You can't stop thinking about the way you'd argued with Nagi that day; even as you have your little chats with him over text, you feel as if something has changed within your relationship with him.

He'd said he wasn't mad at you, and you believed him.

Then why do things feel so off between you two?

Suddenly you're becoming too preoccupied to read his texts, or Nagi's too tired to respond to yours, and calls become far less exciting than they used to.

It's been three days since the incident, and you're eating dinner with your dad when you hear your phone ring from your bedroom upstairs.

You decide to ignore it- if it's Nagi, then he's probably not going to talk much, anyways. It's been becoming his habit lately to be on call with you, yet never say anything; he just speaks to his friends off-screen, leaving you to listen idly to their conversation and ignore the pang in your chest as you wish so desperately that you could just be there with him, that you could experience what he is and make sure he doesn't pull away from you.

It's too taxing on your heart to see him, so you decide you're better off not seeing him and poke at your noodles with your chopsticks in hopes that he'll give up and stop dialling.

He does. You're relieved.

But then the ringing starts again, and your father peers at you over the rim of his glasses. "You sure you don't wanna answer it?"

You scowl. "What happened to no phones at the table?"

"Yikes. Don't take your breakup out on me, darling. Not my fault."

Your eyes narrow at him, and you throw down your chopsticks. "We didn't break up."

He raises his palms in a placating gesture. "My bad, my bad. At least go put your phone on silent or something, please?"

"Since you asked so nicely." You retort before getting up from your seat with clenched fists and gritted teeth, each step towards your bedroom and your damned phone getting heavier and heavier.

Sure enough, it's him. His contact photo illuminates your phone screen; you'd set it to a photo you'd taken of him one day in the summer, where you'd caught him off-guard with ice cream around his mouth and your handbag slung over his shoulder as if it was his own.

"Smile, Nagi!" You'd yelled, taking a snapshot in an instant.

His grey eyes had widened in shock, his mouth falling open as he realised what you were doing. He'd hurriedly wiped the ice cream off his face with the back of his hand, but it had been too late- you'd already captured the memory and saved it as his contact in your phone, despite his protests.

You gaze down at the photo now mournfully as you move to silence the call.

It stops buzzing a minute after that, and you immediately feel bad- but why should you?

This is all his fault; you'd just been worried on is behalf, and all it took was one mention of Reo and he'd blown up in your face. How was that your fault? Last time you'd checked, him and Nagi had been best friends, so excuse you for being none the wiser.

The phone rings one more time. That photo of Nagi with his ice cream moustache pops up once more, but this time you can't resist the urge to answer it, sitting down heavily on your bed.

"Hi." Nagi says, and he's absolutely breathless, panting and gasping for air.

You're immediately concerned. "Nagi? Are you okay?"

He dismisses your worries with a shake of his head, still panting slightly, his hair dripping with sweat. The camera shakes in his hands as he struggles to hold it steady, so he just places his phone onto the ground and leans over it, still in his training uniform.

"Completely fine," He wheezes out, clutching his chest. "King made me do... these stupid... stupid exercises... dying..."

He'd told you about his victory over Barou before, but he hadn't seemed happy about it. You can see why now.

"But why're you calling me now if you're busy? Finish up and then maybe we'll talk later."

"Not gonna get any time later," Nagi explains, rolling onto his back so you're met with a view of the cold, metal ceiling. "So I wanted to see you now."

I wanted to see you.

Your heart twists.

You decide you're going to do it. You're going to talk it out either him and tell him how you've been feeling, and hopefully straighten out whatever's happened between the two of you and return back to normal.

Your phone has more than enough charge, so it dying is not an option. Not today.

"Nagi..." you begin, but then a football bashes into his phone and sends it skittering across the faux grass.

"Hey!" You hear Nagi's voice yell out. "You're gonna break my phone!"

"Your head's next!" Barou barks out. "Get your ass over here, donkey."

"No." Nagi says petulantly, retrieving his phone. "Don't want to."

He makes a run for it off the pitch and goes to hide in the locker room, before finally returning his attention back to you.

"What were you saying?" He asks, grabbing a towel and wiping the sweat off his face.

"I want to talk about... you know. When we argued that time." You say hesitantly, biting your lip.

He doesn't even pause. "Okay? Then talk about it."

"Why are you like this?" You sigh, shaking your head slightly. "Okay, I will talk about it, and will listen."

"I'm all ears."

You take a deep breath.

"I feel like you don't like me anymore."

Silence. He takes a while to process what you said, now completely still.

"Really?" Nagi's voice is soft when he eventually answers, tossing the towel away. "Why?"

You look away, feeling a knot form in your stomach. "Because. Things feel weird between us now. Like I'm just intruding on your life and you don't want me around anymore."

Nagi frowns, and for a moment you worry that you've said too much. But then he speaks again, his voice gentle. "That's not true."

You let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to hear that, Nagi, I really am. It's just... you're so far, you know? And you're meeting all these new friends, and I'm so, so happy you're enjoying yourself and playing football but I'm scared you'll forget-."

Nagi's expression softens. "I won't forget you."

"... It feels like you already are. I can't explain it. When we talk, it's like it's a chore for you and you feel pressured to entertain me, and I feel so guilty but I need to see you, because I care about you, and you're my boyfriend, and I worry, and-"

"Okay, okay, calm down." He cuts in, looking slightly disconcerted at your outburst. "I get it. I understand what you're saying, and I'm sorry, but again, none of that is true."

"Are you sure?" You push, scanning his face for any indication that he thinks otherwise. "Nagi, you can tell me the truth, okay? It's fine, I'll be fine, so you might as well rip the plaster off nice and quick and just tell me what you really feel."

"I am, dummy." He shakes his head at your antics. "I'm telling you, you're wrong. I look forward to talking to you whenever I can, okay?"

"Then how come you've been acting so weird?" You ask, baffled. "I don't get it."

"You're the one who's been acting weird!"

"Me?" You ask, bewildered. "How? You're the one who just sits there ignoring me whenever you call me, Nagi, making me feel like trash."

"What?" Nagi looks genuinely confused, his eyebrows furrowed and mouth downturned into a frown. "You kept making this face whenever I did speak to you, so I thought I'd wait for you to tell me what's wrong- but you never would, and I didn't want to ask in case you told me to back off or something and stopped calling me."

There's a silence as both of you process what the other said, and then you let out a slight giggle as you realise what's happened.

"Nagi," You grin at him, the unease you felt around him completely gone. "We're idiots, man. Complete idiots."

You can see the tension in his shoulders start to ease as he laughs as well. "Again, you're right."

"I thought you didn't want to talk to me, you thought the same- why are we like this?"

He opens his mouth to say something, but you hear the door burst open and Nagi looks up with an eye roll at the guy standing presumably in front of him. You assume it's Barou, if Nagi's sour expression is anything to go by.

"Oi, you lazy brat," He snarls, and Nagi doesn't seem fazed by his tone in the slightest. "How long are you going to sit here and play on that goddamn phone?"

You also pull a face at his words, and Nagi grunts, turning his phone to show you to Barou.

It's the first time you've seen him, and you feel slightly intimidated on Nagi's behalf. He's absolutely ripped with muscles, with a huge frame, standing at probably around Nagi's height. He's got his hair swept up in some weird hairdo, with an X etched into the side of his head, and red eyes that glare into your soul as he peers at you.

"The hell is that?" He asks, unimpressed. Talk about rude.

"My girlfriend. Say hi, you useless king."

His eyes almost bulge out of his head- but he leaves Nagi alone after that, stomping back out of the room, muttering profanities under his breath and slamming the door shut behind him.

Nagi turns his phone back around. "I think he's embarrassed."

You both burst into laughter at that, and Nagi nearly drops his phone, making you both laugh more, your stomach starting to cramp.

After your laughter dies down, you and Nagi look at each other, still smiling. You feel a sense of relief wash over you as you realize that things between you are just fine- it had all been in your head.

"I'm really sorry," You say, looking into Nagi's eyes. "This was basically my fault, you know?" 

"It's okay," Nagi replies, his expression softening. "And it wasn't entirely yours, okay? I should've asked you what was wrong instead of assuming the worst. I don't like seeing you upset."

"I'm glad this was nothing serious. I think I would've really cried if you told me you were getting sick of me."

"Well, that's just not possible. And you're my good luck charm, remember? I need you, or else I'm just doomed forever."

Nagi smiles at you, and you feel a flutter in your chest.

There's a momentary silence, which is broken as your dad yells at you from the kitchen.

"Hey! The food's getting cold!"

"One minute!" You call back over your shoulder, and sigh before returning your attention to Nagi.

"You need to go, huh?" He asks, and you nod mournfully, getting up to leave, phone in hand.

"Good luck on your match tomorrow, though. I know you'll win."

"It's against Reo's team, so I'm going to make sure we do."

That catches your attention. You sit back down, deciding your dinner can wait a few more minutes- you aren't even that hungry anymore anyway.

"Reo?" You ask, excitedly. "You guys are going to see each other again!"

"Yeah," He nods, but he doesn't look to happy about it. "We already have."

"You have?" You tilt your head in confusion. "How is he, then?"

"He's actually upset with me," Nagi says. "He's mad that I left him. I guess he never did understand what I was saying after all."

"That's a shame," You sigh. "It doesn't matter, though- you can beat him and then add him to your team, right?"

"That's what I'm planning on doing." He tells you. "And then we'll pass this stage, easy peasy."

"Yeah, that's the spirit!" You shoot him an enthusiastic thumbs up. "Then you're going to become the best strikers in Japan, right? You and Reo?"

"Probably Isagi too," Nagi adds. "I doubt that dumbass king, though. But you know, these Blue Lock guys are actually way stronger than I thought they'd be."

"Then it just means so much more, doesn't it, the fact that you've survived in there this long?" You tell him a smile. "I believe in you, Nagi."

"And Reo?" Nagi's eyes hold an emotion you can't quite decipher- it's a look you've never seen on him before, and you have a feeling you know what it is, though you say nothing about it.

"Don't tell him, but I'm rooting for him to lose." You mock whisper, even though it's only you and Nagi anyways, and he snickers.

"You're so cute sometimes, you know?"

"Sometimes?"

"All the time."

You blow him an exaggerated kiss. "That's for good luck."

"Appreciated, but don't forget you promised me a real kiss on the mouth, too. I'll be waiting."

Your face flushes- you'll never understand how he says such embarrassing things with such a straight face. You open your mouth to reply (or to squeal, you guess you'll never know) when your father pokes his head into your room with an eyebrow raised.

"What's this about kissing I'm hearing?" He asks, with the most stupid grin on his face.

You throw a pillow at his face, mortified. "Dad!"

"Hey, hey- don't be like that! I was just worried because you weren't coming back down!" He protests, glasses slightly askew. "I thought you were fighting, but I guess not."

"Get out."

"Yes, okay, okay. Just tell that young man he's not allowed to upset my daughter ever again, or I'll come and-"

"Go AWAY!" You shriek, and he does, yelling something over his shoulder about spanking Nagi's bottom just like in the good old days, and you shut your door, face burning.

"Ignore him." You tell Nagi. "He's all bark and no bite."

"Sounds plenty scary to me." He jokes, and you bury your face in your hands.

"Please forget that just happened."

"I'll try, but he'll probably haunt my nightmares."

"Nagi."

"I nearly pissed myself."

"You aren't going to let me hear the end of this, are you?" You groan, and he laughs at your despair.

"Never." He promises with a smirk, and you sigh.

"I guess it can't be helped," You pout. "I do need to go, though."

"Yeah, me too, or the king's gonna throw a royal tantrum and behead me. I'll talk to you soon- with Reo, probably. Seeing as you love him so much."

You freeze. "Nagi..."

"I'm just playing with you," He chuckles. "You love me more, anyway."

"Well, duh."

You end the call after that, flopping back onto your bed and staring up at the ceiling, your heart racing. You're immensely relieved that Nagi's feelings towards you haven't changed; if anything, Blue Lock has made him more desperate to see you, a fact that pleases you to no end.

When Nagi emerges as the victor of Blue Lock, you'll shower him in all the kisses he wants. All you have to do now is wait.