Hypothetically Speaking"If I wasn't who I said I was, would you still love me"

The question finally spills out of Gentaro's mouth after tormenting him for much longer than he'll ever admit, his worry masked as an author's inquiry. For what it's worth, Hifumi doesn't veer into his tendency to talk without thinking this time around — a silver lining in the uncertainties that cloud the fate of their relationship.

"Huh" Lowering his needle and thread, Hifumi asks, "What brought that on"

“I require some insight, is all,” Gentaro tells him. “For my next novel, the protagonist forsakes their identity for a greater cause and —”

"Ooh, like a spy"

Despite himself, Gentaro's lips quirk up. "Of a sort."

"Lemme guess, lemme guess" Hifumi says, eyes sparkling like a child's during a bedtime story. Truly, how baffling it is that this man is nearing thirty. "They meet someone on their mission and things happen and they fall in looo~ve — but But, but, but they're afraid of what'll happen if their S/O finds out who they really are"

Exactly so, word for word, right down to the fear in striking accuracy. Had Gentaro not learned how kind Hifumi is, he might've thought him to be making a mockery of his feelings; that this pup could pierce through the veil shrouding him as if he were a wolf maiming him with arrogance's precision. Fortunately, the only suit jacket present is the one being repaired in Hifumi's hands.

“Not quite,” Gentaro says, spinning a tall tale with the threads of Hifumi’s scenario. “They meet someone, yes, but ‘tis an alien locked up by the government. Upon discovering the horrors that led to the poor alien’s imprisonment, they help free their new friend and return them to their home on the moon. By the end, our disillusioned protagonist realizes the depravity of their employers and thus retires from espionage. From thereon, they settle down in the countryside of France to raise sheep.”

Hifumi's brows knit together, his head tilting in tow. "/What the heck/ Like, I guess the alien thing is neat but what kinda bogus ending is /that/ They go to the moon and all they get out of it is ‘Jeez, my job sucks’ Talk ‘bout a downer And what even do sheep have to do with anything”

"Ah, sheep are a prominent symbol throughout the story. Such magnificent creatures deserve more appreciation, don’t you think" Gentaro says, though the amusement on his tongue threatens to reveal his farce.

"Can't you pick something cooler Like, like, like —" Hifumi snaps his fingers. "— like a wolf"

"A wolf, you say" Humming, Gentaro pretends to ponder it. "An interesting suggestion, but I'm afraid that may be too cliché for this narrative."

"'Too cliché' C'mon, nothing says fierce like a wolf It'll /totally/ boost your protag's sexy factor and make them, like, très popular." Hifumi gasps, shakes him and says, "Oh, oh, oh, you can model them after me~"

"I thought you said 'wolf,' not ‘pup’," says Gentaro, chuckling when Hifumi's pout proves his point. "Well, whether they be a sheep or wolf matters not when t'was all a lie. The story is as you said, though I question the quality of it if someone such as yourself can predict the plot."

"Nothing wrong with predictable as long as it's good." Hifumi shoots back and flicks his forehead, but his puerile fits don’t last forever. "And knowing you, you can pull it off Plus, you've got a super handsome writing whizz to help work out the kinks,” he says, framing his face with the underside of his hand.

"My editor, you mean 'Handsome' may not be how I'd describe him, but I will say he /is/ rather easy on the eyes."

Delightful is the pitiable glare Hifumi throws his way, the urge to tease him further strong, but Gentaro decides to be merciful. Although, mercy isn’t without his jests.

"So,” Gentaro says, coy lilt hiding the trepidation that festers within, “if my homely advisor would like to offer input, how would you answer my question"

Hifumi's nose pinches at the mere notion that he's anything but beautiful, though he saves his voice for the more important issue. His lips pucker in contemplation, his head swaying as he hums, but Gentaro doesn't have to endure an eternity before he says, "I'd still love you."

Relief rushes through his veins. His clutter of nerves start to untangle. Yet, regardless of Hifumi’s declaration, the shadows of apprehension remain. “You would”

"Yeah" Hifumi says without hesitation. "Why not"

"Because our whole relationship would've been built upon falsehoods,” he says, guilt a bitter twist on the scenario that’s not actually speculative at all. “How could you trust someone who lied to you, especially about their own identity"

"Maybe they're not really who they say they are, sure, but that doesn't change their feelings. Lie all you want, you can't deny what's in here," Hifumi says, tapping Gentaro square in the chest — right at his heart.

Warily, gingerly, Gentaro touches the spot Hifumi had endowed with hope. "But the person you love doesn't exist."

"Nuh-uh. If you love someone, that makes them real."

“Is it real if they’ll disappear one day When they have to return to being someone you know not” he says, unknowing of himself — of the person he left behind before the prologue began, of the person who’ll be there when this tale draws to a close.

“‘Course it is So what if they gotta go back to their old life Nothing can take away the memories we made and if we can’t be together anymore, at least we’ll always have those.”

"That's…” Gentaro trails off. Hifumi’s unabashed bluntness turns him speechless more often than he’d like, particularly so when he unravels his stance with ease. “...a rather simplistic way of looking at it."

"Why make it complicated" Hifumi shrugs. "Nothing else matters as long as we love each other, right"

Holding his breath, Gentaro asks, "Even if the truth is unforgivable"

"Even then."

Amazing how Hifumi can answer such complexities so readily. His straightforwardness is something that Gentaro had once written off as foolishness, but he’s learned that this sort of idealism only blossoms after one has withstood the cruelties of the world. Childish as Hifumi can be, he speaks with confidence — an unwavering faith in what they have — and just this instance, Gentaro might have to concede how fatuous he’d been for doubting him in the first place.

Perhaps there will come a day when he’ll have to confess his truth to Hifumi, to test Hifumi’s conviction in them with reality, but this wishful thinking ties them together for now. Anyhow, he's enough to worry about between his brother and his posse. Light steadily trickles through the bleakness of the future when he has the sun by his side.

"Hifumi," he says, a tad too soft.

"Yeah"

"Thank you." And minding his role as Yumeno Gentaro, this sense of normalcy as Izanami Hifumi's lover, he adds, "For your input."

A smile blooms on Hifumi's face, and the kiss he gives him spreads warmth throughout his being. "Any time Your Hifumin's got you whenever you're in a jam"

With the gravity of life weighing on his shoulders, with a responsibility he’s taken on looming over, with adversities lying ahead, Gentaro wants to believe him.