AN: I honestly didn't realise it's been three months????? What the hell? How dare time move so fast, like, seriously???? Slow down, please, I ain't ready yet.
I'm really sorry for the wait. This chapter is shorter than the others, but I will try (remember, try) and update more often...maybe once a week? Once in two weeks? I don't know. I've been feeling really bad lately, and I seriously had no strength to write anything. I'd rather not force myself to write because then nobody will like how it turns out...me included.
Sorry, again.
He walked back to his apartment, and, to his surprise, neither Chikara nor Shion were there; Shouto was.
It reminded him of the time Kyoya was there, silently waiting in front of his door...waiting for him to come back, but it wasn't the same. That time, Yuma had no wish to see Kyoya, but when it came to Shouto...
Their eyes met, and Shouto didn't hesitate as he pushed off the wall and made his way towards him. He didn't hesitate when he reached for him, when he pulled him closer and clung onto him like a desperate child.
For a moment, Yuma forgot how to breathe.
"You weren't there when I came in the morning," Unlike the rest of him, Shouto's voice was calm. "Where did you disappear off to?"
Gently, as if not to frighten him—by the Gods, he's treating him like a wounded animal—Yuma raised his hand to the back of Shouto's head and slowly began threading his fingers through his soft hair. He didn't say anything immediately, instead he...let himself feel the comfort he knew only Shouto could offer him now, or perhaps it was Shouto who needed the comfort. Nevertheless, either way was fine, wasn't it?
"Let's go inside...?" He offered, placing his other hand on Shouto's lower back, intending to lead him to the door.
The only answer he got was a nod against his shoulder.
.
.
.
They went inside, and even with the door closed, locked shut from a force of habit, Shouto did not let go of his hand. He held it and followed after Yuma like a puppy.
"You can sit anywhere you'd like. I'll go wash up real quick and then I'll be back." He turned to look at him, only to see that he was already being looked at.
Shouto's face hardened and his grip only tightened.
It made Yuma's heart ache.
"I'll be right back, okay?" He tried to smile, he really did, but it didn't feel right. It felt too strained, tight, like his skin would break if he continued smiling, so he fully faced Shouto and reached a hand up to his cheek. "Okay?" The corners of Shouto's mouth pulled back in a somewhat grimace, an expression Yuma wasn't sure he ever saw him make. It didn't seem like this was going anywhere, so Yuma had to be a bit...cruel. "Shouto, I've been on two twelve hour flights. I'm tired and I've not eaten anything and I need you to cooperate. Can you do that for me?"
And viola, Shouto let go of him. He averted his eyes and clenched his hands into fists on his sides.
With mild regret gnawing at his insides, Yuma turned around and made his way to the bathroom.
.
.
.
After the quickest shower of his life, he threw on some clothes in a jiffy and went back to the living room. For a moment, he couldn't see Shouto, but then he noticed that he was silently sitting on the sofa. "How'd you know when I'd be back?" He took a seat besides him, pulled his legs closer to himself, and turned to look at him.
Shouto didn't answer, instead, however, he asked a question of his own, "Where did you go?"
Deliberately, he avoided answering his question. Unexpected and highly unusual.
"France." Yuma told him the truth.
"France...?" Shouto repeated after him, quietly.
Yuma nodded.
"To your father?"
Again, he nodded. "There were matters that still needed to be settled between us, and...it felt most fitting for it to happen at the place that witnessed everything."
"Did you settle them?" Shouto turned to look at him. "You won't leave again...will you?"
This...this right here was new to Yuma. To have someone look at him with such desperation, with such urge, and crave his presence like this. It was all...new. He wasn't yet sure how to deal with it, with everything that came along with such wants and needs. It made him not want to move, to stay right where he was, the closer the better, and just...be near Shouto.
He smiled instead, and it didn't feel tight like before. "I'm done with that part of my life...I think. But..." His hands gripped onto his shorts, fingers pressing against the underside of it. "Yeah...Yeah, I'm done." He regained his resolve and finished what he couldn't the first time. "I'm sorry if I worried you, but I needed to do it."
Shouto...Shouto, he...made an expression that made Yuma want to reach out to him. Just as it always did when he tilted his head, the white and red strands of his hair mixed, seeping over each other. The softest of soft smiles played at his lips, and the relief in his eyes could make a pathway across the entire world. The rigidness of his shoulders disappeared, and his body melted against the back of the soft, showing just what impact Yuma's words had on him.
To think anything Yuma said would impact a person like this...
It felt unreal to be so...so appreciated? Wanted? If love was any of the things he listed in his head while he stood before Gabriel, if it was the littlest parts of them, then this right here deserved to be as well. Love. Perhaps this was love. Not yet fully formed, still rough around the edges, still raw with uncertainty, but certain to become that which he saw it as.
It felt real enough to bring him to tears.
And Shouto's relief melted into concern. "What is it?" In an instant, he was sitting up straight, hands hesitantly reaching towards Yuma. He wasn't this hesitant when he held him at the front door, so why the hesitance now? Was it because Yuma was crying? Did he not know what to do in this situation?
So Yuma laughed, and through laughter he uttered the words: "I'm...happy."
Shouto was baffled. "But you're...crying?"
Yuma nodded, the bottom of his palm wiping at the wetness on his cheek. "I'm confused, too..."
He was confused, yet he knew that him crying because he was happy wasn't a weird thing to others...except Shouto. It's just that...before, he never reached that point of happiness where he could cry. The only happiness he knew laid with Kyoya, and it...disappeared.
"That's good...if you're happy." Awkwardly, Shouto hovered near him.
"You can come closer if you want to..." Where the sudden boldness came from, Yuma couldn't say.
Shouto blinked a few times, before he shuffled forward, his hip coming to press against Yuma's foot. His hand reached out and brushed against Yuma's own, the one that laid atop one of his knees, and stayed there as Shouto just...looked at him. Was he...giving him space? Right now, Yuma wanted nothing else than to be as close to him as possible, so he did just that.
The look on Shouto's face when Yuma wrapped his arms around him was priceless.
"Thank you." He told him, honestly, truthfully.
There was nothing else he wanted to say more.
They were still young...still uncertain and inexperienced, but Shouto tightly held onto him, without shame, without hesitation, and once again, happiness was all Yuma could feel.
_
An hour later, when Shouto left, Yuma went to get a glass of water.
But then he felt a breeze.
Last time he checked, all the windows were shut, and the AC couldn't directly blow into the kitchen. He hesitated, alarms ringing inside his head. There was no noise, no ruckus, to explain as to why there was wind. The empty glass was placed atop the counter as he slowly looked around.
One look at the nearest window offered an explanation.
It was...melted.
Without a second thought, Yuma whipped around and bolted towards the living room. He reached the front door, but, just as he was about to turn the key to unlock it, he pulled his hand away, a sharp wince leaving his lips at the scalding heat of it.
"Now, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves...shall we?"
Yuma locked up.
"Took me a while to find this place, but I managed, no thanks to you," Step by step, he came closer. "One fitting for a rich kid, won't you say so?"
Slowly, Yuma turned around, instantly locking eyes with...Dabi. He stood there, expressionless, just...observing. His face was barely visible, as the light source was behind him, throwing his front side into darkness.
Yuma knew why he was there.
"Oh? You're not going to do your little wrist flicking and throw me aside?" Dabi tilted his head, turquoise eyes seemingly staring into Yuma's very soul.
Swallowing, he dared speak, "Nobody knows."
"Good boy."
A shiver went down Yuma's spine. The mere sight of the man made him want to run. How was it that he dared fight against him days ago? Was he delirious because of his fever? That was the only possible reason...
"Although I can't say I'm not surprised you kept your mouth shut. Was it for him?" The way he asked... "Are you doing it to protect him from the truth?"
That...
"Mmm. You're a selfish one, aren't you?"
Yuma couldn't answer.
"Well, I have no care for your reasons."
And, just like that, he turned to the side and started looking around, as if he had no care in the world.
"Dabi...?" Yuma said his name...no, no, that wasn't his name. "Touya?" He watched the man before him lock up, and, ever so slowly, he turned his head back to look at him.
It was then and there than Yuma learned what terror truly meant.
Dabi-Touya began walking towards him, coming closer and closer with each step, and, when he finally reached him, he raised his clenched fist above Yuma's head, forcing it into the door behind. "How peculiar..."
Yuma couldn't move.
"You're trembling like a leaf yet your words are so confident," He stared right at him, closer than ever before. "How is it that you had no problem attacking me then? Now you're...afraid?"
No...that wasn't it.
And, just like that, Yuma saw the realisation pass through Touya.
"Ah...I get it now." Touya leaned forward, leaving mere inches between them, and he whispered, "I'm Touya, aren't I? Todoroki Touya. His older brother."
Yuma pressed his palms against the door, not moving an inch, not saying anything, barely even breathing. There was nowhere for him to run. Nowhere for him to hide.
No way for him to deny his words.
"I thought you were going to be a menace. Guess I was wrong."
Yuma turned his head to the side, not capable of looking at him any longer. His eyes...reminded him so much of Shouto, and it made him feel sick. It was disgusting how similar they were.
Then Touya leaned away. "I'll be seeing you soon, Yuma."
With that, he disappeared around the corner, and Yuma's knees gave out, forcing him onto the ground. The way he said his name kickstarted the nausea at the pit of his stomach, twisting his insides.
Why now? Why after everything? Things were beginning to get better...and he didn't need this! He was finally free of Gabriel, free of his past, but he was thrown right into another problem, and, this time, he didn't see a way out.
What the hell was he supposed to do now?!