FEAR the one-shot of angstyness for any angst muffin to love! Muhahahahahaha! :3

And the slight fluffyness at the end. ;D This was a lot of fun to write though it took forever, but, hey, whatever, right?

Plan for some updates of my other stories soon to come! :heart!:

Please enjoy! : )

Tremors

Tremors.

They were everywhere, and escalating. Shaking him off balance. Chilling him to the bone.

This was going to be a bad one. Awful. There were screams echoing through the ruckus. The noise was loud. Deafening, even.

The shaking of the ceiling and floor weren't the only things that made him tremble. The fear inside him was coming to an all-time high, and almost hysteria was setting in. Everyone would be crushed. They'd all die. He couldn't do anything. It was a given fact: the ceiling could collapse at any time. There was no stopping it. Death was upon them.

Just like his parents.

Suddenly, everything froze. Members of the village were stopped mid-shriek. Rocks that had loosened from the ceiling were hanging in the air silently, waiting to bring suffering upon whoever might have been near.

The he saw it.

A head of blue, spiky hair with bright red sharp-tipped sunglasses; he was standing there, a smug grin on his face, shackles around his wrists.

"Bro!" He squeaked, his voice sounding childish and fearful. He was still shaking, even though the earth had ceased to do so.

"Neh, Simon! What are you doing over there, hiding in the corner?"

"Bro, y-you need to get to c-cover! T-t-the earthquake! T-The r-rocks! They'll…they'll c-crush you!"

"Who the hell do you think I am, Simon? Something like this won't kill me."

"You don't know that!"

"I do."

"HOW?"

"Because…" He grinned, and turned his head to face an opposite wall. "You'll have to accept that I'm already dead."

"Bro?"

"…Later, Bro."

"Bro?" Simon took a step forward, but just as he did the scene started to move again. The rumblings were back, the scream of terror, but there was another sound that almost snapped him into pieces.

Crack.

The gaping holes that now littered Kamina's body made Simon scream. "Bro! No! You can't! You just can't! You're not supposed to die! KAMINA!"

The elder boy's body dropped to the cave floor, lifeless. Blood splashed from the pool that had already been forming there, and despite the distance between them, Simon felt a few drops of warm, sticky liquid smudge his face.

The boy slumped down to his knees, eyes dilated.

Only then did he decide to look up.

But by then it was already too late. The rocks were falling. Prepared to come crashing down on top of him mercilessly. Murderous intents, they had.

He didn't even have time to close his eyes. Only time to

GASP!

Sitting straight up, Simon could only try to breath. Tremors racked his thin, pale body as images from the nightmare mixed in with harsh memories. His train of thought was lost. There was nowhere to run to right now. He was completely in the dark.

Literally.

Taking in sharp, uneven breaths, Simon attempted to identify his surroundings, with no prevail.

Somebody….Please…Save me….

He cringed, and wrapped his arms defensively around himself. The shaking had yet to stop.

I don't want to die…Not like Mom…or Dad..or—

Now he himself felt like an earthquake. Sure the ceiling would cave in soon, the blue-haired boy ducked down underneath the sheet again and quietly whimpered to himself.

"Or K-K-Kamina…"

…

"…Simon?"

A soft, whispering voice came from some direction.

He didn't reply. Couldn't. The energy just wouldn't come for him to open his mouth. So he stayed there, shaking like a leaf in a cool fall breeze.

"Simon…it's me…Nia…"

The boy jerked, but said nothing from his cocoon in the sheets.

"Please open your eyes?"

…

His eyes were closed?

…

Oh.

Slowly, Simon put forth all of his energy into sliding the lids of his eyes open. Again, it was dark, but there was a slight tint to the darkness, as if there was a very, very dim light coming from somewhere…somewhere…

He slowly sat up, blearily. He was searching for the source of the light. Light was good…Very good…

Dark eyes scanned the space until they came to rest on a soft glow on the far end of the room. Underneath this glow was a pair of small, gentle hands.

"Simon?"

He swayed a little; still half-trembling, but he kept his gaze on the girl.

"…" His mouth hung open, and he tried hard to force his voice from his throat. He had to. Even in a moment of weakness, he had to have strength.

"…N-Nia…?"

The soft glow swayed for a moment, before swiftly and quietly moving towards him.

Setting the glowing object down on the table beside his bed, Nia studied the boy for a few moments. He was shivering, almost, but it wasn't chilly, nor was there a breeze in his room. Gently, she took one of his hands in both of her own and gave him the most genuine smile she could muster after seeing him like this. She knew exactly what had happened:

A nightmare.

About Kamina, "Bro," no doubt.

He'd been staring at the glowing object on his table. He identified it as a candle (which was weird, because he hadn't seen one of those in quite some time), until she took his hand. He jerked, and looked up at her quickly, bringing an awful wave of nausea along with the quick movement.

The blue-haired boy hung his head low, covering his eyes in the shadow of his bangs. He was ashamed, worrying Nia like that.

"I-I'm…S-sorry..."

"Why are you apologizing, Simon?" He glanced up at her. "You've done nothing wrong."

Listening to her talk, Simon began shake a little bit harder. For a moment, he was almost confused, as if this right now was the dream.

"But I—…I let him…I let him…"

Now her arms were tightly around his torso, opposite hands on his shoulder blades. Taken aback, the boy stiffened. What was she—?

"It is not your fault, Simon." She whispered into his ear. "You have done nothing wrong."

Before he knew it, his head was on her shoulder, his eyes squeezed closed, his shoulders racking his whole body with shivers.

"It's okay."

Before long, she noticed, he relaxed slightly. He wasn't trembling any longer, though the tension in his shoulders remained. It took her a moment to realize he was hugging her back.

A soft smile traced her features.

She didn't count how long it'd been since the candle went out.

…

A light knock.

"Simon? Simon, would you like some—"

The door whizzed open, but the dim hallway light wasn't enough to light up the entire room.

Yoko smirked, turned, and let the door close again.

They really were cute together. Hm…And they thought Simon's nightmares would never have a cure.

Guess the guys lost that bet.

These things were now what Yoko could claim with pride and joy: the boatload of things she'd be getting for believing in Simon, the satisfaction of showing up all the men who had themselves screwed the moment the doubted the boy, and the adorable picture of Simon and Nia sleeping soundly next to each other, which she would never, ever forget.