showyousomethingnice | Soulmates AU (Reo, Kise)

Soulmates AU (Reo, Kise)

[cont. from here]

After he's given Ryo-chan enough time to leave, Reo leaves too, heading for Rakuzan's locker room. He doesn't know how much of the team will still be there, but he expects that Coach Shirogane will be waiting to hear his decision directly for him, and he also needs to get his bag.

Most of the team has gone - off to lick their wounds, Reo thinks, back in their rooms where they don't have to face anyone but their assigned roommates. Without Ryo-chan here to occupy his attention, the full impact of the loss is beginning to hit him, and what he feels first and forement is guilt. Sei-chan didn't say it directly, but it doesn't take a genius to guess that it was Reo and Ryo-chan finding each other and leaving the court that changed the flow of the game. He'd thought it would be Kaijou that would be crippled without its ace, that Rakuzan would absorb his own departure smoothly and Sei-chan adapt his strategy accordingly, but. Well.

Obviously, that isn't how it happened, is it?

It occurs to Reo to wonder: when was the last time Rakuzan - or Sei-chan - had to adapt to anything? Shirogane warns them frequently of the dangers of complacency, but when was the last time even he had to consider the possibility that Rakuzan could lose? Reo may only be one piece of the machine, but removing him was still enough to make it wobble and crash.

He lost his team this match, this tournament, and now he's leaving them to join the team they lost to.

Standing in this mostly-deserted locker room, without Ryo-chan by his side, it's a lot harder to justify that decision.

He only has a few seconds to dwell on that, though - the room's three remaining occupants all look up when he comes in.

"Reo-nee." Hayama is subdued in a way Reo has never seen before, lacking his customary exclamation points, but he still manages a smile. "Ditch your soulmate already, huh?" Nebuya snorts a little next to him, while Shirogane withdraws into the background to give Reo a moment with his erstwhile teammates.

"Not for long," Nebuya says, "from what Akashi said."

"I'm so sorry," Reo says helplessly; he must look and sound as guilty as he feels, because from there the conversation is mostly the other two trying to reassure him and celebrate his good luck, and Reo's heart aches as he realizes how much he is going to miss them. It's always seemed like they drive him crazy more often than not, Hayama frustratingly careless and Nebuya utterly without shame about his tendencies toward vulgarity, but they've become his friends too, the first friends he'd had among his teammates in a very long time. They haven't showered yet, but for once Reo doesn't care about that, and he hugs them goodbye anyway.

Eventually, Shirogane gently shoos them along to the showers - "He has a soulmate to get back to, you two, you'll understand someday" - and turns to Reo in the quiet of the room.

"I won't keep you long," he says, and smiles a little. "I don't want to take up any more of your first day than I have to. You've made the right decision. We're going to miss you, but Kise-kun wouldn't be a good fit here. I think you understand why."

Reo does understand. Rakuzan has a lot of big personalities on it, a lot of talent, and a lot - not to put too fine a point on it - of ego. It's why he was so relieved when Sei-chan agreed to come to Rakuzan; otherwise, Reo would have been captain, and he knows he doesn't have the right touch to maintain the delicate balance Rakuzan requires to stay functional. Much as Reo loves his soulmate, he can easily admit that the addition of his personality would upset that balance and cause unnecessary waves until Sei-chan could smooth them down.

"It did seem like the best decision for everyone," he says. Then he hesitates, long enough that Shirogane raises an inquiring eyebrow.

". . . How is Sei-chan?" he finally asks. "He seemed . . ." Reo shakes his head a little, unable and unwilling to look for the words he wants.

Shirogane sighs.

*

Sei-chan, as it turns out, does not want Reo's company for the evening.

"It's kind of you to offer," he says, a softness in his expression that Reo can't seem to look away from, "but I'd just spend the whole time feeling guilty about keeping you two apart, and that wouldn't help either of us."

As he has done so often before, Reo has to admit that Sei-chan is right.

"But I'd like it if we could stay in touch," Sei-chan continues.

"Just you try to get rid of me," Reo says, mostly steady. Sei-chan smiles, mostly steady.

*

He sends the text less than an hour after he made the promise.

On my way, Ryo-chan!! Sei-chan gave me your address too, so don't worry about that. I'll see you soon. ♥ ♥ ♥

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"With my sister," Reo tells him, "winning is losing."

Not that that has ever, ever stopped Reo. As one might expect of a family of athletes, the Mibuchis are a naturally competitive bunch.

He leans his forehead lightly against Ryo-chan's for a moment.

"Well, now you have me." He leaves the second half of the sentence unspoken: And I will always be on your side. Some things don't need to be said aloud, especially not in front of sisters who clearly know who to make best use of every scrap of ammunition they come across.

"OK, wow, you two are too cute, it's making me sick. I'm going to let you go feed each other or do whatever soulmates do." Congratulations, Reocchi, you've passed whatever unspoken test Reiko was conducting and are now allowed unsupervised access to her baby brother. Flapping her hands in a mock display of disgust, she starts to turn back to her room. "Mibuchi-kun, if you decide you need an extra pillow to smother him or something during the night, just knock!"

Not even the implication that Reocchi might decide to murder him is enough to make Kise pout again now, though. He's quietly basking in the touch of Reocchi's forehead. As soon as Reiko's gone he grabs at Reocchi's hand to tug him into his room. "Come on!"

Kise's room is the smallest in the house so the majority of it is taken up with his bed, the futon, a generous wardrobe at the end of the bed and a desk/dressing table in the last corner. There are trophies from multiple sports on or near the desk but, on closer examination, none of them are for more than one year until the ones from Teikou. Beside them are a few skin care items and a magazine or two--Zunon Boy is there, naturally. The furniture itself is nice but not extravagant, though his bedding and, by extension, the futon and bedding for that, are very nice. When Kise splurges, he does it very particularly.

"I only have the one chair, but you can have it if you want. I don't mind the floor!"

"Why don't we both sit on the floor?" Reo suggests. "It will be easier to talk that way."

. . . then, innocently: "Or to feed each other."

Sisters can be contagious.

Kise's just starting to gather his meal and turn to sit when Reocchi offers to feed him. He stops for a second, surprised and a little confused, then realizes what's going on and flops down with a huff.

"Not you too, Reocchi!" Pout pout pout, drink, pout pout.

Reo laughs, picking up his own food, and sits carefully next to Ryo-chan. He leans over to nudge his shoulder against Ryo-chan's and says,

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. I'm not very good at resisting an easy set-up." Especially when it's been handed to him on a silver platter.

"Is it okay if we Skype Seiko after dinner? I didn't call her in the cab because I knew she'd want to be able to see you for herself."

"She already has a partner in crime! You have to be on my side." That's it, Kise's decided, so there. He returns the nudge, though, then settles in to start eating.

"Of course! I wish there was some way we could meet her in person but I know it's late. Ryoko's probably already asleep, she has a lot of early classes, but we can try to get in touch with her tomorrow." Kise's fairly sure Reiko will tell her between then and now, but there's no point in trying to keep it a secret. He changed his Facebook status on the way over and everything. Still single, but officially soulmated.

There's no reason not to say it now that they're alone, so Reo does.

"I'm always on your side."

The food, he discovers after taking a bite, tastes as good as it smells; he makes a note to compliment Kise-san on his cooking.

"Nee-chan's in university," he says, "so it might be a little while before you get to meet face-to-face." He wrinkles his nose. "Assuming she doesn't decide that this is a good enough reason to skip a day of classes."

Seiko is not irresponsible, but the freedom of university, Reo thinks, goes to her head occasionally.

"You'll like her, she's great." He glances up with a more serious expression. "She's always on my side."

"Reocchi..." Even though the bond makes it feel like Reocchi's been in his life forever, Kise's still not used to the idea of someone expressing such earnest affection for him. He tilts his head over onto Reocchi's shoulder for a moment, but it's impossible to eat in that position so he doesn't linger.

"Where does she go to school? Maybe we could go to her one day!" Kise's not against the idea of traveling to meet Reocchi's family. Not everyone lives as close to their family as he does, after all, and he knows that. Besides which, Ryoko's not here so there will be travel involved in meeting up with her, too.

He watches Reocchi's face when he looks up from his meal and talks about his sister, nodding a little. "Then I'll absolutely like her. Anybody who is on Reocchi's side is already ahead of the curve."

Reo smiles a little and looks back down at his dinner.

"When I was little," he says, "I used to steal Nee-chan's clothes and jewelry to wear. Our parents got upset because I was a boy and I shouldn't be wearing girls' things; Seiko got upset because I did it without asking. So I asked." He laughs a bit. "That didn't make Mom and Dad any happier, and - we were both young, I wasn't even in school yet, I didn't understand and so I got upset and that bothered Nee-chan a lot. She started lending me her things in secret."

("But Mommy and Daddy said no."
"Well, it's my stuff, not theirs. We just won't tell them, okay?")

"They found out, of course, we both got in trouble, but Nee-chan never stopped giving me pretty things she thought I would like, and Mom and Dad - just sort of gave up, eventually, when they realized it wasn't just a phase. They overlook it, as long as I don't make them have to deal with it."

He pauses for a second, trying to get his thoughts back on track. He hadn't really known what he was going to say when he opened his mouth, other than to try and explain how far back his sister's protectiveness toward him goes, and he's never talked about any of this with anyone.

But Ryo-chan is his soulmate, and that's what you talk about with your soulmate, isn't it? Things you don't tell anyone else? And it's not like the notion that Reo has always had feminine tastes is going to shock anyone who has ever met him.

Still, he doesn't look up as he continues.

"Nee-chan always says that if you're happy and you're not hurting anyone, then you're doing it right. She doesn't like it when people try to tell me otherwise, and I've learned not to listen."

Kise listens intently, food forgotten while Reocchi speaks. Even someone who is sometimes the social equivalent of a bull in a china shop (or who does a great impression of being so) can tell when something's this important.

Kise's relationship with his family is far from the standard expectation of Japanese society and he knows it, but in general they've all always been pretty hands-off, emotionally speaking. Kise's always been cute and talented and his sisters were the same before him--they all had enough of each trait that they didn't need a ton of close support from each other or from their parents. Of course, Kise's starting to wonder how things will work out with his mother now that he does need that support, but it doesn't seem anything like what Reocchi and his family have together. The one thing his parents have never done is give up on anything about him, so hearing that leaves a strange hollowness in Kise. He's never even met her but he appreciates Reocchi's sister a great deal listening to this.

He lets Reocchi talk until he seems talked out, then lifts one hand and carefully moves his hair away from the side of his face. No more hiding, Reocchi. "She's right, you know," he says lightly, not dismissing the heavy atmosphere but trying to navigate in it the best way he knows how. "I'm really glad you had her around, Reocchi. She sounds very smart."

Reo smiles a little, startled and pleased, when Ryo-chan brushes his hair back. It hadn't been his intention to hide behind it, but it's reassuring to be reminded that he doesn't need to, that it's safe to let Ryo-chan find him.

"She is," he says. "Sometimes I wonder if it didn't all start because I wanted to be like her." He wrinkles his nose a little. "Don't tell her that, though, I'd never hear the end of it."

Kise tucks Reocchi's hair behind his ear as best as he can, knowing it's not really long enough to stay but wanting to drive the point home. His smile is gentle but he's very glad Reocchi didn't mind.

"Your secret's safe with me, Reocchi!" He even crosses his heart. "Sometimes you need to take your soulmate's side against even the best older sister. I'm sure it's in the rules somewhere."

Reo raises his head, still with that little smile, and leans over (carefully, mindful of the plate in his lap) to kiss Ryo-chan's cheek.

"I am gay," he says suddenly. "Just to be clear." He says it matter-of-factly, without any of the borderline awkwardness of a moment ago. It's not something he keeps a secret, and it's always been something people understand more easily than they do his penchant for blurring gender. "My parents don't have a problem with that. I didn't even have to tell them, they knew before I did. It's, uh, it's why I was so confused about - well, I always thought I'd fall instantly in love with my soulmate when I met him, you know?"

He'd known that theoretically his soulmate could well be a girl, but he'd never been able to take that idea seriously. Girls are lovely and wonderful and some of his favorite people are girls, but he couldn't begin to imagine one being his soulmate.

Though, considering the platonic nature of his bond with Ryo-chan, he supposes that wouldn't have been so far-fetched after all. But he's so glad it was Ryo-chan and not anyone else; the notion of bonding to anyone of any gender who isn't Ryo-chan seems absurd to the point of hilarity now.

Aloud, to confirm that train of thought, he adds,

"But I like this way better." Because this is the way it is for them, and so it's perfect.

Reocchi's sudden declaration has Kise blinking a little, even though the little kiss makes him beam. It's not exactly a secret--Kise never paid much attention to the things people said about the Uncrowned because they just didn't matter as much (in his opinion, obviously much changed in the last twelve hours), but it was impossible to avoid the chatter in the Kaijou locker room before the last match. Kasamatsu-senpai barked at anyone he heard saying anything about Reocchi, but it only stopped them for so long. Thinking about it now, Kise wondered a little what the rest of the first-years thought now that he and Reocchi were soulmates. Only a little, though.

"OK! Don't worry, Reocchi--I thought I'd fall in love too. It's what you're supposed to do, right? Which is why it didn't really matter who it was for me, but I'm so glad it's you." He was confused at first, too, but Kise doesn't tend to linger in confusion, especially when there's an easy way out like accepting the situation in front of of him. After all, you don't play for the Generation of Miracles and let yourself spend a lot of time thinking about what's realistic or likely. At first he thought he might like guys more just because he spent more time around them, but girls were great too. Eventually it just seemed that he liked people and things like gender weren't really a factor, so rather than fight it, he went with it. Most people thought it was just him playing coy as a model which made it a lot easier to slip real flirtation and interest under the radar.

"And we could still fall in love later! After all, it will be very hard for Reocchi to not fall in love with me." He gives a little, 'what can you do?' shrug, knowing full well that the odds of getting teased for that are high. It's worth it if it makes Reocchi feel more comfortable talking about things like this, and Kise knows no matter what happens their bond will still be exactly right.

It didn't seem sudden to Reo; his orientation and his femininity are the two things people notice most about him outside of a basketball setting (and, sometimes, inside it), and Kise's mother's reception of him won't leave his mind any time soon. It was the natural next step to him to confirm the truth to Ryo-chan.

(He knows what people say, especially other players, and he can guess at what Kaijou's players might have had to say about him before the game.

He can guess at what they're saying about him and Ryo-chan now, too.)

(He'll realize, once he's been at Kaijou for a little while, that his guesses are harsher than reality.)

"It would be very hard for anyone not to fall in love with Ryo-chan," he says lightly, and takes a bite of his supper.

He's only teasing a little.

It's not like there's even a choice in sides to take: a high school basketball team who may or may not even remember Kise in ten years, or the person he's as likely as not going to end up buried next to. In the end, if Kise hears Kaijou say one negative thing about Reocchi, he'll... well, he'll probably turn them over to Senpai because Kise's not really that good at yelling at people but he'll make aggressive faces over Senpai's shoulder the entire time.

(If it continues, though, if it looks like there's a single person at Kaijou who's going to give Reocchi a real problem being on the team, Kise's not afraid to hold his talent hostage. He won't play on a team that doesn't accept his soulmate.

Luckily for everyone involved, Kaijou's not likely to be very resistant.)

He starts to go back to his supper when he hears Reocchi's reply and turns a suspicious look at him.

"If I didn't know better, I would think you were picking on me, Reocchi. Don't you think I'm lovable?" Kise is the most lovable, obviously.

"I think I just said that, Ryo-chan." The look Reo gives him is full of open affection, honest and almost raw in a way he (doesn't quite realize) he rarely allows himself to be with anyone. He lets it linger for a few seconds before turning his attention back to his meal.

He eats for a moment, quiet, then asks,

"What is the team likely to think of . . . all that?" Of having a gay teammate, of having teammates who have bonded (even if it isn't a romantic bond or even a sexual one; that's an idea that will be hard for some people to swallow, after all), of having . . . Reo, who doesn't hide who he is even when who he is is someone the people around him just want to go away.

(He knows his middle school team wasn't representative, that a team as serious about the game as Kaijou is is more likely to hew closer to Rakuzan's response of putting his talents as a player first, but . . . some experiences leave deep marks.)

Kise doesn't mean to stare but Reocchi's whole face changes when he answers. Any thought that Reocchi might be teasing him just flees from Kise's mind--he's not sure he's even capable of an expression as honest as Reocchi's. Something in his chest gets a little tight in reaction to the sheer loveliness of his soulmate and when Reocchi turns back to his meal, Kise just sighs. He's so lucky!

He picks his way through his own meal while Reocchi eats, pausing only for a moment when he asks about Kaijou. "I think they'll love you." He realizes that's a flip answer to an important question, though, so he stops and sets his utensils down, counting on his fingers.

"Moriyama-senpai will be glad to have someone who won't compete with him for girls, and also since you and I are bonded he'll probably be happy that a lot of girls will think I'm unavailable now too. Nothing really bothers Kobori-senpai so I don't think he'll have anything much to say about it but if he does it'll probably be kind. He's been very nice. Nakamura-senpai will probably be disappointed that you're likely to take Moriyama-senpai's place on the first string when he retires, but you're more talented and Nakamura-senpai has always been supportive of whatever's best for the team. Hayakawa-senpai is very loud but he means well. At least, I think he does..." Kise can't always understand his teammate, but to be fair most of them can't understand Hayakawa-senpai.

"And Kasamatsu-senpai doesn't care who you are or where you come from as long as you're respectful and serious and play good basketball. I think they might be confused by our bond but it'll make the team stronger so even if they don't understand I don't think they'll mind." Even if respectful and serious are things Kise often struggles with, his admiration and affection for not just his captain but his entire team shines through as he speaks.

"You won't regret coming here, Reocchi. They're good people."

And that should be that. It should be, because he'd doubted Shirogane when he'd promised during recruiting that Rakuzan was nothing like Reo's middle school team, that he would be treated with respect and valued as the hard-working and skilled player he was. No, it wasn't just doubt, he'd flat-out disbelieved it, assuming Shirogane was naive, out of touch with his team, or just lying. And he hadn't been any of those, had he? Rakuzan had been exactly like he'd promised. Maybe some players had some things to say behind Reo's back, nothing is perfect, but no one ever said anything to his face or even acted like they wanted to.

And Reo has far more reason to believe Ryo-chan, his soulmate, than he had a virtual stranger who'd had reason to want Reo to believe him. Ryo-chan knows his team, and he isn't lying, and Reo didn't get the slightest hint of anything less than professionalism toward him from a single Kaijou player during the game.

So it's pointless, insulting even, unfair at least to Ryo-chan if not to Kaijou as a whole, to still feel that creeping frisson of doubt after Ryo-chan's earnestly detailed answer. Reo frowns a little, self-directed, trying to shake it off. Bad experiences leave people paranoid, he knows that. That's all this is.

(Wouldn't they love that they're still getting to him after all this time?)

Aloud, he says,

"I'm sure I won't. I can see how happy you are with them. I'm sure they're wonderful."

He says it firmly, like that will be enough to make that sureness a reality.

Kise was looking forward as he was counting, so he misses the frown on his soulmate's face, but he doesn't miss the strange tone in his voice or the way he repeats his statement of certainty. He's trying to convince himself as much as anyone, Kise's sure of it. Something in the way he's sitting, though, in the air around Reocchi tells Kise that to oversell Kaijou right now--something he's not even sure is possible, he loves his school so much--would be counterproductive. Sometimes, you just have to see a thing to believe it.

"I hope your transfer comes through quickly. I know they're looking forward to meeting you, even though I'll be sad not to be able to keep Reocchi to myself anymore." It just means he has to make the most of the time he does have before everyone else realizes how great his soulmate is, right?

Speaking of which...

"Reocchi? When did you want to try to get in touch with your sister?" When in doubt, change the subject.

Reo accepts the subject change with a little sigh of relief; he would have felt obligated to explain himself if they'd stayed focused on his anxiety about Kaijou, and he's already dropped enough on Ryo-chan tonight. They should talk about lighter things, or he should hush and let Ryo-chan talk about himself. It would be only polite, and anyway, Reo would like that. He wants to know everything about his soulmate, as soon as he can.

And no doubt Ryo-chan feels the same about him, but - all the same. Enough.

He offers Ryo-chan what he knows isn't quite his best smile, but is a better effort than he could have made just a few seconds ago.

"I was thinking after we finish eating? She's definitely in by now, probably dying for an excuse to put her homework down." And this will be the best excuse he could possibly have to give her. His smile firms up a little in anticipation of her delight.

Seeing Reocchi smile, even if it's one that clearly takes a little bit of effort, is one of those things that Kise knows has always felt good even if it's only been happening for a few hours. Seeing it now in particular gives him a sense of relief and he knows he made the right call, changing the subject. Besides, he's curious about Reocchi's sister, and he works toward finishing his meal a little more quickly with the knowledge that that's all that sits between them and contacting her.

"Everyone deserves a good reason to skip their homework, and we are an awesome reason." Of this he's completely certain, both the awesome part and obviously the homework part. He's hopeful Reocchi feels the same way, if only because it will make it much easier to explain to Kasamatsu-senpai why Kise's homework is so often neglected.

"I hope I'll get to meet her in person too, though, before too long! Maybe all five of us could go out, or even go away somewhere!" Is he getting ahead of himself? That's hardly even possible in Kise's mind.

"That would be fun," Reo says, feeling relaxed and comfortable once more. He likes that Ryo-chan is so eager to meet Seiko; he thinks they'll get along, and that they would even if they didn't have Reo in common.

Though he also likes that Ryo-chan is eager for his sake. It feels - nice.

He also starts eating faster, not wanting to keep either of them waiting.

"Where do you think we could go? I know Aneki always talks about wanting to go up north because she likes that kind of thing, skiing and stuff, but it's going to be so cold. I want to go to a beach."

Of course he'd spend the entire time, or a fair portion of it, under an umbrella anyway, but it's the sunshine that counts, not the sunburn. He's concerned that Reocchi's sister will side with Ryoko since Reocchi's already said they seem somewhat alike, but maybe he can sway his other sister to the side of warm weather...

Somewhere along the way, Kise's just about cleaned his plate, but he tries to slow down at the end so he doesn't finish before Reocchi, and so that he at least sort of doesn't look like he inhaled his entire meal. He's a gentleman, really! He swears! (Sort of!)

"Nee-chan likes the beach," Reo assures him. "Well. She likes the boys at the beach."

And the girls at the beach, but Seiko isn't as open with the world about her proclivities as Reo is with his; that's hers to tell, in her time.

Reo doesn't really notice the varying speeds at which Ryo-chan is eating. Now that they've both remembered their meals exist (and the mood has lightened again), Reo has rediscovered his appetite and is focused more on eating his own meal as fast as is politely possible. Which, since he's hungry and the food is good and he feels as comfortable with Ryo-chan as he does with his own sister, is still a little faster than he would in polite company.

Well. Just because Seiko doesn't know she's waiting for an important Skype call doesn't make it any less rude to keep her waiting, right?

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