Summary: This fic takes place after the CGT series, Wang Hu spends the night at Kouya's place and gets a nightmare about his past and the training Meiou, that evil coach of Si Xing Hu Tuan and Lan Fan's foster father, put him through.

Note: This is supposed to be slash, an answer to one of the two fic requests I got, but I'm afraid it doesn't look like it turned out much of a yaoi. I'm sorry. Anyways, enjoy!

Comfort

Kouya woke up with a start, throwing the blankets off of him as he tried to remember what it is that had woken him in the first place. His breathing was quick and labored but he didn't really think it was from a nightmare. He shook his head in the darkness of his room, but still no idea came into his mind. He was about to give it up and go back to sleep when he heard a low, soft growl beside him. He tensed, stiffening as if he had been doused with ice-water. That sound made the very hair at the back of his neck rise. He turned slowly to his left and gasped.

Two yellow eyes stared at him in the dark, the pupils at the center narrowed to mere vertical slits of black. Another growl, this one louder and bouncing off the walls of his room. And then the luminous eyes went from staring to glaring, frightening and terrifying Kouya immensely. He wanted to scream, but he felt as if his voice was stuck deep in his throat, and his mouth dry. He wanted to break contact with those eyes but he couldn't will himself turn away. That gaze held him, entranced him, told him that the one beside him feared nothing, just like a...

...tiger!

"Wang Hu!" he exclaimed, realization hitting him. His eyes finally adjusted to the dark, and he could see Wang Hu's dark silhoutte against the pale light of the moon that washed over them both from the outside. Kouya immediately grabbed both of his friend's shoulders with his hands and shook him hard, although he really didn't know in himself why he was doing such. Maybe his subconscious figured it as the way to wake the Chinese boy up and had decided for him.

Wang Hu only growled back at him, clawing at his arms to be released. Kouya yelped in pain, letting go of him and bringing his arms closer to his chest protectively, instinctively touching the gashes made on his skin. They weren't so deep as to cause bleeding but were definitely more than mere scratches. His attention was pried off of them however upon hearing a soft muffled 'thud', presumably Wang Hu getting out of bed and landing on the floor.

Kouya reached over to his right and turned on his table lamp. It cast an eerie, ethereal yellowish-white glow across the room, not so bright but brighter than the faint white light of the moon. He ran his fingers over his arms again before looking up, his eyes turning sober at the scene before him.

Wang Hu was on all-fours down on the floor, looking very much like the way he did when Kouya saw him in front of the lion in that zoo back at Singapore. The only difference was, this time, it was Kouya and not the lion facing him. And while the beast cowered in fear then, he felt more sad than afraid, and anxious.

"Wang Hu, Wang Hu," he said soothingly, inching towards his friend. Wang Hu growled and clawed at the air to warn him off from approaching any further, but Kouya took no notice of this. He did notice though Wang Hu's dark hair beginning to be fringed and shadowed with white. And the tiger-like look his eyes had taken was beginning to shift, change into a more hostile one. Kouya shook his head. "Wang Hu!" he shouted.

The beast in him snapped. Wang Hu leapt and pounced on Kouya forcefully, almost knocking the breath out of the latter as he fell back down on the bed. Kouya trembled, pinned beneath Wang Hu, lying on his back on the bed with his disconcerted friend straddling his hips, glaring at him. He tried desperately to push him off but his efforts were in vain.

"Wang Hu, wake up, please..."

Wang Hu's hands on the front of Kouya's shirt began to tighten, fisting with the cloth of the pajamas in his grip. Kouya winced.

"Come on, Wang Hu, calm down..."

The young warrior didn't recognize his pleas the slightest. Kouya began to choke as Wang Hu's hold on him tightened some more. His right hand began to search his bedside table blindly, searching for something Wang Hu lay there a couple of hours ago before they went to sleep, something...aha, there it is! Kouya smiled to himself as his hands closed around on the small object.

"Wang Hu, look at this," Kouya told him, bringing the thing in between them so that his friend could see it. It was Wang Hu's medal, his dearest pendant, his lucky charm with the magnificent red stone in the center. "Calm down now, Wang Hu."

He instantly did, his eyes turning back to normal - well, almost - as he took it from Kouya's hands gently and moved off of him. Kouya sat up straight in front of Wang Hu, observing him as he straightened out his clothes. Finally, the Chinese boy averted his eyes from the small precious and to him, he stared at Kouya for a while before a sigh escaped him.

"I-I'm sorry, Kouya," he whimpered.

"It's okay, Wang Hu," Kouya replied. And his subconscious must have kicked in again, because then next thing he knew was that his arms were stretched in front of him in a half-arc, like that of one welcoming another in an embrace. Kouya realized this soon enough, but made no moves to change his position.

Wang Hu whimpered and then crawled into his arms, trembling a little. Kouya closed his arms around him, holding him close.

"What was it, Wang Hu?"

"Bad dream..."

Kouya felt his friend shiver again. He tightened his hold on Wang Hu and placed his hand on the back of his head, guiding it to lay on his chest. Wang Hu obeyed without a word and he soon felt dampness on the front of his pajama top - tears. He didn't mind though, pulling Wang Hu completely into his lap as he slowly rocked the boy.

"Sensei Meiou, he..."

"Hush. Don't cry, Wang Hu. It was just a dream, go back to sleep," Kouya crooned quietly and comforting-like, stroking his hair. "Just a bad dream. Go back to sleep, Wang Hu."

It took awhile for him to stop crying. After all, with what torture Meiou had put him through, how he was driven to literally tore himself and others to pieces, he had almost been pushed to his limits and perhaps even beyond that afterwards. Kouya winced again, but this time for Wang Hu. He couldn't bear even to imagine what he could have been turned into if things hadn't gone the way they had.

But Wang Hu eventually did stop crying, getting that shaky breathing that comes after a long cry. Kouya rubbed his back, creating calming circles upon it with the palm of his hand.

"Hush now, Wang Hu. Go to sleep, I'll be here. Everything will be fine in the morning. Sleep now," he murmured, letting go of Wang Hu. Exhausted and already half-asleep, Wang Hu shifted unconsciously, trying to find a comfortable position. In the end, Kouya had his head in his lap.

"Good night, Wang Hu," Kouya mumbled, kissing his forehead.

~Owari~