The scene was a familiar one... an old one. Everything around him seemed tinged with a light golden aura-not too dark but enough to where he could tell there was something off. The large, open room was empty save himself and a closed, white casket. Whose was it? He couldn't remember... Funny, he seemed to remember the stupidest and most insignificant details of his life... but not the death of someone he seemed to deeply care about based on the tightening feeling in his chest. They must've been important because as he forced himself to step closer, hot tears formed behind his eyes. A single picture sat atop the casket, flipped down so the face of the deceased was unable to be seen. Curiously, he lifted it, taking it in both hands and staring into the face of a dark haired, dark eyed girl in a bright red scarf. The temperature in the room plummeted and he could hear footsteps behind him.

"I'm sorry I died... but you know," the voice was sweet but lacked its warmth that he knew so well, "you didn't even come to say goodbye that day... for that, I ha-"

Her words were cut short and a black haired male sat abruptly in his bed, out of breath and clutching for something to hold onto. His eyes darted to his side when he heard a startled yelp and his hand made contact with something soft and warm.

"Sh-shintaro?" The voice was quiet but obviously startled, "what're you doing?" Even in the dark room, he could see her shift to resting on her elbow, taking his hand in her own. Her dark hair was tangled and there were a few curls that stood up at odd angles, backlit by the light that filtered in through the window.

"Ayano..?" His voice shook as he reached a hand out again to make sure she was there.

"Yeah, I'm here..." Again, she shifted her position, this time, sitting herself closer to the male. "Is something wrong?"

A few moments of silence and a whispered 'no' followed before Ayano carefully laid her head on his shoulder. He swallowed, attempting to calm his breathing and to not tense under her touch.

"Was it a nightmare?" The question took him off guard, but he sighed, giving her a quiet confirmation that she had guess it. He rested his head atop hers, mildly disgusted by how drenched in sweat he was. Just as he was settling in beside her, she sat up, hitting her head violently against his and causing them both to yelp in pain.

"S-Sorry!" She sounded flustered as she moved around, now sitting partially in front of him with a apologetic smile.

"What're you-?"

"I'll keep away all the bad dreams!" She clenched her hands into fists and grinned at him-the kind of grin that spread from cheek to cheek and caused her eyes to squint and the kind of grin that cause his heart to skip.

"And how do you plan to do that..?" He tried to sound amused but instead seemed to just sound unsure or tired. In response, Ayano carefully climbed up beside him and set herself in his lap, wrapping her thin arms around his neck and cuddling into his chest.

"I'll make it so they can't get to you!" He sputtered, blushing wildly and certain that she could hear his heartbeat through his chest. She leaned back slightly, looking up at him, "After all, we promised for better or for worse, right?" She giggled as Shintaro sighed, poking her forehead lightly.

"I'm not sure that's what that refers to, you know..." But he couldn't deny that hearing her say those words again made the tension he felt dissipate.

"Sure it is," she giggled again, nestling herself back to where she was, her head resting perfectly in the crook of his neck, "Nightmares are bad so they're part of the worse category..." As her sentence ran on, he could hear her getting sleepier.

"Yeah, yeah... of course... you should sleep," he muttered, twirling a few strands of her hair. She shook her head, a subtle gesture as drowsiness took hold of her movements.

"I'm not tired..."

"Sure you're not... goodnight, Ayano..."

"Nngh, goodnight, Shintaro..." A yawn and her hold around his neck became ever looser. Hesitating a moment, he leaned towards her and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"Thank you, my precious hero..."

A/N: Okay so, this was supposed to be for Shintaro's birthday back in April but I completely forgot to post it, oops! I wish I could've figured out a better way to phrase that last line so it wasn't so OOC and cringy, but oh well... Either way, I think it's been established that I'm absolutely terrible at updating so I'll continue to apologize until I get better about it!

Edit: There were some formatting issues I didn't realize, I'm terribly sorry but it should be fixed now!