Chapter Text
Reo arrived tired from school. Hakuho, completely exhausted, threw his suitcase onto his bed next to his phone. He made a small grimace of disgust upon feeling his throat itch to the point of having to bring a handkerchief to his lips to cough; the purple lily petals had become very bothersome lately this week.
He lay down on his bed face down to avoid choking on a flower petal for now, his phone started ringing, it must be Chigiri, he thought for a moment. After telling Hyoma everything, the boy had become more aloof with Seishiro and attentive with Reo, practically taking him to hang out with Kunigami all day. Reo tried to reach for his phone by pulling the sheets a bit, but this caused his phone to fall off the bed.
Great. He frowned and got out of bed with difficulty, kneeling slightly and bending down to spot his phone under the bed. On the screen's notifications was the name of his red-haired friend, but another object hidden under the bed caught his attention—something shiny that reflected the light from the phone. He extended his fingers to reach it.
A small smile formed on his lips as he caught and cherished it, that was the necklace he had given to Seishiro for his Christmas, a silver chain with several small shiny stones around it, in the center shone and hung a beautiful pendant in the shape of a moon decorated with white stones with some silver and purple touches in the center.
Reo had the other half of that matching necklace, it was a beautiful sun that perfectly complemented the moon pendant. It was also silver-plated with small purple and white gemstones on the chain, and in the middle of the pendant, there was a white stone that stood out from the entire necklace.
Ha, if only it knew that the moon is now more interested in the Earth than in the other planets and stars, despite the moon shining thanks to the sun, the moon always revolves around the Earth.
His heart tightened in his chest in a horrible way, his throat dried out from the lilies. What was this necklace doing here? It should be around Seishiro's neck, not in his room under his bed. How many days had it been here?
He must have left it on purpose or it must have fallen...
"Damn, it hurts," Reo murmured, bringing a hand to his chest, clutching it tightly and coughing violently when a petal was forced out of his throat abruptly.
He squeezed his amethyst eyes tightly due to the pain of the retching, causing a few tears to slide down his cheeks, gasped with exhaustion, and opened his tearful eyes to see a small petal bathed in blood on the handkerchief, a broken sob escaped his lips from the irritation in his throat.
He reached for his phone that he had left on the foot of his bed, Reo stood up carefully to avoid stumbling so he could throw himself exhausted onto his bed. His other hand slid down his neck, searching for the sun pendant that adorned his collarbone, gripping it tightly when he found it. He lay down on her side, turned on his phone, and opened Nagi's chat.
My Treasure <3
I just realized that you left something at my house.
4:16 p.m.
Here I go, Reo :x
4:16 p.m.
He laughed a little, Nagi was probably being a gaming addict on his phone, playing some game about killing soldiers or monsters, that he hadn't even noticed what time it was, maybe he hadn't even had lunch after he got back from Hakuho.
He always hated it when Seishiro neglected himself like that, he always scolded him, telling him that lunch and proper nutrition were essential before he threw himself onto his bed to play until late. Nagi could seriously get sick from not eating on time, and that was not what Reo wanted.
Although Reo would always be willing to take care of a sick Nagi, he knows that now he wouldn't be the only one who would also be willing to stay up late for him. Now there is another person in Seishiro's life who would also be willing to stay up late for Nagi and would even stay over with Seishiro for his sake.
He knows she has to let him go, but he can't help loving him.
A sad smile appeared on his lips before turning into a grimace of pain from another lily petal in his throat; just thinking about it makes the Hanahaki appear faster than usual, he might have to take a few pills before Nagi gets home.
I lift a bottle full of pills to pour two into his hand and swallow them just like that, not knowing which hurts more, swallowing those sour pills that make him dizzy like burning his throat or being in love with someone who won't be able to reciprocate.
(…)
The door to his room was suddenly swung open by a tall albino boy, Reo looked at him in surprise, stopping from arranging a couple of blankets. For a moment, he blinked a few times and then slowly shook his head; he had spoiled Seishiro in that regard, but what could he do now?
Seishiro, on the other hand, stood at the door for a while scanning Reo and mentally wondering for the tenth time during the entire journey from his house to Reo's home about what he had forgotten at his best friend's house. In fact, the last time he stayed there, he fell asleep completely on the bed of the younger Mikage and was woken up by Reo with gentle pats on his head so he could eat something before falling asleep again.
Reo was sitting on his bed now with his laptop on his lap, he couldn't help but laugh at the look on Seishiro's face since the long five minutes he had opened his door, he made a small gesture with his hand for him to come closer to where he was sitting.
“Your hand is present, Sei”.
Seishiro approached and raised an eyebrow, completely confused, but still extended his palm towards the purple-haired one just as he said.
Reo took the albino's hand delicately, as he would like to see their fingers intertwined with Seishiro's, walking like that under the treetops or even strolling along a beach while their bare feet are bathed by the vast sea, but as always, it's a would like or a wish. The cold touch of the pendant against his hand made Nagi lower his gaze.
“Ohh, here it was.” Nagi murmured, gently squeezing the silver necklace in his large palm. “For a moment, I thought I hadn't fastened it properly or that it had fallen off on the way back home.”
Nagi bent down a little to the height of his own face, an action that took him by surprise when Seishiro lightly touched Reo's pale neck with one of his fingers, making him shiver at the cold touch of Nagi. The albino slid his finger to the chain that was beneath his shirt, revealing the small sun of the silver necklace.
Nagi brought the moon and the sun closer together, joining the small charms. Reo could even swear that his shone when they came together, and he wanted to cry over it, having Seishiro just a few centimeters from his face where their breaths mingled and being able to admire how beautiful he was...
“Nagi.” I called him, causing the albino to shift his gaze from the union of both silver pendants, centering his silver eyes on Reo. “What do you think about love?”
Seishiro stared at him for a while, had he asked at a bad moment, damn it, he should have just left it like that and stayed silent, contemplating that face in front of him that he always wanted to cradle with love in his hands and chest when he slept, to kiss those lips with so much love he had for him.
“Well...” murmured Nagi, bringing his fingers to his chin thoughtfully despite his expressionless face. “It's an experience for anyone, it can bring joy and connection to our lives, a fundamental emotion...” He lowered his gray gaze to the charms before raising his eyebrows with curiosity. “Why are you asking me this, Reo”
“Curiosity, that's all.”
Seeing how Isagi makes you feel intrigues me in a thousand different ways. Nagi, knowing how it makes your feelings explode in a thousand ways and knowing that it makes it so special for you that it occupies all your thoughts.
Nagi slowly pulled away from his face to lie down beside him, closing his eyes and pulling a pillow to his chest, cuddling his cheek. Reo smiled a little, caressing her warm cheeks and the unruly albino strands that blocked his gray vision.
“And what does the word "I love you" mean to you?” He let go, stepping away from Nagi to look at the bedroom door, after seeing Nagi's thoughtful expression.
Most likely, Nagi is going to let everything out, thinking about the experiences and emotions Isagi was making him feel during all the time they spent together.
Seishiro moved his head away from the pillow and propped himself up on his elbows a bit to look at Reo's back, who had his head focused on a point in the room and apparently part of his purple hair was covering part of his face.
“A deep feeling of intense affection….” Nagi looked at the ceiling thoughtfully, apparently, he wasn't thinking about it that much. “The most likely thing is that it is a word with a strong emotional bond, Reo.”
Reo shrugged, well, he didn't expect that, he expected something more cheesy from someone he already thought was in a relationship, although the person he was asking was Seishiro Nagi, so his answers could have legitimately been worse than he expected.
A heavy sigh escaped his lips.
Reo could describe in many different ways what Seishiro provokes in him when they aren't even a couple, he might even hear different words coming out of the albino's mouth.
"Let's play something, Reo," Nagi murmured in his ear. Reo turned instantly, meeting Nagi's gray eyes and feeling Seishiro's hands slowly removing the computer from his lap.
He nodded, moving a little away when Nagi lay down looking for something entertaining on the laptop. Fortunately, Nagi didn't see him when he felt his cheeks burn from the old closeness. He took some chocolate pockis from his shelf before lying down beside him, smiling as he always did, resting his head on Nagi's shoulder.
(…)
Reo was lying in his bed, staring at the white ceiling of his room for a long time. He had been tossing and turning, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep, but he couldn't because the flower petals were blocking his airways, and air no longer passed through his nose, making him panic due to the unexpected lack of air.
Despite having had a very exhausting day and his body being weak, his eyes could not close peacefully to be able to sleep soundly; he even turned to his side to consolidate his sleep better.
Even after taking the pills before sleeping, the petals didn't decrease; on the contrary, because of his sleeplessness, he couldn't help but overthink all the tragic things that had happened to his lately. What would have happened if he had confessed to Seishiro much earlier? Thanks to that simple doubt or question, the purple lilies increased more and more each day.
He should start taking sleeping pills and also the pills that soothe Hanahaki, that way he would stop torturing himself every night with the insomnia caused by Hanahaki.
Reo kicked the white sheets off his bed and got up instantly; he couldn't lie there while suffocating in the petals. The cold contact of the floor with his warm feet sent shivers down his spine, with each slow step he took towards the alcove of his room, opening the glass doors to feel the cold air pass over his entire face while also tousling his purple hair.
He stayed for a while leaning against the doors of his bedroom, carefully resting his body against the glass panel, before taking a deep breath and then letting out a frustrated and trembling sigh in the process.
He moved forward until his arms rested on the railing, the moon was marvelous, its white color reminded him of Seishiro, like his very beautiful gray eyes and his albino hair that he loved to caress all the time, just like his pale skin. That was one of the reasons why he gave him a pendant in the shape of a moon.
“Why couldn't I be Isagi?” He stammered, looking at the moon with a glassy-eyed gaze from the accumulated tears, Reo waited in silence as if the moon were capable of answering each of his future questions.
Under the gaze at the knuckles of his hands gripping the balcony tightly, he squeezed his eyes shut at the sting of tears, biting his lower lip.
“Why did it have to be me who would be flooded with lily petals?”
His eyes watered even more with salty tears, which began to slide bitterly down the length of his rosy cheek. He swallowed hard at the feeling of the heavy lily in his blood-soaked mouth.
“Why couldn't Sei choose me? I don't understand, I was by his side every day. Why can't it be me?”
His body collapsed until he was kneeling on the ground, as the petals flooded his trachea. Reo was stunned to the point of coughing violently and seeing his own blood on the tiles of his balcony floor, alongside the small petals he managed to expel by coughing forcefully.
He is afraid that this will get worse, he is afraid that with each passing day his body and mind will weaken and he won't be able to go on, he is afraid that Nagi will leave him, forget about him, set him aside and take him out of his life, sometimes love changes people, it's not that he doesn't trust his friendship with Seishiro but he is afraid of losing him.
He can't compete against him, can he?
No, because Isagi was brighter than a beautiful blue sky, Isagi was smarter in terms of football, Isagi was very social around people, Isagi was prettier than him...
He clenched his fists in annoyance at his own destructive thoughts, his jaw, which was rigid, began to hurt from the pressure he was exerting, and needless to say, his breath was slipping away from him in moments of despair.
I lean my back against the cold railing of the room, I couldn't blame Isagi for being a perfect person. With a calmer breath and quieter, more composed sobs, she wiped her tears with the sleeves of her pajamas.
Reo should start mentally preparing for when Nagi decides to tell him about his relationship with Isagi.
With his feet numb from the time he had spent sitting under the frosty morning breeze, he walked over to one of the drawers beside his bed, squinted at the light emitted by his phone; it was 2:48 AM and he had a message.
My Treasure <3
Do you feel like visiting the Reo amusement park?
To start a new year
Without Chigiri in between :x
Just you and me
12:56 a.m
He shook his head in amusement when he read that Hyoma wasn't invited, maybe he was thinking that he would take him with him. Well, in a way, gathering everything, Chigiri was being very protective of him every day, and in a way, he didn't mind. It was more amusing when the redhead scolded Nagi to make him leave and let them be alone.
And knowing Nagi, he never fell behind; he always found a way to get closer when Chigiri went shopping, and when he returned, they would start a fight for his "attention," according to Nagi. The last time Nagi lost the argument, he left the room with a displeased expression. He wanted to follow him, but Hyoma stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.
How he hated giving false hopes.