Disclaimer: I do not own PoT.

Severed String

It started with a phone call.

Ring. Ring.

Niou was sitting comfortably on his bed, waiting for Marui to return from the bathroom when Marui's phone started ringing. Seeing no harm in answering for his boyfriend, Niou picked up the phone with a lazy, "Hello?"

"Marui-kun?! I was thinking if you'd want to go to-"

"Who's this?" Niou stretched his hand out, reaching into a packet of potato chips.

"Marui-kun?"

"Marui's not available at the moment, this is Niou."

"Oh, will you tell Marui-kun that I called then?"

"Yeah," Niou then disconnected the call. He was about to put Marui's phone down before he remembered that he did not know who the caller was. He was going through the calls list to find out who it was when Marui entered the room, plopping down onto the bed beside Niou.

"What are you doing with my phone?"

Akutagawa Jirou. There it was.

"Someone named Akutagawa called you," Niou replied, tossing the phone into Marui's hands.

"Oh, okay."

Niou laid down on his bed and used his hands as his pillow, as Marui had stolen his actual pillow.

'Wait, the name Akutagawa Jirou seemed familiar… Oh! Wasn't it that Hyoutei stalker guy?'

Niou frowned.

'Why was he calling Marui?'

Suddenly, Niou saw Marui's face leaning over him, wearing a sly grin.

"We don't have morning practice tomorrow…" Marui said in a suggestive tone, running his fingers through Niou's hair.

Niou turned his frown upside down and smirked, "Well, what else can we do tonight then?"

Niou quickly dismissed the thought and focused on his boyfriend, who was looking very tempting at that moment.

.~.

Niou stared into a random shop through the display window. He was leaning against a pillar while waiting for Marui to finish with his phone call. The two of them had been out on a date before Marui suddenly received a phone call and excused himself, going off to the side to speak in private.

Niou wonders who it was that Marui was talking to. Marui never used to excuse himself when he had a call. There was no need for such matters, they didn't hold any secrets between them.

This strange behaviour only started recently, and more and more frequently.

Niou sighed and turn to look at Marui, who was sliding his phone back into his pocket.

"Sorry 'bout that Niou," Marui apologized, walking back towards his boyfriend.

Niou pushed off the wall and said, "It's fine. Now are we ready to go? We're going to be late for the movie if we don't get going."

"WHAT? I wanted to get some popcorn!"

Niou chuckled and started to ruffle Marui's hair, causing the red head to huff and fold his arms across his chest.

"There are like what, 15 minutes of advertisements before the actual movie starts. We can get the popcorn then."

"Well, let's get a move on! I don't want to watch a movie without my favourite buttery popcorns!" Marui exclaimed, tugging onto Niou's arm, pulling the other boy into the movie theatre.

There was nothing to worry, Marui was Marui, there still wasn't any secrets between them…right?

.~.

"Marui!" Niou called out to his boyfriend. Marui stopped mid-step and spun around, tilting his head in response. Niou jogged up to the red head and caught his breath, before asking, "Want to go to the arcade? I heard that a new game just came out."

Niou thought that Marui would accept in a heartbeat, and was surprised to see his boyfriend rubbing the back of his neck and looking down at the floor.

"Is there something wrong? It'll be my treat."

Marui looked up at Niou with remorseful eyes. "I'm sorry Niou…my, um, family already made plans. I have to go home now."

There was something about that sentence that made Niou not believe it. However, Niou trusted his boyfriend too much to even think that Marui was lying to him.

Forcing a smile, Niou tried to cheerfully reply, "Oh, it's okay. Tell your parents I said hi."

"Yeah, I will. I'm really sorry Niou."

Niou kept his smile on his face, cause he knew that if he didn't, he would be frowning.

Marui tip-toed slightly and gave Niou a peck on the lips, before turning and leaving before Niou could utter another word.

That was the first time Marui had rejected a date with Niou, and it definitely wasn't the last.

.~.

It had been a few months since Marui's strange behaviour started. They had just graduated from Rikkai High a week ago and Niou had managed to convince his parents to let him live alone.

Niou was so excited as he and Marui had planned that if Niou managed to get an apartment of his own, Marui would move in with him.

Niou quickly dialed Marui's number – which he knew by heart – and called him.

"Ello?"

"Marui, my parents allowed me to get an apartment. When do you want to go look for one?"

All of a sudden, giggling could be heard from the other end and someone hissed.

Niou looked at his phone in his hand and placed it back onto his ear. "Marui? What's the matter?"

"Oh, um, it's nothing. Just…my brothers, yeah. What's up?"

Niou frowned. "I was asking when you wanted to go and look for an apartment with me."

"Apartment?"

"Did you forget? We said that you would come and live with me when my parents allowed me to get my own apartment."

"…Oh, yeah. I remember now."

There was something distant about Marui.

"When do you want to do it?"

"Um…I need to check, I'll call you back later, kay? Love you!" And Marui hung up.

Niou listened to the beeps on the phone before muttering, "Love you too."

He tossed his phone down onto his mattress and covered his eyes with his palms.

Niou knew something was wrong, but he refused to face reality.

.~.

Niou sat on the love couch, his back pressing against the soft material of the couch. Marui was on his lap, and both were engaged in a long make out session.

However, there was something deep in Niou's mind that told him that something was different. The way Marui kissed him was different. It didn't feel the same as it did when they were back in high school.

Niou hated thinking about such things. They were horrible. He hated himself for even producing such ideas. Frustrated, he pushed them back further into the darkness of his mind and kissed Marui harder, smiling against his boyfriend's lips when he heard a moan.

Ring…ring…

The soft ringtone from Marui's phone drifted into the living room. Marui broke the kiss, and tried to get off of Niou's lap. Niou grabbed the red head's wrist and tugged him back, moving his head to cover Marui's lips again but Marui pulled away, shaking Niou's hand off him.

"Sorry Niou, I have to get that." And Marui disappeared into their room.

"Argh…" Niou tilted his head up, staring at the white ceiling.

Marui's phone seem to always interrupt their moments and Niou felt the strong urge to throw it into the ocean. Niou didn't know why he felt like that, but he knew that there was something growing inside of him, and he did not like it at all.

Niou wonders why sometimes, when he's with Marui, instead of him being knocked off his feet like he did when he first fell in love with the red head, he felt frustrated. Maybe it was because of the way Marui was acting. Niou didn't know.

He only knew that something was going on, and it wasn't something he liked.

.~.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

Niou sat beside the phone, the only sound in the apartment was the ticking of the clock in the living room. He hadn't bothered to switch on the lights, sitting in the darkness as he waited for his boyfriend to return.

It was already three in the morning. On the dining table was dinner, which Niou didn't touch. The dinner which Niou painstakingly cooked, all of which were Marui's favourite food. The dining table had been decorated nicely, it was meant to be a candlelit dinner for the two of them. But, Marui never came back for dinner.

Niou heard jiggling of keys and the lock click open. Marui had finally returned. Niou walked out of their bedroom and towards the front door, where Marui was hanging his coat on the coat hanger.

"Where were you?"

Niou saw Marui jump, probably out of shock, as Niou had crept up on him. Marui felt along the walls for the light switch before flipping it.

"Niou, you scared me. What were you doing in the dark?"

"Where were you?" Niou repeated. He was angry. Marui never contacted him, never informed him that he would be home late. Niou had been so worried when Marui didn't return in time for dinner, but all of that vanished when he received a phone call from Yukimura.

"Sorry, I was at a friend's house trying to finish up that project due tomorrow."

Marui didn't notice an emotion flashing in Niou's eyes.

"Do you remember what date it was yesterday?" Niou asked, his nails digging into his palms as he clenched his fists into balls.

"Eh?" Marui tilted his head, placing his bag down onto the couch. "Today's the 7th, so yesterday was the 6th. Why?"

Niou hung his head down, his bangs covering his eyes.

"You forgot."

"What?" Marui dug through his bag and took out a piece of gum.

Niou snapped his head back up and stared at Marui, who was chewing on the gum. Niou walked away from the living room and into the dining room. Marui, confused, followed him. When Niou switched on the lights in the dining room, Marui noticed the food on the plates on the table, the wine glasses, the unlit candles in the middle, there were even flowers.

"Nio-"

"It was our anniversary Marui. We were meant to celebrate it, together," Niou cut Marui off.

"I'm so sorry Niou, I forgot. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

Niou whipped around and placed his hands on Marui's shoulders. When he met Marui's eyes, Niou's blue orbs were watering with tears.

"How?"

Marui gulped. "Look, I know that it'll be a day late, but we can do this again tonight. I promise, I won't forget this time."

"That's not the issue Marui!" Niou yelled, shaking the red head by the shoulders.

Marui blinked, too shocked to react. "Wha-"

"Where were you Marui?" Niou slowly released his hold on Marui, stepping one step back.

"What do you mean? I told you that I was at a friend's house to finish up that pro-"

"Will you just cut it out already?" Niou muttered. Marui could hear the pain that Niou was feeling in his voice.

"I-"

"Why are you lying to me?"

"I'm not-"

"Yes, you are. I know that you were not finishing up a damn project! TELL ME THE TRUTH!" Niou yelled, slamming his fist down onto the table top, causing some cutlery to tremble.

"…"

The silence was killing Niou. He had been trying to convince himself that what Yukimura told him was all a lie. But the silence. That dreadful silence, and the lies that Marui told him, was all Niou needed to hear to know that it was reality.

"How long?" Niou croaked out. Tears were dripping down the side of his face and he was annoyed at himself. Annoyed that he was so weak.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"How long have you been with him?"

Marui stepped forwards, lifting his hand up and was about to place them on Niou's face when Niou stopped him.

"Don't touch me!"

Marui took a step backwards, hands dropping down to his side. Niou was angry, and he knew that.

"…"

"Answer me. Marui, answer me."

"…A few months before we graduated."

A laugh escaped from Niou's lips. He should have known. The signs were all there. The phone calls, the rejections to offers to go on dates, the uncertain replies to some of Niou's questions. There were all right in front of his face. But Niou refused to believe it.

Now, he had to pay the price. For being so foolish.

Niou looked up at Marui, pain written all over his face. "…Why?..."

He had to ask. He had to know.

Marui looked away, gazing at the wooden tiles. "I don't know. It just…happened."

Niou wanted to laugh so hard. "You didn't know? You cheated on me for about a year and you didn't know?"

"…"

"You would cheat on me, whom you've been dating for the past few years, and throw it all away because of some stupid reason that you yourself don't even know?!"

"Niou, I'm-"

"Don't even try to say that you're sorry." Niou shook his head. "You want to know how I found out?"

Marui opened his mouth, but closed it again without saying anything.

"Yukimura called me. I was so worried when you didn't come home, pacing around the room like an idiot, worrying about someone who didn't even think about me. Yes, he called me. He called me and told me that he saw you. He saw you with that guy from Hyoutei."

Tick tock. Tick tock.

Niou used the back of his hand to wipe his tears away. Marui hadn't said a word after Niou's rant.

"I was even hoping that you would tell me that Yukimura was lying." Niou softly said. "I was hoping that it was all just a coincidence, and maybe what Yukimura saw as you two kissing was just because of him seeing it from the wrong angle. That it was all perfectly innocent."

Niou squeezed his eyes shut, and re-opened them. His blue eyes observed Marui as the red head only looked at the floor.

"Obviously I was wrong." With that, Niou walked past Marui and went into their bedroom, slamming the door shut.

Marui dropped down onto the floor and his eyes were blank, unfocused, unable to see anything.

Niou slumped down onto the floor behind the door. Curling up, his sobs were the only sound in the room.

The red string of fate connecting the two was severed at that moment, and it was not possible for it to be joined again.

A/N: I...can't believe that I just did that to my OTP.