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The three of them were having dinner together, in a quiet, domestic evening. Kazuma looked at Barok, then at Ryunosuke. His boyfriends were in the middle of a small talk. He was quiet.
He slammed the table when he couldn't take the tension anymore.
“It was me. It was me, okay?”
The conversation stopped, and his boyfriends looked at him, surprised. He waited a few seconds, but neither of them seemed to understand what he meant.
“My dear” said Barok, “what on Earth are you talking about?”
Kazuma sighed.
“This afternoon. Susato's question.”
Silence came again, until Ryunosuke made a little “Ohhhh”.
“About who fell in love with whom first?”
Kazuma nodded, feeling his face blushing.
That afternoon they’d had tea with Susato. During one of the small talks, they had talked about their relationship. And she had asked that question, with apparent curiosity and tenderness. But Kazuma had seen her looking at him out of the corner of her eye, mischievous, as she finished the question with a giggle and a hand on her lips.
Because she knew.
Of course she knew. She was his sister, and she had seen him yearn for Ryunosuke every night during their student days. And that was why she had asked the question, because she wanted him to confess it…
Kazuma had managed to change the subject, but the idea had stayed in his mind even after they had returned home. Were the boyfriends suspicious of him? Were they waiting for him to confess?
And now he had. And he was left with no choice but to tell the truth.
“How can you be so sure? Ryunosuke asked. “I mean, maybe one of us...”
"No," Kazuma said. “It was… it was in Japan, long before any of us met Barok.”
“And how do you know Ryunosuke wasn't the first?”
"I… doubt it." He took a deep breath, and decided it was time to confess. It was during the speech competition. When I went to talk to you after…”
Ryunosuke's eyes widened as his mind processed that information.
“But… that was… that was the same day we met.”
Kazuma, his gaze averted from him, couldn't give him more than an embarrassed nod. Ryunosuke felt himself blushing up to his ears.
"Oh," he murmured. “I… I didn't know.”
He rubbed the back of his neck shyly, avoiding Kazuma's eyes.
"What a curious time," commented Barok, with a half-smile. He already knew that story. “And what a way to fall in love.”
Kazuma looked away, flushed at those teasing.
"It's...very cute, actually," said Ryunosuke, with an adorable smile. “It’s good to know.”
Suddenly, there was a hesitation on his face. His smile faltered and faded, and his voice lowered.
“I would have liked to know earlier. If I had known, maybe it would have been different.”
All the joy in the room seemed to fade, like a flame that goes out. His partner raised his head, not understanding.
“What do you mean?”
“At that time I was very confused. I can't say exactly when I started to like you, I've never felt like this before. I didn't realize it until…until it was too late.”
Nobody was smiling anymore. Suddenly, his face was filled with sorrow.
“When I lost you, that's when I realized my feelings...”
“Oh, partner...”
Kazuma got up from his seat and went to him, hugging him. Ryunosuke hugged him back, tight, like he was the only thing in the world.
Barok could only look at them, affection in his eyes. Until Ryunosuke broke the hug, blinked slightly, and looked at him.
“It's your turn.”
“What?” said Barok.
"Come on, tell us about it." Kazuma claimed. “When did you fall in love?”
The prosecutor pressed his lips, feeling the colour reaching his cheeks as well.
"As you can imagine," he said, "I fell for Ryunosuke first.”
“But when did it happened?” Ryunosuke dared to make a bet: “When I defended you? Was it then?”
“It was…before that.”
"Oh," said Ryunosuke, surprised. “When I defended Albert?”
"Even earlier," Barok muttered under his breath, his face turning a colour that was unusual for him.
"Just say it” spoke Kazuma.
"It was… it was him during Miss Lestrade's trial."
Ryunosuke's eyes widened. For the first seconds he was unable to reply, and Barok kept talking.
“When I saw you defending your client, willing to risk everything, to make whatever enemies were necessary, all in the name of justice and truth... That awoke feelings in me. At first I thought they were respect and admiration. Time has proven it was much more than that.”
"Wow," muttered Ryunosuke, hardly knowing what to say. “I… I thought you hated me back then.”
“I did, somehow. That's why I bottled up and denied my feelings for a long time.”
"I see," Ryunosuke whispered, laying a gentle hand on his arm. “In my case, yes, it was during that trial. I was very scared to see you in prison. I was so afraid of losing you too. It was a terrible time, but… I feel like it brought us closer together. That until then there had been a barrier, and now it was broken down. I remember… the first time you called me by my name.”
They looked at each other tenderly, as if they were about to kiss. But suddenly he looked down.
“Of course, that was a very confusing time, with Kazuma back and all that. So I denied my feelings too.”
“Yes. It was a confusing time for everyone," muttered Kazuma.
Ryunosuke watched them for a few seconds, and then looked at Barok.
“And with Kazuma? How did it happen?”
Barok looked away, even more uncomfortable than before.
“It's more complicated.”
“Yes, if something defines it, it's complicated” Kazuma said under his breath.
“I guess you two will be the last ones” said Ryunosuke, “if everything happened after that trial...”
Barok tilted his head, unable to look at any of his boyfriends. Ryunosuke frowned at him, not understanding his behaviour. He seemed like a cornered witness.
"It was… earlier, actually," he confessed, surprising both of his partners. “During the time when you were my apprentice. I know it's unexpected, I didn't believe it either. But I had spent the last ten years alone. And suddenly I had constant company. Someone to care for… and who cared for me. And… I guess that awakened my feelings.”
There was silence. No one dared to break it, and everyone waited for Kazuma to speak.
“I… I can't say the same.”
Neither Kazuma or Barok dared to say another word. They couldn't even look each other in the eye. Ryunosuke stared at them for a few seconds, and he understood. He knew them very well, and he realized what he had to do.
He picked up the empty dishes, and walked away from the table.
"I’d better take this to the kitchen," he said, as he left the dining room, leaving them alone.
A few more seconds passed, in which only the echo of the recently closed door could be heard. Then, Kazuma dared to look up. To seek the eyes of his lover.
He took a breath. And he confessed.
“Barok. I've been thinking about it ever since we started this… this game. And the truth is that I have not found an answer.”
He found a gleam of pain in Barok's eyes, and immediately got up and went with him. He took his hands.
“Listen to me. I can’t tell the exact moment when I fell in love with you, because it has been a very long way. I don't know… I don't know when I stopped hating you. Or the moment I forgave you. Or the moment I fell in love with you. Maybe there wasn't an exact moment, maybe it was all a long process. With you, with Ryunosuke. But I know for sure that all of that has happened. I know that I no longer hate you, I know that I have forgiven you, and I know that I love you.”
He moved closer to him. Barok tilted his head, with a melancholic sigh.
“Sometimes I envy the relationship you and Ryunosuke have. A youthful and pure love, without the drama that have haunted us. So easy...”
“Easy?” Kazuma frowned. “Like when he believed me dead and was also accused of my murder? Or like when I came back from the dead and Ryunosuke had to stop me from being blinded by revenge?”
Barok did not reply. He knew when the other one was right. Kazuma stroked his hand gently.
“None of our lives has been an easy road. Neither does our relationship. But… that path is the one that has led us here.”
Barok laced his fingers through Kazuma's. Their eyes met. Their lips were about to meet, too, when the door suddenly opened, and Ryunosuke stumbled into the room. His eyes were bright.
“That was… I’m sorry, that was just so beautiful…”
Kazuma sighed softly, and told Ryunosuke to go with them. When both of his boyfriends were at his side, he gave each of them a soft kiss on the lips. Then he stopped to look at them, with red cheeks and loving eyes.
“Yes. It is beautiful, isnt it?”