Hi guys! This is my first Red Data Girl fanfic! I feel like this fandom is sorely under-appreciated, and while the show was a bit confusing, it was still very good, in my opinion. So, I've decided to write this, because I really ship Miyuki and Izumiko. I think this is the first oneshot I've written for a straight couple. What do ya know? Anyway, on with the story.
P.S. I took a little bit of liberty with the scene where Miyuki is asking the Himegami to let him have Izumiko back. I feel like this is what should have happened afterwards, even if it didn't.
Disclaimer: I do not own Red Data Girl. If I did, you could bet there'd be way more MiyukixIzumiko moments and more Souda triplets fluff.
In his arms is the only place he feels she's ever truly safe.
The day that the Himegami possessed her and almost didn't want to let her body go, Miyuki remembers spending the whole day with her, doing everything she wished. It was Izumiko's mouth that moved, that formed words and spoke to him, but he knew that it wasn't really Izumiko talking. It was the Himegami, and while she seemed to be perfectly content with him, he was not so with her. He'd trade her for Izumiko in a heartbeat, but he just didn't know how.
He felt utterly helpless as he sat beside her on cool, stone steps. He couldn't reach Izumiko, not even when her body was right in front of him, so he did the only thing he could. He wrapped his arms around her and screamed with all he had in him for her to fight this, for her to come back. She had to come back to him. There was no way that she could just disappear after everything that happened. He wouldn't let her.
And it was in his arms, while he was shouting for her return, that she did come back to him. He could only imagine how confused she must have been at the time, with no recollection of what had happened, but she allowed him to hold her tighter, pull her closer despite it. It was like embracing her would keep her from going away again. He knew deep down that it wouldn't, but he pretended that it would anyway.
If she noticed the tears that leaked from his eyes then and raced down his cheeks, she said nothing of them. He hated her only a little while ago, and yet he was hugging her and shedding tears for her wellbeing. If that was how he treated someone he hated, how would he then treat someone he loved?
Later, during the festival, when he finally found her in that other plane, that other reality, he remembers feeling relieved that she was okay and that she was Izumiko and not the Himegami. Her hair was down, but she was still herself. She was just Izumiko, and "just Izumiko" was more than enough for him. "Just Izumiko" was far better than the Himegami could ever hope to be.
He remembers being told that her and the Himegami are one and the same, and he remembers finding it a little hard to believe, because she is so unlike the Himegami. Izumiko is far too sweet, and the Himegami far too…psychotic. But he was okay with it. She could be the most awful person on the planet, and he would still want to keep her safe. He'd still want to hold her, he's sure.
He told her that he needed her to need him, and she, being her, couldn't do that because, if she did, he could never go back to being normal. He hugged her then too, and having her so close made his heart swell with an emotion he couldn't place at the time. It was something he'd never felt before, but he wanted to keep feeling it, and so he held her closer still.
That time, she was the one crying, and he wanted nothing more than for her tears to dry. He didn't care about being normal. He'd be the most abnormal creature on the face of the planet if that meant he could continue to protect her. He'd be anything if that meant she needed him, because he needed her. He still needs her.
So he held her close and let her feel secure and like nothing could hurt her. He was afraid he'd never find her, that he'd never see her again, but right then, he made sure she felt safe, because that's what she needed. At that moment, it was almost as if she needed him.
Now he sits beside her on a bench, overlooking the ending of the festival. Everything that's happened feels as though it occurred a lifetime ago, and it's all just beginning to catch up to him. He feels exhausted, in every possible way.
They exchange a few words, about the decisions she needs to make and about what the future might hold for them both, whether they are together or apart. He doesn't say it out loud, but he hopes it's together.
Then, as she's speaking, he does something neither of them expects and clamps a hand around hers. His eyelids feel heavy, like they're being weighed down by boulders, but he wants to do this now, so he does. He squeezes her hand.
He knows she's flustered, can hear it in the way she's speaking, but his eyes draw shut without his permission, and he leans on her, resting his head on her shoulder. Even with his physical wounds patched up, he is still mentally worn down.
She doesn't say anything then, but he feels her grasp his hand between both of hers before placing her head on top of his. He might have complained if it were someone else, or maybe if he weren't so tired. Instead, he just allows his mind to teeter on the line between consciousness and sleep, waiting for it to tip over the edge.
Is it strange that, with his head tucked in the cavity between her jaw and shoulder, he feels safe? It's a foreign feeling, one he can't remember ever having felt before. His father never even made him feel welcome, he always felt on edge around the man, and he can't even remember his mother. He had friends at his old school, but none were like this. They were all male, and while they'd surely have helped him out of a bind if he needed it, there is something about the way Izumiko makes him feel that is so entirely different. He wants to say it's because she is a girl, but he knows that's not it, because Souda's a girl too, but she could never make him feel like this.
It's not the sort of safety that comes with being stood up for by an adult or a larger, stronger person, the type he's sure he offers to Izumiko, but more the type of security that comes when you know whoever you're with will watch over you. He knows she won't do anything to him and won't let anything happen to him. He can trust her, he knows, but there's something else there too, something that makes his heart thrum quickly in his chest, even as his awareness fades. Despite the fact that, physically, she is as fragile as the china dolls she so resembles, her presence is comforting to him, makes his chest feel warm, and he never wants her or this feeling she brings to leave.
He can feel her small hands wrapped firmly around his own even in his unconscious mind, and he dreams of the scent of flowers, of beautiful roses blooming and sakura petals dancing on the wind. He dreams of holding on to her, because it is in his arms that he feels she's ever truly safe.
It's nice to know, even while asleep, that he can feel safe in her arms, too.
Did you like it? Sorry for all the author's notes, but I wanted to reminded you to leave a review if you enjoyed, and maybe even if you didn't. Also, I was wondering if any of you would be interested in reading a oneshot about the Souda triplets. I was thinking about doing an AU where Mayura feels a little left out because she's the only girl and where Masumi is alive and they don't have their powers and stuff, but I wanted to see if it'd be read. Tell me if you'd like something like that in the comments as well! Till next time, my fellow readers! Bye!