The cold, slimy feeling of his own sweat only heightened his awakeness. Chuuya looked to his side, praying to any deity that might be listening, and hoping that what he was looking for was still beside him.

But it was not.

In a dead panic, Chuuya sprang up from his bed and ran out of the room. "Dazai!?" the teen cried, "Dazai, where are you!? Dazai!" Chuuya skidded to a stop as a long, rectangular light widened and beamed into the hallway; a tall, half-dressed and half-bandaged male stepped out and craned his neck to look in Chuuya's direction.

"D... Dazai...?" Chuuya whispered.

The other male responded, "Chuuya, you're gonna end up waking Kouyou up with all of that yelling... and you know how she is when she's woken up so suddenly..."

"She's my mother, of course I know what she's like..." Chuuya muttered, "I was just... I was lonely and I didn't know where you were, that's all..."

Dazai stepped closer to Chuuya, looking down a him with a soft yet concerned expression. "... you had another nightmare, didn't you...?" he asked quietly.

Chuuya spluttered awkwardly, "what!? I did not!"

"Of course you didn't..." Dazai gently ruffled his boyfriend's hair, "why don't we get back to bed? You can tell me what happened in your nightmare. And hopefully your mom's not awake."

"Yeah, yeah... w-whatever..." Chuuya muttered, "but I didn't have a fucking nightmare, asshole..." He followed Dazai, who simply shrugged off the crude name, back to the bedroom, where the much taller male pulled the shorter onto the bed.

"Alright, Chuuya, tell me what happened in this nightmare."

" I fucking told you I didn't have one!"

"Stop yelling at me, you're going to wake Kouyou up."

"Will you leave me alone about the fucking nightmare if I promise not to wake her up?"

Dazai shook his head. "Chuuya, I'm worried about you... you're only ever like this after you've had a nightmare..."

"Shut up, Dazai..." Chuuya angrily looked away, arms folded and steam practically pouring from his ears. His face was beginning to redden from annoyance.

"Chuuya..." the smaller male felt two arms wrap around him and pull him in for a tight hug. "Please? Last time you had a nightmare like this you wouldn't eat for three weeks after seeing something crawl out of your stomach and–"

"Shut up, Dazai!" Chuuya hissed quietly. He could feel his stomach juices swirling, and nausea being born.

"Sorry, sorry..." a chin nestled itself in Chuuya's long reddish-brown hair, "I didn't know it still made you feel nauseous..." Dazai pressed a soft kiss on Chuuya's head. "Just... please, babe... you're really worrying me, you know?"

Chuuya sighed shakily. "I know..." he mumbled. Should he tell? There wasn't really much he could say—or even think—about the nightmare without wanting to burst into tears. "Um..."

"Chuuya..."

"I can't..." the reddish-brunette mumbled, "I can't..."

"Please...?"

"Dazai, stop..." Chuuya pushed Dazai away, pulling his knees up and hugging them tightly. His eyes locked with the floor, picturing the nigtmare all over again.

The room was surprisingly bright, with stark white walls that looked bleaker than the results of a nuclear war. Chuuya looked around to see that he was alone, which only oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and argon to accompany him. The short male tried to stand from the seat he was in, but found himself unable to do so. Confusion slowly began to seep into him. Giving up on trying to stand, Chuuya looked up to see Dazai now standing a few feet in front of him.

"Keep talking, Chuuya..."

Chuuya snapped out of his thoughts. "Did I really say all of that out loud!?"

"You sure did... keep venting. You always told me I wasn't allowed to bottle up. Therefore, you aren't allowed either."

Chuuya sighed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever..."

"Dazai?" Chuuya asked.

"You're going to watch me have a little fun with myself, Chuuya," Dazai chuckled. He walked past the shorter male, and Chuuya could hear what sounded like a trolley rolling on the floor. Dazai stopped the trolley right in front of Chuuya, smirking the whole while. "Now, you're too short to see anything on here, which is pretty exciting for me. It means I get to surprise you; and I know how much you like surprises."

Chuuya watched as Dazai's slender fingers coiled around something, and raised to reveal a small scalpel. "D... Dazai...?"

Dazai's eyes glanced over at Chuuya, his eyes gleaming with a sly, childlike cruelty. The blade kissed the typical bandages that hugged the chesnut brunette's arm, before zipping downwards and cutting the gauze.

"Dazai, what the hell!?" Chuuya cried, "what are you–"

Dazai giggled softly, tilting his arm so that the side aligning with his palm faced Chuuya. Chuuya watched as a single, straight red line beaded up and grew larger. The plasma dripped to the floor, staining the stark white–

"No..." Chuuya shook his head and pushed himself into Dazai, who at this point had his arms wrapped tightly around his lover. "I-I can't..." There was a lump in his throat, accumulating pent-up fear from a dream where he was forced to watch Dazai slowly and teasingly kill himself. "I-I can't... n-not anymore..." He let out a quiet sob, and Dazai's hold tightened.

"I won't press you anymore, Chuuya..." the brunette nestled his face in his lover's hair again. "Don't talk about it anymore..."

Chuuya remained latched onto Dazai, his body beginning to tremble. He could feel his lover's hand running up and down his back, attempting to soothe the distraught male. "It's alright, Chuuya... the nightmares will go away soon, I promise..."

"Promise me..." Chuuya looked up, locking eyes with Dazai, "... that y-you won't do anything like that..."

"Of course..." Dazai responsed, his voice soft, "you know I quit doing that stuff a long time ago..."

Chuuya lowered his eyes again and mumbled, "yeah, but..."

"No buts..." Dazai whispered, "why don't you try going back to sleep? I'm sure your dreams will be much sweeter this time round..."

"B-but–"

"I said no buts... back to sleep, Chuuya..."

Chuuya glared up at Dazai for a moment, before huffing quiety and resting his head on Dazai's chest. The soft rise and fall of his lover's abdomen was practically hypnotic, and he was soon asleep once more with predicted sweet dreams.