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“Rin! We need to talk”, Rei stood in front of Samezuka’s front gates, one hand gripping the strap of his bag tightly and the other curled into a fist. His legs stood apart as he held his ground, ready for anything to come his way. Rin cocked his head and raised his eyebrow. “Huh? Who are you?” Rin looked over Rei and a flash of recognition crossed his eyes. “Ah! You’re the speedo guy, right? I almost didn’t recognize you because you weren’t dressed ridiculously.” Rin let out a laugh and leaned up against the wooden frame to the school’s gate.
“What could you and I possibly discuss? How badly my team is going to kick the shit out of your cruddy little team? Please. I have better things to do.”
Rei scowled and closed the gap between the two of them, poking a finger into Rin’s chest. “Hey! You know we’re going to win, so shut up. I’m here because I want to know what exactly happened between you and Haru.”
Rin slapped Rei’s hand away and bared his teeth. “What’s it matter to you? Get the fuck out of here, it’s none of your goddamn business what happened. The past is past, I won, get over it! Now go back to your shitty team so you guys can get ready to lose. Face it, you guys are lucky to have even gotten this far. None of you are that great, especially you and your little butt buddy.”
Before Rei knew what was happening, he felt his fist make contact with the side of Rin’s head. He watched as Rin recoiled and almost stumbled to the ground. A look of shock was quickly replaced with anger as Rin sprung forward and his fist hit Rei square in the face, snapping his glasses his half. Rei quickly shut his eyes to prevent glass from hitting his eyes and fell to the ground.
Next thing he knew, Rin was on top of him, raining blows down onto his head. “DON’T! FUCKING! TOUCH! ME! AGAIN!” each word punctuated with another blow to Rei’s head. Rei tried to push him off, but failed. Rin was way too strong for him and he was lucky enough to get the first hit in. “Please, stop!” Rei pleaded, raising his arms to deflect anymore hits. He heard someone’s muffled scream from beside him and suddenly Rin was pulled off Rei’s body. “MR. RIN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Rei tried to look for the source of the voice but couldn’t see anything except someone short with grey hair.
Rin turned to face whoever had stopped him, fist raised and bloody from hitting both Rei and the concrete of the sidewalk when he missed. It took him a moment before he realized who it was and calmed down slightly. “Nitori…” Rin lowered his fist and looked down at Rei, who was still shielding his face with his arms. “Never fucking touch me. Now get the fuck out of here.” Nitori was staring at Rin like he had seen a monster but didn’t pull away when Rin put a hand on his shoulder and lead him into the school.
Rei struggled to breathe as he reached forward, pleading to Nitori before he disappeared past the gate. His arm fell down onto the sidewalk and he stared up through broken glass and blood. He couldn’t speak or breathe well through his mouth, which had swollen and been cut. His nose was most definitely broken and he couldn’t breathe at all without having sharp pain shoot through his entire head. The back of his head was sticky with blood and he could barely raise it off the ground. He mustered some strength and turned to the side when he heard a loud noise. He saw someone running towards him and he closed his eyes. The last thing he felt was someone grab his hand and he blacked out.
--
Next thing he knew, he was waking up in a hospital room. The swelling in his eye had gone down some and he could open it more than he could before. He took in his surroundings, wondering how he got here. He looked down by the end of the bed and found someone resting their head on his bed, their hand enclosed around his. It took him a moment before he recognized it was Nagisa and attempted to shake him awake.
Nagisa roused and wiped the sleep from his eyes, yawning. He immediately perked up when he noticed it was Rei who woke him up and jumped up out of his seat. “Rei! Are you okay?! What happened to you?” Nagisa examined Rei’s face and pouted. He reached forward and put his hand against Rei’s cheek, but he winced and pulled back. “Oh no! I’m sorry!” Rei shook his head and leaned back against his pillow, closing his eyes. “How did I get here? Last thing I remember was Rin on top of me and…and…”
Nagisa scooched his chair closer to the bed and put his hand on Rei’s. “I was wondering where you had gone off to after school. I went to your place, but you weren’t there. Then I remembered we talked about Rin last night. So I went over to Samezuka and…and…I found you.” Tears began to fill Nagisa’s eyes and he sniffed, letting them fall down his cheeks.
“What’s wrong with you?! Why would you do this? You had us all worried. You had ME worried! I was so fucking scared, Rei. I saw you laying there on the sidewalk and I thought you were dead. I didn’t know what to do so I called someone to help. They brought you here.” Nagisa wiped tears off his cheeks.
Rei didn’t open his eyes. He couldn’t look at Nagisa right now. He didn’t want to face him. He knew what he had done was stupid, was utterly reckless, but he would have done it again. “You’ve been out for a day or so. I haven’t left this room since, waiting for you to wake up. Haru and Makoto came too, of course. What happened, Rei? Who did this to you? Was it Rin?”
Rei swallowed, a lump in his throat. He barely nodded and opened his mouth to speak. It still hurt, but he had to explain himself. “I went to see Rin. I wanted to know what happened. He said some…unsavory things. He insulted you. I didn’t realize I had hit him when I did. Next thing I knew, he was on top of me. Pummeling me.”
Nagisa squeezed Rei’s hand and looked over his face again. He surveyed the lacerations on his face, the black eye Rei had gotten, the cut lip which had reverted back to almost normal size, the bruises. He let out a sob and shook his head. “I don’t care what he said! This was so dangerous, Rei. I almost lost you again, don’t you understand?!” It was then that he noticed he was screaming and had stood up, his hands curled into fists. “I don’t care what anyone says about me! Imagine if Rin hadn’t stopped. He could have killed you, Rei. Don’t you get it? You could have died…”
Nagisa sunk back into his chair and put his face in his hands, sobbing quietly. Rei still didn’t turn to face him, but he wanted to so much. He reached out and grabbed Nagisa’s arm and then his hand, taking it into his. “I’m sorry…” he said quietly. Nagisa looked up, sadness mixed with a bit of anger still on his face.
“No, you’re not.” He pulled his hand away from Rei’s and stood there, shaking. “I know you’re not sorry because I know you, Rei. You say it, but I know you don’t mean it. I know you wanted to protect me and acted without thinking, but look what happened because of it. I don’t think I can do this anymore. I’m sorry.”
Rei scrunched his eyes to stop his own tears but it was too painful so he let them go. He finally turned to face Nagisa and reached a hand out towards him, but Nagisa was looking down at the floor.
“Please. Don’t do this.”
“I’m sorry, Rei. I’ll never stop loving you, but I don’t want to have to go through this again. I’m sorry, I really am.”
Nagisa leaned forward and placed a kiss against Rei’s lips and then Rei heard the click of the door as it closed. He could still feel Nagisa’s lips against his own and put his fingers against them. He would never forgive himself.