Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Maki
Rin and I have fallen into an easy routine. Whenever I have a home game, he tries to come. Sometimes he comes alone but usually, he brings Kei and Rodney with him. They always sit in the same section and I always make sure to wave at them during warmups.
The social media team have noticed this and started using a few of Rin’s clips during the silly moments during the game.
There’s a clip of him trying to kickflip a skateboard.
He says ‘gonna nail this first try…. Nope’ and they always use that for when the other team messes up a serve.
It’s quite humorous and it’s becoming a bit of an inside joke with our team.
Rin tells me that Kei laughs every single time it happens.
On the days we’re both free, we try to spend time together. We go on lunch dates, watch movies at each other’s houses, and sleepover whenever we can. I’ve gotten to know Kei and Rodney better though I doubt I will ever be as close to them as Rin is.
When I have an away game, I make sure to watch Rin’s streams. It works out well because he tends to stream during the time I’m getting ready for bed. I can fall asleep hearing his voice as he talks to chat.
Things are going so well that my team has stopped teasing me about having a boyfriend. Now it’s just common knowledge, nothing special. Though, nothing could be further from the truth. Rin is special, as is the relationship I have with him.
I love him.
I’ve never been more sure of a feeling before. Normally, I would question it, doing everything in my power to dissect the feeling before putting a name on it. With Rin, it’s easy to know what this is. He makes me feel happy and safe. I don’t have to put on a mask or persona when I’m with him.
Sure, we still have our hiccups where I have no idea what he’s trying to say and sarcasm is still lost on me, but that’s okay because Rin never minds explaining the joke to me.
He never minds dropping the sarcasm to explain what he actually means.
Rin doesn’t mind telling me exactly what’s on his mind, knowing I can’t read between the lines.
He cares about me the same way I care about him. Without a doubt, I know we’re both expecting the same things. We’re both in this for the long haul.
At the moment, Rin is sitting on my counter, scrolling through his phone while I prepare lunch for the two of us. I’m making chicken and veggie stir fry, something easy but filled with all the ingredients I need to reach my macro goals for the day.
Just having him in the kitchen while I work feels incredibly domestic.
We talk about our day, filling each other in.
I hear the latest gossip in the online world and I do my best to bring any exciting news about the team for Rin to hear.
I never used to pay attention to these things but watching Rin’s eyes light up with excitement is causing me to develop a bit of a gossip spree.
I wanna keep that excited light in his eyes.
“I think Nessy might have a partner or something,” I tell Rin as I stir the food.
“Remind me who Nessy is again.”
“Nessy the Ninja,” I say in explanation.
“The mascot?”
“Yes! I should probably learn his real name,” I say with a frown.
“He was late to the airport last weekend and then he spent the majority of the time on his phone. I don’t think I have a good enough relationship with him to actually ask him but maybe I can get Oli to talk to him. Oli is good with people.”
Just like always, Rin’s eyes light up at this new bit of gossip. “You’re good with people too, babe, but yeah, maybe having Oli investigate is a good call. When you know his name, you should let me know! Did you know he’s a fan?”
I hum. “I did know that. He was very excited after meeting you for the first time. Now he always goes up to say hi when he sees you’re in the crowd.”
“That’s very cute,” Rin says, setting his phone down on the counter. He turns towards me. “Do you think Oli and Ivan are a thing? Rodney was kinda crushing on Oli but I really don’t think he stands a chance, not with the way Oli looks at Ivan.”
I think about it for a moment before nodding.
“I don’t know the whole story but I know those two have known each other since they were children.
They hold great fondness for each other.
Is it more than platonic? I couldn’t say one way or another for certain.
I’m not good at guessing these things but if I was forced to guess, I would say they’ll end up together someday. ”
“Yeah, I think so too. I just get this vibe, you know? Like they’re desperately holding themselves back from crossing that line into something more. I might not have a pheromone-based nose but even I can smell the pining.”
“Does pining have a scent?”
Rin taps his bottom lip for a moment before sighing and picking his phone back up. He sends off a quick text. We don’t have to wait long before he gets a message back.
“Kei says there’s totally a signature to someone who’s in deep longing for someone else. Sometimes it’s so bad that it can make a person sick. Huh,” Rin says after reading the text. “The more you know, I guess.”
“I wonder if I would have an easier time with people if I could smell them like that. Surely, it’s easier to understand if you can simply sniff the air and know how they’re feeling.”
Rin nods his head. “That’s true. It’s also really overwhelming sometimes.
Kei says his sense of smell is really sensitive so he gets migraines a lot when he’s out of the house or around a lot of people.
Sometimes he has to take special medicine to dull his nose when he knows he’ll be with a lot of people, like when he comes along to your games. ”
“I did not know that,” I say, adding stuff to the pan. “That must be very hard.”
“He pretends like it’s not a big deal, but yeah, it can be hard sometimes. Thankfully, Rodney and I apparently smell like pack to him, so our scents are chill.”
“That’s good. What does it mean to be part of Kei’s pack?”
Rin tilts his head to the side, thinking it over.
“I’ve never really thought of that before,” he says honestly.
“When we moved in together, it wasn’t apparent right from the start.
Then one day, I noticed that anytime I left the house he wanted to scent mark me.
He’s always double checking our house is safe.
When someone is being a jackass in chat, he’s the one to bully them or tell them to back off.
He’s an asshole. Probably the biggest one I know but despite that, he’s our asshole. ”
My lips quirk up into a small smile at Rin’s words. It doesn’t answer the question he’s worried about so he asks, “and what exactly would your pack do if you wanted to mate with someone? Would they be okay with possibly adding one more to your pack?”
“Oh,” Rin breathes out. His pretty gray eyes snap up, meeting mine. There’s a softness to them that makes my heart throb within my chest. “Well, Maki,” he starts to say but his mouth snaps shut when my phone starts to ring.
“Can you keep an eye on this?” I ask, pointing at our lunch. Rin nods his head, hopping off the counter.
“Hello?” I answer the phone but only because I can see it’s my manager calling.
“Hi, Maki! How are you?”
“I’m fine, Cleo. Thank you. How’re you?”
“I’m great! I have a couple things to discuss with you. Is now an okay time?”
I look over at Rin who gives me a nod. I let out a long breath, sitting at my kitchen counter and pulling a notebook over to myself.
“Now is a fine time. What’s up?”
“Okay, so first of all, I got an offer for something very exciting. There’s a big name game developer who’s making this new card trading game.
I don’t know all the details because I’m not big into video games but, it’s going to be based off volleyball.
Everyone is going to get their own card in the game and they’re going to have a few voice lines.
Everyone on our team has already agreed to be part.
You wouldn’t have to do much, just record yourself saying a few lines that’ll be added to the game when your card is picked during the game. ”
“Okay,” I say slowly, writing down a quick note. “That sounds agreeable. Please put me down as a yes to participate.”
“Awesome,” Cleo says brightly. “I know you and Blue are close. I was thinking of getting in contact with him to do a sponsored stream once the game is out. Or at least get the developer and Blue in contact with each other.”
“That could be arranged, I’m sure.”
“Okay, so on that note, I wanted to ask,” Cleo starts to say, her voice sounding a bit unsure. “Are you planning on going public with your relationship?”
My eyes snap up to Rin’s once more. His back is to me as he stirs our food. He’s swaying back and forth, humming something softly for only him to hear. My chest swells with affection.
“We haven’t discussed that yet,” I tell Cleo, not wanting to leave her hanging. “As soon as we’ve talked about it, I will let you know. I won’t do anything without telling you first.”
“Thank you, Maki. I know these things are delicate. I think we should wait until you’re mated, just to be on the safe side. I’m glad Rin understands how important being in the public eye can be. It’ll make all of this much easier for the both of you.”
“I understand.”
“The last thing is your contract with Beat Box Blues,” Cleo says, sounding more like herself.
I know she hates having to put her nose in our personal lives like this, but it is part of her job as our manager to make sure these types of things are taken care of.
Whenever Oli gets into a mess online, she’s the one to bail him out.
“They want to renew you for another year if that sounds okay? You’ll do another photoshoot and a few recorded ads talking about your headphones. ”
“That’s agreeable. Please send me the contracts to sign.”
“Perfect! That’s everything. Do you have any questions?”
“Not right now. Thank you, Cleo.”