Free! doesn't belong to me. Neither does High Speed!
Prompt: "You came back."
Not finding you
.
There was fire, and there was death, and the world was crumbling down again.
And he ran as fast as he could, trying to get away from it, trying to keep living; but everything was made of darkness and hot air that made breathing difficult. Moving was harder with each stride he took; the blackness had tentacles that wrapped around his legs, around his wrist, around his neck– and he cursed and cried for help, but he couldn't break free.
He was fighting a lost battle, he knew it– he wasn't even running now, but kicking and punching the invisible chains that held him down. Yet he never stopped, even when the grip in his throat tightened too much for the air to get to his lungs he kept struggling.
He didn't want to die. He hadn't even–
.
"Hey, wake up. It's just a nightm– Ow!"
It was Shion's pained cry, more than his words, what brought Nezumi back to reality. He sat up abruptly, almost hitting him again; Nezumi didn't realise, though, at least until he looked around and recognised the bedroom. A storm raged outside, flash of lightning filtering between the curtains.
Nezumi then looked at Shion, who was rubbing his shoulder as he stared at Nezumi with a concern visible even in the dim room. He exhaled slowly, throwing his head back and fixing his gaze to the ceiling.
"You punched me," Shion noted.
"Sorry."
"What was you dream about?"
Nezumi shook his head, refusing to look at Shion. "The usual," he simply mumbled.
Getting lost and not being able to come back. Coming back and not finding you here.
Shion tentatively snuck his arms around Nezumi's waist. Nezumi didn't return the hug, but leant his head on Shion's shoulder. It was soothing.
"But you came back," Shion said gently. "You're here now."
Nezumi hummed in agreement, finally hugging Shion back.
That much was true. He had kept his promise.