Beta: Tegthe
A/N: Yay for the cuteness part we're slowly getting into? (Finally.)
And chapter is slightly late, sorry for that, but here we go again!


Chapter 28 – Wake up and fight


That the darkest hour never comes in the night
You can sleep with a gun
When you gonna wake up and fight... for yourself?


"You have to live! Shusei!"

Shusei would've recognized that voice anywhere. His partner. Hotsuma.

The brunette boy opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was Ashley who was getting ready to kill his partner.

No.

Shusei summoned his sword, sending it flying through the air.

The Opast's expression was shocked as the sword pierced through her – the expressions on Yuki's and Hotsuma's faces were nearly as surprised as hers.

It was only natural that Ashley was shocked to the bone – after all, she had heard Shusei's heartbeat stop. The Opast wasn't aware of Hotsuma's ability to make his words come true – in this case, to bring Shusei back to life.

"Touch another hair on my partner's head", Shusei warned the Opast, voice cold as ice, "and you'd better be ready to pay the price."

Even if Shusei wasn't particularly attached to his own life, it didn't mean he didn't care what happened to others. Now the brunette was regretting his choice to die – because of that, Ashley had hurt both Hotsuma and Yuki, and very nearly killed both of them. And that was on Shusei – no one else.

As Shusei offered his hand to his partner and Hotsuma took it, it wasn't all that different from the countless times Shusei found his partner after a fight he had gotten himself into. Back then, Shusei had pulled his partner up, time and time again.

Yet, this time it had been the other way around. Shusei didn't know how to say it, not in so many words, but he could tell what had happened this time. "The sound of your voice opened my eyes."

That strong voice, filled with such raw emotion, strength and iron will – there was no way not to obey. There was no way Shusei wouldn't answer when his partner call, especially when it was so intense and full of emotion.

Deep inside, Shusei was grateful that they had to fight Ashley now – it meant that he wouldn't need to explain himself to Hotsuma. And with luck… Hotsuma would forget about it.

But as for now… Shusei's twin swords appeared in his hands as he called for them.

With Ashley's attack, the battle started.


After they returned from the battle with the Duras and Reiga, who had just appeared there, Shusei and Hotsuma were quickly shooed off to their room. The doctor wanted some space and peace as he did his best for Yuki who had collapsed after the battle due to the amount of powers he had been using in the past few days and even more because of the emotional shock… To think that his beloved Kanata had been Reiga.

The pair didn't speak much – they were both exhausted, especially Hotsuma. After Shusei had finished taking a shower and went to his room, he found the other youngster asleep on his bed.

It wasn't that unheard of that Hotsuma was in Shusei's bed instead of his own – the other claimed that his partner's bed was more comfortable – but Shusei would have expected his partner to have been exhausted enough to just go and collapse on his own bed.

But nope, the boy had chosen Shusei's bed instead.

Shusei let out a breath before flopping himself on the bed as well. With some effort, he managed to get the blanket over both himself and Hotsuma. Closing his eyes, Shusei decided to at least try and sleep a bit – the last days hadn't been so easy for him either.

Nevertheless, it came as a surprise when a hand wrapped itself around Shusei's waist, pulling him closer.

"Hotsuma", Shusei breathed out, considering on protesting even if in reality, he didn't really mind. Even if he should have. "Why are you –"

"Don't", Hotsuma told him, interrupting whatever his partner had been about to say. The blonde's forehead was pressed into Shusei's back, so the brunette had no chance of seeing his face. "Just some hours ago, you were dead and I thought I'd never…" Hotsuma stopped, squeezing his eyes shut and swallowing the lump that had risen in his throat. Just the idea of losing Shusei was enough to make him nauseous.

Shusei closed his eyes and swallowed, slowly understanding the consequences of his actions. Despite his best tries, he had brought pain upon his partner. Again.

"I'm sorry", he whispered.

For a while, Hotsuma didn't answer or move. Just when Shusei thought the other boy had fallen asleep, the blonde lifted himself up a bit, just enough to fling his upper body over his partner.

Shusei all but squeaked, taken back by surprise, but when the other youngster settled, the brunette realized what he was actually doing.

Hotsuma had pressed his head onto Shusei's chest, right above his heart. "I thought I'd never hear your heartbeat again."

It was dark and Hotsuma wasn't facing Shusei, so he still couldn't see the other's facial expression. But he didn't have to. It was clear how hard the days had been for his partner.

Shusei let out a breath and finally relaxed his body. His hand found its way to Hotsuma's hair, and fingers starting to brush through blond locks, stroking gently. "I'm sorry", Shusei heard himself saying.

There were still quite a few things the pair would have to deal with in order to get past what had just taken place, but that time wasn't now. Right now, they both needed sleep.

Shusei closed his eyes, feeling almost alive for the first time in a long, long time. Once more, Hotsuma needed him. And he was there for his partner – he had a reason to live again.

Before drifting into sleep, following his partner into the realm of dreams, Shusei once more stroked his partner's head, mentally saying something he wasn't capable of putting into spoken words, not yet at least.

Thank you, Hotsuma. Thank you for being here.