Chapter Text
“I mean…. I do have a suggestion.” Isagi blurted out, completely against his will. Shit shit, he should not have said that. Ness’s red tear-stained eyes darted around to look at him, clear hints of suspicion in them. He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t look away either, and Isagi took it as a sign to continue. “I mean… we could always.. Date? You know, to get back at Kaiser?” Ness’s eyes widened drastically, filled with disgust and… curiosity?. Isagi braced himself to get yelled at, or to even get hit.
“What?”
- - - — —--- - – - - - - - - - – - —-- – - - - — - - – - - - - - - —--
It's 8:00 on the dot when Isagi came sprinting down to the building where his eight AM intro to literature class was being held, opening the door and sneaking in, where thankfully, the professor also hadn’t arrived yet. Running late wasn’t something Isagi did often, but mistakes were made, and his alarm didn’t go off. His roommate, Nagi, was no help either. The lazy boy woke up even later than Isagi, because, of course, his lucky ass managed to get all the afternoon classes.
He collapsed at the nearest desk, nodding a quick hello to Hiori, who was sitting right next to him. “How are you doing?” Hiori smiles with amusement, knowing Isagi’s dread for his early morning classes.
Isagi just groaned in response, still trying to catch his breath. “At least it's a good morning workout,” came his muffled reply, as Hiori just laughed. Isagi can feel the sweat cooling off and sighed.
Isagi managed to collect himself before the professor walked in, taking out his laptop and opening it to whatever page. He tried his best to follow along with whatever classic literature the teacher had assigned for reading months ago. Isagi tried to go along with it, but much to his dismay, he’s still rather behind.
Suddenly, Isagi felt a weird sensation at the back of his neck, hairs rising. He took a quick peek back. Nothing. But the sensation doesn’t go away. He couldn’t shake off the sensation that someone might be watching him. He turned slightly towards Hiori this time, as casually as possible, and peeked again through his side vision. To his surprise, he saw Ness glaring at him.
Ness was sitting alone, which was unusual for the boy, but it didn’t surprise Isagi, since everybody, even Isagi, knew Kaiser’s absolute hatred for early mornings. It would make sense that this was the one class they didn’t have together.
Isagi chalked it up to Ness’s apparent contempt for him, all because of his rivalry with Kaiser, and turned back around, trying his best to pay attention to the lecture. He slouched in his seat, trying to become as unnoticeable as possible.
No luck. The glare doesn’t let up, as Isagi continued to feel the burning heat at the side of his neck for the rest of the lecture. Isagi was extremely happy then, when the class finally let out and he could make a run for it, just so he didn’t have to feel the wrath of Ness, which seemed more abundant today than usual.
Although strange, Isagi decided to ignore it. It had to be a coincidence, he thought to himself. Maybe Ness was just in a worse mood today than usual, missing his shitty clown. He nodded. It was none of his business, and getting involved with Kaiser more than he had to would just ruin his day.
So Isagi ignored it and hoped it would go away, because the last thing he wanted to do was get involved in whatever the hell was going on with those two.
But the problem did not seem to be going away. It didn’t matter where Isagi was; he felt the heated, hateful glare following him around. He only checked once or twice, both in the library and the cafeteria, to see that both times, it was Ness behind the creepy feeling he kept getting. Isagi decidedly did not turn around to check anymore, but it was starting to stress him out.
It didn’t help that his magenta eyes were extremely captivating, and any normal person would swoon and probably pass out under the attention of the 5 '10 brown/purple-haired boy. Isagi had eyes. He can admit that, despite his various character flaws (extreme codependency being one of them), Ness was probably one of the most gorgeous people he has ever had the pleasure of laying his eyes upon. Beautiful, fluffy, soft-looking hair that perfectly frames his face, slightly more grown out than it used to be, causing Ness to put his hair up in a ponytail sometimes while playing soccer. That beautiful, radiant smile, which mostly comes out when mocking the other team for the sake of Kaiser, has the occasion where it turns slightly genuine (again, because of Kaiser, Isagi thinks bitterly), and it has a little V shape and-
Isagi coughed slightly. Focus. Ness had his attention on him, and that cannot mean anything good. And although Isagi thought his wrath-filled eyes were beautiful too, it did not mean that he wanted to be on the other side of them. (maybe?)
Isagi decided to head over to the art building, both because he could head over to see Bachira and also so he could get as far away from the psychology and literature buildings, the ones that Ness and Kaiser frequent.
“Hey Bachira,” Isagi calls out, going into the studio, knowing Bachira will be there.
“Isagi?” came a happy shout back, and Isagi saw a flash of yellow before Bachira tackled him from the side, hopping onto his back. “Hey there, Isagi. What's up?” Bachira said, bouncing in place.
“Ah, Bachira. Nothing much, just came to see how you’re doing. Wanted to get away from a few people too,” Isagi says sheepishly.
Bachira nodded as if he understood without Isagi having to say anything. “Of course. Me and Rin-chan just came back from lunch! Did you have anything?”
Isagi internally groaned, remembering how his lunch was cut short by his sheer terror of Ness. “Not exactly. Ness and Kaiser have been at it again.”
Bachira tilted his head. “Again? What were they doing?” Isagi narrowed his eyes, thinking. “Nothing really. Just- Ness keeps glaring at me? And it's creeping me out. I don’t know what I did, but it's bad, and I'm scared he's going to murder me in my sleep. Remember when we first met, and how mad he was when I challenged Kaiser?” Isagi said dejectedly, hugging Bachira, appreciating the warmth the smaller boy was providing.
Bachira giggled at his misfortune. “Like you wouldn’t like that.”
Isagi frowns. “Not the point. I don’t want that shitty clown doing anything to me.” He shuddered, pointedly not denying anything about Ness.
Bachira shrugged. “Don’t let him catch you, Isagi. Don't let him win!” He stuck his tongue out, pulling away from the hug. “Want some cookies? I made them yesterday.”
Isagi smiled thankfully as his stomach growled. “I’d like that, yeah.”
And so, Isagi had been avoiding Ness to the best of his abilities. He didn’t see Ness that often either. Avoiding him during training hadn’t been that hard either, because with Kaiser, Ness had been acting more clingy and jumpy recently. Ness is always stuck to the hip with Kaiser, but recently, Isagi noticed that Ness seemed almost desperate to do whatever Kaiser wants, even trying to predict beforehand. Ness’s behavior had been rather out of the ordinary. Isagi couldn’t help but notice.
It wasn’t Isagi’s place to say anything about their dynamic, he supposed. If Ness wants to be with someone who treated him like shit and did not see the potential in his talent, then that was fine; it wasn't any of Isagi’s business. All he needed to do was continue avoiding Ness, and everything would go back to normal.
And of course, Isagi was wrong, because everything did not go back to normal.
Isagi was coming back from his calculus class, regretting that this 9 PM was the only one that he could fit into his practice schedule. With Ego-senpai’s strict attendance policy, he couldn’t even skip class and just do the work by himself. Not that he could anyway, he thought bitterly, head aching with problems and formulas he couldn’t understand. Maybe he’ll ask someone for help later.
Regretting his discipline, he trudged, exhausted, through the grassy middle that would lead to a shortcut to his dorm. It was already dark outside, and the path he was walking through wasn’t lit, so he walked carefully to make sure he didn’t trip and fall. As he began to walk towards where the sidewalk leading to his dorm was, he spotted two figures standing under the lamppost, loud enough for Isagi to catch the tone of the conversation. They seemed to be arguing, furious words being tossed back and forth, and one of them seemed to be rather desperate, holding onto the other's hand, when the former shoved it off.
Isagi shrugged and was about to keep walking ahead when a loud, desperate, “Micha, please!” was said, and it immediately caught his attention. Kaiser? That must mean the other person…
He turned around, stepping quietly towards where the light is, and confirmed that it is, in fact, Kaiser and Ness. Arguing?
Isagi was about to turn around and head back, wary and not wanting to be caught up in Kaiser’s bullshit again, when what he heard made him freeze in his tracks.
“It's over, Ness. I have other things I need to do, and it's clear you're just holding me back. Whatever we had, it's done. Go find yourself a new emperor.”
“Wait, Micha.” Isagi’s eyes widened at the sheer desperate and raw agony that was coming from Ness’s voice.
“You can't just leave,” Ness blurted out, sounding heartbroken, and Isagi couldn’t see his face, but he could imagine that his face didn’t look any better off. Kaiser ignored this, turning around with a dismissive shoulder and walking off, not looking behind him once.
Ness seems to stand there, in pure disbelief, before crumpling onto the bench that was right there, letting out a frame-shaking sob. His hands muffled the silent cries that seemed to be wracking his body, but they still seemed so pitiful that Isagi couldn’t help but feel sorry for the boy. Anguish and misery were radiating off of him, and Isagi thought that Ness still seemed to be holding it together pretty well after just being dumped from an almost 7-year relationship since high school.
Isagi hesitated, not knowing what to do now. He didn’t want to be caught and let Ness know what he had heard, and make him hate the boy more. But on the other hand, a small part of Isagi twisted up seeing the sadness that Ness was displaying, the pure heartbreak that was coming off of him. And personal feelings aside, Isagi couldn’t bear to see someone crying. Much less Ness.
Isagi hesitantly took one step forward, still indecisive about what he should do, before he stepped on a small branch and immediately gave his position away. He cringed as Ness’s head jolted up and looked at Isagi with confusion, trying to see who it was standing in the dark. To Isagi’s absolute dismay, Ness’s eyes immediately turned stony and furious when he finally made out who it is.
“Shitty Yoichi, nothing better to do?” Ness’s sad grimace turned into a full-on sneer, quickly trying to put up an act to distract Isagi from seeing the state he was in.
Well, too late, Isagi thinks to himself, warily stepping forward, completely ignoring the death glare Ness is sending him. He took a few more steps before he was standing right in front of Ness, also underneath the lamp post. He looked at Ness again more carefully, taking in the bloodshot eyes and tear tracks.
“I- I heard what Kaiser said. Are you okay?” Isagi cringed again, rubbing his neck, knowing the absolute hell that was going to come. Ness wasn’t going to be happy that he overheard the conversation. But at this point, Isagi isn’t sure what else he could do. He had already been caught. He braced himself.
Isagi watched with slight amusement (and fear) as Ness’s fury increased tenfold and he flushed with sheer anger and embarrassment.
“And what's it to you?” Ness seethed. “Wedging between me and Kaiser wasn’t enough for you? Now you came to gloat?” Ness’s voice dripped with disdain and hatred. Isagi opens his mouth to defend himself, before pausing at the raw pain disguised in Ness’s voice.
“What are you talking about?” Isagi frowns, trying to remember what he could have possibly done. Ness’s eyes were shining with a vulnerability Isagi has never seen before, so there must be some truth to what he was saying before. “When have I ever attempted to get between you and Kaiser?” Isagi decides not to mention how he tried to win over Ness in the beginning before realising the boy was truly in love with Kaiser.
Ness scoffs. “Like you don’t know. It's all because of you. You had to show up at the worst time and ruin everything. All Kaiser has been able to look at is you, all about you. Do you know how it feels to have to compete with nobody just to get attention from your own boyfriend?” Ness rants, tears running down his face, but he doesn't seem to be aware of it. “Before it was fine, Kaiser was strangely taken with you, but it didn’t matter to me, because he was mine. But then you had to go and beat him, and now all he ever does is pay attention to you! It's always about you, and no matter what I do, all he seems to focus on is getting better than you, and making you pay! You shitty- you shitty!” Ness fumes. “I didn’t even care, but now he doesn’t even want to be with me anymore!”
Isagi couldn’t even stand to be offended right now, because god, Ness is so pretty. Isagi feels like a piece of shit for even thinking this when Ness seems to be in so much pain right now, but he looks so so pretty, even with tears running down his face, and eyes blood shot red, and eye bags, but the light is shining down on his beautiful magenta eyes and tears cling to his eyelashes, and his face is flushed red, and Isagi really should be paying more attention to what Ness is saying but god, he's just a man.
Isagi tunes back in, just in time for Ness to shoot another scathing glare at him.
“And now, despite everything I have done, Kaiser still doesn’t want to be with me. I'm not enough for him.” Tears well up in Ness’s eyes again, and before Isagi can think, or even stop himself, he's taking a step forward, and awkwardly putting a hand on Ness’s fluffy hair in some form of comfort. Ness startles, glaring up again. “What the fuck do you think you are doing?” Ness hisses, looking embarrassed.
“Comfort. You look like you need it.” Isagi coughs. “If it's any comfort at all, I don't want your boyfriend at all. He is genuinely the last person I would ever want to be with. I'd rather get with Rin than him.”
Ness just seems more irritated. “That's great, Yoichi. That doesn’t fix anything. He doesn’t want to be with me anymore. What the hell do you want from me now.” he seemed exhausted and defeated, as if the fight was gone from him, and he looked exhausted.
“I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Breakups suck. Everyone needs someone to rely on, you know? I didn’t know if you had anyone right now- besides Kaiser.” Isagi said awkwardly, looking away. Shit, he ruined it again, didn’t he?
Ness still looked mad and suspicious. “Why are you being so nice? You were always a clown before, Yoichi.”
Isagi scowls. “I'm always nice,” He says crossly. “You and Kaiser always ruin everything.”
Ness rolls his eyes, eyes drooping from exhaustion. He seems completely drained now, not even looking at Isagi with anger as he loves doing so. “I don’t have the energy to argue with you right now,” He whispers. Isagi tilts his head. “You should go home now, get some rest. I'm always here if you ever need anything, but I bet it's good for you if you go and sleep some of the bad feelings off.” Isagi suggests. “You can yell at me tomorrow if you want,” Isagi suggested casually, pretending that it wasn’t for his benefit that Ness would be around him tomorrow as well. He wants to be around Ness when Ness wasn’t shooting daggers at him.
Ness stiffens for some reason at the suggestion, to Isagi’s confusion. “I-I can't.” Ness says dejectedly. “Kaiser is probably there, and will get upset if I go there too. In all our fights, I had to just stay out or beg him to come back. He always takes over the apartment. Though we just broke up, so I don't even know he’s there now.” Ness confesses absentmindedly, slumping down again. Isagi is, in all fairness, absolutely horrified. What a shitty fucking clown. Isagi thinks to himself, before being struck with a brilliant idea.
“How about...” he says slowly. “Why don't you come back to my dorm?” Ness’s head jolts towards him again, mouth turning up with disgust. “Nothing weird.” Isagi raises his hands. “Just- you're not in a good condition right now. All I want for you is to get some good rest. Nagi isn’t staying in the dorm tonight. You can sleep in my bed, and I can sleep in Nagi’s. It’ll be fine.”
“Absolutely not,” Ness scoffs. “Why would I accept any favors from you?” Isagi frowns. “It's not a favour. I'm just concerned for you. You don't have to, but I'd rather you not have to go back and beg Kaiser just to stay at your apartment again. It's late and dangerous. Just come back with me, okay? Please?” Isagi tries to sound as earnest and nice as possible. He genuinely doesn’t want Ness to go back somewhere that would cause him pain. He ignores the hope that blooms inside him at the chance that he might be able to be around Ness a bit longer, but he reminds himself that this is someone who is hurting. He couldn’t make any moves at all, not with Ness in this state, nor did he want to. He just wants Ness to be safe.
Ness looks at him suspiciously, but Isagi can see how the exhaustion radiates from his frame. Ness stays silent for a while, and Isagi is just about to awkwardly say his goodbyes and tell him it's fine, before a small whisper rings out. “Fine”