Unexpected

Chapter 26: Facing Reality

"Yo! Long time no see." Eijiro called. His smile radiated.
"H-Hey." I mumbled.
"What are you doing today?" He asked.
"Oh. Nothing much. I've just got some homework to do." I answered.

"Okay!" He giggled. "I have some homework too. Wanna study together?" He asked.

"Yeah, sure! There's nothing wrong with that!" I answered too enthusiastically.

Eijiro was analyzing me.
"You know, Katsuki, you don't have to be so stiff. I'm more than happy to study with you. Don't stress it out. Okay?" He said.

"Okay..." I answered.
"So... How are you and Denki?"

Eijiro's expression was full of discomfort.

"Are you ready for that?" He asked.

"Better to do it now than never." I sighed.

Eijiro took one big inhale and clapped his hands together.
"Okay." He exhaled. "I confessed to Denki. I had planned to do it during lunch but it turned out that he also had something to say to me. When I met up with him he looked me dead in the eye and said, I love you. I don't care if you don't feel the same. I'm confessing to you. I didn't know how to react."

"What brang this on? Weren't you two buddy-buddy before this?" I asked.

"Yeah! That's why I was so confused! I didn't think that he'd like me back. But... He confessed to me that this whole time he deliberately hanged out with other people to get my attention. And when we hanged out that Saturday... I should've known... He was all over me. But I just thought that it was his personality. I was too scared to think it was because he was interested. I thought he was too innocent for that." Eijiro laughed.
"But I was mistaken. He said that when he found out that we were together he died a little inside. When we were together, I could tell the difference... The distance between Denki and I."

Eijiro hanged his head for a moment and so did I.
"So... He doesn't like you anymore..." I guessed.

Eijiro looked up. "He said he's confused. And I'm still so in love with him. I know that he cares about me a lot. But I don't think that he wants his feelings hurt. And I'm willing to do anything to earn his trust."

"You've been through a lot, Eijiro. What makes you go this far?" I asked.

"You and Denki are the only ones I've ever confessed to. I'm not doing this to play games. I want to find love. I'm going this far for love. If Denki and I don't work out I'm going to stop looking. I have enough on my cry list as it is. I'll just let the one come to me. If it's meant to be it's meant to be."

I looked at him in sorrow. "Am I on that cry list?" I asked.
We were standing outside the school near the front gate. All morning we didn't talk to each other. Until he came up to me at lunch time.
It was strange knowing that you can't be friends with your ex. But Eijiro and I were different. And I was willing to make it work.

His eyes were filled with hurt. His smile turned into a frown. "Yes." He said in a broken voice.
"And I don't want to think about that right now."

His voice alone sent a shock of hot shivers down inside me. It hurt.
What was I doing? Why did we start this in the first place? Where did we all go wrong? Not just us... But everybody.

His pain was my pain and there was nothing I could do about it.
I'm a damn fool!

"Ah... Eijiro..." I gasped.