Kevin Day||

|What if things could be different?|

Jean himself no longer knew whether this would make things much worse for him, so he decided to take a risk: to tell Day about the feeling that had been tormenting him for more than a month.

It wasn't that he expected to hear an answer in his favor, but Kevin's reaction left him considerably upset. They were roommates, and Jean couldn't avoid him for long, if not during practice, then during lights out. Kevin would get to Moreau wherever he was. There was no denying the fact that Jean hadn't given up hope that Kevin would be logical and that he wouldn't discuss what had happened that night.

The clock ticked past the last minute of the hour. It seemed like all normal people were asleep, but Jean couldn't do so because of the swarm of thoughts in his head. He lay on his side, staring at the wall. Hearing Kevin's even breathing, Jean thought he was dreaming his twenty-first dream. He thought about it until Day suddenly spoke.

"Please tell me it was a joke." Jean couldn't see his face, but he was almost certain it wasn't particularly calm.

His voice tore Jean from his thoughts. All hopes of simply forgetting this "nonsense" were dashed. Jean had regretted telling Kevin the truth a million times over. He knew it wouldn't have worked anyway, but constantly feeling the man's presence nearby, denied even the most innocuous touch, made him almost physically urge to cry.

—Joke. Funny, right?

-Jean.

"Leave me alone. I think Exie the Star has gotten used to hearing things like that from everyone. It shouldn't be hard for you to forget all of mine. I don't want to be a distraction."

Kevin fell silent, and Jean accepted it as a capitulation, but there was no joy in his so-called victory. Kevin slowly turned over to face Jean.

"Why?" Asking what the question was about would be foolish: until that moment, they hadn't exchanged a word with each other since Moreau's desperate attempt to make his life at least a little better.

Jean didn't answer. He didn't know what to say. And he didn't want to. He couldn't blame Kevin for his words.