Sticks and Stones

It hurt.

It tore through his heart like an arrow that hit its target with cruel precision. And then, there was nothing but emptiness – not the cold, indifferent kind, but the one that made him feel incomplete and fragmented, as if something had just taken away his sense of self and his knowledge of what would happen next – and that was something, because Yuta always knew those kinds of things.

I don't know, Nina said, looking adorably confused, the way she always seemed to look like in Yuta's eyes, even when she was stomping his heart under her foot without a thought. But she never did that literally. She probably didn't know she was doing it, too.

But Yuta forgave her, each and every time, even when it hurt too much to say the same old things, the usual broken lies, and the fragile promises of unwavering faith – You're not a burden, Nina, you're never a burden. - … everything hurt.

Ne, Nina, do you love me?

They always said that words were nothing compared to sticks and stones.

Love you, Yuta-kun?

Yet Nina left him hanging, and he didn't know what to do next.

Maybe.

Maybe… yes.

Yeah. I love you, Yuta-kun.

And his face suffused with great feeling – relief, happiness and love rolled into one.

But Nina just had to add those three little words…

As a brother.

I love you as a brother, Yuta-kun.

Oh how those three little words hurt…

I love you.

And his hands shook and shook because he couldn't stop them from shaking, and it hurt so much, so much, until it stopped hurting because he was numb. But Nina was still standing there, smiling at him, being with him, living in the moment with him, and he didn't know why but he started to smile back.

Painful. So painful to smile and even look at her…

"I understand."

He said that to her that night, even if, deep inside, he didn't understand.

Because love wasn't something you had to comprehend with words. Love was selfish that way, and he knew that if he didn't leave now, he never could.

So he did.

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Word count: 360.

Yuta and Nina should have been together in the end. Everyone who agrees, raise your right hand.

For ate aya and czee, who have always been there, and for Leishe, who inspired me to write a UM fic again.