So, Terumi is the second to wake up. Even dizzier than Nagumo because of the brute movement, he feels almost like throwing up, his head like it's about to explode. Still, he weakly grabs Nagumo's wrist, and sits up in a slow-motion taking in his surroundings.
"I'm alright. Where are we?"
Suzuno is the last to wake up. He opens his eyes with a whine, and then, two things are quick to put him on alert: the first one is the mechanical sound similar of that of a big sliding door opening, and the second one is the realization that his limbs and neck are tied up on a mattress and he's unable to move. Nagumo’s gasps and a strangled sound escapes from Terumi’s throat, the now withdrew door making Suzuno visible, but leaving a glass wall in between.
Nagumo runs, always the impulsive type, and starts punching it, not even leaving a scratch. So reinforced glass it is, Suzuno thinks, unable to move his head but guessing by the sounds.
Then, a voice echoes in the room.
“I guess you are wondering the reason for your current situation. Well, you could say it’s for revenge but the truth is, I just want to see you suffer.”
Terumi goes pale. Nagumo grimaces.
“And who the fuck are you!? If you think we’re going to do whatever shit you want us to, then-”
“Stop.”
Nagumo turns to Terumi with a questioning look and is a bit struck by his face, wide eyes and pursed lips. A sickening laugh didn’t make itself wait.
“I see you already recognized me, my dear Aphrodi. You were so good to me before, what happened to you?”
He mocks. Nagumo could be a bit slow sometimes, but he immediately realizes who that person is. Suzuno can barely hear them, much less make out their words, and even being as stoic as he is he starts to become anxious, bile rising to his throat. Nagumo snarls and is about to shout something, but gets interrupted again.
“I think presentations are done for now. It’s time to start the fun part.” After some fumbling, a high pitched sound resonates in Suzuno’s room. “There. Your little friend should be able to hear us now. I’ll give you an explanation of what’s going to happen.”
Suzuno lets out a pained groan, writhing. Terumi immediately senses that something is very wrong.
“These are the rules: I’ve poisoned the boy with the white hair. I also have the antidote, so no need to worry, I'll part ways with it if you do a simple thing.”
Then, a small scuttle in the ceiling opens with a whir, letting a carving knife fall cluttering on the marble floor. It leaves both rooms in a deafening silence. Understanding slowly creeps into all of their faces, showing itself in the form of horror, fear, and denial. For a couple of seconds, no one dares to say even a word or to move the slightest bit.
“Aphrodi and Nagumo, one of you has to stab the other. Do it well, all the way in. I’ve been kind enough to choose only a twenty-centimeter long knife, so I won’t tolerate any kind of half-done job. Stabbing yourselves won’t satisfy me either. If you break the rules, you have to do it again. You have approximately twenty minutes before the damage is irreversible, and then five until Suzuno dies. So let us start the game.”
Nagumo’s face distorts in a mixture of fear, worry, and pure rage. Suzuno starts wriggling and thrashing even more against the leather restraints, he can’t leave the two people he loves the most in such a hideous situation. He has to endure the pain, to fight Kageyama, to…
Terumi’s expression was unreadable, his gaze is fixated at the knife.
“What the fuck are you saying!? If you don’t want me to rip your fucking head off come here right now and give me that damn antidote!!”
No matter how much he screams, kicks and punches, it looks like nothing but a useless tantrum. He screams Suzuno’s name, Suzuno whispers Nagumo’s, eyes closed, trying to focus.
Terumi finally stands, none of the others noticing him. He knows very well what he has to do, and he won’t hesitate. He walks to the knife and silently lifts it, admiring it’s polished, shiny surface reflecting the white lights of the room. His ears are ringing, he can’t notice Suzuno’s whimpers, nor Nagumo’s shouting when it stops.
When Terumi looks at him, his lips are slightly parted in surprise, a shocked expression coating his face. His eyes are quickly dancing between Terumi and the knife on his left hand. Seeing this, he starts approaching him with that smooth, graceful pace he always holds. Nagumo takes a few steps back, not knowing what to do. Terumi would never hurt him, right? He will not betray him, right? Not even when Suzuno’s life is on the line, he would be sensible enough to find a better solution than Nagumo’s, like he always did… right?
“A-Aphrodi? What are you doing?”
He sputters in an uncharacteristically faint voice. This does not make Terumi stop, and they continue like this until Nagumo’s back hits the wall. He’s holding his breath when Terumi invades his personal space, smiling softly to him, not saying a word.
And then, he takes Nagumo’s hand and places the knife gently on his palm, intentions implicit.
“...huh?”
Nagumo just can’t process what is happening. No, that’s not right, he can process it, but he can’t accept it. He can’t accept what Terumi wants him to do.
“Come on, Nagumo. You know it won’t work if I do it to myself.”
He says warmly, fastening Nagumo’s grip on the handle. Now that he’s closer, Nagumo can see the sorrow on his eyes.
“N-no. No, no, no, I-I can’t do that to you, I…”
He tries to let go of the knife like it’s burning him, but Terumi doesn’t let him.
“Please, you have to do it for Suzuno. If you do this, there’s a chance I might survive, but if we leave him like that, there will be nothing we can do”
There’s something in the fact that the boy he loves is begging for him to stab him that threw Nagumo off the edge. He sobbed, a few tears running down his cheeks and falling on top of Terumi’s hands. He absentmindedly shakes his head in denial, imploring with just a look for him to not force him to do that. Anything but that. Terumi seems on the verge of crying too, but manages to hold back, wrapping Nagumo in an embrace as comfortably as possible.
“Shush, it’s okay… It will be just a second, I promise. And then we can all go outside, together. Remember who we are doing this for.”
Knowing he has no option, Nagumo tightens his hold on the knife, not even daring to look into Terumi’s eyes.
“That’s it. Don’t think about it, just do it quickly, like you were pulling off a band-aid.”
With a sob, Nagumo finally plunges the knife into Terumi’s gut with a quick and merciful thrust. He tries to suppress the urge to throw up when he feels the knife digging all the way in cutting through his organs, when he hears the slick sound of the blood along with the blonde’s cry, and something warm starts seeping through Terumi’s fingers and trickling onto his hands.
The sound Nagumo lets out is like one of a terrified kid, a wail that expresses nothing but despair, his hands still holding the object so tightly his fingers go numb. Even then, Terumi manages to put on a broken smile, and muster with weakened voice, grazing Nagumo’s cheek with his fingers:
“It’s okay, i-it’s not your fault. It’s alright now.”
That does not make Nagumo feel better. It's not fair, that even when Terumi was going through so much pain and fear, he has to be the one doing the comforting. Why is he always so selfless? Why does he love to self-sacrifice for them so much?
His thoughts are interrupted by a new clatter on the floor, this time of a plastic box. He knows that no matter how much he wants to take Terumi to a hospital as soon as possible, he has another work to do. He lowers him slightly so he lies in the wall, and quickly opens the box, and taking the small syringe, then looks at the glass panel. It opens, just like the other door. He rushes to Suzuno’s side, looking at his sickly-looking face, and injecting without wasting a second, and unties him. He finds out that he’s also incapable of looking Suzuno in the eyes.
“W-we have to take Terumi to a hospital, now. You di-didn’t take out the knife, good. That way it’s less possible that he bleeds o-out.”
Nagumo doesn't say that the actual reason he did not take it out was that he was too distracted by his thoughts. He didn't think he would ever be able to forgive himself, even if it was Terumi who pressured him to do it. Suzuno knows it and procures to stay quiet, struggling too much to deal with his own emotions to manage to comfort Nagumo.
Nagumo carries Terumi in the most careful way he had ever done anything, and they leave the building without another word.
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