If all else fails, I still love you. | Renga

[7] New Plan

X days prior / Day 7

At the end of third period class, Reki didn't see Langa waiting by the doorway for him, and he didn't try to look around. They hadn't said good morning to each other either, since he'd seen them holding hands again. What if he accidentally snapped like yesterday, making Langa go off with Yua forever?

With that in mind, Reki kept standing alone among the other students, wondering where the best place to eat would be. The cafeteria would make running into Yua unavoidable, and if Langa went looking for him, the rooftop would be the first place he'd check. That meant the best option would probably be an empty classroom again.

But before he could go out into the hallway, his wrist got grabbed. "Which way are we going? Cafeteria, or should we visit the rooftop today?"

It took a moment for Reki to sort out his thoughts-just in class, they'd been ignoring each other, and now Langa was approaching him like nothing had happened. Had yesterday given him less worry than it did to Reki?

He was about to make up some excuse to eat alone when Yua cut in. "Langa, how does lunch at table 4 sound? My friends would really like to meet you." And again, their fingers twisted together, right in front of him.

As Langa started to walk off with Yua, he let his hand slip off of Reki's wrist and sent an apologetic look. "Yeah, sure. That sounds good."

Even when they went off, both of them smiling, there wasn't anything happy about it to Reki. There was no, "I'm happy if you're happy" bullshit. Not in this scenario. Being happy when someone is happy is natural-being happy if they're happy is something different.

Smiling because someone is smiling is different when the expression is caused by them being with someone else. Maybe some people were genuinely happy when seeing their ex be with a different person, but he'd never feel that way towards Langa.

People should be satisfied when they get what they want, not only when someone else does. Reki sure as hell knew what he wanted, and that hadn't come around. In fact, it probably wouldn't for a long time, if at all.

The distancing plan just wasn't working-it hadn't shown any signs of succeeding, not anytime from the start to now. The only time it would be beneficial would be when Langa was with Yua, not Langa in general.

That seemed to make sense in his head, because Reki went past the cafeteria to outside, beyond the school gates. There was some cash in his pocket-he could go to a fast food place. Knowing it would only take a few minutes, he did just that.

-

"Eh? What are you two doing here?"

Shadow took another huge bite from one of the 5 burgers on the table, having Miya look repulsed. "Eating. What's it look like?"

Reki sat down by them, and though he'd expected to be sitting alone, he felt fine just like this. "I guess I just didn't think I'd see you here. And, Miya, shouldn't you be in school?"

Miya barely reacted, just playing his usual game and drinking from a small cup. "Yeah, shouldn't you, too?"

"As long as I get back in time, I'll be fine."

"Hey," Shadow started, suddenly looking up from his food, "Where's Langa? You two usually go everywhere together."

Miya seemed to pick up the negativity before Reki even felt it. He shut off the console and turned to the redhead. "You didn't talk to him yet? Didn't I tell you what to do a few days ago?"

"It's not that easy. Dropping hints is something I've never done before, and I kind of, well..." He went on to tell them about the thunderstorm at the skatepark. "I can't force those words out again. It's even scarier than I thought it'd be."