Nash walked through the hallway, his keys jingling in his pocket, humming so old tune he couldn’t even na anymore.
He checked his device quickly, another one of his favorite monts of the day.
BP: 4
SP: 18
PP: 12
Funds: 312,450C
Damn.
A month ago, he had to be creative and work his way through his training and make so money; now... now he could literally let the points stack.
He was loaded, at 300 thousand credits, he might have beco one of the richest rats you could find down there, and it wasn’t higher because he used to spend a lot on the won in his life.
And he still hadn’t touched the sixteen grand a month salary from Blacklist yet.
Add two MVP bonuses at twenty each, a couple high-scoring gas at five apiece, plus that passive dripping five grand a day straight into his account... yeah.
Maybe he would stop by a shop to buy new clothes? It was better than wearing this sweat-soaked tank the girls hadn’t managed to steal as a souvenir.
He smirked, pocketed the device, and kept walking.
The corridor branched off to the right, revealing a wide passageway flanked by doors.
Halfway across, Rei stood there, his back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, one foot flat on the floor, the other bent.
A classic manga pose, with prominent shoulders and closed eyes.
Is everyone a manga fan these days?
Nash slowed down, a smile on his lips, without stopping, then continued on his way without turning back.
He heard the scuff behind him a second later, pushing off the wall.
"Hey. Blaze."
Nash stopped, turned slowly, hands in his pockets.
Rei stood a few steps away, arms dropped now, chin up.
"Aren’t you forgetting sothing?"
Nash stopped and turned, hands in his pockets.
"The girls are safe inside. I trust you to look after them."
Rei stepped closer, arms dropping to her sides. She stopped right in front of him, then crossed them tight over her chest again like she needed the armor back after all.
"That’s not it," she said. "The bet. You won, so why haven’t you collected yet?"
Nash looked at her.
She was tall, maybe 185 cm, maybe more, almost eye-level with him, body built strong and sexy.
Sure, he would love to go freaky with soone like that, but... He also knew too much about her.
"I’ve had enough of that kind of thing. And I’m not interested in forcing anyone anyway."
Rei’s eyes twitched, just a bit, then she frowned. She looked both angry and surprised, maybe she really expected him to wreck her, but Nash didn’t like the idea of doing this with soone so problematic, at least not now, not over a stupid bet.
Rei on the other hand...
"What do you an, force? We made a bet. A deal’s a deal. Don’t act like so saint after you just wrecked my whole team back to back."
Nash’s mouth couldn’t held that growing smile.
"Not really all of them. I barely touched Aiko."
Rei’s cheeks flushed, finally a cute reaction from that wall.
Her arms tightening harder across her chest like she could squeeze the embarrassnt out.
She stepped even closer, close enough her chest almost brushed his.
"You try to play the hero now? You beat us clean, I acknowledged my loss, I’m ready to take whatever cos with it. I thought you didn’t want a big audience, but even with just us, the girls all over you, you still ignored . And now we’re alone and you try to bounce? What’s wrong? I’m not to your taste? Or are you pitying now?"
Girl, it was rather the opposite, but still, her reaction was quite entertaining.
Nash held her eyes for seconds, then stepped forward himself, his shadow swallowing her.
Rei gasped, surprised, her body tensing as she closed her eyes on instinct, waiting for the grab, the push, sothing.
But nothing ca.
She opened her eyes slowly.
Nash’s hand was in her hair, his fingers gentle as he tucked a loose strand behind her ear.
"I told you before, not everyone’s the sa. If you’re the kind of monster who dreams of humiliating people, forcing your way in them just because you can, then fine. But I prefer getting rejected ten tis over doing that."
Rei stood frozen, stunned, mouth open like she had just received an uppercut.
Nash let his hand drop, stepping back just enough to give her space.
"I know sothing’s eating you and your girls. I felt it the whole ga. For so reason, I think it’s sothing I could help with. So whenever you want, talk to . No stupid plans, no bullshit, no bet. Let’s just be real for once. You’ve got all your team’s hope on your shoulders, so I know I can trust you to speak straight for them."
Rei’s breath ca quicker, eyes searching his face like she was looking for the lie and couldn’t find any.
No way, no way that was the sa guy. Sothing definitely happened, it couldn’t be the...
But even she started to realize she barely knew him. What was her image of him anyway? A guy who fucked anything female enough? Or the one so wonderful that every girl were falling for him?
She swallowed, arms dropping loose at her sides.
She bit her lips, then pulled out her phone, thumb shaking just a little as she typed sothing.
Nash raised an eyebrow, watching her, then sighed, hand rubbing the back of his neck.
"You should’ve started recording before coming here. Make it look like I jumped you or sothing."
Rei groaned loudly.
"I’m not recording shit. I want your number so I can ssage you later. It’s what you want, right? You said I could talk about the situation."
Nash smiled slowly, like he’d been waiting for her to admit it.
"Yeah. That’s what I want, and what you need."
He took the phone from her hand, fingers brushing hers for half a second, typed his number in without a rush, and handed it back.
"Here, let’s et tomorrow. You pick the place."
Rei nodded, clutching the phone tight like it might slip away.
"Fine."
Nash turned his back, already walking. "Contact after 3pm at least. I’m gonna need a good day of sleep."
Rei stayed immobile, staring at his back until he disappeared around the corner.
Her lips twitched, once, twice, like she wanted to say sothing else but the words wouldn’t co.
She looked down at the new contact on her screen and exhaled.
She head back to her room, ntally exhausted, so much that she just shoved the door open with her shoulder.
Her head throbbed like soone had been pounding it with a basketball all night, which wasn’t far from the truth.
She kicked off her sneakers, let them thud against the wall, and flopped face-first onto the bed.
The mattress bounced once, then settled under her weight.
"Fucking headache," she muttered into the pillow. "This day was a disaster."
The door creaked again behind her.
Aiko slipped in, twin-tails ssy like she’d been running her hands through them.
She paused when she saw Rei sprawled out.
"... You okay?" Aiko asked, voice soft, almost careful.
Rei didn’t lift her head.
"Just tired. Long, long day."
Aiko nodded, even though Rei couldn’t see it, and dropped her bag by the dresser.
She glanced at the phone clutched tight in Rei’s hand, screen still glowing faintly.
"You should put that away. Light’s bad for sleep."
Rei waved it off without looking.
"It’s fine."
Aiko sat on the edge of her own bed, pulling off her socks slowly.
"True. Just... you’ve been staring at it since we got back."
Rei grunted.
"It’s fine, I said."
Aiko let it drop, lay back on her bed, back to Rei, pressing sothing against her chest.
The room went quiet except for the soft rustle of sheets.
"Night," Aiko murmured.
Rei didn’t answer right away.
Then, low, "Night."
The lights went off.
Darkness swallowed the room.
In the dark, Aiko bit her thumbnail, eyes wide open in the black.
Why...
Why...
Why did he have to write it himself?! How the hell am I supposed to get his number now?!
She pulled the thing from her chest, Nash’s boxer, still warm and damp, her ultimate souvenir from the locker room chaos.
She pressed it to her face quickly, muffling the frustrated groan that wanted out, then inhaling deeply that hypnotic sll like it might calm her down.
But it didn’t.
It just made her thighs squeeze tighter and her face burn more in the dark.
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