The Brave Sacrifice (Omegaverse)

40. Love is Understanding

Eiji stared at Yukito while the two waited for his reaction. The former's eyebrows furrowed and he squinted his eyes.

"What are you trying to achieve by this?"

A prank? A test? What he heard couldn't possibly be true. It just didn't make sense. There was no clue at all.

There was nothing that could make him think... "Ah, it figures... so that's why..."

Nothing.

Suddenly, a fragment of recent memory emerged. Eiji flinched as he subconsciously stepped backward. It hit him. No, there was something, there was a slip.

Could have been nothing... Everything was smooth. Except... When Yukio asked him in the airport...

He knew everything about his half-brother. They lived like they were one, absolutely and certainly no secrets between each other. But no part in their history ever justified Yukio knowing Yukito, and to that extent of asking him to approach the latter in the airport.

Yukio looked at Eiji's feet as he moved backward. He knew this habit. Eiji usually did this when he suddenly realized something deemed unacceptable.

"Ask me anything." He stepped forward but not too close. "Please say anything."

"If you're not Yukio, how can you perfectly live as him? Knowing even the things between us? How can you do exactly everything that he can?"

A slight wave of relief brushed his heart. If Eiji didn't keep silent, it meant he wasn't completely close to the possibility that what they were saying was real. He was trying to know and understand the truth.

Although this didn't guarantee anything, it was still way better than being immediately and completely shut out.

"When I woke up after my death in the hospital, his body retained all his memories. I gained all of them. I also found a little bit later than even his skills and talents were intact and passed on to me."

In his heart, he was scared. He was scared to be hated by Eiji but as he glanced at Yukito on his side, he knew that his fear was nothing compared to that of his twin brother's. Both of them couldn't afford to lose this man in front of them.

So, he should iron this out. He should do everything to keep Eiji by their side. If not for him, at least for his brother and their children who were yet to be born.

"Eiji..." He took another step forward but the other immediately held his hand up to stop him midway.

"Stay there." Eiji turned and placed his hands on the table, leaning forward, supporting his body. Looking at the two young men in front of him would blur his understanding and pity might win him over. "Mom... At the grave... "

Yukio understood what the other wanted to ask. "Along with his memories were his emotions, all of them. Love, loneliness, regrets, everything. Even his dreams, his wishes. My heart and mind were so full of them that they felt no different as they were mine from the very beginning."

"Me?" He was still staring down on the table. "If you had all of his feelings and memories, you should have known that you could trust me."

He swallowed a lump of air in his throat before answering. The tone of being betrayed in Eiji's voice struck him hard. "Among all the people in his life... Among all the people I saw in his heart and mind, you were the one he loved the most. You were the only reason he made it that far. Because of that, I woke up also loving you the most." Yukio's voice trailed off and Eiji straightened to look at him. "I was afraid that you'll turn your back on me if you found out."