𝑳𝑬𝑺 𝑭𝑹𝑨𝑮𝑰𝑳𝑬𝑺 •𝒃𝒙𝒃•

what do you do when only lies leave your lips? ~ 46

They said he had a fever.

Almost immediately, he was taken to another room, as if to give him some kind of space from the others.

Separate him.

Maybe he was ill and it was infectious. Who knew? They certainly didn't.

But he did.

It wasn't from an illness, nor was it infectious.

The stench of burnt meat clogged his airways and his skin felt rough under his sweat-layered fingers. Nausea was still circling at the pit of his stomach, yet there was nothing left for him to get out.

It was 2 a.m. and all he wanted was to go back to sleep.

Shouto wouldn't leave his mind.

_

Coincidentally, or by the will of some wicked God, Shouto visited him first thing in the morning.

He was expressionless, but the way his fingers were curled deep into his palm told Yuma that there was something on his mind.

As it was on his.

He couldn't erase... that Shouto's face. It was carved into his memory so deep that no kind of clawing could rip it out. Even the words he spoke—Yuma could repeat them without thought, as if they became the only thing he could say.

"Do you feel better?"

His voice, pubescent and not fully developed, echoed in the very same way older Shouto's did.

His eyes, grey and stormy and blue tinted with green that reflected the ocean, were the same as well.

How awful this feeling was. Yuma wanted it gone.

Alas, its persistence knew no bounds.

"My throat hurts."

Rough and heavy, that was what he sounded like. True, emptying your insides until there was nothing else left did tend to do that. He even pulled a muscle in his tongue.

That was the part he hated most. The constant numbness and sharp pain.

"Do you want water?" Shouto offered, nearing the bed he was in, "I can go get you some."

Ah. Sweet, sweet Shouto.

"I love you."

So very sweet.

"Thank you, but I'll have to decline. I don't think I can stomach it."

Lies.

It was all just lies, lies, lies.

"I'll always love you."

Why did he lie?

Couldn't he just admit to himself that he-

"There's something off about you."

Damn it.

As blank as a canvas and as perceptive as ever.

Could Yuma ever hide anything from him?

His dream self thought he was.

"Tell me you love me."

Insecure and desperate and filled with endless longing.

"How so?"

What was he doing? He never was a good liar, nor could he hide anything well enough so it wouldn't get found out, so why was he even trying to play dumb like this?