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Chapter Text

Nathaniel

Nathaniel could barely contain his excitement. He had never felt so wired, his 10-year-old self literally vibrating as he bounced on the balls of his feet while looking at the pristine and beautiful court just mere feet from him. He wanted to throw himself through the doors and just get this party started. It took all of his self-control to keep from pressing his face to the thick plexiglass surrounding the inner court.

A hand landed heavily on his shoulder and he flinched violently before stilling completely. The electricity under his skin leached out by the rough touch of his father bearing down on him. Nathaniel hadn’t heard him come up behind him and he scolded himself for being so distracted that he would dare lose track of his father.

He stared straight ahead and felt his father slowly lean down to harshly whisper, “Control yourself, Nathaniel, or do we need another lesson in self-control?”

His breath was hot and putrid against Nathaniel’s ear and a small shiver wracked his spine. He didn’t risk looking at his father as he pushed the words forcefully past his lips, “No, sir. I will behave. I won’t embarrass you.”

“Not if you know what’s good for you. You are a disgrace enough as it is.” 

Nathan Wesninski straightened to his full, considerable height before squeezing Nathaniel’s shoulder harshly. To an outsider, the exchange may have looked like a father encouraging his son, but Nathaniel barely covered the wince from the rough grip and knew that he would have another bruise later. 

“Nathan, Nathaniel. Welcome to Evermore.” A harsh unrecognizable voice with a slight Japanese accent said from behind them.

Nathan used his grip on Nathaniel’s shoulder to twist his son around to face the newcomer. Nathaniel instantly recognized Tetsuji Moriyama, one of the founders of his favorite game and reason to live, Exy. 

Nathan’s grip tightened even more on Nathaniel’s shoulder before Nathaniel came back to himself and dropped into a deep bow. He stayed there for a moment to show respect before straightening. Nathan didn’t bother to bow because his place in the Moriyama’s organization is above even Tetsuji Moriyama, the brother of the Yakuza lord, Kengo Moriyama. Right-hand-man comes above brother in the organization's hierarchy. 

“Tetsuji,” Nathan said coolly, “should we get started.” It wasn’t a question. Nathan didn’t ask questions. He made demands and expected them to be followed. 

“Of course. Riko, Kevin, take Nathaniel to change out.” 

Nathaniel hadn’t noticed the boys before but now he spotted them slightly behind Tetsuji. They were subdued, though he could read the interest and a small bit of excitement in their eyes. He gauged his own expression and schooled his features. Control. 

The boys led him to the locker room. They seemed to be about the same age, a few years older than Nathaniel, and they conversed quietly in what Nathaniel took to be Japanese while leading him along. Nathaniel took the time to study the boys. One was slightly taller than the other, but they were both about a head above Nathaniel. Nathaniel assumed the shorter one was Riko because of his similarity to Tetsuji. The same shock of black hair and dark eyes. Kevin had lighter hair, but a darker skin tone, and green eyes. Riko had a dark outline of a ‘1’ high on his cheekbone, while on Kevin’s there was a ‘2’. 

So these are the Sons of Exy.

Nathaniel knew of them, of course. Playing little league and having an obsession with Exy guaranteed that, but this was the first time he’d seen them.

They basically ignored him until they got to a locker room decorated completely in black. Come to think of it, nearly everything is black at Evermore. The only breaks from the darkness were the shocks of blood red. Nathaniel took a deep breath in through his nose and out through his mouth before counting down from 10 in French in his head. Allowing the walls to close in on him now would definitely embarrass his father. 

Riko turned on him quickly, “Nathaniel, is it?”

He nodded slightly in answer. Riko’s eyes flared. Nathaniel didn’t know why.

Riko rolled his eyes and pointed to a locker, number 3. “Your gear is in there. Get changed out so we can get started and see if you’re worth our time.”

Nathaniel’s sharp grin slid over his face before he could hide it. Riko’s flinch at the sight caused his grin to widen. He was beginning to see Riko . “That eager to get your ass handed to you by a 10-year-old, King ?”

The harsh intake of breath from Kevin only sharpens Nathaniel’s smile. 

Riko lunged at him, grabbing his collar and forcing him back into the lockers. Nathaniel allowed it and let out a slight laugh as the air was forced out of him. “Now you listen, fucker, I am King. If you don’t stow the attitude I will show you just what I do with problems like you.”

Nathaniel got the rise he wanted out of Riko. This was who he was dealing with. Nathaniel schooled his expression a bit, but it’s Kevin who steps in, “Brother, your uncle will be waiting for us.” He sounded a bit breathless and Nathaniel looked at him. His judgment of Kevin was immediate and harsh. Kevin was inconsequential. A coward. He didn’t step in because what he saw was wrong. He stepped in out of fear. Nathaniel had no time for people like that. He immediately dismissed Kevin with an eye-roll.

Riko shook Nathaniel and his attention snapped back to Riko. Riko glared hard at him before pushing him into the lockers once again and releasing him, “Get changed.”

Nathaniel kept Riko in his peripheral vision while he turned to open the locker and changed into the Exy gear they provided. He’d brought his own stick, but they also provided one in Raven’s colors. He considered sticking with his before recognizing that it wouldn’t be a choice.

Someone let out a harsh cough before they stopped breathing entirely. Nathaniel turned to find Kevin staring right at him. He had just pulled his t-shirt off his body. Nathaniel immediately realized what Kevin was looking at.

Saying that Nathaniel was “not okay” was an understatement. He kicked himself for not realizing that this is the reason he’s never been allowed to change out with his little league teammates. It only occurred to him now that the difference would stand out so obviously.

Nathaniel sneered at Kevin who also had his shirt off, but that’s where the similarities stopped. Kevin’s chest was all smooth, tan skin. There was a purple-yellow bruise on his bicep that could have been from Exy. Nathaniel’s scars, on the other hand, were clearly not Exy related. “Do you want to take a picture?” he snapped.

Kevin’s eyes immediately shot up to meet Nathaniel’s and he took an involuntary step back, colliding with his locker. Another smile twitched at Nathaniel’s lips but he forced his expression blank. 

Movement from Riko caught his eye and Nathaniel immediately turned to look at him, “What happened to you?” Riko’s words weren’t pitying, or sad. Nathaniel thinks it may be…awe and he stiffens.

Nathaniel allowed his scornful gaze to move over Riko from head to toe, “It would be easier to tell you what didn’t happen to me.” He turned quickly to face his locker again and pulled on his gear. He was done before Kevin got his shit together and waited patiently and emotionlessly for the Sons of Exy.

Kevin

Nathaniel was good. Scary good. And scary.

Nearly everything frightens Kevin so he wasn’t surprised that he is scared of the 10 year old with the evil smile that is every bit as sharp as Nathaniel’s father’s, The Butcher’s.

The pieces clicked in Kevin’s head. The Butcher may use his skills or practice them on his son. That’s the only explanation Kevin can think of for the canvas of scars that makes up Nathaniel’s body.

Nathaniel checked him into the wall again , hard enough to rattle Kevin’s teeth and the plexiglass surrounding the court. The ball was out of his racket and Nathaniel sprinted down the court before Kevin could even put his feet back under himself.

He glared harshly at the boy's back, which shook with a loud laugh.

“Kevin!” Riko’s harsh, angry voice growled at him before he was hoisted to his feet, “Get it together.”

“He‘s freaking fast, Riko, and he doesn’t pull punches.” Kevin groaned. His body ached like he’d scrimmaged a whole team of Raven’s, not just one short boy.

Riko glared at him for a moment before he turned to watch Nathaniel as he directed the ball off the wall and back to himself while still flying down the court. “He’s fast,” Riko grumbled.

The thing was that Nathaniel was not only fast. They spent the next few hours scrimmaging with Nathaniel as backliner against Kevin and Riko with an open goal. Even 2 on 1 they struggled to get by him. He was fearless. He threw everything he had at Riko and Kevin and was unafraid to get directly in the path of a flying ball to stop it like a goalie, but without all the padding. He didn’t flinch. He just didn’t care. He had nothing to lose. He was the kind of player Kevin loved to play with.

They spent time on drills. Raven drills are some of the hardest even for college level athletes. It took Kevin nearly a year to master all 13 of them. Nathaniel was nearly able to do the accuracy and precision drills with consistency after just a few hours.

“Have you done these drills before?” Kevin asked.

Nathaniel barely spared him a glance, “No.”

After they finished, they cleaned up the court and headed to shower. Kevin had a hard time keeping his eyes off Nathaniel’s scars, but thankfully Nathaniel completely ignores him. They are led to the East Tower to meet with Tetsuji and The Butcher.

Kevin knew immediately that something was wrong when they entered and saw all the furniture pushed away and the entire middle of the floor was covered by a large blue tarp. People lined the walls, most of them Kevin didn’t recognize, but he saw The Master and Nathan standing with Kengo and Ichirou Moriyama. Kevin froze and glanced over to Riko who seemed to have come to the same realization. Riko was staring at his father and older brother, who did not notice him at all.

The Master walked over to them and grasped Kevin and Riko’s shoulders. “Go to your father, Nathaniel.”

Kevin looked at Nathaniel’s vacant blue eyes, so devoid of all the excitement and challenge he saw in them on the court, before he was pulled to the opposite side of the room from Lord Kengo and Ichirou.

“You two will stay right here. No speaking, no moving. Nothing. Do you understand me?” The Japanese flowed smoothly and emotionlessly out of the master’s mouth. Kevin was so confused.

“Yes, Master,” Riko and Kevin murmured together.

This was the first time that Riko had been in the same room as his family, they didn’t spare him a glance. Kevin grimaced slightly, knowing that he would have to deal with Riko’s mood and anger after this.

All thoughts of Riko left Kevin when a woman was brought into the room. Her arms were bound behind her and she was struggling to walk. Kevin didn’t recognize her. She was short with dark hair and gray eyes. 

Her gaze locked on where Lord Kengo was standing with Ichirou. Nathan stood a step back from Kengo on his right and he had the same wicked, sharp grin on his lips that his son did in the locker room. Nathaniel was completely still and silent. Kevin had never seen someone so…blank.

Nathaniel’s eyes were on the woman, he didn't blink a single time.

His control scared Kevin more than anything.

The woman was deposited on the tarp and her legs were kicked out from under her so she lands on her knees in front of Lord Kengo, but it is Nathan who steps forward.

He reached backward quickly and wrapped a rough hand around the back of Nathaniel’s neck before tossing him forward toward the kneeling woman and the blue tarp.

Nathaniel’s knees landed on the floor and he looked up at her.

Nathan’s smile widened as he stared at the two in front of him. Kevin flinched.

What would it have been like to grow up with that?

Kengo spoke from next to Nathan, “Mary Wesninski, do you know why you were brought here today?”

Mary stayed quiet, staring at Nathaniel now.

“Mary, Mary, Mary. What am I going to do with you? You think you can run away?” Nathan’s voice was low and rough, it sent a chill down Kevin’s spine. “Nathaniel, what do we do with runners?”

Kevin looked at Nathaniel, and it hit him. Mary Wesninski. Nathaniel Wesninski. Nathaniel’s mother. Nathaniel didn’t look like he had the ability to speak.

Nathan moved to his frozen son, light glinted off the cleaver in his hand, and the tarp crinkled under his steps. He was so quick Kevin could barely comprehend what was happening, but then Nathaniel was sprawled on the floor, blood pooling on his lip. Nathan backhanded him. Kevin’s thoughts felt sluggish as they took in everything so slowly.

“Abram,” Mary gasps, “Abram it’s okay.”

Who’s Abram?

Nathaniel’s eyes flashed to his mother and for a split second Kevin saw so much pain there. Years of pain in the depths of those bright blue eyes that looked impossibly dull one second later, all the pain gone.

Nathan turned back to Mary, “It is not okay. You dare to make plans to run away with my son. Dare to try to take from the Moriyama’s. Oh, Mary, I thought you were more intelligent than that. Nathaniel. What do we do with runners?”

Nathaniel’s voice came out in a gasp, like he’s struggling to breathe, “Legs.”

“More specific.” Nathan snarled.

“Break the legs, slice through the tendons,” Nathaniel voiced without inflection as he moved back onto his knees.

Nathan’s smile grew as he stared at Mary Wesninski, “Your mother is a runner, Nathaniel. Are you a runner? Did you know about her plans?”

Mary’s eyes fixed on Nathan’s. “You know he didn’t, Nathan. I never told him.” Her voice held a lot more power than Kevin thought possible for such a small woman.

Nathaniel’s head gave a harsh jerk as if he’d been slapped though no one moved. Kevin held his breath.

“Abram. Be strong. It’s okay.” Mary’s voice barely whispered, but the room was so quiet it carried. She said something quickly in a language Kevin didn’t recognize. 

Then Nathan lunged across the space and punched Mary squarely in the jaw, “What the fuck did you say to him?” Nathan snarled at his wife. Mary glared up at him before spitting all the blood in her mouth directly in his face. Kevin quaked with the fear coursing through him. Fear for her, fear for Nathaniel, fear for himself.

Kevin looked at Nathaniel and he was completely white faced, he looked as though he’s the one getting hit. But he didn’t move a muscle.

Nathan wiped the spit and blood off his face with a smirk before turning his back on Mary who struggled back into a kneeling position.

“Tell me, Nathaniel, what should we do with your mother?” Nathan spoke with his back to the pair.

Mary whispered words harshly in a different language again and Nathaniel’s eyes never wavered from her’s. Emotion flashed through his eyes too quickly for Kevin to read before Nathaniel squared his shoulders.

He looked directly into Mary’s eyes. “If she was planning on running, you would break her legs or cut her achilles tendon, father.” Nathaniel says it like he’s talking about the weather.

“No, I don’t think that’s good enough. Tell me what to do, Junior. I want to get every bit of information from her before I allow her to die. Walk me through it, step-by-step. If you hold back I’ll take your legs. You’ll never escape from me, Nathaniel, and I’m about to show you what will happen if you ever try,” Nathan’s voice was ice.

Kevin shrank back against the wall and felt Riko grab his wrist. Riko didn’t do non-violent physical touch, but he loosely held Kevin’s wrist and that told him everything he needed to know about what was going to happen.

Nathaniel’s eyes were cold and vacant as he stared at his mother kneeling just a few feet in front of him. His voice carried and then there was blood, so much blood everywhere. Kevin doesn’t think the screams will ever leave his memory, but Nathaniel knelt like a statue and led his father through torturing and killing his mother while her blood soaked through his clothes.

Chapter Text

Ichirou

“No, father. I know how you feel about nepotism. I am not telling you that Nathaniel would be useful as another Butcher. I am telling you that he is advanced in multiple languages, most of which we need translators for. I am also telling you that having someone loyal to us at Edgar Allan would be a good way to keep an eye on our investments there.” Ichirou struggled to keep the annoyance out of his voice. He felt as though he’d been going back and forth about this with his father for ages. He kind of had.

Making his father understand that Nathaniel would be a useful asset to bring closer was almost impossible. Ichirou didn’t want him for the purpose of putting him into power, but for the purpose of having a completely loyal translator, and someone inside the walls of Edgar Allan who was not under the thumb of Tetsuji from the beginning. 

He’d been convincing his father of these facts for nearly 2 years since they came back from Edgar Allan when Nathan Wesninski killed his wife. Ichirou watched Nathaniel closely as he went unflinching through the entire dramatic ordeal. Even as his mother’s blood seeped down to his skin, he was unwavering. He convinced his father to allow Nathaniel a trial period within these 2 years to prove his worth as a translator and protection for Ichirou. To prove his loyalty to Ichirou and the main branch of the family.

“I believe his loyalty to you is strong, Ichirou. He has been useful in terms of translating and going unnoticed to feed us information. Continue to see what you can make of him for now.” His father sighed and gave in. Finally seeing the logic in Ichirou keeping Nathaniel close even when he left for Edgar Allan in just a few weeks.

Just a few weeks.  

Nathaniel

The room was brimming with people who mingled with each other endlessly. Nathaniel wished he could be literally anywhere else right now. He’d even be okay with it if Ichirou was literally anywhere else with him, as long as they weren’t at this event.

His last one before he moved, before he escaped Baltimore. Technically, he had already escaped Baltimore. He would not be going back before he went to West Virginia. Excitement thrummed through him at the prospect of never having to go back to Baltimore. If he could help it. His father’s words held a knife over his heart. 

If you embarrass me, you will know true pain. If you run, I will find you. We both know what I do to embarrassments and runners, Nathaniel.

“Nathaniel, what did you think about Ricci’s offer?” Ichirou’s hand landed on his elbow as Nathaniel parsed through the Japanese to make sure he completely understood the question. Two years working with Ichirou left him nearly fluent in Japanese, but he's always wary of making sure he understood everything in these situations. 

“The offer was decent. But, he was talking to one of his soldier’s in Italian. I am not sure he can completely back it up. He was worried about his debts, my lord.” Nathaniel replied, looking politely at Ichirou’s neckline instead of his dark eyes. 

Nathaniel’s purpose at these events was not truly consultation on offers or negotiations or discussions of whatever dealings the Moriyama’s were handling, he was meant to gather information, make translations, and make sure no one was trying to get something by the organization. He was also meant to be the last line of defense if something went wrong near Ichirou.

Nathaniel had spent most of his 12 years training in languages and knives. He’s fluent in 3 languages and nearly there in his fourth. He’s even more fluent in the language of knives and fighting with them. As the smallest and youngest person at most of these events, he was easily overlooked and ignored. They didn’t notice him listening intently as they babbled on to each other in French or Italian, so he could turn around and let his Lords know what was said. They didn’t notice his sheathes. 

Nathaniel had yet to have to use his knives to protect Ichirou, and that night was no different. 

The event ended with little spectacle and Ichirou and Nathaniel made their way to the highest floors in the hotel they were staying at.   

They were one floor down from the top and Nathaniel knew from experience that the protection detail surrounding Lord Ichirou was extensive. Nathaniel was just the last line of that protection. Together, they entered their shared room with two full sized beds and a large bathroom and began to get ready to go to sleep. They had to be up early because Lord Ichirou would fly back to New York, while Nathaniel would make his way to West Virginia to begin his new life training under Tetsuji Moriyama. 

Nathaniel walked out of the bathroom to find Ichirou sitting on his bed. Ichirou was 16 and over a head taller than Nathaniel, but that’s not saying much. He was the closest thing Nathaniel had to a best friend, but that’s also not saying much. Nathaniel had never had a real friend in his life and to consider the future lord of the American branch of the Yakuza a friend would be a bit…ridiculous.

He took a seat next to Ichirou on the bed and looked down at the small wrapped box that Ichirou was turning over and over in his hands. It was unusual to see Ichirou like this, a bit slouched and not all put together as he usually was for the public. Nathaniel thought he may be the only person to ever see Ichirou this way. 

“What’s that?” Nathaniel spoke up to get Ichirou out of his head.

Ichirou straightened up and looked Nathaniel in the eyes as he held out the box toward him. “It’s a going away gift. For you.”

Nathaniel looked down at the box and back at Ichirou. He wasn't sure he had ever received a gift in his life. He hesitated, “I didn’t get you anything, my lord.”

Ichirou chuckled softly before pressing the box into Nathaniel’s hand. “It’s perfectly fine. I needed you to have this. So maybe think of it as less of a gift and more of a finely wrapped necessity.” There was a small smile set on Ichirou’s face as he gazed back at him.

Nathaniel felt his lips twitch in a small, true smile that he never brings out for anyone other than Ichirou. Nathaniel pulled the wrapping off the box and looked down at the white box in his hands. “My lord, I already have a phone.”  

“And now you have a new one. I’ve been wanting to update your phone from that old one for a while. I worry that the dinosaur will go extinct at the worst of times.” A smirk played across Ichirou’s face when Nathaniel scowled at him.

“Don’t call her old. She might hear you.” Nathaniel snatched up his flip phone to pet it gently. 

Ichirou grabbed it from his hands before taking the new phone as well. Ichirou worked at setting up Nathaniel’s new phone. Once he’d finished he showed Nathaniel all the useful features of his phone. Nathaniel had never actually owned anything with a touch screen before so he was a bit skeptical that he wouldn’t just shatter the whole thing the minute he touched it. Ichirou placed the phone down on the nightstand between the beds before he looked at Nathaniel.

His gaze was intent and it made Nathaniel squirm slightly.

“Is something wrong, my lord?” Nathaniel didn’t meet Ichirou’s eyes, instead looking at his collar.

“Not necessarily wrong. I have something else for you,” Ichirou reached into the pocket of his pajama bottoms and pulled out a long silver chain with a dangling pendant that looked to be the Moriyama family crest, the sharp ridges of mountains cut into metal.

Nathaniel was surprised, “I have my tattoo, my lord.” Nathaniel held out his left forearm as proof as though Ichirou wasn’t there when it was done. 

Ichirou grimaced slightly, “Yes, but I think this could be useful as a bit more…protection. Proof. I find myself a bit worried about you being so far away from me. I need you to make sure you text or call me regularly.”

Nathaniel looked into his eyes now, sure he did nothing to upset him, “Of course, my lord, you know I will.”

Ichirou smiled and motioned for Nathaniel to turn around so he could put the necklace around his throat. The weight of the pendant was heavy where it sat on his chest. He slid back to face Ichirou once again and was surprised to find how close he was.

Nathaniel sat rigidly while Ichirou stared down at the necklace. He traced the line of his chain around Nathaniel’s neck and down to the pendant. He fingered it slightly before moving his hand back up and around the back of Nathaniel’s neck, settling his fingers in the hair at the nape.

Nathaniel was confused. They had never been the type to show physical affection with each other. Nathaniel wasn’t even sure what that would entail. Physical touch was bound up in pain and torture to the point that it was taking all of his control not to rip himself away from Ichirou’s hands. His skin felt like it was melting at the contact. He attempted to relax into Ichirou’s hold and told himself that Ichirou was Ichirou . He’d never done a single thing to hurt Nathaniel, or cause him any pain. Nathaniel forced a deep breath into his lungs and out again trying not to be too obvious.

“Nathaniel, I am going to kiss you.” Ichirou’s voice was low and it seemed like he was restraining himself. 

Kiss him? 

Nathaniel’s own mother never kissed him that he could remember. He didn’t have long to consider Ichirou’s words before he was pulled gently toward Ichirou as he leaned down to capture Nathaniel’s lips. The kiss was slow and light and Nathaniel could pull away at any time because the hand on his neck was loose, but this was Ichirou. And Nathaniel was so confused.

Ichirou pressed their lips together, only moving slightly for a few moments before he pulled away to look into Nathaniel’s eyes. 

“That was something else I needed you to have.”

Chapter Text

Nathaniel

“Nathaniel. Welcome back to Evermore. Riko and Kevin should be here in a moment.” Tetsuji Moriyama stood in front of Nathaniel glaring at him like he was nothing more than the dirt under his shoes.

Nathaniel glanced around at the dark office. Everything was decorated in black down to the black mahogany desk. From what Nathaniel could remember, it was very on-brand, “Thank you, Tetsuji.”

Nathaniel was looking at Tetsuji as he replied and saw the dark look pass over the Exy founder’s face.

“Within these walls, you will refer to me only as Master.” Tetsuji’s harsh glare would bring those with no knowledge of monsters to their knees. Unfortunately, Nathaniel already knew monsters with sharper teeth and gilded knives.

A slow grin spread across Nathaniel’s face. Nathaniel knew it wasn’t a nice look. It’s sharp and toothy and an echo of his father, but he didn’t attempt to control it. “My true masters need not tell me to call them ‘Master’. We both know who we serve.” Nathaniel tried to control the petulance seeping into his tone.

Tetsuji’s voice was cool, “You belong to me now, Nathaniel, and you will fall in line. Do not push me. You will not like the consequences.”

“Hmmm. I guess we will see. Won’t we?” Nathaniel glanced down at Tetsuji’s white-knuckled grip on his desk and easily saw him holding himself back from advancing on Nathaniel. His control, a tenuous thing. A soft knock on the door behind Nathaniel brought Tetsuji back to his full height, releasing his grip on the desk.

“Enter.”

Riko and Kevin walked through the door, both looking taller and more filled out since the last time Nathaniel saw them. The memories flashed through his mind in quick succession before he stomped them back into the box where they wouldn't scratch him.

“Uncle, you asked for us?” Riko’s voice dripped with deference. Nathaniel noticed the set of his shoulders and the attention he paid to his uncle and his cane. Nathaniel saw Kevin’s stiff body language, eyes glancing over to Nathaniel and away over and over and over. The ‘1’ and ‘2’ stood out starkly against the boys’ cheeks.

“I have something for you,” Tetsuji flicked dismissive fingers in Nathaniel’s direction. “You remember Nathaniel. He’s yours now, your responsibility. You will teach him what it means to be here, you will teach him to be a Raven.”

Riko bowed low to his uncle and Kevin followed suit, “Of course, Master.”

“Dismissed. Don’t be late for practice.”

With one more quick bow from each of the Sons of Exy, they turned on their heels and walked out of the room in clear synchrony. It was pretty creepy if Nathaniel was honest.

“Nathaniel, come.” The words were in English and he wondered if Riko knew about his knowledge of Japanese. Nathaniel raised his hand in an approximation of a wave to Tetsuji just to push and see the anger in his eyes again before he sauntered out of the office with his bag banging against his hip.

He’d only brought a few necessary items from Baltimore. Nothing that would remind him of his time there, just a few of his personal possessions that he was able to hide from his father. The new phone Ichirou gave him in his pocket and the necklace dangling under his shirt. Supposedly, the Ravens would provide anything else. 

Nathaniel followed about half a hallway behind Riko and Kevin. He wondered how much has changed in the last 2 years. If Riko was still weak and quick-tempered, if Kevin was spineless. He felt like a completely different person than he was when he was 10, but maybe that was due to circumstance and forced adaptation.

Riko turned quickly to glare at Nathaniel, “Keep up. We don’t have long before afternoon practice.”

Nathaniel tilted his head slightly and stopped down the hall from the pair. “Seems a bit early for afternoon practice.”

“Ravens work with a 16-hour day schedule. College-level Ravens have regular 24-hour day schedules during school times, but since we are not in college, we are always on 16 hours.” Annoyance dripped from Riko’s voice, obviously not used to having to explain himself.

“Is that why your attitude is so bad? Sleep is for the weak then?” Nathaniel smirked.

Nathaniel heard Kevin’s sharp inhale before Riko stalked forward, anger taking over his features. His mouth curled in a snarl. He gripped the front of Nathaniel’s shirt with both hands and nearly lifted him off the ground. “Listen to me carefully. You will learn your place. You will learn how to treat your betters, even if I have to carve it into your skin.”

Nathaniel’s blood ran cold and he sneered. “Betters? Where? You wouldn’t know what to do with real knives, little boy.” The irony of him calling anyone else little was not lost on him.

“I don’t care who you think you are. You belong to me now. You will show me respect.” Riko’s face was barely inches from Nathaniel’s and his hot breath fanned across Nathaniel’s face. He wanted nothing more than to wrench out of Riko’s grip and reach for his knives, but he controlled the impulse. It wouldn’t do to show his hand before Riko. 

“I know exactly who I belong to.” Nathaniel let the implication hang in the air. He didn’t pull the sleeve of his shirt up to reveal his tattoo. He didn’t pull his collar down to show his necklace. He let his words sink into Riko’s stupid, thick skull.

Riko’s eyes flickered with the knowledge of Nathaniel’s place in the organization, what flimsy hold he had on that place. “I’ll prove to you exactly who your King is now.”

He walked, dragging Nathaniel behind him as Nathaniel tried to keep pace with Riko’s longer strides and barely being allowed to keep his feet under him. Kevin fell into step at Riko’s side, keeping his gaze pointedly away from Nathaniel. No surprise there. They followed dark halls and Nathaniel tried to memorize the layout of the Nest. It was difficult because the whole place was decorated in black and every hall looked the same as the last.

Finally, they came to a stop in front of a door with the numbers 3 and 4 on small metal plaques. Riko threw the door open and nearly tossed Nathaniel into the room before following him in. “Kevin, get my stuff,” Riko barked.

Kevin turned and walked across the hall to a different door and disappeared. Riko pointed at a bed inside the room and Nathaniel threw his bag on top of it, never letting Riko out of his sight.

“This is your room. From now on I control everything about your life. I control your game, your training, your food, your sleep, everything. If I am not pleased by your behavior or your ability, you will be punished.” 

“Sounds like a lot of responsibility for a 14-year-old with a severe God-complex.” Nathaniel smiled up at him. Used to his life not being his, it’s not a surprise that this place is no different. 

Riko slowly walked over to Nathaniel’s bed, looking down at his duffle bag and fiddling with the straps before swiftly turning on Nathaniel and throwing a hard punch to his abdomen. All of the breath wooshed out of Nathaniel's lungs as he curled slightly in on himself but remained standing. Riko grasped his shoulders before pushing him harshly onto the bed. Nathaniel bounced and tried to gasp air back into his lungs. He didn’t know what he’d expected really, but such physical displays from the get-go were not it. He’d become too used to the control of his father, Lola, Romero, or Jackson. He wasn’t used to this quick-tempered lashing. He was used to calculation and torture that is completely planned. Moves and countermoves. 

“Kevin, secure his wrists.” Kevin had come back into the room as Nathaniel caught his breath. He took one look at Riko before he scurried over with two pairs of handcuffs dangling from his fingers.

Nathaniel almost lost all his hard-earned control. The handcuffs brought back flashes. Flashes of a completely different room in the soundproof basement of his father’s house in Baltimore. Of skilled knives taking apart his flesh for hours on end. A laugh ripped from his throat as he struggled in Kevin’s grasp and landed a hit to his jaw that didn’t have as much power behind it as he would have liked. He tried to fight off the monsters in his mind as well as the brats in the room. Before he could land another hit, Riko put all his weight on Nathaniel’s shins, while Kevin forced his arms above his head. He felt the handcuffs lock into place around his wrists as he strained against them. They bit roughly into his flesh.

“Legs too. Seems like he’s going to fight, for now.” More restraints came around his ankles and he was completely bound to the bed.

“Do your worst. You don’t know how to break me.” Nathaniel’s resolve steeled even as Riko descended on top of him, pulling out a brightly glinting blade.

Kevin

Kevin was scared again. Every single time he was in Nathaniel’s presence he seemed to be afraid. This time his anxiety rose seeing Nathaniel in the dark office, but now he was afraid for Nathaniel. Riko did not play games. You bow or you face the consequences. Kevin learned quickly where his place was when he came to live at Edgar Allan nearly 10 years ago. He’d been a child and it was easy for Riko to break him after the trauma of his mother’s death and being ripped out of his life into violence he’d never experienced. Kevin hoped that Nathaniel would break easily.

Nathaniel’s attitude brought out Riko’s knives more quickly than Kevin had ever seen. Even though he’s never been at the mercy of them, he’d seen Riko practice with them. He’d been at Riko’s mercy with other weapons enough times to know he would never want to face his knives. 

“You don’t even hold it properly.” Nathaniel was practically giggling as he stared up at Riko from the bed. “Let me out of these cuffs and I’ll teach you how to hold a knife. It’s almost disrespectful.”

The grin on Nathaniel’s lips told Kevin that his hopes for a fast break were pointless. 

Riko glared down at Nathaniel as he slowly sliced through his long-sleeved shirt up to his collar and farther where he nicked a cut into Nathaniel’s throat. The small cut bled quickly but Nathaniel’s smile and vacant eyes remained unflinching.

Something glinted on Nathaniel’s chest and Kevin glanced down to see a long silver chain with a heavy-looking pendant settled against his scars. The scars. More numerous now than Kevin remembered. For some reason, they weren’t grotesque, rather they added to Nathaniel’s innate ferocity. His eyes settled back on the pendant and all the blood left his face. The Moriyama crest.

Kevin watched Riko’s shoulders stiffen as he noticed the necklace. Nathaniel’s grin widened, “Rethinking your plans, King?”

Riko’s eyes snapped up to stare at Nathaniel as he wrapped his hand around the pendant, clasping it hard and yanking. Kevin thought he was going to rip it from Nathaniel’s neck but he considered it for a moment before a slow smile spread across his face. “I am. In fact.”

When Riko was done, Nathaniel, the bed, and the pendant were all soaked in blood.

Chapter Text

Nathaniel

Luckily, Riko finished his version of torture in time for Nathaniel to stitch up his wounds using the kit he found stashed under the sink in the bathroom. How thoughtful. It wouldn’t be the first time Nathaniel played with knife wounds, but it would be the first time he played with completely fresh ones. He was sure Tetsuji and Riko wouldn’t let him beg off because of a few cuts.

Honestly, it was the lightest he’s ever gotten off under the knife. But Riko was no Butcher. His skills were childish at best. Nathaniel could do more damage without killing or seriously injuring but causing maximum pain by the time he was 7. Still, he was kicking himself for allowing it to happen. He hated that Riko thought he couldn’t fight back when really he was caught off guard today and unwilling to show his hand so soon. He didn’t expect this level of violence so quickly. Nathaniel would not be caught by surprise again. He had to find the delicate balance between fighting and feeding Riko’s ego. He had to survive and prove himself to Ichirou. 

Ichirou. Nathaniel texted him once since arriving at Edgar Allan. Just a quick, ‘ Here, my lord.’ Otherwise, he’d tried to keep his mind far away from the future Moriyama lord. His confusion over Ichirou’s kiss only built as he struggled to fall asleep in the hotel room with him. Nathaniel didn’t understand where that came from.

He shook his head to keep his mind on what he did understand. Seeing Ichirou’s pendant around Nathaniel’s neck loosened something in Riko. His rage was deeper and more feral. If Riko hadn’t seen the pendant, it wouldn’t have been quite so bad. Nathaniel contemplated telling Ichirou of his estranged brother’s actions, but almost immediately dismissed the idea. He was unsure of his place right now, no matter what he’d said to Tetsuji and Riko. He doesn’t know if telling Ichirou his problems would be useful or look like weakness in the young lord’s eyes. The things Nathaniel needed to report had to be on a larger scale and affect the Moriyama investments at Edgar Allan as a whole, not just him.

The door burst open and broke Nathaniel out of his thoughts. Riko appeared in the doorway with a haughty look that made Nathaniel feel violent.

“Time for practice, Nathaniel.”

Riko turned and walked away, Kevin trailing behind him as usual. Nathaniel rolled his eyes as he gingerly rose off the second bed in the room to follow farther behind Riko and Kevin. This time, there were other Ravens walking through the halls and they all eyed him curiously. He tried to hide his pain as best he could, every move pulled his hastily done stitches. 

People greeted Riko as he passed and Riko nodded to those that did. Nathaniel realized that none of the other Ravens were as young as them. They all seemed to be at least 6 years older. “Are we the only ones not in college here?” Nathaniel called out to Riko as they entered the bustling locker room.

Riko turned to look at him, “Yes. Kevin, you, and I are the only ones.”

“Why?”

Riko scoffed, “This is a college, not an orphanage.”

Riko walked farther into the locker room and over to a locker with the number 3 on it, “This is your locker, Nathaniel. You remember, don’t you?” Riko’s eyes gleamed.

Nathaniel looked between Riko and Kevin and eyed the numbers drawn on their cheekbones. He slowly pointed first at Riko and then at Kevin as he counted “One…Two…” Nathaniel pointed toward his chest “Three?”

“You’re getting it. Good boy.” Nathaniel’s fists clenched at Riko’s condescending tone. “Yes, you are meant to be number 3 of the Perfect Court. My uncle saw your potential 2 years ago and has kept an eye on you while you were back in Baltimore. We are going to make you great. If we can get that mouth of yours under control.”

Nathaniel glared at him, “I don’t want to be number 3, Riko .”

Riko’s eyes were fire, “You don’t have a choice, Nathaniel. If you fail here there is no second option for you.” Riko smirked. “Unless you feel like going back to daddy, but then it probably wouldn’t be a very long reunion.” 

“At least my daddy knows my name.” He spat. Nathaniel knew what his fate would be if he didn’t become a better asset for the Moriyama’s. If he failed he was all too aware that he would return to Baltimore and his father would kill him for being such a waste of time and space. Kill him like Nathaniel had helped the Butcher kill his mother. He glanced down to make sure his shirt wasn’t soaked with blood the way he knew his hands were.

Nathaniel took a slow breath in through his nose and tried not to get dragged under by the memories of the last time he’d been at Evermore. The lid to the box keeping those memories locked away seemed to be too loose now.

One more breath and Nathaniel walked to his locker to get ready for his first official practice with the Ravens. 

Before he could open it, an arm pinned him against his locker, his face nearly smashing against the metal. “You will understand your place, Nathaniel. I will not tolerate anything less. You will bow, or I will make you bow.” Riko’s words blew across Nathaniel’s ear before he moved away to get ready for practice. 

-

It was by far one of the hardest practices Nathaniel had ever been through. He thought he pushed hard in the practices he formulated for himself back in Baltimore. They paled in comparison to a Raven’s practice, especially with the pain of the stitches trying to slow him down and mess him up. He refused.

The court was the only place where he could forget it all. He could forget Baltimore, forget his mother, forget himself. On the court, Nathaniel ends and begins with Exy. There is nothing else.

A rough hand gripped the front of Nathaniel’s jersey and yanked him upward out of his sprint toward the ball he’d knocked from Riko’s racket. Riko struggled to get through Nathaniel no matter any of the tricks he and Kevin pulled. 

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Nathaniel reached a hand up to wipe the spit away as Riko snarled in his face.

“I’m playing Exy.” Nathaniel glanced around pretending to be curious, “Are you okay, king? Did you think we were playing baseball?” 

Riko shook Nathaniel harshly and his teeth rattled. Nathaniel could see Tetsuji watching them over Riko’s shoulder. “You need to learn exactly how we do things here. Kevin!” The unexpected bellow caused Nathaniel to flinch slightly, caught off guard by how loud his voice was. He trembled in Riko’s grasp but quickly pushed his panic down and away.

“Kevin, let’s show Nathaniel how we do things.” Riko roughly pushed him away toward the edge of the court.

As Riko and Kevin ran, passing the ball between them and scoring goals on one of the Raven’s freshmen goaltenders, Nathaniel thought he saw what Riko was not saying. 

The way they do things was that no one could be better than Riko. Riko needed to be the one scoring goals, he needed to be the one outstepping the backliners, pulling the moves to make impossible passes.

Nathaniel hadn’t been holding back. He hadn’t allowed Riko to outstep him and was showing his weaknesses to the rest of the Ravens, to Tetsuji. Riko wouldn’t allow his things to be better. Nathaniel knew Riko was really good at Exy. That’s why he was having so much fun, it was a challenge . He had so much trouble finding people to challenge him in Baltimore, and now that he had the Sons of Exy…he wasn’t allowed to rise to the occasion? Actually, fuck that. 

“What, Riko? Afraid you won’t be able to beat me? Why don’t you rise to my level instead of making me sink to yours?” Nathaniel smirked as Riko and Kevin came back from their annoying display of synchrony.

Riko glared, “You do not want to continue down this path, Nathaniel.” 

“Hmmm…I think I do. I am not going to slow down for you. I am not going to stop getting better so you can catch up.”

The racket slammed into his stomach before he could move. Nathaniel crumpled to the ground, feeling the blood oozing from at least a few of the cuts on his abdomen. 

“You really think you are better than me? You’re a joke. You are nothing. Get the fuck up. It’s time for drills.” He reached down and hauled Nathaniel, gasping, to his feet. 

None of the Ravens even took notice of the three younger Ravens. 

Riko made Nathaniel run drills until he couldn't feel his legs or his arms. Then he made Nathaniel run them over and over, when he messed up he got a racket to his stomach, his back, his legs. Nathaniel wasn’t sure how long it lasted, but by the time he was finished the rest of the Ravens had left and Riko made him stay to clean up the court. 

Nathaniel thought he saw how things worked on the Raven’s court now.

Chapter Text

Kevin

Kevin sat on the bed across from Nathaniel’s. The boy was passed out, probably from the pain, blood loss, or a combination of the two after Riko finished his most recent session . Kevin tried hard not to think about the pained groans and gasps that spilled from Nathaniel’s lips even as his snark and attitude did. 

It took hours for him to finally quiet. 

Kevin watched as Riko wandered the room, picking things up and replacing them in different spots. Knocking things over. Generally causing disorder. Kevin rolled his eyes. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Just looking is all.” Riko snarked back, before his eyes landed on something peeking out from under Nathaniel’s mattress. “Oh. What is Nathaniel trying to hide?” Riko swiped out the object to find a phone. 

Riko glared at it, “I didn’t give him permission to have a phone.” Riko moved his hands beneath the mattress a bit more, pulling out a few sinister looking knives. “ I definitely didn’t give him permission to have these.”

Riko pressed the lock button and the screen lit up, multiple notifications taking up the space. Kevin squinted at the screen and made out the name of who the notifications were from… Ichirou .

Riko’s gaze lingered on the phone before shifting to Nathaniel. Suddenly he was on top of Nathaniel again and slapped him hard across the face.

Nathaniel let out a harsh whine, clearly still dazed. His whole body flinched and he whispered, “No, father. I’ll be good. I won’t disappoint you.” His bright blue eyes were glazed and ringed in red as he blinked them open. He wasn’t in the Nest.

Riko leaned down, nearly pressing his cheek against Nathaniels, “Not your father.”

A full body shiver wracked through Nathaniel, but then his eyes cleared and there was anger and defiance in his gaze before a sharp smile broke across his face. 

Riko raised the phone in front of Nathaniel, “What’s the passcode?”

“Why the fuck would I tell you?” Nathaniel spat.

Riko grasped the back of Nathaniel’s neck, lifting him off the bed as far as he could with Nathaniel restrained. “You will tell me, dog , or you will not see your phone again. What will my brother think when his pet never replies?

Nathaniel glared up at Riko. The twitch of his lips was the only thing that showed that Riko’s words got to him.

“Just tell him, Nathaniel” Kevin’s voice was clearly exasperated. He was so tired of the turbulence. He just wanted everything to settle down and for Nathaniel to just follow the rules.

Nathaniel’s eyes slid to him and his glare hardened until Kevin couldn't hold his gaze anymore, “You are a coward, Day. Stay out of it.”

Kevin flinched at the disdain in Nathaniel’s voice. Riko laughed, “Kevin. Are you afraid of a small dog all tied up? Don’t worry. He seems to be more bark than bite.”

“You haven’t seen my bite yet, King.” Nathaniel jerked forward and snapped his teeth in Riko’s face. Riko’s hand clenched around Nathaniel’s throat as he pushed him down into the bed.

“Tell me now. The passcode, or say goodbye to your connection to my brother.”

Nathaniel was quiet as he weighed his options before his eyes went completely vacant, “6-2-7-9.”

Riko got off the bed and unlocked one of Nathaniel’s wrists, “You’ll get your phone back if I decide you deserve it. No lunch today.”

Riko was already unlocking the phone and scooping up the knives as he and Kevin walked out of the room to leave Nathaniel to get out of the restraints and clean up.

Kevin realized it’s been nearly 2 days since Nathaniel had been allowed a full meal. 

Nathaniel

The practices since Riko confiscated Nathaniel’s phone and snooped through it had been a new kind of torture. Not only was Nathaniel on the receiving end of Riko’s constant punishments, but all of the punishments also led to Nathaniel not being able to play as well as he should. Tetsuji had been coming down on him for that with his harsh words and his cane.

Riko was furious to find out about Nathaniel’s relationship with Ichirou and how close they are. It only angered him further to find out that Nathaniel already knew how to speak Japanese as well as write and read it.

From what Nathaniel could tell Riko had only 2 settings…angry and irate. 

He couldn’t remember the last time he was able to eat a full meal. When he went to the dining hall with Riko and Kevin, Kevin always decided his food and made his plate, and Riko took it from him when he felt like it. Nathaniel could finish about half of whatever was on his plate and it was barely enough. Weakness was setting in from the lack of food, sleep, and constant pain. 

He didn’t want to bend. He didn’t want to break.

Chapter Text

Nathaniel

Loneliness, it seeped into Nathaniel’s soul. Under his skin, ran through his veins. 

Pain. Every day brought new pain. Pain he had never experienced before despite his past. 

Nathaniel looked up and his mother was there in front of him, on a tarp drenched in blood. Her gray eyes looked through him as she sneered, “Look what you did, Nathaniel. Look what you have become. You are worse than he is, worse than your father.”

Nathaniel recoiled and slammed into the wall next to his bed. His whole body trembled and he yanked at his hair. “Not here, not here. She’s not here.” Blood from his hands dripped down his face.

He blinked, his father was there. Nathaniel was struggling for breath as his father stalked toward him, “Nathaniel, you are a fucking disgrace. So weak. A disappointment. Can’t even die properly. More trouble than you were ever worth.” The cleaver appeared from nowhere and his father raised it in a killing blow. Nathaniel squeezed his eyes shut, it was always going to come to this. Before the blow could land, Lola took his father’s place.

“Oh, Nathaniel. Look how much you’ve grown. You look just like him. ” She strode forward. Her sinister blades out and ready for the torture she was known for. Where his father is all heavy hands and a killing blow, Lola is precision and a slow death. “We are going to have so much fun together.” The predatory smile lit up her face as she reached for him.

Nathaniel jerked up, before he could get his bearings he nearly ripped his shoulder out of its socket. His arms and legs were bound up at awkward angles. Nathaniel’s breaths came out in huffs as he tried to stave off the panic attack. The impenetrable darkness that surrounded him wasn’t helping. He couldn’t see the monsters from his dreams lurking in the shadows. He closed his eyes tightly, trying not to hyperventilate. Out loud, he counted backwards from 100 in every language he knew. There were 5; English, Japanese, Italian, French, and Spanish. 500 seconds later his breath was still ragged, but he was in less danger of hyperventilating alone in the dark.

Nathaniel did his best to flex his fingers and toes in the bondage, making sure he could still feel and move them. Binding Nathaniel in the most uncomfortable positions during sleeping hours had become one of Riko’s favorite forms of control and punishment over the last few months. If he was lucky, Riko would skip a day.

Nathaniel struggled to keep his head up, wanting to tip forward and sleep, but afraid of the nightmares and knowing that if he did he would put more pressure on his arms. 

-

“Nathaniel,” Riko snapped and continued in Japanese “ What the fuck are you doing? It’s like you aren’t even trying .”

Nathaniel contained his eye roll, but it was a close thing, “ It never ends well for me when I outshine you, king. ”

“You’ve been here for over a year and that attitude is still an issue. You never learn. Put in a better effort or you will not only face my punishment later for your insolence, but it will be worse, and it will come after the master's cane.” 

“Don’t get mad at me when you can’t score then.” Nathaniel put everything into practice. 

Nathaniel’s limbs were sore as practice came to an end. He should have spent more time stretching them out after last night, but he got through it with minimal yelling or complaint from Tetsuji and he definitely counted that as a win. Riko and Kevin also struggled to get anything by him, another win. Nathaniel glanced at Kevin as he changed. The boy barely spoke to him outside of Exy practice or when he was force-feeding Nathaniel vegetables, but Nathaniel saw him. Saw how he held back to stay out of Riko’s line of fire. Nathaniel knew that Kevin could one day be the best striker in the United States, if not the world, if Riko weren’t there to hold him back.

He shook his thoughts off, if Kevin wanted to lower himself to Riko’s level that was his business. 

He finished getting cleaned up and wandered down the hall toward the cafeteria trailing Riko and Kevin.

-

Something was wrong, something was very very wrong. Nathaniel’s hands gripped the table tightly and he felt his body tip to the side, as if he was not actually inside his body.

The colors of his food pulsed in front of him. The green of the spinach became achingly bright, the red from the tomatoes made him want to cover his eyes. He’s tipping again.

He strained to get control over himself and his hands trembled as he tried to lift his glass to his lips to take a sip of water. 

He caught Riko’s eye and a tremor wracked through him. Colors haloed around Riko as Nathaniel gazed at him. Riko’s smile slowly spread across his face. “ That’s enough, Nathaniel. I think it’s time to sleep.”

But Nathaniel still couldn’t seem to control his limbs. Riko came around the table and pulled him out of his chair, immediately Nathaniel was stumbling to the floor. The tiled floor felt like a thick puddy under his hands and he pushed down to watch it squish under him. 

What is happening?

Hands were on him again, he was pulled up and this time Riko and Kevin each supported him. His feet barely dragged across the puddy floor as they pulled him out of the dining hall. 

Nathaniel forced his mind to try and focus. The food. The first real meal Riko had allowed him in a while.

What is happening?

His drink. Riko brought it to him. Water-not water. Unwater?

His eyes flashed and everything was so bright. How can the darkness be so bright? There's so much color. Nathaniel needed to cover his eyes. His head tilted and they were walking on the ceiling. 

This is not real.

Shapes and colors and light and darkness. All Nathaniel knew. His head spun and the panic rose. Control, he had no control. What would his father say? Would there be another lesson ?

His father’s face flashed in front of him and he jerked backward. 

Self-control, Nathaniel. If you don’t have self-control, you have nothing. You are nothing.

Nathaniel poked his fingers into Kevin’s skin, feeling his flesh give way under Nathaniel’s touch. Like he could just sink right through.

Not real.

He’s not real?

Suddenly, his mother was there. But, no…she’s dead. His mother was there, a picture of her. Blood. Nathaniel saw her bright gray eyes and her animalistic grin through the red of the blood. He flinched as her voice filtered through his ears, “This is all your fault, Nathaniel. I wish I had just aborted you. If you were dead, I would be alive.”

His mother’s face floated away, away, away. But then she was back. There were many of her. They surrounded him. Too bright. It was too bright.

Was that him screaming? Or her? Or both of them?

He felt the pain but he was removed from it. The pain came in bursts across his body. Riko was there, on top of him. Nathaniel looked down to his chest. The blood made a stark contrast against his skin and he wanted to touch it but his arms wouldn’t listen to him.

But, his mother was back, hundreds of her, thousands. And she screamed. Or he did.

Chapter Text

Nathaniel

Nathaniel dragged his feet behind Riko and Kevin. He felt like a zombie, probably looked like one, too. He couldn’t seem to break out of this ever present fog he felt when he was off the court. As though he used up every ounce of strength he had to get through practices, there’s nothing left for everything else.

If I just submit things will be better. Riko says so. Things could be better.

Nathaniel shook his head and straightened his spine, trying to gather energy for a 2nd wind or is it a 3rd? 4th? 5th? He’d lost track.

“Nathaniel, keep up.” Riko sneered back at him, “I will not have you be the reason for our tardiness.”

Nathaniel forced his feet faster and kept pace with the pair.

They walked through the black hallways of Evermore to Tetesuji’s office. When they entered, they each gave a deep bow. Nathaniel’s stitches pulled as he straightened out of the respectful posture. 

Out of conditioning, more than anything, Nathaniel observed his surroundings with a keen eye. Finally feeling himself become a bit more awake. Adrenaline coursed through his body like every other time he had been called to Tetsuji’s office in his two years at Evermore. Nothing good ever came out of being locked in this room.

Everything was the same. Same stupid black walls, same stupid black desk, same stupid Tetsuji sitting behind it. But, there’s a boy he didn’t recognize standing across from them next to the desk. Immediately, Nathaniel’s guard was up and he was ready for whatever was to come. 

“Riko, Kevin, Nathaniel…this is Jean Moreau.” Tetsuji said in his typical Japanese timbre. Nathaniel saw the boy glance quickly at Tetsuji, but he clearly didn’t understand anything more than the names.

Seemingly for Jean’s benefit, as if Tetsuji could give two shits, he switched to English. “Jean. These are your teammates. Nathaniel, from now on Jean is your partner. Riko, you know what to do. He is yours now.”

Partner.

Nathaniel had spent the last two years as a witness to the Ravens’ barbaric partner system, but had never had to participate himself because he had been alone. Have they been waiting for this boy? Jean?

French. Nathaniel recognized the name as French. Moreau. He also recognized the last name as part of a large French crime organization that was in some ways allied with the Moriyamas. Could he be of the same family? 

Nathaniel was pulled from his thoughts as Riko speaks, “ Yes, Master. Come, Jean.”

Jean didn’t look as though he was going to come. He didn’t look like he understood anything that had happened. His lips turned down in scowl, slightly hunched in on himself causing his tall frame to look smaller. Nathaniel sighed inwardly, knowing that if he didn’t follow, not only would he be punished, but Nathaniel would be as well. Partners.

The stupid partner system forced the Ravens into symbiotic relationships. You succeed together, fail together, suffer together, eat together. Sometimes, Nathaniel even thought that Riko and Kevin showered together. Outside of practice. But, that was not a rabbit hole he was willing to tumble into.

The boy looked to be at least a couple years older than Nathaniel’s 14. Maybe closer to Riko and Kevin’s age, but for all that Nathaniel defied Riko, he was not willing to get punished right now, for this boy he didn’t know. Nor did he want Jean to be punished for him. The look in Jean’s eyes screamed fear. Nathaniel hated it, but somehow he knew Jean was like him in ways that the eyes couldn’t see. Nathaniel saw it.

Nathaniel walked over to Jean a bit slowly so that Jean could see he wasn’t going to try anything. He slowly reached out and latched a hand to Jean’s duffle bag and pulled lightly. Jean tensed all over and held himself stiffly in place. Nathaniel spoke in quiet French though he knew Riko wouldn’t be happy about it, hopefully getting the boy to come along would be seen as him helping or following the rules .

“Jean? I’m Nathaniel. We are partners now. We succeed together, fail together. I will help you.” Nathaniel tried to put as much sincerity in his words as he could. He didn’t know this boy, but he knew they needed to work together to survive from now on. If they didn’t they would both die in this hell.

“You don’t even know me.” Jean grumbled just as quietly as Nathaniel. His voice was low and a bit raspy as if he hadn’t spoken in awhile, or he’d been screaming. Nathaniel looked into dark eyes and tried to convey things he couldn’t say.

“Every partnership has to start somewhere right?” Nathaniel let a grin take over his face as he tugged lightly on the duffle. It slipped out of Jean’s fingers. Nathaniel turned on his heel and tossed the bag over his shoulder. He thought he saw a sort of recognition catch in Jean’s eyes. Maybe Jean saw Nathaniel, too. Saw that they were the same in the ways that mattered in this underground prison. 

Nathaniel switched to Japanese, “We just going to stand here, king? We have practice. Exy, ya know.” He couldn't help the spite that flooded through the honorific.

Riko’s eyes darkened, but he turned on his heel and walked out the door. 

And then there were four. 

Jean

Maybe it was survival instinct, maybe it was intrigue, but…Nathaniel. 

Jean wondered about him as they walked through the halls of Evermore. His new home. He couldn’t help but glower at everything around him. The betrayal sunk in slowly and lodged itself beneath his skin. He didn’t think it would ever go away.

He hadn’t expected this. Hadn’t been prepared for it, and certainly didn’t want it.

But the boy, Nathaniel, who was at least half a foot shorter than him with blood red hair and icy blue eyes, had somehow gotten under his skin with just a little French spoken with almost no accent. It was flawless and caught Jean completely off guard. He’d been expecting not to understand anything that was happening, which only made his discomfort more intense. But, he knew Nathaniel could explain, would understand, would help. He doesn’t know how he knew…but Nathaniel’s eyes had been open and honest. He wanted to believe it, needed to believe it. If for nothing else besides his own sanity.

His English was awful. He didn’t know where to begin with Japanese. But, his partner had flawless French and said he’d help. Maybe he wouldn’t drown in this dark place with the firecracker as an ally. 

Jean watched Nathaniel, watched the way he interacted with the other boys even though he couldn’t understand most of what they said. Japanese was completely over his head and his basic English skills did not help that much. But, he saw the way Nathaniel dismissed Kevin. The look in his eyes vacant and uncaring when he spoke to him. His eyes were vacant now, so changed from when he whispered to Jean in French. When he spoke to Riko it was with those same vacant eyes, but there was sharp defiance in his tone. Jean could read Riko like a book. He noticed the tense set of Riko’s shoulders whenever he spoke to Nathaniel, saw the loathing and annoyance flare in his eyes. 

Nathaniel didn’t seem to care. Relished in Riko’s mood, even.

Riko said something to Nathaniel in Japanese as they stopped in front of a black door that was marked with 3 and 4 on metal plaques. Across the hall, Jean saw an identical door with 1 and 2. 

Riko and Kevin turned and went through the door. The way they did things sent a shiver down Jean’s spine, everything in perfect tandem. It was so weird.

Nathaniel looked at Jean and his eyes were more open now, if slightly hesitant. He spoke in French again, the lilting perfect accent now that he wasn’t whispering made even Jean envious. “Welcome home, Jean. This is our room. Uhm…there are some things we need to talk about. But, just…try not to freak out.”

Jean was confused but nodded anyway. Nathaniel sighed and led the way into the dark room. He flicked on a light and it took a moment to adjust to it after the darkness of the hallways. 

He froze. 

What the hell?

One side of the room looked completely pristine. A made bed that you could bounce a quarter off of, an empty desk, a few empty shelves, and a dresser. It was all standard. It was the other side of the room that Jean couldn’t tear his eyes away from. Nathaniel’s side.

Nathaniel tried to be casual as he strolled over to his side and began cleaning things up, “Heh. I would have cleaned a bit if I had known you were coming.”   

Jean took everything in even as Nathaniel hid away the evidence. The towels soaked in blood. The scratches along the headboard of the bed that seemed to gather around two pairs of handcuffs attached to it. Rust colored handcuffs. No, bloody handcuffs. Nathaniel moved his pillow to try and block the view of them, but it was already ingrained in Jean’s mind. 

There was an open first aid kit strewn across the bed. He’d never seen such a stocked first aid kit. It even included surgical staples and needle and thread for stitches. The bed seemed oddly discolored even though the sheets and blanket were black. Some areas were darker than others. His eyes flashed to where Nathaniel had stashed the bloody towels. 

Now that they were alone, he could see that Nathaniel moved like someone in pain.

“What the hell? Are you going to explain this to me? There are handcuffs on your bed. What is this?” Jean tried to mask his fear with anger. 

Jean watched Nathaniel stand up from clearing the first aid kit. His shoulders heaved as he took a huge breath. When he turned to look at Jean, his eyes were blank. 

“Look. I know you have a lot of questions. I will give you all the answers I can, but right now we need to get ready for practice. We don’t have long and you don’t want to know what happens if we are late.” 

Jean’s eyes flashed to where the handcuffs were hidden under the pillow. Nathaniel grimaced. 

“Unpack your stuff, Jean. Your side is clean, don’t worry. Only Kevin sometimes plops his ass on your bed, but I’m pretty sure he washes, so you’re only in danger of catching his cowardice and the gross smell of his soap.” Nathaniel rolled his eyes. 

“Fine, but I definitely expect us to have a conversation. I need to know what the fuck is happening.”

Nathaniel gave a single stiff nod before turning back to finish cleaning. 

Jean tried not to stare as he unpacked his small amount of belongings. 

“If there is something you don’t want Riko to know about, you should hide it. Anything that is truly important to you. Find a place for it.”

Jean lifted a small plush unicorn from his bag. It was colorful and stood out in the darkness. The tag read ‘Marion’. Jean pushed the tears down and turned to Nathaniel, “Do you know where I can hide this?” 

Nathaniel’s eyes softened slightly at the colorful unicorn, “Sure. I’ll show you my place. I found it a few months after I got here when I realized Riko wasn’t going to stop going through my shit. Nosey bastard.”

He walked over to the corner by his closet and crouched down over something. There was a small knife in his hand one second and it was gone the next. Nathaniel stood back to show Jean. He wandered closer. He’d lifted one corner of the black carpet to reveal dark, hardwood flooring. He’d pried one of the slats up to reveal a small nook underneath. It was only big enough for a handful of objects, but currently only held a cell phone, a flashdrive, and a few sharp knives. 

Jean crouched and carefully set the unicorn in the nook, “Should I put my cell phone in there?”

“Hmm…maybe. If you don’t want them to get rid of your personal one. They might give you a Raven’s issued phone. How old are you?”

Jean was slightly surprised by the out-of-nowhere question, but answered anyway, “16.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure, but Riko might allow you to have one. He gave Kevin one when Kevin turned 15, but he says I’ll never get one. So, I’m not sure what he’ll decide for you. I have to make sure to keep mine hidden after what he did to the last one. So, he doesn’t know about it.” Something crossed quickly on Nathaniel’s face and he stiffened slightly, “You won’t tell him right?”

Jean startled at the edge in Nathaniel’s tone, but shook his head. Nathaniel was showing him the ropes here. He wouldn’t give away his secrets to Riko. He didn’t know the boy well, but he thought he could trust Nathaniel over Riko for now. He’d shown him how to keep Marion’s unicorn safe, and that was all he had left of her. 

“Thanks.”

-

“This is your locker, Jean. Number 4.” Nathaniel spoke in quiet French showing Jean to his new locker that was already packed with all of his new gear.

They started getting changed out for practice. They were some of the first in the locker room. Riko and Kevin hadn’t come yet. He wondered about the numbers. Riko’s ‘1’, Kevin’s ‘2’, and Nathaniel’s ‘3’ that were all drawn on their cheeks in what seemed to be sharpie. He wanted to ask.

Jean glanced at Nathaniel in his peripheral vision. Then turned completely in his direction to stare.

He could feel his eyes blown wide as he took in Nathaniel’s marred skin. He flinched back when Nathaniel turned to look at them. A look seared across Nathaniel’s face, anger, hatred, annoyance? Jean wasn’t sure. But he could tell Nathaniel got stared at a lot. He moved his gaze quickly to the floor, “Sorry.”

Jean heard his deep breath. When he looked up Nathaniel’s eyes were vacant once again. Going into a place where no one could reach him.

“It’s fine. Clearly staring isn’t the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.” He waved a dismissive hand down his body.

Jean had no idea how to respond to this cold-eyed, scarred boy. He was younger than Jean, but clearly the pain he’d endured was beyond anything Jean could understand. So he did the only thing he figured he could do without getting a knife in his face or a punch in the stomach, he turned and continued getting ready for practice.

Nathaniel ignored him through warmups and into drills.

Jean was not getting it at all. He knew he was decent when it came to Exy. He was big, and as a backliner that was important. But, he knew he would need to work hard to catch up to Nathaniel, Riko, and Kevin. 

They were working through the fifth drill while Jean was stuck on the first. 

He failed again and Riko was in front of him. His racket connected with Jean’s abdomen and he doubled over from the pain searing through him. His knees hit the hard ground.

He looked up through bleary eyes, expecting another hit, but Nathaniel was between him and Riko. His posture was casual, but Jean thought it was just a bit too casual. 

They spoke back and forth in fast Japanese, then Riko’s eyes landed on Jean and he flinched.

Riko’s Japanese was fast, but his English was too. Jean picked up only a few words that Riko said and none of them made any logical sense.

Riko only got angrier the longer Jean didn’t understand what he said. His racket came up again, but Nathaniel moved to block him, catching the hit on his back, where it would have hit Jean in the face. 

Nathaniel’s face screwed up in pain, but he didn’t flinch from the impact. Instead, he turned and glared at Riko before speaking a bit more in Japanese and finally turning to Jean.

He stretched out a hand to help Jean to his feet. “Jean, how’s your English?”

Jean grunted through the pain of allowing Nathaniel to pull him up. “Not as good as your French.”

Nathaniel smirked, “Of course it’s not. That will be one of the first things we need to get sorted out. And Japanese. For now, let’s go through the drills together.”

“Is it okay that you are doing this? Riko doesn’t seem to like being…not in control.” Jean stated skeptically.

“That’s a problem for later. Let’s just survive practice.”

Nathaniel helped Jean move more smoothly through the practice. The drills didn’t come easily, but Nathaniel gave useful tips and showed Jean step by step how to get better. He tried to mix in some English to get Jean used to English commands that would be used on the court as well. 

They scrimmaged later in the practice and Jean found that being big as a backliner was not actually important. Not if you’re Nathaniel and willing to sacrifice your whole body to get in the way of the strikers all with a monstrous grin on your face. 

He also found that Nathaniel’s ability far exceeded those of a typical backliner. He easily stepped into most of the roles on the court, going where he was needed and fluidly shaping his play to the play of his team around him. Jean’s passion for Exy was no match for this fierce firecracker’s. 

-

When they finally made it back to their room, Jean was exhausted and sore. The practice felt like it was years long. Then dinner with a room full of people who spoke languages he didn’t understand was longer. 

Nathaniel slunk onto his bed in a heap, sighing loudly. It was the most obvious display of emotion that Jean had seen from him since Tetsuji’s office.

“So, I guess you want to talk? Let me just give you a quick rundown and then I’ll answer all of your, I’m sure to be delightful, questions.”

Nathaniel ran him through schedules, rules, classes, and punishments that seemed too severe to be in relation to a fucking game. Jean had seen Tetsuji’s cane at practice, but it hadn’t come out to play today. According to Nathaniel it was rare that Tetsuji didn’t use his cane. After everything so far, Jean was inclined to believe him. 

“Okay, I think that’s most of it. It’s more of a learn-as-you-go sort of deal anyway. Rules are not always clear cut and Riko makes his up as he goes along. Besides, you’ll learn I’m more of a rule-breaker anyway. Questions?”

Jean asked the question that hadn’t left his mind in hours, “Why did you step in between Riko and I?”

Nathaniel gave him a shocked look, clearly not expecting that line of questioning. Jean felt a bit smug because he could tell Nathaniel was not often surprised by people. “Well, we are partners. And, contrary to popular belief…I’m not a horrible person. I saw how little you actually understood. I wasn’t going to stand by and let you get beaten because of the language barrier. Riko doesn’t care about that. He’d just beat you bloody or until you learned to read minds. Whichever came first.”

A slight chuckle escaped Jean’s lips, “I actually did gather that. Yes. How can you play so well in all positions on the court? Doesn’t it get all jumbled in your head?

“Nah. I’m particularly skilled at compartmentalization.” He winked slyly, “I just enjoy Exy no matter what position I play in. I’ll do what needs to be done and be a better player for it overall. Beyond that, Tetsuji and Riko just like working me to the bone…I’m pretty hard to handle otherwise.”

 “Hmm…yeah. I’ve noticed that too.” Jean gave him a smirk that faded quickly. “ Umm…about the handcuffs?”

“There it is. Riko finds joy in torturing those who can’t fight back.” A wicked grin slid across his face, “He finds even more joy in torturing those who can and do fight back, but are physically restrained.” 

“I’m sure I can guess which category you fall under.” Jean rolled his eyes slightly at the firecracker’s explanation. 

“If I ever get good at not being defiant, you’ll be the first to know. I’ll try not to get you killed with my attitude.”

Jean had an inkling that Nathaniel may be a handful. 

-

They spent a few hours talking about everything. Jean told Nathaniel about how he was sold to Tetsuji Moriyama in exchange for a debt to be paid off, as far as he understood it. Nathaniel gave him some of his truth in exchange. They were the same. Owned by the Moriyamas.

The door crashed open and Riko strolled in, already glaring at Nathaniel. Jean wanted to move to stand in front of Nathaniel as he had Jean. 

How could this protective feeling set in so quickly?

Nathaniel speared him with a glare that clearly said to stand down.

Riko and Nathaniel spoke quickly in Japanese, Nathaniel grew more and more tense through the whole conversation. 

Then, Nathaniel was on his feet turning to face away from Riko. Kevin walked forward, holding lengths of chain, leather and other bindings. Jean watched in complete shock as Riko bound Nathaniel in a position that caused clear discomfort. They bound him to his desk chair and made their way to the door. Riko tossed a comment in Japanese over his shoulder before leaving the room. 

Nathaniel wiggled a bit in the chair in annoyance and frustration. “You know, like a year and a half ago I would have said he’d be tired of this by now.” 

“He’s done this to you for a year and a half? Why?”

Nathaniel grimaced, “He thinks it will break me.”

“Can I let you out?”

“No, that will only make things worse. This is by far one of the least painful ways he’s found to torture me. Though it does last significantly longer.” Nathaniel’s eyes seemed to haze over. It was like he was trying to fight against his instincts to pull away. Go deep again.

“How do you get any rest like this?”

“Practice, my dear Jean. Practice.”

Chapter Text

Nathaniel

“Jean,” Nathaniel sang loudly into the big backliner’s ear, “wakey, wakey! It’s time for morning class before we get to go have hours of fun with Riko and Kevin on the court.” 

Jean’s face was buried in his pillow but somehow his large palm landed directly on Nathaniel’s face as he shoved him away. “Be gone, evil being. I am sleeping.”

Nathaniel smirked behind his hand. “Evil? Me? How dare you,” he gasped loudly. Shocked and offended.

Jean lifted his head and squinted his eyes open to glare. 

“Jean, don’t make me blast your favorite song.” He wagged his finger scoldingly.

Jean threw his pillow over his head and pushed it down to cover his ears, “No! Anything but that.”

“You have 5 minutes to get up or the song starts and you’ll be singing ‘I’m a Gummy Bear’ all day long.” Nathaniel felt a little evil.

“Fine, asshole! How did I get stuck with you? And how do you just find all of my weaknesses?” Jean groaned loudly as he rolled off the bed.

“It’s a talent, LittleFoot. Now get moving.” 

-

Nathaniel and Jean ran through the door to one of the meeting rooms in the East Tower. They were both out of breath as Nathaniel turned and walked backward through the room, “Ha. Beat you again. At least you didn’t faceplant this time.” 

Jean jogged a few more steps and pushed Nathaniel lightly. “Shut up. One day I’ll win and pay you back for all your shit talking.”

“Nathaniel, Jean,” Riko snapped from across the room. “You are not children. Get over here and behave.” 

Nathaniel glanced over and took in Riko’s icy glare as his smirk grew. He’d hoped it would be one of the days where Riko and Kevin’s personal tutor came for their lessons, but today wasn’t his lucky day.

“Boys.” The tutor snapped when they didn’t listen fast enough. No one hired by Tetsuji would let Nathaniel and Jean off lightly.

Nathaniel rolled his eyes and strolled over to drop into the chair across the table from Riko while Jean took his place next to him. 

He pulled out his notebooks and readied himself for a few hours of lessons before they could finally get out on the court.

-

“Hello, Nathaniel.” Ichirou’s quiet but firm voice filtered through the phone’s speakers.

“My lord, how are you?” Nathaniel pushed as much respect into his tone as he could.

Ichirou sighed loudly. “Busy, always busy. Do the days get shorter as we age or is there just more to do?”

Nathaniel laughed quietly at Ichirou’s complaint. Lord Kengo passing down more and more responsibility to his son meant Ichirou had more work to do every day. It also meant that Nathaniel had more to keep up with for the main branch. More documents to translate, contracts, agreements, and the like. 

“Unfortunately, my lord, more responsibility means more work.”

“Yes, yes. ‘Ichirou, if you want to be a strong leader one day…’ blah, blah, blah.” Nathaniel could hear Ichirou’s eyes roll.

He didn’t usually think about how much he missed spending time with Ichirou. He tried to pretend he didn’t consider the future lord one of his only friends, if you could call it that, but it was difficult when he talked with him this way. When it wasn’t all business, Nathaniel saw the young boy he spent time with, not the heir to the Moriyama empire. The one who had kissed him and confused the fuck out of him but since then hadn’t brought it up a single time or done it again in the few times they’d seen each other. Nathaniel didn’t have time for that sort of confusion and he didn’t understand it, so he brushed it off.

Nathaniel shook himself and tried to stay focused. They talked for a while. Ichirou updated him on translations he would need to do, and a few future events he would need to attend. Nathaniel gave Ichirou an update on his assets at Evermore. Nathaniel had found very little at Evermore that Ichirou didn’t already know, outside of his own experiences with Riko. Ichirou only said that his updates on Tetsuji’s training of the Ravens and their practices was enough for now and that in the future having him there could be beneficial to the main branch. Nathaniel took him at his word and tried to be useful.

Near the end of the call, Nathaniel hesitated. Ichirou heard it. “What is it, Nathaniel?” 

“My lord, I wanted to ask…would it be possible to get a sparring teacher to come to Evermore?”

Ichirou was silent for a long moment and Nathaniel held his breath, hoping he hadn’t overstepped. “Why?”

“I just want to make sure my skills stay sharp, my lord. I don’t have as many options or ways to practice here, and I’m worried that just doing it on my own isn’t enough.” Nathaniel tried to force his mind to stay in the present and not look back on all the different ways he was trained, and who trained him. 

Ichirou seemed to be thinking over the request. “Let me talk to my father. I think we could get someone out there to make sure you are able to practice and further your abilities.”

“Thank you, my lord. I won’t disappoint you.”

“I know.” Ichirou disconnected the call.

-

Sparring, fighting, and learning with Hisaki was one of the few things Nathaniel enjoyed within Prison Evermore. It gave him an excuse to get out his anger and aggression without getting him and Jean into trouble. It was a necessary outlet that doubled as a way to keep his skills honed. 

They practiced most methods of fighting with and without knives. They practiced shooting and precision. Nathaniel even felt the training was helping him on the court too. He was faster, stronger. He learned moves he could modify to fit his game. He also benefited from a few hours a week where he couldn’t get himself into trouble with Riko and therefore his overall health improved slowly. The outlet helped him stay in control, not that he could stay out of trouble for long.

But there was improvement, even Jean said so.

Nathaniel was excited for another day of his twice a week lessons with Hisaki as he walked into one of the training rooms. He skidded to a halt when he saw who was in the room. Hisaki was glaring slightly as Riko stood next to him looking smug. It grated on Nathaniel’s nerves.

“What are you doing here?” Nathaniel snarled. 

Riko’s face hardened and morphed with his usual anger before it melted into a smirk. “I’m here for lessons, Nathaniel.”

“What?” Nathaniel couldn’t hide his shock.

“Yeah. I will be taking lessons with you from now on.” Riko’s smirk grew. Nathaniel just stared at him.

Riko’s skills with a blade had gotten better over the years, sure, but he had never used them against anyone that wasn’t restrained or otherwise weakened. Nathaniel let his father’s bloodthirsty smile spread across his face.

He thought of all the ways this could actually be interesting, “I’m not sure you know what you’re getting yourself into, king.”

It was Nathaniel’s turn to be the predator. Riko would regret stepping into his lessons. He would regret allowing Nathaniel equal ground against him.

Nathaniel would make him regret it all.

Unfortunately, it was harder than Nathaniel thought it would be to spar with Riko. Nathaniel was forced to hold back when all he wanted to do was strike to kill. They didn’t use real blades as Nathaniel did when he sparred with Hisaki, instead they used rubber training blades. Hisaki pulled him aside before the lesson to warn him about Tetsuji.

Riko had convinced Tetsuji to allow him to join Nathaniel’s training, but Tetsuji would not allow Nathaniel to hurt Riko. The consequences wouldn’t be worth the momentary gratification.

If you hurt him, your father will be on the next flight here. Maybe Jean will join your reunion.

Nathaniel was fuming. He lashed out against Riko, struck with hard blows and all of his anger while forcing himself not to permanently injure him. Nathaniel could see the fear in Riko’s eyes, but there was something else too. Something ugly and excited. He knew Nathaniel couldn’t do any real harm to him, but he could hurt Nathaniel all he wanted.

Nathaniel struck harder. 

How could something be so relieving and frustrating at the same time? He knew he would pay for his dominance over Riko later but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. He needed to take this little bit of power back, even if it was just for a few hours.

Chapter Text

Kevin

“Nathaniel, stop shoving your broccoli around and actually eat it.” Kevin snapped, sick of watching Nathaniel avoid the vegetable at all costs, “How old are you? 5?”

Nathaniel sent a cutting glance in his direction as he slowly shoved a piece of broccoli off his plate and onto the floor.

The scowl on Kevin’s face was painful and he glanced in Riko’s direction, but Riko was engrossed in the psychology book he’d been studying. 

“ Pétard , eat your broccoli so Kevin’s face doesn’t get stuck like that.” Jean commented without looking away from the book he’d been reading to practice his English. It had come far in nearly a year. Nathaniel’s ability to teach Jean English seemed to be as good as his ability to teach Jean Exy. 

Kevin couldn’t keep the scowl from deepening at the use of French. Jean had been teaching him French when they could steal few and far between moments alone, but they haven’t gotten far beyond the basics. Jean tried to get Nathaniel to help, but he refused on the basis that he wouldn’t spend any unnecessary time with Kevin.

“Okay, Jean. I’ll just pretend each floret is Kevin’s head.” Nathaniel smirked in Kevin’s direction as he chomped down on the broccoli. 

“Yeah, you’ll listen to him.” Kevin rolled his eyes.

“Jealous, Kevin? How old are you? 5?” Nathaniel snarked. 

Kevin knew Nathaniel hated him, but did he need to be so goddamn difficult literally all the time?

“Why do you have to be so difficult, Nathaniel?” Kevin wanted answers.

“Hmmm…probably because it’s just so much fun .” He grinned around the piece of broccoli in his mouth.

“Nathaniel, shut up and eat your food before you lose it and have an early night.” Riko’s voice broke through their banter, but he didn’t bother looking at Nathaniel.

A fierce glare flashed across his face before he schooled his expression into a vacant look, “Whatever, Riko. Kevin started it.”

Riko’s hand slammed onto the table, all of their drinks sloshing dangerously. “I don’t care who started it. I’m ending it. If you’re finished then leave and wait for me in your room.”

Nathaniel’s hand clenched around his fork, his knuckles white from the grip. The noise had drawn the attention of a few tables of Raven’s scattered around the dining hall. Nathaniel glanced around quickly before his shoulders set and he met Riko’s glare, “Yes, king.” The words were ground out through gritted teeth and Nathaniel stood up and strode across the room and out of the dining hall. 

“Riko…” Kevin’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“What?” He snapped before he also pushed away from the table and followed Nathaniel out of the room.

Kevin’s eyes found Jean’s and they shared a look of worry. 

“Why does Nathaniel listen to you?” Kevin asked in annoyance. If Nathaniel would just listen, Riko wouldn’t be so damn wound-up all the time and he wouldn’t lash out.

“He doesn’t listen to me, Kevin. We listen to each other.” Jean rolled his eyes as if that made all the sense in the world. It didn’t.

“You tell him to eat broccoli and he does. You tell him to run a lap instead of talking back to Riko and he does. You talk, he listens. That is the definition of him listening to you.” Kevin’s scowl was a permanent feature on his face.

“You don’t get it. Of course you don’t. I’m there for him , Kevin. Sure, I make a suggestion and he usually listens, but that’s because he knows I’m not commanding him like I own him. I’m telling him what the better path to take is, as his friend. ” Annoyance seeped into Jean’s voice, “You see the difference, right?”

Kevin stared down at the food on his plate, trying to understand, “But, Riko does own him. If he’d just listen to us–” Jean made a disgruntled sound before pushing away from the table and leaving Kevin without another word.

Kevin knows he’s right. Nathaniel had been causing problems for almost three years and it’s done nothing but bring Riko down on all of them. 

Nathaniel

Nathaniel squirmed against the handcuffs restraining his wrists, and binds around his ankles. His gaze darted back and forth in the darkness, but he couldn't see anything. There’s no shadow, no small spill of light. Just neverending blackness. His breathing was labored and painful as he tried to inhale enough oxygen. He started to count.

“Nathaniel, Nathaniel. What am I going to do with you?” Riko’s voice bled through the darkness and ensnared Nathaniel’s mind. He had to stop breathing so he wouldn't scream in fear, in frustration. It didn’t matter. He tried to see where Riko was, but the wall of black surrounded him. Pressed in on him.

His senses scrambled and heightened all at the same time. He thought he could smell Riko’s expensive cologne and sweat. He heard every piece of Riko’s soft voice. He tasted the excitement pouring from Riko. He felt…softness. Something soft covering his eyes. A blindfold. Darkness.

“Things would be so much better if you would just listen, Nathaniel.” A knife pressed lightly to his chest before dragging down all the way to his navel, “I promise things would be better.”

“Why the fuck would I believe anything you say, asshole?” Sharp pain sliced through his face where Riko’s fist connected. 

“These punishments are your fault, Nathaniel. All your fault. I wouldn’t have to carve up your pretty body and mind if you would learn your place.” Riko’s breath fanned across Nathaniel’s ear. He flinched at Riko’s words.

Riko’s comments made his skin crawl and ice chill down his spine. He jerked his head in the direction of the breath he could still feel against his skin. His head connected satisfyingly with Riko’s face. He hoped he’d made him bleed, “Get off me.”

The blindfold was ripped off Nathaniel’s face and he was sad to see Riko wasn’t bleeding, but there may be a nice bruise on his cheek from where Nathaniel caught him. Riko’s hand clenched around Nathaniel’s throat cutting off his air. 

“You’ll pay for that, mongrel.” Nathaniel’s lungs felt like they were going to collapse. Riko’s hand tightened more and Nathaniel's vision went fuzzy around the edges. He could see that he was not in his room, but he couldn't comprehend.

Riko’s hand disappeared and he gasped in huge breaths. Trying to catch up to the pounding of his heart. 

Nathaniel’s vision finally cleared and  Riko loomed over him, a green scarf clenched in his fists. His grin was wide. Nathaniel’s entire body flinched as he tried to move away from Riko. Panic overtook him at the sight of the scarf. His mother’s scarf. The only thing he had left of her before Riko took that too. 

“Uh uh. Where do you think you’re going? Don’t like to see mommy’s scarf? But doesn’t having this piece of her bring you…comfort?” Riko moved behind Nathaniel and hulled him closer. Nathaniel's back pressed to Riko’s chest. He wanted to sink into the floor, never to be touched by anyone again. His skin caught fire everywhere he made contact with Riko. 

“Don’t, Riko.” Nathaniel tried to instill any amount of ferocity left in him into his words.

Riko grasped Nathaniel’s chin tightly and dragged his head around to meet Riko’s angry glare. “Your disrespect will not be tolerated, Nathaniel. I own you. I don’t listen to you, you listen to me. I am your King.”

His hand left Nathaniel’s chin and he pulled the scarf tight around Nathaniel’s neck, clenching hard until Nathaniel’s air was cut off.

Nathaniel’s cuffed hands came up in blind panic trying to yank the scarf from around his neck. Riko pulled harder. Tears streamed down Nathaniel’s face. Riko tightened his grip. 

Nathaniel’s vision blurred, and everything was dark once again. 

Jean

Jean’s eyes flew to the door as it burst open and Riko dragged an unconscious Nathaniel into the room before dropping him on the floor.

“Deal with him.” Riko snapped before slamming the door again on his way out. 

Jean moved quickly to Nathaniel, turning him over so that he could lift him from the ground and place him gently on his bed. He studied Nathaniel's injuries. His throat ringed in dark purple and blue bruises, some in the shape of hands. The left side of his face was clearly starting to bruise and there were multiple small cuts and lacerations across his chest all the way to the line of his pants. 

Jean sighed sadly and gently pressed against the bruising around his neck, trying to feel for any deeper damage. His check came back as clear as it could be. He didn't think anything was broken, or irreparably damaged. 

He moved into the bathroom to get the first aid kit. The silver lining in all of this was that Nathaniel thoroughly helped Jean learn how to care for all sorts of wounds. He broke open a few instant cold packs to place around Nathaniel’s neck. He gently rubbed ointment into the bruising skin of his face and finally looked down at his chest. None of them were deep enough to warrant stitches this time and probably wouldn’t scar, but a few of them still oozed blood. Jean used a clean towel to remove the excess blood before applying pressure to the cuts that hadn’t stopped bleeding. He used a cold washcloth to clean each of the cuts, and applied a small amount of antibiotic ointment to them. He bandaged the worst ones so they wouldn’t reopen if Nathaniel shifts. 

Once he did all he could to help Nathaniel, Jean cleaned everything up. 

He settled back on his bed as he continued to stare at Nathaniel, thinking about what he said to Kevin at dinner. 

Nathaniel listened to him when he wanted to because he knew Jean had his best interests at heart. It’s not out of selfishness or cowardice. It’s respect. Jean wished Nathaniel and Kevin could have that. But, Jean knew there was history there. Almost a year later and he saw the issues between Kevin and Nathaniel ran deep. He thought Nathaniel might despise Kevin on a deeper level than he did Riko.

Jean had asked him about it once. When Nathaniel was in a giving mood, he was willing to talk about Kevin a little. All he said was that Riko was the kind of wannabe monster that he could understand and reconcile himself with. With Riko there were no surprises. Kevin was something else.

Jean’s mind moved back over his time at Evermore so far. Nathaniel had done what he said he would do on that first day. They didn’t know each other at all, but at every turn Nathaniel had been there to help him. To pick up the pieces when Riko and Tetsuji broke him down. Jean knew that Nathaniel’s mouth got him into trouble, but he also knew that Nathaniel often took the fall for him. If Jean messed up in practice, he found a way to cover up the misstep. If Riko was in a bad mood and looking for a punching bag, Nathaniel got in his way, distracting him to direct his madness. 

Jean wished he could do something more than pick up the remains after the firecracker went off.

Chapter Text

Nathaniel

Nathaniel bolted across the court and checked Kevin hard into the wall. He swiped the ball up from where it landed and whipped it over to Jean before Kevin could blink. He was off again to back up Jean.

They were scrimmaging , 2 versus 2, even though Jean and Nathaniel were technically backliners. Nathaniel loved being able to score almost as much as he loved stopping people from scoring. 

Jean feinted around Riko and was about to pass the ball when someone barreled into Nathaniel from behind. He felt the racket shoved against his unprotected back and stumbled forward, crashing to the ground.

He groaned quietly when he felt some of his stitches pull. He hoped he wouldn’t start bleeding again. Riko never let him clean up his injuries during practice.

He flipped around as quickly as he could without causing more damage and glared up at Kevin looming over him breathing heavily. “Red card much, Kevin?” He sneered.

“Why are you such a nuisance, Nathaniel?”

“How is this my fault? You hit me . From behind. When I didn’t even have the ball.”

“You’ve literally been on me since practice started.”

“Then get good, Kevin. It’s not my fault–”

“What is going on over here?” A sharp tone cut through Nathaniel’s and Kevin’s anger. He quickly pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the sharp sting from his stitches.

He kept his eyes turned to the floor, not wanting to deal with the punishment disrespecting Tetsuji would come with when he’s already struggling with his control.

It had been a whole ass day and it wasn’t even over. Kevin had immediately gotten under his skin all morning with everything that he said and did. His criticism grated on Nathaniel making him feel raw and exposed. Nathaniel took out his frustration in practice. He hit and tackled Kevin every chance he got, not letting the striker go for long, especially since Kevin was holding back with Riko around.  

“Nathaniel.” Tetsuji growled.

Of course it’s his fault when Kevin was the one that clearly fouled him, at least he kept his checks legal even if they were just barely.

“Nothing, master, just a small disagreement.” Nathaniel forced the words past gritted teeth and looked up at Tetsuji.

“Nathaniel has been targeting me all day and–” Kevin started.

Tetsuji held up his hand, effectively cutting off Kevin’s would-be rant about Nathaniel’s attitude. Probably the tenth one that day.

“I’m done watching you fight and bicker. This is not how Ravens behave. All three of you will go to my office. Now.” 

Nathaniel’s glare sharpened on Tetsuji, “Three of us? Jean wasn’t involved–”

“I do not care, Nathaniel. He is your partner. You know what that means.”

“But Riko–”

“One more word, Nathaniel.” Tetsuji’s voice was an icy threat. Nathaniel forced his mouth closed on his protests, not wanting to cause Jean a worse punishment. Of course Riko would get out of it.

“Go.” Tetsuji turned away and grabbed his nephew roughly by the arm before dragging him away toward the rest of the practicing Ravens.

-

Nathaniel grumbled all the way to Tetsuji’s office after the three of them showered and got dressed in the locker room.

“What are you doing, firecracker?” Jean sighed loudly. Nathaniel couldn’t look at him. He hated when his actions earned Jean punishments. He might be able to distract Riko’s violence with his attitude and divert his attention, but Tetsuji was a different monster. He didn’t let his anger control him and he hit Nathaniel where he knew it would hurt.

“It’s just been a rough day, Jean. Kevin literally has been up my ass since we got up this morning.” Nathaniel swiped a hand down his face, and spoke in Japanese instead of French as Jean had used, to make sure Kevin knew exactly what he was saying.

Kevin scoffed from a few paces in front of them, “Don’t blame me for your attitude, Nathaniel.”

“So…it wasn’t you being a condescending dickhead all day?” He couldn’t control his sneer. 

“If I’m being condescending it’s because you refuse to listen and act like a fucking child.”

Nathaniel shoved Kevin roughly between the shoulder blades and he stumbled forward. “Do you really want to keep going, Day?” He let a sinister smile bleed across his face as Kevin turned to look at him, but he couldn’t meet Nathaniel’s eyes.

-

Nathaniel wandered around the dark office while Jean and Kevin watched him from beside the door.

Nathaniel turned and rolled his eyes at their clear discomfort. He hated being in this office, hated what he knew would happen. He wouldn’t let his mind control him, so he took the control back by snooping. Maybe he could find something interesting. He kept his ears trained for any noise or movement outside of the office.

He slowly sank down next to the desk and fiddled with the drawers. Most of them pulled out easily, but one of them was locked. He smirked slightly.

“What are you doing, Nathaniel?” He heard the shake in Kevin’s voice.

“Nothing. Be quiet.” Nathaniel slipped his lockpicks out of his shoe and set to jimmying the lock on the drawer. 

It only took him a couple seconds before the lock clicked and he quietly slid the drawer open. There weren’t that many things inside. There were some papers neatly packed away in a folder. Nathaniel glanced through the folder and found nothing of importance. Under the folder he found a piece of lined paper that looked to be a handwritten letter. An old one at that if the fading said anything. That’s when he noticed the signature at the bottom. It was signed ‘Kayleigh Day’ . He snatched the letter up to skim it quickly. He froze when the words registered in his head. 

Holy shit.

As far as Nathaniel knew, Kevin had nothing left of his mother and knew nothing of his father. But…it was right there in front of him. David Wymack was Kevin’s father. He placed the name immediately to the coach of the Palmetto State Foxes. Their Exy team was relatively new and seemed to live in the bottom of NCAA Class I Exy. 

Kevin had a father. Wymack didn’t know about his son. Nathaniel had strange feelings about this. Feelings he refused to process right now, when Tetsuji could come in any moment and find him snooping.

He forced his hands not to shake and took a slow deep breath. He slid the note back into the drawer, exactly as he found it, and slid the folder on top of it. He locked the drawer up and glanced over the desk. He moved a pen slightly to the right on top of the desk before moving back to where Kevin and Jean stood.

“Are you okay, Nathaniel? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Jean spoke quietly in french.

He felt like he had seen a ghost. He schooled his features into careful blankness and nodded once to Jean.

Nathaniel picked up the sound of footsteps and a cane landing on the floor of the hallway outside. He had to face Tetsuji. And he had to do it with all of his control intact. 

-

Nathaniel’s interest in the Palmetto State University Foxes was on a steady uphill climb over the next few weeks. He couldn’t get what he’d found out of his head.

Every moment he could steal alone, he pulled out his school laptop to research. He dug up everything he could on David Wymack and his team. He knew it was dangerous. He didn’t want to bring attention to his interest so he made himself put research into other teams in the league as well from the Trojans to the Jackals. If anyone was keeping a steady eye on his search history, he wanted to be able to use the excuse that he was just trying to learn about all the teams in the league. 

Nathaniel tiptoed on bare feet through the dark halls of Evermore, using his hands along the walls to guide himself. The darkness of the halls made it almost impossible to see anything even after his eyes adjusted to the lack of light. 

He moved quietly and crouched low, keeping his ears honed for any movement. He finally reached the door to Tetsuji’s office, happy that he’d learned the layout of Evermore so well that he could walk through it almost blind. 

Nathaniel dropped down and slipped the lockpicks out of his sleeve to work on the door. He scoffed at the easy lock. At least give him a challenge. 

He opened the door barely wide enough to slip through and immediately closed it behind him. He flitted over to the desk and didn’t have to think about what he was doing. It took him almost no time to pick the lock on the drawer and then he had the letter. He double checked to make sure that nothing was even slightly out of place.

It was easier to get back to his room now that he had what he needed. His footsteps were soundless. He slipped into the room and quietly peeled up the carpet and the floorboard to get to the small nook in the floor. He nestled the paper under his belongings out of sight. 

He wanted to talk to Jean about what he’d found in Tetsuji’s office, but the time hadn’t come yet and he wanted to have the proof of it in his possession before he told anyone else. He was still debating whether or not to tell Ichirou. It could be important information to have. 

Nathaniel sagged into his bed underneath the blankets. He allowed himself to process the information from the letter and his research. Kevin had a father. One that, by all accounts, is a really fucking good person. What happened to Kevin?

David Wymack was not only passionate about Exy, according to the sources, but he’d also created an Exy team at Palmetto State that gave an opportunity to athletes who had a rough childhood and probably wouldn’t have gone to college without Wymack’s program. Granted, it made for a dead last team in Class I Exy, but the idea was interesting. Nathaniel wanted him to have done it out of kindness, or a desire to help at-risk youth succeed. But Nathaniel wasn’t sure. What could he have to gain from it?

Nathaniel drifted off thinking about Wymack and his own father. It almost made him laugh trying to compare the two.

Chapter Text

Nathaniel

January 19, the date stared up at Nathaniel from his phone as he was about to send Ichirou an update on his latest translation work. Living inside the Nest and never having constant access to a calendar made it difficult to keep track of the days, weeks, years. Time just went in the Nest. It didn’t matter when it was in the outside world, because the Nest made its own rules. 

His blood iced in his veins as memories of past birthdays flew to the forefront of his mind. He flinched at the remembered pain. Not one of his birthdays before Evermore had been something anyone would see outside of a crime documentary, and the one he’d had since coming to Evermore three years ago hadn’t been any better.

He pushed the lock button on his phone so roughly he was surprised it didn’t break. Ichirou probably wouldn’t be happy about having to get him another phone. He tossed it back into his hiding spot under the floor and slammed everything back into place.

The door to the bathroom opened and Jean came into the room. “What’s with all the banging, firecracker?”

Nathaniel groaned and landed face-first on his bed. “Just already over this day. Can we just go to sleep and skip it?” He whined into his pillow.

“Wake up on the wrong side of the bed today? Oh, wait, you do that every day.” Jean chuckled at his own joke.

Nathaniel flipped him off in the general direction of his voice. He lacked the energy to come up with a better response.

“Nathaniel, get up. We have to be at practice soon and I am eating today. Real food. Not just protein bars and shakes. I will not have our food privileges taken because of your brattiness.” Nathaniel could literally hear Jean roll his eyes.

Hands grasped his shoulders and quickly rolled him over and onto the floor, “oof” he huffed as he glared up at Jean. His lean, angular face wore a sly smirk and his eyes twinkled.

“That is not how you get me to have a better attitude or hurry up, you absolute giant.” 

“Maybe not, but it was enjoyable. Now get going.”

Nathaniel blew out a suffering sigh and took Jean’s hand to let him pull him to his feet.

-

Nathaniel tried to ignore the annoyance bubbling up in him as Kevin nagged him about not taking apart his omelet just to pull out all the spinach.

“Nathaniel, you need to eat green vegetables. They are good for you and part of a balanced diet. You’re an athlete for goodness sake. Eat the whole damn omelet.” Kevin growled.

Nathaniel didn’t look up to see Kevin’s scowl pouring into him as he continued pulling pieces of the gross green shit out of his food. He smirked slightly, picking up the pile of spinach on his fork as he stood and reached over the table to plop the wet mess on top of Kevin’s omelet. “If you want to keep singing the praises of spinach, Kevin, you can have it all to yourself. Don’t let me get in the way. But, maybe get a room first.”

Kevin’s glare lightened the annoyance he was feeling through the spinach lecture.

“You are a horror, Nathaniel.”

“Jean. Oh my gosh. Did you hear that? Kevin called me a horror.” Nathaniel slapped a delighted grin on his face as he smacked Jean’s arm. “I think that’s the first nice thing he’s said to me in 3 years.”

Jean glowered at Nathaniel quietly from his seat next to him, but Nathaniel just kept grinning.

“Nathaniel, tone your attitude the fuck down. Now.” Riko flared.

“Yeah, yeah, king. I know. No personality equals happy Riko.”

Riko glowered and reached over to pull Nathaniel’s food away from him. “You’re finished, and if you can’t sit there quietly for the rest of breakfast Jean loses his, too.”

Nathaniel was annoyed that Riko knew he would always try to protect Jean as much as he could. He nodded once.

-

Nathaniel and Jean walked into the locker room after Riko and Kevin. Nathaniel was looking forward to practice, as usual, but he felt the need to get on the court sharp under his skin today. The need buzzed through him to get out there. To forget. To worry about nothing except the next pass, the next play, the next hit.

He pulled open his locker and froze. All the breath left his lungs. He stared at the ice blue eyes of his father looking at him from inside his locker. Pictures covered the door of the inside of his locker. Pictures he’d hoped to never see again after leaving Baltimore. Pictures of every one of his birthdays with his father. Pictures of him at the hands of the Butcher on January 19th each year. 

He slammed the locker door shut. Jean looked at him with worry, but Nathaniel didn’t turn to him. He leaned his forehead against the door and tried to catch his breath. 

Was he here? Tired of missing birthdays?

 Nathaniel’s head spun and a voice whispered close to his ear, “Your dad really wanted to celebrate your birthday this year. Unfortunately, I told him I already made plans for an epic celebration that just couldn’t be put off. But, if you continue how you started this morning, I will get him here and he can have you after what I’ve planned. Do you understand?”

The heat from Riko’s breath sent shivers down his spine. He nodded slightly with his head still pressed to the cold locker.

“Words, Nathaniel.”

“I understand.” His voice came out a strained whisper even though he tried to force strength into it.

Riko moved away and Nathaniel was able to breathe a bit easier. He didn’t want to look in his locker again. 

They’re just pictures. 

He took a deep breath and steeled himself against the onslaught of memories. He yanked the door open and ripped all the pictures down as quickly as he could, not allowing his eyes to focus on them, before balling them up and tossing them onto the floor of his locker.

He quickly pulled out all his gear and slammed the door. When he turned, he caught Jean eyeing him warily, “Okay, firecracker?”

Nathaniel schooled his expression, not wanting to worry his partner, and gave a stiff nod. He knew Jean saw right through it but was grateful that he didn’t press.

-

Sweat dripped down Nathaniel’s face as he ran plays with Jean at his side and Riko and Kevin as their strikers.

As much as he hated the Nest, hated Evermore, hated Riko and Kevin…nothing could ever make him hate this. The exhilaration that came from playing the game he loves with some of the most talented players of their generation. 

They finished running plays and joined the older Ravens for a few scrimmages. It was one of Nathaniel’s favorite parts of practice. Nathaniel, Jean, Riko, and Kevin along with a Raven dealer and a freshman goalie, against a lineup of college level Ravens. His blood pumped through his veins and he couldn’t keep the grin off his face when he stopped one of the strikers, made a nice check against them and stole the ball, or blocked a scoring chance. Pride zinged through him when he held his own against a team of NCAA champions. 

He sent a quick pass, with barely a glance, to where he knew Riko was in position on the court. His instincts drove him, he knew where they were at every moment. He was already off, barreling to cover Riko’s back as he got around a backliner to move toward the goal when he was hit hard. Thrown off balance he went down with the person on top of him, barely able to tumble so that his head didn’t crack against the hard floor.

Callum Vance landed on him and knocked out his wind. Confusion pulsed through him as he was pinned down and for a second he wasn’t on the court. He forced his mind to focus as he snarled up at Vance, “What the fuck, Vance?”

Vance grinned down at him brightly. Nathaniel never spared much thought for the older Ravens outside of practices because they generally only bothered with Riko and Kevin, but he hated the grin on Vance’s face.

Vance leaned his head down slightly, “Sorry, I’m just really excited for your birthday celebration.”

Before the words could sink in, Vance was dragged off him and a hand appeared in front of his face. He took it and let Jean help him off the floor for the second time that day.

Tetsuji walked over, a glare set on his lined face. “Are we playing Exy or lying around, Nathaniel?”

“Coach–”

Tetsuji held up his hand to stop Nathaniel’s protests, “I don’t care about your excuses. Get back to work. If I see you slacking off again there will be punishment.”

Nathaniel glared at the back of Tetsuji’s stupid head as he walked away.

“Why am I getting blamed when you body-slammed me? I literally didn’t even have the ball.”

Vance just grinned slyly before running off to get back into position. 

-

Nathaniel was still annoyed about practice, especially when Tetsuji called him out at the meeting about slacking off even though he wasn’t .

He wasn’t allowed dinner that night, and grumbled all the way back to his dorm after leaving Jean at the dining hall. If he could just avoid Riko for a while, maybe this day wouldn’t get worse.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw Riko perched on his bed, picking at his nails. He was tempted to turn around and get out of the room, but the door slammed shut behind him. He whirled around to come face to face, face to chest, with Callum Vance for the second time that day.

He forced his mind to stop racing and pulled on a lazy smirk. “Wow, two interactions with me in one day, Vance. That’s a record.” He spoke dryly.

“Yeah, well, after I had you under me earlier, I had to see what it would be like for myself.”

Confusion coursed through Nathaniel. 

What the fuck did that even mean? 

He slowly backed toward the bathroom on the opposite side from Riko and away from Callum. He had no idea what was happening, but Riko had never brought older Ravens into his sessions before and he knew it could mean nothing good.

“Vance, grab him before he tries to run off. It’s in his blood to do that.” Riko said lazily, still sitting on Nathaniel’s bed.

Nathaniel reached back to the bathroom door but before he could escape Callum wrapped his arms around Nathaniel, pinning his arms to his sides and lifting him off the floor.

He jerked and kicked, making contact with Callum who cursed and dropped him. Nathaniel landed in a crouch and ran toward the door to get out. Riko grabbed him from behind and slammed him into the wall next to the door with an arm pressed against his back and his knee wedging itself between Nathaniel’s thighs. He struggled to get out of the hold but two more hands cut off his movement.

“Grab his legs.” Riko’s voice sounded excited. Nathaniel felt like a trapped animal.

Vance held his legs forcing them together even as he thrashed. Riko held his arms to his sides and they forcefully carried him to the bed. They dropped him onto it on his stomach, and Riko quickly locked the handcuffs in place. Nathaniel struggled to turn around to keep Riko and Vance in his line of sight. They hadn’t tied his legs down and he kicked out when Vance tried to get closer.

“Wow, he is feisty.” Vance chuckled softly and smoothed a hand down Nathaniel’s back that made his skin crawl. 

“His attitude is an issue. But, for the right people, it can add to the fun.” Riko said from somewhere out of Nathaniel’s sight.

Nathaniel kicked out at Vance again, but his jeans kept him from being able to stretch far enough to get a hit. Vance grabbed his foot and quickly grabbed the other before Nathaniel could kick him in the face. He forced his legs to lie flat on the bed and Nathaniel felt cuffs slide into place around his ankles. When both of the cuffs were in place he couldn’t move his feet either apart from each other or closer together. Vance’s weight left his legs and his hands forced Nathaniel’s knees under him. Riko connected a chain to the headboard and then to the bar that spread his feet, keeping him from moving to lie flat again.

His knees and chest pressed into the bed, kneeling with his ass lifted. His blood boiled. He’d never been in such a vulnerable position before and he didn’t know what to expect. Riko’s go to methods were psychological torture and knives. Nathaniel didn’t see where this could go. 

Hands grabbed his ass firmly through his jeans and he shifted forward trying to get away from the bruising grip. “He really does have a nice ass. I’ve noticed before, but this makes it so much more obvious.”

Riko moved into Nathaniel’s line of sight. “Welcome to your birthday party, Nathaniel. We are trying something new tonight. See, Vance and I have gotten close, you could say, over the last year or so. He mentioned to me that he thought you were pretty with your big blue eyes and nice ass. So, we thought it might be fun to see just how tight it is. If my brother hasn’t stretched it too much over the years.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? You really are a lunatic.”

A hard slap landed on his ass. 

“Don’t play dumb with me. I know about your relationship with my brother. You’re his whore. His hole to stick his dick into.”

Nathaniel was completely baffled. He and Ichirou had shared a kiss. One kiss. He had seen Ichirou only a handful of times since coming to Evermore. Most of their interactions were at formal events and through a phone. “Ichirou and I…what? No! I’ve never–”

Nathaniel struggled harder against the cuffs as two more hard smacks landed. They sliced into his wrists, opening the permanent wounds.

Riko’s eyes widened as he took in Nathaniel’s words. A feral grin spread across his face. “So, you’re saying you’ve never fucked my brother?”

“No! What the hell? No!” Nathaniel shouted frantically.

“Well, he’s going to be really sad to find out that I got there first.”

Nathaniel’s entire body froze. His limbs tightened and he tried to understand something he really didn’t want to understand.

Riko pulled out a knife and slowly dragged it down the side of Nathaniel’s cheek, “This is going to be a lot more fun than I thought. Maybe now you’ll understand who you belong to.”

Nathaniel felt Riko’s knife rip through his shirt and then through his jeans and underwear. Vance yanked his pants down toward his knees until he was completely exposed. Vulnerable. 

Rough hands spread his asscheeks apart and fingers delved forcefully into his hole, tearing a cry from Nathaniel as he tried to get away from the invasion. “God, yes. His ass is perfect. So tight, Riko. He’s so responsive. Do you want to go first?”

“Yes. I am King after all, and he is mine.”

All Nathaniel could do was fight, struggle, try to get away and not give them the satisfaction of hearing his pain. It tore him from the inside out, and Nathaniel thought that his father’s cleaver would have been a mercy.

Chapter Text

Jean

“Goodnight, Kevin.” Jean stated firmly in English so Kevin could not feign confusion, though by now his grasp on French was getting better.

Jean wandered out of the entertainment room, where the only real entertainment was watching reruns of Exy games while Kevin worked on dissecting the players and coming up with new plays. He’d been worried about Nathaniel since after evening practice ended and Nathaniel had disappeared. Riko had also been gone, but Kevin dragged him away and forced him to watch Exy until his eyes felt like they would roll out of his head.

He reached their room and quietly opened the door, hoping Nathaniel would just be sleeping inside. Knowing that hope was futile with Riko around. 

His heart stopped beating and he wanted so badly to turn around and run. He didn’t want to look, didn’t want to understand. But, he knew Nathaniel had no one except him right now.

The scene was horrific, Jean had no other way to describe it. 

Nathaniel was on his bed, bound to the headboard by the handcuffs that always made Jean want to retch when he looked at them for too long. But he was also bound at his feet to a bar that kept his knees spread and pulled under him so that he was kneeling. His jeans and briefs had been shredded and ripped down to his bent knees. Jean couldn’t look. Couldn’t follow the trails of blood to where he knew they were coming from.

Instead, he rushed over to Nathaniel. He had no idea where to start. This had never been something they had to deal with. How could he touch him?

“Nathaniel?” He whispered, close to Nathaniel’s tear streaked face. He looked to be in terrible pain even in unconsciousness. “Firecracker? Wake up, please.”   

He tried to force his voice not to quake, but it was close. His whole body shook as he kept his gaze resolutely on Nathaniel’s face. He reached out a hand and lightly brushed his fingers through Nathaniel’s damp hair that clung to his forehead. Again, with a bit more pressure.

Nathaniel’s eyes sprang open and he jerked backward trying to get away. A quiet, hoarse shout left his lips around words like “no” and “please” and “I’ll listen”.

“ Firecracker. It’s okay. You’re okay. Listen to me. Listen. It’s Jean.” He spoke in forced calm, rapid French in an attempt to pull Nathaniel out of his clouded mind. “It’s me, firecracker. Jean. I would never hurt you. You know this. Come on, firecracker. Come back to me.”

Jean hoped the nickname would help because he was the only one who used it and it had to be worth a try. He watched as Nathaniel’s whole body shook as he continued to panic and try to get away. Jean kept whispering to him, not touching him. He whispered until Nathaniel’s eyes finally began to clear.

“There you are, firecracker.” Jean forced a tight smile.

“Jean?” His voice was even more hoarse now that his panic was subsiding.

“Yes. I want to help you. Can I help you?”

Nathaniel looked confused for a moment until he jingled the chains binding him to the headboard and sighed. He squeezed his eyes shut and nodded slightly.

“Tell me what you need, Nathaniel. Can I unlock the handcuffs?” 

Nathaniel glanced at the desk beside the bed and Jean followed his gaze to the key for the cuffs. Riko didn’t usually leave Nathaniel bound, he never left the key. Jean thought that this might be his punishment as well as Nathaniel’s. Fail together. He had failed Nathaniel.

Jean scooped up the key and worked to unlock the handcuffs without touching him. Nathaniel whined in pain when he could finally move his arms and shoulders out of the uncomfortable position.

“I–” Nathaniel licked his lips. “I want to do my feet.”

Jean nodded and helped Nathaniel turn over so that he could sit up against the headboard. He winced at every movement of his body and tears leaked out of his eyes, but he made no more noises of pain. Jean realized that this was the first time he’d ever seen Nathaniel cry. Or show so much obvious pain.

Nathaniel forced his ragged boxers back over his hips though they were almost useless. He leaned forward and removed the binds that connected his ankles to the bar before throwing the whole contraption across the room. It smashed into the wall loudly as he glared at it. He was out of breath, huffing air as if he couldn’t get enough.

Nathaniel pushed his ruined jeans off his legs and dragged himself around to put his feet on the floor. He went rigid. Jean gave him time to catch his breath and figure out his next move. But, when he saw Nathaniel’s eyes start to go hazy and vacant he waved his hand in front of his face.

“What can I do, firecracker?” Jean couldn’t let him sink into that place where no one could reach him. Every time he did, Jean wasn’t sure he would ever come back.

Nathaniel let out a slow breath and forced his eyes to focus on Jean’s hand, “I’m not going to be able to stand, Jean, or walk.”

He quickly and stood in front of Nathaniel, “Show me what I can do. Can I touch you?”

Nathaniel flinched harshly and his whole body shook. He took in deep ragged breaths as he tried to calm himself down.

“Firecracker, it’s me. I only want to help. What if you touch me?” Jean ran the idea through his head hoping it would work. “Can you lift your arms to put them on my shoulders?”

Nathaniel’s breathing slowed and he calmed. “No, I don’t think I’ll be able to hold myself up. Just…try to keep your hands on my upper back and shoulders.”

Nathaniel reached a hand out and Jean took it before slowly pulling Nathaniel to stand up. He wrapped Nathaniel’s arm around his neck and shoulders. Jean stayed in a crouch because of their height difference and not wanting to pull Nathaniel too hard. Jean wrapped his arm around Nathaniel’s upper back, beneath his shoulders. They set a slow pace into the bathroom.

In the bathroom, Nathaniel leaned against the sink while Jean turned on the shower water and allowed it to get warm. Jean saw Nathaniel making small movements with his legs and feet, trying to gain back some semblance of control. He wasn’t shaking anymore.

Nathaniel tried taking a few slow steps across the bathroom, holding onto the towel rack and the wall. His face screwed up at the pain, but he didn’t buckle or fall. Jean still held both of his arms out, just in case.

“I think I can do it myself.”  Nathaniel croaked.

“If you need me I will be right outside.” Jean tried to keep the worry off his face and out of his voice. Nathaniel didn’t look at him.

Jean exited the bathroom and closed the door tightly behind him before sinking slowly down to the floor. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around them. That’s when he noticed the blood. Smears of it were all over his hands and he wiped them harshly on his jeans knowing that the blood was from Nathaniel’s wrists where he had struggled so hard, but not being able to get the thought of where else Nathaniel was bleeding out of his head. 

-

It hits Jean when he sees Kevin at breakfast. 

The morning had been a struggle, the entire night had been a struggle. Nathaniel tossed and had nightmares. Jean ended up sitting on the floor beside Nathaniel’s bed, clean since he had changed the sheets and pillow cases, so he could be there to speak to Nathaniel in French and bring him down from the panic. Jean wasn’t sure how much it helped, but he hoped it did a little. Nathaniel had a hard time moving to get dressed. He had to force some thorough stretching through the pain to gain back some of his usually fluid mobility. 

When he saw Kevin, Jean’s anger flared. 

Had Kevin known? Is that why he’d kept Jean away for so long? If he hadn’t been gone–

Jean glared harshly at Kevin as he sat at the table. In his peripheral vision he saw Nathaniel wince as he sat down, but he looked directly into Riko’s eyes with a dead stare. Jean wanted to lash out. He wanted to scream and rage at Riko. He wanted to punch both of the Sons of Exy in the face. 

Riko stared back at Nathaniel. He looked…proud of himself. Jean was ready to throw up the breakfast he hadn’t even had yet. 

There were plates already made for him and Nathaniel. Jean glared hard at Riko. Finally, Riko dragged his gaze away from Nathaniel, glancing dismissively at Jean. “What, four?”

Jean felt his anger bubble over. “How dare you look at him.”

“I don’t know what you mean, four. Nathaniel is mine. I can look at him whenever I want.” Riko was smug. 

Jean growled. He’d never felt such anger in his life. It was tearing him up. Nathaniel’s hand latched onto Jean’s that was squeezing his fork so tightly he thought it should break. He relaxed his grip slightly and glanced at Nathaniel. “Don’t,” he whispered in French.

Jean’s eyes flashed to Riko who heard his use of the language.

“You know how I feel about speaking other languages around me, three.” Riko hissed.

Nathaniel took a breath and he glared at Riko, “It’s that or let him stab you with his fork, Riko. We all know how well you deal with pain. Can dish it, but can’t take it.”

Riko’s eyes were hard and furious. Jean gaped at Nathaniel in shock. He was going to stab Riko with his fork.

“Who do you think you are, three? Didn’t I show you last night what I can do to you?” 

“Hmmm…last night…” Nathaniel tapped a slender finger lightly on his chin “Oh yeah! You think I’m scared of your tiny dick, Riko? You haven’t been able to break me with your knives, your dick is smaller.” Nathaniel smirked, a threat and a promise.

Riko slammed his fist down on the table, “Get the fuck out of my sight right now, three. Before I show you just how big my knives are.”

Nathaniel stood up and strolled leisurely out of the dining hall. Riko glared at his back the whole time until he was out of sight. When he was gone Riko growled and got up to storm out of the hall. Jean wanted to go after them both, to make sure Riko wouldn’t go after Nathaniel. But, Jean knew Nathaniel wouldn’t allow him to get in the way if Riko did come for him. 

Jean’s frustration was a living thing. 

He turned that frustration on Kevin who had sat there silently the entire time. “Did you fucking know, Day?”

Kevin glanced at Jean and quickly averted his eyes, “Did I know what?”

“Did you know about last night? About Riko’s plans?”

Kevin paled and now he looked like the one who was going to lose his breakfast. “I didn’t know…what his plans were. I didn’t know…he didn’t…Riko.” Kevin took a deep breath and attempted to meet Jean’s eyes. “Riko didn’t…he didn’t…”

“What Kevin? What are you asking? Say it.” Jean snarled at Kevin’s cowardice. He never iced Kevin out like Nathaniel had, but Jean now understood why Nathaniel did it. 

“Riko didn’t…ra– have sex with…Nathaniel?” Kevin whispered so quietly that Jean barely understood him.

Jean’s glare was monstrous. “No, Kevin. Riko did not ‘have sex with’ Nathaniel,” he clenched his fists when Kevin’s face melted into relief, “that would imply consent. I don’t fucking know who it was. All I know is that I found Nathaniel last night, severely injured with his pants ripped and bound in a vulnerable position. All I know is that today, Nathaniel can barely walk or sit. All I know is what Nathaniel said and that, at the very least, Riko allowed it.” 

Kevin gasped quietly and covered his mouth before fleeing the dining hall.

Chapter Text

Nathaniel

Sleep wouldn’t come. Nathaniel was beginning to think he was insane for even trying. Wasn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome? Or something.

There was no different outcome. 

Sleep wouldn’t come and he’d spend another night lying awake on this bed, in this dark room with memory upon memory pressing in on him. He’d feel the ghost of daggers and cleavers and hands. Fingertips pressing into his hips hard enough to leave bruises and a knife sliding along his throat. 

A shiver coursed through him. He couldn’t suppress it.

Then, he’d go to tutoring only to fall asleep and wake up to a sharp smack on his hands. He’d fall asleep over lunch to be woken by Riko crooning in his ear. Too close. He’d trip over his feet at practice and Tetsuji would bring his cane down on him. On Jean. 

Something had to give. Jean didn’t blame him, but he certainly blamed himself. He told Jean he’d help him. That help didn’t fade with time, it grew stronger and now Nathaniel was hurting him more than helping him.

Nathaniel slipped out of his bed and quickly made his way to the door where he slipped on his shoes. He wasn’t that worried about Jean waking up because he was, luckily, not an extremely light sleeper, but he stayed quiet anyway. 

His shoes made no noise in the darkened hallways. He guided himself with a hand on the wall. He finally made it to the locker room and took a fortifying breath.

No one had ever said it was against the rules to come to the court after-hours, but Nathaniel assumed he’d have hell to pay if he was caught. Nothing new there. 

He slipped quietly into the locker room and to his locker to pull out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt so he could change back into his pajamas after a long run. 

His only goal was to completely exhaust himself to the point where there was no way he wouldn’t collapse on his bed of memories and pass the fuck out.

He changed quickly, not even bothering to take his runners off, and tied a black bandana around his head to keep his hair out of his eyes.

The light shocked him to the core when he stepped into the outer court. The locker room was soundproof so he couldn’t hear the sounds coming from the court while he was inside. He froze. 

Fight or flight?

He wasn’t sure what the best option would be right now. He didn’t want to face anyone with panic and exhaustion already smothering him. 

The person was still playing, moving through drills with strength and fluidity. It was easy for them. Natural. It shocked him to realize it was Kevin. 

Nathaniel barely recognized him. This was not the Kevin he’d faced nearly every day for the last 3 years on the court. This Kevin did not hold back, he did not shrink under Riko’s glare or hide his skill to appease Riko’s ego. 

He put everything he had behind every shot. He drilled the ball up the court harder than Nathaniel thought possible. Every pass was accurate, direct, and without hesitation. He carried himself with a confidence that Nathaniel had no idea Kevin possessed. 

He’s the best striker in the world. 

Kevin wasn’t even 17 yet. But Nathaniel knew it to be a fact. He’d thought before that Kevin could be the best striker if he wasn’t held back by Riko and his fear. But, he had no idea that he already was.

This is the Kevin that he wanted to face on the court. The Kevin that Nathaniel wanted to know. 

But, he only existed here with no witnesses.

Nathaniel steeled himself. He wouldn’t leave. Kevin couldn’t do anything, couldn’t hold this against him because now they were on equal footing. He knew Kevin’s secret.

He ran. He ran around the track that went along the outer court where the referees followed and observed during games. He ran up and down the stairs in the stands. He ran until his legs felt like they would give out under him, until he could barely pull oxygen into his lungs. 

Finally, he turned to look at the court. Kevin was gone. 

Kevin

Kevin refused, absolutely refused to look at or acknowledge Nathaniel. He piled Nathaniel’s plate high with as many vegetables as would fit and not a single fruit, and did not even scowl in the younger Raven’s direction. 

Kevin couldn’t believe he’d been so careless. Now, Nathaniel had something on him, a secret to wield like a weapon.

Kevin didn’t know what Nathaniel would do with it. It terrified him.

Finally, a few days after they’d met in the stadium, Kevin built up enough courage to confront Nathaniel. He hadn’t been back for his night practices in days and it was eating him up inside. The only time he felt truly free was during those practices, otherwise he felt the shackles around his wrists and ankles like physical weights dragging him down.

He had to take this chance now when Riko was off with the master. He squared his shoulders and slipped out of his room to walk across the hall. It was their study hour, so Nathaniel had few places to be except in his room. 

He knocked stiffly on the door. A moment later it swung open to reveal Jean. His brows furrowed slightly when he saw Kevin standing so awkwardly at their door, “Hi, Kevin. Were we supposed to practice French or something?”

Kevin needed extra moments to translate the French. He was getting better, though he would never openly speak it in front of anyone but Jean. 

Kevin stuck to English since he was sure Nathaniel was there, “No. I just wanted to talk to Nathaniel for a few minutes.”

Jean’s grip on the door tightened and he closed it slightly so Kevin couldn’t see into the room at all. “Why?”

“Jean, it’s not like I’m going to hurt him.” 

“You know I’d never let you. He already has to deal with Riko, you don’t need to cause problems–”

“Jean, are we airing out my dirty laundry for the world to see?” Nathaniel peeked around Jean in the doorway. “Oh, it’s just Kevin,” he waved a hand dismissively and rolled his eyes. 

Kevin tried not to feel the dismissal like a slap, especially after Nathaniel had caught him on the court. Nothing would change.

“Nathaniel. We need to talk.”

“We don’t really need to do anything, Day. This is my time off from you and your partner.” Nathaniel flopped down on his bed already immersing himself in whatever he was doing on his laptop. 

Kevin shoved past Jean in the doorway causing him to stumble a few steps back. Jean might be a backliner, but Kevin was determined.

He watched Nathaniel’s eyes flick up and interest creeped into them. He was sure he’d never seen Nathaniel look at him with anything but indifference, dismissal, or annoyance before. Even when they argued, he never cared enough to take a true interest. It made Kevin halt halfway across the room.

“What do you want?” Nathaniel sighed seeing that he wouldn’t leave.

“About the other night…” Kevin’s eyes flicked to Jean. He didn’t really want to tell anyone about his night practices. They were his . Riko didn’t even know.

Jean moved quickly, pushing Kevin toward the door, “You won’t speak to him about that.” He snarled.

Kevin’s face flushed and he looked down at the ground.

Nathaniel was in front of him a second later, but he was pushing Jean away. “Not that night.” Kevin heard the steel of a blade in Nathaniel’s voice.

He whipped around to face Kevin and it took all of his strength not to shrink away from the vacancy in Nathaniel’s sharp blue eyes. The look held memories Kevin would rather forget. Memories of a younger Nathaniel with nothing in his voice or his eyes as he was splattered with his mother’s blood.

“You wouldn’t come around unless it was something that affected you personally. Right, Kev? If you want to talk, talk. I’m sure your brother will be back soon.” Kevin flinched slightly at the word, the accusations.

“Here?” 

“Jean already knows about your…” Nathaniel tilted his head, “extra-curricular activities.”

Jean let out a huff and flicked Nathaniel in the back of the head before going to collapse on his bed.

Kevin shouldn’t have been surprised that Nathaniel had told Jean, but he was because he could never tell Riko.

“Yeah…um. I–just. Don’t tell Riko.” It came out in a rush of jumbled words.

Nathaniel gave him a bemused look before he lit with fury, “You actually think for a second that I would tell Riko?”

Kevin took a quick step back. He didn’t like the fire in Nathaniel’s eyes. “I–yes?” It came out as a question.

“You have got to be stupid.” Nathaniel sighed and shook his head. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again the fire had cooled to something different. Maybe…determination? But why?

Nathaniel took a slow step toward Kevin and grabbed his shirt, pulling him forward and down so he could look Kevin in the eye. “Riko and I aren’t friends, Kevin. He isn’t worth my time, let alone words about you.”

Kevin couldn’t hold Nathaniel’s gaze for long and he made a disgusted noise as he pushed Kevin away from him.

“You hate me.” His voice sounded small even to his own ears.

Nathaniel scoffed, “Hate? It’s not worth the effort to hate you, Kevin. Especially not this version of you.”

Now, Kevin was confused. “Version?”

“Yes. This meek, pushover front you have going on. You’re better than that. I’ve seen it. Or maybe…that was the front?” Nathaniel smirked slightly. “Go back to your night practices, Kevin. If Riko finds out it will not be from me.”

Maybe it wouldn’t have been enough for other people. But, Nathaniel was right. Kevin had known him for three years and even being kept at arm’s length he would have to be stupid to believe that Nathaniel would ever willingly tell Riko anything.

Kevin went back to his night practices.

Nathaniel 

Somehow, it became a thing. Kevin would do his nightly practice and Nathaniel would run. 

He tried to convince himself that he only went to run, that he needed the exhaustion to face his bed every night. He wasn’t as versed in lying to himself as he was to others. Watching Kevin practice the way he did when he was out from under Riko’s thumb lit something in him, a light he hadn’t realized went out. 

Nathaniel struggled to put his finger on it, but he thought it was because of the defiance in what Kevin did. He’d never seen it from him. Sure, Jean taught him French in secret…but this was different. This was the kind of defiance that Nathaniel wasn’t sure Kevin could control forever. It was easy not to slip into French around Riko for Kevin because he’d been so conditioned to Japanese. Exy was the beginning and end of Riko and Kevin’s partnership. Kevin’s passion only grew and Nathaniel wasn’t sure even he could bridle it. When it slipped out, Riko wouldn’t hold back.

Nathaniel had to be there. He relished in Kevin’s defiance. He felt less alone when he was around it. Jean gave Nathaniel something to hold onto, but this gave him something to build off of.

He could work with this.

“Nathaniel!” Kevin called out from the door to the inner court as Nathaniel was about to make another lap of the stairs.

“What?” Nathaniel watched the confidence in Kevin with interest and understanding.

“Practice with me.” It wasn’t exactly a question because Kevin didn’t ask for things, but somehow he seemed to still give him a choice. That choice made up Nathaniel’s mind for him.

He shrugged and bounded down to meet Kevin, “Let me get my gear.”

Kevin seemed surprised that he was so easily convinced. “Wow, um. I thought I’d have to beg.”

“I’m not big on begging. Besides, we are both here and might as well get something from it. Maybe now you can actually prove to be a challenge.” Nathaniel smirked up at him.

Kevin rolled his eyes and slammed the door as Nathaniel began cackling.

Chapter Text

Nathaniel

“Jean?” Nathaniel sighed loudly and rolled over on top of his partner. He landed with his back on top of Jean’s who was laying on his stomach working on an English paper.

“Ooof.”

“Jean?” He sighed again, dramatically.

“Nathaniel?” Jean mocked trying to shake him off. Nathaniel clung to Jean’s shirt, refusing to roll off. “What do you want, obstinate brat?”

“I don’t know what to do, Jean.”  

Nathaniel could hear his eyes roll. “You could start by getting off me.”

“But then I’d have to look at you! Should I tell Kevin about his dad?” He rushed out. He didn’t want to actually face Jean knowing that he’d look at him like he had about 20 heads. Jean didn’t quite know about the development of his and Kevin’s relationship. About how he didn’t quite think Kevin was completely inconsequential anymore.

He was still dealing with the change. He couldn’t deal with Jean’s reaction to it yet. 

Jean was quiet for a long time, but he stopped trying to buck Nathaniel off.

“You want to tell him? What changed?”

Nathaniel was vehemently against telling Kevin about the letter he’d found months ago. He didn’t think it would make a difference…but now that he knows the Kevin they see daily may not be all he is, Nathaniel wanted to know what that information could do for him.

Kevin had someone outside of Prison Evermore. He had someone who could support him, and though Nathaniel had never actually met David Wymack, his research told him that he was a person that could be there for Kevin if given the opportunity. His relationship with Kayleigh Day had been strong. She taught him everything she could about Exy and that seemed to be what he built his life on. Kevin was not like Jean, not like him. He had the support of a nation, but more importantly he could have the support of his father . If his father knew about him, Nathaniel didn’t think he could or would turn Kevin away. 

“He’s different, Jean. Not like us.” 

Nathaniel felt Jean nod his head, “He’s adopted not sold. Riko may think he owns Kevin, but he doesn’t. Not in that way. Kevin could have someone outside of this place.” The emotion in Jean’s voice was difficult for him to hear. Nathaniel rubbed slow circles of support into Jean’s side.

“Exactly. He should know right? It’s not fair to keep it from him. In case…” Nathaniel trailed off. He didn’t have to say in case a time comes when Kevin can get out .

“I thought you didn’t care about him.” It wasn’t a question. It was too difficult for Nathaniel to lie about this. He could downplay, but not outright lie.

“It’s not about caring for him. It’s about having information that Riko doesn’t have and using that to our advantage.” 

Jean finally rolled all the way over to drop Nathaniel onto Jean’s bed beside. Nathaniel forced himself to meet Jean’s eyes and not give anything away. 

Jean searched his face and narrowed his eyes, “Maybe so…but I think there’s more you’re not saying, firecracker, and I will find out what it is.” 

Jean quickly poked Nathaniel in the ribs and had him gasping out laughs while trying to fight off his attacks.

-

Riko must have realized he’d given Nathaniel too much of a reprieve after his birthday a few weeks ago because once again he found himself bound in an uncomfortable position trying to force his hands and feet not to go completely numb. 

He could hear Jean’s slow inhales and exhales as he slept, and wished he could follow Jean into sleep. 

He flexed his feet and shifted slightly to try and get some feeling back into his legs. He wanted to be on the court with Kevin. He wanted to be practicing his footwork and learning how to put more power behind his shots, to be teaching Kevin breathing techniques and quick turns. 

Keeping his thoughts on Exy kept his demons at bay. He thought through what he would tell Kevin the next time he could join him at night practice. He wasn’t sure if the right approach was to just lay it all on him, drop the bomb and walk away, but Nathaniel had never been accused of having tact a day in his life.

He didn’t know how to be anything else than what he was made to be. 

Lost in thoughts of telling Kevin that he had more than Evermore, Nathaniel didn’t realize how much time had passed and he was pulled out of his thoughts by a rough knock on the door.

Riko strode into the room without bothering to wait for an answer with Kevin trailing behind. A look of annoyed frustration passed over Kevin’s face before he cooled it into bland disinterest. 

Nathaniel wasn’t sure if the look was at him with misplaced blame for the unearned punishment, or if it was at Riko for being a royal asshat. 

“How’d you sleep, three?” Riko grinned broadly.

“Like a fucking baby, Riko. Oh wait…is that offensive since you are an actual child?” Nathaniel smirked when Riko grabbed his hair and yanked his head backward. 

“How is it that you never learn?” 

“Hmmm…maybe the problem is the teacher, not the student.” That earned him a hard smack across the face. There would definitely be a bruise.

The bed across the room creaked and Nathaniel’s glance went to Jean who was glaring at Riko openly. Before Nathaniel could say or do anything Riko’s attention moved to him.

“What’s your problem, four?” Riko snarled as he stalked toward Jean.

Nathaniel’s heart pounded in his chest. No.

Riko came to a stop in front of Jean, and if Nathaniel didn’t know better he may have laughed. An outsider would see a 6’3 man looking about to beat up someone nearly half a foot shorter than him. But, Riko knew his power and how to wield it.

“You’re my problem.” Jean’s spine was straight and Nathaniel only saw a slight flash of fear behind his eyes before it hardened into spite.

“Jean.” Nathaniel growled.

Both of them turned to look at him and Riko’s smirk grew. Nathaniel saw the glint in Riko’s eyes just as he turned and swiftly punched Jean in the abdomen. Jean curled in on himself and he slammed his knee hard into Jean’s face. Blood immediately started gushing from Jean’s nose.

Nathaniel snarled and struggled against the bondage.

Riko pushed Jean hard to the ground and kicked him in the ribs. Jean gasped through the blood running down his face.

Riko’s hand to hand may have been no match for Nathaniel’s on even after all the training with him and Hisaki, but Jean didn’t have that training. He could throw a punch on the court when necessary, but he was not cut out for the kind of fighting Nathaniel had grown up with or the kind Riko had been learning. 

“It seems your attitude problem is contagious, Nathaniel. We will have to fix that.” Riko’s grin was predatory and images of bloody handcuffs and Vance flashed through his mind.

“No. This is my fault. I did not let him get any sleep and he’s always a grumpy asshole when he gets up.” Nathaniel tried to come up with something, anything, that would get Jean out of this. “He knows his place…king.” Nathaniel forced the bile down at the word.

“And, how is it that he would know his place, when you still don’t know yours?” Riko questioned.

“He does know. He’s never been like me. You know that.” Nathaniel evaded.

“If his behavior continues down this path…I will not be so forgiving, three.” Riko glared hard, but Nathaniel knew he didn’t care about breaking Jean. Jean would never fight back, would never raise a hand against Riko or go against his rules. He was there for Nathaniel, but that was the extent of his defiance against Riko. Breaking Nathaniel would be what broke Jean. In the same breath, Riko knew that hurting Jean would bring Nathaniel’s bloodthirst out. There would be nowhere Riko could hide. Not behind his uncle, not behind his fake spine. Nathaniel would show Riko a monster, and he wouldn’t live to regret his actions. 

Riko stomped over like the petulant child he was, and roughly unbound Nathaniel. 

Riko and Kevin left and Nathaniel shot up from his bed, forgetting for a second that almost all of the feeling in his extremities was gone and nearly face planted on the floor. He gripped his bed and forced feeling into his legs to slowly move to Jean. 

Jean had plugged his nose to stop it from gushing blood. Nathaniel checked that first because if it was broken it would need to be set quickly, luckily it wasn’t broken. He moved to check Jean’s ribs, but beyond the bruises that were already spreading over them they weren’t damaged. 

He sighed softly and glowered at Jean’s upturned face. “What the fuck were you thinking, Moreau?”

Jean stared remorselessly back at him.

-

“Kevin.” Nathaniel called as he stepped onto the court. He’d left his gear in the locker room, unsure of how this conversation would play out or if Kevin would want him to stick around afterward.

“Why aren’t you ready to practice?” Kevin sent him a confused glance.

“There’s something I need to tell you and before you ask, no it can’t be another time.” Nathaniel held up his hand to put a stop to Kevin’s oncoming protests because nothing was as important as night practices.

“The first practice you actually get to come to in weeks and you want to waste it… talking? ” The distinctive judgment in Kevin’s words made Nathaniel grin despite himself. This is the Kevin he actually enjoyed being around. How fucked up is he?

“Just, trust me on this.” 

Kevin gave him an exasperated look, but followed along as he walked to the wall to sit and lean against it. Kevin plopped down next to him.

“Can you hurry up so we can play? I had a lot of plans for the next time you could practice and–”

“Kevin. I know who your father is.” Nathaniel interrupted. 

Kevin gave him a bemused look, “What? No one knows that.”

“Three people do, actually. At least as far as I know.” Nathaniel forced patience he lacked into his voice. He watched as every bit of color drained out of Kevin’s face and his hands started shaking.

“This…you’re joking.” He refused to meet Nathaniel’s gaze.

“Look at me Kevin.” Nathaniel waited him out. When Kevin finally looked up and met his eyes he tried to make him see the truth on his face. “I am not lying. I know who your father is. Do you want me to tell you?”

Kevin was already shaking his head quickly. Nathaniel saw the panic and the need to get away flood his features. Before Kevin could escape Nathaniel reached out swiftly and held his hand over one of Kevin’s trembling ones. 

Don’t you fucking touch me, junior.

Kevin was not his father, but the memories were too close. He had to ask, but didn’t know how to voice that need.

He let his hand hover over Kevin’s until he looked down at their hands. Kevin looked back at him and read the question on Nathaniel’s face with his walls down. He nodded. Nathaniel gently laid his hand on top of Kevin’s and squeezed lightly.

Kevin took in shaky breaths and gathered strength from the light touch bringing him back from the edge. 

“Is it bad?” Kevin whispered.

Nathaniel didn’t quite understand the question.

“I–Is he…bad? Do you know who he is? Not just his name but…” Kevin trailed off with the struggle to find the right words to explain his thoughts.

Nathaniel shook his head and gave Kevin a small, genuine smile. “I’ve never met him, but all that I’ve found about him…he’s good, Kevin. At least better.” He gestured broadly to the walls trapping them.

“Tell me.” Steel crept into Kevin’s voice and Nathaniel watched as a small bit of confidence flared back into his eyes.

“His name is David Wymack.” A bit of recognition passed over Kevin’s face at the name. “I–I have a letter I found from your mother to Tetsuji.” He pulled the letter from his pocket and handed it over to Kevin.

His hands shook harder as he reached out and took the only thing that was left of Kayleigh Day. Nathaniel wasn’t sure if he should or could stay for this. The emotions were too strong. He missed his mother, hated his part in her death, but as much as he loved her he knew that she was not the kind of mother Kayleigh Day was. She did not sit up in bed with him at night when he was afraid, she didn’t cuddle him close to read books together, didn’t make his favorite breakfast on Saturday mornings while they danced around the kitchen.

She’d taught him ruthlessness and strength, and how to survive all of the monsters he needed to face. That couldn’t be done with soft voices and light touches.

“Should I go?” Nathaniel forced the question out. He made himself sit as still as possible.

“Umm…can you–can you stay?” Kevin’s hand squeezed his briefly. Nathaniel wasn’t sure when this had happened, and he wasn’t sure if he’d survive Kevin leaning on him for strength. 

He nodded once and sat quietly as Kevin read and reread the letter. Kevin’s grip on his hand steadily grew tighter each time he read his mother’s words until Nathaniel’s hand went numb.

Finally, he looked up from the letter. “What do you know?”

Nathaniel told him everything he knew about David Wymack.

Chapter Text

Jean

Jean walked into Tetsuji’s office with Nathaniel by his side, trailing after Riko and Kevin. It was Riko’s birthday and he was 18. A few more weeks and he, Kevin, and Riko would be starting their first official year at Edgar Allan as university students. Jean had no idea what to expect.

Kevin had been forced into the spotlight, taught how to act in public and put those lessons into practice in the real world. Jean, on the other hand, had been taught how to act, but he hadn’t actually left the Nest in over two years. He remembered the time before he arrived at Evermore, but he felt so removed from it. It was someone else's past. He didn’t know how to face the microscope he’d be put under, and he’d have to survive it for 2 years without Nathaniel.

In the beginning, the inane partner program the Ravens followed didn’t seem to have any affect on them. They’d had to be apart for what amounted to at least a week if you added up the times Nathaniel had to leave for Main Branch business and that had been fine if not very comfortable. But, the thought of leaving Nathaniel behind in the Nest while he went to classes and faced the outside world, of not being within easy reach of him caused Jean’s heart to race and fingers twitch with the want to latch on and never let go. It seeped under his skin and made a home for itself. Jean wasn’t sure how either of them would deal with the separation. The 2 years and some change with his partner didn’t seem like it should have that effect, compared to Riko and Kevin’s 12 years together, but their dependence on each other still ran deep. And Riko and Kevin weren’t the ones being split up. Jean wasn’t ready for the change.

The four bowed to Tetsuji when they faced him in his office.

“Riko, you are 18. It is time to bring the Perfect Court to life. The public has been hearing rumors for years about what the numbers on your faces mean. It is time to show them just how real those rumors are. You all will become the best players Exy has ever seen.” Tetsuji spoke in slow Japanese. 

Jean had been practicing Japanese every day for over 2 years, had almost become completely immersed in it by Tetsuji, Nathaniel, Kevin, and Riko, but he still had to replay the words in his head to make sure he heard them right.

Riko had called them the Perfect Court since before Jean had even arrived, but he had no idea that it was something the public knew and started whispering about.

What did this mean for them? For Exy? Why was Tetsuji calling them to his office on Riko’s birthday to tell them things that had been beaten into them for years?

A Japanese man stepped up next to Tetsuji holding a tattoo gun and Jean knew. The numbers they drew on their faces wouldn’t need to be drawn on anymore after today. 

He glanced over at Riko who did not look surprised. With his flare for the dramatic, Jean figured this was at least partly his idea. He wanted to make sure the world knew he was number one, no matter what. They couldn’t take that away from him. The boy who had always been second in his family, number one on the court.

Kevin looked slightly shocked, but resigned to what would be done.

Nathaniel looked livid. He cut scathing glances in Riko’s direction.

Jean’s thoughts turned to all of the marks already covering Nathaniel’s body. All of the ways people have shown him that he wasn’t his own person. The tattoo on his forearm, the pendant he never removed from around his neck. He didn’t control his scars or how he got them, and he wouldn’t be able to control this new scar. It meant something different for Nathaniel than it did the rest of them. Even Jean, who was also property, knew that he could never really understand Nathaniel’s innate desire for control that he desperately clung to in all the ways he could, but was forced to give up over and over. 

Riko stepped up to the chair the tattoo artist stood near. He unflinchingly received the mark high on his cheekbone. 

Kevin followed his lead once Riko was finished, though he couldn’t hold quite as still as Riko had.

Nathaniel stood stock still when it was his turn. He glared hard at Tetsuji, “You are not putting a brand on my face, Tetsuji.” 

Jean’s blood ran cold and he grabbed lightly at Nathaniel’s wrist. He ripped away like the touch burned. Nathaniel didn’t often lose his temper in the presence of Tetsuji, knowing it was a lot more difficult to handle the master’s anger than Riko’s. Tetsuji didn’t deal in mind games the way Riko did. His anger wasn’t petty and he didn’t lash out. From what Nathaniel had told Jean, he was closer to the kind of monster Nathan Wesninski was.

Jean could see the shake in Nathaniel’s hands.

Tetsuji glanced down to where he could also see Nathaniel shaking and smirked, “No need to worry, Nathaniel, you won’t get your tattoo today. We can’t have you recognized by the public before it’s time.”

“You are not putting it on me…ever.” Nathaniel growled.

“Oh, but you’re wrong. It’s already been approved by my brother . He sees an investment like I do, a way of creating more interest and therefore more profit in Exy. You have no choice. When you turn 18 you will also get your number.” Tetsuji dismissively moved on from Nathaniel before he could say anything else. Though Jean was sure he wouldn’t say anything now that he knew Kengo had approved it. Nathaniel took his relationship with the main branch seriously.

“Go, Jean. Your turn.” 

Nathaniel

Nathaniel watched from one of the rooms backstage as Kathy Ferdinand waved Riko, Kevin, and Jean onto the stage. The daily morning show host looked beyond pleased to be the one to have the honor of welcoming the Perfect Court into existence.

Nathaniel ground his teeth together. 

It wasn’t enough to just play Exy and be good at it, now they had to play to the public’s and Tetsuji’s whims. Nathaniel could hear the excitement of the crowd even from backstage and wondered just how right he was about this, creating more public interest in the sport. As much as Nathaniel hated Tetsuji and Riko, he loved Exy and wanted to see it continue to succeed and take on a life of its own outside of Tetsuji’s control.

“Everyone, I would like to formally introduce The Perfect Court: Riko Moriyama, Kevin Day, and Jean Moreau!” Kathy announced cheerily as she hugged each of the Ravens in turn.

“Thank you for having us, Kathy.” Riko’s voice was velvet for the cameras and live audience. Nathaniel bit back a gag. He didn’t look forward to this becoming his life. 

“No, thank you all for coming! I watched your game last night. It is unbelievable that it was your first game as college athletes. You looked like professionals already. It’s amazing.” Kathy gushed. As if they had a choice.

Kevin smiled sheepishly, “Well, Kathy, you already know that Riko and I grew up together playing Exy. It’s easy to be out on the court with him. Jean too, he’s been with us for a few years and we just work well together.”

“Yes! Of course. We all heard rumors that Tetsuji was creating a ‘Perfect Court’ but now we can see the dream coming to life. With your skills and ambition, I can’t imagine a world where the three of you don’t make Court and go to the olympics! We are definitely looking at the future of Exy here.”

“That’s the goal, Kathy. We train hard and ultimately want to take Exy where it has never gone before.” Riko’s smile was brilliant.

“So, the numbers on your cheeks. They are the numbers of your place on the Perfect Court, correct?” Kathy asked with interest.

“That’s correct. For years now, Kevin and I have drawn them on to show that we will become the best of the best. When Jean came and proved himself he got a number too. Now that we are all 18 and playing at the collegiate level, we have officially tattooed the numbers as a reminder to ourselves of our ultimate goal. A perfect court.” Riko explained.

“You are all so young with such huge dreams! That’s amazing. We all know Riko’s and Kevin’s stories. Jean, I know you haven’t been with them for as long, but can you tell us a bit about how you came to be part of the Perfect Court?”

Jean grinned at Kathy, a glorious smirk that even Nathaniel felt he had to squint to see through. “Of course, Kathy. My parents are good friends of the Moriyama’s. I grew up playing Exy in France and when my parents saw how seriously I wanted to play the sport they reached out to Coach Moriyama and asked if I could try out. Everyone in Exy knows that Coach Moriyama is the best trainer in the world. They believed I could go far under his tutelage, and luckily Coach saw that promise in me as well. The rest is history.”

Kathy clung to every word of Jean’s made-up and approved-by-Tetsuji story. Nathaniel thought he could actually hear the people in the crowd swoon at Jean’s thick, beautiful French accent.

“Incredible, truly. I have to ask. You three have been trending all over the internet since your debut last night. Even more than normal for you Kevin and Riko! But, there’s a number missing from your ranks it seems. Where is number 3?” Nathaniel had met Kathy a few hours prior and had been thoroughly annoyed by her need for gossip and information.

“Well, we do have a number 3 in mind for the Perfect Court, but for their privacy and development they will remain a secret for now.” Riko winked.

Nathaniel really gagged that time and Tetsuji whacked him hard across his thighs with his cane.

-

Nathaniel watched as the backliner messed up his footwork again and the ball snapped out of his racket right into the opposing dealer's racket. The dealer–Noble–flashed a smirk at the struggling freshman backliner and turned to whip the ball up the court directly to one of his strikers who scored on the freshman goalkeeper.

“Nikonov Ilyich! If you cannot perfect the simplest of footwork, how do you ever expect to play on my court?” Tetsuji demanded from across the court.

The heat in his voice gave away the anger his face hid. Nathaniel had been listening to him hound the freshman backliner for weeks now. Riko was starting to come down on him as well and Nathaniel could see the backliner–Nikonov–buckling under the pressure. He knew the kind of person it took to thrive under Tetsuji’s teaching, and Nathaniel wasn’t sure this backliner would make it. There was…something…about him.

Since Jean officially started at Edgar Allan, Nathaniel found himself paying more attention to the other Ravens. He searched out weak links, things that would bring the master and Riko down on Jean. He looked for anything that he could do to make sure Jean succeeded when he couldn’t actually be on the court with him during games. Making sure Jean’s teammates could hold their own was quickly becoming something Nathaniel needed to do.

They couldn’t fail. Failure meant punishment. Nathaniel knew he could deal with it, but he had shielded Jean for years. Just because he couldn’t be on the court for games, didn’t mean he would not help where he could.

Nathaniel observed closely as Tetsuji continued to shout demands at the freshman. Nathaniel knew where Nikonov was in his training so far, knew he probably would not see the court for a game if he didn’t get his act together, but knew that if he did and if he was paired with Jean the mistakes he made, Jean would also pay for.

Nathaniel jogged quickly across the court and bowed low when he stood in front of the master who had just finished smacking his cane against Nikonov’s thighs and calves. He didn’t think that the blows would do that much damage, but how Tetsuji thought that would be at all helpful when Nikonov was struggling with footwork was beyond Nathaniel.

“Wesninski.” Tetsuji growled.

Nathaniel needed to act quickly or Tetsuji’s cane would undoubtedly come down on him and then probably Jean for his interruption. “Master, I could show Ilyich the footwork and help him practice it. The problem is in his timing and agility. I can work on it with him.”

Nathaniel used Japanese because he didn’t want to be seen as questioning the master’s methods with a freshman Raven. That would not win Tetsuji over in this.

“You think you can teach him better than I have, three?” 

Nathaniel really really tried not to roll his eyes, yes, of course he could, because he wasn’t a cane-wielding maniac. “No, Master. I just think he’s only a bit taller than me and broader. He may find a few of my personal drills helpful.”

Somehow, Tetsuji seemed to actually be considering it. He looked at Nathaniel and then at Nikonov, who just looked beyond confused. He nodded once. “You will help him. If I don’t see improvement, it will be on you, Wesninski. Are you willing to take responsibility?” 

Nathaniel heard what Tetsuji didn’t say. He knew Tetsuji expected him to fail, maybe even wanted him to fail to punish Nathaniel for what he saw as insolence. 

Nathaniel squared his shoulders. “Yes, but I won’t fail.” He let a bit of attitude seep into his tone and watched Tetsuji physically hold himself back from beating it out of him. 

Tetsuji flicked his fingers in dismissal.

Nathaniel turned to Nikonov and waved for him to follow across the court to an empty area. He tapped his racket on the ground and faced the older Raven. “I’m Nathaniel.” He was unsure how to start and had never actually said two words to the guy.

Nikonov rolled his eyes slightly. “Yes, I know who you are.” His accent was thick and obviously Russian.

Nathaniel smiled a bit, because as a rule he excelled at languages and saw a way to practice one he’d been learning. He switched to Russian, though his accent was pretty horrendous and he still struggled to speak it for as well as he could listen to it and read it. “I’m going to…help…you with your…training.”

That got a slight smirk out of Nikonov. “You’re going to help by slaughtering my language?”

It took Nathaniel a moment to translate that completely, but he laughed when he did. “My Russian is…not good. But, it’s better than your Japanese, I think.”

A smirk crawled over Nathaniel’s face. He saw Nikonov’s tense shoulders relax a bit now that he wasn’t getting hounded and threatened.

Nikonov switched back to English, “What did you say to Coach?”

“I just saw you struggling with the footwork and figured it might be easier to pick it up from a player about your size. Plus, I have a lot of backliner agility drills that really might help.” Nathaniel couldn’t help the excitement leaking into his voice. He found when he was helping Jean when he first arrived that he really enjoyed teaching and coming up with different skills and drills to get better. Jean picked them up quickly and now he was more partner than student. Nathaniel thought it would be fun to teach another backliner. Truly help someone get better who really wanted to and came here by their own choice. Not that he quite understood that, but he was on the inside looking out not the other way around.

“Aren’t you 16 or something? You aren’t even in college yet.” Nikonov looked a bit skeptical. It wasn’t always easy to pay attention to everyone at practice, even when you played with them daily and Nikonov hadn’t been here long enough to really understand the level of Nathaniel’s skill. Although, he should know what the number on Nathaniel’s face meant. Even if it is still drawn on instead of tattooed. 

Nathaniel tapped his number lightly, “I’ve been training under Tetsuji since I was 12 years old. He would never have allowed this if he didn’t think you would at least get something out of it.” even if he still expects you to fail. Nathaniel didn’t tell him that.

Nikonov glanced at Tetsuji as he took in Nathaniel’s words. “How have you survived it?”

Tetsuji was tame with most of the Raven’s compared to how he treated the ones he owned . But, even the tame Tetsuji was worse than most. He wasn’t sure if it said more about Raven’s players or Tetsuji’s law team that he hadn’t had accusations filed against him for his treatment of his athletes. 

Nathaniel shrugged easily, giving nothing away, “You get used to it. He won’t be as nasty if we master this footwork though. Then we might be able to get you some playing time before your third year.” He smirked.

Nikonov narrowed his eyes at the dig “Are you always this antagonistic?” But he sighed before Nathaniel could answer. “Ugh. Fine. I guess this is better than getting whacked…You aren’t going to whack me right?”

Nathaniel smirked, “Only if you really deserve it.” He winked.

-

Helping Nikonov–Niko–as he allowed Nathaniel to call him, turned into helping his partner, Jana, as well as some of the other freshmen who were struggling and even some sophomores and juniors. This was useful to Nathaniel. Ultimately, it surrounded Jean with more competent players when Nathaniel couldn’t be on the court himself. It also provided a distraction. Nathaniel still had tutoring in the Nest, Exy practice, online schooling, his main branch responsibilities, and practices with Hisaki and sometimes, Riko, but this was another distraction for when Jean was away. It gave him something else to do besides worry about Jean dealing with Riko and the outside world without him. Sometimes Niko and Jana would grab him for extra training throughout the day. Short practices where they worked on strength, agility, and footwork. Jana was a dealer, but she definitely gained just as much from Nathaniel’s drills. He tried to put different spins on his drills for different positions to make them more specific for each player. 

In turn, Niko and Jana would help him practice Russian and German. His fluency in both languages spiked.

“Wesninski, how are you just so good at languages and math? Like, what kind of combination is that?” Jana asked in German as he walked with her toward one of the study rooms in the Nest. Jean, Riko, and Kevin all had classes until evening practice which left Nathaniel to his own devices. Being left alone was not good for him. Luckily, Jana was around after her own classes and he’d asked her to help him practice for his conversational German exam. He wasn’t worried about it, really, but it was nice to practice his accent all the same.

“Hmm…well you see. I’m really a robot. Fluent in all languages and dialects with a built in calculator. But, I can’t make that too obvious, of course, or people would wonder.” Nathaniel grinned slyly at her.

Jana rolled her eyes. Why do people do that every time he talks? He’s amazed Jean’s eyes haven’t permanently stuck like that.

“I’m pretty sure this conversation is not going to be on your exam.” Jana laughed.

“You never really know what those examiners will come up with though. Maybe we should brush up on my extraterrestrial life vocabulary.”

Chapter Text

Nathaniel

Nathaniel was annoyed, to say the least. Stupid Tetsuji and his stupid rules about Nathaniel being seen on game nights. It had never bothered him before as he’d usually be distracted with Jean or Kevin or having to deal with Riko, but now he found himself stewing in his loneliness. His partner was off playing without him.

The Nest was quiet and so empty. 

He pushed his headphones into his ears and tried to immerse himself in the Russian conversation playing. He paced the room back and forth until he thought he’d wear a hole in the carpet. 

He stomped his foot. Who really gave a shit what Tetsuji said anyway? Nathaniel knew how to be sneaky.

He didn’t get to see Jean’s first game live, he wouldn’t miss this one.

Nathaniel pulled on black jeans and a black Edgar Allan shirt. He double checked to make sure there was nothing on him that would give him away as a player rather than a fan. He pulled on black sneakers and a hoodie to complete the outfit. Perfect. All black everything. He’d blend right in.

He didn’t bother checking around corners or being careful, there was literally no one in the Nest to bother him. He made his way out of the Nest and to a back entrance to the court. He picked a few locks and finally made it inside. A sea of people were still making their way to their seats in the stands. He wasn’t sure where he could find to watch the game, but he figured if he found a seat a bit after the game started he wouldn’t be taking one that someone had paid for. He milled about the concessions as he watched the teams warm up through the glass on the court.

He’d never viewed Exy like this. From the outside looking in. Not in person at least. He’d watched plenty of games and watched scrimmages during practices, but this was different. The crowd was electric. It caused zings of excitement to run through Nathaniel’s body. He wanted to be out there. He wanted to hear what the crowd sounded like muffled by the court walls, wanted to hear them cheer when there was an amazing goal or a vicious check. He wanted it all. 

The concessions area slowly cleared out. Nathaniel heard the announcements for the starting lineup begin and listened closely when Kevin’s and Jean’s names were called. The crowd went wild for the Perfect Court. Nathaniel didn’t know how the noise didn’t bring the walls crumbling down around them. He began to understand Tetsuji’s motivation for creating it, if this was the reception from the fans just in the building, he wondered about the impact it’s had on Exy as a whole so far.

He finally heard the horn that marked the start of the game. He made his way to the stands and sat in the first seat he could find that was empty and a few down from a group of people who had all clearly attended together. He affected confidence in his movements. No hesitancy. He belonged here. 

The game was in full swing. The Ravens were holding nothing back. Nathaniel watched Jean and Thea Muldani, the starting backliner pair, push hard against the Wolverines’ offense. Nothing was getting through them.

Jean and Thea hadn’t been paired together nearly as much as Nathaniel and Jean so their movements and passes were not as easy and fluid, but Thea was an incredible player in her own right. Strong and ruthless. She was exactly where she needed to be at any given moment. Her striker mark had really good footwork and agility, but Thea outclassed him by far. 

Jean made a quick pass to Thea who passed the ball ahead to the starting dealer–Noble–who passed right to Riko. Riko scored a few seconds later with some fancy footwork to get around his backliner mark. 

The speed at which they created scoring chances seemed to take the Wolverines by surprise, but only caused the opposing team to push back harder. It was a ferocious fight through the first half, with both teams taking points off the other. The ability on the court diminished significantly when the starters were subbed out after the first quarter and then after 20 minutes. 

Nathaniel watched the difference in skill between Jean, Kevin, and Riko compared to the rest of the Ravens. It was so blatant that it took Nathaniel by surprise wondering how he hadn’t seen it before. Thea was a fantastic backliner, but he thought she may have struggled a bit more if Jean hadn’t been with her because he saw how the rest of the team didn’t play to the same level when none of the Perfect Court were on. How had he not seen this? The Wolverines got better when not paired against the best in the league.

Despite the blatant difference in skill between when the Perfect Court was on and when they were off, the Ravens held their own. The first half ended with a 9-5 lead for the Ravens.

He hadn’t expected to be this invested when he wasn’t even playing. He wanted, needed, to see Jean and Kevin succeed. Nathaniel wished, not for the first time, that Kevin could play to his true potential. But, he knew what would happen if Kevin outshined Riko. Since he’d truly started watching instead of overlooking Kevin as worthless, he saw that while Riko didn’t physically abuse Kevin, he had damaged him emotionally to the point where Kevin could never stand up for himself or his ability in front of Riko. His defiance had to be carried out in the shadows. Nathaniel understood better than most what survival looked like. That was survival for Kevin, just like his attitude and his fight in the face of those who want to control him are his.

The second half was just as rough as the first. The teams came out ready for a fight. Jean threw everything he could at the Wolverines while he was in. Thea took them by storm. Nathaniel wanted to practice with her, he thought she might challenge his speed. They may be able to help each other get faster. She had the fastest turns he’d ever seen. He forced back a gasp when she pulled an impossible move against a Wolverines’ striker to get around her while she popped the ball directly out of her racket. She had to teach him that trick. 

The game came to a close with the Ravens winning 14-8. Nathaniel stood up to go. He needed to get back to the Nest before anyone else wandered in.

As he left the row of seats he was in he saw a man standing at the end of the aisle in a dark gray suit. Clearly out of place. He froze.

The man looked at him until Nathaniel sighed and walked forward a few more paces, “Nathaniel Wesninski.” For the first time Nathaniel realized his hood had fallen off. “Lord Kengo and Lord Ichirou would like a moment.”

Nathaniel balked. Kengo? Ichirou? Here? How hadn’t he known?

Nathaniel gave a short nod, slowly letting out his breath. He’d thought for sure Tetsuji had somehow seen him. 

He followed the man toward the East Tower. Was it business that brought Ichirou to Evermore? Nathaniel hadn’t seen Ichirou in a few months, and wondered why he hadn’t been needed if it was business since it was taking place at Evermore.

-

Nathaniel walked through the door held open by the gray-suited man that he assumed was one of Ichirou’s bodyguards. 

People were gathered around the room in small groups, not as many as what usually attended events that were meant for coordinating between mafia groups and smaller criminal syndicates. Nathaniel took in his surroundings and assumed it was strictly a Moriyama meeting, no outsiders.

Nathaniel recognized some of the lieutenants, advisors, and underbosses. He forced himself not to stop immediately upon entering, seeing that a lot of the higher ups of the main branch were in attendance. He hoped beyond hope that he wasn’t walking in to meet his father. He wasn’t sure he could face him again, in this room, without being prepared for it.

He stood out in his hoodie and runners against all of the people in suits and ties. He made his posture and movements calm and confident.

Skirting around the room and keeping his eyes lowered in respect, he made it to where Kengo stood next to Ichirou near the wall of windows that allowed people to watch the court.

He stopped well outside of their reach and dropped into a deep bow. He held it for a moment before rising, keeping his gaze respectfully away from the Yakuza lord’s eyes.

“Nathaniel Wesninski.” Lord Kengo greeted in a bored tone.

“Lord Moriyama.” He tilted his head forward slightly. He didn’t add anything else because until a few minutes ago he wasn’t aware of their attendance. He had no idea why he was here.

“The game went well tonight. Updates?”

Nathaniel didn’t speak immediately. He took a moment to parse through what Kengo meant. He knew that anything important that he’d told Ichirou would have made its way to Kengo. The only thing Kengo could be asking about were his assets. In general, the entire team was an asset to the Moriyama’s. It was the most popular and recognized collegiate Exy team in the world. People came from all over to train under Tetsuji, and stick through the suffering he inflicts knowing that just being able to cite his name had a huge effect on their prospects after college. More specifically, Riko, Kevin, Jean, and himself are assets because of the money and time that has gone directly into their lives. Everything from food, housing, and equipment. It’s all added up and accrued interest. Nothing is free. 

“We are only two games into the season and already they are being spoken of as the future of Exy. Riko and Kevin were already known to the public, but now they are seeing what the Sons of Exy can really do. They are seeing what the Perfect Court can do. Exy’s popularity has only grown since their introduction. It was a good idea, my lord.”

Kengo assessed him, “All things I can figure out from numbers and media. How are they handling the more public lifestyle?”

Again, Nathaniel hesitated. “They’ve had training. But…it’s more pressure. It’s going to take its toll and the stress will present itself in different ways.” He doesn’t say that Riko’s jealousy and hostility has only grown since the beginning of the season, even before that, since when they got the tattoos.

Ichirou spoke for the first time then, “You’ll be vigilant, Nathaniel, of the way that pressure affects our investments at Edgar Allan.”

Nathaniel wonders if they know more about Riko than they let on despite never giving them details. Though, he thought, it must be hard to miss if you know what to look for. Riko puts on a good show, but it is just that, a show.

“Yes, Lord Ichirou. I’m where I am needed.” Nathaniel said.

“Continue to prove your value, Nathaniel.” Kengo locked him in a knowing gaze. It wasn’t approval, but it was a step toward being indispensable to the main branch, toward having a stable place instead of this in between Nathaniel has felt since arriving at Evermore. Never being completely a part of either branch, floating in no man's land in the middle. He knew which one he’d pick to be loyal to, but his words didn’t yet carry the weight of blood behind them.

Kengo made a slight gesture with his wrist and the gray-suited guard appeared next to Nathaniel again. He bowed low before meeting Ichirou’s intent gaze, which shone with something Nathaniel couldn’t quite grasp.  

He lowered his eyes and followed the guard out of the room and back down to the main floors. Luckily, the Nest was still quiet when he returned.

-

Nathaniel’s feet beat hard against the court floor as he ran laps, enjoying the noise in his ears and the feeling of the ground beneath him holding him up.

He felt his thoughts like beings snatching at his ankles, trying to cause him to stumble, to fall, and never get back up.

He needed Kevin to get there. He was late for night practice, Kevin was never late. He almost always arrived before Nathaniel and left after him.

Nathaniel kept outrunning his problems. He finished five more laps before he finally heard the sound of the court door banging open and closed. He whirled around and sprinted right at Kevin.

He skidded to a halt just before bowling the taller man over. Kevin’s face was a mixture of shock, horror, and fear. Nathaniel smirked slightly as he bumped his shoulder against Kevin’s chest. “What’s up, Day? You look like you just saw your life flash before your eyes.”

Kevin’s face dropped into an annoyed scowl. “How do you become more of a nuisance every day?”

“Awe thanks, Kev.” Nathaniel smiled a bright thing that hid everything he boxed up inside his head.

Kevin just huffed in his face. “Sorry I’m late. I got so caught up in these videos I was watching I forgot what time it was!”

Nathaniel let out an overdramatic gasp and clutched at his heart. “Kevin Day, Kevin “It’s exy for me” Day, was watching videos instead of practicing? I think half of the exy fanbase just keeled over.”

“No, no, no. I was watching exy videos.” 

“Oh. Right. That makes much more sense. What was so distracting about exy videos that it made you late for actual practice?” Nathaniel rolled his eyes. Kevin was nothing if not predictable.

“I have to show you. It’s this high-school goalie. We need him, Nathaniel. I’ve never seen such raw talent in my life.”

“‘Cause it’s been such a long life, wise one.” Nathaniel nodded sagely.

He didn’t feel bad about the scowl that swooped across Kevin’s face where he’d been all giddy excitement before.

“Ugh. You know what I meant. Just…watch” Kevin thrust his phone into Nathaniel’s hands, but hovered around to watch it with him.

At first Nathaniel thought he was kidding. This guy literally stood in net, doing nothing beyond swaying back and forth slightly and barely sparing a glance for each ball as it whizzed past his head and landed in the goal. He even physically stepped out of the way to let a ball through that was going right for his chest protectors. He had to move to not stop it. Nathaniel thought the opposite of a goalie was a striker, but now he’s sure this guy is the actual opposite.

Nathaniel side-eyed Kevin and wondered how hard the ball had hit him in the helmet at practice. He hadn’t thought that there would be any real damage from the hit but stranger things have happened. 

He glanced down at the phone and was about to give it back when a sudden flurry of movement caught his eye.

The goalie had finally decided to do something, and what Nathaniel saw had his heart racing. He went from completely uncaring, to strident focus. His reflexes were fast and agile. He was completely relaxed as though he didn’t have a care in the world and out of nowhere beat the ball down to the other end of the court. He read each and every shot and knew where he needed to be to stop it.

Just as quickly as he honed in, he was gone again. Back to swaying and giving no shits about how many balls hit the plexiglass behind him.

Nathaniel had no words. Not a typical experience for him. He looked up at Kevin who was grinning broadly like he had just scored the game-winning goal in overtime at the olympics. 

“Um, Kevin.” He spoke slowly, trying to gather his thoughts.

Kevin cut him off quickly. “I know. He didn’t even try for most of the shots, but when he did try. Did you see him? Nothing could get through him. That kind of raw talent. Can you imagine what we could do with it?”

Nathaniel bit back the words on his tongue like ‘ruin’ and ‘break down’ and ‘destroy’ and instead went with:

“What would you do when most of the time he doesn’t care enough to block shots?”

Kevin seemed a bit taken aback by the question. His mind erased most of the video and was so focused on the part he cared about, could use. He waved a hand airily, “That kind of talent needs better opposition. He’d care more if it were a game.”

“Who even is he?” Nathaniel sighed.

“Andrew Minyard. Plays for a high school in Columbia. I’m going to get Riko to recruit him.”

Nathaniel hoped, for everyone involved, that Minyard would have the wherewithal to say ‘no’.

Chapter Text

Andrew

Another ball whizzed by Andrew as he shifted slightly to make sure it only grazed against his shoulder padding instead of hitting him directly.

Boring. Monotonous. Dull.

All the same, every time. They run, they catch, they throw. Nothing interesting or intriguing. Andrew’s thoughts slid up against the players on the court, none of it keeping his attention for long before he’s off again.

Maybe he’d go to the water tower after practice. Nicky hated it, but that was hardly a deterrent, and it was high. Very high.

A striker shot the ball, clearly aiming for Andrew’s head. That stopped being interesting a long time ago and the guy couldn’t be mistaken for competent. Andrew tilted his head. It sailed by his helmet. 

He gave the striker an unimpressed look. He was not even worth the snarky comment on the tip of his tongue. He desperately tried to hold it back, but the drugs worked funny tricks on his control. “Yikes, that lack of improvement is not going to get you on the starting line. Next.” A too cheery tone. He despised the loss of his discipline. A waste.

Did running out of fucks count as cardio?

Because if it did, Andrew was in perfect fucking shape no matter how much ice cream he ate. Ick, cardio.

His gaze landed on a group of people entering the court. He hadn’t even noticed the stoppage in play. There were four of them. His interest piqued and his mind finally latched on instead of flitting from one thing to another. 

Three of them still had their helmets off while the fourth had already donned theirs. They looked vaguely familiar, if only his brain would sit still long enough to manifest recognition. Two of them were tall, while one was average, and one was rather short, maybe even as short as his 5 foot nothing. The tallest guy was white and had light brown hair. He walked slightly hunched over, making him seem a bit shorter than he was. The other tall one had dark hair and light brown skin. He carried himself with a kind of confidence that seemed too calculated. The one who led the pack was of average height, had black hair and pale skin. Andrew’s eyes narrowed slightly, the haughty look on his face, the arrogance, the way he expected the others to follow him no matter what. It all grated on Andrew. He’d have to keep an eye on that one. The last boy was harder to decipher because his head was covered by the helmet. All he could tell was that he was lean. Andrew’s eyes flicked up his body, a runner. When they reached the guy's face, he realized he was already looking directly at Andrew. Even from across the court he could see piercing blue eyes staring at him from behind the helmet's protective caging. Andrew couldn’t read a single emotion in his eyes. Complete blankness. A mirror of apathy reflecting his.

Andrew stared back at the boy, forcing his detached gaze to hold as long as it could, but his medication had him flying. As interesting as these newcomers were, nothing could impose sobriety. A brilliant smile and hard laugh replaced the apathy on Andrew’s face.

A painfully brilliant smile.

It felt like trying to breathe underwater. He blinked at the guy, effectively ending the staring match just as they reached Andrew’s highschool exy coach. 

The four chatted with Coach McKenna. Andrew’s eyes lingered a bit longer, but he lost interest as the conversation carried on for too long. Practice was still at a halt, there were whispers coming from all the players. A buzzing excitement took over the court. His eyes wandered to where Aaron was talking to another backliner, and staring blatantly at the newcomers.

His thoughts flitted from one thing to the next, never fully forming before moving on. Dinner, to homework, to the books scattered around his room unfinished. 

Andrew’s attention caught on Aaron trying to wave him down from across the court where some sort of team gathering was happening. Andrew did not want to make the effort to move that far unless he was finally done with practice. He stayed where he was, glaring at his brother from behind his goalie mask.

Aaron threw up his hands angrily and rolled his eyes. 

The medicated smile took over his face again when Aaron turned back to his team’s huddle. He wondered if this is what it felt like to have a smile literally painted on his face, like the joker or a clown. What does one need to do to become a clown? Maybe Andrew was halfway there.

His mind drifted further away from practice, but was yanked back when the huddle dispersed and Coach blew his whistle with extreme enthusiasm.

Typically, Coach had very little patience for Andrew's disdain for anything team-like, but for some reason he was walking toward Andrew with a smile on his face.

Andrew’s eyes narrowed in obvious distrust.

“Andrew! Today’s your lucky day, son.” Andrew doubted it. “Edgar Allan’s very own Perfect Court is here to watch and participate in practice. They say they are interested in a few of our players, show them what you’ve got.”

Recognition passed through Andrew but he heard his voice distantly, “One, I’m not your son. Two, I don’t care.”

Coach sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Look, kid–”

“Why do I have to keep telling you to call me Andrew or nothing? I’m speaking English.” Andrew said.

Coach threw his hands up in a similar fashion to Aaron, Andrew decided he was done listening.

Practice started again with four new players, which made things different if not more entertaining. They warmed up first, watching and doing drills with other players on Andrew’s team. He could pick out the four misfits based solely on movement. They worked together like a machine. Andrew had never bothered to watch collegiate Exy, but he knew of the Ravens and their ridiculous standards. Coach had said the Perfect Court, but as far as he knew there were only three, not four. It was a whole thing the team obsessed over.

He watched as the team ran drills, including a sprinting and passing drill that the smallest of the Ravens outpaced every person on the court during. His smirk stood out against his dark helmet and uniform. Plain black uniforms that gave nothing away.

With four extra players they had plenty of bodies for a 5-on-5 scrimmage. Andrew stayed in the goal. The opposing team was almost completely made up of Raven’s except the dealer who they picked from the team’s lineup. Andrew’s team was formed from the best players Columbia High had to offer.

Andrew felt a buzz rise up under his skin, though he couldn’t tell if it was because of his medication or because the predator in him spotted a challenge.

Either way he was disappointed. This was the best Class I Exy had to offer. How boring.

It took only a few shots for Andrew to pick up on the strikers’ patterns. They worked well together, and maybe other goaltenders wouldn’t be able to catch on as quickly, but they were so pedantic. Predictable and perfect. A few got by Andrew based on a level of speed and power he wasn’t used to facing. But, once he could predict them he turned them away again and again.

Just as he lost interest, he heard a loud whistle from a random direction. He had readied himself to bat away another shot that the one with the number ‘1’ tattooed on his cheek would take after getting a pass from ‘2’. It never came.

The whistle, a quick pass backward from ‘2’, agile footwork past Andrew’s backliners, a perfect pass off the wall to ‘4’, the ball whipped all the way up to Blue who appeared near the goal, a hard shot. The ball whipped by Andrew. It all took only seconds. 

Unpredictable.

Blue smirked in Andrew’s direction.

Andrew didn’t like that smirk. It reeked of danger and trouble, “Thought you were a backliner?”

“Don’t put me in a box. Gotta keep you on your toes somehow.” He spun away and jogged back to his spot before Andrew could respond.

As Blue ran past, ‘1’ grasped the smaller boy’s arm tightly. There seemed to be unspoken communication between the two before ‘1’ released Blue. Andrew’s forehead creased when he saw Blue discreetly shake out his arm.  

-

Andrew was ready to go, sick of being surrounded by exy obsessives, even if that day’s practice had been slightly more interesting than usual.

Aaron caught his eyes. Finally not disappointing Andrew because he was almost ready to go too.

“Andrew!” Coach called from the doorway of his office. “Would you come in here for a minute?”

Andrew shrugged. His dose was beginning to wear off after actually exerting himself a bit at practice.

He walked into the office and saw that all four of the Ravens were already in the room. He’d been wondering where they’d flown off to a bit before practice ended. He forced himself not to smile at his own ridiculous pun.

Three of them stood together, with their arms crossed over their chests, the same down to the expression of aloof cockiness on their faces. Blue, as Andrew had taken to calling him in his head, stood away from them, sending them obvious side-eyes while he tapped a beat out against Coach’s desk. ‘1’, flanked by ‘2’ and ‘4’, clenched his jaw tightly and obviously forced himself not to snap at Blue. Andrew realized this was the first time he’d seen Blue without something obscuring his features. His helmet hadn’t been removed a single time throughout the practice. His hair was a deep auburn in the admittedly terrible lighting of his coach’s office. His face was all sharp angles and high, attractive cheekbones. He didn’t have a number. Why was he here if he wasn’t a part of the Perfect Court? Why did Andrew care? He refused to roll his eyes at his own absurdity. 

Fine, Andrew was curious. “I’ve never met a celebrity before and now I have the displeasure of meeting 3? What could the Perfect Court want with me? Rhyme not intended.” Three celebrities and a problem but Andrew didn’t say that.

He did not allow himself to drink in the vision of auburn hair, paired with those bright eyes even as a grin lit up his face at Andrew’s words. Trouble .

“Minyard–”

“Hmmm, ‘1’, it seems you know my name, but I do not yet know yours. Did no one ever teach you manners?”

Andrew’s eyes flicked over when Blue chuckled lightly. Number 1’s eyes darkened. He was not nearly as interesting to look at, “You do not know who I am?”

“I know of you. I do not know you or your posse.”

‘1’ let out an exasperated breath, “I am Riko Moriyama, Number 1 of the Perfect Court and Captain of the Edgar Allan Ravens. This is Kevin Day and Jean Moreau.”

Andrew’s gaze trained on Blue standing off to the side, expecting him to be introduced next. His eyes were now vacant as he openly studied Andrew.

Riko followed his gaze, “He is nobody important.”

Blue didn’t seem too worried about Riko’s introduction of him. He just continued his steady appraisal. His eyes lingered on Andrew’s black armbands, his head slightly tilted. He looked as though he was calculating a particularly difficult math problem.

As one, the three members of the Perfect Court took an imposing step toward Andrew. Their arms still crossed tightly.

“We want to offer you a spot on Edgar Allan’s prestigious exy team. It’s a five-year contract along with housing, meals, an athlete’s stipend, and the opportunity to train under the best coach in exy.” Riko spoke as if it was already a done-deal.

Andrew did not often mince words, “No.”

“You will be at Edgar Allan about a month before the fall semester starts–” Riko continued as if Andrew hadn’t spoken.

“I do not like to repeat myself.” 

Riko stared at Andrew. Even Moreau’s and Day’s arms dropped to hang by their sides and their jaws swung freely. Andrew found himself slightly amused by the image. Blue’s eyes seemed to light on Andrew, they appraised him in a way no one has ever looked at him before. He wanted to scratch them out of his skull.

Riko gathered himself, “No one has ever said ‘no’ to a spot on the Ravens.” He waved off Andrew’s rejection like he would swat a fly.

“Well, now someone has.” Andrew turned to leave, having no interest in those that think they can get whatever they want.

He felt more than saw the hand reach toward him to stop his retreat. Reflexively, he pulled his knife out of his armband and whirled on Riko to press it under his jaw, “Touch me. I dare you.” Even holding a knife, his voice held no emotion.

In his peripherals he saw Moreau and Day take hasty steps back from Andrew and Riko. Blue’s reaction was more interesting. He stepped forward slightly, not in a way to stop Andrew, more like he wanted a better position to watch, analyze.

Andrew looked up at Riko who hadn’t moved at all except to breathe. Something deep and dark and eager in his eyes. 

Andrew had seen expressions like that before. Unlike then, he could protect himself now.

Words in a foreign language flowed through the room in a melodic accent. He barely kept the surprise off his face. Riko stiffened as the words continued. His face grew hot and angry as Blue kept talking. Andrew thought it was probably Japanese. He could almost feel the heat coming off of Riko as he listened to Blue. Riko sniped back in the same language as the blade pressed against his throat with every word.

Andrew was not happy with the distraction or being left out of the conversation that was so clearly entertaining Blue and infuriating Riko.

His blade pressed slightly harder as he spoke in German to the room at large to show that they weren’t the only bilingual ones, “How long did it take to perfect that unpleasant intimidation tactic? If I joined, would I have to learn the whole synchronized swimming act? I’ve never been one for choreography.” Riko was railing at Blue now, but Blue didn’t seem to be listening. Andrew just kept talking and met Blue’s eyes, “Serial Killers would run screaming if they tried to make you a victim.” That seemed to amuse him. Did he understand? “How can such a short person contain such a huge attitude?” Because Andrew could just tell .

That earned a full on laugh from Blue. German, Japanese, and English? Not bi lingual then. Riko stopped his rant when he finally noticed that no one was paying any attention to him anymore, except the knife still pressed to his throat.

Blue spoke in German. Is there anything he’s not good at? “Who are you calling short? You literally need a booster seat to reach the table. Widen your stance, you’re too vertically challenged not to use every bit of leverage you can get. Move your thumb and pointer finger up a bit, it will give you better control over the blade. And, really, what kind of knife is that? Almost useless.”

Andrew isn’t sure why he listened. Problem, problem, problem . 

Blue just kept talking even after Andrew followed his instructions, “They literally scheduled time to practice their synchronicity. Also, nope, my father’s a serial killer and hasn’t run from me yet.” Andrew wasn’t sure if he believed this boy or not. But, he finally took two large steps back from Riko and slipped his knife back into his arm band, deliberately. Blue grinned blindingly at him.

Andrew glared hard, “A striker masquerading as a backliner, a knife expert, a polyglot, the son of a serial killer, and a whole-ass attitude problem? Is there anything else I should know?”

Blue’s grin turned from blinding to predatory in half a second, “Nope. That’s about it.”

“Since you’re so good with languages, maybe you can translate this for your leader, nobody. I will not now or ever sign with the Ravens.”

Nathaniel nodded once with a glint of appreciation in his eyes. His gaze hardened as he turned to Riko and spoke in quick Japanese again.

Day snapped at Andrew, “Why, Minyard? Do you know what you could do with your talent? Don’t waste it. Where will you go?”

Andrew waved off the enthusiast, “I have no interest in collegiate exy or exy in general. Which I think I’ve made obvious from my play.”

Blue snarked again at Riko, but  whatever was said in Japanese was a suckerpunch to Day as well, while Moreau seemed to become slightly amused though there was a deeply worried look in his eye. Jean schooled his features when he saw Andrew glancing toward him.

Andrew considered the Ravens. He thought about the rough grasp on the court that Blue had to literally shake off, thought about the arrogance that Riko drenched himself in, the numbers.

“When you come to play for us, you will be a part of the Perfect Court. You will be number 5 and one of the best players Exy has ever seen.” Riko folded his arms across his body once again and stood up completely straight. 

That definitely wasn’t confidence.

Day and Moreau moved to stand at his shoulders once again. Day looked hopeful and Moreau side-eyed Riko.

“He’s not the best at taking ‘no’ for an answer, our illustrious captain.” Blue directed in a loud whisper toward Andrew.

Riko cut his eyes to Blue and rambled in scathing Japanese.

Andrew spoke loudly over Riko, but didn’t miss the way Jean’s blank face morphed into fear and anxiety as ‘1’ spoke. “Well it’s a good thing I won’t be coming to Edgar Allan then. I say ‘no’. A lot. It’s practically my favorite word.” The grin on Andrew’s face was surely gruesome.

Riko glared hard at him. This time, when Andrew walked away no one made to stop him.

But, a blue bird called out to him in German, “I can die happy now, seeing them get shot down.”

Which just raised too many questions for Andrew. Who was the blue bird? Why was he with the Perfect Court? Why did he say that with the implication that he couldn’t say ‘no’ himself?

How fascinating.

Chapter Text

Andrew 

The blue-eyed bird did not exist. A total hallucination Andrew made up in his mind to make the Perfect Court’s visit more interesting. He may have been able to convince himself of that if it weren’t for all of his team going on and on about having four Ravens join their practice. Not three. Four.

He looked everywhere he could. He scoured the Raven’s lineup online. He went through footage of games online. He found all of the Raven’s team pictures from the last 5 years even though Andrew was sure, and his perfect memory would never let him down, that Blue had to be his age or younger. 

No one knew who the guy was, but they were all sure that they’d remember him if they did. Only Andrew and Coach saw him without his gear on, he was unforgettable, even if you didn’t have an eidetic memory.

Andrew recalled the interview he’d forced himself to watch while trying to figure out who Blue was. It was the first interview with the Perfect Court when the season started. Supposedly, Jean Moreau had been playing with Day and Moriyama for a few years , but no one had ever seen or heard from him until he started at Edgar Allan.

What was Tetsuji doing over there? Running a sweatshop for baby Ravens? Creating exy addicts to play for him? Were actual drugs involved in the addiction process? 

The mystery of the fourth Raven that tagged along with the three known Perfect Court members was one that Andrew couldn’t shake. He hated unsolved problems, and he could tell that the blue bird was a problem . Why would they bring him along if he wasn’t part of their Court? Or was he? The enigmatic number three everyone had been going on and on about for months?

Andrew sighed loudly, just to bother Aaron who predictably snapped his head up and glared at him from across the room where he was doing homework. 

Nathaniel 

Nathaniel’s eyes squint open, vision blurred through the headache pounding against his skull. His movements were almost too sluggish to lean over the side of the bed before he puked into the trash can he kept there. His entire body ached and his head spun from the movement and pain. 

He let his body flop back down on the bed, and the memories slowly trickled back to him. He felt the dried blood and semen scrape against his thighs. He leaned back over to dry heave into the trash again, only stomach fluid came up. 

God, he was so stupid.

He’d been forced to go with Riko, Kevin, and Jean to recruit Andrew Minyard because Riko wrongfully assumed there was no way for Minyard to turn down the offer. He’d assumed that the temptation of becoming number 5 of the Perfect Court would be more than enough to lure Minyard to Edgar Allan. He’d wanted to have the whole of his Court there to be introduced to him once he’d accepted the offer. He didn’t anticipate Minyard’s immediate and apathetic refusal, or the knife that was pulled on him. Nathaniel tried and failed not to grin at the memory despite the pain in his body.

But, Nathaniel’s big mouth couldn’t let it play out.

He’d told himself, told Jean, told Kevin that he wouldn’t get involved. He told them he’d let the exy balls fall where they may and stay out of it for his sake and theirs, he didn’t owe Minyard anything. He needed to protect his own, not some random goaltender with no idea how to properly wield a blade, but all the confidence to do it anyway. 

He’d let his mouth run wild. And he’d put them all in the path of Riko’s fury and sadism. Granted, because of the way he spoke to Riko and Andrew, he knew that most if not all of that fury would be trained on him. Riko had a hard time pulling his attention away from Nathaniel even when he was on his best behavior.  

But, he’d made Jean stay. Made Jean watch. 

Nathaniel wasn’t sure if he’d be able to face Jean today. After he’d allowed that to happen. After he refused to back down from Riko, Callum Vance, and Soren Corbett. His mind flashed to Vance’s hands on Jean. Even if they didn’t move from Jean’s face where he forced him to watch as Riko and Corbett tore Nathaniel apart. Nathaniel hated the idea of Vance anywhere near Jean, especially while behind closed doors. 

He wasn’t sure when he’d finally lost consciousness. He didn’t want to know what happened after he blacked out, and though everything in him rebelled against facing Jean so soon after what he saw, he had to know that Jean was unharmed.

He tilted his head slowly trying not to move fast in case more bile threatened to come up. Jean was awake, looking at him from his light perch on his bed across the room. He looked…torn. There was a purpling bruise forming across his jaw and Nathaniel could see patched and stitched wounds across his chest, down his arms, and deep red and purple bruises forming around his wrists in the shape of hands.

Nathaniel’s gaze met Jean’s and neither of them knew where to start. They’ve seen each other at their lowest. But this was new, even for them. Where do they go from here, after what Jean had to witness? After what Nathaniel had suffered?

This was an escalation they had not been prepared for.

“Firecracker,” Jean’s voice was barely above a whisper. Nathaniel tried to shake his head slightly. He definitely did not want to talk about it.

Chapter Text

Jean

Jean is in the media room with Riko when SportsNews, a station Riko and Kevin watched religiously, starts their daily segment on college exy. He wouldn’t have been there, but Riko wanted him to rewatch a game from a few nights ago that he thought Jean could have done better in. Nathaniel was away for the day on business with the main branch, which raised Riko’s hackles from the beginning. Jean tended to stay away from Riko when Nathaniel had to be away, he knew how jealousy affected him. Riko rarely sought Jean out when Nathaniel wasn’t around. Jean wasn’t like Nathaniel. He could take care of people, but he didn’t have it in him to stand up and take the pain Nathaniel did. Not when he was trapped in this place. Jean wasn’t broken, because he was good at playing at being broken. The things he’s had to watch Riko do to Nathaniel. No, they were very different. 

“Okay, Alyssa. Now for a really hot topic that has been trending all over the college exy world. Riko Moriyama and Kevin Day. Your thoughts on number 1 and number 2 of the Perfect Court.” Michael Smith asks his co-anchor on the television.

“Honestly, Mike, the numbers seem like a stretch. I know they haven’t outright said that number 1, in this case Riko Moriyama, is supposed to be the ‘best’ on the Perfect Court. But, I believe that’s what they symbolize, and it’s certainly the implication. I think they were presumptuous honestly. Kevin Day is undoubtedly the better striker.”

Mike gives her a surprised look, “So you agree with those that say that Day may be held back by Moriyama?”

“Yes! Don’t you see it? I’ve watched all of their games this year, and it’s blatantly obvious that Kevin holds back. Have you seen his assist totals for the season, not even including playoffs? He’s only a second semester freshman and he’s already surpassed the 100s. He’s a playmaker being held back by a player who relies on him for perfect passes and created opportunities.”

“But, Riko already has over 60 goals through the first half of the season as well. That certainly says something about his ability as a goal scorer, which is ultimately the point of a striker.”

“Of course he does!” Alyssa argues. “He has Kevin Day setting him up 9 out of 10–”

The TV cuts off, which is when Jean remembers just who’s in the room with him. Dread floods through him. 

He turns slightly to catch a glimpse of Riko. His hands clench tightly, his face a mottled red. Furious.

Jean knows what’s coming before the first punch ever lands.

Nathaniel

Nathaniel is there when Riko finds out that Andrew signed with the Foxes.

Riko is pissed. Nathaniel can tell from the way his knuckles are white around his phone, and his clenches so hard he thought it might break. He forces himself not to make any snide comments when Riko’s mood flares like this and was happy that Jean had afternoon classes today. Riko made him come to the court to block the goal while he shot ball after ball on Nathaniel.

Nathaniel thought his goaltending skills were improving.

They were taking a water break when Riko pulled his phone out, and Nathaniel bit back his curiosity. There are too many possibilities that can make Riko go from 0 to seething in 0.5 seconds. Anything from Jeremy Knox doing another good deed to Kevin getting praised for his performance in last nights game to his father’s murder. The possibilities are endless. But he doesn’t have to wait long to find out anyway. Riko snaps easily.

He lashes out and grips the collar of Nathaniel’s practice jersey, hauling him closer until they were pressed nearly chest to chest. He shoves his phone in Nathaniel’s face and he blinks to try to focus on the screen.

“Look what your little friend did.” Riko’s hot breath hits Nathaniel in the face.

The title of the article reads ‘Andrew Minyard Signs with The Palmetto State Foxes’. He skims the beginning of the article quickly. Pinpointing where they mention his immediate and hard refusal to join Edgar Allan, but instead agrees to join the worst division I exy team in the country. 

Nathaniel tried, he really did, but the laugh bubbles out of him. He thinks Andrew might be as good at pissing Riko off as he is, but he wasn’t the one here to take the punishment. 

Riko didn’t hold back.

Kevin  

Banquets always make him nervous, but he was especially nervous since this year it was being hosted by Edgar Allan. Kevin could act with the best of them, put on his public face and smile, but it took a lot out of him. It didn’t feel right, having all these players and media and coaches and the fucking ERC invading the halls of Evermore, taking over the court. He feels it thrum through his veins and knows it won’t be a good night.

Riko was already at his wits end and Kevin knew that if the night even went slightly wrong…well, they’d better hide. Though he knew it would most likely be Nathaniel getting the brunt of Riko’s ferocity, even if he wasn’t in attendance.

There was a time, in the very early days of Nathaniel’s arrival, when Kevin was jealous of Nathaniel. Of his talent, his courage, and his unwillingness to bend. Now, Kevin wasn’t jealous. He was worried all the time that Nathaniel would take it too far.

After Minyard’s rejection and then his joining the PSU Foxes, and with all the media speculation on who the better striker was. Kevin could see Riko’s psyche fraying, ripping to shreds, and had no idea what to do to stop it.

“Hey, Kev!” A voice calls from the doorway of his and Riko’s bedroom where he is nearly finished getting ready. He turns to see Nathaniel leaning against the doorway with a sly smirk on his lips. “Lookin’ good, two” he winks.

Kevin resists the urge to roll his eyes at the instigator, “Can you behave tonight? Keep to your room, don’t make a bunch of noise, and all that.”

“Quiet as a mouse,” he mimes zipping his lips and clasping his hands together in an attempt to look innocent.

Innocent is something Kevin’s sure Nathaniel Wesninski has never been so he just groans, “Yeah a mouse with a habit of bothering lions.”

Nathaniel’s smirk widens, “The lions ask for it.” He waves his hand through the air. “I just came by to tell you to be careful. You and Jean need to watch each other’s backs. There’s going to be a bunch of media running around tonight and who knows what kind of shit they will stir.”

Kevin turns away from his knowing gaze and back to the mirror, “Neither of us want a repeat of the last couple of months.”

Kevin was sure that whatever happens tonight, they will have very little control over it.

-

It starts uneventfully. The team goes through the motions of greeting the other Eastern teams in NCAA Division I. They are well behaved, poised, and with all of their typical synchronicity though Jean stays with Riko and Kevin since Nathaniel wouldn’t join them until the following year. The first few months of the Perfect Court’s second college season had gone spectacularly well in terms of win and goal ratio. The team was the leader of the division by a mile and no one even came close to their dedication and talent. As it should be for the amount of blood and sweat they put into the sport. 

Kevin greets the Bearcats, but he couldn’t get his mind off the fact that the Foxes would be joining them soon. It’d been a few years since he found out about Wymack being his father, but he’s had very few interactions with the man since then. Kevin actively avoided him at the Eastern Division banquet in his first year and they never played against the Foxes since they were in the Southeastern division to Edgar Allan’s Northeastern, and held their place at the bottom of the league. Tonight he’d have to face him at the beginning, but then he planned on once again avoiding. He knows better than to drag anyone else into his life. 

The Foxes make it and Kevin does his best to maintain his public facade in the face of his father, who doesn’t even know who he is beyond Kayleigh Day’s son and number two of the perfect court. His heart aches. He’d lost his mother, and his father was never his to begin with.

Wymack walks up to him and holds out his hand to shake, “You’re having a really good year, Kevin. Keep up the hard work. Your mother would have been really proud of you. She was a dear friend of mine. Taught me everything I know.” His hand lands on Kevin’s shoulder and he fights not to flinch at the touch and the mention of his mother.

“Thank you, Coach Wymack.” The coach nods at him and moves on toward Jean.

Kevin lets out a long breath as the rest of the team files in. He hopes that would be the most difficult part of the night.

-

The night gets progressively worse.

After the master announces the top four of the division to go to finals in the spring, it’s time for mingling. Which meant the media.

“Riko! Kevin! Can we have a few moments of your time?” A woman walks up to them as they’re talking with a few of the players from Breckenridge. 

Riko turns a smile on the reporter and her crew, “Of course.” He slips a bit closer to Kevin as the woman stands next to them.

Kevin notices that a few members of the ERC walk closer to watch the interaction along with the master.

“I have numbers one and two of the perfect court with me tonight. But, we’ve all been asking the question for over a year now. Who really is number one? Were the numbers premature?” The woman beams at the camera before turning to them.

Kevin’s entire body has gone stiff. He watches the woman’s mouth keep moving, but couldn’t hear the words. He feels Riko getting more and more tense next to him.

When Kevin finally tunes back in she’s addressing him, “...your strong start this year. The public has voted and seems to think that you’re being held back. What do you think, Kevin?”

He has nothing to say. He knows that she is trying to cause drama and debate. She doesn’t know what she’s really doing. There weren’t words that could smooth this over with Riko after the last few months especially. He’d have to try.

Kevin plasters on his best media smile, “Riko is my partner. More than that he’s my brother. On the court we fight together and win together. We make each other stronger and that’s what matters.”  

Riko’s arm comes up to loop around Kevin’s shoulders, the touch burns through him but Kevin doesn't let it show. “Our competition is out there.” Riko waves to the rest of the teams around them. “We work together to succeed. We should get back to the party now.”

Riko turns, pulling Kevin with him before the woman can ask anything else.

Kevin sees the fire burn in Riko’s eyes.

-

It’s hours later. The court has been cleaned up and returned to its usual function. Kevin hadn’t been allowed to leave and now Jean and Nathaniel join him in the locker room. Riko said to wait for him here, but he didn’t expect the other two to come as well.

“What’s going on?” Nathaniel asks through a yawn as he saunters in. Kevin hopes he’s well rested because he knows this can’t be good.

Kevin shrugs and Jean says, “The master just said to get you and come here.”

Nathaniel glances around, “Is there anything I should know about from tonight?”

Kevin stares at the floor. “The media went hard on us tonight. Riko wasn’t happy.”

“More comparisons?” Nathaniel questions.

“Yeah, but this time in front of half the ERC and the master. Happy? He was furious. They also said the public took some kind of survey, and the majority believe Kevin is the better striker.” Jean said.

“Well he is–” Kevin glances up just as Jean lightly smacks the back of Nathaniel’s head. “I’m just saying. But, yeah…now what?”

Kevin sighs, “I guess we wait for Riko.”

-

They didn’t have to wait long until Riko storms into the locker room, his uncle on his heels.

“Change out.” The snarl in his voice was unmistakable.

Kevin holds back his flinch and watches Nathaniel rise up on his toes, ready for a fight. Riko glares around the room before stalking over to his locker.

They change in silence under the watchful eye of the master.

Riko leads them onto the court.

“Home goal. Jean, Nathaniel. It’s yours to protect.” the master’s ‘or else’ is implied. “Riko, Kevin. This will be settled tonight. The ERC is asking questions. Whoever scores the most in a 15 minute quarter. Jean and Kevin first.”

-

Kevin was panting with exhaustion by the end of the quarter, but he hadn’t held back. He couldn’t. His body felt like a live wire, energy to survive coursing through him. But, as he walks off the court the fear sinks back in and he hopes, for his sake and Jean’s and Nathaniel’s, that Riko would be able to get more than 5 past Nathaniel.

“Nathaniel, Riko. Go.” The master calls from his place near the open court door.

It’s the longest 15 minutes of Kevin’s life. When the master calls time, Riko had only been able to get 3 past Nathaniel. Kevin’s gut churns.

Riko whips around, ripping his helmet off his head. He throws it as hard as he can into the plexiglass wall of the court, it reverberates with the impact. 

Riko glares at them all before he stalks over to where Kevin stands next to Jean just inside the doors of the court. There’s nothing in Riko’s eyes. Just endless darkness and anger.

Riko’s racket raises as he gets closer and Kevin glances at Nathaniel. He’s frozen in fear. Riko was quick, but Kevin was fast enough to get his hand up in front of the racket before it came down on his head. His hand took the brunt of the impact.

Everything lights up in searing pain. His legs buckle beneath him and he hits the floor.

Chapter Text

Nathaniel

Hands grasp Nathaniel’s arms and around his waist, yanking him off of Riko’s writhing, bloody, and bruised form. 

“I’ll fucking destroy you,” Nathaniel snarls even as he is struggling to pounce again. It wasn’t enough. No amount of pain would be enough to make up for everything Riko has done. 

The grip around Nathaniel’s waist tightens almost to the point of pain, but he can barely feel it. Violent bloodthirst eats away at him. The feeling of his father’s sadistic smile splits his face and Riko is staring. For the first time that Nathaniel can recall, he looks truly terrified.

The softly spoken French bleeds through his murderous intentions, “Firecracker, listen. We need to help Kevin.”

Nathaniel’s gaze snaps to where Kevin is curled on the floor in a fetal position, sobbing. He breaks away from the hands on him and refuses to shiver at the feeling of his skin crawling. 

Focus. Self-control, Nathaniel.

A voice he despises speaks and the last threads of the flimsy hold he has on his violent tendencies almost snaps.

Tetsuji says, “Take Day and get him to Charleston Medical Center. Dr. Carson will be awaiting your arrival.”

Nathaniel knew it was bad, but Tetsuji had never given them permission to leave before. He was scared. He should be.

Blood gushes down Kevin’s hand. Nathaniel’s are slick with it as he pulls Kevin to his feet and forces the much taller and heavier boy to move.

Riko groans from his spot on the floor where Nathaniel smashed his racket into his abdomen and then sliced it down across his back. Nathaniel hadn’t seen Jean leave the court, but he bursts out of the locker room carrying the stocked first-aid kit from his locker. Little use it will be, this is far beyond his or Nathaniel’s capabilities. At least they may be able to bandage it to staunch the bleeding during the trip to the hospital. 

Nathaniel tries to gently set Kevin on the home bench, but he sways without support. He leans Kevin against himself as Jean approaches, pulling out rolls of bandages. Nathaniel glances at Kevin’s left hand. He can’t see much through the blood, but he can see bones protruding through his skin. It’s enough to tell him that Kevin may never fully regain the use of his dominant hand. Anger is a volatile beast coursing through Nathaniel. It takes everything in him not to go for Riko again. Kevin has to be more important.

Jean finishes his hasty work and helps Nathaniel pull Kevin up to stand again. Jean drags Kevin away. Nathaniel can tell that Kevin’s very near to passing out from the pain, barely managing to stay conscious. He runs off down the halls of the Nest to Kevin’s and Riko’s bedroom. Quickly, he yanks things off shelves and stuffs clothes and other necessities into a duffle bag. He doesn’t have time to fuss about everything, but he hopes he can get Kevin enough stuff to get by for a while. He’s getting him out. 

The last thing he places into the bag is Kevin’s favorite book that contains the letter from Kayleigh Day. 

He dashes to his bedroom and wrenches his phone out of the hiding spot. An idea forming, If he can get his Lords to agree.

-

They make it to the hospital and rush Kevin through the doors. The waiting room is pretty empty, not that they would have had to wait seeing as the minute they enter Kevin is descended upon by nurses as well as a stoic looking doctor.

The doctor glances toward them, “We are taking him back to surgery immediately. I will be back with information as soon as I can.” He pushes through the swinging doors after Kevin’s procession.

Nathaniel and Jean stand there. Lost. Nathaniel’s head spins from the events of the night. He feels pulsing through his hand and looks down to see his knuckles cracked and bloody from where he had hit Riko. He reaches out and grasps the sleeve of Jean’s shirt, realizing they were both still in most of their gear after the scrimmage from hell. He pulls Jean along with him towards where he spots a sign for the bathroom. Luckily it’s deserted. He goes to the sink and scrubs his hands free of his, Riko, and Kevin’s blood. Then pulls off some of his gear and padding.

“Nathaniel…” Jean’s voice is barely a whisper. Nathaniel meets his eyes in the mirror.

“I know. I just…need a moment to think.”  

“What are we going to do?”  

“I’m getting him out, Jean. I’m not sure what it’s going to take. But, that’s his best chance at surviving now. He has to go.” His tone leaves no room for argument. 

“His father. He should go to Wymack.” Nathaniel is already nodding before Jean finishes talking. “How?”

“I need to call Ichirou.”

-

Hours later, Jean and Nathaniel sit in the waiting room. Nathaniel couldn’t hold still, he flips and flips his phone in his hands. 

All he can do is wait.

Wait for the doctor to come back.

Wait for Ichirou to call back.

Wait for the other shoe to drop.

The doors across the room swing open to reveal Dr. Carson. Nathaniel jumps to his feet, Jean grasps his hand and follows him up. 

Carson approaches them and raises a hand to stave off any of the questions that were threatening to burst out of Nathaniel.

“The surgery went as well as we could have hoped. We won’t know the extent to which the damage will affect the use of it until it’s healed and he’s done therapy. He’ll need to be in a cast for about 2 months before we reassess to decide if therapy can begin.” Carson relayed the information with nearly no inflection before walking away.

Nathaniel shakes with rage. The vibration of his phone breaking him out of it.

He glances down at the caller ID and lets out a breath and quickly answers, “My lord.”

“Nathaniel,” Ichirou’s voice is colder than he’s ever heard it. “Did Dr. Carson update you on Kevin Day’s status?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Explain.”

Nathaniel details the events of the night. How had he not seen this coming?

He knew his oversight would cost him. When he’s finished he holds his breath, waiting for his lord’s anger.

“You were meant to keep something like this from happening in the first place, Nathaniel.”  

Nathaniel takes a small, shuddering breath. “I know I failed you, my lord.” He pushes his desperation back, beats it down. “Riko can be unpredictable. He’s never touched Day before.”

“Never touched Day? Has he hurt you?” There’s venom in Ichirou’s voice. The directness of the question spears Nathaniel.

“Yes, my lord,” He whispers.

Nathaniel hears Ichirou breathe across the line, then a deep sigh. “When a racehorse breaks a leg, they put it out of its misery.”

Nathaniel’s breath catches in his throat. “He can come back from this. He will. The profit will be worth the trouble, my lord.”

Ichirou is so silent that Nathaniel checks to make sure the call hasn’t dropped.

Finally, Ichirou says, “If he can’t come back by next season you will be the one to put him down, Nathaniel. Do you understand? This is your responsibility. He cannot become more of a liability.”

Cold seeps through Nathaniel, “I understand, my lord. He can and will come back from this, but…he won’t if he stays at Edgar Allan.”

Ichirou goes quiet again, “What do you propose?”

This is his only hope of getting Kevin out, of saving his life. “He transfers to PSU under the guise of a breakdown after his injury and the need to get away from the memories of being able to play. He becomes an assistant coach under David Wymack because he was a long-time friend of Kayleigh Day and he’s always been supportive of Kevin. If he stays at Edgar Allan, Riko will not allow him to heal. The money, time, and effort put into him will be a complete loss. But, if he is allowed to leave and bring the last place team in the NCAA up from the bottom, he will garner more attention and money. A rivalry between the Sons of Exy. We could even have Edgar Allan change districts next year to build up the tension.”

The quiet seeps through the phone once again, but Nathaniel doesn’t speak and gives Ichirou all the time he needs to process his plan. “You’ve thought this through. Allowing Kevin Day to leave is going to require heavy compensation, Nathaniel. Compensation that I’m not sure Kevin will ever be able to pay back when we don’t know how his recovery will go. There’s too much risk.”

Nathaniel only hesitates for a moment, “I will take responsibility, my lord. Whatever it costs.”

Ichirou hums, “There is very little you have, Nathaniel, that is not already mine.”

Nathaniel tries not to let desperation color his tone, “I understand. Whatever it costs, my lord. I will pay it.” This is the only way to save Kevin’s life, even if it’s not a guarantee.

“I’m not sure you do understand, but you will.” He’s never heard that emotion from Ichirou before. All his fidgeting stops. “Get Kevin Day to David Wymack. I’ll talk to my father and have the papers drawn up for his immediate transfer.”

A soft click and Ichirou is gone.

Chapter Text

Andrew

There’s a long and not insignificant list of places Andrew would rather be than stuck on the bus in the middle of the night following the Eastern Conference Winter Banquet with a bunch of rowdy PSU Foxes.

Four and a half more years. Four and a half more years.

The list begins with drinking away his withdrawal at Eden’s Twilight, and ends with playing in traffic. That would be less painful than listening to Nicky talk the ear off of his “date”, watching Aaron lean his head on his not-not-date's shoulder, and having to suffer the upperclassmen’s drunken bickering and singing. 

Of all the nights where the withdrawal isn’t enough to knock him out, it has to be tonight. Such is his luck.

He leans his head back on the headrest and turns to look out the window, but all he can see is darkness and tiny flickers of light from far away. There aren’t even any cars around. His first NCAA Exy Winter Banquet went as well as could have been expected. It was relatively uneventful, and disappointingly lacking of any mysterious blue birds that for some reason he still couldn’t let go of. Though there were quite a few other birds around.

He had found it entertaining for all of five seconds how the media has been so consumed by the idea of Day and Moriyama and who is really the best striker. But it didn’t last. It never does. He’d successfully avoided the exy-holics all night. No blue bird meant there would be nothing intriguing enough to keep him from gutting Riko if he dared try to touch Andrew again. His patience was on thin ice as it was with his brother’s usual ignorance, and the general annoyance of the expectations of the team. 

Unfortunately, he knows that given the chance he’d make the same decision again so that Aaron and Nicky would have this opportunity, even if Aaron seems to be squandering it. 

A voice finally cuts through Andrew’s apathy, “Did you see Riko’s face tonight when they were questioning him about holding Day back?” Renee slipped into the seat across the aisle from him. Smart of her not to get too close. She is the one teaching him to be a better fighter after all.

He glances at her, “Does it matter?”

“It’s just strange, don’t you think? How quickly they were gone after that. Especially since Edgar Allan was hosting.”

“I actually haven’t thought about it at all.” Andrew tightens his arms across his chest, already bored with the conversation and rolls his head back toward the window at Renee’s slightly upturned lips.

“Sparring tomorrow?” The smile in her voice made him scoff.

“We’ll see,” she knew that meant yes.

Renee was one of the only people that could even get him to talk when his medication was almost completely out of his system and all of the apathy flooded back in. His eyes finally drooped closed as the noise in the bus began to quiet and the athletes finally let the drowsiness take them.

Jean

Nathaniel tells Jean about his conversation with Ichirou as they wait for Kevin to be released. Dr. Carson allowed his release with the stipulation that he’d receive recovery care once in Palmetto. Ichirou has already set up a doctor for Kevin closer to PSU. Jean is suspicious of the young lord’s intentions. He and Nathaniel were always closer than Jean understood, but the distance between them over the years has changed things, he’s sure.

“What are you doing, firecracker?” Jean asks, exasperated. “You don’t know what this will cost.”

“I know that it won’t cost more than Kevin’s life, Jean. That’s all I need to know.” Nathaniel rubs the heels of his palms into his eyes.

Jean can see the exhaustion dragging down his partner. Nathaniel is always the protector, the one to give up everything to keep them safe, to shield them from the horrors he’s known since he was a child. Jean wants to wrap him in bubble wrap and never let anything ever touch him again. Nathaniel would not allow it. He puts everything on his shoulders and never buckles under the weight.

“What if it costs yours, firecracker?” He has to say it. Needs to make Nathaniel see that his life is not less important than Kevin’s. 

“It won’t, Jean. Just trust me. This is how it has to be.” Nathaniel’s voice is firm, and Jean knows his stubborn friend wouldn’t yield.

Jean wasn’t sure how many hours passed since arriving at the hospital, but it’s now daylight outside and neither he nor Nathaniel have slept at all. They are running on fumes of their adrenaline and shitty coffee from the machine in the hospital cafeteria.

“We can’t tell him until we get there, Jean. He’ll fight it. It’s the only home he’s ever known, and you know how he is with change.” Nathaniel says quietly.

“He’ll probably be pretty out of it from the pain medication anyway. Hopefully he will sleep. Do you know where we need to go?” Jean asks.

“Yeah, Ichirou sent me Abigail Winfield’s address. She’s the Foxes’ nurse. She should be able to get Wymack to her house.”  

“More people.” 

“I know, but the team will probably find out anyway. Hopefully they will understand how important it is to keep this quiet. Besides, I think we will need Andrew Minyard’s help.” Nathaniel glances at Jean.

“What? Why would we need him?” Jean rolls his eyes at the thought of the goaltender that turned down Riko.

Recently, Minyard had been the only reason PSU had been able to retain their NCAA Division I status when the ERC threatened to revoke it. A bleeding-heart with a penchant for giving second chances to troubled kids doesn’t make for a competitive team it seems. Jean thinks he’d take that over the hell of Evermore though.

“I’m going to try to convince him to keep Kevin at PSU. I think without someone watching him and grounding him, Kevin will come running back.”

“What makes you think he’ll care?”

“I don’t think he will care, but he seemed to really dislike Riko. Maybe he will help just to see the fallout. All I can do is ask, but I just think Kevin will need more than Wymack to keep him at PSU.” Nathaniel massages his temples.

Jean sighs and rubs Nathaniel’s back in slow circles . “Take a nap so you can drive first. It’s going to be a long couple of days. It would be just great if we got into a wreck because one of us fell asleep at the wheel.”

Nathaniel tilts his head to rest it on Jean’s shoulder. Jean doubts Nathaniel will feel comfortable enough in public to get any real sleep, but his exhaustion is winning out. Soon Jean can hear Nathaniel’s even breathing. He waits for Kevin’s release in silence.

Chapter Text

Nathaniel

When the car finally comes to a stop in front of the seemingly cozy two-story home of Abigail Winfield, Nathaniel wants to cry with relief. The sun is high in the sky. The drive was endless. His mind raced with all the possible outcomes and how to explain this to people who had no idea what they were in for. How do you tell a middle-aged man that he is a father with a son who is nearly 20 years old that he never knew about? Not to mention that son was raised by a sadistic, disowned-yakuza uncle and nephew duo with god complexes?

He couldn’t believe this was his life sometimes.

“Nathaniel?” He looks over at Jean and sees the same questions in his eyes. 

“We will just have to be as honest as we can without getting them killed for being the loose ends they are about to become. Ichirou said to do what I needed to do without outing the main branch. We will just have to see what happens.”

“I don’t like leaving so much to chance.” Jean says, annoyed.

“Me neither, but I don’t have anything better. Do you?”

Jean turns his nose up slightly and huffs. “Let's get it over with.”

They’d gotten lucky and the medication knocked Kevin out for the whole ride. Now came the hard part of waking him up. Nathaniel gets out and walks to the back door of the driver’s side. Kevin’s leaning with his back against the door and legs sprawled across the seat. He has his broken hand cradled against his stomach, protective of it even in unconsciousness.

Nathaniel knows he needs to do this gently. He throws the door open wide and catches Kevin as he tumbles out. Nathaniel can count the amount of times he’s done anything gently on one hand. Kevin lets out a high-pitched screech as he falls that’s roughly cut off when Nathaniel catches him. 

“Ugh. Kevin you’re so heavy!” He groans.

“What are you doing?” Kevin’s flailing caused him to slip in Nathaniel’s hold.

“Will you stop flailing and sit up!?” Nathaniel shouts.

Kevin stops moving and slowly sits up, blinking blearily around him still lost in his medication-induced sleep haze. “Where are we?”

“You’ll see. Let’s go.” Nathaniel tugs on Kevin’s shirt.

Jean already has Kevin’s bag and is making his way towards the front of the house.

“Nathaniel? What’s going on? Why does Jean have my duffle?” Kevin asks skeptically.

Nathaniel just shoos him towards the door, poking and prodding him to keep moving. They reach the door just as Abigail Winfield answers Jean’s knocking. The surprise at their appearance is written all over her face.

“Uhm, hello?” Abigail closes the door slightly to keep them from moving forward.

“Hello, Ms. Winfield. I am Jean Moreau. Sorry to interrupt your day, but it is very important that we talk to you and Coach David Wymack.” Nathaniel hears Jean use every ounce of Raven’s media training he’s ever had.

Kevin gasps and immediately turns back to the car. Nathaniel blocks him and puts a hand on his chest. “Kevin Day. Stop. I will tell you everything once we can talk to Coach Wymack.”

“What are you doing, Nathaniel?” The panic evident in Kevin’s voice. Nathaniel isn’t sure if it was such a good idea to wait until they were here to tell him after all. At least in the car he couldn’t just run away.

“Jean Moreau and Kevin Day? Of the Perfect Court? Kevin! What happened to your hand? What is going on?” Abigail fires the questions off without pause.

“Ms. Winfield, can you please get Coach Wymack here immediately? It is very important that we talk to you both.” Jean steals her attention again with his respect and earnestness.

Abigail sighs heavily. “Come in. You all look like you’ve been put through the wringer. I’ll call David.”

Abigail leads them into the nice house. Nathaniel has never seen such a bright, welcoming place before. It makes him uncomfortable. Like he could bring darkness down upon it just by being there.

Everything is decorated in tones of white and gray with splashes of color that make it feel like a home instead of sterile like the hospital.

“Come to the kitchen. Can I get y’all drinks or something to eat?” Abigail asks while she picks up her phone off the counter.

Nathaniel’s stomach grumbles at the thought of food. He can’t recall the last time he ate. Possibly at dinner the night before. He hears Jean and Kevin’s stomachs rumble as well and Abigail looks at them knowingly. None of them want to ask for anything though, so they stay quiet and look around at each other.

Abigail sighs and places a call on her phone while motioning for them to take seats at the kitchen table. “David?”

Nathaniel listens to Abigail’s side of the conversation with the coach.

“Can you get over here as quickly as possible?”

“Um, I’ll tell you when you get here.” Her gaze wanders over the three of them.

“Thank you.” She hangs up the phone and addresses them again. “He’ll be here in the next couple of minutes. I’ll get water and whip up some eggs and toast.”

Awkward silence settles through the kitchen, but Nathaniel is too uncomfortable and nervous for what was to come to try to break it. It isn’t every day he is around people who don’t know anything. Even if the things they know are rumors and inferences. 

Abigail sets plates of eggs and toast along with a glass of water in front of each of them.

“Thank you, Ms. Winfield.” Nathaniel tries to force a small smile at her.

“Please, just call me Abby.” She rubs the bridge of her nose.

“Abby?!” A booming voice calls from the entrance and Nathaniel’s fork clatters against his plate, and he immediately has his knife out of its sheath.

He’s in a fighting stance when a tall, broad, dark haired man with flame tattoos flaring up his muscular arms storms into the kitchen. His eyes immediately go to where Nathaniel is wielding a knife, then to the rest of the occupants frozen in place. He holds up his hands slowly, but Nathaniel is already resheathing his knife and cursing himself for his idiocy. He’s too damn on edge, and being around men his father’s age definitely doesn’t help.

“I’m sorry.” Nathaniel breaths through gritted teeth.

Coach Wymack glances at Abby and back to Nathaniel. “Don’t worry about it. I’m loud sometimes.”

Jean’s hand creeps up to touch Nathaniel’s wrist lightly before circling it when he doesn’t pull away. He gently coaxes Nathaniel back into his seat. 

Wymack walks further into the kitchen and Nathaniel tries not to become more tense the closer the unknown man gets. “Abby, is everything okay?”

She lets out a small, pained laugh. “Everything is fine. They needed to talk to us.”

Coach Wymack takes the empty chair farthest from Nathaniel and in his line of sight, but he doesn’t think it’s because Wymack is worried about being in his proximity, more that he knew it would put Nathaniel at ease. Nathaniel finds himself appreciative of the gesture.

Jean rubs lightly at the underside of Nathaniel’s wrist before letting go. “Sorry, Coach Wymack, it has been a stressful 24 hours. We didn’t get much sleep and there’s a lot to talk about.” Jean’s best media smile slides easily across his face. 

It hasn’t escaped Nathaniel’s notice how quiet Kevin has been. He chances a glance toward him and sees Kevin’s eyes trained on the fork in his right hand pushing the food around his plate. The tension in his shoulders is visible to Nathaniel and he has to rethink telling Wymack the truth about Kevin. 

But if Wymack doesn’t know, why would he risk everything to keep Kevin on the team? At least if he knows Kevin is his son it makes it personal. Maybe he would help without knowing. But, there’s a much higher chance he’d turn Kevin away if he doesn’t know he’s Kevin’s father. Nathaniel is already taking too many chances. There has to be some substantial personal investment to risk as much as they are asking Wymack to risk. 

“What are two members of the Perfect Court—Kevin? What happened to your hand?” Wymack's eyes are trained on Kevin’s dominant hand.

Kevin looks like a deer caught in the headlights. His bright green eyes are wide and his face is as flushed as Nathaniel has ever seen it. Nathaniel slowly reaches out and lightly rubs his fingers over Kevin’s arm. It causes Kevin’s gaze to snap to him instead, Nathaniel didn’t often touch him, and almost never touched without explicit permission outside the court.

Nathaniel tries to exude calm for Kevin. “We should start at the beginning, Coach Wymack.”

“And who are you exactly?” The coach's eyes are now searching Nathaniel.

Nathaniel briefly shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath. It will be the first time anyone outside of the Ravens and the Yakuza knows who he is. Jean’s fingers brush his wrist once again in support.

“Nathaniel.” He opens his eyes and stares into Wymack’s deep brown ones. “Everything we talk about is strictly confidential. If anyone were to find out about any of this, it would be…catastrophic.” 

Wymack gives him a searching look before his gaze roves over Kevin and Jean. “What’s going on?”

“Before we say anything more, you need to understand how important it is that none of this gets out.” Nathaniel turns quickly to Kevin and switches to French. “Kevin, I have to tell him. It’s the only way to ensure his silence.”

“Nathaniel, what is even going on? What are we doing here? What are you going to tell him?” The sick look on his face shows Nathaniel that Kevin has an idea of what he needs to tell Wymack.

“I made a deal. A way to get you out of the nest. Do you want to tell him Kevin? Or should I?” Nathaniel puts all the authority into the words that he can. In his peripheral vision he sees Abby and Wymack following the conversation like a tennis match.

“What?! No! There’s no way–Riko he will–I can’t–”

“Kevin. Stop.” Nathaniel grasps his forearm. The touch grounds Kevin. “Will you tell him or me?”

“Why?” He sounds so small.

“He needs incentive, to make him understand the gravity of the situation. You’re the incentive.” Kevin looks at him in disbelief, as if he can’t fathom anyone wanting to be involved in this for his sake.

Kevin sighs and closes his eyes tightly before looking back to Wymack. Nathaniel’s hand tightens around Kevin’s forearm.

Kevin takes a deep breath and chokes the words out, “Coach Wymack, almost 21 years ago you knew my mother. I believe she was helping you learn exy. Well, ummm…” Kevin breaks off.

Realization dawns on Nathaniel. “Wait, I have something. Where’s Kevin’s duffle, Jean?”

Jean grabs the bag from where he’d dropped it next to his chair and hands it to him. Nathaniel pulls the book out and passes it to Kevin.

Kevin stares down at the book in his hands.

“Why don’t you let him read the truth for himself, Kev?” Nathaniel prompts.

“Will you all just tell us what is going on?” Wymack’s patience finally reaches its limits.

“This isn’t easy for any of us.” Nathaniel glares at the coach.

“Yeah, well…at least you know what the hell is happening.” He mumbles.

Kevin shakes slightly as he rifles through the book and pulls out the old letter. He shakes more as he hands it over to Wymack. The coach glances from Kevin to the paper and back before taking it and squinting at the page. The words are faded and smeared with time, Nathaniel knows, but still legible. 

As Wymack reads Kayleigh Day’s letter his face becomes more and more red. The furrow in is brow deepens, and when he gets to the end he starts over. He reads and rereads the letter at least as many times as Kevin did when Nathaniel gave it to him years ago. 

Finally, Wymack looks at his son for the first time knowing the truth.

“You…you’re my–” Wymack stutters slightly, unable to finish his sentence.

Kevin inhales deeply and squares his shoulders, “I am Kevin Day. Kayleigh Day’s son. Nearly 21 years ago she taught you exy and when you parted you didn’t know it but you left her with me. I only found out about two years ago.”

Wymack looks down at the letter again and his hand clenches around it. Kevin flinches and reaches out to take it from him, but Wymack looks at him again and loosens his grip. “Why would she do this? Why wouldn’t she tell me? Why would she take you away from me? I didn’t even get a chance–”

Nathaniel hops in before Wymack can continue his spiral down into a rabbit hole of questions that could never be answered since the only person who knew was dead. “You have a chance. This is your chance.”

Wymack’s gaze snaps to him, “Explain.”

“For Kevin’s sake. For your sake, your team’s, Abby’s, ours…nothing that we talk about can ever leave the confidence of the people here. You have to understand what is at risk. If any of what we say gets out, we will all be dead.” Nathaniel’s ice blue eyes hold Wymack’s. He doesn’t blink. The man has to get it. 

“That bad?” Wymack sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I hope you know what you’re doing, kid.”

“So do I.” Nathaniel says. “Before we go any further though, we need one more person to hear this story. I can’t tell it twice. Can you get Andrew Minyard here?”

Wymack just stares at him for a few moments before sighing and pulling out his phone, “Out of everyone.” He grumbles to himself.

“Why does Mnyard need to be here?” Kevin whispers in furious French, probably still remembering the fallout of their first meeting. Nathaniel just winks slyly at him. Kevin’s green eyes are hard and Nathaniel is glad to see some of his poise return, at least for now. 

“Minyard, get your ass to Abby’s.” Wymack speaks into the phone.

“No—don’t interrupt me.” He rolls his eyes.

Nathaniel can’t help but smirk slightly at the thought of Andrew Minyard and this coach dealing with each other on a daily basis.

“Just come. Yes, yes. I’ll supply the booze and ice cream, you impossible shit. 5 minutes.” Wymack throws his phone onto the table and looks back up at Nathaniel. “Now I really hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Don’t worry, Coach.” Nathaniel waves a hand through the air. “We go way back.”

-

Andrew doesn’t saunter through the door for another 20 awkward minutes. The entire time Wymack and Kevin avoid looking at each other while they finish eating. Clearly it would take some getting used to, but at least the truth was out there. Wymack has a stake in the game even if it is new.

Nathaniel looks toward the hallway just as Andrew walks into the kitchen. He freezes when his molten hazel eyes meet Nathaniel’s.

“Oh, oh, oh. What do we have here? A little birdy flew the nest, coach.” Andrew glances around. “Three little birdies, it seems.”

Wymack lets out an exhausted huff and waves his hand through the air. “Just sit down, Minyard, so they will finally tell us what they are doing here.”

“Introductions first!” Andrew exclaims.

Nathaniel knows of the medication he’s on and the effects it’s supposed to have, and by all appearances it works. The last time he’d been around Andrew was after a hard practice, he was more subdued and apathetic. Nathaniel recalls the bland, uncaring gaze unwavering on Andrew’s face throughout the meeting. Now, it’s midday and his medication seems to be at full strength. It stretches a tight grin across his face that Nathaniel thinks looks extremely out of place.

Nathaniel rolls his eyes. “You already know us.”

“Ah, ah. I do not know you.” Andrew points an accusatory finger at Nathaniel, as if it’s his fault.

Nathaniel smirks. “Did a little digging, did you? Find anything interesting?”

Andrew’s smile widens, if that’s possible. “Where are they hiding you, birdy?”

“Hell.” Nathaniel quips.

“Probably where you belong.” Andrew nods sagely.

“If you two are finished.” Jean pipes in. “Nathaniel, we do have somewhat of a schedule to keep.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Nathaniel waves off Jean’s worry. “Look, Minyard. I don’t want to repeat this story more than once, so listen closely. I think you’ll find it’s an…interesting one.”

“As interesting as you?” Andrew laughs.

“You tell me.” Nathaniel says.

It takes what feels like hours for Nathaniel to give them a run down on everything they absolutely need to know. He tells them about Tetsuji and Riko. Of the way the team is run, of its ties to the yakuza, of Riko’s deteriorating psyche and Kevin’s only chance for survival.

When Nathaniel finishes, Kevin looks at him like he’s finally lost it. “I can never come back from this, Nathaniel.”

Nathaniel glares hard at him, “You won’t survive if you don’t. Exy is everything to you.” He doesn’t say that if he doesn’t then he is of no use to the Moriyama’s and therefore no longer an asset. “What will you do without it?”

“My hand is finished.” Nathaniel hears the unease in Kevin’s voice. “The doctors said I’ll be lucky if I gain back any use of it.”

“Then you learn to play right handed, Kevin Day.” Nathaniel growls. “You come back from this or you die.”

Wymack blanches at Nathaniel and he hears Jean’s muttered curses in French. “What the fuck?”

“Oh. I don’t think the blue bird is exaggerating, coach.” Andrew cackles quietly. 

Kevin’s anxiety grows, and Nathaniel shoots a glare toward Andrew who just smiles brightly at him.

Kevin is paler than death. “You’re–You’re leaving me here?”

Shock rocks Nathaniel. Kevin thinks they are abandoning him. As if that was something he or Jean could do. He glances at Jean and sees the sadness in his eyes. Their bonds are built on pain and suffering, blood and bruises, but they are unbreakable. 

“Kevin, you are our brother. We could never leave you. You are one of the only people we have .” Jean whispers strongly in French. Jean is watching Kevin, but Nathaniel knows all the ways he means it. They aren’t losing a teammate. They are losing one of the few people who can truly understand what it is to be owned by the Moriyama’s. Kevin’s never been property in the same way Nathaniel and Jean are, but his shackles have always been just as tight, just as heavy. He’s never known anything else.

“We will always be here, Kevin. But if you come back to Edgar Allan…I don’t think you’ll always be here.” There’s understanding in Kevin’s eyes despite the pain. “We need you, Kev.”

Kevin glances down to where the three Perfect Court members’ hands are clasped together over the table. He gives a curt nod. “How’d you get the Moriyama’s to agree to this?”

Nathaniel slowly pulls his hands back. “That’s not your problem. Your only concern is coming back from this and living , Day.”

“Not my concern? Nathaniel, I need to know that you aren’t going to die for this!” Kevin’s voice is many octaves too high, it makes the group wince.

“Don’t worry, Kev. Riko couldn’t kill me even if he tried. Oh wait.” Nathaniel winks.

“If that’s supposed to put me at ease, it does not.” Kevin crosses his arms over his chest.

Chapter Text

Andrew

Andrew can count on one hand the number of times he’s been rendered speechless out of surprise rather than choice. But, the birdy had definitely kept up his end of the deal. It was an extremely interesting tale full of monsters and battle, though Andrew is still on the fence about whether he thinks the story or Nathaniel is more interesting. He guesses they go hand in hand. no Nathaniel, no story.

Andrew is glad he’s here for this because it is a cause for concern for him. Aaron is here. Nicky is here. He has promises to keep and he can’t keep them if the mob is knocking at their door.

“Hey, little bird. What makes you think Kevin can stay here?” He’s rewarded for his rudeness with a fiery glare. He’d do it again just to get that look from Nathaniel.

“Haven’t you been listening? This is the only place he can go and be safe. It’s all worked out.”

“And what happens if Riko comes for him? How do we know this won’t put ours in danger?” Andrew meant his but he didn’t want to get into that. He couldn’t care less about the rest of them.

“The deal I made with the main branch protects everyone here. Tetsuji and Riko can play their childish games and attempt their manipulation, but Kevin is free. All he has to do is come back from this injury, play exy, and pay the Moriyama’s their due.” Nathaniel pulls his eyes away from Andrew and looks at Kevin. “Kevin, you are free in every way you can be.”

Andrew watched Kevin’s Adam's apple bob as he swallowed and the anxiety in his eyes was plain as day. Heh. Day. Andrew mentally shook off that thought. Now is not the time for puns.

Wymack holds both of his hands up palms forward. His face is red and he looks ready to crack. “Just wait a minute. You’re telling us that the American branch of the Yakuza has its hands in collegiate exy? That you three are… owned… ” Wymack chokes off his words and shakes his head.

Nathaniel looks over at Coach. “Kevin isn’t owned by anyone. He’s free. He’s going to become your assistant coach, and he’s going to recover and be ready to play, right-handed if he must, next fall.”

Wymack is clearly trying to process this. Andrew is trying not to display how utterly disturbed he is by everything. He’s known the evils of mankind for as long as he can remember, but some things are even beyond him.

“Coach Wymack. Get it together.” Nathaniel narrows his eyes at the coach. “You’re his only chance to get out of there. It is extremely important that the truth does not get out. If you have to tell your team some stuff, fine, but none of this can become general knowledge. The Moriyamas have already decided to make it look like a skiing accident. Both Riko and Kevin are going to stay out of the public eye until the spring season starts and that is when a public announcement will be made.” 

Andrew couldn’t hold back his cackle. “A skiing accident?” He turns to number two. “Kev, have you ever even been skiing?”

Kevin slowly shakes his head, which only makes Andrew cackle louder.

“Listen, Minyard. None of this will come back on the team. If Riko tries anything there are ways of stopping him. He is not as powerful as he pretends to be and neither is Tetsuji.” Nathaniel grounds out.

“Then why can’t you and your shadow leave?” Andrew points out.

“We are not the same. But you will have to take my word for it.”

“I don’t make a habit of trusting liars.”

Nathaniel’s blue eyes roll and he looks over to Wymack, dismissing Andrew. “Ultimately, Wymack, this is your decision. But you will have one of the best, if not the best striker on your team next year free and clear of Edgar Allan. Not to mention the other reason you should take him in.”

Andrew seems to have missed some pretty important information based on the looks he was getting from the number two bird and Wymack.

Wymack looks to Kevin, “Can I talk to you for a moment? In private?” His eyes flick to Nathaniel and back to Kevin.

Kevin and Nathaniel share a meaningful look and Nathaniel nods slightly before Kevin follows Wymack into the living room. Abby went about collecting dishes and cleaning up the kitchen. 

“Ms. Winfield?”

“Abby is fine, Nathaniel.”

“Abby, do you mind if Andrew and I talk in private in the backyard?” Nathaniel smiles at her and his eyes widen. He looks innocent and Andrew nearly scoffs at the thought.

“Of course you can.” Abby smiles back.

Andrew clears his throat, “I don’t remember agreeing to that.”

Nathaniel rolls his eyes, “You’ll want to hear what I have to say.”

Andrew couldn’t disagree because up until now everything Tweety has said has been rather intriguing, if disturbing for anyone that isn’t Andrew. He nods and follows Nathaniel through the door that leads from the kitchen to the back porch.

Andrew leans against the porch railing and pulls out his cigarettes. He places it between his lips and cups his hand around his lighter as the flame flickers to life. Nathaniel watches him intently, just out of arm's reach. Andrew notices his deep inhale as the smoke wafts between them, “I’m not going to offer you one.”

“I don’t smoke.” Nathaniel’s voice comes out scratchy. He clears his throat.

“Hmmm…your body language says otherwise.” Andrew points out. Nathaniel looks out at the all-American backyard, complete with a shed and garden.

Andrew continues to take long drags on his cigarette while he waits for Nathaniel to come back from wherever his mind has taken him.

Nathaniel turns and searches Andrew’s gaze for something. Andrew locks his eyes with icy blue. “You don’t owe me anything, but I need you to keep Kevin here and keep him safe…”

“You’re right, I owe you nothing.” Andrew nods.

“What do you want in return?” 

Deals already. Fascinating. “You act like I have any interest in playing bodyguard for a coward.”

“What are you interested in?”

Andrew makes sure his gaze is apathetic when he says, “Nothing.”

“Don’t start lying now. What about a way to help your dear brother get into med school at one of the best schools in the country, he can take his pick, and help to pay for it? I know your mother’s meager life insurance won’t make a dent in the cost.”

Andrew glares at Nathaniel. Little birdy knows how to play. “Did a little digging, did you?” Andrew mocks, and Nathaniel’s grin is a blade. “That will be pointless if he gets killed coming between the mafia and what’s theirs. How can you guarantee that no one here will be put out of commission.”

“Guarantee? No. Especially not if anyone does anything stupid, but I can help mitigate the risks. You keep Kevin here, I warn you about any upcoming road bumps, and your brother gets into med school and money to pay for it.”

Andrew has never been able to turn down a good deal, and all this just to clip a bird's wings? “Deal.”

They don’t shake on it.

-

A little while later, everyone is gathered in the kitchen again. The birdies had a private pow-wow after Nathaniel and Andrew had made their deal. Andrew pretends like he didn’t want to know what they talked about.

“I guess we officially know who number 3 is.” Andrew chuckles. “And here I gave myself the number as a little tribute to Riko for trying to get me to be a part of his little posse.”

Nathaniel smirks, “And here I thought it was because we hit it off so well in Columbia last year.”

Andrew doesn’t roll his eyes at that bullshit, but it’s a near thing. “Call it what you want.”

Nathaniel and Jean share a glance before Jean turns to Wymack and Abby, “We must get on the road. There’s going to be enough to deal with as it is, so we can’t be too late.”

Andrew wonders what they are going to have to endure for helping Kevin get out of Evermore, for being gone so long, and starts making a plan to get information from his new birdy, even if Kevin doesn’t know he’s his yet.

Abby picks up Kevin’s meager amount of belongings and smiles brightly at him, “Kevin, I can show you to my guest room. You can stay there for the break and until Wymack gets you a room on campus for the rest of the year.”

“He’ll be with us.” Andrew butts in. “He’ll take the extra bed in our suite.”

Wymack looks over at him like he’s lost his mind and then looks toward Nathaniel. A flash of too much understanding in his gaze. 

“Well, until that is all sorted he’ll stay here so I can check his hand.” Abby turns and makes her way to the door. Kevin glances between Nathaniel and Jean before giving a sharp nod and following her out of the kitchen.

Nathaniel turns to Wymack, “Kevin has the information for the doctor and physical therapist the Moriyama’s have set up for him. Some of the best in the country. His first appointment is in two weeks.”

“We will make sure he gets healed up.” Wymack agrees.

“Mhm…” Nathaniel rubs a hand down his face and looks more tired than Andrew had yet to see him look. “Try not to kill him. It’ll be difficult because he makes it difficult.” His gaze flicks between Andrew and Wymack.

“Try?” Wymack repeats.

“Yes.”

Chapter Text

Nathaniel

“Hey, birdy. Hold up.” Andrew walks down from the porch to the car Nathaniel and Jean are about to drive away. 

Nathaniel notices him slip something out of his armband and can’t help the tension that floods his body despite the deal and the knowledge that it would be unlikely for Andrew to do anything with his coach and the nurse watching from a few feet away.

Andrew flips the knife up and catches it by the blade in a move that Nathaniel would not have expected after their first meeting when Andrew could barely hold a knife, let alone toss it in the air with any precision. Someone took his critique to heart.

He held the black knife-handle out in front of him, “Thought you might need a little backup.”

Nathaniel glanced up at Andrew, “What makes you think I don’t already?”

Andrew gazed at him knowingly, “Something tells me that even if you do, you don’t right now. And you might need it sooner rather than later.”

Nathaniel knew he was right. He was in too much of a hurry to grab anything but Kevin’s stuff when they left. It was lucky that Jean had thought to make sure they had Nathaniel’s Moriyama provided debit card or they wouldn’t even have gas for the drive back.

“I’ll take it as repayment for giving you advice on your knife skills back at your high school, since you seemed to take it to heart.” He pulls the knife from Andrew’s grip, their gazes still locked and a small genuine smirk on Nathaniel’s face.

-

When they are on their way back to Edgar Allan, Nathaniel shoots a text to Ichirou to update him on how everything went. He didn’t expect his lord to call moments after he sent the message, but he picks up without hesitation when his phone rings.

“My lord.” Nathaniel breaths. His relief at having gotten Kevin out, no matter what is going to happen next, like a weight lifted off his shoulders. He feels lighter even as the shackles tighten around his ankles.

“Nathaniel, how long until you arrive at Edgar Allan?” Ichirou gets straight to the point. His voice more distant and closed off than Nathaniel has ever heard.

“ About 3 hours, sir.” Nathaniel keeps his tone respectful.

“ I trust you’ve been discreet.” 

“ Of course, my lord. Only those who need to know have been involved and they are aware of the…repercussions if any of this were to get out.” Nathaniel agrees urgently.

Ichirou hums across the line. Nathaniel feels his breath come in easier at the display of emotion from his lord. “I cannot allow Riko the opportunity to put the family at risk or destroy our investments any further. If this knowledge were to get out to the public, there would be investigations.”

“What are you going to do, my lord?” Nathaniel asks hesitantly. His experience with change has rarely been positive.

“It’s time my father and I paid a surprise visit to the Nest.” The line goes dead.

Nathaniel stares down at the black screen of his phone, wondering how much worse things could get before they got better. If they ever did.

-

Jean and Nathaniel sit in the car, gazing up at Edgar Allan and dreading going inside. Despite everything that had happened, the feeling of being out of the nest without being surrounded by other Ravens, without the burden of being close to the campus, it had felt like freedom for a moment. Even though they knew they had to come back. Running wasn’t an option. Not with Nathaniel’s little family at risk, not with everything he had compromised for Kevin to get out of the Nest.

“We have to go in, don’t we?” Jean looked over and met Nathaniel’s eyes.

“Yeah, we do, little foot.” Nathaniel pushed his door open and forced his body out of the car. They entered the dark hallways of the nest and it never felt less like home.

-

The first clue that they would have to face the repercussions sooner rather than later was the door to their suite being slightly ajar. Nathaniel pushed it open slowly and in seconds they were on him.

“Jean, go!” Nathaniel shouted through the pain in his abdomen from a fist. Nathaniel strikes hard and fast, Andrew’s knife out and cutting, but he couldn’t stop Nobel and Fuller from getting to Jean while fighting off Riko, Vance, and Corbett. His attention split between trying to hold his own as well as look out for Jean.

A foot to the back of Nathaniel’s knee forces him to the ground and Corbett gets his arm around Nathaniel’s neck in a strong hold. Vance pries the knife out of his hand and tosses it across the room. Nathaniel sees that he got him across the face, nearly through his eye, just centimeters shy in the chaos. Riko is in his line of sight, bruising along his jaw, lip bleeding, and a cut down the side of his arm that was not nearly as deep as Nathaniel wanted it to be. He backhands Nathaniel hard across the face and he feels the blood well into his mouth. He spits it at Riko’s feet and yanks against Corbett’s hold.

Riko jerks his head, teeth bared. Nobel and Fuller pull Jean over. Nathaniel can already see the pain in his partner's body, but they don’t let up. They kick Jean’s crumpled form and Nathaniel can do nothing from his position on the floor. 

“King?” Vance calls out to Riko.

“Get him on the bed. We won’t need the restraints.” Riko grins. “You’ll either obey, Nathaniel, or watch your partner take your place.”

Corbett pulled him up by the hold around his throat and tossed him on the bed. They pulled his hips up and pressed the side of his face against the pillow so he could see where Jean was still crumpled on the ground. Nobel had his foot pressed against Jean’s chest while Fuller laughed at his pain.

Anger, hatred, and frustration all simmered beneath Nathaniel’s skin as he forced himself not to fight. Hands gripped his hips and ass. He felt his pants being pulled down and forced his mind to stay on Jean. On his partner and best friend. 

A loud bang jolts him out of his own head before the real pain could start. The hands are thrown off and Vance lands on the floor next to the bed. Nathaniel flips around to assess the new threat in the room only to be faced with Ichirou Moriyama.

“What the fuck is going on here?” Ichirou hisses at his brother being held at gunpoint by one of his men. There were 4 large bodyguards and 3 of them rounded up the rest of Riko’s Ravens in the room and forced them to their knees.

“I-Ichirou, brother. You don’t under-” Riko stuttered. To Nathaniel’s knowledge this is the first time the brothers had ever spoken directly to each other.

Ichirou sliced his hand through the air to cut off Riko’s pleas. “Enough. I understand that you are trying to ruin this team and put the entire family at risk. First Kevin Day, and now this? Do you know what you could bring down on us if the truth about Day were to get out?” Ichirou snarled. Nathaniel had seen him angry, had seen him torture and kill, but he had never seen him like this. 

Riko lowered his head, cowed in the presence of his brother. Ichirou looked at Nathaniel for the first time and the ferocity was clear in his gaze. Nathaniel pulled himself off the bed and righted his clothing the best he could. His eyes flicked to Jean and Ichirou followed his gaze. “Hikari, check Moreau.”  

Hikari quickly followed his lord's orders, “His pulse is strong, but his breathing is labored. Probably cracked ribs. He needs a doctor.”  

Ichirou nods once. “Get Jiro and get him taken care of. Keep it quiet.” He looks back to Nathaniel, “Come here.” Nathaniel follows the order and as he walks Ichirou pulls a knife from a sheath hidden in his coat. Nathaniel doesn’t allow his steps to falter, but braces himself for the pain.

Ichirou flips the knife so the grip is facing Nathaniel, a gesture to take it reminiscent of Andrew. Nathaniel’s eyes flick to where Andrew’s lay in the corner. Ichirou nods and Nathaniel grasps the hilt, meeting his lord's eyes and understanding before the words leave his mouth, “Don’t kill him…yet.”

Ichirou’s man pulls his gun away from Riko and pushes the younger Moriyama toward Nathaniel. “Pick it up.” Ichirou commands. One of Riko’s knives is at is feet where he dropped it.

Nathaniel doesn’t waste time once Riko has the knife in his hand. He can’t contain it anymore, the wild violence he’s had to choke down for this false king. Riko is no match for Nathaniel, even after the beating and running on almost no sleep. Nathaniel puts him on his back on the floor with little effort. The sharp edge of Nathaniel’s blade slices neatly through the skin of Riko’s throat drawing up a thin line of blood. Nathaniel watches it drip down the side of his neck, watches sweat gather on Riko’s brow and grins. “I know my place, Riko. If you ever touch us, or send someone else to touch us off the court again I will tell Ichirou exactly why your neck is broken.” He leaned in and whispered in Riko’s ear, “And he’ll thank me.”

Nathaniel kept his knife pressed to Riko’s throat, waiting. Reigning in his murderous desire. Adrenaline more than exertion had him breathing heavily against Riko’s skin. In the position of power for once, but knowing who really holds the power is the man standing behind them. Ichirou clears his throat, “You understand, don’t you, little brother?”

Nathaniel watched Riko’s Adam’s apple bob, and pressed his blade harder into his skin. The wretch yelps quietly. “Nathaniel,” Ichirou says. That’s all it takes for him to withdraw the blade, used to Ichirou’s direction and demands. He slips off of Riko and wipes the blade on his pants. He returns to stand in front of his lord and presents his blade to him. There is a small, pleased look on Ichirou’s face. Being in his presence for the first time since he made the deal, he still couldn’t feel anything but gratitude for being able to free Kevin. For finding a way to protect him and Jean. No matter what happened, what he has to do, he could never regret it. 

Ichirou lifted his hand to grip Nathaniel’s chin. It didn’t hurt, but it was just tight enough to remind Nathaniel who was in control, as if he needed it. He pulled Nathaniel’s face towards his and he went up on his toes slightly to allow his lord to reach his mouth without bending too much. Ichirou’s lips brushed his, and he felt nothing. He sighed against Ichirou’s soft lips and kissed his lord, knowing he may as well get used to Ichirou’s desire. 

His lord pulled away and Nathaniel slid down onto this heels. Ichirou’s gaze flicked to where his brother was likely still on the floor, though Nathaniel could not see him. “You see, brother. Nathaniel belongs to me. If I ever find out you’ve touched him again, or commanded anyone else to. You will wish I had allowed him to kill you.” Ichirou turned and strode from the room.

Chapter Text

Nathaniel

Nathaniel doesn’t look back at Riko as he walks out of the room after his lord. Unspoken was the command for him to follow. Ichirou’s men had already taken Jean and left to get him medical attention. Nathaniel was not comfortable with Jean being out of his reach, but he knew he didn’t have a say in it, and Jean would be safer away from whatever was going on for now. 

Nathaniel hadn’t realized that when Ichirou told him the Moriyamas were going to pay the Nest a visit that it would be now. It said a lot about the issues Riko and Tetsuji were creating that Ichirou and Kengo would drop everything to come clean up their messes. Clearly, the main branch was concerned with the state of things.

Nathaniel deferentially followed a few paces behind Ichirou as he easily navigated the dark halls of the Nest. He could hear the steps of one of Ichirou’s other men behind them, assuming the other stayed to keep an eye on Riko. They reached the private elevator that would take them to the East Tower, the only one that allowed access to it. Nathaniel hadn’t been there in a while. He tried to keep any memories of it contained.

When they finally arrived to the tower, it was almost exactly as Nathaniel remembered it sans tarp and dead mother. So much for not thinking about it. He was asleep on his feet. Too much had happened in the last 24 hours and he felt like he hadn’t slept in years, and didn’t know when he would get to. As they entered the main lounge in the tower, Ichirou held up a hand signaling them to stop. He turned and gestured Nathaniel in ahead of him and gave his man orders to stay outside the door, and that no one was permitted entry.

Nathaniel didn’t collapse in the nearest chair like he wanted to. Disappointment was seeping into his bones. He’d failed. He hadn’t let himself feel it because there were more important things to deal with, but now he could not ignore it. He’d failed Ichirou. He’d failed Kevin. He’d failed Jean. He shook his head and sunk to his knees on the wood floor, head bowed.

Nathaniel had his eyes closed, but he could hear Ichirou’s soft steps as he came closer. He stiffened when one of his lord’s hands carded through his messy hair. He grasped it and pulled Nathaniel’s head back and his dark eyes gazed down into Nathaniel’s. 

“I failed you, my lord. I’m sorry. I accept any punishment you see fit.” Nathaniel could barely keep the tremor out of his whisper. He deserved whatever he got. He took his position in the main branch seriously, but it wasn’t enough. His information, choices, knowledge of the situation, none of it was enough. He hadn’t seen this coming. Ichriou was silent for an uncomfortably long time while Nathaniel relived his mistakes. 

“Tell me, Nathaniel, how do you think you failed me?” Ichirou asked, more softly than Nathaniel deserved, but his grip held him in place.

“It all happened so quickly. Kevin…Riko. He’s never lost control like that. But I should have known .” Nathaniel took a shuddering breath. “I should have anticipated this. I should have been more specific about Riko’s breakdown.”

“Has this happened before?” Ichirou asked.

Nathaniel shook his head and his eyes slipped closed, unable to face his lord. Ichirou’s grip tightened painfully and he opened them again. “No, my lord. Not…exactly. Riko has never touched Kevin like that. Jean and I…well we have always been fair game, but Kevin is different. His partner .” He shook his head again in Ichirous grasp. “I know it doesn’t make sense because you’ve already seen what Riko thinks he can do…but to Kevin? I never even considered it would get that bad, that quickly.”

“You were meant to be keeping an eye on our assets here. Why did you keep information from the main branch?” Ichirou ran his hand through his hair again.

Nathaniel paused, unsure if he should admit the truth. “I don’t have an excuse, my lord. At least not one that is good enough.” He whispers.

“Tell me anyway.” It’s an order.

Nathaniel sighed out slowly, “I guess…it all felt petty, my lord. Riko is a narcissistic child. I thought I could protect them. Usually, I am able to keep his attention on me. If it’s only me, then it doesn’t feel like that big of a deal. My place in the organization has always been up in the air, I wanted to make you proud, but I didn’t want to complain about my responsibilities.”  

Nathaniel watched Ichirou nod, but didn’t understand. “What’s done is done. We will be changing things in Evermore. It is long past time to leash Tetsuji and his rabid animal. They have been a liability for far too long, and I do not believe anything you could have done would have changed that. My father has been…firm…in his position on Evermore.”

Nathaniel’s eyes widened, “I’m sorry I was unable to do more, my lord. I will accept any punishment you deem appropriate.”  

Ichirou was shaking his head before Nathaniel finished speaking, “Nathaniel, you’ve done more than you know to get us to a point where we can begin fixing this place. There will be no punishment.”

“But, my lord, I-” Nathaniel was cut off when Ichirou forcefully pulled him up by the back of his neck. He pulled Nathaniel closer so there were mere inches between them.

“Who do you belong to, Nathaniel?” Ichirou demanded.

“You, my lord, you.” Nathaniel stared at Ichirou’s collar.

“That’s right. Me. If I felt you needed to be punished, I would punish you. Do not question me.” His grip tightened further and he pushed Nathaniel back to his knees.

“I apologize, my lord.” His head bowed again.

-

Ichirou had moved to the sofa in the lounge. There was an impenetrable wall of silence before Nathaniel heard Ichirou speaking to someone on his phone in Japanese.

“Update?” Ichirou asked.

He listened quietly, but looked over at Nathaniel still kneeling on the floor. He flicked his fingers toward the bar area. Nathaniel rose and went to make his lord a drink. It took him a minute to locate the glasses, but once he did he pulled a bottle of whiskey from the shelf that held different selections of liquor. He poured two fingers of the whiskey and took it over to his lord. 

“Has the doctor provided information on Moreau?” Ichirou’s voice is flat. Nathaniel hangs on to the side of the conversation that he can hear. Ichirou takes the glass and sets it next to him on the sidetable. He grabs Nathaniel’s wrist and pulls him down onto the sofa next to him. Nathaniel couldn’t help letting his exhausted body sink into the comfort. 

“Two fractured ribs and a mild concussion.” Ichirou repeated the words he heard. Nathaniel knew it was for his benefit, but he appreciated the information. Jean would be okay. They’d come back from way worse.

Nathaniel’s eyes slipped shut against his will and his head fell against the back of the couch.

-

“Nathaniel,” He flinched and peeled his eyes open expecting to find Riko. Instead, Ichirou was in front of him. The events played back in his head as he tried to get his bearings. He’s in the East Tower with Ichirou, Jean is in the hospital, Kevin is in Palmetto, Riko is wherever Ichirou wanted him to be. He took stock of his body. Sore. Every part of him felt heavy. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep and he wasn’t sure how long it had been. What about practice?

“Go get cleaned up. The bathroom is through that door down the hall, first door on the left. It’s fully stocked and you’ll find a change of clothes in there as well.” Ichirou stroked a finger down his cheek. 

Nathaniel forced himself off the couch, “Yes, my lord.”

The shower brought him back to himself better than anything else could have. He lingered longer than he usually does knowing that Jean is out of Riko’s reach. He scrubbed his skin under the scalding water until is was red and washed and rewashed his hair. By the time he got out, he felt slightly more human, but still beyond exhausted. 

-

When Nathaniel entered the lounge again, Ichirou was standing at the window overlooking the court. He gestured for Nathaniel to join him. Nathaniel stopped by his side and looked down at the court. Practice was in full swing despite the obvious gaps left by the Perfect Court’s absence. Tonight, most players would leave for Christmas Break. They only got to leave for a week, the second week of break was dedicated to preparing for the second half of the season. 

Nathaniel watched as Tetsuji took his cane to Niko. Nathaniel flinched, wishing he was there to support him. Nathaniel hadn’t seen a mistake to warrant this level of punishment, Niko had significantly improved since Nathaniel had started helping him. Tetsuji was taking out his own issues on his players, as usual.

“This behaviour is typical of my uncle.” Ichirou didn’t phrase it as a question, but Nathaniel felt compelled to answer anyway.

“We rarely make it through a practice without his cane coming down on someone. Some days are worse than others. He seems to be very angry today. Niko–that player–didn’t even make a mistake.” Nathaniel tried to keep his tone flat. 

Ichirou nodded once and turned away from the display to face Nathaniel.

Nathaniel looked at his collar, “I’m surprised he’s being this aggressive with you here, my lord. Even more surprised how hard he is being on outsiders.” The entire team was used to the cane, the punishments, but there was a level that Tetsuji would not exceed with those that did not belong to the Moriyama’s, and he had already surpassed that in the short time Nathaniel had watched.

“He doesn’t know I am here.” Ichirou told him.

Nathaniel’s eyes flicked to his lord’s. Very little happened in Evermore without Tetsuji knowing, but if anyone could get away with it, it would be Ichirou.

“I wanted to observe before I begin to implement my plans and I didn’t want his interference.” Nathaniel understood that. “Many changes need to be made here. Starting with my uncle and brother. But first, I need to know how deep the rot has spread. Start at the beginning and tell me everything.”

Nathaniel took a fortifying breath. This would be a long story and there would be no cutting corners with Ichirou.

Chapter Text

Ichirou

Ichirou did his damndest to contain his rage while Nathaniel laid out everything that had happened at Evermore since he’d arrived nearly five years ago. There was a lot that Ichirou was aware of, but a lot that he wasn’t. Most of what Nathaniel had suffered under Tetsuji and Riko, he hadn’t been told about, from Nathaniel or otherwise. He wasn’t sure if his father was completely unaware of the rot that had taken hold here, or just chose to ignore it. Ichirou could not understand why it was allowed to get this bad, the risk was too great. 

Not only were the second sons endangering valuable assets, but they were also inviting public scrutiny by allowing it to extend to outsiders. If just one player takes the abuse to the school or the authorities, the entire family could come under fire, and everything would be destroyed. Their business wasn’t exactly above board. 

The mistakes were piling up, and Ichirou wasn’t sure who he was more angry at, himself or his father, for letting it get this far. The power they used to have over all facets of the family had dwindled to almost nothing, and Ichirou would not stand for it.

When Nathaniel is done, they are quiet. They had migrated to the sofa at some point, and Ichirou can tell Nathaniel is exhausted. The short time he fell asleep while Ichirou was getting updated on everything going on was not nearly enough. How could it be?

“You need to sleep.” Nathaniel just looked at him warily.

“I’m fine, my lord.” Nathaniel barely whispered.

Ichirou lifted his hand and slowly swiped his thumb under Nathaniel’s eye. Following the path of the dark mark there, “Soon. I promise. We must discuss some of the changes I plan to implement here at Evermore.” 

Nathaniel’s eyelids fluttered, long lashes brushing his skin, and he sighed slowly. He opened his eyes, determination filling them, and nodded once. “Of course, my lord.”

His obedience and loyalty continued to astound Ichirou. He knew on an instinctual level that Nathaniel would always be loyal to him, but years with their primary form of contact being via telephone had felt like it should force them apart, in some ways it had, but that would never change. Nathaniel knew who he belonged to. Ichirou ached to take him.

“I will be making staffing changes to start. A team manager is necessary as there is no way to oust Tetsuji without drawing too much attention, especially with Kevin Day’s departure. Damage control will already be difficult without causing too much of a stir. Tetsuji’s name is too big.” Nathaniel was nodding along, seemingly agreeing with Ichirou’s reasoning. “Someone who has experience but is loyal to me. I have some ideas about who it may be. I also want to bring in an assistant coach to monitor things. The manager and coach should be able to keep Tetsuji and Riko in line while we work to create a new culture of success without jeopardizing the family.”

“The assistant coach will have enough experience with exy to be helpful as well?” Nathaniel wondered.

Ichirou couldn’t help his chuckle at Nathaniel’s singlemindedness on exy. “Yes, I also have an idea of who that will be. The team manager doesn’t need as much practical experience as the assistant coach.” Ichirou was having a hard time keeping his hands off Nathaniel as they sat together, so close. “In addition, I want Hisaki here full-time. To keep an eye on you specifically.”

Nathaniel smirked slightly, “Protecting your…investment, my lord?”

Ichirou ran his hand up the column of Nathaniel’s throat, feeling his Adam’s apple bob, and gripped his chin lightly. “Yes.” He pulled Nathaniel toward him and kissed his chapped lips. Nathaniel yielded under him and sighed into the kiss. Ichirou slid his tongue across Nathaniel’s bottom lip as he pulled away. Not yet.

Nathaniel

“There’s another matter we need to discuss,” Ichirou commented as Nathaniel slid back onto the couch after getting himself a water and Ichirou a refill on his whiskey. He nodded at his lord’s words. “The Hatfords have been asking questions about you. They found out about Mary a few years ago and have wanted to reach out to you. They’ve been informed that you’re unable to communicate freely, but they have been pushing hard. I extended an…offer to them in exchange for an introduction and communication.”

Nathaniel’s entire body was tense, a coil ready to spring. To run away. Just the mention of his mother, her family. He’d never met any of them, barely remembered his mother’s stories of them, but the thought of having that connection to her both excited and terrified him. How could he look them in the eyes after his part in her murder?

Nathaniel was shaking his head before he recognized that he was moving, “My lord, I don’t th-think–”

Ichirou cut him off, “If they agree to the offer and the terms, you will meet them. After that, we will discuss where to go from there. My father has grown weak. He’s allowed too much to slide, putting the entire family at risk. Your father has grown too strong. He’s a loose cannon and a liability. I will see him removed.”

Nathaniel ground his teeth to stave off his reaction. Why was Ichirou telling him this?

“I want him removed, and who better to do it than his son and his wife’s family?” Nathaniel’s gaze snapped up sharply at Ichirou’s nonchalant words, unsure he understood the Japanese correctly, but he’d been fluent in the language for years. “This is how we usher in my regime, Nathaniel. This is how everything changes.”

Chapter Text

Kevin

“Hello?” Kevin asked into the phone after he picked it up. An unknown number. 

“Hi, Kev.” Kevin gasped and almost dropped the phone in his desperation to clench it closer.

His voice is barely above a whisper, “Nathaniel?” Andrew’s head whipping around to look at him would have been comical if Kevin weren’t distracted. 

“Who else?” Kevin could practically hear Nathaniel’s eyeroll.

Anger flared hot in Kevin’s gut. “Where have you been? I have been trying to get in touch with you and Jean for days!” He yelled. Andrew plugged one ear and scowled at him. He turned away from the frustrating goaltender.

Now, Kevin definitely heard Nathaniel’s eyeroll. “Chill the hell out, Day. You know Jean and I barely have access to our phones at the best of times. You think it’s easier now? ”

Kevin flinched. He should be there. His left hand trembled and throbbed painfully. He walked across the guest bedroom the nurse had put him up in and, holding his phone between his ear and shoulder, grabbed his still mostly packed duffle. He began picking up scattered items and tossing them into the bag as quickly as he could with his injury and the awkward position his phone was in. “I need to come home, Nathaniel. I should be there.”

“No.” Nathaniel growled as a hand slammed the top of the desk near where he was putting items into his bag. The slam brought his attention quickly to Andrew who had come over while Kevin packed and stood near him. 

“We aren’t doing this again. You’re not going anywhere, Day.” Andrew said, his smile fixed firmly on his face from his medication, but his eyes glowering. 

“You can’t be here, Kevin. We talked about this in Palmetto.” Nathaniel’s tone was stern. Kevin leaned against the desk and his head drooped. “Was that Minyard I heard?” Nathaniel changed the topic.

“Yes, he’s here…as usual.” Kevin grumbled.

“Good. That’s the point.” Nathaniel sounded smug.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Nathaniel?” Kevin was so tired.

“Nothing. I just know you so well.” Kevin rolled his eyes.

“You asked him to babysit me? That’s why he won’t leave me alone?”

“I wouldn’t have had to get a babysitter if you didn’t need one.” Kevin crossed his arms and glared at Andrew. He just kept smiling. It was unnerving. 

“The position came with a very good compensation and benefits package.” Andrew said cheerily. “Let me talk to the blue bird.”

Kevin turned his back on Andrew. “Nathaniel, tell me what is happening. Where have you been? How’s Jean? There aren’t any games right now so I can’t even check that to make sure he’s alive let alone you!” Kevin pleaded. 

“We are fine, Kev. I swear. There are…things…happening. I can’t go into details yet. I told Ichirou I would keep it quiet until everything was in place and the announcements started to come out.” Nathaniel said.

“Lord Ichirou is at Evermore? What about…R-Riko?” Kevin almost choked on his name. 

Andrew laughed from somewhere behind him and called “Awe. Worried about your brother , Kev? He really seems to care about you. For shame.”

Kevin clenched his teeth to keep from snapping. It’s hard for him to decide who is more aggravating; Andrew or Nathaniel. Just thinking about the two of them being around each other again gave him a headache.

“Tell Andrew to put his money where his mouth is. He can’t judge you. Riko is…hard to explain. I haven’t seen much of him. I’ll be able to tell you more soon. I just wanted to check in and let you know that we are alive and surviving if not thriving.” Nathaniel said. 

“Can I talk to Jean?” Kevin asked quickly.

“No, he’s in the hospital. He is only allowed communication with me right now. Ichirou had him admitted for medical attention the night we got back to Edgar Allan from Palmetto. Riko and his vultures broke two of his ribs and gave him a mild concussion. He is on the mend, but for now it is easier and safer for him to heal away from the Nest.” Nathaniel informed him. That surprised him. Outside of Kevin going to the hospital when Riko broke his hand, none of them had ever been permitted medical attention outside of Evermore. Especially not for anything less than life threatening.

“Why would he do that?” He questioned though he doubted he’d get much more information.

“Kev, I really can’t say yet. You’ll have to trust me. I will tell you as soon as I can. In a week or so there will be an announcement on your injury and subsequent departure from Edgar Allan. After that, you and Wymack will announce publicly your decision to become an assistant coach at Palmetto State.” Nathaniel said it so nonchalantly, but it was like a punch to the gut. He really wasn’t going home.

He recalled Nathaniel mentioning that when they were talking with Wymack about Kevin staying in Palmetto, but he’d still been getting over the drugs in his system from the surgery and telling Wymack that he’s Kevin’s father. He hadn’t taken him seriously. “Assistant coach…Are they still going with a skiing accident?” Kevin asked. Andrew cackled again behind him.

“I’m sure that was a fun trip, Kev!” Kevin threw a glare over his shoulder at him.

“Yes. It’s the easiest explanation for the injury and why you and Riko both disappeared. You’ll need to make sure you don’t go out too much until after the announcement that you’re in Palmetto. If you absolutely have to, take precautions and make sure you aren’t recognized. The announcements should be before you have to go to the doctor to check on your hand and start your PT.” Nathaniel told him.

Kevin lets out a long slow breath. “Okay.”

“How’re you settling in, Kev?” Nathaniel’s voice is gentler than it had been through the whole conversation so far.

“N–Not very well…” He whispered. “14 years, Nathaniel. I’ve never been…alone.”

“You’re not alone, Kev.” Nathaniel said firmly. “You have your father, who you should build a relationship with. You have a team to help.”

“It all just feels…wrong. I don’t know how to build a relationship with him. Maybe if I could play, but…” Kevin’s heart ached for his sport.

“You will play.” Nathaniel’s voice held no doubt. Like he could not imagine there being another future for Kevin. Probably because there couldn’t be.

Kevin sighed and looked down at his hand. It was completely wrapped up so he couldn’t see the damage, but he knew what was under the bandages. “I’ll never be the same, Nathaniel.”

“No, Kevin. You won’t.” He said. Kevin flinched before Nathaniel continued. “You’ll be better. I’m sure it hasn’t hit you yet, but you’re free. Free to become the best striker to ever play the game. Riko and Tetsuji aren’t there to hold you down anymore. But it has to come from you , Kev. Your passion, your skill, your drive. I have no doubts, and you shouldn’t either.”

A single tear rolled down his face before he wiped it away quickly on his shoulder. He nodded, forgetting that Nathaniel wasn’t there to see him.

They were silent for a few moments before Nathaniel said, “Put Minyard on the phone.”

Andrew

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t a little birdy. Long time no talk.” Andrew grinned. His medication had a tight grasp on him, there was no point in fighting it.

“I have a name you know.” Nathaniel said blandly.

Andrew gasped in mock surprise, “No way, birdy. I had no idea! How’s the Nest treating you?”

Andrew could hear the laughter in Nathaniel’s voice, “Same old. Dark, dreary, dangerous.”

“Alliteration. How fun!” Andrew smacked his hand down on the table again and watched Kevin jump.

“Minyard, how’s Kevin doing really?” Nathaniel asked seriously.

“Oh, you know, he’s only tried to escape twice. We are working on it.” Andrew answered.

“That’s what I thought.” Nathaniel sighed loudly into the phone. “I don’t have long. But, I will get back in touch soon. There’s not much you need to know yet. Ichirou, the Yakuza heir, is implementing changes. It’s a mess. Just keep him there and as soon as anything comes up, you’ll be the first to know. Get this number from Kevin. Text me so I have yours.”

Andrew watched his fingers tap a beat slowly into the wooden desk. He recalled those expressive blues with perfect clarity and clenched his eyes shut against the memory. “Sure thing, Tweety!” 

“Another nickname? Really? What’s a tweety?” Nathaniel sounded bemused.

Andrew gasped. “I weep for your life, little bird. I really do.” He heard a click through the speaker and knew that Nathaniel had ended the call. He cackled loudly, startling Kevin again.

“This year is shaping up to be really interesting, Raven. Let’s see if it lasts.”

Chapter Text

Nathaniel

The smack of the ball hitting the plexiglass wall of the court and rebounding rang in Nathaniel’s ears as he ran down the court. Every 10 steps he sent the ball toward the wall and swiftly shifted to swipe the rebound before it hit the ground. Over and over. Run, rebound, repeat. He’d lost count of how many times he’d been up and down the length of the court, but if it stopped the quiet would swallow him whole. He was alone.

The past week Ichirou had been working almost around the clock to get the pieces of his plan into place. For the most part, Nathaniel had been with him. It was just like old times before he came to Evermore. Ichirou taking care of Moriyama business, Nathaniel at his side doing whatever his lord asked of him. When Nathaniel wasn’t needed, he was on the court where he had free reign with the rest of the team gone. He felt his partner’s absence like a missing limb. Sometimes, he forgot Jean wasn’t right there with him, went to pass and…nothing. He knew Jean would be back soon, but that didn’t stop the loneliness from seeping under his skin.

He pushed his legs faster, threw the ball harder, and tried to outrun his thoughts. He needed Jean. He would’ve been angry about the inherent dependency if he didn’t know Jean felt the same. 

The sudden sound of his phone ringing from where he’d left it on the home bench startled him so badly that he stumbled and the ball bounced out of his racket. He cursed himself for being in his head too much. 

He quickly righted himself and sprinted toward the door near the home bench. He got to his phone just as it started ringing a fifth time. Jean.

“Hey there, little foot.” Nathaniel said in French, more cheery than he felt.

“Firecracker,” Nathaniel could hear the small smile in his voice and it made him feel instantly better. Not great. But better.

“How’s lazing about?” Nathaniel asked.

Jean grumbled nonsense then said “I’m going insane. If it weren’t for physical therapy I’m pretty sure I would have lost it by now.”

Nathaniel chuckled. As much as Tetsuji and Riko push them, they’d gotten so used to it that being sedentary or not having a strict schedule felt jarring. “I miss you too, little foot.”

“I didn’t say I missed you. A break from you and your attitude was much needed thank you very much.” Nathaniel outright laughed at that. He could see Jean standing in front of him with his arms crossed and chin lifted.

“You’ve always been an awful liar, Jean. You aren’t fooling anyone.” Nathaniel said through his laughs. “I did hear that you’re coming home next week.”

Jean sighed and Nathaniel heard the relief in it. “I thought I would at least get a couple weeks away from you, partner.”

“Oh, stop pretending. You are so excited to see me. There’s so much to talk about before everyone comes back from break. There have been so many changes. I know I haven’t been able to say much yet, but as soon as your home I’ll fill you in on everything.” Nathaniel told him.

Jean couldn’t even contact anyone besides Nathaniel, but Ichirou still wanted to keep everything under wraps until the perfect time. In just two days Tetsuji would make the announcement about Kevin and Riko. Then Kevin and Wymack would have a press conference to cover Kevin’s move to Palmetto. Everything was going to happen quickly from there. The changes in staffing will need to be filed with the ERC and that will come out to the public as well. It was going to be a fiasco and Nathaniel was just happy he still had some time until he would be forced into the spotlight.

“How’re you holding up, firecracker?” Jean asked quietly.

Nathaniel smiled slightly, “Hanging in there. It will be nice to have someone to practice with again.”

“Of course that’s what you’re worried about. You’re as bad as Kevin.” Jean grumbled.

Nathaniel gasped loudly, “How dare you! No one is as bad as Kevin ‘exy is my one true love’ Day!” 

“You give him a run for his money.” Jean laughed. The pressure in Nathaniel’s chest fell away as he talked to his partner. The one person who knew him better than anyone else and has always been there no matter what.

-

A while later, Nathaniel was sitting on the bench still chatting with Jean when Ichirou showed up with a man and a woman Nathaniel didn’t know, and Hisaki in tow. “Hey, Jean. Lord Ichirou is here. I have to go.”

Jean sighed, “I’ll see you soon, firecracker. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“I always do everything you wouldn’t do.” Nathaniel reminded him.

“I know.” There was another tired sigh before the click signaling that Jean had hung up.

Nathaniel stood and bowed as Ichirou approached. He stayed there for a moment with his arms tight to his sides.

“Nathaniel,” Ichirou said.

Nathaniel stood up and took in his lord’s appearance. He was in a black suite with a black undershirt. His dark hair looked slightly dissheveld as though he’d been running his hands through it. “Did you need me, my lord?”

Ichirou smirked lightly, more of just a twitch of his lips. Most people wouldn’t have noticed, but Nathaniel was well acquainted. Ichirou spoke in English, surprising him. “I wanted to introduce you to a few people. Nathaniel Wesninski, this is Reina Izumi and Grant Jones. They will be the new assistant coach and team manager respectively.” 

Nathaniel bowed quickly to each of them, “It is nice to meet you both.” It took a moment for the names to register, but when they did he had to stop his jaw from dropping. “Reina Izumi? Of the Detroit Wolves?”

Reina laughed, her smile big and bright against her dark skin. “In the flesh. Of the Edgar Allan Ravens now, though.”

Nathaniel’s eyes flicked between Ichirou and Reina. “My lord, how did you–” He stopped abruptly, not wanting to question Ichirou.

Ichirou just grinned at Nathaniel’s fanaticism. “Reina has been part of the main branch for a long time.”

“I cannot wait to learn from you, Ms. Izumi. I’d invite you to the court now, but I’m assuming you’re not just here for introductions.” Nathaniel said.

“Oh, please. Coach Reina is fine! Don’t worry, I’ll start whipping this team into shape soon enough.” She winked and Nathaniel believed her. Despite her friendly and outgoing personality, she was known as a strong, persistent, and strategically aggressive player during her time in the national league. Nathaniel knew a few years ago she had been forced into early retirement due to a hit that caused damage to her vision, though he was unsure the extent of the damage. He couldn’t wait to work with her.

Ichirou cleared his throat and gestured to Grant Jones, “Grant has a background in sports business that will lend well to how we want to increase the marketing and profits of the Ravens. He is also a trusted and loyal member of the main branch.” 

Jones smiled at Nathaniel. “Lord Ichirou has told me about your idea for a rivalry between Kevin Day and Riko Moriyama. The idea has potential as long as it is marketed properly and the image of the Ravens remains strong. That’s what I’m here for.”

Nathaniel nodded, the look in Jones’ eye said he was more than just a sports businessman and team manager, he was no stranger to holding his own in unfriendly company.

“I know I mentioned this before, but from now on Hisaki will be your handler, Nathaniel. If you leave campus, I expect him to be with you. Around the Nest, he will be there. I won’t underestimate my uncle and his nephew, so I expect you to take appropriate precautions and make sure you are with Hisaki as much as possible. It’s in Tetsuji’s and Riko’s best interests to submit to my reign, but I won’t allow chances to be taken with my assets any longer.” Ichirou informed him. There was a rigidness in his posture that spoke warning.

Chapter Text

Kevin

Kevin was not hyperventilating. He was not. 

“Here ya go, Raven. A paper bag to hyperventilate your lungs into.” Kevin looked up and glared at Andrew just as a wadded up brown bag smacked him in the forehead.

Kevin stood up and paced the length of the cousins’ suite. Once, twice, three times. He didn’t take his eyes off the screen. On it, Tetsuji and Riko had just entered and taken seats at the long table setup for the conference. There were murmurs and flashing lights as reporters questioned what was going on, why the unexpected press conference, where was Kevin Day who Riko had rarely been seen without publicly. 

Nathaniel had texted Kevin and Andrew with when to tune into ESPN, explaining that he’d taught himself group chats with the new phone Lord Ichirou had given him. Kevin wasn’t sure there were two worse people to be in a group chat with, and he’d complained in all caps, at length.

It was Sunday morning almost 2 weeks since the banquet and scrimmage from hell. 2 weeks since Kevin had seen Riko. 2 weeks since he’d seen Nathaniel or Jean. 2 weeks since he’d been out of the Nest and it wasn’t getting any easier. Andrew was an almost constant presence, a mockery of the Raven’s partner system. Kevin wasn’t looking forward to the rest of the Foxes coming back next week and officially meeting Nicholas Hemmick and Aaron Minyard. The cousins had flown to Germany the day after the banquet. 

Tetsuji’s monotonous voice pulled Kevin back to attention. He had to stop himself from standing at attention as if he were on the court at practice listening to Tetsuji berate them for their failures. Tetsuji was stoic and dead-eyed, while Riko simmered next to him, not nearly as skilled as masking his feelings as his guardian. “Welcome,” Tetsuji greeted the gathered reporters. “The Edgar Allan Ravens appreciate your attendance. We are here to announce an important change to the team. Following the Eastern Conference banquet almost two weeks ago, Riko Moriyama and Kevin Day went on a skiing trip to recuperate from the season and take some much needed time off. Regrettably, on the trip, Kevin Day shattered his left hand in a skiing accident.”

There was a collective and immediate gasp from the gathered press that turned into rising shouts of questions being asked.

Tetsuji remained unmoved and gazed apathetically out at them. He raised up a hand and waited until the crowd quieted. “There will be time for questions at the end of the announcement. Following the accident, Kevin was treated immediately by the best doctors and surgeons in the country. Unfortunately, with these types of injuries it is highly unlikely he will recover completely, but his tenacity and resilience has always been admirable and we hope for the best with his recovery. That being said, he will not play in the spring season. We will now open the floor to questions.”

Having the worst day of his life boiled down to a regrettable accident lit fury in Kevin the likes of which he’d never felt and he wondered if this is what simmered beneath the surface for Nathaniel all the time. How could he live with it?

Andrew walked over from where he had been digging around in the fridge and looked at Kevin closely. “Hmmm…that’s new. Didn’t know you had it in you.”

Kevin grunted and went to push him out of his face, but Andrew was already out of his reach. “Can’t you just leave me alone?”

“No can do, Raven. Wouldn’t want to end up on the blue bird’s hit list or worse…lose my job!” Andrew chirped happily.

“I’m sure it wouldn’t be anything new.” Kevin scoffed and turned his attention back to the television as Andrew laughed.

There were reporters all over waving, trying to get the master’s attention. Someone was handed a microphone before the camera shifted to capture their profile. “Good morning, Coach Moriyama, Alyssa Martin with SportsNews. Where is Kevin Day now?”

“This has been, understandably, a difficult time for him. He is currently recovering, but we decided it would be best for him to take some time before he had to face the press.” Kevin had no trouble reading through the master’s false sincerity to the resentment underneath. They wouldn’t have allowed him to hide from the press for this long if he was still at Evermore.

“Riko, Lucas Martinez with GoalBound News. What does this mean for the Perfect Court and how will the loss of arguably the best striker in the game impact the upcoming playoff season?”

Kevin froze. This was why he was in this position in the first place. Riko couldn’t be bested. He wouldn’t stand for it. He watched as Riko visably took a deep breath to reign in his anger.

“Kevin’s loss is an awful but surmountable obstacle. The Pefect Court is down a key piece, but the Ravens will remain strong in his absence and become even better…for him.” His voice was unyielding.

Kevin tuned out the rest of the conference. He couldn’t focus on the questions as Riko’s words played over and over in his head.

He finally tuned back in when Tetsuji called the conference to end. “That’s all we have time for today. Once again, the Ravens appreciate your attendance and respect in this tumultuous time.” The Master rose from his seat and Riko followed him off the stage.

Kevin was grateful that it was over, but it was his turn next. He was terrified.

-

Just two days later Kevin and Wymack stood on the Foxes court. Unlike the Raven’s conference, there were only two reporters and the ESPN camera crew present to broadcast the announcements. Of course, Andrew refused to allow Kevin to come unless he was present as well. He stood outside the court near the home bench, watching the proceedings with a sharp gaze. Wymack and Charles Whittier, the president of Palmetto State University, decided to keep the number of outsiders on campus to a minimum during this announcement. He’d spent so much time trying to avoid David Wymack since he got to Palmetto, that it was extremely awkward now being next to him and expected to make this announcement like it is a new beginning. 

“Kevin, let me do most of the talking. I know you memorized the Moriyama’s script. Let’s stick to it as best as possible and get out of here.” Kevin nodded along with Wymack. He was grateful that he would have to say very little and that there would not be a time for questions to respect Kevin’s recovery mentally and physically.

Some ESPN crew members came up and hooked microphones up to their clothing. After that, things moved quickly. Wymack and Kevin were placed in front of the fox paw logo painted on the court wall. 

“We’re ready when you are, Coach.” One of the crew members called.

“Let’s get it done.” Wymack grunted.

The crew member counted them down. Kevin pulled all of his considerable media training to the front. 

Wymack waited a beat before he began, “Welcome, all. I am Coach David Wymack of the Palmetto State University Foxes exy team and I am here today with Kevin Day. We have a big announcement to make. Recently, Kevin was involved in a severe skiing accident while on Christmas break. He will not be playing this season, but has instead agreed to sign-on as an assistant coach for the Foxes. We are excited to utilize his talent and strategy for the game here at Palmetto State.”

Kevin smiled and nodded appropriately as Wymack spoke. When he finished, Kevin started. “I will miss my family in the Raven’s organization, but at this time I feel my skills can be best utilized with the Foxes where I can instill a deeper sense of the game and help a team with great potential grow.” Kevin let out a slow breath.

“Speaking for the Foxes and, I’m sure Kevin agrees, we would all appreciate the exy community’s support, understanding, and respect in this time of healing and transition.” Wymack allowed a small smile to cross his face as one of the crew members called the end of the broadcast.

The reporters lingered, hoping to get a little extra time with Wymack and Kevin, but Wymack took his shoulder after the crew removed the microphones and quickly ushered him out of the court calling behind him to the reporters that they said all they had to say. 

Kevin walked without really noticing, his feet moving on autopilot. When they exited the court Andrew was there, looking up at him. “Short and sweet. Just like me.” Andrew grinned brightly.

That broke through Kevin’s detachment. He rolled his eyes, “I’m positive no one has ever called you sweet.”

“I am what I eat.” Andrew waved him off like a fly. “Now let’s go. I’m getting hives from being here during my time off.”

Wymack grumbled and stopped Kevin with the hand still on his shoulder, “Kevin, I think we need to talk. Privately.”

Kevin gulped, and saw Andrew look back toward them. He didn’t know why he was so worried about trying to build a relationship with Wymack. He isn’t used to having a parental figure, and Wymack seems too good to be true. There has to be something wrong with him. Maybe Nathaniel’s cynicism rubbed off on him, but even Nathaniel had believed in this man being a good person, and there were so few people Nathaniel could call good.

“Ah, ah, ah, Coach. The Raven doesn’t go anywhere without me. I thought you figured that out.” Andrew smiled.

“This is none of your business, Minyard.” Wymack grumbled.

Kevin waved Andrew off. “Can we maybe wait? Until the Foxes come back at least? Then we can…talk.”

Wymack studied him for a moment before nodding his head and removing his hand. Kevin followed Andrew out of the stadium and to his car.

Nathaniel 

Nathaniel watched Kevin and Coach Wymack’s announcement in the East Tower with Ichirou. Nathaniel could see right through Kevin’s media persona down to the tension and sadness underneath. It was the first time he’d seen Kevin since they’d dropped him off in Palmetto, and Nathaniel could tell he was holding on by a fraying thread. He usually wasn’t one for hope, but he’d made an exception in this case. He hoped that when the Foxes got back and the season started and Kevin could refocus on exy, that he would settle in and start pulling himself together, because right now Nathaniel was feeling he would have to go from protecting Kevin to putting a knife in his back. He couldn’t allow that.

Ichirou glanced over to him when the broadcast ended, “Day does not seem to be holding up well. You remember the agreement, correct.”

Nathaniel stiffened. He wished his lord was not good at reading people, but to be the heir to an empire like the Moriyama’s, he had to be. He nodded slowly, “Of course, my lord. He just needs more time.”

“His deadline will begin approaching quickly. Hopefully, you’re right about him. For your sake.” Ichirou spoke gently in spite of the topic.

Ichirou cupped Nathaniel’s cheek and looked into his eyes. The dark pools were fathomless. “You understand why.” It wasn’t a question. There could be no loose ends, not when it came to the already tumultuous situation with the Ravens, and Kevin without exy would be the definition of a loose end.

“I do, my lord.” Nathaniel said quietly. Ichirou pulled him closer and kissed him slowly. Nathaniel allowed himself to melt into the gentleness he’d become used to from Ichirou’s kisses. He’d never been touched like this by anyone else, and it kept him in the present. This was Ichirou, he had no right to refuse this when his little family was still in-tact due to Ichirou’s willingness to intervene and fix the Raven’s broken system.

Chapter Text

Nathaniel

Nathaniel was sprinting before he could even register his movement. 

Jean. He’s here . 

It was all he could think. He hadn’t seen the large backliner looking so filled out and healthy …ever. But particularly not since he’d arrived at the Nest. Jean’s eyes widened, but he immediately dropped the duffle he was carrying and caught Nathaniel as he bounded into his arms. His loud “oof” was music to Nathaniel’s ears and he took a single step back but remained steady on his feet, a backliner through and through.

“Lord, firecracker, lucky you weigh nothing or any healing my ribs have done would be ruined!” Jean gasped.

Nathaniel couldn’t find it in him to feel bad, so he just buried his face deeper into his partner’s shoulder and inhaled his clean scent. 

There was the sound of a throat clearing from somewhere behind Jean. Nathaniel immediately dropped his legs to the ground and took a step backward. He saw Ichirou, a dark look in his eyes that he couldn’t decipher. 

“That was quite the…reunion.” Ichirou said in clipped Japanese as he closed the distance between himself and the backliners. He stopped close to Nathaniel, slipped his arm around his waist and tugged him close. Nathaniel’s back met Ichirou’s chest and he felt heat rise in his face and refused to meet Jean’s eye. He hadn’t told Jean in so many words the cost of getting Kevin out. He wouldn’t know how to put it into words if he wanted to. Nothing has been explicitly said, but Ichirou’s made his intentions known. Nathaniel is just bracing for impact. 

When Nathaniel finally looks back at his partner, Jean’s eyes are on Ichirou’s hand clenched tightly on Nathaniel’s hip. He looked pained.

“Moreau, go put your stuff away. I’ll return your partner shortly to fill you in.” Ichirou eyed Jean coldly and Nathaniel wanted to shield his partner but he didn’t understand what caused his lord to act like this.

Jean looked between Nathaniel and Ichirou. Nathaniel forced what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “I’ll be there soon.” He said in Japanese.

Ichirou’s grip tightened further and Nathaniel steeled himself against a flinch. Jean nodded slightly before he picked up his duffle and gave Lord Moriyama a deep bow. He walked by them toward their room. Nathaniel did not turn around to watch him go. 

Finally, Ichirou’s grip loosened and he spun Nathaniel in his arms. The kiss was rough, almost angry. Nathaniel tried not to tense at the harsh treatment. This was Ichirou. But it wasn’t what he was used to from him.

Ichirou’s tongue forced its way into Nathaniel’s mouth to slide against his. There was no fight for control. Ichirou was always in control. A small gasp escaped Nathaniel and Ichirou growled into the kiss and pressed closer. Nathaniel was surrounded, completely engulfed in Ichirou’s heat. He could feel every line of Ichirou’s hard body against him. Ichirou’s arm still wrapped tightly around his waist now caused his back to bend as he leaned further into Nathaniel. Consuming him. 

Nathaniel pulled his mouth away from his lord’s and panted harshly. Ichirou took to biting down his exposed neck, not bothering with gentleness. “You’re mine, Nathaniel.”

“Yes, my lord.” Nathaniel trembled in Ichirou’s fierce hold. He didn’t understand. Nathaniel knew who he belonged to, he’d always known.

Suddenly, Ichirou huffed out a chuckle and pulled back slightly to look at Nathaniel. Nathaniel just gazed back, confused. Ichirou shook his head and chuckled again. “I apologize, Nathaniel. I admit to being a bit…possessive when it comes to you.”

“I-I don’t understand, my lord.” Nathaniel looked down at the buttons on Ichirou’s shirt.

Ichirou’s hand slid down the side of Nathaniel’s face before resting on his jaw and tilting his head up slightly. “You’re mine,” he repeated. “Seeing others touch you is unpleasant.”

The answer was right there. Just out of his grasp. “You mean…Jean? But he’s my partner?”

Ichirou’s smile was soft. He bent down and kissed Nathaniel gently, barely a brush of the lips. “Too pure by half.” And Nathaniel definitely disagreed with that.

-

Jean 

Jean was pacing across the floor of the room he hadn’t seen for weeks. It was still weird to have been away for so long. Years of being stuck here, how could he have been out for weeks?

He pounced on Nathaniel the moment the door shut behind him. “What the hell was that, Nathaniel?”

Nathaniel’s deep blue eyes were wide. There were red marks up and down his neck and his lips looked swollen, but not like they were from a hit. Jean would know. Anyone else would have missed Nathaniel’s flinch, but Jean’s eyes tracked the movement like a hawk. He sometimes thought he knew Nathaniel better than he knew himself. He definitely looked at him more often.

Jean raked his fingers through his too long hair. It was past time for a cut. “What did you do, firecracker?” His mind flashed back to the hospital after the scrimmage that changed everything. “What was the price of Kevin’s freedom?”

“Me.” Nathaniel croaked. It sounded like the word was ripped from his chest. “But…Jean…I’ve always been his. You know this.”

“N-Not…Not like this.” Jean’s eyes met Nathaniel’s and he saw the truth reflected back at him in the pools.

Nathaniel shakes his head and his eyes are shadowed in a way they hadn’t been around Jean in years. Nathaniel forced it all down deep. Jean took a deep breath to be what he needed to be for his stubborn, selfless partner. “Come on, firecracker. Let’s talk.”

-

Stunned was too weak a word to describe how Jean felt after Nathaniel had caught him up on everything he couldn’t tell him while Jean was away. Riko and Tetsuji sequestered only the lord knows where? Ichirou moving the pieces into place to steal his father’s title? New staff members meant to keep Tetsuji and Riko under control as much as possible? It was too much. He trusted his partner implicitly, but part of him still didn’t believe it.

“What does all of this mean?” Jean whispered, afraid to shatter the truths he just learned.

Nathaniel snapped in his face, twice. “It means, you are going to go out on that court this season and do what the Ravens do every year. You win. You prove to Lord Moriyama his intervention will make us stronger and more successful.” 

“But Riko–” 

Nathaniel interrupts him, “Will talk himself into an early grave soon enough.”