Blue eyes stared to the suddenly unfamiliar walls, jumping from corner to corner, taking in the constant shadows of the room. The walls had been painted white, a colour so tainted by the deep night's shadows that it could hardly be distinguished as such. It glared right back at him, reflecting a foreboding so surreally strong that the boy almost passed it by, but his nerves were still tingling and he was forced to pay attention.

He was alert, his body prickling with the aura surrounding him, lifting his hair haphazardly in anxiety. 'What now…?' The boy thought to himself, pulling the half of himself that wasn't already uncovered off of the bed so that he found himself simply standing, glaring at a wall which sneered right back. He didn't remember having any dream that would have woken him so suddenly and the storm raging outside would usually help his sporadic attempts at sleep rather than hinder them.

A tingling spread through his fingertips and light streamed in through the window, followed by the sharp crack of thunder. However, by the end of the rumbling, the boy found himself huddled on the floor, slight arms held tight over his head and neck. He straightened slightly, a confused, almost annoyed look crossing his face, quirking his brows slightly. 'What the hell?' He pulled himself from the ground, legs shaking with the sudden flow of adrenaline. The fine hairs on his arms were starting to stand up again and the boy nearly launched himself at the posts of his headboard to brace himself for the next wave of panic and sure enough, as the thunder shook the floorboards, he found his mind spinning, groping, pleading for something to keep him steady and it dissipated just as suddenly as it had come until it was nothing but a whimpering in the back of his mind.

"Schuldich…" The boy murmured to himself, unsteadily making his way to the door of his bedroom. The German was hardly ever afraid, and if he was, the boy would know. If Schuldich thought that he was safe from others picking up on his projected thoughts, he was firmly mistaken.

There was no way in hell that the blue-eyed boy was going to take this anymore! He'd suffered in silence the past few years, waking without a moment's thought as to why and slowly piecing together the origin of this 'fear' that had plagued him and he would be damned if he was going to go through another sleepless night… it was always the worst in the spring.

He shakily turned the knob of his door and pushed it open, knowing that, even if he thought as hard as he could, Schuldich wouldn't be listening enough to hear the mental summon. The German's room was only a few feet away and as he approached, his footing wavered and the boy found himself against the wall, shaking, gasping for breath. His eyes were rolling again, but they weren't taking in any of his surroundings. 'No!' He attempted to reprimand himself, 'This is not your fear! Keep walking…' So he took another shuddering step… and another and another until he was standing in front of Schuldich's door, shivering, despite himself. He reached out a tingling hand and pushed open the door just in time for the next shuddering wave of fear to take him and send him huddling to the ground again.

Slowly, the wave was subsiding and he could feel those startled eyes on his back, pressing into his mind, despite whatever barriers Schuldich had managed to keep up. There was an acknowledging whisper in his mind and then the physical voice, usually so calm, now trembling. "N-Nagi…?"

It was a question, he realized, amidst the murmuring undercurrent of fear sweeping by his feet. Nagi looked up with wide, deep azure eyes and nodded. "You—" He swallowed, knowing that his own voice was shaking. "You woke me up."

"No I—" Another shuddering roar creaked against the house and the usually poised German covered his head and let out a childish whimper as Nagi, himself, cried out.

When the rumbling died away and Nagi was able to pull himself together, he approached Schuldich's bed. "Your walls," he commented coolly, "They're not there anymore." Wide-eyed, the German didn't seem to understand. Nagi sighed and sat down on the bed. "It's amazing you were able to keep it back as well as you did," Nagi lied. "Of all things, I never expected you to be afraid of thunder." How unfortunate that the man was so terrified of the blitz in his blitzkrieg. The young Asian easily held back a smirk at his own distasteful joke.

"I'm sorry," Schuldich managed shakily, "There's no logical explanation, either. There's just something…." He shook his head, "Maybe it's just something I don't remember." A shaky hand attempted (in vain) to straighten dishevelled copper hair—now a sickly brown in the evening light. "Maybe it's something in my childhood."

Nagi scoffed. "Do you really think whoever made us the way we are were willing to let us harbour fear?"

There was a quiet chuckle and Nagi could feel the obtrusive probes of Schuldich's mind begin to pull back. "You're right…. This all really started…." Nagi saw a sudden image from the German's retreating mind. The entire area was soaked. It had been raining for a very long time. He was supposed to wait for the Tsukiyono boy, but what had ended up happening was….

"Schuldich," Nagi said softly. "That was the night…."

"The Takatori girl," he replied with a nod. He opened his mouth to continue when a sudden flash and a crash echoed fear between them. Schuldich held his own by gritting his teeth and holding on to Nagi (who had unexpectedly thrown himself at him with the shock of Schuldich's fear reverberation).

Nagi shakily pushed himself away. "Why? Why were you so bothered by that? We've killed so many people before. What made her so different."

Schuldich pursed his lips together, "I hadn't meant to kill her. I was prepared to kill Bombay, but not her. She was…" He shook his head, as though thinking. "That boy must have thrown some of himself at me that night and I was caught off guard. His thoughts, his fears, his feelings…. They stuck. I felt like I was there that night when he was kidnapped. I was the one mourning that girl's death. It was all me, and I was responsible…."

The Asian stared at his hands. "That… it could happen. That would explain why you can't feel him, anymore. He's pushed himself on your mind and you wouldn't be able to sense yourself, would you?"

"Nagi," Schuldich's voice called to him softly. It wasn't normal for the German to be so vulnerable that he would allow so much emotion into his voice. There was a slight tremor in it and the sound of the two syllables on his baritone was almost painful. The Asian boy couldn't help but turn his blue eyes to look. Schuldich reached out a long-fingered hand to him. "I need…. I need someone with me, tonight." He paused, "Just for tonight. If I have someone, maybe I can…."

Maybe I can forget. Maybe I can feel whole. Maybe I won't be so afraid…

Maybe I won't be so alone.

Nagi stared for a moment, not believing what was resonating in the caverns of his mind. Then, slowly, deliberately, he crawled under the covers. "You had better be thankful," he said as he settled in, thankful that the shadows covered his flush, "You'd better be thankful that it was me and not Crawford."

As Schuldich slid his arms around Nagi's slim waist he nodded. "I am," he admitted and leaned into Nagi as another blast of thunder struck his ears. "I'm glad it was you."

Secretly, Nagi was glad, too. He curled up more tightly and rested his back against Schuldich's sturdy chest. They would give each other support tonight and tomorrow continue on without remorse.

As Schuldich drifted off to sleep, he heard a clear thought from Nagi escape his guards.

Neither of us can expect much more than this.

The German frowned and sighed. But we can enjoy this while we have the chance.

Pray for storms.

Raijin.

Owari