Chapter 3 - And so it begins

Part 2/7

Now that the game was closer to starting, the crowd that walked around inside the stadium was even worse than it had been outside. Everybody pressed against each other as people looked for their chairs, the loud buzzing and screaming mingling with the awful music that came from the speakers. The lights there were not as intense as the ones illuminating the field, but they were brighter than they needed to be, in Ren’s opinion.

Everything was just too much. Taking deep breaths so he wasn’t taken by the forceful will to run out of there, Ren clenched and unclenched his free fist to avert his focus from the crowd. Yuki, Kai and Niko were walking in front of him in a line, so he clutched Niko’s shirt from behind to feel more grounded.

His friend looked at him, eyes widening as they met Ren’s. He stopped walking, which made the other two in front of him notice and stop as well.

“Are you okay?” Niko asked, making his voice louder so he could be heard over the noisy sea of people.

Ren nodded, not letting go of his friend’s shirt.

“What happened?” Kai asked, getting closer to Ren. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ren said, forcing a small smile. “There are just a lot of people. Nothing I can’t handle, though,” he promised, even if he wasn’t so sure of that himself.

Still, Kai and Niko stared at him. It only made his heart beat faster. But before they could say anything else, Yuki appeared behind them, eyeing Ren as if also asking if he was alright. Even with his mind fuzzy as it was, Ren vaguely noticed Yuki was on his tiptoes, using Kai’s shoulders as support so he could see despite his short height. 

Without thinking, Ren smiled truthfully at that, something pleasant running down his spine. He felt his insides get warmer under the gaze of the deep brown irises that didn’t leave his face. It made him feel surprisingly better.

“I’m okay, really,” Ren said again, heart beating in a more compassed rhythm.

Yuki broke eye contact with him and looked from Niko to Kai, something changing in his face at their worried expressions. Soon, he was looking back at Ren, but with a sarcastic smirk hanging on his lips.

"Don't like crowds? You can always leave if you want," he said mockingly.

Ren scowled, the previous pleasure quickly being replaced by irk. "I'm not going anywhere.” 

Faces finally relaxing, Kai and Niko rolled their eyes.

Kai turned and held his hand up to Yuki's chest. "Enough! Yuki, behave!"

"I always joke like this." Yuki pouted, sticking out his lower lip. It was the most adorable thing ever.

Wonder what it would be like to bite that lip. Ren huffed, shaking his head at the thought. Stop it!

"And everyone always hates it," Niko responded to Yuki’s comment.  

“That's not nice!” Yuki whined. “I got you these tickets, you know. Can't you at least say thanks?”

“Thanks,” Niko said indifferently. Ren couldn’t hold back a chuckle.

“Kai,” Yuki walked a bit faster to catch up to his friend. “Niko’s being mean again.”

“He's not wrong, though. If you think it was funny to tell your guest to go home, you're highly mistaken,” Ren decided to interrupt. “Now let’s find our seats, shall we?”

Yuki glared back at him, eyes tracing him up and down. The smile he wore changed slightly, as if he was satisfied. Strangely, Ren felt a bit calmer again at that. Even if those shifts in Yuki’s smiles were confusing as hell.

As they went back to walking, Ren tried to focus his attention on something, so he wouldn’t be engulfed by all the noise around him again. It turned out the thing he found was the conversation between Kai and Yuki. Even though their voices were muffled and Ren was quite sure he wasn’t supposed to listen to it, he did anyway.

“Wow, you are tense,” Kai mumbled to Yuki with a chortle. 

Yuki looked back a bit, only part of his face visible. It was more relaxed now, a lovely blush tinting his right cheek. “I'm tense?! Have you seen the look on that guy's face? Looks like he wants to eat me alive!”

The choice of words made Ren's cheeks burn deeply. Oh boy…

Kai let out a genuine laugh, cutting off Ren’s train of thought. His friend rarely acted that freely around others. 

“Maybe he does.” Kai’s tone was mischievous. 

Son of a bitch!

“Fuck off, Kai! Just what the hell have you and Niko gotten me into?!” Yuki moaned. “First Niko on the train, and now this.”

Kai stopped dead in his tracks, his face suddenly serious. “What about Niko on the train?”

“Hey, are we close?” Niko interrupted.

If Ren had to bet, he’d say it was on purpose. Which made him curious.

“Yes! Our seats are this way!” Yuki said louder. He sounded slightly panicked as his face went red. He ran ahead, dodging Kai when he tried to grab Yuki's arm. 

“What the hell were you talking about, Yuki?” Kai yelled,chasing after the boy and leaving the other two behind.

“They do that a lot,” Niko explained, unphased by their sudden behavior. 

“What did he mean?” Ren asked, looking at Niko suspiciously.

His friend just shrugged. “No idea. Honestly, I tune out most of the nonsense from Yuki,” he said nonchalantly, scanning the field while the players warmed up with the balls. They followed the pair that had run off to their seats.

“His tone was weird. He is weird. Just as I thought,” Ren mumbled, ignoring the fact he was a cute kind of weird.

The sound of Kai’s laughter caught his attention again. His eyes darted to his friend. He and Yuki were already seated beside each other a few chairs ahead. Kai slapped Yuki’s head, making the boy screech indignantly as he rubbed the spot that must be sore. It made Kai laugh even more.

If Ren was being honest, he was mesmerized. He didn’t remember the last time Kai seemed so carefree around someone who wasn’t Niko. Not even when Ren was alone with Kai, did his friend look that relaxed.

The realization made him both fond of the scene and a little sad he couldn’t bring that out in Kai as well.

“Come on, you’re too slow!” Yuki shouted, waving his hands at Ren and Niko, who were just approaching them.

The glimpse of that genuine boy Ren had seen before made his insides twitch happily. As soon as Yuki stared at him, however, his smile turned back into the weird, confusing, almost fake one he seemed fond of wearing.

Ren pressed his lips together in a thin line, and looked away as he and Niko sat down. Kai’s words about how honest Yuki was popped into his mind. He had sounded so sure about it. And Ren could see Yuki did act differently with Kai. With others, however, he clearly put on an act. Including Niko. Which didn’t make much sense to Ren. Unless Yuki was using it to hide his true romantic feelings.

“So… this is your first live pro game, right, Niko?” Yuki asked with a very large smile, pulling Ren out of his conjectures. “Hope you enjoy it.” 

“I will, if you don't start shit,” Niko said, focusing on the field again.

“If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're getting excited,” Kai smiled, his eyes softening at the sight of his boyfriend's thrilled face. 

“You aren't?!” Niko practically yelled. 

The two of them moved closer together. Niko talking vigorously, Kai listening intensely. Ren noticed Yuki's smile had remained the same, while his eyes grew distant. He looked out at the field below, lost in thought.

It made Ren uneasy. What the hell is he thinking right now?

“Ren, do you follow either of these teams?” Niko asked, bouncing impatiently in his seat. 

Blinking repeatedly, Ren furrowed his eyebrows. “I know you’re over excited, but you do remember I don’t give two shits about soccer, right?”

Niko turned to him with a confused expression, then started laughing. “Sorry, guess I am super excited!” he said, swinging his legs like a toddler and looking back at the field.

Ren smiled affectionately.

He noticed that, once Niko’s attention was on Ren, Kai had turned to Yuki and thanked him for the tickets. The look Yuki gave him seemed very natural. He truly looked humbled and surprised. If Ren didn't know of his possible ulterior motives for such generosity, he'd think the boy didn’t expect anything in return.

Kai playfully punched Yuki's shoulder while saying something with a big smile. Yuki’s cheeks relaxed, his mouth becoming a thin line as a tiny grin formed on his face. His eyes turned wide, kind and welcoming. There was a glist of pleasure on the dark irises that matched the light curl of his lips. And it was beautiful.

There it is, Ren thought.

As quickly as it came, though, the genuine smile was gone. Yuki’s face went blank as he closed his eyes. When they opened again, the other broad smile and squinted eyes appeared. The transformation happened in mere seconds; not enough for anyone else to notice. But Ren did. He had plastered on his fake smile.

“Niko!” Yuki yelled, the smile once again adjusted. It widened, his eyes tightening, forehead creasing slightly. “Your boyfriend is picking on me again!” his voice was a whine, like a child demanding attention. 

“Stop giving him reasons to,” Niko said bluntly.

He continued like this while they waited for the game to start. Yuki smiled wide and fake when talking to Niko. Just like with the random people passing by them to get to their seats. 

Ren was getting really uncomfortable at that. He didn't like not being able to read people. Usually, he knew at once if someone was trustworthy or not. But Yuki was a mystery. And Ren did not care for mysteries.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long for the game to start, and Ren's thoughts were broken by the loud shouting. As soon as the players were announced, he happily started eating his cheddar fries, barely paying attention to what was happening on the field.

He didn’t dislike sports per se. He was actually very good at tennis and loved to play it. But group sports were just not his thing. There was too much stuff happening at the same time, making him get bored and lose focus. Not to mention that footwork was not his best talent.

So he spent quite a while eating and drinking his soda, only noticing something had happened when Niko and Kai screamed beside him along with the crowd. At those moments, Ren looked at his friends fondly, glad to see they were having a good time with their shared interest in soccer.

About twenty-five minutes later, though, he was already out of fries and soda. Having nothing else to focus on, he started fidgeting in his chair. As little traitors, his eyes fell on Yuki.

The boy was leaning forward, elbow propped on his thigh and chin resting on his fist. A small unpretentious smile hung on his lips, but Ren could see he wasn’t very interested in the game either. Everytime Kai and Niko cheered, however, he looked up at them, and his smile would widen. It was the carefree, genuine smile that made Ren’s heart flutter.

Suddenly, the brown eyes fell on him. The expression on Yuki’s face changed to something Ren couldn’t make sense of. It left him uneasy, as if it was pushing him into a void of weird emotions. Ones that caressed his soul, but also really scared him.

Briskly getting up from his chair, Ren told Kai he was going to the bathroom. He needed to get out of there for a bit. Maybe some cold water on his face would help keep his thoughts in check.

He left so quickly, he didn’t see who followed right after him.