You're jolted awake one night when your phone rings.
You squint in the dark to see the time on your clock: it's nearly one in the morning, and you wonder groggily who it is that would be awake at this time, reaching over to grab your phone off your desk.
It's Nagi.
He's got his phone back?
You bolt upright, suddenly wide awake, clearing your throat to avoid sounding like a demon when you answer.
"Nagi?!" You exclaim as soon as you pick up the call. "I thought you weren't allowed your phone!"
"... Hello to you as well."
His voice makes you want to burst into tears- it's only been slightly over a week, but you've missed talking to him so much. He sounds more tired than usual, but then again, it's not exactly the ideal time of day to be having a conversation.
"Sorry, hello, yes," You gush excitedly. "I'm just- oh, I missed you so much!"
"I've missed you too." He says, and you can hear the smile in his voice.
"I thought you weren't allowed your phone though?" You repeat, confused.
"We weren't, in the start," He explains patiently. "But this first selection has a rule where you can cash out your goals for prizes, and I scored three goals today for my phone."
"Ah, that's nice then," You reply, smiling so much your cheeks hurt. "So you decided to give me a call at one in the morning?"
"It's not my fault, okay!" He protests, whining slightly as he elaborates. "First, I needed to charge it, then I got side-tracked playing games, then I had lunch, then practice, and then it was bedtime."
"Well, now we can talk whenever, right?"
"Yeah, I think. Although Reo says I should try not to go on my phone too much or Ego will take it from me."
"Ego?" The name sounds vaguely familiar, but you can't place a finger on where you'd heard it.
"He's the guy in charge of this place. He's such a pain."
"Ah, okay. Anyways, what're you doing up this late? What time do you guys have to go to bed?"
"Eleven, usually. But I can't sleep," He complains, and you hear a rustle as he presumably shifts around under the sheets. "Zantetsu snores so loudly."
"New friend of yours?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say that. You know, when me and Reo first saw him, he had his pants on his head and he was crying because he was being suffocated by them."
You burst out laughing at the mental image you're met with, and he laughs quietly on the phone with you.
"Okay, wow, he must be really dumb." You giggle, wiping tears from your eyes.
"Trust me, he is."
"So how's Reo? He didn't want to get his phone back?"
"Nah, he's saving up his goals so he can get a new bed, because he says these futons are F-tier."
"Sounds about right."
You spend the next hour or so amicably talking with Nagi, catching him up on what you'd done over the week (which isn't much, but he insists on hearing it) and then him getting you up to date with what's been happening over on his side.
He describes how he'd beaten Nameoka in that initial entrance test, and you don't tell him that you already know, wanting to hear his voice for as long as you can.
He also describes the Blue Lock building to you; you're taken aback by how prison-like it sounds, but Nagi doesn't seem to be affected by it much, stating that it doesn't bother him now that he's got his phone and he can speak with you.
It's nearing two thirty in the morning when you realise the time, and your heart pangs as you realise that you need to hang up the call and let him get some rest before his matches tomorrow.
"Hey, Nagi?"
"Yeah?" His voice sounds sleepy, as if your voice is lulling him to sleep.
"It's getting really late now. You need to go to bed."
"But I don't want to," He insists, but he yawns mid sentence, proving you right. "I'm not even tired, really."
"I'm not stupid, Nagi." You sigh. "You're not fooling me, okay? Go to bed and we can talk tomorrow."
"But I want to talk to you now," He argues. "It's a Saturday, too, you don't even have school tomorrow. You're allowed to wake up late."
"But you're not!" You counter, making your voice as stern as possible. "So you need to go to bed. I promise, I'll be available whenever, okay? Just give me a call and I'll answer. Don't worry."
There's a long pause as he thinks about it. You consider just hanging up on him now whilst he's unresponsive, but you can't bring yourself to do it, not wanting to upset Nagi in any way now that you don't see him.
"...Okay," He eventually concedes, letting another yawn slip. "Next time, I'm gonna FaceTime you though. I really miss your face."
You blush slightly, thrown off by his sudden proclamation.
"I miss seeing you, too." You reply softly.
"I really want you to kiss me again, but you can't." Nagi huffs, and your entire body flushes red. "It's a real shame, you know?"
"I'll kiss you as many times as you like once you're the best in Japan," You promise, and you mean it. "And not just on the cheek- I'll kiss you anywhere you like."
"My mouth would be a great place to start."
"I'll keep that in mind."
With that, he bids you goodbye, and you're left staring at your bedroom ceiling, willing your heart to stop pounding in your chest and your mind to stop racing as you try to fall back asleep.
-
True to his word, Nagi FaceTimes you the next day- thankfully, not at ungodly hours of the morning, but at noon, like a normal person.
You quickly fix your hair and clear your throat before swiping to answer his call. He's wearing a light blue sweatshirt and matching blue pants, his hair slightly damp, presumably from a shower.
He hasn't changed much from the last time you saw him, but you notice how his face seems more defined, the line of his jaw slightly sharper than it used to be.
There's a cacophony of noise on his end of the line; you can hear Reo's voice in the distance, shouting about being the best team in stratum five, which is meant with a chorus of hearty cheers.
"Hi," He greets casually over the noise. He's gazing at your face, dark grey eyes roaming over your features as if drinking them all in. "How are you?"
"I'm great, actually," You beam, mood instantly uplifted. "Now that I'm talking to you."
Nagi opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted by someone who's face pops into view- he's got glasses on, with spiky black hair pushed out of his face save for a few strands that fall over his forehead.
Reo's familiar beaming face pops up on Nagi's other side, his hair loose, grabbing the phone out of Nagi's grip and waving at you.
"Hey, it's my favourite girl!" He exclaims, posing and making cute faces. "Feel free to take a screenshot of me here, lovely."
"Of course," You grin, and you pose as well, blowing a kiss at him. "Feel free to do the same, okay?"
"Get lost, Reo," Nagi grumbles, and the camera shakes as he snatches his phone back. "You too, Zantetsu."
He shoves the dude with glasses away from him, but he doesn't budge, raising his nose in the air indignantly- the action falls short, though, because his glasses slip off his face and land in his lap.
"Now, now, Nagi," Reo chides, pinching Nagi's cheek. "You're being awfully mean for someone who's just taken a million screenshots of-"
"Shush, Reo!" Nagi bellows, and his two companions burst into laughter, shoving each other in amusement.
You feel your cheeks flush slightly- you'd only been posing as a joke because Reo had, but Nagi was really taking screenshots of you? It makes your heart flutter.
"You and Zantetsu seem to be bffs now," Nagi mutters bitterly, and the other two aren't even fazed as they continue snorting like pigs with laughter, rolling around on Reo's brand new deluxe bed. "You couldn't even stand each other literally an hour ago."
"Blasphemy!" Reo cries, and Zantetsu scratches his head in confusion.
"What's blasphemy?"
"You're actually such an idiot, man." Reo sighs, and turns his attention back to Nagi's phone, smiling at you. "Hey, you know those glasses he wears? Totally fake. He says he wears them to make him look smarter."
"Doesn't work, obviously." Nagi retorts, but it's evidently a joke, because he's smiling. You're glad that he seems to be fitting in at Blue Lock, pleased that he's made a friend other than Reo.
...Even if said friend is currently pushing up his glasses with a stern facial expression, before suddenly fixing his gaze on you.
"It works, right? I look like I'm super intelligent, right?"
You nod yes, not wanting to burst his little bubble, and he beams in satisfaction.
"You don't have to entertain him, you know," Nagi says to you, and you can practically see the cogs turning in Zantetsu's head as he whispers, "What's entertain?" to himself.
"It's fine," You respond with a shrug. "I'm just glad you're enjoying yourself."
"I wasn't at first, but I guess it's okay now because Reo and Zantetsu are scoring too," Nagi admits. "Means I don't have to do as much work."
"Hey, what are you guys doing?" A voice offscreen asks, and a new face appears at the top of your screen, upside down. "Woah, is that your girlfriend, Nagi?"
The noise in the room immediately dies down, and Nagi looks up, presumably at all the eyes staring at him that you can't see. You wait for his response, as does everyone else, and Reo winks at you.
"Well, yeah?" Nagi says matter-of-factly, and there's a huge din as all the guys start yelling.
"Well, yeah?" Zantetsu mimics, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, and Reo practically wets himself laughing.
You can see Nagi fighting to keep his face neutral, but the corners of his lips keep curling up into a smile, and you laugh too, much to Zantetsu and Reo's delight.
"Okay, wait, seriously," Another voice says, as the noise dies down. "What're we going to do against team X? Their ace is this dude, Barou Shouei."
"His weapons are his long-range middle shot and his charge-"
Your eyebrow raises at the mention of weapon, but Nagi, Reo and Zantetsu don't seem to be fazed by it, and you just assume it's something they've picked up on in their training programme.
"Does it matter?" Nagi asks, bored. He's not even looking at the person speaking, just looking at you fondly, and you just stare back, not wanting to interrupt their conversation.
"Nah, I debt it." Zantetsu shrugs, and you can't help but pipe up.
"Debt? Do you mean doubt?"
"Yeah! That."
There's a few snickers rippling around the room at that, but Zantetsu just sits there on the bed seriously, arms crossed. If he didn't open his mouth, ever, you might actually think he was incredibly clever.
"Whatever, guys!" Reo says, leaning back onto his bed. "It doesn't matter! Us three are undefeatable."
He slings his arms over Nagi and Zantetsu's necks, and the guys cheer again- you seriously wonder how they aren't getting any complaints from the other rooms.
"Anyways, all of you shut up now," Nagi drawls, stretching his arms above his head. "I want to talk to my girlfriend."
"I have a name, Nagi." You giggle, but you secretly love it when he refers to you as his girlfriend- it's a piece of validation you didn't realise you needed.
Nagi ignores your jab and rolls over on the bed so he's flat on his stomach, resting his phone against the headboard of Reo's bed; like this, you can see everyone behind him, and they're all wearing the same set of clothes that he is, sitting around and talking to each other amicably.
Nagi props his chin up with a hand, staring dreamily at you as you talk to him- you doubt that he's even listening, your words going through one word and coming out the other, but you don't really mind, revelling in the way he gazes at you like you're his whole world.
Half an hour passes and the other guys get up and start pulling out odd synthetic body suits from their lockers, and also a black football kit. Reo tosses Nagi's at him, telling him to get dressed because their next match is soon, and Nagi sighs in disappointment.
"I've got to go now." He tells you mournfully.
"That's fine," You say, offering him a small smile. "I'll talk to you later."
"After we beat team X, obviously." Reo adds proudly, and you nod in agreement.
"That's easy." Nagi says, and waves at you before cutting the call. "Bye bye."
"Bye bye." You say, and you're left staring at a blank screen, wishing you could reach out and just hold him, for a little longer.