A/N: Written for the KEY Flash Bingo, #023 – Nayuki Minase
Named Holes
There was something missing. She knew it. She could almost see it – but the feeling always slipped away before she could put a name to it.
Until Yuiichi came to stay with them, and then all the gaps began to fill. Not just his gaps – the gaps in his memories – but the gaps in her home as well. Somehow, when he'd left, he'd taken them with him. And now he was bringing them back.
And some of those hurt when they were filled. Like holes letting fresh air in and stopping them meant a suffocating, stilted place in which to breathe. But that was melodramatic. Of course it was. She'd never been happier, with Yuiichi there, a cross between a friend, brother and maybe something more.
Or maybe that was the hole that hurt the most – the hole that grew wider while all the other ones about the home were filled. Because Yuiichi didn't love her like that. It was her, only her.
And that was a hole that would stay even after all those other holes were filled. That something always missing, always there –
But still, she'd take that over those smaller, sneakier things. Those old memories hiding in dark corners, dark holes, just waiting to pounce.
At least she knew this hole. And accepted it. And she could even treasure it, put a name to it – unlike all the nameless shadows, nameless holes, she'd known were there but hadn't been able to name at all.