Watching SAO II makes me want to write Heart and Shield pieces, so... I did.

Daiki woke with a shuddering breath.

Behind his eyes, all he could see was Kise, Kise's eyes wide and terrified as his form shuddered and burst into a shower of blue and green light.

Just a dream.

He blamed the counsellors, at that goddamn survivor school, who insisted on making them talk about their time spent in the game. He was fine. He'd had a few nightmares, every now and again, while Kise was still trapped (while Kise was being experimented on), mostly of waking to the call that Kise's brain had finally been fried by the device on his head, or that his body had finally given in under the strain of continuing to live on what little nourishment could be directly imparted into his body, but he hadn't had any since Kise had finally woken up - until now.

Back in the death game, he had compulsively checked that Kise was still alive by checking his friend list. And when he'd had nightmares of Kise's death after it, he'd always gone to visit him first thing in the morning after lying awake for hours, unable to feel settled until he was sure that he was still breathing.

Tonight, he had something different.

He reached blindly for his phone, where he had left it earlier after Kise had sent his last message for the evening, wishing him goodnight, and squinted against the bright glare of the screen. He didn't have Kise's new number memorised; but then he'd never memorised the old one, either. He opened up the last message that had been sent to him, and hit the call button.

It rung for a few long, uncomfortable moments and then he heard the rustling noises of the phone being picked up.

"Hello?"

Kise's voice was rough and low; of course, he'd been sleeping, like Daiki had been before his nightmare woke him. He let go of the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.

"Kise."

He heard the rustle of movement on sheets, and assumed Kise was sitting up. "Aominecchi? What's wrong?"

"I just... needed to hear you."

He'd never told Kise about his need to reassure himself of his continued survival, but when Kise made an understanding noise, he couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he hadn't been the only one who'd checked that list every day between the time they parted and the day they re-joined each other.

"Counsellors, huh?" Kise asked. "You had a session with them today."

"Yeah."

"It's just a coincidence."

"Sure it is."

"You probably needed to see counsellors before we got trapped," Kise teased, and Daiki growled.

"Fuck off."

"You called me," Kise complained, and there was that whining note to his voice that always grated on Daiki's nerves, even as hearing the familiar tone settled him.

Daiki sighed, shifting to lie on his side with the phone under his head. "Yeah. Sorry."

"It's okay, as long as I'm allowed to return the favour." He heard a thumping noise, and was fairly sure Kise had collapsed back on his bed. "It's weird sometimes. I wake up expecting you to be there next to me, and you're not."

Kise liked to say embarrassing things, but the darkness of the early morning made their hushed phone conversation feel safer and more secret, and made Daiki not feel as flustered as usual. Or maybe that's the tiredness seeping back in.

"Yeah," he agreed. "You should stay over some time."

"Come stay with me on Tuesday. I have my counselling session that afternoon. Maybe we can prevent the nightmares in the first place."

Daiki hummed. Now that the irrational panic of the dream had faded into the calming sounds of Kise's voice and Kise's breathing, he was starting to feel sleepy again.

"Aominecchi?"

"Yeah," he mumbled. "Can you stay on the phone until I fall back asleep?"

He heard Kise's breathy laugh, and then the sounds of him shifting in bed. "Sure, Aominecchi. I might fall asleep first, though."

"That's okay. It's my phone call, my phone bill."

Kise laughed again. "That's true."