing. Bold of you to assume that she knew what she was doing.
Her head felt really light weirdly enough though, like she was dreaming, so she was not nervous or anything. Instead, only one thing, or rather one person, was on her mind:
Reo.
And then in a blink she was facing a huge garden door.
"Excuse me, are you a guest? Could I see your invitation please?"
Someone approached her. A security guard Nagi figured by his uniform.
"Uhh...No I-"
"My my, look who it is." A familiar voice caught her off.
"Ba-ya!" Nagi exclaimed. It had been so long but he looked the same. Well, it was good that he was as healthy as ever.
"You sound far too happy for someone uninvited, young master Seishiro." He said, his voice far too strict from what Nagi was used to. He sounded angry almost.
"Ba-ya, help me out here!" She pleaded, to which Bay-ya raised an eyebrow."I have to get in there."
"And?" Ba-ya bent down on her level. "I don't assume you came here on a whim just to sit at the sidelines and congratulate young master Reo on her wedding?"
"You right." Nagi admitted, all too easily. "I'm here to steal the bride, Ba-ya." She then declared. And Ba-ya huffed an laugh.
"And you expect me to help you with that? After dissappearing from young master Reo's life for years and reappearing like it’s nothing? On her wedding day nonetheless? " He said, his angry tone more apparent now.
"I know it sounds unreasonable Ba-ya." She was not backing down under Ba-ya's judging gaze. "But I don't have the time to be arguing with you right now." She spoke again after a berief moment of a stare-down. "You want Reo to be happy, right? She won't be happy with anyone else other than me." She declared, not a single doubt in her eyes.
He looked taken aback for a moment before scoffing:
“Oh my! How bold." He said, smirking.
And just like that, she was in.
She rushed through the halls of the venue. It was her first time running like this ever since highschool.
Reo...
She heared voices getting louder and louder as she approached a big door.
Reo, Reo...
She pushed it open.
Reo..!
.
.
.
All eyes were turned at her and some whispers of questionings raised as she walked down the aisle. She would've hated such attention at any other time, in any other scenerio, but she couldn't care less right now, her whole focus was on the violet eyes locked in with her. Eyes whose gaze she hadn't realized how much she had missed.
"...Na…gi..?" Asked the owner of those eyes weakly. Oh how sweet that voice was that it sent shivers down Nagi's spine, even while barely audible from all the way over here. Reo was sitting at a table in front, facing everyone at the venue.
Nagi catched her breath before attempting to call back out just as sweetly. But she lost her chance.
"Reo? Who is this?" A voice spoke, an unfamiliar one this time.
That voice belonged to the one sitting next Reo, whose presence Nagi had only now noticed.
"Is she a…friend of yours? Even if it is, don't they know how improper it is to just barge in here like this?" The man questioned.
Reo ignored his questions as she got up from her seat and walked towards Nagi.
Nagi felt his heart literally stop beating for a moment. Reo looked breathtaking. She was wearing a princess line wedding dress. Her hair braided meticulously, her makeup not too heavy, enhancing her already delicate features. Truelly, a beauty words would not be enough to describe.
She shook her thoughts away for now though, this wasn't the time for that.
"...Why...are you here..?" Reo asked simply. Anyone who couldn't see her face could be thinking she was mad, indifferent at best.
But Nagi could see it. She could see the diamond tears threathening to form in Reo's eyes.
"Reo..." Nagi could finally call her name. "…Don't...don't marry him." She spat out.
A collective gasp raised from the crowd. Whoops. She must have sounded so impudent just now, especially to this group of mad wealthy.
"Excuse me?" Exclaimed the "him". Reo' parents too, had to get up to interfere at this point.
"You! You were not invited." Shouted her dad.
"Seishiro...leave now...or else we'll have to call the security.” Warned her mom.
So...they remembered her. That was good, at least.
"That's won't be necessary…Because I will leave willingly if Reo tells me to." She declared.
So then everyones heads turned to Reo expectantly.
Reo flinched, taken aback by the sudden attention. She quickly recollect herself, though.
"...You answer me first. For what are you here.., Nagi..?" She asked, her voice sounded broken.
"I'm here to steal you." Nagi declared once again, just as simply, just as bluntly. "Come with me, Reo. Don't marry him."
"SEISHIRO NAGI!" Reo's dad called. "You are immensely overstepping your place!" He yelled, stomping his way over to Nagi.
Reo raised her hand, making him stop in his tracts. She then turned back at Nagi.
"...Nagi...you..." She clutched her hands and let out a sound between a weep and a laugh. "...Your selfishness really knows no bounds, does it..?" She lowered her head, perhaps at an attempt to hide the tears sliding down her face.
"Do you even realize what you are asking me right now..?" She sniffed. Oh how Nagi would've loved to go there and wipe away those tears.
"If I marry this man, it will take the Mikage company to a new level and I’ll live comfortably, without ever worrying about anything ever again, you realize that right?" She explained.
"But that's not what you want." Nagi quickly followed up, making Reo snap her head back up in shock. "You've never been someone satisfied with what was given to you, Reo."
"Moreover...” Nagi took a few steps forward.
"You love me, Reo."
Another statement stealing gasps and gossiping whispers from the crowd.
"That's enough!" Reo's mothers' voice raised this time. "You have given us no other choice, I'm calling the security-" She threatened when Reo cut her off:
"You...ha..." She let out a sound between a weep and a laugh. Hm? Had she gotten like- a few centimeters shorter or was it just Nagi?
"You're really convinced that I'll run away with you..? ...How troublesome you are, Nagi...though, you have always been that way I suppose..." she said, massaging her temples.
"Positive." Nagi replied simply, getting even closer. There was only a few stairs left between them now, with Reo standing at the high end while Nagi stood at the low.
There was a moment of tense silence, everyone held their breaths, curious about what was to happen next.
...
And then it happened, in the blink of an eye. The corner of Reo’s mouth curved upwards, her eyes filled with that look of determination all too familiar to Nagi she jumped down from those stairs separating them, leaving her high-heels behind. She found herself in Nagi arms, as expected.
"Let's go, Nagi. We”re making a run for it!" She ordered, pointing at the big door Nagi had came from.
"Yes, boss." Nagi replied, and moved. To anyone else there it might have seemed planned with how smoothly it all happened.
Well. what it seemed like to those rich geezers didn't matter as their voices died away anyways.
Nagi ran, as fast as she could. It was weird honestly. Even whilest running towards Reo through the venue’s halls she had gotten exhausted after some point. But now, whilest carrying Reo herself in her arms... she had not felt anymore energized than now, or so she thought.
They went through the garden door, now officially out of the venue.
Nagi looked around for the Uber she had gotten here with, cursing under her breath when she couldn't see it around.
"That little...I had told them to wait for a bit, though..." She clenched her teeth.
Reo was about to ask what that was about when a car pulled up. It was a medium sized car, not a limousine so it couldn’t have been one of Mikage’s, or of any of the guests’.
The cars' window rolled down, revealing Ba-ya sitting at the driver's seat.
"Jump in, young masters." He said.
"Ba-ya!" Nagi exclaimed, gratefully. There was hardly any time for gratitudes though, so Nagi let Reo down to help her get it the car.
At that moment Reo's dad had made it out.
"Reo!" He called out. "What do you thing you are doing?! There is a limit to how much of your immature demeanor I can bare!" He scolded, it was also a warning.
Reo huffed out some air from her lungs, swaying her bangs before turning to face her father:
"Screw you, old man!" She yelled, quickly turning back and jumping in the car. Nagi followed her, getting inside. The only difference being that Nagi didn't look back.
The moment the doors were closed and Ba-ya started the engine, Reo bursted out laughing.
"Pfft- Hahahahaha! This has to be the dumbest thing I've ever done!" She tried her best to collect herself, wiping away the tears forming in her eyes.
She then put her arm around Nagi's shoulders, pulling her close. "So? Have any ideas where to go from here, my knight in shining armour?"
Nagi's ears perked up. She had unlocked a new nickname, it seemed.
"Uh...Yes. I'll send it to Ba-ya." She replied, taking out her phone. After doing so, she realized the look of suprise on Reo's face. She returned a confused expression to that.
"Ah! Sorry! I just...didn't expect you to actually...have a plan...hehe." Reo tried to laugh it off.
Nagi however, frowned, offended. Just how low was her bar in Reo's eyes??? Well- she might've been incredibely dense in the past, but not anymore. And she needed Reo to know that too.
She got closer to Reo's ear and whispered:
"...Even I have to have a plan whilest stealing the world’s most dreamy bride, Reo..."
Reo jumped back, shyly looking away afterwards. And Nagi smirked veeeeery slightly, content with the pink colour taking over Reo's face.
.
.
.
The more time they spent in the vehicle the more Reo's conscience seemed to take a turn for the worse.
"This HAS to be the dumbest thing I've ever done..." She sighed, her hands hiding away her face, sloutched down. It hurt that all Nagi could do was to hang close and rub her back.
Reo raised her head, looking at Ba-ya through the rearview mirror:
"I'm sorry to you too, Ba-ya. You are surely going to get in trouble for this, aren't you..." She whined apologetically.
"You don't have to worry about me young master Reo. I wasn't ordered to do this by you, afterall. I'm here on my own behalf, so raised your head please." He answered simply.
"Do you…regret it, Reo? Should we…go back?" Nagi then spoke up with a worried expression. She didn’t want to, of course but…she did hate how it was always Reo who had to make sacrifices for them.
Reo looked at Nagi then back at Ba-ya and then back at Nagi. She fixed her posture and sighed, bringing her hand out and caressing Nagi's cheek.
"No...No, I don't wanna go back." She said with a sad smile.