The Story Of Forever (Todobaku)

Kings of the Playground

"Wait, what?"

A melancholy Shouto stared into his lap. Katsuki frantically shifted his body toward Shouto, his athletic shorts tearing against a slate roof tile. The last time an announcement bewildered him like this was when Camie explained to him the concept of period underwear.

"What the hell happened?"

Shouto shrugged. "It wasn't working out," he muttered.

Katsuki's scatterbrain was on overdrive. One week of shutting his friends out to focus on school and the world caught fire.

He leaned forward. "Did she say why? I thought she really liked you."

Shouto winced. "Oh. No, I'm the one that broke up with her."

"Huh?"

A hard slap from the reality Katsuki construed in his head. With parted lips, he studied his friend's demeanor. Katsuki thought he knew Shouto well enough to point him out of a thousand man lineup even while blindfolded. But now, all that sat beside him was a complicated puzzle. How could they be so close when this news came as total shock to him?

"You've been in love with her since we were like, ten," Katsuki said. "How can you change your mind so quickly?"

"That's the thing," Shouto said with a sigh. "Looking back, I'm not sure if I was ever into Momo. I think I was more into the idea of her."

"I'm not following."

Shouto hugged his knees to his chest and used them as a pillow. "When we got to middle school, everyone started having crushes on each other. And, I don't know. Momo just seemed to have everything I should want in a girlfriend. Maybe I convinced myself I had feelings that were never really there. But I don't think I'm meant to love anyone."

"That's not true."

"Well I don't know what else would explain it."

Katsuki frowned. This was the most he and Shouto had spoken all week. And while he missed Shouto's presence, Katsuki wished their reunion could've been a positive one. He was still behind on assignments, but he made significant progress on the overwhelming workload thrown at him first thing Monday morning. He was getting along with his parents again, and his relationship with Camie was back on track. Katsuki was excited to relay all of this to Shouto tonight, but it would have to wait. He didn't mind, he just wished Shouto had good news to share as well.

He curled his index finger through a small section of Shouto's hair, repeating that motion until he secured himself in a cozy red blanket that smelled of coconut. "You're too hard on yourself."

Shouto, pouting, offered a shrug. "I disagree."

Katsuki loosened his finger before brushing his entire hand through Shouto's soft locks. "Well, I'm sorry it happened. Break ups suck."

Shouto snorted. "Like you would know. You've never gone through a break up."

"And here's hoping I never will." Katsuki didn't say it just to be slick. He truly didn't want to imagine the possibility of him and Camie not working out. "But seriously, I'm sorry."

Shouto closed his eyes as a healthy breeze swept through the night. The trees whispered around them, the ambiance shifting to one that resembled one of Shouto's many Lo-fi indie playlists on Spotify.

"I'm not sad the relationship's over," he said. "It really wasn't working, and it wouldn't be fair to me or Momo if I kept pretending otherwise." He hugged his knees tighter. "But it's more than that. Momo and I were friends before all this started. Now I don't even think we can be that anymore."