Work Text:
"Tsk."
The sound of an annoyed tongue click—lately familiar these past few days—stops Ness from putting away his sports uniform.
"Kaiser? Is everything okay?" he asks automatically, lifting his gaze. He finds a furious Michael Kaiser, his messy blond locks bristling like an irritated cat.
Kaiser doesn’t even turn to look at him. He spits out a "what the fuck do you care" and forcefully opens his locker.
Ness frowns slightly at his attitude. Not because of the disrespect (he’s already grown used to his bad temper when he’s angry), but because of how constantly he avoids answering his questions.
"Well, you’ve been coming back really irritated after training these past few days," he starts, resuming his task. "So it’s normal for me to worry about that. Besides…" he closes his locker and turns fully toward Kaiser, taking two steps forward. Staring straight at him.
"Besides, we’re… friends, right? I… I worry about my friends too…" His voice loses some confidence at the end, and his cheeks tint slightly pink, but he manages to keep himself together.
Kaiser, who up until that moment had been looking at Ness as just another piece of furniture in the locker room, suddenly stops at his last words. His gaze slowly settles on him, seeing him for the first time since he arrived.
"Friend," he repeats, tasting the word in his mouth. His sharp blue eyes scrutinize Ness’s face, as if he were evaluating him, checking something.
Ness tenses slightly under the weight of his stare, but he doesn’t back down.
An uncomfortable silence stretches between them throughout the locker room, prompting the few other teammates who were still putting their things away to hurry out before this ended badly. Or halfway badly.
Noticing the rushed footsteps and the curious glances from the others as they left, Ness finally seemed to realize how uncomfortable the atmosphere had become.
Had he said something wrong? Didn’t Kaiser consider him his… friend? Did he not want to be friends with someone like him? Had the passes during the trial meant nothing?
"I—" Before he could even apologize, Kaiser growled, silencing him as he turned halfway around. Ness, his heart tightening, thought he was about to leave. But instead, Kaiser lifted his arms and started pulling off his sports shirt.
"Ah?" Ness let out a surprised gasp when he saw his back. The one Kaiser always hid by changing in the bathrooms instead of the locker room. It was pale, covered in countless scratches and old scars that made Ness knit his brows in concern.
"The problem is this damn back," Kaiser finally spoke. "Training here is dehumanizing bullshit. My muscles are tight, and I’ve got cramps that won’t go away."
To prove his point, he raised his arms and slightly arched his back. His muscles tensed instantly with the movement, and Ness could see in real time how a small spasm ran through them, making Kaiser click his tongue in irritation.
"Kaiser…" Ness murmured, worried.
"I’m fine," Kaiser growled, cutting off any stupid pity comment from Ness. "It’s just that this shit won’t go away, and it’s really annoying when I’m doing exercises. Maybe I need a massage or something."
That last complaint made Ness’s eyes light up.
"A massage? Oh! If that’s it, I—I could help you," he offered. His voice was a little nervous, but completely sure.
Kaiser turned toward him, looking at him with mild interest. Ness took it as permission to keep talking.
"M-My grandma used to suffer from back cramps, and I used to help her by giving her back massages, so… if you wanted, I could give you one too. Totally free! Just for you…"
He wasn’t lying. Well, not entirely. His grandma did suffer from back pain, and he had helped her… just maybe only once, when his parents and siblings had gone to a science competition and left him in charge of his grandmother, when he was only ten.
But the experience was there, right? Besides, he couldn’t leave Kaiser like that. Kaiser had shown him his back. Ness would be a bad friend if he didn’t help him at least a little…
He lifted his head, not realizing it had been lowered, and found himself face to face with Kaiser. Who was looking at him skeptically, one eyebrow raised, as if debating whether to believe him or not.
Then a small involuntary spasm tightened his muscles, making him bite his lower lip.
"Fine," he declared, lifting his gaze. "I’ll let you give me a back massage."
The smile that spread across Ness’s face was the brightest of his life.
"But. Just one. And if you do it badly," he raised his index finger, leaning toward him, "I’ll kick your ass."
Far from feeling threatened, Ness nodded furiously. "Yes! Of course!"
Kaiser could swear he saw, behind Ness, a puppy tail wagging with enthusiasm. He really was one. He just hoped this puppy was telling the truth.
"Alright. Let’s go to the room."
────────
It was already night. Most of the rooms had their lights turned off, with the players resting in their respective beds, preparing for a better tomorrow.
Except for theirs. The one belonging to the most recently admitted.
Kaiser was already settled face-down on his bed, his back completely bare and his face fully buried in a pillow.
"Hurry up, Ness. I don’t have all damn night for this nonsense," he growled with impatience, his voice somewhat muffled by the pressure of the pillow.
"Sorry, sorry!" Ness apologized, rubbing his hands together. "It’s just that I had to wash them before using the oil. Back home, my parents used to say that dirt or sweat can irritate the skin, and the oil makes everything stay there longer—"
"Stop talking and come here. Now," Kaiser ordered with what little patience he had left. He was far too tired and sore to listen to his scientific rambling.
"I’m coming!" He rubbed his hands one last time to spread the oil and carefully approached the bed, slowly lifting one knee and then the other. The mattress sank slightly under his weight as he knelt beside Kaiser.
"Um, can I…?"
"Start."
With hands trembling from nerves and the overwhelming closeness, Ness placed his palms with extreme care on the right side of Kaiser’s back, feeling the warm, taut skin beneath his touch. He tested the waters, moving them slightly up and down. And it seemed to work.
Kaiser let out a low grunt that Ness couldn’t quite interpret—was it annoyance or relief? But since no order to stop came, he continued. His timid fingers began to press more firmly, tracing small circles along the lateral muscles of the back.
The pale skin of Kaiser, now under the thin layer of oil, became even softer to the touch. But the accumulated tension in the fibers was palpable.
"Does it hurt?" Ness asked, his brows slightly arched.
"Don’t talk. Focus," came Kaiser’s muffled reply.
Ness nodded to himself. He took a deep breath and focused on the memory of his grandmother, treating it like an experience. Plus the anatomy lessons he’d overheard from his brothers—though back then he’d been more interested in gluing back together the magic book they’d broken again.
His hands moved toward the center of the back, finding the spine. He avoided it quickly—he didn’t want to be responsible for any injury to Kaiser, much less cause one. Instead, he worked the bulky muscles on either side, right and left, leaning further and stretching his arms to reach both.
He pressed gently with his thumbs, sinking them into the tense flesh. And this time the sound that escaped Kaiser was clearer: a long, deep sigh that carried away some of his irritation.
Encouraged by the sound of satisfaction, Ness leaned in more, using not just his fingers but the weight of his torso to apply deeper, steadier pressure.
However, to better reach the trapezius and shoulders, he needed to change position. His arms were at a bad angle for applying force.
He paused for a moment, evaluating. Kaiser’s body seemed more relaxed. Maybe…
"Kaiser," he called softly, withdrawing his hands. Kaiser grunted at the loss of contact. Ness’s soft, delicate hands had provided an unparalleled comfort.
Kaiser slowly turned his head, pulling one sharp eye out from the pillow. "What?" he said, voice irritated.
Ness lowered his gaze slightly, nervous about the request he was about to make. "I-I… can’t quite reach the upper area…" He swallowed. "So I wanted to know if you’d allow me to… sit on your lap. I won’t put much weight on you! I promise! Just so I can do the massage better."
Another loaded silence followed. Kaiser watched him now with his face fully turned. For a moment Ness thought he was going to be kicked off the bed. But then Kaiser buried his face back into the pillow with a huff.
"Do whatever you have to do. Just make this damn pain disappear."
The permission—albeit reluctant—was all Ness needed. With some nerves and a lot of care, he moved one leg, then the other, straddling Kaiser’s hips without putting his full weight directly on him. From there he could see the entire expanse of the pale, marked back and had the perfect angle for the shoulders and traps.
He could feel his heart pounding—not only from the proximity but from the intimacy of the position, the heat radiating from Kaiser’s body beneath his own. His cheeks flushed red, and this time he couldn’t stop them.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm the trembling in his hands. Focus, he told himself. It’s just a massage. You’re helping Kaiser. Your friend.
His palms, still slick with oil and warm from friction, returned carefully to Kaiser’s back. Sliding slowly upward toward a much tighter area waiting for him.
The muscles of Kaiser’s shoulders tensed at the first contact with his fingers. Ness didn’t hesitate to press harder. Now from this new height, he could apply a much more effective downward pressure. His thumbs sank into the base of the neck where tension had accumulated in knots hard as stone.
At that moment Kaiser let out a muffled sound, a cross between a whimper and a growl. His back arched slightly under Ness’s hands—not to pull away, but to seek more pressure from him.
Though Ness didn’t know that, and he froze, alarmed.
"Kaiser! Are you okay? Did I press too hard?" Drops of nervousness were already rolling down his cheeks.
"No, idiot, just… keep going," Kaiser growled, though not with the previous irritation but in a rougher, almost sleepy tone.
Encouraged and a little confused, Ness continued. He worked the trapezius with long, firm strokes, from the neck down to the shoulders, dissolving the stiffness with the patience he only ever applied to things related to Kaiser.
Little by little, under Ness’s meticulous care, Kaiser’s body began to yield. The muscles that had been hard as rocks were becoming more pliable, warmer. Kaiser’s sighs were no longer of annoyance but of relief—and something more.
Ness smiled to himself, a smile overflowing with happiness and satisfaction. He was helping. He was really being useful to someone.
And not just anyone—but Kaiser, the one who had helped him on the field. And now he was returning the favor, helping him feel better. Helping him be at his best.
His hands kept working, undoing every knot he found and relaxing every tense muscle.
At the same time, Kaiser, with his face completely buried in the pillow, was also experiencing a feeling somewhat similar to Ness’s.
Small involuntary gasps escaped his lips without him being able to control them. The satisfaction he felt when Ness’s soft hands pressed just right and unraveled the hardest knots in his muscles made him purr with relief.
He could feel that Ness wasn’t just undoing the tension from training, but something deeper—something that had accompanied him for years.
His body had always been on guard, muscles always ready to react. He had never allowed himself a single moment of peace.
Never before.
Now in these facilities. Now wearing these new clothes. And now with this person by his side. For the first time, he finally felt safe enough to lower his guard.
Maybe that was why he woke up late every morning now. There was no longer a father to hit him and scold him for resting. No more shouts ordering him to go steal.
Now there was only… this.
Soft hands that lifted him with a gentle pat on the shoulder. Red lips that whispered a "good morning, Kaiser" and purple eyes that looked at him full of an affection he had never known. All in one person who, even when treating him badly… seemed willing to follow him no matter what. No matter the end.
"Ah…" This time his sigh wasn’t just one of satisfaction, but of a much deeper release.
────────
And so the massage continued. Ness, carried away by the euphoria of feeling useful, by the fact that he was connecting with Kaiser physically and, in some way, emotionally, intensified his movements without realizing it.
His hands, now more confident, slid further down toward the lower back, working the lumbar muscles with firm, circular pressure. The palm of his right hand brushed, in one of those downward motions, the upper part of Kaiser’s glute, right where the iliac bone curved.
Kaiser tensed again, but this time in a different way. It wasn’t a spasm of pain, but an electric contraction that shot up his spine and concentrated at a low point in his abdomen.
A rough growl, muffled against the pillow, slipped from his lips.
"Ness…" he called, his voice low and tight.
But Ness, absorbed in his task, didn’t hear him. He kept pressing; his knees, straddling Kaiser’s hips, adjusted unconsciously, drawing a little closer. The heat between their bodies was now almost suffocating. But all he could think about was undoing the last bit of tension, making him feel perfect.
Then, when his hands worked over the lowest part of the back, just above the elastic waistband of Kaiser’s training pants, he pressed firmly in the center—and everything unraveled.
Kaiser let out a hoarse gasp that broke halfway through, turning into a broken sigh that drowned against the fabric of the pillow. His body, which moments ago had been a canvas of released tension, petrified again. Not from pain, but from something hotter, more embarrassing. A tension in his pants that was not a simple involuntary spasm.
Ness finally noticed the change. He felt how the back beneath his hands stopped being pliable and turned into a board, every muscle drawn tight to its limit. He yanked his hands away as if burned.
"K-Kaiser? What happened? D-did I hurt you?" His voice trembled, panic gripping him at the thought of having harmed the person who had just trusted him.
"I-I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to," his eyes began to water in desperation. "Let me help you… let me—"
"Get down," Kaiser cut in, his voice so hoarse it was barely understandable.
"W-what? But… but I can’t leave you like this, your muscles are still tense. Let me help you, it’s my responsibility, ple—"
He didn’t get to finish. Without warning—only a growl—Kaiser turned his body. Completely. Ness screamed as he felt himself lifted off for a few seconds by the abrupt movement.
But Kaiser’s hands didn’t let him fall. They caught his hips firmly, seating him on top of him. Right over the sharp bulge rising in his pants.
When Ness felt the hard, hot pressure of something beneath his body, he couldn’t help letting out a sharp moan, his body arching involuntarily under the tension—held in place only by Kaiser’s hands, gripping his waist tightly and keeping him there.
They stayed like that for a few seconds. Both breathing heavily, neither daring to look at the other. The entire atmosphere in the room shifted completely in tone.
Kaiser, his messy blond locks hiding much of his face, had his cheeks faintly flushed. The pressure in his pants, combined with Ness’s weight on top of him, was too much. He was completely and utterly embarrassed to speak.
Ness was just as bad—if not worse. His face was completely red, his breathing barely controlled except for small gasps that slipped out involuntarily whenever he tried to adjust himself. Away from that hard thickness.
Why did Kaiser have… this? Had he caused it? His hands? His closeness? No, no, no, it couldn’t be. All he’d wanted with the massage was to relax him… not cause this. Kaiser was going to think badly of him—that he’d offered to massage him just for this!
"I… Kaiser…" His voice, barely a trembling thread, broke the awkward silence.
"I’m sorry. I… I didn’t mean to cause… this…" His gaze dropped slightly, toward where the bulge strained against the fabric of the pants.
"And you think… that I did?" Kaiser finally spoke, his voice a rough, dragged-out growl. His blue eyes, hidden beneath his blond bangs, followed Ness’s gaze.
"No! No! Of course not!" Ness hurried to say, quickly pulling his eyes away.
Neither of them dared say anything else. And the tension returned to the room—now wrapped in an even denser silence than before.
Ness remained seated on Kaiser’s hips, unmoving, feeling every pulse of the hard, hot bulge beneath him, as if it were constantly reminding him of its presence.
Kaiser also looked away, toward the blue wall of the bedroom, his jaw clenched. The flush on his cheeks more evident now—something completely foreign on someone like him.
Suddenly, the air caught again—but this time, not because of Kaiser. Because of Ness.
"…does it hurt?" he asked softly, timidly, his voice barely audible past the knot in his throat.
"What?" Kaiser questioned, turning his gaze back to him.
"The… the bulge," Ness clarified, lowering his eyes again, hoping his blush wasn’t too obvious.
Kaiser clicked his tongue. The question was stupid. Of course it hurt—but not like an injury. It was the kind of pressure that demanded release.
"A little," he muttered through clenched teeth, almost a growl. Ness nodded to himself, his mind racing to find an answer.
"It’s… it’s normal," he said after a few seconds. "When you get massages, the body relaxes, circulation… it goes everywhere… It can end up there… by accident…"
Kaiser let out a short, dry laugh. "Normal? This is… a nuisance." He shifted slightly, and Ness whimpered as the pressure beneath him adjusted. "Kai…"
"You don’t have some kind of plan to help with this, Ness?" Kaiser asked with sarcasm, trying to regain some control in a situation that had slipped out of his hands. "I mean, after all… this is your fault."
Ness’s purple eyes widened even more, overflowing with nerves. Kaiser’s words echoed in his mind like daggers, injecting doubt.
Was it really like that? If he hadn’t offered to give him a massage, none of this would’ve happened. If he’d stopped when Kaiser called his name, they wouldn’t be in this strange situation.
The answer, deep down, he already knew.
Kaiser was right. It was his fault. He’d caused this—even if unintentionally. It was his responsibility to fix it. Besides, that’s what friends did, right? They helped each other. They had each other’s backs… even in embarrassing situations like this…
With something like renewed value and determination inside him. With hot cheeks and a heart about to burst. He gently moved his hips. Rubbing his still-clothed pussy—covered by his sweatpants—against the prominent erection.
"W-what are you doing, idiot?" Kaiser growled instantly. His hands caught Ness’s hips. But not to stop him—rather to grip even harder.
"Ah… helping you…" Ness gasped, repeating the movement. This time more decisively. He rocked forward and back, creating a slow, burning friction through the two layers of fabric. The pressure felt strange, intense, and an entirely new heat began to grow in his belly. "Like this… you rub… and the tension goes away… right?"
His doe eyes finally lifted, settling on Kaiser’s half-hidden face. Searching for permission, for approval of what he was doing.
Kaiser stared at him, his blue eyes gleaming with an intensity that wasn’t anger or amusement. But something else… Something hungry.
Without asking permission, he adjusted his grip on Ness’s hips. He pulled him a little further forward, right where his erection curved most prominently. And there, he seated him. Ness let out a loud moan at the deeper sensation of the cock pressing up. Kaiser didn’t stop there—he began moving him slowly up and down.
"Like this… is how the tension really goes away." he declared, his own hips joining the rhythm, beginning to deliver shallow, teasing thrusts against Ness’s pants.
"Ah… It’s… It feels so deep… Kai…" Ness stammered between moans, feeling his hips begin to move unconsciously toward the pressure. A wet spot was already spreading wider, born from his own arousal.
He could feel it. Through the clothes. The heat of Kaiser’s cock. It was big—bigger than he felt he could ever take. His pussy was already throbbing just from the head. Leaking. Preparing for more.
Kaiser was panting too, releasing rough, low groans. The friction, while pleasurable, wasn’t quite enough. It only increased the pressure his cock felt, desperate to be freed from his pants. So, making a somewhat risky decision, he released his right hand from Ness’s hips. Instead, he took Ness’s hand and pulled it downward, pressing it firmly against his bulge.
Ness moaned at the contact of his hand against the hard swell. His wetness spreading even more. "Kaiser…?" he gasped, confused.
But Kaiser didn’t answer. He wasn’t finished yet. He squeezed Ness’s hand hard again and guided it inside his own pants, slipping it beneath the waistband of his boxers, right where his erect cock stood rigid.
"Ah!" Ness’s eyes flew wide open. He could feel everything. He was feeling everything. The real texture of Kaiser’s cock, the shape of the head, the raised veins, the searing heat radiating from it… It was too much. Way too much for him.
Kaiser’s jaw was just as tense, biting his lip to control the involuntary twitches his cock kept making.
"You’re… going to use your hands…" he finally spoke, voice hoarse, struggling to control his ragged breathing. "Like this… up… and down…"
Ness nodded, embarrassed, letting himself be guided. He could feel his palm burning—not from the dried oil anymore, but from the direct contact with the throbbing erection that filled his fist.
Kaiser’s hand—bigger. Rougher from years of ball and harsh life—guided him, set the rhythm. Slow and deep at first.
Ness learned fast. His fingers wrapped with growing confidence around the shaft, exploring its length, measuring its thickness, caressing the tense veins that stood out.
"Ness…" Kaiser growled low, feeling the precum leaking from the swollen head because of him.
"Kaiser… Am I doing it right?" he asked, a sweet trace of anxiety in his voice.
Kaiser didn’t answer with words. Instead his hips jerked upward in an involuntary thrust, driving his cock deeper into the warm tunnel of Ness’s fist.
A violent shiver ran down Ness’s spine and a high-pitched moan escaped him. His already soaked, throbbing pussy inside his pants clenched hard. Sending waves of pleasure that made his hand tremble.
Kaiser, feeling Ness’s whole body contract, didn’t stop. His hips followed that first involuntary thrust and began moving in a frantic, uncontrolled rhythm. Starting to properly fuck Ness’s virgin hand.
"You’re… you’re doing it way… too well… Ness—" he panted through gritted teeth, his voice almost a soft purr—an ironic contrast to the merciless speed with which he fucked his hand.
"Kai… Ah… Kai…" Ness called him between tiny sobs that slipped from his nose. They weren’t tears of pain, but of the sheer intensity of the moment. Of being part of this consecration.
"Look at me, Ness… Look at me…" Kaiser ordered hoarsely amid the frantic movement.
Ness lifted his gaze, trembling, and Kaiser drank in the sight. The purple strands of Ness’s hair literally plastered to his face with sweat. His eyes watering from pleasure, his round cheeks flushed deep red, his bitten lips parted, babbling only one thing—his name. "Kai"
Kaiser felt his cock harden even more. Damn you, Ness.
Without thinking, the hand that had been on Ness’s hip moved—not to join the other, but to slide behind Ness’s back and pull him forward. Ness—weak, nothing but a trembling little ball—collapsed against Kaiser’s chest. Kaiser’s hand returned to his hip. The thrusts never once breaking rhythm.
"Ah… Kaiser…!" Now Ness’s moans were louder, his breath brushing the blond’s ear. And Kaiser didn’t take long to take advantage of the closeness. He turned his face and found the pale column of Ness’s neck. Where his lips passed.
But not to kiss. To nibble. To bite the skin. He needed to release tension. The pressure of his hand over Ness’s increased, as did his thrusts. He could feel he was close. So close.
"Kai… Kai…!" Ness could feel it—the head of Kaiser’s cock swelling beneath his hand. His own body shuddered, not only from the contact but also from the proximity, Kaiser’s teeth on his neck, biting, marking, pushing him to the edge.
"Mine… Only mine…" Kaiser growled, lost in the overload of sensation. Pressing his teeth harder into Ness’s neck. Starting to leave deeper marks.
But it was when the hand on Ness’s hip pushed the weak body forward—while his own hand moved frantically—that Ness couldn’t hold back anymore. He came for the first time in his life.
Screaming Kaiser’s name. His pussy dilated to its limit, letting huge amounts of liquid gush out like a fountain, soaking his already drenched pants.
Kaiser, feeling Ness come undone, couldn’t hold on either. With a few last deep thrusts into Ness’s fist, a spasm that traveled from the base all the way to the head of his cock made his release explode. Soiling Ness’s soft hand and his pants with thick ropes of cum.
The entire room filled with a heavy silence and the scent of freshly spent sex. Kaiser collapsed back, sinking deeper into the bed and taking Ness with him, who—now without strength—breathed unevenly against his sweaty chest.
For a moment, they stayed like that. Ness listening to Kaiser’s heartbeat, and Kaiser feeling the post-orgasm spasms and tremors running through Ness. All of it wrapped in a silence that felt strangely comfortable and safe.
Ness couldn’t stop thinking about what had just happened. They had really done it… that… Kaiser was his friend… He had done it with a friend… But doubts still crowded his chest. What if he’d only done it to relieve the problem? What if he was still angry at Ness and that was why he’d made him help him?
"Kaiser…" His trembling voice broke the room’s fragile quiet. "I… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—"
A heavy arm settled over his back, cutting off his words. "Shut up," Kaiser murmured before he could say any of his stupid things. "It’s over," he added, his voice hoarse and exhausted.
But instead of calming him, those words made Ness even more anxious. Fresh tears threatened to spill from his eyes.
What did that "it’s over" mean? That they were going to forget it? That they’d act like none of this had ever happened? The very idea of Kaiser forgetting all of this, of acting normal as if it had never happened, made his chest ache.
He didn’t want that. He didn’t want it! He hated it! A lot!
An involuntary sob slipped from his lips, so soft he thought Kaiser wouldn’t notice.
But he did. His blue eyes, slightly tired, lowered. He saw how Ness bit his lips until they bled, how his nose was faintly scrunched, how tears were already sliding down his cheeks.
He wasn’t surprised. It was a sight that, even if Ness tried to hide it from him, Kaiser knew all too well. He had learned to read Ness. And he could swear he knew exactly what was going through the puppy’s head right now.
He sighed and finally spoke.
"Hey. Don’t think all of this happened because I was angry at you, or because I was desperate." His hand came to rest on Ness’s chin, gently tilting the younger boy’s face up toward him.
"If that had been the case, things wouldn’t have ended like this." Ness’s eyes widened, his teeth releasing his wounded lips. "Kaiser…"
"And if you think it could’ve been with someone else, it wasn’t. I wouldn’t have let anyone else touch my body." His hands slid over Ness’s wet cheeks, wiping away the trail of tears. "Only you."
Ness nodded quickly, tears of happiness soaking his cheeks. He moved closer, burying his face into Kaiser’s neck, enjoying his warmth for the first time.
Kaiser let him curl against him, gently stroking his back. "Easy, puppy. I’m not pushing you away. Not now."
And so, with the night slowly settling over them, they both fell asleep. Tomorrow would be another day. Another training session. But they both knew that something inside them had changed.
A bond that would tie them together forever.
And that could never be broken.
Never.