『𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞』𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘪 𝘹 𝘳𝘦𝘰

ᴠɪ

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐓 𝐑𝐎𝐖 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐒
「 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘹 」

"I'M SORRY YOU don't get to drag me around anymore without taking responsibility." Without being his boyfriend, without being official, without giving Reo something back, without giving Reo anything. "But I'm tired of fighting. You're right, I'm not supposed to be a threat to your game. So don't let me."

Would Nagi push? What else did he want, what were those eyes saying? Did he want Reo to admit he's been in love with him for so long he didn't remember not loving Nagi Seishiro?

He could simply... leave Reo again, here, holding onto something impossible while Nagi did what Reo just asked him to do, forget him.

But Nagi's face changed, his Adam apple moved slowly as if it were hard to swallow, and Reo felt ashamed – so fucking ashamed – when he felt something damp in his cheek.

This would be when he threw his dignity, wouldn't it?

"Hey, hey, purple bun, no. What happened, are you okay?" Shidou's appearance worked as a life jacket. Suddenly, Reo believed he could come out okay. "What is it, huh? Is this idiot bothering you?"

Reo sensed the edge of a threat in Shidou's apparently light tone, but he didn't want it to escalate any further, and he didn't want Shidou to see him like the weakling he truly was. So Reo wiped away his tears quickly and brusquely, and Shidou's big hand was the only thing that stopped him, as he made tsk sounds with his tongue. Reo wanted to cry even more knowing that he had disappointed his friend.

"Nagi," Shidou said, not looking away from Reo in case one second would be enough for him to break down. Look at what happened when he and Sae disappeared for like twenty minutes! "Get lost."

Reo was too busy pulling himself together to check if Nagi had complied, and then he was being hugged by Shidou, who managed to be taller and warmer than him even with how imposing Reo was most of the time. He sniffled once, a second time, and felt his heart stitching itself back together.

He had Shidou, he had Kunigami, Chigiri, Zantetsu, even Sae or Rin. He had survived his parents somehow and kept on surviving them still. Reo was strong on his own, he was born alone and he could learn again, and even then he wouldn't be lonely. He could get over Nagi, he could. It just hurt right now; he just didn't want to know, he just didn't know when he would be ready for it.

"I can punch him," Shidou whispered in his ear, breath hot and tingly. Reo's first impulse was to move away, but Shidou's embrace felt safe, and he ordered himself to stay still. "I can, it's Sae's house, he won't call the cops on me."

God, Shidou was fucked up. Reo pulled back slightly, hands in Shidou's face to see if he meant it, and when he found his usual fire, he gave a watery laugh.