When All Hell Breaks Loose

Week Five: Self Contract - Sae

Sae didn't consider himself a particularly emotional person, even after becoming well acquainted with the emotion wheel, so he didn't know what exactly he was feeling, just that he was feeling a lot of it.

He looked down and reread those text messages over and over and over, so many times that he not only knew them by heart but the words all mashed together and became some amalgamation of something red hot and demanding of his attention. Four texts, the first exchange they'd had in weeks, the longest they'd spoken without fighting in god only fucking knows how long.

The associated emotions threatened to burst right out of Sae's chest, and because it was wholly unfamiliar to him, it made him wonder if he was coming down with something, if not outright dying.

It didn't feel all that unpleasant, however.

Though he did get off his guest room bed at Rin's house and head downstairs, if only for a distraction or something to do. As he made his way down the stairs, he heard the intonation of a heated exchange and made his footsteps ever lighter as he continued to approach. This would be good, he decided. For him, that was. He could use another win of this caliber, stumbling upon one of Rin and Meguru's fights instead of just walking into the aftermath, to even out the score even the slightest amount after all of his most recent losses. Slowly and quietly he approached the living room until coherence slipped in and the sentiments became words.

"For the last fucking time, Meguru," Rin snapped, his voice like a whip. A cold, cruel thing that might have lashed at Sae as well if he hadn't been so entirely protected by the emotions that his text message inbox elicited. "I'm not going."

"Would you at least think about it?" Meguru whined back. "Pleeeeeease? It could be fun."

Sae stepped into the doorway. He had no real reason to make himself scarce, other than a sense of respect for either of them that he didn't necessarily value. He had every reason to be taking up space here. He was a guest in their home, it was the middle of the day, a guy needed to eat didn't he?

Plus, he was a nosy fucker looking to stroke his own ego.

"What could be fun?" he asked.

And was filled with immediate regret. Rin's face became pinched with silence, and due to his regular annoyance at anything, may not have meant anything, but Meguru's face fell like he'd been caught in something awful by the worse possible person to have done so, which told Sae enough about what they were talking about.

"Sae-chan," Meguru said, smiling once he regained his composure. "I didn't know you were home. You were so quiet! Are you hungry?"

That only annoyed Sae more. Whatever protective emotions he was harboring in his chest were dwindling and going out fast. But, unfortunately, he was a glutton for punishment.

"What are you guys talking about?" he asked again.

"Did you sleep okay?" Meguru tried again, despite it being well into the afternoon. Sae offered him a face he knew he would recognize because of how he and Rin shared it. Unimpressed neutrality. Meguru held his hands up defensively. "Nothing, okay! Nothing. I promise."

"Damn right nothing," Rin mumbled under his breath. Meguru turned back to him, mouth opened, speech just on the tip of his tongue, but Rin held up a single finger to him. "Meguru, I am so fucking serious. Fuck off before I stop being nice about it. The last place on earth you'll ever find me is some bullshit party being thrown by my soon to be ex brother in law."

And that hit Sae in the chest harder than he cared to admit.

Meguru huffed but he heeded the warning, rolling his eyes at Rin, giving Sae an apologetic look, unaccepted by Sae, if anyone cared to know, before ducking out of the room. Leaving the brothers together. Sae wasn't quite sure what he should say about it. He certainly wasn't going to test Rin's patience any by pressing the issue, nor was he going to hand him some form of win by attempting to bend the rules, and the fact that Sae was feeling more hopeful about reconciliation over divorce was not something that Rin particularly needed to know.