Except to Feel Remorse (Yuzuvier)

viii

-v-

"Really, that's what you're going with?"

"Oh my god, Javi, you can't just tell people we're time travellers!"

Javier ignored Brian's disbelief for the moment and turned towards Yuzuru. "Look there's nothing to lose by trying to tell the truth right now!"

"Yes there is!" Yuzuru protested. "Why would you even do this? He's not going to believe this! No one is!"

"Well considering what he thinks, I think it's worth trying to convince him!" Javier argued.

"No it's not! There is no benefit to this!"

"Yuzu, he thinks I seduced a teenager for sex and didn't even make it clear that's all it was. I'm twenty one, Yuzu. An adult," Javier stressed, trying to impose the seriousness of the situation on Yuzuru. "He says he's not judging but I'd be very concerned if that's true! You may come out of this assumption looking fine, but I won't! I look like a sexual predator!"

All colour promptly drained out of Yuzuru's face. "Oh. I-I didn't consider it like that."

Brian, meanwhile, was watching the exchange with interest. Time travel was the worst fucking excuse he had ever heard in his life, but they were talking to each other and that could be revealing, especially given how reluctant they were to talk to him.

(It was also concerning that Javier knew how bad it looked and the best excuse he could come up with was fucking time travel. Brian wasn't sure he liked what that said about Javier.)

"Of course you didn't," Javier scoffed. "You never think of anyone but yourself."

"That's not true! I just... He didn't make it sound that bad and-well, I forgot how young I am," Yuzuru argued, his voice growing small at the end.

He did sort of forget that to Brian he seemed to be a teenager because he didn't really think of himself that way. He still felt like a thirty four year old man. But that wasn't the real reason he didn't actually connect his apparent age to his alleged relationship with Javi being inappropriate. The truth was that since he had a crush on Javi at seventeen and had hoped for a relationship with him at that age, the idea that there would have been something wrong with Javi returning the sentiment in some way never occurred to him, even as he got older. How could Javi being with him, loving him, be wrong when he had wanted it so desperately?

But if he distanced himself from the equation and considered two other people in their place, especially with the context of Brian thinking it was just sex... then yes, that was very concerning, and he did not want Brian to think Javi was capable of that.

Javier sighed, closing his eyes tight, and conceded the point. Now wasn't the time to fight about this. Given that Yuzu had just had a breakdown, been caught punching him and his position at Cricket was potentially still in jeopardy, he could forgive him for not considering the deeper implications of what Brian was saying.

"So... what's your plan for convincing him?" Yuzuru asked curiously.

Javier grimaced and scratched his chin sheepishly. "Well, you know. You're the smart one."

"Oh my god, you just blurted out that we're time travellers and you don't even have a plan for convincing Brian," Yuzuru groaned, burying his face in his hands again. He was starting to think he could never show his face again.

"Okay, I've let this go on long enough," Brian interrupted, having an idea of their dynamic now. "Cut the bullshit. Javi, you're right. It's bad. But making up some ridiculous story is not the way to make it better, even if you get Yuzu to go along with it."