It felt like they were always doing this.

Like every time they would meet, there would be this awkward introduction, just enough time for the two of them to interact, and then they had to say goodbye again. As if Nagisa always had somewhere else he had to be, something else that demanded his attention. There was another space, a different story in which he had to play a part. Their time together came in short bursts, scattered weekends, sporadic text messages.

But over the course of time, Yuuji had begun to sense that it was something best not worried about. That was just a gradual realization, a semblance of knowledge based upon impressions of the presence always lurking in Nagisa's mind, causing the boy's torso to curl inward when Nagisa thought Yuuji wasn't looking, of his heart that remained trained on something that Yuuji couldn't see, of something always thought but never said out loud.

Still, they were middle-schoolers. Life was supposed to be weird.

Actually, once Yuuji thought about it, he realized that they had been seeing each other quite a lot. Given that only a few months had passed since they had rediscovered each other in that restaurant, it was pretty amazing how often they managed to meet or connect. Nagisa must have actually been making quite a lot of effort to stay in touch with him. Much more effort than for any normal friendship.

Yuuji smiled to think of it.

And yet, when he was with Nagisa, Yuuji didn't feel so much like a side attraction anymore.

A buzz from a cell phone interrupted his thoughts. Yuuji picked the phone up off the desk in front of him, gaze focused aimlessly on the wall of his bedroom. He checked the screen almost without any thought. Maybe it was an alert from his foodie blog, or a cancelled request regarding the next location he planned to visit. If so, that'd be a shame. Yuuji was always interested in checking out new places…

The message was from Nagisa.

Yuuji's throat constricted for a moment as he read the name. He opened the message. It consisted of a simple picture, showing a man from the shoulders up. He was tall, with smooth black hair pulled into a low ponytail. There was a slight crease between his eyebrows, as if they were furrowed. His eyes were narrow and sharp. He wore a black jacket. Underneath it, a white-collared shirt could be seen. His face was neutral, looking vaguely in the direction of the camera.

'is this man lying?'

Yuuji stared down at the message. What was that supposed to mean? Nagisa must know by now that Yuuji had a good sense for faces, but…to ask something like this, so suddenly?

He glanced back at the picture again before typing a reply. '? no, why?'

There was a moment of suspended silence. 'thank you, Yuuji.' came the eventual response. 'you've been a big help.'

'Uh… you're welcome?' Yuuji sent. 'Heh, yeah aren't you lucky to have the assistance of the great Norita brain?'

The joke fell flat even inside of his own head. Yuuji blinked down at the screen. No matter how hard he tried, Yuuji couldn't shake the strange feeling that had just come over him. 'Wait, hold on.', he texted. That had been an unusually curt response, especially from Nagisa. 'Who is that guy?'

Two minutes passed before he received a reply. 'a sub.', Nagisa said.

Yuuji frowned in thought. Sub? Like a substitute teacher?

'Oh.' he replied. 'Your teacher's sick?'

'no. at a meeting. w/ our other teachers too.'

Yuuji blinked. Hmm. That did sound unusual. Yuuji wasn't sure how many staff members were assigned to Class 3-E, but given the run-down look of their building, he wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't many. Then were they all alone on that mountainside today?

'Huh. Weird.', he said.

After a long interval of silence from Nagisa's end, Yuuji sent another message. 'Does the sub seem nice, at least?'

'a little.', came the reply.

'Ok.'

Yuuji frowned. His finger hovered over the send button. Maybe it was just his imagination. Maybe he should just leave things alone, but goddammit, he cared about the other boy. 'Is there something wrong?' he sent.

Again, silence fell. But not the quiet, cold kind from before. This silence felt more like the shape of a person hovering somewhere behind the keyboard, every second filled with their subtle tension.

'Yuuji…' Nagisa began. 'we r in the middle of something very important. odds r good but we have to concentrate now, i can't'

The message cut off there.

'Nagisa?" Panic spiked through Yuuji's heart. 'You there?'

Then the words came.

'maybe you shouldn't talk to me.'

The phrase felt like a blow. Yuuji's breath hitched as if he had been slapped. 'What dyou mean?' he typed back frantically. 'Why this, why now?'

'i meant to tell you earlier. it's for your own good.'

Yuuji stared. His own good?

Thankfully before Yuuji could respond, more replies came in, sent with the hurry of someone typing right before class started. 'i thought we could just continue like you and i were until the end of this year, but… it seems we can't.', Nagisa said. 'my class got a call from karasuma-sensei. freelance assassins from before r on the move again. this time, we need to protect everything we've worked so hard for. so. goodbye for now.'

'What do you mean goodbye?' Yuuji said. 'Are you in trouble?'

Even more seconds passed before the next message.

'everything's back to normal.'

The sinking feeling in Yuuji's gut had turned to stone. It dragged him down, pressing his back against the chair as his vision swam. Normal…normal? His mind revolved around that word.

Try as Yuuji might, communication between him and the other boy stayed worse than spotty. Worry beat through him like a pulse as Nagisa's texts became shorter, more clipped. The boy seemed to be hinting that they had nothing more to say to each other.

'wait,' Yuuji said. 'tell me what's going on!'

'nothing's going on. Im just saying. There's no time for games anymore.'

'Why aren't you talking to me?' Yuuji said, his texts becoming more frantic. His fingers flew as if they too could sense Nagisa slipping away. 'Did something happen? Nagisa!'

They continued on until one last message.

'we're out of time'

After that, communications went dark.

Yuuji fell silent as he watched his messages bounce back, traced in red with tiny "!" symbols next to them signifying that the other party wasn't even receiving his messages. Nagisa must have turned his phone off for class.

Yuuji's fingers trembled slightly. He sat there with shock for veins, a mute witness to everything crashing around and colliding inside of him. It was all too sudden. He thought of everything they had done together, him and Nagisa. He thought of everything they had talked about. All the streets they had walked. All the times they had been afraid. The times they had been angry. The times they had been happy. The times they had fun, the times they had fun, the times they had fun…

Yuuji shook his head to snap himself out of it. He shoved the phone into his pocket and kicked back against his chair, opting to get angry instead. Fine. Be that way. If Nagisa was so determined to isolate himself, then Yuuji wouldn't even try.

Yuuji took the moment to scowl, arms folded across his chest. He couldn't believe Nagisa would do this to him, especially now. What, had Nagisa just wanted to use him for his face-analyzing ability-

Wait.

A chill crept up the end of his spine. Something was up. Now that Yuuji really bothered to think about it, something wasn't right.

He took out his phone and looked at the picture again. The familiar lines of the man's face danced across his vision for a moment, but that was all Yuuji needed. A surge of triumph shot through him. He knew it!

It wasn't that there was anything suspicious about the man—in fact, there were no flaws at all. But that was just it! He looked too perfect. There was no nervousness, none of the self-doubt usually present in a person when meeting somebody else for the first time. Yuuji had seen dozens of people enter their living room to meet with his father. He knew what that looked like.

And there was...something else, too. Yuuji almost shivered to put it to name. But it wasn't anything that he could ever point out. There were no drooping folds around the man's eyes, no lines tracing near his cheeks to show that the person could be wearing a mask. In fact, there was nothing physical about it. But Yuuji still felt something, a cold sensation that lurked across his shoulders like a fog, leaving them damp with sweat and his heart rate just beginning to speed-

With a jolt, Yuuji realized. This photograph gave him that same feeling from months ago—the feeling of bloodlust.

It took a moment for the thought to sink in.

Slowly, Yuuji's fingers moved to tap the message button. They felt stiff, as if his entire body had been soaked in ice water. But before they could tap on the keyboard, he stopped. It would be no use. Nagisa's phone was a blackout right now.

For one moment, Yuuji did nothing. He could tell that his face was grim, mind struggling to think through the static. He didn't want to think about this. He didn't want to be the one to know this. Surely it couldn't be up to him to…?

Yuuji let out a deep sigh. He shifted in his chair. He looked up at the walls around him—milky white, solid and mind-numbingly boring, just like they had always been. The house was quiet as always, with only the distant sound of a heater rumbling through the vents. Here, things were normal. Here, suddenly nothing that was happening on the phone seemed real. All he had to do was look up and breathe.

Eventually, Yuuji allowed his attention to wander back to the weight of the phone in his hand. He scratched his head. Something had to happen, right? He couldn't get the dangerous feeling out of his mind. But what about Nagisa's classmates? Maybe he should just leave it to them? They were the ones with secret-soldier training, after all.

He nodded. Yeah, that was it! If something happened, they would know what to do. Besides, there was like, thirty of them, Yuuji reasoned with himself. If worst came to worst, they could all dogpile and take the guy together. There was no need for Yuuji to get involved…

The feeling of the man in the photo flashed through Yuuji's mind. He gulped.

Guh. Yuuji fidgeted in place. This couldn't be happening. An uncomfortable feeling prickled beneath his skin, a jumping sensation in his gut, but Yuuji couldn't bring himself to get up and follow it. His hands were sweating. His limbs were thin. Compared to Nagisa's classmates, he was useless.

So why—his grip tightened on his sleeves—why did he feel this pull?

Yuuji was quiet for a moment. Then he shrugged. Nagisa could handle it, anyway, he reasoned. Yuuji knew the boy could. Why would he ever need Yuuji there?

Yuuji scowled and retreated further in on himself at the thought. Yeah. That was it. Why would Nagisa ever need-

Suddenly it hit him.

Yuuji blinked, turning slowly to look back at the phone. He might not need to be there, came Yuuji's thoughts. But he wanted to be there. And that was because…

In one moment, so quick that Yuuji's entire life seemed separated into before and after, everything connected. All the things he had been thinking before leapt to a higher point, combining and bouncing off of one another. Everything flashed in an instant like a strike of lightening. It all came together.

He remembered that person, the one he had met among strobe lights and the scent of dancing. Soft powder-blue hair that had managed to entrance him even from across the room. Eyes that blinked at him in the darkness, glancing away every once in a while in a way that made Yuuji desperate for them to come back. A slight frame, and skirt that brushed in a way Yuuji couldn't help but see as masculine now. The same soft face again, much later, and cream sweaters, teasing glances, the sound of light laughter. A brilliant beam of a smile. A kind heart. In one bright moment, before and after were exactly the same. And Yuuji finally understood.

He hadn't just gotten a crush on that island. He had fallen in love.

Yuuji let out a long breath. "Okay. Oh wow," he muttered. "Okay…"

That was something worth moving for. Yuuji reached out, gathering up his phone and a small bag, tossing in a few things quick as a flash. Go! Go! He moved without thinking. His mind felt like it was floating on a cloud. Yuuji had never before felt so energized and so scared at the same time. But that didn't matter. His heart was pounding in his ears, and for the first time ever he was following it.

Suddenly, just when everything was at its peak, Yuuji's hands froze. His fingers trembled around the edge of the desk. What was he doing? Intrusive thoughts sliced through the happy glow of his mind. This was insane! Pure insanity!

All of his confidence seemed to vanish. In one moment, Yuuji felt the entire weight of the narrative crash down on him. He had only ever been a side character in Nagisa's life, he realized. He still had no clue what was going on, and had no idea how he would be of any help. This was not his place. It was not meant to be. He was meant to be nothing more than a distraction, a blip on the edge, a nobody-

And Yuuji turned. And ran.

But this time, he ran towards Nagisa, a bag slung across his back and a coat grabbed around him, pulling up the collar against the snow that lined the gray February streets.

Because screw relevance. Screw how little influence he had. Screw how unimportant he was or seemed. Screw how everything could continue on without him and nothing would change. Screw it all. He was just one man, just one regular person. But Yuuji knew one thing.

He loved Nagisa.

Afterword: Ho-ly crap writing this chapter gave me trouble! My apologies. I hope it turned out alright.

Anyway, here's to us reaching the beginning of the end. :)