2.26. Size Is A Social Construct

"Come on, man!"

Y/N sighed with frustration, slumping back in his chair. "I literally had five guys on top of me, where were you?!"

"Dude, you can't count! I'm taking two guys on right now!"

"Please be quiet... I can't hear anything."

"One dead... two dead..."

"I'm with you, Nagi. Push it."

They were playing Valorant. It was one of the few games they all shared in common, but all of them were admittedly at very different skill levels. The scoreboard certainly showed it.

Hiori was on top, with twenty kills even though the game had barely started. Nagi followed right after with fifteen. Niko was on thirteen. Karasu was on ten. Y/N?

He was on three.

It's 'cause I'm playing with these guys. They're so highly ranked... everyone in these lobbies is a tryhard. He consoled himself, spectating Hiori as he easily won them the entire round by himself. Reaching forwards to drink from a water bottle, Y/N sighed.

They were a few days into the break. Y/N was enjoying himself, albeit ruining his sleep schedule at the same time. Currently, it was just past twelve at night, and Y/N didn't plan on stopping the game anytime soon.

"Wait." Niko's quiet laugh came through the headset a second after the round had ended. "Y/N, you're kind of terrible."

"W-what?!" Y/N fumed. "Listen, I'm lagging! And my room is cold! And I'm playing with one hand! And I'm on the wrong sensitivity! And I'm lagging!"

"You said that last one twice."

"Actually go die."

"You've done that every single round so far."

Y/N scowled. "That's racist."

"What-"

"You heard me."

Y/N bought a gun (in game of course) and mentally prepared himself. "Just watch. They're gonna come to me, and I'm gonna kill all five."

"Sure." Niko's character stood in front of Y/N, completely blocking his view. Y/N moved to the side. Niko moved as well, blocking his vision.

"I'll get you cancelled on Twitter."

"I don't even use Twitter. And it's actually called X now."

"Smartass."

"Dumbass."

"What did I tell you about language?" Hiori laughed through the microphone. "My parents will hear."

"Fuck you." Y/N immediately replied.

"Shut up, Y/N." That was Karasu.

"You're racist too, huh?"

"What."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Why do we even play with this guy?"

The round started. Y/N's team was spread out across the map. He himself was tucked into a corner, hiding with his weapon at the ready. Very audible footsteps came running towards him.

"Cause you love my winning personality." Y/N slowly said, eyes fixed on the screen. He leant forwards in his chair, waiting for the enemy to come around the corner.

"You've been yelling the entire game, and you're on three kills."

"Like I said, lagging."

The second before the footsteps were about to get round the corner, Y/N spotted a small glowing orb fly into his view. It detonated a split-second later, and his screen turned bright white. Flashbang???

He didn't move, hoping the enemy wouldn't see him. Of course they did. Y/N was immediately found and shot in the head, sending him right to spectating Hiori again.

"Fuck!" Y/N sighed with defeat, sinking back into his chair. "I'm actually done with this."

"I swear you're trying the hardest here, and you're still the worst." Karasu teased him.

"Shut up."

"If it's anything, you were good bait for me."

"I hate you."

"You're the best bait. I love you."

Y/N groaned with frustration again. His team worked together in perfect harmony, cleaning up the enemies easily. And that was it. They'd won the game, and Y/N was left on a grand total of three kills. He went a little quieter. "Can we play a different game?"

"Like?"

"Uh... I don't really play games." Y/N mumbled. "What's good?"

Hiori chimed in. "Depends, are you willing to pay money?"

"Hell yes. Anything to get me off Valorant."

"Then..."

Hiori began to list off a hundred different games that Y/N had barely heard of. They all sat in the call, listening as Hiori just kept naming more and more.

He paused. "What genre do you want to play?"

"Anything that's fun."

"What's fun to you?"

"Winning games."

"So..."

Y/N sighed. "Let's play more Valorant."

"What?"

"I can't be bothered to find another game."

"Okay..."

They queued up for another session of Valorant. While they were waiting, Y/N sipped more water, and tried not to glance at the clock. "Are you guys free in a day or two?"

"Probably." Niko was the first to reply. "Why do you ask?"

"I wanna invite you guys over. We could have a movie marathon or something."

"You live ages away... more than two hours. I don't think my parents will want to drive me there."

"I'll come pick you up." Y/N offered.

Hiori sighed. "I'd love to, but I think I live too far."

"Whereabouts are you?"

"I'm in Kyoto."

"Yikes."

"I'm in Osaka, so I probably won't show up either." Karasu answered. "Nagi?"

There was a short silence before Nagi spoke. "Uh. Yeah, I can come."

"Well, I'll put everything out on the LINE chat when I've got it planned, and whoever shows up, shows up."

"You're gonna invite the entire chat?" Hiori murmured. "That's fifty one people."

"It's actually only forty nine, 'cause you and Karasu aren't coming." Y/N annoyingly clarified.

"How big is your house?"

Y/N glanced around. "It's an apartment."

"So not big."

"It depends on your perspective. Size is a social construct."

"What."

"What."

🥕🥕🥕

After many more terrible games, Y/N ripped off his headset. He leant back in his chair, pressing the off button on his computer and closing his eyes momentarily.

It was pushing two in the morning. Y/N's eyes itched slightly. He rose from his chair, rubbing at them with the back of his hand, and ambled from his bedroom to the small corner of his apartment that served as a kitchen.

He'd made dinner there earlier, eating it standing up at the counter, and shoved all the dishes in the sink. Opening a few cupboards, Y/N grabbed a sponge, plugged the sink, and began filling it with hot, soapy water. The noise of the tap running was the only noise in the quiet apartment, supplemented by the ever-present, soft noise of the city outside the window.

Smiling to himself, Y/N busied himself scrubbing the plates. He'd kept most of the lights off, the apartment only dimly lit by a lamp in the corner. It was relaxing.

As he worked, his eyes fluttered around the apartment. It felt surreal, being back after the months away in Bluelock. Y/N had taken all of the previous day to clean, obsessively wiping away dust from every surface and making sure there were no insects lurking in the corners of each room. His apartment had treated him well for a long time, providing a space where he could wind down, feel safe, and be protected from the world outside.

It made sense he wanted to treat it well back.

Carefully, he stacked the plates away in each cupboard, slipping cutlery into trays and tucking a pan into the corner. Hot water ran over his fingers. He dried them using a small towel, before turning away from the counter.

He missed this privacy.

On the counter, his phone's screen lit up bright. A bright bell noise sounded, breaking the silence for a split-second. Y/N headed over, and scooped it up.

He'd got a few messages, from the guys he'd just been playing with.

Crow 🐦‍⬛

come baaaack i need someone to bully.

and niko misses you

Neeks

sleep well, y/n

and whatever karasu sent you, hes lying

dont trust him

mendokusaaaai

play tmr

Y/N grinned. He didn't reply to any of them, plugging the phone into a charger. Savouring the silence, he padded across the living room, switched off the lamp.

His phone lit up again. Y/N frowned, walking over. He expected a message from Niko, or from one of the Bluelock guys. What he didn't expect was more notifications, from his social media accounts.

Ei.Yu.T has followed you.

Y/N swiped the notification away. He didn't even use social media. All they had was some cringey one liner in the 'About Me', and maybe one or two photos from years ago.

Ei.Yu.T has liked your post.

Ei.Yu.T has liked your post.

Ei.Yu.T has liked your post.

Y/N sighed. Definitely some overly dedicated fan. I swear, soccer fans these days are kind of crazy. He was about to put the phone down, before the screen flickered, replaced by a call screen.

It was an unknown number.

Scam call? Or maybe it's that Eiyu guy. Y/N accepted it after a moment's consideration.

"Hello?" He waited for a response. None came. Y/N checked his signal, then the call connection. Both were perfect. "Hellooo?"

There was no response there. Just the sound of someone's quiet, measured breathing. Y/N knew there was someone on the other end of the line, but they were just staying quiet.

"I know you can hear me, dude. What is it? Did my non-existent car crash? Are you a lost prince that needs me to transfer money? Did my parents have an accident and need my cash?"

Again, no response.

The line clicked.

"He hung up?" Y/N laughed to himself, shaking his head. "What a weirdo." Placing the phone back onto the counter, Y/N blocked the number, before turning to head back towards his bedroom.

Tomorrow... I'll sort out that movie marathon. I wonder who'll show up?  Y/N slipped into bed, drawing the covers over himself. Probably most of the guys in Tokyo... maybe not Gagamaru or that Aomori's Messi guy.

Hm.

Y/N was tired. But it was the good kind of tired, the kind of tired you had after a wonderful day. Sure, he'd spent most of the day doing chores, and shopping for food, but even playing video games at night was enough to make him feel incredibly content.

So he closed his eyes, and fell into a blissfully deep sleep.