Chapter Text
Chapter seventeen: Matthias
This is brilliant.
Matthias thought happily to himself. All day after practice, Matthias had been frustrated. After yet again forfeiting against his unmotivated teammates, he had started to accept that maybe it was truly hopeless. He had spent months wracking his brain on ideas to make the Ketterdam College team better, but this training was the last straw.
Regrettably, he took it out on Kaz. However, this quarrel with him was what gave Matthias the idea in the first place. He didn’t have the time, energy or the means to be the captain and coach of the team. It was too difficult when he was also training and trying to ensure that he didn’t injure himself for club games. Nikolai was never going to try. He had no reason to. But Kaz?
If Matthias could somehow convince Mr Botkin to allow Kaz to become a coach under the supervision of Nikolai, maybe there was hope. They still had time to pull themselves together. There were still weeks of training before the season started. He just needed to get everyone on board.
Matthias couldn’t think of anyone better. Kaz was experienced in rugby, and he was a player before his injury. A good one at that. He also used to attend training sessions and provide advice for their old team, which actually impacted the way they played. Kaz had the knowledge and leadership to be a proper coach, a coach this team needed. A coach Matthias couldn’t be.
With this newfound hope, he needed to speak to Kaz immediately. He was internally grateful that his dad was too busy to pick him up. Messaging Kaz that he was on his way to his house, Matthias hopped in his car.
He hadn’t had this energy in a while. Once again, rugby had brought up an intense feeling of passion that he often missed. He felt it far too rarely.
On his way to Kaz’s house, he heard his phone begin to ring. Picking it up, he pressed it to his ear.
“Don’t come to my house, I’m not there,” Kaz’s crackling voice said on the line. Then he promptly hung up.
“Wha- Kaz!” Matthias shouted, slamming his steering wheel. Fucker.
This couldn’t wait. Not only would Matthias not have the free time to do this later, but this needed to be confirmed before he talked to Mr. Botkin on Monday. It was Sunday. He needed Kaz’s approval before he did anything. Matthias was determined to make this happen.
He considered his next move. So if he wasn’t at his house, where would he be? Matthias thought about calling Jesper. Then remembered he had a date after training with some girl. He could ask Nina? But she wouldn’t know where he is. So who would?
A thought struck him. Maybe Inej knows.
Feeling gleeful, he decided to call Nina. He didn’t have Inej’s number, but Nina could be hanging out with her that day. Even if they weren’t, Nina could contact her.
Also, maybe he wanted to see Nina a little bit, too.
Matthias turned the car around and was back in the game. Dialling Nina’s number, he prayed she answered.
“Got something important to ask me?” Nina’s flirty voice said.
“Yes! I actually do, I’m heading to your house,” Matthias exclaimed. He was so caught up that he barely noticed her flirtations.
“That’s very oddly spontaneous of you,” Nina laughed and sounded slightly shocked. Matthias found himself blabbering on about his ideas.
“Okay, I’ll message Inej. Let me put some clothes on and I’ll meet you outside,” Nina said abruptly before hanging up.
Matthias’s checks flared at the mention of her clothing. Or lack of.
He got there as fast as he could, and sure enough, Nina was exiting her house as he pulled up. She briskly walked to his car before climbing in. For supposedly lying in her bed for the last hour, she looked very well put together. Matthias realised he was staring.
“Don’t let my beauty distract you from your mission, Matthias,” Nina winked. “Turn left here. Inej’s house isn’t far.”
Matthias coughed, “Right, of course.”
He pulled off the curb and turned left.
“Did Inej respond?” Matthias asked.
“Er- yes. She doesn’t know where he is exactly, but she does have Kaz’s number now,” Nina said whilst typing on her phone.
“So he finally got her number, huh?” Matthias muttered to himself. It would be funny if Kaz wasn’t being so ominous right now.
“What?” Nina asked absentmindedly.
“Oh, nothing,” Matthias waved her off. “Is this it?”
“Yep.”
It didn’t take long for Matthias to get to Inej’s house; the problem was recognising it. She lived in a very small square house that was directly connected to all the other houses on the street. They all looked identical. Luckily, a girl sporting grey trackies and a navy blue hoodie walked out of the house. It was Inej; she jogged lightly over to get into the backseat.
“Inej! My love, how are you?” Nina squealed, leaning over to hug her.
“Uh, good…” Inej replied, hugging her back, frowning. “Is there a reason for this? She told me ‘Urgent Kaz danger alert?”
Matthias sighed and shook his head. “That’s slightly dramatic, although I do need to speak with him today. It’s about rugby. You have his number, right?” Matthias looked at her pleadingly.
Inej nodded, “I do, but don’t you all have his number too?”
“He hung up on me,” Matthias confessed.
“I blocked him a month ago. Don’t think he even noticed,” Nina scoffed. “I guess I should unblock the bastard.”
“Anyway,” Matthias rolled his eyes. “I said I needed to speak with him, and he told me he wasn’t home and hung up. Do you have any idea where he might be?”
Inej pondered for a moment, “I mean…” She suddenly looked extremely uncomfortable and glanced down at her phone. “I can text him…? Do you think he’d respond?”
“He bloody better,” Matthias uttered. Inej flipped open her phone and found his contact.
“We barely speak over text, so what do I say?” Inej asked, looking lost. “Urgent, Matthias, danger alert?”
“No, no!” Nina tutted. She reached over and grabbed her phone. “Let the player on the pitch.”
Inej and Matthias shared a look as Nina quickly typed something and looked up with an evil grin. Matthias suddenly had a bad feeling.
“Nina… What did you text?” Matthias inquired suspiciously.
Nina shrugged, “Just something to get his attention.”
“’ SOS, I need help, please. I wouldn’t text you if it wasn’t urgent. Respond asap! Nina, it sounds like I’m dying or kidnapped!” Inej shrieked. She buried her head in her hands.
“Well, he’s never going to respond otherwise,” Nina rolled her eyes, leaning back in her seat. “Trust me, I know what texting Kaz is like. Matthias does too.”
Matthias did have to agree, Kaz avoided non-life-threatening texts like no one else he had ever met. Despite living under a rock, somehow, he always knew everything anyway. Like a shark, thriving in its own isolation. It was infuriating.
“He’s never gonna-” Inej tried to respond. Before she could, a ding went off. Inej looked down at her phone.
“What did he say?” Matthias asked her.
“He said: ‘What happened, send me the address now’,” Inej responded. Nina cheered.
“Aha! And you all thought it wouldn’t work,” Nina laughed manically. “Who are the idiots now?”
“We never called you an idiot,” Matthias sighed.
“Well, sometimes it’s about how they make you feel,” Nina batted her eyes. “And how do I make you feel, Matthias?”
Matthias felt himself flush.
“Can we stay on track?” Inej deadpanned, looking irritated. “What do I say to him? What address? He already knows where I live.”
Matthias and Nina fell silent. “Hang on, give me that,” Nina tried to reach over to take Inej's phone again. Inej snatched it away before she could.
“No, last time you-” Inej and Nina began struggling for the phone. Nina got a firm hold on it, but Inej had surprising grip strength.
“Matthias! Back up now!” Nina cried. Matthias felt caught in between, but he obeyed and snatched the phone out of the grips of the two of them.
He handed it to Nina. Inej threw her hands up. “I guess this is a communal phone now,” she crossed her arms angrily. “Don’t know why I even tried. Two against one.”
Nina began excessively typing again on the phone, and Matthias was beginning to rethink his decision to give it to her. Once she was finished, she looked up smugly.
“Well?” Matthias said, gesturing for her to continue.
“We need to get to the corner shop near Ketterdam College now,” Nina smiled. “And stage a crime scene.”
“Nina, this is excessive. We literally just needed to get him here,” Inej groaned.
Nina had made the split decision to tell Kaz that Inej had been mugged outside the corner shop and needed his help, and that she “lost everything”. Now, Nina had been trying to convince Inej to take off her shoes and tell him it had been stolen by the robber. Matthias stood awkwardly beside his car.
“I agree, Nina, this is a little excessive. Also irrelevant, I need to talk to him, that’s all,” Matthias pushed himself off his car, walking to the two of them.
“It adds realism, Matthias. Also we don’t want Kaz thinking Inej is a liar,” Nina explained, rolling her eyes. “He’ll never respond to her messages again, we won’t have another chance like this.”
Matthias gave up on convincing her to calm it down a little bit, but Inej still firmly kept her shoes on her feet.
“Okay, at least let me put purple eyeshadow around your eye,” Nina said, compromisingly. “So, it looks like a black eye.”
“Nina, seriously, this is too much.” Inej grabbed her shoulder. “I’m fine.”
“That’s not what your messages said,” a raspy voice called down from the street. Matthias perked up and turned hopefully to see Kaz, who had climbed out of his car. Thank Djel.
Kaz wasn’t alone though. Another figure came out of the passenger seat. A Suli man.
“Bajan?” Inej asked, bewildered. She stood glancing between the two, both shocked and concerned.
Matthias was just relieved he could finally propose his plan to Kaz and began walking towards him.
“Kaz, finally! I need to tell-” but Kaz walked right past Matthias and continued striding towards Inej, the Suli boy followed quickly after.
“Tell me exactly what happened,” Kaz instructed Inej. “What did he steal?”
Inej seemed temporarily stunned; she looked distraught and confused at the same time.
“Inej! Are you alright?” Bajan exclaimed, placing a hand on her shoulder. She glanced between Kaz and Bajan now. Matthias walked over too. He readied himself. Inej looked like she might faint.
“What- are you two?” Inej pointed at the two of them. She then seemed to realise something, landing a glare on Kaz.
“Describe what the mugger looked like, Inej,” Kaz instructed, ignoring her glare.
“Did you- a little warning,” Inej snapped. She looked furious, now turning her gaze to Bajan. “Is that… a cut?”
Bajan quickly covered his face, Matthias didn’t even notice a cut. It must’ve been small. “No, it's just…” Bajan shot a glance at Kaz. Inej followed his eye.
“Are you serious!? You didn’t even tell me anything about this,” Inej said harshly. “I should have known when you decided to talk to him!”
“Huh- I… wait,” Bajan seemed to realise something. His voice grew very hoarse, “You knew?”
Inej grew silent, but her face remained firm. She looked a Kaz and seemed to communicate something. Matthias felt very out of place, despite this being his idea.
Suddenly, in a burst of motion, Bajan shoved Kaz aggressively. “So not only do you threaten Inej,” Bajan shouted. “But you befriend her, too. As what? A sick joke?!”
“Threaten me? What?” Inej shook her head, pulling Bajan back. “Bajan, you lied to me. Didn’t you realise I knew something when I asked about Jesper?”
“Jesper? Huh? What is happening?” Matthias finally spoke up. “I just needed to speak with Kaz, I don’t understand.”
“Stay out of this, Helvar,” Kaz spat, finally speaking up.
“Hey! You have no right to speak to him like that,” Nina scoffed. “I don’t understand what’s happening, but this clearly isn’t Matthias’s fault.”
“Inej, you didn’t work with him, did you?” Bajan asked Inej now. They all turned to look over again.
Inej looked around guiltily, but she remained firm. “I did. For your own good, Bajan,” she said, her voice cracking. “What were you thinking!? I didn’t even believe it at first, but really? Scamming people out of money?”
Bajan shook his head, furrowing his brows; he looked hurt. “No, you don’t get to do that, Inej,” He told her. “Stop acting like I’m a bad person. You know me! Guess what I did for you at school, remember? I was the only one to stick up for you there. You know the amount of time I got suspended for getting into fights protecting you!? The hits I took? Stop acting like I’m a bad person, Inej!”
“I never said you were!” Inej shouted back. “And I never asked you to do that!”
“Your parents did,” Bajan confessed, frustrated. “They asked me to look over you, and guess what? I did!”
“So you can look out for me, but I can’t look out for you?” Inej snapped. Bajan rolled his eyes.
“You don’t need to get involved in this, Inej!” Bajan shrieked. “Especially not with him.”
He pointed accusingly at Kaz, who looked at them passively. But Matthias could see that he was uncomfortable.
“I can’t believe you’re upset with me,” Inej huffed unbelievably. “This is no one’s fault but your own.”
“I want you to stay out of this, Inej, and away from him,” Bajan ordered, sending yet another jeering look at Kaz.
“I don’t think you get to dictate that, Bajan,” Kaz broke his silence again.
“You, shut up,” He snapped at Kaz.
“I don’t wanna deal with this anymore,” Inej put her hands in surrender. “You don’t get to do the things you’ve done and act like this towards me.”
She pushed passed him and headed down the street to the corner shop. Her face was still firm, but Matthias thought he saw tears in her eyes. He shot a look at Nina, who looked concerned.
“Inej! Get back here,” Bajan called out. “Your parents will kill me if I leave you alone.”
The rest of the three stood there passively. Kaz seemed uncharacteristically quiet during the conflict.
“Please, Inej! We’ll drive you home,” Bajan compromised. Inej stopped.
“Who?”
“Me? I’m guessing,” Kaz said, looking at Bajan. Despite Bajan being clearly furious at him, there was still an air of superiority that Kaz had around him. Despite being clearly younger, too. Matthias saw this often with Kaz, though.
“Inej, just do it,” Nina spoke up, too. “Please.”
Inej sighed and seemed like she didn’t want any more of a fuss. She walked back and quietly said goodbye to Nina and Matthias before walking towards Kaz’s car.
Matthias felt a crushing amount of responsibility for what just went down. He had only wanted to offer an opportunity to Kaz, and now he felt like he had just witnessed the death of a friendship between Inej and the Bajan guy.
I’ll ask Kaz another time.
“Do you need a ride home?” Matthias asked Nina after Kaz sped off.
Nina looked passively at him and spoke in an empty tone, “Yeah, probably.”
They barely spoke on the way back.