Simon woke up panting and sobbing, the dreaded memory of his parents' deaths plaguing his mind. "Not again..." He tried to groan, but it came out as a sob as his eyes began to water. He looked next to him, noticing Kamina was absent. "B-Bro?! Where are you?! Bro?! K-Kamina?!" His breathing began to speed up, tears running down his face endlessly. His throat began to ache horribly and he was clutching the jacket on his shoulders tightly, his knuckles beginning to turn white. He choked out a sob, his nose beginning to run.
Just then, a set of footsteps approached the door, seeming to pick up in speed upon the sound of Simon's shaking voice. "Simon!" Simon looked up and saw Kamina, whose expression was a mix of concern and confusion. Simon could barely say a word through his sobs and sniffles. Kamina sighed. "It happened again, huh?" Back when Simon's parents had died in an earthquake, the poor kid couldn't sleep without the memory of it coming back to haunt him. At the very least, the whole thing helped Kamina get better at calming him down when he was a crying mess like he was right now.
Kamina sat down next to Simon and hugged him, rubbing his back to soothe him. "Did it happen again?" Kamina didn't need to specify what he meant, as Simon understood perfectly. "Yeah..." Simon's voice cracked and he sobbed. "You were scared 'cause I wasn't here when you woke up, huh?" Simon nodded, sniffling and wiping his tears, despite the fact more took their place every time. "Th-There's more than that. In my dream, w-we were back in the village and there was another earthquake, and I almost died b-but you saved me but you d-died and when I w-woke up I-I thought it actually h-happened and I just..."
Simon hugged Kamina tighter, burying his face in the other's chest. "Please don't leave, Bro...please..!" He sobbed. Kamina pat his head. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, little brother. I promise you that nothing will take me from you so easily."
Simon cried harder than he'd ever cried in his life, a piece of a red cape clutched against his chest, a vain attempt at finding comfort in what remained of his brother. "B-Bro! Kamina!" He cracked open his blue eyes, leaking tears that dripped onto the floor. "Y-You promised...you promised you wouldn't go...you promised that nothing would take you from me. I thought men kept their promises. Why..? WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GO?!" He yelled, violent sobs racking his body.
He wished this was just a dream, that Kamina was here, rubbing his back and telling him he wouldn't leave him no matter what, even if it was just a lie. Of course, like many things in life, death was just something that couldn't be changed. He instead opted to hugging the pillow under his head, sobbing into it and letting his tears stain the pillow. This lasted for an hour until he had cried himself to sleep, the piece of red fabric still clutched in his hand.