Unexpected

Chapter 7: Triad in Action

Hitoshi was surprised when Neito had texted him, asking if he and Denki could speak with him and if now was a good time. He didn't think they'd ever want anything to do with him ever again, but who was he to deny them some closure if that's what they needed to continue their new relationship with each other?

It hurt that he was without them, but he truly wanted to see them succeed with each other where he had failed them. They deserved to be happy, and if being together made them happy, then who was he to get in their way? If they needed closure to move forward with their relationship, who was he to deny them that? It was the least he could do after all of the pain he caused them.

Hitoshi's heart hammered in his chest when the knock on the door came, and when he opened to door, Neito walked right in without being invited, dragging Denki inside with him by the hand. Neito had made himself right at home like usual, sitting on Hitoshi's bed. This time, though, instead of sprawling out, he made room for Denki to sit on the bed next to him, which Denki did without hesitating.

Hitoshi was thankful for that, at least. It was nice knowing that they helped each other get their confident spark back to baseline. Looking at them, sitting on his bed together, where each of them had sat before but without the other, was disorienting. He could tell that they were good for each other: Better than he would ever be for either of them because he wasn't ever even able to choose one over the other. There he went, having to eat his cake and have it, too. He thought he might be disgusted by himself for the rest of his life.

"Neito and I are boyfriends," Denki had said suddenly, breaking the silence as Hitoshi sank down in his computer chair.

Hitoshi paused at that. What reaction were they looking for? Then he scolded himself. He was going to give them the most genuine reaction he could, because they deserved the truth, didn't they?

"I'm happy for you," he had said, hoping that he didn't sound dismissive or sarcastic.

"Are you really?" Denki had asked, and not unkindly.

He sounded genuinely curious if Hitoshi meant what he said, and not because of the tone Hitoshi had used. Hitoshi sounded genuine enough, even though it was clear on his face that he was crestfallen.

"Yeah..." Hitoshi had confirmed before starting again, "Hey, I know I've already said it, but I'm really sorry for what I did to you guys."

Hitoshi thought he should just get the ball rolling. Allow them to get their closure and move on and allow himself to wallow in self-pity when they moved on without him.

"And why did you?" Neito had spoken up, ready to hear Hitoshi's reasoning.

Neito wasn't ready last time when they had confronted Hitoshi together for the first time. He was angry and heartbroken and on the verge of tears. Neito was much stronger this time around with the plan in place that he and Denki had come up with. Even if it didn't go as planned, he still had Denki to fall back on and cheer him up if this turned out to be a giant disaster.

So, without interruptions (to Hitoshi's surprise. It actually kind of made him even more nervous that Neito wasn't interrupting and calling him out on his bullshit excuses and saying that his explanations weren't good enough and that they deserved better), Hitoshi explained how he started dating both of them near the same time, and then it started getting serious with both of them around the same time, and how every time he tried to fix things, he couldn't decide who to break it off with. Hitoshi explained how he knew that it was inevitable that they would find out some day, but how he was holding out hope that one of them would break up with him first and solve his problem for him.