A/N: Short chapter because it's a build-up for the CLIMAX happening in the NEXT chapter.

It's not a filler chapter tho! Please don't skip this! Important stuff is being said (or in this case left out) here.

Enjoy reading!

(Small cliffhanger at the end 🤭)

Chapter summary: Yuuji flees the scene.

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Megumi heard Yuuji leaving his bed.

Quick steps.

He felt hands swinging him around. Two strong arms held Megumi tightly and fingers clawed themselves into his arms.

Megumi was met with Yuuji's face that was contorted and eyes that were blazing with acute fury.

"You fucked my dad?!"

—------

Yuuji was mad.

Megumi could tell that very easily.

Yuuji glared at Megumi with incredulous eyes. His iris quivered as he scanned Megumi's face for an answer. Megumi was unable to open his mouth. His mind, his lips, were betraying him at the most important moment. Yuuji had observed Megumi's mute response for long enough.

Yuuji let go of him with a snap of his arms. His hands were hovering in the air, his eyes switching between focusing on unfocusing on Megumi.

Megumi one took a few steps back.

Yuuji swallowed hard, and his voice was layered with disbelief, mouth agape.

"No way ... No fucking way. My dad? You fucked my dad?"

Parts of Megumi's body twitched haphazardly as he tried to resort to some sort of damage control.

"I— It was ..." That was all. Megumi's voice failed him after those few syllables.

But it was enough of a confirmation for Yuuji.

"You did? You actually did??"

He half-blinked, his facial muscles tensing up once.

Words were stuck in Megumi's throat, his vocal cords contracting and loosening but the process of audible sounds being exhaled and creating something humane and intelligible for Yuuji to rely on gave up on Megumi.

A betrayal in the most vital moment, his own body the main perpetrator.

A thin sheet of sizzling anxiety coated Megumi's whole being as he got locked in.

Megumi was stuck in a freeze — physically and mentally.

That was not how he had intended things to go about.

All of his feeble efforts and measly collected courage and barely well-constructed words for his confession ... were wiped-out.

Megumi had failed.

Megumi's unintentional, silent treatment had Yuuji go grotesquely impatient.

"When did you fuck him?! What the fuck!"

Megumi breathed in sharply as he searched for words. His lips were sealed, but his inner voice was the epitome of eloquence.

Yuuji, listen. First of all, you have to know that it happened not once but twice. I know it sounds so unbelievable and weird and crazy, but the first time I did it with him was before I met you. It was when I finished my gap year at the—

"—hospital." Without intending to do so, Megumi finished the last part of his thought out loud.

Megumi's chest tightened and he fell into instant panic as soon as he realized what he had done.

No. That wasn't the right thing to say.

Wrong. It was wrong.

Yuuji would get the totally wrong idea, if Megumi left that slip of his tongue at that.

Because it wasn't all of the truth!

That wasn't the answer he'd wanted to give. It was a mistake!

Megumi realized that right away. He raised his hands slowly, his breathing going in short puffs. He had to fix this immediately.

Yuuji was watching him with a mixture of disbelief and indignation – doing so silently, until: "Oh my fucking god. You really did it with him. I'm gonna ..." His facial expression turned to that of nausea.

Megumi had to fix this right away.

So, he scurried to Yuuji's side in one step, trying to reach his arms. "Yuuji—"

Yuuji freed himself from Megumi's touch abruptly. "Gross!" Yuuji looked disgusted, as though he had been touched by dirt. "Don't touch me."

Megumi was left speechless as Yuuji widened the distance between them, not breaking their eye contact until he was by the door and then left the room.

No. Wait! Yuuji! Megumi couldn't move from his place, helplessly watching Yuuji go.

By some undefined force, Megumi's feet were planted to the ground before his consciousness would wake his leg muscles up and drag him outside to the hallway, a few moments after Yuuji had left.

But it was too late.

No pink-haired student in sight.

Yuuji had already crossed the hallway and flitted outside.

"No ..." Megumi whispered under the palm that he had slapped over his mouth, wrought, breathing quick and shallowly.

This was the worst, Megumi was reminded by his inner self.

It was the worst... because Yuuji thought he had heard it all already ...

... But he hadn't.

Yuuji hadn't heard the worst yet ...

***

Tuesday.

Exactly twenty-four hours had passed ever since Yuuji had fled from their room. Not like Megumi had counted the hours or anything ...

He had done exactly that, actually.

Twenty-fours hours and yet Yuuji had not once sent a message or called him.

Megumi had no clue how to deal with that. The part of his brain, that was responsible for decision-makings, was at a dead-end.

Twenty-four hours had passed.

What should he do now?

Let more time pass or spring into action?

He had never experienced something like that before. Megumi had never had to worry about such things before.

Damn it, Megumi had never been in such a precarious situation with anyone before.

Instead of reaching out to Yuuji right away, Megumi had decided on waiting.

Certainly, Yuuji would need some time to himself instead of having Megumi bother him. That was how Megumi was thinking about it. And that was why he hadn't done anything yet.

Instead of acting upon things immediately, Megumi was unsparingly badgered by his terrorizing thoughts instead.

Staying in his room most of the time throughout the day and being left alone with his nervy mind, Megumi had no other choice than to witness his very own mental fury which he couldn't will away — no matter how hard he tried.

Whatever he would decide on ... wouldn't Megumi make things only worse? Or not?

Should he message Yuuji first? Or not?

Should he call Yuuji first, or not?

Should Megumi search for Yuuji or shouldn't he?!

If he did actually do that, where should he start?

Where could Yuuji be?

Megumi didn't know. Megumi had no idea what places Yuuji would usually hang out at or which people he would hang out with whenever he wasn't spending time with Megumi.

Megumi's assaulting thoughts made a leap.

How should he tell Yuuji the whole truth gently?

The second part of Megumi's confession. Megumi's secret. Megumi's downfall.

Megumi couldn't find a way on how to tell someone something with velvet gloves.

Because the worst of it all was ... Yuuji didn't know the whole, ugly truth yet.

This was not what Megumi had expected to happen.

At all.

Megumi had failed at delivering his confession properly and yet it had been enough for Yuuji to be gone and away for more than a day.

Radio silence.

***

Wednesday.

Overthinking.

Overthinking, overthinking, overthinking.

Megumi was overthinking literally everything.

When more than fourty-eight hours had passed ever since Yuuji had bolted out of the room, Megumi couldn't hold himself back any longer and pulled out his phone.

[2.19 p.m.] Yuuji?

[2.26 p.m.] can we talk?

[3.04 p.m.] please

[4.43 p.m.] how about talking through the phone at least?

[4.57 p.m.] you're gone for so long i'm worried, are you ok?

Yuuji didn't respond to any of those messages.

Megumi saw how every single one of his texts got delivered, but not read.

Around 6 p.m. – and after going up and down in his room, checking his phone every millisecond – Megumi lost a part of his sane reasoning, and crumbled like a house of cards that got hit by a gust of wind.

He curled up into a ball on his bed, his grip tight on his phone and like a lifeline, all the while trying to forbid the reality that was creeping up onto him like a parasite.

His problem was forlorn. Megumi couldn't even form coherent thoughts anymore. Everything sounded like a catastrophe.

The devil on his shoulder was laughing at him. The angel on his shoulder was soothing him.

Megumi was going crazy. Insane. Torn between two versions of madness.

Melancholy was wafting over him. His relationship with Yuuji was on a slope – possible for it to fall into a black hole anytime.

Was it over yet? Their relationship? Not yet, right?

Megumi wondered about that.

They could still talk things out. Things weren't ultimately over yet ... right??

And yet ... the worst of it all was ... Yuuji didn't know the whole, ugly truth yet.

***

Thursday.

Megumi felt ... gross.

For a while and for a bit, he did feel exactly the way that Yuuji had called him.

Gross.

Usually, Megumi didn't care about what other people might think about him, but what Yuuji had said (to him) and what Yuuji had called gross (him) actually affected Megumi's self-perception.

Yuuji had been – no, still was! – important to Megumi. Being hyperaware of how he had made Yuuji feel and react, Megumi couldn't turn off his tormenting thoughts when staying in his room in dire solitude.

He had attended a few classes the last two days, but today he visited all of them to distract himself from his self-made misery.

Once he was back in his dorm room, and there was no sign of Yuuji nor a sign that Yuuji had come back for a while – Megumi dialed Yuuji's number and waited with bated breath for the dial tone to get interrupted.

His heart was hammering and jamming inside his chest brutally, beating against his ribcage and turning his blood to a heated force.

Megumi didn't even know what to say once Yuuji was on the other side of the line — he just needed to hear Yuuji's voice first before he could function properly. If it was even possible for Megumi to function properly while Yuuji would be listening to him, that is.

His call got declined.

Megumi stunned at that, looking at his phone screen dumbfoundedly.

Staying in place, Megumi's first instinct was to call Yuuji again.

So he did.

The dial tone was ringing a few times and then — call declined.

Megumi tried it again.

Declined again.

This time, Megumi didn't even check his phone.

Well... at least he isn't dead, he thought. A vain comfort. A desperate attempt at keeping the last flicker of sanity.

So this was Yuuji's reaction to the first part of Megumi's secret in real-time?

Calling him gross and then disappearing for more than four days?

Not answering Megumi's messages or phone calls?

If it was this bad for Yuuji, then how could Megumi even approach the whole issue successfully?

He couldn't. There was no way he could.

Megumi let himself get engulfed by his own ache again at first, but when he couldn't endure the suffering any longer, he pulled himself together and strode out of his room and the male dormitory building and across campus until he reached the female dormitory building on the other side.

Nobara.

Yuuji must have been at Nobara's the whole time.

Of course.

They were close and longtime best friends. Of course, Yuuji would be there.

Megumi was stupid. And pathetic.

He hadn't even come up with that possibility up until now.

Was he to blame after all?

Megumi – nothing more than self-pity and agony at the moment – thought that he was to blame for it. For everything.

And yet ...

He couldn't take it any longer. Not with how things were currently. He had to do something.

Megumi had to talk to Yuuji.

He had to talk to Yuuji and make things clear.

Nobara was utterly surprised upon coming to face with Megumi when she opened the door.

"I want to talk to him," Megumi's words cascaded through his lips urgently, sounding rough and resolute at the same time. Megumi wouldn't even consider wasting any more seconds.

Nobara cocked her head, confused. "What do you—" She paused, putting the pieces together by herself and running a hand through her hair before she sighed loudly, "Yuuji isn't here. I don't know where he is. He didn't tell me anything and he wouldn't answer my messages."

So many possible outcomes Megumi had gone over in his head, but none of them had covered the possibility of Yuuji in fact not being at Nobara's.

Nobara was curious now, obviously. "What happ—"

Megumi swiveled on his heels and deftly turned around, walking away at a quick pace.

His whole body was tense and cranky, his mood in hell, having failed at the one and only plan that had forced him outside.

If Yuuji hadn't even told Nobara where he was, it would be useless to pay Toge and Yuuta a visit.

Yuuji ... didn't know the worst yet.

***

Friday.

Madly enough, Megumi was on the path of harsh and cruel acceptance today.

Kind of.

In some twisted way.

The crack in Megumi's and Yuuji's relationship would only grow bigger once the truth was out.

Nothing could prevent the disaster from happening, if Megumi were to tell Yuuji.

If Megumi told Yuuji, everything would become worse.

Megumi got it now. He had come to realization at last. His inner voice was running a marathon with nine particular words.

Yuuji doesn't know the worst of it all yet.

Yuuji doesn't know the worst of it all yet.

Yuuji doesn't know the worst of it all yet.

Yuuji doesn't know the worst of it all yet.

Suddenly, a knock sounded off at the door, forcing Megumi away from his thoughts and towards his surroundings.

First, Megumi was merely looking at his dorm room door, unmoving.

Then, he was wondering about the knock.

Who was it? Nobara?

Megumi had no idea who could possibly want to visit him (and why), and at the same time he didn't waste thoughts on an answer.

He slowly stood up, but was entirely caught up in his dilemma as he walked across the room.

As his hand wandered to the door handle, the reoccuring mantra was back again.

Yuuji thought he had already heard the worst. But the worst of the ugly truth hadn't been revealed yet.

It was impossible to make things better and thus Megumi had started to hold onto an irrational plea.

Please don't come back, Yuuji.

When Megumi opened the door, he was instantly met with Yuuji's face.

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A/N: And when I tell you that in the next chapte— *GUNSHOT*

C-Comments ... you can l-leave comments ... and guess wha—t ... is going to happen next chap—ter ... *dies*