"AHRACCHH!"
The bizarre yell jolted Yukiteru Amano out of his sleep. He propped himself up on his elbows and checked his companion to find that Yuno Gasai was also awake and upright. She sat with her back turned towards him and her feet on the floor, breathing heavily.
"What happened?!" Yuki asked, frantic with concern. "What's wrong?!"
Yuno said nothing. She only shook her head in response, then brought her hand up to her forehead and wiped away from sweat. That done, she held her palm against one side of her head, applying pressure.
Yuki frowned and reached over, putting one hand on her shoulder. He felt her muscles tense for a split-second at his touch, then relax. Her skin felt hot. "…a nightmare?" Yuki guessed.
Once again, she shook her head — more slowly this time. She then lowered the hand from her head and pivoted, swinging her legs into the bed and causing his hand to fall from its perch. He moved it to her leg, holding her thigh and watching her as she pulled the covers up to her lap. Looking over at him, she smiled gamely. "Everything's fine," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Sorry if I woke you, Yuki."
As she laid down, he moved his hand up along her side and back to her shoulder. She smiled brightly at him, inspiring him to smile in return. And then, without warning, she suddenly rolled over and turned away.
Yuki's face fell once more. "Yuno… ? I hope you know that you can tell me things now. All right? You don't have to hide things from me." He felt sick to his stomach as he reflected on her previous 'secrets.' "So… please. Just don't. … Not anymore."
She drew a deep, ragged breath from the other side of the bed. His words hung in the air for a long, silent beat. At last, Yuki laid his head down on his pillow and stared up at the ceiling. That was when, Yuno spoke, albeit weakly: "Mom… "
Yuki sat up instantly. "Yours or mine?" he asked. She had called his mother 'mom' as well, after all.
"Mine," she answered. "She was… she was force-feeding the tatami mat to me."
"You mean from yo—uh, from that cage?" Yuki pressed.
Again, Yuno tensed up for a moment. "Y-yes," she answered, her voice only a whisper. "I woke up gagging … 'cause I was trying to spit it back up."
At that, Yuki laid down beside her. Scooting up close against her back, he wrapped an arm around her and spooned her. "I'm sorry you were reliving that."
"I'm sorry… sorry if that was gross," Yuno said. There was an obvious air of concern in her voice.
Yuki shook his head. "Don't be silly," he said. "It's not gross. You're safe here, okay?"
Yuno twisted to look back at Yuki and smiled awkwardly. There were tears in her eyes as she asked, "I'm silly?"
"Kind of, yeah," he told her affectionately. He put a hand on her cheek and kissed her lightly. "Sometimes you are."
Yuno turned away once more, and they both fell silent again. Yuno maneuvered her hand over to meet his, interlacing her fingers with Yuki's, then fell still once more.
They laid that way until they'd both drifted off to sleep.
