With a Strum of My Heart Strings

Sharp are the Arrows of a Broken Heart

"Because he--" Shinsou hesitated for a moment. It was hard for him to talk about this, and it made those unpleasant, deafening, miserable feelings resurface and engulf him. But, after a beat of silence, he managed to finally say, "He cheated on me." Shinsou was immediatly pulled into a hug by both of his parents, and this time, he didn't try to escape. He just hugged them tighter.

When they broke away, though, his father wasn't so merciless.

"How?" he asked, which earned him a glare from both his son and husband.

"Shouta!" Hizashi scolded, swatting his arm. "You can't just ask him! This is obviously a very sensitive subject. We have to be careful so our Hitoshi doesn't cry and leave us for the city or something because we failed as parents." Shinsou let out a weak chuckle.

"I'm still here, you know," he reminded them, and Yamada had the audacity to look somewhat guilty after talking about him like he wasn't right in front of them, which made Hitoshi crack half of a smile. Hizashi beamed at that.

"There we go!" he yelled. "Chin up, Hitoshi! You'll be alright." Shinsou let his smile fall and nodded, staring back down into his lap. He wanted to believe his dad's words, but it was hard to. It just felt like it would be impossible to get over this at the moment.

But, he appreciated that his parents were trying to help him. "Thanks, Dad," he said, not looking up from his lap until Koneko was handed back to him. He took her into his arms and immediately pressed his face into her flank.

After several seconds of quiet, though, Aizawa tried again. "Hitoshi," he said, breaking the silence and causing him to look up from the cat to his father. "Will you explain what happened now?" Yamada turned to protest and scold him again, but before he could, Shouta said, "Do you think I could talk to him alone for a few?"

His husband looked hesitant. He glanced at Shinsou, who just gave him a slight nod as if to tell him he'd be alright. He didn't know what his father was exactly going to talk about with him, but he trusted he wouldn't crush his spirits-- too much.

"Alight," Hizashi said after a moment, getting up to leave the room before pointing an accusing finger at Aizawa. "Behave, though, Shouta," he said, eyeing him as he left them alone.

Hitoshi's father just seemed to shrug it off and he redirected his attention to his son, who was sitting in anticipation in front of him now, petting Koneko. She mewed happily, curled up his lap. He quirked his eyebrow up, urging Shinsou to talk. He sighed and explained what happened.

"I didn't know why at the time, but earlier today I got a phone call from Den-- Kaminari," he corrected, deciding that this was the best place to start. "He sounded pretty angry, and I tried to stay calm. Eventually, he hung up on me, after I'd told him I was going to check on him at the cafe. But when I got there..." He trailed off, and his father nodded in understanding.

"You found him cheating on you?" he asked. Shinsou felt a pang of sadness at his words and scratched the cat's head a little harder now, slowly nodding his head.

"Yeah." He replayed the memory in his head, the way that Kaminari hadn't even noticed him enter his workplace. The way he looked almost... well, he didn't want to say happy, but he looked so content with kissing Sero. He was obviously enjoying it. But the clear guilt on his face when he noticed Shinsou there...

Hitoshi shook his head to clear his thoughts, zeroing his attention in on his father before continuing. "He was making out with his best friend, Sero, when I caught them. I..." Crap. Shinsou didn't want to cry in front of his father, not like this, but he could feel that twisting in his gut and lump in his throat. "We had this fight, and I found out that Denki kissed him first." Aizawa just gazed at him as he explained, though he could tell from the look in his eyes that he was feeling sympathetic for his son. "So, I... I broke it off."