Peace Heaven: Thank you for supporting my fanfics. A gentle reminder: words in italics are thought of the characters.

Disclaimer: I do not own Uragiri wa boku no namae o shiteiru.

Title: Bonds which could not be broken easily

Pairing(s): Hotsuma/Shusei

Chapter 1: Dreams

With the battle against Reiga escalating, there were more battles in which the Zweilt Guardians were involved in. They were to fight against any Duras regardless of their rankings within their perimeter or used their gifts to help solve the increasing number of unexplainable deaths. As such, it was getting rare for them to go back to Twilight Mansion to rest as they were either at the police station or out somewhere killing Duras. Thus, being able to go back to Twilight Mansion to rest was comforting for both Hotsuma and Shusei.

"Welcome home, Hotsu and Shusei!" Tachibana greeted them with his earnest voice, "Go take a shower and dinner will soon be ready."

"Yeah, I really need a bath," Hotsuma forced the words out of his mouth before following Shusei up the staircase. Walking back to their rooms in silence was not a common thing for both of them, yet it was not awkward or uncomfortable, rather, it was peaceful.

When they reached Shusei's room, Shusei put his hand on the door knob and was about to twist it opened, Hotsuma spoke, "Shusei, I will be going back to my room for a bath. I will see you later."

"Fine," Hotsuma began to leave for his room after hearing his response.

Before going into his room which was just a wall apart, Shusei spoke with a tinge of concern in his voice, "Dry your hair or you will catch a cold." Shusei slammed his door after finished voicing his concern.

Hotsuma's lips curved at Shusei's girl-like behavior. It is like a wife talking to her husband…What am I thinking? Stop being influenced by what happened in the past life. Hotsuma slapped a hand to his head to stop his thoughts from running astray. Then, Hotsuma went into his room to take the bath he had been anticipating for.

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Hotsuma had his towel wrapped around his neck and in his long-sleeved shirt and pants, went to Shusei's room. When he went in, Shusei was already dressed up and was sitting on the sofa with his eyes shut.

Moving toward where Shusei was, Hotsuma sat down beside him, trying as hard as he could to be gentle so as to not wake Shusei up.

I think the recent battles really took a toll on him… It was not the first time Hotsuma had seen Shusei asleep but he just could not help staring at his sleeping face. I wonder why a guy have such long eyelashes..Haiz, forget about those eyelashes already, you've been thing about this since God know when it's started… Turning back to look at Shusei's face, Hotsuma found himself staring intensely at Shusei's lips. I wonder how it felt to kiss those lips… Hotsuma's eyes widened as what he thought just now sank in…

"Hotsuma?" Shusei's voice sounded and he was rubbing sleepiness out of his eyes. "How long have I been asleep? Sorry to keep you waiting."

Snapping out of his trance, Hotsuma shook his head slightly, "No, you have not been asleep for long. I have just come in."

"Then, we should go for…," Shusei paused as he noticed Hotsuma's hair was dripping wet, "Haven't I told you to dry your hair after bathing?"

Shusei frowned a little, yet he grabbed the towel from Hotsuma's neck and dutifully started to dry his hair. While Shusei was drying Hotsuma's hair, Hotsuma explained himself, "I plan to dry it when I come to your room but… Anyway, you know I don't like to go through the trouble of drying them since they will be dried after a while."

"Yes, they will be dried after a while but you may catch a cold later… Anyway, it's done. Let's go for dinner." Shusei threw the towel into the basket for soiled clothes.

Dinner went by as usual with chattering and laughter. However, Hotsuma and Shusei did not linger around after finishing their meals as they were exhausted. Also, because of the sudden attacks by Duras, they had to get as much rest as they possibly could. As usual, when Shusei went back to his room after chatting a while with Tsukumo, he found Hotsuma already asleep on his bed.

"It seems like there's no use to tell him to go back to his room," Shusei whispered softly to himself as he started to climb onto the bed.

"Goodnight, Hotsuma," Shusei said and turned his back toward Hotsuma.

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Hotsuma was dreaming and he dreamt of the Twilight Mansion and Shusei. Shusei was standing beside him, fighting against a general-class Opast. Using his God of Voice, he set a barrier of fire between them and the Opast. After setting up the fire barrier, Hotsuma charged forward with his weapon. When he was nearer to the Opast, he heard the Opast snicker, "Do you really think that I am the only one attacking the two of you? You will regret coming after me."

Once the Opast finished, Hotsuma heard a muffled scream coming behind him. Immediately, Hotsuma turned and to his horror, saw a sword piercing through Shusei in the stomach.

"SHUSEI!" Hotsuma yelled out in agony as he dashed toward where Shusei was. The other Opast which attacked Shusei removed the sword after the assault and was about to land another attack when he was being held back by Hotsuma. Looking at Shusei's blood gushing out, Hotsuma was so enraged that he was able to hurt the two Opasts so much that they had to leave.

Dragging himself toward Shusei's body, he lifted his trembling hand to check for a pulse and when he felt none, he grabbed Shusei's body which was soaked in blood into his embrace and let out a agonizing scream, "SHUSEI…!"

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Hotsuma's eyes jerked open and for a while, he stared into the ceiling blanking, wondering why he woke up in the middle of the night. Then, he remembered the dream. As scenes of the dream flashed by in his mind, he was sweating profusely. He turned and saw Shusei lying on his side of the bed. Wanting to get reassurance that Shusei was safe and alive, he lifted Shusei into his embrace gently so as not to wake him up.

"Hotsuma?" However, it seemed futile as he stirred Shusei up.

"Go back to sleep," Hotsuma whispered into Shusei's ears.

"What's wrong? Normally, you wouldn't wake me up in the night and you are sweating," Shusei looked into Hotsuma's eyes.

"Nothing, just a bad dream," Hotsuma tried to shrug it off.

After a moment of silence, Shusei sighed, "Alright then, I will be there for you if you need to tell me anything, Hotsuma."

Shusei continued to sleep despite being woken up. Hotsuma tried to sleep but he was still shaken by the dream he had and had to have Shusei in his arms.

To be continued…

Peace Heaven: Some things mentioned in the fanfics like the fire barrier were made up, so please don't take it to heart… Hope that you have enjoyed it ^.^