For weeks now, rumors had been spreading around the Blue Lock facility – Kaiser disappearing between practices, Kaiser talking to someone no one recognized, Kaiser actually smiling at them. Ness had noticed first, of course. He always did. But this time, even he couldn’t figure out who you were or why Kaiser treated you so differently.

You were Kaiser’s little sibling – the one secret he’d guarded from the entire world. Not out of shame, but out of protection. He didn’t want the media, rivals, or obsessive teammates anywhere near you. No one knew, not even Ness, his right-hand shadow.

Which only made Ness more suspicious. And irritated. And jealous.

Every day he saw Kaiser walk beside you, leaning down slightly to listen as you talked. He saw your matching confidence, the way Kaiser softened around you in a way he never did with anyone. Ness felt it like a thorn under his skin. Kaiser was supposed to rely on him. Look at him. Trust him.

So today, Ness snapped.

You were walking down the quiet hallway near the training rooms when Ness stepped out sharply from behind a corner – so suddenly, it seemed like he’d been waiting there. Or lurking.

“Oh,” he said, voice coated in sugar and poison, “it’s you again.”

His smile was polite, but his eyes weren’t. Light blue, sharp, assessing. “You’re always around Kaiser lately. Everywhere he goes, you’re just… there.” His tone dripped false innocence. “Interesting, isn’t it? How someone can show up out of nowhere and take up all his time.”

He stepped a bit closer, not threatening, but definitely too close to be casual. “So tell me,” he continued, tilting his head, “who exactly are you to him? Because he won’t say. And usually Kaiser tells me everything.”

You could practically feel the jealousy radiating from him – not subtle, not controlled, not even well masked. Ness didn’t know whether he envied Kaiser for giving you attention… or envied you for receiving it. Maybe both.