Unexpected

Chapter 3: Mutual Understanding

Neito had quickly realized why Denki was so popular among Class 1-A back in UA. He was so warm and friendly. Despite Neito's reputation, Denki worked hard next to him, engaging him with lighthearted banter that was well-timed to be in between intense bouts of studious production.

Denki made even the mundane aspects of the project interesting. He always spoke with passion, his eyes sparkling as he rambled on confidently about what he knew.

Neito could see how Hitoshi would be smitten with Denki. It must have been a nice break from being with him. Instead of dealing with Neito's constant competitiveness and superiority complex, he got to relax with down-to-earth, cheerful Denki.

Neito almost felt bad about asking Denki to leave so suddenly. Denki was probably just as heartbroken as he was, and he kicked him out to walk across campus to his own dorm room by himself. Denki probably wouldn't even be mad about it, which made Neito feel even worse.

He practiced being more empathetic by trying to think about what Denki would be feeling at that moment. Probably pretty shitty, Neito had decided. Hell, there was no probably about it. It would crush anyone to know that their boyfriend was cheating on them with someone who was nothing like them. Neito was pretty confident that Denki was probably drowning in self-depreciation at that moment, wondering why he wasn't enough and why Hitoshi would cheat on him with a man who was the complete opposite of himself.

Maybe that is how Neito should be feeling, too, but he couldn't convince himself to feel that way. Denki was a treasure. Neito wondered if Hitoshi and Denki would be able to heal their relationship with him out of the way.

Then Neito got pissed. He shouldn't be thinking this way. He should be pissed at Hitoshi for deceiving him in such a way, not worried about if his and Denki's relationship would last. He should be demanding that he be the one to keep Hitoshi!

... But he couldn't bring himself to hold that line of thought for longer than 30 seconds at a time. After a betrayal like this, Denki's warmth would be a priceless tool in fixing the relationship if there was anything there to fix. What would Neito offer except jealousy and grudge-holding? Neito wasn't the forgiving type. Hell, he would try to be for Hitoshi, but how could he when he knew that Denki wouldn't even have to try and struggle? How could he when he knew that Denki for sure wouldn't fail when he didn't have that guarantee?

Neito froze when he heard his phone vibrate on his nightstand. He didn't want to look. What if it was Hitoshi? What would he say?

His arm felt as heavy as lead as he reached over and pulled his phone toward him. He squinted at the screen, like he would be able to decrease the hurt if he only saw it through the blur of his eyelashes. He would have laughed at himself if he wasn't so down. 'Safety squints' did nothing to protect your eyes in the chemistry lab; similarly, it did nothing to protect his heart.

Luckily, it was Denki's name that had popped up instead of Hitoshi's.

Still dreadful, but a different kind of dread.

Was Denki pissed at him? Did he think that he knew about them all along? He should have told Denki about the timeline matching up that Hitoshi started dating both of them at the same time. He only had himself to blame if Denki assumed that Neito had started dating Hitoshi after he had already been in an established relationship with Denki for a while.

Taking a deep breath, he clicked on the message.

It was more disappointing than if Denki had been mad.

Denki was such a damn ray of sunshine that he was checking in on Neito.

Denki deserved the world and how dare Hitoshi hurt him? Didn't Hitoshi know how this would affect him when he found out? Didn't he know that Denki would do mental gymnastics in order to blame himself and help them out even as his own heart was breaking from the effort?