i started a completely different fic for this prompt, scrapped it, determined i probably wasn't going to write any more for ItaFushi week, watched Promare for the 1029383 time, randomly had this little plot bunny pop into my head, and scrambled to write it with 4 hours remaining for Day 6 °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖° i hope it's not a hot mess lol
SPOILER ALERT: there's a description of Nobara in here that could maybe count as a small spoiler for anime-onlys so just wanted to give you a heads up in case you're a stickler about staying spoiler free (like me lol)
enjoy!
It's a beautiful day full of bright sunshine and blue sky where birdsong fills the air as a cool breeze brushes over Megumi's face like a caress. Something about it seems tinged in gold, shiny around the edges, like it's been pulled right out of a fairytale. Nothing could mar the scenic peace surrounding him.
He turns his head to find Nobara sitting beside him on the stoop, chin in her hand while she gazes into the distance; there's an eyepatch shielding one eye, the strap cutting into the shaved side of her head. Dark circles bruise the skin beneath her good eye which is swollen and red as if she's been crying. He wonders what could possibly have upset her so much on a day as lovely as this.
He turns to his other side expecting it to be similarly occupied but finds empty air instead. Confused, he checks behind himself and then surveys the school grounds as if he could have possibly missed that signature head of pastel hair before. Only the green grass, sparkling with dew, and a garden of white flowers greet him. They kind of resemble small birds.
He frowns at them. Had they always had a flower garden?
Turning back to Nobara he asks, "Where's Yuuji?"
She rotates her torso unnaturally slowly to meet his gaze. Something about her movement is jerky, as if she's being controlled by a puppeteer; dread begins to pool in his gut. Her head cocks to the side the way a neck snaps. There's no light behind her single hazel eye.
"What are you talking about?" she asks. The quality of her voice feels like static in his ears as if he's listening to a bad radio frequency.
There's a flicker in his periphery. He whips his head around to stare at the koi pond littered with pale pink lotus flowers. The water is as pitch as his shadows. He can feel his heartbeat in his throat. The sun has disappeared behind encroaching storm clouds.
He's demanding now. "Where is Yuuji?"
To his horror, Nobara's mouth screws up in a twisted smile even as tears gather in her visible eye. There's a yellow primrose tucked behind her ear that begins to bleed a bright red.
"Don't you remember?" Her tone is too light, too jovial in comparison to her devastated expression. Megumi backs away from her with regret thick on his tongue but his retreat does nothing to stop her words now that he's posed the question. "It's his execution day."
The thunder that rolls across the sky sounds like cruel laughter. The world grays out around him save for a glint to his left that has him whirling around to face it. He regrets it immediately.
Yuuji smiles back at him from across a sea of red spider lilies. There's a katana positioned across his throat, a thin line of blood tracing a faint line down his neck until it disappears into his hoodie; even so, he smiles as wide and as sincerely as he ever has, eyes scrunched at the corners with the force of it. His lips part in preparation to speak.
Don't, Megumi begs but he can't open his mouth. He can't move, can't breathe, can only stand there in petrified silence as the katana is pulled briefly away and Yuuji speaks.
"Live a long life, okay?"
The katana swings. A burst of petals obscures Megumi's vision; his ears ring with a guttural scream that seems to echo around him, shaking the very foundation of the world. It's only when he feels the rawness of his throat that he realizes it's coming from him.
The quaking grows stronger, rattling the ground and sky alike, but Megumi doesn't care if he destroys the world in his grief because his entire world is gone—how could they do this, how could they deprive the world of someone so good, they don't even know Yuuji, didn't care to even try—
Megumi. Megumi!
It's Yuuji's voice, frantic and growing louder with each call of his name. Megumi swings around, searching, praying, but he's nowhere to be seen. The ground beneath him begins to crumble with a particularly rough shudder until it completely gives out from under him and Megumi tumbles into the abyss below.
His eyes snap open with a sharp gasp as he sits up in bed, a cold sweat covering his entire body and sticking his shirt to his heaving chest uncomfortably. He flings the covers off of his legs before leaning over as he tries to catch his breath. Something shuffles in the dark next to him before a large hand starts rubbing up and down the length of his spine. The familiar voice does more to ease his panic than the words themselves.
"Easy, that's it. Just breathe," Yuuji whispers, using his other hand to brush Megumi's bangs out of his eyes. He can't help but close them and lean into it as a relieved sigh escapes his lips. He reaches out blindly, patting around until Yuuji realizes what he wants and guides his hand to his chest so he can feel the reassuring thump of his heart beneath his palm. Clenching his fingers in the fabric of his shirt, Megumi draws in a shuddering breath as the tension begins to drain from his body, leaving him weak.
"It's okay now. I'm here," Yuuji murmurs, trailing his hand up Megumi's back to card his fingers through his damp hair instead. They stay like that a few moments, Megumi basking in the comforting touch as his pulse begins to slow until a clap of thunder startles him out of his listless state.
Then the chest beneath his hand shifts, pulls away, and the noise it draws out of him doesn't even sound human in its distressed pitch. There's a gentle shushing next to his ear, a firm hand grasping the back of his neck to ground him, before a bright light causes red to flare behind his eyelids. He grits his teeth against it and squeezes his eyes closed harder.
"Shh, I just got my phone for the flashlight. Can you open your eyes for me?"
The thought terrifies him, has his breath catching in his throat again because what if this isn't real? What if he's dreaming? If he opens his eyes will Yuuji really be here or will he find Nobara's cracked smile as she informs him that he's too late, that he was too slow to save him this time?
Even so, he trusts Yuuji. He trusts in the heavy heat of his hand against his neck, in the unfaltering warmth of his body next to him, in the patient cadence of his voice more than he believes the roiling anxiety in his gut. So he opens his eyes.
Yuuji's relieved smile is the first thing he sees, edged in silver and shadow from the flashlight, but real all the same. He trails his gaze up so that he can meet his eyes, bright with life.
"There you are." His expression softens. "See? Everything's fine." He slides his hand around so he can cup Megumi's jaw, thumb sliding over the salty trail gradually drying against his cheek before guiding his face closer so he can press their foreheads together. The rhythmic puffs of air against Megumi's lips as they breathe in tandem finally loosens all the knotted parts of him and he sinks bonelessly into every bit of Yuuji he can reach.
Chuckling, Yuuji guides them to lay down again, one arm folded beneath his head and the other wrapped securely around Megumi's waist to pull him flush against his chest as he tangles their legs together the way he knows helps ground Megumi after a particularly rough night terror. He nudges his nose against Yuuji's in what's become his unspoken gesture of gratitude.
"Thank you," he whispers against his lips anyway because some things deserve to be said aloud and heard. His lips tingle with the vibration of Yuuji's responding hum before he closes the miniscule distance to press them firmly together instead.
And this, this is without a doubt real. Megumi's demons can conjure up as many nightmares and long-buried memories as they want, twist and mutate them into terrifying new possibilities, but they can't taint this: Yuuji's unending kindness and the way he reminds Megumi how much he loves him with every gesture. It's evident in the heat of his mouth and the rough slide of his lips and the weight of his hand against the small of his back when he tries to pull him impossibly closer. In the soft words of assurance he whispers against his mouth and the way he leaves butterfly kisses on his cheeks and down the line of his neck until Megumi can't help but laugh at the ticklish sensation when he reaches the base of his throat.
And maybe he's setting himself up for unspeakable heartache later but right now he's wrapped in the arms of the one he loves and who loves him in return and there's nothing in the world that could convince him to let go.
thank you for reading! ❤️
Flower Language (specifically Hanakotoba):
• Sagisō / Habenaria radiata - "I'll be thinking of you even in my dreams"
• Renge / Lotus - Far from the one he loves
• Sakurasō / Primrose - Desperate
• Higanbana / Manjushage / Red Spider Lily - Never to meet again/Lost memory
i'm finding myself enjoying writing dreamscapes the more i experiment with them. considering nightmare-induced h/c is one of my favorite tropes, this could become a trend lol
as always, you can find me on Tumblr at sawamura-daichis-thighs and/or Twitter at ms_refreshing!