Chapter Text
Sae's hand circles the tip of shidou's erect cock; already pink due to the constant friction, "shitttt-" shidou whimpered through gritted teeth, Itoshi's free hand gripped Ryusei's chin, pulling him back and placing the back of his neck on his shoulder, allowing him a wide view of his companion's body; as soon as pre-seminal fluid began to come out from the tip, sae covered it with his thumb, denying him the satisfaction of cuming, "shh, not yet."
...Casual nights with Sae had long become routine. It always began the same way—with a short, precise message: i'm on my way. Sae never needed more than that, and Shidou knew it, thought that never stoped him from replying with eight stickers in rapid succession, loud and obnoxious in contrast to Sae’s silence.
Sae would arrive, do what he came for, and when it was over, he wouldn’t even bother to bathe. He would rise from the bed without a word, dress himself in practiced quiet, and leave—as if nothing worth lingering over had happened.
That night, however, Sae sat on the edge of the bed longer than usual. Apparently, the person beside him hadn’t fallen asleep.
“So that’s it?” Shidou drawled, his voice dripping with mockery as a soft chuckle slipped from his lips. “You’re throwing me away already?”
Itoshi didn’t even look back. He only sighed, bending down to slip on his shoes.
“Why don’t you stay the night—just once?” Ryusei said, pushing himself up on his hands. He scooted closer, resting his head against Sae’s shoulder, unbothered by the indifference radiating from him.
“My schedule is busy,” Sae replied flatly. He glanced at the watch on his wrist, the glow briefly illuminating his sharp features. “I could stay four more hours. Then I’d have to leave. It would be a waste of my time.” In the darkness, for a second, Shidou's smile could be seen twitch sligthly.
He was used to it.
Shidou let Sae go without protest—it wasn’t as if he had a choice. There was nothing to do but wait, count the days, and tell himself that in a few nights Sae would return. He always did. That much, at least, was dependable.
The silence afterward gnawed at him.
In the early hours of the morning, when the world felt too quiet and his thoughts grew loud, Shidou reached for his phone. He searched it like a lifeline, desperate for some small sign—anything—that would tell him he was wanted. A message. A command. An invitation to be seen, touched, used until dawn, if that was all he was good for. If that was all he was.
Nothing came.
He didn’t let it show.
On the field, he was flawless. His shots never missed, his grin sharp and reckless, the same Shidou Ryusei everyone expected him to be. Loud. Violent. Untouchable. No one noticed the way his hands lingered too long on his phone between drills, or how he checked it when he thought no one was looking.
But when night fell and he was alone, everything he kept buried surfaced. The vulnerability he refused to name. The hollow ache in his chest that whispered he was only real when Sae was there to want him. That without those nights, he was nothing more than noise—loud, disposable, easily forgotten.
He didn’t have words for it. He didn’t think he deserved them.
And then—like clockwork, like mercy he hadn’t earned—Sae appeared.
A single message lit up his screen.
"Im on my way"
Short. Dry. Impersonal. Not affection, not love—just intent.
And still, Shidou felt his breath hitch.
Because for a few hours, that message meant he was worth something.