DAHLIA ver. Black | Betrayal

When Yuri meets up with Ren in the hallway after their morning lecture has ended, Ren glances out the window of their department and notes the dreary sky outside. “I wonder if it’ll rain today … I didn’t check the weather.”

Yuri then asked, “You’re headed to the library after your afternoon lecture, right? Since midterms are coming up.”

Ren nods his head. “Would you...” he trails off as his eyes shoot to the floor. “Maybe want to meet … at the library? After you finish soccer practice, I mean…” He peeks up to meet Yuri’s gaze before waving his hands frantically. “But you don’t have to! It’s okay if you don’t—”

“Sure.” Yuri grinned. “It’d be great to study with the top student in the department again.”

He catches Ren fidgeting with his fingers, trying to contain his inner excitement, and he lets out a soft chuckle as he ruffles Ren’s hair and says with a smile, “I’ll see you after practice, then. Okay?”

Ren’s face heats up as he watches Yuri walk off to his next class. And when he thinks Yuri is far enough and out of sight, Ren buries his face in his palms as he lets out a squeal.

Yuri’s in the locker room when he sends an update text letting Ren know soccer practice is starting and that he will go straight to the library afterward. He then places his phone on the top shelf of his locker before closing it and heading out to the field.

During practice, Tsubaki couldn’t help but notice how Yuri was acting.

“You seem to be in a good mood today,” he comments. “You’ve been grinning like an idiot throughout the entire game.”

Yuri gives Tsubaki the side eye before they both just crack a smile at each other. Tsubaki’s eyes then trail off into the distance to see the dark clouds drawing in from above. His smile disappears and turns into a thin line.

As their practice comes to an end, the team decides to make a bet on who has to put away the equipment by playing rock-paper-scissors.

Yuri remembers that he has to meet Ren at the library, and determination is written all over his face.

“I can’t lose.”

ROCK

PAPER

SCISSORS

SHOOT!

Three rounds pass, and Yuri pumps his fist in the air as he jumps with joy.

“Tsubaki lost! He has to clean everything up all by himself!” his teammates cheer for themselves as they make a run for it.

“Better luck next time!” Yuri sang as he followed suit of his teammates toward the locker rooms, not catching the sudden tremble in Tsubaki’s eyes as he turned his back on him.

Yuri opens the door to his locker and throws off his jersey as the team gathers in the showers.

“Man, I kinda feel bad for Tsubaki,” he hears his teammate say.

“Yeah, it looked like it was going to rain while we were out there,” another chimes in, but the words slip through Yuri’s mind as it switches focus while he rinses out his hair under the water. 

Feeling rushed for time, he quickly finishes getting dressed into his clean clothes and grabs his bag out of the locker in a hurry before closing it for the last time.

When Yuri walks out the double doors of the building, he sees that it’s already begun to rain.

“Shoot, I don’t have an umbrella, and the library is on the other end of campus.”

Yuri takes shelter under the outdoor corridors as the rain picks up into a downpour. As he moves ahead, lightning suddenly strikes near, and the loud crack of thunder booming in the sky makes Yuri jump.

“Shit, that scared me...” Yuri composes himself. “Better hurry and—”

Yuri freezes.

Then something clicked.

“Shit.”

Yuri makes a 180 turn as he picks up into a full sprint back to the field. He becomes frantic as he curses to himself, remembering all the different signs throughout the day.

“I wonder if it’ll rain today … I didn’t check the weather.”

“—it looked like it was going to rain while we were out there.”

Yuri knew. He saw Tsubaki’s darkened expression on the field—and all he did was ignore it.

Ren sits at one of the tables in the library as he straightens his books and notes in front of him. His face is a soft pink hue as he smiles to himself. He then looks out next to him and watches as the rain pours down against the window.

Arriving on the soccer field, Yuri’s now drenched from the rain still coming down. He squints and scans the area through the heavy blurring downpour, but he finds the field empty. He looks over at the edge of the field where the equipment shed is and notices the door left ajar. Without another thought, Yuri runs over and forces the door open.

“TSUBAKI!”

Lightning strikes behind him, briefly illuminating the interior of the shed. As the thunder rumbles in Yuri’s ears, his eyes grow wide from the sight of the trembling body on the floorboards of the shed; his knees to the ground, hunched over, with hands clamped over his ears.

Yuri calls out gently, “Tsubaki?” 

It takes a moment for him to open his clasped eyes, letting the tears spill out as he turns toward the open door.

“Yuri...?”

The soft whimper in his voice struck Yuri, and he immediately stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. His arms wrap around Tsubaki in a firm hold, protectively securing him, and his shaky voice says, “I’m so sorry, Tsubaki.” 

Cradling him closely, he can feel every shiver and stuttering breath from Tsubaki’s frightened body and the nails that dig into his skin as he desperately clings to anything he can grasp. He had astraphobia, an extreme fear of thunder and lightning, which he’d been suffering from since before they’d met.

Yuri grits his teeth and curls his fingers into fists, and as the guilt runs through him, he painfully says once more, “I’m so, so sorry…”

“Please,” Tsubaki cries, “don’t leave me....”

Yuri’s chest aches at the sound of his childhood friend’s pleading words, and it brings him back to the day he first learned of Tsubaki’s immense fear. They had just barely reached the age of eight at the time, and although Tsubaki had usually come over to Yuri’s house, this time, it was the other way around. 

It was a simple time; the two boys lazed around in Tsubaki’s room, probably taking advantage of the fact that it wasn’t Yuri’s house and Yuri’s mom wasn’t around to tell them to study. But when the boys hear water drops hitting the roof and look out the window to confirm the sudden pour, Yuri hurries to gather his things to quickly try and make it back home before the rain gets any heavier.

Yuri moves quickly, and before Tsubaki can even process anything, Yuri’s hand is on the doorknob of the room.

That was when lightning struck.

The room illuminated from the window, and a loud boom was sent down the boys’ spine.

Yuri lets out a nervous chuckle as he slowly turns around, his hand scratching the back of his head. “I guess I’ll just have to wait for the rain to stop … Is it okay if I stay he—” And suddenly, Tsubaki’s weight is thrown onto him. Yuri loses his footing, and the two hit the ground.

He’s stunned at his friend's sudden behavior as Tsubaki’s now holding onto him for dear life, and he hears him say, “Please … I beg of you … don’t leave me....”

It sounds like the beat of drums as the rain pounds against the exterior of the equipment shed. His soaked body turned frigid from running in the rain, and the only warmth was cradled and shaking in his arms as the air filled with short, muffled sobs.

Yuri begins to brush his fingers through Tsubaki’s hair while the other hand gently strokes his shivering back. He then repeats the same hushed words spoken from back then.

“Don’t worry, I’m right here … I’m not going anywhere.”

Ren finds himself looking out the window of the library again, watching the rain pour down on the clear glass. At this point, he’s biting the ends of his nails as his feet tap in place impatiently under the table. The phone rings in his ears as he tries to call—but Yuri never took his phone out of the locker. 

When he hears the phone go to voicemail for the fourth time after contemplating whether there was any point after the third, he lowers his hand on the table and just watches as the screen eventually turns to black.