Chapter Text
The moment magenta met purple in a cold air conditioned room, neither child knew that they would find the one who would stand by them for the rest of their lives. One child of five, and another of four, stare at each other. One hiding behind his father’s leg, while the other confidently stands with his hand outstretched. One shy greeting from a child to another, heavily accented German echoing through the otherwise silent room. The other lowers his head at the loud voice, already intimidated by the sheer confidence he exudes and the weight of his presence alone.
“Nice to meet you! I’m Reo! What’s your name?” The younger says, grinning at the other who glanced at him nervously.
“Alexis…” he mumbles, afraid to make his parents angry for the second time that day.
“Can we be friends?” The other, Reo, said hopefully. Without thinking twice, Alexis nods, in fear of disagreeing with the enthusiastic child and earning his parents’ ire. “Then, we'll be in the other room, Mom, Dad.”
Alexis raises his head in surprise at the other’s words, but he didn’t get to ask what he meant before his hand was taken and he was dragged to the smaller room connecting the one they were currently in. When Reo shuts the door, he breathes, as if in relief, before turning to Alexis once more. “I’m sorry I shocked you. But you looked nervous.” He says, and only now does Alexis realize that his palms were sweating and that his hands were, indeed, shaking.
“Can you understand me? I’m sorry, I just started learning last month.” Reo apologizes, smiling sheepishly at the other, making Alexis shake his head.
“I can understand you. Thank you for getting me out of there.”
“Well, we’re friends starting now, right?” Reo says, grinning at the other.
“You really want to be my friend?” Alexis asks softly, as if afraid to know the answer.
“Yeah! Do you have a phone? We can call each other!” Reo says, immediately taking a piece of paper from the stack of sticky-notes and beginning to write on it.
“Aren’t overseas calls expensive?”
“Don’t worry about that, I’ll call you instead! Just write it here…” Reo says, handing the other the stack of paper.
“Reo…”
“Huh?”
“Reo…”
“Alexis?”
“Reo!” The heir snaps back to reality, at the sharp voice calling out to him from his earbuds.
“Ah, yeah?”
“You didn’t hear jack shit of what I was saying, did you?”
“I love you too, Lexi?” Reo says, trying to escape his best friend’s wrath.
“Fuck you… I’m having the first life-changing match of my life and you’re ignoring me!” Alexis replies.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll do good, Lexi! You're a great player! When you’re not catastrophizing that is…” Reo jokes, and he could practically see the other rolling his eyes.
“Next time I go to Ja- Fuck they're letting us in! Talk to you later, Love you!”
“Good luck, Lex. Blow them all away and come back home a pro!” Reo rushes to say before the line goes dead. Today was the day for Alexis’s trial to get into Bastard Munchen’s youth team, and while Reo had confidence in the other’s abilities, he was more nervous of how the other would perform in the heat of the moment. While he had said the statement about Alexis’s catastrophizing in jest, he fears that he would jynx his psyche, further dooming the older to become a bigger nervous mess than he already was.
Reo didn’t know anything about the sport Alexis played, all he knew was that it involved kicking a ball around and trying to get it into a net in the most efficient way possible. He knew all the rules enough to be able to play against the older whenever they met. He could admire the complexity of the sport, but as things were now, he didn’t think that it would be something that would interest him. Nevertheless, he supported his best friend’s endeavors, even if it was something he currently didn’t see himself doing outside of the occasional kick off with Alexis.
Yet a little over a year after Alexis started playing with Bastard Munchen professionally, Reo finds himself struck at the sight of the World Cup held in a team’s hands. It had been another night of studying with the television on when all was forgotten as soon as gleaming gold found his eyes. It wasn’t the first time, by any means, that he had set his eyes on a piece of gold, be it in the form of a medal or a trophy. Maybe it was the desperation to find something new to do with his life, or the boredom that has set in because of how long he had gone without anything to busy himself with, but the image of himself holding it was a sight he’s found himself determined to realize.
“Mikage, you better have a good fucking reason to wake me up during my day off.” An angry voice comes from his phone. Whoops, he had forgotten that Alexis didn’t like to be disturbed when it was his day off during the season. But no matter, Reo was sure that the other would love to hear this.
“I’m going to win the World Cup!” Reo says excitedly.
“That’s nice sweet- What the fuck?!” Alexis replies unimpressed before almost screeching when the words finally sunk in.
“And I’ll defeat you!” Reo says, before laughing maniacally.
“Reo, my love, my light, what in the ever-loving fuck are you talking about?” Alexis asks, voice taking on a more exasperated tone, all traces of drowsiness gone. To answer his question, Reo begins to explain, and despite the scalding tone Alexis had before, he listened attentively, sharing his input every once in a while as Reo yapped his ear off.
“What did your dad say about this?” Alexis asks.
“I just thought of it like, the second I called you.”
“So he knows nothing.”
“Correct.”
“Well, tell me how he reacts when you do. However, as much as I love hearing your voice, I love my sleep more. I’ll talk to you more later.” Alexis says as a yawn escapes him.
“Yeah, I’m really sorry about that, I forgot it was your day off.” Reo says.
“Don’t be… I’m only a bitch because I love you, but do that again, and I’m eating all your limited edition chocolate the next time you’re in Germany.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Reo replies dramatically, earning a scoff from the other.
“Oh I would. Bye, Reo, talk to you after you tell your dad. Love you.”
“Yeah, yeah. Love you too, you brat.” Reo replies, hanging up the phone as he does so. He sets his phone down beside him, smiling to himself, he truly was lucky to have Alexis in his life, and he was fortunate enough to know that the older felt the same about him. That night, he dreams of meeting Alexis on the field, this time as enemies representing their countries. Still, Alexis smiles at him the same way he always had, and nothing matters, just them and that trophy which had somehow ignited his passion again. Little did he know how much of a disaster was waiting for him the moment he decided to tread this path.