Tangent | Soukoku; AU [✔]

54 ➳ invitation // d.o

well, shit. ever since i tried coming back to the game the other day, my hands wanted to keep playing now. on the bright side, not as much as i used to - but then again, we did have to constantly play as pro players. this time, i itch to play, but get tired of it after one to two games.

which reminds me, i haven't talked to xyren ever since that night, neither has she reached out to me after that. it's not her obligation of course, but maybe she isn't just the social type. after all, she has been living life like a hermit for god-knows-where.

oh, i know! maybe i could try inviting her to a game of league. she is the reason why i went back to this god-forsaken game, so i might as well get her playing with me, assuming they don't have practice today.

i grabbed my phone from my desk which was sitting next to my agency laptop, fumbled my way to find her name in my socials, and then finally pinging her a message.

'heya! hope u doin good! do u wanna play league?'

it was already half past nine in the morning, so i'm pretty sure xyren is awake by now. a few minutes later, my phone buzzed from my hand as i just held it until she replied.

'g.' was the only thing that she sent back. boy, for a text message that took her around five minutes to get back, this was the shortest reply i have received next to a 'k' from a certain someone way back then.

shortly after, i opened my personal computer and hopped in to the game while also giving xyren a ring on discord. the call got answered back immediately. of course, the usual emotionless female voice greets my headphones.

"hello." xyren simply greeted, nothing more and nothing else.

"hello! good morning," i greeted back with enthusiasm, trying to at least alleviate the mood. "thank you for letting me play with you, miss mvp!"

there was a brief silence between us before her reply. "i honestly didn't want to, but maybe playing with another person would help."

before i was able to apologize and probably ruin the mood for the both of us, xyren had beat me to my words saying that it was alright and she doesn't mind playing with a 'friend.' ouch, but fine. on the other hand, it seems to me that xyren had some other motive for accepting my game invitation, but it matters not to me; what's important to me is we get some time together.

we had a little conversation about what happened the other night and about the game, to which both topics made the woman sound more and more disinterested the further we talk about it. it came to the point that i honestly ran dry of topics to engage her with during queue. i didn't want to small talk her with mundane subjects such as 'what champion do you like to play the most' or something like those.

when i thought that another shower of silence will reign on us like that time we were in the cafe, xyren wasted no time in being direct to lead the conversation where she wanted it to be.

"dazai, be honest," why does that tone sound so serious yet gloomy at the same time? "why did you leave port mafia?"

oh, it's back to me and my past again. well, it has been obvious that some things were bothering her for quite a while now. something must be eating her up deep inside, being the next successor of my past role and that. i also do remember her asking this same question, and while i did avert the reason to chuuya - and 95% of that is true - i never really told xyren in detail.

"a good old friend of mine outside of the team once told me," i smiled, even though the person i'm talking to won't see it. "when something doesn't feel right anymore, it's best to leave. you just don't grow in the same environment that intoxicates you."

odasaku's image appeared in my head albeit for a short moment, before the voice of xyren interrupted me off my daydreaming. 

"so, you mean to tell me, you really got burnt out, right?"

"is that how the team worded it out to you? i guess you could say that, yeah."

a loud and sharp sound rang in our ears after all of that, while a button prompted in our screens indicating that we have been matched to a game - finally after 11 goddamn minutes. both me and xyren were quiet by that time until we got to the champion banning phase of the game. upon getting to the picking phase, xyren broke the ice once more.

i feel like the more days that pass, the more that this woman reveals her true self. that's a good thing, yes? it means that she probably trusts me enough for those things.

with a very heavy heart, xyren replied, "burn out... me too, dazai."