Chapter Text
Nathaniel was 10 when Lola led him into the living room, where his father was waiting for him, engaged in a tense conversation with another man. There were 3 boys there, one of them looked a few years older than the others, maybe 14 or 15, while the others were at most 12. Taking them in fully, Nathaniel realized that the two younger boys were in fact Riko Moriyama and Kevin Day, the sons of exy. As he studied them, the boys tensed up, looking as if he was going to eat them. Finally, his father addressed him, dismissing the man beside him to focus his attention on Natheniel.
“Natheniel!” His voice boomed, “These are the Moriyamas…and an extra.” He frowned, the Moriyamas went stiff, Kevin most of all. Moving on, he said, “Do what you wish with the children, keep them, kill them, I don’t care, just make sure they’re handled. I’ll give you the day to decide.”
His father strode out of the room, the Moriyama at his heels, leaving the boys alone, where a heavy quiet settled over them. Breaking the silence, the older boy announced in a cool tone, “I’m Ichiro Moriyama, nice to meet you.” He held out his hand to shake, but was promptly ignored. “My name is Natheniel Wesninski, you guys play exy, strikers right?” Ichiro gaped while Riko and Kevin nodded stiffly.
Nathaniel had always enjoyed exy, playing backliner in little league before his father deemed it too dangerous and built him a private half-court attached to the main house as a replacement. “Follow me.” He said, leading them through the house to it. When they finally arrived, Riko and Kevin looked around slack-jawed, “You have your own court!” Kevin stammered out. “Yes, now let's play, or are you just gonna stand there?” Nathaniel replied, irritated by the wait. Kevin quickly shook his head and followed them onto the court.
Playing with the sons of exy wasn’t exactly what he thought it would be like, with Kevin proving to be too scared to push past him when blocked, Ichiro standing awkwardly off to the side, and Riko being the only one to actually do well. Riko was amazing to play against, so much so that Natheniel wondered how it would be to go against both 1 and 2, if Kevin could get his head out of his ass for long enough to actually play.
Just then, from the sidelines, Ichiro barked in Japanese, “Riko! Stop playing so hard against him, what if he gets mad at us!” Before Riko could respond, Natheniel got in Ichiros' face and snarled right back, “He is the only one playing properly! Don’t yell at him because he’s not a wuss like you! And next time, think twice before trying to go behind my back in a different language.”
Ichiro looked at Nathaniel, mouth agape, before clenching his jaw and apologizing while Riko and Kevin watched on with horror. Riko turned back to Nathaniel with a brilliant grin on his face. A look that was quickly wiped away as Lola came and called them all to the basement.
Even though he hated the basement, Nathaniels’ face remained stoic as they went down the stairs. From the viewing room, the other boys saw Nathen Wesninski butcher someone for the first time. Riko, Kevin, and Ichiro stood terrified as the boy they had just played exy with mutely helped his father, even being the one to finally kill the man.
So, as Nathaniel finished cleaning up, he wasn’t surprised to see the fear that radiated off of Kevin and Ichiro. As he turned to Riko, what he saw wasn’t fear but awe. “Wow, Neil, that's so cool! Is it hard to peel off the skin? How long do you think you could have left him for before he died? How does it feel to kill somebody?” It was Nathaniel’s turn to stare as he was bombarded with questions by Riko. All while Nathan watched, amused at Rikos' curiosity.
“So what do you want to do with them?” His father asked, finally breaking off Rikos's string of questions. After a long moment, Nathaniel replied, “I think I want to keep them.” He didn’t mention that he thought Kevin was annoying or that Ichiro was rude because Riko seemed to like them. For his sake, Nathaniel could probably put up with them.
4 years later...
Nathaniel had just wrapped up a match with Riko and Kevin when Riko's uncle, Tetsuji, announced that they were all going to the East Tower. While Nathaniel hated Tetsuji, with his constant grovelling and his criticism of Riko, he knew what happened in the East Tower and so followed without a fuss.
After a silent elevator ride, the doors to the main hall opened to reveal his father, Kengo, and a boy around his age, along with the many guards scattered around the room. Nathaniel scoffed, “Not this again.” He thought, rolling his eyes. He had just arrived at Evermore a couple of weeks earlier and was planning to stay for the summer as he had done in the previous years.
Kengo addressed the trio as one, “This is Jean Moreau, he is yours, Nathaniel, he plays backliner.” Nathaniel walked up to Jean, studying him intensely. “Ok, I’ll keep him.” He responded, feeling a sense of deja vou at the words. The silence stretched, and Nathaniel knew when he was being dismissed, so wordlessly he grabbed Jean’s arm and dragged him out of the room, Riko and Kevin right behind them.
They had barely reached the elevator when Jean yanked his arm out of Nathaniel's grip, glaring at him fiercely. Jean continued to give them the silent treatment until they reached Nathaniel’s room in the black hall, where there was another bed set up in the spot his couch had been just that morning. “I guess you’ll be staying with me.” He said before Kevin started rambling, “Oh! You’ll be Nathaniel’s partner now. You guys have to be together because Riko and I are part-“ Riko cut in, “Shut up, Kevin.” before turning to glare at Jean, “And who do you think you are to act like that to Neil!” he yelled, incredulous. “Alright, that’s enough. He and I need to talk.” Nathaniel said in a cool tone, instantly defusing Riko. The two older boys started leaving, Riko grumbling all the way.
When they were finally alone, Nathaniel turned back to Jean, “Do you know why you’re here?” He asked, trying to gauge the other boy’s knowledge of the situation. When Jean just glared back, Nathaniel started again, annoyed, “You may not want to be here, but I won’t have you ignoring me. Jean, I’ll only ask you once more, Do you know why you’re here?” Looking properly chastised, Jean finally opened his mouth. In a thick French accent, he responded, “No, not really.” In French, Nathaniel said, “So are you gonna let me explain or keep sulking?” Seeing the relief on the other boy's face at the language, he continued.