consumingly | open post

( Continued from here. )

[ Endo has never seen anything like this before.

He makes note of the collar first. That's pretty weird, but plenty of the fighters in attendance have their gimmicks. A couple of the members of Noroshi are particularly annoying with theirs, so though he flags it as worthy of looking into, he files it away for later — or at least that was the plan, before the first fighter runs up to the guy and botches his punch so thoroughly, it almost seems as though an invisible force field turns it back on him. Upon seeing that, Endo's brain starts moving very quickly, trying to make sense of the technique, catalogue the guy's abilities and non-abilities, and figure out how the collar might relate. He spends that first (non-)fight being intrigued but not quite entirely sold on what he's witnessing.

The second fight, however, confirms that whatever this guy is doing is on another level entirely. That really gets his interest piqued, in a way it hasn't been in a long time. He wants to test it for himself: poke, prod, determine the limitations and how much power this guy truly has at his disposal — and maybe, just maybe, keep him to himself. By the time he's standing in the street, his hands are trembling with barely contained excitement and his grin is a little too wide — his eyes a little too focused. It takes immense self-control not to call off the member of Noroshi before he makes contact, but he forces himself to wait; he wants to see just how quickly this guy will put him down. He brings his thumb to the infinity tattoo on his neck and presses it there as he watches —

— the worst punch he's ever seen.

Somehow, it's effective, but the whiplash that Endo experiences is almost as bad as the kind he inflicts on others when he's genuinely irritated — or outright angry. He goes from approaching a near-point of no return in the amplification of his interest to deflated, albeit not entirely. Just enough to keep him from cajoling this guy into a brawl of his own, in order to experience how thorough that "power" of his really is — and maybe also to see if he can get his hands on that collar. For fun.

Now, though, Endo finds himself standing in a middle ground, which is unusual enough for him to take a few seconds to decide how to approach this. Normally, if he's truly taken by someone, he burns hot, consumed entirely by the need to possess. Otherwise, people aren't worth his attention — at least not enough of it to warrant giving a fight his all. But a feeling that is simultaneously greedily curious and unimpressed? Talk about mixed messages from his own brain. He'd rather be all or nothing.

It's too late to blend back into the fray now that he's surrounded by all this fighting, especially since he's a suspicious sight himself: all these brawling teens, and he's standing in the middle of the action entirely untouched. One even swings in his direction, but upon realizing who he's swinging at, immediately pulls the punch and hurries away.

So Endo clicks his tongue in a chiding manner while he sticks a hand in his pocket, revoking his overinvested stance in favor of being relaxed: Tsk, tsk, tsk. Then, when he's sure he has the guy's attention, he says: ]

I heard there was gonna be a massacre. No one said anything about cheating.

[ His tone is bored, though his eyes are still a little sharp. If nothing else, he has learned that this guy is capable of destruction — it just doesn't seem to come from his own hand. ]

I gotta say, I'm a little disappointed.

[ In all the years since Endo grew self-aware enough to realize that he had a special talent for excelling in everything he bothered trying, he has rarely had one of his plans go awry. Whether he's waging war on a town or arranging a simple, well-timed birthday celebration, everything typically works out perfectly. There is the rare exception, usually involving Takiishi, but thwarted isn't a word that he's ever really had to apply to himself.

Which is why today is so damn annoying.

All he wanted to do was head to a specific shop a couple of towns over — a shopping district that has suffered due to an uptick in gang activity that rivals even some of the worst towns in Japan, but manages to retain enough business for a few specialty shops to remain open. One of them is a perfume store, and it's the reason Endo makes the journey. They have a nice selection of colognes, and he's in the mood for a new one.

The weather is unseasonably cold. They're barely into autumn and yet snow is predicted later in the day, a forecast that Endo should easily beat back home. The temperatures are expected to drop further, but not until the storm hits. Endo therefore dresses at the bare minimum of warmth, his outfit consisting of a turtleneck sweater, a light jacket, a sleek pair of gloves, and slacks, all of which give him the appearance of someone respectable, rather than a gang leader. That should have been more than enough coverage for the time he planned on expending on the shopping trip — and it would have been, were it not for a series of unfortunate mishaps.

First, the store was closed in advance due to weather. This rendered the entire trip useless, which skewed his overall day. He decided to stop for a bite to eat, which also was a mistake, because the sky began to look threatening while he was finishing his last bites. He still would have had enough time to reach home before the storm unleashed ahead of schedule, but as he left the restaurant, he ended up embroiled in a brawl with a bunch of rowdy kids. They were fresh high school students who were no way near as organized as Furin, and they were fighting over something stupid. Endo was going to leave them to it, but one of the kids decided to try to punch him, and well — he had to exert a little time and effort on taking care of that, as well as the backup team that ran to the area and identified him as an opponent they had to take down.

All in all, it was an easy affair, though one that Endo would have preferred to send someone else to deal with. The initial punch never made contact, and he wasn't touched thereafter. The only real consequence was the snow that started to fall quite heavily before he was done, and the temperature that dropped thereafter. What should have been an easy walk quickly became impossible as visibility plummeted and wet snow seeped into his jacket.

Now he has no choice but to take shelter from the wind in a random, run-down building that once housed a bar and now mostly contains litter, graffiti, and a distinct lack of anything that could make this detour a little easier on him. There are no blankets, no extra clothes — and there's no power, either. Which means no heat.

He has to take off his jacket and shoes because both are wet enough to be dangerous in these temperatures. His sweater and slacks aren't faring great either, but they aren't so damp that he'll freeze to death if he keeps them on. Just in case, he rolls up the legs of his slacks, keeping the wettest parts of the fabric off of his skin. In the end, he huddles in what was once a booth, more irritated than anything else. Stuff like this doesn't, and shouldn't, happen to him — and yet here he is.

And here someone else is, too, apparently, because the door creaks open. Though he's cold, Endo forces himself to stand and adopt his usual languid body language, that way he won't have to exert more energy by putting down someone who takes him to be an easy target. He also speaks before the (other) intruder gets any ideas: ]

Yeesh, can't a guy get some privacy? Who just goes wandering into abandoned buildings these days?

[ Clearly, Endo does. But just to drive home the point, in a more serious tone: ]

This spot's taken.

Edited 2025-06-29 22:02 (UTC)

[What happens to a soccer player who fails out of Blue Lock completely? Some are scooped up by international soccer clubs. But others are brought to a secret facility run by the fat cats that funded the project in the first place, hoping to recoup their investments in less than wholesome ways.

Yukimiya is one of those, particularly as in his current condition, he's not much use for soccer. He had a degenerative eye disorder before arriving at Blue Lock, and the strain of training and games had made his eyesight worse, particularly at the periphery. He's wasted potential in the highest degree. But he's pretty, so very pretty. He'd been asked to model once or twice when younger, before declaring soccer his true life's goal.

The boys for sale are kept in small cells, still dressed in soccer kits, so those buying them could marvel at having genuine article Blue Lock players. Sitting on the floor of his, Yukki glares straight ahead. He wouldn't be able to see those coming to gawk at him, otherwise.]

[ Another night without Takiishi.

Takiishi doesn't leave often, but on the nights that he does, Endo finds himself restless. He wasn't like this before — if Takiishi disappeared for a while, Endo would simply carry on as normal until he came home — but ever since that night on the roof, it's been different. Takiishi is expanding his world, meeting new people, and spending entire nights with new "friends," while Endo feels stuck in place, languishing without his purpose, pining for Takiishi's return.

Nowadays, Endo spends these nights pestering someone into giving him attention. He usually picks Sakura, though sometimes he'll head out somewhere by himself, looking for a different form of company. Anything to distract himself — and force someone to look at him for a time.

Tonight, as he goes through his recent messages, he pauses at Umemiya's last check-in, which he left on read. Umemiya's another complication in everything that's been going on lately, and though Endo's gotten a little better about it, he still vacillates between wanting their arrangement and pushing it away. It's difficult for him to find a middle ground — and it's difficult to accept his needs — when Umemiya is giving him everything that Takiishi won't.

A significant part of him still deeply yearns for it to come from Takiishi.

But the part that wants it from Umemiya isn't small, either.

Endo lies on his couch and stares at the ceiling. They're overdue for another session, but he's been dragging on the wait, trying to be there for someone he isn't sure wants him anymore.

Without fanfare or preamble, with no hello or sorry I didn't get back to you, Endo texts: ]

wanna come over

@levelshift

@dandelionheart

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