Lightning Serenade

Chapter 21: First Year at UA I

"I don't understand why you're so... down. Honestly, it's kind of scaring me," Neito stated, placing a hand on Hitoshi's shoulder and ducking his head to look him in the eye.

When Hitoshi didn't answer, opting to look away from Neito's inquisitive gaze instead, Neito sighed in resignation before offering, "let's just invite Denki, over, yeah? He is the life of the party. Whatever you're feeling, he will make it go away, at least temporarily."

The last thing Neito needed was for Denki to stop by, but if it would make his soulmate feel better, he would grin and bear it.

Hitoshi started to shake his head, still refusing to look into Neito's eyes.

"It's been months since we've seen him, sure, but I'm sure he'd rush right over. I'll call him now," Neito decided, reaching for his phone, only for his hand to be intercepted by Hitoshi's, holding it tightly against his chest so that he couldn't get to the phone.

Hitoshi finally looked up at him, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes, but refusing to fall.

"We can't call Denki. That would make it worse," he whispered out hoarsely.

"I don't understand," Neito insisted, but sat back down and didn't try to reach for the phone again. "Did something happen? Please explain it to me. Please?"

"I... God, Neito. I love him," Hitoshi blurted out, tears finally overflowing and trailing down his cheeks.

"I do, too! But—"

"No!" Hitoshi interrupted, grabbing Neito's shoulders to face him head on to try to make him understand what he was saying, the betrayal that he had hid for too long already. "I feel the same way about him that I feel about you. Do you understand?"

Hitoshi saw the surprise in Neito's eyes, but the betrayal wasn't obvious, yet. Hitoshi wanted to look away; he didn't want to see the hurt he was causing his soulmate, but he didn't deserve to hide from what he was doing to him.

"I... I do, too," Neito whispered, collapsing against Hitoshi at the confession.

"What?" Hitoshi asked. He heard; he just couldn't comprehend it.

"I didn't want to tell you, so I've been trying to push the feelings down. You've been doing the same thing, right? And that's how we've both gone a month already without talking to Denki at all. I was so scared to tell you," Neito admitted.

"I was scared to tell you, too. I just need you to know that this doesn't change anything about the way I feel about you... I just feel the exact same way for Denki as well," Hitoshi explained, trying to soften the blow and ease any uncertainty that Neito might have about his feelings.

The conversation was going much better than he expected. The only tears were tears of relief and understanding and acceptance. There was no yelling at all. Maybe they were really meant for each other. They fit together so perfectly that they were both falling for the same electric boy.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Neito conceded.

When Neito and Hitoshi slowed down communication with Denki, Denki didn't reach out as much, trying his best to respect their wishes. When they stopped responding at all, Denki tried a few more times. After the fifth time reaching out with no response, he took the hint and didn't try to contact them again, hoping that after an extended break from him, they might be more inclined to reach out in the future. Denki figured that they had just had too much of him. He knew he was a lot to handle, so he could hardly blame them.

It hurt more than he thought it would, though. He felt like he had a real connection with the soulmates. They were his best friends, and they called him their best friend, too. He thought they were all on the same page, but now he knew better than to get his hopes up like that again.