Chapter Text
During recess, Nakamura tried to approach Hirose to talk things out face-to-face despite the note he had seen in the locker. He felt like he was going to explode if he didn't know what was happening right then and there. It felt unbearable waiting around with all this uncertainty.
However, no matter how hard he tried to get close to Hirose, Matsumura or other people always got in the way. Not only that, but a couple of times it actually felt like Hirose was intentionally avoiding him.
«Is it just my imagination, or is he avoiding me? W-well, it doesn't matter. He probably just wants to talk privately after class like he said in the note he left me... Maybe he just doesn't want anyone else listening. I really hope it's nothing bad, I feel sick to my stomach just thinking about it.»
When the final bell rang, Nakamura waited for everyone to leave before heading to the classroom mentioned in the letter. Throughout the day, he had received some pretty nasty glares, like he was a total freak again. He was used to it from when he was little, but he thought he had made progress and that people had moved on from picking on him to just ignoring him.
Carefully, he opened the classroom door, hoping to find Hirose inside, but he was met with a completely empty, silent room.
«He's probably on his way... I hope he didn't forget. I'll just wait here for a few minutes, and if no one comes, I'll leave.»
He had only been waiting for a few seconds when an unexpected ringtone made his heart jump. It was a song playing from a desk; it sounded like a phone. Nakamura walked over after recovering from the scare.
"Huh? Looks like someone left their phone in class. Guess I'll pick it up and turn it into the lost and found..." Nakamura muttered to himself as he stepped closer.
But right as he looked at the screen, he froze.
"Wait, what?!"
He glanced at the lit-up screen: it was a missed call from Matsumura, and once it ended, the lock screen wallpaper was revealed, solving the mystery of who the phone belonged to. It was Hirose's.
"Hirose's phone? What is it doing here? Wait a second..." A cold sweat started dripping down his neck.
«Does this mean he was here and something happened to him?! Does Matsumura have something to do with this?! Only Hirose and I were supposed to know we were meeting here alone after school... What on earth is his phone doing here?»
Terrified for Hirose's safety, he grabbed the phone and turned toward the door to go look for him. But before he could even take a step, the door slammed wide open.
"It's in here, the sound came from inside!" The voice belonged to the last person Nakamura ever wanted to see: Matsumura.
"W-what's going on?" Nakamura asked, completely thrown off by what was happening.
Matsumura walked aggressively towards Nakamura, snatching the phone right out of his hands. Hirose was standing right behind him, watching everything. His eyes were totally blank, as if he couldn't process what he was seeing.
"What are you doing with Hirose's phone? It's been missing since yesterday after school!" Matsumura gasped, faking total shock as he put his hands over his mouth. "So you were the thief! Why would you do this? Weren't you guys friends? You're sick!"
"What are you talking about? I didn't have it, it was lying on a desk and it rang! I only picked it up to..."
"Thank goodness we found it!" Matsumura cut him off, turning to Hirose with a pitiful look before turning back to Nakamura "It's not just that you stole it while he wasn't looking... you've also been sending horrible messages to all his contacts from his account!"
Nakamura went completely pale upon hearing that.
«I-I don't get it... What does he mean Hirose's phone was stolen yesterday and bad messages were sent pretending they were from Hirose? Only a monster would do something like that! I could never hurt Hirose like this... This has to be a trap set by Matsumura. Wait a second, does this mean Hirose wasn't the one who left the note?»
"W-what...?"
Hirose's face was deathly pale as he checked the screen, his fingers trembling uncontrollably. Humiliating messages had been sent to several classmates while impersonating him, along with nasty texts directed at Matsumura. Matsumura's trap was designed to make it look like Nakamura had stayed behind alone in the classroom just to use Hirose's phone and make everyone hate him so he can only be friends with Nakamura. In fact, Matsumura already started a rumor that morning about someone spotting Nakamura with Hirose's phone.
"Hirose... no, wait! I swear it wasn't me!" Nakamura begged, taking a step toward him. "I just found it on that desk! I didn't do anything!"
But Hirose wasn't looking at him. His eyes were glued to the screen, brimming with tears that threatened to fall at any second. He felt completely betrayed by the one person he was starting to trust the most.
"Hirose, please listen to me..." Nakamura tried to step closer again to touch his arm.
Before he could even brush past him, a violent push sent him stumbling back. Matsumura had stepped right between them, glaring at him.
"Don't you dare go near him!" Matsumura shouted, pushing him away one more time. "Can't you see what you've done? Why did you make him cry like this? You're a monster!"
"Get out of the way, Matsumura! It had to be you! You set this whole thing up!" Nakamura yelled, losing his composure as he looked at his friend in utter desperation. "Hirose, please believe me! It's not what it looks like!"
But it was all too much for Hirose. He let out a choked sob, covered his face with his hands, and ran out of the classroom without looking back.
"Hirose!" Matsumura called out, but before chasing after him, he turned around toward Nakamura.
The worried look on Matsumura's face vanished in a fraction of a second, replaced by a scary and victorious smirk.
"I warned you, idiot. I told you you'd pay the price if you didn't stay away. Oh, by the way... thanks for your cute little LINE text yesterday. It was really fun reading it from Hirose's phone before I deleted it."
Nakamura's heart stopped.
«No way... It was him. He stole Hirose's phone and saw my message... That's why I never got a reply. That's why he left that fake note to pull off his master plan. Matsumura left the phone in this room just to frame me. How could I have been so stupid?!!»
Without giving him time to react, Matsumura put on a panicked expression once again and sprinted down the hallway, yelling, "Hirose, wait!", pretending to be the hero rushing to comfort his friend.
Nakamura stood frozen in the middle of the empty classroom. The emotional shock was so intense he couldn't even breathe. «No... no no no... this can't be happening.» For a few seconds, he remained completely paralyzed.
But then, a surge of rage and desperation made him move.
«He can't get away with this! I have to clear this up right now! I can't let Hirose think it was me!»
He burst out of the classroom and ran down the stairs at full speed, nearly tripping over the steps. But as soon as he reached the ground floor near the main exit, he froze dead in his tracks.
There they were. Hirose was still crying, leaning against Matsumura's chest while Matsumura wrapped his arms around him affectionately, stroking his hair and whispering sweet things to calm him down. Hirose was clinging to his jacket as if it were his only safe place.
Nakamura couldn't stand this. Seeing Hirose seek comfort from the very person who was destroying his life was too much for him to bear.
«NO NO NO WHY?!!!!! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!! I CAN'T TAKE THIS!»
He took a step back and sprinted out of the school with tears streaming down his face.
He ran all the way home as fast as he could. He slammed his bedroom door shut and collapsed onto the floor, his hands shaking violently from panic and anguish.
Without thinking twice, acting purely on instinct, he opened his desk drawer looking for his cutter. Years of holding back and all the progress he had made completely shattered into pieces.
He needed to shut off the pain in his head, no matter what.
He started cutting himself. This time, much deeper than usual. Blood began dripping out fast, and even though the physical pain couldn't compare to the one inside his heart, his arm was screaming for help. Making sure no one saw him, he rushed to the bathroom to wrap it in bandages and heal himself as best as he could.
«Fuck, fuck, fuck... I went way too far this time... I feel dizzy... Why am I so weak and cowardly? I can't let Matsumura win this battle. I can't let him steal Hirose away from me.» He started crying, covering his mouth so no one would hear him. «How can I be so stupid?... I just want to disappear.»
—
The next day was a living hell.
Matsumura had made sure to tell everyone that Nakamura was the thief who stole Hirose's phone, heavily pushing the narrative that he was an obsessive stalker.
Hirose didn't go to school that day.
He walked down the hallway staring at the ground, his long sleeves pulled all the way down to hide the fresh bandages from the night before. Out of nowhere, a classmate stuck his leg out, and Nakamura fell to the ground. Several guys burst out laughing.
"Woah, careful there! Wouldn't want you slipping your hand into someone's pocket to steal their phone while you're down there," one of them said.
Nakamura didn't answer. He simply clenched his teeth, holding back the urge to burst into tears right then and there, and began gathering his scattered notebooks. Just then, a familiar voice called out to the guys.
"Hey, don't you have anything better to do than make a fool of yourselves picking on people?"
A short girl wearing glasses stepped in front of Nakamura with a confident stance, glaring at the bullies. It was Kawamura.
"What's your problem, Kawamura? Mind your own business, this guy's a total creep who..."
"I said mind your own business," Kawamura interrupted effortlessly, throwing them a cold glare that made the guys mutter under their breath and walk away.
Kawamura bent down and held her hand out to help Nakamura up.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Y-yeah... thank you," Nakamura whispered, surprised that someone had actually stood up for him.
Later during break, Kawamura approached him and asked to go to the rooftop to talk alone. There, far away from everyone, they had a quiet conversation.
"Hey, don't listen to a word they're saying out there," Kawamura said, looking Nakamura straight in the eyes with a gentle expression. "I don't trust that Matsumura guy one bit. He has fake written all over his face, acting like a little angel in front of everyone. And honestly, I don't believe for a second that you stole Hirose's phone or any of that garbage."
Nakamura's eyes widened, feeling a tight lump form in his throat. She was the first person in the entire school who wasn't judging him.
"I-I really... didn't do anything..." Nakamura managed to choke out, his voice cracking.
"Let me ask you something. You don't have to answer if you don't want to," she paused, placing a hand on Nakamura's shoulder. "You are in love with Hirose, aren’t you?"
Nakamura gasped in surprise. He had no idea Kawamura had started suspecting it. Though, to be fair, it was kind of obvious given the BL manga he asked her to draw based on his friendship with Hirose, so it made sense she had figured it out.
"Um... Promise you won't tell anyone?" He waited for the girl's nod before confessing his secret. "Y-yeah... I've liked Hirose since last year, which is why I would never do something like that. I just want to see him happy, even if it's not with me... I would never do anything to hurt him. Everything happening right now is a complete nightmare."
"I knew it," she nodded sympathetically. "Hey, Nakamura, there's nothing wrong with that. Besides, I know you'd never do something like that to Hirose." Kawamura gave him a warm smile and patted his shoulder. "Listen, I consider you a friend, and I can't stand seeing this kind of unfairness. So, how about we come up with a plan to expose Matsumura's lies? You don't deserve to go through this alone."
Nakamura felt a wave of relief between all his suffering. Finally, someone believed him and not only that, she was actually going to help him. «I owe you a big one Kawamura... Thank you so much. I just hope I don't drag her down with me, she shouldn't have to sacrifice herself for someone like me.»
"I really appreciate it, seriously... but aren't you scared they'll target you too?" Nakamura asked, visibly worried.
"Don't worry about that. For that to happen, it would mean our plan failed, and that's not happening," she offered an optimistic grin. "By the way, I know this is out of nowhere, but I wanted to ask you something."
Before continuing, she pulled a pair of tickets out of her backpack. "I have an extra pass for a new BL convention downtown. How about we go together so you can cheer up a bit? Plus, we can use the time to brainstorm our master plan. What do you say?"
"I..." He hesitated for a moment. He really didn't have the energy for anything, but after everything Kawamura was doing for him, he couldn't say no. Besides, deep down, taking his mind off things for a while sounded nice. "Sure, I'd love to go, really. Thank you so much, Kawamura... you have no idea how much this means to me."
"Awesome! Then we will meet on Saturday. Getting a change of scenery will do you good, you'll see," she replied with a friendly wink.
Nakamura looked up at the sky from the rooftop, feeling slightly hopeful. His world might be crumbling apart because of Matsumura's lies and the distance between him and Hirose, but at least for now, he knew he wouldn't have to face this completely alone.