Summary: "Humanity won't end when the world does." ― Mitsuzane and Mai, at Yggdrasill Tower. [Kamen Rider Gaim, set episode 39] One Shot.
I don't know how this came out of my pen. I posted it to Tumblr, though, so I figured I'd post it here as well. There are spoilers, and suggestive material, as a fair warning.
Disclaimer: Micchi would not have done anything wrong if I owned Kamen Rider Gaim...actually that's probably a lie but either way I don't own the series.
OUR DARKEST HOURS
Yggdrasill Tower is full of glass corridors, always slightly reflective and impossibly smooth, but since the invasion of Helheim, the transparent walls are no longer blank and sheer. Instead, vines add a rough texture to them, somehow managing to creep up despite having barely anything to cling to.
This is how he sees himself, for the first time since he stared into the rippling water following his brother's demise. He sees himself, ghostly, barely reflected in the shining glass, surrounded in fruit-bearing vines, and he has to touch the wall with a fingertip - lightly - to make sure it's real. Yes, it's real. His tie is starting to come undone and his hair is a bit disheveled, and his eyes are ringed with shadows, which are from staying up late and screaming at his brother to leave him alone - but it's real and it's him. And he likes this look.
He doesn't think he's ever looked more…powerful. Was that the right word? Invincible. Perfect.
He gave Mai the finest guest room in the tower, of course; nothing less for the only human he cares about anymore. He cares, after all, even if she all she does is tell him to snap out of what he's doing. She's just being irrational, he says aloud, albeit quietly, as if reminding himself that those were the exact words he had told her. She'll see why you're doing this eventually. He enters her room with the intent of explaining what he hasn't already. Why he joined Yggdrasill. Why he made a deal with the Overlords. Why he hates Kouta-san.
Maybe if he tells her these things, she'll listen to him.
Mai tenses when she sees him enter, sinking down onto the bed by the window, and he can't blame her reaction. But he goes up to her anyway, sits down on the edge of the bed, and tries to talk.
Niisan taught him a lot of things, and Redyue did too, but how to act around the only person he wishes to keep alive was not one of them. Because it comes out all wrong. He says things; he can feel his lips moving and he can sense his fingers tightening around a fistful of bedsheets under him. He can see her shifting as far away from him as she can, pressing back against the wall next to her.
Please, Mai-san, he says, moving ever so slightly closer to her, and she shakes her head, almost as if she's scared out of her wits. She has nowhere else to go; the wall has trapped her in the corner and he was blocking her only escape. You have to listen to me, he insists. I'm only doing what's best for you.
Micchi… she murmurs, and he swears he can see tears in her eyes as he comes closer. Micchi, no, stop it. You don't have to do this.
I do! He hesitates, realising the intensity of the exclamation. I do, he replies finally, quieter, and he lets go of the bedsheets and reaches out, his hand brushing against the pale skin of her bare arm. They're close at this point - so close he could close the distance between them with ease, but he doesn't. She tries her best, but she doesn't stop the slightest flinch at his touch. She's still scared. She doesn't know what he might do, and truth be told he doesn't quite know either.
He can't convince her that he's in the right. He never will. But he can touch her arm, he can say to her, I can keep you safe. I can make you feel alright. It's going to be okay.
(He's one to talk.)
Mai-san, is what he actually whispers. Her eyes widen slightly as they lock onto his, but she relaxes slightly. Stops leaning quite so much away.
He's not sure if she willingly closes the distance between them, or he does and he just doesn't realise it, but she ends up leaning into his embrace, sending them both tumbling onto the bed, and his hand finds the zipper of her dress, slowly tugging it down to the small of her back.
Mai-san… Humanity won't end when the world does. I promise.
She doesn't pull away when he finally kisses her, either, or even when those kisses trail down to the side of her neck; it's when his hand begins to slip underneath her skirt that she tries to move away again, sitting up and pulling his free hand from its position resting gently above her heart, and she tells him that he can't do this, because he can't do this here, that he can't know what she needs, and he can't understand what she wants. That he can't understand what's the best for anyone but himself.
You're the one who doesn't understand, he tells her, smiling, and when she doesn't make a noise, he continues, taking her wrist and pinning it to the bed, his hand continuing to brush against her legs. She still looks scared as his hand reaches her stomach, and he pauses for a brief moment. I need to take care of you, he murmurs. He forces himself not to tremble as he breathes the heated sentence into her ear, and her dress slips off of one shoulder. Let me take care of you, Mai-san.